LA Angels: To Trade or Not to Trade for SP Matthew Boyd

After the LA Angels missed out in Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg in free agency, they had to pivot to the second tier of starters as well as the trade market.

So far, they haven’t been able to acquire any starting pitching talent of note. Dylan Bundy could prove to be a nice addition, but this team needs frontline starters.

That’s where the reported interest in Detroit Tigers pitcher Matthew Boyd comes from. After a hot first half last season, the Tigers dangled Boyd at the trade deadline, but we’re reportedly asking for far too much.

More from Halo Hangout

• New York Post columnist has LA Angels bringing veteran starter back to LA
• Dodgers make wild mistake signing failed LA Angels starter
• Why LA Angels’ Qualifying Offer to Raisel Iglesias could become historical
• Both Gold Glove finalists for LA Angels getting snubbed is a complete joke
• Marcus Stroman definitely appears to be interested in the LA Angels

Then Boyd went on to struggle mightily in the second half of the season, regressing back to his career norm. After posting a 3.87 ERA, that number shot up to 5.51 in the second half of the year.

That’s what makes his trade value interesting. We’ve all seen him pitch to the level of a #2 starter for months at a time, but the regression that hit him should knock down his value a lot.

“Should” is the key word in that sentence, as is seems the Detroit Tigers asking price for Boyd is still nearly as high as it was during the trade deadline. There’s a lot of obvious reasons why his asking price should have gone down, but the Tigers aren’t hearing it. In their defense, Boyd does still have three years of team control left, which is very valuable.

Nonetheless though, they’re likely trading three years of a mid-rotation arm (at best) and shouldn’t be asking for an ace-level price, especially after seeing what Corey Kluber went for.

Boyd’s fit with the Angels is nice, though. The soft-tossing lefty would look great feeding ground balls to Anthony Rendon and andrelton Simmons. The case for him is the same case for free agents Hyun-Jin Ryu and Dallas Kuechel. The Angels have two elite defenders on the left side, making southpaw starters more attractive.

However, the asking price is probably too much for the Angels. While Jo Adell is certainly off the table, it would probably take a Brandon Marsh-level prospect to get Boyd to Anaheim. While Marsh’s future in the Angels’ outfield is somewhat cloudy given the insane depth the Halos have out there, six years of team control for him is still far more valuable that three years of Boyd.

Would Matthew Boyd be a great fit on the Angels team? Yes. Would I love the team to trade for him at the right price? Yes. Will he be available at that price? Probably not. The Angels are getting desperate for starters, but panicking and overpaying for Boyd would be a move that sets the team back rather than propels them to the playoffs.