RealGM

Ranma wrote:I wouldn't mind Strasburg on our team, but I'm wary of the contract he'll get this winter as the only premier pitching talent available in free agency. As you noted, there are concerns with his long-term health and durability. I don't expect us to be in play for him, in all honesty, but I supposed it wouldn't hurt to check in with him. However, his agent is Scott Boras.

I'm hoping the dearth of available pitching will make Kazmir a desirable enough commodity to opt out of his contract with us, thus giving us a 1st-round compensatory draft pick after we give him a qualifying offer (with him turning that down as well).

Quake Griffin wrote:I'll look into the Holland matter further just to be thorough.


With that said, Strasburg is off the market just as soon as I made that post.
7 years for 175, I think those are King Felix numbers.

Who says Boras clients have to reach free agency???
Complete shocker.

Of course, Machado put himself on the map as a shortstop prospect, albeit one who was expected to move to third base at some point given his size (6'3", 185 pounds) and the presence of Hardy. Between the time he was drafted with the No. 3 pick in 2010 and his Aug. 8, 2012 major league debut, Machado played just two regular-season games at the hot corner at Double A Bowie in June 2012, roughly two months before being recalled. To say that he's taken to third base well would be an understatement. Even including the four-month head start that the rest of the field got on him in 2012, his 64 Defensive Runs Saved in that span trails only Nolan Arenado (+71) for the lead at the position, and his 54 runs above average via Ultimate Zone Rating is tops, 14 ahead of Josh Donaldson and 16 ahead of Arenado. Machado has taken home two Gold Gloves (2013 and '15) plus a Platinum one ('13) as the best defender in the league at any position, and his highlight reel of defensive gems can compete with any in the game. Here's an MLB.com montage celebrating last year's Gold Glove win:


...

Even given his age and the timing of his arrival, Machado is sometimes the forgotten man in the ongoing Mike Trout/Bryce Harper debate over the game's top young superstar. Machado, younger than Trout by 11 months and older than Harper by about three, doesn't have an MVP on his mantle yet, but he already has the most defensive value of the trio without a move to shortstop; since 2012, he has 8.3 defensive WAR (DRS plus the position adjustment for third base and shortstop) to Trout's 2.1 (he was in the red in centerfield DRS in both 2013 and '14) and Harper's 1.2. Still, even with last year's breakout (.286/.359/.502 with 35 homers, 20 steals and 7.1 WAR) and this year's hot start, it's a stretch to suggest he's achieved parity with the pair:



That's the majors' top five in WAR since the start of 2015. Even with this year's MLB-leading 2.6 WAR and the aforementioned advantage in defensive value, Machado is nearly two wins behind the pair and is "only" in a virtual tie for 10th in OPS+ in that span.

Wilson will make $20.5 million in his final year before free agency and might not throw a single pitch. Weaver will make $20.2 million in his walk year and is pitching so poorly that he might get bumped to the bullpen even when the alternatives aren't pretty. That's nothing compared to what the Angels owe the other two: The Angels agreed to pay Hamilton $63 million over three years when they chucked him to the curb last spring, while Pujols is owed a jaw-dropping $140 million over the next five years ... not counting the rest of this season's $25 million salary. The only other player owed anywhere near that much is Trout, who's owed $122 million from 2017 and 2010, but also counts as the only reasonably-paid player signed to a long-term deal.

It gets worse. The Angels have nothing resembling a major league-caliber starting catcher or major league-caliber starting left fielder, on the major league roster or close to it. They're employing a replacement-level second baseman. They're paying big money to a shortstop who's an all-world fielder but can't hit a lick, and they gave up a front-line pitching prospect to get him.

That was something the Angels could ill afford. This isn't just a team with a thin farm system. It's one that was rated by multiple sources as the worst farm system in the league. In discussing the Angels' dearth of talent before the start of the season, ESPN.com prospect expert Keith Law didn't mince words: "I've been doing these rankings for eight years now, Law wrote, "and this is by far the worst system I've ever seen."

Ranma wrote:Jonah Keri, CBS Sports (6/17/16)

Wilson will make $20.5 million in his final year before free agency and might not throw a single pitch. Weaver will make $20.2 million in his walk year and is pitching so poorly that he might get bumped to the bullpen even when the alternatives aren't pretty. That's nothing compared to what the Angels owe the other two: The Angels agreed to pay Hamilton $63 million over three years when they chucked him to the curb last spring, while Pujols is owed a jaw-dropping $140 million over the next five years ... not counting the rest of this season's $25 million salary. The only other player owed anywhere near that much is Trout, who's owed $122 million from 2017 and 2010, but also counts as the only reasonably-paid player signed to a long-term deal.

It gets worse. The Angels have nothing resembling a major league-caliber starting catcher or major league-caliber starting left fielder, on the major league roster or close to it. They're employing a replacement-level second baseman. They're paying big money to a shortstop who's an all-world fielder but can't hit a lick, and they gave up a front-line pitching prospect to get him.

That was something the Angels could ill afford. This isn't just a team with a thin farm system. It's one that was rated by multiple sources as the worst farm system in the league. In discussing the Angels' dearth of talent before the start of the season, ESPN.com prospect expert Keith Law didn't mince words: "I've been doing these rankings for eight years now, Law wrote, "and this is by far the worst system I've ever seen."

Mike Trout May Be the Best Player in MLB, But the Angels' Future May be the Worst