Angels sign C Jonathan Lucroy to 1yr/$3.35M deal

[Lou]

Luigi Ferrigno should bat cleanup. 

[TroutAdell]

Grandal was never a serious option based on Eppler’s approach. He wants to keep stocking the farm and would not want to give up a pick. All the signings have been for one year. If a good  one year deal comes along he will jump on it. The Angels still need a late inning reliever and a left handed hitting infielder. They could also use a right handed hitting outfielder to platoon with Calhoun. 

[ettin]

3 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

To be fair, ettin, you talk about everyone in your Primer series, like Scioscia's third cousin removed, Luigi Ferrigno, coming out of the Italian League.

In writing the Primer Series year after year you realize two things: 1) It is very difficult to precisely identify the actual player the team acquires due to a multitude of factors (price, years, availability, willingness to sign, etc.) and 2) The best way to complete an analysis is to identify one or more discriminating factors that you believe Eppler will emphasize and focus on a particular group to get a concentrated but broad list.

The Catcher edition of the Primer Series specifically focused on better defensive options of which Lucroy is an excellent choice. It covered a lot of good defensive names. In fact the parsed defensive list had 48 names. I selected 11 total that I thought were possibilities, two of which (Sanchez and Contreras) I basically eliminated based on price, that I spoke about specifically. So really it was 9 serious options, one of which was Lucroy.

So I wasn't "bragging" about talking about him I was merely pointing out to Mr. Sour Pants that the goddamn AW.com website spoke about it at the minimum (and you and whomever else almost certainly spoke about him too). It was a silly statement by WW.

[Lou]

1 minute ago, GrittyVeterans said:

Eppler could sign the hobo camped out on Katella for league minimum and people here would be stoked about the saved money it created

[GrittyVeterans]

1 minute ago, Lou said:

Yeah -0.7 WAR for a 33 year old player...fantastic signing actually...my bad

[Stradling]

Just now, GrittyVeterans said:

Yeah -0.7 WAR for a 33 year old player...fantastic signing actually...my bad

Ok, who do you want of the guys still available?  

[mulwin444]

Eppler has been doing signings like this since 2016...I'm not sure what people were expecting.

This move fits the "Eppler" vision since:

- it doesn't leverage the future (no prospects traded)

- it doesn't cost a draft pick

- It isn't a long term deal for marginal/above average vet talent

Ramos was the obvious move but, when he couldn't be compelled to move West, you go to plan "B" - 1 year deal for experienced player

Looking forward, unless the player is young and exceptional, don't expect a long term commitment...if the player has a draft pick attached don't expect Eppler to sign him

[ettin]

7 minutes ago, ThomasSutpen said:

Lucroy limped to a .241/.291/.325 line across 454 plate appearances last year. Of hitters who racked up at least 400 PAs, he ranked sixth from the bottom in ISO (.084) and ninth last in wRC+ (70), continuing an abrupt fall from grace for someone who was a formidable offensive presence as recently as 2016.

 

 

Jonathan will be the strong-side of a catcher platoon with Kevan Smith. The latter, like Briceno, appears to do very well against LHP. Lucroy over the last three years has a wRC+ of 97 versus RHP (albeit it has trended down those three years).

If he can manage to stay at a wRC+ of 90 or more it will be a marked improvement offensively for the team, while maintaining good defense. It also of course opens the door to other moves.

[GrittyVeterans]

3 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Ok, who do you want of the guys still available?  

I’ve said since day 1 the options at catcher I’d be happy with were Suzuki, Ramos, or Grandal. Realmuto too but I realize that was unlikely.

Lucroy’s trends are very bad

what you guys are missing is that the offense is going to be trash outside of our best 4 hitters again. Catcher, 1B, 2B,3B, Rf...just massive question marks all over the place and they needed to solidify 2 of those spots with above average players. I’m fine with what they did at 1B with Bour and if Pujols doesn’t play much (we’ll see)

[Stradling]

Just now, GrittyVeterans said:

I’ve said since day 1 the options at catcher I’d be happy with were Suzuki, Ramos, or Grandal. Realmuto too but I realize that was unlikely.

Lucroy’s trends are very bad

I agree, but Suzuki is gone, he was one of the first players to sign this off season,  Ramos is gone, he wanted to play on the East Coast and actually said the Mets were his first choice, and Grandal turned down 4 years and $60 million.  

[Lou]

5 minutes ago, GrittyVeterans said:

Yeah -0.7 WAR for a 33 year old player...fantastic signing actually...my bad

You fuc*ing bitch about everything.

Everything.

The sand remains.

[Stradling]

Oh and you’d have to think Realmuto would cost Adell plus, considering they turned down Robles at the deadline.

[Lou]

Just now, Stradling said:

I agree, but Suzuki is gone, he was one of the first players to sign this off season,  Ramos is gone, he wanted to play on the East Coast and actually said the Mets were his first choice, and Grandal turned down 4 years and $60 million.  

but still !!!

[GrittyVeterans]

1 minute ago, Lou said:

You fuc*ing bitch about everything.

Everything.

The sand remains.

Actually that’s not true

just most things 

[ettin]

6 minutes ago, GrittyVeterans said:

I’ve said since day 1 the options at catcher I’d be happy with were Suzuki, Ramos, or Grandal. Realmuto too but I realize that was unlikely.

Lucroy’s trends are very bad

His hard hit rate (FanGraphs Hard%) was the highest in 2018 as it has been in the last three years while his BABIP was at its lowest over the same period. Lucroy is hitting the ball hard but had unlucky results.

Edit: This was against RHP which is the platoon side he will primarily be on. From both sides his hard hit rate was just slightly below 2016 but both were high.

[GrittyVeterans]

2 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I agree, but Suzuki is gone, he was one of the first players to sign this off season,  Ramos is gone, he wanted to play on the East Coast and actually said the Mets were his first choice, and Grandal turned down 4 years and $60 million.  

None of us know if Ramos would have taken more money/an extra year from the Halos so who knows. 

Hell, I was the biggest Maldonado hater on the board but he’s a better player than the current Lucroy

[GrittyVeterans]

1 minute ago, ettin said:

His hard hit rate (FanGraphs Hard%) was the highest in 2018 as it has been in the last three years while his BABIP was at its lowest over the same period. Lucroy is hitting the ball hard but had unlucky results.

That’s encouraging at least but I am extremely skeptical he improves this year at his age

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, GrittyVeterans said:

That’s encouraging at least but I am extremely skeptical he improves this year at his age

What if he doesn’t improve but stays the same but with less bad luck?

[Angelsjunky]

14 minutes ago, mulwin444 said:

Eppler has been doing signings like this since 2016...I'm not sure what people were expecting.

This move fits the "Eppler" vision since:

- it doesn't leverage the future (no prospects traded)

- it doesn't cost a draft pick

- It isn't a long term deal for marginal/above average vet talent

Ramos was the obvious move but, when he couldn't be compelled to move West, you go to plan "B" - 1 year deal for experienced player

Looking forward, unless the player is young and exceptional, don't expect a long term commitment...if the player has a draft pick attached don't expect Eppler to sign him

Which is exactly why I feel the franchise is in good hands with Eppler. I just hope Arte isn't as impatient as many of his fans.

[Inside Pitch]

1 hour ago, Chuckster70 said:

If Grandal wanted 4 years, F that. See ya.

Some report had him turning down 4/64.  

[Angelsjunky]

Just now, ThomasSutpen said:

Let this record show, AW members, that you jettisoned Matt Shoemaker to make room for Jonny Lucroy's corpse at the same price. Lou, bookmark this if you want, this shit is a tragedy. This is the most wealthy part of the country but they expect us to act like people from Alabama. Tell us what's good coach!

I was on record for not liking letting Shoe go. I think he's a decent risk to make. But I'm also happy with Lucroy. As Mulwin mentioned, the obvious choice was Ramos but he didn't want to play on the West Coast so that wasn't really an option. Realmuto costs too much in prospects and Grandal costs too much in money. Lucroy was a solid pick among the rest. Worst-case scenario and Eppler spent a few million on a replacement player. Oh well, it happens. Best-case and Lucroy resurges and they have an absolute bargain.

[Lou]

4 minutes ago, ThomasSutpen said:

Let this record show, AW members, that you jettisoned Matt Shoemaker to make room for Jonny Lucroy's corpse at the same price. Lou, bookmark this if you want, this shit is a tragedy. This is the most wealthy part of the country but they expect us to act like people from Alabama. Tell us what's good coach!

[Inside Pitch]

4 minutes ago, ThomasSutpen said:

You give Grandal what he wants or you end up with Lucroy.

Obviously that's true, but I don't know that I would want to commit four years to a catcher at 16+ mil.

[mulwin444]

9 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Which is exactly why I feel the franchise is in good hands with Eppler. I just hope Arte isn't as impatient as many of his fans.

If these "fans" ran the franchise they'd be in deep shit...

[mulwin444]

6 minutes ago, ThomasSutpen said:

A myopic outlook at best.

Based on your objection to this deal...I'm feeling better and better about it