Pancake Bear

Less stress on the pen. Less pressure on the offense and defense. Makes a gigantic difference across the board, just bringing in 2-3 good-great arms (including Ohtani).

No. Like Trout, he wants to win, so, like Trout, he’ll sign elsewhere. Because, like Trout, he knows the Angels will never win this century.

I don’t see him getting less than Price. That would be the floor, I’d think. Greinke’s is interesting because of how much is deferred. Still, 35 seems awfully high to me, for a guy who doesn’t have as long a history as Price did of success. Cole’s had two insane years. Things could go way up, but 32ish will probably be about right, I’m thinking

My prediction is about 7/224-231ish. If the market goes up, he could get as much as 245, but I see that as the max.

Unless it goes back to high school as has been speculated. In which case, his injury on the job would have nothing at all to do with his drug addiction.

Lot of players don’t care about opt outs. The only reason we wouldn’t backload it is if Arte is planning to spend a lot of money this season. Even then, I’m skeptical. Pujols will be 30aav off the books after 2020-21. That’s a ton. Arte cares about his yearly payroll. Unless Cole insists on an opt out (I doubt it, it’ll just cost Arte more), it’ll almost certainly be backloaded.

I’ll really be disappointed if we trade Marsh at this point. If we do, it better be for a legit ace.

Yep. “Cole’s going west....he really likes pitching in Oakland.” Oakland won’t be paying him, but you know who plays in Oakland a lot? “He’s gonna sign with the Angels.” Cole, “I grew up rooting for the Yankees and Angels.” He turned down the chance to be a Yankee already. Also Cole, “It’s awesome being able to hug your mom after the game.” You mean your mom who has season tickets at Angel Stadium? It is happening. All that’s left is the paperwork.

Rankled? Nah. Just skeptical. Its not like guys are afraid they’ll become an addict just by being in the locker room. If the problem runs deeper, players will get the help they need and enablers higher up will be dropped from the organization. That will have nothing to do with the reputations of players on the field.

Dude was straight edge. Trout is more likely to have been one of the five than Wilson Exactly.

That’s why I said that theoretically they could do that, but only if that’s their only acquisition in free agency or Arte opens his wallet. Guys with opt outs in their contracts usually have front loaded deals. Hence the 35mil. Regardless, if they sign Cole, it will probably be backloaded.

They won't be able to afford 35mil (or more if it was frontloaded) based on their payroll unless Arte goes berserk with the budget. They'd have to pass on Cole and go with someone else. That, or look for another pitcher on the trade market. But that would damage the team's future. I tend to doubt they go that route.

There is a reason they deliberately pursue guys like Ryu and Hill, and not guys like Cole.

Same thing I’ve been thinking. Has anyone heard of him interviewing with anyone else?

Your question is unclear to me.

This is trolling. It won’t make a difference. Zero. Nada.

Some teams have to take risks like that. The Angels have a black hole at SP. The Dodgers don’t need to take risks like that.

They’re not getting Cole. It’s too risky for a 100 win team to sign 7 year deals on pitchers.

Wait 3 months until I'm proved right. I'm not worried. Past precedent is all on my side, as is basic reason. Nobody spends that much money when they're already spending more than everybody else. Fans have this notion that owners are just going to pony up hundreds of millions more (dozens each year) to improve their odds of winning, ignoring the fact that it also significantly improves their odds of busting when one of those contracts goes bad (of which a disproportionate amount do). You cannot spend your way out of that kind of a situation unless you don't care about money, and guys who own baseball teams don't get to be that rich by being stupid with their money. The safe approach is to hold steady - don't make stupid and risky moves when your team is already on top. That keeps you on top without jeopardizing the future. That's what the Dodgers have done all along. It's what they will continue to do.

Those won’t be the three high bidders. He’ll get a big offer from Cincinnati, probably the White Sox. Probably someone else I’m not thinking of. Yanks and Dogs won’t have the high offers.

I think they offer him a Harper contract. Short term, high aav. I don’t think he goes for it. They won 106 games. Why the hell would they spend 30-35 million on a 7yr deal? That’s crazy.

You can’t see past what you have convinced yourself is true, regardless of the reality that no facts match your theory.

Reddick says he's coming west, like it's no big secret. Cole admits the Angels were one of his two favorite teams growing up. The Yankees are east, not west. This isn't hard to figure. He's coming to Anaheim unless Arte bollixes it up.

A: You seem ignorant about how smart clubs run. Signing a pitcher, even if an ace, for 7 years, when they're around 30, is highly risky. Teams like the Astros, Dodgers, and Yankees with really deep clubs and great farms only make moves like that if they're either desperate enough to take the risk or stupid. The Angels are desperate because their pitching cupboard is bare. The Dodgers, Yankees, and Astros don't need to because they're already 100 win teams. They don't need to make 7 year commitments to pitchers. That's why they don't do it. That's why you haven't seen them do that. The closest exceptions for LA has been someone like Kershaw, but there's a different element for their own guys. Letting him walk would be really bad PR. Friedman doesn't believe in going all in. This is public knowledge. He believes you build a strong team (106 wins this year) and the playoffs are a crapshoot. They won't go over 5. Nor will NY, probably. If you're looking for someone to challenge - you're probably looking at someone like the Padres. B: There's no incentive here to lie. He's getting all the drugs he wants from a fellow addict. Why would he make up a bunch more names to get more than he needs? It isn't like Kay would've been cutting him off. Besides, it's almost certain this is a common problem. Is it so hard to believe that five other guys over the last couple of seasons used Skaggs as their go-between? The police apparently don't think so, but perhaps they lack your infallible prescience.

A: That isn’t what I said. So you’re either misreading deliberately or because you’re a dunce. B: Your theory doesn’t match the evidence and isn’t terribly likely.