Angels Rumors: 3 starting pitchers on the Rockies to trade for

Of all the current starting pitchers in Colorado, German Marquez carries the most upside. The downside for the Angels is the high-price tag attached to Marquez.

The 25-year old carries a career 4.24 ERA and 1.269 WHIP in his five MLB seasons. Last summer, Marquez led the league with 81 2/3 innings pitched to go along with a 3.75 ERA and 1.261 WHIP.

Even with his numbers being pretty solid overall, Marquez has had more success outside of Denver.

German Marquez Career Splits (5 seasons):

• Coors Field: (51 games) 5.10 ERA 293 IP 1.423 WHIP 9.7 K/9 3.80 K/BB
• Away: (58 games) 3.51 ERA 341.1 IP 1.137 WHIP 8.6 K/9 3.65 K/BB

For a pitcher who is still relatively young, Marquez has loads of talent and potential as a big-league starter. This is the reason Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich extended Marquez to a team-friendly contract in 2019.

Marquez has three-years, $34.4 million remaining on his current deal. The contract includes a $2.5 million buyout and $16 million option for the 2024 season.

This type of contract will likely increase the asking price for Marquez alone. However, if a team is willing to take on the salaries of other Rockies players like Charlie Blackmon (one-year, $21.5 million+player options) and Ian Desmond (one-year, $8 million+$2 million buyout), then maybe this will be enough for a deal to go through.

Angels: Marquez is arguably the most valuable trade chip the Rockies have.

The Angels could use another corner outfielder, and a player as talented as Blackmon would be more than ideal.

Acquiring both Blackmon and Marquez seems too good to be true, but it’s not impossible.