Remaining Starting Pitchers Available

[VariousCrap]

Here is what is left.  I think the Angels have to go all in for Kikuchi and after that, there isn't that much out there that is worth it.  Do you see anybody on this list your think the Angels should sign for the right price?  Only Dallas would cost a pick.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019-mlb-free-agent-tracker/sort_column-amount__sort_direction-0__positions-9__status-0

Brett Anderson	SP
Matt Shoemaker	SP
Dallas Keuchel	SP
Doug Fister	SP
Anibal Sanchez	SP
Jason Hammel	SP
Josh Tomlin	SP
Kendall Graveman	SP
Edwin Jackson	SP
Marco Estrada	SP
Drew Pomeranz	SP
Miguel Gonzalez	SP
Chris Tillman	SP
Michael Fiers	SP
Drew Hutchison	RP / SP
Bartolo Colon	SP
Martin Perez	SP
Gio Gonzalez	SP
James Shields	SP
Yusei Kikuchi	SP
Derek Holland	SP
Trevor Cahill	SP
Wade Miley	SP
Jaime Garcia	RP / SP
Hector Santiago	RP / SP
Erasmo Ramirez	SP
Jeremy Hellickson	SP
Clay Buchholz	SP
Shelby Miller	SP
Francisco Liriano	RP / SP
Yovani Gallardo	SP
Ervin Santana	SP
Nate Karns	SP
Matt Harvey	SP

[hangin n wangin]

Just sign the GOAT already.

 

[popo85]

Santana on a 1 yr deal just because i was a huge fan

[kevinb]

I think the Angels should stay away from free agent pitching except Kikuchi. I think the Angels young pitching will carry this team to a division title. 

[krAbs]

Man, there are a lot of names on that list of pitchers who used to be pretty good a long time ago.

 

Edit: Clay Buchholz is interesting. Baseball Reference is predicting that he will have an ERA of 3.63, next year, but fangraphs is predicting an ERA of 4.73. That's one of the bigger splits I've seen for one player.

[The_Outrunner]

haha we're probably going to end up with Shelby Miller, Derek Holland or Cahill/Gio. If they don't land Kikuchi

[Ray McKigney]

Shoe

[tomsred]

Maybe a better way of tackling this problem is to assemble the strongest bullpen possible.

[nando714]

Cahill for the pen

[WeatherWonk]

4 hours ago, tomsred said:

Maybe a better way of tackling this problem is to assemble the strongest bullpen possible.

It makes a lot of sense. Young arms, cost-controlled, throwing hard, working short stints. 

TBR had some success with it, of course. So did other clubs. Could Epps be watching for the right kind of starter/relievers to coalesce out of the post-meeting miasma?  

The openers strategy has its merits............not sure if that's what you were alluding to.

[totdprods]

Don’t forget the trade market. A lot of depth there as well.

As the offseason drags on, prices will drop, and the Angels have enough innings available they can really buy a ton of pitchers - quite a lot of our current staff has options and can rotate through or begin in AAA. 

Buchholz, Sanchez, Holland, and Wade Miley all showed last year that you can be old and hot garbage one year, and still be effective, if not great, the next. No one on that list should really be discounted. If the Angels find the right guys - and Eppler has been pretty good with pitchers - then there are plenty of options remaining to give us a good team still.

[Broad Street]

Shelby Miller could be a good buy low candidate, I wouldn't rely on him to be healthy all year, but the talent is there. Just hope he's healthy. Kind of like Shoemaker, who I'd love to bring back.

[wopphil]

Wonder why there doesnt appear to be much interest in Gio. He be a big help to any team in need of innings.

[totdprods]

Martin Perez would be really interesting to keep an eye on. Only 28. Had a terrible year last year, beginning the year with an offseason injury, but was quietly solid and durable in 2016 and 2017 - don’t look too much at the ERA, it was inflated in Arlington. His ERA+ was right at league-average and he’s never really found his upside. Has been pretty effective against the AL West in his career.

Jeremy Hellickson and Mike Fiers also had nice seasons.

[JarsOfClay]

As much as I diskliked Santana when he was here, one thing he was great at was pitching deep into games. In the 8 seasons he was here he went over 200 IP 4 times, 3 of those over 220 ip. He actually played a really big part in keeping our bullpen well rested which made them even more effective.

I dont know what his health status is right now, and he's obviously much older, but he did pitch over 200 innings in 2017, and I think it would be a smart move to pick him up and hope that he's healthy enough to pitch deep into games again.

I would also love to take a risk on Bucholz and hope we get lucky that he repeats what he did last year.

[totdprods]

I haven’t posted this for awhile, but remember this...one whole rotation slot last season had an ERA near 7.

2018 5th SP (Tropeano, Despaigne, McGuire, Lamb, J.C. Ramirez, Noe Ramirez, Johnson, Cole, Bridwell):
32 GS, 122 IP, 2.30 WHIP, 6.88 ERA

Almost anyone on that list should be able to provide an improvement over that. Not only was this awful production, the number of players it involved jammed up roster flexibility, and the number of relievers used strained the bullpen. It probably added pressure to the other starters and to the offense too.

Boring, cheap, average innings would be a big win.

[NJHalo]

Isn't it our turn to have Edwin Jackson on the roster? 

Seems like he has been on every other team. 

[AngelsFanSince86]

I'd be interested in Shelby Miller on a cheap deal possibly with some team options in case he is able to stay healthy and pitch to his potential. However, they would need to sign at least Kikuchi on top of that as well as have a couple long relievers in their pen.

[totdprods]

Essentially, this is what we got last year: 

#1 SP: 34 GS, 3.67 ERA, 177 IP = Skaggs + Ohtani
#2 SP: 30 GS, 4.15 ERA, 180 IP = Heaney
#3 SP: 33 GS, 3.83 ERA, 166 IP = Richards + Pena
#4 SP: 33 GS, 4.18 ERA, 160 IP = Barria + Shoemaker 
#5 SP: 32 GS, 6.88 ERA, 122 IP = Tropeano, Despaigne, Ramirez, Ramirez, Lamb, McGuire, Cole, Bridwell, Johnson

805 innings of 4.54 ball from the rotation, counting all 16 SPs used.
I feel pretty good about Skaggs, Heaney, and Barria matching or exceeding last year's production.
I don't think it's unreasonable to see Skaggs post a 3.20 ERA with 180 IP if he can stay healthy, and Heaney could turn a corner and give us 200 IP and 3.50 ERA.
I expect Barria to take a step back a bit - more like 150 IP, 4.25 ERA  - and likely where we'll see Trop, Pena, Suarez, Canning contribute some innings.

That leaves fixing the mess that is #5 (find 180 IP of 4.50 ERA?), and finding perhaps a durable, reliable, consistent #3 type (find 180 IP of 4.20 ERA?).
That'd give us a 3.93 ERA from the Top 5, and 890 innings pitched.

For comparison, the Astros 'Top 5' pitched 914 innings with a 3.23 ERA - but have already lost two of those, McCullers and Morton, and a third, Keuchel, is likely to leave. 
The Astros only need 4 other SP to combine for ten other GS. The Top 5 pitched 152 GS.

[jsnpritchett]

1 minute ago, totdprods said:

I don't think it's unreasonable to see Skaggs post a 3.20 ERA with 180 IP if he can stay healthy, and Heaney could turn a corner and give us 200 IP and 3.50 ERA.
 

7 pitchers in the AL had an ERA of 3.20 or below last year.  15 pitched 180 IP or more.  Not sure what Skaggs has done in his career to make anyone think he'll do either in 2019.

[totdprods]

4 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

7 pitchers in the AL had an ERA of 3.20 or below last year.  15 pitched 180 IP or more.  Not sure what Skaggs has done in his career to make anyone think he'll do either in 2019.

A 2.62 ERA going into his 20th start was a good sign. He was that pitcher before injuries seemed to throw him off again in July.

No doubt it's a big if since it relies on him being healthy, but I think if he actually does stay healthy, he can do that no problem.

[hangin n wangin]

That's a pretty fugly list. 

Besides the obvious one, Kikuchi, the few on that list that I think could do well over here are Pomeranz, Harvey, and Cahill.

I'm also assuming Gio and Keuchel will be too expensive and I don't want to overpay for those soft tossing declining lefties.

But nothing is certain with that list. Bunch of trash.

[jsnpritchett]

4 minutes ago, totdprods said:

A 2.62 ERA going into his 20th start was a good sign. He was that pitcher before injuries seemed to throw him off again in July.

No doubt it's a big if since it relies on him being healthy, but I think if he actually does stay healthy, he can do that no problem.

I'll believe it when I see it.  Sorry, but I don't trust a single starting pitcher on the Angels roster right now.  Can one or more of them break out and finally live up to their hype/potential?  Of course.  Can we count on it/expect it?  Nope, not in my mind. 

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, hangin n wangin said:

That's a pretty fugly list. 

Besides the obvious one, Kikuchi, the few on that list that I think could do well over here are Pomeranz, Harvey, and Cahill.

I'm also assuming Gio and Keuchel will be too expensive and I don't want to overpay for those soft tossing declining lefties.

But nothing is certain with that list. Bunch of trash.

I don’t think Gio will be too expensive.  Then again I have thought every contract this off season minus, Lynn, Morton, Bour and Ramos have been pretty bad.  

[hangin n wangin]

9 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I don’t think Gio will be too expensive.  Then again I have thought every contract this off season minus, Lynn, Morton, Bour and Ramos have been pretty bad.  

I honestly have no idea. I'm not a huge fan of Gio but it is very slim pickings right now. Keuchel is actually really solid, but there is no way we're going to pay for that guy and rightly so. 

I mean, I say that, but you never know.