according to MLBTR Syndergaard has agreed to a 1 year $21 million contract wit h the Angels pending physical.  Price of good pitching just went up with these 2 signins

Initially I thought this was a great upside play by the Angels but forgot Syndergaard had a QO hanging on him so the Angels paid $21m and a second round pick for one year of Syndergaard.

Holy moly, no effing way do I make that deal. I'm not a person who thinks draft picks should be held onto at all costs but I don't believe in throwing them away, either.

1 hour ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Initially I thought this was a great upside play by the Angels but forgot Syndergaard had a QO hanging on him so the Angels paid $21m and a second round pick for one year of Syndergaard.

Holy moly, no effing way do I make that deal. I'm not a person who thinks draft picks should be held onto at all costs but I don't believe in throwing them away, either.

If the Angels sign another QO player (and they are in on some), then it will effectively be just a 3rd round pick that they are forfeiting for Syndergaard. (Which would be the same penalty that a revenue receiving team like the Twins would have had?) Looks like their 3rd rounder might fall around #85, with a value of ~$2.5 mil per Fangraphs estimates.

The Angels 2nd round may fall around #50 would would be $5.9 mil value, so yeah, it wouldn't be great to give that up for just Syndergaard on a 1-year deal. But if they sign Story or Semien or something, it might make more sense.

11 minutes ago, Otto von Ballpark said:

If the Angels sign another QO player (and they are in on some), then it will effectively be just a 3rd round pick that they are forfeiting for Syndergaard. (Which would be the same penalty that a revenue receiving team like the Twins would have had?) Looks like their 3rd rounder might fall around #85, with a value of ~$2.5 mil per Fangraphs estimates.

The Angels 2nd round may fall around #50 would would be $5.9 mil value, so yeah, it wouldn't be great to give that up for just Syndergaard on a 1-year deal. But if they sign Story or Semien or something, it might make more sense.

True, it really depends how big the Angels plan to go this offseason.

8 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

True, it really depends how big the Angels plan to go this offseason.

Still plenty of time for them to screw it up.

They have similar SP needs as the Twins, so I am sure they see some value in ensuring that they don’t get shut out in that market. (And a one-year overpay is better than a multi-year overpay.)

Considering the Angels have Ohtani and Trout, they're aiming for World Series. That teams seems to be able to find a way to fail, though. They're like the Mets of the West Coast. I truly wonder what the heck happened with the Mets and Syndergaard for him to bail over $3MM?

If there's one team that regularly struggles with starters more than the Twins, it's the Angels. I would have liked to take a chance on Syndergaard, but as unfair and unjustified as it may seem, I like him a lot less now that he's an Angel.

Speaking of the Angels pitchers, how did Alex Cobb so significantly increase his strikeout numbers? I loathe sinkerballers for the sole reason that they put the ball in play much too often, but it looks like he was still throwing that sinker and it looks like he didn't have any velocity change. I'm guessing it's been discussed, but I'd like to know more if anyone has the scoop.

2 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I truly wonder what the heck happened with the Mets and Syndergaard for him to bail over $3MM?

Syndergaard was quoted as saying, "Well, East coast girls are hip, I really dig those styles they wear." But, he added (several verses later), "the West coast has the sunshine, and the girls all get so tanned." Read into that what you will!

1 hour ago, nicksaviking said:

If there's one team that regularly struggles with starters more than the Twins, it's the Angels. I would have liked to take a chance on Syndergaard, but as unfair and unjustified as it may seem, I like him a lot less now that he's an Angel.

Speaking of the Angels pitchers, how did Alex Cobb so significantly increase his strikeout numbers? I loathe sinkerballers for the sole reason that they put the ball in play much too often, but it looks like he was still throwing that sinker and it looks like he didn't have any velocity change. I'm guessing it's been discussed, but I'd like to know more if anyone has the scoop.

Cobb's sinker moved horizonally a little differently, and his velocity was up a tick. Probably the biggest change was he's using it quite a bit less. He was originally a 50% sinker pitcher and that dropped down to 42% in 2021. A little more 4 seamer and splitter use as well. It could just be the way he's mixing the pitches makes the sinker harder to identify or predict.

I like Syndergaard a lot and I'm pretty convinced he was looking for a 1 year deal. Not sure the Twins had a shot at him as Syndergaard definitely chose a team with a lot of elite names.