Los Angeles Angels: to turn attention to mid-tier starters after Cole miss
The Los Angeles Angels struck out on Gerrit Cole, but they still have a chance to go out and add to their rotation to contend in 2020.
The Los Angeles Angels swung and missed on Gerrit Cole, as he decided to go to the New York Yankees on a nine-year deal worth $324 million–the most ever to be awarded to a pitcher in baseball history.
But GM Billy Eppler still has a lot of work to do, as he cannot miss on the rest of the starting pitching class because his job could be at stake. Owner Arte Moreno wants to win, so he can now use the $300 million that they offered to Cole to use on starters like Madison Bumgarner, Hyun-Jin Ryu, and Dallas Keuchel.
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This Cole deal has the chance to actually work out better for the Angels if they capitalize on the starting pitching market. Madison Bumgarner is the only pitcher in my mind that is guaranteed to get over $100 million based on the market.
Therefore, the Angels can sign Bumgarner but then also sign Ryu and Keuchel because those two starters won’t command nearly as much money as Bumgarner.
The Angels are not just one piece away from contention like the Yankees were. Dylan Bundy, Shohei Ohtani, and Andrew Heaney are not starters that I would rely on to give you quality starts every fifth day.
As Ken Rosenthal said on MLB Network, this could be a good outcome for the Angels because they have more pieces to acquire in order to be in contention mode in 2020.
I know there has been talk about the Angels going after Anthony Rendon and Josh Donaldson, but their #1 priority needs to be starting pitching because that is the position that they are need of most.
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The market also is a big factor for why the Angels should be looking at starters first because elite starters that have the World Series experience like Madison Bumgarner do not come on the market on an annual basis while they can find a third baseman that will produce enough for them to stay afloat next season.