Angels sign Robert Stephenson (3 years, $33 million), DFA Rivas

[ELEVEN]

40 minutes ago, howie said:

I don’t get what Robert Louis Stevenson does for us-  maybe he’ll write his next great novel in the…pen.  

Now that he's signed with Treasure Island, I'm hoping he'll be more Jekyll than Hyde.

[ThisismineScios]

2 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

The reason to believe, the new pitch unlocked it all.  The reason not to believe, his career. 

The nice thing is its not a pitch that requires command, so it shouldn't be a pitch that he needs to throw for strikes for it to be a weapon.

Also, relievers are flakes 

And, this is quite often how relievers turn the corner in their career. Develop a new pitch or convert from a starter to a reliever. RP career trajectory is incredibly random. 

If Matt Wise was being asked to continue his development, I'd be quite skeptical. Like we were last year with Anderson. But I feel a lot better with Enright and Co. working with him to keep that momentum. 

[BTH]

21 minutes ago, ThisismineScios said:

If Matt Wise was being asked to continue his development, I'd be quite skeptical. Like we were last year with Anderson. But I feel a lot better with Enright and Co. working with him to keep that momentum. 

Agreed.

It also seems like the Angels front office was retrospective, recognized that they made mistakes, and are handing the keys over to Barry.

This really stood out to me in the Enright Q&A from a couple months ago:

One of the biggest things in the interview they said to me — which was great — they said, “Barry, you have full autonomy to say no to us. And we’re going to need you to do it. Because we’re going to come down with suggestions.”

Edited January 20 by BTH

[ScottT]

I like the guy, but that deal is a bit wild.... 

I'm guessing they'll do more.  Otherwise, it makes no sense.

Edited January 20 by ScottT

[Erstad Grit]

I like this deal, assuming more is to come.

[TroutField]

I’ve said all offseason to build the hell out of the bullpen and then throw whatever is left at Snell if he’s still out there. Bullpen makes or breaks your season, and the Angels FO is usually too stupid to realize that. I believe they can muster enough offense out of Trout, Rendon, the young guys, etc health permitting, if the pitching holds up their end of the bargain. 
 

the most frustrating thing to do is watch a game for 7 innings with your team cruising, bullpen comes in and blows it, game over. Feels like you wasted 3-4 hours of your life. 

[Ochocinco!]

They either see him as a closer which he has yet to show he is capable of or they are simply trying to build a bad ass bullpen and had to overpay a little to do it.

A Stephenson, Chapman, Estevez backend sounds pretty good to me… surround them with Soriano, Garcia, Quijada, Cimber, Joyce, Bachman… that’s pretty damn good! Man the fan in me is starting to get excited for the possibilities! All it took was one FA reliever signing after 2+ months of nothing to get here 

[Erstad Grit]

16 minutes ago, Ochocinco! said:

They either see him as a closer which he has yet to show he is capable of or they are simply trying to build a bad ass bullpen and had to overpay a little to do it.

A Stephenson, Chapman, Estevez backend sounds pretty good to me… surround them with Soriano, Garcia, Quijada, Cimber, Joyce, Bachman… that’s pretty damn good! Man the fan in me is starting to get excited for the possibilities! All it took was one FA reliever signing after 2+ months of nothing to get here 

I'd rather bring back Moore instead of Chapman but I agree with your sentiment.

[ScottM]

does anyone in this organization have any direction? this is the Malaysian Flight 370 of MLB franchises, endlessly cruising to the most nothingness part of the the world. 

[ScottM]

to be clear, it might end up being a good signing if his second half was a true turning point but a) do 30 year olds ever figure it out this far into their careers? b) you whiff (so far) on all of the big free agents and then spend exclusively on the bullpen? and c) you are now a 73 win team instead of a 72 win team? there's just no strategy unless Snell or Montgomery and JD or Hoskins follows. It's just so weird. 

 

[Ochocinco!]

5 minutes ago, ScottM said:

does anyone in this organization have any direction? this is the Malaysian Flight 370 of MLB franchises, endlessly cruising to the most nothingness part of the the world. 

Mix in a water bud 

[ScottM]

Just now, Ochocinco! said:

Mix in a water bud 

lol I just got off a 7 hour flight 

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

43 minutes ago, Erstad Grit said:

I'd rather bring back Moore instead of Chapman but I agree with your sentiment.

Donnie?

[CartiHalos]

7 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

We have seen this movie before sir.

Not saying this is like a game-changing move or anything, but it is very not-Loupish.

[Stradling]

3 hours ago, TroutField said:

I’ve said all offseason to build the hell out of the bullpen and then throw whatever is left at Snell if he’s still out there. Bullpen makes or breaks your season, and the Angels FO is usually too stupid to realize that. I believe they can muster enough offense out of Trout, Rendon, the young guys, etc health permitting, if the pitching holds up their end of the bargain. 
 

the most frustrating thing to do is watch a game for 7 innings with your team cruising, bullpen comes in and blows it, game over. Feels like you wasted 3-4 hours of your life. 

They’ve tried this the last three years. 

[tdawg87]

[Junkballer]

4 hours ago, ScottM said:

does anyone in this organization have any direction? this is the Malaysian Flight 370 of MLB franchises, endlessly cruising to the most nothingness part of the the world. 

Cheer up, they're in on Wi Tu Lo.

[Taylor]

1 hour ago, Junkballer said:

Cheer up, they're in on Wi Tu Lo.

Blo Dis Gam

[Blarg]

10 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

Also, relievers are flakes 

Sir, I believe royalties are in order. 

[Angels 1961]

To me it's a piece that can work for 2025 and 2026. Maybe he is closer next year. Angels will have to take some risk. Something else I feel is up maybe some kind of trade. Angels do have some young promising relief pitchers in Joyce and Soriano, I do think Bachman starts year in minors to work on being a starter. This move gives Angels more options and maybe Carlos Estevez is traded. Interesting to see what happens next. I do feel the bullpen got a lot stronger with this signing.

[Chuck]

Angels broadcaster Wayne Randazzo is pumped! 

[Stradling]

8 minutes ago, Chuck said:

Angels broadcaster Wayne Randazzo is pumped! 

Humble brag

[Angels 1961]

Wonder who will Angels DFA?

[Second Base]

The Angels bullpen may end up being legit this season. Stephenson, Estevez, Soriano, Joyce, Bachman....

Wish they would've kept Reynaldo Lopez though. 

[jsnpritchett]

1 minute ago, Second Base said:

The Angels bullpen may end up being legit this season. Stephenson, Estevez, Soriano, Joyce, Bachman....

Wish they would've kept Reynaldo Lopez though. 

Lopez signed for essentially the same deal as Stephenson.  Doubt Minasian wanted to spend that much on two guys in the BP.