In a signal that Angels GM Billy Eppler is off to spend this winter, the Angels moved Zack Cozart as a vessel for eliminating $12.6 million toward their 2020 luxury tax number. And all it cost them was their… first round pick from the 2019 draft?
Los Angeles (AL) Trades Zack Cozart and Will Wilson
San Francisco Trades Cash Considerations or a PTBNL
Zack Cozart (MLB, 3B)
The Good: In 2017, Cozart willed together a 5.0 fWAR season, showing how productive his overall profile can be when everything breaks right. Cozart boasts a career 16.2% strikeout rate over the course of 3,388 plate appearances and hits with some occasional thump in his bat. Also, because of his high contact rates, if he gets on a run of good BABIP luck, his batting average comes along for the ride.
Defensively, Cozart was an everyday shortstop during the first seven seasons of his career. While his days at the six are behind him, he can still sling the leather at second and third and be a plus defensive asset for the Giants as either an everyday second baseman or in a utility role backing up Evan Longoria and Mauricio Dubon. He was good for +4 DRS and a 12.8 UZR/150 in limited time (203 innings) at the hot corner last season.
The Bad: Cozart only managed to appear in 58 games in 2018 and 38 games in 2019. He underwent a torn labrum, a neck injury, and two surgeries on his left shoulder in the past two seasons. And 2020 will be his age 34 season.
The Giants are now responsible for Cozart’s $12.6 million luxury tax hit for the 2020 season, which is a decent sized hit for a utility infielder with an assorted injury history. For the rebuilding Giants, this is also probably an easy price to pay to gain a first round caliber player.
Fantasy Impact: Neutral
Cozart was unlikely to have much fantasy value with the Angels as the club clearly did not have him as part of their 2020 plans. In San Francisco, he’s got a narrow path to playing time and now plays in a home park that really suppresses offense. He can be ignored for fantasy in the vast majority of leagues.
Will Wilson (R, 2B/SS)
Writeup Courtesy of Alex Jensen
The Good: The 15th overall pick in the 2019 MLB draft, Wilson bucked the Angels recent trend of drafting premier athletes in the first round. Known for a sweet swing and solid pop, Wilson was expected to be an advanced hitter who hit the ground running post draft.
While there are concerns with Wilson’s profile, it’s worth noting that this was the end of a long season for him and he has a long track record of hitting for power. Swing and miss will always be a big part of Wilson’s game given his aggressive approach and it’s hard to expect high walk totals. But with his sweet swing, expect him to be able to get the ball in the air more in 2020. Wilson will continue to get some reps at shortstop, but a permanent move to second base (where he has begun to play already) is likely due to fringe average speed and an average arm. Wilson has soft hands and should excel at the position.
Wilson’s track record, pedigree, and swing give plenty of reason for optimism. Wilson doesn’t have any one dominant tool, but will likely be a collection of five 50 grade tools at maturity should he fine tune his approach a bit.
The Bad: While he didn’t quite perform as expected in the extremely hitter friendly Pioneer League for Orem, he showed some flashes of why he was drafted so highly. But there was also some cause for concern.
Hitting at Rookie-level Orem in the Pioneer League is like hitting in the PCL against 19 year olds, so you’d expect an advanced college bat to dominate. Wilson finished with a .275/.328/.439 slash line, which placed him in the middle of the pack of his Orem team and a 101 wRC+. This was aided by a high .343 BABIP and 16.7 HR/FB%. Always known for an aggressive approach, Wilson struck out 23% of the time with just a 6.9% (nice) walk rate. His power totals were held back by a surprisingly low 21.9% fly ball rate and heavy 23.3% IFFB rate on those fly balls. He hit the ball on the ground over half of the time as well.
Angels Receive Cash Considerations or a PTBNL
The motivation for LAA in this move was to remove Cozart’s $12.6 million salary from the luxury tax hit in the 2020 season. This signals that the Angels are indeed planning on spending big this offseason. Spotrac places the Angels 2020 payroll currently around $127 million. The club could add up to three significant contracts this offseason in an effort to build a winning team around franchise cornerstone Mike Trout while still staying under the luxury tax. An obvious place for the Angels to add talent would be at third base. The team is rumored to be interested in Anthony Rendon and Josh Donaldson. Trades for Nolan Arenado and Kris Bryant are other exciting possibilities.
Trading away this year’s first-round draft pick still feels like a jarring move. According to Craig Edwards’ updated Draft Pick Valuation chart, the 15th overall pick in 2019 had a present value of $18.4 million. In addition, the Angels paid Wilson a $3.4 million bonus to sign with the club. That’s a nearly $22 million asset that the club parted ways with in order to get $12 million leaner in the present season. Angels fans will expect the front office to go find immediate contributors with that money.
Keep your eyes out for a potential Player to Be Named Later heading back the Angels way as well.