Dipoto comments on the rotation situation (because this board needs a good 10 page thread)

[Stradling]

I agree with mt. I am pretty sure that Blanton will be either released or he will be Jerome Williams.

[mtangelsfan]

I think the bigger questions will come when we have injuries or one of Richards/Santiago/Skaggs really struggles.  Who will the Angels put in for several starts in a row?  That will be the test.  I'm going to be pissed if that ends up being Blanton.

[Torridd]

I think the bigger questions will come when we have injuries or one of Richards/Santiago/Skaggs really struggles.  Who will the Angels put in for several starts in a row?  That will be the test.  I'm going to be pissed if that ends up being Blanton.

I think letting Williams go could turn out to be a bigger blunder than getting Blanton.

[Stradling]

I think the bigger questions will come when we have injuries or one of Richards/Santiago/Skaggs really struggles. Who will the Angels put in for several starts in a row? That will be the test. I'm going to be pissed if that ends up being Blanton.

I will be upset, no doubt, but I still don't think that is the end of the season like quite a few here are suggesting. I still see a chance for the Angels to pick up a league average pitcher through trade in spring training or during the first half of the season. Dipoto's job is basically hinging on the ability of Santiago and Skaggs to round out the rotation.

[Stradling]

I think letting Williams go could turn out to be a bigger blunder than getting Blanton.

I like Williams, but he truly is just a guy. If we would have signed someone like him, it would have been considered by many here a fail, unless of course we brought him back, then people here would be questioning the teams commitment to improve and asking why we were happy with the status quo.

[PercySquint]

Jerry says "We're not in a position as an organization, nor is there enough pitching in the industry, to prejudge." There was enough, but we didn't get Garza or Burnett or Arroyo or Price, did we?

 

Not happy at all with this "rotation". It seems that having Skaggs, Richards, and Santiago (or Blanton or Mulder) as our 3-4-5 is a big and unwise gamble. After watching the playoffs last year, it's even more obvious how critical starting pitching is for any team, regardless of their lineup. Don't see how these guys match up, but they're who we're stuck with for now. Hope I'm wrong.

[mtangelsfan]

I will be upset, no doubt, but I still don't think that is the end of the season like quite a few here are suggesting. I still see a chance for the Angels to pick up a league average pitcher through trade in spring training or during the first half of the season. Dipoto's job is basically hinging on the ability of Santiago and Skaggs to round out the rotation.

 

I haven't seen too many folks say that in and of itself would be the reason the season would be over.  For me it would speak of a true failure in leadership of the franchise to recognize something rather simplistic.  Blanton was absolutely miserable.  Use any metric at all and he was bad, bad and worse.  If they needed any more proof than that the moment they removed him from the rotation the team started playing much better.  I would think making sure he never saw the mound again as a starter would have been goal number one in the off-season.

[Mark68]

BTW...we're halfway to the 10 pages predicted by the thread title.

[Mark68]

I haven't seen too many folks say that in and of itself would be the reason the season would be over.  For me it would speak of a true failure in leadership of the franchise to recognize something rather simplistic.  Blanton was absolutely miserable.  Use any metric at all and he was bad, bad and worse.  If they needed any more proof than that the moment they removed him from the rotation the team started playing much better.  I would think making sure he never saw the mound again as a starter would have been goal number one in the off-season.

Not in the strike/ball ratio!

[mtangelsfan]

Not in the strike/ball ratio!

 

Ha!  Got me.

[Brent Maguire]

I think letting Williams go could turn out to be a bigger blunder than getting Blanton.

If they weren't going to utilize the rest of the money this offseason, they should have just kept Jerome. 

 

He's been effective in the bullpen and while his numbers as a starter haven't been good, I'd feel better about him than Blanton. 

[Second Base]

I haven't seen too many folks say that in and of itself would be the reason the season would be over.  For me it would speak of a true failure in leadership of the franchise to recognize something rather simplistic.  Blanton was absolutely miserable.  Use any metric at all and he was bad, bad and worse.  If they needed any more proof than that the moment they removed him from the rotation the team started playing much better.  I would think making sure he never saw the mound again as a starter would have been goal number one in the off-season.

 

Joe didn't even pass the eye-test.  He doesn't hide the ball, pumps in straight 91 mph fastballs with no movement out over the middle of the plate.  I'm frankly shocked anyone expected the result to be any different than it was.  Major League hitters don't get to where they are unless they know how to punish pitchers for piping meat.  Hell, collegiate hitters would've given Blanton a hard time last year.  

[Brent Maguire]

Joe didn't even pass the eye-test.  He doesn't hide the ball, pumps in straight 91 mph fastballs with no movement out over the middle of the plate.  I'm frankly shocked anyone expected the result to be any different than it was.  Major League hitters don't get to where they are unless they know how to punish pitchers for piping meat.  Hell, collegiate hitters would've given Blanton a hard time last year.  

Blanton's fastball was the worst pitch in baseball last year by a huge margin. His fastball was worth -29.2 runs according to Fangraphs. I didn't think it was possible to see a major league caliber pitcher have one pitch get shellacked like that. 

[mtangelsfan]

Joe didn't even pass the eye-test.  He doesn't hide the ball, pumps in straight 91 mph fastballs with no movement out over the middle of the plate.  I'm frankly shocked anyone expected the result to be any different than it was.  Major League hitters don't get to where they are unless they know how to punish pitchers for piping meat.  Hell, collegiate hitters would've given Blanton a hard time last year.  

 

and yet his name keeps getting thrown out there by Dipoto.  

[tdawg87]

unless they know how to punish pitchers for piping meat.

 

I'm not going to make a joke about this because I'm tired. But I want you to know just how easy it would be.

[fan_since79]

Matt Shoemaker is our Obi-Wan.

 

 

 

 

"These are not the starting pitchers you were looking for."

[Second Base]

I'm not going to make a joke about this because I'm tired. But I want you to know just how easy it would be.

 

I set it up well, when you have more energy, by all means...

[NrM]

Like other people have said.

Not only was blanton atrocious with the angels, he was also terrible before he got here.

 

ERA+

2010: 85

2011: 77

2012: 85

2013: 62

 

Why does the guy deserve another chance with the angels?  

[Jeff Fletcher]

There is almost no chance of Blanton making the team if he's not in the rotation.

My odds

10 percent: people get hurt and/or struggle and Blanton is good in spring and he's no 5 starter

40 percent: Blanton is good in spring but doesn't make Angels rotation so he's traded for a bag of balls, Angels picking up all by 1M-ish of salary.

50 percent: Blanton is not good and he's released.

[Hoops McCann]

Do you guys really think Mulder will be servicable?  I'm not buying it.  He's been out of the game for quite some time and now he's found a "new arm slot" after playing catch.  Good luck with that, but I wouldnt assume he'll make the team.

 

Blanton is awful and I understand everyone's trepidation with him getting starts as those are valid concerns.  I'd imagine Skaggs will get every chance to win the job and imagine how awful he will have to be to lose the 5 spot to Blanton.

[NrM]

There is almost no chance of Blanton making the team if he's not in the rotation.

My odds

10 percent: people get hurt and/or struggle and Blanton is good in spring and he's no 5 starter

40 percent: Blanton is good in spring but doesn't make Angels rotation so he's traded for a bag of balls, Angels picking up all by 1M-ish of salary.

50 percent: Blanton is not good and he's released.

So you expect the angels to go into the season with pretty much no SP depth.

[Brent Maguire]

So you expect the angels to go into the season with pretty much no SP depth.

Yeah I'm really perplexed by this.

You would think they would have learned from the mistake they made last year going into the season with no depth.

[Docwaukee]

I guess I'll believe it when I see it in terms of Blanton not getting a shake to make the rotation, but right now you have three spots in the rotation available with the following options as the powers that be see it:

 

a guy that hasn't pitched in several years trying to make a come back at age 36 - Mulder

a guy that needs mechanical adjustments who is still a prospect and has options - Skaggs

a guy that had a solid first crack at being an everyday starter but is probably a viable pen option - Santiago

a guy that has been shuffled back and forth between starter and reliever who had a short run of success at the end of last season - Richards.

a guy that has no major league rotation experience and has been poor to mediocre his last couple of years in the minors with upside as a #5 or swingman - Shoemaker

a guy that is coming off a dreadful year but has been serviceable as a back end rotation guy in the past and stands to give you a lot of innings - Blanton

 

Right now, Richards and Santiago have spots to lose imo.  Barring injury, the last spot is up for grabs relative to the rest of the guys who all have considerable question marks.  I think there is a very real possibility that those that make the decisions take the typical route and give it to the guy that been there.  Skaggs could easily go to AAA and work on his mechanics more.  Shoemaker or Mulder could end up pen guys or in AAA with Mulder probably having the edge to make the club unless he agrees to start in the minors and build up arm strength.  Don't underestimate Blanton's history and current contract in the decision making process. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

There is almost no chance of Blanton making the team if he's not in the rotation.

My odds

10 percent: people get hurt and/or struggle and Blanton is good in spring and he's no 5 starter

40 percent: Blanton is good in spring but doesn't make Angels rotation so he's traded for a bag of balls, Angels picking up all by 1M-ish of salary.

50 percent: Blanton is not good and he's released.

 

Who is going to trade for Blanton? There can't be too many teams out there who need him to pitch well more than the Angels do at this point. 

 

If he is to be released, who do we have that we can expect to be better?

[AngelsLakersFan]

I guess I'll believe it when I see it in terms of Blanton not getting a shake to make the rotation, but right now you have three spots in the rotation available with the following options as the powers that be see it:

 

a guy that hasn't pitched in several years trying to make a come back at age 36 - Mulder

a guy that needs mechanical adjustments who is still a prospect and has options - Skaggs

a guy that had a solid first crack at being an everyday starter but is probably a viable pen option - Santiago

a guy that has been shuffled back and forth between starter and reliever who had a short run of success at the end of last season - Richards.

a guy that has no major league rotation experience and has been poor to mediocre his last couple of years in the minors with upside as a #5 or swingman - Shoemaker

a guy that is coming off a dreadful year but has been serviceable as a back end rotation guy in the past and stands to give you a lot of innings - Blanton

 

Right now, Richards and Santiago have spots to lose imo.  Barring injury, the last spot is up for grabs relative to the rest of the guys who all have considerable question marks.  I think there is a very real possibility that those that make the decisions take the typical route and give it to the guy that been there.  Skaggs could easily go to AAA and work on his mechanics more.  Shoemaker or Mulder could end up pen guys or in AAA with Mulder probably having the edge to make the club unless he agrees to start in the minors and build up arm strength.  Don't underestimate Blanton's history and current contract in the decision making process. 

 

You're missing the most important thing, and that's how none of these young guys have ever thrown 200 innings in a season. It wont happen.

 

1000 innings is a good target from your starting rotation. It puts them at just above 6 innings per game. Doing some back of the envelope math based on the inning totals we should expect from these five guys, and we are about 25-30 starts short, with the rest of the innings coming from using bullpen depth we probably don't have.