Harper Hypothetical

[Dtwncbad]

Completely unrealistic hypothetical. . .

If Arte got a wild hair for the Angels to have a historical duo in Trout and Harper (provided he worked out an extension for Trout). . .

 Would you be happy or not happy if the Angels signed Harper for 12 years, $390 million? (I would also assume Harper will have an opt out at 30 or 31 years old).

 

 

[floplag]

The wishful thinking part of me hope this might be why they are trying to move Calhoun, the realistic side of me feels like its a pipe dream if were already losing money and Artes is scared of more contract like Albertross.  
It would potentially be a crap ton of fun though. 
And we might not have to listen to how the Red sox outfield is the best in history any more   

[halomatt]

I would be shocked if this happened.  Absolutely shocked. I'd go so far as to say this is an impossibility.  That said, I'm often wrong.

[Troll Daddy]

[Fish Oil]

Most of us have probably entertained this thought at one point or another. It's not realistic, but it sure is fun to think about.

[Lou]

if Arte was committed to going over the luxury tax threshold, sure, why not? 

if not, paying two guys over $65 million/yr isn't a good idea. 

also, I wouldn't call it historical. Betts and Martinez put up historical numbers as teammates. Harper had an OPS of .889 and has had a WAR under 4 in 2 of the last 3 years. 

[Blarg]

I don't think it's a sustainable model to have multiple extreme contracts for extended periods.

 

[Angel Oracle]

Not to mention what Trout, Simba, and Ohtani could all be commanding as FAs.    No way do they add someone else’s big money guy.   Do we want an Albertross or Hackilton repeat?

[jessecrall]

There's a not insignificant chance that Adell is as valuable as Harper by, like, 2021 for a few pennies on the dollar. Much as I'd love to see a first inning of Harper-Trout-Ohtani giving pitchers suicidal thoughts.

[ten ocho recon scout]

56 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

Completely unrealistic hypothetical. . .

If Arte got a wild hair for the Angels to have a historical duo in Trout and Harper (provided he worked out an extension for Trout). . .

 Would you be happy or not happy if the Angels signed Harper for 12 years, $390 million? (I would also assume Harper will have an opt out at 30 or 31 years old).

 

 

Yes.

Im not a harper fan (nor do i dislike him, hes just not one of the guys I really like). The contract would be stupid (with trout still unsigned). It shouldn't help our pitching at all.

That said, pairing trout with arguably the second (or 3rd/4th) best hitter in his peak years, who will in all likelyhood be a stud for years a d years would be pretty amazing.

If we did that, and adell works out, plus literally one other prospect turning into an everyday contributor, this team would have its core set for years.

No way in hell it happens though.

[Angelsjunky]

I'd say no. I think the best is yet to come with Harper, but the Angels have so much outfield talent in the minors that they should focus their monetary resources elsewhere.

 

[Stradling]

Too me personally that is too much money to spend on Harper and too much money to spend on two players.  It would be funny if this happened and due to Arte and his year to year contract commitment, their contracts are every other year Trout gets big bucks and then Harper gets big bucks.  

[TroutField]

Nope if they did that I would be 100% convinced Arte didn’t learn his lesson with the Pujols and Hamilton clusterfuck. If we are shelling out money it better be for Trout and Simba. Stay the course, Eppler almost has us where we want to be. 

 

If they want to splurge on a couple 2 year deals I’m all for it, no more long term contacts to free agents.

[totdprods]

The biggest hurdle I see with Harper isn't the move made involving him, but the others it would require. You don't sign Bryce Harper unless you're fully committed to winning it all right now while you have Trout. Yeah, yeah, you might extend Trout and you'll have Harper for the future, but still...you aren't thinking about 2021 if you're plopping down $350m.

You'd have acquire something resembling a frontline SP to really have it all make sense, and while it's easy to say 'Well, let's package Adell, Suarez, and Jones for deGrom/Kluber/Thor/etc.," you still have to account for the tens of millions those pitchers are already making too. 

And you'd pretty much have to dump Calhoun to save money...more than likely, he's only going to net you a pitcher who costs equivalent money, so no savings there.

Even if you get Harper for a 'reasonable' $28m-35m annually, you'd have to commit another $10m-20m on top of it to really make the signing worth making to field a well-rounded, competitive team.

 

[Blarg]

Boras is going to bend some team over. It won't be the Angels.

[Docwaukee]

2 hours ago, jessecrall said:

There's a not insignificant chance that Adell is as valuable as Harper by, like, 2021 for a few pennies on the dollar. Much as I'd love to see a first inning of Harper-Trout-Ohtani giving pitchers suicidal thoughts.

don't say 2021 around here.  it's a four letter word.  

[Tank]

I wouldn't commit that many years or that much money to anyone except Trout, and even then it's too many years. There'd be a serious possibility for a Pujols kind of decline again.

Harper is an exciting player at times, but he disappears for long stretches of time. I get enough of the hot & cold scenario watching the Kings each season. Not interested in adding an Angels player to that scenario.

[kevinb]

Stoked two of the top 5 position players in baseball in their prime. Who wouldn’t be stoked?

[Docwaukee]

I would not be happy committing that kind of money to Harper.  It would actually bum me out if Arte did so in that it would have to mean that Trout doesn't want to stay long term.  

[Pancake Bear]

 

........ that the Angels already have an even more historic duo: Trout and Ohtani. 

Now if Arte wants to dig into his piggy bank and make it a trio by adding a not-quite-as-accomplished-as-the-other-guys third wheel? Uh, okay, I guess. I'm down as long as it doesn't screw up our chances to compete like Pujols' contract has. 

[kevinb]

6 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

I would not be happy committing that kind of money to Harper.  It would actually bum me out if Arte did so in that it would have to mean that Trout doesn't want to stay long term.  

I’m sorry am I the only one who read the question? The hypothetical was both signed long term. I get it’s late but are people really saying they don’t want great players on this team?

[kevinb]

4 minutes ago, Sean-Regan said:

 

........ that the Angels already have an even more historic duo: Trout and Ohtani. 

Now if Arte wants to dig into his piggy bank and make it a trio by adding a not-quite-as-accomplished-as-the-other-guys third wheel? Uh, okay, I guess. I'm down as long as it doesn't screw up our chances to compete like Pujols' contract has. 

Not quite accomplished? Harper has a rookie of the year and an mvp. Um ok then. You do know Trout has 1 more mvp then Harper right?

[Pancake Bear]

12 minutes ago, Kevinb said:

Not quite accomplished? Harper has a rookie of the year and an mvp. Um ok then. 

Trout: Best player in the game by a lot - which probably means best ever.

By WAR, he's the best player to date up through his current age season.

He has 2 MVP awards, which is actually a couple less than he should have.

 

Ohtani: Despite injury issues, had a historic first season, putting up two-way numbers nobody has touched since Babe Ruth.

Pitching in the major leagues is tough. Lot of guys with far more athletic talent than any of us can't stick at that level. Hitting at the major league level - ditto.

Ohtani can pitch ridiculously well *and* get big hits against big-time ace pitchers on his off days when most pitchers are recovering from their last start (to say nothing of his crazy on-base skills).

 

Harper? He's a star player. He had one of the best seasons ever in 2015. But (depending which site's metrics you prefer), he's only had one other season to date besides 2015 where he broke 5 WAR (bWAR, fWAR maxes him out at 4.8). 

Don't get me wrong, Harper is great. But, of his 7 seasons he's played: Three of them he maxed out at 1.5 bWAR or less (FG is more forgiving of his defense, giving him 3 and 3.5 fWAR in 2016 and 2018).

 

So, forgive me if I refer to him as less accomplished than Trout and Ohtani. While I might be premature on Ohtani, I'm not sure Harper's best season to date was as accomplished as Ohtani's *one* season in the majors. 

 

[Torridd]

12 hours ago, Dtwncbad said:

Completely unrealistic hypothetical. . .

If Arte got a wild hair for the Angels to have a historical duo in Trout and Harper (provided he worked out an extension for Trout). . .

 Would you be happy or not happy if the Angels signed Harper for 12 years, $390 million? (I would also assume Harper will have an opt out at 30 or 31 years old).

 

 

I would love it. I loved the Autry days when money was no limit. If the organization can afford it, I'm up for anything if it means improving the team.

[Angelsfan1984]

it would be feasible without Upton, but the team needs pitching much more than a hair model.