Kole Calhoun Appreciation Thread

[Brent Maguire]

Lost in this tough season is the fact that Kole Calhoun is having a career year. His 4.0 fWAR, .349 OBP and 10% walk rate all represent career best marks and it's the first time he's reached the 4+ WAR mark in his career. This probably doesn't surprise many Angels fans but this guy is one of the most underrated players in baseball.

Since 2014, which was Calhoun's 1st full season in the bigs, he is 15th in WAR among outfielders. During that time, he's been more valuable than guys such as J.D. Martinez, Adam Jones, Christian Yelich, Justin Upton, Alex Gordon and Ender Inciarte. This year alone, Kole is tied for 9th in WAR with Nelson Cruz and Starling Marte. Basically, Calhoun is playing like a star and that may go unnoticed at times because of his skill set. He has a well above average bat and glove along with above average base running. 

The real question now is should the Angels be entertaining the idea of a contract extension? He qualified as a Super 2 guy this past offseason so the Angels still control his rights through the 2019 season, which will be his age 31 season. 

 

[Angel Oracle]

He is a solid all around player.    What would someone like him command nowadays?   5 years/$80 million?

[mulwin444]

Going to play 150 games with stellar D in Right Field for the 2nd year in a row with increases from 2015 to 2016 in:

Avg - .256 to .272

R -    78 to 91

BB - 45 to 66

OBP  .308 to .349

SLG  .422 to .438

OPS .731 to .788

OPS+ 104 to 117

WAR  3 to 3.5

He's valuable and relatively cheap, for now...

[Angelsjunky]

I love Kole, but let's not overrate him either. He is what he is: an above average to good outfielder, but not a true star. There's nothing wrong with that, and I hope he remains an Angel for a long time. I could even see him improving a bit more with the bat, maybe hitting .280+/.350/.470 with 20-25 HR, and 5 WAR for a season or two. Then he would be a borderline star.

[eaterfan]

46 minutes ago, Angels_Baseball said:

Lost in this tough season is the fact that Kole Calhoun is having a career year. His 4.0 fWAR, .349 OBP and 10% walk rate all represent career best marks and it's the first time he's reached the 4+ WAR mark in his career. This probably doesn't surprise many Angels fans but this guy is one of the most underrated players in baseball.

Since 2014, which was Calhoun's 1st full season in the bigs, he is 15th in WAR among outfielders. During that time, he's been more valuable than guys such as J.D. Martinez, Adam Jones, Christian Yelich, Justin Upton, Alex Gordon and Ender Inciarte. This year alone, Kole is tied for 9th in WAR with Nelson Cruz and Starling Marte. Basically, Calhoun is playing like a star and that may go unnoticed at times because of his skill set. He has a well above average bat and glove along with above average base running. 

The real question now is should the Angels be entertaining the idea of a contract extension? He qualified as a Super 2 guy this past offseason so the Angels still control his rights through the 2019 season, which will be his age 31 season. 

 

Kole is a really nice player to have but I wouldn't extend him this off season. There's too much risk with 3 years left on his contract. He's a really nice player but isn't a franchise corner stone. He's also not super young. He's an above average hitter but a lot of his game is built on defense. His defense could decline as he ages. Also he isn't a huge HR, RBI, or stolen base guy so his arbitration numbers will probably be lower than his value to the team actually is. Finally if they are going to increase his salary up front (the next three seasons) it will eat into resources needed to sign other positions. If we are really trying to compete next year then giving Kole more money will hurt. If we're not going to compete for the next few seasons he could bring in a good amount in a trade.

And that isn't to say I wouldn't ever extend him. Just wait and make sure he's healthy and productive heading into his final season unless you're getting an absolute steal of a deal.

[ScottT]

I've liked Kole ever since seeing him in the California League.  Just like Mike Trout, Casey Kotchman, and Dallas McPherson.  

[stormngt]

4 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

He is a solid all around player.    What would someone like him command nowadays?   5 years/$80 million?

Until he is 37?

[Troll Daddy]

15 minutes ago, stormngt said:

Until he is 37?

Do your math

[Troll Daddy]

Kole is a keeper ... and a fan favorite 

[papawealey]

Good thread. Calhoun is a player's player: shows up to play every night, delivers solid results, and gives it his all.

[stormngt]

9 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

Do your math

The first post says Kole is under control through age 31.  Five year extension makes it through 36.  So I was off one year.  I don't know if Kole is going to be worth 5/80 after the age of 31.

[Troll Daddy]

8 minutes ago, stormngt said:

The first post says Kole is under control through age 31.  Five year extension makes it through 36.  So I was off one year.  I don't know if Kole is going to be worth 5/80 after the age of 31.

You're right ..: although, extending him now would make sense.

[stormngt]

How long do you extend him and at what price?

[totdprods]

I think I would go year to year with him. He had a mostly brutal second half, and he's had his value derive a lot more from defense than offense the last two years. Which isn't a bad thing at all, but if it declines, his value starts to decrease dramatically. The increase in walks and decrease in strikeouts this year was a huge trend reversal though that pleased me greatly. As has been pointed out, he is also a bit older than the other core players. I also think he is a unique player that will be undervalued on the trade market by some teams, and overvalued by others, and given our situation, ultimately his trade value may be worth the most to us.

I've also wondered if he could maybe transition to first in a couple seasons, with Albert a permanent DH and Cron eventually dealt. This would of course only be feasible if we sign a major FA OF in the next couple offseasons, and someone like Marte, Jones, Thaiss, or Hermosillo push into the OF.

[Inside Pitch]

Dude sucks and we should have traded him when he had any value...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Someone has to undo the jinx you asshats just dropped on Kole)

[disarcina]

I agree with Eaterfan's post -- under club control for three years --

while I appreciate what Calhoun has done for the Halos and he's been a solid, steady performer in all aspects of the game.

I see Calhoun as one of our major trade bait value guys to obtain a quality rotation guy AND either a second tier prospect pitcher or a pen depth guy.

Perhaps a deadline deal in 2017 -- or during the off-season before the 2018 season.

[Brent Maguire]

Good answers in this thread. FWIW, I would agree that year to year with him makes sense. If he continues to produce by the time 2019 rolls around and the team is competitive, an extension might work. If the team is out of it in 2018, it might be a good time to try to trade him and receiver some cheap, younger talent. 

[Angel Oracle]

He did what Hackilton never could, stay on the field and play solid enough baseball.

Calhoun >>>>> Reddick.

He can actually hit LHP, and his arm isn't that much of a downgrade from Reddick's.

[mrwicked]

On 9/30/2016 at 1:35 PM, Angelsjunky said:

I love Kole, but let's not overrate him either. He is what he is: an above average to good outfielder, but not a true star. There's nothing wrong with that, and I hope he remains an Angel for a long time. I could even see him improving a bit more with the bat, maybe hitting .280+/.350/.470 with 20-25 HR, and 5 WAR for a season or two. Then he would be a borderline star.

imagine if we had an above average to good, or hell, even average outfield in LF.

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

Keep him year to year for now since the team controls him for the next 3 years.  If they want to extend him next year do it while paying more than he'd get in arbitration while buying out a few FA years.  

[Blarg]

On 10/1/2016 at 11:24 AM, Inside Pitch said:

Dude sucks and we should have traded him when he had any value...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Someone has to undo the jinx you asshats just dropped on Kole)

He is not going to get another hit the rest of 2016.

[Blarg]

On 9/30/2016 at 8:47 PM, totdprods said:

I think I would go year to year with him. He had a mostly brutal second half, and he's had his value derive a lot more from defense than offense the last two years. Which isn't a bad thing at all, but if it declines, his value starts to decrease dramatically. The increase in walks and decrease in strikeouts this year was a huge trend reversal though that pleased me greatly. As has been pointed out, he is also a bit older than the other core players. I also think he is a unique player that will be undervalued on the trade market by some teams, and overvalued by others, and given our situation, ultimately his trade value may be worth the most to us.

I've also wondered if he could maybe transition to first in a couple seasons, with Albert a permanent DH and Cron eventually dealt. This would of course only be feasible if we sign a major FA OF in the next couple offseasons, and someone like Marte, Jones, Thaiss, or Hermosillo push into the OF.

By the time Calhoun would transition to 1st, Mathias should have graduated to the majors to take that role. 

[totdprods]

11 minutes ago, Blarg said:

By the time Calhoun would transition to 1st, Mathias should have graduated to the majors to take that role. 

I'm fairly certain one of the is dealt by that point, one of them is traded, and I could see either one being as likely.