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 34-46 — 10.5 games back in the AL West and 9.5 games out of the last Wild Card spot. LA owns the third-worst record in the AL. As the club struggles to gain traction, it looks like the Angels entered the MLB trade deadline as sellers again. Here are four Angels players who must be on the trade block ahead of the 2024 MLB trade deadline
Kevin Pillar (OF)
Kevin Pillar has played for an astounding nine teams since the start of the 2019 season. But that has not stopped the veteran outfielder from playing some of the best baseball of his career for the Angels this year. Pillar started the year on the Chicago White Sox, batting just .160 in 17 games for the struggling South Siders. The Sox released him, and the 35-year-old has found his stride on the West Coast.
Pillar is batting .316 in 114 at-bats with the Angels while posting a .924 OPS. Given his expected batting average of .254, Pillar's hot streak is unlikely to continue. But the Angels should sell Kevin Pillar while he is hot to get an unexpected return for a player all 29 other clubs passed on.
Tyler Anderson (SP)
While Tyler Anderson was not an overlooked mid-season pickup, he is like Kevin Pillar in that he is playing well but drastically overperforming relative to his underlying numbers. The left-hander carries a 2.63 ERA through 16 starts this season, contrasting his 4.71 expected ERA and 4.77 FIP. Anderson also leads the league in walks and is striking out just 5.9 hitters per nine innings — easily a career-low. The 34-year-old also is also allowing just a .225 batting average on balls in play, third-best in MLB and yet another sign of incoming regression.
Tyler Anderson is a good pitcher, but not nearly as good as his ERA suggests. The Angels would be wise to maximize their return for Anderson while he still rides his hot streak.
Luis Rengifo (2B/3B/SS)
Is everyone playing well on the Angels riding an unsustainable hot streak? Luis Rengifo, a career .244 hitter coming into this season, is batting .312 with an expected batting of just .264 — nearly 50 points lower. Yet despite a 50-point increase in batting average from 2023 (.264) to 2024, Rengifo's on-base percentage only went up 20 points (.339 to .359), and his OPS is just nine points higher (.783 to .792). A .351 BABIP is likely to decline soon, as is the versatile infielder's lofty batting average.
Rengifo also continues to be one of the worst fielders in the league, costing the Angels six runs already with his glove in just 64 games. As with Pillar and Anderson, the Angels should capitalize on Luis Rengifo's hot streak and trade the veteran infielder while he is overperforming.
Hunter Strickland (RP)
If not for 10 days earlier in June, when he allowed 12 runs in 4.1 innings pitched, Hunter Strickland would be a hot commodity among relievers at the trade deadline. Strickland had a 1.73 ERA entering this stretch before allowing three homers over his next six contests but has not allowed a baserunner in 3.2 innings since.
Opponents are batting just .179 against Strickland's slider, and the 35-year-old has walked just eight batters in 34 innings. Hunter Strickland is an underrated gem who will provide solid relief innings for a contending team.
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