Blue Jays: Which AL contenders could come calling for a starting pitcher?

Los Angeles Angels

You don’t hand out the biggest contract in MLB history if you’re not planning on competing, so the Angels signalled their extensions when they gave Mike Trout a contract to keep him on their roster for, potentially, his entire career.

Because of that, I have to believe that the Angels will be interested in upgrading their starting rotation later this summer, as long as they look like realistic contenders. As of this writing (prior to games being complete on Tuesday evening), they are 2.5 games back of the Texas Rangers for the second Wild Card spot but would have to leapfrog four other teams to get there.

Their experiment with Matt Harvey didn’t work out this year, and right now their depth chart has Tyler Skaggs at the top, which isn’t a good sign (with all due respect to Mr. Skaggs). The Angels could desperately use the rotation help, and I could see them being a team that would be very interested in one or both of Stroman and Sanchez. The former would provide the rotation stability they so badly need, and Sanchez would be a high-reward lottery ticket who would be coming home to California if this type of deal went down.

As I mentioned before though, the key may be whether or not the Angels have a shot at making the postseason this season, and right now that’s an uphill climb. I don’t believe that the Rangers are going to stick in the race, but they still have to compete with the two of the three that don’t win the AL East, as well as teams like the Cleveland Indians and Oakland A’s. If they don’t believe they have a realistic shot this season, they might wait until the winter to do their rotation shopping.

Likelihood= 3/5