Fanpost: If I were Perry Minasian 2021, Biggiswrth edition

I can see Perry in his 64′ lowrider, rollin’ down the street with his mind on his money (and pitching) , and his money on his mind. ”

My priorities are the following:
1. Two starters that can keep the ball in the ballpark, stay healthy, and maybe give us 6 innings.
2. An established closer, with a deeper pen to hold leads
3. A vet catcher that can back up Stassi and give us more time to develop
4. A middle infielder
5. More pitching, especially in the pen where we don’t have much certainty
6. Keep our young core outfield ( I want to see Trout, Adell, Marsh!)

This task was actually a lot of fun, and this is my second year trying to crack the code for the Angels getting to the postseason. I think I’ve done a decent job at making the offers all legitimate, and I do have one trade that I’d like opinions on. I believe we are in a much better state this season. I’m optimistic on this team, pending health of course.

Here we go:

Re-Sign Alex Cobb: 2yr/16mil

[+8 Million]

I’m starting with the least sexiest pick up of the offseason. It was between Cobb and Wood for me, with Matz as a close third, but his QO made me pass on him. Wood would require a 3 year offer, but I don’t see him as being steady and as healthy as Cobb. Sometimes you’re dammed with what you know.

Re-Sign Raisel Iglesias : 4yr/56mil

[+14 Million]

I took the numbers and contract straight of mlbtraderumors. I know bullpen arms are a bit of a gamble, but I like his stuff and he has proven to be one of the best in the game at closing out games. Maddon loved him, and he fits with getting the Angels the W after securing a lead, even if the score is 10-8. I do want to have better arms behind him so…

Sign Ryan Tepera: 2yrs/12mil

[+6 Million]

We need a bridge to get to church. Having a big arm to get us thru the 8th is really important, and having a solid guy like Tepera will help. I also think this prevents Maddon from using Raisel in the 8th for multi inning saves, keeping our closer and investment safer through the season.

Sign Yusmeiro Petit and Felix Pena: 1yr/3mil and 1yr/1mil

[+4 Million]

Continuing to load up the bullpen. Petit gives that warm fuzzy feeling when he comes in the middle of the game that our starter hasn’t done too well. He matches up great in the division, and can give us multi innings if asked. We can never have too much pitching right? Pena is hopfully healthy and has really good stuff. Also able to go multi innings and even spot start if we needed him too. He’s trying to have a good season again to build value as a free agent again.

Sign Robinson Chirinos: 1yr/1mil

We need another veteran catcher and I grab one that knows a bit of the teams in the AL West from his Tex days. He’s a bridge to Thaiss if that project ever comes through.

Trade: Angels receive Chris Bassitt and Elvis Andrus from A’s for Jordyn Adams, Jeremiah Jackson, Taylor Ward, and Luis Rengifo (add 15.225mil to payroll)

Okay, hear me out on this one. The A’s are trying to cut costs, but trying to save as much of their team as they can. By taking a “bad contract” off the A’s, and giving them a replcement in Rengifo for the MLB Min, it free’s up the A’s to keep a lot more of their core. The Angels get a good starter in Bassitt who is controlled for 2 years at a reasonable amount, plus in my option get a slightly better version of Rengifo, but for way more money. The Angels I think are going to have to eat a bad contract in order to get something good via the trade route. This trade is actually in the A’s favor when it comes to the simulator, but I felt like the Angels would need to overpay a bit to trade within the division.

I also did another trade with the Red’s involving Moose and Castillo for Detmeirs and J Jackson. Moose is just so expensive, but he’s a huge importvent to the offense (when healthy). This trade though prevents more upgrades to the bullpen, and loses another starter on our already thin depth chart, so I decided to stick with the “overpay” with the A’s

Open battle for the last bench spot

Our new shiny toy from the MF Yankees looks promising, or we finally get to see a Matt Thaiss get over the hump and we carry a 1B/3rd Catcher on the bench.

Release Gosselin and Guerra (saving 2.8 mil)

It’s just business boys. Nothing personal.

Start salivating at the idea of Trout, Marsh, and Adell mashing

I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. Please let me see this trio in action!!

Offseason in review:

Well we did it. We have a 6-man rotation and have a bullpen that has a solid 7th, 8th, and 9th inning pitcher to hold leads. We still have the best player on the planet. We still have a good offense. We hope we get a healthy and productive Trout/Rendon back with little regression from Ohtani. I don’t love our starting rotaion, but I beefed up that bullpen to help keep us in games late. I hate having the most expensive 4th outfielder in the league, but maybe we can teach him to play 1B and help with depth. We are starting something good here though, and I see a true path to the postseason with the Cheaters window closing soon, and the A’s selling off pieces. Pray to the Monkey!! Hold the Buttercup’s please!

Lineup:

Fletcher 2B
Ohtani DH
Trout RF
Rendon 3B
Walsh 1B
Adell LF
Marsh CF
Andrus SS
Stassi C

Bench

Chirinos C
Mayfield Util
Upton OF
Thaiss 1B/C

Rotation

Ohtani
Bassitt
Sandoval
Cobb
Suarez
Detmers

Bullpen

Iglesias CL
Tepera
Mayers
Petit
Pena
Warren
Quijada