BTH

Same. And keeping him away from the A's (and potentially other AL West teams) is an added bonus.

I really hope that the Angels continue to add to the bullpen. Astros have now added Baez and Stanek to their bullpen in the last week.

If the Angels adequately fill their needs, Barria/Sandoval would be on the outside of the rotation. Depth is good, but Barria is out of options and Sandoval hasn't shown he can go multiple innings yet. So I think there would be a willingness to move either in the right deal, provided they add other starters.

The Red Sox reportedly want MLB ready starting pitching back for Beinteindi. While the Angels don't have a ton of that and need that themselves, Beintendi's value isn't super high. So I wonder if Barria or Sandoval would be an option. The question is 1: would the Angels want to give either of them up for Benintendi? and 2: would the Red Sox want them?

really? wow. Breaking news!

Under Eppler, it seemed like he was making some of the hires.

I think Minasian's comment about "things happen when they happen" is fine as long as he still accomplishes his goals that he had heading into the offseason by the time ST starts. If the Angels get the two starters, relievers, catcher, and outfield depth they need by ST, it doesn't matter what order it happened in. The problem is if the "things" that happen aren't what you wanted to happen because you waited to long. To me, it sounds like Minasian knows his options and is just waiting for things to come together. There are still options out there, so I don't think fans need to go into full panic mode yet. But if everyone starts to sign over the next few weeks and they've stood still, then panic.

For the Angels, Marsh. Simply because I believe that Marsh will be an impact player in MLB sooner than Adell will. I could be wrong, but Marsh seems more polished, even though he doesn't have any more MLB experience. With this Angels team, they don't have the time to wait for players to develop. Trout and Rendon are only gonna get older.

Well this is pretty clear a Joe Maddon hire. I'm hoping that the front office will be able to mesh well with the coaching staff. I'd imagine Minasian and Tamin may want to implement more shifts and will emphasize defensive positioning, and I'm not sure that will mesh as well with an "old-school" outfield coach in Hines and an "old-school" infield coach in Butterfield.

I think him moving on made sense due to a culmination of reasons. Some were said publicly while others weren't. The reasons that were public were so that he could spend more time with his family and on his own business. Those are both very respectable, and you can't blame him. I do wonder if some of the other public reasons had to do with what his company was selling, as you mentioned, and the fact that he didn't get the GM job.

I'm not 100% sure how credible this guy is, but apparently he has some sources with the Cubs and apparently has hinted at things before they happened. He first tweeted this. Then Schwarber signed, but he said this: An imminent Cubs move would line up with Martino's line in the story above that: "Amid increasing industry chatter that the Cubs will trade Kris Bryant as soon as this weekend, the Mets and Cubs have not spoken in several weeks, according to league sources."

It will be interesting to see who replaces him. I hope they try and go with an up-and-comer who can be a long-term option. Like how the Dodgers went with Joe Davis once Vin Scully retired.

Considering that the Angels seem to always disappoint us, I think the most likely move is that they move Terry Smith to TV PBP and have Jose Mota (or maybe Trent Rush) take over as Radio PBP. I'd prefer that they bring in someone new to replace Victor. I'd first try to poach some of the top up guys like Brian Anderson and Joe Davis, but I doubt that happens. After that, I would then turn to guys like Aaron Goldsmith in Seattle who have a part time gig, but not a full 162 game schedule. Those people might be attainable because they'd be the #1 guy instead of the backup/fill-in guy. If that goes nowhere, I think you then turn to former full time PBP guys who don't currently have full time PBP gigs. Such as Mario Impemba, Matt Vasgersian, and Rich Waltz.

The Angels obviously haven't gotten to that point yet because very few pitchers have signed, but at a certain point they may have to weigh whether spending 8-10 million on a Quintana type pitcher is actually the best allocation of resources. For that 8-10 million they could instead sign a lower tier starter like Brett Anderson and a reliever like Bradley or Greene.

That's why I said "two of the best starters out there." I agree that he isn't the best, but he is one of the better options out there.

The math isn't going to be exactly that smooth. If they were to add both Bauer and Gray, you would also have to subtract the projected the war from the 387 combined IP that they are projected to replace. (All teams are projected to have 1458 IP thrown from their pitching staff.) To find those 387 combined IP, they'd likely project some of the starters to make less starts and some of the relievers to throw less innings. Some of the players whose innings will get taken away might not be projected to provide much in terms of WAR anyway. But I'd imagine they'd reduce the projected IP totals for guys like Heaney, Sandoval, Ohtani, and Barria, which would end up costing them some WAR. Regardless, adding Bauer and Gray would be a huge boost to the team. However, I don't think acquiring two of the best starters out there is likely.

Even if the Angels don't sign Sugano, it's probably in their best interest that Sugano signs with an MLB team because that would help eliminate a rotation need for another team.

"Until the deadline arrives other clubs could always jump in late, but some observers suspect the Blue Jays may now be frontrunners among MLB teams." https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/suganos-decision-will-fallout-blue-jays-pitching-market/

Hmm...

I mean his deadline is in 20 hours (Thursday at 5 pm Eastern) so I have to imagine we hear something within the next 20 hours.

At this point, if I had to guess the chances for Sugano, I'd say: Japan: 50% Toronto: 25% Non-LAA/TOR Team: 15% Angels: 10% I have no inside info, but am just basing it off reports.

Same. Despite not possessing overpowering stuff, they have both been very consistent the past few years and would be good additions to the pen.

The reason I think Sugano goes back to Japan is because the deadline is approaching soon and I feel like we would have heard if he was making progress with a team or flying out to meet with a team. Under the team and his agent are really keeping things under wraps, it seems like there isn't going to be enough time left for him to complete a deal with an MLB team before the deadline. Which would mean that his only option is to go back to Japan.

At this point, I'd be surprised if it's not back to Japan.

I wonder if he's made his decision and it hasn't gone public or if he still hasn't made his decision.