The Kubitza Foreshadowing

[UCLAngel]

With Kubitza, I think DiPo is laying the groundwork for a big free agent signing or two next year.  It's been reported that DiPo is looking to move one or both of CJ and Hamilton.  If those two rebuild their value this year, I could see the team moving them to save some money.  Next offseason, the Angels could be in position to sign two of the following big FA players:

 

SP - Johnny Cueto; David Price; Jeff Samardzija; Jordan Zimmerman

RP - Huston Street

C - Matt Wieters

OF - Justin Upton; Jason Heyward

 

If I had my pick of the lot, I think I'd take Price and Heyward.  Our staff would look something like: Price, Richards, Heaney, Weaver, Shoemaker.  Skaggs could serve as depth or be moved to bolster the farm and compensate for the lost draft picks.  Tropeano and Santiago would be the replacements.  Heyward would slot in nicely in the 2-hole, although I could see Scioscia hitting him fourth for lefty-righty balance reasons).  Lineup would be something like:

 

Calhoun

Trout

Pujols

Heyward

Cron

Aybar

Kubitza

Featherston/Rutledge/Green

Perez/Bandy

 

What I actually expect will happen--the Angels will extend Street during the year (maybe 3 yrs/$25m).  CJ reverts back to his maddening self, restores some value and gets traded.  Hamilton improves enough to convince the Angels to hang on to him.  We add one of the four named starting pitchers and resign Joyce to an extension, who continues to platoon with Cron.  

 

This offseason has been pretty wild, but I expect next will be even more so.  What would you like to see/expect to happen?

 

 

 

[totdprods]

Definitely think that is the route they are headed, and I definitely think CJ is traded at deadline or next offseason depending on how he is pitching and how the younglings are faring.

If the youngsters all pan out in 2015, plus with Skaggs returning in 2016, they'll pretty much have to deal Wilson to create room in the rotation.

[ELEVEN]

Of that FA list, Weiters would make the biggest impact.

[laagamer]

I think Dipoto has surprised us so far and will continue to do so in the future. 

[ettin]

Richards, Calhoun, and Shoemaker extensions would be absolutely fantastic.

[Tyler]

And Street.

[ELEVEN]

Is this another Robert Ludlum book?

[Second Base]

It's going to be hard to justify making serious changes after the Angels win the World Series, Trout wins the MVP and Heaney and Tropeano finish 1-2 in the ROY voting. 

[Troll Daddy]

Odds of trading either Hamilton or Wilson by the trade deadline are 1,000,000 -1

So I'm saying there is a chance

[wopphil]

If guys like Heaney, Tropeano, Baldoquin and Kubitza pan out, the team will have a tremendous amount of financial flexibility going forward.

[stormngt]

Why extend shoe? We have him for five more years and won't he be 33 when he is a FA?

Richards, Calhoun, and Shoemaker extensions would be absolutely fantastic.

[Second Base]

The Angels should be fine from a payroll standpoint.  Eventually, Richards, Shoe, Heaney, Tropeano, Calhoun and Santiago will all be reaching arbitration and free agency and will become considerably more expensive, plus Trout and Pujols contracts only go up.  But Howie's 10 mil are off the books, and after this year Freese and Iannetta can subtract another 10 mil +, then after that there are a full slough of them.  Weav, Wilson, Aybar and Joe Smith, which is another 48 million, then the year after that Hamilton's 25 million are off the books. 

 

But with a strong minor league system and smarter decisions on contracts, the Angels should be pretty golden financially. 

[ettin]

Well you could just keep him for those years Storm and I am not sure they would entertain an extension for at least another year but the sooner you lock him up for a couple of years beyond free agency the less you potentially have to pay him to do so.

 

Hypothetical: What if Shoemaker does even BETTER next year? That just added several million to any possible extension. I'm not saying he's a 'prime candidate' but he is someone you could probably give a very friendly team extension to and get value out of it.

 

Richards we should definitely try to extend and soon. I think he would take it too because of what just happened to him. Injuries can happen anytime. Calhoun would be a good choice too since 2 years of free agency would get him out to his age 32 season. Right at the time we would be wanting to shop him anyway.

[SoWhat]

What does the payroll look like heading into the 2015 offseason?

[Second Base]

Well, it sounds like we're sitting 20 million under the luxury tax, and I think everything Dipoto has done certainly indicates that's their limit. It's looking like around 22 million will be coming off with Iannetta, Freese, Joyce and Street. At catcher, Bandy and Perez will take over as cheap replacements, Kubitza takes over for Freese, Cron takes over for Joyce, and the Angels can either promote from within or sign another closer.

With the coming increases in contracts and arbitration, assuming we don't take on anything major at the deadline, the Angeks should be well over 30 million under their limit.

In which case I think the Angels may make a strong run at Heyward if Hamilton doesn't get his mess together. The Angels have so much pitching already. For the next couple years I think they'll pursue bars that can help out 3+ years down the road as we've seen with Kubitza and Baldoquin.

Edited January 10, 2015 by ScottyA_MWAH

[Angel Oracle]

With how JeDi is mastering replacing old Rondons with new Rondons and making stealth moves, anything is possible.

Who knows what they will choose between re-signing Aybar and bringing in another shortstop.

He is the glue to the INF defensively.

Price would be one of very few age 30 pitchers I wouldn't mind signing. His delivery is smooth, and he is really good when in a groove.

But Scotty's point is well taken regarding young pitching depth. Maybe Heyward is the ultimate target to sign, if they freed up enough of the Hackilton and Nibs money? He would be an under age 30 FA getting big money.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Angel Oracle

[Dave Saltzer]

Here's an interesting idea. The Cuban, Lopez, age 21,who can hit 100 was just cleared to sign. We've already gone over our limit this year, and will have a $300k limit for the next 2 years. So, might as well sign him and essentially replace Sanchez, giving us a 3B for the future and another quality pitcher.

One interesting g question I have about the next two years and international signing money. We can't sign anyone for more than the $300k max, but, could we trade more of that to another team so they can use it for their signing bonuses?

[Second Base]

Yes, we can still trade our international slot money. As for your reasoning for signing Lopez, it's the exact reasoning we use to justify signing Moncada. The 300k limit for the next 2 years isn't a terrible hindrance when you consider the Angels rarely go over that much anyway.

[Angelsjunky]

I'm not sure I agree with the original post. The brilliance of what JD has done over the last year or so is that he's created depth nearly everywhere and thus enabled him to focus on re-building the farm system and looking to long-term sustainability.

 

I'd like to see him focus on bringing in some high-end position player prospects, especially bats. To me that's the shallowest part of the org: high-ceiling offensive players. That's why I'm still hoping that the Angels go after Moncada.

[Second Base]

I think the Angels may still make a run at Moncada, but regardless I think Dipoto won't be changing his draft strategy. Grab a ton of pitchers and a few college bats. He said it himself, when the Angels build the sort of pitching depth that they have, it opens up the opportunity of trading those pitchers for what you need, specifically bats in this case.

[Dave Saltzer]

I have heard some good reports on Lopez, and would like to see us sign him. Basically a little rough, but has a high-end live arm. That's what Sanchez had, only younger. So, with Lopez, we could get someone who'd slot in at High-A, and could be ready faster than Sanchez.

 

And yes, I'm well on record for wanting Moncada. If Kubitza pans out at 3B, there are still plenty of other positions where he'd fit nicely into our lineup.

[Second Base]

Absolutely, Moncada might be a SS right now, but but he very well could slot in at 3B, 2B or in the OF. More importantly his bat looks like it could slot into the middle of a lineup.

[Dave Saltzer]

Absolutely, Moncada might be a SS right now, but but he very well could slot in at 3B, 2B or in the OF. More importantly his bat looks like it could slot into the middle of a lineup.

He could also play pretty much any OF position. He's that good, and I think his bat could be special.