GM Perry Minasian has continued to shape the Angels roster for 2022, signing Aaron Loup to a two-year, $17 million deal.
The deal structure is for two years, each at $7.5 million, with a team option for 2024 at the same price or a $2 million buyout.
Loup’s stuff plays well with Eno Sarris’s Stuff+ metric (he ranks above Raisel Iglesias!), and he should add a reliable lefty presence to the team.
Loup, turning 34 next month, pitched 56.2 innings with the Mets last year, compiling a 0.95 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. Despite the three-batter rule, he has remained effective, which bodes well for the future.
The Angels look to continue to add to their team with the remaining funds as they try to make a playoff push in 2022.
Good signing, but I wonder why all these teams are in such a hurry to give out tons of money right before they shut everything down. The owners are looking like fools.
Maybe the owners think things will be even more expensive under the new CBA?
That was my thought Maybe requiring every team to have a salary floor would generally increase the demand on free agent veteran players?
I was actually thinking that if enough of the free agents sign, they can exert pressure on the Union to get the new CBA signed because they want to get paid.
Eh. High end free agents are gonna get the ends now or later, and no one’s getting paid till March either way. I do think, with 2020 having just clobbered both sides, they will be more motivated to get this done though. I do think the sort of creative willingness to try some ideas on the owners end is a good sign… they aren’t just a monolith declaring that players make too much this go round. Both sides know that the TV money isn’t gonna be going up…. so we’ll see.
I don’t see the Lux Tax moving a ton. I don’t really see the new CBA changing free agency for most expensive FAs…. it will probably focus more on arbitration.
I think the agreement on providing housing etc for the minor league players, and not hearing a lot from the players union against any of those changes also bodes well.
I agree, changes to arb, some of the rules changes, maybe a salary floor for competitive balance, but otherwise I don’t see a lot to keep them apart for long.
Viewership even in 2019 was at a major low, and COVID didn’t improve it drastically (even we hadn’t opened up completely). They all need this.
The risk that people just move on broadly from baseball is too great.
I think the issues are more entrenched than just some tweaks here and there.
The Owners want expanded playoffs, More salary deterrents, Arbitration reform and an international draft
The Players on the other hand want elimination of the CBT and qualifying offer, expanded arbitration for younger players and a salary floor.
It would appears about the only thing they can agree on right now is a universal DH but the owners will use it a s a bargaining chip.
Nothing has really changed in 3 years and they haven’t even gotten serious yet. Good luck reaching a quick and painless agreement.
I think there is a lot of motivation to avoid missing more games. We know that the league never recovered all of the numbers from past strikes and lockouts, viewership is in a downward trend, and we just had a year of less baseball (and revenue) than usual.
So, sure, they have differences, and sure there is not a lot of pressure to do it at the moment (it is the offseason, for everyone), but I do think it happens without shortening the season or eliminating Spring Training (no one wants the continuing injury trends that have lingered from lack of training throughout the pandemic).
That’s all folks
Aaron Loup ($17M would show that for people who are allegedly smarter than me) probably means Raisel is gone. No more offense in the lineup either even though this team stopped hitting after the AS break which means we gotta hope Jo Adell can hit against good teams like TB, HOU, BOS, and TOR and not just the D-Backs and Orioles.
Why don’t we get Francisco Lindor (we need a SS still, I think) from the Mets too since we’re going all NY Mets? The Los Angeles Mets of Orange Co?
“Thats all folks” Is that a promise? How could we be so lucky?
Bon Voyage 2002. Don’t let the Pearly Gates hit you on the way out.
No knucklehead, that means we’re probably done with FA.
We’re still on the hook for Justin Upton’s absurd $21M a year deal till the end of next season. We needed two frontline SP’s and one of them decided to stay pat ( DeSclafani ). I’m not hopeful Noah Syndergard can stay healthy and be what he was in 2016. Perry acting like Eppler and taking risky gambles on guys with bad health issues (see Griffin Canning, Tim Lincecum, and Alex Meyer).
BTW Jonathan India took 3 yrs to get to the majors……You sure you want belittle that article even though it’s still right spot on in 2021?
Yes articles from 2013 don’t matter…..Baaaa haaaa. Go back to talking up Michael Stefanic fool. I have better observation and I wohnt uhpolahjize for thatt.
Don’t call people names.
Yes.
Upton earns $28m in 2022.
So that makes it even worse then……nice.
You are most likely wrong.

I don’t see how we can get the 2022 AL second WC playoff spot unless the 75 yr old billionaire/GM will be willing to go over the Luxury Tax Rubicon. Our starting rotation is still a joke and oh BTW we still need a SS. The other shoe will drop soon with us on the outside looking in (Chris Bassitt will sign elsewhere while we cry……again). We also needed to acquire a SP by trade (Frankie Montas, Luis Castillo somebody!) and not leave Ohtani all by himself…..SMH…Unbelievable. Wish us luck in 2022 with Packy Naughton, Andrew Wantz and Thor who hopefully will double his starts next year…….four starts?
I don’t know why you’re acting like the free agent period is over and all players are signed elsewhere, when its the exact opposite.
Also, what is your obsession with Chris Bassitt and Packy Naughton? It seems like you mention one of them in just about every comment lately.
Honestly dude, it kinda seems like you’re losing it.
How about the 2022 AL fourth wild card spot? will we have a shot at that one?
Yes. I think most agree with plenty of this. Though there are no “have to” situations in baseball. Everyone hates to hear it, but what is plenty likely is that we spend 200M and still finish third because that happens. What also happens to many winning teams is that a guy like Griffin Canning suddenly becomes very good. Outside of like three teams most of it’s educated guessing and hindsight’s for dorks. You just have to breath in through the nose, out through the mouth, because no matter what we do in December if Trout and Rendon go down this year we will likely suck again, as would pretty much all teams.
It was reported this morning that Steven Matz has many offers he’s considering, one of which is from the Halos. So sorry Porky, but it doesn’t seem like Perry is done quite yet.
We didnt draft him either back in 2009. $21M for Thor who made just two starts last year. Even Packy Naughton made more starts than that.
Janson Junk, Jose Quintana, Reid Detmers all made more than two starts and make less than Thor Syndergard.
😠 💩
How many starts did Ohtani have in 2020? Also, was Ohtani good in 2021?
You’re right we blew it in 2009. We should have drafted the Mediocre Matz guy over that fat boy bust from New Jersey
Let me tell you all again about Packy Naughton….

😂
Liking this move a ton. If they bring back Iglesias, now you have Warren, Loup, and Iglesias. That would also allow Mayers to be in better situations. Keep em coming Perry. He adds Stro too, I’ll be impressed.
Let’s go get Iglesias and another starter, trade for a SS (or if you’re in the mood Arte, throw your chips on the table and go for Story) and we’ve finally got ourselves a legitimate chance. While I doubt he goes up $20 million… he chose a big market name – time to prove we’re a big market team.
Giants are said to be very interested in Alex Cobb. Are we going to lose a guy who still has his best season(s) to give? My intuition says yes, and it’s bugging me, but I have nothing more than that to go on.
So we gave Thor $21M, but couldn’t pay $12M to this guy?
Nice going Perry, the NY Mets are over there—–>
😠 😠 😡 😫 😭 💩 SMH!!
I don’t think he wanted to come here, probably because he hates you. Or he just wanted to stay in SF.
You do know there are players who just decide to go play for a team other than the Angels right? It’s not like every guy who signs somewhere else would have come here if only ol” Cheap n Evil had done some something. You’re not actually this stupid, you’re playing some kind of dumb game only you get/enjoy right?
I know I’ve asked this before, but didn’t get an answer, so I’ll check again. You’re not handicapped, or like a 9 year old child are you?
Please don’t turn out to be an autistic 11 year old.
Come on man, I enjoy your takes a lot, but no need for that kind of attack.
“You’re not actually this stupid, you’re playing some kind of dumb game only you get/enjoy right?”
This is why I often wonder which 2002 prefers more, rooting for the Halos or coming to this site to piss most everyone off with awful, nonsensical opinions. If he wasn’t getting his rocks off from this halo blog schtick I wonder if he’d even care about baseball. It can be odd what motivates some people.
It’s a cry for attention. I’ve just assumed he was harshly potty-trained or something…..
Yeah, it sure seems like he routinely looks for players on other teams who are playing well, then does maybe 30 seconds of research to see who drafted them, and bam! He’s got today’s fuel to piss us off. Not exactly how I’d spend my limited time on this planet, but it seems to make him happy.
He doesn’t even research who drafted them half the time. It’s some guy who was drafted and traded and then signed as a low rent FA that we should have drafted.
Yeah, like I said, he puts in about 30 seconds of due diligence for a point he’s already decided he’s going to try and make.
Since you seem to know about EVERY player the Angels SHOULD have signed regardless of whether or not they COULD have, you should try and get a meeting with Arte and tell him why YOU should be running the team instead of…anyone. At least in your mind.
It’s a good signing! Raisel and stroman to put the league on notice now
MOAR!
Need QTY-2 more arms from the list above. Knebel, Graveman, then a step lower to Hudson, McHugh and Hudson
Willing to take a flyer on Nelson.
My preferred order: Graveman, McHugh, Kenebel.
Nice move Perry. Now get me Stroman, Iglesias, and one more pen arm and they may be headed to an appearance in the playoffs.
Seems like great value for $7.5m. Interested to see who else is brought in for the bullpen, rotation, and SS considering we likely need one more of each position and one of the positions will likely need to come via trade.
Last years numbers were a fluke (I hope they aren’t), but he’s been about 115ERA+ career-wise outside of last year.
I see a career ERA+ of 136 with 2020 also being 164, so 2 good years in a row?
You know floyd, I think you are right. If you look at his career numbers year by year he had nothing previously that was comparable to last year. I think it is only logical to expect a regression. We can however hope that it is only slight. If he goes from 0.95 ERA and 2.45 FIP to something like 2.25 or 2.40 ERA and 2.60 FIP we would probably all be happy, assuming he pitches alot of innings for us.
Let’s hope for that. Besides, this is much better than Eppler’s shenanigans over the last few years, giving us Cody Allen etc.
Yeah. I mean, a 164 ERA+? Wouldn’t bet on that again, especially from a reliever. The main thing I like about Loup is he was supposed to suffer greatly from the 3 batter rule. But for some reason he got a lot better since he’s had to face more hitters. He won’t be a closer, but he’s still far more useful than he was in say 2018.
Apparently he changed his release point some. Drops down more now.
Career ERA+ of 116. If we “only” get that it would be a huge boost over what we’ve had.
The average velocity is 91 – 90, and his success is predicated on inducing ground balls. He’s a lefty, so he’s probably got a whipeout slider going for him. If he keeps the ball on the ground, he should be fine. If he doesn’t. we’ve signed Cishek v2.0
Cheese shits problems stemmed from Walks . In the last 3 seasons he’s averaged 4.7 BB/9 while Loup has only given up 2.2 free passes per 9.
Also Loup has also shown an extremely low HR rate averaging a mere .4 HR/ from 2019 to 2021. (less than half of Cishek’s)
As long as Loup can maintain his control against both Lefties and righties , he’ll be fine.
Yes, control is the key.
Apparently he has great movement. But you are right in the sense that location/movement pitchers walk the tightrope. That can’t afford to miss a little bit the way the big heat guys can sometimes get away with….
Sorry about the wonky career ERA+. I was extrapolating in my head, trying to get rid of the 400+ from 2021.
The Giants are resigning Wood and DiSclafani…. so we can totally complain about Arte being cheap still.
At least we still have hope for Gausman. Hard to see SF not resigning him though.
Gausman will go back, unless the Giants snag Max.
We shall see. Maybe we’ll luck out. Crawford, Belt, Disclafani and Wood are pretty much getting a big chunk of Cueto and Posey’s money. If they pay a big ticket pitcher 25M a year on a big boy 4-5 year contract it will be a departure.
I’d actually take Gausman over Stroman maybe. He’s not a product of his home park, in fact he’s better by a pretty large margin on the road the last two years, and that K/BB rate…. gah I’d love to watch a pitcher strike out five batters for everyone he walks. Even if he became a little more homer prone with us they’d be less damaging than with a guy like Stroman. I’d take either one, same age and really similar stats, but Gausman figured something out when he was briefly with the Reds and he’s been a beast for 300 innings since.
The angels need to make a corresponding 40 Man roster move. I assume the Goose will be Loose?
I stand corrected . I guess Yan is Gone.
https://twitter.com/TaylorBlakeWard/status/1462916648055099395
That’s a bit surprising. I wonder if there’s a trade coming. (I don’t see him being dropped for nothing)
WTF? Our #19 Top Prospect!
At Rule 5 draft time, perhaps he isn’t desirable enough to protect (keep on the 40-man), but it doesn’t mean we have given up on him.
Also, we just drafted 20 more pitchers, so maybe there is more and better people in the pipeline now??
I fully expect that some team will take a flyer on him, at least, on Rule 5 draft, if he’s still around until then….
I don’t think he has shown himself to be good enough for anyone to stick him on their 25-man for the year. Time will tell.
I think Perry knows I have yet to purchase my ten game ticket plan and is trying to win me over.
Lol’d at this one.
and… It has the Marcus Stroman seal of approval:
https://twitter.com/STR0/status/1462917169902067714
Stroman is going to love hanging out with Thor and Loup next year.
I would give a parallel fast clap and a high pitched giggle if we signed Stroman as well as these two.
How about three snaps in a Z-Formation?
Great pull.
Imagine that show trying to get on the air today ha ha.
Ok, Arte, let’s keep it going! It’s not about profitability, it’s about the pride of owning a winning team! Right? RIGHT?!
Really like this deal. I have to, I signed him in my Perry piece.
We still need multiple bullpen arms. While I like Iglesias I think he’d blow up the budget.
I’ve been wanting Graveman. Give me two of Graveman, McHugh, and Knebel to go along with Loup and we’ll be deeper than just signing Iglesias.
I like this. I wanted Loup. Also, this does not seem to be the type of deal that, added to Thor’s deal, a FO makes when they plan to only spend 45M this off season. So that’s cool, slightly more reason to hope Arte’s pushing more chips in.
Like it a lot. Now let’s resign Raisel. Loup is a big upgrade for the 8th.
Yah, he’s really improved his splits Vs RHB since the three batter rule came in, he’ll be useful, expecially with a small lead and LHB in a teams mid-order.