At last we have a little action around here.
The Angels acquired infielder Scott Kingery from the Phillies for cash. They also claimed first baseman Ryan Noda off waivers from the Athletics. This was on Friday. Also on Friday, the Dodgers’ victory parade got stuck in L.A. traffic. Ironic!
Neither Griffin Canning nor Jo Adell won the Gold Glove.
Michael Wacha has a three year deal with the Royals for at least $51 Million.
Twelve players from various teams elected minor league free agency over the weekend.
Bob Costas retired as an MLB play-by-play announcer. The Giants hired Zack Minasian as their General Manager.
A Padres prospect who was playing under the name of Cesar Altagracia turns out to be 19 years old when his paperwork says he is 14 years old. He is suspended for one year and his verbal agreement with the Padres is off.
Options Galore
Blake Snell opted out of his contract and became a free agent. So did Gerrit Cole. Original reports said that the Yankees had a right to void Cole’s decision by adding another $36 Million to the deal by Sunday evening at 4 P.M. CT. Now, they say 5 P.M. ET on Monday. The Yankees also declined their club option on Anthony Rizzo. The Diamondbacks exercised their option on Eugenio Suarez while the Yankees exercised theirs on Luke Weaver. The Rays exercised their club option on Brandon Lowe. Cody Bellinger opted in on another year with the Cubs. The Dodgers exercised their club option on Miguel Rojas. They did the same with Austin Barnes. David Robertson declined his mutual option with the Rangers.
Nick Martinez declined his player option with the Reds while the Reds bought out Brent Suter and made a new deal with him for $2.25 Million with a club option for 2026 of $3 Million. They declined their club option on catcher Luke Maile while Jakob Junis declined his end of their mutual option. Ha-Seong Kim opted out of his deal with the Padres while Wandy Peralta opted in. Robbie Ray decided to stay with the Giants.
The Brewers declined a club option on Devin Williams, although he remains under Brewers control for another year. The Yankees declined their club option on Lou Trivino. The Nationals declined their side of the mutual option on Joey Gallo.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Desert Dogs at Rafters…LIVE!!!
https://www.mlb.com/arizona-fall-league
Haniger sticks it to Jedi. $15.5 for that crap.
101 days to go. Let’s see if Arte can make it to opening day without a “Big Splash” accident.
Let’s sign NO ONE IMPORTANT! We can do it! Let’s go Halos! Let’s compete…. to have a good farm. Trade guys for kids. Sign guys…. who we then trade for kids. Let’s hunger for youth the way only a team from SoCal can baby!
Just say no to wasting money on “stars” that will assplode before the rest of the team’s any good.
Kingery on the 40 man, Rosenberg gone.
Amed Rosario is a free agent after being taken off the Reds’ 40 man roster. He seems to put up decent numbers but he bounces around a lot. He can play anywhere in the infield and play the outfield. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rosaram01.shtml
His glove at SS is pretty bad. He’s OK at second and in LF and a bit below average with the bat.
That’s why he bounces around. He’s probably an OK bench/depth piece, though.
The list of rebound candidates gets larger.
Jose Urquidy is a free agent.
My #1 rotation target for the Angels was Wacha, who KC signed yesterday. My #2 target was Nick Martinez, whom the Reds just extended a Qualifying Offer to, which no one expected. Not a player I’d lose a second round draft pick for, especially given how high the Angels will be selecting next summer.
The offseason is going great!
Junis for the Reds had a decent year I think. I haven’t researched it all but that’s my memory. Many of the other options are guys that could wind up hurt.
Yikes! I’m not sure any team would cough up a QO for Martinez. A bit rich. Looks like he goes back to the Reds, possibly renegotiates a multi-year deal. Reds may shock this year.
There’s always #3
Hell, Severino and Pivetta QO’s too. Teams expect pitching to get pricey.
So TT’s #2 is now #2 because it would require losing a #2?
I would agree with that.
With CtPG drooling over the dogers organization. Their WS roster.
go on…
I might be mistaken…but to my untrained eye it looks like a Championship level roster to me
Just not the home grown narrative we always here about. Drafting and Player development didn’t play much in this one.
Now a front office that can steal trades. I would agree.
You have to count every player in the Trade category as homegrown. You might not have drafted him, but the players you drafted turned into him.
I see the angle. But unless you research completely each trade, you cannot really say that. Various trades might be veteran for veteran. Most of them involved money spent by the Dodgers. Betts being the big one. It was their money that did the deal. Yes, they had to provide some players too, but the money was the clincher to getting him.
Alex Verdugo was considered a highly touted prospect at that point and he was the return for Boston in addition to the salary dump.
The argument isn’t whether the players they trade go on to become great on their new teams. Its if at time of trade the other team deems the Dodgers’ offer the best bundle of prospects.
Since they are able to make trades every year, this means they have a replenishing resource of minor leaguers to facilitate those trades. Thats really impressive.
True. You don’t see teams lining up to trade for players from our farm system.
Also, they are willing to make the trade with prospects that at the time are considered very good, and they are often successful. It’s not so much about winning a trade as it is being successful with what you traded for regardless of how well the player you traded does. Not talking about expiring contracts here.
Obviously, the Dodgers are better PR guys than are the Angels.
Betts was signed to an extension after LA acquired him for what was considered to be a significant trade package. Verdugo had been a target in several other trades.
The fact of the matter with every trade is that LA had assets valuable enough that other teams wanted them.
They gave up notable prospects in the Edman/Kopech trade.
They gave up Dee Gordon in the Austin Barnes trade, then flipped us Heaney for Kendrick in that trade.
Outside of maybe Kenta Maeda for Graterol, they don’t really trade from their MLB roster.
We had the opportunity to trade for Miguel Cabrera when he was 25 but didn’t have the courage to do it.
Mannnn
https://www.fishstripes.com/2013/4/23/4255952/miami-marlins-miguel-cabrera-2007-trade-detroit-tigers-los-angeles-angels-howie-kendrick
Thanks for the link Pineapple.
Geeze, Reggie Willits might have been in that trade. Great move keeping Reggie, a keeper.
Again, the importance of a strong farm system and good scouting.
Correct. They have home grown only a small number. The rest is based on money and trades due to money. They aren’t complete idiots either which helps.
Thing is, with them, “trade is also FA half the time as it’s teams sending Betts, Edman, Kopech, Flaherty over to them cause they know they can’t sign them. Lots of other guys in the past too.
Dongers bought a WS championship, pricks
I was going to say the Miguel Rojas was originally a Dodger farmhand, but no, he came up with the Reds before signing as a free agent with the Dodgers, who later traded him to Miami.
They are rich and smart.
Braves declined Travis d’Arnaud’s $8M option.
Angels need a backup catcher and he’s a local guy.
Yeah, but can he pitch, for that kind of money he won’t returning to us, local or not.
First time in the offseason I saw “Can he Pitch” It feels like home.
For the right price that would be great. He can still rake but at age 35 isn’t an everyday player.
If we could get O’Hoppe 100-110 games and have d’Arnaud for the other games plus pinch hitting that would be nice.
The Halos aren’t going to spend that kind of money for a backup catcher — not even half that likely. Thaiss is fine.
I think Max Stassi is available again.
(I know. I know.)
The Angels in next June’s draft hopefully will find some prep talent to mesh with the college boys in the rebuilding phase so that a younger core can stay together longer, i.e. Garvey, Lopes, Russell, Cey, Yeager/Ferguson group did. Kendrick and Aybar stay together for a while too.
Slowly but surely…
“The Angels spent last season as the only team in MLB without an assistant GM. Most teams have several.
That’s set to change, per a source. GM Perry Minasian has been authorized to hire in the AGM role.
Who they hire is/when the hire is made is still TBD.”
https://x.com/SamBlum3/status/1853484042915852679?t=OHu8MvaO66G1X2rkwtv90w&s=19
So instead of one baseball executive that has his hands tied by Arte, we’ll have two?
Perfect…..
i nominate the Senator to fill the position
I respectfully decline. If I want to be ignored, I’ll call my former employer….. 😀
For real, Turk’s Teeth.
Just look at the amazing job he does using websites we can all access. Give him more time and more data and I’m confident he’d do good things.
If we need two, send Gitch also, he’ll shake them up.
Bonus if you can get rid of Perry and get Jeff in that spot.
Been w/o an AGM since Perry was forced to fire his boy, Alex Tamin. Or was he?
You are correct
Solar Sox lost on Saturday, no game on Sunday, next game today at Saguaros.
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/saguaros-vs-solar-sox/2024/11/04/787609/preview
The pattern for the Angels on free agents and trades that I am seeing is acquiring players with maximum 3 year financial commitment and moderate pricing. As an example Soler with 2 years and 13 million per. That is at the higher end of what the Angels have been willing to commit of late.
If that trend continues (and I see little reason why it won’t particularly with revenue uncertainties) I expect some middle to lower end FA signings and some trades for players with a few years left on their moderately priced deals. As a result, I expect no fancy, shiny free agents this offseason.
You sound disappointed, in a rebuilding stage would a high end priced free agent that is 30 or older make a difference in W-L record, would you go out of your way to attend more games? I think not, rebuild phase was postponed way too long and needs to be done to get this team back to being competitive. Signing short term contracts has its benefits such as trade deadline moves maybe bringing in young players with a gleam of promise. It is fun watching young player’s progress.
It sounds like you are right on track.
It will be interesting to see what happens this offseason. Last year we had the early Stephenson signing followed by claims of “Were going to be aggressive” and then crickets. This year we had the quick Soler signing followed by similar claims of “We’re not done, we have more moves to make, and we’re going to be aggressive”. I’ll believe it when I see it. I don’t have a lot of confidence in them when they talk about Soler being in the field. He makes sense as a DH and essentially a replacement for Drury and Calhoun but he’s a terrible defensive player and has no business being on the field. Especially when you would be replacing Adell’s defense with his.
They weren’t done after Soler: they acquired Kingery and Noda.
NOW they have completed their off-season business. Perry can vacation in warm places and play golf and Arte can weave wicker baskets with his feet.
(Soler) Especially with the Angels as a team, 4th worst in errors in MLB. Ward is not a good defender as it is. Fixing defense and adding speed are two things that can be addressed with focus but really haven’t been Perry’s priority.
Stephenson was signed late January I recall, kind of a surprise when I heard it. Never sign a guy off of a career year which makes a guy like Sean Manaea a bit risky.
Angels were linked to Stephenson all winter but the deal didn’t come together until late in the off season. And at the time plenty of good starters were still on the market.
Stephenson had a few months that far and away outpaced the rest of his career. Manea has at least had solid success at various points in his career. I don’t think we land him, but I’d be happier with Manea than Stephenson.
Yes, this. Good starters went by; Wacha, Lugo were a couple that I liked for slightly more money.
That deal was a cautionary tale in the making. Small sample sizes are fine if you’re spending low tier money but they paid him at the top of scale.
Mets will likely sign Manaea, unless they get Snell or make a deal for someone else that is top of the line. Sean was critical to their success this season.
The long offseason where football takes spotlight. I don’t enjoy football half as much as baseball. Action is great, but it feels like a chess game. Best part is the competitiveness. Anyone can draft well and be a playoff contender. Unlike baseball the richest teams can’t dominate with cap in place. Like how the Raiders suck when they probably generate the most revenue with new stadium, and merchandise sales. Hilarious, I hate them cause like 100% of Latino hoodlum Dodger fans are also Raider fans. Unlike the LA baseball team, it’s harder to be cocky/arrogant when you’re Raiders are lousy. Bring the salary cap to MLB !!!
Agents for MLB Player’s sharpening their proverbial pencils right about now to see and figure out what their clients are worth. What is typical compensation for a sports agent? I really don’t know but am somewhat curious. For instance, if Soto signs for 12years at 50 mil per season and for 12 yrs total, that is not a bad deal at all for him, but what does his agent haul in of that?
I believe it is typically 10%.
Yep – it’s 10% unless the player negotiates a different commission schedule.
Ohtani’s agent can retire.
Or does Ohtani’s agent get 200K a year for 10 years, and 6.8MM for another 10?
I suspect the deferral applies to the commission too, but we should ask Ippei since he knows everything about Ohtani’s bank account.
😄
I think for many agents, it’s much less than 10 percent for the MLB contract alone. More like 3-5 percent maybe. For advertisements and NIL stuff, it’s might be ten percent for that.
101 Days!!
Counting Dalmatians on the wall, that don’t bother me at all….. 😊
All we need is for Cruella De Arte to be gone.
😁