The offseason is upon us - and I figured I had more time to make this blog before moves started to happen, but Perry decided to start firing em off as soon as the gun sounded.  We've heard from Arte that the pocketbooks will be more open.  We've heard on the Angelswin.com podcast that that may be even more than we expect. So far we've made some signings that indicate both of those to be solid indicators of how the rest of the offseason will go.  While I wasn't the biggest fan of the extension of Perry Minasian, I have to put that behind me and trust he does what's right in a critical part of what I would consider a rebuild.  There *should* be only one to go from a 63-99 season - up - so let's see what he can make happen.  

However, today, I'm actually not going to trust him. I'm going to put myself in his shoes and trust MYSELF, doing only what I would do with the allocated budget I'm giving myself and taking into account the moves that he's already made.  The rules for this exercise are as follows:

Arte said he'll spend more than 2024, but not more than 2023.  Assuming Chuck and co. have good sources, we'll say it's the higher end, but still put the final price tag of the opening day 26 man roster at $200m maximum.  I'm gonna use FanGraphs estimates for all arbitration eligible players, all trades I have to feel as an overpay and find a reasonable comparison trade to compare it to, and free agent contracts will be using FanGraphs estimated contracts. I'll also do a short write-up on my feelings about Jorge Soler, Travis D'Arnaud, and Kevin Newman. I'll also assume Neto and Stephenson are good for opening day, for optimism sake.

Completed Moves

Jorge Soler - I'm a fan of this trade, for multiple reasons. Firstly, I am not too big of a fan of Griffin Canning's play.  He's a great story and probably a great guy, but I would have probably non-tendered him in this article had he still been on the team.  Soler is great for a word you'll see a good amount of from me today - floor raising.  He consistently provides value and even where his stats don't show it, the batted ball stats do - he mashes. I'm not ecstatic about his fit defensively, but things always tend to happen throughout the season and you don't have a lot of say in who ends up where, so I'm willing to ignore it for some offensive output. I bet the Angels might have felt priced out of the tier of outfielders like Santander and Hernandez, so they decided to get the output elsewhere, and I think it was a solid choice.

Kyle Hendricks - An awesome signing to be sure, but I somewhat hope he isn't on our opening day roster.  The 34 year old has seen better days, and I think there's better, younger talent ahead of him, so if he sneaks into our rotation I figure we didn't do anything of note with our rotation.

Travis D'arnaud - Travis is a good player, and I think he will do solid things for this team.  I'm a little worried about the Angels spending $6m on a backup catcher before anything else happens, fearing that it may be a situation like the Angels early bullpen signings last year.  It's expensive, but it could pay dividends with helping Logan's development, and he's still got the skills to get it done with the bat.  His playoff experience could make him a target for certain teams at the deadline this year or next, too.

Kevin Newman - I really like this deal.  Total floor raiser - I think he's better than a lot of the infielders we've watched over the years - better than 2024 Drury, better than Guillorme, better than Eduardo Escobar, Andrew Velazquez, the list goes on. Bringing guys like this in can be beneficial - as long as the right supplemental moves are made. That is key.

Non-Tenders

Patrick Sandoval - This one hurts a ton, but he's gonna make a chunk of money, has 2 years left of arbitration, and may not even pitch in 2025.  He's a major rehab project and has given us some good times, but he's gotta go.

Jose Suarez - I can't believe we're even at the point that this is a question in the 2024 offseason. I need him off my team so badly.

Trades

Trade Tyler Anderson to the Mets for Dom Hamel and Jack Wenninger. (Comp: Chris Bassitt to the Mets in 2022) - I really like Tyler Anderson, but in no way am I confident in him to perform this year, and I think we should build out our rotation in order to get maximum potential.  The Mets have quite a few free agent starting pitchers, and could easily get outbid for a Sean Manaea, Jose Quintana, or Luis Severino type pitcher, leaving a gap in their rotation.  For them, giving up their #15 and #30 prospects could be worth it in order to get a solid starter coming off a great year. For the Angels, we replenish our upper minor leagues staff with good prospects on down years and have the chance to turn them into major league contributors.

Trade Taylor Ward and Brock Burke to the Royals for Nick Pratto, Brady Singer, and Carson Roccaforte. (Comp: Loosely Matt Chapman to Blue Jays in 2022.) - While I'm willing to admit this package might be unrealistic, I couldn't find a perfect comp so I figure the Royals package here isn't better than the A's return (in my opinion), so I'm counting it.  While I agree with Perry's decision to not trade an ice cold Ward at the deadline, I think his value is at an all time high right now, so if there's a time to pull the trigger, it's now.  The Royals have shown interest in Ward, and have showed a willingness to move on from former top prospect Pratto, who's disappointed so far in his young career, but still has plenty of time to turn around. Singer is the centerpiece, and may be the holdup if negotiations like this were to take place, but this could be the move that boosts them into a division winner and helps out the Angels. 

Trade Denzer Guzman, Barrett Kent, and Jack Wenninger to the Guardians for Lane Thomas. (Comp: Lane Thomas to the Guardians in 2024) - I don't love the outfield pool in free agency, and I'd rather look to the trade market.  Since Ward is gone, we'll need to fill that everyday left fielder spot, and Thomas is a better option than a guy like Bader or Taylor in free agency.  The Guardians might be pouncing on their recent ALCS appearance and trying to upgrade their already strong roster by bringing in a bigger free agent like Joc or Teoscar, or (more realistically), giving the call to one of their golden prospects, Chase DeLauter. Either way, Thomas didn't do much to raise his trade value since the deadline trade where he was acquired, and I think the Guardians could be willing to replace him internally and recoup some of what they gave up to get him.

Free Agency

After all these moves, we have 23/26 players on the roster and our total payroll is at $160M, giving us $40M to work with.

Blake Snell - 4 Years, $120M - I'm doing it.  The Angels need a pitcher with ace potential to reshape the rotation. In 2023 I was calling for them to sign Snell, and despite and injured and slow start, Snell put together another excellent season.  It only reinforced to me that he's one of the few available pitchers that can give us the star power we need.  I like the idea of Fried as well, but I figure he'll run a similar price tag with an attached 2nd round pick that I'd rather not give up.  Snell showed a desire to stay in SoCal, and Perry wanted to bring him in.  If Arte isn't holding it up this time, I can see this happening. I will be excited if it does. (New Payroll 191M).

Jakob Junis - 1 Year, $6M - I'm a huge fan of Junis, and have been for a little while. He provides great versatility as a spot starter, long relief man, or even a low end rotation piece.  He's coming off a great year but in my opinion is still undervalued.  It's not a flashy move, but a cheap and effective one to raise the floor just that bit more, and he was moved as a piece in the Montas trade this year, so he could fetch a return if he plays to form. (New Payroll 196M).

Brooks Raley - 1 Year, $4M - Brooks has been tied to the Angels before, and I think he fills out our bullpen nicely. He provides a different look as far as delivery, and despite playing a shortened 2024, he's shown great stuff in his last 3 years.  He'd fit right in and could give us quality innings in leverage spots. (New Payroll 200M).

Projected Lineup:

1. Luis Rengifo, 2B

2. Zach Neto, SS

3. Mike Trout, CF/RF

4. Jorge Soler, DH

5. Nolan Schanuel, 1B

6. Logan O'Hoppe, C

7. Lane Thomas, LF

8. Anthony Rendon, 3B

9. Jo Adell, RF

Bench:

Travis D'arnaud, C

Mickey Moniak, CF/RF

Nick Pratto, 1B/LF/RF

Kevin Newman, INF

Rotation:

1. Blake Snell, LHP

2. Brady Singer, RHP

3. Jose Soriano, RHP

4. Reid Detmers, LHP

5. Kyle Hendricks/Jack Kochanowicz/Caden Dana

Bullpen

Long Relief: Jakob Junis

Long Relief: Davis Daniel

Mid: Chase Silseth

Mid: Hans Crouse

Mid: Jose Quijada

Setup: Brooks Raley

Setup: Robert Stephenson

Closer: Ben Joyce

Those are your CartiHalos Minasian approved 2025 Angels. Is it an amazing team? Probably not, but assuming we see improvement from Neto, O'Hoppe, Adell, Moniak, or Schanuel, or any combination of them, along with the new and improved pitching staff, it should be leaps and bounds ahead of the team we saw last year.  If we can by miracle get perfect health from Trout and Rendon, and avoid any other debilitating injuries, I think this could be a really solid team that could compete in an AL West that I figure will be weak - or at least be a good stepping stone for 2026. 

I expect there will be a lot of disagreement around my moves, so feel free to voice those, or even take a crack at this yourself.  At the end of the day, we're all at the whim of Perry, so we'll see where he goes from here.