Angels could bring back ex-starter fans haven’t thought about in years

The Los Angeles Angels don't have a strong starting rotation on paper, and the expectation is that they will look for an established veteran before Opening Day. No, the Angels won't make a surprising push for Framber Valdez, and it feels like even Zac Gallen is going to be too rich for their taste. Fortunately for the Angels' penny-pinching ways, there's an unusually high number of established starting pitchers looking for a new home before spring training.

Bleacher Report's Tim Kelly is aware of that fact and identified landing spots for some of the familiar names on the free-agent market. He tabs the Baltimore Orioles as the ideal landing spot for Valdez, and a return to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Gallen. As for the Halos, Kelly has them reuniting with Jose Quintana.

Jose Quintana may not be an appealing name, but the the Angels could do worse.

Quintana's previous run with the Angels didn't exactly inspire confidence. He moved to Los Angeles in 2021 after an undesirable end to his tenure with the Chicago Cubs. He posted an ERA of 6.75 in 24 appearances with the Angels before spending the final month of the 2021 season with the San Francisco Giants. If that was the version of Quintana the Angels would be getting, they should stay away.

But in the years since his work with the Angels, Quintana has reinvented himself. He's not the top-of-the-rotation workhorse that he was with the White Sox, but he has emerged as one of the better options for a team at the backend of their rotation.

In 24 starts with the Milwaukee Brewers last year, Quintana posted an ERA of 3.96 while striking out 16% of the hitters he faced. Nothing to write home about, but when healthy, he's capable of taking the ball every five days and eating innings. Quintana would be veteran stability for an Angels' rotation that is littered with question marks.

Quintana is also 37 years old, so he can likely be had on an affordable one-year deal. The Angels undoubtedly should just pony up the cash, sign Valdez or Gallen, and call it a day, but a reunion with Quintana is more on brand for how they have operated this offseason.