LA Angels Monday News Crash:

Locke St, John got a minor league deal with the Twins. Ian Hamilton got his with the Yankees. The double Nicks, Nick Plummer and Nick Martini got minor league deals with the Reds.

News Flash: Dodgers decision makers were unanimous in releasing Trevor Bauer. Don’t worry Trevor. You can be a disgrace and still get a job in baseball.

Photo credit: Rex Fregosi

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Brent
Super Member
1 year ago

Do the Angels get any comp pick if Ohtani moves on after this season?

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Brent

Yep just as long as we extend him a Qualifying offer.

Jeff Joiner
Editor
Legend
1 year ago

Interesting tidbit from Perry’s news conference:

He said the Angels will go to arbitration hearings with Rengifo, Urshela, and Renfroe unless they reach multi year deals with them. Seems like he’s trying to keep the last two around past this year.

That would obviously impact the luxury tax calculations and might explain the complete lack of moves lately.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

Take a look at the OF options for FA coming up. If he can extend Renfroe I’d totally do it unless it costs madness.

Jeff Joiner
Editor
Legend
1 year ago

Same. Worst case scenario is one of Adell or Moniak lives up to their promise and Ward becomes a depth piece or trade chip.

I’d also be good with extending Urshela.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

Drury/Urshela/Feltcher/Rengifo/Future SS Prospect/Ward/Young nameless bullpen and rotation….

If we get a little positive JuJu instead of the stale piss we usually generate I don’t think people realize how close we are to actually being the Rays/Guardindians/Brewers + some crushers like Renfroe, Trout, Rendon and either Ohtani or DH guy.

If some guys actually progress normally we aren’t really years and years away. If we actually get some guys in who develop pitching well the last two drafts are gonna feel golden over the next few years.

But, of course, there are dozens of ways this can not happen. we should probably focus as hard as we can on those.

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago

How much would Madness cost? Is $55 million over 4 years too much for a 31 year old outfielder who’s generated 5 total WAR over the last 2 years?

red floyd
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

According to Ticketmaster, tickets for their show in Rugley, UK are about 66 pounds.

steelgolf
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  red floyd

😆

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  red floyd

Nice to know they’re still one step beyond.

FungoAle
Super Member
1 year ago

I’d limit the years but good thru 2025. He’s got more regression in his game than the other two.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend

I was looking at the MLB Free Agent class for 2023-24. I was just ifing. What if my personal worst option happens? We hold on to Shohei till the off season. We go full “nothing is not an option we will be competitive in his market Arte is willing to spend the right amount we are gosh darn gonna try to keep Shohei” but, shock of shocks, simply offering to pay the guy more than anyone isn’t magic and he signs elsewhere.

So…. you have a bunch of young pitching and a pile of short term contracts, plus the ol’RenTrout contracts to fret over. Now, if we are extremely lucky, the pitching end of the Ohtani loss could be fairly mitigated. If Patrick Sandoval becomes even better, Tyler Anderson remains effective, and it turns out Detmers is good too. Add in a few Silseth/Bush/Bachman/Marceux type youngins starting to prove out… ok, nice. We also don’t need a six man rotation anymore. But we can’t count on that.

So. Outside factors aside, such as good/bad young pitching or the fact that Renfroe, Tepera, Loup will leave, etc what would you do with the 50M you would have spent on Ohtani each year? There will be other roster moves made, so we don’t have to fill every hole with Ohtani cash, but what would you buy with this chunk of the budget?

Sure, you can bloop de bloop about Bavasi and Nolan Ryan all you want, but the truth is that multiple solid players will out value a single superstar most of the time. You have been watching that every year for the last decade. So what are some of the better options for 50M?

(Actually, that would be a great article for a crazy math nerd with computer skills. Year by year on that Ryan contract, how many combos of lesser pitchers equaled his WAR in those years for less money? Sure, the pitchers we got weren’t great, but was Bavasi’s statement such a war crime?)

Plan A:
1) Aaron Nola (SP)
2) Harrison Bader (CF)
3) Garret Cooper (1B/OF)

In this instance I am hoping Nola/Sandoval/Anderson/Detmers make for a pretty fierce top 4. We don’t need a six man rotation anymore. Neto/Soto/Squid man SS. Cooper can fill in in the OF and platoon with Walsh. Bader is a solid CF who can run and hit a little and Trout can move to LF.

Plan B:
1) Amed Rosario
2) Harrison Bader
3) Joey Wendle
4) Hector Neris/Trevor May/Phil Maton, etc

This is the “get all you can around Trout” version. We trust the young rotation + prospects. Maybe sign a back end guy. We trust the young pen guys too. We add that Neris type “high leverage” but not a closer type. Then we build a roster that includes Drury, Wendle, Ward, Walsh, Rengifo, Fletcher, Rosario, Bader around Trout/Rendon.

Plan C:
Adalberto Mondesi
Hunter Renfroe
Tyler Mahle
CJ Cron

Mondesi can play short and run. Cron and Renfroe add to Trout, Ward, Walsh, Rendon and attempt to bludgeon teams to death. Neto et all aren’t blocked at short. Mahle/Sandoval/Anderson/Detmers are not flashy but give us a rotation with 4 guys who can have sub-1.3 WHIPs.

There are all kinds of options out there, and like I said, there will also be other resources as Urshela, Tempura, Loup etc come off the books. What do you think? What other options do you like?

As you can see I just ballparked this… for example, we have no idea what these guys will do this year, and I ballparked Nola at around 5 years at 27M a year in my head… slightly more than Wheeler is getting. Try to make realistic guesses. Don’t sign Amed Rosario for a bounce back 5M deal. But even THE WORST CASE in my mind can be worked with if need be.

Trout_is_my_Bestie
Member
1 year ago

Ohtani leaving in free agency would ideally mean that:

  1. we had a competitive year and didn’t want to trade him.
  2. we are comfortable with the state of the team if he were to walk away.

And let’s not forget that the greatest benefit if he were to leave is we get a compensation pick! That in itself is enough for me to lowball him.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend

True dat. I mean, given how hard we all weep over losing a 2nd round pick for a middling starter in Syndergaard I’m pretty sure that a compensation round pick will net us an all-star almost right away.

Trout_is_my_Bestie
Member
1 year ago

And that all-star will be paid league minimum. So in conclusion we’d immediately replace Ohtani with a league minimum all-star through the comp pick and we’ll have 50 million to play with!

GMing is so easy!

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend

You totally got this. Perry is so stupid.

Jeff Joiner
Editor
Legend
1 year ago

If there is a good year to lose Shohei it is next year. The starting pitching market is deep and the Pandas bullpen should be here.

We could take Urias or Nola to be young aces. German Marquez is also only 29.Or perhaps round out the rotation with Darvish or another solid vet on a short term deal.

$50 million AAV would almost certainly net us Urias and Bader. Or Urias and Rosario. Or Nola and Rosario.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

Yah. 50M can net a team some pretty nice consolation prizes. a far more complex scheme is it can extend a bunch of players too. Say Sandy, Ward, Walsh etc…

Jeff Joiner
Editor
Legend
1 year ago

Just off the top of my head:
Ohtani $30 million
Urshela – approx $9 million
Renfroe – approx $11 million
Tepera – $7 million
Loup – $7.5 million

That’s $65 million falling off the books. There are in house replacements for Tepera and Loup in the farm.

The other three are definitely valuable and I’d like to hold onto them. But with $50 million to spend, I could do snag Urias, Bader, and Wendle and do just that.

FungoAle
Super Member
1 year ago

Nice post. Garret Cooper has always peaked my interest. Like Bader too but he seems destined to stay in the Bronx? Pitching options look better next year and probably can solve the SS issue once and for all.

Twebur
Legend
1 year ago

Oakland is saved again!! And again…and again…again.
With that said, the A’ss likely will get a new stadium before the Angels. “Same as it ever was”. “Shakedown Dreams walking in broad daylight, 365 degrees, Burning down the house” “We’re on a road to nowhere
Come on inside”

Over / under date to check back in for ground breaking ceremony’s, 1-1-2029.

https://sports.yahoo.com/oakland-strikes-historic-deal-revitalize-221604350.html

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Twebur

The A’ss will get a new stadium. But it will be in a brand new City. This latest deal demonstrates that the City believes the A’s are gone. Thy’ll probably following their football brethren to Vegas. But Good luck with the City fulfilling their pie in the sky dreams of bringing back an NFL franchise. they’d be better off just turning the entire place into affordable low income housing and then watch it burn every other night.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Twebur

Oh jeez. That looks like a classic New Orleans/Baltimore “We’re black, so we are technically helping some black people as we take 90% of this money” bullshit urban renvisionaltizationzamm scheme. “We’re gonna build a huge complex in a harsh development environment AND fight isms!” Sure guys, sounds really reel to me.

I’m 50% sure this is just a hundred million dollar merkin that both tells the A’ss “take the deal we offer (which they won’t) or leave cause racism” and allows the city to tell people “we have given that area to thar peepal. Feelz the power!” as the A’ss bail for Vegas.

Then they will use it as a Sunday flea market site and build a two story payday loan center on it.

The A’s want to develop that site. Why would they stay otherwise? And now they can’t even complain about not being able to get that land. This looks a lot more like a “fk you” to them than the city wanting them to stay.

Man, I really like Oakland, as well as those other two cities, but they are just a diaper fire when it comes to how they are run, and they have so much going for them compared to places like Birmingham or Youngstown. Just a shame.

Jeff Joiner
Editor
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Twebur

So Oakland is going to do what the A’s owners proposed years ago and were willing to pay for out of their own pockets.

Only the new group isn’t going to pay off the existing stadium bonds or give the City any cash.

And the A’s aren’t under any requirement to stay.

And they think they’ll lure back another NFL team even though the last one left them with nothing but tens of millions in refi debt.

This couldn’t possibly be more Oakland.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

You seem to be underestimating the financial powerhouse that comes from making equality your USP. When you say you will use sports and entertainment to create a path for enhanced economic equity for the black community does it even matter if there’s actually any equality? Or even any sports?

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

This is the final deathblow on the future of any professional sports franchises calling Oakland home. The A’ss can be the last to turn out the lights on the way out the door.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Cowboy26

It’s just sad. The East Bay isn’t a small market. Nor is it poor, not really, just parts of Oakland. Any other place this just wouldn’t be nearly the snarled up mess that it is. Oakland has such a great sports history. It’s a shame that they are just pissing it away.

RexFregosi
Super Member
1 year ago

within the next seven days, Shohei will sign a big long contract with the Angels.

halofansince1978
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  RexFregosi

That will be because Arte did not sell the team.

As I predicted…a back room deal was in place.

WallyChuckChili
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  RexFregosi

With a 10 year service contact after his retirement.

Mikeal1st
Trusted Member
1 year ago

 😂 

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend
Reply to  RexFregosi

…and when that happens it will prove the Angels can have a top 3 MLB payroll and STILL not win a Championship.

The point being is that Arte is in a no-win situation. The franschise has not won with Trout and Ohtani on the roster, and that likely will not change until the supporting cast around them is much, much better.

Last edited 1 year ago by Senator_John_Blutarsky
Angelz4ever
Super Member
1 year ago

Why you harshing his mellow man?

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend
Reply to  Angelz4ever

comment image

Fansince1971
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  RexFregosi

It’s Monday morning. Why you hitting the crack pipe already?

comment image

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  RexFregosi

Why?

halofansince1978
Super Member
1 year ago

One comment consisting of one word…you feeling okay?

Twebur
Legend
1 year ago

……and with a face straighter than Modena’s.

comment image

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Twebur

Please take that back. I have a weak enough stomach as it is.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Twebur

I’ve seen that guy before…

Angelz4ever
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Twebur

Isn’t that Guipetto’s son?

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Twebur

Just imagine how many guys wanted to be intimate with this humanoid shape back when I was a wee lad.

2GA2Join
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  RexFregosi

With the contingency that Arte must move the team to Japan.

HalosFanForLife
Trusted Member
1 year ago

I heard Beltran is going to be in charge of waste management in the Mets dugout.

HalosFanForLife
Trusted Member
1 year ago

When there’s no breaking news, we’ve always got Trevor Bauer to fall back on.

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend