Los Angeles Angels: What Are Their Top Five Offseason Priorities?
1. Get Injured Starters Healthy and Find a Low-Risk, High-Reward Starting Pitcher
Starting pitching is so crucial when it comes to being successful in the major leagues. Not many clubs can win consistently without having reliable starters to send out every five days. Not having this assurance with their starting pitching staff certainly made it much more difficult for the Angels to just even compete day in and day out.
Injuries were a key factor to why the club did not have the starting rotation that they probably hoped. Opening Day starter Garrett Richards made only five starts before being put on the disabled list for the remainder of the 2016 season. Similarly, 23-year-old lefty Andrew Heaney was only able to make one appearance before being shutdown for the entire regular season.
However, while the injuries to both hurlers were serious, neither elected to undergo Tommy John surgery right away with the hope that it would decrease their recovery time. This plan is working out for Richards as a recent report from The Los Angeles Daily News notes that he is on track for an day return. Heaney on the other hand, did opt for Tommy John in July, which means that he won’t be back until the end of the 2017 regular season.
It is optimal that the Angels get both have these pitchers back healthy at some point as the team doesn’t have enough funds to go all in on another veteran starter.
Los Angeles should be on the lookout for a starter that would accept a short-term deal. The starting pitching market this offseason is one of the worst in recent memory, so a bounty of them are going to be overpaid. However, there is some good options for the Angels to take a flier on.
Brett Anderson, Jorge De La Rosa, Mat Latos, Bud Norris and Henderson Alvarez all seem like pitchers that could accept a “bet on myself” deal that might benefit both them and the team they decide to pitch for. All four pitchers have had success in the past and would be good insurance if there are more injuries to the team’s starting rotation.
Billy Eppler wouldn’t be wise to put a lot of money into a mid tier starting pitcher like Jeremy Hellickson or Ivan Nova given the competition and risk. The team does have some money to spend with the contracts of Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson both coming off the books. That money would be better spent elsewhere based on the starting pitching market.