It’s no secret the Angels will be (and currently are) on the hunt for offense come trading season. Even with Chris Iannetta heating up and Pujols’ inevitable “resurgence” (really, it just means he won’t be as bad as he has been) the Angels offense would merely grade out as weak. They’ll be on the lookout for a left fielder and likely a DH that could help propel the offense to heights unseen in 2015. But as the old saying goes, “you have to give to get”. The Angels must give up value in order to get value. Much of this value is tied to the future success of the ball club, but where there is surplus, there is the opportunity to exchange. But before we can figure out what can be exchanged, we must first take an inventory of the Angels trade assets.
Major League Starting Pitchers
The Angels won’t be trading Garrett Richards, Andrew Heaney or Sean Newcomb. It’s highly unlikely they’ll trade Tyler Skaggs or Nick Tropeano. That’s their future five. But who else might be available?
LHP Hector Santiago – Santiago has been characteristically solid (even a bit underrated) for the Angels since arriving. This year, however, he’s been uncharacteristically consistent. Suffice it to say, young left-handed starting pitchers with an ERA below 300 that are just in the first year of arbitration, aren’t exactly available on the trade market. From the outside looking in, Santiago looks like he’s finally made the jump from untrustworthy backend starter to surprisingly good mid-rotation starter. But from the inside, a different picture is painted. An unsustainable strand rate and an ERA that’s extremely low compared to his FIP (xFIP included) make it unlikely for Santiago’s success to continue. But he’s outperformed his FIP ever year of his career and has now entered his physical prime. All things considered, Hector Santiago would have strong value on the trade market.
LHP C.J. Wilson – The $17 million a year he’s making would be a major obstacle in any trade, but believe it or not, Wilson has been pretty valuable for the Angels since signing. He’s made more than 30 starts a year, is average nearly 200 innings a year with an ERA south of 4.00 as an Angel. So far this season, he’s looking like he may post his best season in Anaheim, which is much needed after last year’s trainwreck. Still, not a lot of fans trust Wilson, for obvious reasons. However, if he were being offered one-for-one to a team with surplus offense and a player with a bloated contract, suddenly the Angels might be in a position to move Wilson. He’s done nothing but help his value this season, and could be a key trade chip.
Highly Effective Minor League Starting Pitchers
These are the pitchers that keep putting up the numbers at higher levels and have left the opposition wondering why. Intrigued? I am, and other teams probably are too.
LHP Nate Smith – Smith owns a career ERA of 3.22 in the minors, and has been spectacular in AA so far, considering he wasn’t expected to be this good coming out of Furman University in the 8th round. Still, Smith has dazzled his way up the ladder while flashing a particularly keen ability to generate strikeouts and minimize baserunners despite ordinary stuff. Generally speaking, a high-80’s fastball with average off-speed offerings isn’t a recipe for success. But Smith has added a couple ticks on his fastball since last year, now hovering around 90-92 MPH, which is average for a lefty in the majors, his curveball is showing a tighter spin and his changeup has gotten “heavier”. Translation: He’s looking really good right now. But being a good pitcher on a team full of good pitchers likely means you’re trade bait, which is sad, but not always a bad thing, just ask Tyler Skaggs. Bad players don’t get traded. Smith could figure into the back-end of a Major League rotation some time next year and provide an additional six years of team control. That sort of value isn’t taken lightly.
LHP Tyler DeLoach – Tall, left-handed, has a pulse, these are what catch a scouts eye in the amateur ranks. It’s what described DeLoach prior to being drafted by the Angels. Now, it appears he’s on the cusp of really forcing his ways to the Majors. He has a career 3.10 ERA with a K/9 of 9.7. The opposition in AA and AAA has so far shown an inability to pick up what he’s putting down. This all comes despite a fastball in the mid-80’s and a funky delivery. Most scouts don’t see him as a major league starter, but almost all would agree he may be death on lefties, even in the Majors, which could make him valuable out of the pen. Still, others may see that despite stuff that isn’t overpowering, there’s something about DeLoach that puzzles hitters. It’s entirely possible that much like Mike Fiers in Milwaukee, DeLoach could be the same thing in the majors.
Highly Projectable Minor League Starters
The Angels have a breadth of starters in the minors that are sort of like lottery tickets. If things match up just right, you’ll have a staff ace. If just one or two things are off, you might have a backend starter or effective reliever. If things don’t work out at all, you have depth fodder.
RHP Jeremy Rhoades – Rhoades was just supposed to be a good reliever with some stamina. You know, the type that can last 2-3 innings. The Angels went the starting route with him and, so far, we’ve seen a completely different pitcher this year than the one the Angels drafted last year. He still has the same low-90’s fastball and killer slider, but his delivery has been cleaned up and his changeup has developed into a “plus” pitch. Suddenly, Rhoades is beginning to resemble a pitcher that could slot into the middle of a rotation very soon. He’s currently carrying a 2.77 ERA in A-Ball as a 22-year old and the Angels have it in their plans to potentially let him finish the year in AA. Pinpoint command combined with plus offerings and youth are a deadly combo. There’s always the chance this is all due to A-Ball hitters being inferior, but that’s just the sort of thing that makes Rhoades a lottery ticket.
RHP Victor Alcantara – Last year’s Angel representative in the Futures Game on All-Star weekend, Alcantara comes with considerable upside and considerable risk. What once was a pitcher that threw 100 mph with no discernible plan or idea where the ball was going, Victor has grown into a pitcher that prefers to sit in the mid to upper 90’s with SOME idea what he’s doing and where the ball is going. He’s also got a slider that should be illegal and a changeup he’s working on. The ERA is shrinking down to a more respectable level and the BB/9 has now dipped into the only somewhat unsightly 4 per 9 innings. He may be a lottery ticket for the rotation, but Alcantara looks like a future closer if he can’t stick in the rotation, which he still might.
RHP Austin Wood – At one time he was the talk of the Angels system as far as pitchers go. They had this 21-year old kid in A-Ball that was tall and muscular and could throw the ball 98-99 MPH for 7 innings at a time. He even had a slider and changeup that could leave hitters jelly-legged. Then the injuries and subsequent rehab came. Two years lost, and still, the Angels held onto him, when most other pitchers would’ve been released. But the Angels knew there was too much upside to ignore. So they waited patiently for the day that Wood could return to the mound, and return he has this season in AA as a 24-year old. He began the year in the bullpen, but has worked himself into a starting role. Wood still isn’t all the way back yet. The old upper-90’s fastball comes in at 92-95 MPH for now and he’s still regaining a feel for his off-speed pitches. But this is just his first year back from devastating injuries. It’s likely that by the end of the year or next year, if Wood stays healthy his velocity will return. Other teams may want to bank on that.
RHP Chris Ellis – Ellis was a bit of a lottery ticket before the Angels ever scooped him up. He was a reliever at Ole Miss, and an inconsistent one at that. But finally, in his junior season, he made the move into the rotation, and everything seemed to come together for him. He became Ole Miss’s staff ace and started opening some eyes before the draft. But other teams remembered that only a year earlier, this Ellis kid wasn’t throwing this hard, but was also being hit a lot harder. They were skeptical because what they were seeing right now was worthy of first round consideration. Still, most teams wanted more of a sure thing with their top draft picks. But the Angels, they certainly didn’t mind using their 3rd round pick on him. Ellis came prepackaged with a low to mid-90’s fastball with incredible movement, a sharp breaking ball and a “plus” changeup. He also had mechanical inconsistencies and no general idea of the strike zone. The mechanics have been retooled a bit and he’s looking much better. He’s even throwing the ball in the strike zone too. But when you leave pitches out over the plate, no matter how good your stuff is, you’re going to get hit. Still, there’s the 54 K’s in only 44 innings, the youth and the fact that he could finish the year in AA. That would make Ellis a very attractive piece in any trade package.
The Projectable Relievers
The Angels have more of these than most other systems. In fact, you could pool together five different organizations and they still would likely only equal the number of relievers Dipoto and Servais have stock-piled in the system. It’s ridiculous. They aren’t all the same, but they’re all generally similar, either having a low-90’s or mid-90’s fastball, a great slider but no real changeup and some control problems. But they all project to be quality major league relievers in some fashion. Here they are:
Greg Mahle (LH)
Jonah Wesely (LH)
Eduard Santos (LH)
Chris O’Grady (LH)
So this is everything the Angels have to offer potential trade suitors. To sum it up, they have a whole BOATLOAD of pitching. Every kind of pitching imaginable really. Take your pick. The Angels minor leagues is a proverbial pitching emporium. It’s a safe bet some of it, maybe a lot of it, will be dealt come deadline time.
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