How would you spend $40M this offseason?

[Lou]

Damn, now I want an Orange Julius.

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 minutes ago, Lou said:

Damn, now I want an Orange Julius.

and if the line is too long, a refreshing lemonade from the place where kids dance on the lemons with bare feet.

(And we judge china for eating bats, smh)

[nate]

Just call it a f'n corndog 

[totdprods]

I’ll take...

• $15m: Stroman/Gausman
• $10m: Profar 
• $10m: JBJ/Joc
• $5m: Musgrove and a reliever - Mears, Howard, Crick, Rodriguez, Hartlieb, Dovydas, any young, live arm - for Barria, Rengifo, and Marsh.

Bundy, Heaney, Stroman/Gausman, Musgrove, Canning, Ohtani

Fletcher SS, Trout CF, Rendon 3B, Ohtani DH Upton LF, Walsh 1B, JBJ/Joc platoon with Ward/Adell RF, Stassi C, Profar 2B

 

[Angel]

I feel like we need to start Ohtani earlier in the rotation to 'see' what's up, why wait so long in the rotation? We need answers and early. He has some of the best stuff in the league.  Yet he's a 6 or 7 in your rotations.

[totdprods]

9 minutes ago, Angel said:

I feel like we need to start Ohtani earlier in the rotation to 'see' what's up, why wait so long in the rotation? We need answers and early. He has some of the best stuff in the league.  Yet he's a 6 or 7 in your rotations.

He’s listed last because of the uncertainty with his elbow and the likelihood that he starts once a week at most anyways. 

[Angel]

2 hours ago, totdprods said:

He’s listed last because of the uncertainty with his elbow and the likelihood that he starts once a week at most anyways. 

If he's healthy he should start near the top in my opinion.

[Angelsjunky]

To respond to my own request, lots of ways to go about this. But I'd probably go this route:

$15M Gausman (or Stroman)

$10M McCann

$9M good reliever - Colome/Clippard/etc

$8M Richards

That's $42M, close enough, but I'd not offer arbitration to a couple pitchers to bring it down a bit. And then field a competitive offer for Musgrove - maybe Barria, Thaiss, and Knowles, or Adams if they insist.

I think McCann will probably get more than $10M - he's turning out to be a really good hitter - but a platoon of him and Stassi, with McCann getting some DH time, would be formidable. Richards might get more as well, on a one-year contract. He may be a candidate for a nice little run for a few years. 

So the team would be:

Catchers: McCann and Stassi, with Bemboom in AAA

Infielders: Rendon, Fletcher, Walsh, Rengifo, Barreto, Pujols

Outfields: Upton, Trout, Ward, Hermosillo, with Adell and Marsh in AAA

Rotation: Bundy, Gausman, Musgrove, Heaney, Richards, Ohtani

Bullpen: Colome (or whomever), Sandoval, Mayers, Buttrey, Reyes, Pena, Bedrosian, Middleton, Andriese.

 

[totdprods]

@Angelsjunky I like McCann a lot too. I wish the Angels had traded Shoemaker home to Michigan that winter they non-tendered him in a swap for McCann, who was also non-tenderer before his breakout. One of my better trade guesses. 

I’m a bit leery of Stassi going forward still - he very well could be a great catcher but he’s proven to be a little fragile too. Also doubt he’d have enough trade value to flip elsewhere should we sign McCann, but as part of a package he may be useful. I think McCann could also spot some time at 1B/DH so they could feasibly still work together here. 

[Warfarin]

10 hours ago, totdprods said:

I’ll take...

• $15m: Stroman/Gausman
• $10m: Profar 
• $10m: JBJ/Joc
• $5m: Musgrove and a reliever - Mears, Howard, Crick, Rodriguez, Hartlieb, Dovydas, any young, live arm - for Barria, Rengifo, and Marsh.

Bundy, Heaney, Stroman/Gausman, Musgrove, Canning, Ohtani

Fletcher SS, Trout CF, Rendon 3B, Ohtani DH Upton LF, Walsh 1B, JBJ/Joc platoon with Ward/Adell RF, Stassi C, Profar 2B

 

I like your thoughts, and I agree that as much as I'd like Bauer, someone like Gausman is probably far more likely.

That said, I would be disinclined to trade Marsh at this point.  We need legit LHH more than RHH, so in that regard - I'd shoot higher and trade Adell.  With Trout and Rendon, we have two of the best RHH in the sport - we need some legit LHH to balance it out a bit.

I'd call up Detroit and inquire about Manning/Mize, but if not, then I'd call Cleveland up - they have no end in sight in terms of pitching, but they have no OF to speak of.

Using https://www.baseballtradevalues.com/trade-simulator/, I proposed Adell + SS Jackson to CLE for SS Lindor + SP Pleasac, and it was determined to be fair value (Indians get 63 in value, Angels get 62.5 in value).

Assuming Lindor gets ~25mil in arbitration, and we sign Gausman (15mil/yr), then we have:

2B Fletcher, SS Lindor, CF Trout, 3B Rendon, 1B Walsh, LF Upton, DH Ohtani, RF Ward/Marsh, C Stassi

Bundy, Pleasac, Gausman, Heaney, Barria, Canning, Ohtani, etc..

If Ohtani can become the ace we hope that he can, then our rotation would actually be incredibly stacked.  Sandoval can then be converted into relief, where he's shown to be really good.

IMO, if I had 40mil to spend, that is what I'd do

While it's not as flashy as signing an ace like Bauer, if we lock up Lindor long-term (it's possible, with both Pujols and Upton's contracts expiring soon), then we'd have one of the best infield defenses in baseball with Rendon, Lindor, Fletcher, and Walsh.  Flash forward 2 years later, with Adams taking over in CF, and we'd likely have one of the best OF defenses in baseball too, with Adams in CF, Marsh in RF, and Trout in LF. 

[totdprods]

@Warfarin I like that too. I agree that Adell plus for Lindor and a CLE arm is a better match than Manning or Mize too. Detroit is too early in their new core period to risk moving an arm. 

I have this weird feeling the Angels are going to go in heavy on a FA SS and Lindor could be a target. Arte is too star-hungry. It’ll replace Pujols money.

And I think once/if Flaherty, Giolito, or Bieber hit FA, we will be in heavy after those too, especially with all being from CA I believe. It’ll replace Upton money. 

The farm needs to start paying off.

[Warfarin]

1 minute ago, totdprods said:

@Warfarin I like that too. I agree that Adell plus for Lindor and a CLE arm is a better match than Manning or Mize too. Detroit is too early in their new core period to risk moving an arm. 

I have this weird feeling the Angels are going to go in heavy on a FA SS and Lindor could be a target. Arte is too star-hungry. It’ll replace Pujols money.

And I think once/if Flaherty, Giolito, or Bieber hit FA, we will be in heavy after those too, especially with all being from CA I believe. It’ll replace Upton money. 

The farm needs to start paying off.

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I like it.

Lindor is almost assuredly getting traded this offseason, based on his comments and Cleveland's need to flip good, expensive players for young talent to keep their run going.

Cleveland's worst position is OF, and we so happen to be stocked in that area.

Could you imagine having a core trio of Lindor, Trout, and Rendon for years to come?  Would be absolutely incredible.  Pleasac, while not a top-of-the-rotation talent, would be another solid SP3-type SP to go along with Bundy and Heaney.

If they signed Gausman on top, then we'd have a rotation filled with very solid mid-rotation pitchers, with a possible "ace" if Ohtani can recover.

And, beyond that - we have Detmers, CRod, etc who could start paying dividends in the near future.

Arte would have to go over the cap for a year or two to enable this.  Will he?  I don't know, but if he really wants a title soon, he likely needs to do so.

[Stradling]

I hate to be a downer, but there is no way in the world that we will be paying Lindor $35-40 million a year for the next 10 years.  He is going to get a monster contract.  He will get Rendon type of deal, annually, but for 10 years if not 12.  

[Angel Oracle]

Wouldn’t Adell/Jackson for Lindor/Plesac, at this point, be shortchanging the Indians anyway?

That plus Strad’s post makes Lindor a long shot.

Edited October 2, 2020 by Angel Oracle

[floplag]

I haven't spent a lot of time on this as yet so ill defer to later discussion except to say its obvious we have certain needs and equally obvious what killed us.
I hated virtually every trade we made and i dont think we should make the QO to simba.  I hate to say that but 18M is likley twice what i would value him at personally at this point and we need the money elsewhere.
Were going to have to invest in pitching, which probably takes us out of the Realmuto or any other significant bat discussions. 
Id love to get both Bauer and Stroman, but that also wont happen.  I think we will have to trade for one of the starters and it will hurt the farm, but it might be the only way to give the big club a shot. 
I think we need 2 starters and someone to lock down the back of the bag of peanuts we call a bullpen.  Ive wondered how Ohtani might look in that role if his durability wont allow him to start, but i suspect its still a little early to go there. 
This is all just random thoughts at this point, not what i would call a plan, but if Arte really wants to win he might have to eat some tax for a couple years and maybe go beyond that 40 knowing it balances out in a year with Albert.   Its either that or the Albertross sinks us another year.

[Stradling]

My personal opinion is making Ohtani the closer does nothing to his value other than hurt it.  Durability between a closer and a starter favors starting, not closing.  Also making him the closer means he is no longer a two way player.  

[Angelsjunky]

"Hey, Francisco, I want to make you the second wealthiest Mexican in Anaheim."

"I'm not Mexican. I'm Puerto Rican."

"Fuck."

[stormngt]

3 hours ago, totdprods said:

@Warfarin I like that too. I agree that Adell plus for Lindor and a CLE arm is a better match than Manning or Mize too. Detroit is too early in their new core period to risk moving an arm. 

I have this weird feeling the Angels are going to go in heavy on a FA SS and Lindor could be a target. Arte is too star-hungry. It’ll replace Pujols money.

And I think once/if Flaherty, Giolito, or Bieber hit FA, we will be in heavy after those too, especially with all being from CA I believe. It’ll replace Upton money. 

The farm needs to start paying off.

Why go in heavy for Lindor when a qualifying offer for Simmons would be cheaper and shorter committment.  

[totdprods]

2 minutes ago, stormngt said:

Why go in heavy for Lindor when a qualifying offer for Simmons would be cheaper and shorter committment.  

It’s not even that I’d do it.

Just a feeling Arte might try for a big splash when that SS mega class rolls around.

[Angelsjunky]

One other thing about Lindor. His wRC+ has gone from 130 in 2018 to 116 in 2019 to 100 this year. It is one thing to invest $30M a year on a 130 wRC+ Gold Glove SS, quite another on an average hitter. I suspect he'll bounce back, and he may even have his best years ahead of him with the bat, but I'd like to see how he looks in 2021 before investing hundreds of millions on him.

 

[Docwaukee]

40 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

One other thing about Lindor. His wRC+ has gone from 130 in 2018 to 116 in 2019 to 100 this year. It is one thing to invest $30M a year on a 130 wRC+ Gold Glove SS, quite another on an average hitter. I suspect he'll bounce back, and he may even have his best years ahead of him with the bat, but I'd like to see how he looks in 2021 before investing hundreds of millions on him.

 

I really do not see the Halos investing in another high dollar long term contract.  

The only real shot we have at Bauer is if he signs for 4yrs or less.  

[Angelsjunky]

2 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

I really do see the Halos investing in another high dollar long term contract.  

The only real shot we have at Bauer is if he signs for 4yrs or less.  

Do you mean do not? If so, I agree. Maybe in a year or two, but not now - and they won't trade away the farm for one year of Lindor.

[Docwaukee]

1 minute ago, Angelsjunky said:

Do you mean do not? If so, I agree. Maybe in a year or two, but not now - and they won't trade away the farm for one year of Lindor.

yes.  I meant do not.  

[Vlad27Trout27]

This will be first of many

Stroman: 17 mil over 5 years ( 85 mil/ 5 year)

Britton: 12.5 mil over 2 years (25 mil/2 years). Isn't the elite closer he once was, but has 70% Ground ball rate, and does not give up homeruns. 

Richards : 10 mil over 3 years (30 mil/ 3 years) 

Dfa Robles and Anderies.

Peacock: 6-7 mil over one year. 

Rotation

Stroman, Bundy, heaney, Canning, Richards, and Ohtani/Barria

 

 

 

[tdawg87]

6 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

I really do see the Halos investing in another high dollar long term contract.  

The only real shot we have at Bauer is if he signs for 4yrs or less.  

I don't think Bauer or Stroman will get more than 4 years.

I know money is tight but if you can get Bauer for like 3 years with an option, you really gotta try.