GregAlso

Actually he is pretty cool. He learned my name after the first time I met him and always would say hello and chat with me when the Angels played the Astros. 

That is pretty rare for a major leaguer. 

I don’t see Ryu costing $30 million per year. He is not getting that much if MadBum only got $17 million per. I don’t know where you got that figure at all. Feels made up. 

No way Ryu gets 30 million a year or Keuchel gets 20 million a year.

I don’t see Ryu costing $30 million per year. He is not getting that much if MadBum only got $17 million per. I don’t know where you got that figure at all. Feels made up. 

Good stuff.
Consider Andrelton's first three years as an Angel: 
2016: .281/.324/.366, 90 wRC+
2017: .278/.331/.421, 103 wRC+
2018: .315/.390/.483, 145 wRC+
Now I don't expect him to maintain that line throughout the year, but perhaps he could hit something like .290/.350/.440 with a 110-120 wRC+? With his defense that makes him a 6 WAR player (he was 5.1 last year).
Andrelton's best historical comp is, of course, Ozzie Smith. Like Andrelton, Ozzie started out as all-glove, no bat. But starting in 1985 at age 29, Ozzie improved to an above average hitter: going from an 84 wRC+ in 1983 (age 28) to 97 in 1984 to 104 in 1985. From 1985 to 1992 Ozzie had a wRC+ over 100 in seven out of eight years, with a career high of 119 in 1991.
I personally think that Andrelton can and will be a better hitter than Ozzie. He's maturing as a hitter a bit younger and seems to have more physical potential, if only due to his larger frame (6'2", 200 lbs vs. 5'11", 150 lbs). 
Ozzie ended his career with 67.6 fWAR, a 90 wRC+ and MLB record 375.3 Defensive Runs, in 2573 games played.
Right now, Andrelton is at 19.2 fWAR, a 90 wRC+ and 120.1 Defensive Runs in 806 games played. His pace for 2573 games is 61.2 WAR and 383.1 Defensive Runs. In other words, he has been very similar to Ozzie and is on a similar pace. The big difference is that Ozzie was very fast and stole as many as 57 bases in a season, but Andrelton has more power: and ISO of .112 compared to Ozzie's .066. 
Ozzie played until he was 41 years old so chances are Andrelton's career will be a bit shorter. I'm also going to guess that his offense will end up being better, but his defense will decline a bit as he ages. If we posit that he ends his career with about 2,200 games played, a 100 wRC+ and 250 Defensive Runs, he'll probably finish with 55-60 fWAR. Not too shabby and borderline Hall of Fame.

Thanks Chuck, feels good to be back. 

not 100% but I believe it is listed under the drugs of abuse restrictions. Maybe someone else who is more familiar with the CBA can comment, but I am fairly certain it is banned.
 
 
They haven't been completely clear about this but they seem to be saying that after healing and after rehab that he would be welcome. They could easily change their tune later but that is the current stand. This is still at least a couple of months away at this point.

Thanks Geoff! Jerry is very interesting to talk stats with every time. His thought patterns about statistics really interest me. I have so many questions for him.

This is pretty freaking awesome! Love the type of person Albert is.

Ok, all this hate for Josh is all based on assumptions. We don't know if he is taking responsibility or not. He had nothing to do with the lawyers of MLBPA and how they argued his case. The conspiracy theory cooked up in this thread is pure speculation without one shred of evidence. Josh was interviewed and spent the rest of the time in Texas. The lawyers argued the case and they were from MLBPA who defends Josh in order to defend all players.
We have absolutely no idea if Josh is taking responsibility or not because he hasn't said ANYTHING. People are merely speculating on assumptions and silence. It's a freaking witch hunt in here.
The accountability partner thing interests me the most. Did Josh let him go or was it the Angels who didn't like him hanging around the team? It obviously didn't work out but is this one of the possible things that caused problems between him and the FO?
Lastly, people mentioned the celebration and this is a historical reminder, Josh never joined in the champaign celebrations in Texas. They used Ginger Ale so he could join in with them. Many members of AA won't even use mouthwash with Alcohol in it so they don't even get any in their mouth. Josh not celebrating with champaign is nothing new. He never did that in Texas either.

All those asking about contract clauses about drugs of abuse. As I understand drugs of abuse, teams cannot put clauses in contracts about that because it is covered in the CBA. The JDA is meant to be the clause that protects owners against players that abuse drugs. This applies to PEDs as well, as I understand it anyway.

"An a hole and a jerk"? How do you figure? I've watched him sit for hours in Diablo Stadium signing for any and everyone. He did it everyday he could on his own time when every other player had left. He made some stupid decisions but that doesn't make an a hole or a jerk.

Inside, it is ashame it is being lost in this news cycle but it's probably the way Pujols would've prefered it.

This is pretty freaking awesome! Love the type of person Albert is.

This is pretty freaking awesome! Love the type of person Albert is.

We went through this last year. It's not true.
The only way Hamilton sees more fastballs is by taking the breaking balls out of the strike zone. Hamilton is too dangerous a hitter to vary too much from the scouting report against him because of who is on first.

Great article Greg!

It will be announced on Saturday, before the Angels/Dodgers game.

This has me thinking. 
 
Select the Day of the Mike Trout signing and win big contest?

Relievers "roles" (knowing which inning you pitch) is only 20 or so years old. Before LaRussa you had a fireman that came in to get out of tough situations and everyone else came in when called. Better use of bullpen. Closers are only important because of the save stat and the money associated with it. Also because that's how they're taught in the minors. If they get used to a new paradigm in the minors they'll be fine in the majors.

Good stuff Chuck. Just listened to it. Glad to hear from Alden.

Reminder of the other half of my previous comment:
"From May 5th 2012 (day of first HR) to Aug 22nd (the 23rd thru 28th he missed due to knee injury) Pujols had a .985 OPS."
So, for 3 1/2 months of the 2012 season, over half the season, he had a .985 OPS. It faded when his knee was injured. In 2013 he had a problematic offseason, a knee that wasn't fully healed and Plantar Fasciitis that kept him on one leg and eventually ended his season. Every slump he has had as an Angel has a very rational explanation.
His health can be questioned. That is fair game. But, if he is healthy then he can at least put up a .985 OPS. There is no evidence to say he will suddenly hit like Kotchman. Albert hit 17 HR in 99 games on 1 freeking leg! He has not forgotten how to hit. He hit well for over half of the 2012 season! His body may not hold up long term, but if healthy, he will hit.

Reminder of the other half of my previous comment:
"From May 5th 2012 (day of first HR) to Aug 22nd (the 23rd thru 28th he missed due to knee injury) Pujols had a .985 OPS."
So, for 3 1/2 months of the 2012 season, over half the season, he had a .985 OPS. It faded when his knee was injured. In 2013 he had a problematic offseason, a knee that wasn't fully healed and Plantar Fasciitis that kept him on one leg and eventually ended his season. Every slump he has had as an Angel has a very rational explanation.
His health can be questioned. That is fair game. But, if he is healthy then he can at least put up a .985 OPS. There is no evidence to say he will suddenly hit like Kotchman. Albert hit 17 HR in 99 games on 1 freeking leg! He has not forgotten how to hit. He hit well for over half of the 2012 season! His body may not hold up long term, but if healthy, he will hit.

What?! Never been a great fielder?!! He's a 2 time Gold Glove winner and in 2007 he was 5th best in defensive WAR. Yea, never been good... Misinformed you are. Sheesh
From May 5th 2012 (day of first HR) to Aug 22nd (the 23rd thru 28th he missed due to knee injury) Pujols had a .985 OPS. So, yea, he can still hit a year and a half later.
Just thought this thread needed some facts to balance out the rank negativity. For the record, yes, Albert's numbers say he is as good as Hank Aaron & Babe Ruth. He is definently better than Big Papi and everyone thought he was washed up too.

Funny I had been thinking about this for a while after ESPN posted that article about Peter Bourjos' defensive range back in 2011 (his heat map).
A system like this will make it easy to identify a fielder's overall range, the bell curve for how many fly balls and ground balls he can get to based on that range, how many balls he catches in the air (Call it glove %) vs. how many he doesn't catch. Most importantly those balls that are caught, those balls that are cut off preventing a double or triple, etc. can then be calculated using WPA to develop a real run saving value on any defender's defense which can then be roughly converted into WAR.