The Los Angeles Angels have spent the last few seasons
trying to buy a World Series title on the free agent market. Bringing in
All-Stars like Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton and CJ Wilson have not yielded
results so far, and a lot of that has to do with the team not being balanced
enough. They were able to solidify their pitching staff a bit more this week,
as they traded Mike Trumbo in a three-team deal with the Chicago White Sox and
Arizona Diamondbacks that yielded Hector Santiago and Tyler Skaggs.
Losing Trumbo’s fantasybaseball value, especially from a power perspective, will obviously
sting a little bit. However, the Angels are counting on bounce back seasons
from Pujols and Hamilton, so that shouldn’t be a huge loss. After all, scoring
runs is not the problem in Anaheim. Their issue has been reliable pitching
after Jered Weaver, Wilson and Garrett Richards.
The pair of left-handers they picked up in this trade are
young, talented and under team control at affordable salaries for a while. That
is exactly what the doctor ordered for a team that has freely spent a lot of
money in recent years. Santiago didn’t have the best season for the White Sox
in 2013, but he will get more support with the Angels. Skaggs is the big prize
here, as the Diamondbacks give up their top prospect from a year ago.
Even though Skaggs struggled in 2013 at AAA and the majors,
his value is still pretty high. The Angels will more than likely give him a
spot in the rotation right away, so he should have plenty of confidence going
into the 2014 season.
Winning the American League West is without question the
main goal for the Angels this upcoming season. If the pitching staff can hold
up, they might finally be able to live up to the lofty expectations they have
had these last few seasons. If both pitchers work out, this could be one of the
biggest offseason moves for the franchise.
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