Angels Acquire Justin Upton, Brandon Phillips

Angels Acquire: Justin Upton (28 HR, 94 RBI, .279 AVG, 10 SB, 137 wRC+, Age 30)
Cash considerations

Tigers Acquire: Grayson Long (8-8, 2.69 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 125/42 K/BB at High Class A and AA, Age 23)
Future considerations

Angels Acquire: Brandon Phillips (11 HR, 52 RBI, .291 AVG, 10 SB, 96 wRC+, Age 36)
Cash considerations

Braves Acquire: Tony Sanchez (4 HR, 40 RBI, .272 AVG, 1 SB, 94 wRC+ at AAA, Age 29)

The Angels swung two trades on the last day to acquire players who could be eligible for the postseason, acquiring a power bat to slot behind Mike Trout and a second baseman to play across from dark horse MVP candidate Andrelton Simmons. With the American League Wild Card races still wide, wide open entering the season's final month, the Angels find themselves at 69-65, just 1.5 games back of the Twins for the second Wild Card. Mike Trout (.327/.459/.667) has shouldered almost all of the Angels' offensive production this year, and by bringing in Justin Upton, not only do the Angels get to move the light-hitting Ben Revere (.261/.298/.336) to the bench, they get to add much needed protection behind Trout in the lineup. Perhaps he should be the one happiest about this trade, as he has walked in 23.6% of his plate appearances while pitchers look for other, more human batters to face. Now, teams may not be as thrilled about facing Upton with a runner on first as they were for an aging Albert Pujols (.232/.278/.387), so Trout should get more pitches to hit. Upton (.279/.362/.542) is quietly having a career year, posting a career high .542 slugging percentage despite playing in a pitchers' park. After 2017, he has four years and $88.5 million remaining on his contract, but he can opt out after the season if he chooses, which would make him a one month (plus potentially postseason) rental. Because of this possibility, the Upton trade was clearly a win-now move.

The Angels also picked up 16 year veteran Brandon Phillips as an upgrade over Cliff Pennington (.267/.328/.352) at second base. The 36 year old Phillips was having a pretty good season for his hometown Atlanta Braves, slashing .291/.329/.423 with adequate defense for a middle infielder in his mid-30's. Phillips will be a free agent after the season, so like (potentially) Upton, this is a one month rental plus the postseason. If he gets a big hit that helps the Angels sneak into the Wild Card, he'll have done his job for LA.

In return for Upton:
Going to Detroit, who is in the early stages of a rebuild, is AA pitcher Grayson Long, one of the lone bright spots in a still-dim Angels farm system. Long was drafted in the third round out of Texas A&M in 2015, and while he was limited to 84.2 innings over his first two pro seasons, he's had a breakthrough season in 2017. Starting with three starts at High Class A Inland Empire, he posted a 4.50 ERA and a 14/4 strikeout to walk ratio in 12 innings, which is a credible performance for the very hitter-friendly California League. Quickly promoted to AA Mobile, he's been one of the best starters in the Southern League, going 8-6 with a 2.52 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP, striking out 111 and walking 38 in 121.2 innings. He'll probably start next season in AAA, and could easily be called up with a few strong performances and the right opening in the Detroit pitching staff. In fact, with rosters expanding now that we're in September, he could find himself in Detroit this year if they're feeling aggressive with their new arm. Right now, the 23 year old projects pretty easily as a solid back-end starter, one who could fall back on relief it that doesn't work out. He relies more on pitchability than pure stuff, though his low 90's fastball does have good movement and he's shown flashes of a pretty good slider.

In return for Phillips:
The Angels only acquired one month of a 36 year old second baseman, so the return to Atlanta will be understandably small. AAA catcher Tony Sanchez has played in the majors before, appearing in 51 games for the Pirates from 2013-2015 and slashing .259/.303/.378 with four home runs. However, the former fourth overall pick out of Boston College has never lived up to expectations and almost certainly never will, but he does provide catching depth for Atlanta. He will likely see time with the major league club in September, having slashed .272/.355/.374 with four home runs in the admittedly hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League this year. With Tyler Flowers just going on the DL, Kurt Suzuki has moved into a bigger role and David Freitas was just called up to be his back-up. With rosters expanding, it makes perfect sense to bring Sanchez along with him.

Braves Acquire Brandon Phillips For Pair of Minor League Arms

With infielder Sean Rodriguez going down with a shoulder injury suffered in a car accident, the Braves decided to pick up some insurance at second base by trading for Brandon Phillips. The 35 year old second baseman has played 15 major league seasons, yet still slashed .291/.320/.416 last season, and Atlanta got him for next to nothing. The Reds will pay most of Phillips' contract for 2017, leaving the Braves on the hook for just $1 million. Phillips will presumably start at second base until top prospect Ozzie Albies is ready to play in the majors sometime later this season or early next season, but may split time with Jace Peterson and Rodriguez, once he's healthy. Phillips was an All Star in 2010, 2011, and 2013, won a Silver Slugger in 2011, and won Gold Gloves in 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2013. For his career, the Atlanta native has 197 home runs, 334 doubles, 34 triples, 198 stolen bases, and a .275 batting average over 1749 games since 2002.

The Reds dealt Phillips in order to make room for 22 year old Jose Peraza, who slashed .324/.352/.411 over 74 games last season. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot going back to Cincinnati in this trade. Andrew McKirahan just turned 27, though he sat out the entire 2016 season with Tommy John surgery. In his only major league action, in 2015, he put up a 5.93 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP over 27 relief appearances, striking out 22 and walking 10 over 27.1 innings. The lefty will fight for a spot in the Cincinnati bullpen, where his above average command could help him provide quality innings. However, the former Texas Longhorn will have to figure out how to miss more bats, as he has become more and more hittable as he has moved up the ladder. Also joining the Reds system is Cuban right hander Carlos Portuondo, a 29 year old just signed off the island this season. He began with High Class A Carolina, where he put up a 4.01 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP over 12 games (1 start), striking out 21 and walking 13 in 24.2 innings. Moving up to AAA Gwinnett for five relief appearances, he put up a solid 2.70 ERA but his WHIP inflated to 1.70 as he allowed 13 hits and four walks in ten innings, striking out four. Portuondo was never a star in Cuba, putting up a 5.75 ERA and a 1.72 WHIP over an eight year career for Santiago, split between the rotation and relief. Prior to 2016, he had not played professionally since 2013, so after shaking off the rust this past season, he's really a wild card for 2017.