The Angels wrapped up the 2021 campaign with a disappointing 77-85 record. That marked the club’s sixth straight below-average season, and their fourth consecutive year finishing in fourth place in the AL West.
General manager Perry Minasian met with the media (including Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com and Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) this afternoon to lay out some preliminary plans for the upcoming winter. Unsurprisingly, Minasian acknowledged that pitching will be the club’s top priority. That’s familiar territory for the Angels, who have long had an enviable collection of star position players but haven’t found much success on the mound in recent years. That was again the case in 2021, as Los Angeles hurlers finished the season 22nd in ERA (4.68) and 18th in SIERA (4.22).
The starting rotation, in particular, has long been an issue and that continued to be a weakness this season. While Angels’ starters posted middle-of-the-road strikeout and walk numbers, their collective 4.78 ERA was among the league’s ten worst. Some of the fault surely lies with a defense that finished near the bottom of the league by measure of Defensive Runs Saved and opponents’ batting average on balls in play. Nevertheless, it’s clear the rotation could’ve been better, and the impending free agencies of Alex Cobb and Dylan Bundy only thin that group further.
Cobb has already gone on record about his interest in returning, and it stands to reason the front office could have some interest in extending that relationship. Otherwise, the Angels’ in-house starting staff includes Shohei Ohtani (controllable for two more seasons but who himself expressed openness to an extension), Patrick Sandoval, José Suarez, Jaime Barria, Griffin Canning and rookie Reid Detmers. That’s not a group devoid of talent, but it’s lacking in track record of consistent production and/or durability. Minasian suggested Ohtani, Suarez and Sandoval had locked down season-opening rotation roles but noted that the remaining two or three spots are yet to be determined.
The bullpen figures to be an area of need as well. Excluding Suarez, four Angels’ relievers tossed 20+ innings with an ERA below 4.00. Austin Warren and Mike Mayers will return, but Steve Cishek and closer Raisel Iglesias are soon-to-be free agents, with Iglesias likely in line to land the biggest deal of any reliever this winter. Retaining Iglesias or adding some additional veteran stability to the later innings figures to be almost as high on the priority list as bolstering the rotation will be.
That’s made all the more true by the late-season injury suffered by rookie right-hander Chris Rodriguez, who broke into the big leagues with a 3.64 ERA across 29 2/3 frames on the strength of a massive 54.7% ground-ball rate. Rodriguez, who dealt with a serious of health issues during his time in the minors, landed on the injured list in mid-August due to a lat issue. He didn’t return this year, and Minasian told reporters today that it’s unknown if he’ll be ready for Spring Training as his rehab has progressed rather slowly.
There’s less heavy lifting to do on the position player side, since the impending returns of Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon will immediately go a long ways towards reinvigorating the offense. The middle infield stands as the biggest spot to address, as José Iglesias struggled on both sides of the ball, leading to his release last month. Minasian called shortstop an area of need, expressing some openness to moving second baseman David Fletcher to the left side of the infield if necessary.
Fletcher himself finished the season in a terrible slump, ending the year with a .262/.297/.324 line over 665 plate appearances. His solid prior track record will earn him another shot to put those struggles behind him, but it seems reasonable to expect the Angels to at least kick the tires on the star-studded top of the free agent shortstop class. Landing an external addition at short would allow the club to pencil Fletcher back in at a position where he’s already a plus defender and to concentrate on a bounceback at the plate.
There are some clear holes to plug on this roster, with the impact potential of external additions obviously dependent upon payroll. Minasian said he’s not yet discussed the payroll outlook for next season with owner Arte Moreno. The Angels entered 2021 with a franchise-record player budget in the $182MM range, estimates Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. The club already has almost $120MM in guaranteed commitments on the books next season, but the arbitration class is one of the league’s smallest. Only Mayers and Max Stassi figure to land substantial raises, and even those players will probably land in the $3-5MM range.
That’d leave $50+MM for Minasian and company if Moreno is willing to match this year’s spending levels. It would set the stage for a very interesting winter in Orange County, with plenty of opportunity for Minasian and his staff to make meaningful upgrades to a roster that has a few significant deficiencies that need to be addressed.
Will Arte have the patience to let Perry’s Hail Mary all pitcher draft come to fruition? I really hope so, one way or another.
Edit: I mean let Perry see it come to fruition as a member of the Angel’s org
Minasian off-season pitching plans: Acquire any kind of pitching at all. Just get a bunch of crap and tell all our fans we went after top targets and they didn’t want to sign here. Hey. It would be halfway true if they said that.
It must be a sad and lonely existence being a Mets fan. We understand your pain but laugh anyway.
Angels gave the Orioles about 7 pitching prospects for Bundy and Iglesias also. Didn’t really work out
Iglesias came from the Reds.
wrong Iglesias @cool
Not meant as dampener, but word of caution on amateur pitchers.
I felt that way after Sox 2017 draft. They went and took 4 high powered (hard throwing) guys in 1st 6 rounds and several more later in draft, Big change for them. 1 (Schellenger) who threw up to 100 and sat in mid 90’s at Seton Hall has been mostly injured and when does pitch? Is low to mid 90’s and struggles at A-AA levels relieving. Another is relieving (not well) at AA and 1 (Scherff) struggled as a hard throwing starter until 2021, until changing to relief and did very well, then was traded at the deadline.
1 (Aaron Perry) was found to have had a fractured arm after the draft, then had to have TJ soon after that. He has barely thrown since the draft.
All these were high powered/hard throwing arms given over slot cash. From 2017 pitchers? Tanner Houck has done WELL and Kutter Crawford made 1-2 starts as a potential swing guy up and down sort.
Pitchers are a volatile thing. Wait a cpl years and if u have Milb package? Try and catch a few games of these guys if u can.
The big difference is Matt Swanson the angels scouting director is very respected. If you look at the bunches of pitchers they’ve drafted, since he was they are really good.
Duh.. the question is will Arte allow Perry to build back the player development that Arte gutted!
How did Arte gut their minor league system? No, they drafted poorly and have for many years. When you draft between 10-12 year after year and the Dodgers draft at or near the bottom every year and yet it is the Dodgers with the never ending supply of major league read talent– it’s your assessors. That, and they have not invested in Latin America properly. And they not have made enough trades where they get back slot money to corner the elite Hispanic players.
I hope they don’t go after back of the rotation arms. They’ve done this for 8 years straight and it hasn’t worked. They need to go after the very top of the FA SP class
“Go after” is not the problem; closing the deal and actually getting these pitchers in Angel red is the issue here.
They went after Cole, we’re quickly told Wheeler wanted the East coast, and we’re told the same about Charlie Morton.
What’s concerning is that guys like Cole and Bauer (yes that was a bullet dodged) have indirectly stated that the Angels analytics department is not as advanced nor as enticing as others.
*This* is a area of need and concern for the FO as they continue their quest to acquire top tier arms.
Pujols coming off the books this year is huge and Upton coming off next year will even bigger. The outfield is fine as is with Trout, Marsh in CF, and Adell, and I think Fletch should stay at 2nd- he’s 95th pctile in OAA. The player development staff really need to get on Walsh and Adell for their defense though. I think Iglesias and one of the big FA starters should be the priorities (preferably a RHP.) Bullpen has a lot of intriguing pre-arb guys, so maybe Perry should only go after a couple veterans on 1-year deals in addition to Raisel. Cobb should be re-signed for depth.
There still exists a gaping hole at short and, this might sound crazy, but Baez could be the answer. Not sure how he’ll mesh with the clubhouse, but Angels fans don’t tend to boo (so he won’t boo back haha) plus he’ll have some familiarity with Maddon. There are numerous better options in the shortstop class, but Baez is the second-best defender out of the big FA names and I doubt Correa would even consider Anaheim. Getting him on top of addressing the pitching would put the team at way over $180M so I’m not too sure that’ll happen, plus Baez is going for a $100M commitment which is a big yikes from me. Just a crazy thought
I don’t see them spending big on a SS, not with Ohtani needing an extension, a backend bullpen and at least 1 premium SP: Rumor from inside a few mos ago suggested going inexpensive on SS.
“Inexpensive on SS”
Isn’t that code for Arte wanting to offer Correa/Baez/Story some insane 7-10year contract though??! Lol
Haha that’s good
Pujols coming off the books is only huge if they invest it wisely, plugging multiple holes with the ultimately fairly limited cash. No more of this Big Name/Big Salary garbage they’ve been doing
Upton coming off the books will be literally meaningless unless they let Ohtani walk. Trout and Rendon both have raises coming, and Ohtani is set to balloon at same time Upton is gone. He makes upwards of 20 million and they will be paying more for just Trout+Rendon+Othani than they did for Trout+Rendon+Ohtani+Upton
Didn’t Upton make $23 million this season and will make $28 million next? Ohtani will make $5.5 million in 2022 and then has his final year of arbitration 2023 when he will probably double that amount. Be generous and say he will make $12-13 million in 2023. He won’t get expensive until 2024.
All teams just got a big raise. They can afford to spend. With their TV deal the Angels could easily go $200 million without breaking a sweat.
No Baez– he is a swing and miss guy. When he gets hot he’s great, but the swings are horrible. I think they’ll look to trade for Mondesi from KC, or something similar. Bobby Witt will be KC’s starting shortstop next year. A short term fix like Mondesi would work, and they have the assets to get him.
Perfect matchup for the Angels to land a shortstop: Paul DeJong. He’s a solid defender, has a cheap and controllable contract, and is a perfect bounce back candidate at the plate with a change of scenery. They line up too well here.
I like that way better than my crazy Baez theory lol. Opens up the door for Story in STL and the price tag would probably only be equivalent to the second round pick STL would lose due to Story’s eventual QO
Of course if seeking a SS could talk to AZD-Backs about Nick Ahmed or if looking to go cheaper talk to pirates about either Kevin Newman or Cole Tucker for cash ( international bonus $$$ ideally) in tuckers case or low level prospect in Newman’s case 31 – 50 rank ( someone who doesnt need a 40 man roster spot)
I found an error in this article to add to the serious of errors on this site. 😉
I hope it wasn’t too series.
You may want to proofread your own comments before jumping all over someone else’s work. Just saying.
What is it with people who treat finding mistakes as if they just found Waldo? Lol
Please show me what needs proofreading so I can master the art of being like you.
This article literally states that Chris Rodriguez had “a serious of health issues”.
Serious has a different meaning than series.
Feel free to let me know when your brains can comprehend this.
Barring a lockout, I’d imagine that the LTT would be raised. Go get Scherzer and Ray and that still leaves the Angels a little room for bullpen help. You have another year before the need to extend Shohei.
This team needs a dependable from of them rotation arm a line some bullpen help. Look at what the giants did plucking guys from the scrap heap. With a healthy trout, rendon, ohtani, upton, adell, Walsh, fletcher, etc this is a top 5 offense that needs adept pitching.
That marked the club’s sixth straight below-average season, and their fourth consecutive year finishing in fourth place in the AL West.
A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY.
Am I the only one that wants to make Ohtani the closer?
He would DH every game,then head to the mound in the 9th. You don’t have to burn another player.
He’s an above average starter.
Raghetti did it. Stanley,Lowe,Smoltz,Eck,they have all done it as well.
He’s gonna pitch 3-4 innings a week.
Not necessarily a terrible idea.
Maybe some day but his value is so much more at SP now.
he’s the Angels best starter.
when does he warm up? If he’s up in the 8th inning, it’s impossible.
I agree with everyone that Scherzer would be a great addition to the Angels staff on a short term, high dollar value contract. But I do not believe he will leave the Dodgers.
Scherzer seems very happy with the Dodgers and has been exceedingly successful. And the Dodgers love short term, high dollar value contracts.
As a side note, Grienke’s name comes up alot, but I believe his best days are behind him. Ditto for Verlander coming off TJS.
Like all of this
“And the Dodgers love short term, high dollar value contracts.” Yes, because Bauer has worked out so well for them.
Lmao stymeedone strikes again with the ridiculous comments. Bauer was working out gloriously for LA before the allegations came out. And frankly that whole thing should have been dealt with behind closed doors.
$40 million for 17 starts is not glorious. Neither was his 4.03 FIP. Bauer’s sticky stuff advantage was just about to go away when he was put on administrative leave. 99.99999% chance he will never pitch in the majors again, and rightfully so. No team will touch him with the revelations about his repeated sexual conduct regardless of his guilt in a court of law. A restraining order is public. It can’t be dealt with behind closed doors.
“$40 million for 17 starts is not glorious.”
It was about halfway through the season when he was placed on administrative leave. Which means only $20m of that had been paid out. I said Bauer was working out gloriously for LA BEFORE the allegations came out and $20m for 17 starts of 2.59 ERA ball is very much glorious.
“Bauer’s sticky stuff advantage was just about to go away when he was put on administrative leave.”
That is pure speculation.
“99.99999% chance he will never pitch in the majors again, and rightfully so.”
Do you think the Dodgers are just going to release him and eat the remainder of his contract? Because that is the only way that is true. He is probably going to get a lengthy suspension but it won’t be for the entire remainder of his contract and there’s no way he’s opting out at this point.
“A restraining order is public. It can’t be dealt with behind closed doors.”
Doesn’t mean they have to let the media put the entire proceeding on blast.
It all depends on if the Dodgers still have to pay Bauer? Their payroll is over $300MM now, and they have to deal with the free agency of Corey Seager,– and Kenley Jaensen, Kershaw– either resigning them or replacing them. There is only so much money– even for the Dodgers.
At this point actual angel fans will realize, we are not competing anytime soon. The 50/60 million we have to spend is gonna be wasted. Arte is gonna force Perry to sign someone for way more than they deserve to be able to market. Never signing the multiple relievers we need. I wish they’d be as smart as the low budget teams. At this point trade ohtani
Don’t forget Perry helped build those great ATL bullpens. That’s good experience.
Love your positive attitude! Don’t look up– the sky is falling!
Time to increase the budget after years +\- $170-180 million. Time to eat some profit Arte and take ownership of your bad contracts. Push budget to 200 -210 million.
Sign Scherzer 3/100millon, give Iglesias QO 19mm, sign 1 of Jon Gray, Eduardo Rodriguez, 15mm per year, or trade for Sonny Gray 10mm, wait out the SS situation until one falls due to competition as teams fill the position 25mm. Add 3 to the bullpen or 2 if Chris Rodriguez comes back and keep him in the pen, similar to STL has for years with power pitchers who are injury prone. STL is successful developing these RP.
When have the angels ever been pitching heavy AND have horrible positions players?
I feel like my whole life I’ve heard the Angels need to focus on pitching but seldom do.
Joyner, grich, decinces, downing, Reggie, hendrick.
90s Anderson, salmon, Edmonds, snow, chili, glaus, erstad.
Pujols, Kendrick, trumbo, trout, hamilton.
HOF/borderline hof position
players often stacked.
’82 Angels one of my favorite all time teams. Had a steady rotation but absurdly low K totals and no kind of shutdown option on the bullpen. The lineup was awesome.
‘82 was a solid team! ‘86 was more balanced… Three 15+ game winners Witt, Mccaskill, Sutton …plus Candyman , a closer Moore and young Chuck Finley in the BP.
Only the entire 1970s.– Nolan Ryan, Frank Tannana, Bill Singer, Andy Messersmith, Clyde Wright, Dean Chance– and yet they had a year that the most homeruns hit on the team was 12 by LeRoy Stanton. They would lose every game 1-0, 2-1, or 3-2.
The tax threshold is irrelevant. Moreno has his personal salary cap of 180m-ish or less. He will not increase his cap so we have to figure Minasian has about 50m to spend. That will buy 2 middle starters at 15m each, a couple of cheap BP bouncebackers at 5m each, and a SS past his prime at 10m. That’s what we can expect this winter. Past behavior is the best predicter of future behavior.
PS – I think the best way to bolster the pitching is to trade a young potential star. I would package Adell and Rengifo as an offer to get some young promising pitching. We have to give to get. Adell has the most value and for me, Marsh is not an option. Mayfield is a good 4th IF.
Halo11 will disagree with me.
You’re spot on there, imo. If they go the FA route they may be able to get Ray and Gray, then you’re either going cheap in the pen or at SS.
If they’d trade Adell they would be able to get a controllable young SP, which is what they need. It’s fairly inexpensive to fill a COF spot.
Which promising young pitching did you have in mind?
Don’t the Angels have a few of those already… Detmers, Suarez, Canning, C. Rodriguez??
I was thinking of someone like John Means. It may (probably) take a second lesser piece from the LAA, but Means fits the Angels timeline better and Adell would fit the O’s timeline.
tool – I have to default to the scouts and the people who get paid to find the pitchers. I think Canning has had plenty of time to rise up and just hasn’t. Rodriguez is too new and unproven. Same with Detmers. Suarez is a lock for the rotation already. We need guys who are under control for a year or two and are not bouncing back and forth between the majors to AAA to “figure things out”. Our pitching staff as it stands has some good arms but lacks consistency in it’s depth.
Marquez or Castillo? Adell/Rengifo/Canning plus a prospect probably isn’t enough.
I don’t think Mayfield makes the team– they’ll keep Gosselin who has more versatility playing the infield and the outfield, and who is a much better hitter. And then they’ll need a 4th outfielder– and that won’t be Upton because he can’t play center or right. And he’s not playing over Marsh– so he will be DFA’d. Another bonehead mistake by Eppler who bid against himself and gave Upton an extra year. But I certainly see the Angels trading Adell as a strong possibility.
I forgot about Gosselin. I sure like Mayfield’s defense though. He needs to figure out the bat. The Upton thing is a poop sandwich. Do you pay 28m to a guy who isn’t on your team anymore? He hurts the team so you can’t start him every day. I think DFA is the way to go and know he’s off the books next year. We have Fowler coming back for outfield duty too. So we have options if we trade Adell.
Did Chris Rodriguez suffer serious health issues in the minors or a series of health issues? Something isn’t right with that sentence. (I’m assuming a series of health issues, it’s too early to google his history)
laser – when you say “it’s too early to google his history”, do you mean it’s too early in Rodriguez’ career, or it’s too early in the day and you are still a little sleepy?
It’s still so baffling why they went with Rendon (where they already had internal options at 3B) over Gerrit Cole. Im guessing the whole “Cole goes to his fave team growing up” part only happened because his local area team where he grew up didn’t offer him $350M like they easily could and should have.
I have no evidence, but it feels like Angels FO is permanently scared of “wasting” money on a SP in case they end up like Mike Hampton. But they just “wasted” money on Trout and Rendon this year in that same sense.
Angels FO and ownership is one of the very worst in MLB -despite- spending money. Get Arte that rotten scumbag out of there and get someone who knows how to actually build a team.
They made the 2nd best offer to Cole but were beat by a ridiculous offer. Ridiculous! They then pivoted to the best offensive player in 2019 MVP candidate Rendon. As for ownership, Arte is trying. So many teams would love Arte as owner. The Pirates come inmediately to mind.
They’re going to get Semien for SS. As an A’s fan, this kills me, but I feel it’s going to happen
My guess is the Angels sign Baez at SS.
Very well could be. But if it is Moreno will push all in with two big pitchers in the rotation and bullpen help as well. I can see it happening.
I wonder Bundy could be a bullpen arm.
Didn’t he have a stint as closer in Baltimore?
He has the ability to miss bats, but just hasn’t showed he can consistently be good for 6 innings.
Throw money at a #1 starter, another good starter, and a SS.
Use their research to find bargains for bullpen and the other holes.
I believe they need starting pitching, so bad that they shouldn’t throw money and Iglesias. He was very good this year. But he has shown to be very volatile majority of his career. You can find sold bullpen options for better bargain.
You’re not wrong, but they’d need an ace willing to take their money, too. I think Max stays with the LAD.
How much do you think R. Iglesias commands as a free agent?
I’m guessing around $15m AAV, 2+ years, maybe up to 4 years.
Something like 3/45m or 4/60m with the final yr a possible buyout/option or guarantee depending on demand.
I like 2/30 with a team option for a 3rd year.
This is the off-season for Arte to break the bank. $50 mil aint gonna do it. He needs at least one ace, and one #3 pitcher. We all know Shohei is a pitch away from another arm issue. With so many shortstops available, Perry should be able to land someone a notch above Fletch at SS for a reasonable price. Fletch is a GREAT #9 hitter, and excellent at 2B. With Upton gone next year, rather than arbitration, that’s the moment to offer Shohei the monster deal (provided he’s healthy all ’22). Trout and Rendon need to go visit Cal Ripken and mimic his former year-round fitness program that kept him healthy year in and year out. Yoga, yoga, yoga, too.
Looking at the top tier pitching free agents, I have a hard time seeing the Angels reeling one of them in. The Dodgers, Giants, Blue Jays, Padres, and Astros will all have at least as much, if not more, money and better teams, so the likes of Ray, Gausman, Scherzer, etc. figure to stay put rather than move on, and if they do, the Angels ain’t it.
UNLESS they SIGNIFICANTLY overpay for someone like Ray or Gausman. Is it worth it at this point? It could go either way. But I would bet against the Angels getting any of those guys at this stage. You could attach a prospect to Upton and ship him to Detroit or Colorado, a la Cozart, to save some money. But the better option would be to trade one of Marsh or Adell and hope Upton finally bounces back. The trade market is probably the only real chance the Halos have at adding an ace. Then, maybe you get Gray or Stroman, resign Cobb, and then you’re at least better than you were. That is, until you turn your attention to the bullpen…
Assuming they perform as expected and don’t forget how to pitch, Gray and Stroman would be an upgrade over Bundy/Heaney, so it’s already an improvement.
My best guess today, and this is subject to change tomorrow, is that the Angels resign Cobb, sign or trade for a 2nd SP, trade for a defense first SS and sign a defense first backup catcher.
As for the BP, I think the Angels will go with alot of their young arms, but add a high leverage/closer type or two via trade and/or free agency.
Incredibly worried about how Angels are going to spend the money!!!! NGL adding Scherzer would be a dream come true for this team… but in retrospect, seeing how the Gerrit Cole chase turned out and watching this season, is adding just one or two top tier SP really going to change that much???
Can’t deny the risk involved in signing ANY FA pitcher… due to age/wear and tear/injury risk vs value vs premium of paying for what the player has done previously vs what they will do in the future…
I am starting to be incredibly confused and baffled as to why the Angels just haven’t gone full out Tampa Bay Rays mode with their pitching staff and piece together arms… instead of trying to make big splashes on top tier SP and whiffing… Tampa won 100 games with their staff and the only SP you would really call an established traditional starter was Glasnow… and he blew out his arm 🙁
I wish they would continue to draft extremely heavy on arms, but stop pursuing established “starters” as either reclamation projects (Harvey/Cobb/Bundy/Quintana/Cahill) or top FA upcoming (Scherzer/Kershaw/Gausman)
I believe the core is good enough to turn this around super quickly and unexpectedly… but I just hope they are thinking outside the box and not relying on traditional spending… not working
With that said…. I would crawl across burning coals to land Scherzer and Kershaw and Gausman in a second just to make it appear like we are moving in the right direction… but would honestly in the back of my mind think it’s not going to turn out well
Avocado – “I wish they would continue to draft extremely heavy on arms..”
The 2021 draft was a good start in that direction. We drafted 21 pitchers, many of whom are upper level ready. I question our ability to develop them though.
Angels will sign Bauer once the Dodgers release him…Once he’s cleared of charges(Allegedly)
@kingsfan. I was thinking maybe Bauer too on a 1 year deal but I don’t know if he passes the Arte/Perry “good character” test. Even prior to the allegations, I don’t think he was known as a good locker-room guy. Maybe he’s great IDK.
Bauer may be out of baseball… so even thinking about hat is way premature. He’s in real trouble– and not just with the league, but criminally.
After everything that happened with Skaggs, you wanna bring 50 Shades of Bauer in now too? Hard pass.
First things first… for the love of God, do NOT extend Shohei Ohtani this off-season. Do NOT pay top of the market for a player who just had the most incredible two-way player year in 100 years. Instead, let him do it again, and then consider paying him.
Trades:
OF Jo Adell, SP Griffin Canning, and 2nd baseman David Fletcher to the Cleveland Guardians for SP Shane Bieber.
1st baseman Jared Walsh and SP Jamie Barria to the Tampa Bay Rays for SP Shane Baz.
SP Reid Detmers, OF Jordyn Adams, RP Austin Warren to the Milwaukee Brewers for RP Josh Hader.
RP Oliver Ortega and RP Jose Quijada to the San Diego Padres for 1st baseman Eric Hosmer and SP MacKenzie Gore. Angels assume all of Eric Hosmer’s contract.
Off-season Free Agent Signings, Re-Signings, Releases (Not to Re-Sign), and Qualifying Offers:
Release: SP Dylan Bundy, RP Steve Cishek, SP Andrew Cobb, OF Dexter Fowler, RP Junior Guerra, OF Jon Jay, and C Kurt Suzuki.
Attempt to find a suitable trade partner for Justin Upton and eat 85% of his remaining contract, equating to $23,800,000. If he is unable to find a partner and is unwilling to waive his NTC, release him and eat the entire $28M.
Qualifying Offer: RP Raisel Iglesias (Assume he turns it down, re-sign to a 3yr/$45M contract.)
Sign 2nd baseman Chris Taylor to a 4yr/56M contract.
Sign RP Andrew Chafin to a 3yr/$30M contract.
Sign RF Kole Calhoun to a 1yr/$2M contract.
Sign RP Kirby Yates to a 1yr $5M contract.
2022 Angels 26-Man Roster:
Catcher: Max Stassi ($1.5M)
1st Base: Eric Hosmer ($21M)
2nd Base: Chris Taylor ($14M)
Shortstop: Livan Soto ($600K)
3rd Base: Anthony Rendon ($36.5M)
Left fielder: Mike Trout ($37.1M)
Center fielder: Brandon Marsh ($600K)
Right fielder: Kole Calhoun ($2M)
Designated Hitter: Shohei Ohtani ($5.5M)
Back-up Catcher: Matt Thaiss ($600K)
Middle Infielder: Franklin Barreto ($600K)
Corner Infielder: Jack Mayfield ($600K)
Back-up Outfielder 1: Taylor Ward ($750K via Angels pay raise)
Back-up Outfielder 2: Phil Gosselin ($1.25M via Arbitration)
Starting Pitcher 1: Shane Bieber ($8M, estimated arbitration)
Starting Pitcher 2: Shohei Ohtani ($5.5M, not to be counted twice)
Starting Pitcher 3: Shane Baz ($570,500)
Starting Pitcher 4: Patrick Sandoval ($600K)
Starting Pitcher 5: Jose Suarez ($600K)
Starting Pitcher 6: MacKenzie Gore ($600K)
Bullpen Pitcher 1: Mike Mayers ($600K)
Bullpen Pitcher 2: Chris Rodriguez: ($600K)
Bullpen Pitcher 3: Sam Bachman ($600K)
Bullpen Pitcher 4: Kirby Yates ($5M) Estimated return about May/June. This roster spot can be fluid (Offense or Pitching) until Yates returns.
Bullpen Pitcher 5: Andrew Chafin ($10M)
Bullpen Pitcher 6 (Set-up): Josh Hader ($11M, estimated arbitration)
Bullpen Pitcher 7 (Closer): Raisel Iglesias ($15M)
Line-up:
1. Chris Taylor
2. Shohei Ohtani
3. Mike Trout
4. Anthony Rendon
5. Eric Hosmer
6. Kole Calhoun
7. Max Stassi
8. Brandon Marsh
9. Livan Soto
Total money spent on the 2022 roster: $203,770,500.
Uhhh, no Fletcher in the starting lineup? That’s a head scratcher. Kole Calhoun in right? I don’t think either will happen.
Fletcher was traded in this scenario to get Bieber
Matt, that was awesome. You put a lot of time and effort into your off-season recommendations for the Angels.
Your plan would be tough to implement, but if done would result in a good looking, playoff bound team.
Thanks for taking the time to put together your recommendations and share them on MLBTR. I hope you get good feedback.
I doubt the Guardians (man, that’s weird) or the Rays will want to make those proposed trades. The Padres *might.*
They could sign Scherzer for a couple years though.
@Matt Interesting scenario. I personally prefer the current line up at less than $120M compared to your proposed lineup
1. Fletcher
2. Ohtani
3. Trout
4. Rendon
5. Walsh
6 Adell
7. Marsh
8 Stassi
9 Rengifo or minor upgrade / FA signing.
I dont think Kole Calhoun, Hosmer, Soto and Taylor are the answers to the Angel’s woes. I like Adell’s chances to continue improve over the Calhoun or Hosmer chance for a revival.
Also, $40M+ is way too much too allocate to the bullpen. I mean I am sure you are frustrated by the bullpen results this year, but that is a bit extreme. No team is going to pay 3 pitchers closer salaries.
SD is not giving up M. Gore, and they really aren’t giving him up for our garbage. Kole Calhoun back on a one year-inexpensive deal makes sense, and would give Adell another half season to mature. It would also eventually provide a nice four man outfield. Packaging Canning with Adell is highly likely for a premium arm, but I don’t see why Cleveland would surrender Bieber– and they’d want more than that. I like Detmers now and for the future– no reason to give him up for Hader– Iglesias is a fine closer and there are other big arms available through free agency that they don’t have to give up important building blocks.
Delete your account. Dumbest most far fetched idea ever.
K – “We all know Shohei is a pitch away from another arm issue.”
Actually none of us know that. No one was more skeptical than me about his durability this year. He proved me way wrong. He is a front end starter who can hit better than most players out there.
Is that Suarez in the photo? I thought it was Bartolo Colon for a second
Has anyone looked at their team WAR? Position players had only a 7.7 WAR, and pitchers posted a 14.6 WAR. Backwards when you look at where they ranked statistically. But that 7.7 also includes -6 dWAR. That of course is losing Trout and Rendon for most of the year and the terrible glove performance by Jose Iglesias. In a normal Trout and Rendon season, the Angels would probably get about 15-17 WAR from those two. Just a league average SS overall would
Oops, hit the button by accident.
Anyways, continuing,..
… add another 2 WAR. FanGraphs even has both CF and 3B each at 0.8 WAR. So just add Trout and Rendon from there. Based on that, the Angels could’ve actually contended for a playoff spot even with the current pitching staff. After all, even with Trout and Rendon out, there was a stretch where they were 37-27 after starting 19-27. A big reason was getting rid of a lot of bad eggs on their staff, and going with their young arms that are just about Major League ready. This would all explain snagging a playoff spot (if they did) with a team ERA that was 12th in the AL. They did play a lot of low-scoring games down the stretch. All of this tells me that the Angels do not have to go all out on free agency. They should stick with their youth and just supplement the remaining holes.