2024 is the Los Angeles Angels' first season with Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani. Expectations were low entering the year, and the club, as predicted, is among the worst in the American League.
The team is 46-60 — 9.0 games back in the AL West and 11.5 games from the last Wild Card spot. LA has the third-worst record in the AL. As the club struggles to gain traction, the Angels enter the MLB trade deadline as sellers again. Here are two bold MLB trade deadline predictions for Los Angeles.
Los Angeles does not trade any hitters
The Angels are in the rare and unenviable position of being a struggling club without many tradeable assets. The club already traded closer Carlos Estevez to the Philadelphia Phillies, leaving the team with few players of value left on the roster. Mike Trout is not available and no team will take on Anthony Rendon and his massive contract.
Starting pitchers Tyler Anderson and Griffin Canning carry value, with Anderson and his 2.96 ERA attracting a flock of suitors ahead of the trade deadline. But a thin Angels lineup leaves little meat for other teams to pluck from the carcass.
Once one of the hottest hitters in the league, Kevin Pillar is batting .219 since mid-June with no homers and just four doubles in his last 69 plate appearances. Up to that point, Pillar's OPS in an Angels uniform was 1.060. Since then, he has an OPS of .557.
Taylor Ward also had a strong start to the year, with an OPS north of .800 through the first two months of the year. But the Angels outfielder is batting just .175 over the last two months, with his OPS close to falling below .700. Ward's Statcast numbers are great (80th percentile or better in expected slugging, average exit velocity, and barrel rate), but is that enough to warrant more than a meager return for him?
One last Angels hitter for other teams to consider is Luis Rengifo. Rengifo trained with two-time batting champ Luis Arraez, and the career .244 hitter is batting .300 this season. The switch-hitter's .262 expected batting average is far below his actual average and 57 points below Arraez's xBA — signs that his improvement this year is more fluke than truth.
With so many red flags among their top hitters, it is difficult to see the Angels receiving worthy trade offers for Pillar, Ward, or Rengifo. This LA lineup will stay the same after the trade deadline.
The Angels get a sizeable return for Tyler Anderson
Unlike last year, the trade market — especially for starting pitchers — is thin. Angels left Tyler Anderson is one player receiving significant attention. The 34-year-old has a 2.96 ERA in 130.2 innings, earning his second career All-Star Game nomination. He also has one more year of team control. Given the trade returns other teams have received for similar starting pitchers, Anderson could net a surprisingly large haul.
The Toronto Blue Jays netted three prospects, including two top-15 prospects in the Astros system, in exchange for Yusei Kikuchi. The Japanese lefty has a 4.75 ERA this season — a number in line with his career figure. The 33-year-old will be a free agent in the offseason and has pitched just 1.2 playoff innings in his career. Miami Marlins pitcher Trevor Rogers, who has a 4.53 ERA this year and a career 4.23 ERA, went to the Baltimore Orioles, with Miami getting Orioles #5 prospect Connor Norby.
Kikuchi and Rogers have worse numbers than Anderson this season, paving the way for the Angels to get the most for their veteran left-hander.
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