Three Backup Plans for the LA Angels If They Can’t Land Gerrit Cole

The LA Angels are going to be all-in on Gerrit Cole this offseason. They know it, he knows it, I know it, you know it, your mother knows it. But, what if they can’t land him?

The idea of signing Gerrit Cole is something the LA Angels have likely been thinking about for years now. They kept all of their free agent signings last year to one-year deals (thank you Billy Eppler), and they’ll have the money to flaunt this offseason. However, at least a dozen of other teams will be pursuing Cole. There’s no guarantee he comes home to SoCal, and even if he does the Padres could very well be the team for him.

And what would the Angels do in that situation? I looked at three potential pivots for the team should they miss out on Cole, and broke them down here.

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Option 1: Go All In On Offense

This one is the wildest of options, and even though I’m not a fan of it, I could see the reasoning for it. If they miss out on Cole, they could sign a lower-tier starter or two and hope for health. Worst case scenario, if they’re contending, they can trade for a pitcher towards the deadline.

In this scenario, the Angels change direction completely from Cole and sign Anthony Rendon to man the hot corner for the next 6-8 years.

Following this move could be the signing of Yasmani Grandal. He’s had a stellar year in Milwaukee, and the Angels were heavy into the catcher market last offseason. And hey, if you can’t sign the pitching, get the best catchers you can.

Overall, this strategy would hinge on how healthy the Angels can stay within the rotation next year. If they were to have a full season of healthy pitching from Shohei Ohtani, Andrew Heaney, and Griffin Canning then their rotation could be stable enough to keep them in the playoff race. However, this would bring monumental risk, as we saw this year’s team get anchored by an all-time worst rotation.