Could This Los Angeles Angels Pitcher Be the Next Pablo López?

Very interesting option.  My question?

If the Twins have such a great environment for pitchers, why has it been so hard to entice free agents to sign here?

Wouldn't mind getting Sandoval here in a trade deal. Not so sure I want to give up Wallner in the deal though. 

Ya beat me to it, L.A.

1.  Money

2.  Our favorite team plays 1/3 of their homes games outdoors in football weather

3.  And $$$$$$$$

It wouldn’t surprise me if they did something like this, given the need to solidly the rotation and the belief that the team is poised for a real post season run. .  But moving Wallner leaves strikeout prone Larnach as the apparent replacement, unless they sign a free agent outfielder to fill the gap, That would be a clear message about how they feel about Larnach. Trading Wallner would be difficult to swallow, given his immense potential and rocket arm. Sandoval would be intriguing to add to the rotation. But Raya looks like the Twins top pitching prospect, and they traded their previous top prospect Chase Petty for Gray. Maybe signing Mahle and keeping the prospects is a better option.

If I'm the Angels, I don't trade this guy.  However, considering the history of their front office moves, anything is possible.  Since the Angels always seem to be in search of pitching, send them some back and offer to take Jo Adell (he has worn out his welcome) to plug in to CF.

39 minutes ago, roger said:

Very interesting option.  My question?

If the Twins have such a great environment for pitchers, why has it been so hard to entice free agents to sign here?

Have we really had that much success? We compare it to the end of the Terry Ryan era but around the league no so much.  Especially with bringing in FA or established MLB players.  
 

Pablo Lopez stayed healthy which help his # but was he really much better?  Joe Ryan has came in as a finished minor league product and made some adjustments.  The others have just been developed through or system.  
 

I don’t think the Angels are going to compete and are completely fooling themselves.  I don’t know much about Sandoval will be looking more in depth about him.

If they can get a #2 starter for a corner outfield bat they should make that deal every day. It's pretty easy to find a halfway decent bat in free agency for a reasonable price. It's nearly impossible to find a #2 starter for less than $25M a season.

Anything is possible, almost any player available, if a team is willing to send a pile of people in return. One thing I wonder for nearly every suggested acquisition is how the other team views their team. Can the Angels (insert any team here) part with Sandoval (insert player name)? 

Another obstacle is money. Or is it? If it is problematic, then signing a free agent that requires big numbers, such as Snell, Montgomery, Yamamoto, or Bellinger is out, Trades that return high priced players is then also difficult to unlikely, such as Juan Soto or Robbie Ray among others.

The challenges are real. Who are the Twins willing to part with among their prospects and young players? We have discussed trading all of Polanco, Kepler, Vazquez, and Farmer. Some have suggested trading Buxton and Correa who have full no trade clauses in their contracts. Even Caleb Thielbar has had his name put out to save some money. So whenever I read about a thought of acquiring a guy like Sandaval I'm intrigued by the possibilities as well as the odds and cost.

Why would a chronically starved starting pitcher team trade a starting pitcher ?  If you are counting on them making a mistake the you hope they would take a trade of SWR, Balazovic, Winder and Sands 

The Twins pursued Pablo for years. They obviously knew him well. They even had a plan to unlock the next level for him. To Pablo's credit, he was able to take it on, including adding a sweeper and using it immediately.

I'm curious who else they're following closely. Based on stats, Sandoval looks like a solid comparison. I'd just caution that some of the things that make Pablo who he is do not show up so obviously in the stat line.

Wallner being the hometown kid with huge potential isn't going to get traded early in his career.  Raya is the bulldog that our FO is betting on so he is not going anywhere.  I can see SWR and maybe Headrick  packaged for Sandoval, they seem to be close to MLB but not exactly in the plans to be fulltimers in ‘24.  That would also open up a 40man spot. 

IDK I could be wrong but LAA is a big market team that likes to throw big money at players like Trout, Ohtani & Rendon. It's hard for me to believe that LAA pitchers don't have access to top analytical equipement. MIA & PIT are small market but even PIT is trying to improve.

4 minutes ago, Karbo said:

I don't think he is a #2 starter. 

Not yet but then neither was Lopez in Miami. 

4 minutes ago, Karbo said:

I think Varland, Fiesta, and even SWR have higher ceilings.

Especially Festa. 

As Kim Ki-taek eloquently stated in the 2019 film Parasite, "You know what kind of plan never fails? No plan at all. You know why? If you make a plan, life never works out that way."

1 hour ago, awmonahan said:

The Twins pursued Pablo for years. They obviously knew him well. They even had a plan to unlock the next level for him. To Pablo's credit, he was able to take it on, including adding a sweeper and using it immediately.

I'm curious who else they're following closely. Based on stats, Sandoval looks like a solid comparison. I'd just caution that some of the things that make Pablo who he is do not show up so obviously in the stat line.

Winston Churchill said that “Plans are useless.  Planning is essential.”

It does seem that the brilliant ones in the field are able to work with a number of different “plans” at the same time, but then actually implement the one (or maybe just simply _a_ one) that gets the job done.   
 

Miami also seemed to have their eyes on Arraez (nice rhyme) for some time.  Who finds which of our players attractive?

Forget about Snell, Montgomery, Yamamoto, Gray and so forth.   “The plan” has always been to have a frugal payroll to match the frugal sensibilities of the market.  Minnesota is also a smaller than expected market simply because our non-winters are too short and folks have so many other options and passions to pursue in that 3-5 month window. 

23 minutes ago, Karbo said:

I don't think he is a #2 starter. 

Then he's not the next Pablo Lopez or Sonny Gray.

I would be good with getting both Sandoval and Adel in a Package deal but clearly would be depending on price. I would NOT include Festa or Wallner as both have really high ceilings. 

If could do with Larnach and some other pitchers in our system .. all good. As stated by some ... not sure what would motivate LAA in trading him as they need pitching ....