Los Angeles Angels: The potential plan B for Gerrit Cole is not pretty

The Los Angeles Angels appear to be going all in this winter to sign hometown kid, Gerrit Cole, partly because of his talent and partly because the team cannot afford not to.

The Los Angeles Angels need pitching if they want to contend for a playoff spot next season and the best pitching free agent in quite some time is available, Gerrit Cole.

There are several teams in on Cole but the two teams that appear to be in front are the Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees. The Angels are a team with talent that is looking to change the tide of the franchise and the Yankees are a World Series contender that is missing that one elite arm.

The two teams appear to be in a staring match as well. The Yankees have made Cole their primary focus and reportedly do not want to be denied while owner Arte Moreno and the Angels appear willing to match anything the Yankees offer.

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While the Angels can spend big, the Yankees naturally have more money to spend on Cole, so as long as the Angels can keep the offer close, the team is hoping that Cole lets the hometown narrative swing him home.

The team is likely desperately hoping for Cole to come home, because if he does not, the plan B for the starting rotation is ugly and will lead to more failures.

The next best arm on the market is Stephen Strasburg, who is an ace in his own right. However, just to be realistic, there is no way that the Angels can go all-in on Cole and simply sign Strasburg if they miss out on him.

While the Angels are pursuing Cole, there is going to be another team that is in preliminary talks with Strasburg that will likely get the job done. Unless the Angels swoop in and offer Strasburg far more than the competition, it is hard to see the Angels simply picking up discussions with him and signing him.

So what is after that? Well, there are some veteran pitchers that might be available by the time Cole signs as they are simply letting the market settle. Madison Bumgarner and Hyun-Jin Ryu are probably the next-best options, both present their own risks.

Bumgarner made himself a legend for his performance in the 2014 postseason but he is no longer even a top-10 pitcher in the big leagues. He has not been an all-star, nor posted a sub-3.00 ERA, since 2016 and finished last season with a 3.90 ERA.

Could he improve and would he be a huge help to the Los Angeles Angels? Absolutely, but the Angels would end up paying top-pitcher money to a pitcher on the wrong side of 30 that has been trending downwards the last three seasons.

Bumgarner has value, but does not fix the rotation alone and is not worth the kind of money the Angels will need to pay to sign him.

The same can be said for Hyun-Jin Ryu, although there is the case of bringing Ryu in on a short-term deal to prevent any long-term risks, which is enticing for the Angels.

At his best, Ryu is spectacular and would be the bonafide ace on the Angels. He proved that last season by leading the MLB in ERA with a 2.32 ERA. In fact, in the last two seasons, Ryu has a 2.21 ERA in 265 innings pitched.

But there are multiple concerns about Ryu as well that should hit home for the Angels, who always seem to struggle with injuries. Ryu’s health is a massive concern and if anything, he proved with his poor last month in 2019 that he is not built to be the No. 1 guy in a rotation.

Last season was the first time since his rookie season in 2013 that he threw at least 155 innings and he started to dwindle in production towards the end. He missed practically two years of his career with various injuries and he is even older than Bumgarner as he will turn 33 in March.

The options available are not worthy of being paid No. 1 money but the Angels cannot afford to simply stand pat. They don’t have the prospects to trade for an elite arm and the free-agent class next offseason is weak as well.

It is clear why the Los Angeles Angels are so determined to get Cole because if they don’t, they are going to be trapped in mediocrity with a starting rotation that, will be better with Shohei Ohtani, but still won’t be good by any means.