So yes, Corey Kluber signed a one year deal with the Red Sox with a club option for 2024. With the other signings John Henry reported yesterday, This is the list of remaining free agent starters. It’s organized by certain relevant statistics. The Royals signed Jordan Lyles, so you can mark him off the list. The Red Sox are willing to listen to offers for Chris Sale.
The Giants just designated Tommy La Stella for assignment. Anyone interested in a fifth or sixth second baseman? The Giants did this to make room for free agent reliever Taylor Rogers.
The attempted murder of David Ortiz was apparently mistaken Identity. Ten of the thirteen defendants were convicted down in the Dominican Republic, including the guy who ordered the hit.
Here are some relatively fascinating closeups of R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
I wonder what a trade with the pads for either Kim or Cronenworth would look like. I’d assume that Kim, in particular, can be had at a relatively acceptable cost….
PS. Both Kim and Grisham are supposedly available (although the latter is predicated on Tatis returning). We could use both a CF and SS.
I’d love to nab Kim.
Likewise, Kim should be an affordable shortstop first option. Ship the Padres Suarez and some stuff.
What does “affordable “ in this case mean? Guzman, Rengifo Adell & Suarez ? Because with a very affordable contract $15M/2 that’s what the evil NLB trade sim says it’s going to take
I think I can accept a trade of Adell, Suarez, and some prospects if we can get Kim as starting SS and Grisham as 4th OF without second thought. Adding Rengifo would make me think a bit more, BUT if we add a SS, we will have depth in middle infield for the short term and Rengifo is most tradeable.
PS. Padres do need more OF, especially if they trade Grisham (who may not be a starter material, after all). They are short a RF even if Tatis goes to CF to replace Grisham.
Although, the wrinkle is that Padres probably don’t need an extra middle IF…..
Cronenworth was part of my IIWPM analysis
And cording to reports He’s off the market
You just got to ask yourself, “What is Rex Hudler doing right now?”
Still Doing Royal baseball TV broadcasts with Phys
We’ll not right now. It’s winter time
One advantage Sale would have as an Angel is he won’t have to pitch to Mike Trout again.
Like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH7-KBqgTpg
I get the assist!
I watched that game and when Trout came up I just knew it was going to go well. The look on Sale’s face was priceless. That was a helluva good pitch, to most MLB players, but not Trout.
I wonder what the price tag would be for greinke as the 6th starter.
I just want to watch the crazy man tell hitters what’s coming and still get them out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy5L4L5Q0nY
Two thoughts from my limp noodle brain….
First, Chris Sale. Now THAT is a gamble, but it might be a gamble that’s a good fit for us. He makes 27.5M a year for the next two years and then a 20M vesting option he will likely not hit in 2025. If he does hit that option we will be more than happy to just pay him 20M.
WHEN he manages to pitch he is still striking out 5 times more guys than he walks with a WHIP under 1.0. That’s pretty sick. We could use that. Look at Kluber compared to him to see what I mean.
Sale may be a perfect candidate for making 15-20 starts a year as part of our rotation mix. If he actually bounces back healthy…. oh man, we’d be in really good shape, even next year.
The problem is money. That’s a pretty rich gamble. But if we could get a way to get the Sox to pay him down to say 14M a year? More realistically maybe 18? Again, it’s a GAMBLE. Yes, CtPG guy, you can not be sure it will work, thus the word gamble. But he fits what we want as far as our needs matching what will likely work for him as he comes back and if he does bounce back we’d really benefit from it in a big way.
Second, not trading Ohtani at last year’s deadline. To trade him when he still had value instead of when he has a 30M salary would have been the smartest move for the team’s well being. Thus I am frustrated.
BUT. What if I think the BEST long term move for the team is to get a new owner as soon as possible? Well, having Ohtani on hand but not signed to an extension most likely helps out with that a lot. So was it secretly the best move for the team regardless of whether we resign him? If you have huge daddy issues with Arte the answer is probably yes.
Sure, but I’m mostly buying for his attitude- he’s got one.
haven’t had that since horseface, then JTY.
Sandy has one.
when JTY retired we were left with Heaney and Skaggs, heavily dependent on them and they didn’t step up.
Detmers and Sandy are better than Heaney and Skaggs, and they are stepping up. Suarez and Canning can too. I’m fine with the staffers but sure add another alpha attitude.
and maybe he cuts up all red uniforms henceforth and we return to navy blue when he pitches.
I would pay him 30M a year for two years if he could deliver us from red on red on red…. oh look, white! Wow.
Ohtani won’t be traded by this regime. Slap a QO on him and if he walks, he walks. Agree, the new owner will likely seek to lock him up prior to the deadline or deal him. I just don’t see the ownership transition in place by that time with Arte and Perry fully divested. Angels will just need to bid on him during FA.
i think he resigns and ain’t worried about like most
mainly because of Mike.
worst case trade in August for two premium assets. Some one will pay that for a pennant.
it gets a lot trickier if we’re in contention for the pennant ourselves and he hasn’t resigned. Or he gets hurt.
best plan is to resign him. Just get it done. He won’t be in the US til March so I don’t think it gets done by then. April? we should know, then can plan for it.
he’ll resign for bazillions because all billionaires like bright shiny toys.
Both got 2/17. Who would you rather have: Segura or Drury?
My initial thought is Segura. He’s been consistently good at second.
However, second baseman age quickly and he offers no versatility. I can see the case for Drury.
I feel the same. I’d take Drury’s upside over Segura’s track record.
Segura has been consistently good for 5+ years. Drury has been consistently inconsistent for the last 5 years. Segura has been a starter longer and has gotten more at bats than Drury – which likely is a factor in Drury’s inconsistency. However, keep in mind that Drury was a non-roster invitee to the Reds last year so he was really down to his final chances at MLB. He didn’t get many opportunities to start becuase he didn’t earn them prior to last year.
Neither solves the problem at SS.
Drury can be inconsistent at more positions while Segura is pretty much locked into playing 2B.
Segura will have a better BA and OBP, while Drury will flash more power. I’d expect their OPS to be within a few points of each either.
Segura will have the better dWAR; Drury the better oWAR.
It’s a coin flip for me. I probably would have saved the money and pooled it into another SP or used it to absorb more payroll and acquire a SS via trade.
I pretty much gave up on a long term shortstop long ago.
Segura would’ve actually cemented one infield spot allowing Nevin to mix and match at the other positions.
So while SS isn’t solved, we could play the hottest have of Fletcher or Rengifo there.
I’ve heard we have nothing to fear, we have Squid. 😂
But the Angels view the Muffin man as our primary keystone player now so its the same effect as Segura.
I’m still holding out hope we could pick up a LH hitting defense first Shortstop. it would make Rengifo available as trade bait for some pitching and we could still platoon Squid against left handers where he was pretty effective his last month before the season ending injury. We’d still have infield depth with both Fletch and Gio on the bench.
It looks like the Angels are not viewing anything as “primary” on any given day.
They are going to be very flexible though, and actually able to do a lot of things really well. They may very well have a 25 man with Urshela, Fletch, Rengifo, Drury and Squid on the team. Maybe Soto too at times. Thus…
Is defense the order of the day? Or even the order for the next 4 innings?
Rendon at 3B, Squid at SS, Fletcher at 2B and Walsh at 1B… there are few infields that will be better defensively. If you need a pinch hitter because the game is close late you can do a lot worse than Urshela, Rengifo and Drury.
Want offense?
Go Rendon, Rengifo, Drury, Walsh. Lefty pitcher? Replace Walsh with Urshela. Same with 3B if Rendon’s hurt. Need defense late? Replace Rengifo with Squid want more? Replace Drury with Fletch.
They can train Ward in CF. He won’t be great, but he can likely handle a few games. They can train up Walsh to play LF/RF. Squid, believe it or not, has played CF. Drury can play OF, so can Fletch and Rengifo. Adell can also play CF. So can Moniak.
We have about seven guys who can be an effective DH when Ohtani needs a rest or gets hurt.
I think ST is gonna be a busy time for some established players, but I think that depth will make it so we don’t have a lot of “primary” guys outside of Rendon/Trout/Ohtani. Even Renfroe can go LF/RF.
Thanks for this summary. This is how I see personnel management too. I am not sure if this is a winning strategy, but hindsight says it’s better than what we’ve been doing.
Sounds like the Doyers….If Max Muncy can play 1st, 2nd, 3rd and some outfield, talk about moving Mookie to 2nd if needed, Taylor plays everywhere……that seems to work for them, even if a ”front office computer” generates the nightly lineup card.
Versatility and Availability would be nice.
Aversability bruh.
That and Grit……it’s all you need.
Darin Erstad and Chuck Conners kind of Grit is best. It’s the Grittiest.
Continues to smell like 78-82 wins to me.
Plus Segura was an Angel farmhand.
Should that have given him an edge?
Or has free agency put an end to that?
But Drury grew up in Oregon as an Angel fan. That in itself is very unique.
the fans should always come first.
That matters about as much as astrological sign. Which is probably why I get the same feelz when people talk about past connections to a team that are more than a couple years old and which house Uranus was in when you popped out.
I got to say GGOMP you are an expert at ignoring the most important part of a post.
Then blowing giant clouds of smoke out uranus just like a millennnial on the internet.
Well, I guess you’d be the guy to ask if I want to know what’s coming out a guys ass then.
What was the most important part of that post? Was it the stupid question based on nothing factual or the stupid question based on nothing factual?
Since it appears that you might care this time…you figure it out.
Oh. I don’t care.
Do you think that, if Nevin and Ohtani have compatible star signs, Ohtani might sign here for less?
Since you have now ask the dumbest question…I win!!
There’s a winner in all this?
Free rent in your head Bro!!!
So does that mean you’re roommates with his limp noodle brain?
EWWWW…I’m not touching that one!!
Thats only if you take him seriously
DO NOT take him cereal.
Oh no, not the Angel’s farm-They only developed Brandon Woods.
Are you really asking if free agency has caused loyalty to go out the window?
Plus Drury’s 3 years younger so if they age quickly Id rather have the muffin man.
On a 2-yr deal for this team, Segura would be my acquisition between the two (assuming I had to take one). Better batting skills like Ave and OBA. Angels need these types a bit more than a high homer rate and low batting average. Their OPS are about a wash but historically, Segura. In addition, Segura has better speed on the base paths which this team severely lacks. Jean can play SS if needed. I’m aware he was weened off of SS back in 2019 but much more of a shortstop than Urshela and Drury. To me, Drury is somewhat duplicated due to with Urshela being on board as both play 3rd, 2nd and a RH compliment to Walsh.
I think versatility is gonna be a big deal. Jean doesn’t have it. I think they may have a 25 man that includes Drury, Fletcher, Rengifo, Urshela and Squid. AND maybe Soto sometimes.
That actually points to someone playing OF sometimes. Fletcher, Rengifo and Drury are all probably capable of handling a little of that, as is Walsh. Depth isn’t depth if a guy can only play one position, but usually you have to sacrifice sure fire ability at every position a guy plays if you want depth and flexibility. So we’re rolling that dice.
I think the hope is we will, even in case of injury, be like the Rays. Fairly solid pitching with one ace. Fairly solid pen. And no huge black holes. But if you look at some of the line ups the Rays put out there last year they were not strong, more survivable than reliable.
Aside from playing the OF, what advantage do you see in Drury? It’s not age cuz we are only talking 2-years. I actually like Drury and would be ok if he played 2B full time. But I think Segura is a better hitter and can do more damage on the base paths.
In rare instances, infielders will be needed in the OF. Perry has stuck it to the fans with Rojas and Wong (+ others) tripping over their shoelaces in the outfield. In general, lessens the teams overall defensive run prevention. Guys like Walsh and Drury (even Ward to be honest) are par to subpar playing the corners. It’s cool for flexibly but it’s it’s a mitigation step to a broken plan. That plan being MLB ready OF reserves.
I think Urshela is the “offense 2B”. Drury is here cause he can play multiple positions and will probably have an OPS+ near league average while Segura will be just a few points higher than league ave and stuck at 2B. That’s just my baseless theory.
It’s real close as Jeff was indicating and if Brandon can crush like last year, clear win.
I’m almost 100% sure he doesn’t crush like last year, but if the stuff someone here posted about his swing improvement last year holds true I think we’ll get better than his career average… probably near Seguras 104? Padres Drury will be fine with me.
Ursela’s assessment of the competition for the keystone:
But can she pitch?
Wacha is a no brainer!!
What are we waiting for?
Come on Perry get it done.
Is C Kuhl related to D Kuhl?
It would be pure irony if we get Wacha. That’s (I believe) who St. Louis got with the compensation pick for the Pujols signing.
Ironic indeed.