LA Angels: What Tony Watson trade tells about the Halos’ long-term plans

The LA Angels have traded Tony Watson back to the San Francisco Giants for three pitchers.

The three pitchers were Sam Selman, Jose Marte, and Ivan Armstrong.

Sam Selman has played at the Major League level before, and has a 4.06 ERA in 37.2 innings pitched. Watson had a 4.64 ERA for the Angels this year. He used to be good, but needed to head somewhere else to get his career back on track.

The LA Angels confirmed their emphasis on pitching when they traded Tony Watson for three pitchers.

Back in the MLB Draft, the LA Angels drafted 20 pitchers with their 20 picks. Then, they signed Sam Bachman, their first-round pick, to a cheap deal.

It went to show that they had something up their sleeve. To be able to save money on a first round pick frees up opportunity for something else.

It looked like it was either going to be to save the money to sign all the rest of the draft picks, or maybe for some deadline moves.

Well, the trade deadline hit yesterday, and the Halos traded struggling Andrew Heaney for two bright prospects, and now have traded struggling Watson for three pitchers.

The amount of arms they’re collecting have shown the Angels’ newfound dedication to pitching.

And Marte and Armstrong aren’t scrubs. Marte has posted a 2.79 ERA at the A+ and AA level, and Armstrong has posted a 1.88 ERA at the A- level.

Heaney is 30, and Watson is 36. The Halos are going young, and they’re taking a chance on as many possible pitchers as they can. At least some of them are bound to pan out.

So between the trade deadline and the draft, we’ve parted ways with two pitchers, yet added 25.

I like that plan of attack. The offense isn’t the problem with this team. It’s the defense and pitching.

The pitching is the number one weakness we need to address, and the Halos are seriously looking to improve there and address it.

They even considered trading for Scherzer.

The Angels sold, but didn’t hold a fire sale. That was a good plan of action for the Halos, as they improved the future while still giving them a chance to compete this year.