Los Angeles Angels: The potential trade market of top starting pitchers
By Jason Reed
1. Matthew Boyd, Detriot Tigers
The four pitchers that we are looking at are ordered in terms of talent and first up is someone who has briefly been mentioned in the trade rumors, Matthew Boyd. Boyd is still a Detroit Tiger at the start of Spring Training and there was hope in the offseason that the Angels would make a move for him.
Boyd is the most valuable trade chip that the Detroit Tigers have to offer but he still has not been that great in Detroit and his value potentially got overstated while his name circled in the trade rumors.
Boyd had a career 4.92 ERA in five seasons with the Tigers, finishing with a 4.56 ERA in 2019. While the numbers are not all there, Boyd does have good stuff and there is hope that on a better team he would perform better.
Plus, Boyd is only 29 years old and has two more seasons under contract after the 2020 season, making him not just an option for the 2020 season but beyond, which is much-needed in Anaheim.
While he would still be an improvement from what the Angels have, I find it very hard to see a trade for Boyd happening. The Tigers would rightfully ask for more than Boyd is worth because of the team control, which simply is not worth it for the Angels as Boyd is not as good as an option as, say, Ross Stripling.
If the Tigers do shop Boyd he will get traded to a contending team that has prospects that could use Boyd as their third-best pitcher. The Angels should not trade prospects and try to sell Boyd as a “top pitcher” to the fanbase after messing up on the Stripling deal.