How I'd feel if the Angels signed...

[Angelsjunky]

Money aside, here is how I think I'd feel if the Angels signed...

 

Justin Upton. Nice to get a lesser star to complement Trout - should be a lock for .270 with 25+ HR for years to come. I worry that that he'll wilt with a big contract, but I could also see him settling down and having some of his best years. Probably the safest long-term bet.

 

Yoenis Cespedes. A dynamic player - he'll be fun to watch for a couple years, but later could be ugly. I sure hope we get the 2012/15 version and not the 2013-14 version. Could just as easily hit .250 with 20 HR as .290 with 30 HR. Kind of wish we got Upton or Gordon, although at least the Angels still have a first round draft pick.

 

Alex Gordon. Probably the best to sign in the short-term, he will be great to slot in front of Trout with a .370 OBP and be a good clubhouse presence with recent World Series experience.

 

Denard Span. Good budget pick. A nice lead-off option, although I hope he's healthy.

 

Austin Jackson. I wish we got one of the four above, but could be an interesting sleeper pick to rebound a bit.

 

Dexter Fowler. A solid, even under-rated player--sort of a poor man's Jason Heyward--but is he worth the loss of a first round pick? No. So why did we do this instead of Upton or Gordon, or even Span or Jackson?

 

Gerardo Parra. Really? Why not Span or even Austin Jackson? He's basically another Gia with the bat and now average defense. Not much better than Nava/Gentry.

 

Howie Kendrick. Memory lane is nice, but that first round pick would have been nicer. Would have rather gone with Gia/Kubitza.

[Schildog]

you really don't tell us how you feel.

[Ohtaniland]

you really don't tell us how you feel.

He feels schlonged.

[Troll Daddy]

Howie is worth a draft pick

[Stradling]

Howie is worth a draft pick

Haha, no.

[wpghalo]

Are we after any of these guys. Like ugh. .. I still feel we need another batter and pitcher

[Troll Daddy]

Haha, no.

Haha, yes

[Stradling]

The last three years of a good 2nd baseman is not worth a pick when your farm is awful and this is coming from a Howie fan. I believe he's worth the money he's going to get, just not the pick as well. I would give up the pick for Upton because of his age.

[Troll Daddy]

The last three years of a good 2nd baseman is not worth a pick when your farm is awful and this is coming from a Howie fan. I believe he's worth the money he's going to get, just not the pick as well. I would give up the pick for Upton because of his age.

A draft pick is a crap shoot ... it isn't going to have any immediate impact to our farm. Howie's presence on the team will have a big impact immediately. The future is important but winning now trumps the draft pick.

Howie was a very important piece to our 2014 offense.

[Stradling]

A draft pick is a crap shoot ... it isn't going to have any immediate impact to our farm. Howie's presence on the team will have a big impact immediately. The future is important but winning now trumps the draft pick.

Howie was a very important piece to our 2014 offense.

Like I said I like Howie, but we need young talent that only the draft can provide. We can sign Cespedes which will have the same impact as Howie and not cost us a draft pick. Also for some reason Howie was bad defensively last year.

[AngelsLakersFan]

The last three years of a good 2nd baseman is not worth a pick when your farm is awful and this is coming from a Howie fan. I believe he's worth the money he's going to get, just not the pick as well. I would give up the pick for Upton because of his age.

 

Howie is going to have trouble finding a market. With increasing valuations on free agents cost controlled talent becomes much more valuable. I'm not sure how many years of being a productive, above average second basemen Howie has left. He seems like a lock for 2 war, but I'm not sure that's exciting enough than the prospects of drafting a cost controlled player who could be just as good.

[Stradling]

I would absolutely sign him if there was no pick attached.

[Stradling]

Sorry for being ignorant on this but if we signed Gordon and Howie would we lose two draft picks?

[AngelsLakersFan]

First guy signed costs us our first round pick. Second guy signed costs us our second round pick. Rinse & repeat.

[Troll Daddy]

There's two sides to every argument. There's really is no right or wrong answer regarding Howie Kendrick.

He brings a strong presence to our infield and you can insert him anywhere 1-5 in our lineup.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Troll Daddy

[DailyHalo]

If we end up going for it, I'd say a create contract with Cespedes is going too be our best bet. A contract with incentives and possible opt-outs after years 2 and 3. Contract's like that could go pretty far for a team simultaneously trying too compete and make a point. As for Cespedes, he gets to reenter the market again with a 2/3 more years of proven track record under his belt and get a proper sail off into the sunset type of contract, that ends closer to 40. 

Edited January 4, 2016 by DailyHalo

[tomsred]

If we end up going for it, I'd say a create contract with Cespedes is going too be our best bet. A contract with incentives and possible opt-outs after years 2 and 3. Contract's like that could go pretty far for a team simultaneously trying too compete and make a point. As for Cespedes, he gets to reenter the market again with a 2/3 more years of proven track record under his belt and get a proper sail off into the sunset type of contract, that ends closer to 40. 

 

Or maybe he blows that chance, and gets next to nothing.

[DailyHalo]

....Hence the creative contract with incentives and opt-outs.

[ten ocho recon scout]

I have no clue, but i think the front office people need to consider (and im sure they do) whos going to be in the next draft, and where we would pick if we keep our pick (austin powers awkwardness). If the next draft is stocked full or real talent, yes, keep the pick. If its meager...meh, how much will it really hurt us?

I think it was Lou who said it best, aftwr the last few drafts, should we really worry about losing a pick? We havent been very good at it in a while.

[Erstad Grit]

Hk probably should have accepted the QO. He may not get that amount on a two year deal

[Docwaukee]

I'd be fine with one of the top 3 OFers left on the market.  Contingent to price of course.   Anything less than the following would be ok - Gordon 4/70, Cespedes 5/100 and Upton 6/120.  I think we have a good chance at getting one of these guys for a discount.  The thing that will really burn me is if we don't get any of them and they all sign deal for less than what I listed.  

 

Parra, Fowler, Jackson and Span don't make sense to me considering that they wouldn't be enough so we might as well stay below the tax threshold.  

 

Howie is an interesting situation.  He was truly great for us in 2014, but I am not sure he's still the same guy.  He had a 5 WAR season.  Pretty much a career year.  Last year he was a 2 WAR player and his defense dropped off.  Maybe bringing him back with Griffin gets him on track.  Maybe not.  My take is that we are gonna have Escobar at one of either 2b or 3b.  At this point, Howie is likely a 2-3 WAR 2bman with avg defense.  Freese is likely a 2 WAR 3bman with avg defense.  

 

Freese won't cost a pick.  They both stand to be FA leftovers, but howie will likely get more money and more years.  We have a real shot at getting Freese back on a 1yr deal.  I'd give him 1/8 plus an option.  Howie probably costs you 2/20 plus and option and a pick.  I would sign either unless we fill LF first.  But if that gets done, I would definitely pursue one or the other.  

 

The other possibility would be to get a mid range starter like Chen or Gallardo and then trade Santiago for a 2bman.  I would steer clear of this if I had my choice.  But none of this offseason has been anything remotely close to what I would have done.  The good news is that we still have a solid chance to make the team competitive regardless of what any one of us would have done.  

[Angel Oracle]

What is the big deal with a 33 year-old declining 2B?

If you would give up a 1st round draft pick for him, then I don't know what to say.

[Docwaukee]

What is the big deal with a 33 year-old declining 2B?

If you would give up a 1st round draft pick for him, then I don't know what to say.

realistically it would be a 2nd round pick as we would likely only bring him back if we gave up a pick for one of the other OFers

 

At this point, best of both worlds would be for us to get Cespedes for less than 100mil  Say 5/90, and then to bring back Freese at 1/8 with an option.  

 

Escobar

Trout

Pujols

Cespedes

Calhoun

Freese

Cron

Perez

Simmons

 

That would be fine by me.