Angels strip the rotation bare, deal Adell too — the deadline is done and the rebuild is official

The Angels moved Soriano on Monday. By the time the deadline closed Monday night, they had also shipped Reid Detmers to the Cubs, closer Ryan Zeferjahn to Chicago as well, and Jo Adell to Cleveland for catching prospect Jacob Cozart — ending a tenure that began when Adell was their 2017 first-round pick. What started as a sell-off when I noted the O'Hoppe and Silseth trades to Texas on July 30 has now become something more formal: a roster stripped to its studs.

What's left in the rotation is thin. Walbert Ureña, who has been the quiet workhorse of this staff at 9-7 with a 2.89 ERA, is now the unambiguous ace. Ryan Johnson, at 4-6 and a 5.95 ERA, is the number two. Kikuchi and Kochanowicz are both on the 60-day IL with no timetable. That's the rotation. Interim GM John Mozeliak did not patch it; he let it be what it is.

The one note worth filing: the bullpen has a genuine bright spot in a rookie reliever who has posted a 0.28 ERA across 16 appearances. That's the kind of arm you keep and build around. Everything else that had trade value — Soriano, Detmers, Zeferjahn, Adell — is gone. Mike Trout, the team's only All-Star, remains. So does the 37-49 record and a 7-game deficit in the AL West.

The Angels are 76 games from done. They are not playing to win those games.