If I Were Perry Minasian: Part V

Welcome to the fifth installment of the If I were Perry Minasian series, where CtPG writers detail the transactions they would make for their desired Angels offseason.

In order to rosterbate responsibly, guidelines for this exercise are as follows.

• Angels end-of-year payroll for luxury tax purposes shall not exceed $195 million, giving the GM $26 million to spend during the offseason (the club’s current projected CBT payroll is $169mm). See here for more on the Angels’ payroll situation.
• Factored into that projected payroll are arbitration projections from Cot’s. This shouldn’t deviate too much from MLBTR’s estimates, but we’ll use Cot’s figures simply for ease of use.
• When possible, use contract projections based on FanGraphs or MLB Trade Rumor estimates, as experts from these outlets have a better pulse on the free agent landscape than most.
• Trades must be as realistic as possible. One popular tactic among baseball fans on the internet is offering a bunch of players you don’t like in exchange for some you do. In reality, that’s not how trades actually work, so that’s off limits. The Baseball Trade Values site can be a good resource for a sanity check often times, but each team values players differently and their wants/needs/tendencies should be taken into account, too.

Prior Installments

If I were Perry Part 1: Brent Maguire

If I were Perry Part II: Jeff Joiner

If I were Perry Part III: Jessica DeLine

If I were Perry Part IV: John Henry Weitzel

My Objectives

1. Starting Pitching, of course
2. Shore up relief pitching
3. Cheap back-up catcher in case Stassi needs more time to heal
4. Competent back-up outfielder

Non-Tenders

I originally decided to non-tender Justin Anderson and Hansel Robles to free up about $4.8 Million in projected arbitration salaries. Perry non-tendered five guys including Keynan Middleton, Hansel Robles, Justin Anderson, Matt Andriese, and Hoby Milner. I couldn’t really find a projection for Hoby Milner but the total savings for those other guys is $8.7 Million. The budget is now $34.7 Million.

Trades

Perry acquired Shortstop Jose Iglesias. He costs $3.5 Million. The budget is now $31.2 Million.

First, I would see if I could pry starting pitcher Mike Soroka away from Atlanta in exchange for Jo Adell. The trade simulator says this is a good deal but it also says there is a low likelihood either of these guys gets traded. I definitely don’t think it hurts to ask. Soroka’s projected $1.9 Million salary minus Adell’s league minimum leaves approximately $1.3 Million of salary I have added. My budget is back down to about $29.9 Million.

Second, I would trade Dillon Peters to the Twins for outfielder Jake Cave. They both make about the same salary. Minnesota is hungry for pitchers. Cave has an option but he has a superior left handed bat to Taylor Ward, who has two options. Cave has a good fielding percentage, can play center field, and puts up positive WAR, unlike Ward. The budget is still $29.9 Million.

Third, I would trade second base prospect Eliot Soto to the Blue Jays for Catcher Reese McGuire. It doesn’t look like Toronto has really great depth behind Cavan Biggio. McGuire is at the Major League level with a league minimum salary. The Budget is now $29.33 Million.

Free Agent Acquisitions

1. Jake Odorizzi, 2 years at $11 Million per year. Budget now $18.33 Million.
2. Brad Hand, 2 years at $7 Million per year. Budget now $11.33 Million.
3. Garrett Richards, 2 years at $8 Million per year. Budget now $$3.33 Million.

I have about $3.33 Million of breathing room to make up for the vagaries of guys getting modest raises. For now, I am going with Scott Schebler, Jake Cave, and later Brandon Marsh to be potential third and fourth outfielders. Schebler, of course, results in a deduction of $900,000 from the budget if he breaks spring training with the big team. Marsh costs $570,500 when he comes up. Cave’s salary is just a swap for that of Dillon Peters.

Starting Rotation

1. Mike Soroka
2. Dylan Bundy
3. Jake Odorizzi
4. Garrett Richards
5. Andrew Heaney
6. Griffin Canning
7. Shohei Ohtani

I have a couple of extra guys because of the injury histories of Soroka, Odorizzi, Richards, and Ohtani. Maybe Jaime Barria and Garrett Richards must do some long relief. We’ll see who comes through spring training still healthy and we’ll make our decisions then.

Lineup

1. David Fletcher 2B
2. Mike Trout CF
3. Anthony Rendon 3B
4. Shohei Ohtani DH
5. Jared Walsh 1B
6. Justin Upton LF
7. Scott Schebler RF
8. Jose Iglesias SS
9. Reese McGuire C

Bullpen

1. Brad Hand
2. Mike Mayers
3. Ty Buttrey
4. Felix Pena
5. Noe Ramirez
6. Jaime Barria

Bench

1. Max Stassi C
2. Albert Pujols DH/1B
3. Franklin Barreto Utility
4. Jake Cave OF

Jose Suarez, Patrick Sandoval, Ty Buttrey, Luke Bard, Felix Pena, Anthony Bemboom, Luis Rengifo, Matt Thaiss, and Taylor Ward all have options. They can be stashed in Salt Lake as my injury back-up guys as needed to keep my roster within limits.

If Barreto, who lacks options, sucks when he comes off the IL then he is very much out of here. His bat is multi-year horrible and Fletcher can play everywhere Barreto can and plays it well. I guess I’d bring up Thaiss, Ward, or perhaps Marsh if I got rid of Barreto, depending on my needs at the time.

I tried to go left/right/left right in the batting order but we have three damn good right handed batters who have to bat 1-2-3.