4 Angels players who are tanking their trade value ahead of crucial deadline

Kenley Jansen no longer seems like a key Angels' trade piece

When Kenley Jansen signed with the Angels ahead of spring training, a lot of eyebrows were raised. The 37-year-old closer is chasing history and trying to put an exclamation point on his Hall of Fame candidacy.

Entering the season with 447 career saves and chasing the magical 500 mark, it seemed unlikely he'd finish the season with a ball club projected to be one of the very worst in baseball. The most likely scenario was he'd get a chance to prove he still had something left in the tank and get flipped at the deadline to a bullpen-needy contender, especially one who may find themselves without a reliable closer.

At the beginning of the season, everything seemed to be going according to plan for Jansen, who put together a pristine first month. As time has gone on, however, the cracks are beginning to show.

Currently sporting a 4.96 ERA, Jansen has been bitten by the same homer bug that has plagued the rest of the Angels' league-worst bullpen, allowing 2.20 HR/9. The concerns with Jansen don't stop there, however.

The grizzled veteran is striking out batters at the lowest rate of his career, sitting at just 8.82 K/9 and continuing his slide in this metric that has gone on for the past several years. Moreover, while he's not walking a ton of batters, just 2.76 BB/9 versus a career average of 2.73, he's become very hittable.

Jansen's 1.41 WHIP highlights the traffic he's allowed on the bases, mostly coming via the base hit, and is a far cry from his 0.97 career mark.

At this point in the season, he appears much more like a late-30s arm that's running out of gas rather than the finishing touch on a World Series contender's roster.

Bullpen arms are always in high demand at the deadline, but unless Jansen has a swift return to form, it's very doubtful any contenders will come calling the Angels to inquire about his services.