2 dream Winter Meetings free agency signings for Angels fans

Nathan Eovaldi

Eovaldi will be entering his age-35 season in 2025, and the former fireballer is settling into a revised version of himself. Like many pitchers have experienced before him, Eovaldi no longer has his blazing fastball (he still averages an above average 95mph, but he used to average 97mph for many years). However, like a C.C. Sabathia or Jon Lester, Eovaldi still holds tremendous value moving forward because of a new, effective approach that he has unlocked for himself.

In 2024, Eovaldi's 2.7 fWAR led the Rangers pitchers. His four-seam has a unique, two-seam-esque movement profile due to its arm-side run, but he really was able to retire batters with an offspeed-based arsenal. He threw his splitter almost as often as his four-seam, added in some cutters, and used his fourth pitch, a curveball, more often than many starters use their no. 4 pitch (he threw his curve 14% of the time). His offspeed run value was in the 90th percentile, a great sign that Eovaldi will be able to pitch well as he continues to age.

If the Angels are serious about contending, they need pitchers with a track record of playoff success. Kikuchi does not have that, he has 1.2 innings of total postseason experience. Even though he dominated down the stretch for Houston last season, the Astros did not even use him during their wild card round against Detroit. Kyle Hendricks has postseason experience, but relying heavily upon him as a playoff stopper in 2025 would be a mistake. If Tyler Anderson sticks around, he has 12 innings of solid playoff stats. He does not inspire overwhelming confidence in the playoff department, though.

Eovaldi is a big-game pitcher. He does not necessarily need to be a team's ace in the regular season in order to pitch like one in the playoffs. Eovaldi sports a 3.05 ERA in 79.2 postseason innings, and earned his World Series rings while with the '18 Red Sox and '23 Rangers. He also pitched admirably during the '21 playoffs with Boston.

The Angels would be taking away the Rangers' most valuable arm from last season, while potentially adding their own. Eovaldi would be a great pick-up, and add some more legitimacy to the Angels' devotion to contend during 2025 season.

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