Ian Kennedy - A Prime Trade Candidate

[Tyler]

The Angels have a huge hole in their starting rotation after losing Zach Greinke to the Dodgers this past offseason. With questionable 3-5 guys, and an ace with a mid-80's fastball, the Angels simply will not have the starting pitching, as it stands, to contend this season.

 

Ian Kennedy. The ace of the Arizona Diamondbacks needs to be on the Angels radar. With a bare farm system, the Angels don't have much to offer from a prospect standpoint. However, the Angels do have Major League talent in Mark Trumbo and Peter Bourjos to get the D'backs listening.

 

Why for the D'backs? The D'backs are loaded with young starters, some waiting for an opportunity; Wade Miley, Trevor Cahill, Josh Collmenter, Randall Delgado, Tyler Skaggs, Brandon McCarthy, and Patrick Corbin.

 

Prado at 3rd, Trumbo in left, Bourjos in center, Goldschmidt at first, and Parra in right. They improve their defense, fill holes, and shed salary.

 

Why for the Angels? The Angels need a legitimate 3rd starter in the rotation. Hanson can be solid, but who knows how long he can stay healthy. Blanton, I'm sorry, but Blanton is not very good. I'd have him in a mop-up role or emergency starter. Vargas as a No. 4 starter is ideal.

 

Weaver-Wilson-Kennedy-Vargas-Hanson? Much sexier.

 

I love Bourjos' defense but he is expendable with Trout, and I think Trumbo is a free-swinger with alot of power but he struggles with consistency. His power is outstanding, but it is not needed in this lineup with the Hamilton signing.

 

What do you guys think?

[2002_halos_II]

no

[Chuck]

They don't need Bourjos, they have Adam Eaton.

We need to keep Bourjos unless Witherspoon proves he's major league ready.

[YouthofToday]

Cody Ross and Jason Kubel man the corner OFs for them. Goldschmidt is locked at 1B for years. They love Adam Eaton in CF and for good reason.

No match.

[AZMike]

The Angels have a huge hole in their starting rotation after losing Zach Greinke to the Dodgers this past offseason. With questionable 3-5 guys, and an ace with a mid-80's fastball, the Angels simply will not have the starting pitching, as it stands, to contend this season.

 

Ian Kennedy. The ace of the Arizona Diamondbacks needs to be on the Angels radar. With a bare farm system, the Angels don't have much too offer from a prospect standpoint. However, the Angels do have Major League talent in Mark Trumbo and Peter Bourjos to get the D'backs listening.

 

Why for the D'backs? The D'backs are loaded with young starters, some waiting for an opportunity; Wade Miley, Trevor Cahill, Wade Miler, Randall Delgado, Tyler Skaggs, Brandon McCarthy, and Patrick Corbin.

 

Prado at 3rd, Trumbo in left, Bourjos in center, Goldschmidt at first, and Parra in right. They improve their defense, fill holes, and shed salary.

 

Why for the Angels? The Angels need a legitimate 3rd starter in the rotation. Hanson can be solid, but who knows how long he can stay healthy. Blanton, I'm sorry, but Blanton is not very good. I'd have him in a mop-up role or emergency starter. Vargas as a No. 4 starter is ideal.

 

Weaver-Wilson-Kennedy-Vargas-Hanson? Much sexier.

 

I love Bourjos' defense but he is expendable with Trout, and I think Trumbo is a free-swinger with alot of power but he struggles with consistency. His power is outstanding, but it is not needed in this lineup with the Hamilton signing.

 

What do you guys think?

 

I actually wouldn't be surprised to see Bourjos dealt at the trade deadline if he has a good first half of the year. Dipoto hasn't done any Bourjos trades because since 2012 (when Trout appeared) Bourjos' trade value has been low. It looks like Dipoto is clearly betting that Bourjos will have a good year and he might be a suitable centerpiece in a trade for a pitcher. 

 

I was thinking that Kole Calhoun might start the year in AAA then be brought up to fill the void in the outfield if a Bourjos and/or Trumbo trade happens, although he is on the DL at the moment. If Trumbo was dealt we might see a third catcher be brought up and Conger get some play at 1B/DH.

[Tyler]

I guess you guys are just a bit higher on the next Willits than I am. Maybe Arizona is too though.

[SigBaby]

Conger for Jeff Niemann of the Rays. They're the only team we match up with well

[AngelsAndRamsFan]

I guess you guys are just a bit higher on the next Willits than I am. Maybe Arizona is too though.

Lol. Willtits never hit a HR in his career and he wasn't a good defensive OF. 

[Tyler]

Conger for Jeff Niemann of the Rays. They're the only team we match up with well

Out for the season.

[DW711]

The D-backs will probably be better than you think.

 

Doubt they'll trade Kennedy.

[Oz27]

Bourjos for Kennedy would be Reaginsesque. Even Reagins wouldn't be dumb enough to give them Trumbo too.

 

Just so I'm clear, you're proposing we play with a lineup of....

Trout-Aybar-Pujols-Hamilton-Kendrick-Callaspo-Calhoun-Iannetta-God Knows (Schuck?)

 

You really think that 5-9 could win anything? And even if it could, what do we do with that hideous Blanton contract? Basically, this idea fails all over.

[Black Beard]

I guess you guys are just a bit higher on the next Willits than I am. Maybe Arizona is too though.

LOL at the next Willits. You don't have a clue.

[Tyler]

Judging by your reaction to that post, neither do you. Lol

[Bobster7587]

The next Willits? Wow. That's just absurd. 

[Tyler]

Apparently sarcasm is tough to detect, but the point is Eaton would not be a roadblock for Bourjos.

[ineedanap]

Cody Ross and Jason Kubel man the corner OFs for them. Goldschmidt is locked at 1B for years. They love Adam Eaton in CF and for good reason.

No match.

 

Exactly.

 

I like trade proposals, and there might be a match elsewhere, but not the D-Backs at this time for Bourjos and Trumbo. Plus, I'd be a little worried about our lineup without Trumbo, although it is debatable about how well he will turn out.

[Angels_Make_Me_Drink]

Yes we MAY need pitching and Bourjos MAY be traded, but we are only 6 games into the season. Can we please get through the first couple of weeks before we start trading people away?

[AZMike]

Yes we MAY need pitching and Bourjos MAY be traded, but we are only 6 games into the season. Can we please get through the first couple of weeks before we start trading people away?

 

I hear the Yankees have a good left fielder who can hit for power, batting over .380 with an OPS of ~1.3 so far.  Maybe they'd prefer to mix it up and would give us that guy for a speedy centerfielder. 

[Brent Maguire]

The Willits-Bourjos comparisons need to stop. They have way different skill sets outside of their speed. 

[shadydee1]

Why the rush to get rid of Bourjos? He's at least top 5 defensively and how quick some are to forget he has decent pop, triples speed and was [2 yrs. ago] a decent clutch hitter. Az. is not going to trade Kennedy. Myself, I'd rather have Skaggs back. But not at the weakening of our OF defense. Patience is needed. 162 g's will be played and we're going to lose around 60 of those at least no matter who starts.Blanton gave up 3 HR'S and so what? It's like Santana last yr. we score we still win we don't and we lose. We need to roll with what we got and hopefully with a little luck combined with our talent we make it happen with this roster. If you need to worry about an aspect of 2013 Halos the BP has enough holes to keep you up all night and leaving the room in tight games. Blanton will be 500 or better , watch.

 

[Oz27]

It's also worth pointing out this team is built around having an incredibly good defensive outfield. Blowing that up would be as stupid as going into a season with an OF of Abreu-Hunter-Rivera.

[Tyler]

Why the rush to get rid of Bourjos? He's at least top 5 defensively and how quick some are to forget he has decent pop, triples speed and was [2 yrs. ago] a decent clutch hitter. Az. is not going to trade Kennedy. Myself, I'd rather have Skaggs back. But not at the weakening of our OF defense. Patience is needed. 162 g's will be played and we're going to lose around 60 of those at least no matter who starts.Blanton gave up 3 HR'S and so what? It's like Santana last yr. we score we still win we don't and we lose. We need to roll with what we got and hopefully with a little luck combined with our talent we make it happen with this roster. If you need to worry about an aspect of 2013 Halos the BP has enough holes to keep you up all night and leaving the room in tight games. Blanton will be 500 or better , watch.

 

Hey, thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

This proposal is not meant to be a slight to Bourjos as a player, it's just that he is our best expendable trade asset that you can build a package around for a quality starting pitcher.

[AZMike]

Why the rush to get rid of Bourjos? He's at least top 5 defensively and how quick some are to forget he has decent pop, triples speed and was [2 yrs. ago] a decent clutch hitter. Az. is not going to trade Kennedy. Myself, I'd rather have Skaggs back. But not at the weakening of our OF defense. Patience is needed. 162 g's will be played and we're going to lose around 60 of those at least no matter who starts.Blanton gave up 3 HR'S and so what? It's like Santana last yr. we score we still win we don't and we lose. We need to roll with what we got and hopefully with a little luck combined with our talent we make it happen with this roster. If you need to worry about an aspect of 2013 Halos the BP has enough holes to keep you up all night and leaving the room in tight games. Blanton will be 500 or better , watch.

 

I'd be in favor of a trade involving Bourjos but only if two conditions are met:

 

1) we're able to get fair return for him (ie, he's the centerpiece in a trade for a good pitcher)

2) Calhoun, Witherspoon or another prospect with much better outfield defense than Mark Trumbo is ready to be promoted to the major league level. 

 

As it is using Trout -- a very good CF -- in left is under utilizing his skill. If we find a good match for a trade, we might be able to deal from a position of relative surplus to fill a position of need. I understand that stacking the OF with good to elite centerfielders is likely to help the pitching staff turn more fly balls into outs, but dealing for a good starter and moving Trout back to CF might buy us more in quality pitching than we lose in defense.  

[Second Base]

Whatever happened to that guy I called a butt-dart that used to say Bourjos was the next Willits?  He also told me Garrett Richards was awful and would never live up to the projections I had for him.  

 

Anyway, did we ever stop tho think that maybe Peter Bourjos is an integral part of this team mainly because of the pitching staff?  Fielding such an excellent defensive OF is part of the reason why we can get away with such an unproven 3-5.  Also, it's still a young season but our SP isn't what is preventing the Angels from winning. 

 

Throw into the mix the fact that Arizona already has Adam Eaton plus another couple prospects coming up soon and it's clear they won't be needing an OF.  They're an NL team so there's no DH.  They just signed Goldy to an extension.  Arizona needs neither Trumbo or  Bourjos and quite frankly, our GM would be eight different degrees of stupid if he dealt Trumbo and Bourjos away for a #3 starter.  

 

I said it before and I 'll say it again, the Angels need to seriously give Garrett Richards a chance at breaking into this rotation.  If we like what's done in 1-2 inning spurts, wait till you see him do it for 6.  I honestly think he could be a solid #3 or #4 starter right now, if not better.   

[Docwaukee]

I'm not feeling this one. 

 

I don't see the halos giving up 2 everyday players that are young, club controlled and have a lot of potential unless it's for an elite starter and I don't consider kennedy elite.