Angels Trade Wishlist: The Pollock Pipe Dream

With the trade deadline fast approaching, the writers at MWAH thought we’d all get together and do a roundtable of the trades we would like to see happen and call it our Angels Trade Wishlist. This was going to be one piece, but apparently we are all so amped for the deadline that each and every one of us wrote way too much, so instead, we’re unveiling one fantasy trade proposal each day. Keep in mind, these are just the trades our individual writer wants to see, so it doesn’t necessarily mean it is an existing rumor out there.

I’m told the Angels kicked the tires on A.J. Pollock last offseason and on into this year. This caused me to do some research, and yeah, as it turns out, Pollock is the most Dipoto-player ever. He’s a D’Back, he was a collegiate prospect with an across the board skill-set, he was drafted by Dipoto himself as a member of the D-Backs and is reportedly a good, intelligent teammate in the clubhouse. But in his current form, Pollock is an All-Star, under team control for a few more years, and relatively inexpensive. Translation, he’s unattainable.

But if I’m dreaming, I’m not dreaming of players that are easily attainable, that teams want to exchange for prospects. I want the player the other team does NOT want to trade.   The Diamondbacks don’t want to trade A.J. Pollock. I want A.J. Pollock to be the Angels new LF. Make sense?

There are so many ways this particular player in general fits the Angels, it hurts to even think about it. But let’s first start with what the Angels need exactly.

1. A corner outfielder. Great. Whatever player they manage to trade for, he should be able to play the corner outfield competently.
2. A good defensive player. The Angels have a lot of good young pitchers in their rotation and on their way in the minors. While the team is questionable at 2B, 3B and even catcher when Iannetta is back there, what should not be questionable is the OF. Trout is a top notch defensive CF. Kole Calhoun is a very good defensive RF. If the Angels want to be able to help their young pitchers, they need a good defensive LF, someone that can not only cover a lot of ground, but has a reasonably strong arm.
3. A top or middle of the order hitter. Since it’s well known the Angels offense has been floundering for most of the year, the Angels need ways to not only create runs, but someone that can drive them in as well. There’s only so long Trout and Pujols can carry this team. There’s only so long the Angels can get away with batting Giavotella (.322 OBP) leadoff and Erick Aybar (.323 OBP) fifth.
4. A long term solution. The Angels don’t have any OF prospects in AAA ready to come in and become a difference making everyday player. The Angels might have one in AA (Chad Hinshaw), but he still has a lot to prove, isn’t healthy and is still likely at least two years away. The Angels don’t have any of those in Advanced A ball with the exception of Bo Way, and he hasn’t been able to replicate last year’s success (though he is heating up). They might have one in A Ball in Natanael Delgado or Miguel Hermosillo and they might have a couple in Rookie Ball (Jahmai Jones and Kyle Survance). Basically what I’m saying is there’s a lot of uncertainty and even that uncertainty is still years away. The Angels are going to need someone that can step in, play LF and do so for at least the next three years.
5. An inexpensive option. The Angels are about to pay Mike Trout and Albert Pujols a lot more money. C.J. Wilson and Jered Weaver are still making $17 million+ for another year, Josh Hamilton is still going to be paid in excess of $20 million by the club for the next couple years and Kole Calhoun and Garrett Richards will hit arbitration soon. While they may have about 10-15 million worth of freedom under the Luxury Tax right now, it doesn’t mean they need to be spending it all on one player.

So there we have it, we just described A.J. Pollock perfectly. He’s a center fielder by trade but can play left field, he’s a good defensive player that can cover plenty of ground and has a good arm, he can hit anywhere first through five and not hurt the Angels, he’s under contract for three years after this, and he’s making the league minimum this year and will be arbitration eligible starting next year.

Oh, and he’s 27 years old and hitting .300/.350 20 doubles 2 triples 11 homeruns and 19 stolen bases at the all-star break.

Alright, so now that we’re aware of what the Angels needs are and who A.J. Pollock is, let’s talk price. He’s going to cost the Angels a hefty sum, more than they’ve ever paid in a trade before, including for the likes of Teixeira, Grienke and Street.

According to their major league roster, the D-backs could use a viable option at 2B, SS, LF, a good starting pitcher and a high end RP. The Angels can help them with some of it, but not all of it, but we should also bare in mind that they’ll need to overpay considerably to make the D-Backs even consider moving Pollock, and will need to give them options that can help in the near future. One look at their prospects, and we can see that the D-Backs have a ton of pitching help on the way. Former Angel prospect Pat Corbin is now fully healthy, they also have Archie Bradley, Aaron Blair and Braden Shipley all on the mound and all in the minors (except Bradley, who is hurt).

Those are all high ceiling, but also low-floor options.  The D-Backs can use a steady arm that they can depend on to be a consistent #3/4 starter in their rotation for the next 6-7 years.  This means that if the Angels do try to trade from their pitching depth, they can only do so with a prospect that is not only pretty good, but also major league ready (gulp!). That Nick Tropeano. That’ll definitely get the ball rolling, but he himself just isn’t the elite prospect Arizona would be looking for when trading one of their best players.  They’d want someone with upside that can play the field.  The Angels have one in OF Jahmai Jones, but he can’t be traded just yet, so he’d need to be designated as the “PTNBL” (player to be named later).  That gets the D-Backs the pitching and upside they need. The greater need among 2B or SS for Arizona in at second base, so this would mean the Angels would deal from their 2B depth and the prime target would be Alex Yarbrough.  While Yarbrough has stumbled out of the gate this year in AAA, he has the upside you look for in a second baseman and is a former AA MVP.  As for LF, Arizona will need a player that may make an impact immediately within the next year or two, which would be the timeframe they’re looking to compete.  The Angels can offer Chad Hinshaw, who has decent upside as part of the deal to cover LF in 2016/17 and hopefully beyond. Finally, a reliever.  Luckily, the Angels have a lot of those and at the top of the list in terms of upside, we have Cam Bedrosian.

RHP Nick Tropeano, OF Jahmai Jones (PTBNL), 2B Alex Yarbrough, OF Chad Hinshaw and RHP Cam Bedrosian for OF A.J. Pollock.

I told you we’d have to overpay, didn’t I?

But don’t feel bad, because this is the whole reason why we’d do this….

LF A.J. Pollock

RF Kole Calhoun

CF Mike Trout

1B Albert Pujols

That would make the Angels 1-4 hitters among the best in the AL and would almost certainly lead to more runs.  Imagine the sort of defense the threesome of Trout, Pollock and Calhoun would provide.  Imagine the sort of havoc Pollock would cause if he’s on base for Calhoun and Trout.