21 Games Back in the West

[Troll Daddy]

Are we division contenders or wild card contenders?

I gotta know what you guys think? MLB Network says we’re wild card contenders. 

Vegas odds are now 16-1 ... just a week ago they were 50-1

[T.G.]

I just hope all these great moves don't put the Angels on the cover of SI

[nando714]

You have to give the edge to Houston.

their rotation looks top heavy but solid 

Don’t think they loss any big pieces out of their pen . Harris, davenski , Giles lead the way 

That’s where the separation is

angels have a lot of “what if’s “ and “I hope” in their rotation .

no one scares me out of the bullpen right now either 

we will play good defense and by the looks of it, hit for some power and run the bases better 

[HaloNArizona]

Wild Card Contender for sure...we will give Houston a run for their money.

[Stradling]

I was wrong on guessing who the OP was.

[bloodbrother]

WC contenders. Astros are just in a better position right now

[Angelsfan1984]

Add 1 more front end starter and we are competing for a championship.

[Docwaukee]

Stros are gonna have the WS hangover.  

We'll still have to win 95 games to take the division though.  If that is to be, we'll need another solid starter and a couple of legit pen arms.  

[Chuck]

Astros. They deserve to be the favorites after winning the divison and World Series. 

That said, the Angels are about 10-12 games better IMO. If things go better than expected, or if we sign or trade for more pieces, maybe even better. Scary.

[floplag]

We won 80 with literally everything going wrong in the rotation and  a couple black holes on offense.  90-95 is completely within reach with minimal luck. 
will they win 100 again?  idk, well see, but im not going to be a homer and say we are better right now.  Lets see what other tricks Epp has up his sleeve

[Angelsjunky]

Wildcard, with a slim possibility of pulling the division off.

On paper there is just no way to catch up to the Astros - they are a really, really good team.

I don't think you can ever expect a team to win 100+ games, so the Astros are a 95+ win team. The Angels went from being an ~75-80 win team to a 85-90 win team, maybe better if the pitching is healthy. 

If the Astros struggle with injury and hangover, maybe they win 90ish games. Let's say everything clicks for the Angels and they win 93 games. Voila, there's your division. 

 

 

[T.G.]

Like others have said previously... I'm hoping the Astros have the ol' World Series Hang Over. 

[eaterfan]

10 minutes ago, floplag said:

We won 80 with literally everything going wrong in the rotation and  a couple black holes on offense.  90-95 is completely within reach with minimal luck. 
will they win 100 again?  idk, well see, but im not going to be a homer and say we are better right now.  Lets see what other tricks Epp has up his sleeve

Not sure that's true. Parker Bridwell pitched better than anyone could have hoped. Simmons played better offensively than he usually does. Pujols was clutch and the pen was nails for long stretches. 

The Angels had some bad luck. But they had a lot of good luck too.

[Docwaukee]

Good news is that the Central is kind of a black hole.  Cle will win the div again.  Not sure Minny can do what they did again.  It's a two team race in the east.  The West is going to be tough.  Houston is the clear fav but Seattle and Texas are solid teams that could still get better.  I think the O's are the next team headed for a rebuild in AL.  

[Sherlock31]

Well the Astros are a 100 wins team and the angels are around 90.....

But just wait till next year when we add Briiton and Harper .....  

 

[Ohtani&Trout]

The Angels are the favorites for the WC.

[Taylor]

I'd think the Yankees are still the favorites for the WC because of their lineup, but I think they'll be very overrated going into the season. I see the Angels finishing with a better record than the Yanks.

[Troll Daddy]

14 minutes ago, Taylor said:

I'd think the Yankees are still the favorites for the WC because of their lineup, but I think they'll be very overrated going into the season. I see the Angels finishing with a better record than the Yanks.

Vegas loves the Yankees 9/3 to win the WS

Dodgers next followed by the Astros

[Warfarin]

Rome was not built in one night.  The Astros are still the heavy favorites in the division, barring significant injury.

We are, however, a favorite for one of the two wild cards, along with the Yankees/Red Sox runner-up. 

Considering where we were just two years ago, this is huge, huge progress.  The beauty of it all is we have gotten to this point while also greatly FORTIFYING our farm system.  It's incredibly hard to achieve that - usually, teams start sacrificing their prospects/youth to get the kind of remarkable progress Eppler has just made.

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

If we can get CC & Wade Davis ( I liked that rumor about Watson also)..I would believe that would anchor our pitching with the others in the bully going swing/multiple innings... I think we can run the Division with a 6 man rotation everyone should be well rested come playoff time!

1. GRICH

2. CC

3 OHTANI

4. SKAGGS

5. SHOE/HEANEY

6. BRIDWELL 

That isn't a bad rotation at all. 5-6 inning WONDERS!

Parker, BEDROCK, Middleton, Alvarez & Watson in the middle

Close it out with Wade Davis!

[T.G.]

1 minute ago, SlappyUtilityMIF said:

If we can get CC & Wade Davis ( I liked that rumor about Watson also)..I would believe that would anchor our pitching with the others in the bully going swing/multiple innings... I think we can run the Division with a 6 man rotation everyone should be well rested come playoff time!

1. GRICH

I like it!!  Bobby can still play!

[Warfarin]

5 minutes ago, SlappyUtilityMIF said:

If we can get CC & Wade Davis ( I liked that rumor about Watson also)..I would believe that would anchor our pitching with the others in the bully going swing/multiple innings... I think we can run the Division with a 6 man rotation everyone should be well rested come playoff time!

1. GRICH

2. CC

3 OHTANI

4. SKAGGS

5. SHOE/HEANEY

6. BRIDWELL 

That isn't a bad rotation at all. 5-6 inning WONDERS!

Parker, BEDROCK, Middleton, Alvarez & Watson in the middle

Close it out with Wade Davis!

Wade Davis started breaking down as the year went on and got ridden HEAVILY in the playoffs.  I wouldn't want to shell out the 3-4 year deal it'd take to get him

I'm on board with CC if we can secure him to a 1 year deal.  1 year, 12-15 mil?  Might be an overpay, but he's always been good for 150+ innings, and it'd just be for the one year.  I do think, though, he's heading back to NY, as he has deep ties there and seems very comfortable.

[fan_since79]

Wild card, definitely.

Then catch some fire in the playoffs and go all the way!!!

YEAH!!!

 

Oh, what's the matter with me?!

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

16 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

Wade Davis started breaking down as the year went on and got ridden HEAVILY in the playoffs.  I wouldn't want to shell out the 3-4 year deal it'd take to get him

I'm on board with CC if we can secure him to a 1 year deal.  1 year, 12-15 mil?  Might be an overpay, but he's always been good for 150+ innings, and it'd just be for the one year.  I do think, though, he's heading back to NY, as he has deep ties there and seems very comfortable.

That was due to the Cubs not really having anyone else they could count on in the Bully!.... Here he would be more a 1 inning closer! 

[Pujols4MVP]

1 hour ago, Dochalo said:

Stros are gonna have the WS hangover.  

We'll still have to win 95 games to take the division though.  If that is to be, we'll need another solid starter and a couple of legit pen arms.  

This. Even more so cause it was their first. The Angels in 2003 were bad after winning it all.

The Royals had a massive hangover after they won it all in 2015.