Angels Rumors: 3 starters available for trade that LAA needs more than any other team

Here is the main reason why the Los Angeles Angels HAVE to buy at the trade deadline, and ideally more than a week before: Strength of schedule. The Angels have the seventh hardest strength of schedule in the second half of the year. As soon as the All-Star break ends, the Halos play two road series against the 55-41 Philadelphia Phillies and 55-42 New York Mets. The Angels get to play the five best teams before the end of the year in Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers! Yay!

The Angels cannot tank for another top-ten draft pick and their prospects stink anyway, might as well push whatever chips they have in for anybody who could help improve this decimated rotation. It just so happens that these three starting pitchers are incredibly obtainable.

Angels Rumors: 3 available starters that LAA needs more than any other team

The Diamondbacks stated that they would not trade both Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, which does not make sense and sounds like posturing. If they are going to sell and re-tool heading into 2026, why would they take a half measure? Both of their contracts expire at the end of the year, so unless they know for certain that they can extend one...they should absolutely trade both!

With that being said, which D-Backs starter are the Angels more likely to go after? Well, either starter would immediately become the 1B to Yusei Kikuchi's 1A, so which could be added for less? Kelly's on a cheaper deal and has been better than Gallen this year (despite the seven-year age gap), so the odds are his market is more robust than Gallen's.

On Eugenio Suárez -- it would be desperate to trade for his expiring contract when the Angels already have Yoán Moncada. Unless Suárez guarantees he would sign an extension with the team that trades for him, there's absolutely no need to jump the gun on acquiring the third baseman before free agency. Don't worry, everybody, the X-rays on Suárez's hand came back clean after Chicago's Shane Smith plunked him in the All-Star Game.

The Angels do not seem old enough whatsoever, Charlie Morton fits a huge need there. The 41-year-old would slot in perfectly next to Tyler Anderson and Kyle Hendricks! All candor aside, Morton has been nasty lately, and the Orioles have to know that they have no chance of making the postseason. They could maybe pass the Rays in the AL East, but they are not passing any of the Blue Jays, Yankees or Red Sox the rest of the campaign.

Like the Diamondbacks, they could easily re-tool for 2026 by trading off their starters. Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano and Zach Eflin are on expiring deals, and their rotation next year will have some combination of Grayson Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish, Dean Kremer, Trevor Rogers, Cade Povich and Tyler Wells. Morton is by far the most desirable of their three available starters, and the Angels should love that he has ties to the Atlanta Braves!

A quick note on Taj Bradley, who is definitely a pitcher the Angels should be making calls on. "Rays listening to offers for Taj Bradley" is different than "Rays to make Taj Bradley available." The Angels have definitely listened to offers on Mike Trout before, but that means nothing. Don't bet on Bradley getting moved out of Tampa Bay, barring a godfather offer that the Angels could not scrounge up.

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