Los Angeles Angels: biggest needs and rotation upgrade options
The Los Angeles Angels are setting their sights on contention in 2020, but what area is the most important to improve on in order to contend?
The Los Angeles Angels are going to be one of the most interesting teams this winter. They have a lot of holes on the major league club that include the rotation, the bullpen, and the lineup but they have brought in Joe Maddon to be the team’s new manager, which signals to the fan base that they will spend this winter and be in contention next season.
As I said, the Angels do need help in their starting lineup. Other than Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Justin Upton, and Tommy La Stella, there isn’t a lot of depth there.
Albert Pujols is nearly 40 and you can’t count on him producing at a high enough level to be an impact offensive player for the entirety of the season, and the team lost Kole Calhoun to free agency.
But the Angels are not going to get into contention without a stable starting rotation. If you look at teams that were in the postseason this year regardless of what league they all have a rotation that could win them a couple of games in a series.
The Washington Nationals had Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer, and Patrick Corbin. Houston had Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander. The Cardinals had Jack Flaherty and Miles Mikolas.
I could go on and on, but the point is the Los Angeles Angels just don’t have that right now, so the rotation is the biggest need for Billy Eppler to fill this offseason.
Last season there were no starting pitchers who had an ERA better than 4.29 and that was Tyler Skaggs‘ and he is sadly not with us any longer.
Eppler has expressed confidence in guys like Andrew Heaney and Griffin Canning, but the rotation needs at least one and probably two frontline type starters to lead a young rotation in 2020.
What are some rotation options?
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Of course, Gerrit Cole is the first name to be mentioned, as he is the hometown guy but the reality is that there are numerous teams that are willing to spend on Cole, so it wouldn’t be smart for the Los Angeles Angels to forget the other three pitchers that are good fits with them.
You might have noticed I said three and not four and that is because I’m not including Strasburg because it seems like he is intent on either going home to San Diego or working on a new contract with the Washington Nationals.
With that said, the three other realistic options for the Angels are Zack Wheeler, as I mentioned earlier this month, Hyun-Jin Ryu, and Madison Bumgarner.
Wheeler is probably the one the Angels should go after first because he has the highest upside among the three, and he could turn into one of the elite arms in the league if he can mesh with Mickey Callaway in Anaheim.
Next. Nationals should stay away from Josh Donaldson. dark
Jake Odorizzi took his Qualifying Offer, so he is off the table, but it will be important for the Angels to not strikeout on getting at least one starter in what is a very deep free-agent class this winter because they will have a higher set of expectations in Joe Maddon’s first season as the skipper, and what could be Billy Eppler’s last.