Los Angeles Angels Must Consider Trading Jered Weaver In 2016

The Los Angeles Angels have had some bad luck early in the 2016 season. They have three starting pitchers, their starting catcher, starting shortstop, starting second baseman, closer and both halves of their platoon in left field on the disabled list. They were forced to sign Tim Lincecum and trade for Jhoulys Chacin just to have enough starting pitchers, so it makes sense to consider trading Jered Weaver this season.

Weaver is the most experienced starting pitcher currently in the rotation for the Angels. He has started 24 or more games and thrown more than 150 innings every season since 2007. He even pitched 126 innings in his rookie 2006 season. He had a career low ERA in 2011 and it has slowly gone up every year since. He has been a consistent starter in his tenure with the Angels, but that time is coming to an end.

Meanwhile, the Angels have the best player in MLB today in Mike Trout. They have constantly tried to compete every year instead of planning for the future. The Angels have Trout for four more seasons after this one. They need to make sure they can compete next year and the three years beyond that if they want to make the most of Trout.

Weaver has value as a back-end starter for a contending team. One need look no further than the Boston Red Sox to see a team with World Series aspirations that has a need for starting pitching help. The Sox only have four healthy starters and have four on the DL right now. Adding someone like Weaver would stabilize their rotation.

The Angels need to plan for the future to utilize their time with Trout. The 2016 season may be lost to injuries, so the Angels must consider trading Weaver to ensure that 2017 isn’t lost as well.