Angels sign Brandon Drury (2 years, $17 million), DFA Oliver Ortega

[Warfarin]

38 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Maybe he is good enough to be an interim for half the season as they prep O'Hoppe in AAA. Picking up a true backup sets O'Hoppe back a complete year because they won't carry 3 catchers. 

We'll see.  If he's considered not great defensively, half a season is a lot of games for a backup catcher to play, assuming a backup starts close to 40% of the time.  

I think the FO would be more likely to pivot to Wallach over Thaiss, even though Thaiss is better offensively.

[Second Base]

22 minutes ago, Trendon said:

I think the Angels massively mis-managed Thaiss.

IMO, after 2020 when they first tried it, they should’ve worked him out at 2B and LF in addition to 1B/DH.

If they had done that, he would’ve gotten a lot of playing time at 2B/3B/LF to show what he had.

His rookie season wasn’t that bad offensively. But then 2020 happened, he converted to C in 2021, and never got extended MLB time to show what his bat could do.

Moving to catcher was his idea and choice. The Angels supported it because they had nothing to lose, but Thaiss is back at catcher because he thought it was what's best for his career.

He hasn't looked bad back there, but his offense plummeted once he started playing catcher full time. There's a correlation, just ask Taylor Ward. 

[BTH]

12 minutes ago, Second Base said:

Moving to catcher was his idea and choice. The Angels supported it because they had nothing to lose, but Thaiss is back at catcher because he thought it was what's best for his career.

They didn’t have to support his idea, which goes back to my opinion of them mis-managing him.

[Second Base]

10 minutes ago, Trendon said:

They didn’t have to support his idea, which goes back to my opinion of them mis-managing him.

Either you have a very socialist view on the employer-employee relationship, or you're naive. 

Matt Thaiss is the only man responsible for his career. 

[mmc]

 

[mmc]

 

[Just Sayin]

8 hours ago, Warfarin said:

Yeah, I think Rengifo's versatility is a bonus and I think it's unlikely they trade him.  That said, Rengifo seems to grade out as below average at every position he plays - so in that sense, how useful is his versatility if he plays multiple positions somewhat poorly?

Anyway - I am not for trading him, as we definitely need depth on this club, but I WOULD consider moving him if it led to acquiring a true SS.  Then Fletcher can truly just be a backup MI, Drury can play 2B, and Urshela will mainly be responsible for the corner IF spots, with occasional coverage in the middle infield as needed.  Of course, if injuries strike, there would still be great versatility - Drury can always be swung out to play 1B/3B, Fletcher can take over either middle infield spot, etc.

I think the best ability is “availability” ...

Rengifo certainly isn’t a franchise player.  But he was a bright spot last season.  I’d like to see him draw more walks and strike out less and swing at better pitches.  There are many things he could do better.

But he kept suiting up and showing up and I’d say he took advantage of the opportunity he got last season.  To me he’s like an offensive lineman who can play center guard or tackle.  He brings value.  
 

He’s relatively on the cheap.  For what he’s getting paid I’d say it’s a good bang for your buck. He still needs to make adjustments at the plate as the pitchers around the league make adjustments to him now....there’s a lot of his plate appearances on film.  Time will tell how that pans out.

If I’m making out a lineup card I personally like seeing my best bats in that lineup. I’d say I’d be looking for opportunities to get him plenty of looks, if possible.  

we had some injuries last year and every time the dust settled he was still standing.  Availability.

Overall I like him.  Wasn’t so sure about him at first.  He grew on me.  I found myself having to keep tipping my cap to the guy.  Hope they keep him around. 

[Warfarin]

3 minutes ago, mmc said:

 

Interesting.  A little surprising.  I would have assumed others would have been DFA'd before him, but he does seem rather replaceable, too.

[Second Base]

22 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

Interesting.  A little surprising.  I would have assumed others would have been DFA'd before him, but he does seem rather replaceable, too.

I was really excited seeing him in the minors. Dude was spitting BB's. I haven't seen much of that from him at the major league level unfortunately. 

[BTH]

Does anyone know when Perry is gonna meet with the media to discuss this signing?

Normally he does it the day it’s announced, but he didn’t yesterday.

Working on more moves?

[Warfarin]

31 minutes ago, Trendon said:

Does anyone know when Perry is gonna meet with the media to discuss this signing?

Normally he does it the day it’s announced, but he didn’t yesterday.

Working on more moves?

Or taking time off for the holidays  

[BTH]

3 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

Or taking time off for the holidays  

Seems like he’d prefer to just get the media obligation out of the way ahead of the holidays.

[angelsnationtalk]

51 minutes ago, Trendon said:

Does anyone know when Perry is gonna meet with the media to discuss this signing?

Normally he does it the day it’s announced, but he didn’t yesterday.

Working on more moves?

Hopefully there's more on the way. 

This team can't be done yet..... I hope.....

[EdmontonAngelsFan]

 

[beatlesrule]

On 12/21/2022 at 4:03 PM, Jeff Fletcher said:

Let me rephrase it 

People are not making off-season trades in which the idea is to exchange talent and not just clear salary. 

The Blue Jays are in agreement with the Diamondbacks on a trade that will see them acquire outfielder Daulton Varsho, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Blue Jays sending a package including catching prospect Gabriel Moreno to Arizona. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. will also head to Arizona in the deal, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Jon Heyman of The New York Post previously reported that the Jays were close to landing Varsho.

 

Salary dump???

[EdmontonAngelsFan]

 

[Warfarin]

1 hour ago, Trendon said:

Seems like he’d prefer to just get the media obligation out of the way ahead of the holidays.

He's apparently having his presser right now

[rafibomb]

 

 

[Jeff Fletcher]

1 hour ago, beatlesrule said:

The Blue Jays are in agreement with the Diamondbacks on a trade that will see them acquire outfielder Daulton Varsho, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Blue Jays sending a package including catching prospect Gabriel Moreno to Arizona. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. will also head to Arizona in the deal, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Jon Heyman of The New York Post previously reported that the Jays were close to landing Varsho.

 

Salary dump???

No, that's a real one. How many of those have there been this winter? Three?

[BTH]

I wonder if the Mariners claim Ortega.

They have two open 40 spots and Dipoto’s regime signed Ortega.

[beatlesrule]

On 12/21/2022 at 4:03 PM, Jeff Fletcher said:

Let me rephrase it 

People are not making off-season trades in which the idea is to exchange talent and not just clear salary. 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/phillies-tigers-agree-to-trade-for-gregory-soto.html

Salary dump? How about the trades that have happened between the last post I made and this post? See, talent exchanging trades are alive and well. To say they never happen in the offseason is just wrong.

[Stradling]

12 minutes ago, beatlesrule said:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/phillies-tigers-agree-to-trade-for-gregory-soto.html

Salary dump? How about the trades that have happened between the last post I made and this post? See, talent exchanging trades are alive and well. To say they never happen in the offseason is just wrong.

Where did he say they never happen?  Maybe you don’t remember but these types of trades were commonplace in the past. 

[Docwaukee]

I saw 'Angels sign...'

then I realized it was just this thread getting bumped.  

[beatlesrule]

He stated no one makes offseason trades anymore that aren't salary dumps. He's wrong.

[Stradling]

18 minutes ago, beatlesrule said:

He stated no one makes offseason trades anymore that aren't salary dumps. He's wrong.

Or he was exaggerating, you should be familiar with that concept.