Official 2022-23 Offseason Hot Stove Thread

[Angels 1961]

44 minutes ago, greginpsca said:

Have to wonder how knee surgery will affect Squid's mobility at ss.

Yeah, forgot about his knee surgery. So, who knows how he will look.

[Lou]

So Bowden is saying we might get one. 

Or might not. 

[Pancake Bear]

6 minutes ago, Lou said:

So Bowden is saying we might get one. 

Or might not. 

Those are the two possibilities, yes. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

26 minutes ago, Lou said:

So Bowden is saying we might get one. 

Or might not. 

So can we officially rule out two?

[Angelsfan1984]

19 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

So can we officially rule out two?

My sources tell me that’s possible. 

[Erstad Grit]

3 minutes ago, Angelsfan1984 said:

My sources tell me that’s possible. 

My sources told me something but I'm not allowed to share it. 

[Stradling]

2 minutes ago, Erstad Grit said:

My sources told me something but I'm not allowed to share it. 

Ok Greg 

[T.G.]

My source tells me lots of people here and on Twitter are full of crap.

[Angels 1961]

21 minutes ago, T.G. said:

My source tells me lots of people here and on Twitter are full of crap.

what

[tdawg87]

46 minutes ago, Angels 1961 said:

what

Yes

[mmc]

 

[Stradling]

If I was a GM, I would probably sign Verlander rather than having deGrom.  I just think the health is less of a concern with a 40 year old Verlander than it is with a 34 year old deGrom.  

[Warfarin]

While Nimmo would be at the top of my list in terms of our LF hole, someone else who I would be interested in is Profar.  He wouldn't necessarily be the best pure LF option, but he's incredibly versatile (in 2021, he had a decent amount of time in LF, CF, RF, 2B, 3B, 1B).  He has also played a decent amount of SS and 3B, although not since 2018.  

Versatility is often coveted, so it's possible he could be a decent target.

[Second Base]

So the Angels will get a shortstop, but it won't be one of the top four, but it'll be someone that competes at a high level, similar to those guys. In free agency, the only guys that have ever been there are Didi Gegorious and Aledmys Diaz, and even then, it's been a while since either of them were at that level. 

We do know the Angels have been in on Didi before. 

So it might be the trade market. 

Willy Adames, Gleyber Torres, maybe Josh Rojas.

[Angelsfan1984]

6 minutes ago, Second Base said:

So the Angels will get a shortstop, but it won't be one of the top four, but it'll be someone that competes at a high level, similar to those guys. In free agency, the only guys that have ever been there are Didi Gegorious and Aledmys Diaz, and even then, it's been a while since either of them were at that level. 

We do know the Angels have been in on Didi before. 

So it might be the trade market. 

Willy Adames, Gleyber Torres, maybe Josh Rojas.

Segura?

[Warfarin]

22 minutes ago, Second Base said:

So the Angels will get a shortstop, but it won't be one of the top four, but it'll be someone that competes at a high level, similar to those guys. In free agency, the only guys that have ever been there are Didi Gegorious and Aledmys Diaz, and even then, it's been a while since either of them were at that level. 

We do know the Angels have been in on Didi before. 

So it might be the trade market. 

Willy Adames, Gleyber Torres, maybe Josh Rojas.

Those are some good names, in that Minasian seems to target players with 1-2 years before free agency, to help reduce the trade cost.  Rojas seems doubtful in that he has quite a bit of control left, but I think Adames could be an intriguing option, given the Brewers tend to flip guys towards the end of their control years to help keep costs down and keep their youth acquisition pipeline going (a la the Hader trade).

Adames would fit our timeline well too in that it'd give us 2 years for Neto to develop and fill the position now without acquiring an albatross contract.  That said, I think he'd cost quite a bit in a trade.  Just looking at BTV, the equivalent value on our team to Adames would be Detmers.

[BTH]

37 minutes ago, Second Base said:

We do know the Angels have been in on Didi before. 

So it might be the trade market. 

Willy Adames, Gleyber Torres, maybe Josh Rojas.

Didi got released mid-season and didn't get signed by another team mid-season. I think he's cooked, and teams seem to view it that way.

Adames, if he's even available, would cost a ton.

Torres and Rojas aren't shortstops. But you could acquire them to play 2B and have Rengifo or Fletcher play SS. But if you're doing that, just sign a free agent 2B like Segura instead of giving up the assets needed to acquire Torres or Rojas, who won't come cheap.

[Warfarin]

2 minutes ago, Trendon said:

Didi got released mid-season and didn't get signed by another team mid-season. I think he's cooked, and teams seem to view it that way.

Adames, if he's even available, would cost a ton.

Torres and Rojas aren't shortstops. But you could acquire them to play 2B and have Rengifo or Fletcher play SS. But if you're doing that, just sign a free agent 2B like Segura instead of giving up the assets needed to acquire Torres or Rojas, who won't come cheap.

Good points.  Agreed on Adames - he'd be an awesome acquisition, but I suspect he would be cost prohibitive.

Someone else in the trade bucket category could be Amed Rosario with the Indians.  Not as exciting as an option, but he has one year of service left, and the Indians are typically looking to flip guys at the end of their control for some young players to keep their costs really low.  Per BTV, his value is rather low, so he could probably be fairly easily acquired with one of our middle tier prospects or two.

He would not be the most exciting acquisition, but he'd be a definite upgrade over what we have.  Rosario at SS, Fletcher at 2B, and Rengifo to the super utility role would definitely help solidify our middle infield a lot.

[BTH]

24 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

Someone else in the trade bucket category could be Amed Rosario with the Indians.

From what I’ve heard, Cleveland LOVES him. He’s one of their leaders, along with Ramírez.

If Cleveland was gonna move him, his peak value was last offseason with 2 years of control left.

Now that he only has 1 year left, I think they just hold onto him.

But they are loaded with SS prospects.

[Warfarin]

1 hour ago, Trendon said:

From what I’ve heard, Cleveland LOVES him. He’s one of their leaders, along with Ramírez.

If Cleveland was gonna move him, his peak value was last offseason with 2 years of control left.

Now that he only has 1 year left, I think they just hold onto him.

But they are loaded with SS prospects.

Yeah, I don’t really know how much willingness they have to trade certain players.  Just historically, they tend to trade as many players who are costly as possible, to help keep costs low and to parlay their youth pipeline.

Maybe not him specifically, but I imagine we would trade for someone like him - on an expiring deal with a fairly low acquisition cost.

 

 

[BTH]

18 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

Maybe not him specifically, but I imagine we would trade for someone like him - on an expiring deal with a fairly low acquisition cost.

I agree that’s the path they likely go down, but the options aren’t great.

Kiner-Falefa, Lopez, Rojas, Ahmed, DeJong, and Mondesi seem like the main options.

[jsnpritchett]

26 minutes ago, Trendon said:

I agree that’s the path they likely go down, but the options aren’t great.

Kiner-Falefa, Lopez, Rojas, Ahmed, DeJong, and Mondesi seem like the main options.

I definitely agree with the first bolded part.  As for some of the ones you listed, DeJong is owed over $12M ($9.2M this year, plus at least $3M in buyouts) and has been awful at the plate for three years now.  Mondesi hasn't been able to stay on the field the last two years, so who knows what you'd get in '23?  I'm not sure that I'd want to give up much of anything for either of them (especially DeJong).  As for Lopez, it's looking like his 2021 might be a massive fluke. Shades of Fletcher's 2020, maybe.

[Warfarin]

30 minutes ago, Trendon said:

I agree that’s the path they likely go down, but the options aren’t great.

Kiner-Falefa, Lopez, Rojas, Ahmed, DeJong, and Mondesi seem like the main options.

Right, they aren't.  But if it's the context of spending money to upgrade other key areas (LF, OF depth, RP), then I'd be okay with it.  Basically - a veritable starting SS, which can push Fletcher over to 2B and Rengifo into a super utility role.  It would deepen our bench as a byproduct.  That would give Neto another year of solid development, with perhaps an eye on him becoming a contributor sometime during the 2024 season.

What I do wonder is - what does the FO think of Soto?  He had just a handful of games, but he was awfully impressive in that time.  The offensive performance is unsustainable, but perhaps the player development crew helped him unlock some potential?

[mmc]

 

[mmc]

Need a center fielder? Call the Diamondbacks

Nimmo is the leading free agent in center field, but not the only option for rival clubs in need at that position. The Diamondbacks, whose roster includes four left-handed hitting center fielders, are open to a trade.

Corbin Carroll, who had an .830 OPS last season in his first 115 major-league plate appearances, is off-limits, according to sources familiar the team’s thinking. But three others with the ability to play center — Daulton Varsho, Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy — are in play.

Of those, Varsho is perhaps the least likely to move. The Diamondbacks, hellbent on improvement after three straight losing seasons, would find it difficult to replace the 27 homers he hit in 2022. Varsho also is projected to earn $2.8 million in the first of his four years of salary arbitration, making him less attractive to low-revenue clubs.

McCarthy and Thomas were back-to-back picks by the Diamondbacks in 2018, McCarthy going 39th overall out of the University of Virginia, Thomas 63rd overall out of Mount Carmel High in Chicago. Thomas emerged as a superior prospect, but McCarthy — perhaps the best hitter of the group, and the best against left-handed pitching — outperformed him last season in their major-league debuts.

To trade one of their center fielders, the Diamondbacks will require significant major-league help, be it pitchers, right-handed power hitters and/or others. Club officials could always keep the group together if they don’t get an offer they deem worthy. Thomas’ value, in particular, should only rise if he figures it out offensively. And the Diamondbacks expect him to do just that.