3 Win-Win Mock Trades for Angels Shortstop Zach Neto

As we inch closer and closer to the 2026 MLB trade deadline, one of the busiest days of the baseball calendar year, rumors around the league are really beginning to pick up steam. Within the last two weeks, the Los Angeles Angels have been at the center of these rumors.

More specifically, it’s been their shortstop, Zach Neto, who has been the talk of the league, as more and more rumors have shown the Angels are potentially willing to move the former first-rounder if the package is right. With this deadline being predominantly a pitcher-heavy marketplace, Neto is one of the most impactful bats that could find himself in another city by August 3.

However, for a player of this caliber, the asking price won’t be low whatsoever. With Neto potentially being one of the only incredibly valuable pieces moved at the deadline, this becomes even more true.

Neto comes with three and a half years of control, which helps make him an even more valuable and expensive asset for any team looking for an offensive upgrade. Not only this, but at his current pace, Neto is set to have the best season of his career in virtually every statistical area imaginable, showing that he’s only improving with each season he’s been in the big leagues.

With all of this in mind, let’s examine three potential win-win mock trades surrounding Neto.

Stats updated prior to games on July 28.

The Mariners Take a Swing, Find Their Long-Term Shortstop

Multiple reports this deadline have indicated that the Mariners are searching for a big-time right-handed bat, and to be quite honest, not many of these players are going to be on the block this August. However, in this scenario, they land shortstop Zach Neto to help solve this issue, dealing from their deep pitching depth to make it happen.

The pitcher heading back to the Angels is none other than Emerson Hancock, a righty who, despite finding himself in the middle of a career season, is the odd man out in a loaded Mariners rotation that tried to employ multiple solutions to make their six-man rotation work. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Hancock is expected to be traded, and he’s the perfect piece to make this work.

On the flip side, the Mariners are landing a shortstop with superstar potential in Neto, something they badly need to find right now. As of the time I’m writing this, the Mariners rank 21st as a team in shortstop wRC+, as their mark of 86 is simply not cutting it.

Despite being locked up to an eight-year pre-arb deal worth $95 million, Colt Emerson has really struggled to find his footing in the big leagues thus far. Through his first 197 plate appearances, Emerson is slashing .202/.265/.365 with an 81 wRC+ and a strikeout rate over 32%.

Not only this, but long-term shortstop J.P. Crawford has been about league-average, posting a 105 wRC+ through 85 games this season, leaving a lot to be desired.

Actively, Neto is slashing .235/.326/.440 with 19 homers, 13 stolen bases, and a 113 wRC+. He’s also on pace for approximately 3.2 fWAR by the end of the season, and with three and a half years of control left on his deal, he could find himself surpassing this mark routinely in Seattle.

There’s no question about the bat, and if the Mariners decide to bring him in, he’d make an immediate impact in their lineup. Emerson can get some much-needed fine-tuning in Triple-A, and Crawford can remain at third base, the position he’s occupied ever since Emerson made his debut.

Mariners’ Trade Package: Emerson Hancock, Korbyn Dickerson

Of course, the Mariners will have to give to get in this scenario, and the Angels will end up making out quite well on their end of this deal as well.

The headliner in this deal will be the aforementioned Emerson Hancock, who would find himself becoming a front-end arm for the Angels following this deal. Through 105.1 innings in 2026, Hancock has pitched to a 3.16 ERA — the lowest mark for any Mariner with at least 100 innings pitched this season. He’s also racked up 97 strikeouts and 1.6 fWAR along the way.

Most importantly, Hancock has four and a half years of team control, meaning that he could help anchor this Angels rotation for years to come, especially if the club decides to move on from Reid Detmers this August, too.

While Hancock alone will have plenty of trade value due to his play and lengthy control, the Mariners will also need to kick in a decent prospect to help push this deal over the edge. We think this could be Korbyn Dickerson, a 2025 fifth-round pick.

Dickerson had late first-round buzz during last year’s draft cycle, but ended up falling as prep prospects shot up the actual draft boards. Regardless, he’s slashed .282/.392/.449 with 11 homers and 25 stolen bases between two levels during his first full professional season. In addition to that, he’s registered a 117 wRC+ on the season.

Essentially, this deal boils down to both sides dealing away controllable pieces that better fit their organizational molds and help push them closer to contention in the near future. It’s a true win-win deal, and one of the most fun mock trades that the team at Just Baseball has put together around this year’s deadline.

The Rays Finally Make Their Big Splash

The 2026 season has been nothing shy of a whirlwind for the Tampa Bay Rays. Despite trading away some of their key pieces during the offseason (Shane Baz and Brandon Lowe, for example), the club has found itself 1.5 games up on the Yankees for first place in the American League East with a tremendous record of 62-44.

As a result of their exciting season, the Rays front office is showing all indications that they’re going to go all-in at this year’s trade deadline, making them a fun fit for many of the bats on the market, especially. With a lineup that has seen its “big three” in Yandy Díaz, Junior Caminero, and Jonathan Aranda do a lot of the heavy lifting, they could use one final piece to really push this offense over the edge.

According to Robert Murray on July 28, the Rays are expressing interest in Zach Neto, and with one of the deeper farm systems in baseball, the Rays are perfectly equipped to make a legitimate run at the 25-year-old shortstop.

As of the time I’m writing this, the Rays shortstops have combined for a team wRC+ of 72, a mark that places them 28th in baseball. Only four teams have had their shortstops combine for a mark of 75 or worse, truly placing the Rays among the worst-of-the-worst in this category.

With Neto currently possessing a 113 wRC+ alongside 19 homers, he’s the type of bat who could establish dominance for the Rays at this position, reversing the struggles they’ve seen thus far in 2026. Although he strikes out quite a bit, he fits their offensive mold nicely overall, helping take some pressure off the club’s top three hitters as well.

Since Neto is also coming with three and a half years of control, he’s the exact type of player the Rays should feel comfortable paying up to get.

Rays’ Trade Package: Brody Hopkins, Caden Bodine, Xavier Isaac

If the Rays do decide to go for this deal, they’ll have to tap pretty deeply into their farm system to make it happen, especially if they hope to compete with the Mariners’ offer in this scenario. To do so, they’ll part with a couple of top-of-the-line prospects in Brody Hopkins, Caden Bodine, and Xavier Isaac.

The highest-ranking member of this group is Brody Hopkins, a right-handed pitcher who finds himself ranked as Just Baseball’s No. 49 prospect in baseball. Through 81.2 innings this season, Hopkins has posted a 4.63 ERA with 99 strikeouts, flashing moments where he looks like a potential ace in the making.

Despite having two pitches grade out as 70 offerings according to Just Baseball, Hopkins’ control is what’s currently holding him back right now. In this 81.2-inning span, he’s walked 77 batters, but if he can get this under control, he truly possesses the tools needed to make him an ace down the line.

The next-biggest piece moved in this hypothetical deal is Caden Bodine, a catcher that the Rays acquired in the Shane Baz deal back in December. Ever since arriving in the organization, the former first-rounder has been electric, posting a slash line of .356/.423/.524 with 10 homers and a 151 wRC+ across three levels. Most impressively, he’s posted a strikeout rate of just 5.7%, a ridiculous mark for any hitter, let alone someone in their first full professional season.

The third and final piece of this deal will be first baseman and former top-100 prospect Xavier Isaac, who finds himself back on the field this season after missing all but 41 games last year due to life-saving, emergency brain surgery to remove a tumor.

In his return to the field, Isaac has picked up right where he left off, slashing .232/.373/.441 with 15 homers and a 121 wRC+ in Double-A. Still only 22 years old, Isaac has plenty of potential remaining in the tank and would be an exciting get for the Angels in this deal.

The Red Sox Stay Aggressive, Finding Their Superstar

Heading into this year’s trade deadline, the Boston Red Sox have found themselves in quite the predicament. They initially looked like sellers after a slow start earlier this season, but they proceeded to go on a 15-game winning streak and have now found themselves right back in the mix.

Following this streak, things got even more interesting for the club, as they jumped the market, shipping out LHP Connolly Early, their best trade chip, to the Washington Nationals for breakout infielder Curtis Mead.

Almost immediately after this deal, Mead broke his hand and could miss the remainder of the season, meaning they’re now back at square one in their pursuit of an infielder — while also finding themselves without their best trade chip.

Despite the bad luck from the Mead injury, the Red Sox have still indicated their desire to buy at the deadline, specifically finding themselves interested in shortstop Zach Neto, who would be game-changing in Boston.

Similarly to the other teams in this story, the Red Sox have struggled to get production out of their shortstop position, as their team wRC+ of 81 ranks 24th in the sport. Acquiring Neto would be the first step on the road to fixing this weakness and helping to better prepare the team for an October run.

Red Sox’s Trade Package: Kyson Witherspoon, Marcelo Mayer, Marcus Phillips, Yoeilin Cespedes

Unfortunately, with the Red Sox trading away Connolly Early, they now find themselves in a position where if they hope to acquire Neto, they’ll have to reach far deeper into their prospect depth to do so. With this being the case, the Red Sox will be the only of the three teams in this story to send four players to the Angels.

The headliner of this hypothetical deal will be right-hander Kyson Witherspoon, a fascinating former first-round pick who has been off to a decent start in his professional career. Through 70 innings in 16 starts at High-A, Witherspoon has posted an ERA of 5.01 with 73 strikeouts, showcasing flashes of front-end stuff along the way.

However, Witherspoon will be far from the only other piece to headline this deal, as former consensus top-10 prospect in the sport, Marcelo Mayer, will also be heading back to the Angels. Despite his prospect pedigree, Mayer has really struggled to find his footing in the big leagues thus far, posting a 63 wRC+ with three homers across his first 70 games this year. He still possesses immense potential and could be a change-of-scenery candidate that could work nicely in this deal.

The next piece of this deal is another prized pitching draft pick by the Red Sox last season, this time, first-rounder Marcus Phillips. Similarly to Witherspoon, Phillips possesses immense potential but has struggled through his first 48.1 innings as a professional, posting a 6.89 ERA at High-A with steep walk rates as well. Despite this, he’s still struck out 55 batters in this span, indicating that he possesses potential plus stuff.

Lastly, the final piece heading back in this four-for-one deal is middle infielder Yoeilin Cespedes, a toolsy prospect with intriguing potential if he’s able to piece it all together. As a 20-year-old in High-A this season, Cespedes has slashed .253/.314/.488 with 18 homers and a 97 wRC+. His power potential is the most intriguing piece of his profile presently, as he’s already nearly doubled his previous career-high.

Tying this together, while intriguing, the Red Sox’s package is certainly the weakest of the three presented in this story, but it’s the type of high-upside return the Angels could potentially value. We originally had Early mocked in this trade as the clear best piece to get this deal over the hump, but things certainly became more complicated after he was dealt for Mead. While not impossible, it’ll certainly be harder for the Red Sox to complete this deal without the talented left-hander.