Yahoo Pujols Article

[Docwaukee]

Im not saying trade the whole team because they didnt perform for 3 games.  But our offense is too dependent on one guy.  

 

Do you think leading the league in runs had anything to do with the fact that we had the guy who was number 1 in RBI and Runs scored?  One guy cant win you a playoff series.  

but he can win you 98 games during the regular season?  someone has to be on for him to drive them in, and someone has to drive him in when he gets on.  

 

nothing you do to a team guarantees you anything for 3 games during the playoffs.    

[AngelsFanSince86]

The only teams that wouldn't be strongly effected by losing their best offensive player are teams that already have crappy offenses.  Even if you subtract 100 runs straight up from the Angels total last year they still rank 10th.  Ianetta's OBP was tied for tops amongst Catchers with Lucroy.  Aybar is always solid for a SS and is consistently a top 10 producer at the position.  Freese was stepping it up towards the end of the season and hopefully that carries over.  Joyce/Cowgill should easily replace any production they got from LF last year. Cron looks great this spring and is pretty much a guarantee to demolish the production we got from the DH spot last year.   I think its safe to say this is one of the more well rounded offenses in the league. 

 

 

Edit:  Angels LF production in 162 games and 610 PA last year: .234/.293/.336 with 66 RBI, 71 R, 12 HR.

 

Matt Joyce's production in 140 games and 493 PA last year:  .254/.349/.383 with 52 RBI, 51 R, 9 HR

 

And that is while being part of a lineup that ranked 27th in runs scored last year.  He will certainly have more opportunities to hit guys in and be hit in himself.  

Edited March 27, 2015 by AngelsFanSince86

[QuinlansMinion]

RBI and runs scored should not be individual stats. They do not occur in a vacuum. Trout had all those RBI because runners were on base in front of him. He had all those runs scored because hitters behind him drove him in.

 

You can't score 100 runs without help, and you can't drive in 100 without help.

 

I see your point but he also had a .561 slg %, he was going to drive in 100 in any lineup.  As of right now, we are too dependent on the top part of our order, just like we were last October.  Thats why KC beat us, because they didnt depend on 1 guy or even 2 guys.  It was someone new every night that was beating us.  Their 9th hitter and their cleanup hitter beat us in games 1 and 2.  Aside from our top 3, do you think theres anyone in our lineup thats capable of getting those type of hits against playoff caliber pitching?  Do you think Pujols has any protection in this lineup?  

 

Ah, the good old "If we didn't have the best player in baseball on our team, our team would be worse" argument.

 

You're a freaking genious.

 

Lol that wasnt what I was arguing, but okay....

 

 

but he can win you 98 games during the regular season?  someone has to be on for him to drive them in, and someone has to drive him in when he gets on.  

 

nothing you do to a team guarantees you anything for 3 games during the playoffs.    

I hate that nothing guarantees you anything argument.  If that were the case GM"s wouldnt be spending ridiculous amounts of money in free agency every year.  See the top part of this post, about this lineup being too top heavy.  

[Docwaukee]

I see your point but he also had a .561 slg %, he was going to drive in 100 in any lineup.  As of right now, we are too dependent on the top part of our order, just like we were last October.  Thats why KC beat us, because they didnt depend on 1 guy or even 2 guys.  It was someone new every night that was beating us.  Their 9th hitter and their cleanup hitter beat us in games 1 and 2.  Aside from our top 3, do you think theres anyone in our lineup thats capable of getting those type of hits against playoff caliber pitching?  Do you think Pujols has any protection in this lineup?  

 

 

Lol that wasnt what I was arguing, but okay....

 

 

I hate that nothing guarantees you anything argument.  If that were the case GM"s wouldnt be spending ridiculous amounts of money in free agency every year.  See the top part of this post, about this lineup being too top heavy.  

So we'll bat Trout 7th.  Problem solved.

 

Every lineup is top heavy.  That's the whole damn point. Having a lineup where everyone is solid yet no one is great doesn't guarantee anything anyway.  

 

What does free agent spending have to do with the playoffs?  

 

You hate that argument because it popped your ziplock bag filled with crap theory and now you have it all over you.  

 

GM's spend money on players to win baseball games and get to the playoffs.  Then they hope that their players perform as well or better in those playoffs.  When they don't, they generally go home.  

 

Are you seriously arguing that we should construct a team based on what happened vs. KC last year?  Go back and look at the schedule from last year and pick any three consecutive games and tell me if you can draw any sort of reasonable conclusion from that about how this team should be built.  

[maximus p]

This spring, he has certainly looked like the Pujols that played in St Louis. He's hitting the ball. Hard. Everywhere.

And running well too.  The homer he hit yesterday, I was watching him almost sprint around the bases and thought..."Damn he looks like a different guy".

[AngelsFanSince86]

I see your point but he also had a .561 slg %, he was going to drive in 100 in any lineup.  As of right now, we are too dependent on the top part of our order, just like we were last October.  Thats why KC beat us, because they didnt depend on 1 guy or even 2 guys.  It was someone new every night that was beating us.  Their 9th hitter and their cleanup hitter beat us in games 1 and 2.  Aside from our top 3, do you think theres anyone in our lineup thats capable of getting those type of hits against playoff caliber pitching?  Do you think Pujols has any protection in this lineup?  

 

KC beat us because our whole offense slumped.  That happens to even well rounded offenses.  KC won because they played the best baseball they played all year.  If thats how they played all year then they would have won their division and over 90 games.  The first two games neither offense stepped up much.  The games went into extras tied 1-1 and 2-2.  The Angels would have won at least one of those if it weren't for incredibly lucky plays they made on defense, specifically Aoki throwing out his glove and making the best play of his life.  

 

That 9th hitter you are talking about, Mike Moustakas, is a career .236/.290/.379 guy and last year hit .212/.271/.361...what about that is impressive?  And what about that says he came through during the regular season when others didn't?  Must be their 14th ranked offense last year.  Every single one of our guys that played at least 100 games last year hit over .250/.320/.380 and that is while playing half their games in a pitchers park.  Not trying to gang up on you here, but your logic is very flawed.

[Jim]

Im not saying trade the whole team because they didnt perform for 3 games.  But our offense is too dependent on one guy.  

 

Do you think leading the league in runs had anything to do with the fact that we had the guy who was number 1 in RBI and Runs scored?  One guy cant win you a playoff series.  

One important reason for our sudden departure being overlooked is just how hot KC was coming into the playoffs. A team full of good players could easily have lost three games to that team and did.

 

They were hot, and we slumped. Now if you’re paying attention, you’d know that’s how baseball works most of the time.

 

I hope our upcoming season is as successful as the last one. That would make for fun times.    

Edited March 28, 2015 by Jim

[The Big Fregosi]

Every Angels regular had an OPS+ over 100 last season. I don't believe any other team came close to saying that. It's a well balanced lineup even without Kendrick.