GET RICH' QUICK
THE YANKEES and other teams interested in expanding the starting pitching trade pool should become Mariners fans the next few days.
The Angels host the Mariners for three games, beginning Tuesday. The series begins with the Angels one game over . 500, fourth in the AL West, 11 games behind Seattle for the second wild card and currently given a 2.4 percent chance of reaching the postseason by FanGraphs simulations.
This screams surrender, especially since the Angels have been bedeviled by injuries and still have 13 players on the disabled list, including 10 pitchers.
But the Angels have Mike Trout. He is signed through 2020, and the organization already has wasted the f irst phase of a great career by making the playoffs just once with Trout. They will need to convince him they can win before his free agency, so surrender is diff icult.
The Angels also have nine games this month, pre-trade deadline, against the Mari- ners. They already have lost two of three in Seattle, July 3-5. The Angels might have to sweep the remaining six against the Mariners this month to have a chance — and even if they do, they also have the hot A’s ahead of them in the standings.
When I talked to Angels GM Billy Eppler last week, he said his focus remains galvanized on getting this club to the postseason. But those who know Eppler believe he will be pragmatic, and if nothing changes — and quickly — he will recommend to ownership to be better for 2019 and beyond.
The most obvious piece to trade would be Garrett Richards, who might be Trout’s best friend on the Angels. Richards is in his walk year.
Assuming the Mets retain Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard, Richards could be- come the best starter on the market if — drum roll — he is healthy.
Richards has made one start since coming off the DL with a left hamstring injury, holding Seattle to two earned runs in 5 ¹/3 innings on July 4 (the only Angels win in that series). Richards last pitched a full season in 2015, making just 12 combined starts in 2016-17 due f irst to an elbow tear (for which he did not get Tommy John surgery) and then a biceps strain.
The Yankees lean toward pitchers with high rates of strikeouts and ground balls and, among starters with a minimum of 70 innings, Richards is averaging at least a 50 percent ground-ball rate and more than 10 strikeouts per nine innings.
Also, the added benefit of obtaining Richards is he would no longer have to face the Yankees. This season in two starts against the Yanks, the 30-year-old righty lasted a total of four innings, recording a 14.00 ERA with a 1.124 OPS against. In his other 13 starts, Richards has a 2.58 ERA and a .633 OPS against. He is walking more than four batters per nine innings, and his 15 wild pitches were four more than any other pitcher had, an issue that must be considered if Gary Sanchez were to become his primary catcher.
The Yankees, of course, are hardly the only team looking for quality rotation help this month. The Brewers, Braves, Phillies, Mariners and Cubs are among those who would like to upgrade as well.
If Mets’ aces off market, Angels hurler is best starter of bunch