totdprods

If anything his presence now makes it easier for the Angels to part with a young SP in a trade for a quality arm, not an obstacle. I think our rotation depth is at like 11 now? Heaney, Bundy, Teheran, Ohtani, Andriese, maybe Pena (injured), Canning, Barria, Peters, Suarez, Sandoval, 12 if you count Gohara. Obviously we can never have too much depth and like Jeff mentioned, some can work out of the pen, but having 11-12 guys currently at the big league SP depth chart suggest they could part with one or event two in return for someone worth it, like Gray. Speaking of Colorado, with how many bad expensive vet relievers they have, I bet someone like Buttrey, Anderson, or Middleton would be pretty appealing to them to help balance things out.

So he made a half-ass attempt. If he wanted to really stop it, he would’ve put an end to it. Now that these managers, most of them having not earned huge dollars playing, know the penalty is possibly a life-long ban, I bet they’ll take this more seriously. Just as importantly, however, Manfred said, “Hinch admits he did not stop it and he did not notify players or [Alex Cora, then the Astros’ bench coach] that he disapproved of it, even after the Red Sox were disciplined in September 2017. Similarly, he knew of and did not stop the communication of sin information from the replay review room, although he disagreed with this practice as well and specifically voiced his concerns on at least one occasion about the use of the replay phone for this purpose.”

There wasn’t much precedent or reason to believe he’d lose his job. Bet managers will treat things like this a little more carefully now.

You can bet most managers are gonna cut shit like this out if they find their players doing it, especially if Hinch or Cora aren’t back in baseball next year. Remember that this is just as much about enforcement as it is punishment. Much easier to have the manager and GM be held accountable - individuals with authority - be accountable than 30-40-50 odd players, bench staff, auxiliary personnel, etc.

Cubs would save an enormous amount of money, something like $30-35m...enough for them to get Castellanos back and make a couple other small moves. Maybe it takes another lesser piece of two, but I think the salary savings would be attractive enough for Chicago. Angels would eat a ton, but it all hits FA after this year, and Heaney only has two years of control left anyways I believe. Basically just turn two Heaney seasons over two years into two Heaney seasons this year. Makes the most of Heaney’s potential trade value and allows the Angels to land 60+ starts, 350+ IP of league-average, 4.00 ERA ball, presumably, without surrendering any of the key prospects we have. If things so south, they’ll have four SP between these two, Teheran, and Bundy to shop at the deadline to contenders. Ideally Sandoval or Suarez step into Heaney’s spot next year, and the Angels ship again in FA.

I’d still trade Heaney to the Cubs for Quintana and Lester. Paired with Teheran, the Angels would have three of the most durable SPs in the last decade, and while all would basically be average, it’s be the best bet against the injury bug biting us again. All that money clears up next season. Cubs can use money saved to sign Castellanos like they’d like. Fair deal I think.

He’s basically replacing Nick Tropeano’s spot, or Felix Pena’s if he isn’t ready to start the year.

Sort of feels like they traded Jeremy Beasley for an older version of...Jeremy Beasley. I think it’s a good trade. They got an actualized version of Beasley’s ceiling for Beasley’s potential - a total question mark. If Andriese was horrible, expensive, really old, or out of options, I’d be a little more disappointed, but it’s a solid trade. I liked Andriese as a target a couple years back, I believe I floated the idea of him being a return for Cron actually before Rengifo was announced. He’ll probably be another Felix Pena for us.

Not likely but we are now at 41 on the 40, so a DFA at the very least.

This has nothing to do with them being the division leader, but I wish Houston had stayed in the NL. Wish baseball would put Houston back in the NL, now in the NL West, and swap Colorado to the AL West. Colorado would fare better as an AL club with a DH looking to build themselves as an offensive juggernaut. They'll always have a hard time putting together a pitching staff that will complete with annual contenders like the Dodgers and teams with hyper-pitcher-friendly environs like San Diego and San Francisco. Aligns better with divisional travel too, with each 'West' division having an opponent in TX.

It could help. I don't think they're tied together, but the biggest possibility of these opening a deal for the Angels will be contingent on who the Cardinals deal away. They're likely able to offer a good young OF and a good SP prospect or two - something the Angels can't or don't want to part with - and the Rockies will open up some of their infield logjam - making it easier for them to have interest in guys like Rengifo, Fletcher, Thaiss. Cardinals could also part with more MLB-ready talent which could affect the availability of Marquez and Gray too. They won't necessarily have to go into a 'rebuild' if the pieces returned are MLB-ready, but then again, the Angels could also offer MLB-ready talent to help tie in with Colorado's new window.

There have been three recent DFAs that I could see the Angels take a chance on...all would be great buy-low types to add to our pitching depth. Stephen Tarpley, LHRP, 27 Limited MLB action with the Yankees, 5.88 ERA, 1.81 WHIP, marred by 40 hits allowed in 33.2 IP but with 47 strikeouts (12.6 K/9) as well. Of note, in the minors he was used primarily as a multi-inning reliever - 18 G, 32 IP in '19, 36 G, 70 IP in '18, 18 G, 41 IP in '17 Huge numbers in A+ through AAA in '17 and '18, 1.55 ERA (19 ER in 111 IP) with 113 strikeouts versus 44 walks, 59 hits. Only 20 HR allowed in 450 minor league innings He has options remaining Matt Hall, LHRP, 26 Limited time with Detroit last two seasons, 9.48 ERA in 21 G, 2.07 WHIP, pummeled with 47 hits allowed in 31.1 IP with 18 BB, 32 K At AAA in 2019, big strikeout numbers - 106 in 86.2 IP, though he also allowed 102 hits, 16 HR (!!!), and 31 BB. Prior to 2019, never posted an ERA above 2.91 in four minor league seasons Like Tarpley, he was used as a hybrid SP/multi-inning RP, pitching in 25 G/13 GS. Owns a 15.8% swinging-strike rate on his curve and is in 96th percentile for spin rate Also has options remaining Dylan Covey, RHP, 27 Former 1st round draft pick, Covey has slumped to a 6.54 ERA across three season with the White Sox in 250 IP, 63 G, 45 GS In the bigs, he's allowed too many hits, too many walks, too many homers, not enough strikeouts. Nothing has worked yet. Very solid upper-minor league numbers, with a career 2.45 ERA in AA/AAA in 125 IP, allowing 117 hits, 12 HR, 42 BB, 110 strikeouts Has an option remaining, it appears

Jesus Christ.

Walsh and Ward aren’t CF, and Lund isn’t on the 40. I agree that Hermosillo has a strong shot at the 4th OF, but it’s probably also important in terms of 40-man flexibility to have an OF with options parked at SLC, so they can pull up an OF when needed without having to make any DFAs from the 26 or 40. That’s why I think there’s a reasonable shot they still still a vet 4th OF. Entirely possible that, since Goodwin can play CF, they utilize Fletcher in RF some as well, especially if it gets more AB for La Stella. Sort of depends on who lands on the bench. Thaiss isn’t playing OF. Ward kind of can. Walsh as well, but not much.

I don’t think so. I still think all of the following has a good chance of happening: Angels sign a 4th OF to compliment Goodwin, maybe Cameron Maybin, Kevin Pillar? Angels sigh a reliever, maybe someone with some multi-inning/spot-starter ability like Collin McHugh, Francisco Liriano, Chad Bettis, Josh Tomlin Angels trade one or two of Thaiss, Rengifo, Marsh, Jones, Suarez, Barria, Sandoval for a SP with upside and control - just waiting for teams to stop demanding Adell/Marsh Angels sign a vet UT IF type to platoon to make up for the trade above which likely costs an IF or two, someone like Neil Walker We’re just at a point where everyone left in FA is pretty interchangeable, so Billy’s just waiting for some prices to come down and get the best bargains. Trade market is likely still asking for Adell or Marsh at the top of talks, and Eppler’s waiting for Adell’s name to drop off and perhaps Marsh as well.