LA Angels: 4 giant whiffs from Arte Moreno before MLB lockout

No. 3 giant whiff from Arte Moreno before MLB lockout: Kevin Gausman

Kevin Gausman is a starting arm that the LA Angels were rumored to be going after, and Arte Moreno missed.

Gausman ended up going to the Blue Jays, after he had a tremendous season this year for the San Francisco Giants. It was the first All-Star season of his career, and his first season posting a sub-3.00 ERA (2.81).

Gausman was lights out, going 14-6 and posting a 145 ERA+ on the year. After losing himself in 2019, Gausman has been building so much momentum for what should be a strong 2022 during these last two seasons. In these last two years he's struck out 10.9 batters per nine frames and posted a 1.057 WHIP.

The Angels could have really used him. Instead, he'll be pitching in our league on a different team. This team has made just one big move for a starting pitcher, and only has three others (Shohei Ohtani, Patrick Sandoval, and Jose Suarez) who have proven to be capable of pitching in a strong rotation.

Gausman would have been in one of the top three rotation slots, and was one of the safest starting pitching options in free agency.

No. 2 giant whiff from Arte Moreno before MLB lockout: Robbie Ray

When Arte Moreno and the LA Angels missed on Robbie Ray, it hurt real bad. He ended up not only not signing with us when we had been linked to him since the beginning of the offseason, but also signing with a rival in the Seattle Mariners.

Ray was a great target for the Angels because he wasn't going to cost as much as the Max Scherzer's, or the Justin Verlander's for that matter as well. He was to be expensive, but more than affordable for the Angels.

Ray was the Cy Young this past season, going 13-7 with a 2.84 ERA and a 154 ERA+. Both those marks were tops in the American League, and few pitchers in this game are as good at striking batters out as Ray.

The man has struck out 11.2 batters per nine frames since he entered the league. He hit 11.8 last year and 11.5 this year. The guy's electric.

Recording a league-best 1.045 WHIP this past season, he was unstoppable. He already started showing progress when he was went over to the Blue Jays in the middle of the 2020 season, and got to that next level in 2021. Ray is a guy we should have had, and could possibly really regret not having later on.

No. 1 giant whiff from Arte Moreno before MLB lockout: Max Scherzer

Arte Moreno and the LA Angels had been eyeing Max Scherzer since the trade deadline. It wasn't even just the front office, too. Even Mike Trout was in on recruiting Scherzer to Anaheim.

And Scherzer was interested in us, too. He wanted to go to a west coast team at the deadline, and he really liked the Los Angeles area.

At the end of the day, the Mets offered him an insane $130 million over three years. That's over $43.3 million per year in average annual value, which is crazy.

The Angels weren't able to match that. As much as I bring up how Moreno has lots and lots of money and can spend at a high level, I can't knock him for not being able to get a deal done at that price. If he did, I doubt he re-signs Raisel Iglesias, who was important to bring back.

In a perfect world, we would have been able to negotiate with him and see him taking interest in coming across the freeway. Instead, he took interest in coming across the country.

With all this being said, however, this offseason is still not over. The lockout will eventually be done with, and we'll be able to improve and make up for missed opportunities. There are still good free agents available, and we have plenty of money left to spend.