The Angels are interested in free agent catcher Kurt Suzuki, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. Los Angeles was in on James McCann before he agreed to terms with the Mets, and it seems the front office is still looking to add to the position. The 37-year-old Suzuki has been an average or better hitter for four consecutive seasons, putting up a cumulative .272/.337/.475 line since the start of 2017. That has helped to offset his subpar pitch framing and arm behind the plate. Suzuki spent the 2017-18 seasons with the Braves; new Angels GM Perry Minasian was in the Atlanta front office for the second of those years. Currently, Max Stassi and Anthony Bemboom stand as the only backstops on the Angels’ 40-man roster.
Some more from around the sport:
- Also from Rosenthal, the Diamondbacks are prioritizing bullpen help and are in the market for a right-handed hitting outfielder. That lines up rather directly with the types of players Arizona sold off at last summer’s trade deadline. Starling Marté, Archie Bradley and Andrew Chafin were all sent elsewhere after the D-Backs fell out of the playoff picture. (Bradley and Chafin are now free agents, so nothing prohibits the Arizona front office from pursuing reunions with either player if they’re so inclined). After doling out multi-year deals for Madison Bumgarner, Nick Ahmed and David Peralta last offseason, Arizona doesn’t figure to play at the top of the market this winter, Rosenthal feels. That probably rules out a Liam Hendriks pursuit, but there are plenty of lower-cost relievers available on the open market.
- Unsurprisingly, the Cubs are looking to add starting pitching this offseason, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told reporters (including Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic). There are some question marks behind Yu Darvish and Kyle Hendricks in the rotation. Alec Mills, Adbert Alzolay and Colin Rea are among a handful of in-house options who could help fill out the back end, but there’s obvious room for an addition or two. Hoyer also pointed out the uncertainty involved with relying on the same five-man rotation throughout 2021 after pitchers’ workloads were curtailed during this past shortened season. Many teams have to rely on eight to ten starters to weather underperformance and/or injuries in a normal season. A 162-game season next year would present its own unique set of workload challenges on top of that typical attrition.
Kurt Suzuki is done. He has nothing left. The Angels should have gone after McCann because they clearly won’t land Realmuto. typical Angels. Always ignoring their true needs until it is too late and another team has signed the player they really needed. Gerrit Cole anyone?
Plus… La Russa is not guilty.
La Russa is 76 years old and gets drunk all the time.
Exactly. Can you imagine what his liver is going through at this point? No one should have to deal with issues involving their vital organs. Poor guy.
at least, he seems to have his brain where it should be. you, on the other hand, seem to have your behind working as a brain
What makes you say that? I merely stated a fact and you replied with disrespect. Not cool, dude.
Vizionaire grow up. Marty posted a sincere comment. You posted trash.
If you are getting a 2nd DUI at age 76, your head is squarely up your behind.
His liver is so black that it dated 2 kardashians
Marty Mc. And?
You are ok with drunk senior citizens? Alcohol destroys the body. I barely lasted 5 years drinking before the trips to the doctor got to be too much, and I was 24. Never thought about it again.
Drinking at 76? Other than one at night before going to bed, how does one get to be so old and drinking and driving?? Why are you defending this childish, dangerous, stupid behavior by someone who has enough money not to do it.
Awesome. I don’t know about anybody else, but when I come to a baseball site, I’m hoping I can find opinions on alcohol, politics, and social issues.
Thank you–eveyone.
Legally he was not Drunk. And even by any logical standard he was not drunk.
How was he not drunk legally. He blew .09…state limit is .08? He crashed into a curb and tried to talk his way out of it by trying to say he is famous. No defense for drunk driving!
Halo11…you fail to understand what the adverb legally means. It isn’t a surprise as “logically”also seems beyond your grasp. His BAC was 0.095, which is .0.015 above the AZ legal limit.
Making a plea bargain for a reckless driving(instead of DUI) does not magically make the initial findings any different.
Most news articles news do not include the specific vehicle code(VC) to which he pled. Typically, pleading to a lower count of reckless driving conviction from a DUI is a different VC from a reckless driving charge where no substances are involved.
You seem inclined to picking th devil’s advocate side of an issue; yet if it is also often your myopic view which makes your comments almost silly.
Legally he was not convicted of a DUI but of reckless driving. LEGALLY. Drunk is not a LEGAL term. LEGALLY.
But I guess that was beyond you.
When people use the word legally drunk, they are full of it. It’s Driving Under the Influence. Drunk is a derogatory word, and I would never describe someone at .09 as drunk. No one with a clue would.
My wife has a couple glasses of wine every night, and no way would anyone ever describe her as drunk. I’ve never seen her drunk.
Halo11 your a joke. His blood alcohol level was over the LEGAL LIMIT so explain to us all how he was not legally drunk.
LEGALLY, he was not convicted of a DUI. It’s disconcerting to see the manifestation of the hypotrophy of your frontal lobe.
If you have the resources, you’ll likely see it was a “wet reckless.”
For anyone with knowledge of the law or providing property/casualty insurance, this is common knowledge.
It’s “you’re” a joke. It’s hard to take someone seriously who doesn’t know the difference between your and you’re.
He was NOT convicted of driving while under the influence. So LEGALLY, he was not “DRUNK’.
And you have no discernment. .09? It’s why they couldn’t get him for a DWI.
And if you ever used a cell phone while driving, you broke the law, you committed a crime. And are probably more a threat than someone driving at .09. But then again, I have discernment.
You wouldn’t be an attorney by chance?
Halo11……You can discern?
Some definitions of the term legally:
1)permitted by law; lawful:
“Such acts are not legal.”.
2)of or relating to law; connected with the law or its administration:
“the legal profession”.
3)appointed, established, or authorized by law; deriving authority from law
Maybe Halo11 interpreted the adverb legally in a very broad sense. The third definition may come close.
BUT, Halo11 construes “legally,” ONLY equaling a conviction. Again, construing it in this way is myopic and a naive perspective.
No. Nor have I ever been arrested or given a sobriety test while driving.
But .09 is not .13. And what medical test is 100% accurate? He could have been .079999. Not even blood testing is that accurate. Which is why any lawyer can beat .09, which is why they accepted a plea of reckless driving. And if he’s .799, which is less a swallow of wine less than .09 is anyone calling him a drunk?
I’m not fan of Tony LaRussa, I just don’t want to tar and feather someone for something that has the difference as thin as a piece of paper.
He took one swallow of win too many, maybe… and that’s if the test was 100% accurate which no one really knows.
Halo11……You don’t really know how BAC works do you? A physiology class may help you; everyone metabolizes alcohol at different rates. That being said , a BAC of 0.08 is not some arbitrary level. Yet you seem to want to make it seem that 0.08 is arbitrary and has no basis on where most people will have impaired judgement, reflexes, and coordination.
No one is trying to tar and feather LaRussa; you seem prone to hyperbole when it suits you.. LaRussa had a great track record as an MLB manager. But he has also shown poor decision-making skills which is obviously hindered by alcohol.
Reinsdorf is known for his loyalty and is trying to make up for separating him from the White Sox in ’86. The team will suffer in the long run because of Reinsdorf’s poor decisions.
Legally he was drunk. That is why he was arrested.
Haha Stevil! Personally, I come to be entertained by the Angels fan base.
Listen to the recording.
La Russa refused a breathalyzer test. So they had to get a warrant and draw blood. His blood tested at .093 BAC.
Point 1, Testing the blood directly is much more accurate than a breathalyzer test. To get his reported value of .093, the true value was at the time of the test is between .088 and .100 with 99% certainty. (The uncertainty is not quite symmetrical for this test.)
Point 2. The time it takes for an officer to get a warrant and compel a blood draw gives the person a chance to metabolize more alcohol and get closer to, or even under the legal limit. This implies La Russa’s BAC was actually higher than .093 at the time of his accident. The only way his BAC rises between the accident and the blood test is if he were drinking in the car, and thus still absorbing alcohol at the time of the accident.
So yes, he was allowed to plead to a lesser charge because the hassle and publicity of prosecuting him far outweighs the results. But in general people begin to show impairment of judgement and reflexes by .06 and it gets progressively worse. Therefore, he was intoxicated, even if he wasn’t prosecuted for it.
Don’t have such a condescending attitude. There are 76 year olds that get more done by noon than some 25 year olds. Age has been redefined.
I’m not a proponent of alcohol abuse at any age.
Halo you are so ignorant it makes my head hurt. Where to start?
First of all, driving with while on your cell phone is not a crime, it’s a violation. DWI is a crime, because it’s a misdemeanor.
Secondly, .08 is used as a legal limit because science tells us that is when motor function and reaction time begin to significantly diminish. No one just chose an arbitrary number.
Next, the instrument commonly used to measure BAC, a Datamaster, is a scientifically designed and meticulously calibrated instrument. It is %100 percent accurate and even tests a sample solution as a baseline. That sample solution has to be within .02 degrees Celsius of the correct temperature and measure at .09 BAC. It also automatically measures at .01 BAC lower than blood will as a safety measure and incentive for the arrested party to blow and not demand blood.
Lastly, no one ever pleads guilty to the actual crime they were charged with. The district attorney offers a plea bargain, ie reduced charge or sentence, in order to incentivize not going to trial because trials cost a boat load of money. So he plead guilty to a misdemeanor Reckless Driving, which is going to destroy his driving record and his insurance rates. He is also now a convicted criminal. That’s not a big deal for him, but for you or me that’s huge. You remember that question on every job application you’ve ever filled out, “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?”. Well he has.
DWI kills people, and shouldn’t be taken lightly. You should also try educating yourself before you open your mouth.
Where is your proof of that? 2 or 3 incidents is not “all the time”. Don’t exaggerate.
I hereby dub tony larussa ” sir osis of liver”
liver-pool-ing?
OK it’s a stretch. I was trying to to tie it to a known place such as Liverpool. While “liverpool” could also indicate the enalrgement of the liver from long-term, excess drinking.
@Marty McRae
Please provide the evidence that “La Russa gets drunk all the time”. You can’t.
But he is a known drunkard. Legal doesn’t play a factor in that.
If you think Yadiar Molina and Adam Wainwright wouldn’t jump at the chance to play for Tony LaRussa and reunite with Pujols for a year you are badly mistaken. They are still valuable players and assets to a team. The Cardinals will not resign them. They want to play on the same team together next season. Wherever that may lead them.
Nonsense. No 76 year old can get drunk all the time.
Yeah… neither was O.J.
gbs. Yes, OJ was not legally guilty of murder.
Bovine Angels offered Cole a ton of money. Where the F have you been????
They didn’t sign him though. They didn’t even offer him top of the market. For some reason they offered an offensive player top of the market though. Everyone knew they needed pitching more.
Or they did offer Cole top of the market, and the Yankees offered him over the market. 8 years is a long contract time for any pitcher. Cole was set on the Yankees from the beginning anyway. That’s been widely reported since then.
@ryanwkrol please never use the words “over the market” again on here, thanks.
As an Angeles fan, you absolutely cannot complain about offering FA money. That’s crazy. Let other teams have some fun. Haha.
They offered him almost the same amount as the Yankees. They turned around and use the money on Rendon.
Try reading up on this before you make yourself anymore foolish.
Scott Boras used Billy Eppler to drive up the price for Cole, he was always going to the Yankee’s
Bovine is a troll.
Pleaded down to reckless driving. Good to have money to buy your way out of trouble. His license should be taken away. Repeat offender. Him killing someone is increasing with system not making him accountable. Anyone happy with this talk to someone who lost a loved one to a drunk driver. #boycottthewhitesoxuntilfireLarussa
Point .09 is a tough sell for anyone. Any lawyer could have gotten that down to nothing.
They could have had Suzuki when he graduated Cal State Fullerton 5 miles up the road. A total botch because they had opportunities since then.
Then he would have been a total nonfactor this entire time just for the Angels instead of on 17 different teams.
Haha! Good one. You can’t argue with Marty there.
Oh please. Rendon protecting Trout is far better use of resources than outstanding the Yankees to overpay for Cole.
For most teams, yes. For an Angels team that has no pitching, I disagree. What’s the point of paying a player $245 million to hit when the pitching is so bad it doesn’t matter how good the offense is?
Offense was a problem for the Angels too. If they don’t add at least 2 starters this off-season then yes, they are just ran poorly. Cole was bent on going to the Yankees. Better argument is Angels should have signed Keuchel.
…or Wheeler or Ryu.
Offense is a problem? Not on Paper, as it currently stands, the Angels offense is the second best in baseball.
And yes, off-season baseball is played on paper.
Prov. I screamed Wheeler all last off-season, I didn’t have a single poster agree with me.
Takes two to tango, Wheeler clearly also had family ties that he wanted to be close on the East Coast. Cole really seemed like he wanted to be a Yankee, and yeah the Yankees were dead set on that union. Hard to even consider handing out that money for Ryu, especially with his injury history. For a team destroyed by P injuries kind of seems like a recipe for disaster to pay out huge money for guys like Wheeler and Ryu. Especially when we’re not talking about about no doubt plug and place Aces. They made a good decision in Bundy, the angels just didn’t add to the depth or pen to strengthen those areas of weakness. And then there inability to develop.
I just brought up Cole as an example because everyone had him pegged for the Angels. There were many options they passed on including Cole, Keuchel, Wheeler and Ryu. To miss on all 4 of those guys was really dumb.
he just wanted to be close to his in-laws. nothing could have been done.
I said offense WAS a problem last off-season before they brought in Rendon. Its a popular idea that they somehow made a bad move signing Rendon over a pitcher…
Sure, I mean get on them if you’d like for the inability to reel in Cole. But signing secondary SPs to big time money, especially with major track histories of injury, tends to end poorly. The Soxs and Jays made complete sense, because they were young, inexpensive, and had little in the way of long term commitments. I don’t fault the Angels in the slightest for not taking that plunge for Ryu or Kuechel.
The Angels did and still do have a problem with SP depth and pen. So their greatest fault last year was not collecting quality depth to plug weak holes.
In all honestly though, if I believe in Bauer, I’d much rather have the ability to make that move this offseason compared to being stuck with a mid rotation arm, and no wiggle room. Bauer & Bundy is a good start with Angels possessing back end arms to fill 4/5. Roster makes more sense as well as holes to fill.
2nd best in baseball on paper? There not even 3rd in the division
Wheeler was location-specific and wouldn’t have played on West Coast, all things equal. Ryu is old for 4 guaranteed years. But I see the point on Keuchel.
Something could have been done—for wanting to live close to in-laws, a full psych work up could have been run.
Wait, a guy who just hit .270 with a .349 on-base is done?
Clearly you are not paying attention and didn’t even bother to read the article.
The Angels were in on McCann. They just didn’t want to go over 3 years.
“White Sox manager Tony La Russa has agreed to plead GUILTY…”
Case closed regardless of what anyone says.
@BovineCrab
I saw Suzuki just the other day, he doesn’t look “done” to me.
I totally disagree, Suzuki continued to hit well last season despite limited playing time. And despite his age I still think he’s an above average offensive catcher in a part time role. I don’t think that he could start 120+ games at this point in his career but I do think he could still post a respectable .270-.275 mark with 5-10 homers over the course of say 70+ games behind the dish… which is still certainly a valuable asset to most teams catching situation. Imy curious as to what would make you say he’s “done” at this point… he really hasn’t done anything but product for the past several seasons even though he is certainly on the wrong side of 30 (actually 35 at this point)
Suzuki did great for the braves a few years ago
They did, McCann chose NY
You mean Garret I gagged in game 5 against the Rays Cole?
Rich Rod to the D-backs?
Would make sense, although from what it sounds like, they would rather hold onto prospects and explore the open market first.
Hoyer and the Cubs will do very little to improve the team , mark my words
The Cubs are not going to go on a spending spree but they will tweak their roster (all the roster needs is some minor tweaking) and should be in position to win the NL Central again next season.
I’ll be interested to see if the Cubs goal is to cut payroll or simply get below the luxury tax… It’s an important distinction.. if it’s simply to get below and reset the luxury tax, then the Cubs have roughly 45 million to spend via free agency.
Forty five million isn’t a ton to spend on free agency but the Cubs do not need to, a JA Happ or even a Tanaka isn’t going to break the bank and the Cubs needs on offense are not at the super star level. The weak spending market should be advantageous to the Cubs.
I can also see the Cubs potentially dealing Contreras this offseason given that Realmuto is going to be so expensive and Contreras is arguably the best catcher in the game.
Delusional.
Cincinnati is cutting payroll, so are the Cardinals, the Brewers and Pirates are both train wrecks and I’m delusional about the Cubs being able to win the Central again…..
I am not feeling very confident about a 45 million dollar spending spree but adding a couple guys to 1-2 deals like Brantley and couple flyer pitchers sure would be nice. Rea and alozay arent going to cut it as 4/5th starters. Even if they are good they won’t pitch much over 100 innings.
Brantley would be nice but I’d rather spend that money on Wong and move Hoerner down to AAA for a little bit.
The Cubs should have enough offense with Rizzo, Bryant, Baez, Contreras and Happ. I’m not confident in 60 games to say that Heyward is back but he looked really good.
Me personally, I would move Bryant to LF and either look to add a contact hitter like LaStella to man third or ride with Bote. If TR ins’t being overly cheap, maybe get in on the Kim sweepstakes which would add insurance in case Baez walks next year and we don’t have a SS to replace him.
As I mentioned before, Contreras could be on the move if the price is right. He has huge surplus value and given the payroll limitations most teams have, that will make him even more desirable.
Could not agree more.
If the Cubs sign bottom of the barrel pitchers all that amounts to is a replay of the Tribune Co ownership. It could be 3 to 4 years before the Cubs minor league system provides players for the Cubs. Hoyer needs to rip the bandaid off trade both Darvish and Baez. Both players will be to old to get much for them in 3 to 4 years. Cubs can’t get much in return for the rest of their players except Hendricks.
The Cubs should probably just start a rebuild for the next 7-10 years. There are some great picks coming up in the draft over the next decade or so….
The Cubs do 100yr rebuilds , anybody can do 7-10, that’s child play
That’s at least the third team you’ve trashed today. The NYM, the Dodgers and the Cubs. And then there was Hensley Meulens. And that’s just the last hour or two.
That’s hard to accomplish. You gotta give props where props are due.
You have to admit I’m on a roll. Actually it was the Angels not the Dodgers but thanks for noticing Mo. Carry on.
Oh yea, I also got in a pretty good jab at LaRussa too, you might want to double back & check that one out.
The Cubs front office will milk this roster for as long as they can without adding significant payroll, then start a 7-yr rebuild. Meanwhile, all that dough gets pocketed by the owner. Good thing Cubs fans are st…, er, loyal, huh? One trophy every 100 years is all it takes to keep the heard in line.
That’s an understatement. They need no more than one championship every 108 years and something tells me if they hadn’t won that one or any since, the st…, er, loyal Cubs fans would still be eating the dogma up and claiming they are the team to beat.
As a Sox fan I have to say, the Sox only have 1 trophy in 103 years. So bash them all you want but let’s not forget this fact.
The white Sox are one the few franchises the cubs have outperformed the last 110 years.
There are still six teams that have never won a World Series in their history.
It’s “herd.” Is that GED certificate framed?
Not a Angels fan, but Trout, Rendon, and Realmuto are some real nice pieces. If Adell takes a step and the rotation gets addressed it could be interesting.
How will it be interesting if the pitching staff keeps giving up runs like every batter they face is Ted Williams?
Unless Arte seriously steps up his spending this year, we need to spend on starting and relief pitching. We already have Stassi, who is a good defensive catcher, even if his offense regresses. He just won’t be back until May/Juneish
Question: Why don’t the Angels just sign Castro? He’s literally the perfect fit for that team. Not expensive, hits decently for a catcher, has good defense, helps pitchers, and would allow them to spend more money elsewhere.
They had him before, I dont know why they let him go.. maybe he wasnt playing well at the time.
I was about to say… Didn’t the Angels sign Castro last offseason and then get rid of him during the season because he was hitting so terribly for them?
Yeah, we traded Castro to the Padres by the trade deadline.
Seems like re-signing him would not be an ideal move than. Only guessing.
We got rid of Castro because we were in sell mode at the deadline, not really because of Castro. We almost made the playoffs in 2020, but when we traded Castro, we were the worst team in the league
Imagine betting on a 37 year old catcher? Angels FO does a facepalm again.
I’m sure Stassi will be getting most of the AB’s once he’s healed up so they won’t be betting much on anything. Thanks for your concern though.
I mean if your interested in Suzuki who’s 37 just go after yadier molina better dont like Suzuki
Jason Castro can’t hit. That’s a fact.
Jason Castro was paid a lot of money last year, for one year, to provide nothing. Angels were 11-22 with Castro on the squad. Not a surprise the Angels improved without him on the team.
Typical Angels for overpaying for guys for one year. Castro should donate part of his salary to baseball geeksquad for somehow keeping him relevant. He’s finished. He’s an overrated defender with no stick and some pop.
Sign him if he’s willing to play in AAA.
The Angels gave a history of overpaying free agents who hit well against them. Castro was one of them. Im surprised they havent given Mike Zunino an 8 figure long term contract on that basis.
I took some when Castro was signed last year. He was paid doubled what he deserved and aside from a nice few weeks in 2019 he was garbage. Angels fans have a good perspective on 29 teams but once it’s time to examine their own organization they have blinders.
They’d hand Zunino 9-figures .
Suzuki!? Are you kidding me, the Angles can’t do anything right, they should be banished to the island of misfit teams!
But what about the Angels?
Them too,Lol
Good that you laughed! I did too!
Dback need Archie back. He was the fan favorite
A 38 year old catcher, PLEASE…tell me your joking !
Dude. He’s the SAVIOR! J/k. At least he’s better than what you have? Maybe that’s a positive way to look at it?
I think I lost 30 IQ points reading half these comments
So that pretty much leaves you with none, right?
still, more than you have?
Loser
Another insult, NYstateofmind? Do you make any comments that don’t involve trash talking? Why do you do it?
You’re a NYY troll. You just wander around trash-talking people, players, teams, coaches, etc. The first NYY troll I’ve seen on this site.
Listen Mo, first of all I call them as I see them, secondly, it is not my fault that there’s a lot of ignorant people on this site that don’t know the first thing about baseball & last but not least, most of my comments are made tongue in cheek. I’m sorry if I offended you, I’ll try to be more sensitive going forward so nobody’s feelings get hurt AND I would appreciate you not accusing me of being a troll because I’m not one & if you don’t believe me you can ask my mom or one of my therapists. What a world!
Don’t listen to Mo, NY. I love every word of it.
Thanks Bovine!
stubby66
December 13, 2020
It is starting to look like it’s a level playing field with all the leagues now in the US, Korea, and Japan leagues. Foreign leagues are signing more then the majors
ReplyFlag
dan55
December 13, 2020
No. The foreign leagues are just signing the players who aren’t good enough to sign with the majors. This happens every year. The best players will all go sign with the MLB.
Mo, need I say more?
How about just trying to make intelligent comments?
Even seeing one from you would be a nice change of pace.
Are you talking to me!
Only 30?
I know right? Comments: you’re stupid, no you’re stupid, no your team sucks. Ugh!!!!!!
My team is the Orioles but the Angels front office blows my mind.
angels already have 2 young and decent catchers. suzuki would be an insurance and a backup. the fact that he won’t cost much is plus.
What has the current FO done that has been bad?
Kurt Suzuki has been a free agent every offseason for the last 15 years… can someone handle the guy a 2 years deal so we don’t have to hear his name for once.
He must be so annoying to be around ha
Plot twist: He was just on a 2 year deal with the Nationals.
I was about to say… Isn’t Suzuki coming off a 2 year deal RIGHT NOW?
Suzuki is still hitting .270 above league avg (.249) Castro is hitting .188, But I would take either one of them (I prefer Suzuki) as a Backup for the braves behind d’arnaud
I would prefer Williams Contreras. He seems ready. Maybe even Shea Langeleirs. No reason for the Braves to sign a back up catcher. They already have a serviceble back up in Alex Jackson and have 2 much better catchers in Contreras and Shea. Just harvest the farm since the crops are ready.
As long as Flowers is gone
Not an aging catcher that people run on at will….please Perry! Casali is your guy
He’s not a bad pickup if you’re looking to develop young pitching. During his time with the A’s their site posted a lot of articles about his work ethic and time in the video room. You can probably deal with 1 year of a weak armed catcher if it helps the long term goals.
Also, I guess he’s making America great again?
For clarification to all you Angels critics, Suzuki would be a patch until Stassi is healthy from his surgery. We need to fill the holes quickly to avoid any distractions from acquiring pitching. Suzuki would be just fine for what we need him for.
I really don’t understand the Angels at all. Every single year they know they need pitching badly and they drop a ton of cash on something they don’t need, usually a bat. They never ever address the rotation and end up with ham n egger #5 starters who you know will go 3.2 IP 6 hits 6 runs 2 BB 1 K. Meanwhile, Mike Trout continues to not see the playoffs. Ridiculous.
New GM for Angels so he has this off-season and next with $30m coming off the books thanks to Pujols. It will be interesting to see what he can do.
People on here act like it’s easy to get pitching. If that’s the case, why are 28 out 30 teams looking for pitching this off-season? The Angels never try to address pitching. Really? Offered Cole 8 years 300 million? Offered Strasbourg a contract last year, he wanted to stay in Washington. Called Wheeler and he had no interest. Ryu, has one season where he didn’t spend on the IL, that was this past season. Dallas Keuchel has had one season of over 20 starts in the past 5 years. The Angels already have enough injury prone pitchers. No need to over pay for more.
Agreed. It’ll be tough to find Strasbourg on the free agent list.
Angels have opted to overpay players on the mound and elsewhere. I’m sure they can land pitching if they are motivated. They’ve shown the money without question.
Strasbourg is easy find. It’s a large-ish city in Northeastern France.
Perry’s got the Angels in the right direction traded for a closer and a shortstop I think Perry will add 2 starters Be patient there’s time left to add pitching and to the Bullpen as long as Arte keeps his nose out of baseball decisions
The bullpen was the Angels worst problem, last year. If the Angels can afford a little money, that could be an easy fix. Their rotation was definitely better last season than recent ones but is it playoff calibre? I guess it largely depends on how much Bundy can repeat last year’s performance in a full season.
Maybe the Angels should call the Cubs and see if they can work out a deal for Hendricks or Darvish. I see Darvish as the more risky option as well as a more difficult contract to stomach which means the Angels should be able to create a trade package that would land him. I think they could afford Hendricks as well but I just can’t see the Angels offering what they would need to. Hendricks is a risk in himself having turned 31 recently.
Unless the Cubs are ready to rebuild, they probably won’t be trading either of them nor any MLB-ready pitching. They are in the market for pitching. Whether they spend any money (a million per contract was last offseason’s limit) is the question.
Darvish to the Angels for Detmers and Marsh should get it done. As a Cubs fan, I would do that.
There’s a ton of cheap pitchers to be had: Archer, Quintana, Hamels, and Rodon could all be signed for one-year deals totaling of $22 million, which is pretty much equal to what Darvish is getting this year. Mix in Alzolay and Mills and that should cover spots #2 – #5. Not saying it’s great, but the Cubs need controllable assets.
If the Cubs do nothing, they’ll fall off a cliff in 2022 and 2023. I like it when GMs are bold. For the last three years Epstein and Hoyer have been everything but bold!! They held onto Russell and Schwarber until they had zero value. Discouraging!!
A little more boldness: trade Contreras to the Rays for Xavier Edwards, Joe Ryan, and Yoshitomo Tsutsugo (making $7 million next year and a trade like this would require the Rays to offset salary).
It would probably take Hendricks to get those guys from the Angels since he has the better contract.
I also don’t see the Rays giving up the value for Contreras with just two years control especially after this year when their revenue sharing probably took a major hit.
BTW, “kyleschwarbersmom” is the best name!!
I think Darvish’s value is high, yet he has been very inconsistent throughout his career with injuries. He’s the guy I’d trade if I’m the Cubs and then retool the pitching staff around younger guys in the years to come. I think Detmers and Marsh is fair, but maybe Detmers and Jordyn Adams then? If I’m only getting two top-10 prospects from the Angels (and Marsh isn’t one of them) I’d prefer Reid Detmers and Chris Rodriguez. I think a Darvish trade to the Angels makes some sense, along with the Cubs then bringing in a bunch of one-year veteran contracts (Hamels, Quintana, Archer, etc.) to fill-in for a year. They aren’t getting past the Dodgers, Braves, or Padres to the World Series in 2021 regardless.
I think with the Rays and the money issue, that’s why I included Yoshitomo Tsutsugo coming back to the Cubs (he’s going to make more than Contreras in 2021 at $7 million). With Xavier Edwards included (I just don’t see how the Rays can play Lowe, Adames, Franco, Brujan, Brosseau, and Edwards on the infield; just too rich in one area) and then some pitching prospect help coming back to the Cubs. If Edwards and Ryan is too steep, I’d (if I’m the new Cub’s GM) take Tsutsugo, Edwards, and J.J. Goss (maybe Seth Johnson as well). If it’s Tsutsugo, Edwards, Goss, and Johnson for Contreras and Cole Roederer, I would do that in a heartbeat.
Then, a Cubs rotation for 2022 with Hendricks, Azolay, Detmers, Marquez, and Mills (or Abbot / Thompson at #5) looks pretty good!!
Extend Baez and Rizzo after 2021 (or during), bring up Brennan Davis for 2022, along with Happ and Heyward in the outfield, then an infield with Baez, Hoerner, and Edwards; this would all be pretty good I think. Maybe if Bryant rebounds in 2021, the Cubs extend him? I know none of this will probably happen, but I think returns like I’ve outlined above for Contreras and Darvish are possible if the Cubs pushed it.
The return the Rangers got for Lynn was significant, and I think the returns for Darvish and Contreras as well could be. Catcher is one of the few organizational strengths of the Cubs (Caratini and Amaya).
1) As was pointed out elsewhere, you won’t get top minors talent AND offload a big contract. Your return for Darvish is too high, if the goal is retooling and cutting payroll. Maybe Adams and an 11-20 prospect, and the Cubs offload $59M in commitment. 2) Angels wouldn’t trade Detmers AND Rodriguez when their problem from the start is lack of SP.
Darvish’s contract has surplus value in it. He makes 22, 19 and 18 million and is coming off a year where he not only pitched like an Ace but a Cy Young candidate.
When you look at the reality of the situation, where Cole is making 36 million through age 38, Strasburg is making 25, Verlander 33, Darvish who is going to average a little over 19 is a steal in comparison
Well, we’re all just playing armchair quarterback here, so we’re all just guessing.
However, to counter your point: Lynn ($8 million w/ one year of control) was just traded to the White Sox for Dunning, so that trade contained both talent and salary coming to Chicago. Darvish would not be a salary dump, as any team trying to compete would be able to afford that contract, especially since the market for starting pitching after Bauer is a big drop-off. If the Angels want to acquire offensive talent (i.e. sign Realmuto) and acquire starting help, it’s likely they’d trade in one area and sign players in another. Pretty sure the Pujols contract is done after 2021, so they could backload Realmuto.
I think two top-10 talents from the Angel’s prospects for Darvish is easily within what the market seems to be. The Angels would have to give up MORE than than to get Snell (younger and cheaper) and the Rays know that.
drasco036, I agree. I think at $59 million over the next three years, Darvish is a steal, so I would want to cash out now as a Cubs fan because he has been volatile over the years. Darvish strikes me as the Cub who should be most likely considered for a trade. Bryant isn’t getting much value back right now. Baez is such a good defender at a tough position and he has fan and merchandise appeal. Contreras is still young and valuable; however, Contreras would bring back a lot. But Darvish given his age (34), given the Cubs need for more cheap, young assets to fill out the roster (more like Alzolay), a Darvish trade to me makes sense. It’s possible he gets injured again. In that case the $59 million could look pretty bad quite quickly. I think there are desperate teams wanting pitching now, and Darvish is currently one of the more valuable trade chips.
I strongly doubt the Cubs are going to go that cheap with the roster.
If the Cubs were not planning on competing they would have held onto Schwarber and would make minimal improvements to keep the costs down as much as possible. They non-tendered Schwarber to clear not only a little payroll but a spot where they can add a hitter that better fits the line up. Also, if it was all about cost cutting they would have went ahead and non-tendered KB. Look at the rosters and the financial hardship around the league…. Bryant has little to no chance of being traded.
With that said, a Contreras trade to the Rays makes some sense but I don’t think the Rays will compete in 2021 which would make a Contreras trade unlikely. As far as you idea, I think Contreras is worth more than Edwards and Ryan in general plus you want them to take back a bad contract? A trade that would make a little more sense would be Brujan, Baz, Honeywell and Kiermaier coming to Chicago. Contreras is easily worth Brujan and Baez and to take on Kiermaier’s bad contract, I would Honeywell in return.
Either way, the writing on the wall regarding the Cubs is not one of a tear down. If it were the Cubs wouldn’t have held onto Hoyer, they wouldn’t have held onto Bryant and/or they wouldn’t have non-tendered Schwarber. People are overreacting to the Cubs non-tender and think it’s a sign that they are purging salary. I see it as the Cubs knowing that Bryant would incredibly difficult to trade given his salary and Schwarber having to be the odd man out because none of the outfielders can hit lefties.
drasco036 I don’t think it’s a tear-down to trade Darvish and Contreras. They could infuse a couple of young hitters and pitchers into the roster (Darvish to Angels = Marsh and Detmers, and Contreras to the Rays = Ryan and Edwards) for 2022. I don’t think the Dodgers, Braves, and Padres are realistic options for the Cubs to beat right now.
If the Cubs keep Bryant, Baez, and Rizzo (which could be likely), and if these guys all hit like they have in the past, having a rotation of Hamels, Quintana, and Archer finishing out the rotation with Hendricks (Alzolay and Mills mixed in) is probably good enough to win the division, especially with Heyward and Happ still in the lineup. But, yes, I’d like to see the Cubs this offseason get La Stella, who would be a big help (2B and DH).
But the Cubs have been talking about Whit Merrifield in a trade (or at least Cub’s fans have). Xavier Edwards is a younger Whit Merrifield, but faster and younger (with possibly more position flexibility). Marsh should be better in CF than Happ. Detmers and Ryan could be rotation anchors for 2022 through 2027.
I am not talking about a tear down but rather building a consistent winner. Who have the Dodgers traded over the years? Puig, Maeta, Verdugo, Wood. They have done quite fine after these trades, as they have identified who to keep and who were costly spare parts, while also at the same time continuing the talent carousel from the Minors. Why haven’t the Cubs kept up with the Dodgers? Very little talent coming up from the Minors, whereas every year the Dodgers bring up a solid contributor. The Cubs need to do something different.
And with the talent the Braves and Padres have coming up, the Cubs I don’t think can catch up, especially when the Major League players are going to soon become very expensive (difficult to keep Bryant, Baez, Rizzo, Contreras, Hendricks, and Darvish all together while staying under the CB tax).
To play a little devils advocate here…. the reason the Cubs have not kept up with the Dodgers is because the Dodgers had a winning roster and a deep farm system when Friedman took over and they draft extremely well. They also spent wildly on their farm system and team long before the Cubs started their rebuild.
Magic Johnson’s ownership group took a totally different approach than Tom Ricketts did in Chicago, Magics group spent and spent like crazy! Remember how much salary they took on in the Adrian Gonzalez, Carwl Crawford and Josh Beckett trade so they didn’t have to deal much in return?
The Dodgers are in their position now because they had the ability to spend to address needs, the CBA was more friendly to the way they did business… look at their cots page in 2014 and 2015 the Dodger spent 100 million dollars OVER the luxury tax. Yeah, you can address all your needs without purging the farm when you spend 100 million dollars over the luxury tax.
And they were well above +50 million, the luxury tax 5 straight years from 2013-2017 before resetting. THAT is the reason the Dodgers had a great farm system and a competitive baseball team.
Also, lets not forget, the reaped a lot of benefits from not having a an international signing cap for a long time. In 2015 the Dodgers spent…… 150 million dollars on international free agents.
lmaooo Detmers & Marsh for darvish, wtf are you smoking? I want some lol.
I don’t actually think the Cubs would get Marsh and Detmers for Darvish (though the trade would not be that far-fetched). I could see Detmers, Kochanowicz, and Calabrese.
Angels keep Marsh, get a #1 starter (or good #2) for $59 million over next 3 years, and can then go after Realmuto. That’s a winner in the AL West.
Darvish for Detmers and Marsh? LMAO! 1)Angels need pitching, they wouldn’t trade a ready now low cost pitching prospect. 2) Davish’s contract is fair at best, I’d lean toward a little high considering age and injury prone. 3) your answer is in your question. Why give up prospects and gamble, when there’s still “cheap” options in free agency as you say. I know it’s fun being an arm chair G.M., but let’s keep it real.
Cubs are going to get Archer on a one year deal and take a trade for Musgrove from the Pirates. Archer would only be a one year fix and Musgrove could add competition to the Cubs rotation for a few years. Seems like a win win situation
I wouldn’t mind either one of those moves. The cubs need inning eaters. They probably have 4-5 options between rea, azolay and the minors that could bandaid together as 5th starter but they need some innings. Mills has looked pretty good in his Handful of starts but not sure how many innings he could log either.
Angels easy fix: trade for Snell or Grey, bring G Rich back, sign the lefty RP Hand, and sign a serviceable temporary catcher. You add some non-roster invitees and you’re good on the cheap and well under 200m.
Who do you think the Angels have that Tampa wants for their best pitcher? Trout and Rendon are not going to be part of that deal.
Go and ask Stephen Strasburg or Max Scherzer who they love to pitch to, and then when you’re finished ask those players who actually have a clue whether they believe “Suzuki is done”. Some of the no clue comments here are laughable.. Furthermore, when you look at Suzuki’s overall numbers he’s not that far behind Yadier Molina in offensive categories where he’s roughly 25 points behind on some stats, of course behind the plate Yadi still has a cannon and Suzuki not as much, but he’s still solid defensively behind the plate and still calls a good game.
They weren’t paying attention during the 2019 playoffs. If a team has a young catcher needing a mentor, a questionable starting catcher, a lefty hitting starting catcher or a young pitching staff, Suzuki would be a fit on any of those teams.