Danny Espinosa at Moving Day

[TroutBaseball]

I could be wrong but didn't Espinosa have some blow up with the Nationals about a fan event which eventually led to him being traded?  Interesting that he'll be the only active player on Moving Day this Friday. Apparently the Angels met his demands for a fresh set of sharpies and a can of Arizona Iced Tea.

[fan_since79]

There's always room for a fresh start in baseball.

What bothers me about Espinosa is his .209 batting average and 174 strikeouts.

Yes, he managed to hit 24 home runs. But...

 

[AngelsLakersFan]

He lives just down the street...

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

 

He lives just down the street...

off Flower in SA. He is Very excited and Happy to be close to home with the team he grew up watching.... We may get to see a revitalized Espy who is very happy to be where he is!...Which is going to translate into a very good ball player. He wouldn't mind staying close for a few years so his boy can watch him play as well close to home and family.

[Stradling]

 

There's always room for a fresh start in baseball.

What bothers me about Espinosa is his .209 batting average and 174 strikeouts.

Yes, he managed to hit 24 home runs. But...

 

I'm hoping for him to be the 2nd base version of Simmons.  Great glove, more pop and I'm hoping for an improved bat as it relates to making contact. 

[tdawg87]

 

There's always room for a fresh start in baseball.

What bothers me about Espinosa is his .209 batting average and 174 strikeouts.

Yes, he managed to hit 24 home runs. But...

 

Still a lot better than what we've been throwing out there the past couple years.

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

 

Still a lot better than what we've been throwing out there the past couple years.

Not only at 2B but at LF also..... Very exciting to see where we end up this season! 

[totdprods]

 

There's always room for a fresh start in baseball.

What bothers me about Espinosa is his .209 batting average and 174 strikeouts.

Yes, he managed to hit 24 home runs. But...

It will still be better than our last two years of 2B production. And better defense and baserunning. 

Very much looking forward to Mr. Espinosa as an Angel this year. I think he's going to be happy here at home and put up a nice season in his contract year. 

It'll be interest to see how he adjusts to Eppler's FO's approach of making contact. I think we saw both Cron and Calhoun take big steps forward with that. Obviously neither struck out nearly as much as Espinosa does, but still some proof of some more established bats adjusting to a change in philosophy.

[Troll Daddy]

 

I'm hoping for him to be the 2nd base version of Simmons.  Great glove, more pop and I'm hoping for an improved bat as it relates to making contact. 

You need to get in line

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

Might even see him more aggressive and bunting more as well......   just sayin~

[ten ocho recon scout]

 

off Flower in SA. He is Very excited and Happy to be close to home with the team he grew up watching.... We may get to see a revitalized Espy who is very happy to be where he is!...Which is going to translate into a very good ball player. He wouldn't mind staying close for a few years so his boy can watch him play as well close to home and family.

Didnt know he lived there. Its a pretty nice neighborhood. Kind of an island.

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

 

Didnt know he lived there. Its a pretty nice neighborhood. Kind of an island.

Same area he grew up.... Down the Street close to parents.

[AngelStew43]

Glad he's going.  I went last year, it was ok, just long lines in the autograph queue.  On Espinoza, I would happily sacrifice a few of those HR for an uptick in BA.

[fan_since79]

3 hours ago, Troll Daddy said:

You need to get in line

Hope springs eternal this time of year. Then by mid-May, reality sets in.

[Angel Oracle]

If Espinosa and Maybin can can do it at the plate, no need to bring Wieters in because the lineup is solid enough.   Focus on at least one reliever over the next 2 weeks.

[WeatherWonk]

3 hours ago, hangin n wangin said:

He's capable of upping the average, but don't expect it to go too much higher. I'm hoping for a .240 AVG, .320 OBP, and 20 HRs. That's probably expecting a little too much, but he has shown to be capable. If he does anything along those lines, he is a 2.0 - 3.0 WAR player, which is a lot better than we were throwing at the 2nd base position the last couple years.

Not really. He's a better defender than Johnny G, no question. But people forget that JGs 2015 season was pretty good, at the plate. .272 with 25 doubles and 5 triples. His OPS was higher than Espinosa's last year, even with Espy's 24 HRs. That's what a .209 avg will do.

I'm not convinced Espinosa is any better, other than defensively. He lead the league in Ks one year and was tied for second last year. He basically strikes out about 30% of the time, over his career. The last two years were no exception.

At least Johnny G made contact. Good things happen when you make contact. Mostly bad things happen when you don't.

I remember several instances where Johnny G came up with RISP that year. I remember thinking, "there's no one I'd rather have up there, other than Trout, in this situation" because a ball put in play meant a run. And he usually put the ball in play. 

Statistically, Espinosa doesn't pencil out to that kind of hitter, despite his Mater Dei and Flower St. pedigree.

[Brent Maguire]

3 hours ago, WeatherWonk said:

Not really. He's a better defender than Johnny G, no question. But people forget that JGs 2015 season was pretty good, at the plate. .272 with 25 doubles and 5 triples. His OPS was higher than Espinosa's last year, even with Espy's 24 HRs. That's what a .209 avg will do.

I'm not convinced Espinosa is any better, other than defensively. He lead the league in Ks one year and was tied for second last year. He basically strikes out about 30% of the time, over his career. The last two years were no exception.

At least Johnny G made contact. Good things happen when you make contact. Mostly bad things happen when you don't.

I remember several instances where Johnny G came up with RISP that year. I remember thinking, "there's no one I'd rather have up there, other than Trout, in this situation" because a ball put in play meant a run. And he usually put the ball in play. 

Statistically, Espinosa doesn't pencil out to that kind of hitter, despite his Mater Dei and Flower St. pedigree.

Espinosa is light years better in the field and on the bases than Giavotella and won't be that much worse offensively. You'd really have to try hard to discount Espinosa if you don't think he's an upgrade over the Giavotella/Pennington/Petit bunch that they've rolled out the past 2 years. 

[ettin]

Espinosa is better against LHP than Johnny ever was but against RHP G-man had the edge.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

8 hours ago, SlappyUtilityMIF said:

9 hours ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

He lives just down the street...

off Flower in SA. He is Very excited and Happy to be close to home with the team he grew up watching....

A good friend of mine lives on Flowers in Santa And. An attractive area with a tree lined street of large old houses, some could be quite expensive.

[WeatherWonk]

We shall see. I just took exception to the idea that we got NOTHING out of 2nd base the last two years. JG did OK in 2015. Maybe he is a fringe player now, somewhere. That wasn't what I was arguing.

All this 3.0 WAR predictions for a guy who Ks 30% of the time, and hit .209 last year. He'll have to be the Omar Vizquel of 2nd base to achieve that..

His 24 HRs? Probably going to go down in Anaheim. Who hits MORE HRs when they move to Anaheim? Only guys who hit under 10/year.

I hope I'm wrong, but I am looking for more from Maybin.

Espinosa and Maldonado could be two giant holes in our lineup. Let's hope Simmons doesn't revert to pre-2016 numbers, or that could be three. But it seemed like he really turned a corner last year. I expect him to be solid at the plate.

A lot of things have to go right this year. Seems like we were saying that last year, too. It didnt work out, but that was mostly pitching.

Where will Wieters go? He's gonna sign somewhere. Soon.

[WeatherWonk]

Johnny G becomes a fringe player with.............the O's!

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/02/orioles-to-sign-johnny-giavotella.html

[ten ocho recon scout]

On 1/31/2017 at 4:16 PM, AngelStew43 said:

Glad he's going.  I went last year, it was ok, just long lines in the autograph queue.  On Espinoza, I would happily sacrifice a few of those HR for an uptick in BA.

Im already expecting him to sacrifice a few HRs...

[AngelsFanSince86]

On 2/1/2017 at 1:43 AM, WeatherWonk said:

We shall see. I just took exception to the idea that we got NOTHING out of 2nd base the last two years. JG did OK in 2015. Maybe he is a fringe player now, somewhere. That wasn't what I was arguing.

All this 3.0 WAR predictions for a guy who Ks 30% of the time, and hit .209 last year. He'll have to be the Omar Vizquel of 2nd base to achieve that..

His 24 HRs? Probably going to go down in Anaheim. Who hits MORE HRs when they move to Anaheim? Only guys who hit under 10/year.

I hope I'm wrong, but I am looking for more from Maybin.

Espinosa and Maldonado could be two giant holes in our lineup. Let's hope Simmons doesn't revert to pre-2016 numbers, or that could be three. But it seemed like he really turned a corner last year. I expect him to be solid at the plate.

A lot of things have to go right this year. Seems like we were saying that last year, too. It didnt work out, but that was mostly pitching.

Where will Wieters go? He's gonna sign somewhere. Soon.

Show me a lineup that has zero holes and I will show you the best offense in baseball.  Every lineup has its holes.  The real thing here is that Espinosa is as good a hitter as anyone we have had at 2B since Howie.  Johnny G had that one year where he seemed better than he was because he came through in the clutch so often.  Didn't take long to realize that was a fluke.  Johnny G was worth 1.0 WAR and 0.5 WAR the past two years (actually worth 0.1 fWAR last year).  That is virtually nothing.  

Espinosa has been about as effective as Giavotella was in 2015 offensively.  Add his defense alone is more valuable than anything we have had at 2B.  Even more so because he is paired with Simmons.  

It really isn't that far fetched to think he could put up a 3.0 WAR season given that he has done it twice by fWAR standards and has hovered around it twice by bWAR standards.  He has also been about 2.0 WAR player the past two years, which is the minimum a starting player should be worth on a team hoping to contend.  

Hopefully, the Angels sign Weiters and that limits the possible holes in the lineup.  Truth is that a lot of things have to go right for just about any team hoping to make the playoffs.  How often do we see teams hyped in the offseason that fall flat on their face? What happened to the 2015 world champion Royals?  What happened to the 2011 and 2013 Giants?

Thats why its great to add guys like Espinosa and Maybin who are guys in the middle of their prime and have shown at points in their career that they can be above average players.  If things click just right you could get a chance at the ring.  If they don't click then you get to start over without many ramifications.

[WeatherWonk]

Oh, there are lineups with holes, for sure. Those are usually on losing teams.

Unless those teams have good pitching to overcome it. I am not optimistic the Angels qualify there.

[tdawg87]

33 minutes ago, WeatherWonk said:

Oh, there are lineups with holes, for sure. Those are usually on losing teams.

Unless those teams have good pitching to overcome it. I am not optimistic the Angels qualify there.

The offense isn't going to be great, nor is the pitching. But I feel both will be pretty close to league average, for better or worse, which leaves a lot of room for luck to push us into the playoffs.