Winning feels a long ways away right now.

[eligrba]

10 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

That's absurd.

He is routinely replaced for defensive reasons and is currently batting .216 with an OBP of .293, SLG .405, OPS .698, OPS+ 91.

He has had only 2 hits since August 18th.  I could be wrong but since Aug 18, he is batting .105  .

[tdawg87]

4 minutes ago, eligrba said:

He is routinely replaced for defensive reasons and is currently batting .216 with an OBP of .293, SLG .405, OPS .698, OPS+ 91.

He has had only 2 hits since August 18th.  I could be wrong but since Aug 18, he is batting .105  .

Well he's getting his first taste of MLB pitching. He's had just 41 plate appearances. Did you also consider Trout "not ready" after his first stint in the majors? He put up a .672 OPS.

[mulwin444]

17 minutes ago, eligrba said:

He is routinely replaced for defensive reasons and is currently batting .216 with an OBP of .293, SLG .405, OPS .698, OPS+ 91.

He has had only 2 hits since August 18th.  I could be wrong but since Aug 18, he is batting .105  .

A)  His first year as a 3B and they have Cowart on the roster so he will be used as a defensive replacement since he's really good there.

B ) He's had 41 plate appearances total - let's check back in October.

The guy has a .388 OBP through his entire minor league career...even when he wasn't tearing it up offensively, he could always get on base and has worked 4 walks already while facing the likes of Corbin, Bucholz, Keuchel, and Verlander over his past 5 games, not to mention he accounted for 1 of their 4 hits yesterday and 1 of their 3 walks.

So far, apart from an error on Saturday, he hasn't been the problem. 

[Troll Daddy]

I think you have to sign or trade for a 1B and platoon Ohtani and Pujols at DH. This alone will send a big message to AP and might be the most important move going into 2019. 

Any ideas for 1B 

[eligrba]

11 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Well he's getting his first taste of MLB pitching. He's had just 41 plate appearances. Did you also consider Trout "not ready" after his first stint in the majors? He put up a .672 OPS.

Didn't Trout go back to SLC after his first limited experience 2011?  All I am saying is that Ward is not hitting as well as I would have hoped and if there are adjustments that can be made to improve his performance, AAA would be the place to do it. 

Do you think Ward will get better offensively between now and the end of the season?

[UndertheHalo]

Justin Smoak cleared waivers and his option next year is 6 million dollars.  We all know they won’t do this but he’d be good. Plus they have Thaiss, who’s arguably a safer bet to be a solid MLB contributor then Ward. 

Edited August 27, 2018 by UndertheHalo

[UndertheHalo]

2 minutes ago, eligrba said:

Didn't Trout go back to SLC after his first limited experience 2011?  All I am saying is that Ward is not hitting as well as I would have hoped and if there are adjustments that can be made to improve his performance, AAA would be the place to do it. 

Do you think Ward will get better offensively between now and the end of the season?

I mean we can hope.  Dude, your argument against him is that he has 2 hits in the last week.  That description is accurate at various points for every player in the line up. 

Ward needs to get as many AB’s as possible. 

Edited August 27, 2018 by UndertheHalo

[eligrba]

14 minutes ago, mulwin444 said:

A)  His first year as a 3B and they have Cowart on the roster so he will be used as a defensive replacement since he's really good there.

B ) He's had 41 plate appearances total - let's check back in October.

The guy has a .388 OBP through his entire minor league career...even when he wasn't tearing it up offensively, he could always get on base and has worked 4 walks already while facing the likes of Corbin, Bucholz, Keuchel, and Verlander over his past 5 games, not to mention he accounted for 1 of their 4 hits yesterday and 1 of their 3 walks.

So far, apart from an error on Saturday, he hasn't been the problem. 

I agree.  All I am saying is that his numbers suggest that he may need to make some adjustments.  This is the best situation for Ward to be playing in because there are no playoff expectations. I have no issue with him playing, I prefer him over all of the other options. I just want him to do well when it counts, and currently, it looks like he has more work to do.

[eligrba]

10 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

I mean we can hope.  Dude, your argument against him is that he has 2 hits in the last week.  That description is accurate at various points for every player in the line up. 

Ward needs to get as many AB’s as possible. 

I agree.  I am not suggesting getting rid of Ward.  He needs to face as many pitchers as possible.  I do not expect him to hit every pitcher.  He seems to do many things well at the plate that do not show up in the stats.  Absolutely play him as much as possible to get as much offensive and defense experience as possible.  I just am not convinced he is a better option in 2019 if Cozart is healthy.

[Angel Oracle]

I'm still looking at 2020 as the true post-season contention season, and hopefully the first of many.

The ONLY superstar FA they should be considering these next 3 seasons is Arenado after 2019, and that's only if Ward doesn't emerge at 3B.

Arenado checks more boxes than any other big money FA to be over the next 3 seasons.

Defensive stud, hitting stud, consistency each season, rock solid road numbers away from Coors Canaveral, long awaited true 3B, O.C. product, only 29 in 2020, solid teammate (unlike ?? about Machado with that), etc. 

[Tyler]

I don't see Eppler sitting around this offseason. I expect a very noisy offseason. 

[Troll Daddy]

22 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

I'm still looking at 2020 as the true post-season contention season, and hopefully the first of many.

The ONLY superstar FA they should be considering these next 3 seasons is Arenado after 2019, and that's only if Ward doesn't emerge at 3B.

Arenado checks more boxes than any other big money FA to be over the next 3 seasons.

Defensive stud, hitting stud, consistency each season, rock solid road numbers away from Coors Canaveral, long awaited true 3B, O.C. product, only 29 in 2020, solid teammate (unlike ?? about Machado with that), etc. 

The Arenado Baseball ️ Club (family owned) is located in Lake Forest. We had the opportunity to tryout for one of the 12U travel ball teams in Chino Hills. 

Come home Nolan!

[Angelsjunky]

In before @tdawg87 says "more black dudes."

[tdawg87]

5 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

In before @tdawg87 says "more black dudes."

Does Machado count as black?

[Dick B Back]

2 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Does Machado count as black?

You’d have to ask Torii.

[beatlesrule]

Unpopular opinion but I really think Pujols should be playing first base as much as possible. Doing so would likely speed up the process of him realizing just how bad he truly is despite his delusion that he's had for the whole time he's been with the Angels. The more and more errors he makes and the worse and worse he looks at the plate would hopefully start a chain reaction leading to him just going away.

[Troll Daddy]

43 minutes ago, beatlesrule said:

Unpopular opinion but I really think Pujols should be playing first base as much as possible. Doing so would likely speed up the process of him realizing just how bad he truly is despite his delusion that he's had for the whole time he's been with the Angels. The more and more errors he makes and the worse and worse he looks at the plate would hopefully start a chain reaction leading to him just going away.

Why punish the team ... just take first base away from him. 

[70runner]

With Scioscia, Pujols is guaranteed a MOTO slot.  Scioscia won't even sub him out late in close games when he gets on base.  I'm optimistic a new manager won't be nearly as committed to Pujols and begin the process to transition him to part time DH.  At that point, his personal services job might look more attractive.

Until this happens, adding pieces to the offense seems like building a house around a weak load bearing wall. 

[Stradling]

15 minutes ago, 70runner said:

With Scioscia, Pujols is guaranteed a MOTO slot.  Scioscia won't even sub him out late in close games when he gets on base.  I'm optimistic a new manager won't be nearly as committed to Pujols and begin the process to transition him to part time DH.  At that point, his personal services job might look more attractive.

Until this happens, adding pieces to the offense seems like building a house around a weak load bearing wall. 

This makes no sense

[Jeff Fletcher]

In general, too often people only look at free agents when figuring the available upgrades. 

The Angels now have a farm system so they can make trades. Maybe someone like Madison Bumgarner is available. Marcus Stroman? Michael Fulmer? 

I’m not suggesting any one player in particular, but you ought to widen your net when you’re speculating about deals. 

[m0nkey]

2 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

Does Machado count as black?

No, Mexicans aren’t black

[tdawg87]

48 minutes ago, m0nkey said:

No, Mexicans aren’t black

I mean, they're pretty close 

[Angel Oracle]

1 hour ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

In general, too often people only look at free agents when figuring the available upgrades. 

The Angels now have a farm system so they can make trades. Maybe someone like Madison Bumgarner is available. Marcus Stroman? Michael Fulmer? 

I’m not suggesting any one player in particular, but you ought to widen your net when you’re speculating about deals. 

MadBum is the ultimate big game pitcher in the post-season.   The only concern is that he's only started 32 games out of a max of about 60 games since 2017.   Did his six straight 200+ innings seasons have an affect on his pitching health the past two seasons?    He is only 29 to start the 2019 season.  

Does the former mean that he might be had for a smaller trade package than he would have been two years ago?   Kind of like Vlad being signed for less after 2003, because of the back issues in 2003? 

He is a rental of sorts for 2019, as the Giants have a $12 million option on him for 2019 before he becomes a FA after that.   That and his recent pitching health makes me a little bit leery.

[WeatherWonk]

49 minutes ago, Stradling said:

This makes no sense

It makes a great deal of sense.

Sticking the all time leader in DPs and his August numbers of .205/.286/.308/.584 in the middle of a revamped lineup is very counterproductive to the house you are trying to build. Or his May numbers. Or his June numbers. His July OPS of .925 was his first month over .830 since 2013. he

******************

People need to remember that IF Ohtani continues to pitch, then his bat is gone for 35-40% of the games, approximately. And some of those games will have lefty starters that Albert or some other RH batter will draw the assignment. He could easily miss close to 50% of the DH assignments.

There will be times that we have a day off immediately before or after that will negate this loss of his bat. If it seemed strange that Ohtani pitched on so many Sundays, there was clearly intent in that. Monday is the most common day off. He gets his day off after pitching without it costing the Angels a game with his bat.

Next year there are ten days off on Monday, including the Monday before the All Star game and the Monday after the season ends. 

Ohtani presents a real conundrum. If he's good as a pitcher, it reduces his overall use as a hitter. If he gives up pitching for whatever reason, he is a DH that cant hit LH pitching........at least, so far. 

No one signs a young player and puts them on the arbitration track as only a DH. If Ohtani succumbs to TJ surgery, we could conceivably have only a DH for the first 1.5-2.0 years of his career. And one that can't hit lefties, so far. At least there was no incubation period in the minors.

Isnt there some other position he can play? What about RF, when Kole is gone? What about first base? The guy is immensely athletic.

 

[WeatherWonk]

2 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

In general, too often people only look at free agents when figuring the available upgrades. 

The Angels now have a farm system so they can make trades. Maybe someone like Madison Bumgarner is available. Marcus Stroman? Michael Fulmer? 

I’m not suggesting any one player in particular, but you ought to widen your net when you’re speculating about deals. 

I think it's very difficult for the average fan to figure out what is a fair trade, when trading minor leaguers for established players. I know I can't. It's much easier to simply say, "let's fix this hole by signing THAT guy." Though, God know, we have been burned so often by free agents...........

I think we are also reluctant to trade minor leaguers now that we finally have some that are decently rated by ratings services. We want to succeed with a health mix of our young players the way the Royals, Cubs and the Astros did, over the last few years. It cant be all from within, of course.