When the Angels made a trade for CJ Wilson, signed Albert Pulojs, had Jared Weaver pitching like an ace, and Mike Trout became the best player on the planet, the Angels looked primed to get back to the World Series. However, this would not be the case, as the Angels haven’t been to the playoffs since 2014, where they were swept by the Royals. Before that, you have to go back to 2009 before you’d find the Angels in the playoffs. 2017 is a new year, and they Angels made some moves. Will they be enough?
1st Story: Do they move Mike Trout?
This question has been asked more way than anyone can count. “Are they wasting him?” “They are wasting him.” Those headlines riddled the landscape of the baseball world. So, I’ll take a shot as to why they should move Mike Trout. Is there truly an adequate return for Mike Trout at this point? To be honest, probably not. However, with Mike Trout losing another year, and the Angels having little farm system to bring in new prospects, it’s possible to imagine the Angels completely retooling with a trade.
SB Nation – Minor League Ball ranked the Atlanta Braves as the top farm system, so let’s start with a trade they could create.
Since Trout is by far the most valuable player in the game today, it will take an unprecedented trade to acquire him. How about the following:
– Ozzie Albies (INF)
– Kevin Maitan (SS)
– Kolby Allard (LHP)
– Mike Soroka (RHP)
– Sean Newcomb (LHP)
– Ian Anderson (RHP)
– Ronald Acuna (OF)
– Max Fried (LHP)
– Travis Demeritte (2B)
– Austin Riley (3B)
Since Trout is a 10 WAR player, all these guys have to do is average 1.0 WAR each. The majority of the Braves farm system are pitching prospects and middle infielders. This provides plenty of restocking to the pitching staff, as well as some infield depth, as well as an outfielder, and a corner infielder.
The likelihood that either team makes this trade is approximately 0.0001%. However, it’s fun to think about the idea of a single player being so incredibly valuable that a team would have to give up 10 of their top 30 prospects to even have a shot.
For the Angels though, this deal would completely retool their farm system. It dramatically improves their chances to develop All Stars and a winning culture.
2nd Story: Can Garrett Richards return to form?
In 2014, Garrett Richards burst onto the scene for the Angels, going 13-4 in 26 starts. His season was ended with a torn patellar tendon. He followed up that season with a less than stellar 2015, with a 15-12 record. In 2016, he got hurt and was only able to make 6 starts. He underwent a surgery to repair his throwing elbow.
Being the ace of the staff, Richards has been charged with providing a stable front for the Angels. Even with the injury history, he’s likely the best pitcher on the staff.
Even though Richards didn’t get Tommy John surgery, it’s likely that we could expect a similar chance of return from Richards. An article from 2015 by Jon Roegele for The Hardball Times cited that a pitchers chance to return to the majors after Tommy John is around 80%.
Richards has returned to the majors, and his fastball velocity is back to where it was before his injury. In addition, his slider has increased in velocity. Richard has a whole year head of him, and he’ll likely have a light workload for 2017. However, he’s got a great chance to get back to form and lead the Angels staff again.
3rd Story: Can their lineup actually score enough runs?
Besides Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, it’s hard to think that any bat in the Angels lineup providing some consistent offense. Kole Calhoun is probably one of their better options, and while he’s improved his ability to get on base since his first full year, he still hasn’t been able to crack .280 for a season batting average. In fact, the lineup consists of guys that just don’t pose much of a threat. C.J. Cron has shown some flashes of offensive skills but has never put anything consistent together. Simmons hasn’t progressed quite as quickly or as nicely as some would have hoped. His defensive prowess more than makes up for it, but in a weak lineup, it isn’t quite enough. Danny Espinosa hasn’t been able to maintain his high level of offensive potential. Anyway you look at it, the Angels have issues to address in their lineup, and over the course of the year we’ll find out if they can make something out of this lineup and find a way to score runs.
