Pujols

[Dtwncbad]

If Pujols is "in the best shape of his life" in April then he is going to be the starting 1B.

But at this point, completely aside from discussing the lack of production, the Angels simply cannot enter another season without a fully capable, ready and able, productive 1B on the roster.

It is ridiculous and insane to believe Pujols can physically make it through the season.

The project is hard because you need someone good enough to play every day but it will be tough for that level of player to have the patience to be "behind" Pujols on the depth chart.  And you can't be paying $15m per year for this player either.

What player could work?

I am thinking Justin Smoak.

[Inside Pitch]

4 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

If Pujols is "in the best shape of his life" in April then he is going to be the starting 1B.

But at this point, completely aside from discussing the lack of production, the Angels simply cannot enter another season without a fully capable, ready and able, productive 1B on the roster.

It is ridiculous and insane to believe Pujols can physically make it through the season.

The project is hard because you need someone good enough to play every day but it will be tough for that level of player to have the patience to be "behind" Pujols on the depth chart.  And you can't be paying $15m per year for this player either.

What player could work?

I am thinking Justin Smoak.

Smoak is a clown defensively but, he's a switch hitter and has posted back to back solid seasons -- he also posted good home away splits so it's not all park driven.   You always have to worry about AL East hitters and the benefit of playing in Baltimore, NY and Boston, but the Angels could do a lot worse than Smoak.  I just doubt they will pay starter money for someone that likely won't be starting and who can't play any position other than 1B.   

It will be interesting to see if the Dodgers pick up Freese's option -- he isn't great but his ability to play both corner spots would be useful, RHB though and apparently they are looking for a LHB.

[floplag]

Good god do we really need another thread on this?  AS if 90% of them dont devolve into it already?   Im sorry i dont mean to be a jerk but sheesh, every doggone thread has to turn into this anymore. 

Its 100% moot.  Hes not getting released, we dont have a better option currently, his WAR jumped by almost 2 points from previous year.  He will be there to open 2019, to even suggest otherwise is foolish.

Now, beyond that, to be determined, but any remote suggestion of anything else with our current roster is a waste of more effort than i put into this post.

Add to that we have no budget for a significant hitter there if the plan is 2 pitchers and you better hope/pray that Thaiss developed faster and that he is everything we hope he might be casue any significant signing wont happen within the 30 mil limit.   Your only other choice right now is JMF.

[Dtwncbad]

25 minutes ago, Vladdylonglegs said:

CJ Cron.

Oh I get the point.  But Cron was a casualty of timing.  The Angels were not ready I guess.

With another year of real world results and another year older and one year closer to the end of the contract, the question is are they ready now?

[Stradling]

CJ Cron was a casualty of being able to play only one position and being bad the previous year.  

[AngelsFaninGA]

Pujols will continue to get the overwhelming amount of starts at 1B until his contract expires or he suffers a catastrophic injury. He's not going to retire early, he's not going to get benched or phased out of the lineup, he's not going to be forced to the DL because he'll continue playing through all of his nagging injuries. No point rehashing it every few days.

[totdprods]

58 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

What player could work?

 I am thinking Justin Smoak.

It really should be someone who can play another position as well, especially if Thaiss and Ward continue solely playing 1B and 3B respectively. Or someone who is really only going to be an occasional 1B/DH, and often a PH. Smoak is too good for that yet.

Off top of my head I don’t think Smoak has played anywhere other than 1B, at least recently.

[Angel Oracle]

I'm still standing by my prediction of Pujols starting 90-100 games at DH/1B in 2019, and then retiring with the remaining $59 million paid out in whatever fashion. 

1)  He turns 40 after the 2019 season, and if he wants to preserve .300+ career BA, it will be prudent to retire a year from now.  

2)  Arte paid out some $70 million to Hackilton to no longer play here. 

[fan_since79]

He'll hit .245 with 20 HR and 65 RBI, playing 100+ games at 1B. Management will see this as a positive sign for 2020.

Several starters will be lost for an extended period with injuries.

Calhoun will be up and down (mostly down) yet play a majority of games in right field.

Trout will have another monster year with OPS over 1.050. Talks will begin on an extension.

Ohtani will do very well at DH but not have a monster year.

The bullpen will be mediocre but not horrible.

Cozart will disappoint.

Fletcher and the rest at second base will struggle. Cowart will be DFA'd or traded mid-season.

Upton will have his usual second-half surge and hit 35 HR again.

Angels will finish 5-7 games out of the second wild card. Improvement!

 

[floplag]

5 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

I'm still standing by my prediction of Pujols starting 90-100 games at DH/1B in 2019, and then retiring with the remaining $59 million paid out in whatever fashion. 

1)  He turns 40 after the 2019 season, and if he wants to preserve .300+ career BA, it will be prudent to retire a year from now.  

2)  Arte paid out some $70 million to Hackilton to no longer play here. 

Agreed, i also think 2019 will be his final year barring something unforeseen like a year of vintage Albert, which i dont think is realistic given age and wear on the body for mostly those same reasons. 
Hes dangerously close to losing the 300 career, which i think matters to him.  If my math is right he can have one more year of 250ish before he falls below but thats about it.
He wont lose anything it will just be shifted to post playing contract monies.
But, that really doesnt matter until we have a better option so better either hope Thaiss is ready and performs soon or well need to make a move, which i dont see at least from FA maybe trade at the deadline

[Stradling]

Since the Albert contract they have eliminated the ability to give post playing personal services contracts.  I wonder if that means they can’t renegotiate that part of the contract since they can no longer be signed.  

[Taylor]

I'll be pissed if Ohtani sits so that Albert can play.

[UndertheHalo]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

Smoak is a clown defensively but, he's a switch hitter and has posted back to back solid seasons -- he also posted good home away splits so it's not all park driven.   You always have to worry about AL East hitters and the benefit of playing in Baltimore, NY and Boston, but the Angels could do a lot worse than Smoak.  I just doubt they will pay starter money for someone that likely won't be starting and who can't play any position other than 1B.   

It will be interesting to see if the Dodgers pick up Freese's option -- he isn't great but his ability to play both corner spots would be useful, RHB though and apparently they are looking for a LHB.

If David Freese comes back I will legitimately be sad. 

[UndertheHalo]

2 minutes ago, Taylor said:

I'll be pissed if Ohtani sits so that Albert can play.

Absolutely can’t happen.  This is the one thing that would make me lose my mind with frustration. 

[Angel Oracle]

Just now, UndertheHalo said:

If David Freese comes back I will legitimately be sad. 

+1

Re-acquisitions rarely ever work out.   Time to move on from Freese!

[UndertheHalo]

2 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

+1

Re-acquisitions rarely ever work out.   Time to move on from Freese!

Also.  He fuc*king sucks. 

[Hubs]

They'll owe Pujols that money regardless. Baseball contracts are guaranteed so he's getting the entire sum.

I think he plays 100 games at 1st, and he plays once a week as the DH. Ohtani will not play every day at DH, it's very unlikely he gets 152 starts there, and he won't obviously play the 10 games in NL parks. But somewhere around 125-130 games as the DH is likely. Pujols gets the lions share of the other ones.

That gives them both 125 starts or so, leaving just 60 starts say left for a platoon 1B.

It's why I think getting a guy who can play the OF as well, like Marwin Gonzalez makes sense. But maybe they already have that guy in Calhoun. There is a lot more punch to be added if tehy added a regular right fielder and moved Calhoun around.

I know Thaiss is likely to be ready soon, but I don't see him coming up before Sept 1. Adell is also a factor, and while he could be ready by May, it's much more likely he is ready in 2020. Yes he reached AA in his second season, and yes it was his Age 19 season, but while we could see him in Anaheim, it would be like we saw Trout in 2011, not like we saw him in 2012.

Adell will only be playing his second full season in the minors in 2019.

So McCutchen makes sense. He'd presumably leadoff with that OBP. And maybe he's not the guy he was a few years ago, but he's shown flashes in NYY, playing with other good hitters again.

David Freese and Steave Pearce make some sense too, if they are trying for a versatile 1B. But these guys don't grow on trees.

[Hubs]

3 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

Absolutely can’t happen.  This is the one thing that would make me lose my mind with frustration. 

It's going to happen. Ohtani is not going to DH every day, and Pujols is the likely candidate to DH when Ohtani is not. It won't be every day, and I hope it happens only once a week, but it will happen.

 

[Angel Oracle]

Ohtani losing 1 DH start a week isn't that bad.   Anything beyond that is stupid, though.

My prediction is Ohtani DH'ing in MLB games by no later than May 1.   For April, Pujols will mainly DH and ease back in at 1B.   Then when Ohtani returns, Pujols will DH once a week and play 1B three times a week.   That leaves 3-4 1B starts a week for someone else.

[UndertheHalo]

4 minutes ago, Hubs said:

It's going to happen. Ohtani is not going to DH every day, and Pujols is the likely candidate to DH when Ohtani is not. It won't be every day, and I hope it happens only once a week, but it will happen.

 

I get that Ohtani won’t play 162 games.  But the regular DH has to be Ohtani. 

[Stradling]

3 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

Also.  He fuc*king sucks. 

Freese had a .360 OBP this year and a 126 OPS+.  He isn’t great, but he would have been a top four offensive player on the Angels.  We aren’t talking about a centerpiece we are talking about working around the edges and acquiring a guy that could start if need be.  Why are the Dodgers so good, because they fill their roster with David Freeses instead of Valbuena or Marte.  They build depth with guys like Freese.  He simply has to be used correctly.  As for the re-acquisitions seldom work, that is just over talked about here.  It happens so infrequently to dismiss re-acquiring him for that reason is dumb.

[fan_since79]

6 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Freese had a .360 OBP this year and a 126 OPS+.  He isn’t great, but he would have been a top four offensive player on the Angels.  We aren’t talking about a centerpiece we are talking about working around the edges and acquiring a guy that could start if need be.  Why are the Dodgers so good, because they fill their roster with David Freeses instead of Valbuena or Marte.  They build depth with guys like Freese.  He simply has to be used correctly.  As for the re-acquisitions seldom work, that is just over talked about here.  It happens so infrequently to dismiss re-acquiring him for that reason is dumb.

Dodgers FO >>>> Angels FO.

 

[UndertheHalo]

10 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Freese had a .360 OBP this year and a 126 OPS+.  He isn’t great, but he would have been a top four offensive player on the Angels.  We aren’t talking about a centerpiece we are talking about working around the edges and acquiring a guy that could start if need be.  Why are the Dodgers so good, because they fill their roster with David Freeses instead of Valbuena or Marte.  They build depth with guys like Freese.  He simply has to be used correctly.  As for the re-acquisitions seldom work, that is just over talked about here.  It happens so infrequently to dismiss re-acquiring him for that reason is dumb.

I’ll grant that saying he’s sucks is an exaggeration.  But when we did have him he had 2 of the poorer years he’s had.  That’s relative of course, he was fine.  As you said.  Average. I’m all for getting a bunch of average players.  I’ve posted that a bunch of times ! but it would be nice for the Angels to get younger.  Guy is going to be 36. Maybe I’m being unrealistic.  I probably am, now that I’m thinking about it.  I just have the sense that he won’t be very good on a return stint.   No really rational explanation for that sense.  Other then he’s old and he was very average here before. 

 

Edited October 23, 2018 by UndertheHalo

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, fan_since79 said:

Dodgers FO >>>> Angels FO.

 

That may be, but that has nothing to do with any of this.  They spent all the money in the world, so they didn’t have to use any minor league prospect capital.  They also had a strangle hold (literally) on Latin America.  They drafted well and the ownership group took over a pretty good team.  It’s one thing to acquire a Freese,  it is entirely different to acquire 10-15 pieces to be elite.  

[UndertheHalo]

4 minutes ago, fan_since79 said:

Dodgers FO >>>> Angels FO.

 

well, better then the Dipoto front office anyway.