Trade deadline deals are usually pretty standard: Contending Team A trades one or more prospects to Non-Contending Team Z for one or more established big leaguers. That is the way it has worked for decades. It doesn’t look like it is going to work that way this year, though.
This year, there are very few clear contenders and even fewer clear non-contenders. Everyone else is stuck in trade deadline purgatory. Just yesterday there was a report that the Tigers were going to sell off David Price and Yoenis Cespedes only to have another report come out hours later that the Tigers were actually going to be prime buyers instead. Like everyone, the Tigers want to make a deal but, like everyone, they don’t know whether to buy or sell. In a strange way, that makes this the perfect trade deadline for the Angels to trade C.J. Wilson.
The Angels desperately need a bat to plug into left field. The problem is that their choices are limited because some of the best bats on the market are owned by teams that aren’t sure if they want to be sellers or not. That puts the Angels in a tough position because it requires them to overpay with prospects, prospects that they don’t really have. If only there was another kind of trade they could make with one of those numerous teams that are in trade deadline limbo.
Enter C.J. Wilson. The Halos are in the enviable position of being one of the few true contenders. They are in an even more enviable position in that they are a true contender that has a starting pitching surplus. It has been a popular notion since the start of the season that the Halos should flip one of those starting pitchers for a bat. That was always a nice idea, but not likely based on historical precedent. With the way things are shaping up with just over a week before the deadline strikes, history doesn’t seem like it is going to apply here.
Just looking at the current standings, there are no fewer than 12 contenders or maybe-contenders that have a clear need for starting pitching. The Cubs, Cardinals, D’Backs, Dodgers, Jays, Tigers, Royals, Astros, Rangers, Orioles, Yankees and Twins could all use a quality starter, to some degree or another. That creates a number of potential opportunities for the Halos to swap Wilson for the bat they need.
There is the ever-present suggestion to trade C.J. Wilson for Andre Ethier. I have wet dreams about Wilson getting dealt to the Cubs for Kyle Schwarber. Perhaps C.J. could be used to reacquire Randal Grichuk from the Cards. The Diamondbacks have an outfield surplus and a desperate need for rotation help, so there has to be a match in there somewhere. There is even some sense in a Wilson-for-Cespedes trade with the Tigers. None of these are exact perfect deals, but seldom ever is there a time where a contending team has this many options to explore where they can deal an established player for another established (or quasi-established) player.
It certainly doesn’t hurt that moving Wilson would help clear up the awkward logjam in their rotation that is going to result in either the resurgent Matt Shoemaker or the fan favorite franchise icon Jered Weaver getting kicked into the bullpen. If the Angels can get some financial savings out of the deal to free up some money to spend in free agency this coming offseason, all the better. The incentives to find a trade for C.J. just keep piling up.
Does that mean it is going to happen? Alas, probably not. Despite this being something of a perfect storm for such a trade, it still feels like a weird thing to do and the Angels no longer have a GM in charge that is open to weird ideas. Bill Stoneman barely signs off on standard deadline deals, so he figures to be beyond averse to this kind of a deal. Then again, maybe it would appeal to his prospect-clutching ways.
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