4 star free agents LA Angels can sign when MLB lockout ends

The hot stove will be cooled off for as long as this MLB lockdown is active, but once it's over, the Angels can sign whoever.

Free agency will be back on, and while the Angels haven't necessarily been as active as we may have hoped, it's not at all over. There are still many major pieces that the Halos can go after, and should go after.

We don't have a great farm system to use as trade bait, so free agency is a great way to improve the roster these days. There are four veterans in this league that stand out as to who we should be getting a deal done with as soon as the lockdown is done.

No. 4 star free agent LA Angels can sign when MLB lockout ends: Clayton Kershaw

The LA Angels were rightfully advised to look at some better options than the aging Clayton Kershaw in free agency at the start of the offseason, but now with many options already having signed elsewhere, Kershaw needs to be back on the radar.

Besides, while Kershaw's age is a risk (his season was cut short after 22 starts last year due to injury), all of the best starting pitching free agent candidates came with risk this offseason. The only ones that didn't, don't come with anywhere near the pedigree and successful resume Kershaw has as a pitcher in this league.

Kershaw was still effective when he was on the bump this past year, despite it being his down year. Posting a winning 10-8 record with a 3.55 ERA and 3.00 FIP, he's worth taking a chance on and would slot right in as our No. 2 or 3 starter next season.

No. 3 star free agent LA Angels can sign when MLB lockout ends: Carlos Rodon

Hear me out on why the LA Angels should sign Carlos Rodon. Yes, he missed several starts last year due to injury. He did, however, return for the end of the regular season and the postseason.

So he finished the year healthy, and I'll add that he was overall pretty dominant when healthy this year. He was an All-Star, posting an incredible 2.37 ERA with a 13-5 record. Recording a wicked 183 ERA+ and an 0.957 WHIP, I'm intrigued.

Yes, he's had durability issues in this league. And yes, he's only had one truly elite season.

However as previously mentioned, all of these free agent pitchers this winter, taken or not yet taken, come with risk. And the only ones that don't come with much risk have never had the type of year Rodon just had when Rodon was on the mound.

He was a top five AL Cy Young Award finisher this season. I'm sorry, but I'm cool with that being on my team. We'd then have the upside to have three top five AL Cy Young contenders in one rotation.

Sign me up.

No. 2 star free agent LA Angels can sign when MLB lockout ends: Kenley Jansen

Many Dodgers fans over the years have given Kenley Jansen a hard time for some key blown saves in his time in this league, but nobody can deny that he's overall been a very effective reliever ever since he stepped on a Major League mound.

Never having a single bad year for the Dodgers, Jansen is a career 2.37 ERA pitcher who has excelled in both a closer role as well as other roles. A three-time All-Star, he has the accolades to prove how good he is.

He's got 350 saves on his resume, and has a career 0.928 WHIP with an insane 13 strikeouts per nine innings over the course of his 12-year journey in MLB.

Boasting a career 164 ERA+, he's been so dominant that he's reached single-season ERA+'s of all the way up to 219, 315, and even 588.

He's had a very good career, and has plenty of postseason experience. We can use him in any role we choose, although he's probably not the best as a long reliever. We can, however, throw him in the middle or back-end of ball games, and he immediately would make a major positive impact on our pitching staff and team.