Angels interested in Jay Bruce

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

After Olney's report last night, I'd rather have Chapman.

[Stradling]

Chapman might be overkill but how incredible would it be to have the game locked down after six innings, just like the old days.

[Chuck]

I'd turn Chapman back into a starter if we got him. 

[CanadianHalo]

JB's road average and power numbers this season worry me and so does his average with men in scoring position. He's obviously an upgrade over Joyce/Robertson but I'd much rather go and get one of the other guys

[eaterfan]

How many times are we going to take on guys who play in pretty extreme hitters parks who don't perform well on the road? I swear this happens every time and we're shocked it keeps happening. " I'm sure Vernon Wells won't be as bad as his numbers in Anaheim have been before".

And that wouldn't be so bad if we're paying for the .715 OPS player that they are on the road, but we always seem to pay for the .900 OPS guy they are at home or .800 OPS guy they average out to be.

Edited July 20, 2015 by eaterfan

[ELEVEN]

Thats the conclusion you are coming to -- one that requires a person to ignore what the team actually DID do.

You really just don't have any real memory of the situation when he got here, do you? Who exactly did he have to trade? You realize the Angels farm system was considered to be in much worse shape than the one Dipoto took over right? They had a grand total of ONE teenager in the entire system at the time of his hiring -- they had ranked dead last both at the MLB level and the minor league level by BBA. To say the farm was barren is a massive understatement. Other than the mandated Edmonds trade and moves for guys like Figgins, it's true he didnt make moves -- but those guys he didnt trade despite ownership wanting him to led them to their only WS.

Just for giggles -- check out the Angels top ten prospects when he took over the team,

• Ramon Ortiz, rhp
• Scott Schoeneweis, lhp
• Mark Harriger, rhp
• Elpidio Guzman, of
• Jason Dewey, c
• Seth Etherton, rhp
• Keith Luuloa, inf
• Norm Hutchins, of
• Bienvenido Encarnacion, ss
• Darren Blakely, of

What trades of "consequence" should he have made in 2000 or 2001 with that collection of talent?? Let's consider that the team wasn't really in position to make moves that would have made much of a difference those first two years.... Does it matter to you that the two guys at the top of that list were both parts of the WS winning team? Have you completely forgotten they were 21 games back at the All Star break in 2001 -- 21 games... Were they going to make a trade to catch up to 116 game winning Mariners?

In 2002 he traded for Alex Ochoa -- they won the WS. Were you one of the people clamoring for him to trade K-Rod for Alfonseca? Were the guys they called up for the bullpen better options than what might have been available at the deadline? Shields, Donkey... K-Rod -- did they suck?

In 2003 they were 13.5 games back at the deadline.. Again, what trade should he have made that made more sense that to keep rebulding the farm system?

In 2004 they added Vlad, Escobar, Colon, and Guillen in the offseason -- they were 2.5 games back at the break, and ended up winning the division. Other than possibly finding an upgrade for Sele, their number 5 starter what would you have had them improve on? Think maybe the plan at the break in 2003 after being bought by Moreno was to add FAs in the offseason?

In 2005 they replaced Sele with Byrd. They signed Orlando Cabrera to take over SS and Steve Finley to play CF. They had added Mighty Macier and Juan Rivera in exchange for Guillen... They were up 3 games at the deadline...and finished 7 games up. So other than finding a replacement for Finley, (They had DaVanon and Rivera in house), what would you have had them do?

In 2006 they started graduating all the players who they didn't trade. Kendrick, Napoli, Morales. They went into the deadline down a game -- ended up missing the playoffs. They had a hole at 1B -- they had Morales and Kotchman... What possible 1B could they have traded for would have been better than what they ultimately DID do with those guys? I'll wait.

In 2007 the offense had 6 of the 9 roster spots manned by people with an OPS+ above 108 - 2 of the spots were no worse than an OPS+ of 93 -- the one black hole was DH where they had Hillenbrand, but they had Morales and Rivera who they could play there.. The rotation had four guys with ERA+ north of 103, and Bartolo Colon. The bullpen had four lights out guys and Chris Bootcheck. They went into the break 4 games up -- won the division by 7. So, what should they have impoved on?

Stoneman stepped down after 2007 -- you are incorrectly attributing 2008 to him.

So, other than possibly 2006 what failure at the deadline cost the team? Maybe you missed it but the Angels were pretty good about signing FA to fill needs and then staying in house during the season -- you may not have liked it, but it wasn't a bad route to take and other than ONE year, it didn't really come back to bite them in the ass.

Holy crap! Thats some impressive recall.

[ELEVEN]

You're watching too much Braveheart.

No such thing.

[TroutField]

I'd turn Chapman back into a starter if we got him.

That's just asking for an injury.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Don't forget about fonzie, JC romero, Esteban yan, colon was a pretty bad signing looking back, Escobar, garland, etc etc

That angels FO was worse than I realized. I have no idea how we got those division titles. Weak competition?

i think escobar and garland were pretty good signings. Escobar was injured a lot but very good when he pitched. And garland was brought in to pitch 5th, which he was fine doing.

If youre going back and looking at his numbers now, keep in mind how much offense has come down sonce then. When was garland here, like 2005/6.

[Angel Oracle]

Speaking of LF, the Rangers come to town on this homestand.

Thanks again Joshy Hackilton for creating this LF pit! Enjoy the rousing boos!

[Inside Pitch]

i think escobar and garland were pretty good signings. Escobar was injured a lot but very good when he pitched. And garland was brought in to pitch 5th, which he was fine doing.

If youre going back and looking at his numbers now, keep in mind how much offense has come down sonce then. When was garland here, like 2005/6.

 

Escobar was a great signing -- 18 mil for 3 years and he gave them 450+ innings of 121 ERA+ ball and 9.3 WAR.   They resigned him in 2007, he put up a 5.0 WAR season and got hurt.... that was the end of it.

 

Garland was obtain via trade in exchange for Cabrera who was a pending FA, and to make room for Aybar.   Garland was coming off a 3 year run where he threw 640 innings of 114 ERA+...  He tanked, but it was hard to argue it was a poorly thought out trade especially since he ended up filling the 5th spot of the rotation.

Edited July 20, 2015 by Inside Pitch

[Inside Pitch]

Speaking of LF, the Rangers come to town on this homestand.

Thanks again Joshy Hackilton for creating this LF pit! Enjoy the rousing boos!

 

Josh just wanted to have fun and be happy again.  I hope he's having a lot of fun and happy.

[Second Base]

I still think the Angels grab two hitters, a LF and a DH. Whichever LF they grab, be it Parra or Revere, will need to stick around for at least 2 years and bat at the top or the middle of the order. The DH will battle with Cron, who is coming in hot, and whoever he is will likely be needed next season as well. The Angels can't afford to go 3 months without a DH again, so having two possibilities doesn't hurt.

I think it ends up being Lind and Parra for Shoemaker, Bedrock, Hinshaw and Hermosillo.

[Broad Street]

No thank you on Bruce.

[CanadianHalo]

@JimBowden_ESPN: Angels are not “in” on Justin Upton because they do not want to give up prospects for a rental Jay Bruce&Ben Zobrist are real possibilities

Ugh I really hope Bruce is a last resort type thing

[WallyWorld]

@JimBowden_ESPN: Angels are not “in” on Justin Upton because they do not want to give up prospects for a rental Jay Bruce&Ben Zobrist are real possibilities

Ugh I really hope Bruce is a last resort type thing

 

Doesn't sound like it's going to cost much in the way of players to obtain Bruce, so for everyone in favor of making a move to improve the offense, we're going to have to accept a trade for a Jay Bruce type guy. There just aren't any premium bats available that could be had for anything less than a silly, short-sighted trade.

[Angels_Make_Me_Drink]

I'm in on Bruce. Anything over Joyce. Can Mathis play LF? 

[Stradling]

Wow, we are tied to Zobrist huh? I wouldn't mind one more bullpen arm as well, maybe a guy like Clippard.

[Chuck]

Zobrist could hit 2nd which would allow Calhoun to bat after Pujols. Not bad, but I'd rather have Bruce between the two. 

[WallyWorld]

Wow, we are tied to Zobrist huh? I wouldn't mind one more bullpen arm as well, maybe a guy like Clippard.

 

this time of year, any team with a glaring need is automatically "linked" to every name out there.

 

agreed re: the BP arm. Will be interesting to see how Rasmus looks. He could be an important piece.

[tdawg87]

If they don't want to give up prospects for a rental, then why is Zobrist a possibility?

 

F'n Bowden.

[Stradling]

this time of year, any team with a glaring need is automatically "linked" to every name out there.

agreed re: the BP arm. Will be interesting to see how Rasmus looks. He could be an important piece.

I agree on the linked part, except it says we are not in on Upton.

[DMVol]

@JimBowden_ESPN: Angels are not “in” on Justin Upton because they do not want to give up prospects for a rental Jay Bruce&Ben Zobrist are real possibilities

Ugh I really hope Bruce is a last resort type thing

I think Zobrist is a FA after this season too so that makes no sense....but then again, it is Bowden....

[Glen]

Just heard Bowden spouting the Newcomb for Bruce trade again and saying the Angels need Zobrist. Zobrist is no better than Giavotella this year. I'm gonna embrace my inner Stoneman and say Newcomb is too much for Bruce.

[tdawg87]

Just heard Bowden spouting the Newcomb for Bruce trade again and saying the Angels need Zobrist. Zobrist is no better than Giavotella this year. I'm gonna embrace my inner Stoneman and say Newcomb is too much for Bruce.

 

Zobrist - 115 OPS+

Gia - 93 OPS+

 

I win.