MLB rumors: 5 teams who should trade for Yu Darvish

There may no team that sees themselves as any sort of contender that needs starting pitching more than the Angels. Dylan Bundy and Andrew Heaney are not the top-two of a rotation for a team that has high aspirations. The re-entrance of Shohei Ohtani into the pitching mix will be helpful, but he will still be a two-way player.

Visions of Southern California native Trevor Bauer landing with the Angels as a free agent to be their ace this offseason are easy to tab, and it’s not out of the question. In terms of future payroll, Albert Pujols finally comes off the books after next year and Justin Upton’s deal expires after 2022.

The Angels don’t have a fantastic farm system to deal from, but they are climbing MLB.com’s rankings a bit. The Cubs may ask for outfielder Jo Adell in a deal for Darvish, but the Angels surely won’t part with him simply because he struggled in his first taste of big league action last season.

But here’s an offer the Angels could make to bring Darvish back to the AL West.