Angels trade minor league RHP Elvin Rodriguez to Tigers, completing the Justin Upton trade

On waiver trade deadline day, August 31, the Angels acquired Justin Upton from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Grayson Long and a PTBNL (player to be named later) or cash. Earlier yesterday, the Angels announced the PTBNL would be nineteen year old minor-league righty Elvin Rodriguez.

E-Rod entered this season as a promising, projectable right-handed teenage starter with most of his development still to come. At midseason, he was 15th on Halos Heaven’s prospect rankings.

In 2017, Rodriguez fulfilled those promises, becoming one of the Angels’ top pitching prospects in the process. He posted a 2.91 ERA across 68 innings (14 starts), three starts of which came in Burlington, the Angels’ A-ball affiliate. He did so with excellent command with a 8.1 K/9 and just a 1.9 BB/9. He is projected to be a potential back-end starter and possibly more, depending on the extent his offspeed offerings improve.

Here is the scouting report on Elvin Rodriguez, per Taylor Blake Ward.

The trade is now officially complete:

Angels get: OF Justin Upton

Tigers get: RHP Grayson Long, RHP Elvin Rodriguez