As strange as it may seem, the Los Angeles Angels may have an interesting pitching problem—too many potential Opening Day starters.

To anyone who watched godawful pitching performances the Angels posted in August and September, this possibility sounds downright goofy. It takes years to build a quality rotation, and rest assured the Halos still have a long way to go.

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But it’s still an intriguing problem, and a good one to have, so let’s break it down and examine some of the possibilities. The new addition is Grayson Rodriguez from the Baltimore Orioles, of course, and the Angels traded Taylor Ward to get him largely based on his top-of-the-rotation potential. If Rodriguez is as healthy as he says he’s going to be coming to spring training, shouldn’t he be the opening day guy?

Well…maybe.

Next up is Jose Soriano, who’s just 27. He, too, has top of the rotation potential, and he had a solid ERA under four until he ran out of gas in the last month or due to a big jump in innings pitched. If he’s ready to step into the ace role, shouldn’t he be the guy?

Hmm. Sort of?

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Actually, though, there’s a third pitcher involved in this who may be a better possibility. Veteran starter Yusei Kikuchi was the Angels most consistent starter this season, and he’ll be itching to prove himself after blasting former interim manager Ray Montgomery for not giving him a longer leash to work his way out of jams.

The guys making the decisions about all this will be new at it, too. Rookie manager Kurt Suzuki had a 15-year career as a big league catcher, so he’s very familiar with the dynamics that go into choosing the Opening Day starter. It’s a slot pitchers compete for, and sometimes feelings get bruised when someone gets left out.

New pitching coach Mike Maddux knows all about how this works, too. He’s done it before, so he’ll be assessing all three starters to try and get the most out of them, and part of what goes into that is setting up a pitching pecking order to start the season.

It’s a fascinating set of dynamics, and it’s also something the Angels and their fans haven’t seen in a long time. Whether it represents the possibility of a turnaround is a different question entirely, but as hot-stove small talk it’s a pretty easy conversation to love.