Bleacher Report's outrageous Dodgers-Angels trade goes two steps too far

After losing Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler, the Dodgers were left with a huge hole in the rotation. They quickly slapped some duct tape over it in the form of rookie Landon Knack, who's done quite well in his two starts since returning from the minors, but likely isn't going to be a long-term solution for the team.

LA has already seriously looked at Garrett Crochet and made the White Sox an offer they turned down. While it's unlikely they'll stop there — he seems to be their white whale this season — there are other starters who will be out there, and might be able to be secured with a far smaller trade package than whatever's needed to add Crochet.

Former Dodger, now Angels ace Tyler Anderson is looking like he'll be one of those others, and Bleacher Report (as they are usually wont to do) took that and ran with it in an 'outrageous' trade proposal that would bring Anderson (back) to LA along with infielder Luis Rengifo, and would send No. 2 prospect Josue De Paula, No. 3 prospect Nick Frasso, and lefty pitching prospect Ronan Kopp down the road. 'Outrageous' is definitely one word we could use.

Bleacher Report trade proposal sends two top Dodgers prospects to Angels in exchange for Tyler Anderson, Luis Rengifo

Anderson did some of his best work with the Dodgers in 2022, pitching almost 180 innings for a 2.57 ERA. The Dodgers extended him the qualifying offer at the end of the year, but he turned it down and signed with the crosstown rivals instead. His decision felt incredibly rushed (he signed a week after the World Series ended, and less than a month after the Dodgers were eliminated in the NLDS), which led some fans to believe that he just wanted to get out of LA proper.

He's having a great 2024, having pitched 104 innings for a 3.03 ERA, but he has struggled over his most recent starts, especially in his last outing on Sunday against the Tigers, when he pitched 4 2/3 innings and gave up six runs. Still, he could be a trade candidate for the Dodgers, but certainly not at the proposed price point. Anderson still has a season left on his contract with the Angels, but he's also 34 and has missed time over the last two seasons with injuries.

There's simply no way the Dodgers would send two of their best prospects to, ostensibly, a rival in order to add him. If the Angels have the gall to ask for that kind of return, then they're going to be sorely disappointed.