OC Register: Angels eyeing Logan Morrison to upgrade offense

[Warfarin]

2 hours ago, totdprods said:

I really prefer Santana still but with the interest he's getting, I don't know if he's going to be an easy target or worth less than a 4/$64m or so, which would be approaching my max.

Any of the LoMo, Alonso, Duda tier would be fine on a 2-yr/$10-12m annually deal. Risky but not too expensive to gamble. I just can't bank on Cron anymore and wait two months for him to hit.

I'm starting to come around to the idea of filling out the infield with one of these 1B, Walker at 2B, and Frazier at 3B, and just being set across the board for the next 2-3 years. Everyone under contract, no glaring holes that need filling year to hear, sink or swim with this year's FA class.

You wouldn't tie up insane money and you'd have your team set for the next two or three years and just build your farm in that time to see what happens with Trout. Save all your prospects, no more need to trade prospects midseason unless it's for pitching, and keep a stable vet team so we don't have to fill a million holes each offseason. It all turns over right around when Trout/Pujols contracts are up and hopefully by then we will have built a very strong farm and have insane money freeing up all at once.

Walker 2B, Santana 1B, Trout CF, Upton LF, Pujols DH, Frazier 3B, Calhoun RF, Simmons SS, Maldonado C - good blend of handedness, OBP, power, and a ton of vet experience without anyone aside from Pujols being too old. Good defense, not much speed though. Lot of lineup flexibility, keeps pressure off Pujols and Upton from carrying the team (we already know Trout can) - re-sign Norris or Petit or both, sign Reed if you have enough money. Let the pitching sort itself out with what we have in place the next couple years, trade Cron for Profar and have him be the UT IF, and then let Eppler just keep unearthing cheap gems in the meantime.

Personally, I don't think Walker really fits Eppler's vision.  He seems to heavily prioritize up the middle defense, and Walker's admittedly subpar and bound to only get worse with time.  I'd try to push for a trade of Hernandez from the Phillies.  I don't know what they're looking for specifically (most likely young SP I imagine), but Hernandez would solve both our 2B and leadoff issue for at least several years.

My preference at 1B is Santana, but I'd stop at 3 years, which takes him through his age 34 season.  If someone gives him 4 guaranteed years, then just tip your cap and move along.  We'd also have to surrender our 2nd round pick for him, so in some ways, I feel LoMo might be a better target.  If he costs 2/24, then that's fine with me too - we get to keep our pick and add a lefty power hitter to provide some kind of lineup balance.

I would like to sign Moose if he comes with a  reasonable contract (4/60), which means he'd be with us through his age 32 season.  He'd also provide some lineup balance for us.  I feel 3B is a bigger priority than 1B, as I am okay getting by with a combo of Valbuena and Cron for another season if needed.

Lineup:

Hernandez 2B (S)

Trout CF (R)

Morrison 1B (L)

Upton LF (R)

Moose 3B (L)

Pujols DH (R)

Calhoun RF (L)

Simmons SS (R)

Maldonado C (R)

 

[Second Base]

7 hours ago, totdprods said:

I really prefer Santana still but with the interest he's getting, I don't know if he's going to be an easy target or worth less than a 4/$64m or so, which would be approaching my max.

Any of the LoMo, Alonso, Duda tier would be fine on a 2-yr/$10-12m annually deal. Risky but not too expensive to gamble. I just can't bank on Cron anymore and wait two months for him to hit.

I'm starting to come around to the idea of filling out the infield with one of these 1B, Walker at 2B, and Frazier at 3B, and just being set across the board for the next 2-3 years. Everyone under contract, no glaring holes that need filling year to hear, sink or swim with this year's FA class.

You wouldn't tie up insane money and you'd have your team set for the next two or three years and just build your farm in that time to see what happens with Trout. Save all your prospects, no more need to trade prospects midseason unless it's for pitching, and keep a stable vet team so we don't have to fill a million holes each offseason. It all turns over right around when Trout/Pujols contracts are up and hopefully by then we will have built a very strong farm and have insane money freeing up all at once.

Walker 2B, Santana 1B, Trout CF, Upton LF, Pujols DH, Frazier 3B, Calhoun RF, Simmons SS, Maldonado C - good blend of handedness, OBP, power, and a ton of vet experience without anyone aside from Pujols being too old. Good defense, not much speed though. Lot of lineup flexibility, keeps pressure off Pujols and Upton from carrying the team (we already know Trout can) - re-sign Norris or Petit or both, sign Reed if you have enough money. Let the pitching sort itself out with what we have in place the next couple years, trade Cron for Profar and have him be the UT IF, and then let Eppler just keep unearthing cheap gems in the meantime.

For me, when deciding between Hosmer, Santana, LoMo and Alonso, it all comes down to cost. Hosmer at 7/140, Santana at 4/70, LoMo at 2/25 and Alonso at 1/10.

Now look at the difference between Santana and LoMo. Santana will give you 30 more points in OBP and a safer investment, LoMo will give you more power and chance for greater upside.

Seeing as the price difference is really only 5 million a year, Santana is the better option, except for the fact that he will cost our second round pick and LoMo won't.

I think at the end of the day, LoMo is the most cost effective way of improving our offense in free agency.

[totdprods]

Can't disagree with any of that. Mostly the combination of several intriguing 'bargain' 1B and a frustrating Cron just wants me to see a change at this point.

[ettin]

46 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

For me, when deciding between Hosmer, Santana, LoMo and Alonso, it all comes down to cost. Hosmer at 7/140, Santana at 4/70, LoMo at 2/25 and Alonso at 1/10.

Now look at the difference between Santana and LoMo. Santana will give you 30 more points in OBP and a safer investment, LoMo will give you more power and chance for greater upside.

Seeing as the price difference is really only 5 million a year, Santana is the better option, except for the fact that he will cost our second round pick and LoMo won't.

I think at the end of the day, LoMo is the most cost effective way of improving our offense in free agency.

 

39 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Can't disagree with any of that. Mostly the combination of several intriguing 'bargain' 1B and a frustrating Cron just wants me to see a change at this point.

We are focusing too hard on free agency and ignoring the trade market a bit. Scotty you yourself promoted Matt Carpenter at one point. Tots and I have discussed Belt I believe. There are other options besides the free agent market. Admittedly I like the idea of Santana but there are many options in both markets. Just like Carlos, Matt and Brandon would probably be great 2-hole hitters.

[Second Base]

39 minutes ago, ettin said:

 

We are focusing too hard on free agency and ignoring the trade market a bit. Scotty you yourself promoted Matt Carpenter at one point. Tots and I have discussed Belt I believe. There are other options besides the free agent market. Admittedly I like the idea of Santana but there are many options in both markets. Just like Carlos, Matt and Brandon would probably be great 2-hole hitters.

Well I think at this point you have to ask who exactly is available at this point. Not Carpenter, the Cards want to compete in 2018 and plan on him being in the lineup everyday (plus...former Cards don't have the best track record recently). Perhaps Matt Adams, but I don't think he's a big enough upgrade over Cron, right? The White Sox are adamantly opposed to trading Abreu. The Giants want to compete as well as evidenced by their aggressive pursuit of Stanton. I doubt they trade Belt. The Reds flat out aren't trading Votto.

Perhaps Adrian Gonzalez?

Maybe I shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that free agency is the way to go, but in my mind, it seems like it is.

[Chuck]

On 11/14/2017 at 7:05 PM, Vlad27Trout27 said:

Oh!!! Wow what happened here.

Two things:

1. Don't copy from Microsoft Word or another website and paste here. Formatting issues will arise. 

2. No need to change the font size in your posts. 

[ettin]

41 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

Well I think at this point you have to ask who exactly is available at this point. Not Carpenter, the Cards want to compete in 2018 and plan on him being in the lineup everyday (plus...former Cards don't have the best track record recently). Perhaps Matt Adams, but I don't think he's a big enough upgrade over Cron, right? The White Sox are adamantly opposed to trading Abreu. The Giants want to compete as well as evidenced by their aggressive pursuit of Stanton. I doubt they trade Belt. The Reds flat out aren't trading Votto.

Perhaps Adrian Gonzalez?

Maybe I shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that free agency is the way to go, but in my mind, it seems like it is.

Don't get me wrong Scotty I'm not saying free agency isn't the best choice. In regard to Carpenter the latest word is that the Cardinals are considering him in a super-utility role but when you look at his $13.75M, $14.75M, and $18M option for 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively and you add in the fact that they are pursuing Stanton (i.e. adding a crap-ton of salary), retaining Matt seems superfluous. I think he is potentially available. Similar situation with Belt.

You should read the Corner Infield Primer tomorrow I cite the articles about the Giants wanting to move Belt. More importantly I think the Angels line up well with the Giants if they both wanted to do a trade. In fact one I can think of right off the top of my head is a Belt for Calhoun deal, straight-up. Belt has an extra year of control but has twice as much total salary on the books.

[Warfarin]

1 hour ago, ettin said:

Don't get me wrong Scotty I'm not saying free agency isn't the best choice. In regard to Carpenter the latest word is that the Cardinals are considering him in a super-utility role but when you look at his $13.75M, $14.75M, and $18M option for 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively and you add in the fact that they are pursuing Stanton (i.e. adding a crap-ton of salary), retaining Matt seems superfluous. I think he is potentially available. Similar situation with Belt.

You should read the Corner Infield Primer tomorrow I cite the articles about the Giants wanting to move Belt. More importantly I think the Angels line up well with the Giants if they both wanted to do a trade. In fact one I can think of right off the top of my head is a Belt for Calhoun deal, straight-up. Belt has an extra year of control but has twice as much total salary on the books.

If we could get Belt along with Panik in some sort of packaged deal, then that'd be fantastic.  I doubt the Giants are looking to move Panik, but if we absorb Belt's full contract, then perhaps something could be worked out.  Calhoun + Cron + SP prospect for Belt + Panik?  Would help them clear some payroll (to perhaps help them land Stanton) and would also give them a solid starting RF (who could probably platoon with Pence, since they are looking to move Pence to more of a part-time role).  We could even offer to take back Denard Span (has 1 year left on his contract + a mutual option), who could serve as our 4th OF.  Would provide the Giants with roughly 12-15 million of payroll relief, provide a starting RF alternative option, and clear the way for a bigger acquisition for them.

[Angel Oracle]

20 hours ago, Warfarin said:

If we could get Belt along with Panik in some sort of packaged deal, then that'd be fantastic.  I doubt the Giants are looking to move Panik, but if we absorb Belt's full contract, then perhaps something could be worked out.  Calhoun + Cron + SP prospect for Belt + Panik?  Would help them clear some payroll (to perhaps help them land Stanton) and would also give them a solid starting RF (who could probably platoon with Pence, since they are looking to move Pence to more of a part-time role).  We could even offer to take back Denard Span (has 1 year left on his contract + a mutual option), who could serve as our 4th OF.  Would provide the Giants with roughly 12-15 million of payroll relief, provide a starting RF alternative option, and clear the way for a bigger acquisition for them.

Who plays RF for the Halos then, assuming no Stanton?   Hermosillo getting a ST promotion?   Does he have a strong enough arm?