Los Angeles Angels are in trouble if Zach Wheeler is the marquee signing

It is no secret that the Los Angeles Angels need starting pitching this winter and one of the names that have been floated around is Zach Wheeler.

The Los Angeles Angels have the talent in the lineup to be a successful team. While the team’s offense ranked 16th in fWAR, 18th in batting average and 18th in OPS, they still have the talent around Mike Trout to score runs and win ball games.

The Angels’ biggest flaw last season, and for most of the dry spell this decade, has been the starting rotation. The Angels ranked second-to-last in starting rotation ERA, ahead of only the Colorado Rockies, and currently boast a 2019 starting rotation that would not be great.

Andrew Heaney, Griffin Canning and Shohei Ohtani, who is coming off of Tommy John surgery, are the three arms that the Angels can rely on. The rest of the starting pitchers in the rotation are a slew of triple-A-level pitchers that proved to us in 2019 that they should not be part of a big-league rotation.

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Luckily for the Los Angeles Angels, this is the offseason to be in the market for pitching. There are two pitchers on the market that are Cy Young finalists, Gerrit Cole and Hyun-Jin Ryu, and a pitcher that just wrapped up a dominating postseason that earned him World Series MVP, Stephen Strasburg.

There is more than just that, though, as there is a slew of other very talented arms that may not be ace status, but would bolster the Angels’ rotation. Zach Wheeler, Madison Bumgarner (at this stage of his career), Jake Odorizzi and Dallas Keuchel all fall in this category.

Of those four, Wheeler is the one that is already getting connected to the Halos. MLB.com’s Jon Morosi reported that the Angels, White Sox and Padres are three teams that are showing an early interest in the right-handed pitcher.

Wheeler would be a great addition to the Angels and should be welcomed with open arms. However, if he is the signing of the offseason, which would be in perfect “Angels” fashion, then the fans should be concerned.

Quite frankly, the expectations of Wheeler are being a bit overblown as he is getting overrated on the market. MLB.com ranks him as the fourth-best free agent this winter, three spots ahead of Ryu.

The argument for Wheeler is his age and that his stuff is electric and has, and I quote, “some similarities to Gerrit Cole.”

He does have good stuff, but he is not an ace. At some point, you kind of are who you are and Wheeler is someone who has floated around a 3.40-3.90 ERA for most of his career. Does he have the stuff to go out there and dominate on any night? Absolutely, but he has not been consistent enough to consider him an ace.

And the age thing just does not make a lot of sense to me. He is 29, missed two entire seasons in 2015 and 2016 and only has two complete seasons in the last five. Madison Bumgarner, although he has more mileage, is not even a full year older than Wheeler, and the narrative around him is that he is old.

The problem with Wheeler being the only signing is not just that he won’t ace material, but that it would probably mean that the Angels overpaid for him. If the team misses out on the marquee names the front office will get desperate, and as we have seen time and time again, will pay Wheeler the most money to ensure he comes to Anaheim.

Spotrac estimates Wheeler to get a four-year deal worth $93 million. It would not be all that surprising to see the Angels give him a five-year deal worth $120 million to outbid the competition if they come up short-handed.

And in doing this, the Angels would be paying $24 million a season to a guy that potentially has the stuff to be great but has never actually put it all together to have that great season.

Next. Hamels is worth pursuing on a one-year deal. dark

Wheeler can be a good pitcher, he can even be great at times, but he is not an elite pitcher. The Los Angeles Angels need an elite pitcher if they are going to pay that much.

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