Bartolo Colon rumors: Los Angeles Angels not interested in veteran pitcher

There is a veteran starting pitcher with a track record and a sub-4.00 ERA available for any team in baseball to acquire via trade. If there is a contending team that is interested in New York Mets’ starter Bartolo Colon, they have a little bit less than one week to make a deal for him to have him available for post-season play.

More from Los Angeles Angels

• Shohei Ohtani trade rumors live tracker: Every update so far
• Shohei Ohtani Rumors: The best trade package from every NL East team
• MLB Rumors: Cardinals budging on Arenado, Orioles-Ohtani package, Yankees backup plan
• MLB Rumors: Shocking Shohei Ohtani suitor would be Dodgers, Giants nightmare
• MLB Rumors: Shohei Ohtani, Angels, Dodgers, Rich Hill

With their recent loss of stud starting pitcher Garrett Richards to a season-ending injury knee injury, there was a logical connection to be made between the Angels and any available starting pitcher. So would they be interested in trading for Colon now that he has cleared waivers and is available?

Not so much. Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times explains:

"If the Angels absorbed Colon’s $11-million salary for 2015, it would push them right up against the $189-million luxury-tax threshold, which Owner Arte Moreno does not want to pass, and leave them virtually no flexibility to pursue a free-agent pitcher next winter.It is still possible for the Angels to trade for Colon, but they would probably want the Mets to assume a chunk of the pitcher’s 2015 salary to do so."

While the Mets are reportedly making a push to move Colon, they have also indicated a willingness to keep the veteran for the 2015 season, even if it is at an unfortunate cap hit of $11 million. That makes it unlikely they would feel motivated to absorb salary in a deal with a team like the Angels; it is unlikely, therefore, that Colon will end up with the American League team in Los Angeles.