Official 2021-22 Hot Stove League Thread.

[Inside Pitch]

Suck it, Astros!

Welcome to the off-season....  

Go Perry!

[jsnpritchett]

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/11/the-2021-22-offseason-begins.html

November 3: The beginning of a five-day period where teams and players must decide whether to exercise or decline contract options and opt-out clauses for the 2022 season. Eligible free agents cannot sign with anyone but their current team for five more days.

November 7, 4:00 pm CST: The deadline for teams to issue qualifying offers (one-year, $18.4MM contracts) to eligible free agents. For a breakdown of the draft choices teams would forfeit by signing a qualified free agent, see here.

November 8: Free agency officially opens.

November 8-11: General managers’ meetings, hosted in Carlsbad, California.

November 17: Deadline for players tagged with a qualifying offer to accept or reject the QO.

November 19: Deadline for teams to add players to the 40-man roster to keep them from selection in the Rule 5 draft.

December 1, 11:59 pm: Expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement. If MLB and the MLBPA do not agree on a new CBA by then, the league may institute a lockout that freezes teams’ ability to make transactions until negotiations are resolved.

December 2: The deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players.

December 6-9: Winter meetings scheduled to take place in Orlando, Florida.

December 8: Rule 5 draft.

December 15: Conclusion of the 2020-21 international amateur signing period. Typically scheduled to run from July through June, the 2020-21 and 2021-22 international signing periods were delayed to run from January through December as part of MLB’s COVID-19 rules changes.

January 14, 2022: Date for teams and arbitration-eligible players to exchange filing figures. Teams and players are still free to settle and avoid arbitration after this date, although many clubs elect to proceed with a “file-and-trial” strategy — essentially deciding to proceed to a hearing with any players with whom a settlement is not reached by then.

January 15, 2022: The scheduled start of the 2021-22 international amateur signing period. The 2021-22 period is scheduled to run through December 15, 2022.

February 26, 2022: First games of Spring Training.

March 31, 2022: Opening Day.

[angelsnationtalk]

Exciting and scary times are ahead of us. 

Can't wait to see Perry do his thing now that he had time to evaluate what we need a bit more. 

Scared about the season being delayed..... fun.

[Stradling]

 

[Inside Pitch]

Beyond what's been said publicly I have zero clue what the Angels will do.  Kinda fun, kinda weird.  I hope they continue to add talent to the front office, I hope they consider the long game.

Worst part of the off-season (for me) is the waiting to see them do things .... with the CBA up in the air, this might be the worst off-season ever.

[Lou]

1 minute ago, Inside Pitch said:

Beyond what's been said publicly I have zero clue what the Angels will do.  Kinda fun, kinda weird.  I hope they continue to add talent to the front office, I hope they consider the long game.

Worst part of the off-season (for me) is the waiting to see them do things .... with the CBA up in the air, this might be the worst off-season ever.

Are you scared?

[Inside Pitch]

3 minutes ago, Lou said:

Are you scared?

It's not my money or livelihood so, no.  Two weeks from now, I might just be bored.  

I miss the bitching about minor league living conditions.... Those were the days!

[Angelsjunky]

Unfortunately, due to the shitty nature of the season, we've kind of discussed every possibility. But I guess we still have the reality to "enjoy," as it unfolds.

I go into the offseason feeling mildly optimistic. While the team needs some work, there's a good core to work with, and the floor on this team--assuming we don't lose two of our three best players for most of the year--is pretty solid. I know some people won't see this, but consider:

Hitting: The Angels have two superstar hitters in Trout and Ohtani, and two very good ones in Rendon and Walsh (and Rendon, at his best, is a superstar hitter, but I'm being cautious). They also have an above average hitter in Stassi, and two young outfielders in Marsh and Adell that are developing and have a good chance of being above average in 2022. Meaning, six or seven of the nine regulars should be above average, with about four being very good or better. All they really need is some depth, so that the floor on the remaining two positions--2B and SS--is raised a bit from the worst-case scenario (Fletcher repeats 2021 and none of Rengifo/Mayfield/Stefanic/Davis step up). But even without adding one, there are plenty of options, but adding an infielder above scrub level would help. I suppose a solid back-up catcher would help, as well, unless they think Thaiss can handle the job.

Pitching: Ohtani, Sandoval, and Suarez give the Angels three good starters. Add in Canning, Detmers, and Rodriguez, and there's some good young talent, plus a lot of starting depth in Canning, Barria, Daniel, Criswell, Smith, Tyler, etc. Meaning, they probably only need one good starter, maybe a second if they're concerned that at least one of younger guys can't step up. The bullpen needs more work, but they really mostly just need to get two or three good veteran relievers, hopefully one of whom is elite.

So my wishlist, in order of necessity:

1. A very good starter 
2. An elite reliever 
3. A solid middle infielder
4. One or two good veteran relievers
5. A second solid starter
6. A back-up catcher

 

 

[Angelsjunky]

I would also add that unless Arte is willing to spend $60M+, they're probably going to have to go cheap on one or two of the back-end of that list. They can spend $40M (25/15) on the first two, but then have 10-20M to spend on the rest. Unless they make trades, that is probably not enough to get more than just fill-in scrubs. With Thaiss as an option, they can probably go cheap on a back-up catcher ($1-2M). Even then, they will probably still need to make a trade or two.

 

[Angel Oracle]

First step, give the QO to Iglesias by four days from now.

[HanfordGuy]

1 hour ago, Lou said:

Are you scared?

[mmc]

 

[HanfordGuy]

5 hours ago, jsnpritchett said:

December 8: Rule 5 draft.

What players that are vulnerable do the Angels need to protect that aren’t on the 40 man roster? How many spots will be available?

[jsnpritchett]

4 minutes ago, mmc said:

 

Can't officially sign him for a few days, though.

[mmc]

 

[mmc]

2 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

Can't officially sign him for a few days, though.

Trade not a FA signing

[jsnpritchett]

1 minute ago, mmc said:

Trade not a FA signing

Ah, I see that now.  Forgot he had a team option.

[angelsnationtalk]

Queue the "hurry up and make a move, Minasian" responses. 

[HanfordGuy]

 

[HanfordGuy]

 

[T.G.]

@jsnpritchett you left one important date off your list... the date of the strike.

[Blarg]

Unless the Astros enter the free agent market with a lot of cash they are not going to be dominant next season like they have been the last 4 years. Their starting pitching isn't as strong as it once was and the loss of Correa would impact their defense and offense. This is a list of their outgoing talent if they don't re-sign them.

Zack Greinke

Justin Verlander

Carlos Correa

Yulieski Gurriel Team Option $8 mil

Joe Smith

Martin Maldonado

Yimi Garcia

Kendall Graveman

Drew Butera

[jsnpritchett]

Just now, Blarg said:

Unless the Astros enter the free agent market with a lot of cash they are not going to be dominant next season like they have been the last 4 years. Their starting pitching isn't as strong as it once was and the loss of Correa would impact their defense and offense. This is a list of their outgoing talent if they don't re-sign them.

Zack Greinke

Justin Verlander

Carlos Correa

Yulieski Gurriel Team Option $8 mil

Joe Smith

Martin Maldonado

Yimi Garcia

Kendall Graveman

Drew Butera

Seems like every year, folks say this about the Astros and/or the A's, yet year after year, they're better than the Angels.

[HanfordGuy]

 

[Blarg]

2 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

Beyond what's been said publicly I have zero clue what the Angels will do.  Kinda fun, kinda weird.  I hope they continue to add talent to the front office, I hope they consider the long game.

Worst part of the off-season (for me) is the waiting to see them do things .... with the CBA up in the air, this might be the worst off-season ever.

The CBA is probably going to be a clusterfrack. More money grabs for the top tier, a marginal pay increase for the bottom and I doubt anything will change regarding the AAA shuffle where players are really stuck in limbo, unable to secure enough playing time to reach benefits. Overall though, being aa MLB payer is a damn profitable career.