Inside Pitch

The only KC hitter I'd consider is Cain, and he seems completely unnecessary given what we have.

Man..... Ellis Valentine was garbage when he got to Anaheim but good Lord did he have a cannon for an arm....

Best ever???? Not unless they bring back Luis Polonia......

A .314 OBP tends to bring down a player's value and he had an off year defensively. Moustakas is easily the most overrated bat on the market -- all of two years in his entire career with a positive OPS+, a career .305 OBP, and a lifetime .687 OPS .vs LHP... I want no part of him. I'd rather they look into what the A's may want for Jed Lowrie... He can actually get on base and is a switch hitter who doesn't fall apart when facing LHPs.

At the prices quoted.... Walker at 2/20 and Nunuez at 2/14 would go a long ways towards filling our needs..... That being said -- I think Valbuena is the likely 3B and that the team looks to spend money at a different spot.

I believe it goes into the books for this season but it's split over the course of the contract. That's how it used to be anyway...

They bat their eyes and look away.... Some other flowery shit too.

Also seems to imply he was willing to work with the team... Looking up the reports of when he signed his last deal -- it was a straight 22.2 mil a year -- so, he's making less money in each of the next four years than he would have under his previous deal.

If you did, I'd hope you trip and break a bone. Just saying.

I dont think it was him -- MLB fucked with the balls, went with a smoother ball and as a result all the guys that throw hard sliders sucked ass this series.. Houston's closer became completely ineffective because his slider went to shit. Darvish slider went flat didn't bend and he got lit up... Just more MLB gamesmanship IMO -- recent statistical research showed that the slider had become the most effective pitch in MLB -- so they basically cut it off at the knees for the postseason.

While your comments may be true of some it certainly wasn't true of everyone here -- at least not how you are painting the situation IMO. There is little argument people were happy to see Reagins go while at the same time enthused by the idea of a saber-minded GM at the helm -- but the questioning of his adherence to saber-principles started early on (by some), and there was never a time when his minor league decision making wasn't questioned. From day one I openly questioned how a guy who claimed to believe the things he did would make the moves he made -- they didn't add up and in some cases were the exact opposite of what a saber guy would do.. But as was common in those early days... questioning Dipoto meant you were a blind MS lover.. That's really what drove a lot of people here and fueled much of the JD love-fest... his status as the Anti-Mike Scioscia.... that alone bought him a lot of good will with many and blinded them to his misdeeds. It didn't matter how involved (AP signing), or uninvolved (Trumbo trade), he was always either absolved of guilt or given all the credit .... depending on whether or not a move worked. The underlying theme was always that -- Oh, Mike Scioscia is fighting him or, Arte is forcing him to do ________. Even the minor league call ups where someone else's fault -- it got to be really effing ridiculous. FWIW, I won't say it was all bad because it wasn't -- getting rid of Wells was beautiful as was the Conger trade. He just wasn't sufficiently good and that's not revisionist history, it's reality. There has certainly been a 180 for many here but IMO it's wrong to say everyone was totally on board and I do believe some of what is driving the change of opinion may be the reality that people are seeing him repeat many of his actions in Seattle. Regardless of of whether people's opinions have changed or why -- IMO there is little doubt his tenure as the GM of the Angels left a lot to be desired. If Hindsight has shown us anything its that JD is an expert talker - it's his greatest gift really. He won over a lot of people at hello. He was able to win even more people by showing up at the AW.com events and being so seemingly candid and saying the things everyone had wanted to hear -- but it was mostly just talk and history has made that clear. Another thing that's become pretty obvious -- he was the instigator in most of the drama. There had never been any leaks and talk of infighting in Anaheim during the Stoneman or even Reagins years -- I don't doubt there were in house feuding and the sort -- but it rarely leaked to the press. Compare that to the JD era -- almost from day one there was always something leaking to the press. People can pretend that wasn't an attempt to undermine others but, c'mon... was there ever a leak that didn't make JD seem like the good guy? All of that BS stopped the minute he took his ball and went home. Again, JD knew how to play up to the audience -- he milked the anti-MS thing for all he could as long as he could -- not unlike how he is now the Anti-Jack Z in Seattle. Talk about knowing how to pick your spots. Is it any wonder that all the same shit seems to be working it's way to the press in Seattle? If you want to see history repeating itself - read Lookout Landing... Conversely -- Billy Eppler got shit on when he first made it to Anaheim because A - he want JeDi. And B -- he didn't seem openly antagonistic towards MS. Two years in there is little doubt the guy who talked down his saber side has had a far greater saber influence on the club or a greater impact on the farm system.

Didn't stop them from trading for Darvish and his 4.01 era at the time he was obtained.

The absolute highest any team can pay him assuming they had the biggest possible pool to begin with and then were able to trade for the maximum allowable additional money is a little over 10 million (their starting pool and up to 75% more from incoming pool trades). To clarify, that's not 10 mil for Otani -- that's 10 mil total for the entire signing season. The Yanks signed 12 players already this year, including the numbers 4, 11, 20, and 28 ranked players -- the number 11 guy got 1 mil.. the number 28 guy got 500K. So... It's highly doubtful the Yanks will be able to offer the highest salary. If this guy comes over, chances are he's going to a team or area he likes -- he will have to wait to make the really big money or hold off til he's 25 and avoid the current CBA rules for a player his age and with less than 6 years of professional experience.

I think Houston's in house payroll increases the next few years may keep them from making a move for Stanton. They have a ton of arbitration eligible players coming -- and it gets worse in 2019. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KggX-IVrw6TywbOR6OIooQyxAY1MpTlnq88PqnNkuWQ/pubhtml They may end up cutting guys like Gattis loose rather than pay them their third year arbitration money but -- as it stands now they are projected to have a payroll around 140 Mil going into next year and that's after ridding themselves of Beltran's 17 mil.

No more than they would with any other player. Otani would essentially be a 2nd year player and can be renewed at whatever a team would want within the CBA's rules after his rookie season.. Dude could be renewed for the MLB minimum if they wanted and unless he gains Super Two status he wouldn't be eligible for even arbitration until after his third professional season in the US. Basically all a team would have to pay him is the league minimum until 2020.... Once he's in an organization he will be no different than any player taken in the draft who finally makes it to MLB. Its worth noting that MLB has already said they will take action if the team that signs him tries to get around the system by offering an obscene amount in year two, as a means of getting around the rules.

You are correct -- anyone who can pony up the 20 mil gets to talk to him then teams have to work within the current international system. The Yankees only edge is being the Yankees. If he wants to play there then he will end up taking whatever it is they can offer because the rules have been altered and there is no paying 100% etc etc.... Basically the most Otani will be able to get from any one team is around 10 Mil so the total payout to obtain him would be a total of 30 mil in year one.

Wasn't this the dude complaining the other day about racial profiling because someone told him that they wouldn't serve him after his taking a knee? http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/21205732/oakland-athletics-catcher-bruce-maxwell-arrested-arizona-gun-charge Scottsdale police said officers went to Maxwell's home Saturday night after getting a call about a person with a gun. Maxwell was booked on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and disorderly conduct.

Figure of speech -- no offense intended... Not sure if you noticed, but I don't have an issue with Hinkse over Davis, I can both hold Davis in high regard and be willing to see what Hinske brings to the Halos. Apologies if that wasn't clear before.

All that says to me is that man should be invited to every party -- ever...

Eric Hosmer has three GGs... Play worse defense than CJ Cron.

If you're going to fault him for them regressing -- then you have to praise him for the advances they took in previous seasons. Davis brings a lot to the table beyond his hitting coach stuff. While I don't see this as a failure on the Angels part -- I have been VERY high on Davis for a long long time. Davis' will IMO end up being a better version of Don Baylor -- someone who's personality commanded respect and who will end up working his way from hitting coach to MLB manager. Also -- if the Cubs are so smart -- then it's pretty easy to argue that in taking someone from them that they weren't looking to fire the Angels are pilfering from an organization with a clue and not scraping the bottom of the barrel. This is one of those perspective things...

Nah -- the Jays director of Latin American scouting -- but given how deep they were in the DR going all the way back to Damaso Garcia... it says a lot...

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/134054452/vladimir-guerrero-jr-signs-with-blue-jays/ 3.9 mil.. Let that sink in.. 4.1 million less than Baldo -- plus the 8 mil penalty.. Even worse. read this... "Since I've been doing this I haven't seen a kid with this power. He has pitch recognition for his age and this kid has been playing ball all of his life. This kid is not about the money -- he has a lot of money -- he plays because he likes it."

He might -- but he's already been there and done that -- I don't think he wants to put himself into another situation where ownership is unwilling to spend.. There has been talk for months that Girardi might be stepping away. He's been talking about having to discuss it with his family and that they would make the choice together.. I can see him wanting to take a year off and if he does, it does open the door for Eppy to try to get him to Anaheim. Whatever, this is the first time in a long time where Mike Scioscia actually should be worried about what he will be doing in a year...

He didn't outright pass on him, but in throwing the money he did at Baldo, he locked the Angels out of the next two signing periods. Best of all. Vlad Jr ended up signing for less than did Baldo...