Upton to sign with Tigers for 6yr/$132.75 million

[ABC]

Buster Olney â€@Buster_ESPN  4h4 hours ago

Well, @kennysledge, the OPS of LAA hitters who batted 4th in 2015: 30th in MLB. http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/split/112/sort/OPS/order/true â€¦ 5th-place hitters: 27th.

 

•  

[bloodbrother]

So production couldn't possibly be any worse this season....so there's that

[Stradling]

At this point we might be praying for some bounce back in the OBP department from Nava and Gentry. If they play to their career norms it would destroy what we got from that position last year. That being said they are both coming off of their worst seasons of their careers.

[Redondo]

So production couldn't possibly be any worse this season....so there's that

 

I guess that's one way of putting a positive spin on it

[bloodbrother]

That's probably the Angels thinking tbh. I mean, we got this quote from Eppler

 

Eppler said there is “bounceback potential” in players like Nava and Gentry, who was at Triple-A most of last season.

 

“If you buy into regression to the mean,” he said, “there is upside left in those players.”

[Stradling]

What's funny bb, is I want both of those players on the team, but neither as a starter. Gentry fills a hole as a late inning base runner or defensive replacement. He can also play centerfield and no one else can do that other than Trout. Nava can put together good at bats, which as a left handed bat off the bench has value.

[Lou]

He's having a great morning because he's filthy rich. He can put a mediocre team on the field and you guys (not you personally) keep buying season tickets. Spend that cash and fill is pockets.

Holy crap! I was just thinking about an hour ago that I need to PM you and see where you've been. Hope everything is ok.

[UndertheHalo]

I'm disappointed that we didn't get Justin Upton. I don't want Cespedes unless it's an extremely team friendly deal. We got better this offseason. Even if it's disappointing to not get a LF. At least we moved a bit further away from becoming the Philies. The Tigers did nothing to move away from whats going to be a Philies esque nightmare in a few years(as much as I like upton for the Angels). We'll compete this year, not favored to win the division obviously, but really how has that worked out for us in the recent past. It'll be fun rooting for big years out of Skaggs Richards and Heaney. I'm excited to see Simmons in Halo red. Really hoping to see a bit more out of his bat to go along with the slick fielding. Maybe they'll surprise us guys. ST is only a month away !! I'm full of fools hope this morning ! :-)

Edited January 19, 2016 by UndertheHalo

[bloodbrother]

What's funny bb, is I want both of those players on the team, but neither as a starter. Gentry fills a hole as a late inning base runner or defensive replacement. He can also play centerfield and no one else can do that other than Trout. Nava can put together good at bats, which as a left handed bat off the bench has value.

 

Oh definitely. I thought Gentry, Nava, Pennington, etc were good moves to improve the quality of the bench, but now it turns out that Nava/Gentry were signed to fill the LF spot

[seenoevil]

free mike trout

[floplag]

At this point we might be praying for some bounce back in the OBP department from Nava and Gentry. If they play to their career norms it would destroy what we got from that position last year. That being said they are both coming off of their worst seasons of their careers.

 

Sounds like the same things we were posting at he deadline dumpster dive shopping, how'd that work out for us?  

I have almost no expectation out of LF at this point.  As someone else said these are not bag role guys, but as starters at this point, not impressive. 

[eaterfan]

Unless Upton melts down or has a career ending injury I think he opts out. It's not impossible that those things happen in next two years, but if they did getting him for half that money would still be a bad deal.

I'm not sure if the deal is front or back loaded but assuming neither the Tigers signed Upton for 2 years and $44 million. That seems like a pretty good deal to me.

Detroit will be carrying a lot of dead weight in the future, but barring catastrophe, this contract won't be a part of that.

Edited January 19, 2016 by eaterfan

[Jimmag]

Not a bad deal for Detroit this strengthens the middle of their lineup

[Lou]

I honestly just went back and checked the 2015 final standings. Houston, from what it sounds like reading AW, was light years better than us. Must be the new, shiny youngster thing at work. They went on an incredible early-season run which had them 7 games ahead after only 25 games. SEVEN! lol. After that, they went 68-69 and finished 1 game ahead of us for a playoff spot.

We finished 1 game back and we have people here ready to be placed suicide watch.

So here's my question: is anyone else getting as much enjoyment out of this as I am?

[tdawg87]

I know you're just doing your thing but you're insane if you don't think Houston is a better team moving forward. They have a talented, young MLB roster, a stacked farm system, and plenty of money to spend. The Angels have none of those.

[Inside Pitch]

Who is a "superstar" then and how often does such a player become available on the open market? The point shouldn't be to make a "big splash" on a single superstar player. It should be to fill gigantic, gaping vaginas in the lineup with good players. Upton, Cespedes, Heyward, Fowler, Gordon, Zobrist, et al, would have been more than capable of doing this. We don't need superstars. We need good players. Good players cost a lot of money now. This is something Arte Moreno seems unable to grasp.

 

I'd consider a guy with a 160+ or so OPS+ a superstar and yeah -- they are few and far between.  Thing is, I wasn't the one that implied Arte's opinion of "the right guy" is a superstar willing to take less money -- I think anyone who really believes that is a bit off ...  that's the mindset I was responding to.

 

I don't think Arte is unaware of our needs, but it may be that he's thinking he's made his bed and now he's got to lie in it.    And it may be really crappy for us as a result.   

Edited January 19, 2016 by Inside Pitch

[Docwaukee]

I honestly just went back and checked the 2015 final standings. Houston, from what it sounds like reading AW, was light years better than us. Must be the new, shiny youngster thing at work. They went on an incredible early-season run which had them 7 games ahead after only 25 games. SEVEN! lol. After that, they went 68-69 and finished 1 game ahead of us for a playoff spot.

We finished 1 game back and we have people here ready to be placed suicide watch.

So here's my question: is anyone else getting as much enjoyment out of this as I am?

the division is actually pretty close.  probably within 5 games on paper.  Texas and Houston are good but I don't think either is in any danger of winning 100 games.  Seattle is probably improved but we've thought that before.  Oakland is likely better than they seem but we've thought that before as well.  Angels are probably middle of the pack.  

 

So if it's that close, wouldn't upgrading from a 0 win player (platoon) to a 3 win player at one of your positions make a huge potential difference?  

 

A couple of teams in the west are better than us, but if it were by a large margin then adding one player wouldn't really make a difference.  

 

In this case it probably does.  

 

Of course, you never know, but don't you want to see the team put themselves in a position where they have done whatever it takes on paper as your starting point for a chance to win?  Or do we let luck play more of a role again.  

 

Last season was painful.  Probably one of the most frustrating seasons I can recall.  Our superstar CFer put up a 9 WAR season and the collective disaster to his right put up -1.0 WAR.  We missed the playoffs by 1 game.  

 

We obviously didn't intend for that to happen as it seemed reasonable that Joyce would be an average or slightly below average player.  

 

As of right now, we are prepared to cart that type of production out there ON PURPOSE.  

 

Last year it was a mistake.  This time, it's a choice.  

[AngelsLakersFan]

So Upton produces an OPS of .790 and giving him $22 million/yr is a good deal.

Pujols puts up an OPS of .787 last season @ $24 million and is considered utter garbage by many here

I love AW

 

That's a bit of an over simplification. Albert has actually been fairly productive relative to the money he's been paid thus far. The back end of the deal is where the real price is going to be paid though. 

[Lou]

I know you're just doing your thing but you're insane if you don't think Houston is a better team moving forward. They have a talented, young MLB roster, a stacked farm system, and plenty of money to spend. The Angels have none of those.

I don't recall saying they aren't a better team moving forward

and if doing my thing is stating facts... guilty as charged

[Lou]

the division is actually pretty close.  probably within 5 games on paper.  Texas and Houston are good but I don't think either is in any danger of winning 100 games.  Seattle is probably improved but we've thought that before.  Oakland is likely better than they seem but we've thought that before as well.  Angels are probably middle of the pack.  

 

So if it's that close, wouldn't upgrading from a 0 win player (platoon) to a 3 win player at one of your positions make a huge potential difference?  

 

A couple of teams in the west are better than us, but if it were by a large margin then adding one player wouldn't really make a difference.  

 

In this case it probably does.  

 

Of course, you never know, but don't you want to see the team put themselves in a position where they have done whatever it takes on paper as your starting point for a chance to win?  Or do we let luck play more of a role again.  

 

Last season was painful.  Probably one of the most frustrating seasons I can recall.  Our superstar CFer put up a 9 WAR season and the collective disaster to his right put up -1.0 WAR.  We missed the playoffs by 1 game.  

 

We obviously didn't intend for that to happen as it seemed reasonable that Joyce would be an average or slightly below average player.  

 

As of right now, we are prepared to cart that type of production out there ON PURPOSE.  

 

Last year it was a mistake.  This time, it's a choice.

Great post, doc

and I agree with you. Trout failed us by not putting up a 10 WAR season.

[AngelsLakersFan]

You don't really believe that Arte's idea of the "right guy" is to offer pissant money to a superstar do you?   Upton isn't a superstar.  Cespedes isn't a superstar, and like you said, we haven't heard any stories about the Angels lowballing guys.  

 

While neither guy is a mediocrity they are lesser players than even Hamilton was when the Angels signed him.  Hamilton was a career 136 OPS+ hitter when he was signed.. 

 

 

They didn't even make an offer to Heyward. Greinke and Price wanted too much. I'm not sure what conditions could possibly lead to Arte wanting to pull the trigger. He did manage to get Vlad on a discount deal that pushed the team over the luxury tax in 2004. How often does that happen? If he couldn't find something worth buying this offseason then he's never going to find anything.

[Docwaukee]

I'd consider a guy with a 160+ or so OPS+ a superstar and yeah -- they are few and far between.  Thing is, I wasn't the one that implied Arte's opinion of "the right guy" is a superstar willing to take less money -- I think anyone who really believes that is a bit off ...  that's the mindset I was responding to.

 

I don't think Arte is unaware of our needs, but it may be that he's thinking he's made his bed and now he's got to lie in it.    And it may be really crappy for us as a result.   

but this is his bed

[AngelsLakersFan]

I'd consider a guy with a 160+ or so OPS+ a superstar and yeah -- they are few and far between.  Thing is, I wasn't the one that implied Arte's opinion of "the right guy" is a superstar willing to take less money -- I think anyone who really believes that is a bit off ...  that's the mindset I was responding to.

 

I don't think Arte is unaware of our needs, but it may be that he's thinking he's made his bed and now he's got to lie in it.    And it may be really crappy for us as a result.   

 

You're reading too far into the word 'superstar' - a word I didn't use btw. Arte goes hard after the guy he wants, be they superstars, stars, average players or drug addicts. 

[ABC]

They didn't even make an offer to Heyward. Greinke and Price wanted too much. I'm not sure what conditions could possibly lead to Arte wanting to pull the trigger. He did manage to get Vlad on a discount deal that pushed the team over the luxury tax in 2004. How often does that happen? If he couldn't find something worth buying this offseason then he's never going to find anything.

 

Arte the window shopper

 

[Angel Oracle]

Until 2-3 years ago, Arte was the kid wanting new shiny toys and not caring how long they lasted.

Now he is the parent not wanting any new shiny toys even if they have a likelihood of a long shelf life.