2018 Hot Stove League

[angelsnationtalk]

3 minutes ago, popo85 said:

Where yall think Keuchel ends up?

My money is on the Phillies

[totdprods]

9 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

sounds like Macahdo is bad teammate.  I really think he limited himself by being a douche.  

Yeah that certainly didn't do him any favors. Even when given the opportunity to white lie to the press ahead of a contract he blew it.

[totdprods]

3 minutes ago, angelsnationtalk said:

I still think I'd rather have consistently good numbers across the board every season. I don't like the idea of Harper having Ervin Santana like seasons where one year he's great then the next year he sucks. With that being said, If we ever did sign Harper i'd still be happy

Except in a bad season Bryce Harper offensively is as good as Justin Upton, which is to date, Machado's average. In a vacuum, I'd prefer Harper. 

[angelsnationtalk]

i'd take a hair flip over a douche too. Obviously it just worries me because it's a lot of money

[DMVol]

1 minute ago, popo85 said:

Where yall think Keuchel ends up?

He is the one guy who I think could fall to us....just not sure he has the market he and his agent expected...we'll see....

[totdprods]

3 minutes ago, angelsnationtalk said:

I'd expect him to have the mindset that someone his age like Trout does. Someone who knows they are the best player but is also the humblest of players.

Again, Bryce Harper had been the anointed savior of baseball since he was in middle school, fat boying out HRs in rich white boy baseball camps and being hyped up in every way possible. It's a wonder he isn't more of a cartoonish smug supervillain like Bonds became.

Trout was good ol' boyin' it up in bumfuck Jersey, everymannin' it as the son of a failed minor leaguer and going below everyone's radar.

Two very different backgrounds. Bryce is like the Anakin Skywalker to Trout's Luke.

[Angel Oracle]

43 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Stanton at 25 mil per is a really good value.  He was at DH last year for the same reason Darin Erstad played 1B for two years.... because the Yankees have a really good group of two way OFers.  Stanton was good for 10 DRS his final year in Miami and 46 for his career.  To put that into perspective, Kole Calhoun's best DRS season was last year when he put up 11, and he's at 51 for his career.  Pretty much all the defensive metrics paint a pretty solid picture of Stanton.... 

He will likely be back in the OF full-time the second Brett Gardner's contract expires.  

He will continue to be tested by the deeper than normal LF/LCF dimensions at home.  

[Angel Oracle]

14 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Again, Bryce Harper had been the anointed savior of baseball since he was in middle school, fat boying out HRs in rich white boy baseball camps and being hyped up in every way possible. It's a wonder he isn't more of a cartoonish smug supervillain like Bonds became.

Trout was good ol' boyin' it up in bumfuck Jersey, everymannin' it as the son of a failed minor leaguer and going below everyone's radar.

Two very different backgrounds. Bryce is like the Anakin Skywalker to Trout's Luke.

Or Harper/Machado is the Lindsey Lohan to Trout's Ron Howard.

[CDiaz27?]

23 minutes ago, popo85 said:

Where yall think Keuchel ends up?

To Cincinnati they’d be dangerous if they got some pitching to go along with that offense, kind of like the Angels of the NL

[Inside Pitch]

8 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

He will continue to be tested by the deeper than normal LF/LCF dimensions at home.  

Yeah, but he was used to that at Marlins park, right center goes 392 in Miami... Dude chased everything down.

[Inside Pitch]

Dodgers just traded for Russell Martin ....  Stuff happening today!

[Yellow Balloon]

20 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Back when Marvin Miller was going at it with ownership on behalf of the players and free agency he argued in favor of six years on control vs allowing players to test free agency sooner because he believed a glut of available players would end up driving salaries down...  If he was right then players will end up worse off.  Man, the next CBA is gonna be fun.

And when Charlie Finley proposed 1 year contracts for EVERYBODY his fellow owners quickly shut him down.  Miller later admitted that that was the one scenario he dreaded most and that if anyone other than Finley had come up with it the owners might actually have taken it seriously.

[Chuck]

1 minute ago, Inside Pitch said:

Dodgers just traded for Russell Martin ....  Stuff happening today!

Next up, Davey Lopes and Ron Cey! 

[m0nkey]

Rafael Furcal and if they miss out on Harper, JD Drew

[Stradling]

I want the Angels to make some relevant moves

[Stradling]

6 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Dodgers just traded for Russell Martin ....  Stuff happening today!

LoDuca wasn’t available?

[Second Base]

52 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Again, Bryce Harper had been the anointed savior of baseball since he was in middle school, fat boying out HRs in rich white boy baseball camps and being hyped up in every way possible. It's a wonder he isn't more of a cartoonish smug supervillain like Bonds became.

Trout was good ol' boyin' it up in bumfuck Jersey, everymannin' it as the son of a failed minor leaguer and going below everyone's radar.

Two very different backgrounds. Bryce is like the Anakin Skywalker to Trout's Luke.

This exactly.  And truly, I'm really glad my antics and growing pains between the ages of 18-25 weren't the stuff of national news.  The fact that Bryce Harper became one of the best ball players of his generation, and potentially a hall of famer if he stays healthy for a long time, instead of the greatest to ever play the game shouldn't be seen as a disappointment, and it certainly shouldn't paint Harper as the bad guy. 

If he ended up signing with the Angels, I guarantee pretty much everyone would instantly become a fan. 

Although I will add one caveat......Anakin in his prime before becoming Darth Vader would've wiped the floor with Luke. 

[Glen]

1 hour ago, angelsnationtalk said:

Watch the Angels randomly swoop in and sign Machado or Harper just because it took them too long to sign elsewhere. You know that's in the far back of Arte's mind since he loves to do that. 

 

Can you give me one example of the Angels doing that under Arte?

[Second Base]

4 minutes ago, Glen said:

Can you give me one example of the Angels doing that under Arte?

Swooping?  I don't know about that.....maybe Torii Hunter could've been classified as one?  I don't think Albert or Hamilton were a swoop.  Trading for Mark Teixeira was sort of a surprise I guess.  Dan Haren seemed to be one, when the Angels outbid the Yankees at the last minute. 

[Docwaukee]

59 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Back when Marvin Miller was going at it with ownership on behalf of the players and free agency he argued in favor of six years on control vs allowing players to test free agency sooner because he believed a glut of available players would end up driving salaries down...  If he was right then players will end up worse off.  Man, the next CBA is gonna be fun.

the mlbpa would be better off trying to get a higher min and increase arb rates than having less years of control for that very reason. Because draft slots are set, I'd also like to see the ability to trade draft picks come into play.  That would be a very interesting and allow teams to get very creative with players drafted later.  I have to wonder if the NCAA would balk at that though because if more players are jumping to pro ball it would dilute the pool for college.  

I wonder if teams having to pay a penalty for not achieving a minimum payroll would help to fix part of the issues with having too large of a pool.  

[totdprods]

12 minutes ago, Second Base said:

This exactly.  And truly, I'm really glad my antics and growing pains between the ages of 18-25 weren't the stuff of national news.  The fact that Bryce Harper became one of the best ball players of his generation, and potentially a hall of famer if he stays healthy for a long time, instead of the greatest to ever play the game shouldn't be seen as a disappointment, and it certainly shouldn't paint Harper as the bad guy. 

If he ended up signing with the Angels, I guarantee pretty much everyone would instantly become a fan. 

Although I will add one caveat......Anakin in his prime before becoming Darth Vader would've wiped the floor with Luke. 

That was always sort of the subtext of the Trout v. Harper storyline though too, that Bryce was going to be the superior player...

[Roy Hobbs]

2 minutes ago, Second Base said:

Swooping?  I don't know about that.....maybe Torii Hunter could've been classified as one?  I don't think Albert or Hamilton were a swoop.  Trading for Mark Teixeira was sort of a surprise I guess. 

Vladimir Guerrero maybe would count.I know it came out of nowhere.

[popo85]

3 minutes ago, Roy Hobbs said:

Vladimir Guerrero maybe would count.I know it came out of nowhere.

Wasn't all 3 moves out of nowhere- Colon, Vlad and Escobar

[totdprods]

9 minutes ago, Glen said:

Can you give me one example of the Angels doing that under Arte?

Not exactly the same scenario, but the Angels pounced on Vlad because everyone was balking due to his back. 

Pujols was surprising, but he seemingly was a big target all along...when you couple it with CJ though, it was quite a statement. 
Hamilton caught me 100% off-guard and he had his share of baggage. Angels took no time going after it quietly there. 

And yeah, the Teixeia, Greinke, and Haren trades, as well as this era's Upton and Simmons deals, all had quite the abruptness to them. 

Truth is, Arte-era Angels really do have a knack for making big, bold moves. And usually not without much indication or expectation from our part. So as unlikely as Harper or Machado are, I do think there is sufficient precedent here that does not rule the Angels lurking on either one.

[Chuck]

Eppler is hard at work I'm sure behind the scenes, but damn. It's almost the middle of January and we got shit to do still.