5 moves the Angels must make now that Mike Trout is the future

1. Trade For Trevor Bauer

Aside from his odd, eccentric personality and outspoken nature, if the Indians are looking to offload starting pitching, Trevor Bauer is an appealing trade target. He had a breakout season in 2018, with a 2.21 ERA (an AL-leading 2.44 FIP) and an 11.3 K/9 over 28 appearances (27 starts). If not for a stress fracture in his lower leg that cost him nearly six weeks, he would have finished better than sixth in the Cy Young Award voting and better than fifth in WAR (5.8, Baseball Reference version) among American League pitchers.

It feels like Bauer first surfaced in the big leagues as a well-regarded prospect a long time ago, and to be fair it kind of was (2012 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who drafted him No. 3 overall in 2011 out of UCLA). But he’s still only 28 years old, with relatively little mileage on his arm (904 major league innings). Over the last two seasons, he has combined more strikeouts (10.7 K/9) with slightly improved control (3.0 BB/9).

Bauer has one more year of arbitration eligibility left, before becoming a free agent after the 2020 season. He was fine going year-to-year with the Indians, instead of engaging in substantive talks on a long-term contract, and it’s unclear if he would do the same next offseason if he were to be acquired by the Angels. As a Los Angeles-area native (North Hollywood born, attended high school in Santa Clarita), he may be willing to entertain committing to a California team as he nears 30 years old.

As with Kluber, it’s odd (or maybe interesting) that the Indians’ asking price for Bauer has apparently dropped some as Opening Day nears. The Angels have to be in the market for starting pitching, now and going forward, in order to maximize what remains of Trout’s time as baseball’s best player.