Submitted by: dajuba
May 11, 2023
Angels
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availablility | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goldschmidt | 35 | Majors | 1B | Very low | 1.8 | 75.8 | 47.6 | 28.2 | 22.6 | 28.2 | 33.9 | |
| Rosario | 27 | Majors | SS | OF | Medium | 0.8 | 11.8 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 4.7 | 5.9 | 7.1 |
Back
Winner, Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner
Guardians take on the Contreras contract and get 2 Pitching prospects, Cardinals move on from the Contreras contract and take on the much smaller Fletcher contract and get a nice middle infield prospect in Neto to pair with Wynn, Edman & Donovan, Angels get another middle of the order bat to pair with Ohtani, Trout & the others plus Rosario holds down SS for a playoff run.
Here’s how I see it, the pro & cons sort a speak….
Angels;
Giving up Neto is not ideal but getting back Rosario to finish the year and evaluate in house for a possible extension is acceptable. Adding Goldschmidt and his bat for this year for a playoff run and next is the play. If Ohtani should walk in the offseason at least they still have Goldy for next year. They have to take on some salary for this year but ownership is in complete go for it mold.
Cardinals;
Seems like the Cardinals have miss handled the roster from the get go, first with O’Neill and now with Contreras as the seemingly inevitable scapegoat. So, stuck in last place they write off the season and start the re-tooling process, they move on from the Contreras contract and take on Fletcher with his underwhelming play and contract and send him to the minors to get Neto, another middle infielder under control to compete going forward with Wynn, Edman & Donavan and they move Burleson back to 1B, his best position. Loosing Goldy hurts because in his short time in ST. Louis he has become part of the face of the franchise but with only a year left on hIs contract he becomes expendable because they decide that an extension is not in the “CARDS”. They trim some cash from the roster and start to look at some possible extensions for pitchers (Montgomery) and the offseason.
Guardians;
Cleveland trades Rosario who was going to be a free agent at the end of the year and weren’t going to sign. So, they do a little early off season shopping by taking on the Contreras contract. They do have some to concern about his defensive shortcomings but, he will be the DH & they plan to platoon him at best at the Catcher position and want his bat to add to add to the lineup. Plus, they add 2 Pitching prospect, both having past injury problems but both on the mend and looking good as lottery tickets.
Cleveland is a small market team. They are not going to pay the remaining 4 plus years of Contreras’s 5 year $87.5 million dollar contract for a DH/backup catcher. The money would be close to a wash in 2023, but not after that. Bedell is at high A and would have to be added to the 40 man roster in December which also would be an issue for the Guardians. Guards say no.
Cleveland is not a small market team, quit crying poverty, they’re middle class, probably upper middle class, they can definitely afford the Contreras contract especially going into next season after an offseason of making adjustments/additions/subtractions to the roster. If you didn’t like the player for reasons that be one thing but to cry poverty………I think getting his bat into the lineup would be beneficial for the team.
Metro Cleveland ranks 34th in the USA which is the smallest metro area that houses a MLB team. It is the smallest metro area that houses 3 major sports team. Cleveland is a small market team. That is a fact! They are not going to pay that contract and Contreras is not worth that contract. He is not worth that contract as a catcher with questionable defense. He certainly is not worth that contract as a DH.
There, I proved you wrong and stated that I don’t want the player. Anything else before I tell you to stick to the Red Sox?
Cleveland is NOT a small market team. That is a fact! Figures don’t lie but liars can figure, put any kind of spin on it that you want, but crying poverty and claiming Cleveland can’t afford to $pend is all spin from the front office and ownership. And apparently you’re gullible enough to buy into it. Metro Cleveland ranking 34th DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY make it a “small market” or too small to support 3 major sport teams. There I proved you wrong and got you to admit that you just don’t like the player and are using salary as crutch to give a thumbs down to any trade or player that you don’t like. Now, go clean yourself up, put on some fresh shorts and stick to giving thumbs down, but without the crying 😭
I said I am not paying the salary for a poor defensive catcher. I am not paying that salary for a catcher to play DH. It is not a wise use of funds. I guess you just have very poor reading comprehension skills to go along with your large market arrogance.
As far as market size. All 29 other MLB teams have a larger population in their metro area to draw from than the Guardians do. 30th out of 30 is a small market. Despite solid TV ratings, they don’t receive the revenue that larger markets do. In fact, Bally Sports Great Lakes have not paid their bill for this season yet. Bally clams they are unable to make a profit.
If you want to comment that Cleveland’s ownership could spend more money, that I will agree with you. If you think the Guardians trading for Contreras to DH is a good baseball move, I disagree strongly with you. If you think for Cleveland, with their small market revenue streams, to pay Contreras that contract for a catcher to DH is a smart move, then I am very glad that you have nothing to do with the Guardians. There are many better ways to spend their available money. There are many better players to spend that much money on than Contreras.
Thank goodness you have nothing to do with the team
You usually have some interesting takes dajuba, but this one doesn’t work. The Angels are not trading Neto.