Just like the New York Mets, the Los Angels Angels made a pair of moves the past few days that have flown underneath the radar. First, they acquired Conor Gillaspie from the White Sox for cash considerations and then they traded infielder Josh Rutledge to the Boston Red Sox for Shane Victorino. The pair of moves barely register on the fantasy Richter Scale, but they could prove to be valuable depth moves for the Angels down the stretch.

What does this mean for the Angels?

Regular third baseman David Freese went on the disabled list with a broken finger. He will probably be back in September, but in the meantime they needed someone that could man third base. Gillaspie was given the position in Chicago and squandered it. In 185 plate appearances he managed a disgusting .237/.276/.364 line. He has three hits early on in his Angels career. This is literally a give up nothing move and you can hope that he gets hot for a few weeks until Freese comes back.

The move for Shane Victorino is a little more substantial. Again, you are dealing someone in Josh Rutledge that could not earn a spot he was offered and has done little in AAA to change anyone’s opinion. Victorino is a career .276 hitter with a history of getting on base and decent power numbers on the side. 2015 has been unkind to Victorino as he has battled injuries and poor production, but he is still getting on base. The Angels plan to use him as half of a corner outfield platoon. He could share time with Matt Joyce or they could acquire someone else to pair with him.

What you see is Bill Stoneman at work. He was always considerably more understated than Jerry Dipoto has been. These moves won’t move the needle, but they are low risk moves that could end up improving their stake one or two games in the standings. Since they are in a dog fight with the Astros, those one or two games could end up being very valuable.

What does this mean for the White Sox?

This means nothing for the White Sox. They stopped playing Conor Gillaspie weeks ago and they didn’t acquire anyone to take anyone’s spot now.

What does this mean for the Red Sox?

This is a classic addition by subtraction move for the Red Sox. No, Victorino wasn’t causing any problems per se, but he also wasn’t meant for the role he was playing. From day one, the Red Sox had too many outfielders. Hanley Ramirez is entrenched in left field which meant that four or five guys were fighting it out for center field and right field. Mookie Betts has solidified center field, so right field was the only position remaining. They would love to get Rusney Castillo more exposure, but have been unable to do so by this point. This trade takes a little bit of that pressure off of the Sox so they can see what they have in Castillo.

What does this mean for you?

It might be worth keeping an eye on Shane Victorino to see how much playing time he gets in Los Angeles. Of course, with increased playing time comes the possibility that he will approach career norms for the remainder of the year. However, the biggest fantasy impact comes on Rusney Castillo. He was hitting .282 in AAA with three home runs and ten stolen bases. If you extrapolate that over a full season that ends up looking like 30 stolen bases and ten home runs. That could be worth it in a five outfielder league or an AL only league.