Four more moves

[Vlad27Trout27]

3 hours ago, stormngt said:

Where does the money of Trouts extension come in!  He needs to be extended by 2019 season or we should look to trade him in the summer of 2019.

So we have trout for the next 3 years, 2018- 2021. I would treat this next year as a buffer year: just to see where our talent is by 2019 and than start the talk with trout. The key pt for next year is to find where we are in the future as well right know. 2 points that will affect trout decision. 

1. The roster right now- key points to make would be Skaggs and Heaney breakout or pitch well, we will have these guys for the next 3-4 yr, ohtani pitches well,  and everyone is playing good baseball.

2. The roster in the future- key point is, hey Mike we'll have Jones and Barria in the Majors by 19 and than we'll have more the next year set f9r the future.

 

[stormngt]

3 hours ago, Vlad27Trout27 said:

So we have trout for the next 3 years, 2018- 2021. I would treat this next year as a buffer year: just to see where our talent is by 2019 and than start the talk with trout. The key pt for next year is to find where we are in the future as well right know. 2 points that will affect trout decision. 

1. The roster right now- key points to make would be Skaggs and Heaney breakout or pitch well, we will have these guys for the next 3-4 yr, ohtani pitches well,  and everyone is playing good baseball.

2. The roster in the future- key point is, hey Mike we'll have Jones and Barria in the Majors by 19 and than we'll have more the next year set f9r the future.

 

We have Trout through 2021?  I thought it was through 2020.  In that case we need to extend Trout through July 2020 or trade him.  If we have to trade him we have to do it when we can get the greatest haul.  That means we need to give the trading partner a year and half control.  We l9se too much if we would trade him on his walk year.

I still think we need to try to extend him in before 2019 season.  The closer to free agency the less incentive he would have to sign the extension.

[Dtwncbad]

As a FAN my moves:

Give the Braves basically whatever they want for Freddie Freeman.

Sign JD Martinez

Trade Cron and Calhoun for the best arm I can get.

Sit down Pujols and lay down the law, the live in the real world honesty that he isn't an everyday player anymore and he can deal with it however he wants.  He gets about 85 games total, maybe 15 at first max (Freeman 147 games), and about 70 games at DH (Ohtani gets 90 games at DH).

Then sit back and enjoy the best lineup in Angel history.

Kinsler 2B

Trout CF 

Martinez RF

Freeman 1B

Upton LF 

Ohtani DH

Cozart 3B

Simmons SS

Maldonado C

(And as a FAN I dont care about the money or the lux tax)

[Dtwncbad]

1 hour ago, hangin n wangin said:

Lol as a fan, I’d throw Alex Curry on the mound..... naked.

Wait are you naked throwing her on the mound or is she naked?

That isn't clear.

[Hubs]

I saw a note about a Trout extension, so I just want to point out, that as far as actual payroll goes, Trout now makes 34 M per season. I just don't think he'll get significantly more than that in the first few years of his extension. But his average will likely rise, but not by more than a few million per. So the luxury tax calculation will be affected, but not the actual payroll.

For payroll, look at Cot's wonderful site, they are usually right on.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JJEzXDdi1FoAVCxpssrNq04unxs39JIJg6CRn-IPM1c/pubhtml

For 2018, I don't see them doing much more, a backup OF  / util guy would be great -- Howie Kendrick come on down. Kendrick can play 1st, 2nd, and LF, maybe RF as well. As far as needing a backup OF to play CF, I think Kole or Upton can handle that or there has got to be a candidate in AAA who can come up and down. (Hermosillo?). Not to worried about that. Kendrick provides a right handed bat to play 1st when we face a lefty and if Valbuena is slumping, along with Pujols as the DH.

Also another left handed pen arm would be nice.

I'd also consider Alex Avila as backup C, I don't think Maldonado is a 137 game catcher again, probably more in the high 110 or low 120's, which gives Avila 40-50 starts at C, plus pinch hitting duties and then 30 or so starts at 1st. However, Taylor Ward may actually be called up September 1st, or even before.

Either leaves Cron as an odd man out, so he's gotta be moved as he's out of options.

Yu Darvish or Jake Arrieta would be a big splash certainly, but unfortunately that would also put them into the luxury tax, and I don't think that's in the cards.

FOR 2019 -- you'd have to acquire a new starting infielder for 2nd or 3rd, a new platoon 1st baseman (if Matt Thaiss isn't that guy by then) and most importantly signing Richards and Maldonado to extensions. Taylor Ward and Jahmai Jones should be close to getting regular jobs in the bigs in 2019. They should have enough payroll room to take care of all of this. You can acquire a 2nd baseman (FA class is headed by Jose Altuve at 2nd, or go for a 3B, as that FA class is headed by Josh Donaldson and Manny Machado (assuming he still wants to play 3rd).

FOR 2020 -- Assuming everyone is still performing and more kids should start arriving. But there won't be any major acquisitions. Kole Calhoun has an option year, and if Marsh or Jones or Adell is ready, they likely get that spot.

FOR 2021, RESIGNING MIKE TROUT is all I want to see, I shouldn't care about anything else. But Andrelton Simmons and Zack Cozart will also be up, and we will have other free agents like Tyler Skaggs, Matt Shoemaker, CJ Cron (if he is still here), and Blake Parker.

The next three years I would expect to see an occasional trade or such to get us younger.

 

 

[totdprods]

Four (five) moves I'd make:

1) Trade Jones, Marsh, Ward, and any young arm not named Barria for Christian Yelich.

1B) Potentially a 3-way deal, as I'd trade Calhoun for one of Corbin, J.A. Happ, Ivan Nova, Ian Kennedy, Jake Odorizzi type SP, ideally with a decent young, optionable 4th OF or RP/lefty reliever added in. 

2) Sign Addison Reed

3) Trade Cron for Profar

4) Sign Alex Avila

2B Kinsler, RF Yelich, CF Trout, LF Upton, 1B Pujols, 3B Cozart, DH Ohtani, SS Simmons, C Maldonado

Bench: Avila, Profar, Valbuena

Rotation: Richards, Skaggs, Ohtani, Heaney, Calhoun Trade, Shoemaker

Bullpen: Reed, Bedrosian, Parker, Alvarez, Johnson, Wood, Ramirez 

AAA: Bridwell, Barria, Tropeano, Middleton, Paredes, Pena, Jewell, Castillo, Cowart, Hermosillo, Calhoun trade return OF/RP.

MLB team is shored up and young and under contract for foreseeable future, except 2B. Fletcher, Cowart, Profar, or Cozart could all step into that role after '18. If the SPs stay healthy, you can deal one or two away as needed to restock some prospects you lost in Yelich trade.

[Hubs]

1) Yelich is a good player, but so is Calhoun and costs no prospects.

1B) These two trades would likely decimate our minor league system

2) Addison Reed is a good add, but at what cost.

3) Profar is awful and always has been awful. He is a slightly better defender but as bad of a hitter as Cowart. And Cowart costs you nothing.

4) Avila makes sense.

 

 

[Blarg]

Tot and Scotty have a throbbing bone for Profar which really makes no damn sense. 

[Erstad Grit]

1. Sign 4th Outfielder. Revere, Bourjas, Raja Davis, etc

2. Sign Albers

3. Win world series 

[ettin]

3 hours ago, Blarg said:

Tot and Scotty have a throbbing bone for Profar which really makes no damn sense. 

Profar is still really young and destroyed LHP in AAA last year but the really difficult part will be convincing Texas that they should trade their former top prospect to their A.L. West rival which I just don't see happening so it is a non-starter in all likelihood.

[Docwaukee]

the lure of Profar is that you could get him on the cheap but I think the rangers have  made it clear that's not happening.  

[totdprods]

3 hours ago, Dochalo said:

the lure of Profar is that you could get him on the cheap but I think the rangers have  made it clear that's not happening.  

The Rangers had a paltry .699 OPS from 1B in '16, and a .204/.297/.451 slash in '17  - a little better, but still well below what Cron could do for them. Cron's destroyed Ranger pitching in the past, and they've got at least one prospect who could be ready at some point in this year in Guzman.

I'd think Cron would be pretty tempting for them as a stopgap 1B, but admit with so many comparable FA 1B available still they likely wouldn't make that trade.

[Stradling]

Guys I have it on good authority that the Yankees will be acquiring Profar within the next few days about a month ago

[arch stanton]

I imagine the Rangers are content to have Gallo be the primary first baseman if Beltre is healthy but they could probably use another right handed bat

[Stradling]

I don’t want to derail this thread but what’s the story on Gallo?  High prospect, hits a ton of jacks, walks a lot, k’s a bunch, bats .200.  Is he projected to make a jump to be a .250 hitter?  Or with all the k’s it is what it is?

[arch stanton]

At this point he’s a supercharged Valbuena with a ceiling to be much more

[totdprods]

22 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I don’t want to derail this thread but what’s the story on Gallo?  High prospect, hits a ton of jacks, walks a lot, k’s a bunch, bats .200.  Is he projected to make a jump to be a .250 hitter?  Or with all the k’s it is what it is?

He's probably pretty close to being the final product. Adam Dunn 2.0 in his prime. 

Yes, Gallo is the starting 1B right now, but if Willie Calhoun starts in AAA or struggles, or Beltre gets hurt again (which is becoming frequent) Gallo is likely back over at 3B or LF. Choo at DH is a question mark or a possible salary dump. Cron would be a good fit on their team. Their next minor league 1B prospects also hit left-handed.

Profar has not produced as a Ranger, but he's very young still, has had some tough breaks, and has been jerked around by the Rangers quite a bit. He needs a change of scenery, and at worst, would give the Angels the multi-positional bench player they need with good defense and significant upside. He played well in the WBC alongside Simmons, and I'd hold some hope that with Andrelton around and a fresh change he'd at least develop into a McLemore-esque super-sub. If he flops, you still get a good-glove UT IF for a year and cut bait in offseason, which is likely Cron's fate anyways.

[totdprods]

15 hours ago, Hubs said:

1) Yelich is a good player, but so is Calhoun and costs no prospects.

1B) These two trades would likely decimate our minor league system

2) Addison Reed is a good add, but at what cost.

3) Profar is awful and always has been awful. He is a slightly better defender but as bad of a hitter as Cowart. And Cowart costs you nothing.

4) Avila makes sense.

Yelich is superior to Calhoun. He does everything Kole does and more, and in most cases, much better. He's the same age as Trout, same annual salary as Kole, and under contract longer than either. In trading two OF prospects, yes, you take a hit on the farm, but odds are long that either of those guys wind up producing at a Yelich-level anytime soon. Yelich also could be your Trout replacement in CF in a pinch if he gets hurt or leaves FA. Thaiss or Ward as the 3rd player would sting a bit, but both are areas of depth for the Angels either currently or via FA. Whichever pitcher goes is a loss, but I trust Eppler to replenish pitching cheaply as he's done in the past. It's a deal that makes the team younger and better. Calhoun lands you a short-term steady vet arm and ideally, a young pitching relief prospect and/or another Hermosillo-type to help offset the loss of Jones and Marsh. Keep in mind, we still have Adell, Hermosillo, Todd, Hunter, Gibbons, Deveaux, Sanger, and possibly Ohtani as OF depth. If healthy, we'd have enough arms that we could sell one at deadline for some prospects as well.

I can't see Cowart being entrusted with playing time in OF or SS anytime soon, and that's the whole reason Profar has value. Cowart' great AAA UT IF depth with options, and I can't see how anyone could look at Kaleb and feel he has any more or less upside than Profar with the bat. Both have sucked so far, but both could still turn it around.

I'd cross my fingers that Reed offers a hometown discount - if not I'd go cheap and offer something to Norris, Abad, or another arm - and agreed, Avila is a nice fit.

[floplag]

I'm not interested in acquiring any OF or moving Calhoun till we see what happens next off season.  The idea of a Trout/Upton/Harper OF is alive
I still think any more creativity this season will come at 1B in some form, it just makes too much sense. 

[ukyah]

1 hour ago, floplag said:

I'm not interested in acquiring any OF or moving Calhoun till we see what happens next off season.  The idea of a Trout/Upton/Harper OF is alive
I still think any more creativity this season will come at 1B in some form, it just makes too much sense. 

harper is a chase every last dollar dude. he's never been ambiguous about that. his agent is scott boras. the angels are not an every last dollar franchise. the angels could offer him 400 million dollars and he'd shop it around. he's not coming here. 

[floplag]

16 minutes ago, ukyah said:

harper is a chase every last dollar dude. he's never been ambiguous about that. his agent is scott boras. the angels are not an every last dollar franchise. the angels could offer him 400 million dollars and he'd shop it around. he's not coming here. 

Likely true, in fact he likely ends up in Chi with the Cubs IMO, but its still a nice little pipe dream, lol 
Regardless i dont see any moves OF wise that make sense in this off season that wouldnt give back the progress weve made as an organization, IE Yelich costing way to much in prospects.  

[Hubs]

If they could get Harper to sign to play RF next to Trout, this lineup would be the best lineup in baseball. Still would need a 2nd or 3rd baseman, but Calhoun could switch to 1st most days but there would be a bit of a logjam when everyone is healthy, because three more years of Pujols. So Calhoun would then be moved, or likely suffer a huge drop in playing time.

But this is a ridiculous lineup:

2B Kinsler/Dozier/Murphy/LeMahieu

CF Trout

RF Harper

LF Upton

DH Ohtani/Pujols

1B Pujols/Calhoun

3B Cozart

SS Simmons

C Maldonado

 

[totdprods]

Thought it would be fun to revisit this a month later... 

My four moves...
1) Sign a Starting Pitcher
Personally I'd stay in the Darvish mix, but am increasingly interested in seeing what Cobb, Lynn, and Garcia's price tag falls too. Not as exciting, but if they're at a reasonable price, a little durability would go a long way in the rotation, even if it's on the back-end. Similarly, guys like Vargas, Tillman, Cahill, Hellickson, Feldman, Santiago, Cashner, Chavez, Sanchez, Wood, Lackey, are probably on one-year or some of those, even minor-league deals soon.

2) Offer minor-league deals to virtually every remaining FA reliever, and hope 2-3 sign
Arizona just did this with Salas, Bastardo, and one other I can't recall, and it worked well for us last year with Petit, Norris, and Parker. Tony Watson is likely to pull guaranteed money, but guys like Abad, Cedeno, Siegrist have all been successful in years past, and olde vets like Jorge de la Rosa and Francisco Liriano could offer depth as multi-inning RPs or the rotation too. Ian Krol, David Holmberg, and Robbie Ross are all in their 20s still and have had experience in both the rotation and the pen.

On the right side, ancient vets like Alberts, Belisle, K-Rod, Moylan, and Uehara have been solid recently, and Romo, who was dominant for Tampa to end '17, are still available. Neftali Feliz, Bruce Rondon, Trevor Rosenthal, and Shae Simmons are on the younger side and still have some upside. Bud Norris is likely affordable.

3) Sign Todd Frazier, Neil Walker, or Logan Morrison to replace Cron
Frazier gives you the 1B production that Cron offers, and possibly more, all while being versatile enough to cover 3B, 2B, and corner outfield. If he requires a 2-3 year deal, he gives Eppler some insurance for 3B next offseason (with Cozart moving to 2B).  LoMo gives you another left-handed bat, but less positional coverage. Neil Walker gives you a little bit of what both can offer. Eduardo Nunez, Plouffe, Lind, Utley, Nick Franklin, and Mark Reynolds can fit in this role as well.

I actually think the Angels have a  better chance at getting a bargain player for this role than they do for the rotation - all it takes is one of these vet players (who are already on the verge of falling into role-player jobs) looking at SoCal and the Angels team and thinking it's a exciting team with a chance at the WS and a good place to live.

4) Sign one fast dude for 4th OF
Maybin, Revere, Davis - get a SB threat on the bench. If they can offer a left-handed bat or some offense, even better, but above all else, get someone who can steal a base.