ScruffytheJanitor

Perfect solution: move poor minor leaguers into the basement. 

26 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

IF.....   My comments are based on the reality of what they have done so far.  I think everyone is hoping they do more, beyond just the SP.

At the very least, we need another mid-rotation guy, a reasonable shortstop, and a back up catcher. Failure to get any of these will be unacceptable. 

5 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Off topic. But what if we've had it wrong this whole time. Since we only read what he says, and have never actually heard him talk. And he actually pronounces his name "hey Mon", like the Jamaican family on In Living Color.

It is 100 percent more likely that he's actually been a vaginal flap this whole time.

Calling my shot now: Losing out on Stroman just isn't that big of a deal. The more I look into him, the more I am convinced that he is overrated. I think losing out on Ray, Scherzer, and Gausman were much more disappointing. There are still PLENTY of options at SP (both free agency and in the trade market) and I am still reasonably confident that we will add another mid-rotation option.

I am more concerned about SS and Catcher, since the options at those spots appear to be dwindling fast. 

19 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

If the Angels relieved the Reds of the Moustakas contract do we think Castillo could be had without giving up Adell or Marsh or a top 5 prospect ? Seems to me that this is the kind of trade the Angels should pursue.  The Angels have money.  They don’t have prospects or cheap controllable major league players in excess. 

4 minutes ago, Hubs said:

Upton though will get April and May playing 5 days a week, and probably June, before they move on or relegate him to the bench.

Upton is still really good against lefties. Also, while Marsh and Adell feel ready for prime time,  they haven't set the world on fire yet. There is still a chance one or both ends up struggling enough to get demoted. I'd be surprised if Upton wasn't still getting regular at bats in August. 

2 hours ago, Blarg said:

Upton is still on the roster. So in effect they have their outfield set. Soler would be a waste of money. 

If Joc Pederson's price comes down enough (3-6 million?), he'd make a killer platoon with Upton. 

I get not being in love with Gausman, but why are people so convinced Stroman is the guy to get instead? Stroman is good, but unless we are going to get a top-tier defender at shortstop, I don't really get adding a groundballer whose whole career has been churning out 180-200 innings of 4.00 ERA ball. And while, yes, he added a splitter, he still had well-below average strikeout numbers. I get that tossing 190ish innings is extremely valuable (especially with Syndergaard/Ohtani leading the rotation) but I don't think its a slam dunk that Stroman is a clearly better option - especially if Stro comes at a higher price.

My preference is to sign Jon Gray, Robbie Ray, Raisiel Iglasias, Corey Knebel, Andrew Chaffin, Aaron Loup, and trade for Jose Trivino as a back up catcher. 

Y'all going to feel stupid when this kid starts 150 games and has an OPS over .876. You guys are really missing the boat on this guy, 





(I don't think this will happen, but I want to be able to arrogantly quote the above in the off-chance it happens). 

1 minute ago, Torridd said:

I think it would be simplest to re-sign him and not have to worry about finding another closer.

Agreed -- especially since I think we can get some decent depth in Free Agency and via trade. Even ignoring the possible closers like McHugh, Jansen, and Melancon, guys like Brooks Raley, Yimi Garcia, Andrew Chaffin, and even Hector Neris (whom I don't expect to be a closer going forward) should all be gettable without breaking the bank. All of them would be MASSIVE upgrades over what we were tossing out for most of the year. 

8 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

I’d prefer 3 years/$50 million backloaded with team option 4th year.

Probably not getting a team option for the best FA reliever-- who was also (arguably) the best reliever last year. 

3 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

From the MLB Trade Rumors live chat.  Please tell me it wasn't someone from here who asked this...

https://www.jotcast.com/chat/mlbtr-chat-11-17-21-11880.html

Angels

3:30

Would the Angels consider trading Luis Rengifo and Griffin Canning for a high end starting pitcher?

 

Anthony Franco

3:31

I'm sure they'd love that but neither of those guys have that kind of value anymore

 

 

I could see them being secondary or tertiary pieces in that kind of trade (Canning in particular), but neither one is headlining a trade for Pablo López or anything like that

Feels more like the kind of pieces in a trade for AA catcher and a AAA reliever that you think can be the #5 guy in a decent bullpen. 

8 minutes ago, mmc said:

 

I actually think he's a good fit there. The stuff he did didn't always make sense , but he was key in building our farm system, got us Ohtani, extended Trout, and generally kept the Angels from doing anything too stupid.  The worst long-term thing he did was the Upton deal, which isn't even in the top 5 worst contracts the Angels have done in the past decade. He might only last 4-5 seasons again, but if he can just stabilize the culture, draft well, and not make any major mistakes, it will probably be worth it for them. 

2 minutes ago, totdprods said:

They're gonna sign Scherzer or Verlander as the other.

I am thinking Robbie Ray based on no evidence whatsoever. 

2 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

And also lose a third round pick, if memory serves me right.

Of course, I’m 65.

Yes. If we sign another player, we'd lose our 3rd rounder as well.

1 minute ago, Dtwncbad said:

As if this is the wrong way to be?

Arte is 75 years old and far richer now than ever before in his life.  Every person on earth in his exact situation would also be in “win now” mode.

 

Also have the two most talented players on the planet with a solid third-banana (Rendon) to boot. Even an average pitching staff takes us to the playoffs. 

1 minute ago, Warfarin said:

I get the feeling this FO will probably shy away from long contracts for SPs for the most part.  I don't see a Ray/Gausman/etc, or anyone who commands 5 or more years.

I think they will save that long-term contract for Ohtani, and instead search for shorter-term commitments for FA SPs.

Could be right. THis puts Verlander, Rodon, Kershaw, Gray, and Wood on the potential list. 

6 minutes ago, eligrba said:

Iglesius is also important for the Win Now mode.  Going cheap on a closer would be such an Angel move......

We could easily add Colin McHugh and Kendall Graveman (maybe more) for what Iglesias is making and arguably be better off. 

2 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

Sorry, I didn't mean to say just those 2 signings and nothing else, but rather, those 2 signings and replacement-level type options to fill out the roster.  Benches and bullpens can be cobbled together fairly easily to generate decent results, at least by strong FOs.  No, they wouldn't be lockdown, but with a top 3 rotation in baseball and one of the top offenses, we could get by with a middling/subpar bench and/or bullpen.

I misread your post. I think Catcher and SS could easily be filled with defensive or replacement level players in that scenario. I'd still prefer we add SOME certainty to the bullpen. 

9 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

Right.  If *all* we did was sign Scherzer and filled the rest with stop-gaps, having a rotation of Scherzer, Ohtani, Syndergaard, Sandoval, Suarez, with Detmers, Barria, Canning, etc as depth, should win a lot of games.  Our lineup would still be very good if Trout and Rendon are reasonably healthy.  Our bench and bullpen would be possible weaknesses, but I'd be very satisfied with our team going into the season if those were basically our only two moves, so to speak.

Uh.... so you'd be cool rolling into the season with a dumpster fire in the bull pen, a giant hole at SS, and a massive question mark at catcher? Don't get me wrong, I'd be thrilled if we get Sherzer, but can we at least get Aaron Loup while we are getting warm bodies to fill out the roster?

Weird idea - What about Carlos Rodon? He looked awesome until he ran out of gas later in the season, and he's QO-free. Ohtani/Syndergaard/Rodon would be a heck of a 3-headed limited-innings monster. Toss in Sandoval/Detmers/Barria/Suarez/Canning and suddenly you have a deep rotation with a top-three that could (potentially) go toe-to-toe with almost any other in the league. Could be a relative bargain and would allow Minasian to focus on SS and the bullpen. 

2 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

Yeah, this really makes me think that either a) Iglesias is gone, or b) Arte will let Minasian spend big this year.  Otherwise, you're looking at ~$36M or so for next year wrapped up in 2 guys, one of whom you don't control beyond next year.  I've just got to believe there's something else going on if they only signed Syndergaard for one year. 

Could be both. If we also add someone like Robbie Ray, it might be a smarter use of cash to let Iglesias go and go after multiple bull pen arms -- which we would need anyway. 

1 minute ago, Blarg said:

I would have made a 3 year offer or at least 2 with a third year option but my guess is Noah wants to do two things. One is get the hell out of New York. The second is improve his market value through a one year deal. 

Big problem is that Syndergaard probably feels like he's one big season from seeing Bauer money. No way he's "settling" for something like 3 years/60 Mil.