Cliff Lee on the Angels’ Radar

With the odds of Roy Halladay landing in Anaheim about as likely as Brett Favre making a timely decision, it appears as if the Angels have set their sights on Cliff Lee, the Cleveland Indians’ ace and 2008 American League CY Young Award winner, as the MLB trade deadline approaches.

A trade for Halladay, who is considered to be the best starting pitcher available, is rather unlikely at this point in time, as Toronto has insisted that the Angels starting shortstop Erick Aybar, who has emerged as an offensive force with a .317 batting average, be included in a potential deal. However, GM Tony Reagins and Mike Scioscia have been insistent that Aybar remain with the team, and as a result, it appears as if the Angels are moving on from Halladay to Lee, who currently has a 7-9 record and 3.14 ERA in 22 starts.

But acquiring Lee, won’t be easy, as Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro recently told reporters that “any deal we make, we’re looking for pitching, pitching and more pitching.” With starters Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver all struggling and with few top of the line starting and relief prospects in the organization, pitching is one commodity that the Angels can not afford to give up.

But the Angels could give Cleveland something they are looking for – an inexpensive second baseball who is a fastball hitter – such as Howie Kendrick. While Kendrick may be having a down year (.263 BA/5 HRs/31 RBIs), he is still highly regarded as one of the better young infield prospects and the Angels still believe he can take home a batting title. Just last year, Kendrick appeared in 92 games while finishing with a .306 batting average. So, the potential is still there.

But it will take more than just Kendrick to get this deal done. According to several reports, Cleveland has asked for Kendrick, a big league starting pitcher – either Weaver or Saunders -, and infield prospect Brandon Wood.

But if you listen to Reagins, it appears as if the Angels are very particular about who they are willing to trade.

"“No player is untouchable, but there are definitely players who are very close to untouchable,” Angels GM Tony Reagins told Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. “We haven’t limited ourselves in any way. We’ve had some opportunities to improve the club. For whatever reasons, we haven’t matched up.”"

Close to untouchable? I’m not sure, which players exactly classify as close to untouchable, but you would have to figure Wood would be in that category in addition to Aybar. As a result, I find it rather unlikely that Lee winds up in Anaheim simply because it doesn’t appear as if the Angels are willing to do anything significant that would break up the current roster even if they are seriously interested in Lee.

With that said, there is an excellent chance that the Angels go out and make a trade for a relief pitcher, as they currently have the third worst bullpen ERA in all of baseball.

Some of the names that have been thrown out there as some relief targets for the Angels are Oakland’s Michael Wuertz, Toronto’s Scott Downs and Brandon League, Baltimore’s George Sherrill, Arizona’s Chad Qualls and Cincinnati’s David Weathers. Any of these players, would require far fewer players and prospect to acquire, but in terms of which reliever could end up in Anaheim, it’s all guesswork at this point.