LA Angels: 3 players ranked among MLBTR’s top trade candidates

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On June 2nd, MLB Trade Rumors released their new edition of their ‘Top 40 MLB Trade Candidates.’

Three of them were LA Angels. None of them are having strong years, but have higher upside than what they’ve been displaying, and just need one organization to believe in them and request a fair trade.

At 27-31 through the first 58 games of the season, the Angels most likely aren’t willing to sell just yet, but if they are, these three guys could be at the forefront of those discussions:

MLBTR’s First Angel Trade Candidate: Dylan Bundy

I get it. Dylan Bundy hasn’t been productive for the Angels at all, but has what it takes to be a very productive pitcher. That’s exactly why this is possible.

Bundy has looked terrible lately, so the Angels may be done waiting on him to produce, and another team may want to believe in that upside he showed in 2020. MLBTR mentioned that he’s throwing harder this year, and his K-BB% is around where it was in 2020, his career-year.

June is a big month for Bundy. If he can improve upon how he’s looked this season, he will be a much more attractive trade candidate. If not, his value is going to be very low.

He’s been giving up 2.1 home runs per game this year entering his start on Monday. He’s struggled like that before (see his 2018 campaign) and he’s not the most proven starter, sporting a 44-54 record.

His trade value will be determined by where he’s going at the end of July, and not where he’s been.

Jun 1, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Andrew Heaney (28) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the San Francisco Giants. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports /

MLBTR’s Second Angel Trade Candidate: Andrew Heaney

It feels like Andrew Heaney is in a similar situation. He’s having a down year overall, and like Bundy, has an awful ERA.

His ERA is at 4.76, but what’s interesting is that when really analyzing who’s most responsible for those runs, his SIERA is 3.56.

The Angels have the league’s worst defense, leading the MLB in errors (45), having the worst fielding percentage in the MLB (.978), and having the fourth-least defensive runs saved in the MLB (-15). Judging by his SIERA, it seems like Heaney has endured the worst of that poor defense.

That, along with the fact that he’s had a few decent years as a starting pitcher in this league, will give him some trade value entering deadline time.

Again, it’s very similar to the situation with Bundy. If he looks good moving forward, he can really up his trade value for the Angels. If he continues to struggle, then he’s not going to be seen as very valuable by many other teams.

Unlike Bundy, Heaney looked great in his previous start, allowing just one earned run in 6.1 innings at San Francisco.

He’s been inconsistent this year. All he needs is to have more consistency to be a great trade option. If he does find his consistency, however, Joe Maddon may want to keep him around.

Jun 4, 2021; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Raisel Iglesias (32) celebrates at the end of the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

MLBTR’s Third Angel Trade Candidate: Raisel Iglesias

MLBTR acknowledged that Raisel Iglesias doesn’t have the best ERA, but it’s improved since their writing. Entering Sunday’s season-finale, his ERA was at 3.91. MLBTR thinks that ERA will continue to improve.

At the time of MLBTR’s writing, Iglesias had a strong 35.1% strikeout rate, which was the best of his career. They also pointed out that he had the lowest walk rate of his career, at 3.9%.

“Iglesias is second among 184 qualified relievers with a 21.1 percent swinging-strike rate, and his 37.9 percent chase rate is tied for 19th,” wrote MLBTR in their piece.

He’s clearly got good stuff, and can make you miss. He’s a high-upside guy that’s already improved a bit in this past week.

MLBTR and I expect him to continue to improve, and if the Angels are sellers by deadline day, that’s a great option to trade and get good value from.

All three of these guys have the chance to provide nice trade value at the end of next month.

MLBTR also listed Jose Iglesias, Steve Cishek, Tony Watson, Alex Cobb, Jose Quintana, Junior Guerra, and Kurt Suzuki as “Others to Watch.”

Next. 3 reasons why Angels should be optimistic

The Angels may be busy on deadline day, and MLBTR has a solid idea of what they might be looking at when it’s time to trade.

Home / LA Angels Rumors

MLBTR’s First Angel Trade Candidate: Dylan Bundy

MLBTR’s Second Angel Trade Candidate: Andrew Heaney

MLBTR’s Third Angel Trade Candidate: Raisel Iglesias

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