Los Angeles Angels Willing To Trade Howie Kendrick?

The Los Angeles Angels could be willing to trade an infielder such as Howie Kendrick or David Freese to address other areas of need on the club, particularly starting pitching.

The Los Angeles Angels had the best record in MLB last season, but injuries, particularly to the starting rotation, ended up sinking the Halos in the postseason. With infielders Howie Kendrick and David Freese in their last arbitration years, the Angels are considering trading one of them in order to acquire more starting pitching and potentially a left-hander for their bullpen.

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Both infielders are 31, but Freese will make approximately $6.5 million after arbitration, and Kendrick will make $9.85 million next season. Freese had a nice bounce-back season in his first year in LA, hitting 10 home runs, but Kendrick posted the second-best Wins Above Replacement in his career in 2014, with seven home runs and his .347 on base percentage tied his career best.

It’s not clear exactly what type of starting pitcher the Angels would seek in a return for one of their infielders, but Kendrick does have a limited no-trade clause which will allow him to block trades to four teams in 2015, but it’s not known which teams are on his list. He’s probably the more attractive option to most teams, even with the higher salary, particularly if a team is looking for a one-year upgrade at middle infield; Kendrick is able to hit and was pretty good with the glove (7 Defensive Runs Saved last season), so he could probably net a nice return for LA in a trade.

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