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LA Angels rumors: Halos were close to signing Eduardo Rodriguez

By Evan Desai |
Oct 18, 2021; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez (57) walks off of the field after finishing the sixth inning against the Houston Astros in game three of the 2021 ALCS at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2021; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez (57) walks off of the field after finishing the sixth inning against the Houston Astros in game three of the 2021 ALCS at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported that the LA Angels were one of three other teams in on Eduardo Rodriguez before he signed with Detroit.

Rodriguez is an interesting piece this offseason. He’s coming off of a down year, but has also had success in this league before.

Last year, he posted a nice 13-8 record with the best FIP of his career (3.32). He also, however, posted the worst ERA of his career (4.74) and the worst WHIP of his career (1.389). At the end of the day, while his FIP was nice, he surrendered too many baserunners and far too many runs.

The LA Angels will now be pivoting to bigger and better options with Eduardo Rodriguez off of the table.

Sure, Eduardo Rodriguez isn’t a bad pitcher, but the LA Angels have bigger dreams.

Take a look at the current Angels that the team will have starting next year, including Alex Cobb who they have the chance to re-sign:

  • Shohei Ohtani (3.18 ERA, 1.090 WHIP)
  • Patrick Sandoval (3.62 ERA, 1.207 WHIP)
  • Alex Cobb (3.76 ERA, 1.264 WHIP)
  • Jose Suarez (3.75 ERA, 1.231 WHIP)

They all had better years last year than Rodriguez. Sandoval and Cobb didn’t stay healthy, but when they did, they were obviously the better pitchers.

The Angels are expected to go after two starters this offseason, and have been linked to much bigger names in Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Robbie Ray, and more.

They have the money to go after those guys, and they needed to be the priority anyway. They have the chance to sign two starters to round out the rotation that are both better than Rodriguez.

Say they re-sign Cobb, sign one of those three aforementioned elite names, and Alex Wood. The Angels would then enter 2022 with six starting pitchers who are currently better than Rodriguez, and Chris Rodriguez waiting in the wings to come back.

I like what the Angels can do this offseason to fix their rotation quite a bit. They’ve got plenty of options, and many better than Rodriguez.

Next. 4 shortstops the Angels should pursue. dark

“I wouldn’t rule us out of anything,” said Angels GM Perry Minasian.

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