The Angels Should Trade Mark Trumbo

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Angels head into the Winter Meetings with two voids in their starting rotation. Their main trade chips include second baseman Howie Kendrick and first baseman/outfielder Mark Trumbo.

Between the two, Trumbo is easily the most intriguing and most flawed.

Trumbo provided a slash line of .234/.294/.453 while slugging 34 home runs and driving in 100 runs. Since he began playing full time for the Angels in 2011, Trumbo has hit 95 home runs, which is fourth best in the American League.

He has been durable, only missing 34 games in three seasons. Trumbo has also shown signs of improvement with his approach at the plate, increasing his walk percentage in small increments over three seasons.

Even with Trumbo’s impressive power resume, durability and signs of patience at the plate, he is still largely an all or nothing type of player. While his walk percentage has improved by year, his strikeout rates have also increased—up to 27.1% in 2013.

Trumbo will never hit for even a mediocre average, as his career swinging strike percentage is 13.8, with no signs of improvement. The low batting average is compounded by the fact that Trumbo does not draw enough walks and has a career .299 OBP.

Defensively Trumbo is versatile enough to play both first base and a corner outfield position. Trumbo is a solid defender at first base, owning a career 8.8 UZR/150 in 2,480 innings. However, his defense in the outfield leaves a lot to be desired, with a -7 UZR/150 in almost 1,000 innings.

The Angels have reportedly been seeking top-flight arms for Trumbo, only to be rebuffed with offers for back end starters.

If the Angels were offered a mid rotation starter such as Trevor Cahill, they should pounce quickly.  The power Trumbo provides is nice to have, but not at the expense of everything else at the plate.

The value of another mid rotation arm greatly outweighs whatever Mark Trumbo provides with his bat.