Angels compete by what year?

[Barrett]

I have this debate with a bunch of you so I figured I would make a poll.

What year do you guys think the Angels will start competing for a division title? How many more years of transitioning?

How many more years of rebuilding?

At what year can we start holding people accountable for not making the playoffs? 

[jordan]

There’s no reason Angels can’t compete in 2019.   Verlander’s arm is due to fall off, Morton and Keuchel may be gone.  Oakland may not be consistent enough to do it again.  Seattle is still led by Dipoto, and the team is old.  Texas is several years away. Angels can make some SP additions, maybe a big splash, and they should compete in 2019 for the division. 

Edited October 3, 2018 by jordan

[T.G.]

They compete every year.

[T.G.]

And to be clear... you don't actually "debate" - you write stuff that makes zero sense and we make fun of it.

[Angelsjunky]

I imagine that Eppler wants to compete for the division in 2019 but also understands that realistically it is more likely going to be somewhere in the 2020-22 window when the Angels have the roster to compete with Houston.

But given how fickle the game is, if you’re Eppler you’re still planning on competing in 2019, but winning the division would be opportunistic and catching lightning in a bottle.

That said, we have to start scratching our collective heads at Eppler if we’re not in the wildcard hunt next September 1. He should be able to construct a roster that wins 85+ games.

[Troll Daddy]

If the same question was asked about the A’s after last season 

[Dick Enberg]

34 minutes ago, True Grich said:

They compete every year.

be it, one, two, three, four, five or six months...

[Barrett]

39 minutes ago, True Grich said:

And to be clear... you don't actually "debate" - you write stuff that makes zero sense and we make fun of it.

So we have something in common with each other. 

[Barrett]

41 minutes ago, True Grich said:

They compete every year.

I wouldn't necessarily call 20 plus games out of first competing but hey to each his own. 

[eaterfan]

Houston has averaged 102 wins the last two seasons. I think it will be awhile until the Angels hit that level. 

[Fish Oil]

Color me optimistic. Next year we kick ASS!!!!

[CDiaz27?]

I say we compete for a division title when Adell/Canning arrive

[CanadianHalo]

2020

Eppler has yet to put together a .500 or better ball club in his three years. So with that said, there are too many holes on this team and he hasn’t shown the ability to make the right moves for the big league club. 

Eppler better pray Adell turns out to be every bit of the superstar we all hope he is because it might be the only thing capable of saving his job.

This offseason should be interesting since Eppler is in a contract year.

 

[tdawg87]

Take Keuchel away from Houston, for one.

[CanadianHalo]

Wait I’d like to change my answer to whichever season after Pujols’ contract expires

[kevinb]

14 minutes ago, Fish Oil said:

Color me optimistic. Next year we kick ASS!!!!

Define kick ass?

[kevinb]

11 minutes ago, CDiaz27 said:

I say we compete for a division title when Adell/Canning arrive

Do you think when Adell and Canning arrive that they will both be in contention for rookie of the year?

[kevinb]

7 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Take Keuchel away from Houston, for one.

Who is to say the Astros don't resign him?

[Second Base]

Put it like this, the Astros are the reigning World Series champs, and the A's are young and just won 95 games.  The Angels are a .500 ball club.  Now granted, they're better than that, I mean the Angels have had the worst luck in terms of injuries that I've ever seen a major league team have.  The last three years have been brutal.  

So if the Angels are healthy, they're an 85-win team.   In order to get serious about being a playoff team, they'll need to vastly improve.  I'm talking two top of the rotation starters, a dynamic young outfielder and a good corner infielder away. 

That's not happening in 2019.  

But 2020, yeah, I'd say that's happening.  Shohei Ohtani will be back at the top of the rotation, Griffin Canning will have cemented himself up there by then as well.  Whoever the Angels manage to bring in this winter will be there too.  Maybe Dallas Keuchel.  Jo Adell will be the starting RF, and by then we'll have a stronger option at both 1B and 3B because Cozart and Pujols will both be gone. 

2020, this team is going to be hard to beat. 

[krAbs]

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/team_compare.cgi

^^This page is endlessly fascinating as a breakdown on how everyone did by position. The topline number is that we are exactly 15/30 in WAA over the last year. Exactly in the middle. Makes sense, given our record. If you search "LAA" (on chrome at least), our rank is highlighted for every position. A few things are clear:

1. Our pitching is a problem. Starting, relief, everything. A lot of that has to do with injuries, but if we don't pick up pitchers this off season, I'm starting to become inclined to believe we will have the same issue next year - especially given the fact that we seem to have this problem with these pitchers every year. Spoilers: this will be the hardest nut to crack over the next few years.

2. Our offense actually isn't bad. 11th overall. The obvious problem here is 1B, 3B, and RF. Nothing shocking there, but its worth noting that if we got league average players at these positions (WAA=0), we would be ranked as the second best hitting team in baseball. Why so good? Trout in center, Simmons at short, and Ohtani at DH. This explains almost all of our position. This problem is frustrating because it feels SO fixable. We can just find somewhat average players, and it would make a huge difference. If we signed a blockbuster and two whatever players, that could be huge. But...our timetable to compete may depend on fixing these three positions - unless someone can work a miracle with our pitching. There are glimmers of hope from the minors, but no one looks to be all that ready to step up to the job for any of these positions. Also, as crazy as it sounds, without Kinsler we may be looking at a fourth hole here next year. Not great.

 

Can I picture us competing next year? Sure! With a couple key pickups, a couple pitchers staying healthy, and a couple rookies coming up, we could look like an offensive juggernaut with middle-upper middle pitching. Is it likely? Not particularly. If I were a betting man, I would imagine we go into 2019 in a similar way that we went into 2020: Eppler picks up a few lottery tickets for the major league team, maybe adding one serious long term part. The team is built in a way that if the players play to their potential and stay healthy, we will have a serious shot at the division - and a somewhat easy shot at the wild card. But, the major movement will be with an eye towards the future. Our farm will continue to look  a lot better, and players will continue developing. Many small changes (and some flashy minor league changes) will happen in order to solidify depth in our farm. And, we will know that our core coming up is one year closer to contributing.

The "modal" outcome here seems to me that we don't really impress in 2019, but we do appear to be a team with slightly less holes than the 2018 team. About half way through, it will be notable how many rookies are playing on the team. By 2020, the team will be young and exciting, and ready for a clash for the west - hopefully with Jones, Thaiss, Canning, Rodriguez, Marsh, and maybe even Adell contributing (and ideally, but probably not, Maitan contributing).

[kevinb]

3 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

Put it like this, the Astros are the reigning World Series champs, and the A's are young and just won 95 games.  The Angels are a .500 ball club.  Now granted, they're better than that, I mean the Angels have had the worst luck in terms of injuries that I've ever seen a major league team have.  The last three years have been brutal.  

So if the Angels are healthy, they're an 85-win team.   In order to get serious about being a playoff team, they'll need to vastly improve.  I'm talking two top of the rotation starters, a dynamic young outfielder and a good corner infielder away. 

That's not happening in 2019.  

But 2020, yeah, I'd say that's happening.  Shohei Ohtani will be back at the top of the rotation, Griffin Canning will have cemented himself up there by then as well.  Whoever the Angels manage to bring in this winter will be there too.  Maybe Dallas Keuchel.  Jo Adell will be the starting RF, and by then we'll have a stronger option at both 1B and 3B because Cozart and Pujols will both be gone. 

2020, this team is going to be hard to beat. 

Pujols is retiring in 2020? Isn't he still on contract for 3 more years? 2019 2020 and 2021?

[HaloNArizona]

2020

By then, we should see a "healthy" 

Ohtani, Middleton, Ramirez maybe Meyer....Guys like Canning, should be up and going.

[UndertheHalo]

Tough question.  The Angels are going to struggle to compete for the wild card as long as they have half a line up of .650 or worse OPS hitters.   If some guys step up that stops being a problem.  Who knows if that happens or not. 

Edited October 3, 2018 by UndertheHalo

[Homebrewer]

48 minutes ago, CanadianHalo said:

Wait I’d like to change my answer to whichever season after Pujols’ contract expires

Pujols free pass expired last week. With a new manager the Angels will compete starting in April 2019.

Book it.

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, Homebrewer said:

Pujols free pass expired last week. With a new manager the Angels will compete starting in April 2019.

Book it.

I dont think benching pujols solves much of a problem. Replacing him does, though...

Meaning, we still have tk add some people.

Not to be a downer, but scotty mentioned ohtani in the rotation in 2020. Id slow down on that. He wont be 100 percent in 2020, likely. And the battered wife in me worries a bit about his bat sophmore slumping next year. 

Hopefully, ward takes a step forward, and renigfo is ready sooner than we thought. Thats just in house. On top of that wish is hoping we add some quality guys. As much as id like some bats, we need arms.