MLB Free Agents: 3 teams that could grab Cole Hamels

MLB Free Agents: 3 Contenders for Cole Hamels

Would the Halos settle for Hamels?

Maybe the second most deprived team when it comes to starting pitching, the Los Angeles Angels are desperate for a respectable rotation. Cole Hamels may not be a passionate enough addition, but like the Twins, the Angels mostly need a few healthy arms that can eat innings.

In 2019, the Angels used 19 different starting pitchers! That’s not OK. Eight different pitchers made 10 or more starts, and the primary six were: Andrew Heaney, Griffin Canning, Tyler Skaggs, Jose Suarez, Jamie Barria, and Matt Harvey.

Those 19 total pitchers banded together to accumulate a whopping 3.3 WAR, the least amount of team starting pitching WAR in 2019… and yes, less than each of the Twins’ top two starters above had totaled all by themselves last season. Pitiful.

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Matt Harvey was released in July, and save for Heany and Canning, the team doesn’t have much more that could possibly contend for a rotation spot.

It’s true the Halos have money to burn — I wrote about as much earlier this week (my first article here at Call to the Pen) — but they don’t possess quite as much cash flow for this winter as the Twins (though the Twins have more work to do in terms of filling roster spots).

As of right now, the Angels’ payroll is at roughly $137 million, with Mike Trout ($35.500 million), Albert Pujols ($24 million) and Justin Upton ($21.200 million) accounting for almost 64-percent of that.

Also, the team still must fill numerous holes, including a stopgap-type outfielder (until Joe Addel is ready), someone to help at first base with Albert Pujols, bullpen reinforcements and frankly the team could use a better catcher. Oh yeah… plus ⅗ of a starting rotation!

Perhaps a good plan for the Angels would be to sign Hamels to a two-year deal, but for a smaller yearly salary, say… $12-15 million per year. Then, the team could use those savings (admittedly a small amount of savings) to possibly pursue a catcher or a decent outfielder.

But who knows if Hamels would accept an offer that low in salary just to guarantee two more years. He would obviously make more money that way, relative to settling for a one-year deal.

On the other hand, after years of squandering the talent of the sport’s best player, the Angels may want to go bigger than Hamels. Signing an about-to-be 36-year-old pitcher, no matter how much he’s overachieving for his age, isn’t what competing-teams usually do (even though it’s a little early to call the Angels contenders).

I see the Angels putting all of its eggs in MLB free agents Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg basket. But if they fail to sign either of those two, then we could see the Angels settle for a consistent arm like Cole Hamels, as the team tries to spread out and cover its empty rotation slots.

*All WAR totals were compiled from FanGraphs, and contract figures from Spotrac.