15 free agent starters who the Angels might consider reuniting with Mike Maddux

Stop me if you've heard this before -- the Angels need to go out and acquire pitching this offseason. Some might say that the Angels need capable pitchers now more than ever given that they have the best pitching coach they've had in many, many years in-house. Mike Maddux is in the building, and that man has a long, long web that spreads across major league baseball -- he has been a pitching coach every season since 2003, and has spearheaded the development of many of the free agent starting pitchers.

The Angels currently have three starting pitchers in Yusei Kikuchi, José Soriano and Reid Detmers. The organization likely will punt on brand names with attached qualifying offers like Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez, Michael King and maybe even Shota Imanaga in lieu of lower-ceiling veterans who have a good working relationship with Maddux.

15 free agent starters who the Angels might consider reuniting with Mike Maddux

Nick Martinez

We'll of course start our list with Nick Martinez -- who ended the year as a reliever! Why are we starting with Martinez? Well, Maddux was his pitching coach in Texas for the first two years of his career. Also, his 5.5 fWAR from 2024-2025 is the fourth-highest of any free agent starter!

The Angels will likely be active in the free agent group of relievers who want to be converted back to a rotation. Martinez, who spent the last two years with the Cincinnati Reds, is a prime buy-low candidate given that his final 11 appearances came as a reliever, his 2025 was largely unspectacular, and he's 35-years-old.

Merrill Kelly

Kelly was traded from the Diamondbacks to Maddux's Rangers last season, and had some flashes of dominance and other flashes of getting shelled. The 37-year-old is a durable starter with a long history of above average production that came without Maddux as his pitching coach. For the Angels, Kelly might be a little too rich for their blood. He should have a strong market of contenders vying for his services as a No. 3-5 starter, whereas the Angels would need Kelly to be a No. 2.

Tyler Mahle

Signing Mahle makes all the sense in the world for the Angels. They might not need to break the bank to acquire the injury-prone 31-year-old, but they know for sure that he will outperform whatever his AAV next year. When Mahle is healthy, he shoves. When Mahle is healthy and has Maddux as his pitching coach, he is at the peak of his powers.

Mahle was signed by Texas before the 2024 season as a stash, given that he was injured. He only made 3 starts, but rebounded in a major way last year. His 3.80 FIP in 2024 and 3.40 FIP in 2025 are the two best marks of his career. Mahle's 2025 was spectacular, but cut short for months due to another arm issue.

This is the type of mid-market pitcher that the Angels should be willing to push a few extra chips in for. Having Maddux work with Mahle clearly is a force multiplier, and has proved to be an effective pair.

Patrick Corbin

OK, we have officially gotten to the point where there is a drop-off. Even Nick Martinez is more appealing than Patrick Corbin and many of the other names to come.

Corbin actually missed Maddux while he was with Washington (Maddux was their PC from 2016-2017), but they did pair up in Texas for the entirety of last season. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, wrote off Corbin as a viable MLB starter after his final four seasons with the Nationals. However, that Maddux Magic brought him back to life and the 36-year-old southpaw was a solid starter for the Rangers.

Signing Corbin is not really the takeaway here, the Angels should opt for somebody else. The takeaway is MADDUX CAN MAKE CHICKEN OUT OF CHICKEN STUFF! Get him viable arms!

Erick Fedde

Fedde made his MLB debut with the Nationals in 2017 with Maddux as his pitching coach and was awful. He is awful again now and the Angels should only bring in Fedde on an MiLB contract.

Miles Mikolas

This is where things get interesting. Mikolas is one of the most unspectacular and average starting pitchers in baseball, especially the last few seasons. When you look at the 38-year-old's stats, they actually look better than you think they would be. All fans can say about Mikolas is that he's a "professional pitcher" which is a round-about way of saying "he is better than he probably should be." Why is that the case? Well, he spent a whole lot of time around Maddux.

Mikolas had Maddux as his coach in 2014 with the Rangers, and then from 2018-2022 with the Cardinals. Unsurprisingly, those are largely the best seasons of his career. Is Mikolas washed or does he just need Maddux back in his life?

Like with Corbin, signing Mikolas to a MiLB deal feels right but actually trusting him to be the No. 5 would make fans a little uneasy.

Lucas Giolito

Like with Fedde, Giolito made his MLB debut in 2016 with the Nationals with Maddux as his pitching coach. Angels fans might not love giving Giolito another go-round in Anaheim, as he has a semi-decent market despite rampant injury concerns.

Giolito, of course, turned his career back around in 2025 with Boston after several down years which included a career nadir in Anaheim. However, he ended his season by missing the postseason with an elbow injury after missing all of 2024 with the same issue. Between the optics of bringing him back to Anaheim and him not really having a relationship with Maddux, Giolito is gonna be a no for me, dawg.

Andrew Heaney

Speaking of former Angels with ties to Maddux, how about Hean-Dawg? The former Angels folk hero won a World Series alongside Maddux in 2023, and had a fairly decent 2024 season before being sent to baseball's Siberia AKA the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Michael Lorenzen

Like with Giolito, Angels fans might need to be sold on bringing back Lorenzen. He spent time with Maddux in 2024, and was fairly solid. Like with Heaney and Giolito, the Angels might want to aim higher than Lorenzen for their 5th starter spot rather than run it back with a former failed signing.

Jon Gray

Gray ended the year as a reliever, but his season also ended in August due to injury. He spent the last three seasons with Maddux, after leaving a pitcher's hell AKA Colorado, and would be a fine MiLB signing for the Halos.

Martín Pérez

Pérez started his career in 2012, so he overlapped in Texas with Maddux from 2012-2015. Then they linked up again during the Rangers' championship season in 2023.

Of all these low-strikeout veteran starters with Maddux ties, Pérez feels like one of the least-washed. Signing the southpaw would not be the worst idea in the world.

Max Scherzer

Here we go! The now-41-year-old Scherzer was under Maddux's tutelage with the Nats for two years and with the Rangers in 2023 and 2024.

2017 with Maddux in Washington might have been Scherzer's career season amidst a lot of dominant years. He held opposing hitters to a .178/.247/.319/.566 slashline and posted a 34% K%. Scherzer obviously wants to win another title, but the Angels' ace in the hole is reuniting with Maddux. Scherzer gets injured literally every season now, but as a functional 5th or 6th starter he could be effective if he actually wants to come to Anaheim.

Austin Gomber

Remember when Austin Gomber was the biggest piece in exchange for Nolan Arenado? Well, he ended 2025 as a member of the Iowa Cubs. The southpaw had Maddux as his PC in 2018 and 2020 (he was not in the majors in 2019).

Like with Jon Gray, the former Rockies pitcher could be a solid buy-low, MiLB deal candidate.

Jordan Montgomery

Monty spent time with Maddux in 2022 with the Cardinals and obviously 2023 with the Rangers, when he did a viable parity of Madison Bumgarner.

Of all the Austin Gombers, Patrick Corbins, Jon Grays etc. on this list, Montgomery is perhaps the most intriguing of the MiLB candidates for the Angels to sign. His career went to crap with Arizona, and will likely be a massive buy-low candidate that could reclaim some former glory if reunited with Maddux. There is a clear correlation between Montgomery pitching well with Maddux as his coach.

Luke Weaver

Last but not least, the Yankees reliever who wants to be a starting pitcher! Maddux and Weaver overlapped in St. Louis in 2018, when Weaver made 25 starts and racked up 136.1 innings pitched. If Weaver wants to blossom again as a starter, the buy-low candidate could come compete for a job with the Angels.