BTH

The Angels Twitter account tweeted this out: I wonder if they are hinting at something? It will be the Angels 60th anniversary next season.

I don't know how much money Arte Moreno will spend, but he better spend money. He's currently paying 2 GM's (Minasian/Eppler) and 2 Managers (Maddon/Ausmus), while only employing 1 GM and 1 Manager. You better be willing to spend on players if you're paying two former high-ranking employees to not work for you.

Yeah, I'm curious about this as well. I don't even think the reported moves are official. The Angels have made no announcement, and I just checked the Braves website and Alex Tamin is still listed as their AGM. Also, have the Angels confirmed if the entire coaching staff is returning? I haven't seen anything about that. @Jeff Fletcher?

It should be legal. If the DH enters the field, the team forfeits the DH and the pitcher enters the batting order in the DH's place.

I don't think he ends up with the Angels. I'd guess he ends up with the Mets.

Yes, he's trolled tons of teams' fanbases. He already trolled the Angels fan base earlier this offseason. Astros: Dodgers: Blue Jays: Angels: Orioles: Nationals: Padres: Yankees: Reds: Red Sox: Cubs:

I'm interested to see how Bauer's free agency ends up playing out when it's all said and done, regardless of where he signs. It seems like he's going to milk out this process and weigh a lot of factors- while also trolling fanbases throughout the process. I'd also say there is a far greater chance that he breaks his own signing on Twitter rather than the typical report from a reporter or tweet from a team. I just don't think he's going to sign at the beginning of December or sign somewhere without some indication that an announcement is coming.

Ruiz is a good target, but it's just so hard to match up with the Dodgers in a trade. They are so deep in every area and their farm system is loaded. The one area it seems they may need some work on is their bullpen, and the Angels need to work on their own bullpen themselves.

I see no reason at all why the Dodgers would want to trade Gonsolin and Ruiz for Adell. They have Bellinger in CF, Betts in RF long-term, and they are paying Pollock $31M over the next two seasons. They also have Taylor, Raley, McKinstry, Peters, and Beaty as guys who could play LF. The Dodgers are smart, and they know pitching depth is needed. They also know that catchers are a valued commodity because there are so few good two-way catchers. They don't have space for Adell, nor do they have the time to wait for him to develop. Kershaw always goes on the IL a couple times a season and Buehler always misses a few starts with blisters. They are going to keep their pitching depth. While the value may match up, it makes no sense for the Dodgers to make that trade.

By non-tendering 5 bullpen options, they've kind of limited themselves to the point that they need to sign multiple guys in order to fill out a bullpen. Right now, the only relievers on the 40-man roster are Bard, Buttrey, Keller, Mayers, Peña, Quijada, Ramirez, and Reyes. They could move Barria, Peters, Sandoval, or Suarez to the pen, but they still need at least 2 MLB caliber arms in the bullpen.

Kirby Yates- 1/$7M. Archie Bradley- 1/$6M. Andrew Chafin- 1/$2M. (Using FanGraphs' crowdsource contract predictions for Yates and Chafin. There were none for Bradley, but he was projected to make 4.3-5.7 million in arbitration before he was non-tendered). CL- Yates, SU- Bradley, SU- Mayers, SU- Peña, MID- Chafin, MID- Buttrey, MID- Ramirez, LR- Barria

Once Marsh establishes himself as a good hitter and fielder, I think you pull the trigger. I wouldn't move Trout to a corner unless you know that Marsh is going to be a long-term option in center, which means he has to prove himself offensively and defensively at the major league level.

I really think that the Angels need to add a right fielder either via trade or free agency. While they have players that *could* play RF (Adell/Schebler/Ward), they can't really trust those players. There is a greater likelihood that those players end up being below average than above average. Not to mention the fact that Upton is also a question mark. Upton could be the Upton we saw at the end of the season that was really good, or he could be the 2019/start of 2020 Upton that was really bad.

On the position player side, if the Angels are going to be good next season it will be because Upton and Ohtani produced. They need the players that can be middle of the order bats to be middle of the order bats. They have two elite hitters in Trout and Rendon. They can afford to give up offense at a position or two in exchange for quality defense. Iglesias fills a need and comes at a low cost, both in prospects and salary.

I'm going to guess that the return is Stallings and Hernandez

I don't think Segura is anywhere near worth his contract. He's getting paid 14.85 million per season for the next two seasons. Cesar Hernandez likely matches Segura's production for half that price. Not to mention the fact that this will be Segura's 4th or 5th time being traded. I hate to speculate, but something has to be up with that. Maybe he's a bad clubhouse guy? I believe there were some rumors about him getting in some clubhouse fight when he was with Seattle.

By pre-tender deals, it means teams working out a new contract, or "deal," with the player. Not teams dealing players to other teams.

I do think that Andriese gained Maddon's trust towards the end of the season, perhaps partly because there weren't that many relievers for Maddon to trust in that bullpen. That being said, Eppler brought in Andriese and he's no longer here, so Minasian may have a different view on Andriese. Also, Andriese is projected to make somewhere between 1.8 to 2.8 million, which isn't an insignificant number. Especially when you consider they let go of Bedrosian, who has arguably been better than Andriese, when his contract would have been near the high end of Andriese' projection.

In my opinion, Anderson, Andriese, Middleton, Ramirez, and Robles are the only players who seem to have any chance of getting non-tendered. I also think it's a lock that Robles will get non-tendered. Edit: Gonna add my prediction before the deadline in an hour or so: The Angels non-tender Ramirez and Robles.

The non-tender deadline for arb-eligible players is Wednesday. Who do you see the Angels non-tendering? For reference, here is a list of the Angels arb-eligible players and their MLB Trade Rumors' arbitration predictions: Justin Anderson – $700K / $700K / $700K Matt Andriese – $1.8MM / $2.8MM / $1.9MM Dylan Bundy – $5.9MM / $9.8MM / $6.8MM Andrew Heaney – $5.0MM / $8.0MM / $5.7MM Mike Mayers – $800K / $1.5MM / $800K Keynan Middleton – $1.0MM / $1.1MM / $900K Shohei Ohtani – $2.1MM / $3.0MM / $2.1MM (using hitter model) Felix Pena – $800K / $1.3MM / $800K Noe Ramirez – $1.1MM / $1.2MM / $1.0MM Hansel Robles – $3.85MM / $4.1MM / $3.9MM Max Stassi – $1.8MM / $2.5MM / $1.4MM *MLB Trade Rumors used 3 methods, which are outlined here: Method 1: Applies model directly with actual statistics from this 60-game season Method 2: Extrapolates all counting stats to would-be 162-game totals. One home run becomes 2.7 home runs. Method 3: For non-first-time eligibles, finds the raise they’d get in a 162 game season, then gives them 37% of that raise

It really comes down to what kind of contract he's going to command. The Angels can't blow a ton of money on an unproven infielder when their pitching is a glaring need and they don't have unlimited funds/assets.

Stassi is coming off hip surgery for the second consecutive offseason. Even if Minasian likes Stassi, it seems likely he brings in another catcher because it isn't certain that Stassi is going to be healthy.

It will be fascinating to see who he brings in at catcher to pair with Stassi. Also, Minasian's belief in the importance of catching makes me wonder if he shells out some decent money on a catcher.

Wilson Contreras got hurt and the Cubs needed a catcher, so they acquired Maldonado. Contreras then came back off the injured list when he was eligible to return and the Cubs no longer had a need, or space, with Contreras and Caratini at C. So they ended up trading Maldonado to Houston.

Didn't know where to put this random question... Is Taylor Cole still in the Angels organization? He isn't listed on any rosters throughout the Angels organization, but his MLB transactions page doesn't say that he elected free agency. Last I heard, after he was DFA'd in March, he accepted an outright assignment to AAA but then had shoulder surgery while at the Alternate Site. Any idea, @Jeff Fletcher?