Angels underwhelm in trade for New York Yankees utility player

The Angels announced they were buyers at the trade deadline after their acquisitions of Luis García and Andrew Chafin, but spent most of the final hours sitting on their hands. As the clock ticked closer to the 6 PM deadline, it was announced that the Halos struck a deal for New York Yankees utility man Oswald Peraza.

Angels underwhelm in trade for New York Yankees utility player

Most fans were reasonably excited for what Perry Minasian and the rest of the Angels' front office had planned after their trade with the Washington Nationals on Wednesday. There was not a peep of rumors in Anaheim until a half hour before the deadline, when the deal for Peraza broke. The Angels are sending Wilberson De Pena to New York in exchange for the infielder.

Peraza was once among the highly touted prospects of the Yankees organization. At 25-years-old now, the Yankees can no longer afford the time for him to turn things around. In Anaheim, Peraza's role as a back-up infielder is immediately clear, and there is a strong chance a change of scenery at The Big A may be enough for him to provide an upgrade over the Halos' putrid bench options.

One area that Peraza is exceptional at is defense. Any fan who has watched the Angels' infield this season has seen a high amount of errors and poor play on that side of the ball. With Yoán Moncada's defense somehow being even worse since his return from the IL, Peraza at the very least gives the Angels a late-inning defensive substitute at the hot corner.

As for his offensive game, there really is not much to hope for outside of a Jo Adell-esque mid-20's break out. The idea of platooning him with Moncada, whose struggles against lefties has only increased with his injury, is nice until looking at Peraza's career splits. He is a worse hitter against southpaws than right-handed pitchers, with a career OPS of .437 when facing lefties.

To say this trade was an underwhelming move is selling it short. The Angels decided to buy instead of selling in a market that clearly favors selling teams. If they were a serious organization, trading for Peraza would have either not happened at all or have been a move surrounded by bigger moves that actually return starting-caliber players to Anaheim. With the rest of the AL West stocking up big time at the deadline, the Angels would have been better off selling.

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