Angels on the “verge” of acquiring 3B...

[Erstad Grit]

Yes, get cozart!

[Cdaniel]

Not sure how I feel about cozart.  I think it’s great he could fill in at SS though.

[Angel Oracle]

I'm good with Cozart's defense, which shouldn't take much to translate to 3B.   And as long as he can somewhat approach his 2017 numbers, it's good.  

[Turd Ferguson]

Nozart.

[Angel Dog and Beer]

Maybe we'll get a 3B as soon as the Yankees get Profar "in the next few days"

[KevinStockerIsGod]

My thought about Cozart...Most likely needs a 3-4 year deal.  He can play multiple positions, which helps.  Good defender.  Big offensive year last year.  I could see a scenario where we sign Cozart, plug in a 3rd and use Valbuena as a rover at 1st and 3rd and Cozart can back up SS and 2nd if needed.  After next season when Kinsler is a FA, they could slot Cozart at 2nd and play on a 3rd baseman coughMachadocough. 

[krAbs]

Fangraphs is projecting a .257/.326/.428 line on Cozart. Baseball reference is more bullish (.266/.339/.474). Both of those factor in some healthy regression from last year, and even so look pretty dang good. If his defense holds up at third, I would like this as a longish term solution. Spend real money on ace pitching and 2b next year, and this year enjoy that + Kinsler defense and whatever offense is left in his bat.

[Angelsfan1984]

4 minutes ago, Cdaniel said:

Not sure how I feel about cozart.  I think it’s great he could fill in at SS though.

At first glance Cozart looks like a great choice for 3rd but his career numbers are trash. Those go up with the year he had in 2017 but my god, he played way above his averages. At 32 I don't think that trend continues.

 

.246

average .289

obp .385

slugging .674 ops

[CanadianHalo]

Cozart wore a knee brace in 16 I believe and then he changed up his batting stance a little prior to the 17 season.

He’s older and looking for a multi year deal I assume. Like said above he can play 2nd if Kinsler is only a one year thing. It’s meh

[laagamer]

Really? Cozart? 

Goddamit. 

[nando714]

Still waiting for the moose announcement . Ignoring all the noise before that 

[Warfarin]

The advantage with Cozart is flexibility.  He would not be my top choice, but I see the significant advantage he confers.  Let’s say we sign him to a 3 or 4 year deal.  Next offseason, Kinsler departs as a FA.  Given that Cozart can play SS/2B/3B, we would have the freedom to pursue either a 3B OR a 2B, depending on the market.  

The more options we have, the better the leverage, and the better the deal we get.  This would be a strong move for that very reason, and would also go with Eppler’s desire to find versatile players to fill out the team.  My only concern would be that we need some LH talent on this team moving forward.

[Chuck]

Get Cozart and Solarte or Profar as a utility guy. 

Cozart had 62 walks to just 78 strikeouts and pounded lefties to the tune of .336/.426/.632. 

Plus defender. Power splits are right down the middle, so no reason to be alarmed for the bandbox that is in Cincy. Good walk rate. 

[Sam Sanchez]

I'm hoping with his spike in OBP (.385 compared to career .305), it may be more of a sign that he figured something out as a new approach goes in 2017 rather than it being just a fluke in a contract year.

I wouldn't expected him to have an .900+ OPS with us, but I would hope he could at give us a .280/.340/.800 if he's able to maintain some of that momentum from 2017.

[Warfarin]

1 minute ago, Chuckster70 said:

Get Cozart and Solarte or Profar as a utility guy. 

Cozart had 62 walks to just 78 strikeouts and pounded lefties to the tune of .336/.426/.632. 

Plus defender. Power splits are right down the middle, so no reason to be alarmed for the bandbox that is in Cincy. Good walk rate. 

With Cozart on board, we wouldn’t need those guys, as he effectively becomes our 3B AND our utility infielder.  Simmons needs a day off?  Okay, shift Cozart to 3B.  Kinsler?  Okay, shift him to 2B.  And when we shift him, we can flex out Valbuena to 3B, Pujols to 1B, Ohtani to DH.

It’s a great move for that reason, IMO.  We would be lacking on legitimate left-handed hitters, but we would at least have a ton of positional versatility.  I can see why Cozart would be a top target.  He wouldn’t cost the prospects Solarte would and he’d provide better defensive versatility.

I don’t see him being a 5 WAR guy, but if he can hover around 2-3, then that’s a solid move.

[Ohtaniland]

1 hour ago, CanadianHalo said:

 

Ok so I know it has nothing to do with the AAV but maybe Arte by design is including the $20M posting fee for Ohtani as an internal out of pocket expense cost and is now including it as a payroll expense (part of Eppler’s overall approved budget) which for Arte now looks like $188M payroll cost to him personally for 2018. No matter how you slice it, it’s still a $20M expense for Arte in 2018.

[UndertheHalo]

i'm bullish on Cozart.  Like a lot of you are noting, guy provides great positional versatility.  

His BABIP was up almost 40 points last year.  Which is funny enough, almost the positive opposite of Kinsler.  He's surely a candidate for regression with the bat.  But if he lands somewhere in the middle he would still be a huge get for us. 

Imagine that defensive infield.  It should be pretty nice to pitch for the Halo's.

Edited December 14, 2017 by UndertheHalo

[Warfarin]

1 minute ago, UndertheHalo said:

i'm bullish on Cozart.  Like a lot of you are noting, guy provides great positional versatily.  

His BABIP was up almost 40 points last year.  Which is funny enough, almost the positive opposite of Kinsler.  He's surely a candidate for regression with the bat.  But if he lands somewhere in the middle he would still be a huge get for us. 

imagine that defensive infield.  It should be pretty nice to pitch for the Halo's.

Adding Cozart pretty much puts a defensive stud at virtually every one of our positions, with the exception of first base, arguably the one that is least important defensively.

I suppose I shouldn’t automatically assume Cozart becomes a great defensive 3B, but it’s probably fair to assume a solid defensive SS translates well to 3B.

[stormngt]

1 hour ago, krAbs said:

And damn, that 2019 free agent class is sexy. Its totally plausible that we get a long term fix at both 2b and 3b from it, if we are willing to come up to (or maybe a bit passed) the luxury tax. I still need to look at who on our team becomes free agents next year - some of them could be a problem. If Rich goes off this year and we make the playoffs, he could end up getting paid.

Edit - to answer my own question, johnson (probably let him go), wood (we'll see), maldonado (resign on the cheap), and richards (will be interesting - we will probably have to spend real money here, either on him or on another starter).

Remember we need to extend Trout next year.

[DMVol]

3 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

Adding Cozart pretty much puts a defensive stud at virtually every one of our positions, with the exception of first base, arguably the one that is least important defensively.....

I suspect, when Pujols plays 1b, you'll see Valbuena in the late innings if we have a lead...

[oater]

Cozart would be the perfect Swiss army knife for the Angels.  Sign him up!

[Erstad Grit]

Pujols is a better 1b than LV, yes I'm serious.  

Acquiring cozart and headley would be amazing.  

[Warfarin]

Okay, after discussing Cozart, I’m sold now.  Let’s go get him!  What’s a reasonable contract for him?

[UndertheHalo]

5 minutes ago, DMVol said:

I suspect, when Pujols plays 1b, you'll see Valbuena in the late innings if we have a lead...

at least as far as the eye test goes.  I've felt that Cron has developed into a pretty solid defensive 1b.

[Angel Oracle]

46 minutes ago, Erstad Grit said:

Pujols is a better 1b than VB, yes in serious.  

Acquiring cozart and headley would be amazing.  

True, but we may be stuck playing Valbuena part-time at 1B, depending on how the construction of the team plays out. 

If Cron stays and Cozart does come here to play 3B regularly, then Valbuena becomes a utility DH/1B/3B, maybe getting 50-60 starts tops.

Edit: Oops, that adds up to 26 players on roster (13 pitchers including 6 starters, plus 7 regulars not counting 1B/DH, plus catching sub, plus INF sub, plus OF sub, plus Pujols & Cron & Valbuena).