LA Angels (Mock) GM bows out of Cole and Strasburg race looking toward Mad Bum and Wheeler

When looking at signing free agents the LA Angels need to mindful of a few things. One is the age of the pitcher/length of the deal. Secondly, how will the contract limit the ability to sign players in the future.

In relation to pursuing Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg the LA Angels need to set a limit of how far they can go and still fill other needs in the future.  As the (Mock) GM for the Angels in the FanSided GM Winter Meetings we felt that when contracts reached seven and eight years for Cole around 280 million that this was both too long and too much money for the Southern California native so we decided to bow out. He ended up signing with the Phillies for eight years at 286 million dollars (36 million per year).

We though Stephen Strasburg could be had for under 28 million per seasons but he too ended up re-signing for 198 million dollars for six years (32 million per season) with the Nationals.  Not sure if the real Washington Nationals would spend that much for Strasburg, but we at Halo Hangout thought it was too steep.

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So instead we are focusing on the tier two options which include the Mets Zack Wheeler and the Giants Madison Bumgarner.  We believe we could get both of these players for under 50 million dollars which would still leave the Angels us some wiggle room to pursue a catcher or even a right fielder for next season. I’m not sure if we want to rely on Brian Goodwin in this role and Jo Adell probably will not be seen until at least mid-season.

(Editor’s Note: Kole Calhoun signed in the mock GM meeting with the Pirates for two years at 16 million dollars).

The Angels made initial offers for Bumgarner at four-years 80 million dollars (20 million per year)and for Wheeler six-years 132 million dollars (22 million per year). The Angels also made two-year 10 million dollar offer to Martin Maldonado.

Will these bids be enough to land these free agents in this GM simulation we will see tomorrow morning by 8 a.m.? We are willing to up the ante if needed for both Wheeler and Bumgarner as long as we don’t go over the 50 million dollar mark combined. Stay tuned to our next installment and see what happens.