The Official 2020-2021 Hot Stove Offseason Thread

[Second Base]

But really what I'm saying is there isn't a single person on this board informed enough to say with 100% certainty that Minasian won't blow the proverbial wad on pitchers that aren't worthwhile. 

Before 2021, there was no way Jerry Dipoto would sign both Pujols and Wilson. That would be insane. 

There was no way the Angels wouldn't win if they signed Wilson and Pujols. And there was no way Eppler would trade his only decent prospect Dipoto left him with for a shortstop when they already had a shortstop. And there was no way the Angels would strike out on every single valuable starter for three f'ing years in a row. 

And yet it all happened. 

We hope Perry Minasian won't blow their was on JA f'ing Happ but we don't know. And if he does blow his wad on JA f'ing Happ we don't know that Happ wouldn't be worth it.

Not many people believed Dylan Bundy would be an ace, but he is. Even the most optimistic believed he'd turn into a serviceable #3/4 starter outside the AL East. 

But if I had to guess, I would be in the camp that JA Happ isn't what the Angels new front office is viewing as the answer to all their pitching problems. At least I hope that isn't their view. 

[tdawg87]

14 minutes ago, Second Base said:

My name is Harvey F'ing Cahill. Someone once blew their 20 million dollar wad on me, and in return I provided them with something invaluable. A cautionary tale on blowing wads. 

Hi Scotty, my name is you just combined 2 pitchers and compared them to one and you know better than to be this fucking stupid.

[tdawg87]

Just now, Second Base said:

But really what I'm saying is there isn't a single person on this board informed enough to say with 100% certainty that Minasian won't blow the proverbial wad on pitchers that aren't worthwhile. 

Before 2021, there was no way Jerry Dipoto would sign both Pujols and Wilson. That would be insane. 

There was no way the Angels wouldn't win if they signed Wilson and Pujols. And there was no way Eppler would trade his only decent prospect Dipoto left him with for a shortstop when they already had a shortstop. And there was no way the Angels would strike out on every single valuable starter for three f'ing years in a row. 

And yet it all happened. 

We hope Perry Minasian won't blow their was on JA f'ing Happ but we don't know. And if he does blow his wad on JA f'ing Happ we don't know that Happ wouldn't be worth it.

Not many people believed Dylan Bundy would be an ace, but he is. Even the most optimistic believed he'd turn into a serviceable #3/4 starter outside the AL East. 

But if I had to guess, I would be in the camp that JA Happ isn't what the Angels new front office is viewing as the answer to all their pitching problems. At least I hope that isn't their view. 

Hey Scotty,

I don't think anyone has remotely suggested JA Happ is the answer to our problems.

Maybe he could be a piece of that puzzle, though? We need more than one pitcher, bud.

Love you.

[Second Base]

1 minute ago, tdawg87 said:

Hey Scotty,

I don't think anyone has remotely suggested JA Happ is the answer to our problems.

Maybe he could be a piece of that puzzle, though? We need more than one pitcher, bud.

Love you.

This isn't the part where you try to put your finger inside me, is it?

[tdawg87]

1 minute ago, Second Base said:

This isn't the part where you try to put your finger inside me, is it?

[ukyah]

4 hours ago, Second Base said:

This isn't the part where you try to put your finger inside me, is it?

my answer to this question is always, you're the one walking around with finger holes.

[Warfarin]

More than anything else, I want to see Minasian start to build his system and find under-the-radar guys who become significant contributors.

As fans, it is easy to search for the big names and say yes, let's sign Cole, Bauer, etc .. and all of that is fine and good, but where guys like Friedman, Anthopolous, etc make their money is their ability to continuously find under-the-radar talent and have them play tremendously roles in their team's success.

Eppler struggled mightily with his one-year free agency deals, but he did actually hit a home run with his trade for Bundy.  It remains to be seen if Bundy can sustain that level of success, but hopefully Minasian can find someone like that, too, and help build this team further.  

[wopphil]

He has a lot of work to do with this pitching staff. Not only does he need to find guys to help in 2021, he needs to be ready to replace Heaney and Bundy in 2022 and beyond (or e-sign them). He is going to have to find some longer term pieces. Younger starters, like Odorizzi, could make sense in that regard. 

[Second Base]

I think it'll be interesting to see what Perry makes of Heaney and Bundy.

Heaney's ERA seldom reflects his actual performance. He gets bitten by the big inning bug, but on the whole, he appears to be a pitcher you can envision going 190 linings a year with lots of K's, not many walks. Perhaps someday that ERA will drop down into the 3.75 range where I envision it. Obviously ERA isn't the be all end all here.

As far as Bundy goes, everything about his breakout last season passes the eye test. And the periphs suggest it's not only sustainable, but he might actually have the ability to improve upon it. If he comes in next year and does it again, you know the Angels won't let him get away, and given that his breakout occurred here with Callaway, I have to think there may be some mutual interest in an extension, particularly if the Angels start winning next year.

[Stradling]

Anyone else feel like the offseason hasn’t even started yet?  It just feels blah.  

[Erstad Grit]

3 hours ago, wopphil said:

He has a lot of work to do with this pitching staff. Not only does he need to find guys to help in 2021, he needs to be ready to replace Heaney and Bundy in 2022 and beyond (or e-sign them). He is going to have to find some longer term pieces. Younger starters, like Odorizzi, could make sense in that regard. 

Odorizzi makes so much sense.  3/40.

[Docwaukee]

38 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Anyone else feel like the offseason hasn’t even started yet?  It just feels blah.  

the non-tender deadline is Dec 2 this year.  I think there are quite a few teams waiting to see how that shakes out because it could have a much larger impact on the FA market than in most years.  

[T.G.]

46 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Anyone else feel like the offseason hasn’t even started yet?  It just feels blah.  

Yes! No big signings yet and that seems odd to me. Not even rumors of who might be interested in who...

[Warfarin]

19 minutes ago, T.G. said:

Yes! No big signings yet and that seems odd to me. Not even rumors of who might be interested in who...

This isn't surprising, in light of how COVID impacted the financials for teams this season, and the fact that most teams are likely bracing for limited (or no) fan attendance next year, too.

With all the uncertainty lying ahead, teams are just in a holding pattern to see how things pan out.  I imagine we won't see much movement at all until January at the earliest, outside of maybe a couple of signings.

[Vlad27Trout27]

It'll be an interesting to see what Perry is able to do. 

regarding Heaney and Bundy, it's going to be really interesting. SImply, we'll have Detmers in line to take a spot, and than if everything works out, we'll also have Rodriguez in line aswell. If everything works out, we could potentially replace both of them with Detmers and Rodriguez. We can also add a another pitcher in this upcoming draft aswell, who could provide depth. 

But i would like to see is perry working out a deal to acquire Darvish. I know people are saying he's 34 and there a risk, but working out a deal that will bring his salary down tp 39 mil over 3 years and than seeing if we could get a bargain deal. 

[BTH]

It would be great on multiple levels if Bundy and Heaney could perform well in 2020. Not only because it would help the Angels in 2020, but also because it increases the chances the Angels could offer both of them the QO and receive draft compensation in return if they signed elsewhere.

[mmc]

Make it happen Perry!

 

[tdawg87]

2 minutes ago, mmc said:

Make it happen Perry!

 

Uh oh. 

This means they know something is wrong with him.

[mmc]

 

[Pancake Bear]

18 minutes ago, mmc said:

Make it happen Perry!

 

From the article: "Among the teams believed to be interested in acquiring Snell are the Braves and Angels, a tasty subplot that could pit Atlanta’s Alex Anthopoulos and new Los Angeles GM Perry Minasian -- who worked for Anthopoulos for three years before landing the Angels job earlier this month -- against each other in a bidding war."

15 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Uh oh. 

This means they know something is wrong with him.

Possibly, but it isn't unusual for the Rays (like the A's) to dump players when their value peaks and before they hit payday. If a trade happens, medicals are reviewed. 

[tdawg87]

2 minutes ago, mmc said:

 

Meh. Maybe as a cheap reliever.

[DMVol]

Snell might be worth Marsh or maybe even Adell...

[Capital_Dave]

I'm all for trading a few valuable trade chits for Snell.  The thing is though the Rays seem like they've got depth everywhere, hard to know what their needs are.  Would Brandon Marsh + Jeremiah Jackson + someone really young like Vera be enough?

[Stradling]

The Rays might value Marsh over Adell because of the value they put on defense.  

[Warfarin]

While I like Snell, I wouldn't trade Adell for him.  I'd trade Adell for someone who comes with 5+ years of control, and Snell only has 3.