3 pitchers the Angels must sign with Shota Imanaga officially off the board

The Los Angeles Angels were one of the teams rumored to be in on Japanese left-hander Shota Imanaga, even being named as a finalist by Jim Bowden just days ago.

The fit with Imanaga and the Angels made some sense with the Angels needing starting pitching in the worst way and also potentially looking to add a foreign star like Imanaga in the wake of Shohei Ohtani's departure.

While the Angels appeared to have a legitimate shot at signing Imanaga, the southpaw has agreed to a deal with the Cubs according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, leaving the team empty-handed once again. While losing out hurts, there are other options for the Angels to pursue. Landing one of them is a must at this point.

1) Jordan Montgomery

Losing out on Imanaga is unfortunate, but the Angels still have several high-end options including pitchers like Jordan Montgomery, who is arguably the best option out there for the Halos.

Blake Snell has the highest ceiling of any free agent starter as we saw him win his second Cy Young Award this past season, but his floor is significantly lower than Montgomery's, which is why Monty is the pitcher the Angels need to pursue. The Angels have talent in their rotation with guys like Reid Detmers, Patrick Sandoval, and even Chase Silseth, but their inconsistency is glaring. Montgomery would provide incredible stability.

The southpaw might not have typical ace stuff, but he simply finds ways to win games. He takes the ball every fifth day without missing many starts and goes deep into games more often than not. That's really what this Angels team needs. Reliability.

There's a good chance Montgomery is out of their price range, but he really shouldn't be with them having so much money to spend. If the Angels choose to go with a cheaper option, the next two make a lot of sense.

2) Marcus Stroman

You knew he'd be here. The Angels have been connected to Marcus Stroman numerous times and it feels like if they were to actually sign a frontline starting pitcher, he'd be the guy. While he certainly has question marks of his own, there are reasons to believe he'd be a good fit in Anaheim.

Stroman is a ground ball pitcher which should play well in a Ron Washington-led team. The Angels struggled defensively in 2023, but should improve under Washington who is known to get the most out of his teams defensively. With solid defenders like Zach Neto and Brandon Drury as well as potential improvement from Nolan Schanuel in his first full season, Stroman might thrive in Anaheim.

Another reason why this could work is because Perry Minasian already knows him from his days in Toronto. Minasian was a scout with the Jays when Stroman was drafted by the team, and could easily circle back and sign him.

Stroman as an ace isn't super exciting, but it's certainly an upgrade over what the Angels have. At worst, he's a guy who should give them 25 starts or so with a sub-4.00 ERA. With Stroman receiving little known interest on the open market, the Angels might be able to get him at decent value.