The Angels were at Kyle Lohse‘s recent showcase, Jon Heyman writes (Twitter links). Heyman also notes that they have considered Tim Lincecum, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle and others had previously noted.
There’s no indication yet that the Angels’ interest in either player is serious, although their connection to two veteran starters is still worth noting, given their apparent need for rotation help. Angels starters Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney both have UCL damage, and Richards, at least, will require Tommy John surgery. The injuries leave the Angels’ rotation thin, and as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times points out, the Angels’ trades of prospects Sean Newcomb and Chris Ellis last season and their poorly rated farm system will make it difficult to trade for a good starting pitcher.
That leaves them as logical suitors for pitchers like Lohse and Lincecum who remain on the free agent market. Lohse, who had a showcase yesterday, posted a 5.85 ERA, 6.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in an ugly 2015 season with Milwaukee but was reasonably successful in the four seasons prior to that. What Lincecum might be able to contribute as he returns from hip surgery is unclear, but he’s still fairly young, at 31, and was once a superstar.
With Richards, Heaney and C.J. Wilson unavailable, the Angels’ rotation currently consists of Jered Weaver, Hector Santiago and Nick Tropeano. Cory Rasmus, normally a reliever, started Friday night, although he allowed five runs over just 2 1/3 innings. Nate Smith or Matt Shoemaker, both currently with the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, could also be candidates to take big-league starts, as DiGiovanna notes. Tyler Skaggs is also on a rehab assignment with the Bees, although he was shut down two weeks ago with biceps tendinitis and has not pitched since.
This organization is lost and complete garbage, starting from the TOP to the BOTTOM. “Garbage”!
Lol you couldn’t of said it any better! Thank one person and only one person Yep Art clueless!!! Maybe your manager should of went instead of your GM!! Not a bad start for Seatle huh???????
I also blame Arte for a lot of things
Concur!
I pretty much only follow the NL but it’s hard to ignore the incompetence of the Angels franchise. They are in deep, deep deep trouble. It’s hard for any franchise to overcome the injuries to the top of the rotation but a combination of albatross contracts and an awful farm system means at least 5 years of pain is coming.
My god, how hard would it be to part with a first-ballot HOF talent like Trout though? I don’t wish that on any GM/owner.
Latest on the Angels Rotation – “still garbage”
So the angels options are, call up Nate Smith and Shoemaker. Sign these veterans. Or the unthinkable, trade mike trout. That would never happen but who else on the team would bring back a haul to rebuild the farm system? Calhoun would bring some nice pieces.
Question: Would you trade Trout if it allowed the Angels to build a winning and contend year after year?
If I was an Angels fan I think I would want it to happen. That organization is in need of a complete rebuild.
All of the negative energy started when they signed Hamilton over not bringing back greinke and hunter imo. But say for the dodgers offered the angels , Pederson Urias DeLeon + Others for trout. Would they consider the deal or yet the cubs have a lot of young talent in the farm.
cubs don’t need an outfielder. I think the dodgers package would be something like Seaga + Urias/Deleon then some other pieces with quality depending on if it was Urias or Deleon that went
As an Angel fan, I could not tangle Trout out there fast enough…. My only concern, is that this organization is so lost…. What they think is a great trade, is probably trash for a great player with a cheap contract.
The angels don’t need seager, they have simmons at short. Or the red sox could make a package. But what other teams could make a deal for trout that would help the angels rebuild the farm system?
Move seager to 3b, or trade him again or trade simmons. Seager is the kind of talent you make fit
Hamilton was a catalyst, but the Angels downfall started when the Rangers plucked Adrian Beltre from underneath the Angels. Arte then got in a pissing match with the Rangers and signed CJ, Hamilton, Pujols, etc…
Your timeline is off. #1….Beltre came to the Rangers in 2012 and was teammates with Josh that season. #2 Beltre wasn’t with the Angels, he had been with Boston. #3 The Rangers went for Beltre AFTER losing out on Cliff Lee. That same year, Arte got Pujols and CJ. Texas didn’t want CJ…they signed Yu Darvich. #4 The next year, LA went for Hamilton after Grienke signed with the Dodgers. . .
Of course
Calhoun is a nice player, but he’s not the type that brings back some nice pieces, unless you mean something like 1 pretty legit prospect and some lotto tickets
Calhoun was an 8th round pick I believe, and look at him now
I’m not trying to take anything away from him. He’s a very good player, he’s just not the type of guy that brings back a franchise changing package (unless you can convince the dbacks they need him)
Thanks for the chuckle
Call them up they are still garbage!! Of course they are not gonna trade Trout but what else to do sad Trout’s prime years to waste and yes Calhoun would big a nice haul he’s a stud!
How are trouts years been wasted?
Because they’ve never won a playoff game
2014 was a good chance to make a deep run in the post season, but the royals made us look horrible. the offense didn’t show up at all. And Arte failed to put talent in the line up around trout. They really needed upton or cespedes this year but they did nothing except making their farm system the worst it has been in years. Maybe in the offseason they make a run at a couple of pitchers and josh reddick.
Never won a playoff game? The goal is to win the world series. So did griffey waste his years too in Seattle then with the reds and white sox. HOF with out a world series
It’s not Griffey wasting his years, it’s the team wasting the value of his years. I’m not sure how you plan to win a world series without winning a play off game, either.
And what guarantees you by trading him will get him a ws or the angels one.
Nothing guarantees a ws…it’s about increasing chances. You’re obviously too dense to understand how baseball works though. So have fun enjoying batting average, rbis, and twtw.
all you can do is get the talent to try to make the playoffs. after that…it’s a lot of luck. getting hot at the right time. but the important thing is to make the playoffs and Trout is a guy who will give you a better shot at winning enough games to make the playoffs.
Milone can be had for nothing. Also Danks to. Their’s also like Wang abs so on in the Minors that have an op out date.
To all Angel fans that watch this team. Before you answer, really think about it. Who on this team would you like to go out and have a beer with because you know they would be fun? My answer: Not one of them….. This team has ZERO personality. The manager, the players ZERO personality.
Cubs should seriously consider trading their depth in the minors for Trout. Seriously, SS Torress, C Contreras, 1B Vogelbach, OF Mckinney, OF Soler, and INF/OF Baez. Imagine Trout Rizzo Bryant Heyward. Doesnt solve the angels pitching woes, but clearing his salary for cheaper players to fill needs opens the gate to sign guys in the off season ala giants.
If theyre in need of innings go trade for shields from the padres. Could be a 4 or 5 next year and will get you 200 innings.
That would be a bad trade for the angels , the cubs have a lot of young talent but they have plenty of depth for the outfield. I think if the angels were going to trade trout, they would want young pitching in return that would make an impact now or in 2017. which is why I said the dodgers or the red sox could do that trade.
The cubs need a catcher after this year and I’m not sure that package gets trout anyway
that kind of trade could get the cubs a pitcher or possibly andrew miller. but it would take more to get trout. dodgers and the red sox are the two teams who I think could do it.
What available pitchers from the Red Sox”s pitching depth would you think they would accept a trade for example: Kole Calhoun?
Red Sox starting rotation is pretty awful, they don’t really have pitching depth haha
Angelsfan4life, that package would get the Cubs way more than Andrew Miller. For one, that package will never happen. Chester, the Cubs have Montero signed through 2017. Plus, the Cubs aren’t going to gut their system for trout. I think a lot of people will be shocked at how little they give up for who they get this summer
I think the cubs could make a trade for one of the rays or indians pitchers. Or if they want a rental maybe andrew cashner.
Cubs fans are always trying to package 2nd tier prospects and spare parts for all-stars….lol. If the Cubs want Trout, the price starts at Russell, Bryant, or Schwarber and then adding from there.
Chill guys. The Angels have $40.5 M coming off the book next year in Wilson and Hamilton. Suck it up this year and dumpster dive next year instead of wasting big $$ on FAs that are demanding big years at top $.
add weaver and joe smith to that as well, but I kinda see them keeping both weaver and smith. maybe they do spend big on strasburg and sign josh reddick.
Just spitballing, but offering Simmons to the Rangers — in return, the Halos take on Andrus and his remaining contract, and get Joey Gallo and s pitching prospect?
Why would Texas make that deal? Elvis is enjoying a fine season while Simmons is hitting .216. Gallo is likely the Rangers first baseman next year or two and should be there another 3-4 years after that–maybe moving to third to replace Beltre. And a pitching prospect? Sorry…but that deal would make no sense for Texas.
Bear in mind, Trout is worth about 8-10 WAR all by himself. If the Angels can figure out how to field an otherwise 78-80 win team, they will be right in the hunt for at least a wild card spot. I’d rather take my chances on that than banking the future on prospects, no matter how promising.
In the meantime, there are other ML assets the Angels can (and should) consider trading. Start with maybe trying to trade Simmons for a similar package they gave up for him. Then look at Street, Smith, Escobar, and Cron. None will land franchise altering bounties, but they could fetch a handful of useful prospects with upside.
Cool, how do you plan to have a 78=80 win team (minus trout) without richards and perhaps heany and we’ll see on skaggs. You also have to assume pujols will continue to regress with age. I believe they were projected at 79 this year, with trout, richards, and heany. I’d love to hear how you plan to add about 14-16 war with the non-existent farm system and whatever money ownership is planning to spend.
The Angels should trade Trout. It’d return a MONSTER haul, which could really flip the direction of this organization from top to bottom.
Trading Trout in the face of injuries to two starters would be a panic move. It’s virtually impossible to break even on a Trout deal. Trading Trout resolves nothing, in my opinion.
And keeping him does…what exactly? Keep you in the middle of draft position and poll totals? They aren’t winning this year or next year with him. And it’s not likely they’ll do much in 2018 either. This team has won 0 playoff games with him and they now have a degraded richards, heaney, likely skaggs, and pujols and also don’t have any of the contribution that weaver or wilson gave them for their positive seasons and in opposition have about 60 mil to spend in free agency to make up the difference. Color me skeptical.
Color you foolish for trying to win your argument with a statement where you claim you know exactly what’s going to happen. People were trying to say the Angels were going to be bad for a long time after their disaster in 2013, but they won 98 games the very next season and missed the playoffs by one game a season after that. You don’t just trade an all time great. You build around him. They deal Mike Trout and they have nothing to build around. These trade suggestions also make it clear to me how much fans have been warped into thinking it’s all about building through prospects. That’s how you stay at the bottom of the standings, especially a team with a low payroll. Not a high market franchise like the Angels. They have the resources to contend and rebuild at the same time. And even if they are bad for the next few years, you don’t just give away the game’s best player and potential Hall of Famer. Not gonna happen. And if any other team had Mike Trout, I’d say the same thing. You keep the all time great and you keep building around him. And if it falls apart well… welcome to baseball!!!
If they win in 2017 without Richards and whatever happens with Heany and skaggs, I’ll call you a winner. Until then, keep being a homer. When you’re last in the AL West, remember that once upon a time people were wrong about a team. It should make the next two abysmal seasons way more tolerable for you(?)
Because you have no argument left. What I said has nothing to do with being a ‘homer’. It’s simple baseball logic. Teams are up and down and we have no idea what’s going to happen by September. Nice try though. Thanks for playing.
TRADE TROUT? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MINDS? This is a once in a generation player a team is lucky to develop. He’s right up there with Bonds, ARod, Mantle, Mays, DiMaggio. You BUILD around these guys—-you do NOT trade them away unless you’re terrible and you know you can’t resign them. Yes…..signing Pujols and especially Hamilton (I still don’t understand that one) were bad moves financially for Arte. But trade Trout away and what do you have? Maybe some prospects? NO WAY!
I agree with you 100%
Bonds and Arod both changed teams, what’d the pirates and M’s get out of them leaving?
The Pirates won their division with Bonds and stopped winning when he left. The M’s were a playoff challenging team so they kept ARod….and made the post season. Seattle did trade off Griffey and Randy Johnson before they became FA’s and got some pretty good talent in return that helped them win a record 116 games. The difference here is that Trout is under contract another four years. He’s not going anywhere soon. He’ll be in his late 20’s when he’s eligible to be a FA. And when you’re talking about getting a booty of talent like Texas did when they traded Texieria, keep in mind Texas traded him away only after Tex’s agent (Boros) told them he wasn’t going to sign with the Rangers until going on the FA market. It turned out to be a great trade for the Rangers and bad for the Braves. Mark was indeed a very fine player—-he was not Trout.
I think Trout is not something you trade. Calhoun, however, could bring in good value. I’d say trading him for a young pitcher or three would be wisest.
Ward and Kowart should look appealing to the Braves as well seeing as they’re well regarded prospects in places of weakness for Atlanta. (C and 3B)
Ward and Cowart will give the Angels maybe a low end pitching prospect, Turn Cowart back into a pitcher he threw 95 in high school, ward don’t know much about him but doubt either one of them will pull a decent starting pitcher let alone a prospect. You could get Bud Norris and maybe their number 35 prospect
I still wish the angels never traded newcomb or ellis
You mean the Sean Newcomb who is still walking a ton of hitters at AA? It wouldn’t matter much because the Angels probably would’ve had to deal them any way to try and patch the holes left by Richards and Heaney.