Upton Signs New 5-Year, $106m Deal with Angels

[Angels_Make_Me_Drink]

Give me one Dee Gordon with a side of Moustakas, please. 

 

Maybe a couple of journeymen pitchers looking to make an impact. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

18 minutes ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

Does the signing bonus still figure into the AAV? I'm guessing it does or else teams would do it all the time to avoid the penalties for going over.

I believe that Upton takes home the signing bonus when he signs but in terms of AAV it is spread out across the length of the deal.

[jordan]

Just now, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

Actually it was the offense of Houston's that won the World Series as their bull pen was atrocious. The Dodgers pen was quite good but not enough to overcome Darvish's awful pitching.

My point being that the bullpens were heavily relied upon.  Starters coming out in the 2nd and 3rd and 4th innings about every game.  So yes, bullpens were very important in this years playoffs.

[Jeff Fletcher]

4 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I believe that Upton takes home the signing bonus when he signs but in terms of AAV it is spread out across the length of the deal.

Signing bonuses can be paid in different ways. Sometimes they get the money right now. Sometimes they get a little part of it each season. I am not sure how it works out in this case. As suggested earlier, it's basically a way to gerrymander the contract to pay the money at different times., which could be to the benefit of the player (for tax purposes) or the team (for cash flow purposes).

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

10 minutes ago, jordan111280 said:

My point being that the bullpens were heavily relied upon.  Starters coming out in the 2nd and 3rd and 4th innings about every game.  So yes, bullpens were very important in this years playoffs.

They weren't important for the Astros, they cost the Astros big time. They needed to score 12 runs to overcome their bullpen blunders in game 5. The bullpen may have an important part for the Yankees and Dodgers to go as far as they did, but Houston's offense was better than all of their bullpens.

Edit. Although the bullpen may have used a lot doesn't mean they were good, at least the Astros bullpen was terrible.

[jordan]

2 minutes ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

They weren't important for the Astros, they cost the Astros big time. They needed to score 12 runs to overcome their bullpen blunders in game 5. The bullpen may have an important part for the Yankees and Dodgers to go as far as they did, but Houston's offense was better than all of their bullpens.

Ok I guess the word "important" is relative in this case.  I just mean that they played a big part into each game.  Not saying the bullpen was effective for any given team or dominant for any given team.  Just that the bullpens were used a lot by both teams. 

[UndertheHalo]

you have to have a reliable bullpen if you want to win.  this has been extensively demonstrated.

[Blarg]

You have to take this argument to the proper thread or make a new one. Or to put in Abbott and Costello terms, "Stay outta the infield!"

Edited November 2, 2017 by Blarg

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

1 minute ago, jordan111280 said:

Ok I guess the word "important" is relative in this case.  I just mean that they played a big part into each game.  Not saying the bullpen was effective for any given team or dominant for any given team.  Just that the bullpens were used a lot by both teams. 

Agreed, If the starters pitched better the bullpen may have been needed less. In 2014 the Royals' pen was lights out, If the starters could get through 6 with a lead that was the ballgame, not so much this year though.

I think the managers pulled the starters too soon in many cases. A pitchers pitches 4 scoreless innings gives up a double in the fifth and they go to the pen.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

4 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

you have to have a reliable bullpen if you want to win.  this has been extensively demonstrated.

But Houston won without one. This was demonstrated also.

[UndertheHalo]

Just now, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

But Houston won without one. This was demonstrated also.

their bullpen got some pretty big outs.

[Blarg]

Idiots, knock it off or no lunch break!

[ettin]

42 minutes ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

Does the signing bonus still figure into the AAV? I'm guessing it does or else teams would do it all the time to avoid the penalties for going over.

 

38 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

I believe it goes into the books for this season but it's split over the course of the contract.    That's how it used to be anyway...

IP is correct signing bonuses are added to the overall total of the contract and divided by the guaranteed years to get AAV. In this case the total contract is $97.5M plus the $8.5M signing bonus to produce a total $106M contract which, when divided by 5 years, gives you $21.2M per season.

As a side note performance bonuses do NOT count towards AAV, they are only paid in the year they are earned. For instance Calhoun's contract has a performance bonus that if he wins the Gold Glove in any particular season he gets a small additional sum of cash.

[AngelsLakersFan]

18 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

Signing bonuses can be paid in different ways. Sometimes they get the money right now. Sometimes they get a little part of it each season. I am not sure how it works out in this case. As suggested earlier, it's basically a way to gerrymander the contract to pay the money at different times., which could be to the benefit of the player (for tax purposes) or the team (for cash flow purposes).

Im sure the specifics of the bonus will come out in time. What we can say though is that the Angels clearly had the goal of improving cash flow up front. Upton, moving to California and taking less per year over the next 4 years is going to see a huge decrease in pay until the last year kicks in. If the signing bonus isn't all paid upfront or in the first couple of years I would wager that this deal might even be close to neutral to the old one when you consider taxes, the time value of money and the opportunity cost of the 5th year for Upton.

[Mark68]

44 minutes ago, Thomas said:

So how long until everyone says that they were against the deal from the start?

2.5 years.

I will go on record right here, right now, as being a huge fan of the deal.

[AngelsLakersFan]

1 minute ago, Mark68 said:

2.5 years weeks into the season.

 

[Blarg]

2 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Im sure the specifics of the bonus will come out in time. What we can say though is that the Angels clearly had the goal of improving cash flow up front. Upton, moving to California and taking less per year over the next 4 years is going to see a huge decrease in pay until the last year kicks in. If the signing bonus isn't all paid upfront or in the first couple of years I would wager that this deal might even be close to neutral to the old one when you consider taxes, the time value of money and the opportunity cost of the 5th year for Upton.

Hopefully he got a fuel allowance.

[ukyah]

2 hours ago, True Grich said:

I feel a new sign coming on in the OF.... Up-Town.

dangerous, it can lead to the "up-town funk" sign, and you don't want that.

[Dtwncbad]

Smart for everyone.

Anyone have a quick look at how much room there is now (with Upton secured) under the luxury tax?

[beatlesrule]

Well I was right and wrong. He'd did opt-out but stayed with the Angels. I thought he'd leave. I am not as enamoured with Upton as others here but it will be nice seeing him and Trout and Calhoun in the outfield for the next three years at least.  I think Stanton is an absolute pipe dream but our OF now is one of the best in baseball. 

[krAbs]

11 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

Smart for everyone.

Anyone have a quick look at how much room there is now (with Upton secured) under the luxury tax?

https://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-los-angeles-angels-info/

Mlbtraderumors was linking this site, which seems to indicate that we are at 142 million. I'm assuming that is assuming we don't pick up any of our options. I could see us picking up street's option and hoping that the second half of 2016 was a fluke and he will stay healthy in 2018, but its probably more likely that we don't pick it up and negotiate a slightly cheaper pay if we go that way (10 million is a lot to roll the dice on).

Luxury tax kicks in at 197 million, so at the moment, that means we have 55 million to kick around with, AFTER signing Upton. Enough to go a long ways towards plugging holes, but not enough to really go nuts. This will be an interesting test for Eppler.

[JarsOfClay]

2 hours ago, totdprods said:

This improves the team so much regardless of what other moves are made.  Very good starting point.

How so?  Weren't they a worse team last year after the Upton trade?

[TroutAdell]

That solves the left field black hole for the next five years, need a left handed hitting 2nd baseman and leadoff hitter (Gordon) and a regular 3rd baseman (Nunez). Good work Eppy.

[JarsOfClay]

1 hour ago, Thomas said:

So how long until everyone says that they were against the deal from the start?

I've already said I hated the Upton trade and ofcourse I hate this deal also.

One thing no one has mentioned is what's gonna happen to the angels young OF prospects?

[totdprods]

2 minutes ago, JarsOfClay said:

How so?  Weren't they a worse team last year after the Upton trade?

No. The September team was one of the best the Angels have put on the field the last few seasons. 

The results were not there, but the talent was. Upton in left for the long term is a tremendous improvement over the last few years.