Official 2022-23 Offseason Hot Stove Thread

[Fullmer17]

https://theathletic.com/4063022/2023/01/06/yankees-analytics-rangers-free-agents/
 

“Angels officials viewed Eovaldi as a pitcher who, when combined with Shohei Ohtani and Anderson, would have made the top of their rotation even more formidable. The team is not necessarily looking to add another starter, but its pursuit of Eovaldi reflects a continuing desire to add impact pieces if possible.“

[Inside Pitch]

14 hours ago, mmc said:

I really don't understand this stuff.  Perry signed Tepera and Bradley on March 19th last year, and didn't get Cobb until February 2nd of 2021, and waited until March 29th to sign Watson and Cishek

I agree it's never too late to upgrade but last year the lockout prohibiting signings didn't end until March 10, and the Watson/Cishek deals were cut down day additions.  Luckily I think Perry has done enough where he won't have to luck into a couple last second signings like he did with those two, because that situation was anything but planned.

[Inside Pitch]

7 hours ago, Stradling said:

Step one: Assume the worst.  He thought they were done before we acquired Urshela. 

Step 2!

 

[DMVol]

11 hours ago, Second Base said:

Wasn't the belly aching for when he signed with Milwaukee? Because he was definitely worth it back then. I haven't watched him recently, but I've heard his bat speed dropped off. 

I think the most belly aching was the year before (winter of 17/18)…his market collapsed and he signed a one year Boras “pillow deal” with KC and then was traded in July 2018 to Milwaukee…he should have signed with the Angels, who made him a good offer…Boras overplayed his hand….Eppler pivoted and signed Cozart, which was obviously a mistake….

[Inside Pitch]

42 minutes ago, DMVol said:

I think the most belly aching was the year before (winter of 17/18)…his market collapsed and he signed a one year Boras “pillow deal” with KC and then was traded in July 2018 to Milwaukee…he should have signed with the Angels, who made him a good offer…Boras overplayed his hand….Eppler pivoted and signed Cozart, which was obviously a mistake….

Didn't Boras, the Angels, and pretty much every national reporter say that no such deal was ever offered? 

Those were some strange FA years.  Cozart was lucky to get what he did the way the market dried up (money wise) in 2017 for everyone except RPs.  Hosmer's 8/144 was the biggest deal handed out that season and like 9 of the 20 biggest deals went to RPs.  

[angelsnationtalk]

2 hours ago, Fullmer17 said:

https://theathletic.com/4063022/2023/01/06/yankees-analytics-rangers-free-agents/
 

“Angels officials viewed Eovaldi as a pitcher who, when combined with Shohei Ohtani and Anderson, would have made the top of their rotation even more formidable. The team is not necessarily looking to add another starter, but its pursuit of Eovaldi reflects a continuing desire to add impact pieces if possible.“

I mean.... Doesn't every team run these probable outcomes to see how to improve their team? 
Doesn't mean they made a serious push for him. They probably did the same with every other top FA and are doing it with every crazy trade scenario. 

[jordan]

 

[jordan]

At this point, Correa would be better off with a 1 yr deal to prove he’s healthy I suppose. 

[jsnpritchett]

5 minutes ago, jordan said:

At this point, Correa would be better off with a 1 yr deal to prove he’s healthy I suppose. 

That's basically what he did in '22.

[Angel Oracle]

16 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

That's basically what he did in '22.

And now still injury concerns 

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

On 1/5/2023 at 8:41 AM, Erstad Grit said:

At this point the only SS (besides Correa) who I think would be available and significantly better than what we have is Mondesi and Kiner-Falefa. 

I love Mondesi, but injury in speed guys tends to not work out so well.  

I just don't see us upgrading at SS.

 

 

Jose Iglesias

Elvis Andrus

Edited January 6, 2023 by Ace-Of-Diamonds

[T.G.]

I'm guessing Correa will sign with the Twins.

[Warfarin]

If two teams with a ton of money, including by far the richest one in this sport, back out of deals with Correa and feel his injury is not worth the risk, there is no way I would want to see us sign him either, unless it is for a very short term deal.

[DMVol]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

Didn't Boras, the Angels, and pretty much every national reporter say that no such deal was ever offered? 

Those were some strange FA years.  Cozart was lucky to get what he did the way the market dried up (money wise) in 2017 for everyone except RPs.  Hosmer's 8/144 was the biggest deal handed out that season and like 9 of the 20 biggest deals went to RPs.  

Not sure we will ever know, though both the Angels and Boras did deny it after the fact (there were other reports though, see link).....if the Angels did offer, they probably didn't want to embarrass Cozart....Boras certainly had incentive to deny an offer after Moustakas took a low ball offer from KC....Could have been discussions but maybe Eppler decided that Boras wasn't going to consider the number or numbers that were discussed so he never made an official offer.....pretty common thing, allows both sides to have deniability....

https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/1502064

[Erstad Grit]

15 minutes ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

Jose Iglesias

Elvis Andrus

I'd rather have Rengifo at SS over those two guys.

Also pretty sure Iglesias hates us considering we dropped him the day after playoff eligibility ended for teams. 

[T.G.]

4 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

If two teams with a ton of money, including by far the richest one in this sport, back out of deals with Correa and feel his injury is not worth the risk, there is no way I would want to see us sign him either, unless it is for a very short term deal.

The Twins made him a 10 year offer... and they are fully aware of his medicals.

The doctors are always going to give the "worst case scenario" in their evaluations.  GM's have to be willing to take risks sometimes.

Jim Duqette said when he was with the Mets they didn't pursue Vlad Guerrero because of his medicals... Vlad signed with the Angels and won an MVP.

Jim Bowden said when he wanted to sign Ron Gant his medical team told him he would never play baseball again after his motorcycle accident and he signed Gant anyway and Gant had an OPS+ of 146.

 

[Inside Pitch]

6 minutes ago, DMVol said:

Not sure we will ever know, though both the Angels and Boras did deny it after the fact (there were other reports though, see link).....if the Angels did offer, they probably didn't want to embarrass Cozart....Boras certainly had incentive to deny an offer after Moustakas took a low ball offer from KC....Could have been discussions but maybe Eppler decided that Boras wasn't going to consider the number or numbers that were discussed so he never made an official offer.....pretty common thing, allows both sides to have deniability....

https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/1502064

That whole mini era in FA was weird.  It felt like there was some level of owner collusion going on -- lots of bigger one year deals than we had seen in the past, then it seemed to break open again the Cole/Rendon offseason.

[jsnpritchett]

25 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

And now still injury concerns 

I understand, but my point is that nothing has changed.  By all accounts, the medical issue is a potential long-term concern, not an immediate concern--so signing another one-year deal to "prove" he's healthy won't actually do much to prove anything, since the issue isn't likely to impact him this season anyway.

[DMVol]

5 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

That whole mini era in FA was weird.  It felt like there was some level of owner collusion going on -- lots of bigger one year deals than we had seen in the past, then it seemed to break open again the Cole/Rendon offseason.

That offseason would make it plausible that Eppler denied the offer.....and Boras didn't want to look bad after Moustakas took a low ball "pillow deal".....who knows....Obviously, Moustakas and the Angels would have both been better off if he had taken an offer, if it was extended...although he did get the deal with Reds, which was a head scratching, terrible move by Cincy....maybe he ended up with more money in the long run, without the Angel deal....

[Inside Pitch]

28 minutes ago, T.G. said:

I'm guessing Correa will sign with the Twins.

"this worked out just how I wanted, I always wanted to stay with the Twins" -- Carlos Correa

[mmc]

3 hours ago, T.G. said:

The Twins made him a 10 year offer... and they are fully aware of his medicals.

The doctors are always going to give the "worst case scenario" in their evaluations.  GM's have to be willing to take risks sometimes.

Jim Duqette said when he was with the Mets they didn't pursue Vlad Guerrero because of his medicals... Vlad signed with the Angels and won an MVP.

Jim Bowden said when he wanted to sign Ron Gant his medical team told him he would never play baseball again after his motorcycle accident and he signed Gant anyway and Gant had an OPS+ of 146.

 

Correa hasn't taken a physical with the Twins since when he was signed last season, so they very well may not have been

[T.G.]

3 minutes ago, mmc said:

Correa hasn't taken a physical with the Twins since when he was signed last season, so they very well may not have been

He was under their medical team's care... I would trust their opinion over the Giants' or Mets' medical team.

[Docwaukee]

The Twins offered 10/285.  We don't know if the difference in comp was to mitigate injury risk and we also don't know whether there was language in the deal that could have further mitigated such risk.  

 

[Second Base]

Yeah but Correa's sister in law was once photographed wearing Angels gear, so it's basically a guarantee he's an Angel. 

[Second Base]

And the conditional interest thing does make sense. Perry isn't necessarily looking for another starter, but if an upside player is available to be acquired at a reasonable price, he'll jump in on that. 

Case in point, Brandon Drury. I'm guessing they had little more than a passing interest early on after they acquired Urshela. But when Perry learned there was interest and the price fell in their budget, he pulled the trigger. 

Also, Contreras earlier in the offseason. The Angels didn't necessarily need a catcher, but if a high quality option was available within their budget, he'd absolutely be advantageous. 

Similarly, the information I got earlier in the offseason, that the Angels and Jays were discussing Nate Pearson. I'm guessing it was an upside play. Clearly it never came to fruition, but it appears to fit Perry's recent overarching theme.