OC Register: Angels GM Perry Minasian seeks more pitching after making Jose Quintana deal official

[AngelsWin.com]

On the day the Angels completed the deal to bolster their starting rotation with Jose Quintana, Perry Minasian said he’s not done.

The Angels’ new general manager said Friday he remains “very active,” on both the trade and free agent markets when it comes to acquiring more pitching help for a team whose run-prevention has been its downfall in recent years.

Asked how many more starters he’d like to add, Minasian said he’s not limiting himself.

“I think if you ask 29 other GMs, it’s as many as they can possibly add,” he said. “I don’t necessarily have a certain number we’re looking for. I think it’s quality, not just quantity. We’re looking for competitors who are going to make this club better.”

In terms of quality, the top of the list remains Trevor Bauer. The Angels have been one of the teams most often connected to Bauer, and a few of the others have recently made other big-ticket acquisitions. The New York Mets traded for shortstop Francisco Lindor and the Toronto Blue Jays signed outfielder George Springer.

Whether any of that makes a difference as far as those teams’ pursuit of Bauer remains to be seen.

For now, Bauer sits at the top of the market, with still dozens of established starters available and the scheduled opening of spring training less than a month away.

Minasian also said he hasn’t ruled out multi-year deals for certain starters. Quintana signed just a one-year, $8 million deal, which means he, Andrew Heaney and Dylan Bundy are all set to be free agents after the 2021 season.

“I think there’s some guys out there that we definitely would extend on and offer multi-years for,” Minasian said. “It’s about lining up right. It’s about fit. It takes two to tango obviously. You have to pursue the player and have the finances to agree with the player and the player has to want to play here.”

In the case of Quintana, Minasian said the connection to Manager Joe Maddon was the source of mutual interest. Minasian said Quintana wanted to play for Maddon and Maddon “loved” having Quintana with the Chicago Cubs, from the middle of 2017 through the 2019 season.

Maddon saw Quintana when he was at his peak, as one of baseball’s most consistent and durable pitchers, and also when his numbers began to slide in 2019.

Quintana posted a 4.68 ERA in 2019, but Minasian pointed out that some of the underlying statistics indicated that he was pitching just as well, despite the results declining.

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In 2020, Quintana pitched just four games. He had thumb surgery after an accident suffered washing dishes at home, and then he was out with lat inflammation.

None of that over the past two years was enough to discourage the Angels from taking a shot at him.

“This guy checks all the boxes,” Minasian said. “He’s been consistent. He’s been very durable throughout his career. He’s an extreme competitor. The staff has some familiarity with him and loves the guy. Just the way he goes about his business and his work ethic, I’m a big believer that players make other players better. … This is one of those guys that makes the other players better.”

So far under Minasian, the Angels have added a closer (Raisel Iglesias), a shortstop (Jose Iglesias), a lefty reliever (Alex Claudio),a backup catcher (Kurt Suzuki) and Quintana, all on one-year commitments totaling $23.25 million.

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