The Angels are reportedly interested in Willson Contreras. Here is the MLB.com spin on the Angels/Contreras connection. Dylan Bundy discusses adjustments he made (video link).
Links From Around Baseball
The griping from player agents is officially here. Show us the money! MLB issued warnings to all 30 clubs not to violate facility access protocols before Spring Training. In a sign of movement in the free agent market, the Tigers signed Robbie Grossman for two years and ten million. They designated Troy Stokes Jr. for assignment to make room for Robbie Grossman. Meanwhile, the Dodgers signed Blake Treinen to a two year deal worth $17.5 Million. The Yankees acquired outfielder Greg Allen from the Padres. The Reds acquired Art Warren for cash considerations. The White Sox, Dodgers, Blue Jays, and Mets are the teams reportedly in the Brad Hand sweepstakes. Jake Odorizzi is looking for a 3 year contract worth 36 to 42 million. In today’s weird news, Tim Tebow released a children’s book dedicated to his dog Bronco, who passed away in 2019. The dog in the book is vision impaired and wears glasses.
I hope not. I’d rather we sign J.T. Realmuto and then go out and trade them all….Detmers, Adams, Marsh, Jackson, Paris, Calabrerse, Thaiss, Barretto, Regnifo, Jones, etc…for pitching help, lots and lots of pitching. None of these prospects are going to be much more than replacement level, so deal them all. Deal Fletcher too, as the dude is fool’s gold.
Looking at some of the deals that have been made already is just so depressing. There’s no reason we couldn’t have made those deals, even with our complete lack of minor league talent. If we had a F/O that actually went out and made things happen we would be well on our way. But no, instead we have to sit and watch the ridiculous Trevor Bauer show and hope our F/O overpays by 75 million to sign that mouth-breather.
The Will Wilson trade told us all we need to know about this franchise and what they’re all about. Only thing worse than wasting your first round pick (cough, detmers..cough) is giving it away so that you can dump a little bit of salary. I hate this franchise
Cubs articles are thinking they could get Detmers. Hell no.
At best Detmers is a very back of the rotation guy. I’m so sick of the Angels wasting top picks on low ceiling pitchers with arms that produce FAR below average velocity/spin rates.
2017 saw us waste 7 of our first 10 picks on this type of pitcher. 2018 and 2019 were even worse, as both years saw us blow 10 of our first 12 picks on pitchers, pitchers who were all, with the exception of 2 of them (2 of freaking 20) this exact type. That’s 18 of our 24 top draft picks over two years wasted on guys who have very little place above AA in 21st century professional baseball.
The good news is that in 2020 we only had 4 draft picks to waste! The problem though is that we blew 2 of those 4 picks on the quintessential Angel pitcher. The prototypes. The archetypical Angel draft pick! LH pitchers with SUPER-low ceilings, and even lower velocity/spin rate numbers. College arms that struggle to consistently hit 91/92 on the gun who possess average (at best) secondary pitchers. All of the rest of our top picks over these last few years have gone to low ceiling “toolsy” infielders, and uber-raw/athletic outfielders that are the very definition of boom or bust. I’ll save you from the suspense: they’re all busts.
For years now this has been the formula for this ridiculous franchise. A franchise with the worst draft habits in the league. Terrible habits that are infuriatingly predictable. Whether it is low velocity/spin rate college arms, athletic outfielders who are dangerously raw and completely unrefined, or toolsy middle infielders, with this franchise there is always a formula. Hell, this is the franchise whose previous formula was picking college catchers 40 picks before anyone else would have looked at them. College “catchers” with no chance to stick behind the plate whose only draw was their offensive “potential” downrange. Just look at the higher velo/spin rate arms we could have had in their place. The whole thing is infuriating.
A horrible, rotting, soul-sucking formula that produces NOTHING of value. A formula our team has been stuck with for damn near a decade All because yes-men from the world of advertising are the ones making decisions for our team.
I HATE THIS FRANCHISE
Cheap Arte wouldn’t pay for Sugano! 😂
Neither would anyone else
Not even Cohen! Collusion!
How high would you have gone for Sugano?
About this High
Higher
Looks like Yomiuri gave him 4/10 with the opt outs. Gotta fit two SP in my budget, so 14 tops. Heck, even the all-in Pads couldn’t get it done.
I honestly would have passed at what he was asking for.
When Jessica proposed trading for Carrasco in her off season piece, I thought it was smart and realistic. Her package for just Carrasco now looks to be way high.
This was a salary dump, plain and simple. At some point MLB is going to need to better address club income disparity or fans in the smaller markets are going to get disillusioned and leave the game.
I thought Carrasco was always going to be a dump; age and contract years remaining. AKA Darvish junior. I am sure we could have landed him with prospects in the 10-20 range. But obviously passed.
You gotta remember, to get Carrasco for a couple 10 ranks you also have to trade for Lindor…. the Indians didn’t just trade Carrasco for some meh prospects, they got what could be a really good IF and a solid pitching prospect who I like plus a possible CF for Lindor/Carrasco and a ton of salary relief.
Yeah. Part of paying the price to get Lindor with a thin farm was taking on Carrasco’s contract. The LAA will probably be willing to do something similar, to get a pitcher without selling the whole farm, take on an OF whose contract is under water.
Ian Desmond and German Marquez!
Yup. Something like that, plus our prospect cost would probably still be higher than this Lindor trade.
Agree with this. Halos seem to be targeting specific contract lengths. It’s not that Carrasco’s cost is overwhelming, ($12M is near what the great Drew Smyly got this off-season), it’s the length. Yeah, he has probably been linked to Lindor back last year. Sandy Alderson said this trade has been in the popcorn machine for a long time. Otherwise, I still think he was prospect affordable.
Done deal, Braves are in for a pennant race as Mets get Lindor.
Met’s and Cohen are pushing hard. Although, Rosario was improving, still a nice trade for sure. The Nats are still within reach in making it a 3-team race in the NL East with the Phillies and Marlins being competitive. Solid division.
There simply is no way our team is going anywhere in the standings without either going over the cap or getting lucky. Watching everyday as a little bit of the the Free Agent market is disappearing it is driving me nuts, yes I know that it is a short trip. We need two or three starting pitchers. Three more relief pitchers with a track record. Better catching along with one more Outfielder. (was hoping for Grossman, at least we won’t see him in Oakland).
The fact that Trout was up to the majors lickity split and that now really shows that we are not teaching players how to play baseball correctly. I todays game teams are bring players up faster and younger and they are ready to play faster as a result of teaching and coaching. If Adell and Marsh are not capable then it is a fair question to ask why not.
Come meet the new boss – same as the old boss.
If you really think we are getting 2-3 starters, three more relievers with a track record, a catcher and an OF this off season you are in for a dark winter indeed. Besides, we don’t need all of that to get “anywhere”. As is the case with most teams who win, we need what players we do have to execute. The Doyers have pretty much signed or traded for a stacked roster for several years now and just won their first WS. The Rays, Twins, Brewers, Cardinals, A’ss, Blue Jays, Reds…. all far more spotty on the talent side, but still “got somewhere” because a bunch of lesser names did their jobs well. For example, last year, if we’d signed Teoscar Hernandez to a middling contract many of us would complain that it isn’t enough, or if we’d rolled with Mitch Garver at catcher in 2018. But the teams that win generally get that extra push beyond Trout/Rendon from players no one was excited about in March.
People hate when we say it, cause you can’t count on it, but if the Angels have Stassi, Ward and Walsh still play well, Schebler is his normal self, Rengifo becomes 2019 Rengifo, Upton is healthy, Heaney is good, Bundy is good, Ohtani can pitch and hit, etc etc PLUS we sign another catcher, reliever and add another starter we will be very competitive. We can sign 100M in free agents this year, but if 1/3 of the roster screws the pooch or gets hurt we’ll still finish 3rd.
But we have the GOAT.
Oh schiit, I was hoping that we would be able to bring him to SoCal, maybe he did not comitt to a long term stay in NY.
Lindor and Carrasco to the Mets. Maybe this trade will unlock the gates?
I thought it was going to be the case when the Padres traded for Darvish and Snell, but that wasn’t the case. Hopefully the hot stove can warm up for the Angels…
This is a hopeful development for us Angels fans; 1) we get Lindor out of the AL 2) the Cleveland Baseball Team will be weakened (though I really like Rosario and think he’s not a bad replacement) 3) the fact that Carrasco is part of this trade coupled with the fact the Mets will surely do their best to sign Lindor long-term (big $ outlay) should decrease the chance that they will sign Bauer.
On the other hand this could spur the Dodgers to try to keep up with them.
The name “Robbie Grossman” sounds like a 13 year old kid celebrating his Bar Mitzvah
Mazel tov
Could be this guy’s offspring
Wait, Robbie is Les’ Brother?
I wanted to ask the groups thoughts in Puig as our RF next year? He’d be pretty cheap on a 1-year deal, has plus def, and if Adell or Marsh prove they are ready, he’s easily expendable via DFA or trade at the deadline. Is the Cuban (Spanish speaking) a benefit to play under guys like Pujols who can maybe help teach this guy to be a better man and ball player?
How soon we forget
This past incident is why I think this might be a great idea. At some point Puig needs to grow up.
I’m game. I had mention this back in November and got negative feedback, putting it nicely. The reason I like the idea: 1. brings fire to a rather mellow line-up, plays with an edge. 2. has power and speed, we need more of the latter, has a cannon for an arm. 3. I’m not high on Ward at all or any other OF not name Trout/Marsh/Adell/Adams. NOTE: he was signed by Perry and AA in Atlanta last year so they obviously saw him as someone who could contribute. That is why I think this may have wheels. To your point, let’s Adell just be Adell and get him back on-track. Also, Upton may be done so we really might have two OF positions open. Angels wont rush Marsh after the Adell experiment.
Reason it would not work, Puig’s persona rubs Trout wrong. That would kill the idea.
I don’t hate the idea of Puig on a 1yr deal. He’s not the same player from the early Dodgers years but he can be a useful piece and he fits a need.
Though I’d prefer a much less likely Ian Desmond in a larger German Marquez deal…
I’d be OK with this at the right price. He seems to have matured quite a bit since his early days in LA
He has a cannon for an arm in right, would be far better defensively in left than Upton and would make for an interesting bat off the bench.
What about the alleged rape in the Staples bathroom???
Wasn’t that within the last year?
I thought that was largely debunked. Could be wrong….
Fast pass
If the report from Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com is accurate and Sugano wants MORE than the 4/56M that Kikuchi signed with the Mariners, I’m closing the checkbook and paying the Uber fare to the airport for him to return to the Yomiuri Giants.
I think MLB teams will call his bluff. Kikuchi was younger, left handed, and wasn’t entering a suppressed market. Factor in Kukuchis contract likely being upside down and I think it’s a tough sell for MLB teams to give him 4yrs & $16m AAV. His offer from Yomiuri will probably be his best, now it’s a matter of how much he wants the challenge of MLB
Adding Hand to the Dodgers bullpen would be incredible.
Agree. All Hail Andrew Friedman
Better than the Angels, that is for sure. As a collection of arms, looks good on paper. But Jansen is toast. Knebel is coming off arm issues, so who knows. Floro/Alexander are just guys. Treinen/Kelly are hot an cold but I would take them if I had a gun to my head. Ferguson can be tough. Now if May is assigned to the pen…that would be real tough. But I’m never giving Dodgers credit and especially that GM.
Bustardo is a stud. Hand is a stud. To have Treinen, Kelly, and Jansen as your middle leverage guys would be an embarrassment of riches.
Forgot about Bustardo, he can only get better. I’m still expecting Perry to beef up our pen, no question here. Claudio and Rasiel are a good start but need more to compete.
We’ve had a lot of Bastardos lately.
Battered.
Of Baseball
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Luis Rengifo changes jersey number to #2.
Move over Simba, Baby Cub is here!
Traded for Contreras.
Can he pitch?
Didn’t Chickaboom (Benboom) pitch a couple of innings last season?
Don’t ya just love it?