The big trade deadline prize is Tarik Skubal, bu the Los Angeles Angels have Reid Detmers to offer.
The MLB trade deadline is fast approaching, and rumors are swirling about Detroit Tigers starter Tarik Skubal. The Los Angeles Angels are part of the Skubal storyline, especially since they’re one of the few teams that can clearly be labeled sellers right now.
The Angels also have a starter to offer, and that's Reid Detmers. He's being mentioned as a clear choice for teams that don't want to pay up to get Skubal, but Detmers is no consolation prize.
The 27-year old left-hander has been brilliant at times, so there's a lot to work with. Detmers features a fastball that plays in the high 90s, along with a devastating, breaking ball he uses to keep hitters off balance.
His big issue so far has been control. You can see this clearly when you go through Detmers' game log. The pitching lines that include more than a couple of walks are the ones where he’s been sketchy, and the ones with three walks or less are the games where he's typically been dealing.
It makes no sense to keep him given where the Angels are in the standings and with the current state of their pitching staff. There's still a sorting out going on to try and separate the wheat from the chaff and there's not a lot of wheat on that staff right now.
Expect plenty of teams to be in on Detmers as the trade deadline continues to draw closer. There are two questions surrounding Detmers right now, and one is relatively easy to answer, while the other it's impossible to figure out.
The simpler question is what the Halos can get for Detmers--a haul. It would be nice if the Angels didn't have current GM Perry Minasian making that call, and Minasian is on the clock right now given the way the team is playing. The answer would be even simpler if Minasian was fired, but Angels fans have been hoping for that for a while now.
The impossible question is about owner Arte Moreno. He's currently shielded from the ongoing protests from fans who want him to sell the team, and it doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon.
No one trusts Moreno build an actual baseball team, because that's not what the Angels are putting on the field right now. They have a competent manager in Kurt Suzuki who's done reasonably well so far given what he has to work with on the current roster. Detmers could bring back even more young talent, but until Moreno sells, the entire process of trading him is a complete crapshoot.
