The Angels have added their second starting pitcher of the week, announcing on Thursday that they’ve signed righty Trevor Cahill to a one-year contract for the 2019 season. Cahill, a client of John Boggs & Associates, will reportedly earn a $9MM base salary and can secure an additional $1.5MM via an incentives package. Specifically, the deal is said to pay him $250K for reaching each of 100, 110, 120 and 130 innings, and he’d notch another $500K upon reaching 170 innings. He’d also reportedly land a $250K assignment bonus in the event that he’s traded.
Cahill will now join the also recently signed Matt Harvey as a rental starter in Anaheim. That seems to be a good outcome for the team, which will promise the pair a combined $20MM without extending its obligations past the 2019 season.
Entering the winter, MLBTR predicted that both Cahill and Harvey would command two-year, $22MM contracts. While the early returns on the rotation market were relatively promising, the more recent market markers have been suboptimal from the players’ perspective, with several hurlers securing less years than might have been anticipated.
Cahill, who’ll open the 2019 season at 31 years of age, has certainly not been the steadiest option in recent years, but he has shown some fascinating skills. Since returning to the rotation following a bounceback 2016 in a relief capacity, Cahill has struck out nearly a batter per inning while drawing grounders near his career 55.0% rate.
Outside of some late-’17 struggles, Cahill has been quite productive of late. He ended up giving the A’s 110 innings of 3.76 ERA ball last year, with peripherals to match — including a career-high 11.7% swinging-strike rate. Of course, DL stints again left cause for concern, which surely hurt Cahill’s bid for multiple seasons in free agency.
It’s certainly possible to look at the Angels rotation mix now and imagine a solid, cost-efficient unit. Andrew Heaney and Tyler Skaggs both showed well last year, while Jaime Barria and Felix Pena established themselves as solid options as well. Nick Tropeano is still around and will hope for a bounce back after some struggles upon returning from Tommy John surgery. JC Ramirez could return from the same procedure at some point. Luke Farrell, Miguel Almonte, and Dillon Peters represent depth pieces.
That said, it’s tough to see that as a high-grade unit even in the most optimistic of scenarios. And all of the team’s most-accomplished starters come with major recent health issues, including the two newest acquisitions. In a sense, it’s a continuation of last year’s approach of hoping to get enough innings from enough worthwhile pitchers to add up to a quality overall staff. It didn’t really work out in the aggregate. And now the highest-upside pieces are gone, with Garrett Richards and Matt Shoemaker out of the organization and Shohei Ohtani getting comfortable with a new ulnar collateral ligament.
The Halos reportedly pursued more notable targets, reportedly falling short in bids for both Patrick Corbin and Nathan Eovaldi earlier this winter. It’s still possible the club will continue angling for other arms, with Dallas Keuchel available in free agency and a few potential notable trade candidates, but it could also be that the club is now done with its rotation-building efforts. If that’s the case, then perhaps GM Billy Eppler will turn to other avenues to improve. The bullpen, catching unit, and position-player bench mix could all stand to be improved. Perhaps it’s not out of the question to imagine a surprise run at a high-level bat, though we’ve seen no real indication of that to this point.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the agreement and the terms (via Twitter). Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and Jon Heyman of Fancred added details on the incentives and assignment bonus (Twitter links).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Angels filling in the gaps in the rotation.
Angels have needed an Ace for Trouts whole career, yet always sign #4s.
Thought for sure theyd be all in on bringing Greinke back, but same old story.
Let Trout carry the team himself
Naw, Richards and Ohtani are aces and both got hurt. You’re wrong.
Richards ain’t an ace and Ohtani was a rookie. IF Richards was an ace then he wasn’t very dependable.
Angels gotta go big while they have the best player in the game
Check his peripherals. Health is a problem with any pitchers.
Trout gonna resign. There hasn’t been much of a modern example of a team with money, who was actively trying to win that let the best player leave in his prime.
Very simple and to the point. That last Ace the Angels has was Weaver PERIOD
Ohtani will never be an ace.
Way too early to call Ohtani an ace. We’ll have to see if he ever pitches again or just plays as an outfielder.
Richards was an ace in 2014.. Are you kidding or just ignorant. He got hurt covering first base and hasn’t been healthy since.
The Angels also finished with the best record in baseball in 2014.
I mean, its not a stretch, he pitched like an ace and then got hurt. What do you mean.
The Angels could have signed Trout to a contract for the rest of his career. Trout himself said so. So what do they do? Sign him for 6 years. The best player in the game today could have been locked in for his career. The Angels blew it. But they’ll sign a past-his-prime player (Pujols) for 10 years. I cannot seriously follow the Angels with that kind of decision making going on. Trout will play out his contract and go elsewhere. You can count on it!!
Most of the complaints I have a problem with. Not that one.
It’s really easy to say in hindsight that a team should have signed a successful player for longer but if he had some big injury or just lost production you wouldn’t be so pleased that they had another 100 million tied into him
You got that right. 2 good years does Not make you the Ace.
Unless his heart is somewhere else and the team has invested poorly. Certainly sounds like this situation.
GrandpaBaseball
It does for a season, but if that’s your definition, I can understand that..
But in 2014, he was an ace and one of the best pitchers in the AL and the Angels led baseball in wins. I don’t think that’s debatable.
There are very few pitchers who can be your definition of an ace.
You literally must of not watched any games he pitched last season…and he will only get better with experience in this league. His FIP was .4 points higher than Kershaw last season. If Kersahw pitched in the AL West his FIP would be way higher than Othani’s.
So if Othani isn’t an ace, neither is Kershaw.
Maybe do a little research before commenting on Trout. He rejected a lifetime contract and said he would only sign for the six years. The team wanted at least 2 free agent years included in any extension …
That’s not what I heard. and I follow the Angels closely.
In a CBS Sports article by RJ Andersen in June 2017, Trout proposed a 14-15 year contract to stay with the angels for the duration of his career, which was turned down by the angels. Trout then opted for the 6 year deal.
“Ohtani will never be an ace”
What did he show you last year that makes you believe that?
Being an ace requires durability, not just stuff. Tons of guys can grip and rip but few can pitch beautifully at a sustainable pace.
Dodger fan here. Unless Kershaw changes something from last year, he isn’t an ace anymore. He’s been off, Hopefully he fixes whatever it is over the off season and earns that 90 million they gave him. Any stat you are using comparing Kershaw to Ohtani isn’t too accurate. Dude only pitched 50 innings compared to Kershaws 160. Let’s see if Ohtani can last longer than 50 innings before comparing him to Kershaw.
You could make a very compelling argument that the Angels in fact, have NOT been actively trying to win tbh.
EJ, you are saying that anyone who had Tommy John surgery cannot be an ace.
So David Wells, John Smoltz and Kerry Wood were not aces post Tommy John.
so you might be right. But I’m not sure how you can know.
Some of the comments are comical. They have no idea what an ace is or what makes up a major league lineup. He was one of the most dominant pitchers in the league before he got hurt. Some of the best stuff in the game. With the Angels luck though, he’ll get it back this year and gobble up innings too in San Diego. I was excited about our pitching staff last year. We definitely need a breakthrough season or two from the up and comers. The Cahill move is sensible, but I’d expect him to take a hit in ERA in Anaheim. Hopefully, he can increase his innings count.
Greinke? When was he ever in discussion for the Angels?
He’s on the block, angles need good starting pitching badly
I think this was in reference to when Halos traded for Greinke to boost their Postseason run the season before he became a free agent
Aren’t the Angels on his no trade list, meaning he’d have to approve it?
Angels and Dodgers are on his no trade list. Plus, Greinke is a head case.
The Angels have the money to eat Greinke’s contract; however don’t know if the Snakes would want something back other than salary relief.
They should just let Trout pitch then
Greinke has a no trade to the Angel’s in his contract …
Next up, Halos sign Anibal Sanchez and volunteer to eat Greinke’s salary. Then they’d have enough to excite ticket holders but not enough bullpen to compete.
Okay, this signing I like. Surprised he only got one year…and less money than Matt Harvey too smh
I’m not knocking the signing but he has’t pitched over 115 innings in the last 4 or 5 years. Why would anyone sign him for 2 years?
Tommy John by the end of the season? j/k Angels need some help
Solid signing for the Angels, still has quite a bit left in the tank. I have no idea who the A’s are targeting to fill out their rotation at this point, seems like they’re missing out on everybody.
Gio, Sonny Gray, Miley
I can’t envision the A’s getting any of those guys. Seems as if the Yankees are asking a lot for Sonny. Miley and Gio are both too pricey for the A’s.
Miley isn’t going to cost much at all.
Trout for Gray, Ellsbury, and Frazier! Get it done, Cashman!
Yankees will eventually let Gray go for relatively little once push comes to shove.
Seems the A’s are the only team interested
And Ohtani for Cc!!
This might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever read….
I guess they are going to play Rays ball this year.
The A’s did the opener thing about two decades before the Rays
It has been reported that about 11 teams have interest in Gray
and judge, Sanchez, severin and andujar. that might get it done. still light on the Yankees side.
Judge gets it done by himself. And I despise the Yankees,
Can start or relieve or do a bit of both. High K and GB rates. If he can stay healthy, it’s a good signing
That’s a big “if”
Definitely.
Too bad Trout is wasting his best years on such a bad team. It would be great to see him go deep into October.
Such a bad team? Finished 80-82. In a division that featured 2 playoff teams and a quality mariners team. Chill.
If anyone is talking about another team being a bad team it shouldn’t be a Giants fan.
Wait, when is the last time the A’ss won anything? Dust off your vcr so you can watch again. I have 3 WS titles, complete sets, on Blu Ray. That’s my team. Ask any true fan, these lean years are so much easier to get through with recent 3 Ships to reflect on. Players from your last title are gettin ready to collect their SS checks.
80 wins is below average. Why not call them a bad team?
because they played 57 games in their own division against quality teams. (vs the indians that played 76 games in their division against bad teams). it’s perspective
also, the avg wins in the AL last year was 80.47. angels had 80. we call that average.
This guy f**ks. Preach!
I’m guessing you’re not a Patriots fan…
Because they are not a bad team. No one thinks they are a bad team. They are well over 500 last year if they didn’t lose all but one of their pitchers and Trout didn’t leave the club for a month.
The Angels are competing with the Rays and A’s and I like their chances.
And they are 40-16 against the very worst teams in baseball (Texas, KC, Chi, Det, Bmore, SDP and Tor). They get dominated by the better than …500 teams and they beat the worst teams in baseball.. They……are not…..a good……team…..
Says the marlins fan. Im dead
Not a good team still does not qualify them as a bad team. It’s never black and white in baseball. You’re watching the wrong sport if you think so.
Who said they were a good team. They are a middle of the road team. If they EVER can stay healthy, they are likely a good team.
What we do know is that even devastated by injuries, they are not a bad team.
Very original bud.
Solid signing. Puts the Nats’ Roark trade into perspective given he was about to make the same amount with 1 year remaining that Cahill will now make. Not sure the Nats will be able to find a cheaper option than Roark that’s better.
Nope. Theyll have a typical #5. Journeyman or prospect.
However they have three #1’s atop their rotation.
Wouldn’t be complaining
Nice pickup. He should be an easy guy to flip when contenders are looking for pitching. Especially since they know he can start or come out of the bullpen.
Flip to a contender? Aren’t the Angels trying to contend? Shouldn’t a team with the best player in baseball and the reigning ROY, actually try to contend now instead of acquiring short term trade pieces?
They can try to, but as of now I’d say they’re still easily behind Oakland and Houston in the division and at least one of Tampa, Boston, and New York will get a wild card spot.
Exactly. If Cahill or Harvey are any good Eppler can trade them off just like he did with Kinsler and Maldy. Think we got a great return for both of them that keeps making our farm better. I’m 100% good with this. Next year we have Canning and Suarez…. possibly Sandoval coming up.
Harvey and Cahill are not glamorous signings meaning they don’t strike as top tier or staff aces, but they Angels had to do something.
That something should’ve been trading for Greinke, instead of signing 2 excuses not to.
plenty of time to trade for Greinke… harvey and cahill are decent depth signings, but angels fans know how it quickly turns problematic if you rely on them too much–especially considering their injury history. in other words, these two signings will not prevent them from going for a big fish
greinke is the public enemy #1 in oc.
Maybe if you’re counting dudes still in the league, Greinke may be. My vote goes to AJ Pierzynski. Would be Tiexiera next, but we all know how well that ended up turning out for the Halos, so that one is easy to let go.
You realize Grienke is making 30+ million a year now right?
Greinke can block deals to the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles, Twins, Tigers, Angels, Athletics, Phillies, Cardinals, Reds, Giants, Rockies, Dodgers and Padres.
they do that to get more money, not because they don’t want to play there.
That’s incorrect.
A player can use that for leverage if the have an option they want to guarantee, but Greinke doesn’t have that. Some players get bonuses spelled out in their contract if they get traded, but Greinke doesn’t have that, either.
Likewise, he can’t renegotiate his contract to get more money than the contract states, since that would violate the CBA.
So there is no “more money” for Greinke in his deal if he goes to one of those listed teams. He either has to change his mind or be firm in the idea that he really doesn’t want to play in Oakland, Toronto, etc.
Give it up on Greinke, dude, if you’re not going to educate yourself.
He is owed $30M+ each of the next three seasons 19-21. He has a list of teams to which he will consent to be traded, and the Angels aren’t on that list.
Eppler has approximately $30M to spend in the offseason and your solution is to devote 3/4 of that money (assuming Arizona takes back $5M a season) to one player who’s on the field once every 5 days? That is seriously not wise.
Those are two great additions, I wish my Rangers would of grabbed one of them.
Is that how they expect to compete?
Cahill with an elite defensive infield behind him (Simmons/Cozart) will be pretty solid
Didnt do all that well with an infield that featured four gold glove fonalists and two winners….
gotta start somewhere…
Solid signing if he stays healthy
How soon before I see him and Harvey doing a rehab start in San Bernardino?
This is exactly what I suggested they do in a thread the other day: just get a bunch of fairly low-cost starters to add capable depth to the rotation for the inevitable injuries that the rest of them will have.
They’re probably trying to emulate what the A’s did last year because their rotation was built basically the same way anyway.
Agreed, but the A’s might’ve also built the best bullpen in the league as well. I don’t know if the Angels can win using the same strategy with the way their relievers lineup on paper.
Very good point
There’s like 72 RP available in free agency this year according to Buster Olney. Angels can likely get some cheap options and improve the pen
Why do you read that hack? He was off by double digits. This site has a full list of all free agents. Just use a real resource that is literally at your fingertips.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/12/2018-19-mlb-free-agents.html
Likes the Harvey and Cahill signings. Great placeholders until Canning and Ohtani in 2020
I think ohtani should choose hitting or pitching at some point sooner than later. For the long run it will be wise imo
Yeah, no.
i like this. a bit risky considering past struggles. depth in rotation.
One year deal isn’t a risk imo
wasting $9 mil if he is injured. angels have very small room in $$$ to operate while there are many areas to improve.
They have wasted millions on pujols already. What’s 9 million on a one year deal ? Not to mention they have to fill out their rotation somehow and you could do worse than cahill
keep trolling, m’lady!
Except he’s right, 9 mil means is chump change. Their goal pretty clearly seems to be to remain payroll flexible in the short term. The Angels GM has gone on record repeatedly that the farm system will be their primary source of talent and once that happens they will spend to fill in the gaps. Two one year deals does that, if the team tanks but the players do well they will flip them like they did Kinsler and Maldonado last year. If they do well, they can ride both arms into the ground and cut bait if they so please after the season.
Finally do something. Grandal 3/12mill and tulo should be next.
Grandal at $12M/year is a pipe dream. Maybe, MAYBE, if you meant $21M/year on a 3-year deal that would make sense. He just turned down a 1-year QO for $17.9M, what would make you think $12M would even come close?
Um 3/36 12 mill per year
LOL! $12 million!!
That would be one epic fail by Grandal if that is all he got per season.
Grandal on here is criminally underrated. Is he a great all around catcher nope, but I’m terms of quality catchers in today’s game he looks like a friggin hall of famer. You people constantly on here complain about catchers batting average as if it’s significant at all. Nobody running a baseball team cares about batting average and they sure as hell don’t care about it for a catcher. Yet another thing I always hear about Grandal is his postseason failures. Good lord these dummies pick the smallest samples that are illogical. You realize in the playoffs you play day in and day out against THE VERY BEST TEAMS? By your logic if a player struggles during the playoffs they aren’t worth the money than by that logic Steve Pearce is worth 40 million and almost other players aren’t worth offering contracts. You build your team to win in the regular season and if you get to the playoffs enough times you’ll eventually win once.
The only way Grandal doesn’t get paid innthe form of at least 4 yrs 50+ is because he has a QO attached to him.
Something is to be said about a guy who was benched for Austin Barnes twice in October. Grandal is a very good catcher but I’m not throwing away what the guy did twice in a row. You couldn’t play him over Austin Barnes? This isn’t buster posey. I’d be much happier w Ramos at 2/19 than giving Grandal 50MM. I think he winds up with a 3/45-48in the end so the team avoids giving up the higher pick.
I hope the Angels don’t bring in a known cheater. I hope they have more class than that.
Nothing bad about this signing no matter what the results with him are honestly. I like it
Eppler is very underwhelming
Compared to the exciting signings Dipoto did before Eppler arrived, agreed. But, Eppler’s also taken the worst farm system in baseball and boosted it to arguably one of the top 10 systems in the matter of just a couple years. Hard to polish a turd into anything other than a turd, but the guy’s doing it. Slowly but surely.
Just trade Trout already.
even if the team decides to trade trout it’s not the right time. besides, it may have trouble selling tickets.
Angels fans seem to be the most battered wives in all of baseball – constantly taking abuse while trying to talk people into believing how great the situation really is
They’ll never leave their abusive relationship, no matter what
Hahaha that’s me! Sad but true
This feels like 2013 when the Angels got all these bum pitchers like Joe Blanton, tommy Hanson, Sean Burnet, and now 2019 we get Matt Harvey and Cahill. Can’t wait for the next contract to be handed.
RIP Tommy Hanson
Dang it! Hate to admit it but you’re probably right.
Cool. I hope so. The Angels finished with the best record in baseball in 2014. Not giving away draft picks and youthful players in attempt to take the next stop seems like pretty good logic to me.
As long as I’ve been an angels fan, I’ve seen this before and it’s not gonna end well. Case and point Tommy Hansen and those horrid 2013 signings
Love the signing. A pitcher who gets tons of ground balls. Simba is going to love it when Cahill pitches haha! Angels need to pad that bullpen a little now!
Well, they’ve got their #4 & 5 starters.
The Angels are doing a remarkable job of dumpster diving for pitching as they gear up for a plunge into the NL West cellar. It’s as if they’re paving a yellow brick road for Trout’s inevitable exodus.
NL West?
Everyone knows what I meant.
National League West?
Gotta love when people are intentionally stupid and act as though they’ve never made a typo on one letter.
Exactly. Regardless of what division they’re in, the Halos will finish in last place with their subpar pitching, and Trout is going to leave. And they know it. Everyone knows it.
You’re underestimating how bad the Mariners are going to suck next year. I mean, that roster was good but not great, and THEN they traded away all of their best players.
Go figure out your divisions than pop off.
No one knows what you mean.
So at minimum 20 million to a pair of 3/4 guys that may combine for around 200 IP
Seems that money could have been much better spent, but okay. We’ll see how their typical fingers-crossed-for-lightning-in-a-bottle attempt works this season.
Weird they are both 1 year deals apparently both without options too. So even if they perform better than expected they will be gone next season. Guess we’ll get to do this same stopgap off the scrapheap game next season as well
Richards was an Ace. Weaver was an ace in the early part of Trouts career.
The Angels led baseball in wins in 2014. The Angels had more wins than World Series Representative 2015. The last three years the Angels have been a 500 team because NO STARTING PITCHER COULD STAY HEALTHY.
You can’t buy an ace.
As for 200 innings, that is a really low estimate. Last year the Angels lost 7 or 8 starting pitchers. The Angels were 29th in innings pitched by starters.
This is a nice pickup..
The Angels are competing for the fifth best record in the AL. If they stay reasonable healthy, which they haven’t the last tree years, they’ll make it. If they don’t, they wont.
I want what little macstruts is smoking, because that’s about the craziest talk I’ve seen this side of an insane asylum.
Does anyone on here realize SP can come within a teams organization?
You know some guys in the Halos system no one else knows about,Iver?
Kind of hoping the Pirates would scoop him up to fill that empty rotation spot, but solid signing for the Halos.
Watch out Astros, Angels making moves!!!
The Angels are not trying to catch the Astros. They are trying to catch the Rays. Maybe the A’s if you think 2018 wasn’t a fluke and their player loses are not significant.
Why do people keep missing this?
angels may win the second wildcard spot but hard to imagine doing anything once they get there. but then who knows? ticked pujols may suddenly hit .280/.340/.450.
Had him going to the Jays.
Meanwhile, the A’s have 3 starters on their roster including Manea who had surgery. With a full bullpen, perhaps they will be employing the ‘wear out the bullpen by making them pitch the whole game’ plan again.
Unfortunately, It’s kind of looking that way.
Yet, Puk and Cotton will be returning shortly after OD. I imagine Graveman will get another season to redeem himself too.
od? did you say od?
Opening day
I hope they don’t try and make them pitch before the ASB. They definitely need at least 3 starters added before ST. If those 2 come back at some point (and hopefully nearly as good as before-surgery) great. But never count on it.
The rotation will look like this on opening day
Graveman
Mengden
Montas
Jackson
Blackburn/Triggs/Brooks/Gossett
Maybe they sign Gio
Throw in Bassitt too.
Graveman is out.
2 solid additions to the Angels rotation. Not a contending team yet, but add Kuechel to the top of that rotation and they have a shot at a WC.
You think Matt Harvey is solid? No wonder people make fun of you on here.
Jackson is definitely coming back to the A’s now.
Between him and the Harvey signing nice bye lows that they could flip if healthy and out of contention at the trade deadline. Look what Oakland did last year.
Finally starting to see what Billy Eppler is trying to do. Freeing up payroll/commitments and staying steadfast on turning this farm system into a top 5. Its actually impressive that he’s been able to do all this while maintaining a somewhat competitive lineup. I know it’s easy for Angels fans to want Billy to dump prospects for someone like a Syndergaard or Kluber, but it’s very clear that Billy is only making moves that will a) help the team beyond 2020 or b) help in the short term without sacrificing prospects or giving long term commitments. This team will be a perennial contender with money to spare before Trout leaves in free agency… and don’t you think Trout would rather stay with a perennial contender vs a rag tag patchwork team? Makes sense that Halos were in on Eovaldi and Corbin because both guys would be assets for that 2020-2023 window. I’m fine with these Cahill / Harvey Moves because if all goes well they might be able to fight for a wild card before they even reach that window. Still wouldn’t be surprised to see a few more short term signings or even a big deal involving prospects or a big contract for someone who would help BEYOND 2020
Eppler’s build of this team and farm system does have an endpoint. This design is built to win asap but meant to stay strong at all levels for a very long time… avoid long term deals, continue to build a quality base in AAA, stay financially strong. Its takes a few years but the outcome will be a nimble organization that can make the moves it wants, not the ones it has to.
Batman and Bid Daddy:
Both well said. Agree completely. I like Eppler’s vision and plan.
Good signing for a non-contending team. Bad signing if the Angels are looking to win the division or win the wild card.
First Harvey, now Cahill. $20-mil for these two pitchers seems high. Probably the going rate for #3-5 starters.
May as well have not non-tendered Shoemaker. He wouldn’t have cost that much.
Whatever, Angels primed for another 3rd place finish.
You think Oakland are better than the Angels.
Look at what Oakland did in 2015, 2016, 2017. Look who they are losing.
The Angels are competing with the Rays and maybe the A’s. It’s a nice pickup.
The Angels are a handful of wins shy of the playoffs. That is an easy hill to climb and Eppler has made some good moves to get there in 2019. Another arm or two plus I’d love to see Maldonado back behind the plate. Barring injuries, this team will have a decent chance for post season this coming year.
I would welcome that signing too.
Does your hand have 20 fingers?
3rd would be an improvement from 4th.
Overpaying for guys like Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill won’t get the job done. History is on my side of the argument. Anyone believing this Angels team is a force is California dreamin’.
History is on your side? Yes, saying a 500 team wont make the playoffs is a pretty safe bet. But saying a 500 team signing a big market free agent or trading away youth wont make the playoffs is equally a safe bet.
This is not a bad gamble, and betting on a 120 million dollar pitcher would have been.
We have differing opinions. The facts will be laid out over the course of the season. I hope I’m right and you’re wrong. I hope you hope you’re wrong too if you’re an Angels fan.
^Not an Angels fan. But to say handful of wins shy of the playoffs is blatantly wrong.
@mac – Annibal signing for $19-mil over 2 years would have been a better signing for the Angels than Cahill and Harvey. Angels have a history of overpaying for guys and the trend continues.
Again, the facts will be known over the course of the season. We had 16 pitchers start last season. Any definitive statements now are nothing more than conjecture. With rotation consistency and with the line up we have, 90 wins is realistic.
You will be wrong. Wasn’t hard to assess.
Barring injuries for the Angels is unfortunately a big hill to climb. Hopefully they will finally have reasonable health. I’m not even asking for good health. Just reasonable.
The team non-tendered Shoemaker because they observed his medical rehab and came to the conclusion that it would cost the team approximately $7M to have Shoemaker on the DL for most of 2019. The forearm problem wasn’t healing as hoped and was affecting his grip on the ball.
Otherwise, they had no incentive to let him go.
Nice
Good pipe dream, signing Manny and trading for Noah. Now back to real world. Lot’s of “if’s” here with these signings. Does look like Billy is pretty much satisfied with this team. Just have to find a couple catchers. The team is basically asking us fans to hang in one more season. I will do just that, But I will admit I thought that more aggressive wheeling and dealing was going to be this off season. Right now I see us as the #2 team in ALWest. If Cole has a career year, if the Pen is very good, Albert likes “the pine”, Upton and Trout fight for MVP award, everone stays healthy. Go Angels. MLBTV had a trivia question today. Who was the last manager to lead the Halos before Sosh? …………………………………….Answer Joe Maddon.
Is Joe Maddon accurate? Do interim mangers count? . That’s like saying Moose Stubbing and Whitey Herzog were Angel managers.,
Having plenty of starting pitching depth is good because injurys can always happen. 1 year deals dont hurt the team whatsoever. Good signing
Due to Ohtani’s coming back with 6 man rotation 2020, no pitcher want to sign longer.
Remember @Yankees stadium last May? Other pictcher got suffered after the sudden rotation change.
Ohtani is still overrated, as a pitcher.
Only played like this..
2017: 5 games in Japan
2018: 10 games, but two games of 2 or 3 innings
2019 zero
yeah, but what ever your team is, it was dying to sign ohtani. hydrocortisone cream at 2.5% will help you a lot.
These 1 year contracts are great for creating a stronger rotation going forward. 2020 will see Ohtani return and Canning will be ready to go. This gives The team the ability to set their best possible front five next year. The short contracts also allow them to trade for prospects at the deadline if either one is succeeding and the Angels don’t see a playoff spot appearing in ‘19. This is smart strategy and financial management.
It’s nice to see some of these free agents learning to take what they can get instead of holding out until February or even March for offers that just never materialize.
Need to start focusing on bull pen now, also a catcher
Bulldog, Completely agree!!!
Puljos should do the honorable thing, set aside whatever personal goals he’s set his eyes on, tear up his contract and retire. He has put such a burden on the total team payroll that they really can’t afford to bring in front line pitchers to give Trout a shot at the playoffs like all the WINNING TEAMS have done the last few years. And by the time his contract expires Trout could be gone. So you want to be a REAL mentor Albert, GET OUT OF THE WAY and retire!
So you think he’s not being honorable unless he turns down 87 million dollars?
Yes, he has put such a burden on the team, But he’s not going to retire, nor should he.
and A’s sign…
but really though, there goes the little chance I had in the FA contest. Cheep as A’s…
Can we just take the concept of “an ace” and put it to sleep humanely?
When I was a boy, guys like Drysdale and Gibson, and later Ryan and Maddux, were guys you knew were good for 9 IP every start. They dominated.
This is not the same game. Some teams put a reliever on the mound to face the order for the first two innings, then bring the “starter” to the mound in the 3rd or 4th innings. Teams now have a 6th inning guy as part of the bullpen roles. SP now need only not let the game get away through 5 IP and they get high fives in the dugout.
There are few true “aces” left in the game; Scherzer, de Grom, and Verlander come to mind, but otherwise, the pitching staff is handled differently now than a decade ago. Whining about “getting an ace” is as dated and irrelevant a concept today as bunting skills. The game changes, and wishing for bygone things doesn’t make much sense.
I don’t often find a baseball fan my age that gets it, you seem to.
If a pitcher throws a complete game today, there is a 75 chance he’ll go on the DL at some later point in the season. It’s not the same game. Pitchers throw in the mid 90s. Pitchers throw many more breaking balls. Pitchers no longer coast through a part of the order, every pitch is max effort.
The game keeps changing… It’s CONSTANTLY evolving.
Typical Angel move. Could of got a pitcher for $20 mill. Another year of who’s who on the disabled list. 18 years of Sciossca and bottom feeder pitching. I can’t stand free agent running for the $$$ but if I were Trout I would want out ASAP.
Two pitchers for the price of one to get us through the year – there is better pitching available next year.
Wassup Chef?
Good thing you’re not Trout.
I think Billy Eppler knows that the Angels are in a position where these types of signings can either work to create a playoff team or be used as trade bait because his quickly rising farm system still isn’t quite ready. I think he knew that last offseason as well. All of these short term signings but time for their farm system to continue its development. And I think Eppler knows that their window for opportunity has all but closed with Mike Trout. If it works, great. If not, unload these short term signings for prospects. And if he can’t extend a Trout, trade him for even more prospects, and then the Angels would have more young depth that any team would know what to do with. I honestly don’t expect them to contend in 2019. But if they somehow do, awesome. If not, get what you can for these guys. Angels have an opportunity to get back to the position they were in over ten years ago just by continuing to add to their farm system and then using the extra money to supplement, just like Eppler said a few articles ago.
Don’t totally agree with that. Richards, Ohtani, Skaggs, Heaney, and Shoe looked like a formidable rotation. Middleton, Parker, Bedrock Jr, and Alvarez were supposed to be a solid back end of the pen. Guys like JC, Noe, Meyer, were supposed to fill in. On paper that staff could have been one of the best. We’ll never know because of the injuries. Think Eppler still thinks he can win this year despite the lack of a big name. Health would be the key.
The Angels are such a joke.
If it wasn’t for Trout, everyone would be screaming to rebuild, which they should.
Sad the best player in the game is wallowing in that baseball oblivion.
Matt Harvey and Cahill? That’s there answer to an awful rotation? Lol
Oh well 2 more years of trouts wasted prime years.
But at least clueless Angel’s fans get to say ” we have the best player in the game ”
As they finish in 4th place.
I don’t think you know a thing about baseball. Not a thing.
I don’t know how Eppler did it but he may have constructed a lower upside and more injury prone rotation than last year. That is hard to do.