Could Cleveland Indians Josh Outman Land in Los Angeles?

The Cleveland Indians designated LHP Josh Outman for assignment on June 18 (giving the team 10 days to trade, release or outright Outman to the minors if he clears waivers), but he could already be drawing interest from other teams.

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Outman, designated to clear room for a fresh-off-the-DL RHP Zach McAllister, was death on left-handed batters (.180/.293/.380 slashline against 58 left-handed batters, 15 strikeouts), but had been battered around by right-handed hitters and was expendable with established LHP Marc Rzepczynski and the emergence of 2013 draftee LHP Kyle Crockett. Outman was caught in a roster crunch, but given he throws a baseball with his left hand and is still useful, it seems unlikely he clears waivers to head to AAA Columbus.

Apr 4, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians relief pitcher Josh Outman (88) delivers against the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field. Cleveland won 7-2. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

MLB Daily Dish’s Justin Millar broke down what the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim could do at the trade deadline. It’s been noted before, but LA doesn’t have a left-handed pitcher in its bullpen, and Millar thinks Outman makes a ton of sense for LA:

"Cleveland’s Josh Outman probably has the strongest likelihood of ending up in Anaheim, as he was designated for assignment earlier this week. Lefties have hit just .180 against Outman this season, so he would be a perfect LOOGY in an Angels’ bullpen that currently lacks one."

For what it’s worth, Millar appears to be speculating as to any interest on the part of the Angels, but it’s not unreasonable to think he wouldn’t intrigue LA. For the Indians, trading Outman makes a lot of sense, particularly if the team doesn’t think he would clear waivers, but forecasting the sort of return Outman could net is difficult, mainly due to three factors: relief pitchers traditionally don’t have a lot of trade value to begin with, the Angels don’t have a good farm system and the Indians don’t have a lot of leverage with Outman DFA’ed. It seems plausible any return for Outman would most likely be a lottery ticket-type player, but hopefully the Indians could pick out a winner.