The Los Angeles Angels Have Had a Great Offseason

Outside of watching Mike Trout dominate on a nightly basis, there wasn’t much else to be happy about in 2016 with regard to the Los Angeles Angels.

They went a disappointing 74-88 and missed the playoffs for the fourth time since 2012, which was Trout’s rookie season. To make things worse, it’s also been hard to feel optimistic about the organization’s future in recent years.

It’s getting better, though.

ESPN’s Keith Law (subscription required) no longer views them as baseball’s worst farm system, but coming in 27th out of 30 teams isn’t anything to party about. On the big-league level, big contracts to C.J. Wilson and Jered Weaver have come off the books, leaving just one more year of paying Josh Hamilton and another five years (womp womp) of Albert Pujols.

Without the financial means to throw money at a free agent or the farm system to offer a boatload of intriguing prospects in a trade, general manager Billy Eppler had to get creative this winter, which is exactly what he’s done.

Are the Angels now playoff contenders? Probably not, but they look better on paper for 2017 than they did in 2016.

Let’s see how much of a lift the roster could have with a series of moves that haven’t grabbed a ton of headlines over the past few months.

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MLB Fantasy Daily (DFS) Picks For DraftKings – 5/17/16

 

Cabrera has absolutely destroyed Starter Phil Hughes in his career, – with 6 Bolts in just 43 AB. He and the Tigers take their road act to Target Field again tonight. Last evening they scored 10 runs for the 1st time all season. i would not be surprised to see them turn the feat again tonight. The Tigers are also not overpriced yet as they have struggled most of the year. They are the top stacking option lineup all night.

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15 Games – ALL Day Slate (DraftKings, Tuesday May 17, 2016)

Stacking Options tonight Rank

(1) Baltimore vs Wade Miley

(2) Detroit Tigers vs Phil Hughes

(3) Houston vs Carlos Rodon

(5) LA Dodgers vs Jered Weaver

(5) Chicago Cubs vs Chase Anderson

3 Pitchers to use.

(1) Clayton Kershaw, LAA @ LAD, $13, 700

(2) Wei-Yin Chen. MIA @ PHI, $8500

(3) Juan Nicasio, ATL @ PIT, $7300

The White Sox Need To Sign 1 Of Fowler Or Desmond To Stay Competitive

The White Sox have had a decent offseason however every team that was near or beneath them in the standings have also upgrade their rosters going into 2016. With a need for an upgrade for the OF, and the chance to put forth an incredible homer-centric Infield, I would love to see them go after Ian Desmond, and/or Dexter Fowler.

Hunter Stokes (BBBA Featured Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21

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I like the moves the White Sox have done in the offseason.  The only problem is what the Royals and Tigers also have done this winter will make it tough for Chicago to keep up.

The Pale Hose finished a disappointing 76 – 86 in 2015 and almost 20 games behind Division winner KC for the AL Central.

2014 winter moves of Adam LaRoche, Jeff Samardzija and Melky Cabrera just didn’t work out like they thought.

Despite the poor results off those player acquisitions Rich Hahn acquired Todd Frazier and Brett Lawrie so far in the hot stove this year, and also inked catchers Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro as key moves.

I love this aggression – and even believe that LaRoche and Cabrera will have bounce back seasons for the White Sox this season.  Cabrera was pretty decent in the 2nd half, and LaRoche suffered the Adam Dunn NL to AL syndrome.

Having said this already, the Royals are sitting with a talented squad as reigning World Series Champs, and the Tigers added Jordan Zimmermann, Justin Upton, and bushel full of relievers and Cameron Maybin.

There is no doubt in my mind that Detroit will be much better than their cellar dweller 2015 campaign.

The White Sox have a decent pitching staff in its entirety. Maybe not as talented as the Cleveland Indians, but the Tribe doesn’t have the sticks as Chicago either.

KC has the best bullpen in the Division, and will rely heavily on it again with their grinder offense backing it up.

Minnesota has a ton of young offensive superstars in Miguel Sano, Brian Dozier and Byron Buxton, yet also lost team leader Torii Hunter.

Chicago is still spending at a decent clip – having a budget of near $123 MIL so far, but Detroit has crept up to near $200 MIL, and KC has paid for its title, by going near the $140 MIL team salary barrier.

Atlanta Braves State Of The Union For 2016

Before the recent deal for Shelby Miller the Braves had been questioned on whether the rebuild they are currently going through was going to work. Now all of a sudden, the club going through trading of all veterans – starting with Jason Heyward a year ago, looks so much better. The next year or 2 is still going to be painstakingly to endure, but the organization now has a promising future.  Atlanta will enter a new park in Sun Trust Park, located in Cobb County, GA for 2017 after playing one more year at Turner Field in 2016.

Chuck Booth (Owner/Lead  Analyst) Follow @chuckbooth3024

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John Hart knows how to build teams in the Majors.  He was at the forefront of the Cleveland Indians in the 1990’s when they signed a bunch of young nucleus players to multi year extensions.  It was a trend that worked out for nearly a decade.

A pile of organizations copied this template.  I must admit I thought he may have been a bit past his prime when the Braves finally hired him on last year,  but he seems to carrying out the mission with Atlanta as well.

Of course taking over for Frank Wren – there was not much to go but up.  Dan Uggla, Derek Lowe and B.J. Upton ultimately cost the former GM his job, but it should be noted he did orchestrate 3 decent trades in acquiring  Justin Upton, Michael Bourn and Javier Vasquez much earlier.

The Braves did the right thing in dismantling the 2013 to 2014 squad.  It would have cost too much money to re-sign Brian McCann and Jason Heyward – and Justin Upton may soon reel in a 9 figure sum.

Atlanta also traded away Craig Kimbrel and Andrelton of late.  The haul for Kimbrel was nice, while Simmons was set to make $53 MIL over 5 years. Not huge cash, but for a guy more noted for defense, and with a team rebuilding, losing the dollars owed was a more significant move.

I also can’t emphasize enough how awesome it was to rid themselves of the Melvin Upton JR. contract.

Detroit Tigers Payroll In 2016 + Contracts Going Forward

Detroit is rapidly aging with their core and they have added even more guys to the fold over this winter with Jordan Zimmermann and Francisco Rodriguez both 30 or over. This club may have opened up another 1 – 2 year winning window here – but will pay a steep financial price for it. The club is around $175 MIL already for total team salary and are right near the MLB Luxury Tax Threshold of $189 MIL.

Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21

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The Tigers are on the cusp of chasing that $189 MIL Luxury Tax Threshold they way they are spending money freely.  They have 3 of the top 15 contracts in MLB history – with  Jordan Zimmermann just outside the bar with his new 5 YRs/$110 MIL deal.

It has been a decade worth of competitive baseball – with the outlier being the last season where they finished under .500.

Detroit should be right around $171 MIL after the Arbitration contracts are finished this winter.  This must be where the budget ends for the franchise.

The Tigers are still paying Prince Fielder $30 MIL over the next 6 years – spread out evenly, and this year they have the pleasure of kicking Joe Nathan another $1 MIL not to play for them.

Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander both earn $28 MIL in the upcoming season – while Victor Martinez and Jordan Zimmermann both will make $18 MIL each.  Ian Kinsler and Anibal Sanchez round out the 8 figure players.

The Motown Boys also facilitated trades to bring in OF Cameron Maybin and Closer Francisco Rodriguez that will add some money to the bottom line in 2016.

Cabrera is just starting his huge 8 Years/$248 MIL pact – while Justin Verlander still has 4 years and a total of $112 MIL left on the books.

If all of the options are picked up on this team, the whole Roster could be back for the 2017 as well.  This may be a good or bad thing.