Angels owner Arte Moreno is leaving little uncertainty as to his club’s offseason intentions, judging by comments made to reporters on Thursday. “Payroll will go up next year,” Moreno declared today, according to a tweet from Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times (link).
After signing manager Joe Maddon to a fairly lucrative three-year, $12MM managerial contract, it appears that Moreno and executive Billy Eppler may have their eyes on a few of free agency’s big game targets. In fact, Moreno’s historical willingness to spend may have been a key benefit to the managing job that Maddon accepted: “Obviously, Arte’s never been worried about spending money,” Maddon told reporters last week when asked if the club’s past openness to big-dollar deals was a selling point in the skipper’s decision to come on board in Anaheim (hat tip to The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya for that quote).
It remains to be seen how, exactly, the Angels will go about expanding a payroll that checked in at roughly $160MM in 2019. The name of Gerrit Cole has already been tied frequently to the Angels in recent weeks, as the pitcher’s Southern California roots and the club’s longstanding lack of pitching depth appear to make the two parties a logical fit. Trevor Cahill’s $9MM 2019 salary will come off the books this winter, and the club could also save $13MM in declining their club option on Kole Calhoun. If payroll will indeed exceed the $160MM, then the club should have some financial breathing room even after accounting for modest arbitration raises for players like Tommy La Stella and Andrew Heaney.
Oakland has a club option on Petit, not the Angels.
This author is more concerned with using fancy words and phrases out of a thesaurus than reporting on any given player’s proper team. Lol
Which words came out of a thesaurus? Did you make it to high school? Nothing fancy in this article.
Southpaw is barely literate, so all of the “big” words intimidate him.
Given his apparent penchant for railing against sesquipedalian verbosity, I move we entertain southpaw’s position by dispensing only such unto him henceforth.
Thanks, Shakespeare, now go back to your Draft Kings and Strat-O-Matic baseball addiction.
Wow! If those your fancy words, I’d hate to see your simple list!
Such a funny mistake
where did it say Petit in the article? It says Angels have a club option on Kole Calhoun.
It previously said Petit before it was edited. Why would I have made a comment about something that wasn’t in the article lmao.
He’s saying they have room in the payroll for Cole.
Where?
“Between the lines”
“Between the lines” Press conference Dec 1st introducing the new Angels, Cole, Strasburg, Chapman, and Rendon.
Not even the Yankees can afford to add that much expensive high end talent
It’s “Between the lines” wink..wink
Oh yes they could.
Between the lines? More like between the cheeks? Put your money where your mouth is? Put your money where your farts come from?
Moreno, give us October Trout. Soto gives the novice fan a TV face for the sport. But it should be a Trout.
Spend till your butt bleeds so we can get our man on the stage.
More like Cole and either MadBum or Wheeler + some lower end guys. If they happen to miss on Cole and Strasburg opts out then maybe Stras instead and slightly better lower end guys. I don’t think the Angels have a chance of signing both Cole and Strasburg. They definitely don’t stand a chance of signing Rendon or Chapman at all. I mean… They could but it would be philly style “stupid money” spent. They need to concentrate on starting pitching and if they miss on Cole pushing that money towards Rendon instead would just be stupid. The Angels should be looking at a free agent wish list of 1. Cole 2. Strasburg 3. MadBum 4. Wheeler. If they miss on all or most of those guys buying Rendon or Chapman won’t fix their biggest problem. It’s also not good for the halos that Texas is moving into a new ballpark and raising payroll as well. I expect Texas to go after Rendon harder than the Angels do. Unless of course the Angels miss out on their top picks and just feel like they have to spend $. The Angels are my favorite at this point to land Cole though. Biggest need in the SP department. $ to spend. Star players that need support (I.e. Trout). Home state never hurts. I think they probably acquire MadBum or Wheeler too. I think Rendon goes to Texas and Chapman stays a Yankee. Anyone else wanna throw predictions out?
If straus pots out he’s coming to San Diego you can book it
Opts
You could be right. I don’t know that I could “book it” though.
Stras needs to be with the Pads. He really does. He is an SD player thru and thru and his head coach at SD state was none other than the best Padre of all time. Arguably the best pure hitter since Babe Ruth. I am a Braves fan and I want Stras on my team for selfish reasons. I have to openly admit that in a perfect world, Stras would be a Padre. I have to say though… Why would he want to leave a team that (at this point with a 2-0 world series lead) is likely to win a world series for a team that finished in last place? I could see him doing that though. Strasburg belongs in San Diego. Mr. Padre Tony Gwynn thought so and coached him at San Diego State University. I hope he does end up a Padre. He is a great player and that’s where he belongs. San Diego might be a last place team this season, but they won’t be next season. I see San Diego as a possible 2nd place team next season. I just hope that Preller gets it right and stops signing big long term contracts for guys like Hosmer while also trading for guys like Kemp. There is no doubt in my mind that Preller is a smart guy so I hope he learned from his mistakes. Yeah… In a perfect world, I hope San Diego brings Steven Strasburg back home. The Padres are one of the few teams with both payroll and farm system to support it.
I do have to mention that I love Tony Gwinn. I love him to the point that I could never understand why anyone else doesn’t love him. He is the best pure hitter MLB has ever seen since Ty Cobb. He hit .394 one season and retired with a career batting average of .330. That is insane. He died of salival gland cancer that was caused by dipping tobacco. I am a tobacco user myself and his experience makes me ashamed of myself for continuing the use. Tony Gwinn is probably the best modern era pure hitter. I hope Stras goes to his home team that has a high payroll and a large farm system. The Padres are also going to have to fix the Will Myers/Hosmer payroll problem at she same time, though. San Diego has money to spend but not enough to eat the 2 major bad contracts they have while paying for guys like Stras and Machado considering they are a last place team. The Pads have a great farm system but I hope it isnt wasted being spent on older more expensive talent thru trades. San Diego is in an odd situation. They have great immediate promise yet are a last place team. Strasburg would be a smart acquisition. Hosmer and Myers were borderline idiot contracts. San Diego needs to have a GM who can minimize the negative impact of those deals. I don’t know if Preller is even capable of admitting his own mistakes. Much less rectifying them. Preller spent a lot of money on a last place team. I know Manny Machado’s $300 million was supposed to help for the future, but I don’t think anyone expected his acquisition would still leave the Padres in last place.
If he pots out, he’s going to Colorado.
Nowadays any MLB player can “pots out” at many more place than Colorado. Colorado was just the first place. Any MLB player can “pots out” in Boston, any California team and at this point even Atlanta Ga. as well. I am sure their are many other places. I get your joke but I don’t get why you specifically mentioned “Colorado” as the place. I am not a pot smoker myself at all but I know for a fact you can legally buy and smoke it in many other states. Hence: the laws passed during both of the last 2 elections.
If it goes like years before they sign Wheeler to a long term deal where he needs TJS half way through the season.
Why is Rendon in this conversation? I have not read a word about the Angels pursuing him. More importantly, we don’t need him.
Rendon is not coming to the Angels. I don’t know that, but I’d be shocked.
It all started with Bocephus. I think he was being sarcastic but he claimed that I’d you read “between the lines” of this post it is obvious by December 1 the Angels will have already signed Cole, Strasburg, Chapman and Rendon. I am pretty sure he was just joking to try and make fun of the author that made this post. Then again who knows what he meant? I didn’t read anything to remotely imply the author thought that was even close to possible and I have read many serious comments on this site that made far more ludicrous predictions. You would have to ask Bocephus though. For the record I think he was joking. The joke made very little sense though. I guess he was trying to imply that MLBTR is overstating how much money the Angels will spend? I don’t know. I do think the Angels are going to spend a lot of money and land Cole and more. I think that is what the article says so even if I’m right about him joking the joke makes no sense.
Pitching in Colorado would make just about any Pitcher pot out.
This team will need more than Cole in rotation to have a legit chance of playing in the post season.
Cole alone would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 30M and that takes them past where payroll has been so not sure Cole plus minor league deal bandaids saves there season.
The team is staring at 20+ Wins to make up in the standings vs not one but two teams, and they dont even have a clear case at being the 3rd best team in the division.
The level of dumpster fire your team has to be to win between 60-80 games a year while rostering Mike Trout, at rock bottom prices for a while no less, is staggering. If Trout ends his career as an Angel having made one playoff appearance total in his career LAA should be automatically contracted. Make the playoffs with Trout or lose your franchise free deal.
Did you read the article? Payroll will go up next year.
After Calhoun is let go the Angels will be $50 million under the CBT after arbitration cases. Room for Cole and another good starter.
After taking Cole out of the Astros rotation and improving the rotation further the Angels will be contending next season.
Nope. Cole will likely cost $35 Million a year, that leaves $15 Million for that other good starter, a catcher and arbitration raises. Even with Cole, they’re third best in the division.
I could see Angels going after Cole and Bumgarner but they will probably be competing with the Dodgers and Padres for both. They may be competing with the Giants for Cole as well. Not to mention, the Yankees.
When did LAA last cross the line? Moreno never is willing to. Him saying payroll is going up could mean as little as like 10M over last years. Also if you lose Calhoun so you can sign Cole+ do you really have enough money after Cole to sign an outfielder and like 4 more pitchers? I mean the entire pitching staff needs help.
The only way this team raises the bar enough on the pitching side is if they sign like 5 guys to reasonable deals and hit on at least 4 getting more then they paid for. 72-90 team 35 games back on 1st 25 games back on 2nd and any chance at a wild card. Literally one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball,. Cole doesnt fix that. Sure if it was the NBA Lebron alone turns a franchise, but Cole starts once or twice a week tops, and bullpen can blow his wins on top since he wont CG every game.
Get your head out of the clouds your team with Mike Trout just won 72 games bro, new owner and new FO is the only way out. I mean literally every bad move since 2009 has been owner directed VERNON WELLS! Your the AL version of the Mets and Moreno is your Wilpon, enjoy losing with baseballs biggest star in one of baseballs biggest media markets.
Cole + Bum + the rest of the needs on the roster covered with real players that cost real money and your all of the sudden spending 60+M. That aint happening. Moreno is gun shy of FA signings ever since he forced Pujols, CJ, and Hamilton while getting burned. They still are dealing with the fallout of those signings (never getting a 1st round pick hurts 4-5 years down the line. They have been bad for 5 years and have barely anything in the minors if Adell graduates, but they did so good going from the worst Minors in baseball to only mediocre.
The $50 million under the CBT is after arbitration raises. Cole is looking at something closer to 7/217 or $31 million AAV so that that leaves $19 million for another starter and a catcher and still be under the CBT.
4/60-64 for Wheeler and a 2/8 deal for a catcher.
Looking at a contending team.
We don’t need an outfielder… We have goodwin and they’re just waiting for Adell to be ready…
no one’s giving him that much money
Actually Ohtani is like adding near top tier starter since he is coming back.. Heaney is injury prone and the pitchers that have been up and down from AAA are questionable. If Sandoval gets better and Canning avoids injury rotation could be better but internal help probably not till 2021. 2020 would be lucky if Angels reach wild card.
After all the one year contracts are off the books, they start the winter with about $139m before releasing Calhoun. There is plenty of room for Cole and another big name starter, especially if Moreno allows up to a $200m payroll mark.
It might be the best outfield in baseball. They have an all star at 3rd. In my opinion they have the best defensive middle infield in baseball. Fletch is much better at second than 3rd and he’s a gold glove finalist at 3rd. ”
Their big hole is Pulos still had 23 HRs and 93 RBIs. And he’s IS their big hole.
They need Heaney, Canning and Ohtani among other to be healthy. They need a stud to take the ball every 5th day.
But when you say this team is a dumpster fire, it just shows that you know nothing about this team.
You missed the whole part where the franchise literally traded every prospect for 5 years and left them with just trout. The are rebuilding but its gonna take some time to create depth. They have great pieces in trout, ohtani, Upton, simmons, canning, adell. They just need to add 2 starting pitchers and along with cannings growth and heaney staying heathy they are solid. Maybe not astros level but could compete with a’s.
Actually 2019 was lower than previous years….my guess payroll will approach 200 million in 2020. With contracts of Simmons,Cozart and Pujols coming off in the next two years, I can see them starting Cole off around 27-28 million then escalating in years to follow.
…IANGELS PAYROLLS
Year 25-man Opening Day 40-man Year End (rank)
2019 $158,878,583 $000,000,000 (00)
2018 $166,649,999 $176,748,648 ( 8)
2017 $166,375,833 $188,553,926 ( 7)
2016 $164,673,333 $185,760,439 ( 7)
2015 $146,341,583 $149,686,871 ( 8)
2014 $154,546,500 $164,059,717 ( 7)
2013 $137,271,250 $143,670,107 ( 6)
2012 $151,381,000 $160,146,581 ( 4)
2011 $141,755,666 $143,099,729 ( 4)
2010 $121,113,867 $123,478,263 ( 7)
2009 $112,869,000 $121,947,524 ( 8)
YES! Cole and who else will Eppler sign?
Cole is not going to be an Angel next year.
For real why would he go there? If he is set on SoCal SD and LAD are better fits for someone who wants to win. Not every big time FA wants to be the guy that saves your middling franchise, in fact most want to go where they can win with some personal comfort if possible.
San Diego better GET THE HECK out of here there a JOKE, so are the Dodgers!!!
They spent on Machado last winter so we know they are willing, and they have a farm system that would out produce the LAA if you just moved Trout to play with SD minor leaguers. Thats why LAA is such a sad sack you get Trout for a decade, land Ohtani for nothing, and cant buy a winner.
Ill take Trout plus SD’s farm over whats left of LAA without him any day!
Cole is from here and wants to play in Southern California. The Angels want him and have the money to sign him. Trout is here. Other than starting pitching the Angels are a playoff caliber team.
Cole at the top, Ohtani back in the rotation, Wheeler or Bumgarner, then Heaney and Canning in the 4 and 5 slots instead of 1-2. That is a playoff caliber rotation.
Its funny how jealous you are of Cole wanting to play here.
Got to have money to play that game 3 years in a row and the Padres don’t have it. They are already past the $130 that the owner said they were willing to spend. No. Cole won’t end up in San Diego.
The bidders on Cole will be the Angels, the Astros, the Phillies, the Yankees and possibly the Giants.
The team doesmt currently have a single pitcher who will go over 150 innings. Not a single two war starter on the team. They xpuld sign cole akd any other pitcher, they still miss the postseason.
Heaney had 180 innings the year before this one. Ridiculous claim. All kinds of things change between MLB seasons, do you actually think that if they signed Cole and Strasburg that they would still automatically miss the postseason? Especially if things go right for them in other areas?
San Diego? The Padres have won 80 games once in the last dozen season and they have a better chance of winning.
Thanks for the laugh.
Padres. The As only starter with a WAR over 2.1 was the PED user.
As far as 150 innings next year. Not including any free agents, just the staff they have now, i bet that doesn’t happen next year. And if you wont take that bet, then what’s the point of bringing it up.
Don’t throw a tantrum if Cole doesn’t take a discount to sign with LAA
Why not?
And you know this how? You must ace these free agent prediction. How’d you do last year.
Here the truth.. you don’t know where Cole will sign.
@thetruth dont you have a yankees fan page to stalk jeez man
If all things ($$) are the same, he is. He has already been quoted as saying he would love to play for the Angels and have his family and friends drive down the “55” to see him play. So, you are probably not going to be “The Truth”.
Headline should’ve read, Angels owner Moreno forecasts another mediocre season.
You wish. Cole and another starter and the Angels are contenders.
3rd place finish at best. Even with Cole and another starter, which of course won’t happen with every other real contender making a push for him.
What do you base that on?
Tradition for starters. Oakland will stay strong, as will the Astros. Ohtani is an injury prone problem with no ability to play a position other than pitcher.. Pujols will continue to stink up the field and DH. Simba, injury prone, upton is a waste and name a starting pitcher that is reliable? Heaney shows flashes of brilliance but with no bullpen no starters and only Trout they will finish at a very mediocre 3rd place.
So the fact that Ohtani hits and pitches is not flexible enough for you?
As far as the As staying strong, so are you expecting a bunch of rejects and a PED user to have another good season. Or maybe it’s the two pitchers that are even less predictable than Ohtani.
My guess is your an As fan who has forgotten how bad they were just a few short years ago.
I’m actually an Angel fan. With Pujols playing 1st, Ohtani (if healthy) has to DH. If he’s going to pitch, he needs the day before and the day off after (typically how it’s been done). I’d prefer Matt Thaiss as 1B full time but because Pujols is there, a platoon situation is at large with Fletcher/Thaiss at 3rd.. Too many talented people to be shuffled around Pujols. No consistency at all.
I never think the A’s will be compete at the start of every year but it happens. The Angels are a hard luck team with a string of consistent injuries. They can’t compete by getting one good pitcher from the free agent market, assuming none of them get extended by their respective teams.
They are not going to use Ohtani that way. He’s not going to sit both the day and after his starts. He’ll sit one, not both. And of course he’ll pinch hit the day he sits.
And I’m exactly with you on the As. They don’t scare me, but the last two years they have pulled starting pitching out of their backside.
I hope Maddon can tinker around and be creative with this team. Ohtani needs to be healthy, and the newer guys need to flourish. Canning and Thaiss could be monsters for this team. Both are great.
Maddon is not creative with anything other than cool circus tricks in the clubhouse. He’s an idiot managing a bullpen and lineup construction.
so they get two starters. even if one stays healthy, (big if) that still only means they have one healthy starter.
Absolutely, it’s a huge if.
The biggest roster addition the Angels can make this year is health. But it’s a huge if. It’s not like the Angels don’t have a lot of talent. They do.
He either forces terrible signings and trades. Or gets super stingy once he has saddled the team with the bad money he ordered they add to the books. How many times since 2014 has he refused to cross the tax, and run out a mediocre team? He loaded the books with bad money meddling then refused to pay up to support Trout. So so sad when the 10WAR player never ever plays in OCT!
Pretty much. Or another wasted season for the best player in the last 50 yrs. ridiculous..
If the Angels are not healthy, it will be the 4th wasted season in a row.
Did Boston waste 16 of 19 years of Ted Williams career? Those are the only years that Boston competed.
I guess the Angels have already exceeded that because they’ve been in the race four times. in nine years.
Who cares what happened during and around World War 2 in baseball? It’s completely different game, and not racial, and a global sport. Apples to Oranges.
This roster honestly needs a lot of moves to become a really good team, in my opinion. Even if they sign cole, I don’t see that taking them to the next lvl honestly..
Cole is a 5-6 win improvement all by himself. Add a 2nd tier starter to the mix and that is another couple of wins. Add Ohtani back into the rotation and that is another couple of wins. Replace the 90+ starts we had from Cahill, Harvey, Peters, Barria, Stratton, Cole, and all the other pitchers that should have never had to take the ball last season with decent starters like Caning, Heaney and Barria behind the top 3 and that is another 5-6 wins.
Adding quality at the top means all the bad starters are knocked off the bottom of the list. They just don’t pitch.
Same goes for the lineup.
A full average year of Simmons and Upton is an improvement of several wins over last season. It also means guys like Rengifo, Bourjos, Hermosillo, and others don’t play.
Even an average catcher and Lucroy is not playing. and neither is Bemboom, Stassi, and Garneau.
Lots of money in the budget to make all those moves as long as Moreno okays going up to the CBT. .
“as long as Moreno okays going up to the CBT..” If he doesn’t, and Cole signs with another undisclosed team what will you do?
When he does sign Cole, what will you do?
Go on rooting for a team with one hell of a window. Don’t be to let down skippy. You’ll fade soon enough. Shades of Harper to SF in your force field. hahaha
Ohtani is awesome, but he is coming off TJ, and has yet to show he can stay healthy and productive doing both in the MLB. He will also start costing insane money in Arb next winter since he should get paid for pitching and hitting which will break the Arb system where they almost have to comp him for both then pay him for the combination of the two comps.
braves fan, I can understand how you say that, but I just don’t think that’s true.
What they need is to stay healthy. How many better outfields than Upton/Trout/Adell.. Is there a better defensive up the middle than Simmons and Fletcher. Fletcher is playing out of position at 3rd and is a gold glove finalist.
They need Ohtani, Heaney and Canning to stay healthy. With an ace and health, that’s a strong staff.
Will they stay healthy, I don’t know. But I don’t think they need as much as you think they need.
Adell has played ZERO MLB games. Comeonman!!!
I’m not sure what your point it.
Using fangraphs WAR, it’s arguable the Angels had the best outfield in baseball last year. Upton was worthless, Baseball Prospectus has Adell the #2 prospect in baseball, and Trout missed a chunk of the season. I don’t think it’s a stretch to point out the Angels outfield will be better this year.
So what’s your point?
He’s not part of a major league outfield, and so can’t be used in your comparisons. Minor league stats are just that, minor league stats. ComeOnMan.
I’m trying to grasp your logic.
So a player who is the #2 Baseball Prospectus prospect, who is going to be given the RF job in 2020 can’t be used when comparing 2020 outfields?
I’m not sure many people will agree with you. I’m sure he’s going to be drafted in virtually all stat leagues, and the reason for that is you can project, with some confidence, what he will do in 2020.
Keep trying.
I realize why you want to keep things to bumper sticker slogans and silly name calling retorts. It’s because you can’t write about things rationally..
I gave you facts, and you have no rebuttal. I get it.
Yep, Gerrit Cole will require a payroll increase.
The rotation needs a lot of help, but not as much as everyone claims. I’m not convinced the Angels sign Cole, but say they do and he’s their only significant signing:
Cole, Ohtani, Heaney, a full year of Canning, and let’s call it Pena make a solid (though not elite) rotation. They have guys with significant MLB reps (and remaining options) who can be SP depth: Suarez, Barria, Peters, and Sandoval.
I think they end up adding 2 SPs (one via FA, one via trade), as well as a catcher.
With all the injuries, the Angels should employ a TB Rays type of strategy.. have a bunch of affordable/expendable pitchers to go out and get a couple of scoreless innings then throw in the next guy. Save money, save arms
I wouldn’t trust Eppler to take my duck to water more/less spend my $$$.
Arte Moreno is the AL Wilpon’s owner!
Wrong. Couldn’t be more wrong lol.
Gerrit Cole’s Phillies uniform is already hanging in a locker in Clearwater.
pensylvania has no clear water at all!
I’m sure he wants to go to the same place that booed Bryce Harper and Santa Claus.
I
Kole may have to be let go, and Angels should go after Jason Castro 2 yr $11 mil + incentives, Garrett Cole 6 yr $180 mil, Jake Odorizz 3 yr $45 mil., and re-sign Tommy La Stella for 2 yr $13 mil. That’ll cover 2 SP, C, & 2B/Utl.
SP: Cole, Ohtani, Ordorizzi, Heaney, Canning, & Barria/Suarez/Pena
Upgrade to Pitching and Defense and they’ll make the playoffs.
It’s going to take more then that to sign Cole think 7 or 8 years at 30 mil plus.
6/180 isn’t getting Cole. try 7/225-245.
Is he going to spend “stupid money?”
Clearly you guys didn’t watch this season. On July 25th, with over 60% of the season, the Angel’s were 54-49, five games over .500 with a bandaid pitching staff and AAA players plugged in all over the diamond (injuries were brutal). Basically no Upton, limited Shohei, and zero catching. There is a TON of room for improvement and perhaps some positive momentum, some health for once, and some key acquisitions could really propel this team.
Many of the people who are so negative don’t know a thing about the Angels other than their record.
I agree. Angel fans know the over used bullpen was taxed by August and the team finally hit the Skaggs reality wall at the same time. There are more assets on this team than the average baseball fan realizes.
i loved the way young players and no-name ones played all season. eppler blundered often with free agents but he sure built very effective pen and assembled hard working position players.
assets? yes. can they stay healthy? no. until the rotation can stay on the field they arent winning squat.
I agree Dark. I honestly think 2019 was about focusing on signing Mike Trout. That’s the only way I can explain bringing in 1-yr health concerns like Matt Harvey and banking on TJ bouncebacks from a guy like Heaney. Add in Grandpa Cahill and the death of Skaggs and 4/5 of the rotation was a huge question mark. Now with Trout signed, with Maddon at the helm, Artie and Billy can get serious about putting together a pitching staff worthy of a contender.
Never underestimate Mlbs fan in October and April.
They lack of baseball knowledge.
The Giants were also a playoff team at that pt in the season, and they’re horrible too.
Did the giants overachieve to get to that point? The Angels didn’t.
You’re a Cubs fan. When did this new “wasted” a career slogan come into being. I don’t remember that being a common sentiment regarding Santo, Banks and Jenkins.
The “wasted” sounds like the new sour grape rallying cry of millennials. I think it’s a relative new cry.
Well I wasn’t alive for Santo, Banks, and Jenkins. Plus I don’t even think free agency was available for those teams. That’s just an idiotic comparison. So what if I like the Cubs. Trout is the best player on the planet and is surrounded by crap.
They already brought in Maddon. Maybe Callaway as a pitching coach which, a role he excelled in with CLE. LAA needs to get Gerrit Cole and maybe another SP. Also need to decide whether to pickup Calhoun’s option.
The Angels are going to hand right field to Adell. I’m not sure which outfield if any I’d take over Upton/Trout/Adell.
Bellinger/Pederson/Verdugo or Pollock
Betts/anyone/Benintendi
Soto/Robles/Eaton
Brantley/Springer/Reddick
Braun/Cain/Yelich
All better than Down-ton, Trout and the rookie.
Downtown? What’s the point of that? I don’t understand why you play the fool?
Upoton’s OPS+ was 129 the last two years, Brantly’s was 126 last year.
Trout is Trout, had season ending surgery, missed a chunck of the season. BP has Adell the #2 prospect in baseball.
So, I think you can project the Angel outfield for improvement… right? Frangraphs had them ranked 4th last year.
And it’s better than that, because fangraphs includes everyone who plays outfield. Dodgers 910 games, Astros 711 games, Yankees 601 games. Angels 566 games, Brewers 622 games and Red Sox 660 games.
So you can argue they had the best outfield last year. But wont. I’ll just say it’s going to get better.
Down-ton, not Downtown. This is the second time you haven’t properly read. Do your best not to make it a third.
So now fangraphs has overtaken your actual opinion? If you are leaning on fangraphs to formulate your thoughts and opinions you may as well stop watching baseball altogether and take a calculus class. Then again you probably don’t watch baseball if you’re already anointing Adell as a superstar and making a lame attempt at making Upton great again.
Also, the injury excuse can be used for other players besides Trout. May be a foreign concept to you.
Teams would choose Brantley over Upton. But now we’ve established you don’t watch baseball so now there’s no point in having a discussion. Maybe pick up another sport if you’re bored watching games?
Maddon is a manager. All the silly circus tricks he has only work when there’s talent on the field, and other than Trout and whatever Ohtani is doing there’s none.
Let’s just hope for no more tommy john surgeries.
Amen to that!!!
The Angels only have 115 million in commitments next year if they reject the option on Kole. According to MLBTR arb they have 27 million roughly in arb salaries. That leaves a lot of room to sign Cole another mid tier starter a catcher and a couple of relief arms and still probably stay under the lux tax and they have expiring contracts after 2020 and a huge 30 million coming off in 2021. They easily have the room to make deals and put a potentially winning team around Trout. I’m guessing this is what they do in the offseason.
Since the luxury tax is about contracts and not payroll. That’s leaves about 12 to 13 more million to spend before the luxury tax kicks in.
Pujols AAV is 24, he being paid 29, that’s 5 million. Simmons AAV is 8.5 and he’s getting paid 15 million.
There is plenty of room before the luxury tax kicks in. And Moreno has gone past that tax once.
Gerrit Cole going home to pitch for the Angels is the biggest lock since……..
Last Year when Patrick Corbin went home to pitch for the Yankees.
I don’t know where Cole is going to pitch. I don’t think anyone on this board knows.
I think what he’s saying it’s not a lock until it’s formally announced.
Corbins snub of the Yankees is a reason why I find it funny those fans who are pointing to the Yankees for Cole. Sabermetrics work both ways. For every NY starter who has had success, say Sebathia or Tanaka, I’ll give you 5 who haven’t (Sonny Gray, JA Happ, Eovaldi, Phelps, Lynn, etc.). That’s why NY bolsters its bullpen every year; those are the top free agent pitchers who sign. Boras will bring in NY for the price hike, not for Cole to actually pitch in that bandbox stadium in that bandbox division.
It’s pretty clear that one of Cole/Stras/Wheeler/Bum needs to be signed for us to compete next year. The draft pick loss shouldn’t impact the $$ to Cole & Stras but the most of the other QO candidates would force me to be a bit more conservative. All indications point towards implementing a 6-man rotation that mimics Ohtani’s pitching schedule in Japan. We (arguably) have 4 legitimate in-house options (Heaney/Canning/Pena/Ohtani) so that leaves 2 open spots. IMO Keuchel makes a lot of sense to fill the final spot as he’s draft pick free and should be moderately affordable. We’re better of considering Barria/Sandoval/Suarez as depth pieces and being pleasntly surprised by anything else.
Texas is trending in a positive direction, Cole or not Houston isn’t going away, and Oakland could easily be better than their 97-win club this year. It’s a tough challenge but even if we miss on Cole a rotation of Wheeler/Keuchel/Ohtani/Heaney/Canning/Pena would go a LONG way towards a hopeful 2020 playoff run.
People hate the angels so much on these page, its almost as if arte moreno stole your girl.
It’s because they’re flushing one of the top player in the last 50’s yrs prime down the toilet. It’s extremely frustrating, and frankly it’s pretty sad.
Looks like the lovable loser isn’t so lovable anymore.
The Cubs have done some idiotic things too for sure. But not surrounding Trout with more talent is criminal.
Angels known for offensive upgrades not pitching.P I could be wrong but I see Boston as a good candidate for mookie & a back SP contract….if not the Angels then the Rangers
Fact of the matter is, this team has not had multiple 30 game starters in a season since 2015. if they cant keep their starters healthy, it doesnt matter who they add.
That’s an insanely important stat. Why would anyone think this staff would be healthy? It’s a good point. I have no issue with anyone who thinks it wont be healthy and the Angels wont compete if they are not healthy.
However, the pieces are there. They don’t need an overhaul. They need to be healthy. People are acting like the Angels need so much more than health, they don.t
I mention a bit above: 2019 was about signing Trout. The 1 year pitching deals was throwing spaghetti at the wall to see if anything sticks. I truly think 2020 and beyond will be getting this franchise back on track.
I can’t wait to watch another yr of the best player of my generations be flushed down the toilet by a bunch of awful/mediocre signings and marginal talent. What a terrible waste.
What a joke, and a bunch of idiots running the Angels. Freaking Harvey and Cahill… Pujols, Cozart, and all the other turds. Give me a break.
So were you really this depressed watching Griffey?
or Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, Ty Cobb, Ernie Banks, Tony Gwynn, Ichiro, etc. I always roll my eyes when people make this argument. If he gets a ring, great, but dont miss the summer performance on the field when you can actually get tickets and take your family to enjoy a great game.
And on. Felix Hernandez is a current contemporary.
It’s the new mantra of the decade.
Griffey had some great teams with Seattle. Trout hasn’t had jack.
Adding Garett Cole, Bumgarner and relf help gives our team an instant boost.
I like our chances vs Oakland with those two leading the rotation. Heaney and Canning are capable of giving quality starts deep into the season.
It’s be the best roster we’ve had since 2014.
with another $59,000,000 over the next 2 years on a replacement level DH I don’t see how payroll can come down.
Douglas Bath
That is actually a good point., the payroll is not going to come down. But there is room to spend money.
Easy. They have a bunch of impending free agents next offseason, and that can allow them to fill the lineup with young players coming up while spending on pitching.
Cole would obviously help, if he’s the 2019 Cole at 5.0 wins above average (Baseball-Reference). That would at least budge the 72-90 Angels back toward .500. But it’s hard to see how Cole could get the team even into wild card contention, unless they lucked out enormously in the close games.
Now if Cole returns to his 2017 self at 1.0 wins above average, he wouldn’t help the Angels much at all. The Angels pitching staff was 9.4 wins below average in 2019, the worst in baseball. It’s a really deep hole to climb out of.
Pitching depth is what the Angels need.
Getting Cole alone will not get the job done. Besides there will be a crazy competition to get Cole and since the Angels need at least 3 SP, it will be hard for them to spend it all one pitcher.
I’m thinking (or hoping) Cole plus 2 of these: Ryu, Wheeler, Odorizzi, Bumgarner,and Pineda.
I’m thinking along the same lines, but I think 2 SPs can make a difference simply because Shohei will take the mound again. I like Odorizzi, so I would hope for Cole, Ohtani, Odorizzi, Heaney, Canning, with Barria and Pena as injury fill ins. I think we all know Suarez isn’t ready.
I agree, but Ohtani is an injury risk and especially after his surgery, the Angels will need to ease him in.
One more comment on the Angels. Waving good-bye to Calhoun almost seems a given for the team. But Baseball-Reference counts him as the fifth most valuable player in 2019 on an admittedly underwhelming roster, after only Trout (duh), Fletcher, Robles and Ohtani. Do the Angels really want to get rid of a guy who was better than almost everybody else they’ve got?
Well, these are the Angels, who handed 87% of the money in the Milky Way Galaxy to Pujols.
Put Cole, Strasburg, or any 1-3 combo of the most valuable starting pitchers in the upcoming market, plus a normal season out of Upton and Simmons, and Calhoun goes way down on that list.
Good luck on getting “normal” seasons, whatever they are. We do know what happened in 2019. The roster generally stunk. So the Angels get rid of one of the guys who actually had a decent year? Okay….
He’s better healthy than the players that are not healthy. If those players remain unhealthy, the Angel wont compete
The Angels have talent, they just don’t have health. The ability to play every day is one of the greatest abilities a ballplayer can have. The Angels don’t have a lot of players with that ability.
Free agents wont help if they don’t do a better job at staying on the field.
That’s actually where a much improved farm system comes into play. You got Ohtani, you got Fletcher, you got Canning, you got Adell, and now Marsh and some others are knocking on the door of the top 100 prospect rankings.
Moreno is the dumbest owner in baseball hands down , he ruined the angels with his stupid spending on players that don’t fit his club smh I can’t stand his team I wish he never signed mike trout
That after Angels fans demanded adding big bats when they kept coming up short of the World Series. Be careful what you wish for.
racist!
Angels should sign Cole, Tehran, King Felix, Yasmani Grandal and work on trading Simba and a prospect for Javi Baez or Lindor and sign the other when they become a free agent.