5 starting pitchers the Los Angeles Angels should target on trade market

1. Jon Gray, Colorado Rockies

Gray has ridden a bit of a roller coaster, with ERAs of 3.67 (2017), 5.12 (2018) and 3.84 (2019) over the last three seasons. He missed the final month of last season due to a stress fracture in his left foot and subsequent surgery, but otherwise it was a nice rebound season for the promising right-hander (139 ERA+, 9.0 K/9, 3.4 BB/9).

Early in the offseason Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich acknowledged that multiple teams had interest in trading for Gray, with a later report indicating that teams left those trade talks thinking there was no intent to trade him. In the constant struggle to find competent and consistent pitching in Colorado, hanging on to Gray with two years of team control left and trying to extend him is an easy priority for the Rockies.

But that “no intent” indicator could also be taken as a call to come back with your best offers at some point, and Gray stands as one of the top starters who’s even theoretically available on the trade market right now. Imagine if he escaped the pitcher’s definition of purgatory, Coors Field, and landed literally anywhere else.

The Angels may have been (and should have been) in that initial mix of teams with interest in Gray. They should easily still be lingering with interest now, as they more strongly consider trade options.