MLB Rumors: Angels To Trade For Pitching Help, Yankees Still Want Josh Hader

The Los Angeles Angels did land Anthony Rendon but they still need starting rotation help and are actively testing the trade market while the New York Yankees, who signed Gerrit Cole to a record-breaking deal, are still trying to get Josh Hader from the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Halos had to watch Cole agree to terms with the Yanks and Stephen Strasburg stay put with the Washington Nationals before seeing their secondary targets such as Hyun-Jin Ryu and Dallas Keuchel land with other teams.

This has lit a fire under the franchise in their pursuit of a starting pitcher via the trade market. MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports that although the Angels haven’t been in contact with the Detroit Tigers over Matthew Boyd as was widely reported they are actively looking to make a deal.

The Angels did agree to a deal with free agent Julio Teheran and acquired Dylan Bundy from the Baltimore Orioles. However, neither are really front-of-the-rotation kind of options like the other targets the Halos had.

They will now turn to a trade market where several names seem getable. David Price of the Boston Red Sox is being shopped to potential buyers, although he would cost a lot of money over the last three years of his deal.

After signing Madison Bumgarner, the Arizona Diamondbacks are flush with pitchers and are open to dealing Robbie Ray. The Yankees, meanwhile, want to shed salary and would be willing to part ways with J.A. Happ.

Other options include the Cleveland Indians’ Mike Clevinger and Chris Archer of the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, deals for these pitchers may be made difficult by the dearth of quality prospects in the Angels’ farm system. They have only one player ranked in the top 100 prospects, Jo Adell, and the Angels aren’t in a rush to see him go.

Meanwhile, another club is scouring the trade market for another pitcher, the New York Yankees. Although they sit well above the luxury tax threshold of $208 million, they haven’t given up on acquiring new talent.

Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers has been one of the league’s outstanding talent coming out of the bullpen for the last two seasons. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports that the Yanks could build a trade proposal around Miguel Andujar as the Brew Crew has a need at the hot corner.

Hader is under club control for the next four years and is still just 25. Adding him would make an already excellent Yankees bullpen into a non-hittable force in 2020.