Even the most optimistic fan must admit that it’s been ugly baseball thus far. Heading into a season like no other the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were finally expected to compete. A 60-game sprint was thought to be an advantage for a star studded lineup light on pitching. The bar was lowered further with the addition of 4 playoff spots, all but ensuring an invitation to the ball. Yet here we are, near the back of the pack, selling assets in hopes of a better tomorrow. Defensive miscues have been frequent transforming wins to losses. Offensive flourishes have been sporadic, unable to keep us squarely in the fight. Above all the responsibilities like at the feet of a familiar nemesis. Pitching
There are many avenues to improve this roster and when given the option of rebuild or remodel I’d choose the latter. We can’t hit reset, there’s too much talent who’s prime competitive years are now.
Kansas City is quickly becoming a factor farm of arms with several notables ready to graduate. They have what we covet and a well structured trade may enable us to repair our broken pitching overnight. Here’s what Keith Law had to say about the three Royals.
On Kowar:
“Kowar has the best mixture of upside and floor of any of the Royals’ pitching prospects after Lynch, thanks to a changeup that is a 70 on its best nights and above-average control. His fastball can be plus, but he lacks a consistent breaking ball, with a curveball now but a slider probably being his ultimate third pitch. He’s a back-end starter as is, but I see No. 2 potential if he develops even an average breaking ball.”
On Bubic:
“Bubic projects as a fourth starter right now with an average fastball, plus changeup and great deception but just a fringy curveball that led to him having a significant reverse platoon split last year, with lefties posting 114 more points of OBP against him and 155 points more in terms of slugging percentage.”
On Cox:
“Cox started 2019 in Low-A because Wilmington’s rotation was already full of guys they’d drafted ahead of him, but he finished the year in High-A and pitched extremely well at both levels, enough to suggest that he’s not far behind Singer or Bubic as a prospect. He’s filled out his 6-foot-4 frame — he’s now about 240 pounds, according to the Royals — and can sit up to 94-95 mph with his fastball to go with a 12-to-6 curveball (which serves as his out pitch) and a delivery he can repeat. He should be at least a back-end starter but has some upside from there, probably more so than Marsh with a little more variability.”
If you’re licking your chops you’re not alone. I would absolutely love to have that group donning the Halo, so much so that I’m pretty doubtful that the BTV valuation is realistic. That being said Marsh is a stud top 100 prospect who gets Jayson Werth comps. He’s clearly a valuable commodity that’d be tough to lose (though our OF picture looks good even without him). I felt we’d need to add more so Chris Rodriguez, the oft injured but highly touted righty, is included in the return. He’s usually quoted as having the best stuff in our system and should serve as a nice sweetener for KC.
This trade gives the 2021 Angels some much needed ammunition to pair with an already potent offense. A mid tier free agent SP like Garrett Richards, Danny Duffy, or Mike Minor could augment the staff and transform a major weakness into a serviceable rotation.
Tier 1: Free Agent/Bundy/Heaney/Canning/Bubic
Tier 2: Pena/Kowar/Barria/Sandoval/Detmers
Marsh and Adams are going to be HUGE busts, while Adell will never produce enough to deserve anything more than a roster spot as a 4th outfielder.
Curious if Eppler even has the authority to do something drastic at this point on his way out the door.
Even if he did, why would he? He should be focused on trying to move Simba and listening to offers on Bundy. The Angels won’t be looking to exchange prospects until after the season ends and Eppler’s future has been determined.
It would be interesting if Eppler’s first big move and last big(ish) move involve Simba, coming and going.
That’s the beauty of a trade like this. It can be completed in the off-season under new management. In fact, new GMs are more prone to trading prospects that they didn’t draft
I’m all for it happening in the offseason. The Angels need to move someone for pitching and 3 young pitchers (one with MLB experience) would be a nice way to do it.
Should the Angels trade Brandon Marsh? GPB says NO Way! an Outfield Of Marsh-Adames-Adell is just to good to mess up as they will allow Trouty to move to 1b/ dh / OF and have a lot less of an injury factor play into his total games played. Trouty does his August dive because he is too tired and/or injured with some being moderate to severe. So saving him from himself will make us legit with a line up of Fletch, Marsh, Trouty, Rendon, Ohtani, Adell, Adanes.Now that 7 could rake while having speed, power, high OBP, scoring runs and be decent with defence and we do not to much time to wait.
I understand why you like the idea of that trio but we have alot of outfielders in our system who can step into the void Marsh would leave. You mentioned Adams but we also have Knowles and recent draftee Calabrese amongst others. Plus, aquiring a corner OFer is relatively easy in today’s market and I’ll assume it remains to be the case.
No. Trout needs to pass Willie Mays in WAR as a CF. After he does that he can move to DH.