Angelswin.com 2017 Season Primer Part II: Strategic Choices

[AngelsWin.com]

 

By Robert Cunningham, AngelsWin.com Staff Writer - 

 

There are a handful of prospective paths that Billy Eppler and the Angels can take during the offseason as they prepare for 2017.

 

The first is the minimalist route where the team makes small, affordable value moves in free agency or trade that enhance the team and conserves payroll but may not move the needle excessively in terms of impacting their odds of winning the Division.

 

A case could be made that if the Angels keep most of their offense intact next year combined with elevated performances from Richards, Shoemaker, Skaggs, and the rest of the rotation along with certain bullpen pieces making advanced strides that the Angels might have a chance of effectively competing. Might being the key word here.

 

If the Angels do decide to go that route expect them to make moves not dissimilar from last year where they sign one or more lower tier free agents or execute one or more moderate trades to fill out the 40-man roster.

 

Players like Geovany Soto, C.J. Wilson, Wade Miley, Brett Anderson, Santiago Casilla, Brandon Guyer, Brad Ziegler, Tony Watson, Eric O’Flaherty, or Chase Utley could be signed to short one or two year deals or, in the case of the Angels targeting a player in trade, have only one or two years remaining on their existing contracts. These possible additions could help bridge the gap to some of the prospects coming up in the Angels Minor League farm system or simply provide a temporary solution to a roster problem.

 

This certainly isn’t the sexiest option but it is the one with the least amount of financial and asset risk. The signings of Andrew Bailey (1 year, $1MM) and Jesse Chavez (1 year, $5.75MM plus $2.5M in potential incentives) are examples of this strategic approach.

 

The advantage to this is that you do not tie up a lot of long-term payroll, giving the Angels the freedom to approach the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 free agent classes with more aggression or even try to extend Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun for instance. Also the Angels will be able to enter the Minor League draft with all of their draft rounds intact which helps build for the future.

 

The disadvantage to this minimalist course of action is that you improve the team marginally, making a repeat of 2016 more probable if key members of the team don’t step up or develop as expected. It will require a lot of things to go “just right” and that, as Angels fans witnessed in 2016, seems dicey.

 

Alternatively, the second route the Halos can take is one where they spend some money on free agents but not those that have a draft pick loss attached due to a Qualifying Offer. This route could, of course, also include one or more mid-level trades where we take on cash for a higher quality player with one or two years left on their contract or even a long-term asset with a more payroll friendly deal.

 

Free agents that do not have a Qualifying Offer attached include names like Aroldis Chapman, Mark Melancon, Rich Hill, Ivan Nova, Carlos Beltran, Steve Pearce, and a host of other minor role players in free agency.

 

Here the Angels could potentially improve the rotation depth and length by going after Hill or Nova, overall bullpen quality by going after Chapman or Melancon, and the power of the offense by going after Pearce for instance.

 

There are a wide variety of rumored trade candidates on the market as well including names like Tyson Ross, Wade Davis, Drew Smyly, Jaime Garcia, Derek Dietrich, Kolten Wong, Jhonny Peralta, Brian Dozier, Jarrod Dyson, Cesar Hernandez, Todd Frazier, Adam Eaton, Brett Gardner, Clay Buchholz, and Gio Gonzalez among others.

 

Most of those names, above, have only one more year of team control whether it is through a team option or arbitration control. Others like Smyly, Gardner, Dietrich, Wong, and Eaton are under longer team control and have had their names floated out as trade candidates over the last year.

 

This strategic option is a little more palatable as it does improve the team significantly in one or more areas and can provide depth at certain positions that need it. It could also enable Eppler to make a trade, say if, for instance, he signed Chapman and traded Street, to reduce payroll, and fill another area of need or add to the farm system. The Cameron Maybin trade (1 year, $9MM) falls under the umbrella of this middle-of-the-road strategic approach.

 

The advantage here is that you potentially improve the 2017 squad and their chances of contention without compromising next year’s Minor League draft allowing the Angels to retain all of their picks.

 

Of course the disadvantage is that you will be spending more money because someone like Chapman will command $15MM-20MM per year in free agency and/or you continue to deplete an already barren farm system to make one or more trades.

 

Eppler, if he signs or trades for one or more middle-tier players will move the needle further towards contention but potentially at a pretty steep price if the Angels target a big-ticket name.

 

Finally the third option revolves around the Angels spending money to sign free agents including ones that have a Qualifying Offer and draft pick loss attached or they make a major trade for an impact player utilizing what is left of their financial muscle (which could require them to breach the CBT) and any expendable assets at both the Major League and Minor League levels.

 

The Angels secured the 10th round protected draft pick for next year’s Minor League draft which might make signing a free agent with a Qualifying Offer attached a bit more palatable as the Angels would only lose their 2nd round pick (and 3rd and 4th, etc. for each subsequent free agent signed that has a Qualifying Offer attached).

 

Here the Angels could sign one or more of the free agents with a draft pick loss attached which include Jose Bautista, Yoenis Cespedes, Ian Desmond, Kenley Jansen, Edwin Encarnacion, and Dexter Fowler. Based on Eppler’s quick moves to start the offseason, the only likely players, above, that the Angels would have any remaining interest in would be Ian Desmond and Kenley Jansen.

 

The continuing disadvantage here is that signing free agents costs money. Players like Cespedes, Desmond, Jansen, and Encarnacion will not come cheap especially if there is a high market demand for a particular player. In all likelihood the Angels can probably, at best, only afford to purchase one of them with the approximately $21.1MM currently available in free payroll (more if the CBT threshold rises beyond the current $189MM). That $21MM is probably not enough for one of the big bats.

 

Of course the advantage is that the Angels fill one or more areas of need by spending cash without having to sacrifice farm assets other than a 2017 2nd round draft pick (and perhaps a 3rd, etc.). Certainly giving up one or more picks is painful but the Angels have to weigh that versus the ability to potentially improve the team.

 

Additionally if the Angels manage to pull off a major trade for a big name player it would almost certainly eat up most if not all of our remaining payroll space plus it would very likely cost us Major League players and the remaining vestiges of our farm system. The advantage here is that we do not sacrifice a draft pick but we do sacrifice team cash and more established, well-known, assets.

 

This scenario really only makes sense if the Angels feel that one or more of the free agents with Qualifying Offers is more desirable than our internal options and other less expensive targets or the assets we are giving up in a trade are non-critical to our long term farm system recovery.

 

Taking this, or the middle-of-the-road route, might allow Eppler greater luxury to take advantage of the free agent and trade markets at specific positions by signing one or more free agents where the Angels do have depth, or at least a tradable asset, and then move that depth/asset for help in another area of need or for prospects.

 

Additionally “going big” must be viewed through the lens of improving the team short term versus long term. Can the team afford to lose one or more of their best prospects like Taylor Ward, Grayson Long, or Jahmai Jones in order to strengthen the team now or in the near future? This is a problematic question when you are facing the next four years of Mike Trout’s control.

 

Clearly the Angels will have to weigh the potential changes of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement combined with the fact they have a protected 10th round draft pick, and where they sit in relation to their AL West competition in order to determine the best course of action.

 

If the Qualifying Offer is eliminated entirely, under the new CBA, it may push some of the free agents with Qualifying Offers attached to accept the offer in order to sign long-term deals next offseason where they could potentially earn more money in free agency.

 

Alternatively the Qualifying Offer might be modified in other ways that could impact the free agent market in an unforeseen manner so this offseason could prove to be an interesting one, from a procedural standpoint, despite the lack of high-end talent.

 

Ultimately Billy Eppler has clearly stated that the team will be competitive in 2017 and there is no reason to doubt him.

 

However in order to really do that the Angels will, realistically, have to spend some money because the projected roster of players, while above average, will probably not get the team to the Promised Land.

 

Additionally the farm system is pretty bare making trades more difficult to execute and there are simply too many significant holes in the rotation, bullpen, at 2B, and overall team depth is still weak.

 

Team depth is, in part, why the Angels failed to make the postseason in 2016. If you do not have capable reserves, when a player gets injured, you cannot maintain and sustain continued success on the field.

 

The Angels did take steps over this last year to acquire and build depth particularly in the bullpen. A lot of these waiver claims will not pan out but if one or two of them stick they could become valuable role players moving forward.

 

Billy Eppler has a goal and plan for this team. Building team depth is just one aspect. He has crafted a strategy and is attempting to execute on it but that takes time to come to fruition and can take years to accomplish in full.

 

This strategy appears to be based on the long revered adage of pitching and defense.

 

If you look at the eight teams that made the playoffs this year nearly all of them had strong starting rotations (and bullpens) backed up by an above average defensive unit.

 

Acquiring Andrelton Simmons was not an accident. It was a premeditated trade towards the strategic goal of building a ground ball oriented pitching staff because the way you maximize defensive assets is by making sure you get the ball hit to them as much as possible.

 

This is why Eppler targeted Alex Meyer in the Hector Santiago trade. He not only brought in a back-end starter in Nolasco, he acquired Meyer who has a long Minor League history as a ground ball artist who has a heavy fastball with downward plane and a wipeout slider that not only misses bats but creates poor contact. Whether he starts is a different matter but the principle is the same in the rotation and in the bullpen.

 

It is also why Eppler took fliers on Lincecum and Chacin, in 2016, because they have average or above career ground ball rates against right-handed hitters (both 46%). Garrett Richards also has a high career ground ball rate (nearly 50% overall). Skaggs is at a career 46% GB% versus right-handed hitters. Even Nolasco over the last two seasons has run an approximate 46% GB% versus right-handed hitters.

 

This strategy is a departure from Dipoto who attempted to build a fly ball heavy staff to utilize the excellent outfield defense led by Trout and the large confines of Angels stadium. In principle it wasn’t a bad idea because fly ball pitchers were in greater supply at that time but the execution fell short at times (i.e. the Blanton era).

 

Realistically Eppler’s approach seems more fundamentally sound as ground balls lead to more singles and doubles but balls in the air lead to more home runs. Ground ball heavy pitching staff’s help to limit big innings but they do give up incrementally more runs if an opposing team can string together hits.

 

In actual practice it is the pitchers that can balance both that tend to do the best. Notably ground ball pitchers do tend to have higher HR/FB% primarily because they don’t induce many infield pop ups so when a ground ball pitcher does miss they tend to miss big.

 

Billy’s addition of an elite defensive player like Simmons actually makes this ground ball strategy a lot more valuable. It would not be surprising to see Eppler add a good defensive second baseman this season and then a good defensive third baseman now or next season to continue building upon his pitching and defense-oriented vision for the team.

 

In terms of starting pitching Billy is limited in 2017 by injuries to Heaney and Tropeano but there is also hope that Richards will be healthy and effective, Shoemaker will continue his excellence from last year, and Skaggs will rise up to his former prospect pedigree.

 

Adding one more veteran starter makes a lot of sense to add length and depth to the starting staff. After next year, the 2018 rotation should be, in theory, quite strong and deep with the return of Andrew and Nick along with the continued development of our Minor League farm system so if Billy does add another starter for 2017, beyond the Chavez deal, it should be on a short one year deal barring a trade of one of our current starters.

 

The bullpen is another area of concern as Huston Street struggled in the second half of 2016. However the bright spot was young Cam Bedrosian who looks primed to be the team’s go-to high leverage reliever in the very near future.

 

There are other names like Guerra, Alvarez, Morin, Ege, Mahle, Parker, Ramirez, Tolliver, Paredes, Middleton, Valdez, and Yates that could take a step forward which would go a long way towards shutting down opposing lineups. Also, recently, the Angels signed Andrew Bailey after seeing him in action near the end of the season. He will provide a veteran presence and has potential upside for the team.

 

Ultimately it may be best for Eppler to acquire another quality reliever in free agency or trade because there appears to be too much potential variability in performance with the current crop of pitchers. A more established veteran, just like with the rotation, could help provide greater stability in the mid and late innings.

 

Offensively Billy needs to make sure that the team maintains or improves on its 9th ranked wRC+ of 100 in 2016. It seems possible that Eppler can do that because the entire first half of his lineup can return in 2017. The recent addition of Maybin only enhances that effort providing another leadoff type of hitter with some speed on the bases.

 

It really boils down to mitigating the loss of Soto’s bat and finding a competent league average offensive, and above average defensive, answer at 2B, so this does not appear to be a monumental task in principle but market availability will dictate how difficult it will be to execute.

 

This offseason, based on the moves executed so far, will likely be one where Eppler uses some ingenuity to bring in one or two long term solutions combined with a variety of medium to high risk, short term, upside signings or trades that will temporarily fill holes, make the team competitive, and provide greater depth.

 

Notably by bringing in short term contracts Eppler can, if the team is out of contention next year, trade some or all of them at the deadline for players or prospects with long term control and value.

 

It seems unlikely that the Angels will splurge on a big name acquisition unless management can really monitor the budget and/or find the right deal or trade partner. This makes the middle-of-the-road and minimalist approaches discussed above the far more likely routes the team will take to preserve their draft picks and minimize the damage any trades have on what is left of their farm system.

 

Using the “two birds, one stone” approach as he did in the Santiago for Nolasco/Meyer trade is one way to accumulate serviceable players for the 2017 team while simultaneously building for the future. He will need to continue thinking “outside the box” to improve the team. 

 

In the meantime he is left with the budget and players that are available to him as he tries to build his image to surround the Millville Meteor with a core group of players that can pitch, field, and hit their way to victory.

 

By simply having Mike Trout the Angels have the foundation to win the Division in any season but there are 39 additional 40-man roster spots that need to compliment and support his Hall of Fame ability if the Angels want to go all the way.

 

In the next few sections we will examine the core of the team, each position, and any likely internal, trade, and free agent opportunities that we have or the market might present.

 

View the full article

[Second Base]

Well said. Bringing in ground ball pitchers and supporting them with an elite group of defenders could be the ultimate run preventer.

I'd like to see the Angels bring in some long term answers for position players. We're set at C, 1B, SS, CF, RF and DH. But that still leaves 3B, LF and 2B. At minimum, we're covered by an elite defender at 3B in Cowart, but I don't know if he's in the future plans. LF should have an answer in the coming seasons from Jones, Thaiss or Hermosillo. But 2B is another thing entirely.

Our best bet is David Fletcher but he seems more of a utility player. If the Angels brought in a long term answer at 2B he wouldn't be blocking much beyond Sherman Johnson and Alex Yarbrough, which doesn't hurt us. 

I just don't know who they'll target and what we can afford to give up. 

Guess I better stay tuned for more primers.

[Chuck]

Good stuff as always, @ettin

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours pal. 

[JAHV76]

Thanks for the write up. Good stuff. I think the Angels are waiting for Hamilton's contract to come off the books before they make another big signing. If they can sign some BP help, a cost controlled innings eater starter and maybe a veteran 2B to a one year deal they improve from last year. With injuries to any team in the AL West the division could be up for grabs.

[Troll Daddy]

Let's use that protected pick that everyone wanted so badly.

[ukyah]

1 hour ago, Troll Daddy said:

Let's use that protected pick that everyone wanted so badly.

i honestly can't decipher what this is supposed to mean.

[Stradling]

16 minutes ago, ukyah said:

i honestly can't decipher what this is supposed to mean.

He disagrees

[Tank]

Is there a readers digest version of this available? 

[ettin]

1 hour ago, Tank said:

Is there a readers digest version of this available? 

Just think of it as Thanksgiving dinner and you'll be fine.

[ettin]

2 hours ago, Troll Daddy said:

Let's use that protected pick that everyone wanted so badly.

 

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

He disagrees

Not sure what he disagrees with since it is merely an avenue that could be taken and I even suggested that the Angels will likely not take it. Basically the only two players the Angels would probably consider at this point are Kenley Jansen and Ian Desmond and it just doesn't seem overly logical from a payroll point of view to go after either one of them although certainly we could use one or both.

[Stradling]

It is a joke based on a thread from last night.  

[Angelsjunky]

Good stuff, ettin.

One slight nitpick: The Red Sox exercised Clay Buchholz's option a few weeks ago, so he's off the table.

Overall I really like what you say here--you cover the depth and span of it quite well. I also like Eppler's (seeming) strategy of building depth, rather than focusing on high price free agents. This makes especial sense given that there really aren't many good options available. In fact, with Walker off the table (and now Sean Rodriguez), there's no really good free agent for 2B. Maybin is good enough in LF, and there are simply no starting pitchers that were anything better than a #3 (unless Hill is able to reproduce his 2016 numbers over 30 starts).

Clearly it doesn't make sense to spend big this year, because of the lack of good options. For the pitching staff, Nova makes a lot of sense, Hill as well but possibly less so.

Now the one area where there are an unusual number of top free agents available is closers: Chapman, Jensen, Melancon, and even Holland if he can return to 2015 form all are top tier relievers. But these guys only make sense if the Angels feel strongly that they'll be just as good 3-5 years from now as they will be now, and I think that is questionable in all cases.

In other words, while I think the Angels can compete in 2016 if all goes right, as you say there isn't a lot of wiggle room and, to be honest, there's no way around that without the Angels spending a ton of money. If they signed Walker, Cespedes, Hill and Chapman, sure, they'd probably even be the AL West favorites. But it is clear that they don't want to spend money on questionable free agents--and rightly so.

So to put all that another way, I think Eppler is trying to increase the floor of the 2017 team, but not worry as much about the ceiling for another year or two. He'll continue to try to improve the team in small to moderate ways, but not do anything drastic. The AL West is weak enough that the Angels can go into the season projected as an 80-85 win team and do well enough to up that by 5+ wins and take the division (Surprisingly, Fangraphs has them projected to be the 9th best team in the majors next year).

Of course maybe I'll be proven wrong and he'll trade Jahmai Jones and Keynan Middleton for Cesar Hernandez...but he probably wouldn't make such a move in a vacuum--it would almost certainly be coupled with signing a Hill/Nova and top closer--and we don't see any signs of that.

[ettin]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

It is a joke based on a thread from last night.  

Oh I totally missed it lol.....

[ettin]

43 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Good stuff, ettin.

One slight nitpick: The Red Sox exercised Clay Buchholz's option a few weeks ago, so he's off the table.

Yeah I wrote a lot of what you have and will read over the last several weeks and have been having to update it constantly as we've entered the offseason. Maybe I should have you edit!

[ettin]

1 hour ago, Angelsjunky said:

So to put all that another way, I think Eppler is trying to increase the floor of the 2017 team, but not worry as much about the ceiling for another year or two. He'll continue to try to improve the team in small to moderate ways, but not do anything drastic. The AL West is weak enough that the Angels can go into the season projected as an 80-85 win team and do well enough to up that by 5+ wins and take the division (Surprisingly, Fangraphs has them projected to be the 9th best team in the majors next year).

This is a very accurate statement based on what we have seen so far with the Maybin trade and the Chavez and Bailey signings and what the payroll situation currently sits at (~ $21M-$25M AAV or so) and also what needs the Angels still need to fill, particularly at 2B. There are definitely 2B options in trade that would only eat about $5M-$7M in AAV but they will cost the Angels Major League assets or prospects (or a combination of both) otherwise it is dipping into free agency like Utley or Drew or perhaps even a converted SS like Aybar for instance which isn't the ideal solution in my mind.

The potential variability in performance out of our rotation and bullpen as they currently stand makes raising the floor even more critical as well as building for the future. 2B is one area where we can possibly do both. The bullpen is another area where we can do both. The rotation is harder because next year Heaney and Tropeano come back so finding a veteran starter with shorter control in trade appears in my opinion to be the better route and I will discuss that in the starting rotation section which should be out next week.

1 hour ago, Angelsjunky said:

Of course maybe I'll be proven wrong and he'll trade Jahmai Jones and Keynan Middleton for Cesar Hernandez...but he probably wouldn't make such a move in a vacuum--it would almost certainly be coupled with signing a Hill/Nova and top closer--and we don't see any signs of that.

I think that Jahmai Jones and Matt Thaiss are almost certainly off limits in trade unless they just get blown away by an offer. Both of those players have clear routes to the Majors if they continue to perform. I would also think that Hermosillo, Long, Rodriguez, Middleton, and Johnson are well regarded and also have clear paths to the Majors. Someone like Ward for instance could certainly be a Major League catcher but I just have the gut feeling the Angels would sacrifice him in the right trade.

Of course that doesn't leave much if anything to trade so.... If the Angels can acquire a 2B by moving Cron or Perez I think they would definitely consider that as they can replace their production out of free agency or perhaps by taking on salary for a similar player in trade. That is why a Joe Mauer/Brian Dozier deal for Street, Cron, and Perez with the Angels taking on most or all of Mauer's salary had a hint of plausibility in the sense that it would provide significant salary relief to the Twins and allowing them to get younger and more long term control while the Angels replace Cron's production and upgrade significantly at 2B. It was a remote example (it has a lot of moving parts) but it makes the point about the Angels finding the right partner to deal with could allow them to do some out of the box thinking to get something done that won't make them lose Jones for instance in trade.

[totdprods]

If you could address both SP and 2B in one trade that resulted in Calhoun being dealt, would you do it? Short of signing Cespedes as a replacement, you'd be taking a step back in RF, but there are still several FA OFs that could be signed afterwards. 

Originally the Jace Peterson thread got me wondering (moreso about Demiritte or Albies) but the Braves don't have much to send back via SP, so a third team may be needed. We could absorb Markakis or Kemp back, or try for Inciarte, but don't see much reason the Braves would be interested, and it would do nothing to help the Angels pitching. They do have a number of relievers that would be interesting though. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[WeatherWonk]

How often does Fangraphs revisit their projections in the off-season? Is it an on-going, weekly or monthly thing?

Because it seems rather ludicrous to be evaluating teams before even the winter meetings when so much trading goes on.

And with us, we have huge question marks in the pitching staff, with regards to people returning from injuries. Questions that wont be answered till the end of spring training. Then, there are potential FA signings that have barely begun.

I guess I dont put much credence in roster evaluations, at this point in the off-season. 9th SOUNDS nice, though.

 

BTW, the original article is the best analytical article I have ever read on this site. Great work! 

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, totdprods said:

If you could address both SP and 2B in one trade that resulted in Calhoun being dealt, would you do it? Short of signing Cespedes as a replacement, you'd be taking a step back in RF, but there are still several FA OFs that could be signed afterwards. 

Originally the Jace Peterson thread got me wondering (moreso about Demiritte or Albies) but the Braves don't have much to send back via SP, so a third team may be needed. We could absorb Markakis or Kemp back, or try for Inciarte, but don't see much reason the Braves would be interested, and it would do nothing to help the Angels pitching. They do have a number of relievers that would be interesting though. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I would trade Calhoun if it got us a mid-rotation starter and a 2B. Just because OF aren't terribly hard to find, as long as you're willing to spend a little.

[totdprods]

13 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

I would trade Calhoun if it got us a mid-rotation starter and a 2B. Just because OF aren't terribly hard to find, as long as you're willing to spend a little.

That was sort of my thinking, but I struggled to come up with the perfect trade partner. I think I'd be willing to sacrifice a little bit in the OF if it meant we brought back a young 2B that could grow into the everyday guy for 4-5 years and someone to stabilize the rotation. May necessitate signing not only another OF but a good 4th OF too, with Maybin's risk. If there was a bad contract OF/SP that could come back in addition to a 2B it gives you another option. 

And there's a part of me that still wonders if the Angels will look at Cespedes as long as he is out there...not really what I'd prefer, but you never know. 

[WeatherWonk]

Cespedes just seems like a guy who would eventually rub Scioscia the wrong way. Jose Guillen v2.0.

[ukyah]

we could stop acting like we're the pirates, and we could just sign cespedes and a FA starter, while keeping our all star RF. that's certainly not going to happen.

[totdprods]

1 hour ago, ukyah said:

we could stop acting like we're the pirates, and we could just sign cespedes and a FA starter, while keeping our all star RF. that's certainly not going to happen.

Where would Cespedes play, and which FA starter do you sign?

[stormngt]

2 hours ago, ukyah said:

we could stop acting like we're the pirates, and we could just sign cespedes and a FA starter, while keeping our all star RF. that's certainly not going to happen.

All Star RF?   did I miss something?

[ukyah]

1 hour ago, stormngt said:

All Star RF?   did I miss something?

 

i got a little overzealous with all star, my point was "our very good" player calhoun.

[ukyah]

1 hour ago, totdprods said:

Where would Cespedes play, and which FA starter do you sign?

 

let me preface that i already know this was never going to happen.

i have zero interest in the "cap" and whatever limitations they want to adhere to. i believe they are contrived and profit driven. baseball is the only sport where fans seem to care about the owner's pocketbook. i don't share that concern.

having said that, i think maintaining control over payroll, for the more attractive FA markets coming in the seasons ahead, is a valid plan.

i think the beginnings of a very good offseason that addresses the payroll need with a legitimate eye on contention would be something like this.

colon, 1 yr/12.5 million 

chavez, 1yr/5+ million. he seems to have very good numbers in anaheim. could be a useful addition in whatever role we find him in.

utley, 1yr/6-8 million

 

i'm not married to any of these players, and i don't necessarily care if we sign cespedes. if you pair maybin with the right guy, then you can have a nice platoon, which i believe in when used properly. my point is if the angels really want to challenge for the division and playoffs, then they need to bring in a little more front line talent and improve the quality of the backend.

i think they really missed the boat on colon. he really would have filled a missing piece for the angels.

it's still early in the offseason, very little has happened.

 

edit: i should clarify. my previous post wasn't so much about getting cespedes, as it was about not trading away our good talent to replace it with other good talent when we could just add through limited FA.