Which way do you want Eppler to go?

[Second Base]

20 minutes ago, DMVol said:

You're not going to find a 5 year solution at 2b for any RP other than Bedrosian....

We found a two year solution at 3B that hit over .300 in return for Trevor Gott. There's little reason some combination of Norris, Parker, Petit, Hernandez can't get you there. 

Joe Smith got us Jesus Castillo who has major league quality pitches and is killing it as a 20 year old in Advanced A Ball.

Contenders will pay for quality relief.

[arch stanton]

18 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

We found a two year solution at 3B that hit over .300 in return for Trevor Gott. There's little reason some combination of Norris, Parker, Petit, Hernandez can't get you there. 

Joe Smith got us Jesus Castillo who has major league quality pitches and is killing it as a 20 year old in Advanced A Ball.

Contenders will pay for quality relief.

Look no further than our own Angels. In order to get Street we gave up Jose Friggin Rondon

[Second Base]

33 minutes ago, arch stanton said:

Look no further than our own Angels. In order to get Street we gave up Jose Friggin Rondon

Rondon and then some. Keep in mind, at that time he was a borderline top 100 prospect, abs Elliot Morris was a promising yet steady up and comer. This would be the equivalent of the Angels trading Jahmai Jones and Grayson Long today.

RP can get a huge return.

[DMVol]

1 hour ago, Scotty@AW said:

We found a two year solution at 3B that hit over .300 in return for Trevor Gott. There's little reason some combination of Norris, Parker, Petit, Hernandez can't get you there. Joe Smith got us Jesus Castillo who has major league quality pitches and is killing it as a 20 year old in Advanced A Ball.Contenders will pay for quality relief.

Castillo may work out but he was a C prospect on most lists and not on any top 20 Cubs lists that I saw (C+ prospect on the Angels Win list)....The only "5 year solution" at 2b in recent times have been Adam Kennedy and Howie Kendrick...it took Jim Edmonds to get Kennedy and a journeyman pitcher....When he was at AAA, you couldn't have had Howie for less than a Bedrosian type....

[WeatherWonk]

1 hour ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

In 2016 and 2017 Calhoun has more war than Angels left fielders combined have had since the start of the 2014 season.

It wouldnt surprise me if our LFers were DEAD LAST IN AL WAR over that period. So, it's not a compelling argument, to me.

 

3 hours ago, Stradling said:

Yep.  

Nope. 

A pitcher with a 5-4 record, an ERA over 5 and a WHIP of 1.5 is not an ace in my book. Carpenter was the ace, by a mile. Even Suppan put up better numbers than Weaver.

He did pitch OK in the playoffs, though.

[totdprods]

1 hour ago, Scotty@AW said:

Eppler will go lateral, neither buying or selling. He'll merely redistribute strengths to shore up weaknesses.

Like trading a RP or two for a prospect in AAA that can hold down 2B for the next 5 years.

Yup - this is about what I'm expecting too.  Norris for a safe MLB-ready IF/OF prospect. Maybe not someone with huge upside but a good bet at being at least a decent everyday player immediately to check off an offseason need and free up some other pieces as expendable trade depth in the offseason.

[Second Base]

17 minutes ago, DMVol said:

Castillo may work out but he was a C prospect on most lists and not on any top 20 Cubs lists that I saw (C+ prospect on the Angels Win list)....The only "5 year solution" at 2b in recent times have been Adam Kennedy and Howie Kendrick...it took Jim Edmonds to get Kennedy and a journeyman pitcher....When he was at AAA, you couldn't have had Howie for less than a Bedrosian type....

Castillo was also one of the top Dominican prospects as a 16 year old. At age 17 and 18 he stalled physically before hitting a growth spurt at 19 and adding 3+ mph on his fastball. This accompanied a great showing in A Ball before being traded, where he's reached even another level with the Angels. He's making good on all that potential from years before. He was one heck of a find for the Angels. 

They lucked out because the Cubs had too many pitching prospects to promote him properly, which prevented major publications from paying any attention to him, which is normal, they miss most decent prospects in A Ball. You better believe Major League teams hadn't forgotten about this kid.

So the Angels got him for 2 months of a struggling reliever with a good past. Basically Huston Street if he were healthy this year.

As I said, teams will pay a premium for good relievers and the Angels have them in spades. They wouldn't need to sacrifice Bedrock for a middle infield prospect in AA/AAA.

[DMVol]

2 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

....As I said, teams will pay a premium for good relievers and the Angels have them in spades. They wouldn't need to sacrifice Bedrock for a middle infield prospect in AA/AAA.

A MI prospect is a generic term that includes a wide spectrum of guys....it isn't necessarily a "5 year solution" to 2b (the reason I used the Kennedy and Kendrick examples)....but, we'll see....Castillo was a good return for Smith, for sure, even if he doesn't work out....if we could get a couple more like him this go round, it would be a good thing....

[Ohtaniland]

[Angelsjunky]

EPPLER: "Sorry Trouty, even though I think you guys have a chance of reaching the playoffs, the Peanut Gallery at Angelswin doesn't think you'll go deep so I'm going to sell assets for the possibility of winning in 2019."

I jest, but the point is: Eppler won't sell unless it is clear the team has little chance of making the playoffs. Right now that isn't the case.

But yeah...if the team starts falling way behind the wildcard chase, sell off those tasty morsel relievers.

[GrittyVeterans]

And nor should he sell unless this team falls out of the wildcard race completely. You get 4 or 5 guys healthy (Trout, Skaggs, Shoemaker, Richards) going down the stretch, Maybin/Calhoun/Simmons keep playing like this, this team has a chance at advancing. They have the best player in the world on their side

 

 

[AngelsLakersFan]

1 hour ago, WeatherWonk said:

It wouldnt surprise me if our LFers were DEAD LAST IN AL WAR over that period. So, it's not a compelling argument, to me.

 

You described Calhoun's production as easily replaceable, so I think our left field production is quite compelling. I will also guarantee that if we did trade Calhoun we would not see 2016/2017 level production from that spot for many years.

[Troll Daddy]

Go left ... it always works for me 

[Ohtaniland]

Any moves that Eppler makes will most likely have to be of equal monetary value or less. I don't believe that Eppler has the green light to take on more salary.

He may have to dump a salary like Escobar, Simmons, Calhoun or Maybin for basically nothing (prospects) to gain enough payroll flexibility to make any other significant moves. I think they're already tapped out for 2017.

[eligrba]

Buying for the 2017 wildcard would be short sighted. Instead of whether to be buying or selling, how about building a sustainable, competitive team?

 

[Farmbuildingfan]

2 hours ago, eligrba said:

Buying for the 2017 wildcard would be short sighted. Instead of whether to be buying or selling, how about building a sustainable, competitive team?

 

I totally agree with this.

Even if the Angels were to make the WC, what are the chances they would go beyond this?. Likely very slim.

Playing for this year is simply not  wise due to the very low probability of even advancing to the ALC

Even if all the injured pitchers return this year, how likely are they to be effective after missing all this time?

There is a chance none of them will have the same potential once they return.

Therefore, you either do nothing, or you take your chances with developing some lower level prospects that you might get in a trade for Young, Valbuena, Escobar,Hernandez, Petit, Norris, or Chavez.

These players are all past their prime and wil probably not help in the Angels long term plans.

Nolasco should just be released when the healthy return since he will probably command nothing in a trade.

I would love to see the Angels get more players in return in a trade than they give up, but this is not likely to happen unless Eppier can knock some sense into Moreno.

I am afraid "sell" is a foul four letter word to Moreno.

.,

[Ohtaniland]

2 hours ago, eligrba said:

Buying for the 2017 wildcard would be short sighted. Instead of whether to be buying or selling, how about building a sustainable, competitive team?

 

I never bet on my horse to show. 

[Taylor]

Sell, sell, sell!

[disarcina]

we could be buyers.........try to improve.......perhaps snatch one of the Wild Card spots for a one game (one and done) gamble with a .500 level team that would either be one game and out or perhaps out the next round.

and we take on some lousy contract(s) that continue to box us in long term (meaning we get salary dump guys from other teams at deadline).

better choice -- we're sellers (not that we have much to sell, but certainly some salary to dump) and try to start building for 2018 and beyond -- even if we don't have much to sell -- if we can add by subtraction and clear some space - roster wise and salary wise -- that would be moving forward.......

[Ohtaniland]

2 minutes ago, disarcina said:

better choice -- we're sellers (not that we have much to sell, but certainly some salary to dump) and try to start building for 2018 and beyond -- even if we don't have much to sell -- if we can add by subtraction and clear some space - roster wise and salary wise -- that would be moving forward.......

This ^^^^^

 

[Stradling]

Except we won't be adding by subtracting.  We have money really spent going into next year on the players we would likely trade at this time.  Not only that, but it isn't like we have these minor league guys being blocked by high price veterans.  Unless you trade Valbuena and Chavez, which neither will be hot commodities because they are owed money next year, then you really aren't clearing salary for next year.  

[Ohtaniland]

I would keep Simmons, Trout and Maldonado then put everybody else on waivers August 1st if you can't trade them prior to the deadline. You never know what you'll catch until you put everything on the table. 

[Stradling]

Add Myers, Kole and Maybin and I wouldn't disagree.  By the way, they put every player through waivers in August every year. 

[Stradling]

But it still isn't addition by subtraction, it's merely subtraction.  Also if we trade Cron or we trade Kole, we still need major league players to play first and right field next season.  We certainly don't have any in the minors and my guess is getting those positions covered in free agency, or in your scenario 22 positions covered, will be somewhat expensive. 

[GrittyVeterans]

Well Cron's been pretty horrible so that shouldn't be hard to replace. You can add a power 1B for probably 8-10 million in the offseason that hits .250 with 25 home runs(Mitch Moreland? Adam Lind?). Would be an upgrade to be honest

 

I know Cron has had some success the previous 2 years and could still bounce back, but the guy has a .562 OPS in mid-June. Patience has got to be wearing thin with Eppler