JBR

Can someone tell  me why the Indians would trade Clevinger, a stud pitcher with two  more years of club control? Especially after they just traded Kluber? And considering that they fully expect to contend in 2020?
 

Taijuan Walker should be cheap as he is just returning from TJ. He throw 1 scoreless inning in the last game of 2019. He had 1 SO and was hitting 94mph on his fastball. I would be happy if we could sign him, as long as we're not getting an Ace.

Yes. 
 
If ever there was a case where the Angels had a free pass at service time manipulation, it was Ohtani. He was awful in spring training and no one would have blinked if they’d started him in the minors. But they didn’t. That leads me to believe that they’d roll with Adell on opening day if they think he’s ready. 

A reader forwarded this story to me and I ran it by Scott Boras and he said it’s not true. They never were told or led to believe in any way the Angels had any issue with having two Asian players. 

If Angels management is smart:
LaStella against RHP.
Pujols against LHP.
The games Ohtani can't DH, Pujols can DH and LaStella plays 1B.
 
 

its wishful thinking to believe its not settled, it is.
It will be Pujols until someone unseats him.
I think on days he DHs it will be LaStella, on other days he will give others rest.
I think the kids will get a chance to take the job as much as possible as well but until one of them actually does out perform Pujols, it wont matter.

Definitely a top prospect list.

As someone else on twitter pointed out, I think he’s talking about his new prospect rankings. 

Ok so am I missing something here? How and why are you assuming we're trading for Samardzija?

Honest question: what makes it look like we’ll be outbid on Ryu? I haven’t read that so if there’s a source saying that or reason for that I’d appreciate hearing that if you could share. In my opinion, Ryu still makes a lot of sense, he ha a high ceiling, won’t cost prospects, and with the durability of Bundy and Teheran, Ryu can throw 150IP and still make a major impact. If anything, Ryu makes more sense than ever to me. 

Honest question: what makes it look like we’ll be outbid on Ryu? I haven’t read that so if there’s a source saying that or reason for that I’d appreciate hearing that if you could share. In my opinion, Ryu still makes a lot of sense, he ha a high ceiling, won’t cost prospects, and with the durability of Bundy and Teheran, Ryu can throw 150IP and still make a major impact. If anything, Ryu makes more sense than ever to me. 

Nice, hopefully they can trade him for a solid 3rd string catcher soon

^^^^
They still need at least one pitcher and a catcher. They still may spend another $30M.
 
Their payroll is likely be $20-30M higher than last year, so it would have been $33-43M higher if they hadn’t saved the money on Cozart. 
Also, they got back a pitching prospect who had a 3.60 ERA at AA. That’s not nothing. 

Keuchel, Gray, Maldy would be sick IMO.  But really two of Kluber, Keuchel, Darvish, Gray, Miley, Ryu, Madbum plus Maldonado, Castro or Romine would be awesome.
salary gurus, can we afford any of that?  It ain’t my money so I never dig into it lol

but wow, this offseason didn’t simmer or boil, it erupted....going to make opening day feel so far away!!!!

Didn't want him anyway!

I wonder if Upton would play 1B to save his legs. If so, then maybe the Angels can keep Adell and Marsh to surround Trout in the near future, and purchase a 1-yr placeholder for RF, maybe Calhoun? Sadly it would then be time to say goodbye to Albert. Just no need to roster him if Upton can play first. 
For rotation, sign Porcello as a buy low on the potential that the change of scenery will do some good. He eats innings consistently and has shown much better results in past than 2019. The value of someone reliably taking the ball every fifth day can’t be overstated with the injury risks on this rotation. 
 
For lineup, get Donaldson and his 4-5 WAR in there. Now you have tons of infield flexibility. That way Cozart can play (backup really) his more natural position up the middle. 
 
Maybe this is going more expensive that Arte wants but it’s hard to imagine the Angels winning a wild card spot without spending huge. The gaps on the roster are just too big.