Angels sign David Fletcher to an extension (5 years, $26 million, with club options for 6th and 7th year)

[Angel Oracle]

Personally, I hope Arte is done for a while with signing big money FAs from other teams.

Focus for the next several years on re-signing the important guys like Bundy and both Iglesiases, and hopefully before 2023, extend Ohtani further.  That and build the farm and scouting further 

Edited April 2, 2021 by Angel Oracle

[WicketMaiden]

Fletch is my favourite player, and whilst I love this deal for the Angels I don't think Fletch was taken. He's made it now, he's rich, (ir)regardless of the future all of his hard work and perseverance has paid off and now he and his family are set for life. No arbitration distractions, no fear of career ending injury, no financial pressures ever again, just play baseball for your hometown team that just happens to include some of the best players of your generation to play alongside. As Weaver said back in the day, how much money does a guy need? Couldn't be more pleased for him. 

[WicketMaiden]

30 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Personally, I hope Arte is done for a while with signing big money FAs from other teams.

Focus for the next several years on re-signing the important guys like Bundy and both Iglesiases, and hopefully before 2023, extend Ohtani further.  That and build the farm and scouting further 

Agree with most of this, but I still want Arte to sign a TOR pitcher. A big FA like Syndergaard, but I hope we don't see another off-season where we chase the top pitchers and then pivot (again) to the best bat after the inevitable buttercup.

[Lou]

2 hours ago, sammyscioscia said:

Conform or perish, Churro is his name-o

Are you going to call Upton "watermelon"?

[sammyscioscia]

11 minutes ago, Lou said:

Are you going to call Upton "watermelon"?

Hmmm I don't like you very much

[Lou]

3 minutes ago, sammyscioscia said:

Hmmm I don't like you very much

Because I'm not white?

[Stradling]

3 hours ago, Lou said:

Oh, hell no. 

@sammyscioscia good at creating his own nickname, awful at giving nicknames to players. 

[Docwaukee]

5 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

Sure, but he's also a guy that has established a floor of 3 WAR over a full season and shown signs that he could be even better (he was on a 4.5+ WAR pace), yet this contract maxes out at $8.5M a year.

As an aside, this is also why I don't think we can take that "$9M per WAR" formula too seriously. It isn't linear. I'm just going by impressions, but my sense is that platoon/fringe starters (1-2 WAR) tend to make <$8M a year on the free agent market; solid regulars (2-3 WAR) tend to make $8-12M; good regulars (3-4 WAR) around $10-18M; all-stars (4-5 WAR) $15-25M; and superstars (5+ WAR) $25M+.

My point is that Fletcher has established himself as a good regular, with the potential to even be a 4 WAR guy. We can adjust down a bit for the contract being signed while still under club-control (and pre-arb), but I still would have thought the club options would have been $2-5M more per year.

Not that I'm complaining. Another nice perk to this contract is that even if he settles back down to being a solid regular, if more than one of the middle infield prospects turns out to be really good, Fletcher can adjust to being a super-sub. So in 2025, we could have two of Jackson, Vera, and Paris at SS/2B, and Fletchers as MI/OF utility guy who gets close to full-time play at different positions.

Cesar Hernandez.  

[Docwaukee]

I think this is a good deal for both the team and player actually.  Fletch probably gets a little more than he would have through his last year of pre arb and at least his first couple years of arb.  The Angels save a bit on the last year of arb and that first FA year probably but that's certainly not a sure thing.  The last two years being options probably favor the team a bit but not completely considering the fact that there's a buyout.  The only way that the halos benefit tremendously from this is if Fletch become a 4-5 WAR perennial all star.  They maybe benefit a little if he's a 3 WAR guy and they get his leadership.  As @Angelsjunky mentioned, the $/WAR payout to a FA is non-linear and favors the higher end players.  

If Fletcher had an off year this year with a 2 WAR season, his first year of arb would kinda set what would happen for years 2 and 3 arb.  So he gets stability, a little upside, and doesn't have to worry about his contract for the next 5 years

Plus, because of the buyout on the options years the Angels would be likely to retain him at 8m even if they thought he was worth a bit less than that on the open market.  So it could net him a mil or two more than he might get.  

All around, I like the deal and think it's fair for both.  

[Warfarin]

44 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

Cesar Hernandez.  

That's actually a great reference.  He was always pretty solid for the Phillies, posting fWARs in the 2-3.5 range, but hasn't really been able to secure much of a contract as a free agent.

Fletcher is better than Hernandez, but he's not star level.  I don't think Fletcher really got robbed.  I think this is a fair contract that has some upside for the Angels if Fletcher continues to be the same player he was last year (or better), while it's likewise a good insurance policy for Fletcher if he starts hitting like he did in 2019 and previous seasons (he would still be a good player even if so, but moreso like a Cesar Hernandez type player).

[Docwaukee]

1 minute ago, Warfarin said:

That's actually a great reference.  He was always pretty solid for the Phillies, posting fWARs in the 2-3.5 range, but hasn't really been able to secure much of a contract as a free agent.

Fletcher is better than Hernandez, but he's not star level.  I don't think Fletcher really got robbed.  I think this is a fair contract that has some upside for the Angels if Fletcher continues to be the same player he was last year (or better), while it's likewise a good insurance policy for Fletcher if he starts hitting like he did in 2019 and previous seasons (he would still be a good player even if so, but moreso like a Cesar Hernandez type player).

I mentioned the same thing above your post.  It just took me longer.  

[Warfarin]

This is a nice article on Fletcher's extension from Fangraphs:

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/fletch-returns-angels-ink-david-fletcher-to-long-term-deal/

Quote

As it turned out, Fletcher wasn’t just a solid contact hitter, but an elite one. Since he debuted in the majors, his 3.3% swinging strike percentage is the lowest in baseball. Even Ichiro Suzuki never had a rate that low in any individual season (at least starting in 2002). 

Quote

Given the cost-controlled years that the Angels hold, ZiPS would have recommended a five-year, $34.4 million contract or $53 million over seven years. If Fletcher had been a free agent right now, those figures would have been $76 million and $94 million, respectively.

 

[Lou]

On 4/1/2021 at 1:39 PM, Dave Saltzer said:

As I said in my predictions, he will get MVP votes just because he is so useful and makes the team so much better. 

lol 

[Chuck]

On 4/1/2021 at 1:45 PM, totdprods said:

Fletcher took some extremely encouraging strides in advancing his game last year. 

While I was a huge advocate of Fletcher before he made his debut, his lack of power and his lack of walks always handicapped him to someone whose offensive ceiling would be tied to how well he put the ball in play. His BAbip would sink or swim his yearly line - he could hit .260, he could hit .330, but his strong contact skills and lack of strikeouts would make him a more than serviceable hitter.

But his BB% nearly doubled the last two seasons to league average, and the contact he's making is increasingly hard contact. 

It's unlikely, but I wouldn't be surprised if Fletcher had an Altuve-esque season once or twice even; hitting well over .300 with 20-25 HRs and 40 doubles, which would make this an extremely great deal.

Unfortunately the real progress Fletcher has made the past two seasons has taken a step back to his rookie season in 2018.

.275 BA, .316 OBP. 15 walks against 34 K’s in 2018 (80 games)

.290 BA, .350 OBP. 55 walks against 64 K’s in 2019. (154 games)

.319 BA, .376 OBP. 18 walks against 20 K’s in 2020 (just 49 games due to a shortened season)

.277, .311 OBP. 27 walks against 55 K’s in 2021 (through 139 games)

You hate to see it.

It makes you wonder. Is this a David Fletcher issue he needs to fix or regression, or is this on Joe Maddon or the hitting coaches asking him to be more aggressive at the plate this season? 

[Inside Pitch]

People realize that Fletcher only needs to be a 1 bWAR player every year to be worth his contract... right?

[totdprods]

9 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Unfortunately the real progress Fletcher has made the past two seasons has taken a step back to his rookie season in 2018.

.275 BA, .316 OBP. 15 walks against 34 K’s in 2018 (80 games)

.290 BA, .350 OBP. 55 walks against 64 K’s in 2019. (154 games)

.319 BA, .376 OBP. 18 walks against 20 K’s in 2020 (just 49 games due to a shortened season)

.277, .311 OBP. 27 walks against 55 K’s in 2021 (through 139 games)

You hate to see it.

It makes you wonder. Is this a David Fletcher issue he needs to fix or regression, or is this on Joe Maddon or the hitting coaches asking him to be more aggressive at the plate this season? 

It just gets back to the fact that almost his entire offensive profile is still contingent on if his singles fall into play. Without walking or hitting for any power, he's going to be as good as his BABip is. Which could be fantastic, or could be mediocre. He doesn't strike out enough to ever really be truly awful. 

I'm not really too worried about it. When your entire offensive profile relies essentially on singles falling it, it is going to be prone to some bad (or good) luck and flukiness, and we're in the downside of that right now, and I also think some of this is just conditional due to the team's struggles and falling from contention, lack of other offensive presence in the line-up, etc. He'll be fine. I'm not 100% sure I want to see him as the everyday lead-off hitter though. Put him there when everything's clicking or when he starts walking more.

[Taylor]

I miss good David Fletcher.

[HeavenlyHalos]

His .262 average from last season almost seems unattainable now with how perfectly defenses align against him. He needs to start walking more and pulling the ball or he might be done as a starting-caliber player. Sad to see

[Stradling]

On 4/1/2021 at 1:21 PM, mmc said:

What a fucking steal.

 

Just a hunch, it won’t get to 7 years and $41 million.  

[Lou]

On 4/1/2021 at 2:35 PM, Angels 1961 said:

3 players you build around now. Trout, Rendon and Fletch

I agree

[Lou]

Look at the bright side....

Texas signed Semien for 6/$175M.

He is batting .181 with an OPS of .486 and 0 HRs (45 in 2021)

[Barf]

I just saw 'Angel's sign David Fletcher....' before reading that this was from last year and almost threw my computer out my window. I want him to do right by this contract and be a productive player for us. But right now, I have little faith in that. Hopefully he proves me and a lot of other Halo fans wrong.

[Jason]

Lol at reading this thread 

[Jason]

On 4/1/2021 at 2:10 PM, tdawg87 said:

April Fool's Day is so fucking stupid.

This was the only post in this thread that wasn't completely wrong 

[Jason]

On 9/15/2021 at 8:59 AM, Inside Pitch said:

People realize that Fletcher only needs to be a 1 bWAR player every year to be worth his contract... right?

Has he reached that mark yet?