Angels (MOCK) GM’s Pursuing pitching like the real Angels should

Each year Angels the FanSided Baseball Experts get to play the role of GM. For the Angels David Rice along with collaboration from our entire Halo Hangout staff try to improve the team we love, Our Halos.

What is one thing that the Angels need more than anything? If you guessed pitching you win a free ham presented by Captain Obvious. For the Angels to compete for the playoffs and a potential World Series title they need to get some quality pitching.

With today being Black Friday you might think that I am going to talk about bargain hunting. While that can work out sometimes like when the Angels claimed guys like J.C. Ramirez, Hansel Robles, Felix Pena, and Noe Ramirez off the waiver wire.  No, the Angels are beyond this type of shopping because for every hit, there are five misses Brook Pounders, Adalberto Mejia, Miguel Del Pozo, Junichi Tazaea, and  Odrisamer Despaigne come to mind in recent years.

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So with that in mind the Angels (Mock) GM David Rice made bids for Stephen Strausburg and Gerrit Cole. For Strausburg it was six years at $150 million dollars ($25 million per year) and for Cole six years at $210 million ($35 million per year).  We also put an initial bid in on Yasmani Grandal at 60 million for four years ($15 million per year).

The Angels need an upgrade at catcher and Grandal would fit the bill. We also have our eye on Martin Maldonado and Robinson Chirnos if Grandal signs elsewhere.

We are also keeping our eye on Zack Wheeler and Madison Bumgarner as tier 2 options if we cannot get Cole and Strausburg.  Another interesting name out there as an innings eater with good upside is Tanner Roark. Roark pitched for the Reds and A’s in 2019 and was 10-10 with a 4.35 ERA with a 1.397 WHIP and 158 strike outs in 165 innings.

We will see where these bids go as the day goes on.  The way it works for the FanSided (Mock) GM Meetings is that once an initial bid is made there is a 24-Hour window for other teams to make bids on that player.  You may only make two bids on any given player and if a bid is made during the final 15 minutes of the 24-hour period, the team who was outbid gets to match the offer.

Trades can also be made between teams with anyone under contract or in the minor league system.  The Angels may need to make a deal if they want a true upgrade at catcher as there are not many options out there in free agency. Stay tuned as we will update the progress in the meetings. The window for our initial bids on Strausburg and Cole will be closing soon.