Although the Angels have been widely assumed be in the thick of the race to sign Gerrit Cole, they have also had a face-to-face meeting with Stephen Strasburg, according to a source.

Angels general manager Billy Eppler has refused to detail which free agent pitchers they were pursuing, other than saying on Wednesday that they have “talked to a large portion” of the free agents.

News that the Angels have met with Strasburg face-to-face, rather than simply talking to agent Scott Boras about him, would seem to indicate a serious level of interest.

While Cole is considered the top pitcher on the market, Strasburg is a close second. Strasburg, 31, is two years older than Cole, so he won’t command the same type of contract.

Strasburg grew up in the San Diego area and attended San Diego State, although he is not believed to have a preference to sign with a West Coast team.

In fact, the industry perception is that the Washington Nationals are the front-runners to re-sign Strasburg, who helped pitch them to a World Series title this year.

The New York Yankees also reportedly had face-to-face meetings with Strasburg and Cole this week.

In 2019, Strasburg posted a 3.32 ERA in 209 innings, finishing fifth in the National League Cy Young voting. He has a career 3.17 ERA.

The Angels are looking for more starting pitching, even after making a trade to get Dylan Bundy from the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday. As of now, they have Andrew Heaney, Griffin Canning and Bundy as apparent locks for the rotation, with Shohei Ohtani likely to be added once he completes his rehab from Tommy John surgery later this month.