5 Angels players most likely to be traded at this year’s Winter Meetings

Nothing if off-the-table and nobody is untouchable. That is Perry Minasian's mindset this offseason, and it is showing. The Angels sent a DFA candidate (Griffin Canning) to Atlanta for Jorge Soler, traded cash considerations (gonna miss him) for Scott Kingery, claimed Ryan Noda off waivers, and signed Yusei Kikuchi, Travis d'Arnaud, Kevin Newman, and Kyle Hendricks as free agents. While it is a fallacy to think so, Minasian certainly feels due for a big trade in the near future and he has a multitude of players on the trade block.

“What we've done so far, we've been pretty aggressive and we're going to continue to be aggressive,” Minasian said. “I wouldn't say anything is off limits. With the year we had, there's definitely areas to get better. Really, every area, whether it's rotation, lineup, bullpen, bench depth. We'll look to tackle and attack all those areas and continue to improve this club.”

With the Winter Meetings coming up, every GM will be in the same place at once. A prime opportunity for Minasian to make a big deal. So, of the players the Angels currently have on the major league roster, who are 5 candidates to be dealt in the coming days?

1. Tyler Anderson

Anderson is a prime trade candidate. He is on an expiring, tradable, $13 million deal. There are several clubs who are willing to eat salary in order to move theoretical win-now players off their active payroll. The Cubs' Cody Bellinger and Cardinals' Sonny Gray, most notably. Anderson could easily be a part of a package sent to Chicago, St. Louis, or wherever else to help off-set any incoming salary. The other teams would be eating less money if they brought back Anderson's expiring contract, therefore they would be more willing to send a theoretical win-now player to Anaheim to do so.

Anderson and Hendricks in the same rotation does not seem like a winning formula, even if both are savvy, innings-eating veterans. They both throw slowly and allow a lot of hard contact. Anderson received interest last trade deadline, and it would be smart to get something back while they still have the left-handed starter.