2 ideal non-Jack Flaherty free agent starting pitcher targets for the Angels

The stove is heating up fast with spring training approaching, and the Angels could continue to bolster their roster even with this diminishing free agent class. The starting rotation is a position group to focus on, as the Angels could use more veteran depth pieces even after adding Yusei Kikuchi and Kyle Hendricks. It remains to be seen whether the Angels would decide to option Reid Detmers and/or Jack Kochanowicz, or seek a trade for Tyler Anderson if they do add another arm. However, having too much starting pitching is a problem organizations do not mind taking on (see: the Los Angeles Dodgers). Coming off of a 99-loss season, the Angels are not in a position to shoo away the possibility of signing a valuable starting pitcher.

Jack Flaherty is a perfect solution for the Angels, he would slot the rest of the rotation down in an incredibly optimal way. Instead of Kikuchi being the bona fide ace of this club, he could be either a 1A or 1B. Instead of Soriano taking on a front-end rotation arm, he could slot down to mid-rotation. The issue is -- nobody knows if Flaherty is connected to the Angels despite everybody saying he would fit in perfectly. If/when the Angels strike out in the Flaherty negotiations (if they are even taking place), are there contingency plans that should be enacted? Let's take a look at two of the best possible remaining starters left if the Angels do strike out on Flaherty and decide to get aggressive again.

1. Nick Pivetta

The Pivetta market is unclear at this moment, with teams somewhat reasonably scared off by the results not being as good as his stuff would indicate. Plus he has an attached compensation pick. Well, his stuff is certainly worth investing in and at his best he can completely stifle opposing hitters. As for the qualifying offer, Ken Rosenthal illuminated that losing a compensation pick does not matter as much as we think it would for the Angels.

The Angels could sell Pivetta on coming to Anaheim and slotting in as a top two starter, and take advantage of the fact that the market for Pivetta remains vague. A return to Boston on a multi-year deal looks murky at best, given that they have Garrett Crochet, Walker Buehler, Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito, Kutter Crawford, and Patrick Sandoval once he returns from his elbow injury. Many contending teams have their rotation in place. The New York Mets have long been rumored as a logical Pivetta destination, but they look like they are on the verge of re-signing Pete Alonso and might be satisfied with their current group.

Kiley McDaniel predicted a three-year, $63 million deal for the soon-to-be 32-year-old. Perhaps the Angels could take their hypothetical offer to Flaherty and present it to Pivetta with some slight modifications? A right-handed power pitcher would provide much-needed variety for the Angels' rotation, especially since their other right-handed power pitcher is a contact oriented sinker-baller (José Soriano).

2. Kyle Gibson

Of the remaining free agent starting pitchers, only Flaherty has a higher fWAR the past two seasons than Kyle Gibson. Gibson's accumulated a 4.0 fWAR in that span, only trailing fellow free agents Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, Kikuchi, Max Fried, Nathan Eovaldi, Flaherty, and Nick Martinez. He is tied with Justin Verlander, and slightly eclipsed Pivetta's 3.9, Charlie Morton's 3.8, Sandoval's 3.5, and Andrew Heaney's 3.5.

The best ability is availability, a quality most Angels starters have lacked in recent years. Gibson threw 51.0 innings his rookie year back in 2013, and 67.1 innings during the 60-game season in 2020. In his 10 other professional seasons, Gibson's fewest amount of innings thrown was 147.1 in 2016. The 37-year-old is still holding up, as he threw 169.2 innings for the Cardinals last year, 192.0 for the Orioles in 2023 (his 33 starts led the National League that season), and 167.2 for the Phillies in 2022.

In theory, Detmers and Kochanowicz have higher ceilings than Gibson. In actuality, the Angels could use Gibson's higher floor next season. Neither young starter is a sure-fire rotation stalwart as of yet, and the Angels have shown a penchant this offseason for bringing more experienced ballplayers into their clubhouse. Plus, there are some clear opportunities to fix Gibson's relatively average on-field production.

The Angels could work with the veteran on elevating his four-seam and fixing its shape. Luckily enough, the two fixes usually go hand-in-hand. Much like Kochanowicz, Gibson is a sinker-baller who rarely flashes his four-seam as the shape is far from ideal. Much like Detmers, Gibson struggles getting his four-seam in the upper third of the strike zone. Gibson's four-seam has far too much cut, and it blends in too much with his actual cutter (his cutter tied with his sweeper last season as his second most-used pitch). If he can tweak his four-seam to gain more arm-side run, it would play better. As for its location, it needs to get elevated more even with its below average ride. If Gibson can consistently place the four-seam more in the upper third in two-strike counts (especially to left-handed hitters), the pitch could take hitters by surprise and the movement on it would not matter as much.

Can an old dog like Gibson learn some new tricks while still remaining as available as he has been his entire career? It would be a good bet to make for the Angels.

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