Dump Valbuena

[GrittyVeterans]

Expensive useless hole made expendable by the acquisition of Cozart. Dump him with a meh prospect on some awful team and be done with it. Use the freed up money to get Reed. 

No need for a 10 million dollar .200 hitter sitting on the bench

[bloodbrother]

LH bat who can play 1B/3B with power. Why get rid of him? He's fine in his role here.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

32 minutes ago, bloodbrother said:

LH bat who can play 1B/3B with power. Why get rid of him? He's fine in his role here.

Although he plays 3B and 1B and hits LH, he doesn't play either position well. He's a .200 hitter with occasional power against RHP, against LHP he is .150 hitter without any power.

At $8M we deserve more for our money.

[tdawg87]

He's an expensive role player, for sure, which is why I don't think anyone will take his entire remaining salary. He has more value to the Angels as a LH power bat off the bench.

Also, using his batting average is kind of a silly way to devalue him. He's never been a high average guy. For example, in the second half of 2017 he hit just .213 but boasted a nice .866 OPS.

He's not a good player, but we can't have 25 "good" players on the roster. Sometimes you need role players like Valbuena or Cowart, or even Maybin and Eric Young Jr. 

As it stands, we have one LHH getting full time at bats. 

[DMVol]

6 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

He's an expensive role player, for sure, which is why I don't think anyone will take his entire remaining salary. He has more value to the Angels as a LH power bat off the bench.

I don't think you could find anybody to take on half of his remaining salary...Because of that, no reason to dump him.....

[Stradling]

Oh I’m sure you could find a team that would take on 5 million based on his second half numbers alone. 

[Stradling]

He was a solid 2 win player his last three years in Houston.  I’m guessing he will rebound this coming year to around his career norm. 

[Angelsfan1984]

I dont think Valbuena will be as bad as he was last year and I don't think Cozart will be as good. Cozart has superior defense but valbuena has the better career bat.

[DMVol]

35 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Oh I’m sure you could find a team that would take on 5 million based on his second half numbers alone. 

Poor wording on my part...you might find a team that would take him for 5 million but why pay 5 million just to clear a roster spot? I’d move him if someone would take on all his salary but he’s more valuable to keep than eating a chunk of his salary...if that makes sense...with the Pujols 1b/Ohtani thing still a ? mark, he’s versatile enough to cover that uncertainty...

[zenmaster]

We aren't in a position to drop any LH bats that can make good contact from time to time.

[Second Base]

Because Cozart starts at 3B, but can play SS and 2B in reserve, and because the Angels intend to deploy a 6 man rotation, this makes a 3 man bench a likelihood.  One will be a backup catcher.  One will be a 4th outfielder, which means we need the last player on the bench to play 1B, and 3B when Mozart is subbing elsewhere.  

Valbuena happens to play the positions we need, is left handed and will hit for power.

I'm not thrilled about him starting 80-120 games at 1B this year, but we need versatility.  

[totdprods]

5 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

Because Cozart starts at 3B, but can play SS and 2B in reserve, and because the Angels intend to deploy a 6 man rotation, this makes a 3 man bench a likelihood.  One will be a backup catcher.  One will be a 4th outfielder, which means we need the last player on the bench to play 1B, and 3B when Mozart is subbing elsewhere.  

Valbuena happens to play the positions we need, is left handed and will hit for power.

I'm not thrilled about him starting 80-120 games at 1B this year, but we need versatility.  

I'd like to see Cron flipped for a Boog Powell, Billy Burns, Dalton Pompey, Joey Richard type 4th OF. 

[OregonLAA]

2nd half Valbuena was da shit last year. I don’t understand this guy getting no love 

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, totdprods said:

I'd like to see Cron flipped for a Boog Powell, Billy Burns, Dalton Pompey, Joey Richard type 4th OF. 

I'd like to see the Angels acquire Jurickson Profar, who can play 3B, SS, 2B, and the OF, and then trade Valbuena and hang onto Cron to handle 1B for those 100 or so games.

[DMVol]

13 minutes ago, OregonLAA said:

2nd half Valbuena was da shit last year. I don’t understand this guy getting no love 

He hit .212 in August......and .176 in Sept, when we were trying to make the Wild Card....

http://www.espn.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/29246/luis-valbuena

[eaterfan]

8 minutes ago, DMVol said:

He hit .212 in August......and .176 in Sept, when we were trying to make the Wild Card....

http://www.espn.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/29246/luis-valbuena

Why do people keep using batting average? It's about the least telling stat you could use for an offensive player.

What was his OBP over that time period? How about his slugging? How about his OPS+?

[DMVol]

 

14 minutes ago, eaterfan said:

Why do people keep using batting average? It's about the least telling stat you could use for an offensive player.

What was his OBP over that time period? How about his slugging? How about his OPS+?

[eaterfan]

4 minutes ago, DMVol said:

 

Great point.

[Ohtaniland]

2 hours ago, Scotty@AW said:

Because Cozart starts at 3B, but can play SS and 2B in reserve, and because the Angels intend to deploy a 6 man rotation, this makes a 3 man bench a likelihood.  One will be a backup catcher.  One will be a 4th outfielder, which means we need the last player on the bench to play 1B, and 3B when Mozart is subbing elsewhere.  

Valbuena happens to play the positions we need, is left handed and will hit for power.

I'm not thrilled about him starting 80-120 games at 1B this year, but we need versatility.  

If Valbuena starts anywhere near 80 games this season something has drastically gone wrong. Valbuena should only spot start, pinch hit or relieve as a defensive replacement late in games. 

[Stradling]

The guy had a better OPS in the 2nd half than Cron, Moustakas and Logan Morrison.  I don’t know how much he will be starting but if everyone is healthy I’d expect him to start 20 games at 3rd, and 70 games at 1st.  Unless Cron is still here.  Valbuena without Cron will start nearly every game at 1st that Ohtani isn’t DHing, so roughly 3 times a week.  

[eaterfan]

2 minutes ago, Stradling said:

The guy had a better OPS in the 2nd half than Cron, Moustakas and Logan Morrison.  I don’t know how much he will be starting but if everyone is healthy I’d expect him to start 20 games at 3rd, and 70 games at 1st.  Unless Cron is still here.  Valbuena without Cron will start nearly every game at 1st that Ohtani isn’t DHing, so roughly 3 times a week.  

Also, better than Pujols.

[totdprods]

And better than Calhoun.

4 minutes ago, eaterfan said:

Also, better than Pujols.

 

[greginpsca]

16 minutes ago, OHTANILAND said:

If Valbuena starts anywhere near 80 games this season something has drastically gone wrong. Valbuena should only spot start, pinch hit or relieve as a defensive replacement late in games. 

Cron and Pujols are both better than Valbuena at 1b. Valbuena is not going to replace Cozart late in games at 3b for defensive purposes. He just doesn’t fit any real need on the bench. Cowart’s defense alone makes him more valuable for a bench spot. He can play all around the infield. And he saves the team about $ 8 mil vs Valbuena.

[Angel Oracle]

It comes down to either Cron or Valbuena staying. 

[eaterfan]

Just now, greginpsca said:

Cron and Pujols are both better than Valbuena at 1b. Valbuena is not going to replace Cozart late in games at 3b for defensive purposes. He just doesn’t fit any real need on the bench. Cowart’s defense alone makes him more valuable for a bench spot. He can play all around the infield. And he saves the team about $ 8 mil vs Valbuena.

I don't see how Pujols is better than Valbuena. It isn't 4 years ago. I'm not sure Cron is either. And Cowart isn't in the same league as Valbuena offensively.