The Angels have been interested in a plethora of free agents this winter, but haven’t been able to sign the upper-tier free agents they sought, presumably due to being out of their margin of safety.
With Zach Britton the latest free agent the team was interested in but didn’t sign, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reports that the Angels have been in talks with the San Francisco Giants to bolster the relief core.
Those players? Will Smith and Tony Watson.
The Angels and Giants have been in constant contact this winter over left-handers Will Smith and Tony Watson. Now that the Angels were runners-up in the Zach Britton sweepstakes, they might be ready to deal. Whether the two teams can find a match or not, they’ve already done plenty of legwork on each other’s systems.
Baggarly continues on to speculate regarding the possibility of a Zack Cozart to the Giants, Evan Longoria to the Angels swap being part of a potential trade. That seems unlikely, given Longoria’s hefty struggles in 2018 despite health, but it is one viable scenario in which the Angels land relief help.
Tony Watson signed a 2 year, $7 million deal with incentives last winter with the Giants and performed quite well, pitching to the tune of a 9.82 K/9, 1.91 BB/9, and a 2.45 FIP across 66 innings. Smith also performed very well, with a 2.07 FIP across 53 innings pitched and a 4.73 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Both would come at a considerable cost, though the pair only have two years of combined control left, with Watson having a $2.5 million option for 2020.