Angels Pursuing Ohtani

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, Chuckster70 said:

Better stuff than Darvish, as fast as Ichiro and possibly as much power as Matsui. 

Franken-ese....

[Second Base]

2 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

I think he's got to decide within 21 days. So, December 22.

Yay Christmas!

[AngelsLakersFan]

3 hours ago, Scotty@AW said:

There are a few different ways this could theoretically work.

1. The Angels go with a 6-man rotation so that each of their pitchers only go once per week. It not only fits what Ohtani is accustomed to in Japan, but could further limit and protect some of our starters coming off injury like Richards, Heaney, Skaggs, Tropeano, even Ramirez if necessary. If there are 6 games per week, he pitches one, sits one, and plays the field for four.

2. The Angels could try to use him at 1B. He has the size and athleticism to handle it. It could serve to protect his arm as well.

3. The Angels could move him to RF (he's supposed to be pretty good out there), and Calhoun to 1B. Or they can trade Calhoun and sign one of the FA 1B.

4. Ohtani could be a position player and end up being a reliever as well.

I think Ohtani would have to be viewed as a RF. Because if he DH's and pitches, it would mean Albert has to play 1B and I just don't think his lower half can handle that stress at his age. But if Ohtani is pitching, it gives Albert a routine day of rest which could result in a healthier, more dangerous Pujols.

If he hits for himself when he pitches then we 'lose the DH' when he comes out of the game. This means the Angels would be paying with national league rules in an American league game. That is a disadvantage, especially if Ohtani only goes 5 innings or less in a start.

[Taylor]

1 hour ago, totdprods said:

Ahhhhh hahahahha.

 

Jeff Fletcher

@JeffFletcherOCR

·

3m

To officially remove any doubt... #Angels GM Billy Eppler: "The money acquired in this deal was with an eye toward Shohei Ohtani and the pursuit of him as a player for us."

I'm still not convinced. What does it mean to have "an eye toward" Ohtani? I wish Eppler would quit beating around the bush.

[Vlad27Trout27]

From fletcher last tweet it looks like we may bring ohtani in to pitch and hit. I could see a 3 way platoon for 1st and DH, also on certain days( when Richards or another groundball pitcher is pitching) i can see Ohtani in the outfilder to give rest to either Upton/ Calhoun. From what i'm hearing is that he's looking at about 200-250 ab's per season so roughly 50 games.

if my math is correct-

1st half of the season-                          2nd half-

1st- 10 games                                        10 games

Dh- 10 games                                         10 games

Rf/Lf - 5 games                                       5 games    so total depending on the amount of bats - 50 games ( 200-250 abs)  

this also doen't limit the Ab for Pujols, Cron, Upton and Calhoun. also looks like Pujols may play more 1st next season probably 20-25 games. 

[totdprods]

Fletcher's article updated again...more notes on the Ohtani pursuit including the Angels scouting him, their sales pitch, and plans on how they could find him at-bats. Direct quotes from Billy.

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/30/angels-acquire-closer-jim-johnson-from-braves/amp/

[tdawg87]

Just show him a picture of Trout and he'll have to sign.

[Tyler]

I want to believe the hype, but I can't imagine anybody better than Mike Trout.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Is rhere a chance we sign this guy, then flip him for stanton?

[tdawg87]

5 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Is rhere a chance we sign this guy, then flip him for stanton?

Doesn't make sense IMO. If the Angels wanted Stanton they could have both.

[Hubs]

Called it! From Fletcher's article

Teams trying to lure Ohtani are likely also going to have to demonstrate to him a willingness to allow him to hit, as well as pitch. Eppler said the Angels could do that, because they are expecting Albert Pujols to be able to play more first base next season as he moves farther away from his most recent surgery.

[Jason]

4 minutes ago, Hubs said:

Called it! From Fletcher's article

Teams trying to lure Ohtani are likely also going to have to demonstrate to him a willingness to allow him to hit, as well as pitch. Eppler said the Angels could do that, because they are expecting Albert Pujols to be able to play more first base next season as he moves farther away from his most recent surgery.

Yeah right. Pujols will be more broke down than he was last season

[Hubs]

They might be thinking that Pujols will play 70-80 games at 1st next season if they sign Ohtani.

That gives Ohtani 70 games at DH and he picks up maybe another 40-50 by playing games in the OF. He doesn't hit when he starts as was rumored.

Calhoun may play some first as well? Or maybe it's a Valbuena/Pujols platoon? They then sign a primary third baseman and a primary second baseman.

 

[Jeff Fletcher]

1 hour ago, Taylor said:

I'm still not convinced. What does it mean to have "an eye toward" Ohtani? I wish Eppler would quit beating around the bush.

It means they are putting $1.315 million on the table for Ohtani. The ball is now in his court.

[Jeff Fletcher]

28 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Is rhere a chance we sign this guy, then flip him for stanton?

Considering that Ohtani is younger, much much cheaper and pitches and hits, I don’t see why any team would do that. 

Also, it would be a pretty crappy thing to do to Ohtani, and certainly not received well in the player/agent world. 

[bloodbrother]

11 minutes ago, Hubs said:

Called it! From Fletcher's article

Teams trying to lure Ohtani are likely also going to have to demonstrate to him a willingness to allow him to hit, as well as pitch. Eppler said the Angels could do that, because they are expecting Albert Pujols to be able to play more first base next season as he moves farther away from his most recent surgery.

[beatlesrule]

6 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

If this goes down when I'm in the Caribbean I'm going to be pissed. 

He's been planning it for years.

[Ohtaniland]

29 minutes ago, Hubs said:

Called it! From Fletcher's article

Teams trying to lure Ohtani are likely also going to have to demonstrate to him a willingness to allow him to hit, as well as pitch. Eppler said the Angels could do that, because they are expecting Albert Pujols to be able to play more first base next season as he moves farther away from his most recent surgery.

Which means they want the DH spot as accessible as possible. 

[Chuck]

2 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Agree fully. Ill support this, but wouldnt be my choice personally.

Put down the pipe, then come back to the table. 

[beatlesrule]

While I am excited that the Angels made this official, I am still skeptical about how good Ohtani will be.  He has never seen MLB pitching or pitched to MLB hitters.  Also, why are people so excited about maybe 250 at bats?  Double that at least.  I would want a minimum of 500 at bats from him.  How is he supposed to get used to MLB pitching with only 200-250 at bats a year?

[bloodbrother]

I don't think he'll be a great hitter but I do believe in his upside in the rotation.

[CanadianHalo]

12 minutes ago, beatlesrule said:

While I am excited that the Angels made this official, I am still skeptical about how good Ohtani will be.  He has never seen MLB pitching or pitched to MLB hitters.  Also, why are people so excited about maybe 250 at bats?  Double that at least.  I would want a minimum of 500 at bats from him.  How is he supposed to get used to MLB pitching with only 200-250 at bats a year?

 

[nando714]

57 minutes ago, Hubs said:

Called it! From Fletcher's article

Teams trying to lure Ohtani are likely also going to have to demonstrate to him a willingness to allow him to hit, as well as pitch. Eppler said the Angels could do that, because they are expecting Albert Pujols to be able to play more first base next season as he moves farther away from his most recent surgery.

If he got a plantar fascia transplant then I’ll believe it 

[Mark68]

One thing's for sure: he's got some nasty stuff.

 

[wopphil]

Can the Angels acquire any additional bonus money, or are they now capped? Miami still has a lot of money and probably has no chance at Ohtani. Could the Angels acquire Miami's pool money?