5 Reasons Why Los Angeles Angels Must Watch Trade Deadline Pass

Why Should the Angels Sit Back and Do Nothing?

It has been a definite struggle to begin the 2013 season for the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels were 19-27 going into Thursday’s play and are in fourth place in the American League West. It is definitely not where the team thought they would be when this season started. The trade deadline is only two months away and there are going to be people who will want Los Angeles to trade away some of their under-performing stars to bring in new talent. I think that would be the wrong thing to do and I’ll give you five reasons why.

I will be disclosing those exact reasons in a minute but take a look at this team right now. They are on a four-game winning streak and have improved from their low point of 12 games under the .500 mark. It’s not like the team can’t hit since they are in the top half of MLB in most of the major hitting categories. It all boils down to the Angels getting more wins, which I think will be coming sooner than later.

There are plenty of reasons to be positive going forward with the Angels though. They are not going to finish this low in the standings by the end of the season. There is just too much talent there for that to happen. There is a turnaround on their way and it looks like it is already starting to happen over the past week. Here are my five reasons why the Angels should sit back and watch the trade deadline pass without doing a single thing.

Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports, like his Facebook page or add him to your network on Google.

5. C.J. Wilson is Pitching Better

Wilson was one of those big free agent pickups last year and while he wasn’t terrible with a 13-10 record, he did post his highest ERA in four years last season. He started slow again this season, but has given up just three runs total in his last two starts. He is back at 4-3 now with a 3.39 ERA. It will only help him out when Jered Weaver returns to the rotation and he doesn’t need to be the ace of the staff. I would expect that Wilson’s turnaround will continue on and he will finish with 13-16 wins by the end of the season.

4. Mike Trout

It is just as simple as knowing you have one of the most complete players in the game. Trout is at it again this season, hitting .297 with nine home runs and 34 RBIs. There is no way that he is going to allow this team to sink if he has anything to do with it. The 21-year-old is showing a lot of maturity in only his second full season. Is he capable of taking this team on his back and carrying it all the way through the summer? No doubt he can pull that off.

3. Albert Pujols Will Turn His Season Around

It has been a second straight slow start for Pujols, who is hitting .253 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs through 46 games. He has raised his average 19 points over the last 10 games, which has included five games where he had two hits. Pujols has shown throughout his career that he can be one of the most feared hitters in all of MLB. I believe that Pujols will end up hitting over .300 before the 2013 season is over with. He will have his normal 35 or 40 home runs and all will be forgotten if he can lead the Angels to the playoffs.

2. Josh Hamilton Can’t Be This Bad All Year

Hamilton has been awful in his first year with the Angels obviously, hitting just .225 with six home runs and 16 RBIs through Wednesday’s play. There is no way that he is going to be this terrible all season and for a player who has a .299 career average, a turnaround will happen at some point. There is a ton of pressure on Hamilton to live up to his huge contract which forced Torii Hunter to leave town. Hunter has been tearing it up with the Detroit Tigers, and that just puts more on Hamilton’s shoulders. He will get it back to around .270 by the end of the season.

1. Jered Weaver Will Be Back Soon

Weaver pitched in two games this season with a 0-1 record and a 4.91 ERA before going down with an elbow injury. He pitched nearly six innings in an extended spring training outing on Wednesday night, giving up just one run while striking out nine. Weaver is the obvious ace of this staff and when he returns, it will allow the team to make a move to get one of their under-performing pitchers out of the rotation. It may not turn things around in a week or two, but Weaver’s return will be a stabilizing force for the Los Angeles rotation.