Angels Rumors: could one of these front-end starters wind up in Anaheim?

The Angels' offseason is off to a torrid start and is leaving fans clamoring for more.

The biggest splash has been the Jorge Soler trade, and many are saying that the Canning-for-Soler swap will be their most newsworthy move of the offseason. Given that the Angels are not the free agency destination for stars that they used to be, their owner imposed financial constraints, and they have a limit on the amount of desirable prospects they could trade, many believe the Angels will solely continue to add veterans and lower-level position players with good in-game power. That is a logical conclusion, and Angels fans should try and temper their expectations.

Sure, the Angels can acquire SoCal natives who are on the back-end of their career, like Kyle Hendricks and Travid d'Arnaud, but they cannot court anybody super impactful...right? However, there are certainly paths where the Angels can shock the world by going all-in on an available ace via free agency or trade. Their aggression early in the offseason shows that Perry Minasian will do anything possible to remodel this franchise and try and compete next season.

If Arte Moreno's financial parameters are true, and they will not surpass the $215 million payroll, Perry Minasian has about $40 million more to work with before the well runs dry. They could certainly acquire a run-of-the-mill starter and further round out their roster with that money. Having said that, the Angels are in desperate need of a bona fide ace.

Jeff Passan reported that the Angels are among teams "expected to operate in the midtier pitching market." Passan wrote that about the Angels in the context of teams competing for LHP Yusei Kikuchi, a pitcher with a plethora of suitors given that Houston did not offer the 33-year-old a qualifying offer. Many outlets, like The Athletic, mark the Angels as a team who will undoubtedly acquire another starting pitcher. Well, two names have been mentioned in passing as potential adds for an Angels team looking to turn around from a 99-loss season...and they are not midtier.

Could the Angels actually recruit Max Fried or trade for Garrett Crochet?

Max Fried, who pitched for Minasian's second favorite team for eight seasons, just saw his personal catcher sign with the Los Angeles Angels. It might not seem like much, but a pitcher's favorite battery-mate makes all the difference in the world. Paul Skenes and Yasmani Grandal made a deep bond in Pittsburgh last season, and that could keep Grandal playing for the Pirates for a lot longer than then club originally anticipated.

If the allure of continuing his routine of pairing up with d'Arnaud was not enough, perhaps the 95 other former Braves already in Anaheim would make Fried right at home. Maybe he loves Ron Washington and Sal Fasano, and would covet the idea of them being his manager and one of his pitching coaches.

FanSided's Robert Murray mulled over the idea of the Angels packaging some of the prospects they have accumulated over the past couple of season together, and trading for LHP Garrett Crochet. Crochet could join his fellow Tennessee Volunteer, Ben Joyce, as a member of the Angels' pitching staff who throws absolute gas. Crochet is a metrics monster -- he lives in the upper echelon of the vast majority of Statcast rankings.

There are many clubs who are in on Crochet and could trump the Angels in terms of the amount of quality prospects they could send the White Sox. The Angels would have to give up some combination of their top prospects, Caden Dana, Christian Moore, George Klassen, and Nelson Rada, to insert themselves as legitimate trade partners with Chicago. Even giving their top four prospects for Crochet might not be enough, as San Diego could trade Ethan Salas, or the Red Sox could give up Roman Anthony or Kyle Teel, etc.

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