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This isn’t the trading deadline that Billy Eppler or the Angels were planning.
Instead of contending and adding pieces for a playoff push, the Angels have collapsed and are likely going to be moving players to help get back to contention in 2021. As the clock ticks down to the Aug. 31 deadline, the Angels general manager said he’s been busy.
“Definitely a high volume of phone calls,” he said.
Eppler obviously wouldn’t give too many hints about deals he’s looking at, but he said the overall philosophy hasn’t changed. In years the Angels are out of the race, he’s been willing to trade players on expiring contracts, but hasn’t moved anyone who could be a key contributor in the following season.
Predicting who the Angels might trade is not too hard, but predicting who they might get back is practically impossible. They aren’t likely to get any top prospects unless they are willing to trade a player with some control. Once you move further down the prospect lists, the opinions on a particular player can vary widely between two teams and the third-party evaluators.
For reference, though, in 2018 the Angels traded two months of Martin Maldonado for Patrick Sandoval, who was not among the Houston Astros top 30 prospects at the time, according to MLB Pipeline. They also traded two months of Ian Kinsler for Ty Buttrey and Williams Jerez. Buttrey was the Boston Red Sox’ 19th best prospect and Jerez wasn’t rated in the top 30, by MLB Pipeline.
This year, of course, the deadline is a month later, so deals for impending free agents are just one-month rentals.
In terms of the return, obviously the Angels need all the pitching they can get, but don’t be surprised if they look elsewhere too. They still could use some help behind the plate and on the infield, with both Tommy La Stella and Andrelton Simmons on expiring contracts and Albert Pujols playing less and less at first base.
With all that in mind, here is a look at the impending free agents the Angels are most likely to consider trading, along with a couple possibilities if they would be willing to move a player with some control to get a better return.
Simmons: After missing more than three weeks with a sprained ankle, Simmons has barely returned. If he’s going to be traded, it would likely be at the last minute, so other teams have as much time as possible to evaluate how he’s playing after the injury. Simmons is somewhat tricky to trade, because he is strictly a shortstop, and there aren’t that many teams that need a shortstop. But he is the best defensive shortstop in the game.
The Toronto Blue Jays are currently without young star Bo Bichette, but he is expected back sometime in September. The Yankees are currently without middle infielders Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu. If either has a setback in his recovery, they may have a use for Simmons.
La Stella: The first month of this shortened season has been encouraging …read more
Source:: Los Angeles Daily News
