Even before the death of left-hander Tyler Skaggs, the Angels had planned to pursue controllable starting pitchers before the trade deadline. But just as the team was not the high bidder for several free-agent starters last offseason, it is unlikely to make the best offer for a pitcher such as Marcus Stroman or Matthew Boyd, considering that FanGraphs projects the Angels’ odds of reaching the postseason to be just 3.9 percent.



The loss of Skaggs, who died at 27 of unknown causes on July 1, was devastating to the team from a baseball as well as a personal perspective. Skaggs was developing into a mainstay of the rotation, and the Angels have experienced difficulty putting together a group strong enough to get the club to the postseason.



After failing to sign a top free agent like Patrick Corbin, Nathan Eovaldi or J.A. Happ last offseason, the team settled for one-year contracts with right-handers Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill. Neither deal has worked out, and the...