The Official Los Angeles Angels 2023-2024 Hot Stove Offseason Thread

[mmc]

4 minutes ago, T.G. said:

They talked about him on Power Alley (MLB Network radio) this morning and thought he'd be a good pick for someone. They also speculated that he might be traded.

They also talked about Chris Rodriguez and how shocked they were the Angels waived him....

Were they also shocked that the DBacks waived him?

[totdprods]

Gut feeling that's sticking with me today, I think Marcus Stroman is going to be the 'big arm' add. Won't require the huge commitment in years or money, has had really fantastic stretches in his career, would profile well with a strong defensive infield (which I expect with Ron), has expressed a lot of psedo-interest publicly in playing with Trout, and was in Toronto with Perry, just like Thor, Tepera and Loup.

I think we're going to see Perry take a similar approach to last year. He's going to add a bunch of mid-tier FAs and try to really build out the depth. Would love to see something like Stroman and Gray or Eduardo Rodriguez, but realistically it'll be more like Stroman, one of Lugo/Lorenzen/Wacha/Flaherty, maybe a Candelario or a Tim Anderson, and then I think a moderately-priced reliever, maybe even a Kimbrel or Chapman. 

None of that would really destroy the payroll with any one deal and would give the team some depth in all parts of the field.

Edited November 15, 2023 by totdprods

[N-From-OC]

1 minute ago, totdprods said:

Gut feeling that's sticking with me today, I think Marcus Stroman is going to be the 'big arm' add. Won't require the huge commitment in years or money, has had really fantastic stretches in his career, would profile well with a strong defensive infield (which I expect with Ron), has expressed a lot of psedo-interest publicly in playing with Trout, and was in Toronto with Perry, just like Thor, Tepera and Loup.

 

Didn’t he and Bauer both act like they were going to sign with us because of our fanbase and then just completely went in another direction? Not saying it’s everything in this situation as of course coaches and FO are probably the biggest seller to FAs.

[totdprods]

4 minutes ago, N-From-OC said:

Didn’t he and Bauer both act like they were going to sign with us because of our fanbase and then just completely went in another direction? Not saying it’s everything in this situation as of course coaches and FO are probably the biggest seller to FAs.

If I remember, Bauer acted like he was going to sign with every fanbase. He was schmoozing it up on social media that winter with every realistic team. 

Stroman is kinda batty and obviously has gotten himself into some awkward public situations on social media, but he's really shut up while with the Cubs, so maybe he's found some peace or someone convinced him he needed to focus more on on-the-field than off. I do think there is positive energy there though and that would trend well with Ron's vision and what Perry has said before about clubhouse presence - provided it's positive. Stroman strikes me as a guy who can be so overly-positive it detracts from the message, but again, he's seemed to reel it in the last couple of years. 

Mostly I think it's the Perry and Stroman Toronto ties that connect him, plus I don't think he's going to get 5+ years at $25M-$30M annually. MLBTR has him at 2/$44m, perhaps Keuchel's 3/$55.5m. Aligns with Ron's 'window' too. That's absolutely worth the risk and does not become a financial obstacle if it goes south like a Snell or Nola deal (or even Ohtani) deal could.

Edited November 15, 2023 by totdprods

[N-From-OC]

32 minutes ago, totdprods said:

If I remember, Bauer acted like he was going to sign with every fanbase. He was schmoozing it up on social media that winter with every realistic team. 

Stroman is kinda batty and obviously has gotten himself into some awkward public situations on social media, but he's really shut up while with the Cubs, so maybe he's found some peace or someone convinced him he needed to focus more on on-the-field than off. I do think there is positive energy there though and that would trend well with Ron's vision and what Perry has said before about clubhouse presence - provided it's positive. Stroman strikes me as a guy who can be so overly-positive it detracts from the message, but again, he's seemed to reel it in the last couple of years. 

Mostly I think it's the Perry and Stroman Toronto ties that connect him, plus I don't think he's going to get 5+ years at $25M-$30M annually. MLBTR has him at 2/$44m, perhaps Keuchel's 3/$55.5m. Aligns with Ron's 'window' too. That's absolutely worth the risk and does not become a financial obstacle if it goes south like a Snell or Nola deal (or even Ohtani) deal could.

Oh I agree, I’m not against going for him, I just hadn’t heard the part where he’s calmed down with the Cubs which is nice so yeah he’s a solid guy who could be worth a shot at that contract

[totdprods]

10 minutes ago, N-From-OC said:

Oh I agree, I’m not against going for him, I just hadn’t heard the part where he’s calmed down with the Cubs which is nice so yeah he’s a solid guy who could be worth a shot at that contract

I haven't dug into it....but the fact that I just simply haven't heard or seen Stroman in the news tab or in my Twitter timeline for anything non-baseball related indicates it.

I'd like the Halos to sign an arm or two this winter that does not take them out of the bidding for arms like Fried, Burnes, Bieber, Buehler, or Glasnow next winter. All of those guys have SoCal ties, I believe, and with the Dodgers the presumed favorite for Ohtani and San Diego scaling back on payroll, I think the Angels are in prime position to sign one of them next winter and personally, I'd prefer that field over Snell, Nola, and such this year.

Stroman shouldn't exclude them from that.

[BTH]

10 hours ago, totdprods said:

Would be a good guy to get to add in to the mix where Barria/Suarez were.

 

9 hours ago, SlappyUtilityMIF said:

Meh... maybe, a bullpen guy to take Barria's spot.

I feel like Tyler Anderson should be taking the Barria spot, until/unless he proves he deserves a rotation spot.

[BTH]

8 hours ago, totdprods said:

Gut feeling that's sticking with me today, I think Marcus Stroman is going to be the 'big arm' add.

That’s been my thinking too.

I don’t see them signing Nola, Yamamoto, Snell, Montgomery, Gray or E-Rod.

That leaves Imanaga and Stroman as the top guys left in free agency. And for the reasons you mentioned, Stroman makes sense.

[Angels 1961]

Minasian has said halos will be aggressive this off season and not in rebuild mode. 

[totdprods]

12 hours ago, BTH said:

That’s been my thinking too.

I don’t see them signing Nola, Yamamoto, Snell, Montgomery, Gray or E-Rod.

That leaves Imanaga and Stroman as the top guys left in free agency. And for the reasons you mentioned, Stroman makes sense.

I can maybe see E-Rod being the costliest arm that they're realistically in on. I'd love Gray but think he's going to have a ton of competition, and I don't really see anything indicating he'd like to go to SoCal to play for a team that isn't a proven contender....strikes me as a Eastern/Central guy and with no shortage of suitors there, I imagine he'll wind up on that side. 

It'd max out our money, but a scenario where they were signing E-Rod and Stroman could be the most bang for realistic buck. ERod, Stroman, Detmers, Sandoval, Canning, with Anderson in the wings, and Silseth and Daniel as depth is a solid rotation, with some flexibility to deal from that pool for a hitter.

Edited November 16, 2023 by totdprods

[Stradling]

5 minutes ago, Angels 1961 said:

Minasian has said halos will be aggressive this off season and not in rebuild mode. 

That will mean something if they trade away Neto, O’Hoppe, Shanuel or Detmers.  If they don’t trade any of those guys, then it doesn’t matter.  

[EdmontonAngelsFan]

 

[AngelStew43]

Chris Rodriguez is now available in the Rule V draft, right?

[Pancake Bear]

Am I misremembering or wasn't Stroman the guy who was trashing the Angels over Skaggs' death? Or maybe it was just Eppler?

[totdprods]

8 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

Am I misremembering or wasn't Stroman the guy who was trashing the Angels over Skaggs' death? Or maybe it was just Eppler?

If I remember it was more directed at the Mets FO, specifically Eppler and Mets stuff, but he coupled Eppler’s inaction re: Skaggs into it, so not really directly at the Angels.

Edited November 16, 2023 by totdprods

[angelsnationtalk]

2 hours ago, EdmontonAngelsFan said:

 

Define aggressive...... $500M to Ohtani Aggressive? Miss out on Ohtani and spend $500M for various areas aggressive? Or (3) 1yr deals aggressive? 

I've heard them say aggressive before and it hasn't worked out.

[tdawg87]

"Aggressive" at this point means they get Yamamoto, Snell, and Chapman, then Arte gently places his balls on the table in front of Ohtani. 

This is all absurd so it's probably going to be a lot like last year, sans Ohtani.

[Angelsfan1984]

I don’t think you hire wash to lead a rebuild. Doubt arte keeps the team for a rebuild. Minasian also said in the conference that the hire was his call which leads me to believe he is also on board for 2 years. 

[Redondo]

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38905458/shohei-ohtani-free-agent-chicago-cubs-cody-bellinger

Ohtani, now the biggest free agent in the history of the sport, is deciding where he wants to play next, and the Cubs are again interested in courting him, according to sources familiar with the situation

[totdprods]

26 minutes ago, Redondo said:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38905458/shohei-ohtani-free-agent-chicago-cubs-cody-bellinger

Ohtani, now the biggest free agent in the history of the sport, is deciding where he wants to play next, and the Cubs are again interested in courting him, according to sources familiar with the situation

It’d be fun as hell seeing him hitting in Wrigley on the reg. 

Honestly, anywhere except Seattle, Houston, Texas, Yankees or Red Sox. I guess Dodgers too, I don’t really care since I’m in Texas but I’ll have to hear all you guys talking about it all the time. 

[totdprods]

1 hour ago, angelsnationtalk said:

Define aggressive...... $500M to Ohtani Aggressive? Miss out on Ohtani and spend $500M for various areas aggressive? Or (3) 1yr deals aggressive? 

I've heard them say aggressive before and it hasn't worked out.

The Bally TV revenue is another aspect to consider. I wonder how big that revenue stream was. I can also see the Angels taking advantage of that though, and trying to eat salary from other affected teams.

[jsnpritchett]

44 minutes ago, totdprods said:

The Bally TV revenue is another aspect to consider. I wonder how big that revenue stream was. I can also see the Angels taking advantage of that though, and trying to eat salary from other affected teams.

The deal was for 20 years, $3 billion, starting in 2012.  I don't think it was a straight $150M per year, but using that as a rough yearly average, it's obviously a lot of money (some of it gets spread around to other teams in revenue sharing, but it's still a good chunk of cash).

[BTH]

2 hours ago, angelsnationtalk said:

Define aggressive...... $500M to Ohtani Aggressive? Miss out on Ohtani and spend $500M for various areas aggressive? Or (3) 1yr deals aggressive? 

I've heard them say aggressive before and it hasn't worked out.

Aggressive meaning they’re gonna look to make moves quickly.

See: Anderson, Tyler. Or: Syndergaard, Noah.

[Angels 1961]

2 hours ago, angelsnationtalk said:

Define aggressive...... $500M to Ohtani Aggressive? Miss out on Ohtani and spend $500M for various areas aggressive? Or (3) 1yr deals aggressive? 

I've heard them say aggressive before and it hasn't worked out.

Minasian selling same bag of magic beans to fans. Many good teams are going to be aggressive but does not mean a thing. Again a lot of talk and as I've said in past after all is said and done more will be said then done.

[Angels 1961]

2 minutes ago, BTH said:

Aggressive meaning they’re gonna look to make moves quickly.

See: Anderson, Tyler. Or: Syndergaard, Noah.

Anderson again this year Tim.