OC Register: Angels Notes: ‘Dialogue’ ongoing with Justin Upton

[Stradling]

22 minutes ago, beatlesrule said:

I'll be shocked if Arte spends a lot of money.

He basically committed to spending a lot of money when he approved the trade for Upton. 

[tdawg87]

10 minutes ago, Stradling said:

He basically committed to spending a lot of money when he approved the trade for Upton. 

This.

I don't agree with doc saying he's basically a free agent. I understand the point he is trying to make but the trade wouldn't have been made if either

A: Arte didn't want to pay him beyond this season for the remainder of his contract

B: Arte and Eppler didn't think it was possible he would want more money

I mean, if he comes to the Angels and completely sucks, then it's likely he doesn't opt out. But if he comes over and is even mildly successful (which Arte and Eppler obviously wanted) then there's a good chance he does. The Angels are clearly interested in Upton long term. Otherwise why bother making the trade? It wasn't just for 1 month and slightly increasing the chances of the Angels winning the 2nd wildcard. They obviously felt they could keep him long term, thus filling the huge black hole the team has had in left for the last decade. 

And no, a few million isn't a big enough difference to keep them from retaining him. If it is, then they were stupid for making the trade in the first place. 

[Ohtaniland]

Arte is committed to paying 4 / $88.5M along with the existing terms and conditions of his contact. That’s all we know. If he opts out it wouldn’t surprise me if Arte tells Eppler to pull the plug on Upton and shop elsewhere. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

13 hours ago, Calzone said:

 

Hosmer is a gamer. Please tell me I’m lying about his 12 RBI’s in the 2015 postseason and his 17 RBI’s in the 2016 postseason. 

By that proxy, is trout not a gamer?

[Ohtaniland]

1 minute ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

By that proxy, is trout not a gamer?

Mike Trout is the complete package. He’s more than a gamer. He just needs to play on a team that has more gamers. I don’t think he likes to sit in October so Eppler had better get busy. 

[Blarg]

He should hit in September if he doesn't want to go fishing in October.

[Stradling]

MUST

HAVE 

NARRATIVES

[Angel Oracle]

Can't they hold on to Cron for one more season, and then Thaiss should be ready?

Santana will likely get at least 3 years himself.

Keep Upton (future DH), save the 1B money and instead upgrade either 2B or 3B, and maybe sign Sabathia to a short term deal while the pitchers build up their innings pitched?

[California Cajun]

5 hours ago, Calzone said:

Arte is committed to paying 4 / $88.5M along with the existing terms and conditions of his contact. That’s all we know. If he opts out it wouldn’t surprise me if Arte tells Eppler to pull the plug on Upton and shop elsewhere. 

Arte CAN’T pull the plug or else the Angels will forever be the Miami Marlins.  Unless Giancarlo Stanton is in tow, then we can’t fail to sign Upton.

[Inside Pitch]

17 hours ago, disarcina said:

Hosmer is OK on defense. Pretty solid.

Good club house/ team guy.

But with Hosmer -- who did have a career year - -don't expect the 35 HR stuff.

More like a consistent 20-25 HRs, 85 -100 ribbies, .285 BA and decent glove at 1B - didn't Hosmer win a gold glove?

 

He's won two at least -- apparently by virtue of being on a team full of great defensive players... but he's done as much to earn them as Raffy did the year he won the GG at 1B while being a full time DH.  

In his best defensive seasons he had a DRS tally of 3 -- same as Cron has had in each of the last two seasons.  Albert Pujols posted a DRS of 6 in one of those years and in Hosmer's other 3 DRS season both Nick Swisher 8, and Mike Napoli 10, blew him out of the water.   

Clearly Cron should be awarded a GG.

[Ohtaniland]

26 minutes ago, California Cajun said:

Arte CAN’T pull the plug or else the Angels will forever be the Miami Marlins.  Unless Giancarlo Stanton is in tow, then we can’t fail to sign Upton.

 

[Angelsjunky]

Everyone's looking for hope - be it Trout or Angelsfan members. The truth is, this team is still a long way from being a powerhouse. There is a lot of talent in the low minors, but we're talking 2-3 years or more, and 5+ for that talent to come to fruition in the majors. 

An optimistic outlook is that the Angels sign either Upton or Martinez, Eppler makes a few savvy moves to plug the lineup holes, and the pitching staff is surprisingly healthy and the team sneaks in a wild card or two over the next few years, and then waves of talent gradually strengthen this team over a few years, so that by 2022 or 2023 it is back to being a perennial contender.

But this team is not winning the division anytime soon, and none of the above is close to a certainty. Let's settle in for a bumpy road, with the hopes that Eppler is as clever as he seems to be and gradually turns lead into gold.

[tomsred]

2 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

Everyone's looking for hope - be it Trout or Angelsfan members. The truth is, this team is still a long way from being a powerhouse. There is a lot of talent in the low minors, but we're talking 2-3 years or more, and 5+ for that talent to come to fruition in the majors. 

An optimistic outlook is that the Angels sign either Upton or Martinez, Eppler makes a few savvy moves to plug the lineup holes, and the pitching staff is surprisingly healthy and the team sneaks in a wild card or two over the next few years, and then waves of talent gradually strengthen this team over a few years, so that by 2022 or 2023 it is back to being a perennial contender.

But this team is not winning the division anytime soon, and none of the above is close to a certainty. Let's settle in for a bumpy road, with the hopes that Eppler is as clever as he seems to be and gradually turns lead into gold.

The cat is out of the bag as far as the division is concerned for 2018.  Houston still has a stranglehold there, unless of course we have some much better health luck, and Houston sustains a number of significant injuries.  I don't know what kind of moves we could make that would catapult us over them.  It will be a "bumpy road", but if Eppler can position us properly, I think we can significantly close the gap.  Eventually Houston will have to spend like a drunken sailor, or retool, then we need to be properly positioned to assume the throne.

[Tank]

On 10/16/2017 at 1:14 PM, m0nkey said:

I think it should be a requirement that if for every 5 pages an upton thread goes, someone needs to post a picture of kate

i've got you covered, mang.

[ksangel]

On ‎10‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 4:58 PM, Angel Oracle said:

Can't they hold on to Cron for one more season, and then Thaiss should be ready?

 

I hear this on this site but wonder if others agree that Thaiss will be a major league 1B in the near future?

If not then maybe it would be best to move on from Cron...

Arizona Fall League stat line for Thaiss...17 strikeouts in 39 AB's??

I get it that this is only additional playing time for some players but....

11Games

39AB's

9Runs

9Hits

1Dbl

1Trp

0HR

5RBI's

12TB

9W

17K's

3SB

0Caught

.360OBP

.308SLG

.231AVG

.668OPS

1E

[Blarg]

Well, that is unreadable garbage. I feel like I'm reading some raw Fortran code.

[Angel Oracle]

1 hour ago, Blarg said:

Well, that is unreadable garbage. I feel like I'm reading some raw Fortran code.

At least RPGLE

[Dick B Back]

2 hours ago, ksangel said:

I hear this on this site but wonder if others agree that Thaiss will be a major league 1B in the near future?

If not then maybe it would be best to move on from Cron...

Arizona Fall League stat line for Thaiss...17 strikeouts in 39 AB's??

I get it that this is only additional playing time for some players but....

11Games

39AB's

9Runs

9Hits

1Dbl

1Trp

0HR

5RBI's

12TB

9W

17K's

3SB

0Caught

.360OBP

.308SLG

.231AVG

.668OPS

1E

Its hard to get a woody for a first baseman when you see zero HRs no matter the number of ABs.

[Angel Oracle]

At most, countdown to Upton opt out decision is 5 days.

[ksangel]

8 hours ago, Blarg said:

Well, that is unreadable garbage. I feel like I'm reading some raw Fortran code.

Thaiss has played 11 games.

Had 39 at bats

Scored 9 runs

Had 9 Hits

1 double, 1 triple, ZERO home runs and five runs batted in

12 total bases (7 singles + 1 double + 1 triple = 12)

9 walks and 17 strikeouts

3 stolen bases and has not been caught stealing

.231 batting average; .360 on base percentage; .308 slugging percentage; .668 OPS

1 fielding error.

 

Sorry for the unreadable stats...hope this helps.

 

With those type of stats, and yes it is only the Arizona Fall League, is he really the Angels future 1B?

[tomsred]

1 hour ago, ksangel said:

Thaiss has played 11 games.

Had 39 at bats

Scored 9 runs

Had 9 Hits

1 double, 1 triple, ZERO home runs and five runs batted in

12 total bases (7 singles + 1 double + 1 triple = 12)

9 walks and 17 strikeouts

3 stolen bases and has not been caught stealing

.231 batting average; .360 on base percentage; .308 slugging percentage; .668 OPS

1 fielding error.

 

Sorry for the unreadable stats...hope this helps.

 

With those type of stats, and yes it is only the Arizona Fall League, is he really the Angels future 1B?

You really think anyone can give you an informed answer based on 39 AB's in the Arizona Fall League?  I don't.  An informed judgement is formed not all on the numbers, but the person would actually have to see him play, meet the guy, see what makes him tick, and form a judgement on his potential.

[Ohtaniland]

8 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

At most, countdown to Upton opt out decision is 5 days.

Time for a poll. What will he do? 

[Jeff Fletcher]

8 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

At most, countdown to Upton opt out decision is 5 days.

If the Astros win Tuesday, it's Friday night. If there's a Game 7, it's Saturday night. 

[Lou]

what is considered extremely successful? 

[AngelsLakersFan]

15 hours ago, calscuf said:

It won't be Arte's fault if Upton opts out obviously, but I've been thinking about that Angels general situation and I've come to the conclusion that Moreno is kind of a shitty owner.  I know some of you don't like to hear that (cough*strad*cough), but the wasting of Mike Trout is inexcusable.  Being burnt by Hamilton, et al., is no excuse.  

If the team isn't extremely successful by the end of Trout's current deal and he walks, that's on Moreno and the wasting of one of history's best baseball players will be a scar on the franchise forever.

Anyways, please stay Justin.

What I have found upsetting is that he is simply waiting for his dead weight financial obligations to come to an end. It's not like we couldn't have had Upton two years ago. Now that Arte is thinking about spending again Trout is starting to get expensive, and Pujols has become useless. Waiting doesn't make sense when you are dealing with depreciating assets like player contracts.