Atlanta Braves Being Mentioned in Trade Talks

The Needs of the Angels

This is so bizarre that I’m not entirely sure where to begin.  The Angels are falling apart almost as quickly as the Braves… but it is actually possible that each team could fulfill one another’s needs.

News broke on Friday that Garrett Richards – their pitching anchor – needs a new ulnar collateral ligament and probably will be lost for the season.  He’s getting a second opinion, but … even under the best-case scenario, he won’t be pitching much more this season.  Andrew Heaney is trying the non-surgical rehab route, but there’s no guarantees for him, either.

Meanwhile, Daniel Nava has taken over in LF (.217), Andrelton Simmons is hitting .220, 2B Johnny Giavotella is at .191, and even Albert Pujols is hitting .190.  How the Angels are at 13-18 is anybody’s guess, but given pitching woes, that could be their high-water mark for the year if ‘something big’ doesn’t happen.

The ‘big thing’ could be the route that other teams are taking… namely “tanking”.

The Angels are not going to compete this year.  The crystal ball also suggests that they won’t compete next year, either.  That could be the case regardless of how much money they spend… and right now they are already in team-record territory:  $164.6 million for 2016.

On top of that, they have the worst farm system in all of baseball… and they can’t see 29th place (the Marlins) from the depths they are at right now.

The Angels were one of the three teams seriously looking at Tim Lincecum as a starter – and if that happens, then all of the speculation that follows on the next page will likely die down for a while… but maybe not completely.  If The Freak goes elsewhere (I’d pick Arizona if I were him), then all bets are off.

Next: Here We Go into the Abyss...