vladdy#27

The move doesn’t make much sense, but could it possibly be the Angels looking into the future? Going forward if they plan on only having a 3 man bench (and Ohtani). Ward having the ability to give our 3B/1B the day off could be pretty valuable, especially if Maldonado is starting 120+ games a year. With so much of his value tied to his catching it just doesn’t make any sense this late into his career.

Not sure if this has been discussed at all, but what about signing Neil Walker for our last bench spot? At this point he'd probably take a 1 year deal for 5M-10M. He has primarily played 2B in his career, but played a little bit at 3rd and 1st last season. Kinsler is going into his age 36 season so a DL stint should be expected at some point. Cozart also doesn't have the most healthy background so Walker could fill Valbuena's role in the scenario where Valbuena played 3rd while Cozart was on the DL. This is potentially someone that could play 100 games this year so it'd be better to have someone that has had success in the major leagues and not someone like Fontana/Cowart. Obviously there won't be a platoon, but Kinsler struggled against RHP's last year (.680 OPS) while Walker was good (.842 OPS). So maybe against tough righties Walker would allow the Angels to give Kinsler the day off. It also gives us insurance if Pujols has an extended DL trip and/or Valbuena struggles out of the gate again. C Maldonado 1B Pujols 2B Kinsler 3B Cozart SS Simmons LF Upton CF Trout RF Calhoun DH Ohtani/Valbuena OF Young 2B/1B Walker 3B/1B Valbuena

The Angels have 1.7M left after signing Maitan (2.2M) and Soto (850K). That's still enough to get one of the higher upside guys. We can also trade for an additional 3.5M if they fall in love with someone

Where are you getting those numbers from? There were no games in March (Aside from Spring Training obviously) April and May he did struggle. OPS .605 but also had a .247 BABIP (Career .303) June (.893 OPS) through the rest of the season he had a .791 OPS and his BABIP was right in line with his career norms .305

I don't know if this is possible, but could the Angels manipulate the luxury tax dollar amount in a long term deal for Trout? Similar to what Doc was saying, but a little different. So say Trout agrees to a 12 year contract at 34.5M average annual value. That takes him through his age 40 season. Giving him a total of 22 years in the big leagues. A total career earnings in salary alone of over 550M. Now here is where the manipulation comes in, we add 2-3 years of the major league minimum. If it's 3 years his average annual value of 34.5M drops to 27.7M. Basically his 12 year/414M deal turns into 15 years/415.5M. Saving the Angels close to 7M against the luxury tax. This benefits Trout because it gives the Angels a tiny bit extra wiggle room and he can simply retire following the 12 year contract, walking away from a measly 3 years/1.5M

2017 Opening Day versus 2018 1B Cron < DH Ohtani/Valbuena 2B Espinosa <<< Kinsler 3B Escobar < Cozart SS Simmons = Simmons LF Maybin <<<<< Upton CF Trout = Trout RF Calhoun = Calhoun DH Pujols = 1B Pujols C Maldonado = Maldonado

Leaves our lineup something like 2B Kinsler RF Calhoun CF Trout LF Upton 1B Pujols SS Simmons 3B Cozart DH Ohtani/Valbuena C Maldonado or 2B Kinsler CF Trout LF Upton 1B Pujols RF Calhoun SS Simmons 3B Cozart DH Ohtani/Valbuena C Maldonado

His splits were actually pretty spot on last year. So that’s a positive

Not sure I really like this move. A little over 12.5M for him for 3 years. And for ages 32-34. And he’s really only had one good year and that was in a contract year

Joey Krehbiel was traded with Zach Borenstein for Joe Thatcher and Tony Campana back in 2014. Pretty good strikeout numbers in Double-A last year (12.1 K/9), but bad walk numbers (4.4 BB/9)

This just seemed like a deal that was going to happen. Moustakas makes a lot of sense now as well (assuming it gets finalized) 2B Kinsler RF Calhoun CF Trout LF Upton 3B Moustakas 1B Pujols SS Simmons DH Ohtani/Valbuena C Maldonado

Was just coming here to post this. I find it surprising and exciting at the same time.

If he does need surgery it would be better if he got it before ever playing a game so when he is rehabbing it wouldn’t count towards one of his 6 years of club control. Obviously better if he doesn’t need surgery though

This has to be us too

Ya he’s just never played SS, but something he could probably do somewhat decently in a pinch

Chris Taylor, Trae Turner, Freddy Galvis, Kike Hernandez, and the recently acquired Dee Gordon. Probably even Jason Kipnis could fall into this category

We have heard that Skaggs isn’t enough to get Hernandez. What about Heaney? He has a higher ceiling than Skaggs. He also has 4 years of club control, versus Skaggs 3. So who hangs up first, Angels or Phillies? Cesar Hernandez (3 years of club control) for Andrew Heaney (4 years of club control)

Hamilton

While I would love to have Machado I just don't think we have a shot. Another star third basemen I think we have an outside chance on is Nolan Arenado. He was born and raised in Orange County. He is a free agent after the 2019 season. Arenado is just as good as Machado offensively and even better defensively. The downside is a 10 year contract would be from age 29-38, versus Machado at 26-35, though Machado's deal will absolutely have an opt out after 3-4 years so he can get another large contract while still young.

I haven't been for trading Calhoun, but if we could trade Calhoun and somehow get Yelich I would be all for it. He's the perfect fit here and doesn't appear to be happy in Miami Young, just turned 26 Under control for potentially 5 years, 4 years/43.25M (15M option for 22) Great OBP Great defender Grew up in Southern California Bats lefthanded

Skaggs/Bridwell Hermosillo and a Victor Alcantara type for Cesar Hernandez Is that enough to get it done?

Castro doesn’t really fit on a team trying to cut payroll. He’s owed 10.8M next year, 11.8M in 2019, and has a 16M team option (1M buyout) for 2020. Seems like a way for the Yankees to cut a bit of payroll so they can take on Stanton So my guess is that the Marlins would try and trade him upon acquiring him. That gives us another option for 2B. Wouldn’t be my first option, but probably wouldn’t cost too much.

#1 for sure

Isn’t that only for the Braves prospects? That’s more than he originally got from the Braves!

Am I greedy for wanting to acquire more international money in order to sign Marte? We can still acquire around 1.5M, right? Might just be enough to sign him