Angels rumors: Halos could be interested in Carlos Carrasco

The Los Angeles Angels need another starting pitcher. With most of the free agents signed elsewhere, the Halos could turn to a trade to find their guy.

They could find a trade partner in the New York Mets as they now have more starting pitchers than they need. The Mets have signed Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, and Jose Quintana to join Max Scherzer in their rotation. The Mets also have guys like David Peterson, Tylor Megill, and Elieser Hernandez who can be seen as capable fifth starters, especially Peterson.

With the Mets having a ton of starting pitching, the Angels could be a team interested. Robert Murray of FanSided listed the Angels as one of the potential teams who could be calling former Angels GM Billy Eppler about a potential Carlos Carrasco trade.

The Angels could be interested in Carlos Carrasco

Trading for Carlos Carrasco makes a lot of sense for the Angels. They need another starter and could use a veteran to round out the staff. Carrasco is an established veteran with a very good track record.

After being involved in the big trade that sent Francisco Lindor to the Mets, Carrasco missed most of the 2021 campaign with a hamstring injury and then struggled mightily when he returned. It's very possible he was rushed back with all of the injuries New York had.

After the season Carrasco underwent surgery to remove a bone fragment in his pitching elbow. He's said to have felt much better than he had in years and the results showed.

Cookie went 15-7 with a 3.97 ERA in 29 starts. He missed a couple of starts down the stretch because of an oblique strain. Carrasco struck out 9.0 batters per nine while walking 2.4/9 and allowing 1.0 HR/9. He had a 3.53 FIP. For the most part, he was a reliable back-end arm.

The big difference for Carrasco this past season was his changeup. He used it 24.5% of the time, his second most-used pitch, and he held opponents to a .206 batting average with just three home runs out of the 591 times he threw it. Opponents whiffed at it at a 31.6% clip which is a very solid number. He ranked in the 94th percentile in chase rate and generated ground balls at a 47% clip, largely due to that pitch.

Carrasco will be 36 by the time Opening Day rolls around and he had his team option picked up by the Mets worth $14 million dollars. Sean Manaea just got $12.5 million dollars for multiple seasons after posting an ERA a full run higher.

The Halos get a relatively cheap rental who wouldn't cost much to acquire. Murray says all he'd cost would be a reliever or a couple of low-level prospects. Could the Mets be intrigued by an Aaron Loup reunion? New York could just be looking to shed some payroll after all of their moves so they could also be only looking at lower level prospects.

If the value is right, I don't see why the Angels shouldn't go through with a Carrasco trade. This is the kind of win-now move teams trying to win in the present make.