LA Angels: Five untouchable players in trade talks

The Los Angeles Angels’ general manager Billy Eppler has already made a few interesting trades to improve his club in 2020, but there are few players on the roster that should never come up in trade talks.

The Los Angeles Angels enter the 2020 MLB season in an interesting position. As a team with multiple superstar-quality players, including the best player in the game, there are certain expectations for success in Anaheim. That much was evident during the winter when the front office made a couple of solid trades to shore up the pitching staff and even had the poker in the fire for another significant deal that fell through.

Likewise, the Angels are not a perfect team as currently constructed. There are a number of questions as to how things will shake out, whether the moves they made over the winter will have enough impact to make them legitimate contenders or whether they will be good enough to justify adding other pieces as the season goes on.

That all means that the Angels could figure prominently in any trade chatter throughout the summer. Whether it is coming or going, the is likely to be some sort of player movement through Anaheim. Of course, that all depends on answering the question about how and when a season comes together in 2020, but with the assumption that those details are moving forward, that seems like more of a formality.

So assuming that the season does get underway shortly (early July) and that player transactions start resuming at the onset of spring training, then the trade market will undoubtedly open up. Since we’ve already looked at what players could be moved out of Anaheim this year, we thought we would change things up and instead determine which players are absolutely untouchable in any trade talks involving the Angels.

Honorable Mention:

Hansel Robles was a unique find for the Angels when they plucked him off of waivers in June 2018. It proved to be an astute move and the former Mets cast-off has become a tremendous asset in the back-end of the bullpen, including earning the closer role in 2019, when he saved 23 games and put up a 2.88 ERA and a 9.3 K/9 ration. His value has been enhanced by limiting his walks, helping him to capture the potential he failed to grab in New York.

So why is he only an honorable mention?

While he is controllable for the next two seasons and should be cost-effective even during his last two turns through arbitration, that’s also part of what makes him attractive to potential buyers. There is also the volatility in regards to relievers in the game, and most teams that sell high often make out better than the teams that opt to hold on to pieces (see the Angels trade of Mike Clevinger for Vinny Pestano).

Untouchable Angels in trade talks: Jo Adell

Earlier this winter, back before COVID-19 shut down all of baseball, there were some trade discussions (according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com) with the Cleveland Indians in regards to bringing Mike Clevinger back to the Angels organization. The requested return of in that trade was rumored to be uber-prospect Jo Adell.

Needless to say, it was a non-starter.

While the Angels would have loved to bring Clevinger back and reverse the ill-advised deal for Vinnie Pestano, it would have come at a significantly higher cost for a top-of-the-rotation arm than they were willing to pay. While a team’s top prospect is generally the go-to ask for an ace-caliber arm with two years of control left, it was a non-starter for the Angels in this case.

Adell enters the 2020 season as one of the game’s top prospects, ranking within the top ten from all of the major publications (Baseball America – #3, MLB.com – #6, Baseball Prospectus – #2). The hype is entirely justified as well.

After being drafted 10th overall in the 2017 MLB Draft, Adell has sky-rocketed through the Angels system, culminating with his first call-up to Triple-A in 2019 and a successful turn in the Arizona Fall League. In three minor league systems, he’s hit .298/.361/.518 with 35 home runs and 143 RBI. The thought is that the 21-year-old will grow into more power as he matures, making him an ideal prospect as a corner outfielder to slot in beside Trout.

Trading prospects is always a source of debate, but in a weak system that finally has a can’t miss option, the Angels are wise to hold on here and see what they have. Jo Adell is about as close to the perfect prospect that their system has missed for a few years now, and it would be a shame to move him when he is on the cusp on making his big league debut and making an impact on the Angels for years to come.

Untouchable Angels in trade talks: Anthony Rendon

With the recent decline of Albert Pujols, the Angels have been on the hunt for an impact bat to pair with Mike Trout and make their line-up truly dangerous. The need has been apparent in the last several seasons, where despite Trout’s otherworldly performances, the Angels continued to place in the middle pack offensively. That included the 2019 campaign when the team finished 15th in runs scored, 20th in slugging percentage and 12th in wRC+.

That is why the team had no qualms about making a long-term commitment to a big stick this winter, despite having more obvious needs in their rotation. That is where Anthony Rendon comes into play.

Rendon was 7th in Major League Baseball with a 154 wRC+, 13th with a .279 ISO, and 5th with a .598 slugging percentage, while pacing the league in RBI. The Angels imagined plugging him into the line-up immediately behind Mike Trout, unequivocally increasing Trout’s value by creating less of a chance to pitch around him, while also creating opportunities for Rendon to be a run producer with Trout on base.

Is a 7-year, $245 million deal a big investment for a team to undertake? Certainly, but the Angels also understand that they have a window of opportunity to pursue a championship, and they want to take advantage of Trout’s peak years to make that push. Adding another top bat in the same age range extends that window, both now and into the future, where Pujols’ deal comes off the books following 2021.

Of course, the Angels won’t have the ability to trade Rendon immediately anyhow, as MLB restricts how soon a recently signed free agent can be traded without his proposal, and the delayed season puts that even more into doubt. Regardless, the Angels made this deal with the intention that it could have dividends down the road, even if the immediate results aren’t there. Anthony Rendon is not the next Zack Cozart, and the Angels aren’t likely to cut bait very quickly.

Untouchable Angels in trade talks: David Fletcher

Sometimes a team lucks out and sneaks an unheralded prospect through their system and finds a diamond in the rough. David Fletcher turned into one of those unique finds to the Los Angeles Angels and the team is basking in its glory.

Coming up through the system, Fletcher never made a single top-100 list in terms of MLB prospects, and wasn’t even ranked among the organization’s top 30 prospects heading into his rookie season in 2018. His lack of power in the minors may have diminished his ability to shine in scouts’ eyes, but the Angels still thought his exceptional bat control and outstanding defense warranted a chance on the big league roster.

The rest they say is history.

Since his call-up on June 13, 2018, David Fletcher has hit a solid .285/.339/.377 with a minuscule 10.9% strikeout rate in the big leagues. In addition, he’s been rated as an exceptional defender at both second and third base.

While that production may not jump off the page in today’s game, it is the comparables that make him valuable to the Angels and a darling to the fanbase. This team perhaps among most others in the league has a love for the dirt dog grinders that give it all on the field.

If there was one particular player from the past that Fletcher invokes the memory of, it is the incomparable David Eckstein. Never a huge producer with the bat, Eckstein found a way to become invaluable to the Angels during his first four seasons in the league, providing both stellar defense and clutch hits when the team needed them. It is easy to envision David Fletcher in that role for this current iteration of the Los Angeles Angels, and maybe even for the team’s next World Series winner.

Untouchable Angels in trade talks: Shohei Ohtani

There was never a doubt that Shohei Ohtani would become a star in Major League Baseball, it was always a question of whether he would do so as a hitter, a pitcher, or as a gimmick combination of both. After a year plus on this side of the pond, it goes without saying that he is all that was expected of him, and the gimmick label is easily put in the past.

The soon-to-be 26-year-old became an instant star when he signed with the Angels on December 9, 2017. He immediately made his impact by hitting .285/.361/.564 with 22 home runs and 61 RBI in his first 104 games with the Angels. Despite the shortened season, he still managed a 2.8 fWAR and a wRC+ of with the bat of 151 in his first 367 plate appearances. Coupled with a 4-2 record on the mound with a 3.31 ERA, a 3.57 FIP, and a 10.97 K/9 rate in 54.1 innings, Ohtani gave the Angels 3.8 wins above replacement in his rookie season.

Of course, that season came with the caveat of Tommy John surgery, something that had been feared when he was initially signed. And while he didn’t pitch at all in 2019, Ohtani did return to hit .286/.343/.505 with 18 home runs and 62 RBI after being cleared to swing last season.

However, this discussion isn’t about what Ohtani has done in his two-shortened seasons thus far. Rather, this is about what he means to the future of this organization, especially over the next four seasons of team control.

Expected to be fully healthy for the first time in his Angels career, the two-way star is expected to return to both the line-up and the mound in 2020 and really get a chance to showcase what he can bring to the team.

LA Angels: 5 Questions the team must answer when play resumes

The Angels have the opportunity to be patient with him and let him show what he brings to the table, thanks in no part to the very team-friendly deal they have him signed to thanks to the current MLB posting rules. Given his long-term potential and his instant star-power with the Japanese and American fanbases, Ohtani brings intangibles to the organization that is simply not something you move on from without fully exploring first.