Josh Hamilton to Angels, 5 years, $125 million

[monty57]

the TV $ did not stream down to the Brewers it seems?

 

The biggest discrepancy is the local TV deal, from which the Brewers' contract rose from $12MM to $21MM per year, while bigger market teams are signing for $100-200+ million per year.

 

The national TV money, which all teams split, kicks in in 2014, and it seems most teams have already spent that. For instance, the Reds used it to lock up Votto. The Brewers chose to use theirs to structure the Ramirez deal the way they did. The Brewers should have money to spend after 2014, but the local TV deals are really turning this into David vs Goliath. At least we can see how one David (Tampa) is slaying giants, and hopefully we'll emulate their methodology.

 

My initial reaction when I read this was that Melvin needs to get Morales from them and flip Hart for some pitching.

 

Morales will be in his final year of arbitration next year, and Boras is his agent. Unless we got Morales for nothing and got really good pitching for Hart, this probably doesn't work. I'd just as soon let Gamel play 1b. However...

 

Go for Trumbo. That be a nice 3-4-5

 

Trumbo is going into his final pre-arby year and is just now hitting his prime (will be 27 in January), so that would be much better.

 

Trumbo a huge downgrade from Hart. Would have to be some good pitching.

 

Trumbo hit for a line of .268 avg / .317 OBP / .491 SLG / .808 OPS and has four years of cheap team control remaining. Hart hit for a line of .270 avg / .334 OBP / .507 SLG / .841 OPS, but makes $10MM in his final year of team control.

 

Trading for Trumbo and then moving Hart for a top prospect is a good idea, as we could have a good hitting, inexpensive, MLB-proven 1B for his prime years, plus land a top prospect for Hart. It just depends on what it would take to land Trumbo, as I'm sure there would be a number of suitors for him if the Angels let everyone know he's on the market. Whoever was going to trade the good prospect for Hart may just decide to trade him to the Angels for Trumbo.

 

As an added benefit, Trumbo played 101 games in the corner OF spots for the Angels in 2012, so if Morris proves himself at AAA, Trumbo could potentially move to RF when Aoki leaves. Note that playing a position and playing it well are two different things. I didn't see him play, I just saw that the Angels played him there.

 

Probably not going to happen, but it's fun to think about, and I'd love to see it come to fruition.

[SRB]

Trumbo is a horrible defender in the OF though. He is the most overrated player in baseball because he hits HRs, the return compared to whatever the Angels would demand would be a disaster.

[monty57]

Trumbo is a horrible defender in the OF though. He is the most overrated player in baseball because he hits HRs, the return compared to whatever the Angels would demand would be a disaster.

 

That's why I said "Note that playing a position and playing it well are two different things. I didn't see him play, I just saw that the Angels played him there." :-)

 

The only way this would be feasible is if the Angels needed to trade him because they have nowhere to play him, and somehow the Brewers ended up landing him cheaply. I agree with you that this probably won't happen.

 

However, if (big if) they could land him for a several "B level" prospects (guys who are good, but are behind some other Brewers prospects) and could trade Hart for a Choo-type return (Top 10/Top 25 prospect), then they could have 1B shored up cheaply for four years and add an elite prospect to the system. I'm generally not for trading from our prospect pitching depth, but if it means ending up with four years of Trumbo in his prime and a Trevor Bauer-type prospect, then I'm all for it.

 

Again, probably not going to happen, but it's fun to dream.

[Eye Black]

In 2017 the Angels are going to owe over $50-mil combined to an age 36 Hamilton and an (allegedly) age 37 Pujols. The fact that they can hand out those contracts without flinching makes me worry about the future of baseball.

 

D'oh.

 

Torii Hunter ‏@toriihunter48

I was told money was tight but I guess the Arte had money hidden under a Mattress. Business is business but don't lie.

I think "money is tight" was just a nice way of saying, "we don't want you here".

[Warning Track Power]

This rubs me all kinds of wrong and I love Torii Hunter. He is going to be 38 in July. Hamilton is going to be 32 in May. The Angels gave Hunter a 5 year $90 million when he was 32. I think Torii should know a little bit better than to gripe about signing 32 year old Josh Hamilton vs signing 38 year old Torii Hunter.

[GAME05]

makes you kind of sick to your stomach to first read the Dempster thread with mostly "2/$36 is pretty high," and then see this news.

[SRB]

I don't think Hunter was in any way implying that he should have gotten the 5/$125M deal (or any contract at all, really), I think he just feels that he was blatantly lied to by the Angels front office. Understandable to be irked, imo. At least, understandable enough to make an off-hand remark on Twitter.

 

And fwiw, Hunter had a better season last year than Hamilton.

[BeerBrewer79]

All I think of when I heard this news was Mr Burns and Smithers standing in their office having a money fight;)

[Ennder]

For all the complaints about this, the Angels payroll has gone down this year and the team isn't as good as the one they ended the season with last year. I get the complaints about the Dodgers for sure since they doubled their payroll but the Angels just don't seem like a big deal.

[danzig6767]

I guess the big question is how high can these top payrolls go?

 

The Dodgers said they don't plan on maintaining this type of payroll. They are spending big now while they rebuild the farm system and then will likely lower payroll. I'm guessing you wont' see anyone keep a $200M payroll long term.

 

Why not?

 

With their massive new TV deal, the Dodgers can cover a 200 million dollar payroll with just their local TV revenue alone. That doesn't include money from good attendance, many millions in national TV contracts, and various other revenue sources.

[Ennder]

I guess the big question is how high can these top payrolls go?

 

The Dodgers said they don't plan on maintaining this type of payroll. They are spending big now while they rebuild the farm system and then will likely lower payroll. I'm guessing you wont' see anyone keep a $200M payroll long term.

 

Why not?

 

With their massive new TV deal, the Dodgers can cover a 200 million dollar payroll with just their local TV revenue alone. That doesn't include money from good attendance, many millions in national TV contracts, and various other revenue sources.

 

 

Because of the way the luxury tax works. By the time you pass the tax for the 3rd straight year you are charged a 42.5% tax which makes the investment a bad idea. That is why the Yankees are slashing payroll. Teams like the Dodgers will likely go with 3 year windows where they break the tax for a few years and then fall under it for a year. Stan Kasten said they don't plan on staying that high and I tend to believe him.