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

[Angels 1961]

1 hour ago, Erstad Grit said:

I'll be honest I never heard of this guy until now

Crazy his innings are higher than Imanaga.
2021 ---160.1 > 149.1

2022 ---160 > 158.2

2023 ---170 > 159

 

How old is he

[Erstad Grit]

Just now, Angels 1961 said:

How old is he

about to turn 30

[rafibomb]

11 minutes ago, Kendo36 said:

Need an explanation on Angelswin's last twitter post. 

 

[Dtwncbad]

6 minutes ago, rafibomb said:

 

If Arte decided to sell, it is at least conceivable that a transaction could happen relatively fast. . . if there was a front runner from the last cycle that is still interested.

[greginpsca]

8 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

If Arte decided to sell, it is at least conceivable that a transaction could happen relatively fast. . . if there was a front runner from the last cycle that is still interested.

As of August, he wouldn't sell.

[Dtwncbad]

21 minutes ago, greginpsca said:

As of August, he wouldn't sell.

[Erstad Grit]

It would be great, but he could have sold before the off-season to not put the team behind the 8 ball

[tdawg87]

9 minutes ago, Erstad Grit said:

It would be great, but he could have sold before the off-season to not put the team behind the 8 ball

He had "unfinished business" sir.

[Erstad Grit]

6 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

He had "unfinished business" sir.

Signing Luis Garcia?

[AngelStew43]

4 hours ago, ScottM said:

This would be a solid upside signing. Not wipeout stuff but he knows how to pitch.

 

I did some research.  94.4 mph on the fastball.  Curve, cutter slider, change, knucklecurve.  

A good assortment of pitches to work with.  I'd sign him.  At worst, he's Shiggy.  If he's better, then he's a lottery ticket. 

[mmc]

 

[totdprods]

15 minutes ago, AngelStew43 said:

I did some research.  94.4 mph on the fastball.  Curve, cutter slider, change, knucklecurve.  

A good assortment of pitches to work with.  I'd sign him.  At worst, he's Shiggy.  If he's better, then he's a lottery ticket. 

Not sure we could even hope for Hasegawa-level success, tbh. Seems like a total lotto ticket. Maybe he'd be crafty enough to stick as a #4-#5 with a 4.00-ish ERA, but not sure he has the command or velocity to be that consistent.

Was hoping the Angels would look into Shintaro Fujinami. He looked awful with Oakland as a SP last year, but really turned a corner in relief, especially with Baltimore. Would be interesting to bring him here and consider him in either role. 

[DMVol]

2 hours ago, rafibomb said:

 

Interesting….

[jsnpritchett]

18 minutes ago, mmc said:

 

What am I missing here? Why even bother to give Imanaga opt-outs in this deal? If he's good, the Cubs will extend to 5 years after year two. If he sucks, they won't--but if he sucks, why would he want to become a free agent and give up the guaranteed money on the 4-year deal? I guess maybe if he just wanted to go back to Japan? But unless I'm just missing something, I don't see how it makes sense for him in MLB.

[jsnpritchett]

 

 

[tdawg87]

Blum needs to familiarize himself with the name "Plesac".

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

4 hours ago, Erstad Grit said:

I'll be honest I never heard of this guy until now

Crazy his innings are higher than Imanaga.
2021 ---160.1 > 149.1

2022 ---160 > 158.2

2023 ---170 > 159

 

So, is his stuff similar to Shiggie? 

I haven't watch videos of him. 

[Vlad27Trout27]

Per baseball America 

 

[Ochocinco!]

Sign someone!!!! I’m so damn bored 

[Vlad27Trout27]

here another more indepth report 

https://www.sportsinfosolutions.com/2023/12/18/how-good-is-naoyuki-uwasawa-an-npb-free-agent-scouting-report/

[BTH]

6 hours ago, ScottM said:

This would be a solid upside signing. Not wipeout stuff but he knows how to pitch.

 

 

6 hours ago, jsnpritchett said:

https://www.sportsinfosolutions.com/2023/12/18/how-good-is-naoyuki-uwasawa-an-npb-free-agent-scouting-report/

"What to Expect

Uwasawa projects as a swingman in MLB with enough durability and control to be given a shot at the back end of a rotation. His four-seam characteristics and splitter have him standing a decent chance at some sort of valuable production for an MLB team, if he consistently hits spots, but the lack of velocity and overall stuff will limit his ceiling to that of a Kyle Gibson-type pitcher."

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=uwasaw000nao

EDIT:  Uwasawa's signing deadline is also tomorrow, btw.

 

5 hours ago, Erstad Grit said:

I'll be honest I never heard of this guy until now

Crazy his innings are higher than Imanaga.
2021 ---160.1 > 149.1

2022 ---160 > 158.2

2023 ---170 > 159

 

 

2 hours ago, AngelStew43 said:

I did some research.  94.4 mph on the fastball.  Curve, cutter slider, change, knucklecurve.  

A good assortment of pitches to work with.  I'd sign him.  At worst, he's Shiggy.  If he's better, then he's a lottery ticket. 

 

1 hour ago, totdprods said:

Not sure we could even hope for Hasegawa-level success, tbh. Seems like a total lotto ticket. Maybe he'd be crafty enough to stick as a #4-#5 with a 4.00-ish ERA, but not sure he has the command or velocity to be that consistent.

Was hoping the Angels would look into Shintaro Fujinami. He looked awful with Oakland as a SP last year, but really turned a corner in relief, especially with Baltimore. Would be interesting to bring him here and consider him in either role. 

Just letting you all know that the account referenced in the OP is a troll account.

If you look at their past tweets, it’s pretty clear. They have multiple tweets over the last few weeks claiming that Joc Pederson is signing in Japan and that it’s a done deal.

[Docwaukee]

1 hour ago, Vlad27Trout27 said:

Per baseball America 

 

sounds like the type of guy who has success for maybe a year and then the league catches up.  

[Angel Oracle]

4 hours ago, rafibomb said:

 

Sell! Sell! Sell!

Good riddance!

[tdawg87]

This has certainly been one of the offseasons of all time.

[totdprods]

47 minutes ago, BTH said:

Just letting you all know that the account referenced in the OP is a troll account.

If you look at their past tweets, it’s pretty clear. They have multiple tweets over the last few weeks claiming that Joc Pederson is signing in Japan and that it’s a done deal.

This article a few weeks back also mentioned the Angels and seemed legitimate enough for MLBTR.

 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/12/rays-interested-in-naoyuki-uwasawa.html

Doesn’t really matter either way, whether it’s a troll account or bad info or not…it isn’t an impact signing. If they do sign him he seems like he just adds to the #5-#6 SP pool. More like Kohei Arihara than Shiggy.

Edited January 11 by totdprods