Stephen Strasburg re-signs with the Nationals (7 years, $245 million)

[Tank]

7/245 for stras . . . don't think anyone saw that coming. 

well arte, the ball's in your court. you know what to do.

[stevestevens]

15 minutes ago, Bronson said:

Getting starters that can pitch past the 4th inning. Bundy was a good start.

I really like the Bundy trade but an innings eater 4/5 rotation guy who averaged just over 5 innings a start last year is not really a recipe to keep your BP rested. We need Cole and Ohtani going into the 7th inning winning us games 5-1 or 6-2 if we want to rest the bullpen.

Bundy is the type of pitcher that we need to keep us in the game through 6 so we can put in Middleton, Buttrey, and Robles to take us into the clubhouse.....it seems like those are the exact type of pitchers that we have.  The difference is Bundy has shown he can do it 30 times a season instead of 14.....which is a good thing. 

[Lou]

Just now, Tank said:

7/245 for stras . . . don't think anyone saw that coming. 

well arte, the ball's in your court. you know what to do.

[Inside Pitch]

5 minutes ago, Lou said:

that's different than saying if we don't get Cole (specifically), then we should trade Trout and Ohtani and rebuild.

I'm skimming so I dunno if someone has actually said that but yeah -- that would be an extremely ignorant comment.   But Cole really accelerates the Angels return to contention and IMO allows them to hold on to guys that could end up being core pieces.

[Lou]

3 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

I'm skimming so I dunno if someone has actually said that but yeah -- that would be an extremely ignorant comment.   But Cole really accelerates the Angels return to contention and IMO allows them to hold on to guys that could end up being core pieces.

..

59 minutes ago, Sean-Regan said:

Midrange guys are far more of a crapshoot than legitimate aces. Until we have the ability to hit 100% on midrange guys, it's far riskier (and less likely to be successful, given how many aces were in the WS this year) than just ponying up for Cole. 

Especially given that the Angels are apparently looking at Bumgarner, I'd say yeah, we definitely need to get Cole or 2020 is over. And 2021. And 2022, probably.

 

54 minutes ago, Sean-Regan said:

No, the idea of passing on him is essentially committing baseball suicide. Might as well trade Trout and Ohtani and rebuild if we do that. And I'm not even kidding.

 

[Inside Pitch]

Yeah -- don't agree with the trading Trout Ohtani thing but, as far as legitimately competing in 20-22 goes...   As it stands now the Angels have the fourth best rotation in the AL West and not enough offense to overcome it.   People will say pivot and add offense but that's a recipe for failure IMO.

[Jason]

37 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Not good news. Remember when the estimate was something like 5/$150M? 

This means a few things: One, Cole will DEFINITELY get at least 8 years, and quite possibly 9 or even 10. He’ll also get at least $35M AAV.

So the new baseline is probably 8/$280M, but I now expect $300M or more. Not sure if Arte will go for that.

Yeah, that is not a good contract. He should pass

[tdawg87]

Cole would be a rotation anchor for at least the next 3-4 years, which also happens to be the remaining years of Trout's prime. 

I don't know about you guys, but the best time to compete is starting now. I don't give a fuck what it takes to get Cole. We need him. 

I understand he alone doesn't make us an immediate contender, but he brings us a hell of a lot closer than Bumgarner or Ryu or Keuchel. 

[the dude abides]

22 minutes ago, Lou said:

[Erstad Grit]

2 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Cole would be a rotation anchor for at least the next 3-4 years, which also happens to be the remaining years of Trout's prime. 

I don't know about you guys, but the best time to compete is starting now. I don't give a fuck what it takes to get Cole. We need him. 

I understand he alone doesn't make us an immediate contender, but he brings us a hell of a lot closer than Bumgarner or Ryu or Keuchel. 

How about madbum and Ryu?

[Bronson]

1 minute ago, Erstad Grit said:

How about madbum and Ryu?

How about Cole and Madbum? I like that more.

[tdawg87]

Just now, Erstad Grit said:

How about madbum and Ryu?

Nope. 

That's Bavasi logic. 

[Lhalo]

49 minutes ago, Angels_Make_Me_Drink said:

Cole will get 8/300 now I think.

[AngelsLakersFan]

14 minutes ago, Erstad Grit said:

How about madbum and Ryu?

How about madbum and Ryu and uh.. another one!

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

This deal is bat shit crazy. Why wouldn’t they go all in on Rendon instead?

Especially with scherzer and corbin locked up.

[Angelsjunky]

1 hour ago, Lou said:

One of the best comedic characters in cinematic history. I miss Philip Seymour Hoffman. RIP.

[Claude]

2 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

Yeah -- don't agree with the trading Trout Ohtani thing but, as far as legitimately competing in 20-22 goes...   As it stands now the Angels have the fourth best rotation in the AL West and not enough offense to overcome it.   People will say pivot and add offense but that's a recipe for failure IMO.

We do have holes in the offense. Cole won’t fix that. We need Cole and more. 

[Inside Pitch]

18 minutes ago, Calzone 2 said:

We do have holes in the offense. Cole won’t fix that. We need Cole and more. 

We do, doesn't change what I'm saying.  Run prevention>>>Run production.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Is the strass deal likely what fletchers tweets last night were about?

[tdawg87]

Just now, ten ocho recon scout said:

Is the strass deal likely what fletchers tweets last night were about?

If so he should have clarified by now.

[Chuck]

33 minutes ago, Calzone 2 said:

We do have holes in the offense. Cole won’t fix that. We need Cole and more. 

I becoming less and less worried about our offense. 

Upton, Ohtani, Trout are a really good 2-4 in the order and when you add Fletcher, La Stella and later on Adell, this could end up being a REALLY GOOD offense should everyone stay healthy. 

Also, I have a lot of faith in Thaiss, Ward, Walsh and Rengifo contributing quite a bit over the 2020 campaign and beyond and I also believe we'll get better offensively at catcher. Even if it's just Maldonado. He alone is leaps and bounds better than what we had last season.

[tdawg87]

3 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

I becoming less and less worried about our offense. 

Upton, Ohtani, Trout are a really good 2-4 in the order and when you add Fletcher, La Stella and later on Adell, this could end up being a REALLY GOOD offense should everyone stay healthy. 

Also, I have a lot of faith in Thaiss, Ward, Walsh and Rengifo contributing quite a bit over the 2020 campaign and beyond and I also believe we'll get better offensively at catcher. Even if it's just Maldonado. He alone is leaps and bounds better than what we had last season.

People are looking at the overall numbers in a vacuum, without considering the fact that:

Trout missed the last month of the year.

Ohtani missed significant time.

La Stella missed half the year.

Upton missed half the year and was mediocre when he returned.

Lots of our young guys should actually improve.

 

We could absolutely use help on offense, especially at catcher and 3rd. But I don't think it's a dire need. I look at our rotation right now and Andrew Heaney is our number 2 starter. I think maybe that's a significantly bigger issue.

[Chuck]

I'm also starting to really like Matt Thaiss as a 1B/3B option that plays quite regularly in 2020. I really liked what I saw from him in limited time for the Angels this past season. 

He's carried that over in winter baseball  slashing.300/.432/.467 with a bomb in 30 at bats.

[fan_since79]

20 hours ago, nate said:

If the Angels can't land Cole then I don't see how they could be a legit competitor next season.

I fear that this team will be stricken for mediocrity for years to come.

[mulwin444]

15 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

I'm also starting to really like Matt Thaiss as a 1B/3B option that plays quite regularly in 2020. I really liked what I saw from him in limited time for the Angels this past season. 

He's carried that over in winter baseball  slashing.300/.432/.467 with a bomb in 30 at bats.

Speaking of Thaiss, hard to forget this split:

Weird to see such an extreme split...if he can get the road numbers even remotely respectable, he'd be a solid piece of the line-up.