Make a deal already

[Hubs]

I don't think they really need two free agent starters. I've thought about this since before the offseason last year.

For 2018, the rotation should've been some combo of Garrett Richards , Andrew Heaney , Tyler Skaggs , Matthew Shoemaker , Nick Tropeano, Parker Bridwell and JC Ramirez. They'd also of course, signed Shoehei Ohtani in that offseason.

In 2018, Ohtani went down, Richards went down, Shoemaker was never healthy, Tropeano went down, Bridwell disappointed and JC Ramirez went down. That's an entire rotation. Heaney led the way with 30 starts, and Skaggs made 24. Barria, who was likely 9th on the rotation depth chart made 26. Pena made 17. He was probably 10th on the depth chart. The following offseason, they parted ways with Richards and Shoemaker.

For 2019, They added two guys in FA to replace two they didn't have for 2019 in Harvey and Cahill. That was because they needed innings and three guys from their top 5 weren't gonna be ready. They expected Barria to slot into the 5th or 6th spot and Canning to make his debut. It wasn't gonna be a strong rotation year, but they I think thought it would be better than it ended up being. The rotation would likely have been Cahill, Harvey, Heaney, Skaggs, & Barria to start the season, with Canning expected to be in the rotation by years end & Pena the swingman. Why they grabbed Stratton on Waivers, we'll never know,  but he didn't last long. They expected JC Ramirez and Tropeano to come back at some point. Obviously then, everyone disappointed, they lost a starter tragically, (RIP Skaggs), and also cut Harvey early. Canning stepped up, but Sandoval and Suarez probably were rushed up a year early. Pena did well.

In 2020, they added Bundy so far and that's it. They let Ramirez and Tropeano go. Ohtani is slated to return. Pena is likely again the swingman.

I'd say they need to add one guy via free agency who is likely to give them 180-200 innings. After that... I'd rather add low cost depth. The depth chart now looks like Ohtani, Heaney, Bundy, Canning, Sandoval, Pena, Barria, Suarez.

You get a bulldog who wants to go every fifth day sure, you can work that out. But adding two? Yes its nice for depth, and it allows you to put Pena in the bullpen or Canning at AAA to open the year, but..why two? Aren't you better off getting one Ryu or Kuechel or Price or Darvish and trading for a low cost guy, or moving a guy back via trade?

Signing Keuchel / Ryu, Alex Wood, and Taijuan Walker sounds good to me.

[Mark68]

3 hours ago, CanadianHalo said:

I’ve always said this team will need to spend their way out of this mess. Arte has never wanted to go the full blown rebuild route and with Trout locked up and in his prime and having just signed Rendon the time to do it is this offseason. 

Yes, Keuchel isn’t going to be winning any Cy Young awards in the future but he’s a solid consistent starter. Castellanos is 27 and really broke out once he got away from Detroit whose home ballpark isn’t a good fit for him. 

Like @totdprods has said there is value there for us in signing Castellanos. Castellanos allows us to trade away some of other prospects we’d no longer need in the immediate future. 

I just don’t see a scenario where this team is a serious contender this season without spending more money. Right now Eppler has backed himself into a corner and has no leverage in any trade scenario. As mentioned above most teams I’m sure are asking for Marsh. Why wouldn’t they? 

So where do you play Castellanos? We have DH covered, and Castellanos can't field any position for shit (I suppose maybe 1B, but we kinda have that covered too).

[totdprods]

5 minutes ago, Mark68 said:

So where do you play Castellanos? We have DH covered, and Castellanos can't field any position for shit (I suppose maybe 1B, but we kinda have that covered too).

The Castellanos idea I pitched had him starting the season in RF and transitioning to 1B as the season went on, as Adell ascended and as Pujols needs more rest. Goodwin as 4th OF, or flipped in a deal for pitching help. Castellanos also picks up a few starts at LF to break Upton, starts at DH when Ohtani isn’t. It’s admittedly a bit of a balancing act for 2020.

2021, Adell is entrenched, Castellanos takes 1B. Pujols, in his final year, is part-time DH/PH/1B. Castellanos still picks up an odd start here or there at LF/RF.

2022 onwards he’s our 1B/DH. Which of course gets back to the only reason this could be feasible - do the Angels, Maddon, and Castellanos feel like he can be a 1B. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

3 hours ago, Tank said:

we should just trade for kris bryant and call it a day.

He prefers Jim Bryant, smart guy.

[rottiesworld]

Well Eppler doesn’t want a job, has not done crap. Mr. Moreno is the one that got Rondon because MR. Moreno wanted him bad, other then that Eppler has not done anything to improve the pitching staff by sitting on his ass waiting for Cole and all the other pitchers signed  and off the board like last season. He better do something quick before all the pitchers are gone. He should have told Cole you have a 24 period for you to decide as we have to move quickly and get some people to help the team.

[Jay]

Chrissy!

[T.G.]

14 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

He prefers Jim Bryant, smart guy.

That was such an epic moment.

[Blarg]

6 hours ago, Dtwncbad said:

Those guys are the results of impatience and lack of discipline and they were the wrong players to target.  None of my position has anything to do with being stupid and targeting the wrong player.  It has to do with recognizing that the right target (high quality pitching) has a high price, and being willing to pay the market price for what you actually need.

You want a Porsche, you pay for a Porsche.

OK, tell us what model Porsche you had in mind and how you believe can be traded for. 

[yk9001]

52 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

He prefers Jim Bryant, smart guy.

I've seen Rome turtle in this clip one thousand times, and it never gets old.

I remember where I was the day it happened.  It's like when the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan for another generation.

[Jay]

Hard to believe that was 25 years ago.

Rams were so bad back then, I was actually relieved when they moved to St. Louis.

 

[Lou]

Jim Rome was right. 

[the dude abides]

3 minutes ago, Lou said:

Jim Rome was right. 

Jim Rome is all talk, no balls.

 

[Angel Oracle]

5 hours ago, Second Base said:

I think so. Consensus suggests that they still have 30-35 million to spend. This would go over budget, but I think bottom line is it would create a more competitive team which means more butts in the seats, playoffs, etc...and preserves draft picks. 

So I think spending the extra 5-10 million is ultimately offset.

And it’s only for two years.   $24 million AAV and $30 million actual comes off payroll when Pujols retires after 2021, and another $21 million AAV when Upton comes off payroll after 2022, plenty to re-sign Simba a year from now  and Ohtani after 2023.   Plus Keuchel and Ryu would likely only be here through 2022 or 2023 anyway.

Edited December 17, 2019 by Angel Oracle

[Lou]

1 minute ago, the dude abides said:

Jim Rome is all talk, no balls.

 

he was still right 

[Mark68]

2 hours ago, totdprods said:

The Castellanos idea I pitched had him starting the season in RF and transitioning to 1B as the season went on, as Adell ascended and as Pujols needs more rest. Goodwin as 4th OF, or flipped in a deal for pitching help. Castellanos also picks up a few starts at LF to break Upton, starts at DH when Ohtani isn’t. It’s admittedly a bit of a balancing act for 2020.

2021, Adell is entrenched, Castellanos takes 1B. Pujols, in his final year, is part-time DH/PH/1B. Castellanos still picks up an odd start here or there at LF/RF.

2022 onwards he’s our 1B/DH. Which of course gets back to the only reason this could be feasible - do the Angels, Maddon, and Castellanos feel like he can be a 1B. 

Again, Castellanos can't field. I do not want him in RF for ANY amount of time.

[Lou]

Upton in LF and Castellanos in RF would be a nightmare to watch.

[yk9001]

36 minutes ago, Lou said:

Jim Rome was right. 

Then he's an even bigger pussy than Chrissy Evert.  Because he turtled like a bitch.

[Lou]

ok 

[Stradling]

36 minutes ago, the dude abides said:

Jim Rome is all talk, no balls.

 

Good thing he was a talk show host instead of a ball show host.  

[Tank]

4 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Good thing he was a talk show host instead of a ball show host.  

i don't even want to know about the latter, you perv.

[Dtwncbad]

14 hours ago, Blarg said:

OK, tell us what model Porsche you had in mind and how you believe can be traded for. 

For the fourth (?) time, my point is I hope the Angels are not hesitating on opportunities because they don’t want to pay the fair market price to get what they need.

If you believe the Angels are willing to pay the fair market price but that there are just no viable trade targets, I hope you are right.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

22 hours ago, totdprods said:

If I had a frontline starter on the market, I’d be asking about Adell every single time Billy called. At the very least, Fletcher, Marsh, Sandoval or Canning. And after that, a number of guys like Rengifo, Thaiss, etc. packaged together. 

Can't trade pitching for pitching. Sign the free agent pitchers before it's too late...

[Billy_Ball]

On 12/17/2019 at 11:32 AM, rottiesworld said:

Well Eppler doesn’t want a job, has not done crap. Mr. Moreno is the one that got Rondon because MR. Moreno wanted him bad, other then that Eppler has not done anything to improve the pitching staff by sitting on his ass waiting for Cole and all the other pitchers signed  and off the board like last season. He better do something quick before all the pitchers are gone. He should have told Cole you have a 24 period for you to decide as we have to move quickly and get some people to help the team.

Not Eppler's fault that Mike Chernoff tried to fleece him with the Kluber deal but he accepted a minor league reliever and 4th outfielder from the Rangers.  Indians didn't act in good faith there, and I'm sure other GMs took notice of that.

Edited December 19, 2019 by Billy_Ball

[CanadianHalo]

55 minutes ago, Billy_Ball said:

Not Eppler's fault that Mike Chernoff tried to fleece him with the Kluber deal but he accepted a minor league reliever and 4th outfielder from the Rangers.  Indians didn't act in good faith there, and I'm sure other GMs took notice of that.

It is Eppler’s fault he’s backed himself into a corner where everyone knows how desperate he is for pitching. This is his 5th offseason. He’s the one that’s let this issue get to this point. No one else.

[Billy_Ball]

39 minutes ago, CanadianHalo said:

It is Eppler’s fault he’s backed himself into a corner where everyone knows how desperate he is for pitching. This is his 5th offseason. He’s the one that’s let this issue get to this point. No one else.

Agreed, everyone knows the Angels are desperate for pitching so they're going to make them overpay.  Probably why he made the "expensive" quote regarding trades for pitching at Rendon's presser.