The negativity dissipates as a young man walks into the clubhouse, baseball cap on backward for the moment, energetic and respectful and joyful and supremely confident. This is his team, and he is here to win.<\/p>\n
Zach Neto<\/a> is the Angels\u2019 best player. He is 25.<\/p>\n If the Angels could make one move to try to persuade fans better days are ahead, the suggestion here would be to sign Neto to a long-term contract. They could hold a signing ceremony with the same enormous red banner they used the day they signed Mike Trout to his last extension<\/a>, with \u201cLOYALTY\u201d splashed across the banner and a halo atop the A.<\/p>\n That loyalty is tested annually. The Angels have baseball\u2019s longest playoff drought \u2014 12 years and counting \u2014 and Neto said the Trout drought in particular was a focus of the initial team meeting here.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to help Mike \u2014 and we all pointed at Mike \u2014 get to the postseason,\u201d Neto said. \u201cHe is, if not the greatest player to play this game, one of them. He needs to be in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n Baseball Prospectus projects the Angels to lose 95 games this year, the most in the American League. As we said, Neto is supremely confident.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all know and we all believe that, if we play with each other, and if we play how we want to play, there is nobody that can beat us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In the year Trout was first eligible for salary arbitration, the Angels signed him to his first long-term contract. This year, when Neto was first eligible for salary arbitration, the Angels did not make him a formal long-term contract offer, according to Ryan Hamill, co-head of CAA Baseball, which represents Neto.<\/p>\n Angels shortstop Zach Neto at spring training at Diablo Stadium last month.<\/p>\n (Ronaldo Bolanos \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Perry Minasian, the Angels\u2019 general manager, declined to comment for this column.<\/p>\n The parallel only goes so far. Trout had two second-place MVP finishes at that point, and Neto has not gotten any MVP votes. Trout also signed on the eve of a 98-win season, and not long after the Angels\u2019 run of six postseason appearances in eight years.<\/p>\n When I asked Neto whether he would be interested in a long-term contract with the Angels, he talked first of loyalty. When he established himself in high school, bigger schools tried to lure him to transfer. In college, same thing. He did not transfer at either level.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest thing with me, the biggest thing my family has taught me, is loyalty,\u201d Neto said. \u201cIt\u2019s something I still stick with today.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a matter of being loyal, seeing the growth that we have here. If it happens, it happens. I would love to stay here. I would love to be here. But, if it doesn\u2019t, then not every road is meant to be.<\/p>\n \u201cI am going to be where my feet are every day, and that is here, with the city of Los Angeles and with the Angels, and give it my all every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n Owner Arte Moreno recently told reporters from the Orange County Register and the team website that, among fans\u2019 priorities, \u201cwinning is not in their top five.\u201d Would that be a concern for Neto in deciding whether to sign a long-term contract?<\/p>\n Neto paused.<\/p>\n \u201cI really don\u2019t have an answer to that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we all know how important the fans are. They help us big time. They motivate us and give us energy. So I\u2019m just going to be where my feet are and go out every single day and play the game.\u201d<\/p>\n He is playing for his fourth manager in four seasons.<\/p>\n Would he harbor any reservations about signing with the Angels and then missing the playoffs as much as Trout has?<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll see,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Said Hamill: \u201cThat is a priority for any player: to have a winning culture and a winning team around him. That\u2019s what he wants, and he wants to do that in an Angels uniform. He wants to go out and compete and win this year. Whatever the front office is willing to do and ownership is willing to do to facilitate that, it would be welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n Neto is an outstanding modern shortstop, with power and speed to complement excellent defense. He ranked third among major league shortstops with 26 home runs last season, and he stole 26 bases.<\/p>\n What is he worth? Neto put up 5.1 WAR last season, according to Baseball Reference.<\/p>\n The four shortstops with the biggest contracts all put up a better WAR: Bobby Witt Jr. (7.1 WAR, $289 million); Corey Seager<\/a> (6.2 WAR, $324 million); Francisco Lindor (5.9 WAR, $341 million) and Trea Turner (5.4 WAR, $300 million). Neto\u2019s performance fit comfortably above the next financial tier of shortstops: Dansby Swanson (4.5 WAR, $177 million); Willy Adames (3.7 WAR, $182 million) and Xander Bogaerts (2.0 WAR, $280 million).<\/p>\n Angels shortstop Zach Neto throws during a spring training game against the San Diego Padres on Feb. 25.<\/p>\n (Mike Christy \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Angels](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772460678_893_.jpeg\")
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