LA Angels: 3 Blockbuster Trades To Pursue This Offseason

The LA Angels have quite the offseason ahead of them. With most attention focused on free agency, however, what blockbuster trades could Billy Eppler pull off?

It has been nearly a decade since the LA Angels and their fans had a prospect to be genuinely excited about. Well, technically Shohei Ohtani was a prospect, but we all know that was a special case.

Jo Adell, the Angels #1 prospect and consensus top five amateur in all of baseball, is the best prospect this team has seen since Mike Trout. 2020 is the season he’s supposed to reach the big leagues, giving the Angels their outfield duo of, hopefully, the next 8-12 years.

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However, Jo Adell is also arguably the biggest trade chip in all of baseball. The other prospects ranked in the same elite tier as him aren’t known to be on the market, which means if the Angels want to trade for a player, they have the ultimate chip.

Not all three of these trades contain Jo Adell, but it’s worth mentioning that if the Angels see 2020-2022 as their prime winning window, then trading Adell would make sense in that realm of thinking. While Adell will hopefully be a solid contributor as soon as he debuts, he won’t reach the peak of his career for 3-5 years at the very least.

Billy Eppler also stated following the trade deadline that the Angels had conversations involving every prospect…except Adell.

It also helps knowing that there could (and should) be legitimate superstars available via trade over the next six months.

Trade #1: Thor Joins Sho-Time

While the trade market has a decent amount of positional stars, there’s only one starting pitcher with the name recognition and talent of a true ace. Noah Syndergaard could very well be with the Mets in 2020 as they take another shot at the postseason.

However, it would also make a lot of sense for the Mets to look into reloading their farm system. Marcus Stroman and Jacob DeGrom are two frontline starters anyway, making this trade even more reasonable.

This package from the Angels would give the Mets a nice balance of position players and pitchers, as their farm system could use a replenishing of both.

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Brandon Marsh is the Halos’ #2 prospect, and many around the MLB believe he has the talent and grit to be a longtime starter in the MLB, with a few peak years of exceptional play. He has excelled and progressed throughout the minors repeatedly, and could be the centerpiece in a deal for Syndergaard,

Jose Saurez flashed some potential, but ultimately struggled during his rookie season. Chris Rodriguez has tons of potential, but has struggled with injuries the past two seasons. While he’s still young, the Angels may be smart to get some return while he still has value.

Noah Syndergaard would give the Angels a true ace alongside Ohtani. Sure, he’s had some inconsistencies and dealt with minor injuries, but it will be hard to find a more talented pitcher on the trade market than Syndergaard, and the Angels need to be all over that.

Trade #3: Stabilizing Middle of the Rotation

This is one trade the LA Angels should definitely be exploring. The Tigers negotiated trades for their Matthew Boyd at the deadline, but opted to hold onto their ace for at least the remainder of 2019. However, in those months, his 3.87 ERA in the first half ballooned to a 5.51 mark in the remainder of the season.

That abysmal performance over the summer surely dropped Boyd’s value, and likely has the Tigers’ front office full of regret. However, they still have a chance to gain some value for Boyd. After all, he has three more seasons under team control and flashed serious potential for a three month stretch.

So, why not strike while his value is down?

The Tigers are in the middle of a long rebuild. Younger, toolsy prospects are what they’re likely searching for whether the prospects’ estimated time of arrival is 2020 or 2023. This gives the Angels flexibility on their offer. Boyd isn’t anyone to sell the farm for, but shipping Jahmai Jones, a toolsy infielder, and Jose Soriano, a young pitcher with mounds of upside, might intrigue the Tigers enough to part ways with Boyd.

Upon his arrival, Boyd would be no worse than a mid-rotation arm. However, as we saw last season, there’s legitimate upside in Boyd and if he can be better managed in 2020, consistency throughout the entire season will follow.