Marlins Have Pitching To Trade, Could Angels Be A Possible Trade Match?

The Los Angeles Angels are looking for more pitching. The Miami Marlins have starters to offer. Is there a possible match here?

This is one of the more surprising rumors making the rounds as the winter GM meetings opened today in Orlando Fla. It’s been reported in a couple of separate pieces from Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic, so given the sources it’s well worth a dive to break down some of the possible moving parts and pieces.

Start with the Angels. They’re not usually this active in situations like this, but according to Rosenthal they want to add another starter, even after adding pitcher Grayson Rodriguez via a trade and signing starter Alex Manoah to a one-year deal.They’re also looking to address their bullpen, center field, and third base as their buyout discussions with Anthony Rendon continue.

Right now their fourth starter would be reliever Reid Detmers via a conversion, and if there’s a match the Marlins are offering some better options.

One is Sandy Alcantara, who’s been on the market for a while due to his injury history. Another is Edward Cabrera, who is under club control for the next three years. Cabrera is the move viable option here, given that he had a 2.8 WAR to go with a 3.53 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP in just over 137 innings.

Another name to watch here is left-hander Ryan Weathers, who’s also drawing interest. Weather struggled with injuries this year, posting a 3.99 in eight starts over 38-1/3 innings. He’d have to be considered a breakout pitcher, but the Marlins are listening to offers on every starter but Eury Perez.

So what is Miami looking for? That’s where the match comes in. The Marlins leading home run hitter was left fielder Kyle Stowers with 25, and the Angels could be talked into trading erstwhile center fielder Jo Adell, who had a breakout year with 37 home runs.

Trading Adell would weaken the Angels considerably in the outfield, especially since DH Mike Trout isn’t going back into the field any time soon, so that’s where things might get complicated. The Angels are also looking for a defensive center fielder, so there are a lot of possible moving parts and pieces here.

Still, there are possibilities. If new manager Kurt Suzuki and pitching coach Mike Maddux want to build a stronger rotation, conversations with Miami should happen to see if there’s a possible trade to be made here.