The Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland A's are battling for the AL West title, which has been the tightest race in the MLB all year long.  The teams are squaring off in a three-game series this weekend, and it looks like the A's are the better team.

Oakland has hit a rough patch of late, losing seven of their last ten games, but they won the opening game of the series thanks to a gem by Sonny Gray.  They had their ace Jon Lester pitching on Saturday, and then Scott Kazmir will toe the rubber on Sunday.  Those two have a combined record of 27-13, giving the Oakland pitching rotation, arguably the best in the league, two dominant southpaws. Jeff Samardzjia and Jason Hammel round out the five-man rotation.

The Angels, on the other hand, do not have near as much depth on the mound, especially after they lost their most consistent pitcher in Garrett Richards to a gruesome leg injury on Wednesday.  LAA also lost youngster Tyler Skaggs to a forearm injury, leaving yet another opening in that rotation. Their absence leaves the Halos with Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson, Matt Shoemaker, Ramon Santiago, and Wade LeBlanc starting games for them. 

Weaver and Wilson are terrific pitchers and have both had long, wonderful careers, but they haven't had their best stuff so far this year.  Shoemaker has an impressive 12-4 record so far in 2014, but he doesn't really instill fear into the opposition when he is on the mound.  Santiago and LeBlanc are both mediocre pitchers, and not the type of guys you want starting a game with the season on the line.

All of this means that the Angels need another starting pitcher if they want to be serious contenders to go deep into October.  The answer could be someone who made a name for himself in Anaheim in the early part of the 21st century.

Even though the trade deadline has passed, teams can still make trades if the players clear waivers. According to Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal, the Mets placed righty Bartolo Colon on revocable waivers earlier today.

Twenty-eight teams would have to pass on Colon for the Angels to have a chance to claim him, but we don't think it's too far-fetched for that to happen.  There have been plenty of players better than Colon who cleared waivers, so if the Angels really want him, they can probably have him.

Colon makes sense for an abundance of reasons.  First, he has been one of the most consistent pitchers in the league throughout his career.  He is 41 years old and under contract through the 2015 season, and his 11-10 with a 3.65 ERA as a Met this year.

That 11-10 record might not be all that impressive on paper, but he is the consistent starter the Angels need.  He is a very durable pitcher, a guy that can eat innings with the best of them.  He will repeatedly go deep into games and give up about three runs.  With the Mets' anemic offense, he was oftentimes not rewarded with a win for his efforts, but with the offensive prowess of the Angels, his starts would definitely result in more victories.

Also, Colon has experience pitching in Anaheim.  He pitched for the Angels for three seasons from '05-'07, winning the Cy Young Award in 2005 when he went 21-8 with a 3.48 ERA.  

Moreover, he had tons of success pitching in the AL West the past two seasons pitching for Oakland. He was one of the best pitchers in the league both of those years, recording an 18-6 record with a 2.65 ERA.  

He is not a dominant pitcher, he relies on control.  He is definitely not the sexy option, he rarely throws his fastball harder than 90 MPH, yet he throws his fastball more than 80% of the time.  That combination usually doesn't yield good results, but Colon somehow finds a way to make it work.  He also has an unorthodox frame at 5'11, 285 pounds, but once again, he somehow finds a way to make it work.

If they were to acquire Colon, they would also have a good chance of retaining him next year.  If they wanted him, he would be a bargain as their fourth or fifth starter at only $11 million.  

Oakland has won the first two games of the series, much thanks to their superior pitching.  Gray turned in a commanding performance on Friday, scattering six hits over 8.1 innings.  Lester was just as dominant on Saturday, allowing one run in seven innings.

Both were close games, and the Angels starters did well, but they are simply not as good as the A's. Colon would probably not throw any shutouts, but he would be the consistent workhorse that the Angels need.  

With the two Oakland wins, the AL West is now a dead heat.  The Angels cannot continue to field such a feckless back-of-the-rotation if they want to have a chance of avoiding the one-game Wild Card playoff.

And Colon is the best solution.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Heath Clary
I am a sports columnist and blogger. I mostly write about the MLB and college football, but I do a little of everything