Angels: Four players they could trade for in 2020

Whenever baseball returns, the Angels enter the 2020 season with an improved roster, but one that could use a little more help to reach the postseason.

After signing Anthony Rendon to a seven-year, $245 contract, you would hope the Angels are improved entering the 2020 season, and they are. Along with Rendon, the team expects Shohei Ohtani to return to the mound as a potential Ace, and newly-acquired Dylan Bundy is poised for a breakout season. The projection systems put the Angels around 83 wins over a full 162-game schedule.

Obviously, the 2020 landscape has changed dramatically over the past several weeks. Nobody knows when the season will begin, or if the season will be played at all. Rosters are currently frozen, and once transactions are allowed again, it’s unclear how teams will respond, whether a compressed schedule leads teams to believe they have a better chance at contending, and therefore, unwilling to trade key pieces, or if they will be more aggressive for the same reason.

Will there be a new trade deadline? Will exceptions be made to the waiver wire process?

Leaving all of the logistics aside, this article focuses on the players who the Angels could trade for this season, assuming the rules allow them to do so. They are a team with breathing room below the luxury tax threshold (~$17 million), which puts them in a great position to acquire talent if they need it.

And you will quickly pick up on the theme of where they need to add talent.

3) SP Jeff Samardzija

Entering the final season of a 5-year, $90 million deal, the Giants, who are in complete rebuilding mode, should look to trade the 35-year-old for future assets.

After an injury-riddled 2018 campaign, Samardzija bounced back last season, starting 32 games (8th in the NL) and pitching to a 3.52 ERA. The veteran righty would give the Halos a steady presence in a rotation of young arms and veterans hoping to become late bloomers.

While Samardzija has lost a little juice in his fastball (his velocity a career low 91.9 MPH last season), his spin rate ranked in the top 97th percentile in baseball, according to Baseball Savant. Using a variety of fastball pitches, he mixes a four-seamer with a cutter and a sinker, getting opposing hitters to swing and miss on 20 percent of his four-seam offerings.

The amount general manager Billy Eppler would need to surrender to acquire Samardzija would depend on how well he pitches to start the season, how strong the demand for him is from other contending teams, and most significant, how much of his contract Los Angeles would be willing to absorb. The Angels could use their luxury tax breathing room to add a legitimate veteran to their rotation this season.

2) Trevor Bauer

Trevor Bauer is another veteran starter who could become an intriguing addition to the Angels rotation. While temperamental, the 29-year-old has proven that he can be an above average starter, if unlikely to be elite again as he was in 2018 in Cleveland.

Due $17 million in 2020 and set to become a free agent in 2021, it’s possible the Reds trade him for future assets with their rotation deep enough to compete without him. If the Angels see a path to the postseason, especially if MLB adds more playoff teams in 2020, Bauer could become a difference maker in Anaheim.

The right-hander saw his ERA balloon to 4.48 last season, after a career-best 2.21 performance in 2018. However, the projection systems see a bounce-back season with ZiPS modeling the starter to produce 3.4 fWAR with a projected 3.74 ERA in 2020.

If Griffin Canning proves unhealthy, even after a long break, or Ohtani stumbles in his return, Billy Eppler will have pressure to add a proven starter like Bauer.

1) SP Robbie Ray

Arizona Diamondback starter Robbie Ray avoided arbitration this season by signing a one-year, $9.43 million contract in what will be his final season before becoming a free agent.

The 28-year-old was 12-8 for Arizona last season, his park adjusted pitching statistics (xFIP) showing a better season than his 4.34 ERA suggests. Ray allowed 30 home runs in 2019, third most in the National League. But if he can keep the ball in the ballpark, he could be a very effective starter. His career 11.13 K/9 highlights his tantalizing stuff.

Some believe Ray’s stuff would translate best as a reliever. As the 2020 season offers the potential for a crazy schedule of double-headers, few days off, and a shortened Spring Training, teams will need to be creative in how they deploy their pitchers. Ray offers a versatile arm the Angels could use in a variety of ways.

While the Diamondbacks expect to compete in 2020, they are pretty much starting the season playing for a wild card berth with the Dodgers in their division. With no progress made on a contract extension, after an offseason of trade rumors, it seems possible Arizona eventually parts with Ray, whether they are competitive or not.