How is Oakland and Seattle better than the Halos?

[ten ocho recon scout]

Also, going back to the moneyball glory days. Walkoff home run aside, was trading carlos pena to get hatteberg more time a good move?...

[m0nkey]

Matt Chapman is the best defensive third baseman in the league 

[Angel Oracle]

58 minutes ago, NotMyCat said:

I was reading the fire sale article on the MLB site, and realized the issue:

No Bueno, Marte, and Cowart will be splitting 3rd base duties the rest of the year.  Players don’t work out, I understand that, but the team never moves on. Just give Cowart the job the rest of the year, and jettison the other two.

 

+1

Give Cowart two months through end of 2018 season.    If he falls flat offensively, then it's time to finally move on. 

[GrittyVeterans]

37 minutes ago, Stradling said:

How many A's players have they traded away in the last decade and have been impact or good players elsewhere?  I am sure there are a few, but it isn't like it was back when they had Tejada, Giambi, Hudon, Zito, Mulder.  They have guys like Doolittle doing well for another team.  Gray sucks.  Name some others from the last 10 years.  

Carlos Gonzalez, Gio gonzalez

[Angel Oracle]

1 hour ago, mulwin444 said:

Fisher and Beane (a minority owner) have the money, they just choose not to spend it.  

Beane can't have that much net worth.   I blame Wulff and Fisher, Slumlord Billionaires; also a little bit MLB for jerking them around regarding a new stadium; and also a little bit the city for being bioches and not allowing a proper spot for a new stadium.   And no, that proposed location near Laney College is NOT in a decent neighborhood. 

[Stradling]

3 minutes ago, GrittyVeterans said:

Carlos Gonzalez, Gio gonzalez

two more good ones. But CarGo was ten years ago.  I know I said in the last decade.  

[Jeff Fletcher]

32 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Also, going back to the moneyball glory days. Walkoff home run aside, was trading carlos pena to get hatteberg more time a good move?...

That was just movie fiction. 

Hatteberg was playing every day at DH when they had Peña, so there was no conflict at all over that. 

In fact, they acquired Peña after they acquired Hatteberg because they figured he’d be a better first baseman and they wouldn’t have to worry about Hatteberg at first. 

[stormngt]

36 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Also, going back to the moneyball glory days. Walkoff home run aside, was trading carlos pena to get hatteberg more time a good move?...

Was that really accurate or was it Hollywood's creative liscencing?

[GrittyVeterans]

4 minutes ago, Stradling said:

two more good ones. But CarGo was ten years ago.  I know I said in the last decade.  

Yeah really there aren’t many in the last decade.

maybe Rich Hill and Josh Redick? But that’s a stretch

[WeatherWonk]

17 minutes ago, Stradling said:

How many A's players have they traded away in the last decade and have been impact or good players elsewhere?  I am sure there are a few, but it isn't like it was back when they had Tejada, Giambi, Hudon, Zito, Mulder.  They have guys like Doolittle doing well for another team.  Gray sucks.  Name some others from the last 10 years.  

I think there are a few. Cespedes, Josh Reddick, Josh Donaldson, Jed Lowrie. Gray has sucked quite a bit this year, but has begun to look good. We cant just count ones they traded away. They also had to let guys go in free agency.

He has a pretty good group that he hasnt had to trade away RIGHT NOW! Olson, Canha, Chapman, Pinder, Treinen, Manaea, Lowrie, Semien, Davis. He's doing it with exactly ONE guy earning 10 mil or more (Davis). They seem to be performing well. 

Just more envy denial of building a team the hard way. That people could actually use the term HATE in reference to teams means they cant be impartial in discussions, anyway..

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, WeatherWonk said:

I think there are a few. Cespedes, Josh Reddick, Josh Donaldson, Jed Lowrie. Gray has sucked quite a bit this year, but has begun to look good. We cant just count ones they traded away. They also had to let guys go in free agency.

He has a pretty good group that he hasnt had to trade away RIGHT NOW! Olson, Canha, Chapman, Pinder, Treinen, Manaea, Lowrie, Semien, Davis. He's doing it with exactly ONE guy earning 10 mil or more (Davis). They seem to be performing well. 

Just more envy denial of building a team the hard way. That people could actually use the term HATE in reference to teams means they cant be impartial in discussions, anyway..

I can be impartial.  He is part owner, the ownership group has more money than Arte, if you want me to be more partial then I will admit he is a shitty GM based on the fact that he can't convince the rest of the owners to invest more in the team.  I could also question how competitive and career risk adverse he is by not accepting another job on a team that will expect a helluva lot more from him.  He has the easiest job in the world, no expectations, can't really be fired, only bought out, and when his players perform well he trades them for other players and the rebuilding continues with little to no expectations.  I mean honestly WW, is there a GM in the league that has less expectations than Billy Beane?  No f'ing chance.

[GrittyVeterans]

2 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I can be impartial.  He is part owner, the ownership group has more money than Arte, if you want me to be more partial then I will admit he is a shitty GM based on the fact that he can't convince the rest of the owners to invest more in the team.  I could also question how competitive and career risk adverse he is by not accepting another job on a team that will expect a helluva lot more from him.  He has the easiest job in the world, no expectations, can't really be fired, only bought out, and when his players perform well he trades them for other players and the rebuilding continues with little to no expectations.  I mean honestly WW, is there a GM in the league that has less expectations than Billy Beane?  No f'ing chance.

Maybe not less expectations but there are at least 15 that are worse than him

[WeatherWonk]

1 hour ago, Lou said:

if he wanted $100 million more to spend he should have taken the job in Boston.

he has a ownership stake in the A's. he should convince them to spend more.

Yeah, and you could let the wife convince you to put a million in upgrades to your 400k house and hope you get it back at some point in the future. But that's not the way businesses work with a finite income pool like the A's. The owner's probably want the A's to be solvent on their own, rather than allow it to be a money drain on their other operations.

Oh yeah, and dont forget that you have to plow money into a NEW HOUSE (replacement for the Oakland Coliseum) as well. Taxpayers aint paying for that. 

Seriously, Beane should kick in more money? Dont be so ignorant. The only reason he has an ownership stake is that he was given it as part of his contract. He doesnt come from THAT kind of money. He's a sweat equity guy, fer chrissakes.

 

[Stradling]

2 minutes ago, GrittyVeterans said:

Maybe not less expectations but there are at least 15 that are worse than him

Yes they have a good record this year.

[Second Base]

There are a few reasons why this team is notcompeting.

1. Health - Not having Garrett Richards and Shohei Ohtani leading this staff hurts. But it's the lesser thought of injuries that truly sink the team. Alex Meyer was ready to pitch at the front of the rotation. JC Ramirez looked even better than last year and would've been another weapon in the rotation, and if not, he could touch triple digits in relief. Key Middleton is our best reliever, him not being available to shut the door hurts.

2. Poor free agent signings- Upton's not bad, but it's clear that he isn't a good defender in LF and his bat isn't making much difference in the middle of the order. Cozart did nothing offensively and wasn't as good defensively at 3B as we'd hoped. Pujols limits the Angels both in roster spots and financial ability.

3. Organization Philosophy- This is being built as a run preventing team, but I can't help but notice that crappy defensive teams are winning a lot more games than the Angels. Also, Eppler's belief is that he doesn't need to spend money on a bullpen, and I'm sorry but that isn't cutting it. The guys he brings in aren't bad as much as they're but just inconsistent. 

[WeatherWonk]

All good points, Scotty. 

I say let Eppler cut corners at getting a hitting catcher or maybe at platooning a first baseman with Albert. Not anything related to pitching. Maldonado was a great defensive catcher;  that's all we need.

I am really starting to have my doubts about Ohtani as a hitter, too. I think MLB pitching has figured out his weaknesses at the plate. 

[Angel Oracle]

As Scotty said, the bullpen needs to be invested in more.    More pitching needs to be drafted and signed, although 2018 was a solid progression there at least (including pitchers selected in rounds 3-13).

[Adam]

They score more runs than they give up more often than the Halos. 

[2112]

7 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

As Scotty said, the bullpen needs to be invested in more.    More pitching needs to be drafted and signed, although 2018 was a solid progression there at least (including pitchers selected in rounds 3-13).

I think the bullpen is tied to the starters success.  Having 5 inning starters isn’t cutting it.  

The bullpen can be, for the most part, low cost. 

[stormngt]

30 minutes ago, WeatherWonk said:

All good points, Scotty. 

I say let Eppler cut corners at getting a hitting catcher or maybe at platooning a first baseman with Albert. Not anything related to pitching. Maldonado was a great defensive catcher;  that's all we need.

I am really starting to have my doubts about Ohtani as a hitter, too. I think MLB pitching has figured out his weaknesses at the plate. 

Angel's. Would say the jury is 0out on how much an impact his bat will have.

[GrittyVeterans]

4 minutes ago, stormngt said:

Angel's. Would say the jury is 0out on how much an impact his bat will have.

@EnglishCop is needed more than ever right now

[WeatherWonk]

2 minutes ago, NotMyCat said:

I think the bullpen is tied to the starters success.  Having 5 inning starters isn’t cutting it.  

The bullpen can be, for the most part, low cost. 

That's probably true EXCEPT for one guy in the pen. The closer. And I dont know who is out there as a FA, off the top of my head.

But we have tried it on the cheap for the last couple years with Bedrosian and Parker and Middleton, and it didnt work out. Middleton might have............and, I guess, still might. But not any time soon. Probably not within the Trout Window, really.

I DO feel that if Anderson could develop a reliable change up, he could still be something special.

[Angelsfan1984]

1 hour ago, m0nkey said:

Matt Chapman is the best defensive third baseman in the league 

[Angelsfan1984]

10 minutes ago, GrittyVeterans said:

@EnglishCop is needed more than ever right now

Pretty sure storm types with his feet 

[floplag]

2 hours ago, Stradling said:

How many A's players have they traded away in the last decade and have been impact or good players elsewhere?  I am sure there are a few, but it isn't like it was back when they had Tejada, Giambi, Hudon, Zito, Mulder.  They have guys like Doolittle doing well for another team.  Gray sucks.  Name some others from the last 10 years.  

This, so much this.  He sells vaporware and people keep buying it.  The minute a prospect shows anything he sells high restocks the shelves with more and just keeps repeating the cycle.   Very few have gone on to any real success after leaving Oak.    sure, some have but you would expect FAR more than the handful you can count after this many years.  Its part of the reason i dont over value prospects, hes the thesis on the subject.

What hes good at is making money for the ownership and giving the fans just enough reason to come to the park.   Modern baseball 101.  I hate what hes done to the game.