Taylor Ward is hitting .390 in Salt Lake

[Angel Oracle]

3 hours ago, eaterfan said:

Better than DiPoto's strategy of long term acquisitions that suck.

Long term acquisitions that suck, totally suck.   Then, consider me tired of both, but less so on the short term ones.

And it's been a lot of swing and miss on the short term ones.   That's frustrating too.  

[Farmbuildingfan]

17 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

I’m tired of stop gap acquisitions that suck.

I think we all are, but don't expect them to stop.

I think Eppier will want to showcase the young players, and hope they play well enough to package in a trade for veterans

[Stradling]

27 minutes ago, Farmbuildingfan said:

I think we all are, but don't expect them to stop.

I think Eppier will want to showcase the young players, and hope they play well enough to package in a trade for veterans

Or you are continuing your streak of being wrong for 6 years.  They are signing these guys to short term deals to hand over the job to the kids when they are ready.   You don’t see it because you have repeated a narrative that hasn’t been true under this GM.   Keep banging that drum.  

[Farmbuildingfan]

2 hours ago, Stradling said:

Or you are continuing your streak of being wrong for 6 years.  They are signing these guys to short term deals to hand over the job to the kids when they are ready.   You don’t see it because you have repeated a narrative that hasn’t been true under this GM.   Keep banging that drum.  

Time will tell.

  The farm has not had many prospects to trade in the last six years, so my being wrong comes with an asterisk.

We might not know for a few years. let's see if most of the young prospects are still Angels in 2021.

Chances are sure better with Eppier than with Dipoto or Reagins, but there is not yet enough evidence to say the Angels have changed their philosophy.

If I expect the worst, I will be less disappointed if it happens

  If I expect the best, I am setting myself up for disappointment.

 I'm still unhappy over not having Cron, but I  expected his departure, somewhat softening the blow..

The Angels have too much dead weight that cannot be traded, and will not be part of the future, so to win now, they will trade top prospects to get older players to achieve short term goals, 

This has rarely been an organization that builds for the future.

You tend to think it is now,, and I sure hope you are right.  I hope that I am the fool.  Time will tell.

 

 

 

 

[Stradling]

6 minutes ago, Farmbuildingfan said:

Time will tell.

  The farm has not had many prospects to trade in the last six years, so my being wrong comes with an asterisk.

We might not know for a few years. let's see if most of the young prospects are still Angels in 2021.

Chances are sure better with Eppier than with Dipoto or Reagins, but there is not yet enough evidence to say the Angels have changed their philosophy.

If I expect the worst, I will be less disappointed if it happens

  If I expect the best, I am setting myself up for disappointment.

 I'm still unhappy over not having Cron, but I  expected his departure, somewhat softening the blow..

The Angels have too much dead weight that cannot be traded, and will not be part of the future, so to win now, they will trade top prospects to get older players to achieve short term goals, 

This has rarely been an organization that builds for the future.

You tend to think it is now,, and I sure hope you are right.  I hope that I am the fool.  Time will tell.

 

 

 

 

Why are you unhappy over Cron?  We didn’t trade him for your narrative (a veteran), we traded him for arguably a top five prospect in our system.  

[Docwaukee]

9 hours ago, totdprods said:

Since we actually have some youth worth opening the year with next year, I'm leaning towards going that route.

If Eppler's offseason consists of more stopgaps it hints a little bit that he sees a farm as trade currency and depth more than a source of new talent, in which case I would be stunned if he didn't deal some guys who were having peak seasons like Ward, Rengifo, or Suarez, especially since all three are Rule V eligible this offseason.

 

18 hours ago, totdprods said:

He is absolutely an exception.

We also haven’t really had any prospects to push for playing time, but Eppler has had no problem bumping seemingly solid prospects like Bandy and Perez for vets, trying a number of infield filler before giving Cowart a shot, adding Valbuena when he could have stuck with Cron and Marte, and going ahead and adding not only Chris Young, but Eric Young, Jabari Blash, and Ben Revere all into the fold around Hermosillo as 4th OF.

I’d like to see the Angels trot out youth this August and September to assess where they’re at so, if they are ready, we don’t have to watch Eppler sign stopgap vets and wait for 2-3 months of struggles from that type again next year.

youth please.  

I think Eppler's vet moves in the past had more to do with the quality of the prospect/young player that would be in their place vs. not wanting to embrace young players.  Cron's skill was redundant in the wrong way.   But maybe he doesn't part with Cron unless he gets Rengifo who they obviously targeted.  Also, I don't think Cron would be having the same year as he'd probably have about 150 PA right now considering he's 1b only.   To get Luis and watch him do what he's done makes me so friggin happy.  

Hermosillo was never going to be the 4th OFer on this team this year.  We can clearly see he's not ready to be at the major league level getting sporadic at bats.  

Eppler is just as surprised at the development of Ward, Renfigo, Fletcher etc or he wouldn't have committed 3 years to Cozart.  

I think Ward is the toughest to figure out as AJ mentioned.   Did moving out from behind the plate unlock his potential as a hitter.  Is it the fresher legs that's allowed him to slug 150 points over his other minor league season and steal 17 times in 19 tries when he didn't even attempt one in the two years prior?  Or does he now feel unburdened.  Does he stay an elite batting avg guy going forward?   Or does none of it translate.  

I think now or close to now is the time to find that out.  

[Angelsjunky]

5 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

I think Ward is the toughest to figure out as AJ mentioned.   Did moving out from behind the plate unlock his potential as a hitter.  Is it the fresher legs that's allowed him to slug 150 points over his other minor league season and steal 17 times in 19 tries when he didn't even attempt one in the two years prior?  Or does he now feel unburdened.  Does he stay an elite batting avg guy going forward?   Or does none of it translate.  

I think now or close to now is the time to find that out.  

I have scoffed at some (Chuck, I think) comparing Ward to Donaldson, but when you look at the minor league numbers it isn't so far-fetched.

Donaldson was drafted #48 overall in 2007, in the supplementary round. He advanced quickly to A+, but then stalled out a bit at AA/AAA, finally breaking out in 2012 at age 26, his third year in AAA: .335/.402/.598, making his major league debut that year (.241/.289/.398 in 75 games). He adjusted in 2013 at age 27 (.301/.384/.499, 24 HR, 7.2 fWAR) and was the second best player in the majors from 2013-17 behind You Know Who.

Now I highly doubt Ward becomes a superstar, but give how unexpected his offensive surge was this year, who knows. I'm hesitantly optimistic he can hit .270/.800 with average defense.

[Chuck]

4 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

I have scoffed at some (Chuck, I think) comparing Ward to Donaldson, but when you look at the minor league numbers it isn't so far-fetched.

Donaldson was drafted #48 overall in 2007, in the supplementary round. He advanced quickly to A+, but then stalled out a bit at AA/AAA, finally breaking out in 2012 at age 26, his third year in AAA: .335/.402/.598, making his major league debut that year (.241/.289/.398 in 75 games). He adjusted in 2013 at age 27 (.301/.384/.499, 24 HR, 7.2 fWAR) and was the second best player in the majors from 2013-17 behind You Know Who.

Now I highly doubt Ward becomes a superstar, but give how unexpected his offensive surge was this year, who knows. I'm hesitantly optimistic he can hit .270/.800 with average defense.

He had two more hits tonight and  walk.. 

[Angel Oracle]

11 hours ago, Stradling said:

Why are you unhappy over Cron?  We didn’t trade him for your narrative (a veteran), we traded him for arguably a top five prospect in our system.  

And potentially the longtime needed solid leadoff hitter

[failos]

On 7/17/2018 at 2:00 PM, Angel Oracle said:

Cozart = MASSIVE DISAPOINTMENT!!!!!   So far

Cozart is just another stinker FA whose already on the wrong side of 30. A worthless, good for nothing player getting paid just to get medical treatment.

He was the key to winning this year, but his signing has only given us hundreds of ABs for Valbuena and Marte.

It’s time for this team to eschew FAs in favor of prospects. No Moustakas, no more parasites.

[aznhockeyguy]

Please remember this is the same AAA that let Blash put up monster numbers too.  I hope I'm wrong but the Angels' triple A league, hitters put up big numbers.

[bloodbrother]

Ward put up big numbers in Double-A prior to his promotion in what I believe is a pretty neutral park/league overall.

[GrittyVeterans]

20 minutes ago, aznhockeyguy said:

Please remember this is the same AAA that let Blash put up monster numbers too.  I hope I'm wrong but the Angels' triple A league, hitters put up big numbers.

Blash and Ward’s skill sets have very little in common 

[tdawg87]

18 minutes ago, aznhockeyguy said:

Please remember this is the same AAA that let Blash put up monster numbers too.  I hope I'm wrong but the Angels' triple A league, hitters put up big numbers.

His numbers at Mobile this year before being promoted:

.345 AVG, .453 OBP, .973 OPS, 6 HR

[bloodbrother]

Also, Blash is 4 yrs older than Ward and has a worse walk rate and significantly worse strikeout rate. Yes, the PCL inflates offensive production, but you still need to look at the players individually.

[Angel Oracle]

Plus, the SBs have emerged since moving to 3B, with 17 in 19 attempts so far in 2018.   That plus high OBP = a nice #2 hitter behind Rengifo ultimately?

If Rengifo and Ward are the real deal, imagine them being on the bases with Trout at the plate. 

Rengifo, Ward, Trout, Ohtani, Simmons, Upton, Pujols/Thaiss, Machete/Briceno, Calhoun.....four LHH's, including Rengifo being a switch-hitter and when Thaiss starts

It's time to push forward with a different lineup look that emphasizes OBP, SBs, and just enough power.   Retreads pushed out of the lineup.

[jsnpritchett]

53 minutes ago, failos said:

Cozart is just another stinker FA whose already on the wrong side of 30. A worthless, good for nothing player getting paid just to get medical treatment.

He was the key to winning this year, but his signing has only given us hundreds of ABs for Valbuena and Marte.

It’s time for this team to eschew FAs in favor of prospects. No Moustakas, no more parasites.

I'm still annoyed by the Cozart signing.  His offense last season was completely out of line with his career up until that point (from 2011-2016, in over 2500 plate appearances, his slash line was .246/.289/.385--not terribly far from what he was doing this year before he got hurt, btw).  And you take a guy who's a great defender at SS and put him at 3B, assuming he'll be fine.  Well, nope, looks like he brought negative value as a fielder this year before he got hurt.

Sure, maybe he can contribute over the next 2 years, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen.

[bloodbrother]

I really hope the team doesn't go into next season just penciling him in as the starting 2B. He's shown nothing to earn a starters job, especially with younger options playing well in the high minors who deserve an opportunity for MLB AB's(Fletcher/Rengifo).

[Chuck]

3 minutes ago, bloodbrother said:

Also, Blash is 4 yrs older than Ward and has a worse walk rate and significantly worse strikeout rate. Yes, the PCL inflates offensive production, but you still need to look at the players individually.

Yep... That would be like saying "Well Blash had better overall numbers than the Astros #1 prospect Kyle Tucker who has slashed just .306/.371/.520 with 14 HR who also played in the PCL this season. Tucker is 6 years younger than Blash.

[maximus p]

Rengifo, the PTBNL.  Was he considered a decent prospect before the Halos got him, or was he just the typical PTBNL throwaway?

[ten ocho recon scout]

15 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

It's time to push forward with a different lineup look that emphasizes OBP, SBs, and just enough power.   Retreads pushed out of the lineup.

I dont disagree...except for the power. I could be wrong (too lazy to look), but we have trout and upton. Ohtani i wouldnt really count, because he doesnt play every day. After that, nothing really, depending on if Kole keeps it up, and the occasional pujols moment.

Also, more and more (aside from the leadoff man were needing) im starting to buy in to the left handed hitter thing. I always looked at it as pitching matchups only, and didnt care what side someone hit, just the result. But lately ive been wondering how many more singles to left would lead to guys going first to third, versus single to right. Some guys can hit it anywhere (trout), others can spray it to all fields (simmons), but most guys pull. (I think even more now, with how the game is focusing on home runs so much).

[GoodTimesGoneBad]

What did Carlos Perez hit in AAA? 

[Angel Oracle]

4 hours ago, GoodTimesGoneBad said:

What did Carlos Perez hit in AAA? 

Except that Ward was really hitting well in AA too, before the promotion.   He does seem to be a new hitter, since moving from catcher to 3B.

[GoodTimesGoneBad]

My only point is temper your expectations. Bring him up for the rest of the year and see if he can make the transition, many can't. 

[Angel Oracle]

6 minutes ago, GoodTimesGoneBad said:

My only point is temper your expectations. Bring him up for the rest of the year and see if he can make the transition, many can't. 

That is actually the best strategy.   Then they can plan accordingly in the off-season, after seeing what he can do here for 2 months.