KevinStockerIsGod

I think I’m seeing what happened, but it’s just my opinion.  I’ll first say I think adding pederson and stripling would have rounded out the roster nicely, especially if the only player of consequence on the major league side was Rengifo going.  
 
Our trade was agreed to pending completion of the Betts trade.  When Boston held up the deal, Arte probably grew super impatient, especially with it playing out in public, and didn’t want to be left twisting in the wind.  Probably short sided, but I digress...  then when the Betts trade was resolved yesterday, we reconvened and the Dodgers didn’t want to move forward with deal as constructed.  The 40 man issues with adding the Twins pitcher to the new deal may have precluded the original terms anyway.  At the end of the day, I believe if the Red Sox would not have held up everything and the deal changed, this would have gone down.  Maybe it can be revisited as Rosenthal mentioned, but we’ll see.
 
Love our team, hopefully Adell rips it up and we can get some help in season.

I think I’m seeing what happened, but it’s just my opinion.  I’ll first say I think adding pederson and stripling would have rounded out the roster nicely, especially if the only player of consequence on the major league side was Rengifo going.  
 
Our trade was agreed to pending completion of the Betts trade.  When Boston held up the deal, Arte probably grew super impatient, especially with it playing out in public, and didn’t want to be left twisting in the wind.  Probably short sided, but I digress...  then when the Betts trade was resolved yesterday, we reconvened and the Dodgers didn’t want to move forward with deal as constructed.  The 40 man issues with adding the Twins pitcher to the new deal may have precluded the original terms anyway.  At the end of the day, I believe if the Red Sox would not have held up everything and the deal changed, this would have gone down.  Maybe it can be revisited as Rosenthal mentioned, but we’ll see.
 
Love our team, hopefully Adell rips it up and we can get some help in season.

I think I’m seeing what happened, but it’s just my opinion.  I’ll first say I think adding pederson and stripling would have rounded out the roster nicely, especially if the only player of consequence on the major league side was Rengifo going.  
 
Our trade was agreed to pending completion of the Betts trade.  When Boston held up the deal, Arte probably grew super impatient, especially with it playing out in public, and didn’t want to be left twisting in the wind.  Probably short sided, but I digress...  then when the Betts trade was resolved yesterday, we reconvened and the Dodgers didn’t want to move forward with deal as constructed.  The 40 man issues with adding the Twins pitcher to the new deal may have precluded the original terms anyway.  At the end of the day, I believe if the Red Sox would not have held up everything and the deal changed, this would have gone down.  Maybe it can be revisited as Rosenthal mentioned, but we’ll see.
 
Love our team, hopefully Adell rips it up and we can get some help in season.

Until the fat lady sings and the ink is dry, this is all just chatter. 
Boras may have told Heyman and Gammons, some others like this guy that they're all in and negotiating with Cole only right now and things have progressed nicely. That doesn't mean shit though because Boras will circle back to other team's GM's. It's called negotiating. 
It's no secret that everyone in MLB wants the Yankees to get Gerrit Cole. As do these east coast reporters/writers.
Remember the night that we signed Pujols how it looked like he was for sure re-signing with the Cardinals or the Marlins? Then Arte swooped in.

It depends.  We desperately need an ace, but if signing Cole limited what else we could do to add to the pitching staff, catcher, and anything else we might want to do, I wouldn’t be too upset.  If our offseason consisted of Cole, Miley, and Castro, it would be ok, but not enough.  Just spitballing, but if we could do a Wheeler, Odorizzi, Hamels, and Grandal/trade for Contreras haul for a similar price, that’s the depth we would need to really give it a go.  

It depends.  We desperately need an ace, but if signing Cole limited what else we could do to add to the pitching staff, catcher, and anything else we might want to do, I wouldn’t be too upset.  If our offseason consisted of Cole, Miley, and Castro, it would be ok, but not enough.  Just spitballing, but if we could do a Wheeler, Odorizzi, Hamels, and Grandal/trade for Contreras haul for a similar price, that’s the depth we would need to really give it a go.  

Rosenthal's latest for the Athletic (paywall)...
https://theathletic.com/705014/2018/12/10/rosenthal-angels-more-active-than-anticipated-harper-to-st-louis-unlikely-reds-want-to-move-scooter-more-notes/
Highlights basically state that the Angels are far more active than anticipated (pitching specifically) and quietly made strong runs at both Corbin and Eovaldi.
Also reported the Angels are looking at catching and infield help. 

He cites them as a sleeper and recalled the '11 Winter Meetings and Pujols/Wilson signings.

Not sure how many are subscribers to the Athletic, but I subscribed to it recently and saw an interesting interview Kinsler gave them over the weekend: https://theathletic.com/211166/2018/01/14/ian-kinsler-q-a-on-the-angels-trade-his-time-in-detroit-and-in-n-out-burger/
I won't copy and paste the article since it's behind a paywall, but here were a few interesting snippets:
- Kinsler confirmed that Upton spoke to the FO about him and definitely recommended coming to play for the Angels if given the opportunity. 
- Kinsler's no trade clause included California and New York teams due to the tax implications.  Nothing against the Angels or the other clubs. 
- Kinsler would only waive his NTC for the Angels b/c of a variety of reasons, including Upton's push, the Ohtani signing, playing with Trout, pitching staff is healthy, and a chance to match up against the Astros.  "The World Series champs are in our division, so you have a constant barometer to see where you're at, and [you're] trying to beat the best. If you wanna be the best, you've got to beat the best. I think playing for the Angels was something really intriguing to me. I want to be a part of the [team]."
- Kinsler was honest about not really caring about the boost the farm system got this year with adding Maitan and others.  "You could talk about prospects all you want, but for a player in the big leagues, it really doesn't matter too much for us. We're trying to win now."
- Kinsler said he more cared about what they were doing to win now.  He said Eppler told him they were trying to get better and dropped an interest snippet at the end.  "Ohtani and Justin were huge parts of the equation, and then through conversations with [GM Billy Eppler], they said they're gonna try to get better after they acquired me. They did. They went out and [got] shortstop Zack Cozart, and I don't know if they're done yet." 
Anyway, interesting interview, Kinsler definitely is honest. Despite how you felt about him on the Rangers, I think he's a great addition to the team. 

Not sure how many are subscribers to the Athletic, but I subscribed to it recently and saw an interesting interview Kinsler gave them over the weekend: https://theathletic.com/211166/2018/01/14/ian-kinsler-q-a-on-the-angels-trade-his-time-in-detroit-and-in-n-out-burger/
I won't copy and paste the article since it's behind a paywall, but here were a few interesting snippets:
- Kinsler confirmed that Upton spoke to the FO about him and definitely recommended coming to play for the Angels if given the opportunity. 
- Kinsler's no trade clause included California and New York teams due to the tax implications.  Nothing against the Angels or the other clubs. 
- Kinsler would only waive his NTC for the Angels b/c of a variety of reasons, including Upton's push, the Ohtani signing, playing with Trout, pitching staff is healthy, and a chance to match up against the Astros.  "The World Series champs are in our division, so you have a constant barometer to see where you're at, and [you're] trying to beat the best. If you wanna be the best, you've got to beat the best. I think playing for the Angels was something really intriguing to me. I want to be a part of the [team]."
- Kinsler was honest about not really caring about the boost the farm system got this year with adding Maitan and others.  "You could talk about prospects all you want, but for a player in the big leagues, it really doesn't matter too much for us. We're trying to win now."
- Kinsler said he more cared about what they were doing to win now.  He said Eppler told him they were trying to get better and dropped an interest snippet at the end.  "Ohtani and Justin were huge parts of the equation, and then through conversations with [GM Billy Eppler], they said they're gonna try to get better after they acquired me. They did. They went out and [got] shortstop Zack Cozart, and I don't know if they're done yet." 
Anyway, interesting interview, Kinsler definitely is honest. Despite how you felt about him on the Rangers, I think he's a great addition to the team. 

Not sure how many are subscribers to the Athletic, but I subscribed to it recently and saw an interesting interview Kinsler gave them over the weekend: https://theathletic.com/211166/2018/01/14/ian-kinsler-q-a-on-the-angels-trade-his-time-in-detroit-and-in-n-out-burger/
I won't copy and paste the article since it's behind a paywall, but here were a few interesting snippets:
- Kinsler confirmed that Upton spoke to the FO about him and definitely recommended coming to play for the Angels if given the opportunity. 
- Kinsler's no trade clause included California and New York teams due to the tax implications.  Nothing against the Angels or the other clubs. 
- Kinsler would only waive his NTC for the Angels b/c of a variety of reasons, including Upton's push, the Ohtani signing, playing with Trout, pitching staff is healthy, and a chance to match up against the Astros.  "The World Series champs are in our division, so you have a constant barometer to see where you're at, and [you're] trying to beat the best. If you wanna be the best, you've got to beat the best. I think playing for the Angels was something really intriguing to me. I want to be a part of the [team]."
- Kinsler was honest about not really caring about the boost the farm system got this year with adding Maitan and others.  "You could talk about prospects all you want, but for a player in the big leagues, it really doesn't matter too much for us. We're trying to win now."
- Kinsler said he more cared about what they were doing to win now.  He said Eppler told him they were trying to get better and dropped an interest snippet at the end.  "Ohtani and Justin were huge parts of the equation, and then through conversations with [GM Billy Eppler], they said they're gonna try to get better after they acquired me. They did. They went out and [got] shortstop Zack Cozart, and I don't know if they're done yet." 
Anyway, interesting interview, Kinsler definitely is honest. Despite how you felt about him on the Rangers, I think he's a great addition to the team. 

Not sure how many are subscribers to the Athletic, but I subscribed to it recently and saw an interesting interview Kinsler gave them over the weekend: https://theathletic.com/211166/2018/01/14/ian-kinsler-q-a-on-the-angels-trade-his-time-in-detroit-and-in-n-out-burger/
I won't copy and paste the article since it's behind a paywall, but here were a few interesting snippets:
- Kinsler confirmed that Upton spoke to the FO about him and definitely recommended coming to play for the Angels if given the opportunity. 
- Kinsler's no trade clause included California and New York teams due to the tax implications.  Nothing against the Angels or the other clubs. 
- Kinsler would only waive his NTC for the Angels b/c of a variety of reasons, including Upton's push, the Ohtani signing, playing with Trout, pitching staff is healthy, and a chance to match up against the Astros.  "The World Series champs are in our division, so you have a constant barometer to see where you're at, and [you're] trying to beat the best. If you wanna be the best, you've got to beat the best. I think playing for the Angels was something really intriguing to me. I want to be a part of the [team]."
- Kinsler was honest about not really caring about the boost the farm system got this year with adding Maitan and others.  "You could talk about prospects all you want, but for a player in the big leagues, it really doesn't matter too much for us. We're trying to win now."
- Kinsler said he more cared about what they were doing to win now.  He said Eppler told him they were trying to get better and dropped an interest snippet at the end.  "Ohtani and Justin were huge parts of the equation, and then through conversations with [GM Billy Eppler], they said they're gonna try to get better after they acquired me. They did. They went out and [got] shortstop Zack Cozart, and I don't know if they're done yet." 
Anyway, interesting interview, Kinsler definitely is honest. Despite how you felt about him on the Rangers, I think he's a great addition to the team. 

Not sure how many are subscribers to the Athletic, but I subscribed to it recently and saw an interesting interview Kinsler gave them over the weekend: https://theathletic.com/211166/2018/01/14/ian-kinsler-q-a-on-the-angels-trade-his-time-in-detroit-and-in-n-out-burger/
I won't copy and paste the article since it's behind a paywall, but here were a few interesting snippets:
- Kinsler confirmed that Upton spoke to the FO about him and definitely recommended coming to play for the Angels if given the opportunity. 
- Kinsler's no trade clause included California and New York teams due to the tax implications.  Nothing against the Angels or the other clubs. 
- Kinsler would only waive his NTC for the Angels b/c of a variety of reasons, including Upton's push, the Ohtani signing, playing with Trout, pitching staff is healthy, and a chance to match up against the Astros.  "The World Series champs are in our division, so you have a constant barometer to see where you're at, and [you're] trying to beat the best. If you wanna be the best, you've got to beat the best. I think playing for the Angels was something really intriguing to me. I want to be a part of the [team]."
- Kinsler was honest about not really caring about the boost the farm system got this year with adding Maitan and others.  "You could talk about prospects all you want, but for a player in the big leagues, it really doesn't matter too much for us. We're trying to win now."
- Kinsler said he more cared about what they were doing to win now.  He said Eppler told him they were trying to get better and dropped an interest snippet at the end.  "Ohtani and Justin were huge parts of the equation, and then through conversations with [GM Billy Eppler], they said they're gonna try to get better after they acquired me. They did. They went out and [got] shortstop Zack Cozart, and I don't know if they're done yet." 
Anyway, interesting interview, Kinsler definitely is honest. Despite how you felt about him on the Rangers, I think he's a great addition to the team. 

Not sure how many are subscribers to the Athletic, but I subscribed to it recently and saw an interesting interview Kinsler gave them over the weekend: https://theathletic.com/211166/2018/01/14/ian-kinsler-q-a-on-the-angels-trade-his-time-in-detroit-and-in-n-out-burger/
I won't copy and paste the article since it's behind a paywall, but here were a few interesting snippets:
- Kinsler confirmed that Upton spoke to the FO about him and definitely recommended coming to play for the Angels if given the opportunity. 
- Kinsler's no trade clause included California and New York teams due to the tax implications.  Nothing against the Angels or the other clubs. 
- Kinsler would only waive his NTC for the Angels b/c of a variety of reasons, including Upton's push, the Ohtani signing, playing with Trout, pitching staff is healthy, and a chance to match up against the Astros.  "The World Series champs are in our division, so you have a constant barometer to see where you're at, and [you're] trying to beat the best. If you wanna be the best, you've got to beat the best. I think playing for the Angels was something really intriguing to me. I want to be a part of the [team]."
- Kinsler was honest about not really caring about the boost the farm system got this year with adding Maitan and others.  "You could talk about prospects all you want, but for a player in the big leagues, it really doesn't matter too much for us. We're trying to win now."
- Kinsler said he more cared about what they were doing to win now.  He said Eppler told him they were trying to get better and dropped an interest snippet at the end.  "Ohtani and Justin were huge parts of the equation, and then through conversations with [GM Billy Eppler], they said they're gonna try to get better after they acquired me. They did. They went out and [got] shortstop Zack Cozart, and I don't know if they're done yet." 
Anyway, interesting interview, Kinsler definitely is honest. Despite how you felt about him on the Rangers, I think he's a great addition to the team. 

Not sure how many are subscribers to the Athletic, but I subscribed to it recently and saw an interesting interview Kinsler gave them over the weekend: https://theathletic.com/211166/2018/01/14/ian-kinsler-q-a-on-the-angels-trade-his-time-in-detroit-and-in-n-out-burger/
I won't copy and paste the article since it's behind a paywall, but here were a few interesting snippets:
- Kinsler confirmed that Upton spoke to the FO about him and definitely recommended coming to play for the Angels if given the opportunity. 
- Kinsler's no trade clause included California and New York teams due to the tax implications.  Nothing against the Angels or the other clubs. 
- Kinsler would only waive his NTC for the Angels b/c of a variety of reasons, including Upton's push, the Ohtani signing, playing with Trout, pitching staff is healthy, and a chance to match up against the Astros.  "The World Series champs are in our division, so you have a constant barometer to see where you're at, and [you're] trying to beat the best. If you wanna be the best, you've got to beat the best. I think playing for the Angels was something really intriguing to me. I want to be a part of the [team]."
- Kinsler was honest about not really caring about the boost the farm system got this year with adding Maitan and others.  "You could talk about prospects all you want, but for a player in the big leagues, it really doesn't matter too much for us. We're trying to win now."
- Kinsler said he more cared about what they were doing to win now.  He said Eppler told him they were trying to get better and dropped an interest snippet at the end.  "Ohtani and Justin were huge parts of the equation, and then through conversations with [GM Billy Eppler], they said they're gonna try to get better after they acquired me. They did. They went out and [got] shortstop Zack Cozart, and I don't know if they're done yet." 
Anyway, interesting interview, Kinsler definitely is honest. Despite how you felt about him on the Rangers, I think he's a great addition to the team. 

Not sure how many are subscribers to the Athletic, but I subscribed to it recently and saw an interesting interview Kinsler gave them over the weekend: https://theathletic.com/211166/2018/01/14/ian-kinsler-q-a-on-the-angels-trade-his-time-in-detroit-and-in-n-out-burger/
I won't copy and paste the article since it's behind a paywall, but here were a few interesting snippets:
- Kinsler confirmed that Upton spoke to the FO about him and definitely recommended coming to play for the Angels if given the opportunity. 
- Kinsler's no trade clause included California and New York teams due to the tax implications.  Nothing against the Angels or the other clubs. 
- Kinsler would only waive his NTC for the Angels b/c of a variety of reasons, including Upton's push, the Ohtani signing, playing with Trout, pitching staff is healthy, and a chance to match up against the Astros.  "The World Series champs are in our division, so you have a constant barometer to see where you're at, and [you're] trying to beat the best. If you wanna be the best, you've got to beat the best. I think playing for the Angels was something really intriguing to me. I want to be a part of the [team]."
- Kinsler was honest about not really caring about the boost the farm system got this year with adding Maitan and others.  "You could talk about prospects all you want, but for a player in the big leagues, it really doesn't matter too much for us. We're trying to win now."
- Kinsler said he more cared about what they were doing to win now.  He said Eppler told him they were trying to get better and dropped an interest snippet at the end.  "Ohtani and Justin were huge parts of the equation, and then through conversations with [GM Billy Eppler], they said they're gonna try to get better after they acquired me. They did. They went out and [got] shortstop Zack Cozart, and I don't know if they're done yet." 
Anyway, interesting interview, Kinsler definitely is honest. Despite how you felt about him on the Rangers, I think he's a great addition to the team. 

Not sure how many are subscribers to the Athletic, but I subscribed to it recently and saw an interesting interview Kinsler gave them over the weekend: https://theathletic.com/211166/2018/01/14/ian-kinsler-q-a-on-the-angels-trade-his-time-in-detroit-and-in-n-out-burger/
I won't copy and paste the article since it's behind a paywall, but here were a few interesting snippets:
- Kinsler confirmed that Upton spoke to the FO about him and definitely recommended coming to play for the Angels if given the opportunity. 
- Kinsler's no trade clause included California and New York teams due to the tax implications.  Nothing against the Angels or the other clubs. 
- Kinsler would only waive his NTC for the Angels b/c of a variety of reasons, including Upton's push, the Ohtani signing, playing with Trout, pitching staff is healthy, and a chance to match up against the Astros.  "The World Series champs are in our division, so you have a constant barometer to see where you're at, and [you're] trying to beat the best. If you wanna be the best, you've got to beat the best. I think playing for the Angels was something really intriguing to me. I want to be a part of the [team]."
- Kinsler was honest about not really caring about the boost the farm system got this year with adding Maitan and others.  "You could talk about prospects all you want, but for a player in the big leagues, it really doesn't matter too much for us. We're trying to win now."
- Kinsler said he more cared about what they were doing to win now.  He said Eppler told him they were trying to get better and dropped an interest snippet at the end.  "Ohtani and Justin were huge parts of the equation, and then through conversations with [GM Billy Eppler], they said they're gonna try to get better after they acquired me. They did. They went out and [got] shortstop Zack Cozart, and I don't know if they're done yet." 
Anyway, interesting interview, Kinsler definitely is honest. Despite how you felt about him on the Rangers, I think he's a great addition to the team. 

Not sure how many are subscribers to the Athletic, but I subscribed to it recently and saw an interesting interview Kinsler gave them over the weekend: https://theathletic.com/211166/2018/01/14/ian-kinsler-q-a-on-the-angels-trade-his-time-in-detroit-and-in-n-out-burger/
I won't copy and paste the article since it's behind a paywall, but here were a few interesting snippets:
- Kinsler confirmed that Upton spoke to the FO about him and definitely recommended coming to play for the Angels if given the opportunity. 
- Kinsler's no trade clause included California and New York teams due to the tax implications.  Nothing against the Angels or the other clubs. 
- Kinsler would only waive his NTC for the Angels b/c of a variety of reasons, including Upton's push, the Ohtani signing, playing with Trout, pitching staff is healthy, and a chance to match up against the Astros.  "The World Series champs are in our division, so you have a constant barometer to see where you're at, and [you're] trying to beat the best. If you wanna be the best, you've got to beat the best. I think playing for the Angels was something really intriguing to me. I want to be a part of the [team]."
- Kinsler was honest about not really caring about the boost the farm system got this year with adding Maitan and others.  "You could talk about prospects all you want, but for a player in the big leagues, it really doesn't matter too much for us. We're trying to win now."
- Kinsler said he more cared about what they were doing to win now.  He said Eppler told him they were trying to get better and dropped an interest snippet at the end.  "Ohtani and Justin were huge parts of the equation, and then through conversations with [GM Billy Eppler], they said they're gonna try to get better after they acquired me. They did. They went out and [got] shortstop Zack Cozart, and I don't know if they're done yet." 
Anyway, interesting interview, Kinsler definitely is honest. Despite how you felt about him on the Rangers, I think he's a great addition to the team. 

Not sure how many are subscribers to the Athletic, but I subscribed to it recently and saw an interesting interview Kinsler gave them over the weekend: https://theathletic.com/211166/2018/01/14/ian-kinsler-q-a-on-the-angels-trade-his-time-in-detroit-and-in-n-out-burger/
I won't copy and paste the article since it's behind a paywall, but here were a few interesting snippets:
- Kinsler confirmed that Upton spoke to the FO about him and definitely recommended coming to play for the Angels if given the opportunity. 
- Kinsler's no trade clause included California and New York teams due to the tax implications.  Nothing against the Angels or the other clubs. 
- Kinsler would only waive his NTC for the Angels b/c of a variety of reasons, including Upton's push, the Ohtani signing, playing with Trout, pitching staff is healthy, and a chance to match up against the Astros.  "The World Series champs are in our division, so you have a constant barometer to see where you're at, and [you're] trying to beat the best. If you wanna be the best, you've got to beat the best. I think playing for the Angels was something really intriguing to me. I want to be a part of the [team]."
- Kinsler was honest about not really caring about the boost the farm system got this year with adding Maitan and others.  "You could talk about prospects all you want, but for a player in the big leagues, it really doesn't matter too much for us. We're trying to win now."
- Kinsler said he more cared about what they were doing to win now.  He said Eppler told him they were trying to get better and dropped an interest snippet at the end.  "Ohtani and Justin were huge parts of the equation, and then through conversations with [GM Billy Eppler], they said they're gonna try to get better after they acquired me. They did. They went out and [got] shortstop Zack Cozart, and I don't know if they're done yet." 
Anyway, interesting interview, Kinsler definitely is honest. Despite how you felt about him on the Rangers, I think he's a great addition to the team. 

I doubt that puts the Yankees in on Darvish.  Yankees are trying to reduce payroll to stay under the tax this year.  They probably could have fit in Cole, but adding a 20+ mil a year pitcher doesn't really make sense for them.

3/38....not bad at all

He plays great defense, has good pop, saw a resurgence in offense last year with a changed batting stance...for a free agent signing, this is very manageable. 

Hooray...we signed the "Gary Matthews Jr" of infielders
Meh

He plays great defense, has good pop, saw a resurgence in offense last year with a changed batting stance...for a free agent signing, this is very manageable. 

3/38....not bad at all