Trendon

Ok, so my perspective has changed a little. While I still don't think the Angels are gonna get Bauer, I do believe they still have a shot at him. I think what it comes down to is whether or not Arte wants Bauer. I don't think it's Perry's call. I think it's Arte's. If Arte wants Bauer, signing Quintana or any perceived payroll constraints won't restrict them from signing Bauer. The biggest obstacle to them signing Bauer is Arte, and we just don't know what he's thinking.

Dodgers: 3/$110M.

Reddick and Mazara figure to be the type of player the Angels would sign as a RF stop gap. As free agency drags out and players start signing, someone like Reddick or Mazara is going to wind up without a home and come at a discount. That's perfect for the Angels because the Angels have playing time available and need to save money in RF so they can allocate more money to starting pitching.

Signing a position player to a large contract is just overthinking the problem and will just end up causing more issues. If they're willing to trade Adell or Marsh in a deal for a pitcher, they can get at least adequate production from a guy like Pederson or Duvall. Signing an outfielder like Springer or Ozuna to replace eliminates them from having some upcoming financial flexibility. Signing Realmuto would also eliminate them from incoming financial flexibility and would limit what they could spend on starting pitching.

I doubt it because Boston would have to give up their 2nd round pick as compensation, which is going to be a top 40 overall pick because they were the 2nd worst team in MLB last season.

Detroit replaced their "old-school" pitching coach with a "new-school" pitching coach, Chris Fetter. So I think Detroit is going to try and see if Boyd can rebound under their new modern pitching coach before trading him. If they traded him now, it'd be trading him at his lowest value.

That is not true. Reyes is not out of options. He has 1 option year left. FanGraphs does a good job of keeping track of player's options. If you go to any player's page on FanGraphs, it lists how many options they have left.

No. The Pirates have desperately needed a catcher. Just like the Angels, their organization is barren in catching depth. The Angels have no catcher anywhere close to the caliber of Endy Rodriguez within their system and the Pirates prioritized adding a catcher in this deal.

Yeah, but they're reportedly going to be using him out of the pen and it was only for $3M. So I doubt it affects their presence in the Bauer market.

I think Archer was just throwing at the Dodgers facility because he lives in the LA area.

I'm very skeptical that the Angels will actually be in on Bauer. It just seems like he's out of their price range. I'd be happy to be wrong though.

So "hoping that free agency works" is really the only option the Angels have right now then. The question is are they actually going to do that? Their payroll is already up there, and they're going to have to pay up to get the starters that they need. The thing is, there are some starters out there on the free agent market, but it doesn't seem like they'll have enough money to get what they need.

I think that the result of Springer impacts Bauer. If the Jays miss out on Springer, they likely make Bauer their #1 priority and they have the money to make it happen. If the Jays get Springer, I think they're out on Bauer. If the Jays are out on Bauer, that significantly hurts Bauer's market, which will likely prompt other teams to jump in and see if they can get Bauer at a lower cost. I'd imagine it would be teams like the Angels, Dodgers, Giants, and White Sox and whoever decides to meet Bauer's asking price gets him.

I think fans aren't necessarily upset about not acquiring Musgrove, but upset that he is yet another quality starting pitcher that they've failed to acquire. Fans have started to realize that the Angels likely aren't going to spend the money necessary to sign Bauer, and Musgrove was one of the options that was realistic since he isn't making a ton of money. Now, the options seem very limited and that has fans in an uproar because it seems like they will fail to adequately address their starting pitching need again.

I think what the depth chart projections show is that the Angels could greatly use an outfielder, whether they end up starting in RF, covering some LF, or both. Also, adding at least 1-2 solid pen arms would be extremely beneficial.