Official 2022-23 Offseason Hot Stove Thread

[mmc]

 

[Inside Pitch]

3 hours ago, TempeAngel said:

I just think it's BS that some of us Angels fans want to discount the Dodgers WS win. Every team played by the same rules. Get over it.

In a 60 game season all it would take is a 3 week slump and a team may not even make the playoffs. Over 162 games it's likely the best teams are playing in October.

Do people have to "get over it" if they never cared?

They won, they get to wear it.  But it's not equitable to a 162 game season and everything that can happen over that span.. 

One of the things that has always set baseball apart is that the season is a marathon, people talk about it constantly  -- to pretend that very essential part of what's made baseball different (some say worse), is hard for me to swallow.

Anyway..  A person can both give them credit for winning  it and think it deserves to be looked at differently.

And about the Dodgers -- best run team in MLB and it's not close.

[angelsnationtalk]

Current Projected Opening Day #MLB Tax Payrolls

1. #Mets, $300M
2. #Yankees, $261M
3. #Phillies, $241M
4. #Braves, $225M
5. #Angels, $212M
6. #Padres, $205M
7. #BlueJays, $200M
8. #Rangers, $199M
9. #Astros, $197M
10. #Dodgers, $189M

— Spotrac (@spotrac) December 7, 2022

And the Angels are still fringe WC contenders.

[Inside Pitch]

1 hour ago, Dtwncbad said:

If I call the Dodger wives shanks, are you going to post photos of them and say that many of them are actually quite pretty?

Angels fans absolutely should fully rag on the Covid championship.  They would do the same.

I still remember Dodger fans asking me... How can you even take pride in a ring when your team didn't even take their own division. 

So yeah, while the Dodgers are great, their fanbase has always been full of morons.

[Inside Pitch]

3 minutes ago, angelsnationtalk said:

And the Angels are still fringe WC contenders.

Are they no longer counting Bauer as part of the Dodger's payroll?

[BTH]

It seems like at least one of the Giants, Padres, Red Sox, and Cubs will be left without a chair in the musical chairs SS market.

[Inside Pitch]

2 minutes ago, Trendon said:

It seems like at least one of the Giants, Padres, Red Sox, and Cubs will be left without a chair in the musical chairs SS market.

Didn't the Padres supposedly say they wouldn't be pursuing the other SS available after Turner went to Philly or was that some other team?

[BTH]

2 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Didn't the Padres supposedly say they wouldn't be pursuing the other SS available after Turner went to Philly or was that some other team?

There was a report from one SD writer saying that, but Buster Olney had a report that said the opposite and Padres fans say that SD writer is often wrong.

If they were gonna overpay Judge and Turner, I doubt they just pack it in. I could see them trying for Bogaerts, only for him to take a hometown discount with BOS. Not sure I see Correa or Swanson with SD.

[Mark68]

Pirates Interested In Tucker Barnhart - MLB Trade Rumors

"Barnhart’s never been a huge threat at the plate, having put up a career batting line of .245/.320/.360. That’s 20% below league average production, as indicated by his 80 wRC+, but it’s not disastrous for a catcher since they typically produce less than other hitters, on average. Barnhart generally is graded well on defense, however, posting 14 Defensive Runs Saved in his career. FanGraphs’ framing metric didn’t like his work earlier in his career but has given him a positive mark in three of the last four seasons."

[Dtwncbad]

23 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

I still remember Dodger fans asking me... How can you even take pride in a ring when your team didn't even take their own division. 

So yeah, while the Dodgers are great, their fanbase has always been full of morons.

So the Dodger wives are skanks.  Agreed.

Edited December 7, 2022 by Dtwncbad

[mmc]

 

[Warfarin]

42 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Are they no longer counting Bauer as part of the Dodger's payroll?

Given he is suspended, I am guessing not.  They don't have to pay him currently.  Bauer's arbitration case, though, could change that.

[Warfarin]

39 minutes ago, Trendon said:

It seems like at least one of the Giants, Padres, Red Sox, and Cubs will be left without a chair in the musical chairs SS market.

Right, although the Padres have both Kim and Tatis, so I don't think they really need one.  I think Correa goes to the Giants, seems like Bogaerts will stay in Boston, and the Cubs get Swanson.

[mmc]

 

[Dtwncbad]

4 minutes ago, mmc said:

 

Keyshawn Arson

Just give him the damn ball or he will set you on fire. 

Edited December 7, 2022 by Dtwncbad

[Warfarin]

 

For those looking for signs of hope  

[Pancake Bear]

I will genuinely be shocked if the Angels make a big signing. I just don't get the sense Minasian is thinking big, the only guy we've been seriously linked to was Senga at one point, and there's too much money in the market for us to be a likely high bidder. 

I think we should be all in. I think we likely will be looking primarily at the trade market at this point, which I think may be an error. Hope I turn out to be wrong. 

[Angelsfan1984]

2 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

 

For those looking for signs of hope  

[rafibomb]

 

[angelsnationtalk]

The bidders must have all told Arte we don't mind going over the tax. 

This is getting interesting.

[ten ocho recon scout]

10 hours ago, TempeAngel said:

I do not concur. There is a case to be made the 2020 WS Championship was more difficult to achieve than a full season World Series Championship.

Based on what? Another round of playoffs?

The 2019 WS champ Nats were under .500 at the break. 80 games in. A 60 game season would have meant an entirely different winner that year.

If 60 games counts as a "season", why not do 30 and go straight to the playoffs?

Why go 9 innings?

[angelsnationtalk]

That being said, the Angels have always said that the luxury tax is not a limit to them, but they still haven't crossed the line.

— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) December 7, 2022

Edited December 7, 2022 by angelsnationtalk

[Warfarin]

 

A little more fleshed out than the previous quote

[Make Angels Great Again]

1 hour ago, angelsnationtalk said:

And the Angels are still fringe WC contenders.

 

I have to say, I didn't expect the payroll to jump from $179M in 2022 to over $210M (at least) in 2023.

[Warfarin]

2 minutes ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

 

I have to say, I didn't expect the payroll to jump from $179M in 2022 to over $210M (at least) in 2023.

Technically, the payroll is actually at 197M right now, not $212M.  The $212M is the luxury tax calculation, not actual payroll.