Robrock30

Great just as I had posted in pitching
Aaron Loup, LHP
Player Data: Age: 33 (12/19/1987), B/T: L/L
Primary Stats: 65 G, 56 2/3 IP, 6-0 W/L record, 0.95 ERA, 0.935 WHIP, 57 K, 3.56 SO/BB
Advanced Stats: 2.8 bWAR, 1.6 fWAR, 422 ERA+, 2.45 FIP, 1.8 WPA (Baseball Reference), 1.50 WPA (FanGraphs)

ANGELS SIGN LHP AARON LOUP
ANAHEIM – The Angels today have agreed to terms on a two-year, $17 million contract with LHP Aaron Loup ($7.5 million in 2022 and $7.5 million in 2023). The contract also includes a Club option for the 2024 season ($7.5 million or $2 million dollar buyout). 
Loup, 33, made 65 appearances in 2021 for the New York Mets, going 6-0 with a 0.95 ERA (56.2 IP – 6 ER) and 57 strikeouts. He led all Major League relief pitchers in ERA (min. 50 IP) and held opponents to a career-best .192 (37/193) batting average, which ranked third among National League left-handers. Loup held left-handed batters to a .167 (14/84) average and yielded just two extra-base hits to lefties on the season.
A native of Raceland, LA, Loup was originally selected by Toronto in the ninth round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft out of Tulane University. He made his Major League debut in 2012 with Toronto and has pitched to a 3.05 career ERA (407.2 IP – 138 ER) across 471 appearances with the Blue Jays (2012-18), Phillies (2018), Padres (2019), Rays (2020) and Mets (2021).
In a corresponding 40-man roster move, LHP Hector Yan has been designated for assignment.

Angels need to go all in to sign the next Ichiro.  He will be a star at a reasonable cost great hit tool, solid defense with versatility and speed.  What's not to like?
Woo him and reel him in to play alongside Ohtani and Mike Trout which gives the Angels a huge advantage versus the other 29 Teams.  He looks to be a Superstar to me towering above the crowd.  Worry about OF surplus later which at worst can be traded for young cost controlled SP. This is a major task.

But signing this guy opens up trading possibilities for a controllable arm which could be a better option for the long term.

He is being posted tomorrow morning.  Perry Minasian is probably heading to Tokyo now to wine and dine him.  I have a Sake referral and a Japanese Professor ready to assist if needed.  Of course Ohtani and Mike Trout give the Angels an advantage.  Best of Luck!

I met Ron Darling way back in the day offseason after the Mets won the WS in 1986.  I was at a new NYC nite club upstairs and sat at his booth with a Coach who I recognized from his Yankees days.  I got an unfiltered earful of Darling's thoughts on the 1986 Mets quite amazing really.  I sat with the Coach and had a long chat about things who was very friendly with me.  Funny before I met Darling I was across the Street at another of my former hangouts on Park Avenue South and I was with Marv Albert's Brother Steve who used to Broadcast Mets Games.

I have met Doc Gooden and have a photo shaking his pitching hand and had a long schmooze with him discussing his highlights and lowlights including the Mike Scoiscia HR in the 9th inning of the 1988 NLCS Game which I observed at the Stadium. ( Check my twitter account ).  Lenny Dykstra was a great Ballplayer runner up MVP and would have been WS MVP except for Mitch Williams.  Darryl Strawberry was robbed in 1988 of MVP and he has turned his life around positively and if you listen to him now he hits all the right notes.

Meh I remember when Sbarro first opened in the Triangle of Times Square where 7th Ave. Crosses Broadway in mid 80's  and I popped in for lunch.  They didn't last long there and spread out to other locations.  I prefer Grimaldi's personally under the Brooklyn Bridge but you have to enjoy a softer crust.  Then there is the original Ray's Pizza but that is a whole another story.

Sorry I just am a bit too passionate about these things.
BTW been to San Diego GasLamp District, Coronado,  been involved in Horton Plaza preconstruction and I know it is done now, Brother was Married in Old Town.  I went to County Fair around 4th of July and saw them grilling rattlesnake but I passed.  A mortgage banking buddy of mine moved from NYC to La Jolla and he isn't moving back.  

If they are considering moving a young OFer for SP, I really hope they give Suzuki a look.  Dude will be 27 through August, basically at his prime and is likely going to be cheaper than the typical 27 year old OFer.
He knows how to milk a walk, can play defense, power probably translates to 15+ HRs...
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=suzuki001sei&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-
Also Arte can put up billboards with "Sho-time and the Sei-Hei Kid" all over LA cause marketing.

Sorry I just am a bit too passionate about these things.
BTW been to San Diego GasLamp District, Coronado,  been involved in Horton Plaza preconstruction and I know it is done now, Brother was Married in Old Town.  I went to County Fair around 4th of July and saw them grilling rattlesnake but I passed.  A mortgage banking buddy of mine moved from NYC to La Jolla and he isn't moving back.  

Meh I remember when Sbarro first opened in the Triangle of Times Square where 7th Ave. Crosses Broadway in mid 80's  and I popped in for lunch.  They didn't last long there and spread out to other locations.  I prefer Grimaldi's personally under the Brooklyn Bridge but you have to enjoy a softer crust.  Then there is the original Ray's Pizza but that is a whole another story.

I am curious which restaurant in NYC Perry & Noah dined at on Friday.  Post Covid I haven't been out and about as back in the Day.  
If it were me I would have chosen the River Cafe under the Brooklyn Bridge right on the Water with fantastic view of Lower Manhattan or maybe Peter Luger Steakhouse in Williamsburg keeping it in Brooklyn or maybe the Water Club in Manhattan by the heliport and the River but there are many good choices.
 

True Grich,
I think the 2022 Angels theme will be Angels fans, Mike Trout & Ohtani deserve nice things.  There is heavy lifting to be done now for this to be possible.
 

"Moxie" is going to be the 2022 buzz word 

I like that Minasian seems to have a sense of urgency and that he's being aggressive early.

Interesting read...
https://nypost.com/2021/11/17/mets-ghosted-noah-syndergaard-opened-door-for-angels-pursuit/
Excerpt:
Minasian is about to start his second year as Angels GM as the successor to the presumptive next Mets GM, Billy Eppler, He came to New York armed with details on, among other things, how his club would have him pitch to individual players on each team in the AL West. He spoke of the success the Angels enjoyed last year with a six-man rotation, which helped get Shohei Ohtani through a season of hitting and pitching healthy. Minasian said the plan would stay the same and showed Syndergaard how pitching in a six-man rotation would give more time for recovery and lower his overall inning total when all he had in 2020-21 in the majors was two one-inning stints to close out the past season. Minasian brought data to show what the Angels liked about his delivery and pitch mix and how to make them even more effective.
 
More...
 
Many teams such as the Braves and Red Sox, at minimum, checked in. The Blue Jays, though, were the other team most interested. But Minasian, who had been part of the draft apparatus in Toronto when Syndergaard was selected and always valued him highly, was the most aggressive. The Angels did not want to lose a draft pick in compensation. But the cost for the high-end starters — such as Kevin Gausman, Robbie Ray and Max Scherzer — was giving them pause at this point of the offseason and Minasian felt he knew enough about Syndergaard to play the upside gamble before trying to find more rotation help.

I met Ron Darling way back in the day offseason after the Mets won the WS in 1986.  I was at a new NYC nite club upstairs and sat at his booth with a Coach who I recognized from his Yankees days.  I got an unfiltered earful of Darling's thoughts on the 1986 Mets quite amazing really.  I sat with the Coach and had a long chat about things who was very friendly with me.  Funny before I met Darling I was across the Street at another of my former hangouts on Park Avenue South and I was with Marv Albert's Brother Steve who used to Broadcast Mets Games.

I have met Doc Gooden and have a photo shaking his pitching hand and had a long schmooze with him discussing his highlights and lowlights including the Mike Scoiscia HR in the 9th inning of the 1988 NLCS Game which I observed at the Stadium. ( Check my twitter account ).  Lenny Dykstra was a great Ballplayer runner up MVP and would have been WS MVP except for Mitch Williams.  Darryl Strawberry was robbed in 1988 of MVP and he has turned his life around positively and if you listen to him now he hits all the right notes.

I met Ron Darling way back in the day offseason after the Mets won the WS in 1986.  I was at a new NYC nite club upstairs and sat at his booth with a Coach who I recognized from his Yankees days.  I got an unfiltered earful of Darling's thoughts on the 1986 Mets quite amazing really.  I sat with the Coach and had a long chat about things who was very friendly with me.  Funny before I met Darling I was across the Street at another of my former hangouts on Park Avenue South and I was with Marv Albert's Brother Steve who used to Broadcast Mets Games.

Lou,
You are of course correct.  When Kazmir was a Met prospect the powers that be Al Leiter and John Franco walked in on him and didn't approve of the music he was listening to and shut it off and went to Jeff Wilpon and demanded that he be traded which he was to Tampa for Victor Zambrano LOL.
In ST when Syndergaard was a prospect the powers that be David Wright and another may have been the closer at the time Parnell simply tossed his lunch but didn't demand that he be traded.  LOL

Lou,
You are of course correct.  When Kazmir was a Met prospect the powers that be Al Leiter and John Franco walked in on him and didn't approve of the music he was listening to and shut it off and went to Jeff Wilpon and demanded that he be traded which he was to Tampa for Victor Zambrano LOL.
In ST when Syndergaard was a prospect the powers that be David Wright and another may have been the closer at the time Parnell simply tossed his lunch but didn't demand that he be traded.  LOL

I met Ron Darling way back in the day offseason after the Mets won the WS in 1986.  I was at a new NYC nite club upstairs and sat at his booth with a Coach who I recognized from his Yankees days.  I got an unfiltered earful of Darling's thoughts on the 1986 Mets quite amazing really.  I sat with the Coach and had a long chat about things who was very friendly with me.  Funny before I met Darling I was across the Street at another of my former hangouts on Park Avenue South and I was with Marv Albert's Brother Steve who used to Broadcast Mets Games.

Free if you park in Corona and walk over GCP on Roosevelt Ave. Underneath the subway line right into CitiField or take the # 7 Train from Grand Central.  While in Corona hit the Italian block on 108th Street watch the old men play Bocce and sip on an Italian ice from the Lemon Ice King of Corona.  

Been a Huge Fan of Howie Kendrick since Day 1.
Great things seem to follow him.  Best of Luck in Philly.