Mike Trout is heading for the IL, and that could force the Angels to consider making trades and pivoting toward a rebuild.
I'm really, really sorry Los Angeles Angels fans. You deserve better, and whether it's the ineptitude of ownership, management, coaches, or players, Angels fans always seem to have to deal with the worst timeline possible.
On Tuesday, the Fourth of July of all days, FanSided.com's Robert Murray reported that star outfielder Mike Trout is heading for the injured list.
It's a miserable existence on Independence Day for the Angels, one that puts Trout back in August at some point if he recovers similarly to other players who have had this injury.
Los Angeles has actually been keeping itself in things this year. At 45-42, they are six games back in the AL West and three games back from the wild card.
There's a massive predicament here for Los Angeles. Shohei Ohtani, possibly the best baseball player in the last 50-60 years, is a free agent this offseason. If they can convince Ohtani that he can win a title in LA, perhaps they can sign him to a long-term deal.
Or, another perspective acknowledges some hard truths. Trout is injury prone, on the decline, and has six years and is owed $222.7 million still. Can the Angels even afford the contract Ohtani deserves? And if they can, surely there's no leftover cash to build around him.
Truthfully, the Angels should consider trading Ohtani to get something for him before he walks for nothing. But that's a nuanced discussion that should get its own stage. Today, let's look at players the Angels should consider unleashing in the trade market before the August 1 deadline not named Shohei Ohtani.
Prior to the Trout injury, this list may have included more players in the prospect pipeline. But now, the Angels need to keep that stacked in case they pivot toward a rebuild. From now until the trade deadline, they should be looking to offload these players and bring in even more youth.
Players Angels should consider selling: Matt Moore
Pitching is the one thing that virtually every competitive team, except for perhaps the Texas Rangers, needs this trade deadline. Matt Moore has been an outstanding relief pitcher with a 1.44 ERA, 0.8 WHIP and 3.73 FIP in 25 innings of pitching.
Moore is a free agent, so he could be sold as a rental to teams looking to shore up their bullpen as the postseason draws near.
Moore is a vet with 12 years of experience, including an All-Star year in 2013. He's been converted over the years from a starting pitcher to a relief role and has done a remarkable job with the redefinition over the last two seasons.
If teams need someone to start a bullpen day in the playoffs, Moore would be an excellent first pitcher to kick a game off.
Players Angels should consider selling: Hunter Renfroe
Hunter Renfroe's bat is about average this year, with an OPS+ of exactly 100. He's slashing .248/.293/.447, showing power ability, with 14 home runs and 40 RBI this season, coming in fourth on the team in total RBI and tied for third in home runs.
Renfroe has a troublesome tendency to ground into lots of double plays, but any team looking for outfield help should be picking up the phone considering there's little long-term commitment needed. Like Moore, Renfroe is a free agent this offseason.
Angels fans already give this deal somewhat negative reviews, and so taking this opportunity to cash in for anything could be well worth it. Renfroe would have been a player dangled in trade discussions even if the Angels were looking to add talent rather than get rid of it.
Renfroe's arm speed is what will attract teams. Statistically, he technically has a negative outs above average, but his average throw of 93.0 miles per hour ranks just outside the top 10 in the MLB, a necessity for teams to have for closely contested playoff games where outfield putouts can be the difference between a win or loss.
Players Angels should consider selling: Carlos Estevez
Another reliever to move, the Angels should sell high on Carlos Estevez. I considered putting Mike Moustakas (who the Angels acquired earlier this year in a trade) here, but considering he's struggled to drive in runs for the Angels, I'm not sure he'd be worth the trouble to move.
Estevez is on an affordable $6.75 million deal next year before hitting free agency, and would be a nice reinforcement for any bullpen. Though his WHIP is a little high at 1.265, Estevez has struck out plenty of batters this year with a career-high 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings. He's earned 21 saves in 35 games and has earned just seven runs this year.
With a K-rate in the 84th percentile and a fastball velocity that hits the 93rd percentile, he'd be a comfortable player to bring in at the end of closely contested games for playoff teams in need of a closer. His 4-seamer, which he throws 64 percent of the time, has achieved a run value of a red-hot -11 after it clocked in at just -2 last year.
Late in games having a pitcher that can come in and zip 97, 98, or 99-mile-per-hour fastballs across the plate as batters are tired can be an absolute coffin nail for a team.