What can the Angels do this offseason?

[QuinlansMinion]

Not that im giving up on the season or anything, but what would be realistic this offseason.  Im wondering if Sherxcer (or however you spell it) didnt take the Tigers offer to hold out for an equal or similar offer from a team like the Angels, to live in a better climate (because lets face it Detroit sucks). 

Edited August 7, 2014 by QuinlansMinion

[Mudville]

Dude, this is like Christmas shopping in August. You can do it and be the biggest idiot on the block when you say, I'm done before labor Day!

[yk9001]

Good lord.

 

Proves my long held theory that many fans like the hot stove more than the game itself.  The day we signed Vlad or Pujols were their best days as a fan in Angels history.

[Angel Oracle]

Especially given Pujols' and Hamilton's wonderful sub .800 OPS since April 2013

Give me a 2002 type team with balanced salaries, decent to solid starters, great bullpen, frenetic hitting, and great chemistry.

Edited August 7, 2014 by Angel Oracle

[T.G.]

Forget Christmas... this is more like Ground Hog Day... the movie.

[19HALO71]

Celebrate!!

 

Halos are winning it all!!

[Brandon]

Good lord.

Proves my long held theory that many fans like the hot stove more than the game itself. The day we signed Vlad or Pujols were their best days as a fan in Angels history.

This is indeed rather ridiculous.

I'm guessing that seeing when it was posted that alcohol was involved.

Reminds me of one of Hollywood's bitch threads, like pure boredom sunk in and just decided to create a post without thinking it through.

[Lou]

Play golf and spend time with their families

[nando714]

2 gb on August 7th and we're talking about off season moves

Edited August 7, 2014 by nando714

[yk9001]

This is indeed rather ridiculous.

I'm guessing that seeing when it was posted that alcohol was involved.

Reminds me of one of Hollywood's bitch threads, like pure boredom sunk in and just decided to create a post without thinking it through.

 

 

Nope, its not ridiculous.  I've read it here many times.  Oh, and the ESPN mentions when we sign a Vlad or Pujols.

[Stradling]

I hope the Angels sign Scherzer and Lester along with trading for Longoria and Tulo. Anything short of that is a total off season fail. What an f'ing joke threads like this are during a season like this. This is right up there with the bozo claiming this season was over last November.

Edited August 7, 2014 by Stradling

[Angelsjunky]

It is actually an interesting question and not worthy of derision. Certainly our main focus should be on this season considering that the Angels have the best chance of going all the way that they've had in 5 years. How to improve upon a team projected for 96 wins? Overall they are a balanced team - they are right now, with no huge weaknesses. Here is how they rank in the AL in various team stats:

 

Offense:

Runs/game: 2nd (4.81)

OPS+: 1st (111)

 

Pitching (overall):

Runs/game: 6th (4.01)

ERA+: 8th (102)

 

Pitching (starters):

Runs/game: 6th (4.01)

Quality start pct: 7th (52%)

 

Pitching (relievers):

Runs/game: 6th (4.01)

Save pct: 7th (71%)

 

Fielding:

Defensive efficiency: 3rd (.704)

Fielding pct: 4th (.986)

 

OK, so we have a clear picture above: the Angels are great at scoring runs and above average at preventing them. Despite the other night's debacle, the Angels defense has been very good, the pitching pretty good. So let's look at hitting and pitching in a bit more detail.

 

Hitting

Most of the starting lineup is set with the possible exception of 3B as I don't see the Angels re-upping Freese through arbitration. There might be some tweaking of the bench, but the only significant change might be a new third baseman. For the last few years the strategy has been to tread water until Kaleb Cowart was ready in 2015 or so, but it is looking more and more like Cowart is a bust as a third baseman.

 

I see a few options:

1. Re-up Freese.

2. Convert Green to third base and/or platoon him with McDonald, Field, etc.

3. Go to free agency or trade.

 

According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, there aren't a ton of free agent options, but some decent ones:

Pablo Sandoval - only 28 next year, good hitter - lifetime .820 OPS, pretty good defender, could be expensive.

Chase Headley - cheaper than he would have been a couple years ago, still good defender, but do well with a fresh starter (already doing better with the Yankees), but questionable.

Casey McGehee - could be affordable, nice OBP.

 

Pitching

This is where the team could be improved the most. On the other hand, Skaggs, Santiago, and even Shoemaker could all take it up a notch with more experience. While Weaver looks like he's on a slow decline, he's still solid. Richards is the ace. Wilson is really questionable.

 

Among free agents, Max Scherzer is the big name but will be super expensive - I'm guessing at least what Detroit offered him (6/$144M) - probably at least 6/$150M, maybe more. And bidding will be fierce. Jon Lester is the other premier option and will probably get at least 5/$100M, but who knows.

 

There are some other good options for much smaller contracts, including Jason Hammel, Justin Masterson, Hisashi Iwakuma, Jake Peavy, James Shields, etc.

 

I honestly have no idea what Dipoto will do. On one hand, it would be nice to improve the starting pitching. On the other, if we consider Richards, Weaver and Skaggs as locks--and probably Wilson, if he settles down again--then what to do with Santiago and Shoemaker? They're too good to send down. Both in the bullpen? We shall see.

 

As for the bullpen, I don't foresee many, if any at all, signings. Street's option will obviously be taken. Smith is signed through 2016. Jepsen will either go to arbitration or get a contract. Bedrosian and Morin will figure in somehow, as will probably Rasmus. Then you've got Grilli and Thatcher as free agents, as well as possibly Santiago and Shoemaker.

 

I'm guessing that Grilli is given a one year contract, and Thatcher might be depending upon how he does down the stretch. If anything Dipoto might not keep Thatcher and go to free agency for a lefty reliever. I could also see him over-paying and over-compensating for past failures by going after Koji Uehara (imagine the one-two punch of Uehara and Street?).

 

Summary

So in short, the main areas of improvement are, in order of importance:

1. One starter

2. Third baseman

3. A lefty reliever and/or top relief pitcher

 

Aside from that, there will be some dabbling with the bullpen and bench, but nothing major.

Edited August 7, 2014 by Angelsjunky

[wopphil]

You guys are d$%&s. Who cares if he/she wants to talk about the offseason? Is it not possible to both enjoy this season and also think about the future? Should the OP spend his/her entire day jerking off to the standings?

[Jason]

It is actually an interesting question and not worthy of derision. Certainly our main focus should be on this season considering that the Angels have the best chance of going all the way that they've had in 5 years. How to improve upon a team projected for 96 wins? Overall they are a balanced team - they are right now, with no huge weaknesses. Here is how they rank in the AL in various team stats:

 

.

 

Very nice write up AJ. I agree with everything on this except for the huge weakness. The starting pitching has been solid up to this point but outside of Weaver and Richards there are a lot of question marks IMO. Hopefully these guys can can rise to the occasion and get it done. We'll just have to wait and see.

[fan_since79]

Especially given Pujols' and Hamilton's wonderful sub .800 OPS since April 2013

Give me a 2002 type team with balanced salaries, decent to solid starters, great bullpen, frenetic hitting, and great chemistry.

 

How about something besides brain-dead hitting? I'd go for that.

 

Many of the at-bats are mind boggling.

[Make Angels Great Again]

I'd like to see them grab James Shields.

[tdawg87]

Good lord.

 

Proves my long held theory that many fans like the hot stove more than the game itself.  The day we signed Vlad or Pujols were their best days as a fan in Angels history.

 

 

This is indeed rather ridiculous.

I'm guessing that seeing when it was posted that alcohol was involved.

Reminds me of one of Hollywood's bitch threads, like pure boredom sunk in and just decided to create a post without thinking it through.

 

 

2 gb on August 7th and we're talking about off season moves

 

 

I hope the Angels sign Scherzer and Lester along with trading for Longoria and Tulo. Anything short of that is a total off season fail. What an f'ing joke threads like this are during a season like this. This is right up there with the bozo claiming this season was over last November.

 

Nice overreaction here guys. It's a perfectly reasonable question and he didn't mention anything about the season being over. What can the team do to make themselves even better for next year? Plenty.

[Make Angels Great Again]

Yeah some of you guys need to pull the stick outta your butts.

[Adam]

who hacked tdawgs account? 

[Cdaniel]

Id like it if the Angels went after James Shields and sign Grilli. I'm cool with Grant Green playing 3rd.

Edited August 7, 2014 by Cdaniel

[JoJo26]

When the Halos signed Vladdy..it was was like..."We got him?" Because he was in HIS PRIME! 2004 was off the charts for him.

When we signed Albert..it was like..."We got him? For 10 years? What's is Arte thinking? He's declining"

 

St. Louis gave him a low ball figure because they knew...Arte was enamored that he hit homers in game 7...just like Matsui's MVP in World Series...kinda like Freese's.

 

Anyway...I was stoked for Vladdy....very lukewarm on Albert and CJ. Why? Gee...I watch baseball...and I saw CJ being inconsistent in Texas...

[Angelsjunky]

Very nice write up AJ. I agree with everything on this except for the huge weakness. The starting pitching has been solid up to this point but outside of Weaver and Richards there are a lot of question marks IMO. Hopefully these guys can can rise to the occasion and get it done. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

Thanks. As for the starting pitching, I figure that Skaggs and Santiago can only get better. Skaggs in particular should have a big jump forward from what he is now--a league average starter, or #4 type--to a #2-3 type. I don't expect it to be as drastic a jump as Richards this year, but I could see gradual improvement over the next two or three years. Santiago won't as much improve as stabilize into what we've been seeing the last couple months.

 

Wilson can't be this bad, right? Or maybe he's finally collapsed, I don't know. Shoemaker is a great #5 and a pretty good #4 and is a dark horse to develop into a solid #3. His peripherals and FIP point to some improvement.

 

So even if Wilson is a flop, next year the Angels could have a legit staff ace in Richards and four #3 types in Weaver, Skaggs, Santiago, and Shoemaker. That's a pretty good rotation. If Wilson improves, all the better.

 

Of course the Angels would like another true #2 pitcher to complement Richards, but that will cost a lot of money. My point is simply that the rotation as is should continue to improve - without spending any more money.

[zenmaster]

From baseball prospectus:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/league-info/potential-free-agents-for-2015/

The following players have contracts expiring or should have the six years of service necessary to become free agents after the 2014 season. 

 

(* – player whose current contract includes 2015 option.)

First Basemen
Billy Butler *
Adam Dunn
Michael Cuddyer
Corey Hart
Paul Konerko
Adam LaRoche *
Adam Lind *
Victor Martinez 
Mike Morse
Carlos Pena

Second Basemen
Emilio Bonifacio
Alexi Casilla
Mark Ellis 
Rafael Furcal
Kelly Johnson
Nick Punto *
Brian Roberts
Ramon Santiago
Rickie Weeks *
Ben Zobrist * 


Shortstops
Mike Aviles *
Asdrubal Cabrera
Alex Gonzalez 
J.J. Hardy 
Jed Lowrie
John McDonald
Hiroyuki Nakajima *
Hanley Ramirez
Jimmy Rollins * 


Third Basemen
Wilson Betemit 
Alberto Callaspo 
Eric Chavez 
Jack Hannahan *
Chase Headley 
Casey McGehee
Donnie Murphy
Nick Punto * 
Aramis Ramirez *
Pablo Sandoval
Ty Wigginton


Catchers
John Buck
Ryan Doumit 
Nick Hundley * 
Gerald Laird
Russell Martin
Jeff Mathis *
Wil Nieves
Ronny Paulino
A.J. Pierzynski
David Ross
Geovany Soto


Outfielders
Norichika Aoki 
Emilio Bonifacio 
Melky Cabrera
Nelson Cruz
Michael Cuddyer 
Rajai Davis
Chris Denorfia
Jeff Francoeur 
Jonny Gomes 
Franklin Gutierrez
Tony Gwynn Jr.
Scott Hairston 
Torii Hunter 
Raul Ibanez
Reed Johnson 
Ryan Lukwick * 
Nick Markakis *
Darnell McDonald 
Mike Morse
Colby Rasmus 
Alex Rios * 
Nate Schierholtz
Grady Sizemore
Seth Smith 
Alfonso Soriano
Denard Span * 
Ichiro Suzuki 
Ryan Sweeney 
Josh Willingham 
Chris Young 
Delmon Young 


Starting Pitchers
Brett Anderson *
Josh Beckett  
Chad Billingsley * 
Joe Blanton *
A.J. Burnett *
Chris Capuano 
Bruce Chen *
Wei-Yin Chen *
Kevin Correia 
Johnny Cueto * 
Jorge De La Rosa
Ryan Dempster 
Scott Feldman
Gavin Floyd
Yovani Gallardo * 
Jason Hammel
J.A. Happ * 
Aaron Harang  
Dan Haren *
Roberto Hernandez
Hisashi Iwakuma 
Josh Johnson
Kyle Kendrick 
Hiroki Kuroda
John Lannan
Colby Lewis
Jon Lester 
Paul Maholm
Justin Masterson
Brandon McCarthy
Brandon Morrow *
Jeff Niemann 
Ross Ohlendorf 
Felipe Paulino * 
Jake Peavy 
Wandy Rodriguez 
Max Scherzer 
James Shields 
Carlos Villanueva 
Ryan Vogelsong  
Edinson Volquez
Jerome Williams 


Relief Pitchers
David Aardsma
Mike Adams * 
Matt Albers *
Burke Badenhop 
Ronald Belisario 
Matt Belisle 
Heath Bell
Craig Breslow *
Sean Burnett *
Jared Burton *
Tim Byrdak
Joba Chamberlain
Phil Coke
Manny Corpas
Jesse Crain
Scott Downs *
Kyle Farnsworth
Jason Frasor
Kyuji Fujikawa * 
Tom Gorzelanny 
Luke Gregerson
Jason Grilli 
LaTroy Hawkins *
Luke Hochevar
J.P. Howell 
Casey Janssen 
Jim Johnson 
Matt Lindstrom 
Brandon Lyon
Carlos Marmol 
Dustin McGowan * 
Jose Mijares
Andrew Miller
Franklin Morales
Jason Motte 
Peter Moylan
Pat Neshek
Darren O’Day * 
Juan Carlos Oviedo
Vicente Padilla
Chris Perez 
J.J. Putz 
David Robertson 
Francisco Rodriguez  
Sergio Romo 
Joakim Soria * 
Rafael Soriano * 
Huston Street *
Joe Thatcher 
Koji Uehara 
Jose Veras * 
Brian Wilson * 
Jamey Wright

[Mudville]

There is serious whole lot of crap on that list. I think I'm going to wait for black Friday before doing any shopping.

[gotbeer]

I think it's too early to tell what we may need in the offseason.  The Angels, or more specifically, the starting pitching is entering into uncharted territory.  Richards is at 153 IP, a career high.  Skaggs is at 113 IP, which is a MLB high, but he has pitched 150ish innings in the minors.  But his latest injury is somewhat of a concern.  Shoemaker actually has pitched into the 180's IP in the minors for a season.  

 

So it will depend on how they are effective towards the end of the season.  

 

Of course if CJ continues to show blah, the young guys progression towards 200 IP will be more critical.  But with 2 years left on the contract, he just gets regulated to a #4/5 pitcher with the kids leapfrogging him.  

 

Also remember there is Santiago in the wings.  

 

While another #1 would be nice.  I don't think it's something we absolutely need like in previous offseasons.