Angels hesitance to push for top arm vindicated after Framber Valdez deal was revealed

Most of the time, the Los Angeles Angels' stubborn refusal to pay for real pitching has been to the detriment of the franchise. Unfortunately, owner Arte Moreno has his own special philosophy when it comes to roster-building, and it doesn't seem to involve much care given to the rotation. The Angels were rumored to be lurking in the background for some top arms lately, but LA's hesitance when it comes to Framber Valdez is looking like a great decision.

If we all look inward into our heart-of-hearts, there was no chance the Angels were going to come up with the money to seriously bid for Valdez. General manager Perry Minasian is opportunistic and could have swooped in if his market cratered, but there has been almost zero indication that he had enough leash from Moreno to make a real run at Valdez.

On Wednesday night, everyone found out where Valdez would be playing after he signed with the Tigers. However, once you look at the terms of Valdez's deal, it doesn't look all that bad that the Angels sat this one out.

Framber Valdez's contract would have been a stinker for the Angels

Now, the elephant in the room here is that at $38 million AAV over three years, landing Valdez feels much less attractive. Valdez didn't even finish in the top 10 pitchers by fWAR last season, and one of the guys ahead of him, lefty Max Fried, has a contract he signed last offseason where he is making $6.5 million a year less the rest of the way, although his deal does run through 2032. If you give a guy a record contract of almost any sort, the odds aren't great that they will be worth that contract, and that is especially true of pitchers.

This is also not the kind of deal that the Angels need to be giving out right now. The Angels are going to need at least a year or two before they are competitive again, with or without Valdez. A high AAV contract that includes an opt-out after the 2026 season is the type of deal a contender like the Tigers should make to get over the hump, not teams undergoing a slow rebuild like LA.

Sure, it would have been nice to have Valdez in the Angels' rotation next season. It might not have been enough to make them a playoff team, but they would certainly be very interesting and keep the rest of the AL West honest at least. However, that doesn't mean the Angels should have given him the deal he eventually got. At that point, just gamble on the cheaper Zac Gallen instead.