With the Angels in limbo after Shohei Ohtani’s inevitable departure, their plethora of talented starters could be of great interest to the Cardinals

The Los Angeles Angels falling short of the Postseason is a yearly tradition, but in 2023, it might’ve been the most painful collapse yet. With Shohei Ohtani’s contract expiring at the end of the season, the Angels’ front office decided not to trade the two-way superstar, instead aggressively buying at the Trade Deadline, acquiring Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, CJ Cron, Randal Grichuk, and many others for one last run with Ohtani, hoping he would agree to a long-term deal to remain in Anaheim.

It really was an all-or-nothing gamble from Perry Minasian and Angels management, as their already weak farm system was crippled even further, with the departures of top catching prospect Edgar Quero, left-hander Ky Bush, and many others. Not only did the Angels fail to reach the Postseason for the 9th consecutive season, but they also collapsed immediately following the Trade Deadline and placed most pending free agents on waivers to clear payroll and avoid the luxury tax.

After such an abysmal end to the season, and the farm system decimated, the suffering in Anaheim sees no end in sight. As Ohtani’s departure is all but inevitable, the Angels will likely have to undergo a full rebuild. Lifelong Angel Mike Trout might be on the trade block with the Halos potentially trying to recoup prospect capital.

While pitching has long been a concern during Mike Trout’s tenure, the Angels have churned out several young starting pitchers with tantalizing upside. As the Cardinals continue to search for starters both in free agency and on the trade market, St. Louis and Anaheim may look to team up again. The Angels have a significant trade history with the Cardinals, so a move would be far from unprecedented.

If the Angels do choose to rebuild, it makes them the perfect trade partner with the Cardinals, as the Marlins, Mariners, Rays, and even White Sox have aspirations of contending in 2024. Even though the Cardinals have plenty of proven Major League talent to swing trades with those other teams (such as Nolan Gorman, Brendan Donovan, and Tommy Edman), trading prospects who are not yet Major League ready is definitely preferred. So, which Angels pitchers would make sense in St. Louis?

Patrick Sandoval

In 2022, it looked like Patrick Sandoval put the pieces together to become the second starter for a respectable Angels’ rotation. He posted a 2.91 ERA through 148.2 innings, and a 3.09 FIP. His only concern was a high 3.6 BB/9, contributing to a rather high 1.339 WHIP. He started 2023 off strong as well, tossing 4.1 scoreless on the International stage, pushing Japan to the brink of elimination in the WBC Semifinal with Mexico. Unfortunately, the rest of 2023 was quite the rocky season for Sandoval as he took several steps back.

Instead of improving his walk rate, it increased to 4.6 BB/9, and his ERA and FIP increased to 4.11 and 4.18 respectively. An extremely poor month of June, in which he posted an abysmal 7.11 ERA and walked 10 batters in 25.1 innings derailed a solid start to his season. As the Angels scuffled to the finish line after collapsing in July, Sandoval didn’t help much as he recorded a 4.98 ERA through 21.2 innings.

However, removing those two bad months lowers his ERA to a very respectable 3.13. For the Angels, when things get bad they tend to spiral and get much worse. Had Sandoval’s struggles been a bit smoother, he could’ve had a much better season. His poor performance also seemed to correlate directly with the Angels’ successes on the field, perhaps due to their reliance on him as a frontline pitcher. In a Cardinals rotation where he’d slot in third or fourth instead of second, he can afford to struggle without the team also losing games.

With only three years of control left, it’s unlikely the Angels will find themselves in contention before he hits free agency. Trading Sandoval will certainly help bolster the farm system. His potential as an All-Star caliber starting pitcher won’t be cheap, however. The Cardinals may need to give up 2 to 3 top prospects, but they’d certainly prefer that over parting with proven talent in Nolan Gorman or Brendan Donovan.

Reid Detmers

Like Sandoval, Reid Detmers is another extremely hot-or-cold Angels pitcher with an extremely high upside. Detmers tossed a no-hitter and an immaculate inning in his streaky rookie campaign, but also had a few extremely bad starts. His 2022 season showed extreme promise, as Detmers blossomed into a solid mid-rotation arm, posting a 3.77 ERA and 3.79 FIP. Like Sandoval, however, he took a few steps back in 2023 and regressed to a 4.48 ERA and 4.13 FIP.

In spite of a weaker fastball, Detmers’ breaking pitches are quite lethal, and his strikeout rate improved considerably in 2023, going from 8.5 K/9 to 10.2 K/9. Amongst all Angels’ pitchers aside from Ohtani, Detmers’ strikeout ability was by far the best, something that will certainly interest the Cardinals. However, his walk rate and hard-hit rate both increased for weaker run prevention. At only age 24, it’s clear Detmers has yet to put the pieces together and still has plenty of time to improve.

In spite of an impending rebuild, it’s quite unlikely the Angels entertain trade offers for Detmers, who still has four years of control left. The Cardinals would likely need to give up several top prospects, which they may not be willing to do. After all, Detmers has shown flashes of greatness but has still yet to prove himself as a frontline ace. With the Cardinals seeking rotation certainty, that prospect capital may be better spent elsewhere. Fortunately, the Angels have a few other arms that could satisfy those needs at a cheaper price.

Griffin Canning

Canning is probably the least interesting of the Angels’ arms, but the former top-100 prospect could still have some upside if he can overcome his long injury history. His 2023 season was a step in the right direction as the former second-rounder out of UCLA pitched 127 innings to a respectable 4.32 ERA, 4.29 FIP, and 9.9 K/9. Home runs and hard hit rate have been the main concern with Canning’s viability since he was called up in 2019, but at age 27, there’s still a possibility he will figure something out and become a solid mid-rotation arm. After all, he did lower his walk rate significantly in 2023.

The Angels have often struggled to get the most from their starting pitchers. Andrew Heaney, Jose Quintana, Julio Teheran, and Dylan Bundy are only a few examples of solid starters who had disaster seasons in Anaheim before figuring it out elsewhere. Canning’s performance hasn’t been nearly as poor, but he still hasn’t lived up to his full potential. The Cardinals aren’t a pitching factory like the Dodgers, Rays, or Guardians, but they’ve been able to fix starters such as Canning into solid options before.

The price to acquire Canning would also not be very steep. With only 2 more years of arbitration left, it’s unlikely he will factor much into the Angels’ future plans, and it would probably be wise to use him to recoup prospect capital. Two mid to low-tier prospects should get the job done.

Tyler Anderson

When the Angels signed Tyler Anderson last offseason, many viewed it as a great first step in bolstering an already solid rotation headlined by Ohtani, Sandoval, and Detmers with an established veteran presence. His 3-year $39 million deal could’ve been a real bargain if Anderson had pitched anywhere near his All-Star 2022 season with the Dodgers where he posted a 2.57 ERA, 1.002 WHIP, and 3.31 FIP. Unfortunately, his ERA more than doubled as he became nearly unplayable in Anaheim. With low strikeout numbers, the shift ban certainly did not help his cause in 2023, as he allowed far more hits and hard contact. His strikeout numbers actually increased, from 7.0 K/9 to 7.6 K/9, but he lost all sense of command as his walk rate ballooned from 1.7 per 9 in 2022 to 4.1.

In terms of success with free-agent starting pitchers, the two Los Angeles-based teams are polar opposites. When Anderson signed with the Dodgers on a one-year prove-it deal, he over-performed his career 4.62 ERA tremendously. It looked like he transformed himself into a frontline starting pitcher before heading to Anaheim. By contrast, Anderson’s first season with the Angels was the worst full season of his career by a considerable margin.