How the Angels landed new number one starter

It was recently reported that the LA Angels signed pitcher Tyler Anderson to a three-year deal worth about $39 million. We'll know the specifics of the deal once it's actually announced, but the Angels just landed a solid front-end starter to the rotation. While Ohtani will be seen as the true number-one starter, Anderson will look to head the rest of the rotation which follows Detmers, Sandoval, and Saurez.

Why Anderson should be labeled as the number one

First off, let us start by saying that by no means does this discredit Shohei Ohtani and what he has been able to do over the past few seasons. However, Ohtani is on a whole different journey than Anderson, he is doing two things at once and should not have time for leading the rotation. Tyler Anderson is coming in as someone that can mentor the other lefties in the rotation and is a true leader.

He re-invented himself with the Dodgers which saw him take his performance to a whole new level. In 2022, he tossed 178.2 innings across 28 starts while commanding a career-low 2.57 ERA and a career-low in hard-hit rate of 29%. All of this added up to his first All-Star appearance and a lucrative deal that the Angels pounced on once he rejected the Dodgers qualifying offer of $19.65 million.

His work ethic is something highly praised when he was with the Dodgers asDodgers Athletic beat writer Fabian Ardaya highlighted as the postseason was approaching. He mentioned that Anderson keeps a notebook with him to go over just about everything as he writes "Within Anderson's notebook are simple indicators: How he was feeling physically that day, what he executed well, and what didn't."

That type of work ethic is something that the rest of the young Angels rotation can feed off of as he has the time to work with them. He also brings postseason experience as he's pitched in the postseason in 2017, 2018, and most recently 2022. In that most recent start, he pitched 5 innings of 2 hit baseball while giving up 0 runs, which is enough in terms of success.

Angels shock everyone with multi-year for pitcher

It's been a while since the Angels brought in a pitcher on a multi-year deal and Anderson seems like the right guy to do it for. The Dodger had already helped fix what wasn't working for him, so no more are the days of getting a pitcher and seeing if he can fix himself, Anderson has all the kinks worked out already.

The Angels still seem poised to welcome a new owner, however, this deal should convince Shohei Ohtani that help is on the way and they aren't going down without a fight. Any move to further advance the team should be looked at as a way to convince Ohtani not to leave in free agency. While Tyler Anderson is that type of move, he's something more, he needs to be a leader.