Los Angeles Angels: 3 reasons to trade for Francisco Lindor

Leverage

The Angels would hold almost the entirety of the leverage in negotiations with the Cleveland Indians. This applies to almost any team that would be looking to trade for the All-Star shortstop. It appears in the media that Lindor and the Cleveland Indians brass have begun to witness their own relationship deteriorate at a rapid pace. It appears to be a virtual lock that Lindor gets dealt somewhere this off-season. With that announcement alone, this eliminates a large portion of the leverage that the Indians had to begin with.

The Los Angeles Dodgers almost traded for Francisco Lindor last winter, but opted to go in a different direction with Mookie Betts, a direction that granted them a World Series title. If the Angels went a similar route by making Lindor their version of Mookie Betts, they could meet the same optimistic fate in the coming seasons.

The starting point in the Dodgers and Indians talks last winter was top prospects second baseman Gavin Lux and right-handed pitcher Dustin May. This was too much to give up at the time even when factoring in that Lindor had two years remaining on his contract. Now that Lindor is only a rental, the price would likely be one solid major league piece and a pair of top-10 prospects in the system. This could mean that men like Jared Walsh, Jeremiah Jackson, Kyren Paris, and Reid Detmers could be on the move in a potential deal. The Angels might not have the depth in their system, but they have some bonafide prospects in terms of upside.