LA Angels: Ranking Their Biggest Competitors in the Gerrit Cole Sweepstakes

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Everyone in baseball knows who the LA Angels are targeting most this winter. Gerrit Cole is atop their wishlist this free agency, but that doesn’t come without some steep competition.

While the LA Angels are ready to open their wallets in order to acquire Gerrit Cole’s services for the seven (or eight?) years, their hometown advantage doesn’t make it a given that Cole will choose to make SoCal his home again. The following five teams are ranked in order of how much competition they pose to Angels, and they will surely make Cole’s decision difficult.

Honorable Mentions:

The Texas Rangers are opening a new ballpark and could use a shiny new ace to bring in fans, but a star position player such as Anthony Rendon makes more sense.

The Minnesota Twins need starting pitching and have the flexible payroll to sign Cole. However, they seem much more likely to sign two second tier starters.

St Louis. has the need for an ace alongside

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5.) Houston Astros

I mean, there’s still a chance right? While there haven’t been many reports from the Astros’ front regarding Cole, that’s likely because they’re dealing with one of the biggest scandals in MLB history. However, don’t let their silence make you believe they aren’t planning a run at bringing Cole back as their championship remains open.

They have a legitimately good case to make to Cole as well. They helped him make the adjustments to his game that took him from a promising young pitcher to the most dominant starter in the entire MLB. In addition, he’ll have an annual shot at the World Series, which might not be the case in Anaheim.

4.) Los Angeles Dodgers

As it goes with every big name free agent, the Los Angeles Dodgers are a team that will always be in the mix. They were ready to pay big money for Bryce Harper last offseason while also being in constant trade rumors for star pitchers like Corey Kluber all winter long. This all goes to say that if there’s a star available, the Dodgers are in the competition.

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And they make sense for Cole. They’re practically the Astros of the National League. They bring a lot of the same draws that Houston does. They’re extremely analytically driven, constantly in the race for a World Series, and have a former Cy Young (and a future one in Walker Buehler) to pair with Cole. They also don’t have an investigation going on within their organization.

3.) San Diego Padres

It might be true that Stephen Strasburg makes more sense for the Padres and is likely their number one target given he is from there, but who’s to say they can’t try to double dip on aces? The Padres have paid big money two offseasons in a row and still have a decent amount of room on their payroll to add starting pitching.

They obviously also have the location Cole reportedly desires, and having Gerrit Cole lead a rotation with Chris Paddack would be devastating in the playoffs. The Padres are going to spend this offseason, and a Cole addition would boost them up within the National League rankings.

2.) New York Yankees

Every offseason, the Yankees are linked to the biggest free agents. Given their long history of spending big money that makes sense. It was also increasingly obvious in the postseason that their elite bullpen couldn’t offset their so-so rotation in the playoffs.

As for their relationship with Cole, just look at this tweet below.

If Gerrit Cole ends up on the Yankees, this photo of him as a kid will be everywhere. pic.twitter.com/d8aAnTP6w1
— Matthew Stucko (@MatthewStucko) December 16, 2017

Obviously childhood fandoms don’t mean everything. Cole isn’t going to sign with the Yankees because he rooted for them as a child, the same way SoCal being his home won’t make a SoCal team signing him a 100% certainty.

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So why aren’t the Yankees the #1 competitor? Simply because despite being linked to every big free agent, the Yankees have consistently found reasons to balk in recent years. They also have their own players to resign in the near future.

That being said, if the Yankees want to sign Cole, they can offer as much or more than any other team. The only question is whether the Yankees will break their recent trend to bring Cole to the Bronx.

1.) Philadelphia Phillies

Earlier this week, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic predicted where Gerrit Cole would land, and ultimately landed on the Philadelphia Phillies being the team to have Cole lead their staff for the next 7-8 years. His reasoning made a lot of sense, too.

Rosenthal pointed out that, like the Angels, the Phillies need an ace to lead their rotation. However, the difference lies in that last offseason, the Angels didn’t pay up for a big-name free agent while the Phillies gave out the biggest deal of the offseason to Bryce Harper.

Basically, the Phillies have shown they’ll break the bank to fill a need. The Angels, meanwhile, have never given a nine-digit contract to a free agent pitcher and haven’t made a

Next. Buyer Beward: 5 FA's for Angels to Avoid

If the Angels want any chance to keep Cole away from these five competitors, they’ll have to not just break $100 million, but $200 million as well…and maybe even $300 million.

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