The market for pitching, free agents and trades has radically changed today. The Angels came out of no where and signed Josh Hamilton to a 5 year deal. It looks like Anibal Sanchez is about to sign with the Cubs. If he doesn’t sign with the Cubs, he’ll be signing with the Tigers. For this article, that doesn’t make much of a difference since its not with Texas.
From a Mets trade perspective, this could have two completely different impacts on the Texas Rangers:
1. The Rangers will feel pressured to make a move for an impact pitcher, and may change their offer to the Mets. However I think that’s more of my heart saying that then my brain. My brain is saying that…
2. The Rangers will be reluctant to trade anyone who can play in the OF without Hamilton in the lineup as a force.
The Angels now become an interesting situation in the league. They have an overloaded OF and possibly could trade either Bourjos or Trumbo. Earlier in the off-season the Angels and the Mets may have been a match, however according to several different sources online, talks have really cooled off between the Angels and the Mets. However, the Angels came out of no where to get Hamilton, and maybe they trade one of their outfield chips to get the last pitcher they need to become an over the top team. Can you imagine if Dickey has a similar 2013 as he had in 2012 with the offense of the Angels behind him? It would be insane.
I’m not buying the Angels aren’t trade partners yet only because the Angels are now in year 2 of making rash decisions, and now can be making a huge push to win now.
Side Note: If the Tigers fall out of Sanchez, this may be the best bet for the Mets to create a bidding war for Dickey.
All those denials are what make the Angels interesting. The “we’re not trading any of our outfielders” line sounds eerily similar to the “we’re not trading either Gary Brown or Zack Wheeler for Carlos Beltran” line.