to want to stay.

“I always feel a sense of urgency,” Minasian said. “We want to win here. That’s something we’ve talked about a lot, but I need to build a better roster. There’s no doubt about it. I think the locker room is very talented. There’s talent in there. There’s obviously established players, superstar players. And we’ve got to build a better supporting cast around them. We do.”

The first step toward building for the future occurred in a series of three trades executed in the hours before the deadline on Tuesday. They sent Iglesias to the Atlanta Braves for pitchers Tucker Davidson and Jesse Chavez. They sent outfielder Brandon Marsh to the Philadelphia Phillies for catching prospect Logan O’Hoppe, and they sent Noah Syndergaard to the Phillies in a separate deal, for outfielder Mickey Moniak and minor league outfielder Jadiel Sanchez.

Between the Iglesias and Syndergaard deals, the Angels freed up about $59 million worth of salary commitments.

Of the players they acquired, O’Hoppe seems to be the most impactful. He immediately becomes the Angels’ top prospect.

But the deal that could be the most important was the Iglesias trade because it had the biggest financial implications.

The Angels signed Iglesias to a four-year, $58 million deal last winter, after he’d been one of baseball’s best relievers in 2021. Iglesias struggled this season, with a 4.04 ERA and a few notable blowups. Interim manager Phil Nevin said he will go with a committee at closer in the short term, with Ryan Tepera, Aaron Loup and José Quijada as the candidates.

The Braves were willing to take all of Iglesias’ remaining contract, which includes $3.6 million for the rest of this season and $16 million per season through the next three.

That could help create some space for signing Ohtani or other players to build around Ohtani, Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon.

Certainly, the financial aspect is the biggest part of that deal, but Minasian also said he sees value in Davidson, 26. He’s a controllable starting pitcher who the Braves trusted to start Game 5 of the World Series after Charlie Morton broke his leg in Game 1. Davidson has a 5.11 ERA in 37 major league innings and a 4.59 ERA this season at Triple-A.

Chavez, 38, has a 2.66 ERA in 44 innings with the Braves this season, pitching almost entirely out of the bullpen.

Chavez, Davidson and Moniak, a former No. 1 overall pick who has never found success in the major leagues, will all join the Angels in the upcoming days.

Moniak, 24, has a career .129 average with a .386 OPS in 93 big league at-bats. He is a left-handed hitter who plays all three outfield spots. Moniak is from Carlsbad, and he played with Phil Nevin’s oldest son, Tyler in San Diego County.

O’Hoppe will report to Double-A, but he certainly could end up being the most important player acquired in any of these trades.

O’Hoppe, 22, was the third-ranked prospect in the Phillies’ system, according to both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America. He was ranked No. 86 overall according to MLP Pipeline, which did not rank any Angels prospects in the top 100.

O’Hoppe (pronounced oh-HOP-ee) played this year in the Futures Game. He was hitting .269 with an .877 OPS at Double-A.

He was the Phillies’ 23rd-round pick in 2018. After not playing at all in 2020, when the pandemic wiped out the minor league seasons, he rose from Class-A to Triple-A in 2021. He has spent all of this season at Double-A.

The Angels had to part with Marsh to get O’Hoppe. Marsh had been one of the Angels’ top prospects, and he was playing Gold Glove-caliber defense this season. He had struggled at the plate, though, hitting .226 with a .637 OPS. He has the highest strikeout rate in the majors.

Marsh also represented the Angels’ best center field insurance for Trout, who is currently out with a back problem. Minasian said he’s not concerned about Trout’s availability.

“I see him in center field for the foreseeable future,” Minasian said, adding that “I fully expect him to play again this season.”

Minasian said he felt it was worth it to give up on Marsh’s future in exchange for O’Hoppe.

“You have to give to get, and the catching position for me is the most important position on the club,” Minasian said. “We really liked what we got back. Logan’s an outstanding individual. The makeup is off the charts.”

Minasian said that having Max Stassi signed for two more years is not a hindrance to O’Hoppe, because there will be enough playing time for both of them.

Finally, the Angels received Sanchez in the Syndergaard trade. Sanchez, 21, is a switch hitter who can play all three outfield positions. He has a career .699 OPS in the minors, including a .714 mark this season at Class-A. Sanchez was assigned to the Angels low-A Inland Empire team.

The Angels might have been hard-pressed to get much for Syndergaard because he is a free agent at the end of the season, and owed another $7.6 million for this season. The Phillies are taking all of his remaining salary. Syndergaard had posted a 3.83 ERA in 80 innings.

For the Angels, dealing away Syndergaard, Marsh and Iglesias was the result of a season gone off the rails.

The Angels had high hopes of contending this season, and they were 27-17 in late May before crashing. They reached the deadline with a 43-59 record, trailing by 11 games in the race for the third wild card spot with 60 games to go.

“It’s tough,” Minasian said. “It’s not fun trading really good players. We haven’t played well. And just kind of looking at where we’re at and what we want to do going forward and identifying some of our needs, we felt this was the best direction to go.”

Notes

The Angels called up Jose Rojas and designated David MacKinnon for assignment, filling one of the vacated roster spots for Tuesday’s game. They otherwise played with two empty spots.