Choose one player...

[edgur1995]

Chris Sale!

[ELEVEN]

Ralston Schmidt FTW!

[Sully151]

Would Joe Maddon as manager count?

[Agalloch]

I'd go pitching like most and like most I would also go Kershaw. Fernandez and Felix seem like good choices as well. If I had to go position player though then it would be Longoria, my current favorite player not on our team and who never will be. Harper, Puig, Votto and Posey seem like good choices too.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Kershaw, goldschmidt. Runners up felix, cutch and votto.

Machado is right there. I think he's very underrated. Not a fan of mcabb the man, but would take his bat over anyone in baseball.

[Richard]

Yadi Molina

Edited December 19, 2013 by Richard

[IIIII]

prime Mauer at catcher (when he could play catcher)

[ten ocho recon scout]

I think I missed it if its also based on cost and control, but I'd be pretty happy with going back in time and drafting wacha instead of signing albert.

[Splint7438]

Obvious choice is me. The piece.

[YouthofToday]

1. Clone Trout

2. Bryce Harper

3. Machado

4. Fernandez

5. Puig

Votto would not make my top 100 if you factor contract.

[Angelsjunky]

Kershaw over next five years (age 26-30):

2014: ~$18M (last arb)

2015: ~$26M+

2016: ~$26M+

2017: ~$26M+

2018: ~$26M+

 

Verlander's at $25.7M per year, so I'm going to assume Kershaw gets at least $26M - possibly more. The $18M is the estimate from Baseball Reference.

 

Fernandez over next five years (age 21-25):

2014: ~$500K (pre-arb)

2015: ~$1M (pre-arb)

2016: ~$8 (arb 1)

2017: ~$12M (arb 2)

2018: ~$18M (arb 3)

 

Those numbers are estimates based roughly on looking at Kershaw's salaries.

 

So for those picking Kershaw, here's the question: Would you rather have Kershaw for the next five years (and more) for $122M, or $24.4M per year, or Fernandez for ~$40M or $8M per year?

 

To me the choice is obvious: you go for Fernandez. There are two rejoinders I can think of:

 

1) There's no guarantee that Fernandez will continue to be as good as he was in 2013. Even if his ERA "balloons" from 2.19 closer to his 2.73 FIP, he's still going to be very, very good. But this is a legitimate concern...but here's the thing: Is Kershaw worth three times the money Fernandez will be getting? I don't think so.

 

2) "But its not my money!" How has this worked out, considering the hamstringing contracts of Wells, Pujols, and Hamilton? I know, I know, we got Pujols and then Hamilton. But this year all three contracts are inhibiting the Angels' flexibility on the free agent market. "Its not my money" is a red herring.

 

If the OP hadn't included contracts I'd say Kershaw and not think twice about it. If he's not the best pitcher in baseball than he's right there with Justin Verlander, plus he's five years younger than Verlander. But the OP mentioned contracts, so in my mind, Fernandez is the better choice. Before his injury I would have said Matt Harvey as well. Chris Sale, Yu Darvish, and Stephen Strasburg would all be tempting, but I'd probably take Kershaw before them.

[Deek]

Since contract considerations are a requirement for this exercise: Longoria (and it's not even close)...

 

Many of the names being kicked around are pretty intriguing, but those dudes will break the bank...

[T.G.]

By virtue of this thread, this board is now being investigated for tampering...

 

 

 

Oh and I'll follow Agalloch and Deek and take Evan Longoria.  My second choice would be Yadier Molina for positions players.

 

Pithcing:  I'll take Kershaw and then Jose Fernandez

Edited December 19, 2013 by True Grich

[Stradling]

Any player? I'd take Babe Ruth. His contract was next to nothing. Or Cy Young, then we could go with a three man rotation, just give him the ball every other day.

[Halos of Anaheim]

Sale, Kershaw, Hernandez, Darvish and Fernandez for pitching.

 

Longoria, McCutchen, Machado and Harper for position.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Halos of Anaheim

[YouthofToday]

Kershaw will be a free agent after next year, right? As such he would not be a top 50 option unless he signed a team friendly deal (anything less than $180 million).