2018 Hot Stove League

[beatlesrule]

Rangers acquire Zack Gr.............anite.

[Broad Street]

Phillies are really desperate... They signed Miguel Tejada yesterday 

[Lou]

30 minutes ago, Kody Mac said:

Phillies are really desperate... They signed Miguel Tejada yesterday 

Junior lol 

 

[failos]

4 hours ago, Kody Mac said:

Phillies are really desperate... They signed Miguel Tejada yesterday 

dafuq

[Broad Street]

7 hours ago, failos said:

dafuq

I mean, there's probably like 500+ Miguel Tejada in the world

 

[failos]

23 minutes ago, Kody Mac said:

I mean, there's probably like 500+ Miguel Tejada in the world

 

Oh, it's Miguel Tejada's son! haha 

[Troll Daddy]

Angels are taking a hard look at Dallas Keuchel  ... they were in attendance for a bullpen session today. 

[Docwaukee]

1 hour ago, Troll Daddy said:

Angels are taking a hard look at Dallas Keuchel  ... they were in attendance for a bullpen session today. 

interesting.  they're either worried about someone or doing due diligence.  Bringing him in at this point would really surprise me.  

[Lou]

12 hours ago, failos said:

Oh, it's Miguel Tejada's son! haha 

 

23 hours ago, Lou said:

Junior lol 

 

[totdprods]

6 hours ago, Dochalo said:

interesting.  they're either worried about someone or doing due diligence.  Bringing him in at this point would really surprise me.  

Or he’s at a point where his price is too good to pass up, or to simply drag out the process or drive up the cost of a re-signing with Houston. I’d be definitely interested with anything from a 1/$18m (he’ll be fighting to at least get a QO’s worth) to a 3/$36m without a full no-trade.

He’d go a long way to stabilizing the rotation and if he doesn’t cost the ace price tag he was seeking its worth considering.

[Lou]

15 minutes ago, totdprods said:

I’d be definitely interested with anything from a 1/$18m 

you think he's worth $18M and a comp pick for one year of Keuchal? 

[totdprods]

47 minutes ago, Lou said:

you think he's worth $18M and a comp pick for one year of Keuchal? 

I don’t but if Eppler does, I’m on board. It’s not really that I think Keuchel is worth $18m, but I imagine 1) Houston would have no problem paying that and 2) Keuchel is going to want to get as close to that QO he turned down.

Astros are having a few pitcher injuries crop up, the Angels are as well to a lesser degree - it helps the Angels, and potentially hurts the Stros. My worry with Keuchel was always years and money - a one-year deal at this stage in his career might be a coup for the Angels with our defense. If spending more on him for one year now meant we didn’t deal with his eventual hard decline soon to come, then yeah, I don’t think it’d be too bad.

As for the draft pick? It doesn’t bother me as much. We essentially got freebie prospects last year with Ohtani, Maitan, Soto, and maybe that Contreras guy. Jerez and Buttrey sort of count too - Ty is a legit prospect, Jerez is a fringe Top 30, acquired with a player similar to what we could turn Lucroy, Cahill, Allen, Harvey, or Calhoun, or Keuchel himself, into this July. Our farm is growing and developing on its own, so yeah, another prospect would be great but it’s not like we’re in dire need like a few years ago. And I’d think Swanson and Eppler can pivot without that pick and still produce a good draft with a shift in some strategy for one year if losing the pick necessitates that. Maybe they go higher risk, higher dollar, maybe they pause for a year and stock up the system with safer college players or adjust their first round targets for a year.

[DMVol]

7 hours ago, Dochalo said:

interesting.  they're either worried about someone or doing due diligence.  

Or both....

[totdprods]

7 hours ago, Dochalo said:

interesting.  they're either worried about someone or doing due diligence.  Bringing him in at this point would really surprise me.  

Could be some things behind the scenes we're unaware of too.

Perhaps Harper's signing took Philly out of the Keuchel market. Perhaps the Astros are circling back with James' injury - and another twist to that could be Keuchel is put off by Houston's lack of interest. 
Harper's signing may have had some domino effect on Trout too. Maybe the Angels now know a realistic figure and are able to budget Keuchel in. Maybe they got a hint from Trout or his agent that the Angels do need to do more to show they're trying to win or did flatly table extension talks and the Angels are now trying to be opportunistic one way or another. 

[DMVol]

7 minutes ago, totdprods said:

...Maybe they got a hint from Trout or his agent that the Angels do need to do more to show they're trying to win or did flatly table extension talks and the Angels are now trying to be opportunistic one way or another. 

I want to sign Trout as bad as anybody but if we are to the point that his agent is running the franchise, we are in trouble...

[totdprods]

5 minutes ago, DMVol said:

I want to sign Trout as bad as anybody but if we are to the point that his agent is running the franchise, we are in trouble...

I wouldn’t say it’s that it has to be that overt. It could be Arte and Eppler reading the tea leaves now that Harper has signed, they now know what he cost, they know where he signed, and now they’re doing what we are - trying to interpret what they know about Trout’s desires, Trout’s contract expectations, Philly’s interest and ability to sign him, etc., and this could be completely pre-emptive as well. 

At the start of the offseason they may have well thought Trout would require $425m, or Harper would get $400m, or Philly had no chance at either and definitely not both, and Keuchel would still get $60m+. Now they have real numbers to plug into their budgets, real assessments of what they have in camp, and they’re seeing an opportunity.

 

[failos]

2 hours ago, RBM said:

Where did you see this? I can’t find it anywhere. 

Troll Daddy constantly makes shit up.

[Blarg]

No more than any of the rest of us. 

[floplag]

RE Keuchel, I see no real reason for it at this point after skimping in other areas, BUT... if you do it has to be more than a 1yr merc deal to make any sense i would think at a very team friendly price.

[DMVol]

8 minutes ago, floplag said:

RE Keuchel, I see no real reason for it at this point after skimping in other areas, BUT... if you do it has to be more than a 1yr merc deal to make any sense i would think at a very team friendly price.

Or a one year deal with an option based on incentives....

[floplag]

1 minute ago, DMVol said:

Or a one year deal with an option based on incentives....

i dont like a 1 yr deal at all, if im not mistaken that hits us with a loss of pick, it would have to be stupid team friendly for me to like that at this point as any delays in farm dev means delays in the team getting back to the levels of efforts i want them to make.
Again what would be the point for just 19?  At best we are probably looking at a WC berth, to coin the expression, does he move the needle enough for that to make sense?   I dont think he does.

[ettin]

2 hours ago, RBM said:

Where did you see this? I can’t find it anywhere. 

It was reported the Angels were in attendance but the "taking a hard look" part isn't part of that report. It is likely more due diligence to see where Keuchel's price falls and to keep him from simply falling back into the Astros hands for super cheap.

[Troll Daddy]

1 hour ago, failos said:

Troll Daddy constantly makes shit up.

Truth is I never make shit up when it come to Angel news. Some of the stuff you read in the internet may be inaccurate. 

[Troll Daddy]

2 hours ago, floplag said:

RE Keuchel, I see no real reason for it at this point after skimping in other areas, BUT... if you do it has to be more than a 1yr merc deal to make any sense i would think at a very team friendly price.

I think he stablizes the rotation and is a innings eater. Some say he has lost a little velocity ... truth is over the last two years he has increased his velocity a tick. He won the 2015 Cy Young Award ... he was throwing 89 mph back then.

A two or three year deal makes sense ... I’ll won’t get into dollars as I trust Eppler on the money end.

I believe Keuchel will end up a Dodger. 

[Lou]

1:26pm: Severino is going to go in for an MRI, skipper Aaron Boone says (via Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News, on Twitter).

12:39pm: The Yankees announced today that prized righty Luis Severino would miss his scheduled spring outing. He had begun to warm up but experienced “discomfort” in his pitching shoulder, per the team.