According to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal the New York Mets placed right-handed starter Bartolo Colon on waivers Saturday morning.
Source: #Mets’ Bartolo Colon on revocable waivers. Owed $11M next season. Must pass through 28 teams before #Angels could get crack at him.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 23, 2014
This as Rosenthal notes could get interesting. With the loss of their ace Garrett Richards to a season ending knee injury, the Los Angeles Angels are in need of a starter. They lack depth in their minor league system so it was unlikely they would look there to bolster their rotation in order to stay in the race to win the American League West over the the Oakland Athletics and potentially even the Seattle Mariners.
The Angels are currently one game ahead of the Athletics in the division.
After last night the Angels and Athletics play each other nine more times. The A’s have a clear advantage in their starting rotation with Jon Lester, Sonny Gray, Jeff Samardzija, Scott Kazmir and even the struggling Jason Hammel. The Angels have right now a four man rotation of C.J. Wilson, Jered Weaver, Hector Santiago and Matt Shoemaker. They also recently lost starter Tyler Skaggs to season ending Tommy John surgery.
Colon being on waivers is an excellent opportunity for the Angels to pick up a solid starter. However currently, with Colon in the National League and the Angels being in the American League and having the best record in baseball they would be the last team to have a chance to claim the 41-year-old.
A couple scenarios could happen here. Besides the Angels another team that may be in need of a starter could be the Los Angeles Dodgers. They have Kershaw of course but with the season ending injury to Josh Beckett and Zack Greinke who has said with his elbow soreness he probably won’t be 100% the rest of the season, the Dodgers are left with Dan Haren, Kevin Correia and Roberto Hernandez. If the Dodgers want to show that they too are “all in” then they may look to pick up Colon before the Angels even get a chance.
Another yet much less probable scenario is that if the A’s do not have a better record than the Angels within the next day or so then they would have the opportunity to claim Colon and block the Angels from getting him. It’s a highly unlikely idea but it is still a possibility depending on where the two teams stand. Oakland has an insane amount of pitching depth and less money to spend but it would be a very, very interesting move.
Last season with the A’s Colon finished second in both ERA (2.65) and wins (18) in the American League. He signed a two year $22 million deal with the Mets over the off season. While he hasn’t been as consistent with the Mets as he was in Oakland, Colon is 11-10 with a 3.85 ERA in 24 starts in 2014 which isn’t too bad considering last season he had a stronger team behind him.
For a team in need of a starter to get them down the stretch and into October, Colon would be a great pick up.