Los Angeles Angels must be very careful with Hyun-Jin Ryu

The Los Angeles Angels are one of the potential teams that are a fit for Hyun-Jin Ryu this winter and need to avoid making a lapse in judgment.

There is one thing that the Los Angeles Angels need above all else this offseason and it should be underlined, circled, highlighted and boldfaced ten times over: pitching. The team has a good enough offense to be a playoff contender next season but is the pitching that has weighed the team down.

The Angels’ starting rotation finished second to last, only to the Colorado Rockies, in ERA last season while finishing dead last in FanGraphs WAR.

So far for next season, the best arms that the Angels have is Shohei Ohtani, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, Andrew Heaney, who has not lived up to his potential, and Griffin Canning, who is a young promising arm himself with good stuff who was okay last season.

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The Angels need an ace and luckily for them, they have a hometown connection with Gerrit Cole, who was born and raised in Orange County. The Angels would need to bring in more than just Cole, though, as one arm, as good as he is, will not fix everything.

If the team really wanted to bolster the starting rotation they could look to add Hyun-Jin Ryu alongside Cole. Ryu, like Cole, is coming off the best year of his career and finished second in Cy Young voting.

The Angels have been named as a potential fit for Ryu, although that would likely be in the case of Ryu being a backup plan to Cole rather than him being the second starter.

But hey, who knows? There are plenty of reasons for Ryu to come to Anaheim. If the Dodgers do not attempt to re-sign him or do not offer what the market is offering Ryu remains where he is comfortable in Southern California with the Angels.

While this seems great, the Angels need to be cautious in what they are offering Ryu and whether or not it is really worth it. There are some red flags surrounding Ryu and the Angels cannot be the desperate team that overpays him only to look like fools later.

Ryu is coming off the best year of his career but is going to be 33 years old before next season and has not started 30 games in a season since his rookie season in 2013. He missed all of 2015, made one start in 2016 and has experienced various stretches on the injured list since his return in 2016.

As good as Ryu was when he was on the mound, the last thing the Angels need is a pitcher with question marks, especially considering the team’s track record of injuries.

Over the past few years, the Angels have made several questionable signings where they brought people in hoping to get the best out of them only for it to be a disappointment; Matt Harvey, Trevor Cahill, Zack Cozart, Jonathan Lucroy and Justin Bour are a few examples.

The Los Angeles Angels have more reason to believe that Ryu will succeed over those in past years, but the possibility of this being another dud for the Angels is far too high.

If they can get Ryu for a good value then this should be explored. However, if they are throwing all of their eggs in the Ryu basket then the team and its fans will be disappointed yet again.