The Angels Are Still An Arm Short

The Los Angeles Angels appear to be done adding starting pitching. Zack Greinke is officially gone, signing a huge contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend. It seems that Tommy Hanson, Joe Blanton and Garrett Richards will be the three, four and five starters in the rotation with Jerome Williams as the swingman. Should they be though? In my estimation, No.

Oct 22, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher

(26) delivers a pitch during the first inning of game seven of the 2012 NLCS against the San Francisco Giants at AT

I think the perfect guy for them to go after would be Kyle Lohse. He’d be a veteran, right-handed presence in the rotation. He’s gonna be cheaper than Greinke and Anibal Sanchez. He’d probably cost about $14 million over the next 3-4 years. Is it a long commitment? Yes. However, the Angels don’t have the pitching depth in the minors like teams like the Tampa Bay Rays do.The only guy that’s close is Richards, and he may a little more seasoning.It’s also hard to trust Hanson and Blanton to get through a full season and be effective anyway. Hanson has battled back issues and Blanton has been a similar pitcher to Ervin Santana and has had past injury issues of his own. The signing of Lohse would move Hanson and Blanton down a notch and give Richards more time to develop.

The boosted up bullpen will certainly help the team next year. However, I believe that they may be a pitcher short to really contend. With teams like the Royals making moves to improve their rotation, the Angels may need one more arm and may not have the prospects to do that during the season. They’re going to have to do it during the free agency period and the time to act is now.