Good Morning Angels fans. It is the last News Crash of the year, have some links as we enter 2024.
Angels News
Angels fired 2 guys from their player development staff. They got hired by Detroit.
It was a… not good year to be an Angels fan for the most part, and it got worse the later it got. But, hey, we are together here, on this site. So we have that. Thank you for sticking with us yet again for another year. We have shirts you can wear, if you want to do that instead of giving Arte your money, but honestly, just being here is very appreciated.
Around Baseball
Wander Franco news gets worse by the day. He fired his lawyers, so the can’t even comply with the request to present him to the authorities and he is a fugitive. What a mess.
Tim Hill the RP will be a White Sox RP as he has a 1/1.8M deal. One Chicago team is doing something…
Reds are also doing something. Keeping RP Buck Farmer on a 1 year deal.
Anyone who has wondered why the hot stove has cooled has one person to blame: Scott Boras. Both of the remaining top arms are his clients.
HOF voting update! With only 17% reported, Beltran and Sheffield are the biggest gainers, while Pettitte is the biggest loser compared to last year.
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes!
Signing Sleestak is a “who cares” move. I’ll wait until Perry does something/anything of consequence before deciding whether or not to wizz in his pool.
If Sleestak puts up an ERA lower than what he did in 2023, Perry is arguably the best GM currently under contract with the Angels.
Perry is also the only GM currently under contract with the Angels.
Source?
🤣
This is signing is one that has negligible financial risk so I don’t feel the need to wage Jihad over it. If this guys turns into something of use, great. If not, whatever.
every name that is tossed around, we always ask “But can he pitch?”
well, young Plesac can pitch! so yes.
if some one doesn’t think he improves our MLB roster, my first guess is they haven’t looked close enough at our MLB roster.
A depressing thought for sure!
For those that are depressing? Sure.
to quote Melattica: Sad but True
Did you see them in LA this last August? Great show.
It’s easy to mock Perry so here’s my bit
Signing a guy who put up a 2.57 ERA didn’t work so let’s try it from the other side and sign a 7.59 pitcher
You advocating for dishing out $175M for Snell?
$25,000 a year for 8 years, then a payment of $174.8mil in 2085
Still wouldn’t do it
Why mock individual GMs when these kind of deals have been our thing for a decade+.
This is just who the Angels are. Had we not had Trout for the last 12 years, and Ohtani for the last 6 we would be viewed much differently.
Zach Plesac 😂😂😂😂
On a major league deal 😂😂😂😂
Fresh off a year with a 7.59 ERA and a WHIP of nearly 2.000
Who gets taken off the MLB roster for this stiff?
Here’s what Rotoworld said about this:
We’re not sure why Plesac is getting a major league deal at this point, but the Angels seem to think he can be of use. Not only did the 28-year-old Plesac have a 7.59 ERA in five starts for the Guardians last season, but he ended up with a 6.08 ERA for Triple-A Columbus, giving up a whopping 30 homers in 94 2/3 innings. A rebound just doesn’t seem very likely.
So to summarize, awful pitcher. Check. Cancer in the clubhouse. Check.
Great work Minasian.
Cancer in the clubhouse, how? I’m sure you’re not referring to skipping a COVID curfew. I think.
He’s got 2 minor league options left Einstein so the answer is no one. Depending upon how much his salary is. (He made $3.5 million last year and would have been Arb 1 eligible this year) this is a great depth move. He had only 5 major league starts last year . 2 were good 3 were awful
100% disagree that this is ‘great’ from a depth standpoint. It seems like dumpster diving to me. Plesac has been mediocre at best (terrible over the last two seasons) and the Angel coaches have shown no ability to fix pitching. So it’s really a stretch to call it ‘great’. You may see a different narrative but that really requires quite a bit of stretching to get there.
You think it’s “great” because he has options left? Or because you think he has potential as a starting pitcher? I’m not sure what you think makes this a “great” depth signing? I can buy it as a depth signing – not a “great” one though.
All of the above. While the market has essentially become frozen by the remaining top tier free agents, Perry hasn’t sat around but instead has tried to build the roster from the bottom up. Granted if this was all the moves that he is going to make the off season would be a disaster but I dont believe the Angels are done. Depending upon Plesac’s salary the Angels still have at least $65 million to spend and still stay below the cap ( according to Fan Graphs)
But instead of doing nothing Perry has signed or traded for 7 position players ( Mejia, Wallach, Rivas, White, LeBlanc, Calhoun & Marisnick) and 7 pitchers ( Rangel, MacGregor, Thomas, Cimber, Garcia, Kolarek & Plesac) in the last month plus. Of those 14 ( There was also a AAA Rule 5 pickup but Im not counting that) only 5 required spots on the 40 man roster . Considering the record number of players that this organization has had to use the last 2 years , These are savy moves if the Angels still add more established Pitchers in the rotation and bullpen as well as a handful of Position players at Outfield , infield and possibly DH to at least back up our young core.
At the very least, Look at the bright side, we should be the early favorites to win the PCL championship . 😀
Im a Perry Minasian fan particularly since he has a very difficult job and a miserable boss. So, overall, I agree he’s doing the best he can under the circumstances. That said, all of those folks together don’t really move the needle.
The quantity of players is impressive but the quality in sum might add to 1 WAR. Adding 25 scrubs is not as good as adding one stud. All of these players together don’t make the Major League team better than it was last year – ie a 73 win team.
So – yes – these AAAA signings likely are better for the AAA squad than moving the needle in Anaheim.
Again depth is so important for this team especially considering the status of their minor league system. But I dont believe These are binary decisions in lieu of adding more quality players but more complementary to building a more complete 40 man roster.
But we will see….
I’m fine with the moves for adding bodies to fill out the AAA roster, but I wouldn’t actually classify them as depth as I don’t believe they actually improve the organization at either the minor league or major league levels. The fact that they don’t even have enough players in their organization to populate their AAA team is a condemnation in and of itself. Congratulating Perry because these are the guys we’ll get to watch when players on the current roster get injured is really reaching to find something positive. What is commendable though is that Perry has successfully acquired all these bodies without really spending any money and they still have most of their budget left. I see this as necessary administrative work that has little or nothing to do with improving the organization.
Reaching? Thats complete bullshit. Go look at the vaunted Doyers 40 man rosters that last few years. it’s full of similar players . Every team does this.
We all know the status of the Angels farm system. Ignoring the international market after multiple years of shitty drafts along with a subpar player development gets you this . Having only 19 draft picks each year certainly hasn’t helped but under your scenario we just give up now and not do shit.Or do you want to keep calling up clearly inexperienced players like meteors form AA when they are clearly not ready because we have no other cptions?
Geez, Why even watch the games anymore?
I don’t believe I ever said anything about giving up and I did say we still have most of our budget left to improve the team. I also said I didn’t have a problem with the moves. I did say although they might be necessary, they don’t really improve the team, and if these players are the ones we will see on the field during the last 2-3 months of the season then your last sentence is absolutely applicable.
I think the difference is that the Angels have so many more holes to fill than the Doyers that moves like this are more questionable. Is Plesac ‘depth’ in the event of injury or is he being signed as a low cost starter in the rotation? For the Doyers he would be depth for sure (if they would even bother to sign him). For the Angels, Plesac might be viewed as making the starting rotation. That is how I viewed the signing and that’s why it seems humorous to me. In other words, is this the ‘splash’ off season starting rotation FA signing?
I need more context – is this truly a depth move or is this, once again , the Angels attempting to ‘compete’ with mediocre pitching signings due to the high cost of signing quality starting pitchers?
I guess we will see.
Need more context? Huh?
What is this a beauty pageant where you want to first review the team’s position on World peace?
The Angels utilized 16 different pitchers to make all of their 2022 season starts and another 14 to complete the 2023 season. Even your beloved Doyers used 14 starters last year. Obviously you need a shitpile of starting pitchers just to get through a season.
This site is unbelievable.
I don’t think you understood what I wrote. If Plesac is a depth piece as you evaluate it – then okay – got it. But if he is being signed as an addition to the starting rotation as a key pitching addition- then that is something else entirely. The context I am referring to is what the team does with the rest of thiss winter leading into 2024. If Plesac is the last addition to the starting rotation that is made – then that’s no so good. However if a guy like Montgomery is added, then I agree that Plesac is understandable as a depth piece.
You presume Plesac is a depth piece. Maybe he is. Maybe he isn’t. That’s the context I’m referring to.
I haven’t heard anyone that puts Plesac ahead of our current starting 5 (Sandoval, Detmers, Anderson, Canning, Silseth).
So, I can’t see any argument that this signing is not a depth move (in some fashion).
But, after that we have Suarez, Bachman, Daniel, Rosenberg, Mederos, Erla. We could use the depth for sure.
Still hoping that we sign 1 (or 2) more SP and push everyone back a bit.
Does anyone really believe the intent of any of these moves is to win 80 or more games? The operations executive brain trust leading the Angels is simply trying to add enough AAAA players to have replacements available when the need arises. That’s all this is…..
I’m confused. I thought you were going to wit before you pissed in the pool. I guess you really had to go.
At my age the bladder is the size of a thimble…..
Make no mistake, this is dumpster diving – and it’s a strategic decision. It’s what we do every off season.
Can’t wait to get my Plesac jersey.
Think of it as Barria’s roster spot swapped for Plesac. We’ve seen enough of Barria to know his worth and maybe Plesac can settle in and get back to basics. I’d rather see the team take a stab on pre-30 year old arm than post-30 coming off of ERA less than 3.00. ( see Tyler Anderson, Snell). If Plesac were to reclaim his early success, you have a trade chip. This acquisition wont put the Angels in the postseason and neither will Snell.
I am on board with Zach and also have a similar desire for an arm like FA Eric Lauer.
I dont believe this is an either/or acquisition
I’m sure it isn’t just trying to figure out who is being replaced. Ingram would be my choice and I certainly would do it if it meant Barria, if he was still here.
At this point I would say don’t bother with any free agents and just play all the kids—the market is too damn high, to paraphrase what they say in NYC.
Things that would get me more excited for this upcoming season (excluding new ownership):
Updated spring training facility
Better minor league facilities/resources
Upgraded training room/staff
Some sort of kid friendly activity in RF
Things that have worn out getting me to the park:
Overspending on FAs who do not want to be here.
Whatever uniform/giveaway game it is
Hopium
You want a real baseball Organization and infrastructure to justify your shelling out hard earned $$$$. Good for you. I agree.
agreed. arte needs to save his billboard billions and not waste it on overpriced ball players. maybe he can open a Don Cuco’s off orangewood I think that would be a better investment
The “kids” that remotely major league ready are already playing and/or penciled in for prominent roles.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2023/12/31/omar-vizquel-unwelcomed-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-hall-of-fame/72057157007/
Not sure what Omar wanted out of this interview but saying it was just clubhouse antics is absurd as far as attrition goes. Maybe, if you want to stay/‘give back’ to the game then address the who (star athletes), what (treating others like shit), when (basically whenever but especially at the workplace), how (golden rule?) you’d want to change some of those existing things 🤷🏼♂️ chatGPT wouldn’t given this guy better advice than his lawyers!
Maybe he just likes hot dogs in the clubhouse ?
I saw the Plesac thing on MLBTR and thought wow, this is going to cause an uproar…
How about Zach Plesac?
Prefer Plesac over Snell, everyday of the week. Still youthful, 2 MILB options remain. Just does not miss enough bats for me though.
Wonder if its a minor league deal with a spring training invite?
That would make sense but given the price tags with pitching, maybe bigger?
Let’s hope not. I dont want to jettison anyone off of the 40 man right now until we sign a real free agent. Maybe there’s an opt out by opening day if he doesn’t get added. Ultimately we will have a couple spots open since injured players cant go one to the 60 day IL until right before the season starts . With Austin Warren and Quesadilla we’ll probably have 2 spots we can fill right before the season starts.
Update: Its a major league deal so someone will be leaving the island: candidates are:
Herget
Cabbage
Stefanic
Livan Soto
Rosenberg
Kolton Ingram
Anyone I’m missing?
Plesac sucks but he’s better than Rosenberg and Ingram.
Shocked he got a major league deal and appalled we are the team giving it to him 😭
No way, in my opinion, Herget is coming off without being traded.
Other than Stefanic, and to a lesser extent Cabbage, I’m happy for any of the rest to go away. However, I still don’t want Plesac.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
“Aggressive” move,
Aggressive!
Gitcho got his pitcher he wanted, although 4 years late.
We continue to be…(Draws deep breath)….soooooo linked to Teoscar….
With all the Activity today, one would think an aggressive team would partake.
Montas $16 mil to Cincy, further driving up the remaining pitchers’ salaries
Wow. He’s been pretty awful. Last year particularly. That seems about double what I would have expected.
There goes your IIWPM.
Funny stuff.
I definitely did not have Montas but I do have Montgomery. I imagine his price has gone up considerably
⚾ 💥 🆙 $ KA-JING $ KA-JING $ 💰 💫 ⚾ the cost is going up to attend a game…..
I like the move by the Reds. Montas was not healthy since he joined the Yanks and will get out of the band box. On a true 1-yr deal, which always seem to carry a premium, worth a risk. Reds still have some trade chips to make a claim in the NL Central and always nice when mid-market team steps up. Montas and Nick Martinez should improve the 2024 outlook.
Have you been to Great American Ball Park? That place is a launching Pad.
Been there, great park. Saw 3 home runs by the Pirates before the thunderstorm.. Sonny Gray made the transition. NY madness has an effect on certain guys. While not a Montas fan, a 1-yr is worth a risk.
Years ago (2007) I saw the Angels play there. Batting Practice was amazing with Junior, Adam Dunn , Hambone & Vladdy .
Hambone put one on the roof of the river boat restaurant. I’m sure it can get pretty humid next to the river but man does the ball fly. Caught Howie’s BP HR 2/3’s up the Left field seat with a catchers mitt while taking a business call.Got him to sign it years later. None of the kids wanted the catchers mitt( I had my sons and nephews with me) until they saw me make the catch
Oh man, yeah…BP must have been awesome. It really is an offensive park. I was there in 2003. Reggie Sanders went deep along with Aramis Ramirez. Can’t remember the other one. Junior was on the DL but Larkin the Donkey and Sean Casey were in the game.
The day before I was at Wrigley, Yanks were in town and paid $300 to watch Clemens go for his 300 win, sat 8 rows up from the visitor on deck circle. Clemens did not get the win. Just wanted to see some history and see a game at Wrigley. .
If Montas is getting $16 mill and Giolito $19 mill, anyone good is $30 mill and for more years than you want them. Things get stupid fast don’t they? Stroman is likely $25-27 million a year. No wonder the signings haven’t happened yet. Snell is likely asking for $37 million a year for six years. 🤷♂️
THE STOVE IS F’ING BURNING
“BREAKING: The Atlanta Braves are acquiring seven-time All-Star Chris Sale in a trade with the Boston Red Sox, sources tell ESPN. Well-regarded infield prospect Vaughn Grissom is the return to Boston, which will send money with Sale, who waived his no-trade clause to join Atlanta”
https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1741174548991553824?t=fGSx8Yv_CHbdRzipo5ux-A&s=19
Interesting trade. Grissom was the heir apparent to Dansby prior to the Arcia trade. hes shown in the Ron Washington fielding instructional videos . Hes still just 22 and tore up AAA last year after a MLB debut SSS in 2022 and a disappointing cup of coffee last season. PTP would definitely know him from his Atlanta days. I’m surprised we didnt try to acquire him.
I think The Chowds were looking for a salary dump but ate $17 million of Sales 2024 salary to get a pretty good prospect. The much maligned trade simulator validated the trade since Sales value was negative before the acquisition. The Braves are continuing their off season trend of taking on teams bad contracts. I believe this puts them in the third tier of the CBT. While the Carmines must be getting ready to sign another pricey free agent or possibly 2. since they re now about $45 million below the CBT.
R/S clearly did well as Sale is toast and not what he once was, and the R/S paid 17 million to get a prospect with an upside.
Dont discount AA’s ability to get the maximum out of the acquired players. In fact he could very well flip Sales like he did Stassi and Marco Gonzales earlier this off season. (Please Perry dont take his phone calls) We put AA on the map so many years ago when we gave him Naps and Juan Gone to the Blue Jays and took on the worst Smelling MLB contract at that time.
I don’t know if the trade market is heating up or the signings of free agents is smoking hot, but the availability of ML pitchers is very evident is it not. Today’s real world is weird as teams literally are doing wrecking ball stuff to themselves such as the Angels trading promising kids to obtain rentals that crash and burn and then make 19 mil for 2 yrs. Or paying 17 million dollars of a contract in a trade. Talk of expansion is crazy too. I can see AA trading Sale in today’s marketplace with every team going nuts to find pitching. I wish Rendone pitched, lol.
Chris Sale to Atlanta. Good acquisition for them given their history of being able to “coach up” players
Beat Pina by seconds but he’s got the link 😉
Red Sox finally got rid of Sale and his inability to take the mound.. Ol’ DD signing him to an extension when he barely contributed to the 2018 WS championship was an organizational failure.
Doubt the Braves get more than 12 innings out of Sale this season.
Yes, but bottomline they won the 2018 WS DIDN’T THEY……..
Keeps on winning just ask CB26 😜
Why I am ok with a quiet winter FA signing period using primary and recency bias…
Mo Vaughn, CJ Wilson, Gary Mathews,
Zack Cozart, Justin Upton, Pujols, Rendone, Hamilton, basically any pitcher from Matt Harvey to Cahill in the last 15 years.
Reggie Jackson really kicks off being a FA, correct? He had better days elsewhere (a familiar tune for Angels FA signings) but for all intents and purposes big money FA signings for the Angels didn’t become a thing until the later 90s? Feel free to correct. Bert Blyleven, Don Sutton, Chili Davis, Bo Jackson, Lee Smith, Cecil Fielder get honorable mentions for being bigger names that did ok wearing the Angels uniform but mainly got people in the seats. It’s like this team was made for an owner like ours.
Glass 1/2 full time… Scott Spiezo might have been our best for value FA signing ever? Vladimir Guerrero as best ever FA signing?
Maybe tomorrow I look at our best/worst offseason trades with the benefit of hindsight.
I’d put Torii up there with best ever. Not just for his play but for his leadership.
Torii probably gave Arte and the gang the wrong idea that oldish FA can stay competitive into late 30’s….
Signed before the 1977 season: Joe Rudi, Bobby Grich, Don Baylor (that was 5 years before the Angels signed Reggie Jackson for the 1982 season).
That was a nice FA class for sure!
That was a great class. It provided great leadership and legitimacy for a still fledgling franchise. Don Baylor will always be my favorite Angel. but I still think that class is not close to Evil Arte’s Free Agent class of the winter of 2003/2004.
Escobar and Guerrero – tough to beat that. Riggs not so much.
And CY award winner Big Sexy?
Even Guillen worked out as Standpat Stoneman turned him into Juan Guano and Mice Tits in the 2004 off season.
I thought Colon was a 2005 signing but I could be wrong. Going purely off memory.
FN: just checked. You are right. Yep 2004 was a stellar FA year.
2005 was Orlando Cabrera and Steve Finley 🙄
Though, he was only with us three years, OC was of my favorites. Steve Finley, oh boy.
In Bengie’s book he pretty much admitted to not liking OC ( A nameless Angel Shortstop he played with and I didnt sense it was Eckstein) Bengie Always thought OC was trying show up some of the pitchers that he didnt like. Molina Even admitted to wanting to fight him.
Thanks for this, I did not know any of this. I checked and OC and Benji overlapped one year (Benji’s last year as an Angel was 2005 and that was OC’s first year). I know that OC was well liked on the old blog during his time in Anaheim but we don’t know what goes on behind the scenes, etc.
OC had some serious baseball IQ.
Top 3 FA signings: Vlad, Grich, Torii.
Worsiest (there’s so many to choose from….): Pujols, Rendon, Hamilton
Cokehead is still the worst, I’d say, then Rendon.
I was just a kid, but my memory was Rudy was injured for much of his Angels career
So signing Blake Snell is the same as signing Joe Blanton?
Got it.
I think there is a comp for CJ Wilson (at least pitching wise): both are nibbling lefties with a few very good and more mediocre years. Not sure if Snell is a flake like Wilson, although he is a good bit better pitcher on the whole, admittedly.
Hmmmm….
Did CJ’s 4 seamer average 95.5 MPH ?
Did CJ have a career K/9 of 11.1/9 or a KK/BB ratio of 2.71?
Did CJ have a career ERA+ of 127?
Did CJ have a career WHIP of 1.23?
Well at least they’re both left handed .I’ll give you that.But not sure if Snell owns a Mazda dealership though.
The real question is what did CJ do more of here, pitch or launch secondary careers (photography, racing, etc)?
Blanton and Snell aren’t comps imo.
Fun fact — a buddy and I smoked a blunt in the parking lot of CJ’s dealership.
Good times
Zoom Zoom Zoom…
🤣
Bruce Kison didn’t quite replace Nolan Ryan in 1980.
BTW you need to change your user ID they didn’t exactly win the WS in 2020….DID THEY?
Matt Brash 1.17 WHIP
And?
The suspense is boring me….
A name to go with the photo.
Are you proposing the team trades for him, and if so, who would Seattle get in return?
JeDi loves to make trades to make trades, so I suggest we offer Mr. Jordyn Adams.
You know you don’t need to lie to kick it, right?
Matt Brash WHIP 2023 – 1.33 / career – 1.462 in 126 MLB innings.
Dude seems like he figured it out last year but the walks & usage are definite red flags.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brashma01.shtml
And isn’t arbitration eligible for another 2 years .
So I think what Toots is saying is don’t trade Chase Silseth or Sam Bachman.
Got it.
Wow. don’t know how you learned to speak 2002 but thanks for the translation.
He ain’t worthy
Starting to look like you ain’t either. He’s like Frasier and Niles Crane trying to overhaul a transmission.
Wow you are never right about anything for crying out loud…..LOL!!!
Data Nerds are good at finding information, but many of them still can’t make good choices……LOL!!!! AGAIN
PS Jered Walsh is better than Pete Alonso?
Yet the same kind of concern isn’t afforded to our own Patricio Sandoval
with his 7-13 record and 1.51 WHIP………NICE TRY THOUGH.
I’M GOING BACK TO MENSA TO MINGLE WITH MY OWN TRIBE
💪 💪
Name and Stat provided and you’re still so sensitive tender and thin skinned.
Need a pillow?
No. Im good with my response. i seem to hit a nerve though. Are you ok?
Butt hurt Nation Chiming in…… 😜 😜 💪 ✌
I see you are chiming in but calling yourself a nation is a bit much but if it works for you.
San Diego getting hit with a $40m tax bill is leverage for Arte to remain poverty stricken.
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/sports/insult-to-injury-padres-hit-with-40m-luxury-tax-after-playoff-less-3rd-place-finish/3387775/?amp=1
Good!
Just a tad better than the Mets $101M penalty but recognize this is a drop in the drink for Cohen. I give credit to the Padres for going for it.
Red Sox get Giolito @ 2yrs 38.5mil. What a massive overpay. The price for Snell and Montgomery just went up.
Damn! We might end up having to settle for one bat and let the youts pitch.
Edit: Snell’s QO might have a small effect on his price but, yeah, he’s going to cost a bundle.
There could be alot worse consolation price than Stroman. plus it will keep our pick in tact and allow us to strength many other areas of weakness including the blowpen. You know We’reonl talking about adding Free agents. That requires subtraction .off of the 40 man Even though the first few may seem pretty painless the next couple of ones will actually hurt our depth. Therefore Im hopeful that Perry still has some real trade ticks up his sleeve and the winter meeting press quotes weren’t just rhetoric. It’s been awhile since we’ve really won a trade. Probably Noe Rameriz for D Cell or Jahm Jones for Alex Cobb come to mind so we are definitely due.
Thor for Moniak was a big win, and probably Maldanado for Sandoval
What has really accomplished? Maldy was a great catcher for a lot of years.
New Year’s prediction.
Giolito first start at the bid a in 2024.
7.2 – 4 hits – 1 run – 9 Ks
it will be his first win in his Cy Young award winning season
$20 Million AAV for a washed up pitcher that even the vaunted Guardindians couldn’t fix?
Man thats depressing
Giolito at basically 2/40 does not bode well for the market on the rest of the FAs.
Why would anyone pay $19 million a year to Giolito for multiple years? They don’t even know if he can be decent for one season
Banking on his start from 2023, not his Angels tenure, I would assume.
Also, young with some track record as a good pitcher.
But sure, not good news for the Angels if they really are in the market for top FA SPs.
It is basically a one year deal with a player option (now called “opt out”). A (fair) bit rich in dollars, but a reasonably sensible contract structure.
Also known as a lose lose contract for the team:
We paid a washed up Thor 19-20 million so this seems to be the baseline sticker price for formerly good starting pitchers.
1 year v 2 years though?
But no draft pick lost.
We forfeited a draft pick with the Thor signing?
Yes thats why I think Giolito may turn out to be a better deal but it’s all relative.
Yes, but I guess the thought process for Boston is that Gio is young enough to bounce back?
You just have to ask the question, “Why?”
Right around what I thought he’d get. The player option gives Giolito leverage if he pitches well to cash in again next off-season.
What in the hell is nitter?
former name of nixxer
No idea what that is either. Off to google I go
nitter? It’s the yarn based activity of grandma when grandpa wants to get frisky.
A big thanks to John Henry for covering today’s links for me. I was back home visiting family and trying to wrap up a deal today.
Honestly, 2023 has been the roughest year of my career. The stress at times has been almost unbearable and I really wished I had other options. They say tough times don’t last, tough people do. Well I’m still here.
Which means that baseball and this site have really been godsends this year and I thank you all.
Easily the highlight of my year was coaching my son in tee ball and farm ball. I love him more than it is possible to love somebody and sharing that time with him is priceless.
Hey Jeff. Thank you for all your contributions and being an always reasonable voice in this wilderness. Things will turn around for you buddy. They always do. I’ve been through cycles more times than I care to recall. Hang in there. Best to you and your family for ‘24.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
I’m in the real estate/home loan game. We’re supposed to have bluer skies ahead. I hope so.
Definitely a tough industry to be in right now with interest rates being what they are. You almost need to find a buyer who can pay all cash in order to have any success. Those happen but are fewer and farther between. It looks likely that we are going to have some rate cuts in 2024 and hopefully that will fire the market up for you, it definitely shows you that Baseball is just a game and we all really don’t have any skin in it. I truly hope the best for you and your family in the coming year.
Thanks. Best wishes to you and your family as well.
We got you Jeff. Anytime Anywhere.
CtPGers ASSEMBLE!
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/017652ad-6ae3-438d-a1f4-75bbdc3ee565
2023 has been rough this n a lot of different industries and especially the mortgage industry. I can attest that you did a phenomenal job with my refi a few years ago.
The Little League adventure only gets better as they progress. My son is now on a semi travel ball team coached by the local high school coach, where he will be attending next school year. They have him playing centerfield, 3rd base, shortstop and doing some bullpen catching. Still having fun.
Nice. We didn’t catch a game this year. That absolutely can not repeat in 2024.
We’ll get the families together for a day game and some ice cream.
Yep. I may try to go to spring training this year with my son. Just haven’t pin pointed the dates yet. Then I need to decide if we are going to fly and then rent a car, or just drive.
It will be interesting to cross reference the people bemoaning the lack of activity from the Angels with those that go apoplectic if/when they sign a big ticket free agent. I suspect the overlap will be significant.
I’m in the camp of making no big splashes this offseason, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t enjoy the hissy fits if we end up signing Snell. It will be epic.
We could use some potentates of positivity to counterbalance the nabobs of negativity but I think all those people are shell shocked at this point.
Rec for using potentate in a sentence.
Yeah rec for a word I can’t even Weekipedia….
I’ll take “Words Sam Gamgee would put in a stew” for 500 Ken.
Activity doesn’t mean big ticket, it means active. And we’ve been pretty quiet on that front. I like minor league deals as much as the next guy but give me some peices that set the table.
I’d like to see us go mid-tier to round out the roster. Whit Merrifield comes to mind.
Perhaps some one year prove it deals on guys coming off injuries.
For me it will entirely depend on who is signed.
Snell or Bellinger will likely be huge dollars and reek of desperation and the Arte way of doing things.
Really, I think I’d like Teoscar Hernandez, one of Hader or Robertson for the bullpen, several of the starters.
The price tag for Teoscar is seemingly climbing, but I see your point.
I’ll go ahead and say it now, I’ll be happy with Bellinger up to a certain point.
The guy is only 27 years old and even with two bad years has a career OPS+ of 120. His OPS+ has trended up for 3 straight years indicating better health (or worse weed, ha ha). I’d expect him to be about his career average for a few years.
His glove is legit in center and would allow Trout to move to a corner, which is something I’ve wanted for years.
If it is 8 years at say $30 million per year I’d be cool with it. There’s definite risk but I’ll put it out there now that 8/250 for Bellinger would be fine by me.
I’m actually very close to that position. I like Bellinger but only for the right amount of money. I like 8/200 a lot better than 8/250. He has been very inconsistent so there is a fair amount of risk. But if he’s actually figured it out as someone here mentioned, he might be worth the risk. His age and the fact that he can play CF are pluses and he potentially provides an alternative at 1B if Schanuel doesn’t pan out. But I would also like JD, JT, and a starting pitcher as long as we’re hoping. It replaces Ohtani, and adds the extra offense we needed before he left. JD and JT won’t be long term commitments and they would provide some stability while things get sorted out. After 3 years we get rid of the 40M Rendon fiasco. Artie just needs to suck it up for the next 3 years and live with his mistake.
I’m unconvinced he’s worth 8/200-250. He’s had one really good year and one ok year, and 2 stinkers outta the last 4.
2019 MVP
2020 Covid: 239/333/455
2021 95 games: 165/240/302
2022 full season:210/265/389
2023 Cubs: 307/356/525
I’d like about half of the estimates of 8/200
You’re right, the 3 years in between are ugly so you can’t pay him as if he had 3-5 years of the same production. That’s why I thought 25M a year was not crippling and if you believed he fixed a problem, it might work for both parties. Someone on this site cited a person in the know who said Bellinger had fixed himself. You would need to do your due diligence to convince yourself he did and was worth the risk, or Bellinger may have to do another one year contract to re-establish his value. His record right now says that 2 years out of 5 he is a very good player and the other 3 years he is not very good. His raw numbers will not be as good in Anaheim as they were at Wrigley. I like him as a potential addition but you just need to work out the numbers.
Throwin’ down the gauntlet. I like it.
I’ll say this. Should they sign Bellinger, I won’t reflexively crap on it. I’ll make every effort to be positive about it and hope that it works.
On paper, it represents a significant upgrade in the OF to be sure.
Since we’re slinging money around, you could sign Bellinger, Snell and Stroman for what Ohtani costs…
At some point they need to decide, if they haven’t already, whether they’re going to let the Rendon situation impact what they do for the next 3 years. They’re either going to wait until he goes off the books or move forward.
Or finally make it work.
Bellinger is the exact type of player Arte would be happy to sign to replace Ohtani as his marketable star. A ton of Dodgers fans love Bellinger and would become a fan favorite to the casual fan regardless what he does on the field.
Now from a productivity standpoint, Bellinger at 8/250 would not be bad. As you mentioned Jeff, he’s 27 years old and still very much in his prime. His glove in CF is elite and this would be a move Trouty would approve moving away from CF. We have all seen the potential Bellinger has, which I think is worth the gamble. The problem here is if Arte signs Bellinger, will he stop there? Or will he let Perry add on to the roster to add impact pieces and depth? If so, then I’m in. But I think that largely depends on what Arte decides to do with Rendone. History has shown time and time again Arte won’t eat up a contract until it’s his last season. So we are stuck with his salary for two more seasons and that has a huge impact on our roster.
Aren’t we stuck with his salary either way? It’s a sunk cost at this point. Might as well hope for a bit of luck on the health front.
I think a very Arte move would be to spend 18 to 21 Million for a one year deal on a broken down starting pitcher from New York.
I hope to see better for 2024. We’ll see.
Edit: At least we didn’t pay Giolito.
I’m worried that they will do something “Arte” like sign JD Martinez and hype it up.
Even if they sign JD, it shouldn’t hamstring the team financially.
Well, the same peeps that cried and bemoaned the Halos not hiring Maddon then bemoaned his hiring a year later.
We have to sign a pitcher, we might be able to get away with having Adell in the mix of an OF that can rotate through DH, especially Trout once or twice a week.