DailyHalo

Jeff, do you think the Angels have the salary/prospect capital too pull off a move'n half with the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays for Greinke, Ray, and Giles?

Those numbers a heavily skewed. Additionally, he bounced back nicely for the remainder of the season.

1.) I think we've layed enough ground work in the off season to negate the lose of a second rounder and the pool money. 2.) The hope would be that any player your drafting, would develop into the caliber of a Greg Holland.

I believe we need too "bite the bullet" and just sign Greg Holland already. I'd rather spend a little extra today and get a known quantity, rather than wait for a middle of the season trade or for another diamond in the rough to appear. Winning should trump finances, especially when the team is already under the tax threshold. We need to have as much talent as possible, at as many positions as possible. I feel we're just good enough to be in the playoff conversation right now and we should be looking at ways to overwhelm our opponents, not just have an ok chance.

How so? I still see more big name FA"s out there than any other off-season in memory and players are already in ST. As for the player's that have already signed, they have all done so for less than what the "experts" thought they would've. Honestly, besides the Marlin's, it doesn't feel like anyone made any major trades this off-season. I mean dipshit Dipoto did make that whole bungled Dee Gordon trade though. This off-season is anything but a typical one and it seem's like it might just get even funkier as time goes by. Let's just hope a few deal's come/fall our way and we can snag a few players on the cheap.

Felipe Rivero

We should trade for some of Milwaukee's arms. Knebel, Nelson and Hader are all nasty or maybe talk to Pittsburgh and see what they want for Rivero. Get either a filthy lefty or a closer to solidify the pen. We don't need to lose games unnecessarily because we didn't hunker down the bullpen. You could always add more starting pitching as well, plus It would just give us more arms to trade for other needs.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Trout has been here from the beginning and he deserves to be overly compensated in those final years. Paying him isn't going to be an issue. If he ever does leave, it won't be due to money, it'll be for personal reasons. It's the front offices job to show him that we've learned our lessons over the last decade and are here to compete year in and year out. Just in the last few years, this organization has learned a lot about itself as a business and as a home for employees, players and fans. It's incredibly difficult to express how much the philosophy here has truly changed because it's in its infancy. Not every move is going to be a slam dunk but the days of handing out illogical contracts, mishandling players heath wise and making impulsive decisions are over. Paying for a players past, is just that, a thing of the past. Your past production is what gets your foot in the door but it'll no longer get you a cushy pay day till you retire. Yes, player salaries are becoming smaller and smaller compared to the owner's/league's revenue but that going to be for the good in the next few decade's. The league plans to use that disparity in revenue to expand the league farther throughout the world. Now given time to lay the foundation, MLB WILL be played at the highest level, in multiple countries. The blue prints have been discussed at nausea for years and the time for breaking ground is approaching fast. Sorry, Idk why I wen't on that tangent. The Angels are here to stay and that started a few years ago. We need health and pitching to compete. Finally, I won't get into trades because I'll be here all night with all of the possibilities but as far as Free Agents go, let's get Lance Lynn with a 4 year deal and an option for a 5th at an AAV of 15-17MM.

You should have asked him what his thoughts were on obtaining a closer.

I know what he meant. He'll reach atleast 2 major milestone this year. He'll pass Griffey on the HR list and get 3,000 hits. Of course i wan't him to succeed. I would rather save the money and replace him with someone better fit for the position.

Yeah seriously lol. Idk, I prefer to save the $45MM, free us of any major/long term money and let him achieve his milestones with the franchise it should have always been with, the Cardinal's.

Do you think Billy can get St. Louis to take the remaining 4 years of Albert's contract off our hands? If we eat about $70MM, I think it could be beneficial for both clubs. We save about $45MM, it clears a roster spot and unburdens the Franchise of any dead contract weight. St Louis gets to see his remaining milestones, he plays a healthy 1st for them and wont cost them much financially. It's a happy ending to a situation that should have never happened. Worst case, Albert doesn't wanna tarnish the career stat line, gives up $30MM and hangs em' up.

We'd all like to have the best player in the league at every position too. There's a'lot of moves the team can make depending on the direction they go in. You can try and get in a year early on a franchise type 3'B, a 2'B that can make a difference on both sizes of the ball for once or an innings eater/back of the pen type arm. Many teams offer many different options. I personally spend the money on offense and the pen.

Another team to possibly look at for a few of our needs, is the Rockies. Multiply positions could be traded for, depending on remaining years and the prospect haul.

Well we've improved our chances of making the playoffs today. It might not have been pitching but our offense is much improved. We still have more RH hitters than I'd like but the remainder of the season is going to be interesting and I hope these moves put us over the top in the wild card.

Jeff, you should ask around the organization and see what you can dig up on what the FO's plans are for the pen. Particularly with their pursuits of a FA closer? See if they divulge any info.

I'm not a huge fan of Desmond. I'd rather pluck Gomez from their outfield but that could be just as risky. I'd personally, rather sign Reddick than Desmond. We need to explore as many Left handed options as we can. Shorter/cheaper deals before bigger lefty FA bats hit the market in the next couple of years. Players like Jay, Melky Cabrera or a 1-2 yr deal on Aoki as a backup to the backup type move. An average player in left will have a profound effect, compared to what the team has had out there for the last few season.

I agree and batting him in front of Mike can only help.

I like the short commitment and the addition of a left handed bat in the lineup.

How about Nick Markakis or splurging a bit and going after Carlos Gonzalez?

Mhm, I thought you meant my numbers were low. Chapman is going to get more than 15MM per. I dont think Melancon is going to make less in free agency than what hes already getting paid. There is no way that Josh Reddick gets an $85MM contract. I'd say he's more likely to take a 1 year, really prove his value type of deal, than get paid 17-18MM for 5 years. Lastly, Dickey is debating retirement. I don't even know if he wants to pitch in 2017. My theory is that pitching the other half of his games in open air and 85% of them outside of those bandbox east ballparks, will drastically improve his pitch effect.

Well what sounds more accurate to you?

I'm gonna say we sign a bullpen arm, then make a trade for a either a starting pitcher and/or position player and than sign whichever one we didn't just acquire. I can't say who they would acquire in any trades per say but everyone knows the impending free agents..... Chapman 5-7yrs at 17-18MM per or Melancon 3-4yrs at 14-15MM per. Jon Jay 1yr at 8MM or Reddick 1-2yr at 9-10MM per. Ivan Nova 3-4yrs at 8-12MM per or Dickey 1yr 8MM Luis Valbuena 1-2yrs at 8-9MM per

What about Kole Calhoun, C.J. Cron and a mid/low tier prospect for Carlos Gonzalez and Jon Gray?

Don't be mad but the idea is to lose as many games as possible. We need to keep a positive attitude and lose with grace. It would have been nice to have swept Seattle out of Anaheim but the idea right now is to lose as many games as possible and get a protected pick. If the starting pitching keeps getting injured that will change the organizations direction moving forward but getting a protected pick is what we need to aim for right now. Getting a draft pick that allows us to spend a little on free agency is the "new" goal. In a perfect world, we would lose every game by one, in a 4-3 lose. I understand its hard to stay positive when your constantly losing ball games but if you can allow new, young players to show what they've got, while still losing, then thats the predicament were in. The bullpen is the new go to move for the future. You don't have to have Cy Young or even an all-star caliber pitching if you have a bullpen that can close out games. If this team can make a trade that allows us to get a "2" type of starter, we can me more than competitive. I know that many will think that this is a homer's view but We're not that far off from being competitive. If you think we have to be the best team in the league to compete, your going to be upset. Getting into the playoffs is the goal. Once your into the playoffs, anything can happen. The playoffs is where a players "stufff" comes out. The game is not finding a player with stuff, many have the stuff but rather a player that can hack it mentally. The real battle is to find players that can not only fight through failure but also minor/major injury. i hate to say it but with some good luck and smart spending, we can field a team that will battle for a max of 174 games.