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

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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.

Option 2: Push All of the Chips In

For fans who love the idea of going all in on a two-year window (a la Boston Red Sox), this is the route that might work best for the Angels. However, like the Red Sox are now, it’ll leave them in an awkward state a few years down the line. Financially restricted and overpaying aging/bad players, Dave Dombroski was released by the Red Sox just one year after they won the World Series. He left them in a bad, bad state without many ways to get better.

However, the plan worked. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series thanks to this plan. So if this is the route the Angels take, how do they do it? I’ll keep this simple and try breaking it into three simple steps.

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1.) Trade Jo Adell for Mookie Betts

The Boston Red Sox are expected to, at the very least, entertain offers for Mookie Betts this offseason. No team that is expected to be in the hunt has a prospect ranked higher than outfielder Jo Adell. This July, during the trade deadline, Billy Eppler stated the Angels had every prospect available in trade discussions… except for Mr. Adell.

However, Betts has been the second best player in the MLB for years now. His timeline coincides perfectly with Mike Trout‘s, and it is hard to find a better player to deal Adell for. Obviously trading for him means big money to extend him, but it’s a move that would be worth it for the Angels.

2.) Trade Brandon Marsh, Jahmai Jones, Jose Suarez, and Luis Madero for Noah Syndergaard

This is where I feel most Angels fans will hop off this idea. This is an overwhelming package for Syndergaard given his injury history. However, he has legitimate Cy Young potential when he’s healthy and has taken his pitching to a new level in the second half of 2019. He would be a frontline starter for the Angels, right alongside Shohei Ohtani and…

3.) Sign Madison Bumgarner and Hyun-Jin Ryu

Madison Bumgarner is about as steady as you can hope for in a pitcher. While he may not be the elite ace he once was, he’s about as good of a #2 pitcher as it gets anywhere outside of Houston.

Ryu is where this gets interesting. He was slated for a massive payday, but has declined rapidly over the second half of the season. This could lower his next deal substantially, giving the Angels enough room to afford both he and Bumgarner. The workload for Ryu is the obvious reason for his lackluster final stretch, so the Angels monitoring his workload would help keep him effective throughout the season.

This option was fun to write and imagine. However, this is not who Billy Eppler is, so unless he does a complete 180, this is just fantasy.

3.) Addition, No Subtractions, and Staying Flexible

Okay, so the Angels don’t sign Gerrit Cole. They still have a large sum of money to play with, and instead of now signing one superstar, adding multiple high-level players becomes the plan. There’s three parts to this plan as well.

So obviously last offseason sucked for the Angels. However, using one year deals was crucial into being able to spend this offseason. So, basically, watching Trevor Cahill, Matt Harvey, and Cody Allen on the mound sucked, but at least we don’t have to next year either.

This offseason, should the Angels not land Cole, I expect them to go after the second-tier starting market. Madison Bumgarner, Jake Odorizzi, Dallas Kuechel, Cole Hamels, and Wade Miley are all guys hitting the market and whose price ranges will allow the Angels to sign not just one, but two from that group.

So that’s the first part of this plan, sign two high quality arms to add to your rotation.

The second part of this plan involves prospects. However, it doesn’t involve trading them. Unless a new player becomes available via trade, the Angels in this situation keep their prospects. More superstars will become available via trade, and most of the Angels’ prospects will develop and gain more value as they continue through the minors.

And finally, the third part of this pivot from Billy Eppler would include a bit from last season: one-year deals. Yes, they didn’t work this year but as I stated earlier, at least the Angels retained flexibility. Signing one reliever, starter, and position player on one-year deals should be in the Angels’ plans.

Next. Checking in On Angels September Call-ups

So this plan is somewhat what the Angels have done. Improve with some long-term deals, then round out the edges using one-year contracts and have ample amount of funds to try again next year. They haven’t necessarily hit the bullseye yet, but this offseason is as good as any for them to pull it off.

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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?

Option 1: Go All In On Offense

Option 2: Push All of the Chips In

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3.) Addition, No Subtractions, and Staying Flexible

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