Los Angeles Angels: Missing out on Corey Kluber hurts
With the reported news that the Texas Rangers are in the final stages of acquiring Corey Kluber from the Cleveland Indians, the Los Angeles Angels are hurting.
With Jeff Passan of ESPN reporting the Texas Rangers are finalizing a deal for Corey Kluber, the Los Angeles Angels have to be kicking themselves. This was a player the Angels absolutely needed and not getting him deals a severe blow to their plans.
The Angels have done well this off-season in acquiring Anthony Rendon as another star to pair with Mike Trout. The problem is their rotation was the other thing they needed to address. Not getting a deal done for Kluber is huge.
Currently, their rotation consists of Andrew Heaney, Shohei Ohtani, and Dylan Bundy. They didn’t have a starter start more than 20 games all season. The Angles starters posted the second worst ERA collectively in the league behind the Colorado Rockies.
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They also as a rotation had the worst WAR of anyone in the league at 3.3 alongside throwing the lowest amount of innings. They really needed Kluber to come in and help solidify their rotation.
Now the question is who do the Angels turn to now? They were interested in Gerrit Cole and Kluber and struck out on both of them. There are still several really good free agent starters, but can they convince them to come to play with them?
It shouldn’t be difficult with an offense that has Trout, Rendon, Ohtani, and Albert Pujols. Their options include Hyun-Jin Ryu, Madison Bumgarner and Dallas Keuchel to name a few. The nice thing is they are all lefty pitchers who can add a lot to their rotation.
I see them targeting Keuchel or Ryu, both of whom would benefit from going to the American League where they don’t have to worry about going to the plate. Plus I feel like Bumgarner is going to end up with the other team in Los Angeles.
dark. Next. What would Trout have made in free agency?
One thing we know is the Los Angeles Angels need to address their starting rotation. How they do it and who they do it with remains to be seen.