LOL. Angels Wanted Top Prospect Walker Jenkins for Zach Neto Trade

[Peter Labuza]

In the hours before the trade deadline, rumors swirled around a trade that would send Angels shortstop Zack Neto to the Minnesota Twins. That didn't happen. Thanks to Bob Nightengale at the Star Tribune, we now know that price included top prospect Walker Jenkins among other names.

Neto was considered a highly valued piece at the trade deadline. Though Neto has had a relative down year, he has had three consecutive 20-home run seasons and will likely make 20 steals (also his third season in a row). While the defense grades below average, Neto could have likely had defensive versatility for the Twins.

But asking for Jenkins was almost certainly a bridge too far for the team. There was certainly a case for trading Kaelen Culpepper - using Neto as a bridge to quickly rising prospect Marek Houston - but the young outfielder Jenkins remains a centerpiece for Minnesota's future. As Nightengale reported, talks never got too far in part due to Jenkins' inclusion.

Jenkins is currently batting .297 / .388 / .493 and was likely due for a callup if Trevor Larnach had been traded. With Larnach staying put, it is unclear when to expect the Twins' top prospect to be roaming Target Field. 

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[Cory Engelhardt]

So they didn’t actually want to trade Neto. Got it

[DJL44]

Maybe for Neto, Soriano and Detmers

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

We were all just very Neto 😂

[The Great Hambino]

[tony&rodney]

Neto strikes out at ridiculous rates and is not a superior defender. He does have power and runs well. I was never interested in Neto. 

[saviking]

When we have 2 promising young shortstops .. no thanks

[bean5302]

Under the current CBA, Zach Neto can be forecasted at 3.5 WAR for 3 more years. So about $90MM of future value. His salary is probably going to be something like $6MM, $10MM, $15MM or $31MM over the next three years. 

$90MM - $31MM = $59MM. Walker Jenkins might not be enough on his own. 

Of course, teams don't trade away their #1ish prospects in the top 30 for players who aren't game changers, so Jenkins was a reasonable ask by value, but not a reasonable pay for Neto. The Twins were probably trying to package a deal around more lower graded prospects, but balked when there wasn't a bargain to be had.

[Coach]

Angels were just trolling.

[TopGunn#22]

I wanted us to take a run at Neto.  But if the opening ask was Jenkins and they wouldn't budge I guess that was rightfully so, the end of the conversation.  With Houston, Neto would never have stayed at SS.  And putting Culpepper in the equation would have put either Soriano or Detmers in the deal (probably Soriano).  We were right to walk away from any deal with the Angels.   

[dxpavelka]

Heard they also wanted us to throw in Rod Carew & Harmon Killebrew.  And Walter Johnson. Apparently, the Twins backed off when the Angels wouldn't include Nolan Ryan.  And Frank Tanana.

[nicksaviking]

I wouldn't have made the deal. But if I was the Angels, I also wouldn't have done the deal for a Culpepper package.

I'm excited to see both Jenkins and Culpepper, but I don't think we look at prospects realistically. The odds that any MLB top 20 prospect is better than Zach Neto is way less than 50%.

So while I'd have said no as a Twins fan, I understand the ask. It's why players like Neto with three years of control rarely get traded.

[tony&rodney]

The conversation might need to be framed differently. Is it more important to have a good glove or a good bat in the middle of the field? People who comment have thoughts on this and so do the Twins. If the Twins wanted a shortstop that hit home runs, they would just put Brooks Lee back at the 6. Lee grades out as a better shortstop than Neto. Neto is Tristan Gray in the field. There are plenty of people who believe that Brooks Lee should be the shortstop and certainly the Angels have that as a thought process. Conversely the Tampa Bay Rays still use Taylor Walls quite a bit at shortstop and would not play Lee or Neto in the middle infield even if they were free. Teams and people have different thoughts on these calls. There are clubs and folks who put defense as a prime value in a player and those who want offense. It would help if those who support a player like Lee or Neto playing shortstop or Matt Wallner in the outfield would identify that they believe the defense is less important than bats. Those who clearly prefer offense at the expense of defense is a fair take. These are just different beliefs. I clearly push gloves. The recently completed series with Milwaukee was an advertisement (at least in my mind) for the importance of defense. My choice is defense. Thus in relationship to the conversation which includes Zach Neto, I might consider him as a first baseman or DH because he can hit home runs. My team would not take his glove. The next question would be - Is there anyone on the roster already who is better at first base and/or DH? 

[Derojo]

Basically, a b.s. story. Not that the story isn't factual, but that doesn't mean it's about reality. 

[clone52]

2 hours ago, Derojo said:

Basically, a b.s. story. Not that the story isn't factual, but that doesn't mean it's about reality. 

I mean, it could very well be reality.

Angels didn't want to get rid of Neto, but if they could get Jenkins, why not do it?

Twins wanted Neto if they could get him for a bargain, but for Jenkins, now way.

There is nothing laughable about either team's position.  If I'm the Angels and the Twins don't offer Jenkins, I'm saying no.  If I'm the Twins and the Angels demand Jenkins, I'm saying now.

I guess I don't see what is laughable about it.

[Whammy]

12 minutes ago, clone52 said:

I mean, it could very well be reality.

Angels didn't want to get rid of Neto, but if they could get Jenkins, why not do it?

Twins wanted Neto if they could get him for a bargain, but for Jenkins, now way.

There is nothing laughable about either team's position.  If I'm the Angels and the Twins don't offer Jenkins, I'm saying no.  If I'm the Twins and the Angels demand Jenkins, I'm saying now.

I guess I don't see what is laughable about it.

I agree. There's nothing really compelling about a team asking for a haul for a guy they truly have no need to get rid of. It would be malpractice for them to NOT demand our top prospect. And to @nicksaviking's point, fans way overvalue prospects. Treating them like the Phillies do (trade most of them for major league talent) is a pretty good way to go about maximizing value... though that works much better for a franchise with a huge payroll. 

To me, it just doesn't rise to the level of needing an article about it. I hesitated to even respond to the article and bump it to the top of the forum, but it was already listed second, behind a pinned thread, so there was no real harm.

[twinstalker]

On 8/8/2026 at 10:05 PM, saviking said:

When we have 2 promising young shortstops .. no thanks

I don't know about that.  We have two guys who are/were somewhat old for being promising hitting in bandboxes.  If we had any chance of trading one of them as the main piece for Neto, we screwed up.  I'm okay not trading Jenkins, but I think Jenkins is 10x the player Culpepper is, 20x what Houston is.