The trade that would have sent Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling to the Angels for infielder Luis Rengifo and outfield prospect Andy Pages appears to be dead. A report last week indicated Angels owner Arte Moreno was the one who put the kibosh on it. Moreno confirmed Monday that he did shoot down the LA-LA trade, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, though he wasn’t willing to say why.
“It wasn’t all impatience. There were other things,” Moreno said of the causes for the failed swap, which fell through as the Dodgers waited to acquire Mookie Betts and David Price from the Red Sox (that ended up happening). Now, according to Moreno, the Angels have “moved on.”
Had the Angels gotten Stripling, he’d have looked like one of their most talented starters on paper. The club entered the offseason needing rotation help, and it has added a couple durable veterans in Julio Teheran and Dylan Bundy. It looks as if the the Angels continue to need front-end aid, though, especially with Shohei Ohtani set to stay off the mound for at least the first month and a half of the season.
The Halos did make a legitimate attempt to sign the No. 1 free agent available, right-handed ace Gerrit Cole, as they offered him $300MM over eight years back in December. But the Southern California native instead accepted the Yankees’ record-setting offer of nine years and $324MM. Moreno discussed the Angels’ Cole pursuit, indicating they simply couldn’t match the Yankees’ aggressiveness. “Walking in there and you knew, no matter what I bid, we’re going to get outbid,” he said. “We had a pretty big number out there.”
With the season getting closer, it may now be too late for the Angels to land an impact starter. However, if all goes well into the summer and the Angels are contending, Moreno’s hopeful they’ll find one via trade. The team has “the financial flexibility” for such an addition, according to Moreno, who noted it’s seeking someone “who can substantially help us, not a No. 4 or No. 5.”
General manager Billy Eppler may be tasked with finding that type of starter in a few months, but his future’s uncertain beyond 2020. The Angels exercised his option for this season late last year, though they haven’t made the playoffs since hiring Eppler before 2016, so he could be on shaky ground. It doesn’t seem they’re going to rush into an extension for him just yet. Rather, “As a group, we need to win,” said Moreno, who added, “I probably should fire myself” for the franchise’s recent performance.
the angels will be in the postseason this year. how far they go is anyone’s guess.
Actually, Pages is a Dodgers prospect outfielder who was also headed to the Angels. Your initial graf reads as if it was the other way around.
@Connor Byrne – yes, there were 3 Dodgers and 1 Angels player listed there, but apparently two other Angels prospects were supposed to be announced later going to LAD, any idea who they were?
Nobody knows, and that’s why nobody can say categorically that it was a great deal for the Angels.
You can’t say that A is greater than B, if A = 84 and B = “I have no f#%%ing idea”
He should take his own advice! This is on Arte. If Eppler pulls off that trade, it makes him look great. Good deal for the halos. Stripling may not be the solution, but at least that trade is a step in the right direction.
you don’t even know the details of the trade. the most likely thing happened was angels refused the demand of more/better prospects.
Let your GM do his job. That trade was a massive win for the Angels.
Presumably, though we never did hear what was going back to the Dodgers along with Rengifo (apparently another prospect or two).
A lot of places named Taylor Ward as one of them. So fair to say it wouldn’t been equal value going back.
Exactly, the Dodgers were willing to take less inexchange for the Salary dump of Pederson and Stripling to get under the competitive tax threshold.
Moreno probably didn’t want to help the Dodgers do that after he saw all that Friedman had been doing. No matter to the Dodgers, they will work around this.
As for Anaheim, yes, Moreno should fire himself because like most bad owners, they don’t let their qualified people do their jobs. Moreno has screwed up more trades and signings than made out on them. And I’m an Angels friend/fan.
Yeah had to be, and definitely wasn’t Moreno acting like a spoiled wanna be Jerry Jones and not wanna help the dodgers
Without knowing who the prospects were that the Dodgers asked for, there is no way you can say that with certainty.
Moreno is a carnival barker. All bark, no bite.
It had to be that the dodgers were asking for other prospects that the angels were not willing to give up… Moreno knows the trade was perfect but there’s something that they’re not saying. Like Dodgers drove up the price at the last minute or something
Probably Brandon Marsh
Good idea.
I really think he breaks out this year.
Angels may be finding someway to unload Upton in July or in the off-season.
upton has a full no-trade.
Who would want an old non producing outfielder and Angels would have 1 outfielder left. lol
Upton is 32. Upton was 23rd in wRC+ the prior two years before his injury.
I really think you guys are nuts.
Dodger was too busy tries to get the Betts and Price trade done. Then Boston would not take the pitcher from the Twins, So Dodgers took him. Dodgers probably quit calling the Angels or even didn’t call them back and Art got mad.
Please Arte fire yourself. Better yet sell the team .
r u nuts?
LOL. Don’t think so.
Good owners stay out of the way.
Arte has no Vizion.
Tell that to Jerry Jones too
Angels Owner Arte should have let that deal go through
It was good for the Angels…
Nothing good happens when owners get involved in day to day operations. They should set a budget then sit back and watch the baseball guys go to work.
Watch Maddon make bad move after bad move. Third place
Arte should trade that molestache for a razor
Seemed like a no brainer deal to me. Couldn’t understand why he skipped it. He give up nothing for two decent players. Easy decision
As every0ne else has been pointing out, we only know what the Angels were getting, not all of what the Dodgers were getting. Can’t assess the potential deal.
Yeah but not giving up prospects is what keeps losers losers
He’s such a terrible owner. They go nowhere until he’s gone.
This seems like a pretty fair price for Joc and Ross. I wish DET would make an offer!
There is an error in the article. The deal is not as written.
The trade was
Joc + Ross + Andy Pages to Angels
Luis + ukn Prospect + ukn Prospect to Dodgers
With the 2 unknown prospects(/young players) going to Dodgers said to be “noteworthy” (might not have been that exact word, but think so)
Angels dont really have but about half a dozen “noteworthy” prospects plus a couple that recently graduated off lists that could have been one of the names, so the other two can likely be speculated on fairly accurately
Ahh, I guess that makes more sense.
Maddon is a below average manager. Way overrated. Third place
Yet all Maddon does is manage winning teams. He took over the laughingstock of the league and by year three he had the Rays in the WS. He then leaves and takes over the biggest loser in professional sports and within 2 years the Cubs win a WS. He has averaged 87.5 wins a season and his teams have won 90+ games in 9 of 14 seasons and been to the playoffs 8 of the past 12 seasons.
Coat tail riding on awesome gms
Arte is one of the wrost.
If he were the owner of any other team in the game and did all the micromanaging stuff he does, he would be tarred and feathered on the daily. I cant believe Angels fans so regularly bend over for this guy. Doesn’t make any sense, especially with the club fluctuating between irrelevant to a massive disappointment with an unbelievable track record of destroying every pitchers arm they get ahold of the last decade.
Sell the team!
Living In Orange County I can tell you nobody really gives a shizzz about the Angels in the area-
They are strictly a “call me if you can get there” and your “bringing back the cute rally monkey right?” fan-base-
This is a perfect nesting hole for a guy like Moreno
really? is that why the team averages 3 million people in attendance every year?
@JD That is funny. 3 million fans every year. Top 5 in attendance year after year since Arte bought the team. People care and care passionately in this area.
@JD where in the OC do you live?
…
I live in North County and see and hear a ton of support and excitement. We have many family and friends in South County and see the same. OC seems like the land of Chevy Suburbans with an Angels “A” on the back window.
…
In addition to the aforementioned yearly 3M fans, if you get out to Spring Training (highly recommended), there are thousands of OC fans excited for the coming season (every year). I’ve experienced a lot of passion for this team, but am curious where you are…
Moreno, who noted it’s seeking someone “who can substantially help us, not a No. 4 or No. 5.”
This guy is so out of touch. Stripling would easily be their 1 or 2. Otani wont pitch anywhere near 160 innings… Stripling has never had an ERA above 4.00
To be fair, his career ERA as a starter is 3.71, and that is even heavily influenced by his being one of the teams ‘great only at Dodgers stadium’ pitchers. He has a career 3.89 ERA on road, with 3/4ths of those appearances being out of the bullpen. (If factor for only road starts, I’m sure his ERA is over 4. I just cant get those numbers atm)
Over the past 3 seasons, Stripling has made 23 road starts and has an ERA of 3.78 in those starts.
Whoa crazy that someone got facts all of a sudden on here
Stripling has never pitched more than 122 two innings and would have been the oldest pitcher on the staff. Not just the oldest starter, the oldest pitcher.
Stripling would have been a fine add, Pederson would have been problematic.
Stripling turned 30 last November. He is in his prime.
Thirty is hardly prime. I like Stripling, but he’s never pitched 125 innings and he’s 30 years old.
I’d like to have had him. The Angels could use him, but we don’t know who the Angels would have had to given up, and Pederson would have been problematic.
Adell and Marsh can’t linger in the PCL. It’s not a place conducive to building prospects.
Pederson problematic? He’s a clubhouse leader and fan favorite. If by problematic you mean mean a platoon player, that’s different, Either way your way off in that statement.
Both would’ve upgraded that third place team
Stripling has never had a season without at least 2 trips to the injured list.
Maxed out at 21 starts.
Less than 5 IP per start.
ERA+ of .96 as a starter.
3.71 ERA as a starter and 4.22 as a starter outside of Chavez Ravine.
Stripling is a perfect swing man. A #5 of #6 starter. The kind of guy that can’t stay healthy enough to be counted on as a starter, but is good when available.
I thought the owner’s name was Morono.
1988 and none spending all that money and zilch!
“It wasn’t all impatience. There were other things”…yes like Arte’s butt hurt ego that the Betts trade was first priority for the Dodgers and Joc to the Angels was a salary dump for them.
The Angels haven’t had a pitching staff worth anything in well over a decade. They had the chance to keep Grienke and Arte choose to sink a ton of money into Josh Hamilton instead. Clueless organization that doesn’t learn from previous mistakes, continues to sign players to big money deals that don’t actually make sense to what they actually need.
“The Angels haven’t had a pitching staff worth anything in well over a decade.”
Do you make this stuff up as you go along?
The 2014 staff was incredibly set up. They won the most games in baseball.
Weaver was 31, a year older than Stripling is now.
Wilson was the ace of back to back world series teams in 2011 and 2012 and coming off a all star appearance.
Shoemaker, Skaggs, Richards. They just acquired Heaney.
The team was set. How’d that work out.
One season since 2009 and they got swept by the wild card game winning Royals. That actually helps further my argument, not prove me wrong.
How?.
The Angels allowed two runs in nine innings in game one. They allowed one run in nine innings in game two.
The reason the Angels didn’t advance is because Mike Trout got one hit in that series.
I’m not really sure how that supports your position.
Moreno , sorry you aren’t winning 85 games with that injury prone staff. 100% healthy you wouldn’t win with that AAA staff. You got pissed like a baby on that trade and took your toys and went home. Before that you wasted 35,000,000 on a player you didn’t need so you could flex your ego. I feel sorry for the So Cal fans. No wonder the Dodgers are so popular. I am sure Eppler can find some more pitching off the smoldering pile of garbage and overpay like he always does for old worn out pitching.
Crazy Larry
So is Oakland not winning with their injury prone staff?
Even with A’s pitchers being injured, they come back strong. Manea was out for most of the year, but did you see how damn well he pitched the few starts he got last year? Look at Luzardo when he got called up, pitched like he was in the majors for a while already. Chris Bassitt? He is not well known but pitched pretty well too. Mike Fiers?? 15-04 record last year and killed it . Montas before PED suspension? Easily an all-star. Even with their “injury-prone staff” the A’s got 97 wins and the Angels did not. A’s have a group of talented young pitchers that can get it done.
As I said, cause for optimism, but innings out of the pen and 30 innings by Manaea don’t do much to answer the questions.
Puk and Luzardo had zero starts big leagu
Mike Fiers is a notch below Teheran and people are dissing Teheran left and right.
Fair enough, but to answer your question. YES, A’s can get it done. It’s the young rotation that makes them a good rotation. Somehow A’s pull it off with a low budget. I mean just looking at the early 2000s, Zito, Mulder, and Hudson were all low budget pitchers and got it done. I see a similarity here with Manea, Luzardo, and Puk who many experts in MLB believe will be even better. In terms of Manaea, I am just telling you if he can awesome for a few starts, imagine what he would have done with a full year. Same with Luzardo, which everyone expects to challenge for rookie of the year this season. Even some competition with Puk.
The A’s can get it done, and they can also not get it done. To 2015-2017 the As lost 94, 93 and 87 games. Wins and loses don’t carry over from one season to the next.
I’m not disrespecting the A’s. Those pitchers could be great, but there is a reasonable chance they struggle.
If I was an A’s fan, I’d be very optimistic. Like the A’s, the Angels are going to get their innings from a completely different group of pitchers. There are a lot of talented pitchers on both staffs. There are a lot on injury concerns on both staffs.
To me, the optimism and pessimism seem a bit one sided.
“I probably should fire myself”
Arte, please take your own advice and gtfo! You are a horrible owner, and the Angels will never win with you commanding the ship. Exit stage right, thank you.
Just like walking into the circus…. you know a clown when you see and hear one.
I do HaloShane, and that’s you.
Anyone discussing the timeline of when the talks began?
Before, during, or after the Dodger trade talks gained traction?
That should be considered; considering we are mentioning Arté
Strip and Pederson were perfect fot the Angels. They were practically picked up for nothing. Joc has potential for 40 home runs and strip a 12 to 15 game winner. Too bad Artie pulled a Pelosi Hissy fit and nixed the deal.
Artie nixed the combined 5 war difference that would have gotten the Angels the one of the wild cards.
captnKrunch,
Who were the Angels giving back.
As far as five war? Are you saying the combination of Goodwin/Adell and Patrick Sandoval will combine for a zero WAR? I’ll take that bet.
I’ll take that bet in a heartbeat.
Pederson would have been a 1.2 WAR improvement over Goodwin alone.
Stripling would have been a small improvement at best because he would not make many starts. His best has been 21 starts and he is as injury prone as anyone on the Angels staff.
I loved the trade, but it still would have been only a 2-3 win improvement. I still think that having Pederson in the lineup every day would have allowed Jo Adell to be weaned into the lineup and that would have been a good thing. by next year Adell will be the starter and this will be a moot point.
You have no idea who the Dodgers were asking for in return other than Rengifo and you have no idea what other reasons went into him killing the deal. A hint would be that Stripling has never had a season without at least 2 trips to the injured list.
While his track record is not good, at least Moreno is willing to spend money each year which puts him above many greedy owners in this league. He just needs cede control to his front office and sign the checks.
Like a lot of you, I did a major “WTF” when this trade fell through.
…
That being said, I was listening to Sports Talk XM and recall one of the hosts saying this is a tactic in negotiations to leak the “known” players in the deal while the “unknowns” are still being worked. The fan base gets fired up about the “known” players and theres pressure to get the deal done. Meanwhile, the “sending” club (Dodgers) gets flack for not getting enough, so they tell the receiving club (Angels) to sweeten the deal more…
…
Makes you think a little…that’s pretty much how it played out…
Can we take Artie up on firing himself?
Arte is a stand up guy and he knows that if you refuse a trade for medical reasons that it will negatively affect the player or players earning potential going forward even if they perform well, so he is simply refusing to answer question about why he put the kibosh on this trade. It would have been great if the Orioles and Red Sox organizations had shown the same restraint.
Today Arte addressed a number of former players and other current and former team personnel and said we offered Cole a higher AAV than the Yankees knowing that he was only interested in going to one of 2 teams that were in the playoffs last year and expected to win their division this year. He also said that after signing Rendon we still have enough payroll flexibility for 2020 and beyond to go after any player that we need. Obviously he can’t mentions players by name that are under contract with other teams, but when asked if we could go after the top FA in the market who expected to be asking for 12/420, he said that if Billy determines that any player is a fit that he is under no payroll restrictions. .
Cole took the highest bid that is undisputed. 9 years 324 is just a better offer
Jeez people are soo delusional. I fail to see how Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling were the difference between Angels being a playoff team. GTFO!!! Stripling hasn’t ever pitched over 120 innings nor gone a whole year as a full starter and you expect him to be the best option on the Angels hahaha. Joc pederson ? Lol did you guys forget Angels let Kole Calhoun test free agency, thats literally the same player people are you all really this dumb?
LaFlama. Joc and Kole are two different people. They can’t “literally” be the same player. Are YOU really this dumb?
The LA Times version of this interview includes this tidbit:
Told that fans don’t think the owner’s impatience is a good reason to blow up a trade that would improve the roster, Moreno started, “Well, have you ever met …”
He didn’t go any further.
“I won’t get into it,” he said.
Interpret as you will.
Pages was going to LAA from LAD FYI
Not really LAD MO to demand more in a trade after its agreed upon, they do 10-15 deals a year since 2017 and haven’t ever done something like that
Have to think Arte really just got impatient. Which is horrible…. think he cares more about the Dodger/Angel rivalry than any other player or fan
Honestly, not a Halos fan, but I like Moreno. Tries hard, willing to spend without hesitation, willing to admit he should probably “fire” himself as his moves haven’t paid off. Results can change, effort & commitment generally doesn’t. Anytime he wants to sell the Angels & buy my Mets, I’d welcome it.
They are taking gambles on Bundy and Teheran. Both will give up their healthy share of dingers and don’t have nearly the same groundout potential as Stripling. Joc would have been a nice bat to put into the lineup as well. So basically this is the Angels falling well short again of relevance. Yes they got Rendon for offensive production but offense only gets you so far when they barely addressed their rotation depth that was a problem from last year.
“I’m just glad Arte Moreno isn’t the GM for my favorite baseball team.” – every fan