Rangers have acquired Kluber from the Indians

[ettin]

49 minutes ago, floplag said:

What an odd move for them, they suffered some huge losses last couple years, are they likely to climb back into it in the next 2 years?  
Im guessing they will go hard at Donaldson next maybe?
It will be very interesting to see the cost.
The West is going to be a beast if they go for a little hammage as well .  

There is nothing odd about it. The Astros, despite still being the strongest team, are growing more vulnerable. The A's are growing stronger after a successful 2019 campaign. The Angels have strengthened and are still not done in this off-season and will be a threat to the first two in 2020. The Rangers by adding two quality starters in Kluber and Gibson are now suddenly going to pick up more wins in 2020, which means those other three teams will lose a handful more games. Even the Mariners are positioning to compete more in 2021.

This is what parity looks like. It means it will take less total wins to take the Division, probably. That means if you can put together a winning team that has a chance of getting to 86-92 wins or so, you actually may have a chance of getting to the playoffs. This very reason is part of the calculus of why the Angels went in on this off-season.

[Stradling]

Lynn, Minor, Kluber, Gibson and Lyles.  If we had that rotation to start the year we would win 90 games.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

56 minutes ago, floplag said:

Im guessing they will go hard at Donaldson next maybe?

That is one of the rumors. MLB Network said that they are one of a handful of clubs aggressively pursuing him.

[Billy_Ball]

Good, Ohtani can hit more home runs off Kluber in Texas and Anaheim.

[beatlesrule]

There are no other players involved, reports Zack Meisel of the Athletic (via Twitter).

[mulwin444]

Hurry up and do something dumb, Eppler!  We need "something" now!

[Second Base]

Well that sucks. I would've gladly traded Goodwin and Buttrey for Kluber. 

[Stradling]

So who is the idiot?  The GM that didn’t offer more or the GM that accepted that deal.  You’d have to think someone offered what we on AngelsWin would consider a better package.  I mean wouldn’t any prospect in the top 30 of the Padres (who were rumored to be involved) be better than a top 30 prospect in the Ranger system?  You’d have to assume the Angels offered more than this.  

[tdawg87]

Just now, Second Base said:

Well that sucks. I would've gladly traded Goodwin and Buttrey for Kluber. 

But maybe Cleveland didn't want Buttrey, or any of the Angels relievers, so they pivoted to Marsh.

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, Second Base said:

Well that sucks. I would've gladly traded Goodwin and Buttrey for Kluber. 

There it is.  

[Angels_Fan]

Just now, Second Base said:

Well that sucks. I would've gladly traded Goodwin and Buttrey for Kluber. 

Yea, but if that’s all it was going to take, then that’s a red flag. Nobody trades an ace on an affordable contract for just that. The Indians probably think he’s done being an ace.

[Stradling]

Just now, calscuf said:

Why do you have to assume?

I choose to.

[Taylor]

2 minutes ago, Second Base said:

Well that sucks. I would've gladly traded Goodwin and Buttrey for Kluber. 

You would, but the Indians wouldn't.

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, tdawg87 said:

But maybe Cleveland didn't want Buttrey, or any of the Angels relievers, so they pivoted to Marsh.

This is what it is.  I have no idea if they pivoted to Marsh, but its about how the team places value.

[popo85]

Could this possibly make Gray easier to get with less prospects 

[Stradling]

Just now, calscuf said:

Because the alternative contradicts your general opinion?

No because common sense agrees with me.  The Rangers don’t have a great farm.  Padres, Dodgers and Angels were all involved at some level.  The Indians valued the closer dude or they wouldn’t have made the deal.  It isn’t because the Angels, Dodgers and Padres offered less ranked prospects.  

[ukyah]

obviously the indians are enamored with this kid's 100+ stuff. i would have been pissed if he traded marsh for kluber, personally. if they didn't like the angels players over the rangers players, then that's just the way it is. 

i'd prefer it if the angels just went out and paid for the FA starters. 

[Stradling]

Just now, calscuf said:

So yes, it contradicts your general opinion.  You could have just said that.

It contradicts common sense.  

[goldenGlove]

Would have loved to make a similar move for Kluber. But I won’t be upset until I see who we ultimately get /don’t get. Let’s wait and see

[Cosmo_Kramer]

Indians must really love Clase

[Biergott]

I sincerely hope this becomes a bump post a year from now, when Kluber sucks for the Rangers, but I was really ho[ing we’d get him, and think he’s going to turn it around this year.  Pretty bummed at this, especially that he’s in our division.  And the cost seems pretty damn low.

[floplag]

OK so this might be a good thing.  If the market for these type of quality starters with 2 years control is a 1.3 WAR player and a reliever, Eppler should have all kinds of options
 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

9 minutes ago, Angels_Fan said:

Yea, but if that’s all it was going to take, then that’s a red flag. Nobody trades an ace on an affordable contract for just that. The Indians probably think he’s done being an ace.

I'm wondering if the Angels figured the same thing and backed away.

[Stradling]

Just now, calscuf said:

Like a fast food restaurant that makes great burgers but sours the experience with crappy fries?  Common sense would tell you no company would do that.

Correct

[tdawg87]

Just now, Cosmo_Kramer said:

Indians must really love Clase

On Indianswin.com there was a thread titled "Now begins to Chase Clase" and the rest is history.