Dream LA Angels starting rotation for the 2024 season

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Entering the 2023 season the Los Angeles Angels assumed they'd have one of the best rotations in the American League. They did in 2022, and had just added Tyler Anderson coming off an all-star year in the offseason.

Unfortunately, things didn't go to plan. Virtually everyone, even Shohei Ohtani, took a step back on the mound. Griffin Canning was really the lone exception as he pitched well without any real expectations after missing all of 2022.

As we head to this offseason, the Angels really need to focus on improving the rotation. Whether Shohei Ohtani stays or not, the Angels will need to upgrade it because Ohtani won't be pitching in 2024. This dream rotation likely won't come to fruition, but it'd be one Angels fans would surely love to watch. It's also one that is semi-realistic. No, the Angels won't be signing every top starter available.

1) Yoshinobu Yamamoto

In any dream scenario, the Angels land one of the top free agent starters. The team desperately needs an ace with Ohtani not pitching in 2024. Fortunately, there are several free agents capable of filling that void.

The cream of the crop when it comes to pitching this offseason at least in my opinion is the trio of Aaron Nola, Blake Snell, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Nola is an innings eater at worst and one of the best pitchers in baseball at his best. Snell is a mid-rotation guy at his worst, but a Cy Young award winner at his best. Yamamoto on the other hand is completely unproven as a guy who has yet to throw a pitch in MLB, but he's the most intriguing by far.

In terms of stuff, he has the best of the three easily. Additionally, Yamamoto is just 25 years old while Snell and Nola are both 31. They'll all require more than five years, but there's a big difference. Yamamoto's contract will expire when he's still presumably elite, while Nola's and Snell's will expire when they're on the downswing. Instead of signing these older veterans to lengthy deals like the Angels do, signing a younger guy would be a nice change of pace.

Of course, the NPB is not at the same level as MLB, but it's as close as it's been in a while. With that in mind, Yamamoto absolutely dominated there for the Orix Buffaloes, posting a 1.82 ERA in his seven years in Japan. This past season he had a 1.16 ERA in 24 appearances and 171 innings pitched. No, he probably won't have that low of an ERA in the majors, but he will certainly be good with clear ace upside.

Signing Yamamoto would likely mean the Angels would have to revert to a six-man rotation, so the Angels can use one of Tyler Anderson or Chase Silseth in that sixth starter role.

2) Sonny Gray

In this dream the Angels land someone from the second tier of starting pitchers available, Sonny Gray. I think Gray makes the most sense here because he'll be cheaper than a guy like Jordan Montgomery who is three years younger, and he'll be in a similar price range to a guy like Eduardo Rodriguez who he is simply better than.

Gray was quietly one of the best pitchers in all of baseball in 2023, posting a 2.79 ERA in 32 starts and 184 innings pitched. He led the league allowing just 0.4 HR/9, and also led the league with a 2.83 FIP. He's been pretty durable throughout his career, and outside of a couple of bad seasons has mostly been a frontline starter. Gray has already been a Cy Young finalist once in his career and was just named one again for this season.

While Gray is super intriguing, he's definitely not a flawless target. He's 34 years old and is going to likely get a three or four year deal. The chances of him being good for the entirety of whatever contract he signs probably aren't great. Gray was also given the Qualifying Offer by the Twins. Assuming he rejects it, the Angels would have to forfeit a draft pick if they sign him. These would be the reasons why the team wouldn't pursue him, but they're also reasons why the team would be able to afford him.

Having a one-two punch of Yamamoto and Gray would give them potentially two of the best starters in the American League in 2024. It's hard to go wrong there.

3) Patrick Sandoval

The 2023 season was an incredibly disappointing one from Patrick Sandoval. He had such a good year in 2022, posting a sub-3.00 ERA and pitching like an all-star for much of the year. He then really impressed on a huge stage in the WBC while pitching for Team Mexico. Unfortunately, the entire year felt like a massive grind from the left-hander.

His numbers on the surface aren't all too bad. He had a 4.11 ERA in 28 starts and 144.2 innings pitched. He was able to stay healthy for most of the season and even set a new career-high in starts. The problem is there were too many meltdowns and situations where he just couldn't locate or get out of an inning.

The Angels played some horrible defense behind him which is partially why he allowed a whopping 23 unearned runs. He allowed 89 runs all season, roughly one fourth of those were unearned. Some of them can be attributed to the defense, but Sandoval often fell apart the moment a teammate committed an error behind him. He'd lose command and often allow a ton of runs to cross the plate to let a game get out of hand.

Hopefully with a new pitching coach in town, that individual can get the most out of Sandoval who has shown he has the stuff to be a quality pitcher in this league. He didn't have a sub-3.00 ERA in 2022 by accident. This is a crucial year for Sandoval to get back in the right direction.

4) Reid Detmers

Reid Detmers is another pitcher the Angels expected to take a leap in 2023 and he just didn't provide that. He had good moments, but was incredibly inconsistent throughout the year. If the Angels have any dreams of being competitive, he cannot be relied upon as a frontline starter. He fits much better in the third or fourth spot.

Detmers had many great moments in 2023. He held the Rangers without a hit into the eighth inning. He then dominated them again, allowing just one run in seven innings. Yes, the World Series champion Rangers. He had an outing in which he went toe-to-toe with Clayton Kershaw and held the Dodgers scoreless through seven innings.

As encouraging as the good starts were, the bad ones were just as discouraging. He allowed seven earned runs in a start three times. He went less than five innings nine times in his 28 starts. There are reasons why the Angels went just 12-16 in his starts and he had a 4.48 ERA.

Detmers did improve dramatically with finishing hitters off, as he fanned 168 batters in 148.2 innings pitched. He had a 26.1% K-rate, far better than the 22.6% he had in 2022. The stuff is good, it's about consistency. Hopefully he can find it.

5) Griffin Canning

In a season full of disappointing outcomes for Angels starting pitchers, they should be pleased with what they saw from Griffin Canning. No, a 4.32 ERA doesn't jump off the page, but Canning was often the Angels most consistent starter and he set some career-highs.

The 24 appearances and 22 starts were career bests for this right-hander, as were the 127 innings he pitched. It was his first time crossing the 100 inning mark in a season. Canning had a couple of minor injuries but for the most part was able to stay healthy after missing the entire 2022 season.

He went from a pitcher fighting for a rotation spot to a guy who should have been a part of it all year long. Canning doesn't have the frontline stuff guys like Sandoval and Detmers have, but he's a pitcher that proved to be more consistent. He almost always completed at least five innings, and the most runs he allowed in an outing was five. He didn't have those blowups Sandoval and Detmers had.

Canning as a fifth starter that can go six and allow three or four runs would be the dream. In reality, he's likely going to be their third or fourth starter, but it'd be nice to have four strong arms in front of him to really have one of the better staffs in the American League.

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Dream Angels starting rotation for the 2024 season

1) Yoshinobu Yamamoto

2) Sonny Gray

3) Patrick Sandoval

4) Reid Detmers

5) Griffin Canning

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