The Los Angeles Angels are talking to the Tampa Bay Rays about right-handed pitcher James Shields, but may also have some interest in Tampa right-hander Wade Davis, according to league sources.
Davis, 26, is excelling as a reliever this season.
Contrary to Shields, Davis would represent an intriguing alternative because he is under club control for even longer.
The Angels could continue to use him as a reliever or stretch him out and move him into their rotation, where he likely would be better than right-handers Ervin Santana and Jerome Williams.
Long-term, the Angels would use Davis as a starter-a rather affordable one at $2.8 million next season and $4.8 million in 2014, with club options of $7 million, $8 million and $10 million through 2017.
Davis would serve as an inexpensive solution to the Angels as they must decide at the end of the season whether to exercise the options on right-handers Dan Haren ($15.5 million) and Ervin Santana ($13 million).
Angels' center fielder Peter Bourjos could be part of a package deal for either pitcher. The Rays are likely to lose their center fielder, B.J. Upton, at the end of the season.
The market on Shields is heating up at a rapid pace, as the Texas Rangers have also joined the hunt.
