Angels player wrongly named as “most likely to be traded this offseason”

Earlier this month, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report named one MLB player from each team that is most likely to be traded this offseason. The Los Angeles Angels have a bunch of trade candidates for this offseason, but the player chosen by Miller just doesn't make much sense.

This article names Tyler Anderson as the player the Angels are most likely to deal. It'd be very nice for this to occur, again, it just doesn't make much sense.

It's very unlikely the LA Angels trade Tyler Anderson this offseason

To be fair, Miller acknowledges that there isn't a perfect answer for the Angels. It's hard to know the direction of the team with Shohei Ohtani's future up in the air, and Anderson is a salary they could look to move. This is what they had to say.

Until we find out whether the Angels re-sign Shohei Ohtani, it's impossible to gauge how they'll approach the offseason. But Anderson is the lone eight-figure salary whom they could reasonably trade away, which could be a desirable move regardless of whether they do retain Ohtani.

Miller is absolutely right that trading Anderson away could be a desirable move for the Angels regardless of whether they do retain Ohtani. The Angels made a mistake inking the southpaw to a three-year deal worth $39 million this past offseason, and getting out of it would be huge. The question is who would take him on?

Anderson has made 23 appearances (21 starts) for the Angels this season and has a 5.35 ERA in 117.2 innings pitched. He's gone from an all-star last season to the pitcher with the seventh-highest ERA among pitchers with at least 110 innings pitched.

Anderson will be 34 next season, set to make $13 million not only next season, but in 2025 as well. So he's not cheap, is older, and has subpar stuff with bad command (4.0 BB/9).

Trading Anderson and his contract isn't an impossibility, but it's possible that the Halos would have to attach something just to get him off of their books. They're more likely to either take the chance that he'll have a better year next year or simply DFA him instead of working out a complicated trade.