Junkballer

Perhaps because they've already signed a SS and Carrasco has leukemia. Or maybe Arte has been taking a lot of 20 minute Uber trips.

His application for the GM job was in hindsight a harbinger for this move. At 52, if being a GM/AGM is his dream job then its now or never.

Fred Lynn and Reggie Jackson. More easily excited back in the day.

In the future, if anyone says Lasorda is rolling over in his grave I'll picture it like this: He managed the greatest Dodger era, RIP.

Sugano and Gray would put the Angels in a great position to move on to other needs. Total cost about 20m AAV + prospects for Gray. Still spending room for additional moves. I get the sense that Cin doesnt really want to deal Castillo without an overpayment due to being cost controlled. They seem to be dumping salary so Gray should go for a package more closely tied to his actual value. Gray/1, Sugano/2, Bundy/3, Heany/4, Canning/5 and improved BP should get the job done.

The Dodger-fan friends I have that present themselves as not hating the Angels tend to drop comments like "they need to trade Trout", "they're not in Los Angeles, they have no right to the name" and poked at "LAA of Anaheim", etc. and pretend to be dispassionate. Some people want to appear above hating another team but little throwaway comments like those belie the truth. There was a time when I was young that I thought I could be both an Angels and Dodgers fan. The reason I'm not is because of Dodger fans hate the Angels and can't help themselves from trying to protect the vicarious superiority they feel from following a team whose past successes they have nothing to do with.

If it takes all that, Pass. Fletcher OR Adell plus position prospect not named Marsh, Adams and a pitching prospect not named Detmers, CRod or Kochanowicz is reasonable. Taking on the Moose contract, which the Angels would only do to reduce the prospect capital going the other way, makes Fletcher AND Adell a non-starter and desperation move.

He is certainly polarizing and requires special handling by the coaching staff. This happens to some degree on every club I assume and it doesnt appear that he is an instigator. I think the gist of Docs ponderings is that you are buying the insular nature of the Bauer bubble along with the arm and that is a factor for Minasian, along with the veracity of his recent vs career performance and compensation package. Being headstrong in knowing what works for you is likely what got Bauer to this point of performance but there are limits (how many days of rest, how the analytics infrastructure is implemented and working with Callaway, off the top of my head). Whether he becomes a negative factor in the clubhouse when he butts up against those limits is on Minasian to pre-evaluate and will factor in the overall valuation in his bidding. Personally, Im on the Sugano +1 and spend on other areas train unless Bauers contract falls far below the purported asking range.

He would be and thats universally agreed upon, but at what cost. The fun part is the armchair GMing about options and where you draw the line. The Bauer threads will be fun to revisit towards the end of his upcoming contract whether he signs with the Angels or not. Hope Lou doesnt agree with my speculations.

Brandon Wood

I suspect that what happens with Sugano has something to do with the lack of action with Gray among other things. If the Angels win the bidding for Sugano, they wouldnt need to give up the prospects that Gray will command, but instead could trade for a lower tier like Musgrove or just call it a day on SP and spend (money and/or prospect capital) in other areas instead. Also, it will be a clear signal that they are out on Bauer, likely instead going for a #2 type (Sugano) and a #3 type (?), or less likely but plausible, putting them in a good position to wait to see how the market plays out for Gray (timing is everything). Anyway we will know more by Friday as obviously we dont know the level of interest the Angels have in Sugano, so this is just conjecture but it rings right to me.

I'm thinking that what happens in the Sugano bidding may shape what happens with how or whether Minasian continues to pursue Bauer. If he is looking to sign him then we'll know by this Thursday or Friday whether he is successful. Not sure what what the AAV of his contract will be but any reasonable figure would pretty much preclude signing Bauer but would allow for an additional Gray or Odorizzi-type. As a bonus, none of those three Bauer-alternatives will cost a compensation draft pick. When I think of what it will take to trade for Gray, I factor in that "sandwich pick' (outdated term I know) with the rest of the haul it will take to get him, so slight overpay in prospects is acceptable. Doc also brings up a good point about a potential opt-out and if the Bauer team is looking for one, it seems like an Angels prerequisite for back-loading the contract is a deal breaker.

With some sort of "special advisor to" title, sure.

Loving season 5 of The Expanse on Prime. It helps if you've read the books as you can follow where the show is leading when it slows down for background building. It's pretty grounded as an extrapolation of current day hostilities and politics into the Sci-Fi arena. Very little in the way of cliche'd tech (no warp drive, beam me up Scotty, etc.) but feels very real in the antagonism and morphing forced partnerships between Earth, Mars and the Belt.

The more I see BTVs valuations the less I trust it. Adell does not hold 28 times Rengifo's value, at least the Dodgers didn't think so when they were willing to send Joc and Stripling for him (and PTBNL). Perhaps I am not understanding something but I've seen several true head scratchers on that site.

Not to say that the Dodgers havent done an outstanding job with their farm in the Freidman era, but it deserves note that they didnt have to give up many prospects when unloading several very bad contracts. They spent their way through it, going into the CBT in an unprecedented way for several years. Just about every other team would have had to pay a steep price in farm assets to unload like that.

Hooked on daytime soaps? As the MLB turns.

I dont know how much theyd want above Castillos 115 BTV value but Fletcher, Adell/Marsh, Canning get you 15 points above. Take on a bad contract and change the names of the aforementioned pieces and youre in the ballpark. If the Reds are truly considering trading him and not just trying to fleece the desperate, I would hope Minasian pushes hard for Castillo over Gray.

Peppermint Patty, closet lesbian "In-laws need to move in"

California Uber Alles!

Transparent virtue signaling.