The Angels are making a bid to reunite manager Joe Maddon with his World Series winning backstop in Chicago Willson Contreras, writes the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. No deal is imminent, but the match is certain to raise a few eyebrows because of the potential fit between the two clubs. Given the recent return for ace Yu Darvish, the Cubbies would seem interested in restocking a thin farm system (though it’s possible they consider that box now checked). The Angels, conversely, have a clear need for some gravitas behind the plate and an earnest desire to win now.
For Los Angeles, Max Stassi may miss the beginning of the season, and neither he nor Anthony Bemboom are established regulars. They made a run at James McCann earlier this offseason before he signed with the Mets. Contreras would be a huge upgrade as an elite offensive catcher who has continued to find his way defensively. He earned 2 runs from extra strikes in 2020 while averaging the second fastest poptime among all catchers. His arm also profiles as above-average, if a tad error-prone in the past. Contreras caught 35% of would-be base-stealers in 2020, well above the league average of 25%.
With two years of team control remaining, the two-time All-Star catcher may be the Cubs’ best available trade chip, however, which could slow any trade talks as they look to milk the most out of any return. He’s a firestarter, fan favorite, and a leader of the team. Besides, having sent Victor Caratini to San Diego as part of the Darvish deal, moving Contreras would also leave them imperiled at the catching spot. The organization likely views Miguel Amaya as a future starting catcher, but he’s not likely to open 2021 with the Major League team. Likewise, Ethan Hearn and Ronnier Quintero are interesting prospects, but neither has played about Rookie Ball. Contreras and the 21-year-old Amaya are the only catchers currently on the Cubs 40-man roster.
In first with “can he pitch?”
no he can’t pitch, but he can frame and thats almost just as good.
Sure, he ranked 45th out of 64 in 2019. He was -4 runs. He was 55th out of 60 in 2018.
Don’t pay too much attention to a short season.
I’m going to have to agree with Halo11Fan. Last season’s stats are not 100% accurate. If it was a full season, he would not have the defensive stats mentioned above
He worked his ass off last offseason to improve his framing. It’s a lazy approach to just chalk it up to a short season.
It was the one knock on him, and if you know his mindset, you’d understand that Contreras is hellbent on being the best catcher in the game.
Don’t sell his improvement short.
Rich, and being able to maintain something over two months is not nearly the same thing as being able to maintain it over an entire season.
Don’t sell it short, but don’t read too much into it either.
It’s pitch framing. This isn’t like hitting .400 for 60 games. It’s a learnable and repeatable skill. He already had all the other attributes you can’t teach.
Im. His problem is he jumps around too much and has been a generally lazy catcher.
Let’s see if he can keep it up for a full season before we deem him cured.
I would say he is about as far away from lazy as you could possibly get as a catcher. I am just going to assume you haven’t watched very many cubs games. Having watched him catch hundreds of games prior 2020 and nearly every game last year. He had some high level coaching between 2019-2020 and made remarkable improvements.
IM. I don’t watch him much. I remember some “expert’ going off on him before my 2018 fantasy league draft and that was one of the words he used.
It put up a red light for me. He was a bad catcher in 21018 and 2019. Defensively, he was an above average catcher last year.
If the Angels needed one piece, a catcher, I’d bet on him. But he’s pretty far down the priority list.
It requires a lot of effort and focus. It’s like driving on the Highway. We can do a wonderful job paying attention to the road for “x” Miles. Eventually, You find yourself in Autopilot. Over a full season we will see If he sticks to his improvements or falls into old habits when he is in Autopilot. Or Simply cant maintain that level.
Joe knows Contreras is better with his bat than his glove. If he hits the way he used to, he only needs to be Avg to Above Avg on Defense. Which is a reasonable goal.
“I don’t watch him much.” Just log off…
This is an Angel thread, a team I’m sure you don’t follow… We know what we need to spend our assets on…. Log Off.
When you can’t find any pitchers who have an ERA under 4.00 on the market… build yourself a great offense!
And/or get a solid catcher who may help attract better pitchers.
couldn’t of said it better myself.
Except he’s not a solid catcher. As shown by 2018 and 2019 statcast rankings.
Ya Contreras is terrible. This is controversial, but I think Posey will be better this season, defensively at least. To back this up, I will say this: Posey is so fit after sitting out 2020. He lost weight, got faster, got stronger, and had time to work on his hitting and fielding.
@Halo11Fan – after I posted that I saw a couple if his defensive rankings. Definitely not as good as I had thought…yikes. He is still an upgrade over Stassi as an overall catcher. Since Stassi knows the staff, he would probably be a solid backup.
Yeah, Darvish preferred throwing to him.
What the Angels need to do is build a bullpen. Unless you count Noe Ramirez, right now, they have exactly zero RPs who were good in both 2019 and 2020
I agree with fangraphs about their starting rotation.
The Angels rotation is not in particularly bad shape, though it could use some spice at the top and some depth at the bottom.
What they need is people in the pen who can get outs.
Um, they don’t have Noe Ramirez anymore. They traded him for an excellent closer, Raisel Iglesias..
Oh, it gets worse. I was looking at the 2020 roster. Thanks for the correction.
I’m very happy with Iglesias…. as a 7th or 8th inning guy. The Angels are a third of the way to having a good bullpen end game.
Now Ramirez is gone. However absolute stud Raesiel Iglesias was added.
He wasn’t good in 2019 and he is not an absolute stud. Why do you keep ignoring 2019? It was his last full season.
Seventeen of his appearances produced negative results.. That’s not a solid closer let alone an absolute stud.
2019 is NOT 2021 either.
He’s a closer that has CLOSED 100+ games and has FEWER blown save the last 2,3,4,5 years than the Angels 2020 BP had in total.
He’s NOT the 7th-8th inning guy he’s the closer. Like it or not he’s the closer. The 7th-8th inning guy is now Buttrey/Meyers with an incomplete BP after that.
Iglesiaes is 13th among the 89 relief pitchers in fWAR with at least 160 innings pitched since the start of 2017. He also has a 2.95 ERA, 3.42 FIP and 3.43 xFIP. How is he not the closer?
No, it’s not. But it is his last full season, and he was bad in his last full season.
To depend on pitchers who haven’t put together back to back dependable seasons (2019 and 2020) is foolish.
Right now that is where the Angels are.
@Halo11Fan. How are you so sure “where the Angels are” when 10 minutes ago, you didn’t even know that Iglesias was on the roster without checking ESPN?
What? I wasn’t sure who they traded for him? I forgot it was Ramirez.
And how do I know where they are? Because over the last decade, the Angels have tried to figure out their bullpen on the fly and over the last ten+ years they have spent the first part of the season struggling figuring out who they can depend on.
At some point they need to figure out what they are doing isn’t working. Right now every RP they send out, EVERY ONE, is suspect. And in six weeks, after they get off to another slow start, they’ll figure out the proper mix. They do this EVERY year.
That’s no way to handle the bullpen. Especially with these starters.
i agree. angels need to add 1 more late inning pitcher. or 2.
I’m sure they add 1 SP and 1 RP, maybe 2 of each or 2 of one and 1 of the other.
Just because it’s January 6 doesn’t mean they are done filling the roster.
Only a few top RP have been signed – Treinen would’ve been my pick for the Angels to add but there are still a few more that are upgrades to what the 2020 BP had.
So far Perry has cleaned house regarding the 2020 BP and all of his signings and trades thus far have been upgrades, except maybe the rule 5 guy.
5toolMVP, I hope you are right. Perry could be working backwards, but paying as much as he did for Iglesias and filling a very back end of the bullpen piece like Claudio leads me to believe he values those pitchers more than he should.
I really hope I’m wrong.
Flip Willie back to Maddon, take Adell and some meat, then sign Realmuto, Baez and Rizzo to big fat extensions. Cubs win the NL Central.
Now I do think Adell is overrated but no way in world Angels give up Adell alone for Contreras and especially if it’s Adell & others. I could see Cubs signing just some veteran defensive minded catcher if they trade Contreras too.
I’d do adell for Hendricks and Contreras
In this market, the Angels should be adding through free agency and they are going to need young controllable players to supplement the salaries.
Thats a ridiculous trade. The cubs literally dont have two assets added together worth a Demeteres let alone an Adell. Theyre all either bad or being paid close to market.
bkbk,
You and I seem to be in agreement on this thread. At least i think we are in agreement.
I can’t imagine how much air would fill your head bkbk if the Angels actually had a good farm system or made the playoffs once in the last 6 years-
Have to give you props tho, your fandoms strong, just make sure to flip on the fog lights every now and then
@jawinks Everyone is pretty sure that Jed is under orders to slash payroll so how does all of that get done?
Contreras is better than Castro.
Angels should ask for Hendricks too.
for dietmers
Ricketts and their “biblical losses”…they took Wrigleyville and turned it into Crickettsville, priced everybody out of the freaking neighborhood, and now they wonder why nobody shows up. Once again, after a brief period of joy, it’s embarrassing to be a Cubs fan. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if they trade Contreras for a bag of stale air and a cookie.
*… and a half eaten cookie.”
Fixed it for ya.
I’m guessing no one shows up due to Covid.
That was my thought
Can anyone explain why the angels aren’t on the Bauer hype train??? Thought the enjoy over paying FA’s
They are, they never leak, unlike your auntie.
Go sniff your sisters panties
He’s right about the Angels being tight lipped.
The Angels could be in on Bauer. They are just quiet.
haaaaa, You mean “step sister?”
Can I sniff your sisters? or is she a junkie like yourself?
Speedy likes everybody’s sister
Bauer will be too expensive. The Angels need a Zaidi-type GM. They need low-cost acquisitions that have no risk involved whatsoever. That will build some depth, and if they pan out, will improve their pitching staff, and possibly even find a Mike Yastrzemski-type player who will greatly improve their lineup
Youre nw to angels baseball. We did this for a year and it doesnt work. It ONLY works for teams like the Rays and a lesser extent the Dodgers because they are buttressed by an always-on faucet of homegrown talent.
if your team cant make cheap talent work thrn your front office needs to be overhauled
I’m a Giants fan, not an Angels fan, but I can still see what the Angels need. The Angels need to spend less to get more. If they can get someone who costs a quarter, or even half, of what Bauer costs, they will be better off because they can use the other half/75% of Bauer’s contract(that they would’ve given him) on other lower cost guys. As DarkSide830 stated, if your team can’t make cheap talent work then your office needs to be overhauled. Plus, the Giants have made low-cost acquisitions as well, and made them work. Look at Donovan Solano last season, Mike Yastrzemski(2019-‘20), and Alex Dickerson, just to start.
It was. Are you reading a newspaper from 2017?
Signing Bauer has more to do with who the owner is and not who the GM is. The Angels have the perfect owner to sweep Bauer into the fold.
But Bauer is too expensive for the Angels. They need to spend less so they can get more
notagain27 – “The Angels have the perfect owner to sweep Bauer into the fold.”
Was this sarcastic? Or have you not paid attention to the Angels the last 6 off seasons? Unless Bauer can hit homeruns, Moreno will make an offer that’s too low/short to compete with the market and then do a press release after he signs elsewhere that he was “in” on Bauer but he obviously wanted to play elsewhere,
I’m not a fan of overpaying for FAs after career years – pass on Bauer.
@ Angels & NL West For sure, especially this guy! What if Maddon pulls him in the 6th inning and Bauer blows his cool and injures his six figure arm throwing the ball over the center field wall? He’s loud, proud and arrogant. PASS!
As much as Bauer makes sense (Angels dire need, he’s a SoCal guy), his Cole-like asking price and outspoken attitude doesn’t quite play with this team. From what I’ve read, they may be looking to absorb bad contracts and acquire controllable pitching like Luis Castillo or even Kyle Hendricks. I hope this is the case as I think this is a better strategy to capitalize on a very unique timeframe in sports.
How can Trout be happy with his club? Angels organization is a head scratcher for me!
Nothing happened yet. Why would anyone be mad.
How long has Trout been waiting for something to happen? I get that they went out and grabbed Rendon, but what have they done over the years? Great, Trout is getting a paycheck, he’ll retire early, but when was the last time they were in the playoffs?
Im not defending their moves, but the Angels have had tremendous bad luck as a frachise. Theyve had two young stud pitching prospects die, they been something like 4/6 season the highest record outside the post season. Justin Upton turned into a pumpkin and owner who used to p[ick players based on RBIs and ERA and a bunch of other crazy stories.
Ill stand by the arguement that the angels should win more, but it certainly hasnt been about trying.
I guess if I were them I wouldn’t be too excited about putting an unreasonable amount of money out in this fa pitching market. Bauer is not worth the money he’s demanding.
That’s called having a bad owner. That’s the same luck everyone has. Skaggs was nowhere still being a prospect. He just wasnt very good for a long time. The Angels just suck.
Look at this padres boy. See’s a season above 500 and suddenly hes a Yankees fan.
Skaggs peripherls were trending toward #2-3 and I was also talking Adenhart. Angels were also the #2 hitting team in baseball last year.
Want to make a gentlemens bet on the Angels finishing with a better record than the Friars?
We’d need a witness and probably twitter or instagram handles.
You sound like a moron who just started following the Tatis hype last season. How many playoff appearances and World Series rings do you guys have in the last 20 years again??
I mean how can you not be happy with an organization that pays you that well? I’m not saying Trout doesn’t want to win, 426.5 million. The one thing the Angels never have to worry about is Trout’s happiness.
At some point, players will value winning over money. Usually it’s once they have made enough money to set them and another generation or two up for life. I don’t mean signing a contract, I mean once it has hit their bank account.
@dixie I disagree. I think players want to win, but they want to be paid and play somewhere they’re comfortable playing first and foremost.
Pujols didn’t he was all about the MONEY
Pujols already had two world series rings
But thats the thing: you have to choose one over the other. You can stay where you are comfortable and literally break the bank to do so, which will likely handcuff the team for years down the line or you can try and play somewhere that gives you the chance to play in the postseason. This isn’t the Yankees or the Braves of the 1990’s where you could actually have it both ways.
In Trouts career he has played in 3 playoff games and the team has finished with a loding record six times
My thinking is a lot of big market teams would’ve been willing to pay Trout that big contract. I’m thinking he signed with the understanding his club was going to be competitive with signings. They haven’t been imo
He literally signed the extension 20 months ago, what are you talking about?
I get that he just signed extension 20 months ago, I also get that with all the injuries and the unforeseen deaths. I’m a fan of Trout, not the angels, and I’ll stand by my argument that they’ve missed on some big opportunities over the past few years to solidify their rotation
Sure the Angels have missed on some big opportunities, but so has Trout.
2012, he couldn’t perform in Spring training. Was brought up at the end of April.
2014 he was rotten in the playoffs.
2015 he made a foolish attempt to catch a fly ball, hurt his wrist, played hurt for the next month and was Awful.
They have both blown opportunities.
Sounds like the Nolan Arenado situation in Colorado. Signed the deal believing the Rockies were going to build around him and now team and player want to be rid of one another.
Trout gave up his chance to try to play for a winner the moment he signed the extension. If one day Arte sells the Angels and they get an owner who understands that throwing big money at aging sluggers does little to move the needle in the win column then maybe, maybe they will have a chance
News Flash Von! Money DOES NOT buy happiness…….. many millionaires have dies miserable.
he signed that extention so…
no. no. nooooo!
if we give up Marsh in this deal I’m so done. please hold onto Marsh PLEASE
I think he will be better than Adell.
how much have seen adell playing? he is still very young and promoted to mlb before he was ready. it was a stupid move just to get some attention in a losing season. he needs to spend a full season in aaa to adjust his swing. but talent is certainly there!
It blows my mind how people are turned off of Adell so quickly. If boards like this existed in 1992, fans would have wanted Tim Salmon traded.
Salmon 1992 177/283/266. 92 PA. Fifth ranked prospect. Age 23
Adell Age 21. 132 PA. Third Ranked Prospect B.A. 2nd B.P.
People need to get some perspective.
I am not brushing Adell off. He will likely be a talented big leaguer. I think that Marsh will end up being better though
I think Adell will make multiple all-star teams and I think Marsh will be a good major league player.
Dude you don’t even have to go that far back. Just go look at Trout’s first call up and those atrocious #s he put up. The same ppl willing to give up on Adell are the non fans who only look at a stat line. They don’t know baseball, they don’t know how to evaluate a young player, they don’t know proper mechanics, they’ve probably never played at the bare minimum College baseball, and I can sure as hell bet 90% of the people with wise ass comments about the Angels can’t even throw a baseball across the diamond 90 feet. There’s a reason why High level scouts and execs value Adells talents soo much.
I think the comp to Adell is Salmon. I wouldn’t compare any non-PED player of the last 50 years to Trout.
i dont know what you Angels fans expect to get without giving up Adell or Marsh. gotta give to get.
Not Contreras.
i concur. especially to unite him with a 70 year old manager.
Do you not realize they are not interested in trading? They want to sign Free agents. Adell and Marsh will eventually be legit everyday starters. Rome wasn’t built in one day. What concerns me more is all these haters being soo concerned for a club they aren’t even fans of. Don’t you guys have your own team to worry about?
please dont do this Angels… only way to make this ok is if we can get Hendricks
I agree; that’s the only way this makes sense. For whatever reason, the Cubs are clearly shedding payroll and are willing to do so at a discount (the Padres didn’t give up any of their top-10 prospects). IF the Angels could pull this off without Adell or Marsh in the mix (again, see the Padres), then this would be a huge win for the Halos.
Hoping nats could get Contreras maybe for Kieboom
Wilson Contreras should be a Marlin come 2021. It’s clearly the move they should make. I’d offer:
Jorge Alfaro, Braxton Garrett, Harold Ramirez and Jesus Sanchez. Work from there to see if a deal can come together.
Cubs get a C replacement in Alfaro for a year or two, H Ram who could be a solid No 4 OF, a Mid rotation young arm in Garrett, and a solid young OF in Sanchez. Marlins get an all star C.
Contreras is overrated, and too expensive for this young Marlins team. Marlins need someone else
this is really stupid. why would they want a mediocre catcher that will certainly cost in prospects and salary? get some pitchers!
mediocre? name 10 starting catchers better then him.
If you believe his defensive metrics, he’s not a poor defensive catcher.
The Angels problem isn’t hitting, it’s pitching. You don’t use a lot of your ammunition on Him.
I would have been really happy had the Angels added Casali. So far, I’m not the least bit impressed with the Angels off-season.
JTR
Yadier Molina
Mike Zunino(controversial, I’ll admit)
Salvador Perez
Roberto Perez
Tucker Barnhart
Travis D’Arnaud
Yasmani Grandal
Buster Posey*
Will Smith
* Buster posey has a chance to be better this season, due to the shape he is in right now. He is stronger, faster, and slimmer. He really took advantage of taking 2020 off
All these catchers are NOT better bro, to funny!
`Over the last two years Contreras is easily a top ten catcher.
But when you have limited ammunition, and you are being attacked by Indians on horses with riffles, you should not use your limited ammunition targeting they guy on foot with a tomahawk.
You basically just listed catchers, awesome.
@Swing
@iml
I don’t think highly of him. I don’t expect you to agree with me, and I am not going to try to persuade you to, but I just don’t think highly of him as a baseball player. To me, those guys are better players. I apologize if I hurt your feelings by saying that
And I didn’t just list catchers. There are 20 other starting catchers I could’ve named if I was “listing catchers”
Go get em guys! Been wanting them to go after Contreras for a while! Just don’t give up adell or marsh !!!
Roughly twenty five teams should be interested in Contreras.
And while Angels do fit within those 25, I don’t see why he’d be a priority.
I’m assuming he will cost quite a bit more than Darvish- Darvish’s contract wasn’t really any kind of bargain. And I don’t see why Angel’s would use those assets on a catcher.
Exactly Jake.
The Angels have not had the same starting catcher in back to back years, since Chris Iannetta. His last season with the Angels since 2015. No it’s not their top priority. Obviously pitching is the top priority. But finding a every day catcher should be their second priority.
Angelfan. Sure, but you don’t give up one of your key assets to acquire him.
The Angels should have signed Casali.
Casali would have been another one year and look for a catcher again next year. Enough get a catcher, they can have and keep. Instead of these rentals.
with so many catchers drafted during scoscia’s 10 year span none stuck with us. should have extended molinas, kendrick, aybar and more the developed youngsters. arte and f/o has been really stupid
Angelfan, you don’t think he would have taken two years?
Marsh 7 years, Adell Six years, Detmers 7 years.
I’m glad you are a fan of having players committed to the team for multiple years.
Lmaoo dude they literally turned their top catching prospects into position players Taylor Ward and Matt Thaiss were drafted as catchers.
have they succeeded as catchers? no. are they successful ml players? no!
The Angels haven’t had a consistent presence behind the plate since Bengie Molina. Since Molina left after the 2006 season the Angels have used 25 different Catchers
I really like Stassi, and unless his injury is severe, I’d rather Angels stick with Stassi and save the money for some starting pitching. If Bauer is not a good fit then Odorizzi and trading for either S Gray or Musgrove is a better use of resources.
amen!
How about Contreras and a pitching prospect for Upton and a chunk of his salary?
Upton has a no trade clause. He’s the Angels LF, that’s not going to change.
If they convinced him it could change
I thought the Cubs put this nonsense behind them last week. Wilson Contreras looked like a completely different catcher framing last year, drastic improvements. I believe he was a gold glove finalist, he has a hand cannon for arm, high baseball IQ, in his 20s, and can hit. DO NOT trade him.
please tell cubs to keep him.
I hope they do. Cubs need young controllable starting pitching, not more minor league outfield depth. I’d think the Angels would be near the bottom of the list for viable trade partners. Hoyer already managed to flip Darvish without receiving one pitching prospect.
He had those improvements in a SHORTENED season. So did Donovan Solano, but even as a Giants fan, I doubt he will repeat
He looked completely different behind the plate last year framing pitches. It appears to me he learned a new skill. I could be wrong.
Should’ve just signed Casali.
Yeah that would’ve been cool too.
He wanted to go to San Francisco. He has connections with Gabe Kapler, Donnie Ekker, Yaz, Steven Duggar, Longo, Gausman, and Desclafani.(possibly more too. Those are off the top of my head). Now Casali wants to help recruit Bauer
Yes please. And thank you. That is all
Angels are looking at the other positions but pitching. If they want to buy low, Archer is available. If there is a trade interest anywhere, check the Pirates out. They have some young arms available
That’s called having a bad owner. That’s the same luck everyone has. Skaggs was nowhere still being a prospect. He just wasnt very good for a long time. The Angels just suck.
If only they could have played the Padres more, they would have made the playoffs. Unfortunately they were only able to play them four games and won three of them.
How about angels trade for Hendricks and Contreras for adell +?
Contreras and Hendricks please!!
Cubs trade Contreras and Hendricks to the Angels for Marsh, Adams, Detmers, Barria, and Kochanowicz. Done.
Angels firmly the favorites in the AL West and a serious contender for the World Series, but they still would need to work on the bullpen. A rotation of Heaney, Hendricks, Bundy, Canning, and Ohtani is outstanding!!
The Angels would be fools to trade Detmers, and they are not going to give up three of their best four prospects.
The Angels would be fools to trade their young controllable assets.
The Angels don’t have a very good farm system, so they barely have enough to acquire either Contreras or Hendricks. The bottom half of the Angels top 10 prospects are not top 10 prospects in most farm systems.
Is my proposal generous towards the Cubs? Yes, I am a Cubs fan. But if you look at the Baseball Trade Values this would be a fair trade according to the numbers (Hendricks and Contreras = 66 and Angels assets = 71).
Would the Angels be fools to trade away that much talent? Possibly. It would gut their farm system. But how long can they saddle Mike Trout with underperforming teams?
There’s a big dropoff in talent after the Angels top two prospects, as well as a dropoff after their top three prospects, so if the top Angels prospects are not involved in a trade for either Contreras or Hendricks, I doubt it happens.
The Angels don’t have a very good farm system, so they barely have enough to acquire either Contreras or Hendricks.
So they should give away three of their best four prospects? What sense does that make?
The Angels should do all they can to maintain talent. If I were the Angels GM, would I accept the proposal? No. I would lowball it. Get as much value as you can while giving up as little as possible.
“The Angels would be fools to trade away their young, controllable assets.” I agree with you, but in order to get Willson Contreras the offer is going to have to be pretty good. All Minor Leaguers are young, controllable assets. Willson Contreras is a young (28), controllable asset, but the Cubs are clearly in a rebuild mode.
The Darvish trade was as much about salary relief as getting talent back. Trading Contreras will BE ALL ABOUT getting talent back, as he only made a pro-rated $5.5 million last year, possibly $7-5 – $8.5 this year after arbitration. He’s incredibly affordable.
@ David Herrick “But how long can they saddle Mike Trout with underperforming teams?” Till the day he retires, actually!
You not getting all that for Hendricks and Contreras. Lol after what darvish just received hahahaha more like adell or marsh plus Chris Rodriguez and a lower level prospect.
The Darvish situation is completely different than Contreras and Hendricks. Darvish is owed $62 million over the next three years, and he has had an up and down career with injuries. Hendricks costs $42 million over the same span of time, and he has never had a major injury, as he’s been incredibly consistent (21.3 WAR over the last 7 years with a low of 1.6 and a high of 5.4).
And Contreras made $5.5 million last year. With arbitration, Contreras could be up to $7.5 – $8.5, but he is empirically one of the top 5 catchers in baseball, and he is still controlled for two more years. Whereas Hendricks is one of the best #2 starters in baseball, truly a model of consistency.
But the article only says they’re discussing just Contreras, but I thought it’d be fun to put together a proposal for both, as the Angels could use both. But for just Contreras (at 28.3 according to Baseball Trade Values) here would be some options:
Detmers – 11.2
Adams – 15.9
Rodriguez – 8.5
Jackson – 8.2
Paris – 6.3
Kochanowicz – 4.1
Knowles – 4.3
Barria – 4
Calabrese – 2.4
I could see Adams and Kochanowicz for Contreras. Or Detmers, Knowles, and Calabrese. BUT I could definitely see the Cubs wanting Detmers and Adams alone for Contreras, but they might not get that.
As highlighted before btv is grossly overrated and never actually accurate in predicting trades on current market. 90 percent of the time the trades are one sided and when an actual trade happens it’s much lower than what people predicted. Angels farm also isn’t that bad it’s middle of the pack in terms of talent.
I would love to see the Cubs target Chris Rodriguez if they decide to move on from Contreras. I think a Rodriguez/Adams package would be nice. Given the Angels lack of quality arms, I’m not sure how keen they would be on moving Detmers, Rodriguez, or even Kochanowicz.
you are crazy or stupid. probably both.
Wow, this is just a baseball site; we’re discussing baseball trades, not life and death matters. There’s not need to insult.
BTW, I am an Officer in the Army National Guard, I have multiple college degrees, and I have a wonderful civilian job making $60,000-plus a year. Again, just chill out.
David,
unfortunately when you talk about trading young players, it’s like trading away their dog. It’s emotional.
I would think a Musgrove and stallings trade would be appealing to the halos
Halo fans should remember prospects are only that & top 5 all-star catchers are already proven players , unless you have watched like Maddon has everyday for 5 yrs you have no good clue on how really good he is . P.S. check out some of Jon Lester’s comments
It’s one thing to look up stats it’s another to watch this guy play. He’s a game changer behind the plate.
keep him!
A fair return for just Contreras has to start Marsh or Adams,
The Angels should not be spending any of their ammunition on Contreras.
The Cubs just traded for two outfielder prospects and they have Brennen Davis who is two years younger and might be just as good as Marsh. Not to mention Roederer. Any trade would have to start with Detmers IMO. I still hope they don’t trade him.
Contreras is an upgrade anyway you look at it. Why not sign him? he improves the team, even if incrementally. You have to start position by position. That’s a good step. I root for the Angels and hope they have a good year.
You got a point,…… in 2 years
I get the Angels frustration behind the plate, I really do, they dont want to do Jason Castro 2.0 again
I liken this to a couples fight. Your frustrated, so you say some things out loud in public to get them off your chest; but when its time to get serious, cooler heads prevail and you calm down and make the right call-
I think Contreras gets dealt, just not to the Angels – Wash/Philly if no JtR make a ton of sense too me – Probably makes more sense to wait till JTR signs to get optimal value
What can the Angels offer? Bigger question… would it matter since the Cubs are “giving” players away.
If the Angels are looking to make a trade, maybe Sonny Gray, Luis Castillo, Carlos Carrasco get them closer to contention.
Spare Tire.
If the Angels are going to trade youth, those are three pitchers the Angels should be looking to acquire. Not Contreras.
If the Cubs are going full rebuild, what about “something like” Willson Contreras, Kyle Hendricks, & Rowan Wick for Joe Adell and Brandon Marsh? Angels get their catcher, improve their rotation, and bullpen. Cubs get their young controllable talent.
If the Cubs first ask isn’t for Jo Adell or no deal, then they should just walk away.
And if the Cubs say Adell,the Angels should just walk away.
And since Contreras isn’t a priority and the Angels have so few assets to trade, they should just say no.
Any trade Proposal by other teams for Adell, Marsh, Detmers, Jordyn Adams, or Jeremiah Jackson is gonna be a hard pass for me. For as much crap as people who don’t know this club like to give the Angels, they sure as hell want our top prospects pretty bad. Angels should have learned from their mistakes by now, don’t trade away your talent for anything short of good young pitching. Guys like Luis Castillo, Pleasac, Marquez, and Berrios are the type of pitchers I’d be willing to let go of top prospects for. Any less Angels should walk away. kyle Hendricks although intriguing will probably require the moon in return because of his team friendly contract and track record. I’m also not soo sure how good he’ll fare once he gets older (he is 31), not sure if diminished velocity will affect him or not because he is a finesse control/location type pitcher.
Since the Angels need a pitcher, Hendricks might be fun to discuss.
Why the Angels didn’t go after Casali I will never understand. Couldn’t they afford 2.5 million?
Well, if they did, which they could’ve and not said anything aloud, they wouldn’t have gotten him. As I stated earlier he has so many connections in San Francisco, so he was drawn to the Orange and Black. Casali said there were other teams who showed interest, but didn’t mention which ones. As to Hendricks, I say go for it. Gotta add some pitchers to the group of guys Trout golfs with in October lol
Money changes a lot of minds. Hard for me to believe he would not have gone to OC if the money was right. And even then, it would not have been a big hit.
The Angels have not had a catcher, catch 100 games, since Benji Molina in 2005.
Just to add, he was non-tendered by the Reds.
Had the Angels done their due diligence, they could have had Iglesias, Bradley and Casali for a song, and that would have solved many of this teams issues.
Casali is Stassi 2.0 ,Contreras is a big upgrade at catcher. I’ve got to believe Perry is trying to upgrade the Angels roster, not load it with mediocrity, and the same skill type level players.
It’s like the Angels don’t know that there is such thing as pitching, and not just hitting
and you know that the angels are not getting any pitchers? what are tonight’s lotto number, genius?
My point for commenting that, is they stock up on good offensive players, and then keep going for good offensive players, rather than trying to go more for pitching
This dude rakes and hits bombs.
Contreras and Hendricks, get it done Angels. The Mets just did a similar deal, and for a relative modest return. Throw the Cubs anyone not named Adell or Marsh and get it done. I’d like to see those 2 in the outfield together in 2022.
And the Mets did not trade a single player rated as highly as Adams or Marsh
No not till minor help ready he isn’t that expensive and is the top catcher in baseball even knowing he had his worst offensive year . Again nO No NO stop it Ricketts sale the team if you can’t afford a team any more