Right now, Angels have four established starting pitchers

Five months before opening day 2017, the Angels have four established starting pitchers and five lesser contenders for the fifth spot in their starting rotation. They must piece together 162 starts from that group and whomever else they can acquire before the season begins.

This winter’s free-agent market for starting pitching is historically weak, leading to astronomic projected prices for the better players available, the likes of Rich Hill and Ivan Nova. The Angels’ capacity to spend remains unclear.

Angels General Manager Billy Eppler said the four set starters are left-hander Tyler Skaggs and right-handers Garrett Richards, Matt Shoemaker and Ricky Nolasco. Among them, only Nolasco completed a full last season.

Richards missed five months because of a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow and will be pitching with a ligament repaired by a stem-cell injection. Shoemaker missed a month because of a skull fracture he suffered when struck by a comebacker on Safeco Field’s mound. Skaggs threw only 90 1/3 innings across all levels of the organization while working his way back from August 2014 elbow ligament replacement surgery.

For the fifth spot in the starting rotation, there are five current contenders, none of whom has established himself in the major leagues: Alex Meyer, Manny Banuelos, Daniel Wright, Nate Smith and Vicente Campos.

Eppler said he has spoken to each pitcher about the team’s plans. He said he envisions acquiring more pitchers with starting experience.

“More is always better,” Eppler said Tuesday at Major League Baseball’s general managers meetings. “It’s like buying cover. I think it’s important. Durable and flexible are two attractive things to me right now.”

One durable and probably inexpensive option is Jered Weaver, who made 31 starts for the Angels and has thrown at least 150 innings in 10 consecutive seasons. He is a free agent for the first time, but a precipitous decline in velocity and results are expected to limit his options. He had a 5.06 earned-run average last season while giving up the most home runs in the major leagues.

Eppler said he recently met with Weaver and agreed with the 34-year-old right-hander to “let the market develop” before deciding on the future.

No gold for Simmons

Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons did not win his third Gold Glove award Tuesday; Cleveland’s Francisco Lindor won the American League honor. Both men are considered elite defenders, but Lindor played 34 more games than Simmons.

Acquired from Atlanta last winter, Simmons led the American League in a metric for runs saved, but finished second to Lindor in another metric — Ultimate Zone Rating. Simmons won the National League award while playing for the Atlanta Braves in 2013 and 2014.

Kansas City’s Salvador Perez won the Gold Glove for American League catchers. Carlos Perez of the Angels was a finalist.

Street to compete

Huston Street has started the season as his team’s closer for 11 consecutive seasons. To continue the streak in 2017 with the Angels, Street will need to beat out at least one other candidate, Cam Bedrosian, and probably others. Eppler said Tuesday he’d like to have a competition for the position during spring training.

Street, 33, has 324 career saves but is coming off his worst big league season. His ERA was 6.45 in 26 games, a mark more than double his career average. He is owed $9 million next season and a $1-million buyout or $10 million in 2018.

Short hops

The Angels hired Frankie Thon Jr. to be their international crosschecker and assistant director of international scouting. He was a southeast scouting supervisor for the Arizona Diamondbacks. … Eppler said he has spoken or had plans to speak with multiple free-agent catchers, but he called potential additions at the position a “luxury.” …The Angels signed right-hander Justin Miller to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. The 29-year-old Bakersfield native owns a career 4.99 ERA in 82 relief appearances.

pedro.moura@latimes.com

Twitter: @pedromoura