Starters - Who is out there? Cost?

[CanadianHalo]

This team is good and I believe one more legit starter could help us over take the West. Our schedule is tough, and we close with 3 in Oakland and 3 in Seattle. Our offense has been hot but it's pitching that will be the difference. We can't bank on scoring 5-8 runs in the playoffs each game. A good pitcher more times than not beats a good offense.

Does shoe have any trade value? He's been a very pleasant surprise. How about a package with Shoe and Cron as center pieces? Obviously those two alone wont get us Price but it may get us into the discussion maybe.

Our outfield is set for some time. Same could be said about our infield minus third. We have Santiago (who has upside), Skaggs and Richards who are all young. We have a good mix of youth and vets, and our window to win is bigger than some may think imo.

I guess some of it depends on whether Arte wants to go over the luxury tax or not. I'd hate to see us trade for a starter and then have him walk like Greinke.

Edited July 22, 2014 by CanadianHalo

[Chuck]

I'm fine with Shoemaker and Skaggs 4 & 5. The bigger question is, can CJ Wilson come back and return to form? If he can, we're solid 1-2, good at #3 (Wilson) and good enough at 4 & 5. 

 

Remember our rotation in 2002. It wasn't lights out and we didn't have a Weaver and Richards either. 

[DMVol]

I'm fine with Shoemaker and Skaggs 4 & 5. The bigger question is, can CJ Wilson come back and return to form? If he can, we're solid 1-2, good at #3 (Wilson) and good enough at 4 & 5. 

Remember our rotation in 2002. It wasn't lights out and we didn't have a Weaver and Richards either. 

02 team had no ace but after Lackey came up mid-season, the rotation was pretty consistent....Washburn was pretty good in 02, probably about like Weaver now, maybe even a little better (I think he was 18-6 with an ERA just above 3.00)....Ortiz and Appier were pretty decent too but I recall Appier ran out of gas into the long season/post season....key was they stayed healthy down the stretch, after Lackey came up....We'll see about this bunch....agree we need CJ back and pitching decent, if not lights out....and no more injuries...

Edited July 22, 2014 by DMVol

[SigBaby]

In a 3 game series against the A's if Santiago, Skaggs, and Shoemaker pitch 2 out of those 3 games, our chances of winning the series aren't very good. Those guys are decent and I'm comfortable with them getting us to the playoffs, but they aren't good enough to overtake the A's. If we're looking to win now, it's either going to happen through the wildcard as the team is now or we acquire a solid starter and have a chance at the division

[ukyah]

there's no way i'm going to beat up shoemaker over giving up two homeruns to one of the best young players in the game, especially when he dominated the rest of the lineup. it's just one of those things. honestly, shoemaker has been a godsend to this rotation and is a BIG reason why the angels have rattled off so many victories for the last couple months. he has bridged the gap from the top half to the bottom half of the rotation, helping to keep winning streaks alive and doing his part to stop losing streaks or consecutive losses from happening. 

[Angel Oracle]

Comparing 2002 to 2014 =

Washburn, Ortiz, Lackey, and Appier vs Richards, Weaver, Wilson, and Skaggs/Shoe/Santiago

Richards has it over Washburn, except for prior full season experience. Can Richards do well enough starting up to 4-5 post-season games?

Weaver has it over Ortiz.

Right now, Wilson is the true question mark.

If he can just pitch to say an upper 3's ERA from August on, that's pretty equal to Lackey given Wilson's experience.

If Wilson puts June/July behind him, I would feel much more secure going into October.

Something else to consider: both Ortiz and Appier had very bland post-seasons in 2002.

Edited July 22, 2014 by Angel Oracle