Reliever Zach Britton exited free agency Saturday when he agreed to re-sign with the Yankees. Before that, Britton drew serious interest from the Angels, who were the top runners-up in the derby for the left-hander, Dan Connolly of The Athletic reports.
Britton will receive anywhere from $26MM to $53MM with the Yankees, and a deal along those lines would have easily made him the Angels’ richest signing this offseason. Thus far, the Angels haven’t handed out more than $11MM in guaranteed money to any free agent, nor have they committed a multiyear deal to anyone. Plus, having plucked Matt Harvey, Trevor Cahill, Justin Bour and Jonathan Lucroy from the open market, the Angels’ Opening Day payroll already projects to roughly $167MM without Britton. They came close to that figure in each of the previous three seasons, but they’ve never matched or exceeded it under owner Arte Moreno.
Unfortunately for the Angels, with Britton and ex-Yankee teammate David Robertson (whom the Halos were interested in before he signed with Philadelphia), no longer available, high-end relief options in free agency are dwindling. In terms of predicted salaries, the premier free-agent arms are Craig Kimbrel and Adam Ottavino, a pair of righties who are likely to require substantial multiyear commitments. Perhaps the Angels will vie for one or both of them; otherwise, they may opt for a less expensive option such as Kelvin Herrera, Cody Allen, old pal Bud Norris, Brad Brach or Justin Wilson, among others.
As things stand, the Angels haven’t reeled anyone in to upgrade last year’s bullpen, which ranked 13th in ERA and 20th in fWAR. The unit has since lost Blake Parker, whom the Angels non-tendered, and seen Jim Johnson reach free agency. Those two each logged sub-4.00 ERAs (albeit with less encouraging peripherals) across a combined 129 2/3 innings of work in 2018. They also provided the Angels a pair of fairly experienced closer options, which is something the team lacks at the moment. Either Britton or Robertson would have given the Angels a far more proven game-ending choice than anyone on their roster. However, with those two now out of play, the club will have to continue searching if it wants to add an established veteran to its cast of relievers before next season.
You snooze you lose
Mr. Moreno wants Machado
he’s a very smart man. in more ways than most of know.
Next up Adam Ottavino?
possibly
I agree X. Ott now stands alone in his market(2nd tier) someone bad enough will pay his asking price.
They won’t pay Kimbrel so I’d say Cody Allen before Ottavino and wouldn’t be surprised if they went the budget option and sign Bud Norris.
The Angels owe it to Mike Trout to be competitive.
Baseball owes it to Trout to just let him be a Yankee. Hell they owe it to the Yankees.
it’ll happen too. best thing for baseball. alot of ppl will disagree but the best in the big apple? itll happen. he’ll wear pinstripes at some point in his career
Phillies.
Yup! Red ones, to be precise.
blasphemy
nope
Be more specific , he will be wearing the red pinstripes for the phillies.
Yes. The best thing for baseball is to have the Yankees with an entire lineup of All-Stars and MVPs. I think by “best” you meant “the worst” thing for baseball.
dream on!
stop now and change direction
Baseball owes it to Trout to make sure he stays an Angel his whole career. The Angels are the team that gave him his chance while everyone else said pass. He hates the Yankees and doesn’t want to play for the Phillies either.
You know this because you asked him yourself??
@ Mark Smith…LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL…ROTFFLMAO…STUFF!!
Who wouldnt want to play for there favorite team?
They had their chance when they signed Teixeira in free agency. The draft pick they lost to the Angels was used to pick Mike Trout. You have all been Donged
autombiiilewith hot stuff
You my friend have been donged
#FREEMIKETROUT
#he is free. free to stay in anaheim
Briton got clown car money which the Yankees will regret…..
Bullpens should be built with quality through quantity.
I don’t understand your point, wouldn’t Britton represent quality not quantity?
It’s fortunate that they have both
“Opening Day payroll already projects to $168MM”
$206
-168
——
$38 million
Hmmmmmmmmm
$168 mil plus options and bonuses.
Arte Moreno never got the memos. He thinks the fake payroll number is around $170 million. He can easily spend up to the $206 million. He also talks about making sure the team makes a profit. But if he gets cheap and loses Trout because of it fans won’t be buying three million tickets per season anymore. Only a fool would let a big star like Trout get away. Or a small market owner.
I agree.
That’s why I go: “Hmmmmmmmmmm”
end of year payroll in 2017 was more than $188 million. so, arte must know where the tax threshold is while you have no brains for it.
as a halos fan i. agree. he knows where rhe dollars are though so it would be a choice
Not disappointed to lose out on an aging reliever at that price. Missing on Grandal and Ramos will hurt far more.
He’s only 30 ….
True. I’d really just rather have an every day bat over any reliever.
ywp…only 30???? how was Julio francos career
Lol, so losing out on an aging reliever is no big deal cause you wanted catchers the same age?
Catchers who are know for their longevity, lol.
Probably the same ass who thought signing puljos was a good idea
Hmmm, a guy who will face 150-180 hitters or an impact bat for 400-500 plate appearances for similar or less money?
Real tough one. Who’s the ass?
Really. So in your mind it was the bats that got the KC Roya;s to the World Series twice and winners once. Chapman and Miller had nothing to do with the great 2016 world series Rivera not a factor in the Yankees dynasty years .Last year you think the Dodgers with tons of ofs but no relief pitcher who could get a clutch out in the WS agree with you.
Kelvin go get him ASAP
Which Yankee reliever would you leave off the roster, to make room for Kelvin Herrera?
The six options are Chapman, Betances, Britton, Green, Holder and Kahnle (because the seventh bullpen guy has to be a long man, Herrera can’t replace him).
He was saying for the Angels to get him
Holder can go multiple innings
Oops, sorry, please ignore my comment above. I posted in the wrong place.
Hard to believe the yanks didn’t win it all last year. There roster was loaded. Starting pitching is important though…
What killed us was hitting with runners on base (besides that awful game 3. One key hit in games 1 and 4 and that series is completely different. Heck Sanchez was a few feet away on his fly ball from trying the series up. Thus is baseball
And if my mother had a penis she would be my father….anyone could say what if. The best team won that series period
I never said that wasn’t the case either
Hehehe
if if’s and buts were candy and nuts we would all have a merry Christmas.
the Angels’ Opening Day payroll already projects to $168MM without Britton
————
Good news is, half of it is invested in two players. Oh wait, no, that’s not good news. That’s when you wanna stop trying to tread water, and just rebuild.
$33.25 mil plus $28 mil comes out to $84 mil? go back to preschool?
It’s not half but when you’re paying two guys 40% of your payroll and one of them is an unproductive slug it’s pretty crushing. The only way for the Angels to truly patch up the holes on their roster is to push that payroll up to 200 million bucks.
no. just make albert the baserunnibg coach
We’re stuck in the middle for sure. Too many homes at the mlb level to simply buy all the pieces we need, too few elite prospects to trade away.
Farm is definitely improving but a year or two away from contributing, which is sadly when Trout and Simba are set to become free agents.
Here comes the news that Chapman is going to be out next season.
well, epp, at least, tried. and burned. so, sign 3 of next level relief pitchers.
yes eppler was in on many things that didnt pan out
closing them out may also be a skill required to be a g.m.
When the owner is too cheap to spend the money no GM could do it. Arte wasted a huge fortune signing players like Pujols and Hamilton and trading for Wells. Now he won’t spend much at all. He should let baseball people decide what to do instead of being the GM.
angels have about $30 mil room if not more. it has nothing to do with the owner and he was simply out-bidden by the evil empire.
yes. maybe players feel like east coast has better chance to win it all
This is a really special take.
Within two sentences, Moreno goes from being “too cheap”, to a guy who “wasted a fortune on Pujols and Hamilton” and Wells. Which is he?
168 million for that team? Wow. I think they pluck Allen and overpay.
Article could easily be titled “Billy Appler likes reliever but showed financial restraint given roster make-up and team philosophy.”
He’s going to have to be creative financially around Trouts 12/450m deal.
By th way, im a time traveler from the future.
Ask me anything.
What point in time are you from ?
after eppler’s contract was not renewed and signed a new g.m. called appler.
lol
Great question!
In 2021, he finds documents from his Polish grandfather (fathers side) that shows he had been spelling wrong for 80 years. To celebrate he Mike Trout and local Laker Anthony Davis co-host a dinner to the name change. TMZ sports covers it from the bushes across the street (north side of the street).
The 50’s., thats what we call the 2250’s.
Hey I’m from the past! Which should I invest in: Enron, Circuit City, or Trump University?
Blockbuster video
Sears
I see Cody Allen as a good fit for the Mets to reunite with Callaway. But if he doesn’t go there, he’ll be an Angel.
The Angels should just take the plunge on Kimbrel. The rotation is not going to be good so the only chance they have is to have a dominant bullpen.
Kimbrel would be a terrible idea.
too many years. bad beard
I would get Justin Wilson plus kelvin herrera or cody allen
All three! Go for the gusto! Give us October Trout!
Love the beard, hate the stats…
Kimbrel is a singularly awful idea.
There’s a good chance that, by August, Yankee fans are going to wish the Angels had been successful here.
Agreed. I think $13 million a year is a lot for Britton; I think that’s what Melancon got from the Giants when he was still a premium arm, except he got four years.
Says two Angel fans??
Be hysterical when the desperate Angels give Kimbrel 5 years/75.
Or just sign some other #5 starters and keep avoising the rebuild
Umm they’ve been rebuilding over the last 2 years and have one of the fastest rising farm systems in baseball. When a team has a payroll as large as their’s they can afford to keep experienced talent on the field without surrendering their youth and buy time for said youth to be ready. And that’s what they’re doing.
I’m guessing Kimbrel returns to the Red Sox, Ottavino to the Yanks, Herrera to the Angels, and Allen to the Twins.
I’ll take Herrera and justin wilson
I second that. I like Jerez but he shouldn’t be the only lefty in the bullpen. Wilson would be nice.
me too
Let’s go halos! Go get some more bullpen help!
epp said he was not going to spend much on the pen. which i think a big mistake.
That would be a mistake haha. The pen isn’t the worst and has potential but it would be nice to get one or two solid veterans in there.
Eppler and the Angels are a JOKE. Can you say “ Heading East” in 2 years Trout
bobo!
bubba. take a long walk on a short pier or play marbles in freeway
Poor Trout…what are the Angels doing? Good luck on the east coast Mike!!!
you *%^# again? stay on worst coast!
Arte, stop signing all these pud whackers! Step aside and let your peeps do their job. Enough with the interfering!
Cool! The Angels where top runners up! What do they win?
an away wildcard game?
Angels or Yankees… Angels or Yankees… Is that even a thought if you care about winning? Can’t blame Zach for wanting to go to an organization that wants to win.
Stanton, Hicks, Gray, Holder & Florial for Trout. Yanks sign Manny and Herrera.
The Halos are irrelevant and Mike Trout will see that if he hasn’t already.
when was the lst time phillies were legitimate contenders? like 1980? ha!
2007-2011 NL East Champions
2008 World Series Champions
2009 NL Champs
okg reg luzinski
Sergio Romo would be a fit for the Angels. He flopped in his first move to SoCal with the dodgers. So he is likely looking to redeem himself closer to his family. However, if he liked opening ballgames, that wouldn’t happen with the LAA club.
Followed the Angels since their inception. Watched them a lot in LA (the most plastic, contrived baseball stadium I’ve ever been in – stood up one time to look at a close play and an usher tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to sit down…my friends from back east lol’ed).
Other then when Disney owned them, the owners like to see them sign 4-5 big names, another 6-7 known veterans, and kinda fill in the rest.
They won a championship when they built a decent farm system and pretty much stuck by their home grown players as their core – rather then building around big-name free agents.
I see what Eppler is doing, but Artie sees it the way most of the posters on here do – demanding the team sign the next Josh Hamilton and Albert Puhols. Because……
most other angels fans don’t want another josh hamilton. even arte seems to have learned a lesson. what they really miss is hiring coaches that were once the core of angels championship. arte has not treated his own retired players well.
Ah yes the real secret to success…having coaches that used to play on the team…oh wait, that’s ridiculous.
Arte, what a jerk, not hiring every retired Angel to be a coach of some kind.
i know. eck to the pirates? thats a bummer
Angles once again will be dumpster diving for talent while Eppler tries to breathe life in this moribund franchise.
I really like Bud, for the price I really don’t think you can beat it. Buyer beware on Allen!
What the East Coast fans don’t understand is that in Orange County, the Angels are our team, but not our life. We can take our kids to the ballpark, but also choose Disneyland or the beach. If Britton wants to sign to be the Yankee setup to the setup man, good for him. Personally, I’d choose a closer’s role, beautiful women, and year-round sun. Here in Socal, it’s about enjoying the journey, not just the finish line.
He obviously loves New York City so your post is moot
Obviously he chose NY so your post is moot. Considering he was born and raised in Santa Clarita, CA and then moved to Texas in HS, the fact that the Yankees offered him the most cash was probably greater than his love for New York City.
You don’t even know what Anaheim’s offer was. And obviously where he was born at didn’t matter to him or his family
Bye Mike Trout
This is a Yankees story, not an Angels story.