Finally! Official Hot Stove League Thread

[Pharmabro]

LAA may be playing for the Division next year
Line-up
POS player OPS+
DH Ohtani 145
RF Ward 135
CF Trout 178
OF Hunter 126
3B/SS Gio 121
SS/2B/3B Rengifo 103
3B Rendon 101

They need C & 1B
Sign
Josh Bell 14M per 128 OPS+
W. Contreras 17M 128 OPS+

Add another Ace to the Angels and their starters look great
Player ERA+
Ohtani 172
*Sandoval 138
*Detmers 106
*Saurez 101
Lorenzen 95 ( What if they sign Verlander or Degrom?) OOPS I missed they signed Tyler ANderson* 163 ERA+t I don't expect anything like that from him again. But do lefties have a tremendous advantage in LAA's home park? It looks like Ohtani is the only righty starter. Answer, Maybe so: Marco has a .696 OPS in Safeco and a .634 OPS in LAA

I think they would be stupid not to throw an all out assault on the title. There is a limited # of prime trout, Ohtani is not going to re-up.

Man, LAA is making moves!

[ddraig]

Whereas I understand JD's thinking on being patience I also like the idea of sweeping in while the "Big Guns" are kind of frozen waiting on the Judge and Turner chips to fall. Once that happens it's going to be a free for all . . . no pun intended.

Unfortunately for most of the past seasons, DiPoto has waited around to see "where the market is." That typically means he sites on his hands while many of the better FA's go to other teams. He's being "prudent," but by the time he does make a move, the better FA's are already snapped up. I'm not saying he does that all the time, just that it often seems he sits on the sidelines while other teams siphon off the best talent.

[seattlefan-daBronx]

Of course all speculation.
But on MLB Network they threw out 6 years / $150 million for Nimmo to the Mariners.
Do it Dipoto!

[bpj]

The Angels traded 3 right handed pitchers, Janson Junk, Elvis Peguero, and Adam Seminaris for Hunter Renfroe.

None of them are on the MLB Angels Top 30 list. https://www.mlb.com/prospects/angels

The Mariners have the MLB #24 ranked farm system.

The Angels have the MLB #30 ranked farm system.

There are 13 RHP's that are on the Angels Top 30 prospect list. None of them got traded for Renfroe.

By comparison the Mariners have 12 RHP on their Top 30 prospects list. The #11 and #12 RHP are guys named Travis Kuhn and Tyler Gough, and it likely would have taken 3 guys well below them on the list considering the state of the Angels system. https://www.mlb.com/prospects/mariners

Wouldn't have taken much to get Renfroe, but there are still better options available on the market, and, surprisingly, Luke Arkins made a good point in his 5 OF's the M's could go for article, that Renfroe has bad Home/Away splits.

He was a nice target, but Hernandez was a better option.

I think they made a mistake not offering Mitch the QO, especially if guys like Nimmo are looking at $120M contracts.

[GL_Storm]

I think they made a mistake not offering Mitch the QO, especially if guys like Nimmo are looking at $120M contracts.

I think it's just you and me on Haniger island at this point.

[D-train]

I think they made a mistake not offering Mitch the QO, especially if guys like Nimmo are looking at $120M contracts.

I think it's just you and me on Haniger island at this point.

I think we dodged bullet but we shall see.

[D-train]

https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1700073/ ... enintendi/

[Donn Beach]

Dodged a bullet? Haniger puts up 2.5 WAR and he's worth it. So he only puts up 1.5 WAR, big deal, they overpaid by a few million , it's a one year contract. They are supposed to be going for it. You have the chance to lock in what could be an impact player for a season, do it. I don't think it be that big a gamble. We complain about them being stingy and then wring our hands over them sinking a few million into a go for it season

[D-train]

Dodged a bullet? He puts up 2.5 WAR and he's worth it. So he only puts up 1.5 WAR, big deal, they overpaid by a few million , it's a one year contract. They are supposed to be going for it. You have the chance to lock in what could be an impact player for a season, do it. I don't think it be that big a gamble. We complain about them being stingy and then wring our hands over them sinking a few million into a go for it season

The gamble is he gets off to a slow start with an OPS in the 600s and then he gets injured again around Cinco de Mayo with a shoulder injury that most guys are back from with in a month but because it is Mitch he is out for two months then a full 21 day rehab assignment he he is back in August and finishes the season with 9 HRs and 31 RBIs when we could have got a healthy guy coming off a good season. Its the opportunity cost.

[Sexymarinersfan]

This out 4 hours ago...
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/seattle-mariners

"Mariners open to adding another outfielder"

What I get from the article is that at least they are willing to trade Winker, Kelenic, or Trammell for a lower-upside but more stable veteran bat.
What does that make Winker, Kelenic and Trammell? Lower than lower-upside and unstable.

Besides the possibility of resigning Mitch Hanniger....
Other free agent possibilities include Andrew Benintendi, Jurickson Profar, Cody Bellinger and Washington native Michael Conforto, who’s looking to reestablish himself as a middle-of-the-order caliber hitter after a season lost to shoulder surgery.

Benintendi nice power!
I like Profar too. He would keep the line moving.

Benintendi’s ability to get on base has value, but there’s no power, average defense….he really is the OF version of JP.

He would probably make the team a little better. But Seattle’s in a unique position. They’re just a couple of stars short of seriously contending for a World Series. They invested in pitching, it really doesn’t make sense to slouch on the hitting after getting this far.