Tyler

Going with our current M-O, why not offer him a one year deal at a healthy price? This will allow him to reestablish himself as a closer (in pitcher friendly AL West parks vs. AL East bandboxes) , and raise his bar as far as salary expectations go. 
Will also allow us to see what we've got with Anderson and the young guys, and allow Middleton a year to recoup. 

Shoulders are an entirely different animal when it comes to arm injuries though.

I just don’t believe Machado is a good investment. Period. 
His career outside of the bandbox of Camden Yards, plus his makeup issues, lead to me to believe I’d rather not invest $300+ million in him. 
He had to be on his best behavior for just 3 months, and he couldn’t do it. Now if he was putting up Mike Trout numbers every year, I might not care, but what if he’s just a .280/.360/.450 guy? Is it worth it? 
To me? No.
 

Literally everything about team building has made building a farm the only way to win long term. If there was any other way, you wouldn't see so many teams tanking. It's the ONLY way to win. Even a team like the Red Sox, that has Chris Sale, Craig Kimbrel, David Price, JD Martinez, Nathan Eolvaldi....clearly they bought at least part of their championship. Some of it was financial might (Martinez, Price) and the other part was using their farm system to purchase these players (Sale, Kimbrel, Eovaldi). And even then, they still developed Benintendi, Betts, Bogaerts and Devers internally. 
Looking at the Angels....Trout and Calhoun were developed internally and then nothing on the position player side that stuck for 5 years. That crippled the system. And after 5 years, it isn't like they developed stars. They developed Fletcher, Ward and Hermosillo, and none of those three look like they're starting caliber yet. To compensate, the Angels flexed their financial might, they just invested it terribly in Pujols, Hamilton and Cozart. 
And the irony here, is that the Angels will finally have developed the necessary players internally with Adell, Marsh, Jones, Thaiss, Rengifo etc.....and the best thing their financiers will be able to do is secure the homegrown players longer. But that's why I believe 2020-2030 will be the golden age of Angels baseball. All those home grown players, plus additional waves involving Canning, Suarez, Hernandez, Soriano, Rodriguez on the mound (Ohtani too) and other homegrown bats like Jordyn Adams, Jeremiah Jackson, Kevin Maitan, D'Shawn Knowles, Trent Deveaux, Alex Ramirez...Its just an incredible wave of talent that will coincide with funds becoming available from Pujols and Cozart's expiring contracts and in four years, Upton's too, but not before he delivers another solid three 30 HR seasons. 
In 2020 and beyond, the Angels will have the homegrown talent, and the financial clout to either extend their good players, or bring in others via free agency. I just really hope Trout is around to experience it. He gave the first decade of his career to a losing team, the best way they can reward him is to make the second decade of his career rich with yearly playoff appearances, maybe even a couple world championships if they're lucky. 

All?

All these trades today had Jerry itching for a fix

I touched on this a little bit elsewhere - Houston is about to enter that awkward stage in their ‘window’ where they need to start graduating their next wave of prospects as they begin to lose their first core. It’s a balancing act. They have to let vets walk or avoid bringing in new guys in order to let the next wave get MLB experience, without any learning curve being detrimental to contending. 
They might choose to rely on their SP prospects more this season to see if they’ll be able to shoulder the weight of potentially losing Keuchel, Morton, Cole, and Verlander.
Sort of like how 2019 may be the best year for the Angels to keep the IF door open for Ward, Thaiss, Fletcher, and a Rengifo, to see if they can safely count on a couple of those guys going forward.

Yeah, I held back.

Yikes. I won't state my opinion here to avoid getting hassled for having one, but this is another below expectation move. I just can't commit to seats in support of this... what a waste of a deposit. 

Yikes. I won't state my opinion here to avoid getting hassled for having one, but this is another below expectation move. I just can't commit to seats in support of this... what a waste of a deposit. 

Yikes. I won't state my opinion here to avoid getting hassled for having one, but this is another below expectation move. I just can't commit to seats in support of this... what a waste of a deposit. 

LOL at the Harvey and Cahill signings.
It’s obvious that their priority isn’t competing this year and as a fan it’s tough to be anything other than pissed off.
Well that basically does it for the budget this offseason. Come the start of June we’ll already be talking about next years offseason. What a rush.
 

He has to sign a deal with a MLB team by January 2nd at 5pm.  So we know his decision is coming soon.

I get all the arguments in favor of getting him -- he's potentially a high reward guy, but IMO, he's also a high risk guy and not sure the Angels are really a position to do that..  If we had five guys who could be counted on to deliver 160+ innings I'd like it more.   The one year deal and everything else they have said makes me believe they have are hoping he has a huge season so they can cash in on him -- either by riding him for as long as they can or to cash him in for prospect.  Not the move I'd have wanted but one that fits their processes.

Embarrassing. Horrible use of funds. 

Joe Blanton 2.0 come on down. ERA last 3 years 5,7, & 5.....All in the NL with no DH. 11-14 million. I have lost faith in Eppler. 4th straight losing season coming up. Eppler may not last past 2020. I know I will be roasted for these comments. But it is a message board.... & I will not see or read the comments anyways.

Yeah, our only competitive option is to shorten the games, not give a third of our space to a once every 5 days guy who isn't exactly an Angel in the clubhouse.

Might want to get educated. This kind of thinking is the opposite of how front office think these days. 

Little high, but that’s the market. One year, who cares if it’s slightly more?
Performance wise, this is a really good bet. A guy who has been an ace derailed with injury issues is the kind of guy you want to bet on with the team’s new coaching staff and analytics work. 
My concern is 100% Matt Harvey the person. I’ve never liked him. He seems like a self-centered pos. Hopefully he doesn’t create a toxic atmosphere. 

Yeah, our only competitive option is to shorten the games, not give a third of our space to a once every 5 days guy who isn't exactly an Angel in the clubhouse.

Give me Cody Allen, Brad Brach, and Zach Britton and call it an offseason. 

So many positions to fill and we haven't done.... must be waiting for Albert to retire this offseason before doing anything.

So many positions to fill and we haven't done.... must be waiting for Albert to retire this offseason before doing anything.

Your football analogies suck and you've been asleep at the wheel here dude. 
Ok.... I had to channel my inner @Angel Oracle. 
That said, I started a thread 3-4 weeks ago asking if anyone knew what Eppler's plan was. Obviously nobody could answer, nobody really knows, but at this point it seems like his plan A, B, C, D, E, F , G and maybe facking Z have been exercised. So what gives? 
The chances of signing the Japanese lefty are probably slim, CAKE-el is an over pay and Grandal's defense blows and he disappears in crucial games. Harvey is a roll of the dice, high risk/reward guy.
Honest question? Does Trout look at this weak offseason and think to himself, another shitty losing season, I cannot wait to bounce? Will Eppler redeem himself in trades and FA signings?
Just blowing off steam, don't judge me.

Seriously.
C'mon Eppy. Wake the eff up!