krAbs

I get the point this thread is making, but it still sounds like one of the stages of grief.

I love this time of the year because everyone starts whipping our their profoundly negative takes about every free agent pitcher on the market. What I've learned reading this board: Ryu is a huge mistake, Bumgarner is a huge mistake, Keuchel is a huge mistkae, Price is a huge mistake, and Kluber won't be worth it; but, we BETTER sign at least two starting pitchers.

I should also add regarding my not wanting Ryu:
Most of my friends are Dodgers fans, and I absolutely CANNOT handle the thought of the Angels signing Ryu to a big contract, having him constantly be on the IL as he has been the last five years, and all of my friends saying "Thanks for taking him off our hands. Can't believe you guys paid so much for Fat Boy [which is what most of them call him, particularly my Korean friends]"
Although perhaps it's my fault for having so many friends who are Dodgers fans. 

For me, right now, it looks like this:
#1.  Make the trade for Kluber that only costs lets say Rengifo and one other youngster is thats valid,  adds 17M
#2  Sign Keuchel,  he projected at something like 3 39 or about 13 per, i think it goes a little higher at this point with Roark getting 12, so lets say 3-4 years at 15 or 16 per.
#3.  Solve catcher either thru a separate trade for a controllable long term guy or just bring back Maldonado or go get Castro, shouldn't add more than 5 or 6 per.   Might lean to Castro only because it would solve it a little longer than a 1 yr on Maldy for equivalent D and Castro hits a little more serviceable, but Maldy might cost a bit less and keep future options open. 
#4.  Finally, if you want a little gravy take a shot at a 1 yr deal for RF to keep it warm till Adell/Marsh is 100% ready.  Maybe bring Kole back or go off book and give Puig a 1 year, maybe 6-8M.   Id prefer Kole due to being LH and while both have great arms Kole is the better defender overall... but either would do.  As said, gravy, but if you want to leave nothing to chance, there ya go. 
It adds about 40-45 M, which definitely puts us in lux tax range, but the money balances over the next couple years as Upton and Pujols move off books so we never reach the high range of penalties in the third year and it normalizes as Adell, Marsh, and the rest of the kids make the big club. 

I love this time of the year because everyone starts whipping our their profoundly negative takes about every free agent pitcher on the market. What I've learned reading this board: Ryu is a huge mistake, Bumgarner is a huge mistake, Keuchel is a huge mistkae, Price is a huge mistake, and Kluber won't be worth it; but, we BETTER sign at least two starting pitchers.

We're going to lose him to the Phillies or Yankees for sure.

I love this time of the year because everyone starts whipping our their profoundly negative takes about every free agent pitcher on the market. What I've learned reading this board: Ryu is a huge mistake, Bumgarner is a huge mistake, Keuchel is a huge mistkae, Price is a huge mistake, and Kluber won't be worth it; but, we BETTER sign at least two starting pitchers.

Hey - don't talk like that...

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/anthony-rendon-is-an-angel-on-the-infield/
Cool Fangraphs article on Rendon and the Angels, worth noting, the one negative part is about his future decline. Some useful context on the projections (from the creator of ZiPS) : "The ZiPS projections for Rendon feel a little light; that’s the case for a few reasons. The first issue is that people tend to overrate just how healthy a player will be in his 30s, so a lot of the missing WAR is ZiPS hedging its injury bets. In this case, it’s purely based on age and position; Rendon’s early-career injuries are too far back for the computer to care about. ZiPS also uses a mix of defensive stats rather than just UZR in its WAR. I’d still take the over on the projections, but they’re not as crazy-bearish as first glance might suggest"
Notable quotes from the article:
"Since his injury-shortened 2015, he’s accumulated the fourth-most WAR among position players. In the last three years, he’s accumulated the fourth-most as well. In fact, he’s one of the best 10 position players in baseball over every stretch you can count back, starting with his rookie year"

"Four years ago, Rendon was patient with enough power to keep pitchers honest. In 2019, he posted the fifth-highest slugging percentage in baseball while striking out less frequently than he had in any previous year."
"Our very early projections for 2020 already had the Angels as an 83.5 win team against neutral competition. This would leave them on the outside of the playoffs looking in, but Rendon vaults them into the Wild Card race immediately, even without any further pitching additions or depth hitters."
"Putting Mike Trout in front of him in the lineup (I’d bat Rendon fourth and Trout second, but the configuration won’t matter much) is a way to increase the leverage of those at-bats, to maximize the number of runners Rendon can drive home. Offense stacks, and combining great hitters is an excellent way to maximize a free agent signing."
This last point was really interesting - Trout plus Rendon is not just Trout's production and Rendon's production. Even if you don't believe in player protection, as far as run production goes, each of them makes the other's hits more likely to score more runs. There's a multiplier here. And that's before any production from Ohtani, Upton, or Adell - any one of which has the talent to put together a monster season. I still want pitching so we can actually maybe challenge the Astros...but, I'm starting to feel good about this signing.

On the Indians, honestly no. Wednesday night it seemed good and then Thursday morning not good and then Thursday afternoon better, but it all may be more about who I am talking to than the reality. It’s almost impossible for me to get an accurate gauge on this stuff in real time. 
 
I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens right now and I wouldn’t be surprised if it never happens. 
 
As for the budget, I can only guess on that too. They are already at their normal limit. I have no doubt they can afford one $20Mish player simply because I know they want Kluber. Two of that kind of player would seem be unlikely, but it’s possible. I don’t know how much Arte is willing to spend. 
 
It is clear that he’s upped the budget significantly, anywhere from $25M more to maybe $50M more. I don’t know where in that range it is. 

Yeah. But I wouldn't seek out a long-term FA based on that. This could be the last season of Simmons. Next year the infield could be above average but nothing exceptional. Also, the outfield may consist of Marsh, Trout, and Adell. We'll be kicking ourselves for having a tremendous outfield in an era of more fly balls and fewer ground balls for going with Grandma pitchers instead of strike out pitchers.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/anthony-rendon-is-an-angel-on-the-infield/
Cool Fangraphs article on Rendon and the Angels, worth noting, the one negative part is about his future decline. Some useful context on the projections (from the creator of ZiPS) : "The ZiPS projections for Rendon feel a little light; that’s the case for a few reasons. The first issue is that people tend to overrate just how healthy a player will be in his 30s, so a lot of the missing WAR is ZiPS hedging its injury bets. In this case, it’s purely based on age and position; Rendon’s early-career injuries are too far back for the computer to care about. ZiPS also uses a mix of defensive stats rather than just UZR in its WAR. I’d still take the over on the projections, but they’re not as crazy-bearish as first glance might suggest"
Notable quotes from the article:
"Since his injury-shortened 2015, he’s accumulated the fourth-most WAR among position players. In the last three years, he’s accumulated the fourth-most as well. In fact, he’s one of the best 10 position players in baseball over every stretch you can count back, starting with his rookie year"

"Four years ago, Rendon was patient with enough power to keep pitchers honest. In 2019, he posted the fifth-highest slugging percentage in baseball while striking out less frequently than he had in any previous year."
"Our very early projections for 2020 already had the Angels as an 83.5 win team against neutral competition. This would leave them on the outside of the playoffs looking in, but Rendon vaults them into the Wild Card race immediately, even without any further pitching additions or depth hitters."
"Putting Mike Trout in front of him in the lineup (I’d bat Rendon fourth and Trout second, but the configuration won’t matter much) is a way to increase the leverage of those at-bats, to maximize the number of runners Rendon can drive home. Offense stacks, and combining great hitters is an excellent way to maximize a free agent signing."
This last point was really interesting - Trout plus Rendon is not just Trout's production and Rendon's production. Even if you don't believe in player protection, as far as run production goes, each of them makes the other's hits more likely to score more runs. There's a multiplier here. And that's before any production from Ohtani, Upton, or Adell - any one of which has the talent to put together a monster season. I still want pitching so we can actually maybe challenge the Astros...but, I'm starting to feel good about this signing.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/anthony-rendon-is-an-angel-on-the-infield/
Cool Fangraphs article on Rendon and the Angels, worth noting, the one negative part is about his future decline. Some useful context on the projections (from the creator of ZiPS) : "The ZiPS projections for Rendon feel a little light; that’s the case for a few reasons. The first issue is that people tend to overrate just how healthy a player will be in his 30s, so a lot of the missing WAR is ZiPS hedging its injury bets. In this case, it’s purely based on age and position; Rendon’s early-career injuries are too far back for the computer to care about. ZiPS also uses a mix of defensive stats rather than just UZR in its WAR. I’d still take the over on the projections, but they’re not as crazy-bearish as first glance might suggest"
Notable quotes from the article:
"Since his injury-shortened 2015, he’s accumulated the fourth-most WAR among position players. In the last three years, he’s accumulated the fourth-most as well. In fact, he’s one of the best 10 position players in baseball over every stretch you can count back, starting with his rookie year"

"Four years ago, Rendon was patient with enough power to keep pitchers honest. In 2019, he posted the fifth-highest slugging percentage in baseball while striking out less frequently than he had in any previous year."
"Our very early projections for 2020 already had the Angels as an 83.5 win team against neutral competition. This would leave them on the outside of the playoffs looking in, but Rendon vaults them into the Wild Card race immediately, even without any further pitching additions or depth hitters."
"Putting Mike Trout in front of him in the lineup (I’d bat Rendon fourth and Trout second, but the configuration won’t matter much) is a way to increase the leverage of those at-bats, to maximize the number of runners Rendon can drive home. Offense stacks, and combining great hitters is an excellent way to maximize a free agent signing."
This last point was really interesting - Trout plus Rendon is not just Trout's production and Rendon's production. Even if you don't believe in player protection, as far as run production goes, each of them makes the other's hits more likely to score more runs. There's a multiplier here. And that's before any production from Ohtani, Upton, or Adell - any one of which has the talent to put together a monster season. I still want pitching so we can actually maybe challenge the Astros...but, I'm starting to feel good about this signing.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/anthony-rendon-is-an-angel-on-the-infield/
Cool Fangraphs article on Rendon and the Angels, worth noting, the one negative part is about his future decline. Some useful context on the projections (from the creator of ZiPS) : "The ZiPS projections for Rendon feel a little light; that’s the case for a few reasons. The first issue is that people tend to overrate just how healthy a player will be in his 30s, so a lot of the missing WAR is ZiPS hedging its injury bets. In this case, it’s purely based on age and position; Rendon’s early-career injuries are too far back for the computer to care about. ZiPS also uses a mix of defensive stats rather than just UZR in its WAR. I’d still take the over on the projections, but they’re not as crazy-bearish as first glance might suggest"
Notable quotes from the article:
"Since his injury-shortened 2015, he’s accumulated the fourth-most WAR among position players. In the last three years, he’s accumulated the fourth-most as well. In fact, he’s one of the best 10 position players in baseball over every stretch you can count back, starting with his rookie year"

"Four years ago, Rendon was patient with enough power to keep pitchers honest. In 2019, he posted the fifth-highest slugging percentage in baseball while striking out less frequently than he had in any previous year."
"Our very early projections for 2020 already had the Angels as an 83.5 win team against neutral competition. This would leave them on the outside of the playoffs looking in, but Rendon vaults them into the Wild Card race immediately, even without any further pitching additions or depth hitters."
"Putting Mike Trout in front of him in the lineup (I’d bat Rendon fourth and Trout second, but the configuration won’t matter much) is a way to increase the leverage of those at-bats, to maximize the number of runners Rendon can drive home. Offense stacks, and combining great hitters is an excellent way to maximize a free agent signing."
This last point was really interesting - Trout plus Rendon is not just Trout's production and Rendon's production. Even if you don't believe in player protection, as far as run production goes, each of them makes the other's hits more likely to score more runs. There's a multiplier here. And that's before any production from Ohtani, Upton, or Adell - any one of which has the talent to put together a monster season. I still want pitching so we can actually maybe challenge the Astros...but, I'm starting to feel good about this signing.

What is Rendon?

i'd do that in a heartbeat.

Did they exchange Ramen recipes instead?

👀

"However, upon further examination of the available options now, and in the near future, there is reason to think that Eppler should be placing greater emphasis on a more permanent, strategic solution at the hot corner this off-season, if at all possible.
Part of the reason is the dearth of good free agent and trade choices in the immediate future. In fact if you look at free agency options, out beyond this off-season, there are no legitimate players that are both good defenders and have an impact bat, readily available, in the next four years. The trade market is very similar with many of the high quality players at the hot corner locked up for quite a while.
This begs the following question: Should the Angels make an aggressive move, now, to upgrade at third base?
Securing one of the Top 2 free agent third basemen (Rendon or Donaldson) would require an assertive payroll move that is not Moreno's normal modus operandi although interesting times (the era of Trout) call for interesting measures (paying the Luxury Tax)."
 
Thankfully this proved to be a true statement and Arte has authorized creative and improved spending power. The Angels are now set at the hot corner for years to come with a premier bat and defender. We are entering a really competitive era of Angels baseball!

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/anthony-rendon-is-an-angel-on-the-infield/
Cool Fangraphs article on Rendon and the Angels, worth noting, the one negative part is about his future decline. Some useful context on the projections (from the creator of ZiPS) : "The ZiPS projections for Rendon feel a little light; that’s the case for a few reasons. The first issue is that people tend to overrate just how healthy a player will be in his 30s, so a lot of the missing WAR is ZiPS hedging its injury bets. In this case, it’s purely based on age and position; Rendon’s early-career injuries are too far back for the computer to care about. ZiPS also uses a mix of defensive stats rather than just UZR in its WAR. I’d still take the over on the projections, but they’re not as crazy-bearish as first glance might suggest"
Notable quotes from the article:
"Since his injury-shortened 2015, he’s accumulated the fourth-most WAR among position players. In the last three years, he’s accumulated the fourth-most as well. In fact, he’s one of the best 10 position players in baseball over every stretch you can count back, starting with his rookie year"

"Four years ago, Rendon was patient with enough power to keep pitchers honest. In 2019, he posted the fifth-highest slugging percentage in baseball while striking out less frequently than he had in any previous year."
"Our very early projections for 2020 already had the Angels as an 83.5 win team against neutral competition. This would leave them on the outside of the playoffs looking in, but Rendon vaults them into the Wild Card race immediately, even without any further pitching additions or depth hitters."
"Putting Mike Trout in front of him in the lineup (I’d bat Rendon fourth and Trout second, but the configuration won’t matter much) is a way to increase the leverage of those at-bats, to maximize the number of runners Rendon can drive home. Offense stacks, and combining great hitters is an excellent way to maximize a free agent signing."
This last point was really interesting - Trout plus Rendon is not just Trout's production and Rendon's production. Even if you don't believe in player protection, as far as run production goes, each of them makes the other's hits more likely to score more runs. There's a multiplier here. And that's before any production from Ohtani, Upton, or Adell - any one of which has the talent to put together a monster season. I still want pitching so we can actually maybe challenge the Astros...but, I'm starting to feel good about this signing.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/anthony-rendon-is-an-angel-on-the-infield/
Cool Fangraphs article on Rendon and the Angels, worth noting, the one negative part is about his future decline. Some useful context on the projections (from the creator of ZiPS) : "The ZiPS projections for Rendon feel a little light; that’s the case for a few reasons. The first issue is that people tend to overrate just how healthy a player will be in his 30s, so a lot of the missing WAR is ZiPS hedging its injury bets. In this case, it’s purely based on age and position; Rendon’s early-career injuries are too far back for the computer to care about. ZiPS also uses a mix of defensive stats rather than just UZR in its WAR. I’d still take the over on the projections, but they’re not as crazy-bearish as first glance might suggest"
Notable quotes from the article:
"Since his injury-shortened 2015, he’s accumulated the fourth-most WAR among position players. In the last three years, he’s accumulated the fourth-most as well. In fact, he’s one of the best 10 position players in baseball over every stretch you can count back, starting with his rookie year"

"Four years ago, Rendon was patient with enough power to keep pitchers honest. In 2019, he posted the fifth-highest slugging percentage in baseball while striking out less frequently than he had in any previous year."
"Our very early projections for 2020 already had the Angels as an 83.5 win team against neutral competition. This would leave them on the outside of the playoffs looking in, but Rendon vaults them into the Wild Card race immediately, even without any further pitching additions or depth hitters."
"Putting Mike Trout in front of him in the lineup (I’d bat Rendon fourth and Trout second, but the configuration won’t matter much) is a way to increase the leverage of those at-bats, to maximize the number of runners Rendon can drive home. Offense stacks, and combining great hitters is an excellent way to maximize a free agent signing."
This last point was really interesting - Trout plus Rendon is not just Trout's production and Rendon's production. Even if you don't believe in player protection, as far as run production goes, each of them makes the other's hits more likely to score more runs. There's a multiplier here. And that's before any production from Ohtani, Upton, or Adell - any one of which has the talent to put together a monster season. I still want pitching so we can actually maybe challenge the Astros...but, I'm starting to feel good about this signing.

The guy who covers the Indians doesn’t think they’d need a top prospect. He thinks they feel they have enough pitching without him and if they unload his salary they can keep Lindor for longer. 
 
I wrote in my story the Indians have had interest in Rengifo in the past. Given that Rendon’s acquisition makes him available, it seems like that may be who the Angels would want to give up (plus a second lesser piece, I assume). The Indians may want more. 
 
Obviously the deal hasn’t happened so they haven’t found the right pieces yet. 

He literally has called everything 

Great deal. Season saved. I also think Eppler may have just saved his job.
Now get two more good starters and a serviceable catcher, and this is a legit postseason team.

Must be what the eye balls were about. He was trying to see through the netting.