I agree with this except that I see their choices as: 1) Bet all-in on both Trout and Ohtani being healthy and great at least in one of the next two years. 2) Trade Trout and/or Ohtani and rebuild. 3) Don't trade Trout and Ohtani and likely become the team with the longest playoff drought if Seattle ever makes the playoffs.
It’s certainly high risk, but dumb might be an exaggeration. I think it’s safe to say Thor had no interest in a longer term deal this season. If he pitches well, the Angels now have an advantage over every team to sign him long term. If they are able to stay healthy enough to make it into the playoffs a rotation of Thor, Ohtani and Sandoval / Cobb could be good enough to win in 5/7 game series. If he is bad, we’ll it’s a one year deal and anyone they would have drafted wasn’t helping them in the window they will have with Trout and Ohtani. Most likely they aren’t going anywhere with or without Thor this year, but they won’t find anyone with that potential upside without a much longer and higher priced commitment.
I want to see what Kershaw and Rodon get as I think they were also good fits for the Astros - similar ceilings as JV but will likely get another year or two on their deals. Only other pitcher available with the same upside is Scherzer but I assume he’s going to be substantially more expensive in AAV than those three.
I’ve wanted Rodón, but he has had a rough time staying healthy. I am very curious to see what type of contract he gets, and if the Astros can get involved in the pursuit of Rodón. With Verlander, McCullers, Urquidy, Valdez, Garcia, Odorizzi, etc… I think the starting rotation might be close to set though.
Yep. And 2 of the 3 of those choices are basically the same... so its really just 2 choices with very little flexibility based on their inability to commit to development (or just bad luck when it comes to drafting/scouting... then again, they did just draft all pitchers last year... genius!).
Yeah - I can't see the Astros putting more money into starting pitching at this point. They just have too many people who need to get innings/experience under their belt, I think? I still think the long-term goal is to turn Javier into a starter as well, plus they have the upcoming minor leaguers.
I disagree. They won the same number of games as Detroit - the team everyone assumes is on the come and will land Correa. Well, the Angels get a healthy Mike Trout back, presumably a healthy Rendon, too, and the have some nice young pieces... SP is their issue so Syndergaard, who has tremendous upside, addresses that need. It's dumb only because Syndergaard is a giant question mark - but I'd argue he's less of one than JV.
May i ask a dumb question? Is the player option for $25MM? I have not seen that stated explicitly but assume it's how this works?
I saw the player option was for $25 m. But I think it could have been any number, didn't need to be the same as year 1.
Right - but that's why Detroit would be looking to sign Correa to a 10 year deal instead of a 1-year deal. It would be just as dumb (in my opinion) for Detroit to chase Correa on a 1-yr deal for the same reasons. I guess my view is they need a lot more than Syndergaard. They've had some of these offensive pieces in the past, but their problem is always that their entire pitching staff routinely sucks (or is injured). If they get a lot more pieces, maybe they are contenders - but they seem perpetually stuck in this 70-80 win area.
I like the gamble if I’m an Angels fan. You have a bunch of ifs but you can at least dream on a 95 win season now if things break your way. They’ve got a lot of upside there if things break right for them. Not SF Giants upside in 2021 but if I have to pick a team to come from out of nowhere next year it’s either them or Arizona I’d be betting on
Unless they shorten the season, its highly unlikely all of their ifs stay healthy enough to see that goal happen. Organizational depth is required.. even for super teams. Hell, the 2017 Astros were kept afloat in large part due to Mike f'ing Fiers during the mid-season lull prior to getting JV. There is also an issue with them not having decent enough assets to fix holes at the deadline if they are possibly in contention. We saw how valuable/difference-making that was for this years' playoff teams... and I only expect trade deadline deals to be even more common for contenders going forward where you can never have too much of anything (in addition to the fact that there are also an ever-growing number of sellers every year... as Boras alluded to). Ohtani also had a dream season... both in terms of productivity and health. If he can duplicate that sort of performance for entire seasons year after year, he'll deserve a $500 million extension.
If they add a high end starting pitcher in a trade and their SP stays healthy, plus Trout stay healthy then the Angels will be contenders.
A f ton of if’s. It is also curious as to the constant Angels chatter on here… dating back to during the season even. Their “strategy” has been proven to be ineffective even if they have Trout healthy enough to win MVP’s and now Ohtani healthy enough to win an MVP in a purely amazing/unprecedented/unlikely to be duplicated season.
Well on of your if’s implies they can just get a high end pitcher in a trade… but curious as to which high end prospects (that they don’t have) will be used to obtain said pitcher. And you’re ignoring the ability for Rendon/Ohtani to stay healthy when each have alternated missing significant time. They’re similar to the Phillies, with less depth. Bryce Harper is amazing. Mike Trout is amazing. Zac Wheeler is amazing. Ohtani is amazing. Neither team is knocking on the door to being serious contenders without continued depth acquisition.
I, for one, am really excited to have Verlander back. We desperately need a ToR pitcher. Hopefully he stays healthy and it works out.
