2 trades the Angels should have made, 1 we are glad they didn't

Scott Barlow is not the reliever he once was with the Royals

For years now it seems like Scott Barlow has been on the trade block but the Royals had refused to move him. He had a ton of value thanks to how good he was out of the bullpen for Kansas City while also having team control. Unfortunately, the Royals pulled a Royals and waited until the worst possible time to trade him.

Scott Barlow was traded to the Padres at the deadline in exchange for prospects Henry Williams and Jesus Rios. Williams is ranked ninth on the Royals prospect list according to MLB Pipeline, but their farm is weak, and he isn't much as a headliner for a guy who used to be elite. Rios is unranked on their top-30.

In 38 appearances, Barlow had a 5.35 ERA in 38.2 innings pitched for the Royals. His 3.63 FIP did suggest he was the victim of some bad luck, but his walk rate spiked from 7.6% in 2022 to 12.1% in 2023 while his strikeout rate was slightly lower.

Barlow had the extra year of control which is nice, but the Angels were very clearly looking at 2023 as their year. Having the extra year would've been a nice bonus, but the Angels chose right prioritizing Leone over Barlow just looking at this year alone.