Angels: Staying silent during the trade deadline.

The Angels are again in last place in the AL West. The little ground they made during the six-game win streak has been crushed by a three-game skid to the Houston Astros. Now it’s time to start talking about trades before the deadline.

The Angels sit in last place of the AL West with a record of 43-55, 12 games back of first place, and 11 games back of a wildcard spot. So, it’s safe to say the season is basically on it’s last leg.

The Angels tried to salvage the season, they made small moves to patch the holes in the pitching staff.

They brought in Jhoulys Chacin from Atlanta and singed two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum. Those moves, haven’t worked as well as we thought. The buzz surrounding Lincecum has since faded to the point where he’s just another pitcher. Chacin was recently moved from the starting rotation to the bullpen when Nick Tropeano returned from the DL.

The trade deadline is one week away, and the Angels have been suspiciously quiet in the weeks leading up to the deadline. The last word we heard from GM Billy Eppler was in late June, he told the Orange County Register as reported by Jeff Fletcher:

"“With the position of this organization and the financial strengths of this organization, it’s not in the DNA here to rebuild,” Eppler said. “We’ll continue to invest. We’ll continue to invest throughout this season, with a mind for this season, with a mind for the future and this winter with a mind towards competing and contending year in and year out.”"

The trade rumors of the MLB are beginning to heat up as we draw closer to August. However, the Angels don’t appear to be in the market to sell players. In fact, following this season the Angels have 10 players set to be free agents. Two of which, have a combined salary of over $40 million.

So, the question remains: Should the Angels be sellers before the trade deadline? Teams have reportedly expressed interest in Yunel Escobar, but nothing has been reported since late June. Joe Smith and Huston Street are names also being tossed around.

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Moving Smith and Street is ideal, both have struggled through injuries this season. But, it’s clear Billy Eppler is content with rebuilding during the winter meetings and likely using the free agent money to play with.

90% of the free agents for the Angels are pitchers, C.J. Wilson and Jered Weaver are two of the bigger names on the free agent list. Fernando Salas, Chacin, Smith, Lincecum, and Al Alburquerque round out the list.

Assuming Smith doesn’t get moved prior to the trade deadline, the Angels could let him walk after this season. Smith is the third highest paid free agent at just over $5 million.

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Part of the reason Eppler is reluctant to move players is because of injuries, he wants multiple players back in the lineup to see how they play. Tyler Skaggs will make his first start in an Angel uniform since 2014 on Tuesday.
would suspect the Angels will have a better notion of what to do for the trade deadline following Tuesday’s game versus the Royals.