Angels Sign Kurt Suzuki

A familiar face will return to Anaheim for the 2022 season. Backup backstop Kurt Suzuki is being brought back on a one year deal.

Hopefully this is the first of several moves. There’s simply no other way of saying it, Suzuki was bad on both sides of the ball last year.

https://twitter.com/byrobertmurray/status/1502730631964336131?s=21

107 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
rspencer
Trusted Member
2 years ago

Maybe it’s the Helsinki Syndrome talking, but I’m happy to see Kurt Suzuki back. I’m hoping the aim is to have him fill in until Thaiss is ready, and then move him to coaching. I have always liked this guy as a human being, and hope he sticks around the organization.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  rspencer

You’re doing it wrong. See, when we don’t keep a quality guy around, any quality ex-Angel of any quality no matter what job they wanted or even if they want a job, then it’s because Arte’s an asshole. When we do keep a quality guy around it’s because Arte is a cheap asshole who plays favorites. Get with it bro.

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend

Skanks fleeced the Twinkies. Salary dumps usually work out well for the receiving team….

Cowboy26
Legend
2 years ago

Wow thats a weird one for sure. Must be the new salary cap limits for the Skanks that is the catalyst for this trade.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend

So Lose: Mitch Garver (in a market will teams will kill for a catcher), Bryce Petty, Josh Donaldson (127 OPS+) and Isiah Kiner Falafel

They Gain: Sonny Gray (replaces Keta Maeda. Berrios is still a loss), The mighty Francis Peguero. Gary “Shitbrick” Sanchez, and Gio Urshela (96 OPS+) plus Ronny Henriquez.

They lose a ton of offense, a gold glove infielder, and still have to replace Michael Pineda and Jose Berrios in the rotation. I can’t remember a single day where I’ve thought “Man, that FO is killing it.” at lunch and then “Man, that FO is getting spit roasted!” at supper time.

Isn’t Derek Falvy supposed to be enviably good at this stuff?

Cowboy26
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

You forgot a couple of things though that must have been very important to the Twins under the new CBA; The $50,000,000 they are saving in jettisoning Donaldson.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Cowboy26

If they sign Trevor Story I’m gonna be confused. Why does the CBA matter to the twins, they never come close to any special payroll issues? And they just paid Byron Buxton to rehab constantly for 7 years… just odd.

FungoAle
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

Sanchez is terrible with an offense aided by playing in that bandbox. I would not roster that guy. Thinking the Twins will pass him along like they did Isiah Kiner Falafel.

2002heaven
Super Member
2 years ago

We’re always a day late and a buck short. We should’ve signed Suzuki around 6 yrs ago.
BYE!!!

Cowboy26
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  2002heaven

Yes, Thats When you should have left this site permanently .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIaCIUWVZzo

admkir
Trusted Member
2 years ago

Sonny Gray to Twins

Last edited 2 years ago by admkir
JackFrost
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to  admkir

Yep.

Another GM failure by the Angels.

Based upon what the Twins gave up we should have been able to get Gray without giving up either Adell or Marsh. Petty was only the 7th ranked prospect in the Twins system. And Peguero is no great shakes with a 4.74 ERA in 74 minor league appearances.

It seems we as Angels fans are again left looking on at other teams in envy as our GM sits on his hands and misses out on opportunities to improve the club.

Mia
Legend
Mia
2 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

And if they would have traded for him, people here would be complaining we gave up all those years of Bachman or maybe Detmers for Gray.

It’s not a GM failure to not get a guy when you’re one of 29 teams that could have traded for him. And Perry could have checked in a realized their asking price of us was too high.

As the great poet Mick Jagger once said: You can’t always get what you want.

But go off, I guess.

JackFrost
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Mia

First off, Jagger is not a “great poet.”

Second, my whole point is that we would not have had to give up a Bachman to get him. The asking price was not that high. Bachman is our top pitching prospect. I also would not have liked that, but that is not what it would have taken, I don’t think…

Remember, this is for only one year of Sonny Gray. Pretty sure he could have been had for less than Bachman.

Last edited 2 years ago by JackFrost
Mia
Legend
Mia
2 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

You’re right. I thought it was a higher prospect going back to Cincy…that’s my bad.

Even so, there could be a hundred reason we didn’t make a move for him, and we could have tried, maybe they liked the Twins offer more. Maybe they were mad we fleeced them for Raisel and didn’t wanna deal with us again.

Who knows. No need to call Perry a failure for it.

DMAGZ13
Trusted Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Mia

Perry has been failing for a year now.

Mia
Legend
Mia
2 years ago
Reply to  DMAGZ13

How many GMs are we gonna watch fail to acquire pitching and keep blaming it on the GM?

I think Perry has worked within obvious constraints by the owner quite well. But others can disagree, that’s fine.

2002heaven
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Mia

comment image
The 75 yr old rich guy strikes again?
 😫  😢  😠 

Last edited 2 years ago by 2002heaven
gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Mia

Trouble is, Chase Petty was THE TWINS #7 prospect (with less than 10 MiLB innings pitched). Our #7 is Janson Junk. So yeah, we would have had to trade Bachman most likely, and honestly Petty’s a better prospect, he’s just young and we wanted to draft a college arm (remember guys?).

I don’t understand the emotional collapse I keep seeing on here every time a team trades for a guy we (me included) would have liked. I would have thought it’s pretty obvious that we were very very unlikely to get Gray, Bassitt or Castillo when he is traded. More than half the teams in baseball want those guys, and more than half the teams in baseball have better prospects to trade.

So, Mia, your first post was right on. If anyone’s bent out of shape over these trades it’s their own damn fault for having expectations that are not restrained by facts. Facts like Petty will likely be the Reds #1 prospect in two years AND the Reds got a bunch of salary relief, that’s why they got “so little” in return. In addition, the Twins are one of about 10 teams I can name who could offer more in a similar trade if they had to. I still hope we can swing a trade for someone, hell, I HOPE we can trade for Castillo somehow, but I don’t expect it and I’m not going to be pissed if we wind up with a lesser pitcher. I’ll even understand if we get outbid on all the starters. The other GM has to want what we offer, just like the FA pitchers have to want to play here.

Mia
Legend
Mia
2 years ago

Yeah, thanks. It’s just that evaluating prospects is not my strong suit so I tend to defer to those here that seem more knowledgeable.

Idk if it should worry me that you and I seem to be on the same page more often than not these days. Maybe I’m just getting older. Haha.

Cowboy26
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  Mia

Thats Ok Mia. Apparently evaluating prospects wasn’t the strong suit of either of our 2 previous GMs either.

Mia
Legend
Mia
2 years ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Bring back Bill Stoneman

Cowboy26
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  Mia

What for like the 4th time? The dudes almost 80 years old.

2002heaven
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Overated………
He inherited many guys from Donny Rowland and Bill Bavasi. The only guys he can hang a star on is Jered Weaver and Ervin Santana.
 💪  💪  💪  👈 

bradllee424
Trusted Member
2 years ago
Reply to  2002heaven

Oh come on. He knew what guys to keep. Any GM who would get the Angels a W.S. trophy is not overrated.

Cowboy26
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  2002heaven

Toots, Stoneman hired Donny Rowland you dumbass. He also replaced him 4 years later with Eddie Bane in 2003. But for a more complete recap of transactions made during Bill Stoneman’s “overrated tenure” as the Angels GM. (November 1999 to October 2007) I present the following Curriculum Vitae:

Bargain and Successful free agents :
Scott Spezio
Paul Byrd
Vladimir Guerrero
Brendan Donnelly ( Minor League FA)
Bartolo Colon
Kelvin Escobar

Waiver Claims:
David Eckstein

Players Acquired by trading Junk/Team cancers:
Kevin Appier
Adam Kennedy
Chone Figgins
Juan Rivera
Maicer Izturis
Brad Fullmer

Players from the draft or Amateur Free Agency:
Mike Napoli
Ervin Santana
Erick Aybar
Darrin O’Day
Jeff Mathis (Cuz he’s premium)
Jered Weaver
Nick Adenhart
Mark Trumbo
Joe Saunders
Howie Kendrick
Kevin Jepsen
Casey Kotchman
Kendry’s Morales
Jean Segura

I apologize if I might have Overlooked someone.But I think you get the idea Some of the above players had short Angel careers due to trades performed by his successor but the Angels will able to trade for some big time players due to quality and depth with the system that Stoneman left him with. There were definitely some misses. But the wins far exceed the duds.

Now for the love of God could you finally permanently move to Lookout Landing and leave us all alone?

Mia
Legend
Mia
2 years ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Yes, that’s exactly what I want.

FungoAle
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  Mia

Ol Mr. Stoneman helped cherry pick Perry Minasian. Maybe just maybe, he still has the touch.

rspencer
Trusted Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Mia

Stoneman was a great evaluator of pitching talent, no doubt.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Mia

Eh. It’s like I’ve said, I want a good farm for the reason we’re seeing now, but most of it’s foolishness. MacKinzie Gore was an untouchable future ace in the Padres system two years ago. Now he’s very touchable.

I can count a half dozen TOP OF THE HILL GOLDEN #1 FARM SYSTEMS that produced very little in the last 15 years. Bryce Petty, and Gore for that matter, could blow up or blow up. Shane Beiber was not a hot prospect.

I want the Angels to have more trade bait, but if we always have a middle of the pack farm that provides the team a couple arms and position players every couple years that’s good enough. Keeping track of all the prospects is pretty irrelevant in the long run.

bradllee424
Trusted Member
2 years ago

We aren’t going to be able to make trades like that until our farm system is fixed. The other option is to trade from the MLB team which at this time would be counterproductive.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  bradllee424

Exactly. Though I do think we could swing a trade for a less high profile pitcher for say infield prospects or even Adell. We can also take on a bit of a salary dump if need be. That’s why I wanted Mike Minor in my If I Were Perry. We could put a package together around Adell for Minor and maybe fill some other needs.

Those asshole Dodgers signed Hanser Alberto, who I wanted for our IF mix.

rspencer
Trusted Member
2 years ago

Mike Minor was great in Petticoat Junction. And he sang the Gidget theme song to, IIRC.

matthiasstephan
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Chase Petty is in the same class as Bachman – ranked in the same slot as Bachman with Bleacher Report (between 100 and 150). While Bachman is MLB #14 and Petty is #27, I don’t see that there would be too much of a difference in value. Petty is projected one year behind Bachman.

I think that is a high price for one year of Sonny.

JackFrost
Super Member
2 years ago

Big difference; Petty is only the # 7 ranked prospect in their system. That is not very high. Bachman is surely #1 or #2 for us. You are saying they are the same, and they’re not. At least not in how the pundits are viewing them.

matthiasstephan
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

That only refers back to the paucity of our system. Relative rankings mean little in terms of prospect value.

Sonny would likely still have cost us Bachman – not the #7 prospect in our system.

That is why I think it would have been too high a price for us.

JackFrost
Super Member
2 years ago

Good point about the relative strength of systems.

I guess we will have to wait and see how good Petty is, or if he will be as good or better than Bachman. I put my money on Bachman.

As for the trade I guess we’ll never know what offer was made or even if an offer was made. It just hurts to see these mid-range guys going for what is essentially an affordable price.

2002heaven
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Many CTPG still think a lot about Jo Adell and Patrick Sandoval………..I don’t. Devon White and Ty Buttrey
2.0 as far as I’m concerned. We should’ve signed Nick Castellanos twice over by now, and yet we keep not doing so. That’s OK however, because we still have Justin Upton and his nowadays 3 toed sloth bat speed and deplorable OF defense.
 😠  😖 

Last edited 2 years ago by 2002heaven
FungoAle
Legend
2 years ago

We might all be a bit sad when Bachman ends up in the pen but thinking we could have stretched the trade and been able to pick off the shortstop and bullpen help. Sam coming out of the 2021 draft as a top ten pick, Perry should be able to milk it. But…maybe Perry is on the do not trade list still for snagging Rasiel last year. Perry’s lone great trade. I’m ready to trade Sam Bachman in any deal to net a proven starter.

Cowboy26
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

Hmm. Maybe Doyle Alexander is still available.

matthiasstephan
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

It was for only one year of Sonny Gray. If we trade our #1 in the draft, I am hoping for a longer return in terms of a SP. Maybe that is unrealistic, but that is where I would hesitate. I am not against trades (of Adell, Bachman, etc) per se.

VladimirTrout27
Trusted Member
2 years ago

I can understand the evaluation, but big picture is who will be a good reliable SP for the Angels in 2022. They keep playing next season and trades and signing are being made which the Halos could have been a part of. They’re just bystanders since the CBA was signed. Expanded playoffs = lower spend/expectations for Perry and Arte? That’s how I see it. smh

Eric_in_Portland
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

I prefer Jagger as a poet over so many modern writers who, in my opinion, aren’t poets at all but are typographers. They write prose and then stagger where the words go on the page so it looks like a poem. No rhyme, no meter. They might as well just be chatting.

JackFrost
Super Member
2 years ago

I don’t know. I really like Bukowski. He is really an original. Don’t know if you are referring to people lower down than him, but I like him alot.

As for Jagger, he is obviously a great performer. But other than what he does on stage, I am not all that impressed by him. As a songwriter he is just meh. After 1965 he didn’t do much as far as I am concerned. He doesn’t compare favorably to somebody like a Randy Newman.

Cowboy26
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Not sure how great a poet Randy Newman really is, but his Foreign Policy ideas are quite interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5mAuPg1ZZw

JackFrost
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Didn’t say he was a great poet. He is however a really good song-writer. He is not my personal favorite, but I admire his wit and his style. He is pretty unique in terms of his humor and style..

And that album you show (“Sail Away”) is a damn good record. “Political Science” is a funny song. Make more space around the globe for Americans by nuking Paris and London etc.. But we save Australia… We don’t want to hurt any kangaroos ! And they have surfing too !!

There is also a song that makes fun of Cleveland on this record. It is called “Burn On.” It talks about the Cuyahoga river catching on fire. “Cleveland, City of Lights.” Lol.

Last edited 2 years ago by JackFrost
Jim Atkins
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

That’s the theme to Major League. I kind of prefer thinking of Fresno as City of Light, City of Magic myself.

rspencer
Trusted Member
2 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Randy Newman’s greatest talent is as an orchestrator, IMHO. No one alive can arrange a ragtime orchestra like he can. And that matters to me.

JackFrost
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to  rspencer

Agree. He has surely made ALOT more money in the later half of his career as a film scorer than he did as a touring singer/songwriter in the first half.

And he learned from a master, his father, the great Alfred Newman, who was one of the top scorers in Hollywood for many years.

FungoAle
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Agree Mr Frost. It’s not so much that Gray is the god but the Angels need to be making Bachman and any other of the 2021 20-pitcher draft available to better the chance to win the World Series in 2022. Detmers is the only guy I would not trade, just yet.

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend
Reply to  admkir

We’ll lose with what we’ve got.

admkir
Trusted Member
2 years ago

I may be wrong but could it be possible that they are using him as a place holder for Thaiss, keeping Thaiss in AAA until they feel he is ready? Remember that next year they will also need to re-sign or replace Stassi.

Brent
Super Member
2 years ago

God damnit.

Fansince1971
Legend
2 years ago

Arte is probably pissed at this new CBA so we will all suffer his wrath.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Fansince1971

God I hope you’re right. I’d be really interested to see what would happen if he just got mad, lost his shit, and cut our payroll down to like 100M. Maybe we’d build the farm then. We’d all get to see what an actual cheap owner looks like. I could sell the the salt from the evaporated tears of “demand a champion” Angels fans as a rare artisanal table item to house wives in white luxury SUVs…. I’m in.

Watch. Because baseball laughs at all of us we’d win a WS with a 105M payroll and Jake Arietta for a staff ace.

Last edited 2 years ago by gitchogritchoffmypettis
Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend

Mets got Chris Bassitt

JackFrost
Super Member
2 years ago

Taking him off the A’s helps us I guess.

It would have been nice if we had gotten him though…

WallyChuckChili
Legend
2 years ago

Kurt Suzuki did so well last year that the Angels gave him a $250,000 raise!

Fansince1971
Legend
2 years ago

Suzuki is what….50? Definitely has a flat tire.

Cowboy26
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  Fansince1971

Younger than Grandpa? No way.

bradllee424
Trusted Member
2 years ago

I think if this was March 2002 we would have hated that team as well. Yes there was a few nice pieces but the starting rotation was crap. We just need things to finally break our way this season. You cannot expect to be without Trout and Rendon a whole season and think you should be in the playoffs.

tanana40
Super Member
2 years ago

I think that the Angels are moving Thaiss back to catcher (where he played in college). Plus, we could do the same with Taylor Ward. Two first round draft choices as our two catchers. That’s pretty elite.

Cowboy26
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  tanana40

Yes two first round draft choices who were college catchers but, to date, have been terrible professional catchers.

Thats not elite. Thats trAdition!

tanana40
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Sarcasm!

Eric_in_Portland
Legend
2 years ago

this makes me think we got outbid on Cishek.

FungoAle
Legend
2 years ago

Nice one…. Lol

anewfoundthrice
Trusted Member
Mia
Legend
Mia
2 years ago

Oof

Jessica DeLine
Admin
Super Member
2 years ago

Why must you hurt me like that?

Cowboy26
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  Jessica DeLine

Hey he was ranked 52nd out of 59 qualifying catchers in pitch framing last year . That means he only the 8th worst!

Last edited 2 years ago by Cowboy26
MarineLayer
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

There’s no denying Suzuki sucks but this video points out how desperately baseball needs robo umps.

clover_black
Super Member
2 years ago

trash market & farm = kurt

I’m not really mad @ this. time to sign Correa and call it an off-season.

VictoriousVIC
Trusted Member
2 years ago
Reply to  clover_black

I know the whole joke about Arte only spending on position players compared to pitchers is real, but signing Correa does make a ton of sense for this team. If Arte were to spend on another position player, Correa is the guy I hope he goes for. He’s young, very good and fills a big void the Angels have. So I hope it actually does come to fruition but I have a sense he’ll stay in Houston.

AnAngelsFan
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to  VictoriousVIC

And an unremorseful cheater. No thanks.

VictoriousVIC
Trusted Member
2 years ago
Reply to  AnAngelsFan

Sure he’s a cheater and is unremorseful, but I blame that more on Manfred for not properly sanctioning the players and granting them immunity. To me where I draw the line is players like Marcell Ozuna, Julio Urías, Roberto Osuna, etc performing domestic abuse. That to me is unforgivable. But a player cheated their way to win a World Series along with the rest of the team? It’s not the end of the world imo.

GrandpaBaseball
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  VictoriousVIC

Another one sanctioning the people that are cheaters in MLB. Haven’t the cheaters done more than enough damage to a sport that now even their own players do not trust. No one wants that domestic violence to be condoned but that should play out in civil court, MLB should have put cheating in its place over 25 years ago. Gambling, steroids, and sign stealing have had a long-term smear on the game because Selig and Manfred are spine less pencil neck geeks with only money ruling the day. This time you are wrong imho Vic.

bradllee424
Trusted Member
2 years ago
Reply to  VictoriousVIC

If we did something like that then where would the money come from for Ohtani. That is the main issue with signing players to hundreds of millions of dollars right now.

FungoAle
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  VictoriousVIC

If we could do it for only 5-years, I’m on board.

Eric_in_Portland
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  clover_black

I’ll take another couple/few years of meh results if we build the farm. I mean for real.

Halo71
Trusted Member
2 years ago

I won’t, they’ve been rebuilding for nine years, time to do something

VictoriousVIC
Trusted Member
2 years ago

Bring back the lockout dammit. I was happier back then.

halofansince1978
Super Member
2 years ago

Lameday is up for the March 18th S/T game vs Oakland at Hohokam…GOOD TIMES!!!

ryanfea
Super Member
2 years ago

I missed getting angry about this kind of baseball news.

DMAGZ13
Trusted Member
2 years ago

Well if my thoughts on Perry sucking were overblown, they’re looking pretty justified.# Fire Perry

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend

I generally don’t care. How much did we give him? As long as he’s not much of a dent it’s cool. For example, if he’s cheap and two of our starters love him, fine. As long as he doesn’t cost so much that we can’t sign pitching or he blocks a prospect who suddenly becomes good.

GrandpaBaseball
Legend
2 years ago

Skills declined measurably last season is what jumps out at me, but if a couple of guys want him and one’s name is Shohei then go for it.