World Champs, Angels?

[Torridd]

Do you think we have the current personnel to win it all? If not, what positions of improvement do you think we need? If you have someone or more in mind, please explain.

[AngelsLakersFan]

We could.

We need members of the pitching staff to step up and perform. We also can't afford to have Calhoun and Cozart both hitting as poorly as they are.

[Angel Oracle]

Right now, no one compares to the Astros and Red Sux.    They have total teams: strong starting pitching (including a true ace), relief pitching, defense, and offense.

The Halos are definitely in the next group of teams.    It all depends on how the starters increase their innings pitched and how the bullpen holds up.

[Troll Daddy]

Every team has it’s hot and cold players. The team could win if they pull off a deadline move like the Astros last season. 

 

[GrittyVeterans]

This is our most legit contender since 2009. 2014 felt flukey to me for some reason.

I don't know if we can win it all but it feels good to have a team that I expect to make the playoffs

[Angel Oracle]

1 minute ago, GrittyVeterans said:

This is our most legit contender since 2009. 2014 felt flukey to me for some reason.

I don't know if we can win it all but it feels good to have a team that I expect to make the playoffs

I might only change that wording to say that the franchise hasn't looked this good since the 2000s.

[zenmaster]

A rock solid 2 or 3 starter away in my opinion. 

[krAbs]

Who knows. We are probably good enough to make the playoffs, and once we are there, the samples are too small to draw any meaningful conclusions. Like...Blanton won games as a starter, you know? Once we get there, who knows what will happen.

[Lou]

I do

[Chris]

I'd prefer to wait and see how our guys are doing the next couple months.  It seems to me like we may need to add 2 arms around the trading deadline, 1 starter and 1 reliever.  We need reliability. 

[floplag]

Could, yes.  but im not gonna hold my breath on it.  
Our biggest weakness going into the off season in my view was not upgraded, the bullpen, and with our starters being what they are, we really needed to do work there.
Thats not knocking them as much as it is acknowledging that most of them are not complete game type guys and the pen is going to get leaned on more than other pens might.  
We addresses the other areas, and i think that slumps aside the offense will be just fine. Right now we have the third best record in the AL getting far below expectation out of some guys, and perhaps more than we should have from others. 
I like where we are, but man when we tank, we tank hard.

[ettin]

57 minutes ago, Torridd said:

Do you think we have the current personnel to win it all? If not, what positions of improvement do you think we need? If you have someone or more in mind, please explain.

I believe that this current group can take us to the deadline and keep us in the lead or at least in contention.

At that point, assuming we are in contention, Eppler will need to improve the team in order for us to make a strong push into October. From my point of view it is our pitching staff that will need to be fortified in order for us to have a real shot at the post-season primarily due to the health and length (innings pitched) of our starting rotation. Ideally you will want a 1-2-3 punch in the playoffs and only Ohtani has the length to arrive in the post-season at the moment. Richards and Skaggs', both, are probably on some IP limit and if the Angels want to have healthy, well-rested starters they need to find a way to bridge their starters to the post-season.

If Ohtani, Richards, and Skaggs' were all rested and ready to go then this may not be an issue but we cannot ignore the facts and count on this to be the outcome. Acquiring a high quality starter at the Trade Deadline makes sense and it could be either a short-term guy (like a Patrick Corbin) or a long-term piece (like Chris Archer for example).

Offensively we will only need to look outside if one of our starters goes down to long-term injury.

The bullpen could be another area that we try to upgrade as an additional back-end closer-type would provide a lot of benefit to the team. However here I think Eppler will bargain-bin shop and pick up a guy with good peripherals (not unlike the Diamondbacks snagging David Hernandez from us last season for a relatively inexpensive price).

So to recap, it is likely we would have to beef up the rotation first and foremost, then to a lesser degree the bullpen, and then a position player if someone goes down to injury.

[Torridd]

23 minutes ago, Chris said:

I'd prefer to wait and see how our guys are doing the next couple months.  It seems to me like we may need to add 2 arms around the trading deadline, 1 starter and 1 reliever.  We need reliability. 

No offense?

[Ohtaniland]

I think we have some good pieces in place but there’s way too many iffy players. Our bullpen is still very questionable. Calhoun, Upton, Cozart, Kinsler, Maldonado are all on the bad side of 30 and Albert is pretty much done physically. Age will end up being our worst enemy on the back side of the season. 

The Red Sox and Astros are the teams to beat. The Yankees put out a lineup earlier this week where no one was over 29 years old. Torres, Austin and Andujar are just kids and they are contributing like veterans. They still have Drury and Bird that aren’t even back yet but they’re winning and they still have money and tons of prospects. They’ve built the right way. The Yankees are young and very talented. They’ll be in it. 

[Taylor]

The playoffs are often a crapshoot, although last year, the best two teams made the WS, and the best team won.

I think the Angels need a legitimate shut-down SP—one of those guys who pitches on two-days' rest in the playoffs if need be. So many guys in the rotation could be that pitcher if they brought their best stuff, but I don't trust any of them to have the mental fortitude to be completely dominant in a high-stakes situation.

[UndertheHalo]

50 minutes ago, Taylor said:

The playoffs are often a crapshoot, although last year, the best two teams made the WS, and the best team won.

I think the Angels need a legitimate shut-down SP—one of those guys who pitches on two-days' rest in the playoffs if need be. So many guys in the rotation could be that pitcher if they brought their best stuff, but I don't trust any of them to have the mental fortitude to be completely dominant in a high-stakes situation.

Let’s see if this callus makes it so the wheels don’t keep coming off the wagon for Ohtani.  our best shot is if he’s that guy. 

[Second Base]

If it all clicks, yeah, we have the right guys.

I will say this, if we're in October, and Shohei and Garrett are on their games, we'll win games one and two.

[JustATroutFan]

It is possible for the Angels to win the World Series without good pitching. It's possible since they have the offense on paper to do it but they will have to score a lot of runs to do it, though.

They'll probably have to win a lot of 11-10 slugfest to do it.

[T.G.]

I'm trying not to look too far ahead and I'm just enjoying each series (minus Boston).  I see a lot of positive signs, but it's early.  Just soaking in each game.  Each Trout AB. Each Ohtani outing.  Each Pujols milestone.  It's fun.  I look forward to a nice summer.  Baseball (as we all know) is a funny game and anything can happen. 

[stormngt]

1 hour ago, Taylor said:

The playoffs are often a crapshoot, although last year, the best two teams made the WS, and the best team won.

I think the Angels need a legitimate shut-down SP—one of those guys who pitches on two-days' rest in the playoffs if need be. So many guys in the rotation could be that pitcher if they brought their best stuff, but I don't trust any of them to have the mental fortitude to be completely dominant in a high-stakes situation.

Cleveland was by far the better team entering the playoffs 

[Ohtaniland]

2 hours ago, Lou said:

I do

All of the “I agree” post are going to be waiting to pounce on this one. But we’ll still never get even with you. Ever! 

[Angel Oracle]

1 hour ago, True Grich said:

I'm trying not to look too far ahead and I'm just enjoying each series (minus Boston).  I see a lot of positive signs, but it's early.  Just soaking in each game.  Each Trout AB. Each Ohtani outing.  Each Pujols milestone.  It's fun.  I look forward to a nice summer.  Baseball (as we all know) is a funny game and anything can happen. 

I hear ya.    The current team, combined with most certainly the best farm system this org has had since the 2000s and potentially down the road one of the best in org history, makes for a much happier camper in me.

[Ohtaniland]

1 hour ago, True Grich said:

I'm trying not to look too far ahead and I'm just enjoying each series (minus Boston).  I see a lot of positive signs, but it's early.  Just soaking in each game.  Each Trout AB. Each Ohtani outing.  Each Pujols milestone.  It's fun.  I look forward to a nice summer.  Baseball (as we all know) is a funny game and anything can happen. 

That’s a nice approach to take. I really do enjoy Trout and Ohtani. I would not mind seeing the young guys take over even with the growing pains. I just don’t see guys like Calhoun, Kinsler, Cozart, Upton or Pujols leading us to a championship. Their upside time has passed. I just enjoy baseball and respect teams that choose to get younger. 

[SigBaby]

Knowing what we know now, would you have given Arrieta the contract he received from the Phillies (3 year 75 million)? Not the ace he once was but definitely would be the best, most reliable starter in our rotation this season. 

[Tank]

5 hours ago, SigBaby said:

Knowing what we know now, would you have given Arrieta the contract he received from the Phillies (3 year 75 million)? Not the ace he once was but definitely would be the best, most reliable starter in our rotation this season. 

in a heartbeat.