nikkachez

Don't stop me now by Queen or some classic Rick Astley hahaha

Because Jimenez and Santana are terrifyingly inconsistent and huge question marks. Besides all of that, we need to replenish a barren farm system. Especially with young pitchers so we don't even have to discuss the Garza's, Jimenez's, and Santana's of the world.

and keep in mind Fletcher's payroll graph takes into consideration Trout making $23 million each year

You're not looking at the payroll in the luxury tax sense. The luxury tax takes the average annual value of a contract, not what the player is actually earning that year. Pujols is a $240 million dollar contract over ten years, so his AAV is $24 until his contract expires, Hamilton is $25 through the next 4 years, etc. As of now, the Angels stand at $170.075 million, so we have a hair under $15 million to spend. Here's Jeff Fletcher's graph showing everything https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/426128498533486592 I agree, however, that the Angels should stand pat now. Rather than overpaying for Garza or, even worse Arroyo, the Halos should sign a cheap veteran like Scott Baker, Jason Hammel, Chris Capuano, Paul Maholm, etc. Not sexy options by any means but if we're going to overpay, overpay in a better free agency class. We have a tick under $15 million to spend this offseason, get that back next offseason when Wells, Blanton, Ibanez, and possibly Burnett come off the books. With all of their AAV's combined plus the cash we have now, that's a savings of around $50 million dollars if we stand pat. That's enough money to sign Trout and sign a starting pitcher (Scherzer, Masterson, Lester, and Shields are all free agents.) In theory we could lock up Trout, sign a top tier starting pitcher (I think we should go all in on Scherzer), and add a bat to replace Ibanez. I'm not sold on any of our prospects -Cron will be the focus here- so it would make sense to add a bat to DH who can be a little more versatile than Raul. We lock up Trout, sign Scherzer, and sign Victor Martinez or Josh Willingham, go over the tax threshold but only as first time offenders. Looking after 2015, we have Howie, Iannetta, and Freese off the books which could help us get underneath the tax threshold. 2016 is the year the luxury tax threshold actually increases so the Angels will get even more room. After that, Weaver, Wilson, Aybar, and Smith are all free agents. But imagine this team in 2015 1. Trout CF (should hit lead-off) 2. Calhoun RF (will probably switch with Trout) 3. Pujols 1B 4. Hamilton LF 5. Willingham/Martinez DH (Willingham plays some OF, but Martinez can play first and catch in a pinch) 6. Freese 3B 7. Kendrick 2B (I want Howie hitting no higher than 6th) 8. Iannetta/Conger C 9. Aybar SS Scherzer, Weaver, Wilson, Richards, Skaggs (hopefully Sappington as depth) Frieri, Smith, De La Rosa, Alvarez (fingers crossed), Morin, Moran, and Santiago fill out the pen. Just my speculations and dreaming, but the consensus of this rant is that the Angels should save their money and splurge on a) Mike Trout and top tier starting pitchers in the next couple years.

Glad the Angels didn't do this. Hope this bites the Yankees in the ass. You have Ellsbury, CC, Teixeira, Tanaka, McCann, A-Rod, and Beltran on the books for the foreseeable future, those will suck in a couple years. Ichiro, Gardner, Roberts, Johnson, Jeter, Soriano, Kuroda, Robertson, and Thornton are FA's after this season and they have zero depth. F*** you Yankees, you're in a worse position than the Angels.

I think our system is better than the White Sox or Brewers. Think the Yanks system is pretty shitty too. But bottom 1/5th in the majors yes

Grrrr I wanted the Angels to sign him!

Only do it if it's a 3 year deal, we need a another veteran signed to a minor league deal to pitch in AAA (I like Clayton Richard as a possibility), if we don't sign Garza, sign a veteran to a 1 or 2 year deal max. Baker, Hammel, Capuano, Maholm seem like the best bets. Garza on a 3-year deal, Richard, and a minor league deal for Andrew Bailey would make me a happy Halos fan.

This is the only reason I could see the Angels trading Howie. But they should hold onto Howie definitely. Crazy to think about another lefty in the lineup though, we went from a team with no true lefties in the lineup into a team with Hamilton, Ibanez, Calhoun, Shuck, Lindsey, and Borenstein potentially on his way.

That's fine! It'd still be a solid move that could help create a giant boost during the second half

Why not take a chance on Eric O'Flaherty? I know we haven't had luck with injured pitchers but if a deal is right, he could be one of the best moves in the off-season. I'll take secret option C, Tanaka/O'Flaherty

Woohoo! I'm rooting for CJ

I imagine he'll fight for the utility infielder spot with Romine. Meh

Then we'll sign Scherzer and Masterson next offseason, it would give the Halos an awesome rotation yes, but I don't think it's in their best interest to sign both. Sign one and let's get ready for ST

I think it's looking more and more likely that the Halos could sign Garza

I think the Angels could possibly head into the season with Weaver, Wilson, Richards, Santiago, Skaggs, and Mulder as options but I'd still like to see an addition.

Ummm if Garza is signing for 4 years/$50 million, the Angels better leap on that offer. Imagine Garza and Balfour to end a solid offseason

One thing Jerry noted when the Halos first reacquired Skaggs was that his velocity dipped at the end of the year when young players velocity tend to dip a little bit anyway. Plus Skaggs is a really skinny dude, adding some strength to his frame could help him maintain the velocity maybe heading into this season.

I feel like the idea of Arroyo is nice, noted in the bullet list you made, but I just feel like signing him would be a mistake in the end. I feel like the Halos would be able to get away with signing Baker, Hammel, or Capuano to a low salary one year deal and get the same production Arroyo would provide, possibly even better than Arroyo. He's 37, wants a multi-year deal, the AL would most likely destroy him, he doesn't miss bats,and he gives up a toooon of bombs, to me he's a better version of Blanton

I share Jerry's optimism for the most part! If everything goes right then we're one of the best teams in the game IMO, but not everything will go right. I'd feel even better about this upcoming season if Balfour and another solid starter are on the roster come spring training.

I could see Salas and Jepsen getting cut if they suck. Why not? Save more than $2 million dollars and give opportunities to guys like Morin, Berg, Moran, and Alvarez when he's ready

I'd be much happier to see Morin and Mulder make the roster than Blanton and Jepsen. Borenstein is the guy I'm looking at the most though, I think he's our Kole Calhoun 2.0 and could help the DH/OF situation. If Borenstein proves he's legit and Cron can get his power stroke back, we'll have a pair of nice pieces to replace Raul after, or even during, 2014. Angels positional players by 2015 if all goes right: Trout CF (duh) Pujols 1B/DH (I think Pujols will still be our first baseman but he'll start the steady transition to the DH role) Cron 1B/DH (spells Albert at first for 40-50 games at first, DH's against lefties) Kendrick and Aybar up the middle Freese at the hot corner Iannetta/Conger at backstop Borenstein LF/DH (replaces Shuck) Hamilton LF/DH (gotta keep the DH spot open for Albert and Hamilton, Cron and Borenstein help with that.) Calhoun RF Romine/Stamets the utility IF

I'd love to see Morin make the bullpen out of spring training although I don't think it'll happen. I don't want to see Jepsen and Salas pitch poorly, but giving the opportunities to Morin, Moran, and Berg could be a loooot better.

I wouldn't trade Aybar right now, there's no depth behind him. And if you think getting Tejada to replace Aybar is a nice alternative, well there's a reason the Mets are looking at Stephen Drew. Give me Hammel or Capuano with Balfour and call it an offseason

Ricardo Sanchez isn't getting the love I think he deserves, while the Angels have been almost absent in getting Latin players the last couple years, Sanchez has been one of the few big international signings the Angels have made. He's a young lefty, 17 or 18, left handed, already throws in the low 90's and scouting reports say he has the potential for 3 above average pitches. He's raw obviously but he's got some of the highest upside in the system, him and Green could make intriguing future starters.