Angels out on big LF FA

[gotbeer]

Wake up sheeple. 

 

Why do anything?  3 million fans in the bag.  People thinking we were in it till the last game. 

 

People will show up for Trout, so why lose money? 

 

Just wait till the sheeple find out that we will be stuck in a minimally remodeled Angels stadium till 2030. 

[tdawg87]

I'm just happy we can maybe contend for the 2nd wildcard spot if things go well. That's all you can ask for, really.

[greginpsca]

The team is better. We were one game out last year with Freese and Gia out quite awhile. Santiago is legit even though everyone here hates the guy so Skaggs isn't a requirement. Our catchers are far far far better. Our 3rd base coach, who lost games last year himself, has been upgraded. Defense is better at SS. Cron got better as the season progressed and should continue to improve. Heaney should be good or great for an entire season. We have 75 shitty guys to play LF now when we could have one outstanding one to march us into the season and that is a huge disappointment. But we are slightly better..

Santiago legit?? He needs to prove it!!! Every other outing he throws 80 pitches thru 3 innings. The dummy flat out beats himself, and takes the team down with him!!

[NrM]

The Angels last year were the healthiest they had been in a decade. 

They were very lucky. 

 

The only pitchers that missed significant time was Weaver and CJ Wilson, which probably helped the team.

 

They wont be as lucky this year.

Edited December 17, 2015 by Poozy

[laagamer]

Can I have a World Series victory please? 

[nando714]

I'm just happy we can maybe contend for the 2nd wildcard spot if things go well. That's all you can ask for, really.

Incoming July 2016

Angels in need of LF/2b for the home stretch. Trade deadline deal needs to be done

Or we can spend a few bucks now

[Hollyw00d]

I don't necessarily agree. If the team isn't good, many of us will watch less and go to fewer games. Lower attendance should equate to lower team revenues. I think Arte is being short-sighted on this.

I think I watched maybe 10 games total from the all star break on last year. Maybe 1 or 2 games all of August when they were playing horrific baseball

[Hollyw00d]

If you thought the offense was bad last year....

Eppler actually managed to make the lineup worse while giving away every prospect we had

[Hollyw00d]

500 ABs each of simmons, gentry/nava, Escobar, giavotella, cron, and perez/soto is gonna be a blast to watch

[NrM]

500 ABs each of simmons, gentry/nava, Escobar, giavotella, cron, and perez/soto is gonna be a blast to watch

 

oh god it looks so bad when you bunch them together...

 

we're ****ed

Edited December 17, 2015 by Poozy

[totdprods]

Trade Calhoun, Santiago, Wilson, and Street and get as many prospects as you possibly can. Then go absolutely bonkers in 2018. **** it.

What if that *is* the plan?

Maybe they've determined that instead of trying to get max return on an OF, SPs, and a solid closer during an offseason where they'd be overshadowed by better available players, they realized they were better off starting '16 pretending to compete, and then selling off those pieces at the deadline or the thin '17 offseason? That way they're not trying to push Calhoun amongst Heyward, Upton, Cespedes, Gordon, Fowler, Span, Parra or Santiago against Chen, Gallardo, Maeda, Samardzija, Leake or Street against Kimbrel, Giles, Miller, Chapman.

I've mentioned it before, and I know it'll get a rise of folks, but if I were to choose which part of the Five Trout Years I would want us to compete in, I would choose the final two or three over the first two or three.

Obviously we as fans wants them to be highly competitive for all five. But realistically, the Angels may see '16-'17 as pseudo-transitionary years. The young core of Trout, Calhoun, Simmons, Perez, Heaney, Skaggs, Richards all could be here still '18-'20. The Astros and Rangers are in prime position at least next season and the one after Darvish and Hamels will be FA in a couple years, Fielder and Choo still aging. Their once highly touted farm also hasn't quite paid off the way many expected. The Astros still have a very bright future, but they've also dipped into that farm big time recently. Maybe the Angels recognize that one big signing isn't going to put them over the top the next two years, and they're better off trying to sneak in via the Wild Card. They've kept all their pitching. The 2015 team underperformed massively. It's a risk but maybe they're gambling on some smart budget buys, a young core, and a bit of luck landing them in the playoffs instead of the buy big and be heavily favored on paper route. Because that has been the strategy the last five years and it hasn't produced.

I'm disappointed if this is the '16 team more or less, but I'm hanging onto some hope that this is just a very soft rebuild for '18-'20. If Arte and the FO feels they only have the money to splurge once in the next 5 years, I would rather they go all in and build a monster team (be it building a farm over the next three years, trading a good young player or two, and then investing in the big FA class of '18) to convince Trout when extension talks come up in a few years that the team is gunning for a championship then and for the foreseeable future.

Best I can do for a 'silver linings' post. If they wanted to go cheap I'd think signing Parra, Morneau, Murphy, a Korean, and a cheap pen arm would have been a better bet to compete while staying budget-friendly. It may have tipped the luxury tax for a year, but the commitments would have been short, the players projecting to be productive....not what's happened.

Edited December 17, 2015 by totdprods

[Quinlanforthewin]

Wake up sheeple. 

 

Why do anything?  3 million fans in the bag.  People thinking we were in it till the last game. 

 

People will show up for Trout, so why lose money? 

 

Just wait till the sheeple find out that we will be stuck in a minimally remodeled Angels stadium till 2030. 

 

Agreed. I think Arte is realizing after years of spending, trying to win big, and it not working out he can probably still profit without putting out a winning product. 

[Quinlanforthewin]

If you thought the offense was bad last year....

Eppler actually managed to make the lineup worse while giving away every prospect we had

 

If you were out of the country and read this for the first time you'd think he must have at least upgraded the pitching but he actually hasn't even added a MLB arm.  Unreal.  

[Oz27]

I guess they can still maybe sign Span to a 1yr deal. He's coming off an injury so maybe he's down for a cheap 1yr deal to prove he's healthy. He could help at the top of the lineup. Still think this bullpen is pretty thin and crappy and needs another addition to it. Sign Span and a reliever and perhaps they could threaten for a WC spot

I'd be thrilled with that now but I'm not holding out much (or really any) hope of that.

 

Also, how sad has this thing become if I would be "thrilled" by us signing Denard Span?

[totdprods]

If you were out of the country and read this for the first time you'd think he must have at least upgraded the pitching but he actually hasn't even added a MLB arm. Unreal.

Eh, half-true...I would contend the defense has been so significantly improved the pitching has been upgraded by association...

I do also realize that wasn't exactly the argument you were trying to make though too haha. I do hope there is at leasto one more significant piece to be added somewhere in this puzzle.

[Oz27]

500 ABs each of simmons, gentry/nava, Escobar, giavotella, cron, and perez/soto is gonna be a blast to watch

As it stands, all those guys you mentioned plus Pennington and Navarro will combine to have something in the range of 3500 plate appearance this season. Think about how f**king depressing that is.

[totdprods]

I guess they can still maybe sign Span to a 1yr deal. He's coming off an injury so maybe he's down for a cheap 1yr deal to prove he's healthy. He could help at the top of the lineup. Still think this bullpen is pretty thin and crappy and needs another addition to it. Sign Span and a reliever and perhaps they could threaten for a WC spot

I don't think Span would be a guaranteed enough of an upgrade over what we have in house to be worth the even reasonable amount of money he might make.

If they're truly only down to a few mil to spend, I'd rather see it go to a pen arm or Daniel Murphy and hope one of the 10 LFers they've signed puts up a .750 OPS.

[seenoevil]

what a crock of shit

[beatlesrule]

Okay so I have no idea what's going on and I'm as pissed as others here.

[Kendo36]

I would not be upset if it weren't for the Simmons trade. Now we are just throwing in the towel for 2016

[Docwaukee]

I'd be thrilled with that now but I'm not holding out much (or really any) hope of that.

 

Also, how sad has this thing become if I would be "thrilled" by us signing Denard Span?

 

yeah.  they are done.  they are apparently 5mil below the tax so going over for denard span doesn't make a lot of sense at this point.   Honestly, I'd have rather taken my chances with Cowart at 3b, Aybar at SS and Gott in the pen.  

 

We upgraded the team to win 86 games instead of 82 and at the cost of our two best prospects.  I guess we have simmons for the next 5 years though.  

 

I wonder what the excuses will be next year.  We'll probably have a bunch of guys break out on the farm and the need to trade them all away to fill a bunch of holes again.  

[Stradling]

I think I watched maybe 10 games total from the all star break on last year. Maybe 1 or 2 games all of August when they were playing horrific baseball

Sorry but I call bullshit on this one. You were in every game day thread last year. I guess you may not have been watching but you were certainly paying attention to just about every single game.

[Oz27]

yeah.  they are done.  they are apparently 5mil below the tax so going over for denard span doesn't make a lot of sense at this point.   Honestly, I'd have rather taken my chances with Cowart at 3b, Aybar at SS and Gott in the pen.  

 

We upgraded the team to win 86 games instead of 82 and at the cost of our two best prospects.  I guess we have simmons for the next 5 years though.  

 

I wonder what the excuses will be next year.  We'll probably have a bunch of guys break out on the farm and the need to trade them all away to fill a bunch of holes again.  

Like many others have said, I'm most annoyed by the fact the moves we have make are things you do when you are really going for it. I thought the Simmons trade was beyond silly but if the attitude is "all in" then I can at least see why. Now I'm just at an absolute loss. If I could go back in time, erase every move we made since the end of the offseason and have gone into 2016 only with the players we already had under control or contract at the start of the offseason I would do it without thinking twice. Eppler has done enormous damage to our future, seemingly for the sake of the present, but then also screwed the present by not filling the holes that needed filling. Barring a miracle, this offseason deserves an F-. Actually, that even feels generous. We've been that bad we probably need to invent a 'G' grade just for us, or maybe even a 'Z'.

Edited December 17, 2015 by Oz27

[Stradling]

As it stands, all those guys you mentioned plus Pennington and Navarro will combine to have something in the range of 3500 plate appearance this season. Think about how f**king depressing that is.

Yea, that is pretty bad, I can't really spin it. However it really is no different than all those at bats we had last year from Joyce, Cowart, Kubitza, Gio, Iannetta, Aybar (he was the same last year as Simmons) DeJesus, Murphy, Butera, Victorino, That K dude that hit three homers for the mets, Ryan Jackson, and Featherston.

Our bench is better, sadly our bench will be starting in left field.

[TroutBaseball]

This link will provide some entertainment in the comments section.

Arte at the boat parade:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10150603803729984&id=15425909983