The Los Angeles Angels are in fourth place in the A.L. West, 10 games under .500 and struggling to get their veteran power hitters going. They obviously can't trade Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton, but there are minor trades the Angels might make as the month of July is quickly approaching. Because of their recent history, the last thing that the Angels would like to do is get themselves involved in big trades.
Starting pitcher Jason Vargas and reliever Scott Downs will be free agents after the 2013 season is over. Though the Angels recently acquired Vargas, he is a piece Los Angeles can move. So far in 2013, he's 6-4 with a 3.64 ERA, two complete games and Vargas is proving he's to be every bit of the inning-eater the Angels needed when they acquired him from the Seattle Mariners. He's pitched 91.1 innings in 14 starts so far this year. As for Downs, he's been stellar out of the bullpen. The 37-year-old is 1-2 with a 1.74 ERA in 32 appearances this year.
Why are the Angels weary of making big trades?
These are the prospects they've given up in recent years; Jean Segura, Patrick Corbin and Alex Torres. Yeah, you probably cringed when reading Segura and Corbin's names on this list. So far, they have taken the sport by storm after making the most of their opportunities. Segura, a shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers, is hitting .336 with 11 home runs, 31 RBI and 23 stolen bases.
Corbin is tearing up major league lineups, remaining a perfect 9-0 through his first 15 career starts. Corbin was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the deal that sent Dan Haren to Los Angeles back in 2010.
Torres is currently relieving for the Tampa Bay Rays and he's been lights out. The 25-year-old has a microscopic 0.43 ERA in 21 innings pitched. Throw in a 2-0 record and 28 strikeouts in this span and Torres is truly underrated. He was traded to the Rays for Scott Kazmir.
A swap of pitchers, Jordan Walden and Tommy Hanson has proven a bust for the Angels. Hanson is 4-2 with a 5.10 ERA, while Walden is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA. In retrospect, the Braves lead the Majors with the lowest bullpen ERA at 2.74 and the Angels have the 7th highest bullpen ERA at 4.15
After making lots of noise in back-to-back offseasons, the Angels look to stay away from big trades during the non-waiver trade deadline. It looks as though the Angels were lucky to keep Mike Trout in their system as they were moving a lot of talented youngsters in their farm system.
