Hubs

I like Freeman, but they have other pressing needs. 
That being said, if they did this, I would move Walsh to RF, Marsh to CF, and Trout to LF (assuming he'd be okay with that), and trade Adell for pitching. Ward can help with Walsh's issues with lefties, just as he will do at 1st.
I don't know what type of arm Adell brings at this point, but I doubt his value has slipped as far as BTV thinks it has. He could hit 30 HR next year for the major league club.
Walsh would be okay as an OF, but it wouldn't help our defense.
I don't think the 30M+ contract would be best issued this way, I'd rather give it to Scherzer or Story or Semien.

Ha ha ha, was I being an arse? Possibly, my apologies if so @Hubs, I got the impression you were being a little that way too with what I perceived to be a condescending tone. 
And actually it looks like we pretty much agree on the main points - we agree we need a bit of help or a miracle turnaround for the next couple of years at SS, we just have a different risk profile for how we would achieve that. We would both ideally want Semien for three to four years, I wouldn't want to risk an extra two years of a bad contract to achieve that, it seems you maybe would. But we're really splitting hairs here hey? (I still have a sneaking suspicion/hope that Rengifo will turn it around if he gets to play everyday at SS and at least be league average with solid D.)
Re the "through 27" thing - we don't really say 'through' over here when referencing dates, it's American phraseology, here we say until such and such or up to such and such a date. Two nations, separated by a common language. For future reference though, if I've used a word you can assume I've used it correctly 99.99% of the time, I'm too much of a pedant and a linguaphile to do otherwise. 
EDIT: If I sound peed off it's because I'm sick of the Angels constantly having $20m plus dead weight contracts for ageing vets hanging around: GMJ, Wells, Hamilton, Pujols, Upton and Trout and Rendon are likely to be expensive and unproductive at the very back end of theirs. Semien for 6 years just looks like another one to add to the list.

Until is used correctly in your post, however it is also frequently used incorrectly and I was clarifying. I would have phrased it as through 2027.. 
In short… Don’t be an ass. We can disagree.  I never called you dumb, I just thought I wasn’t making a good enough case.
Rengifo had a 51 OPS+ in 2021. Stefanic’s defense is terrible. Davis May factor in but he has just 30 something games at AAA. 
I’d be happier to sign a SS for a 3 or 4 years deal because we do have prospects that might be good. But I’m not gonna suffer four seasons of sub replacement player at Both minf positions
 

Until is used correctly in your post, however it is also frequently used incorrectly and I was clarifying. I would have phrased it as through 2027.. 
In short… Don’t be an ass. We can disagree.  I never called you dumb, I just thought I wasn’t making a good enough case.
Rengifo had a 51 OPS+ in 2021. Stefanic’s defense is terrible. Davis May factor in but he has just 30 something games at AAA. 
I’d be happier to sign a SS for a 3 or 4 years deal because we do have prospects that might be good. But I’m not gonna suffer four seasons of sub replacement player at Both minf positions
 

I am less bullish that Fletcher will rebound compared to most I think. I hope he does but his 2021 doesn't even come close to fitting into the current game.  Whereas his 2020 and 2019 did.  There are probably one of two reason for that.  They might have told him to do whatever he can to put the ball in play like it's 1984.  Or the league has realized that you should never walk David Fletcher.  Throw him stuff around the zone and you'll have a high likelihood of getting him out.  If it's the latter then he's kinda screwed but my guess is that it's probably a combo of both.  
He has a very high out of zone swing rate.  It's gone up every year of his career.  His swing rate overall went up significantly this year.  His bb rate went from about 8.5% over the last two years to 4.7% in 2021.  He just has to have better PD if he's going to succeed.  He can't be that novelty that we hear about when he comes to the plate.  He needs to go back to his 2019 numbers or he's toast.  

Ok, here we go.
I tend to think the Angels will spend more than $50 M in free agency, however I also think they have more holes than just pitching. I'm going to use the both MLBTR and FanGraphs projections. And I use BTV for trade scenarios.
Sign Raisel Iglesias to an extension. Fangraphs has him at 3/45 and MLBTR at 4/56. I'd tend to think the Angels would be willing to give him 4 years, and that will come with a slightly lower AAV. So I'm going with the MLBTR projection here. 10/12/14/16 with a $2M signing bonus and 5th year club option for $16 with a $2M buyout. $12M Spent
Sign Marcus Stroman to a 5 year deal at 110 M value. Again, MLBTR has the more sensible projection. Fangraphs has him at 4/100. I'd say again, it will be backloaded. Say 13/20/22/24/26 with a $5M signing bonus. $30M spent.
Trade for Sean Manaea. He's under arbitration control for only one more season at around $10M. They do a rare intradivsion trade here, instead of pursuing a flashier name like Castillo or Marquez. It costs them Griffin Canning, Arol Vera, and Jordyn Adams. $40M spent.
Sign Trevor Story to a 5 year deal. MLBTR has 6 @ 21 and FG 5 at 23. Let's say 5 at 23. 18/21/23/24/26. He gets you the biggest bang for your buck, as he will wind up with the lowest overall deal of the 5 big SS. I'm not concerned about his defense or the Coors field effect. $58M spent.
Resign Steve Cishek to a 2 year 4 M deal. $60M spent.
Sign 
Promote Matt Thaiss for Backup C/CI role. 
Starters:
1B Walsh, 2B Fletcher, 3B Rendon, SS Story, C Stassi, OF Trout/Marsh/Upton/Adell, DH Ohtani.
Bench
SS Rengifo, CI/C Thaiss, OF/INF/C Ward and the extra OF from above.
Starting Pitching
Ohtani, Stroman, Manaea, Sandoval, Suarez, Detmers.
Relief Pitching
Iglesias, Mayers, Warren, Cishek, Quijada, Ortega, Herget, Barria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

They made Matt Wise the permanent pitching coach when they fired Mickey Callaway in May.

Ok, here we go.
I tend to think the Angels will spend more than $50 M in free agency, however I also think they have more holes than just pitching. I'm going to use the both MLBTR and FanGraphs projections. And I use BTV for trade scenarios.
Sign Raisel Iglesias to an extension. Fangraphs has him at 3/45 and MLBTR at 4/56. I'd tend to think the Angels would be willing to give him 4 years, and that will come with a slightly lower AAV. So I'm going with the MLBTR projection here. 10/12/14/16 with a $2M signing bonus and 5th year club option for $16 with a $2M buyout. $12M Spent
Sign Marcus Stroman to a 5 year deal at 110 M value. Again, MLBTR has the more sensible projection. Fangraphs has him at 4/100. I'd say again, it will be backloaded. Say 13/20/22/24/26 with a $5M signing bonus. $30M spent.
Trade for Sean Manaea. He's under arbitration control for only one more season at around $10M. They do a rare intradivsion trade here, instead of pursuing a flashier name like Castillo or Marquez. It costs them Griffin Canning, Arol Vera, and Jordyn Adams. $40M spent.
Sign Trevor Story to a 5 year deal. MLBTR has 6 @ 21 and FG 5 at 23. Let's say 5 at 23. 18/21/23/24/26. He gets you the biggest bang for your buck, as he will wind up with the lowest overall deal of the 5 big SS. I'm not concerned about his defense or the Coors field effect. $58M spent.
Resign Steve Cishek to a 2 year 4 M deal. $60M spent.
Sign 
Promote Matt Thaiss for Backup C/CI role. 
Starters:
1B Walsh, 2B Fletcher, 3B Rendon, SS Story, C Stassi, OF Trout/Marsh/Upton/Adell, DH Ohtani.
Bench
SS Rengifo, CI/C Thaiss, OF/INF/C Ward and the extra OF from above.
Starting Pitching
Ohtani, Stroman, Manaea, Sandoval, Suarez, Detmers.
Relief Pitching
Iglesias, Mayers, Warren, Cishek, Quijada, Ortega, Herget, Barria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

6 seasons would be 2022-2027. Just so we're clear.
Fletcher is also under contract for only until 2025 too, with two options after that at ages 32-33, for 8 and 8.5 M. Seeing as if he doesn't rebound we'll be looking for platoon depth in 2022 offseason, I think that they need to add major league talent to the infield. Maybe it's not Semien or someone on a long term deal, but they need major league talent if they are going to field a contender.
Also, I am way more pessimistic on minor league prospects. Is that the MLB.com list? They are far too optimistic on prospect rankings. Something like 2/3 of prospects end up being absolute busts. MINF is one of the highest bust percentages by position, as well. And just because they debut doesn't mean they'll be a solid regular. I would expect three full seasons from this list to be solid regulars, two to make their debuts. 
The Angels have the 20th ranked system in baseball, so none of these guys are even close to the top 100 prospects, and only Marsh, Detmers, and Bachman are on any lists.
Paris is 19, when he's 24, he might be on the Angels. He also might bust and he is the most sure thing on this list. Jackson won't make the major leagues for any length of time if he doesn't cut down on the strikeouts. 
Semien will be the third place MVP though it should've been Perez. 
 
 
 
 

Might get him for five years and move him to second when Paris or others are ready.  Five years $125M or six $138?  Fletch can super sub once Semien moves to second.

You do that . . . 
and I'll tell you what a vagina feels like. 

The most similar team to 2002 in energy was the 2019 Nationals.
I hope we get some of this in 2022.

There's no way they get three guys over $5M annually for the Pen. That's not the way they build successful pens in Anaheim.
 

Jeremiah Jackson? Seriously? He’s played 45 games at low A Ball.. he’s probably three years away minimum. Probably ETA 2024. Full time in 25 or 26. 
 
We had the worst offense in baseball in the second half. They will be better with Trout Rendon and Upton being healthy but they need to add a MINF bat. 
 
Out pitching was middle of the road. They need to add an ace. And some depth pieces.

They’ll 100% be non tendered. You gonna pay a reliever with a 6 ERA nearly 2 M when you can pay Herget 590k? What about a lefty bench guy when they’ve got Thaiss who is almost out of options? Also, Jeff’s payroll number is 109.95. I had 8-10M call it $9. That’s why I say they’re at 123-125 before they sign anyone. Leaving a bit over $55-57 to get where they were last season.
I don’t add in extra 0-3 league salaries as then you’d have to take them away whenever they sign a free agent. It’s too easy to double count.
But to compete, they need to spend more than that or get really really creative.
Both infield and outfield defense was terrible so I don’t see how they can go with internal options at short. Rendon should solve that issue at 3rd. Adell and Marsh in the OF regularly should greatly improve the defense there as well as with Trout, of course, in left or Center.
Offensively, a guy who can steal bags would be nice. Fletcher doesn’t steal enough.

 

Can I just remind everyone of the near two decades of issues at 3B?
Glaus' last good year was 2003. He played full seasons though from 1999-2003. Glaus had 22.6 WAR in 7 seasons with the Angels. Since then.
In 2004, Figgins played the most 3B. Figgins has 22.4 WAR with the Angels in parts of 8 seasons.
in 2005 it was Dallas McPherson for 60 games. 1.0 Career WAR with the Angels over parts of three seasons.
In 2006, Maicer Izturis played 87 games at 3rd. Maicer had 12.5 WAR in his time with the Angels, mostly as a utility guy.
In 2007-2009 Figgins played the most there. Only one year was a full-time year at 154 games.
In 2010 Brandon Wood played the most games there. Negative -3.1 WAR in parts of five seasons.
In 2011-2013 Alberto Callaspo played the most games at 3rd. 7.6 WAR in parts of 4 seasons for the Angels.
In 2014-2015 David Freese was at the hot corner. Freeze had 4.5 WAR in two years with the Angels.
In 2016-2017 it was Yunel Escobar. 1.6 WAR in parts of two seasons.
In 2018 it was Luis Valbuena. (RIP) Negative -1.0 WAR in parts of two seasons.
And in 2019 it was David Fletcher. 9.5 WAR in four years. Mostly at 2nd and SS though.
TOTAL post Glaus and pre-Rendon is 55 WAR in 16 seasons, or 3.4 WAR on average. This is just the primary starter, there are too many names who've played here part time at third. If you take 58% of Figgins (540 of 936 games, you get 12.9 WAR) of 38% of Izturis (290 of 759 games -- 4.75 WAR), and 27% of Fletcher (2.56 WAR) though, you drop to 30.8 WAR. 
1.9 WAR.
Rendon was worth 2.2 WAR in 52 games of his one healthy season. That would've been around 6 WAR.
Yes he struggled in 2021, with injuries, and ended up right a 0.00 WAR in his 5.8 Games.
I am very happy knowing Anthony Rendon is an Angel for 5 more seasons.
 

Can I just remind everyone of the near two decades of issues at 3B?
Glaus' last good year was 2003. He played full seasons though from 1999-2003. Glaus had 22.6 WAR in 7 seasons with the Angels. Since then.
In 2004, Figgins played the most 3B. Figgins has 22.4 WAR with the Angels in parts of 8 seasons.
in 2005 it was Dallas McPherson for 60 games. 1.0 Career WAR with the Angels over parts of three seasons.
In 2006, Maicer Izturis played 87 games at 3rd. Maicer had 12.5 WAR in his time with the Angels, mostly as a utility guy.
In 2007-2009 Figgins played the most there. Only one year was a full-time year at 154 games.
In 2010 Brandon Wood played the most games there. Negative -3.1 WAR in parts of five seasons.
In 2011-2013 Alberto Callaspo played the most games at 3rd. 7.6 WAR in parts of 4 seasons for the Angels.
In 2014-2015 David Freese was at the hot corner. Freeze had 4.5 WAR in two years with the Angels.
In 2016-2017 it was Yunel Escobar. 1.6 WAR in parts of two seasons.
In 2018 it was Luis Valbuena. (RIP) Negative -1.0 WAR in parts of two seasons.
And in 2019 it was David Fletcher. 9.5 WAR in four years. Mostly at 2nd and SS though.
TOTAL post Glaus and pre-Rendon is 55 WAR in 16 seasons, or 3.4 WAR on average. This is just the primary starter, there are too many names who've played here part time at third. If you take 58% of Figgins (540 of 936 games, you get 12.9 WAR) of 38% of Izturis (290 of 759 games -- 4.75 WAR), and 27% of Fletcher (2.56 WAR) though, you drop to 30.8 WAR. 
1.9 WAR.
Rendon was worth 2.2 WAR in 52 games of his one healthy season. That would've been around 6 WAR.
Yes he struggled in 2021, with injuries, and ended up right a 0.00 WAR in his 5.8 Games.
I am very happy knowing Anthony Rendon is an Angel for 5 more seasons.
 

Adell played.. he’s not proven and neither is Marsh.
They will not go into a season relying on injured players to come back and with 4 questionable spots in the lineup. RF/LF/2B/SS

Jeremiah Jackson? Seriously? He’s played 45 games at low A Ball.. he’s probably three years away minimum. Probably ETA 2024. Full time in 25 or 26. 
 
We had the worst offense in baseball in the second half. They will be better with Trout Rendon and Upton being healthy but they need to add a MINF bat. 
 
Out pitching was middle of the road. They need to add an ace. And some depth pieces.

Then you didn’t watch Suarez this year. 

OK, so maybe, and it could just be a sophomore slump, but they can't ignore that.
And good anecdote but it was in 2001...Eckstein started at SS the vast majority of the 2001 season. Kennedy was acquired prior to 2001 as well, and started the vast majority at 2nd. Benji Gil was the primary backup at both spots and at 1st actually in 2001, because Speizio would go across the Diamond for Glaus occasionally. Anyway...
I'm all for giving Davis a shot, but I still think they will get a solid MINF on a 1 year deal. And I still think they're gonna be in on Semien and Story. And others.
There will certainly be upheaval on the SS market in MLB this year. 
 

Agreed. I just meant as a full time starter. His season last year was way down. They're definitely looking at adding. Had he performed to 2019 and 2020 level in 2021, this would be less of a concern. But they're not going into next year with two positions with no offense.

Is he a lock? I mean he was the second worst full time hitter in baseball last year. And the second to worst hitter with more than 100 PA on the Angels by this stat.
To put this in perspective...
Rengifo 51 OPS+ 
Fletcher 71 OPS+ 
Lagares 72 OPS+ 
Suzuki 74 OPS+
Rojas 82 OPS+
Iglesias 82 OPS+
Gosselin 85 OPS+
Marsh 84 OPS+
Mayfield 87 OPS+
Adell 90 OPS+
Upton 90 OPS+
Pujols 67 OPS+ with us 101 OPS+ with Dodgers for a 91 OPS+
Rendon 94 OPS+
Stassi 104 OPS+
Ward 108 OPS+
Walsh 128 OPS+
Ohtani 158 OPS+
Trout 195 OPS+
 
 
 
 

Thats a lot of data to take in.
The important part to take from it is that the Mariners were hot as hell down the stretch, and we ruined their dream on the last day of the season.

Is he a lock? I mean he was the second worst full time hitter in baseball last year. And the second to worst hitter with more than 100 PA on the Angels by this stat.
To put this in perspective...
Rengifo 51 OPS+ 
Fletcher 71 OPS+ 
Lagares 72 OPS+ 
Suzuki 74 OPS+
Rojas 82 OPS+
Iglesias 82 OPS+
Gosselin 85 OPS+
Marsh 84 OPS+
Mayfield 87 OPS+
Adell 90 OPS+
Upton 90 OPS+
Pujols 67 OPS+ with us 101 OPS+ with Dodgers for a 91 OPS+
Rendon 94 OPS+
Stassi 104 OPS+
Ward 108 OPS+
Walsh 128 OPS+
Ohtani 158 OPS+
Trout 195 OPS+