The Official Los Angeles Angels 2023-2024 Hot Stove Offseason Thread

[Inside Pitch]

4 minutes ago, ScottM said:

Montgomery and Imanaga are both better options than Snell

And neither will cost them a first rounder.  Are protected picks still a thing?

[ScottM]

1 minute ago, Inside Pitch said:

And neither will cost them a first rounder.  Are protected picks still a thing?

And probably $50M cheaper, at least according to MLBTR.

[Erstad Grit]

4 minutes ago, mmc said:

 

This is great for baseball

[Angels 1961]

23 minutes ago, Erstad Grit said:

This is great for baseball

He had a really nice year in 23. Type of player you root for.

[Chitown27Fan]

I was lowkey wishing we could get Andrew to come here on a team friendly contract to help mentor Joe Adell and add out field depth and a good hitting approach. But it is a feel good that he has stayed with the Pirates 

[mmc]

 

[T.G.]

1 hour ago, jsnpritchett said:

Link?

[T.G.]

1 hour ago, EdmontonAngelsFan said:

Source?

Friar Tuck.

[Inside Pitch]

Reading the opinions of Angels fans on Twitter I'm amazed at how many view Bellinger as a legit MOTO, 200 million dollar bat.

[3pitchwalk]

21 hours ago, Erstad Grit said:

I think you're getting good news overload then lol

i wont truly be content until i wake up to news that bellinger signed with some other team.

[Angelsfan1984]

33 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Reading the opinions of Angels fans on Twitter I'm amazed at how many view Bellinger as a legit MOTO, 200 million dollar bat.

How many burners does 1961 have?

[FromJapan]

3 hours ago, T.G. said:

Can we get a 4th post about Yuki Matsui being close to signing with the Padres, please?

(Reference in Japanese) Nikkan Gendai Digital on December 20, 2023 (JST)

As I read abobe article, I got the impression that Matsui's transfer destination has not yet been determined and is still in the realm of speculation. I will quote part of the article into English.

According to one of our correspondents,
"Matsui seems to have a good impression of the atmosphere of the Cardinals and the city of St. Louis, but the Cubs and Padres are also interested in him. Among them, it seems like that the Padres are more likely than the Cardinals."

"At the WBC, Darvish (Padres) followed up Matsui with a variety of information, not just how to deal with major league-approved ball. Matsui feels strongly that he was helped by Darvish at that time, and adores him."
 

[Taylor]

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/12/padres-reportedly-close-to-signing-yuki-matsui.html

[Angelsfan1984]

I would much rather sign nobody so we can complain about that instead. 

[Angelsfan1984]

1 minute ago, Taylor said:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/12/padres-reportedly-close-to-signing-yuki-matsui.html

Rick roll or porn?

[DMVol]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

Reading the opinions of Angels fans on Twitter I'm amazed at how many view Bellinger as a legit MOTO, 200 million dollar bat.

I think the bigger question is whether Arte views him as the latest shiny new toy….

[Taylor]

13 minutes ago, Angelsfan1984 said:

Rick roll or porn?

Both

Dick Roll

[Taylor]

13 minutes ago, DMVol said:

I think the bigger question is whether Arte views him as the latest shiny new toy….

Arte thinks signing Bellinger will stick it to the Dodgers.

[Angel Oracle]

10 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Arte thinks signing Bellinger will stick it to the Dodgers.

Arte has stuck it to Halos fans for 8 straight years.

[Lazorko Saves]

58 minutes ago, Angelsfan1984 said:

How many burners does 1961 have?

[Angels 1961]

If the Angels want to compete, they need to gamble on some players. Off season not over but with current roster not impressive. Bellinger had a nice bounce back year after getting away from Dodgers. He was healthy and with help from new hitting coach. If Trout is healthy he will need protection in the lineup. Maybe his broken hand is not completely healed. Arte may not want to spend this off season and wait till next year. I'm just guessing like all of us on AW. Next month will tell what direction halos are going in. 

[Angels 1961]

9 minutes ago, Lazorko Saves said:

Bottom center put chisel and stone

[Inside Pitch]

4 hours ago, Angelsfan1984 said:

How many burners does 1961 have?

I know he ticks most of this board off, but he gets his zingers in there -- Angels Twitter is amazingly stupid, flat out stupid.

[Inside Pitch]

40 minutes ago, Angels 1961 said:

If the Angels want to compete, they need to gamble on some players. Off season not over but with current roster not impressive. Bellinger had a nice bounce back year after getting away from Dodgers. He was healthy and with help from new hitting coach. If Trout is healthy he will need protection in the lineup. Maybe his broken hand is not completely healed. Arte may not want to spend this off season and wait till next year. I'm just guessing like all of us on AW. Next month will tell what direction halos are going in. 

There is no question he changed his approach last year to try to make more contact -- he sacrificed power for contact and it worked.  Thing is, despite that his chase rate was almost a career worst as was his walk rate, two things you would have expected to improve not worsen. Maybe more importantly -- his batted ball data all went south -- he got results despite the batted ball stuff.

So one of two things happened.  He got lucky, or he became some "Super-Saiyan" version of David Fletcher.  I would not expect all those things to repeat.  Maybe he finds a way to improve the batted ball stuff or he suddenly starts getting on base at a better clip but the best way to describe his results last year would be "odd" and not likely repeatable.

[Inside Pitch]

1 hour ago, DMVol said:

I think the bigger question is whether Arte views him as the latest shiny new toy….

The Arte factor is the one thing we as fans are completely effed on.  It's why I stopped trying to piece together off-seasons because it seems to be 100% based on whatever his whims are.