Morning Halo fans! I'm sure most of you, like me, are preparing for the departure of Zack Greinke to the Rangers or Dodgers and how foggy that makes the Angels plans going into the future. I created a fanpost a few weeks ago about letting Greinke leave via free agency because the Dodgers would eventually trump any bid the Angels threw in there. And after these last few days of the Winter Meetings, reality of Greinke leaving is beginning to sink in and it's time to start looking at cheaper and effective alternatives. The Angels still have quite a bit of money to play with, with a few holes in the pitching staff that need to be filled.
As you all know, the pitching market after Greinke is pathetic so the Angels are going to have to get creative with the few pitching options available. This means taking a chance on injury prone pitchers--because lets face it, all the healthy pitchers on the market are average or below average- regardless Dipoto has already been taking this route with the two moves the Angels have made (Madson and Hanson) and I don't think he's done with this strategy.
The Angels have been linked to just about every pitcher on the market (Dempster, Marcum, Lohse, Sanchez, Jackson, and McCarthy) and I think you guys can agree with me on this one, but a lot of those pitchers are very unappealing. The market this year is showing that the price for pitchers is skyrocketing and making "okay" pitchers very, very expensive. Because of this the Angels need to be thrifty and take a chance on some pitchers who have injury history's who could, potentially, solve the Angels starting pitching woes.
The Angels already took a pretty big chance on acquiring Hanson to fill a starting pitching slot, and while I love the move, the Angels will need to create depth in case of an emergency. This is where McCarthy and Villanueva come in. A lot of teams are interested in McCarthy and for good reason so JeDi will need to break out his negotiating skills for a kick ass off-season part 2. My thoughts for a McCarthy deal would be something along the lines of a 2 year deal with a vesting option for around $20 million guaranteed and not including the vesting option (based off of innings pitched.) The other starter is Carlos Villanueva, who made the transition to the starting rotation last year and pitcher well until what was most likely fatigue set in towards the end of the season.
Signing McCarthy and Villanueva allow Richards and Williams to move down the depth chart just in case of an injury and it wouldn't break the bank and allow the Angels to direct the rest of the money towards the bullpen (maybe Uehara, or Adams, or Burnett, or maybe even a combination of the two of them.)
Come on JeDi, don't overpay for Lohse or Sanchez who are bound to bite us back in the ass. Use the money on a couple, albeit risky, alternatives and use the pocket change on the bullpen. Even with those moves the Angels still have some payroll flexibility to use for some bench help which the Angels desperately need (Sanchez/Romine scare me) sign a Wigginton or Keppinger with those two starters and a bullpen arm and we're set!
Weaver
Wilson
McCarthy
Hanson
Villanueva
(Richards/Williams/Enright/Mills)
Williams/Richards
Jepsen
Adams/Uehara/Burnett
Downs
Frieri
Madson
Get it done JeDi!
Morning Halo fans! I'm sure most of you, like me, are preparing for the departure of Zack Greinke to the Rangers or Dodgers and how foggy that makes the Angels plans going into the future. I created a fanpost a few weeks ago about letting Greinke leave via free agency because the Dodgers would eventually trump any bid the Angels threw in there. And after these last few days of the Winter Meetings, reality of Greinke leaving is beginning to sink in and it's time to start looking at cheaper and effective alternatives. The Angels still have quite a bit of money to play with, with a few holes in the pitching staff that need to be filled.
As you all know, the pitching market after Greinke is pathetic so the Angels are going to have to get creative with the few pitching options available. This means taking a chance on injury prone pitchers--because lets face it, all the healthy pitchers on the market are average or below average- regardless Dipoto has already been taking this route with the two moves the Angels have made (Madson and Hanson) and I don't think he's done with this strategy.
The Angels have been linked to just about every pitcher on the market (Dempster, Marcum, Lohse, Sanchez, Jackson, and McCarthy) and I think you guys can agree with me on this one, but a lot of those pitchers are very unappealing. The market this year is showing that the price for pitchers is skyrocketing and making "okay" pitchers very, very expensive. Because of this the Angels need to be thrifty and take a chance on some pitchers who have injury history's who could, potentially, solve the Angels starting pitching woes.
The Angels already took a pretty big chance on acquiring Hanson to fill a starting pitching slot, and while I love the move, the Angels will need to create depth in case of an emergency. This is where McCarthy and Villanueva come in. A lot of teams are interested in McCarthy and for good reason so JeDi will need to break out his negotiating skills for a kick ass off-season part 2. My thoughts for a McCarthy deal would be something along the lines of a 2 year deal with a vesting option for around $20 million guaranteed and not including the vesting option (based off of innings pitched.) The other starter is Carlos Villanueva, who made the transition to the starting rotation last year and pitcher well until what was most likely fatigue set in towards the end of the season.
Signing McCarthy and Villanueva allow Richards and Williams to move down the depth chart just in case of an injury and it wouldn't break the bank and allow the Angels to direct the rest of the money towards the bullpen (maybe Uehara, or Adams, or Burnett, or maybe even a combination of the two of them.)
Come on JeDi, don't overpay for Lohse or Sanchez who are bound to bite us back in the ass. Use the money on a couple, albeit risky, alternatives and use the pocket change on the bullpen. Even with those moves the Angels still have some payroll flexibility to use for some bench help which the Angels desperately need (Sanchez/Romine scare me) sign a Wigginton or Keppinger with those two starters and a bullpen arm and we're set!
Weaver
Wilson
McCarthy
Hanson
Villanueva
(Richards/Williams/Enright/Mills)
Williams/Richards
Jepsen
Adams/Uehara/Burnett
Downs
Frieri
Madson
Get it done JeDi!