Zack Cozart to LA Angels - 3 years/ $38M

[reillymcshane]

Just hit the newswire. 3 years/ $38M, Cozart probably heads to 3B. A Cozart, Simmons and Kinsler IF is pretty nice.

 

Seems like a pretty low payout for Cozart. I thought he'd get more.

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/12/angels-sign-zack-cozart.html

[3and2Fastball]

Angels are really going for it. As always though, they need a heckuva lot more pitching.

[reillymcshane]

Angels are really going for it. As always though, they need a heckuva lot more pitching.

Getting Ohtani changed the whole complexion of the team. The offense looks fine - but like you said - the pitching is painful beyond Ohtani. And who knows how good he will be.

[homer]

Yeah, Angels making some moves.

[wallus]

Just hit the newswire. 3 years/ $38M, Cozart probably heads to 3B. A Cozart, Simmons and Kinsler IF is pretty nice.

 

Seems like a pretty low payout for Cozart. I thought he'd get more.

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/12/angels-sign-zack-cozart.html

 

I think that infield has a great chance of being below average offensively.

[reillymcshane]

The low price of Cozart probably does not bode well for guys like Walker. If Cozart - who is a vastly superior defender at a more difficult position - only gets 3/$38M - Walker is probably lucky to get 2/$20M.

[reillymcshane]

Just hit the newswire. 3 years/ $38M, Cozart probably heads to 3B. A Cozart, Simmons and Kinsler IF is pretty nice.

 

Seems like a pretty low payout for Cozart. I thought he'd get more.

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/12/angels-sign-zack-cozart.html

 

I think that infield has a great chance of being below average offensively.

Should be outstanding defensively. At least those three guys should. 1B is another question. They may be throwing the statue formerly known as Albert Pujols.

[adambr2]

The low price of Cozart probably does not bode well for guys like Walker. If Cozart - who is a vastly superior defender at a more difficult position - only gets 3/$38M - Walker is probably lucky to get 2/$20M.

 

Yeah, Walker looking for that 4th year seems like a pipe dream. He'll do well to get 3.

[KeithStone53151]

The low price of Cozart probably does not bode well for guys like Walker. If Cozart - who is a vastly superior defender at a more difficult position - only gets 3/$38M - Walker is probably lucky to get 2/$20M.

 

Great point. I tend to agree, I think it's a buyers market on infielders. A number of teams looking to trade 2b/3b guys, also a few good free agents available...only a couple teams with a need at the position.

[bill hAll Star]

Just hit the newswire. 3 years/ $38M, Cozart probably heads to 3B. A Cozart, Simmons and Kinsler IF is pretty nice.

 

Seems like a pretty low payout for Cozart. I thought he'd get more.

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/12/angels-sign-zack-cozart.html

 

I think that infield has a great chance of being below average offensively.

Should be outstanding defensively. At least those three guys should. 1B is another question. They may be throwing the statue formerly known as Albert Pujols.

 

My guess is that Pujols has been demoted to almost strictly DH-only for 80% of the games that Ohtani is off.

 

Pujols will face lefties as DH, a fair amount of righties when Ohtani doesn't pitch, and obviously will DH when Ohtani is pitching.

 

Ohtani will pitch, DH 30-40 games against RHP, and be a pinch hitter off the bench. Just a guess. Valbuena/Cron will platoon at 1st.

 

Maybe Pujols sees 10 random 1B games spanning between interleague and just games that he covers while there are random injuries/ailments/rest of other players. He only logged 50 innings at 1B last year.

[bill hAll Star]

The success all depends on the health of the young-ish guys they've had.

 

If Heaney and/or Skaggs is back to form and Richards stays healthy, the rotation is fine. They probably need some bullpen help.

 

Obviously this assumes that Ohtani doesn't need Tommy John.

 

Ohtani

Richards

Skaggs

Heaney

JC Ramirez

 

Shoemaker*

 

Probably being a bit hopeful that Heaney returns to form and is truly an MLB caliber pitcher, but that's not too bad. They also have Shoemaker, but I'm not sure about him since he had surgery last year. He should be back but I'm not sure he'll be the same.

[pacopete4]

I wish the Angels had any prospects worth a darn because they are a great team to target to move some pieces.

[monty57]

The low price of Cozart probably does not bode well for guys like Walker. If Cozart - who is a vastly superior defender at a more difficult position - only gets 3/$38M - Walker is probably lucky to get 2/$20M.

 

Everyone puts their free cash into paying the inflated market price for relievers, so the Brewers get a huge upgrade at 2B for a bargain price. That'd be nice.

[JosephC]

I hate this move. Just can't believe Cozart is all of a sudden a good MLB hitter after being terrible with the bat for so long. Pujols will soon be a black hole at DH, Kinsler is a declining offensive player, Simmons broke the .700 OPS barrier last year but most of the time is below that figure, Maldonado is not a good offensive player. I'm aware Upton is there...but this almost seems like pitching and defense and we'll just count on Trout being good for four runs every game all by himself.

 

I like Cozart and think he has solid value, but that almost all comes from being a really good defensive shortstop. Playing him at third base and risking that he really is the .240/.291/.376/.667 hitter he was from his age 28 to age 30 seasons is a bit crazy IMO. Maybe he'll go out there and OPS .933 again next year, but I'll only believe it when I see it.

[pacopete4]

The Angels are going to suck. It’ll be somewhat funny to watch.

[3and2Fastball]

At least the Angels will be on TV more... I like watching Trout. He is as close to Mays/Mantle as MLB has had since the '60's

[SRB]

They have a rotation full of guys with major injury histories. If the starting rotation stays relatively healthy all season, the Angels will be better than the Astros. If the starting rotation is riddled by injuries again, the Angels will be mediocre.

[TURBO]

Cozart is an injury concern himself, constantly nursing something, taking days off...

[Devinep]

The Angels are going to suck. It’ll be somewhat funny to watch.

 

They won 80 games last year...then will suck by adding players to that team without really losing anything?

[pacopete4]

The Angels are going to suck. It’ll be somewhat funny to watch.

 

They won 80 games last year...then will suck by adding players to that team without really losing anything?

 

 

I fully expect Pujols to nose dive even more, Kinsler and Cozart to both just me meh players. Ohtani, who knows. 80 wins might be their finish again but the money spent on 80’wins is funny to me. Angels remind me of the Yankees a few seasons ago. Patching holes with older players.

[LouisEly]

The Angels had the worst production at 2B of any team in the majors (-3 wins above average per B-R); while Kinsler is no All-Star, he's a significant improvement over the dumpster fire they had there last year. If he's average, that's a potential 3-win improvement.

 

Then add in a full year of Justin Upton in LF over the dumpster fire they had there before they acquired him (Revere, Maybin, Young).

 

And if Pujols sucks even more, DFA him and upgrade. (For as bad as Pujols was, his K rate was only 14.6%; while RBIs should not be a primary way to measure anyone, he had 100 RBIs because his OPS with RISP was .771 and his K rate with RISP was only 13.3%. In clutch situations, he puts the ball in play.)

[pacopete4]

Pujols DFA’d? No chance.