Cleveland Indians: 5 starting pitchers to target at MLB trade deadline

Cleveland Indians Trade Target #3: Andrew Heaney, Los Angeles Angels

The Angels are a strange case this season, sitting at 46-46 and seeming perfectly content to ride the Shohei Ohtani wave while Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon miss significant time. Even with that being said, Los Angeles’ circumstances aren’t all that different from Cleveland’s, sitting nine games back of Houston in the AL West and 5.5 back in the Wild Card.

Even if the Angels get Trout and Rendon back, it’s highly possible that Andrew Heaney is more valuable to the Angels as a trade chip than holding onto him for a potential playoff push. At age 30, Heaney is currently in his seventh season with the Halos, sporting a 5-7 record in 16 starts to go along with an ERA of 5.56 and a 1.36 WHIP through 81 innings. He’s a bit of an enigma, boasting a fantastic 98/26 K/BB and a FIP of 4.20, suggesting he’s been the victim of some bad luck and poor defense in 2021.

Heaney is the second lefty on this list, and like his counterpart he forces a bunch of swings-and-misses; 28.6% on his 4-Seam, 38.5% on the Curveball and 25.9% on the Changeup. Those rates further complicate the bad luck argument, but he’s another player who might benefit from the change of scenery and a new pitching coach.

Heaney has been roughed up a couple of times this season, but he’s a streaky starter. The gamble would be which Heaney are you getting and are the little things correctable? Cleveland certainly has the track record with pitching, so taking on an expiring $6.75M contract shouldn’t raise too many eyebrows.