Brandon Drury, who spent last season with the Reds and Padres, has signed with the Angels for 2 years and 17 million dollars.
The utility man had a great 2022 and will be playing all over the diamond this next year with the Halos. It is a bit of a risk, as the former Red and Padre has been bouncing around the majors since 2015 due to being a below average player.
However, if he does repeat his 2022 performance, where he went .263/.320/.492 with 28 bombs, he could be worth it. After all, he has over 100 games in the OF as well as 3B and 3B with another 48 at 1B and 11 at SS.
Cool, I guess. Utility players are awesome. Thanks Perry.
I’m fine with the signing, just wish Drury was a lefty lol
We have a lot of position flexibility for sure, but not a whole lot of handed-ness flexibility. If Walsh isn’t back to start the season, Ohtani and Rengifo are the only lefties (and Rengifo is a poor lefty hitter)
Drury awesome. But I propose a trade. Arte for Cohen.
Ha! So true.
The Angels seemingly need a SS. But they have signed and traded for players who don’t play SS. That’s obviously because FA shortstops cost too much for the team’s liking.
It’s like you really need a car but can only afford a bicycle. You can convince yourself the bicycle will get you where you need to go. But wait til you try to drive it on the freeway.
Wow, Correa to the Mets.
I have to admit, I wish we’d have Cohen as our owner.
You can’t really complain about being stuck with bad contracts if the owner will just go nuts and sign anyone he wants anyway.
Correa to play 3B for the Mets, because, well, Lindor.
Maybe Baty is available when they come for Ohtani
Better hope the insane burning of cash to win off seasons never ends…. that team’s gonna be over the tax for close to a decade and Cohen can decide he needs to “change tack” or some other bullshitist term for not spending on something anymore at any point. All he has to do is suddenly give a shit about pissing away hundreds of millions of dollars and the Mets are fked for years.
And there are plenty of ways that can happen…. for example, his clown plan for buying the team but not buying the RSN the team makes it’s TV money from.
I am kind of finding it amusing that we entered the off-season with SS being the biggest hole, and we’ve signed or pursued players that play pretty much every position besides SS.
TrAdition. I remember when they really needed starting pitchers, so they went out and signed …….. Josh Hamilton, for a position that they already had coverage for. And they actually made the team worse by making that move.
Correct – 4 second basemen/third basemen does not equal 1 shortstop.
Pure championshipness from Perry.
Now maybe turn one of the INF into a 5thSP type?
Oh good. I’m glad we’re not listening to this Perry .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKQ9–_ZgB4
Better than a trade for the other Brandon in SF. Maybe last year was a fluke, but his #s are trending in the right direction. He’s 5 years younger. And he’s half the cost.
Eh, let’s see how he does in spring training and the first 2 months. Maybe he has figured out something at the plate. My first reaction to the news of this signing was “ At least it’s not Andrus”.
*Not yet anyways
Don’t jinx it!
And no Profar either.
As it stands, the positional flexibility on this roster is the best I’ve seen.
We could see a ton of different lineups.
That’s never good, right?
Thing is I still don’t understand who plays SS or is depth in CF cause it’s not Drury. Drury is low impact Gio Urshela. He’ll still likely be better than Mayfield type stuff but….
ASL?
Any Single Ladies?
Maybe now Rengifo can be trade fodder (One of a couple) for a SS. 28 HRs is nothing to relegate to part-time. Of course, now we know who will play the majority of 3B in 2023 for the Halos, that would be Drury of course.
Ummmmm…. that’s 28 HR playing for the Reds…. so 20 in real life.
I guess thats about right. lifetime he has 1 HR per every 20.5 PAs at the Great American while averaging 1 HR per every 27.8 PAs everywhere else.
20 > Rengifo
The Muffin Man lives on his lane
I can find no prior reference to Drury as the Muffin Man yet that shall now be the name by which he is known
Great. another RHB who crushes left handers but is very pedestrian against Righties.
Last year’s monster season seems to be a product of the Great American Riverboat Park as Drury was Superman in the Nati but really kind of Meh every where else.
Drury’s “pedestrian” numbers vs righties is still much better than the Mayfields, MacKinnons, Fords, Wades, and Duffys that we used last year.
this is what 2/17 gets you, tho? hope he does well
Still without a SS. Drury is fine but Urshela is kind of the same player. Drury and Urshela is an improved version of the 2022 dynamic duo of Mayfield and Duffy.
Urshela plays much better defense, doesn’t strike out as much and generally has much less of a severe platoon split.
Drury is more like a slow footed but more powerful version of Rengifo.
Same positions, slow footed one has a bit higher batting average and one has a little more pop when he hits. As I said, fine with it but need good starter at SS.
There’s no room at the inn for just adding a shortstop without subtracting someone unless one of Fletch, Gio, Rengifo or Drury can be our main backup centerfielder. I doubt MNT will play more than 130 games after the WBC this year.
Dang it, missed your comment. Exactly right, I said the same thing, and I actually like Drury. I just don’t see how he answers any of our questions.
much improved.
The Angels bench was a miserable thing last year, with a deficit of power in particular. That seems to be one thing Minasian has really sought to improve this season. If you have a bench with Urshela, Drury and Rengifo on it, you know you always have a chance to hit one out of the park late in games.
It makes me wonder if they have a trade in the works for a glove-first SS with some power/speed potential. Jorge Mateo seems like an obvious choice. Atrocious plate discipline, but Velazquez level defense, with much more upside. Given the SS depth chart is long, but distinctly underwhelming, I could see that being a move.
One thing’s for sure: they’re very unconfident in Rendon’s and Walsh’s health at present, and don’t have much faith in Rengifo or Fletcher either.
I was thinking the same thing . Is Drury here to make Rengifo expendable? (Albeit at more than 3 times the cost)
I think this is the best explanation for this puzzling move.
They already have one of those named Squid…
So now we have MLB caliber players on the depth chart.
We can now handle an injury or two without playing waiver claims.
Nice.
Drury is a league average or worse player who had a heck of a season last year and has cashed in. I agree he does add MLB depth. I’m just not sure he is appreciably better than the depth the Halos had without him. Rengifo is arguably better. But I guess $8.5 million per season is now cheap. It makes Fletchers contract look pretty good!
8.5M AAV is a 1 WAR player. The Angels basically paid him to deliver the value across two seasons that he did in one last year. Seems a not unreasonable bet.
You sure you adjusted for inflation in that number? 2023 is upon us and baseball salaries are skyrocketing
Here’s a good analysis of WAR values between 2018-2022:
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/what-are-teams-paying-per-war-in-free-agency/
$8.5M per win was exactly what 2+ WAR players were paid on average in 2022.
And Drury was actually a 3 fWAR player in 2022, so it’s not like the Angels are paying him with the expectation that 2022 was the norm. They’re basically paying him like he’s not quite a regular, but a decent bench guy – which is what he’ll probably be.
This is usually the case. Still, I can complain as though we’re paying him for a 3 WAR season though right? Bring up his career year every week ,etc? That IS why he’s here correct?
League average is still better than the opening day cleanup hitter, Matt Duffy.
Yeah, hopefully they keep Rengifo. The depth looks great in that case …
Indeed
Except at the positions of SS and CF.
Drury’s history is odd. But his versatility combined with his play last year gives room for hope. The money is a bit larger than hoped. However it is only two years and he can play so many positions that he fits in well.
Let’s hope the Angels get the “good” Drury and not the other version. His confidence should be up and presumably he is healthy which he may not have been in prior years.
Odd is one way to put it. League average or worse until 2022 is another way.
Wow! The cost of depth has gone up! Overall, in this market, it’s not a terrible deal. He can play 3B, 2B and outfield. So he is a decent guy to have in a lengthy season. But to put things in perspective- he was a 2.6 WAR player last year and has 2.0 WAR TOTAL for his 6 year career (rest of his career was a -.6 WAR). So he truly had his BEST season last year and he has taken advantage. He earned $700k last year and will earn 10x that in 2023.
This is a long shot but one that doesn’t cost too much.
We don’t watch practices. If no trade soon I have to wonder if the Angels have seen something in someone that makes them think they can get at least a handful of starts in CF out of him. Ward? Fletcher? Rengifo?
You know, someone they’ve let screw around in drills out there last year and think they can make into a serviceable deep depth CF option.
Walsh? Long shot but I still remember him in LF at the All-Star game
at least they’re preparing for the rendon breakdown
i guess we all thinking same thing….
Perry has built a decent infield without going crazy on one of the big boys.
Nicely done.
.263 and 28 homers will work nicely. Maybe banning the shift will help that average.
Mia – he had more homers last year than the previous 4 seasons combined. He had his absolutely best season last year by FAR. And the Angels will pay him for it. He projects to return to league average where he has been the rest of his career. I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
It’s risks you gotta take. No FA is guaranteed to keep their production
It’s just that he has NEVER produced until last year.
Well breakout years do happen. We expect Ward to keep it up too
So do slumps. TrAdition.
It’s almost like no one knows what’s gonna happen and we’re all just hoping for the best.
I’ve seen too much reality to hope for magic thinking.
But we’re due
Magic thinking? Guys have career years and land contracts all the time. Some work out, some don’t. You hope the ones your team signs works out.
That’s not “magic thinking”, it’s just called being a fan.
Yes – magic thinking is believing a guy who had 5 crappy seasons and one good one will be more likely to be the 1 in 6 rather than the 5 in 6.
My point is that taking that bet is a bad one. It’s typical of this team. Bet on the one good season. Or the hope that a player who has been mediocre will suddenly find his stoke or his arm in Anaheim. That is magic or at least wishful thinking.
No one is taking a bet. He’s Angel. So now we hope he succeeds, since that helps us. It’s really that simple.
Maybe he continues to hit, maybe he doesn’t, but all i’m saying is I hope he has a good season. That’s it. Just hope.
Sure. We all hope. We have all hoped that this team would win. We all hoped this Organization would reward our loyalty. All I’m saying is I’m personally out of hope for this team. I can’t go there. I’m just not buying into hope for the Angels. And I’m a guy who is usually full of optimism during the winter for the next season.
I’m just old and crotchety and I don’t believe that paying $17 million for two years of a guy who has one good year of 6 makes any sense. And who doesn’t play a position of need. Unless you’re into diving into a dumpster and looking for players to throw money at because they are relatively cheap in a crazy market. I’d be happier without Drury or players like him. Play the young kids. Trade Ohtani. Stop this friggin madness. It’s like Groundhog Day.
You might be right. You don’t need to buy in. That’s fine. I’m not even even saying i’m buying in. Just that last years production would be greatly welcomed.
But what is winter without a little hope of spring.
The reality will reveal itself soon enough.
And now, since it’s almost 1am, I bid you goodnight. 😊
Hope you have a wonderful Holiday Mia.
You too, 71!
Once your eyes are opened to how many grown ass people can’t just see that the situation is the situation and crying over spilt milk, or even Schrodinger’s milk of undetermined spillage, is for bitches you can’t un-see it can you?
You’re not wrong.
WTF? Next you’re going to tell me NewOwnerz won’t get me a 500M payroll and two Ohtanis for life.
But if we all wish hard enough for it we can probably get Drury to hit .120 for a month and then completely destroy his shoulder diving for a ball.
Then we can rage and cry about how our dad never gets us stuff that’s good.
I mean Arte.
Maybe we can trade him with Bachman to get ride of him next year.
This is what I think he is, insurance if Ward regresses.
Can’t drop Ward. He’s our backup CF.