James Shields

[xboom28x]

Personally, I'd rather give Shields 4/70-75M than Price or Cueto nearly 200M over 7+ years.

[wopphil]

Shields is actually the type of pitcher the Angels should be targeting. A guy with a proven track record who throws a lot of innings, but whose price tag is depressed due to his age.

Compare Shields and Lester: over the last four years, Shields has been quite a bit better (124 ERA+ vs Lester's 114). Lester got almost $26 mil per year for six years. Shields is two years older. If you think he deserves comparable annual pay to Lester (and the stats say he should), and you want to pay him through the same age as Lester, then he is "worth" 4/104. If you can get him for 4/70-76 (a big "if" I realize), you might be purchasing a very undervalued asset.

[bloodbrother]

Even with it being late in the offseason, somehow, someway....some dumb team will still end up giving him 5yrs/$90-$95 million

 

If he could be had for 4yr/$72-$76 million, you'd have to at least give it some consideration. Still, I'd rather they just avoid it

[xboom28x]

If he had a $110M deal on the table from some team he would have taken it already. That team wouldn't leave it on the table that long either I wouldn't think. Therefore, I think he has nothing. Giants signed Vogelsong, Marlins backed out of discussions with him, his options are finding other targets. I'd be shocked if someone gave him more than $85M

[tdawg87]

I don't believe having to trade CJ is as necessary as many here think. If CJ is twice the pitcher he was last year, he will head for the bullpen and his eventual slide out of baseball. If he can regain his pitching prowess, then one or two top prospects in the minors waiting for their eventual call up should be considered a quality problem, yes? In no way do I believe CJ’s contract will block the Angels success. 

 

If we could sign Shields to a contract that makes sense, I’m for adding a verified major league starter.

 

It's not so much that having them in the minors is a problem, it's that both Heaney and Tropeano have nothing left to prove down there. It's time to get them as many starts as possible and honestly one of them should be in the rotation full time next year.

 

Obviously they will both get plenty of starts between injuries, but the only reason they should both start 2015 in AAA is because neither earned the spot in ST, not because they are literally blocked by other guys.

 

We also can't forget Santiago, who is young and proven. If Shields were to be signed, the Angels would have:

 

Richards, Weaver, Shields, Wilson, Shoemaker as the main starting 5 for the next two years. Heaney and Tropeano are then forced to wait for an injury or for someone to pitch their way out of the rotation to get their shot (and that's assuming Santiago is not the first choice). It isn't a bad problem to have, and the Angels would have depth up the ass, but it would seriously hinder the development of both pitchers. They aren't going to reach their full potential getting spot starts here and there and spending most of their time in the PCL.

 

That's why trading CJ would be a necessity. Shields replaces CJ in the rotation, and Santiago, Heaney, and Tropeano all have an equal shot at the 5th spot.

[SoWhat]

I'd be more comfortable with Price long term over Cueto.

Cueto seems to cry out "injury laden" down the road.

True, but since 2011 he's had an ERA of 2.48 and second in ERA+ behind Kershaw. His durability is a concern, but it's hard to ignore those type of numbers.

[Coachbulldog]

He already has a $110M on the table from what I've read. Now that Max is signed ... his value may increase.

 

 

Not on the table anymore, if there ever was an offer in that range....

 

There was speculation it was the Rockies that made $110 million offer and Shields had no interest in pitching in Colorado. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

What tdawg said. And its agreed, its not a bad problem to have depth up the ass

[DMVol]

There was speculation it was the Rockies that made $110 million offer and Shields had no interest in pitching in Colorado. 

There was also some talk that it may have been Minnesota, before they signed Ervin Santana.....of course, the Agent wouldn't lie about it, would he? 

[Angel Oracle]

23 days to ST, and still no team for Shields

 

Overs/unders on number of days before ST starts that Shields signs? 

[MVTrout]

At this point, I would be shocked if he got more than 3 years/$54 million. He blew it by not signing a while ago, if anyone gives him more than that they're stupid!

Edited January 27, 2015 by MVTrout

[Coachbulldog]

There was also some talk that it may have been Minnesota, before they signed Ervin Santana.....of course, the Agent wouldn't lie about it, would he? 

 

Of course not and I hope no one here at Angelswin would even suggest they would. 

[meat]

What tdawg said. And its agreed, its not a bad problem to have depth up the ass

Depth up the ass sounds like a horrible problem.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Depth up the ass sounds like a horrible problem.

not if youre in jail

[WallyWorld]

so there's this:

 

Jeff Fletcher â€@JeffFletcherOCR  5m5 minutes ago

In case you were wondering if James Shields' price tag had dropped enough to tempt the #Angels, Jerry Dipoto says still not interested.

[ELEVEN]

Stealthy

[MVTrout]

Good!

[Troll Daddy]

Giants will snag him.

[Stradling]

Good!

Yep, who wants a guy better than all but possibly two of our current starters? Not me, I'd much rather have somebody.

[WallyWorld]

I still take what Dipoto says with a grain of salt. I mean, he's not interested until he's interested.

[Jeff Fletcher]

I still take what Dipoto says with a grain of salt. I mean, he's not interested until he's interested.

He's not interested until Arte is interested. I don't see why Arte would change his mind now. If the price is really dropping there will be other teams with a more acute need (like the Yankees) who will get him before the price falls to Angels levels.

[Butcher'd]

Wilson is the problem here. If they didn't have CJ they could sign Shields no problem, start Santiago in the pen, Tropeano starts in AAA, and is the first guy to be called up when someone is injured

 

Richards

Shields

Weaver

Shoemaker

Heaney

 

We'd be so solid.

 

2 more years of CJ on the payroll...ugh

[wopphil]

He's not interested until Arte is interested. I don't see why Arte would change his mind now. If the price is really dropping there will be other teams with a more acute need (like the Yankees) who will get him before the price falls to Angels levels.

Jeff, do you think it is a money thing, or do you think the Angels are really that confident in their new youngsters? Shields seems like a logical move to me, if the price is right, and so I am surprised with the team's lack of interest.

[Jeff Fletcher]

I think they don't want to spend the money. For whatever reason, they don't want to go over the luxury tax.

They also don't want more big contracts because they already have a few.

[Angel Oracle]

Even though I am not pro-huge contracts to aging players, and 50-50 on Shields, it is interesting that Arte will sign off on Pujols' and Hamilton's contracts, but not even go a few million over the luxury tax?    At least that's how I read that post by Jeff.  

Edited January 27, 2015 by Angel Oracle