LA Angels: Why the Angels should trade for Blake Snell

It’s been reported that the Tampa Rays are shopping their number one starter, Blake Snell, and the Angels are one of the teams interested in acquiring him.

There’s no beating around the bush on what the Angels need. Everyone knows that it’s pitching and they need a top-of-the-line starter if they want to make any noise in the AL West.

It’s surprising that the Rays would be willing to part ways with someone of Snell’s caliber, however, given Snell’s on the field antics that were noticeably on display during the 2020 postseason, it makes sense that both sides might want to start fresh. Also, the Rays haven’t been afraid of flipping their pitching talent in past seasons, showed by their dealing of Chris Archer to the Pirates for Tyler Glasnow and Austin Meadows which seemed to have worked out for them.

It would be one of Angels new general manager Perry Minasian’s first big moves in the position as he is tasked with getting the Angels back into postseason contention and getting Mike Trout back into the spotlight of playing meaningful games in October.

Using a trade simulator, there is one move that would make sense for both sides which sees the Angels giving up their top outfield prospect in Brandon Marsh, and two rotation options in Patrick Sandoval and Jaime Barria. The Rays would be getting a fresh face in the outfield that has the potential to be a star in Marsh, especially with the team waiting on the news of Randy Arozarena. The team would also be getting two developmental arms in Patrick Sandoval and Jaime Barria as they haven’t been able to figure it out in Anaheim and translate their starts into success.

The Rays are exceptional when it comes to developing arms and this trade would give them two starters that have shown flashes of brilliance.

As for the Angels, parting ways with Brandon Marsh won’t be too bad on their system as they would’ve had an eventual log jam with Justin Upton and Jo Adell fighting for playing time as well as other outfield prospects on the way with Jordyn Adams and D’Shawn Knowles. Getting a starter like Blake Snell would help solve their problems of trying to find an ace in their rotation.

Snell had a great 2020 season, posting 50 innings of a 3.24 ERA with 63 strikeouts. He won the CY Young award in 2018 when he led the league with 21 wins and a 1.89 ERA in 180.2 innings pitched. This also earned him his first All-Star nod in the first half of the season.

While the Angels will still need help in that rotation following Snell, it would ease the worry of fans about acquiring top-tier starting pitching. It’s also important to note that keeping Snell around is easy as Snell still has three years left on his 5-year $50 million deal that he signed in 2019.

For what it’s worth, that would also mean the Angels will have two Scott Boras clients in Snell and Anthony Rendon, which may benefit the relationship between the Angels and Boras.

This would give Blake Snell a fresh start with a new team as it’s been documented in this 2020 postseason that he’s questioned some of the managerial moves from the team. He would have a new manager in Joe Maddon and a new pitching coach in Mickey Callaway that could help him achieve the goals he couldn’t accomplish with the Rays. With the lack of pitching success, the Angels could help him go deeper into games and he would not have to argue to stay in games as the team doesn’t have too many options after him.

This trade would benefit sides, but it would especially benefit the Angels. Grabbing an ace for the top of the rotation would be a huge boon to the Halos’ playoff aspirations and Snell could be the first step in that direction.