The Los Angeles Angels have made a lot of moves this offseason, but adding more pitching is never a bad thing and the starting rotation could use more depth.
The Los Angeles Angels are longing to put an end to the longest active postseason drought in Major League Baseball.
It has been 11 seasons since the Angels made it to October and Halos fans haven’t had any sort of excitement in a few years. Even with legendary outfielder Mike Trout and two-way player Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles couldn’t put a winning roster together.
They have since lost Ohtani to the rival Los Angeles Dodgers and Trout is a shell of his former self. But in an effort to overcome his club’s demons, General Manager Perry Minasian has gone shopping this offseason.
The Angels have brought in several former All-Star pitchers as an attempt to revitalize one of the league’s worst pitching staffs over the last few seasons. The list of former All-Stars goes as follows: left-hander Drew Pomeranz, right-hander Alek Manoah, right-hander Jordan Romano and right-hander Kirby Yates.
Minasian has made a couple big trades as well, acquiring right-hander Grayson Rodriguez from the Baltimore Orioles and outfielder Josh Lowe from the Tampa Bay Rays.
Essentially, while most of these players are looking to have career resurgences with the Angels, making moves is exciting for fans. But they shouldn’t stop there, and Minasian commented on the idea of adding more depth.
“We're going to see where the offseason takes us and there’s still a lot of good players available,” Minasian said last week. “There's still time to improve the club. We made a jump last year. I think we were in the top four or top five in wins from the previous season. We expect to make another jump this year. We'll see what that looks like and what the team looks like when we get to Spring Training and go from there.”
The Angels should continue searching for starting pitching. There are three pitchers who shouldn’t be too hard to trade for, but their markets haven’t heated up: Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller, Athletics right-hander Luis Severino and Kansas City Royals lefty Kris Bubic.
Keller was an All-Star in 2023 and has been Pittsburgh’s most consistent pitcher since 2022. His numbers are decent, especially when you consider the team he plays for. He’s a durable inning-eater and has hit the 200-strikeout plateau in his career.
Severino could be a bit tougher to trade for as he plays in the same division as the Angels, but he would be a quality arm to add to the rotation. The two-time All-Star has had a solid 10-year MLB career and has shown flashes of being an upper-echelon pitcher. He hit the 200-strikeout mark twice and would be an anchor for a rotation needing stability.
Bubic seems like the highest-upside guy that the Angels could realistically acquire. The 2018 first-round pick was selected to his first All-Star Game last season as he pitched to a 2.55 ERA and 1.18 over 20 starts. Durability could be a concern, but he has a lot of untapped potential.
Severino and Bubic will be unrestricted free agents in 2027 while Keller is under control through 2028.