The Los Angeles Angels traded outfielder Brian Goodwin to the Cincinnati Reds ahead of Monday's trade deadline. In exchange they received left-handed starting pitcher Packy Naughton, who is one of the team's top pitching prospects, and future considerations.
Goodwin was in the Angels' lineup when the team released it an hour before their series finale against the Seattle Mariners.
Naughton, 24, had a 3.32 ERA and went 11-12 for the Reds' high-A and double-A affiliates in 2019. He was the club's minor league pitcher of the year.
His best tool is the changeup in his three-pitch arsenal, which also features a fastball in the low 90s. His breaking pitch needs some work, general manager Billy Eppler said, and he'll get the chance to refine the pitch as a member of the Angels' 60-man pool.
"He's just got a really good feel to pitch," Eppler said in a videoconference call.
Naughton, a Boston native, was drafted in the ninth round out of Virginia Tech in 2017. He has a career minor league ERA of 3.59 and 331 strikeouts in 371 innings.
Goodwin, a former first-round pick who never got much playing time with the Washington Nationals, enjoyed a career rejuvenation in Anaheim. He hit .262 with a .796 OPS and 47 RBIs over 136 games in 2019. He got off to a slow start in 2020 but had a .793 OPS through 30 games. He batted .242 with seven doubles, a triple and four home runs.
"We wanted real value back because he's been a good player for us," Eppler said. "He's gotten big hits and he was under (contractual) control. He played good defense and moved around the outfield. The Reds are getting a good player."
Like infielder Tommy La Stella before him, Goodwin came to the Angels in one of Eppler's best under-the-radar moves before being flipped for a prospect. Goodwin had been designated for assignment by the Kansas City Royals after spending his 2019 spring training experimenting at the plate.
Goodwin, 29, is under team control through 2022. He is owed a prorated portion of his $2.2 million salary.
Goodwin was arbitration-eligible for the first time this year and won his case against the Angels, who hired third-party lawyers for the process. Goodwin earned a raise of $1.6 million over his 2019 salary. The Angels had offered Goodwin $1.85 million for the season.
Goodwin spent most of his time in Anaheim as a platoon player, but the left-handed hitter had nearly equal splits against left-handers and right-handers.
Despite his productivity, Goodwin might not have found a place in the Angels' outfield for much longer. The team counts two outfielders among their top five prospects. One of them, Brandon Marsh, was the 45th-best minor leaguer ranked by Baseball America this summer. Marsh could figure into the Angels' landscape in 2021.
Before Goodwin distributed hugs and said his goodbyes in the Angels dugout during Monday's game, Eppler also fielded calls on shortstop Andrelton Simmons and starters Andrew Heaney and Dylan Bundy.
Eppler was reluctant to part with the pitchers because they each have one season remaining on their contracts. Losing Bundy would have been a major hit to the 2020 staff. He has accumulated 1.4 wins above replacement and posted a 2.47 ERA, the 12th-best mark in baseball.
"It would have to be a compelling return for us to do anything with them and nothing matched up," Eppler said.
