Angels DFA Justin Upton, reinstate Ty Buttrey

[floplag]

1 hour ago, stormngt said:

Was thinking the same thing.  By waiving Upton, we can reinstate Buttry who has upside to help us in the pen.

This maybe a solid move after all.

Yep, that changed it all for me.  I was literally thinking "what they couldnt at least get a decent RP ro him... turns out that exactly what they potentially did. 
I wish they would announce both sides of these deals together   

[stormngt]

1 hour ago, mmc said:

 

That really isn't bad.  

[Docwaukee]

probably gives the halos a few more options as well.  Let's be realistic.  Upton 'could have' rebounded a bit but he's had about a 90 WRC+ over his last 800 or so at bats with terrible defense, no positional flexibility, and no speed.  What were the odds he was gonna be any better than that?  

now the halos have the option of gong with Rojas, or to add some speed and defense to the roster or some positional flexibility.   They could grab another guy off waivers or pick from what they've got and frankly, the random parts a likely at least as good as Upton and using them right could actually make the team better.  

But Justin is a cool dude and I'm sad to see him go under these circumstances.  

[Lazorko Saves]

Hardest hit by this news: Lazorko Saves' inventory of reaction gifs.

[T.G.]

I'm a little stunned.  Never saw this coming.

Looks like Taylor Ward is finally getting a chance to really contribute.

[T.G.]

I predict he ends up with the Dodgers. 

[tdawg87]

5 minutes ago, True Grich said:

I predict he ends up with the Dodgers. 

"wE cOuLd HaVe TrAdEd HiM fOr PrIcE"

[Blarg]

3 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

"wE cOuLd HaVe TrAdEd HiM fOr PrIcE"

Or Bauer. 

[Erstad Grit]

I would have kept him on the bench but in Perry we trust. 

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

2 hours ago, floplag said:

Fair io suppose, its just frustrating to see this become an annual tradition. 

Rendon, and Trout are the only large long term contracts so pretty sure this tradition ends now.

[Taylor]

Lol @ "annual tradition." 

 

[mmc]

 

[tdawg87]

3 minutes ago, mmc said:

 

Uh oh. Not Andrew McCutchen!

[beatlesrule]

Surprising move considering the spring he had. I'm with the others here that is hoping a trade comes from this. Eating that money after his spring numbers just doesn't make any sense to me. Combine that with the fact of the Angels lack of outfielders makes it more puzzling.

[Blarg]

The Angels don't have a lack of 4th or even 5th outfielders. The have Ward, Rojas, you can bring in Thaiss to play 1st and move Walsh back to right field. 

[Angels 1961]

12 minutes ago, Blarg said:

The Angels don't have a lack of 4th or even 5th outfielders. The have Ward, Rojas, you can bring in Thaiss to play 1st and move Walsh back to right field. 

Fletcher can play OF

[Blarg]

He has stood out there before but he isn't really an outfielder by trade or skill. 

[failos]

58 minutes ago, beatlesrule said:

Surprising move considering the spring he had. I'm with the others here that is hoping a trade comes from this. Eating that money after his spring numbers just doesn't make any sense to me. Combine that with the fact of the Angels lack of outfielders makes it more puzzling.

Angels eat the money regardless. Whoever signs him pays the league minimum.

[mmc]

More from Minasian on this:

“We’re trying to win games,” Minasian said. “As far as that goes, we’re trying to put the best team on the field. We owe it to the group to put the best team on the field. There’s a lot of players in there that have worked extremely hard.”

[mmc]

Minasian declined to say if he attempted to trade Upton but said he spoke about the decision with superstar Mike Trout, though he didn’t consult him beforehand.

“J-Up was close with a lot of guys in there,” Minasian said. “Obviously very close with Mike. … It was a tough day for a lot of people. And it should be, because he’s such a great person.”

[Angels 1961]

1 hour ago, beatlesrule said:

Surprising move considering the spring he had. I'm with the others here that is hoping a trade comes from this. Eating that money after his spring numbers just doesn't make any sense to me. Combine that with the fact of the Angels lack of outfielders makes it more puzzling.

I think this was in the works all along. Tried to trade him say they were going to try him at 1B (but only played 1 inn. Adell, Marsh and Ward good springs and halos waited to watch them in spring. Makes Maddon's job easier without finding playing time for all OF. Angels moving forward with young OF. Risky in someway but Minasian thought it was time to move on and set direction for this club after 6 losing seasons. Upton will find another team halos save 700,000, buy a lot of hot dogs with that money.

[Angels 1961]

13 minutes ago, Blarg said:

He has stood out there before but he isn't really an outfielder by trade or skill. 

Neither is Rojas

[Angelsjunky]

I think you could argue that Trey Cabbage is as good as Justin Upton right now. 

Anyhow, Upton finishes his Angels career with 2.8 WAR for $96M total (adjusting 2020). That's $34.3M per 1 WAR. Compare the money per 1 WAR, adjusted to what the Angels actually paid:

Upton: $34.3M ($96M for 2.8 WAR)

Pujols: $43.0M ($232M for 5.4 WAR)

Hamilton: $44.8M ($107.5M for 2.4 WAR)

Wells: $125.5M ($75.3M for 0.6 WAR)

Meaning, as bad as Upton's contract ended up being - and it was very bad - it wasn't nearly as bad as those three. 

Pujols was worse than the above implies, because the total contract was so much larger. If we consider a free agent contract that is $8M/1 WAR as breaking even, Pujols only "earned" about $43M of his $232...meaning, there's about $190M wasted over the value of his actual performance. Hamilton is $90M, Wells and Upton about $70M each.

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by Angelsjunky

[tdawg87]

10 minutes ago, mmc said:

Minasian declined to say if he attempted to trade Upton but said he spoke about the decision with superstar Mike Trout, though he didn’t consult him beforehand.

“J-Up was close with a lot of guys in there,” Minasian said. “Obviously very close with Mike. … It was a tough day for a lot of people. And it should be, because he’s such a great person.”

"He's a great guy. He just sucks."

[Angels 1961]

11 minutes ago, mmc said:

Minasian declined to say if he attempted to trade Upton but said he spoke about the decision with superstar Mike Trout, though he didn’t consult him beforehand.

“J-Up was close with a lot of guys in there,” Minasian said. “Obviously very close with Mike. … It was a tough day for a lot of people. And it should be, because he’s such a great person.”

You tell Mike opened up LF for him