Hubs

Cahill had a season in the AL with a sub 3 ERA. Skaggs was the prize of the Dan Haren deal.
Good package. Id still want the Angels to sign a guy that could compete with Skaggs for the fifth spot, a veteran trying to make a comeback like Johan Santana.

Watch, after all of this Dipoto bashing on the Freese trade (myself included) He goes out and gets Bradley and another arm in a Trumbo + deal. Today redemption is spelled J-e-D-i

Skaggs and Cahill for Trumbo, Jepsen. 

If this is the case, I'd look for us to sign Roy Halladay and Johan Santana to minor league contracts.
 
They have five starting pitchers now: Weaver, Wilson, Richards, Blanton, and Shoemaker. Shoemaker is the most likely candidate in a minor league system where they have no other upper level starters who had ERA's under 5. 

we would totally have randy winn by now.

The Angels had a chance to strike early before the market got stupid.   Grats on reading the market poorly.

If you've learned anything by other DiPoto moves it's that you can't judge them in November. We all thought Pujols would hit like he did in St. Louis (I still think he will at least come close to those numbers). We all thought Josh Hamilton was a good move. Freese move was not looked at as under a rosy of a light. 
 
I will say, his pitching moves have left a lot to be desired. But so did Reagins' moves. Only CJ Wilson has been a solid move, as I guess signing Jerome Williams has as well.

I thought the Angels should non-tender Williams, but now I'm thinking they should keep him around as a fifth starter insurance, just in case they win the Tanaka bidding. That way they only need trade one player for a starter and don't need to go sign two. I'd only like to see one of Kendrick and/or Trumbo dealt this year, though I expect both to be dealt by the start of the 2015 season.

Forgot they had Doumit becuase he's not listed as a catcher on their roster. 

I like Gonzalez+ one of their better prospects. Berry or Wright would work for me. 
 
Gausman would be awesome but that's not going to happen. 

Sign Bronson Arroyo - 1 Year Deal, 12 million per year. Club option for $1 M buyout in 2015.
 
Sign Robinson Cano - 7 year deal, 27.5 million per year. 
 
Trade Howie Kendrick, Chris Iannetta, Joe Blanton to the Blue Jays for Mark Buerhle, Sergio Santos, JP Arenciba and Minor Leaguer Aaron Sanchez. This is roughly a $2M add for 2014. 
 
Non-Tender Williams, Jepsen, Gutierrez, Nelson, Hanson for savings of 11.3 Million.
 
Why:
 
1) Arroyo becomes the third starter. Buehrle the fourth, Richards the fifth. Good rotation, 5 guys capable of 200 innings and 32/33 starts, all with ERA's under 4. Blanton is purely a salary dump, they can include Cash instead if they don't want him. 
 
2) Santos becomes a valuable member of the pen and option closer. Pen is now Frieri, Smith, Santos, Burnett, De La Rosa, Morin/Maronde/Shoemaker/Roth/Kohn. That's four good relievers and a bunch of young guys.
 
3) While Young Pitching is at a premium, this lineup is a straight murderers row. The rotation actually wasn't that bad last year, they just didn't pitch enough innings on the average, because of injury and Blanton/Hanson's penchant for throwing five innings and being down when they exited. With more reliable arms in the rotation who should give you 6-7 innings every night, they don't have as many innings for the vastly improved pen.
 
Robinson Cano is a top five hitter, who yes is 31. It would be the third straight offseason they signed the #1 hitter in the market and one that is also 31 years old.
 
The lineup projects to 
 
CF Trout - R
2B Cano - L
1B Pujols - R
LF Hamilton - L
DH Trumbo - R
RF Calhoun - L
3B Freese - R
C Conger / Arenciba - S
SS Aybar - S
 
This team has five guys who could hit 30 home runs (Trout, Cano, Pujols, Hamilton, Trumbo). 8 guys should hit 30 2B. Conger and Arenciba should combine for 30 / 30. And Every player in the lineup should hit .280 or higher (except Catcher).
 
900 runs scored is a possibility. And the staff should allow 700 or less.
 
Which is a playoff team. With offense.
 
AND A HUGE PAYROLL.
 
Look, I know the budget doesn't support this, but the payroll breaks down to $178.6 Million for 2014. That's going to be over the CBT at an AAV of 205 including some unseen numbers. But next year, in 2015, it's not going to be as I think they'll cut ties with Trumbo, Arroyo, Santos, Sean Burnett, and Arenciba and replace them with Cron, Sanchez, Morin, Maronde, and a Backup Catcher for at or near the league minimum.
 
Vernon Wells will be off the books. Mike Trout will earn $17M plus though. 
 
The AAV dips to 189.2. Right under the CBT.
 
And going forward, in 2016, Mark Buerhle comes off the books, as does Freese. But Trout's due a raise and so are Richards and Conger. Hopefully Sappington is ready for a rotation spot so you'd have Weaver, Wilson, Richards, Sanchez, Sappington. Hopefully Kaleb Cowart is ready. Keeps the AAV payroll at or near the CBT. Real payroll is probably higher with Pujols/Cano/Hamilton all getting more money than their AAV.
 
And in 2017, you'd have Richards and Calhoun up for raises and Trout again. Cron is due a raise in his first arbitration year. You'd also have two starters to replace and need a new SS, hopefully Stamets or a future draft pick. 
 
And in 2018, Hamilton comes off the books just in Time for Trout to sign an extension. You'd have three years left with Cano and four with Pujols, but no other major contracts.

if we need to be 9 deep, we should bring back Escobar. 

lol

If Calhoun was healthy in spring training, we'd never have heard of JB Shuck. 
 
He wasn't. Shuck got the AB's when Bourjos went down. They'd have gone to Calhoun if he was the fourth OF, which he would've been had he been healthy.

Neither of these is going to be the lineup. Kendrick doesn't like to be the #2 hitter. He doesn't walk and his OBP isn't good enough anyway. He has awful numbers in that spot in the lineup.
 
I don't want Shuck or Aybar at the top of the lineup. Both of these guys have career OBP's in the .320-.335 range.
 
Mike Trout is the leadoff guy. He needs to be in that spot.
 
Next might be Aybar, but I'd prefer if Calhoun got it as he is a left handed hitter. He also has a career minor league OBP of .402. He had a .347 in his 58 games in the majors last year. 
 
Then it's Pujols, then Hamilton, then Trumbo (doubtful he gets traded now). Sixth is likely David Freese's spot. 7th could be Conger if he's hitting, or Kendrick. Next is the other one. Finally Aybar hitting 9th, where he's always had his best hitting numbers.
 
If they trade Kendrick, I'd expect Aybar to hit 7th, then Green, then Conger. 
 
When Shuck plays, he can hit #9 and Aybar can hit #2.
 
Trout leading off is the best option.

I'd really look at trading Kendrick and Iannetta for a starter either from the Jays, or the Royals, Rays, or the Orioles. Try to get a guy who maybe can be at AAA for 2014 with a high ceiling if they don't get two starters. Then I'd sign a veteran starter on a one year deal. I'd look at Tanaka of he gets posted. There will be competition. Haren and Arroyo are targets but Hammell, Happ, Etc would be ok.

Freese is a much better 3B than Alberto Callaspo was. I'm sorry but the guy had a .356 SLG in four seasons with the Angels. His OBP, the bright spot? Only .335 with the Angels. And his average was a middling .263.
 
WAR from Baseball reference is I think better than Fangraphs version.
 
2011: Callaspo 2.9 to Freese 1.8 (in just 97 games compared to 141). 
2012: Callaspo 2.8 to Freese 3.8.
2013: Callaspo 0.3 to Freese -0.3… Freese was hurt. Callaspo was healthy.

I am not sure if the analyst here realize that PB had just 9ne seas9n where he was injured. No one would be talking about him being fragioe if he wasnt hit by a pitch. This is a steal for the Cards. I just hope our FO has some moves up their sleeves.

Tried finding what the salaries are for 'minor' leaguers on the 40-man and I found that while they don't get the full league minimum, they still get a portion of it that's added towards the CBT.
 
1st year players on the 40 man with no service time - $40,750 in 2014
2nd year players or any player with at least 1 day of service time  - $81,500 in 2014
 
I'm pretty sure every player on the 40 man has at least 1 day of major league service, so if this info is correct, those 15 would still account for 1.2225M.  I know, not much, but I'm just trying to figure the current payroll for CBT purposes, which looks to be roughly 174.5M at the moment
 
I also expect guys like Nelson, Gutierrez, Hanson, and maybe Jepsen to be non tendered, but until that happens, I'm just factoring in the salaries of the current 40 man roster.

Trout CF
Calhoun RF
Pujols 1B
Hamilton LF
Trumbo DH
Freese 3B
Kendrick/Green 2B
Iannetta C
Aybar SS

Of course, Alberto Callaspo is no Albert Callaspo, either.

Howard has only had two seasons where he wasn't above a 120 OPS+. Kinsler has had one season where he has been above 120+ OPS.
 
Andrus has yet to get to 95 OPS+ but the good news for the Rangers is he has 9 more years to get there.

I actually completely understand your line of thinking and I think you're just as likely to be correct in what is best for the team as any of us. However I think the idea is that the Angels are tight on money this offseason. While this is unproven, it is a reasonable expectation and that makes trading for pitchers the more likely scenario.
 
I think most people believe that the best any of the players you listed would get INDIVIDUALLY in a trade would be a decent number 3. But in a package deal, they could absolutely land a legit number 2/3 starter which is exactly what the team needs.

Blanton doesn't have a Cy Young, let alone 5 Cy Youngs. 
 
Halladay clearly wasn't the same pitcher as in previous seasons, but it's called a risk. He's not going to cost a lot.
 
Haren showed good peripheral stats, especially in the second half and he's only 33. Pitchers can have success into their later thirties. He'd also sign for a $8 M on a one year deal. Or perhaps less AAV on a two year deal.
 
Young controllable and also projectable and dependable starters are going to cost a lot in trade. Young pitchers who have issues (like Hanson) won't cost much but won't give you reliable results either. I'd rather go through the FA market than adding guys who don't have a solid track record or who aren't top flight starter prospects.
 
Do we want two more Garrett Richards rounding out the rotation? Not on a playoff team. 
 
The A's do well with young pitching but partly due to their park, and partly due to selling off high priced assets and also collecting draft picks when their FA become FA.
 
Do we think Howie Kendrick is going to bring a top flight starter? Iannetta? Trumbo? Aybar?
 
What they'll get for these guys is a lot less than people hope for. Why not take a chance on dependable veterans (on short term contracts) instead?

Trading Trumbo and Kendrick for young pitching helps the team but if they're able to get Cano should they try? His contract demands were crazy but if they could get him for somewhere between what they signed Hamilton for and what they signed Pujols for are they crazy for adding his bat?
The guy hits for average and Power. Best hitter on the Yankees. Salary cap would have to not be a concern going forward but hey it's only money. .