2018 Hot Stove League

[Stradling]

2 minutes ago, beatlesrule said:

Their fault for making it into more than it was. Of course he is going to say he is going for a touchdown. He didn't absolutely guarantee one though and that is the difference. He tried for Corbin. That would have been a touchdown. He can also spin his current signings into a touchdown if he wanted to. Talk about how they have tremendous upside and didn't cost too much. 

I mean technically, there are still players out there that would be considered a touchdown but given the budget he has to work with, they are highly unlikely.

 

I originally thought he was talking about Corbin but he made the comment about a Touchdown 5 days after Corbin agreed on a deal with Washington.  I am thinking we will never know what it was, but if I had to guess it was trade related and then the asking price kept going up.  

[Lou]

12 minutes ago, totdprods said:

That hot streak wasn't inflated with an absurd 10-game stretch or two, he was consistently awesome for two months

he had a 48-game stretch of batting .300 (.362/.600/.962)

that was followed by a 26-game stretch of batting .121 (.270/.220/.490)

 

looks like he may have made 3 left turns 

[beatlesrule]

Okay well whatever but the point is that it was never guaranteed. Just something to get the fans excited. After Harper and Machado sign, he can come out and say he made offers to both and most of the fan base would eat that up. Were they realistic offers though? Not sure if numbers came out with what he offered Corbin but let's say it was four years 80 million. That sure would be an offer but not a realistic one.

Don't most GM's and owners talk a lot of talk but don't really back it up?  It's mostly all posturing. Also, his definition of touchdown could vary from others like I already mentioned. The offseason isn't over of course but that's the fans fault for thinking he meant Machado or Harper or whatever.

[Stradling]

3 minutes ago, beatlesrule said:

Okay well whatever but the point is that it was never guaranteed. Just something to get the fans excited. After Harper and Machado sign, he can come out and say he made offers to both and most of the fan base would eat that up. Were they realistic offers though? Not sure if numbers came out with what he offered Corbin but let's say it was four years 80 million. That sure would be an offer but not a realistic one.

Don't most GM's and owners talk a lot of talk but don't really back it up?  It's mostly all posturing. Also, his definition of touchdown could vary from others like I already mentioned. The offseason isn't over of course but that's the fans fault for thinking he meant Machado or Harper or whatever.

Show me where Eppler has talked a lot.  If anything he is a guy that says very little and then puts together the plan to get Ohtani.  

[jessecrall]

The Angels won 80 games last year with catastrophic pitching injuries. They've improved their depth considerably without taking on long-term contracts or sacrificing their farm. As much as I'd love Kikuchi or Corbin or Realmuto in the short-term, they're currently an 85-win team on paper and in position to be even better in 2020. That isn't a bad offseason by any means.

[totdprods]

49 minutes ago, Lou said:

he had a 48-game stretch of batting .300 (.362/.600/.962)
that was followed by a 26-game stretch of batting .121 (.270/.220/.490)

looks like he may have made 3 left turns 

I mean, you can slice his season up almost any way and it's the same....ice, ice, ice cold, red-hot, and then a cold finish. No doubts there. 
I can add in his first week of September to make it a 70-game stretch to balance out his 'red-hot' period and it still results in a .276/.359/.537/.896 slash over 300 PA, with a reasonable .312 BAbip, 33 double, 40 HR pace. 

And then he ended the year (.098/.191/.197/.388 in 69 PA) with an almost identical slash to the pre-summer surge (.145/.195/.179/.374 in 185 PA).

Just have to hope the September slide was more the result of some fatigue or lack of focus/return of bad habits as the season faded into meaningless games.

[beatlesrule]

24 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Show me where Eppler has talked a lot.  If anything he is a guy that says very little and then puts together the plan to get Ohtani.  

I was merely referring to the touchdown comment.

From MLBTR: How Al teams have address their weakest positions;

Angels (Third base, -0.1 bWAR Unfortunately for the Halos, this was a close competition to decide their least-productive position, as they received an even 0.0 bWAR from first base and only 0.1 bWAR from their right fielders.  L.A. will be counting on a healthy season from Zack Cozart to upgrade the hot corner, though if the Angels were able to land Josh Harrison, Cozart could be shifted to second base while Harrison plays third, with sophomore infielder David Fletcherbacking up both positions.  In right field, the Angels are hoping Kole Calhoun can bounce back from a rough season, though there has been some speculation that the team could try to unload Calhoun to free up some payroll space.  Justin Bour was signed to play first base in at least a timeshare with Albert Pujols, though given how Pujols has struggled in recent years, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the future Hall-of-Famer supplanted by Bour and DH Shohei Ohtani (once Ohtani returns from Tommy John surgery) entirely.

[jessecrall]

David Fletcher is better than Josh Harrison. And younger. And under team control.

[AngelStew43]

Clay Buchholz has good numbers in our park.  He may be worth looking into as another SP.

[Lou]

4 minutes ago, AngelStew43 said:

Clay Buchholz has good numbers in our park.  He may be worth looking into as another SP.

but he was facing our lineup, so . . . 

[jordan]

40 minutes ago, AngelStew43 said:

Clay Buchholz has good numbers in our park.  He may be worth looking into as another SP.

This is also my pick. 

[Second Base]

If it were me, I'd be spending on Moustakas and Pomeranz.

[Second Base]

So if the budget was 30-40 million, and the Angels have spent, what 23, 24 million so far, that should leave them with anywhere from 6-17 million left to spend. 

[hangin n wangin]

45 minutes ago, Second Base said:

If it were me, I'd be spending on Moustakas and Pomeranz.

I really would like to have Pomeranz.

[ettin]

Yankees signed Tulowitzki.....

[nate]

5 minutes ago, ettin said:

Yankees signed Tulowitzki.....

At the league minimum, he had his choice.  Better chance at a WS there, even if he rides the bench.

[Inside Pitch]

26 minutes ago, hangin n wangin said:

I really would like to have Pomeranz.

Me too...  Dude was a mess last year but the track record is there and the injury is supposedly behind him.

Back in November I went on record as saying I'd like to see them chase Buckholtz, Pomeranz and Tyson Ross as make good guys who all had upside.   I think the Tigers got Ross to sign for 5.75 mil on a one year deal, you have to figure the others would come in around that, or lower now that there are less teams needing rotation arms.   

22 minutes ago, ettin said:

Yankees signed Tulowitzki.....

Someone is hedging their bets on Manny maybe?   Not that they need to at the cost of league minimum..    Interesting development regardless.

Edited January 2, 2019 by Inside Pitch

[Docwaukee]

the Angels haven't done one thing that I thought they would this off season.  

[Stradling]

Maybe they know their getting a Manny but are looking at trading Andujar. 

[Inside Pitch]

1 minute ago, Dochalo said:

the Angels haven't done one thing that I thought they would this off season.  

If it makes you feel better -- the Angels have shit on every "source" and all the "birdies".    My big takeaway from this off-season so far is that they are buying hard into whatever their analytics department is telling them and their farm system..   I doubt the plan was to target Cahill and Harvey at hello, but it sure seems that once the market shifted the Angels did too.  I also think they may have chosen to move a tad slower after what happened last offseason and with salaries taking a downturn.

They have IMO been rather unpredictable despite them having been clear they would pursue a catcher, a 1B and pitching of all kinds.

[Inside Pitch]

4 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Maybe they know their getting a Manny but are looking at trading Andujar. 

They could trade Didi too once he gets better .   Yanks lose absolutely nothing by acquiring as much talent as possible -- particularly when in Tulo's case he's free.

[Docwaukee]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

They could trade Didi too once he gets better .   Yanks lose absolutely nothing by acquiring as much talent as possible -- particularly when in Tulo's case he's free.

Someone is going to stupidly give them a really good pitcher for Andujar who is going to be meh two year from now.   It's gonna be a total head shaker.  Or the Marlins will give up Realmuto for him.  

[Docwaukee]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

If it makes you feel better -- the Angels have shit on every "source" and all the "birdies".    My big takeaway from this off-season so far is that they are buying hard into whatever their analytics department is telling them and their farm system..   I doubt the plan was to target Cahill and Harvey at hello, but it sure seems that once the market shifted the Angels did too.  I also think they may have chosen to move a tad slower after what happened last offseason and with salaries taking a downturn.

They have IMO been rather unpredictable despite them having been clear they would pursue a catcher, a 1B and pitching of all kinds.

I think they're buying into Doug White.  I figured they'd be having him advise, I just didn't think they'd go all in.  

[Docwaukee]

Also, I think they're done on offense but they'll grab some more pitching.  It won't we anyone we expect thought.  

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

If it makes you feel better -- the Angels have shit on every "source" and all the "birdies".    My big takeaway from this off-season so far is that they are buying hard into whatever their analytics department is telling them and their farm system..   I doubt the plan was to target Cahill and Harvey at hello, but it sure seems that once the market shifted the Angels did too.  I also think they may have chosen to move a tad slower after what happened last offseason and with salaries taking a downturn.

They have IMO been rather unpredictable despite them having been clear they would pursue a catcher, a 1B and pitching of all kinds.

I was disappointed that Kikuchi didn't work out, I was just relaying one team's assessment of the situation. They felt Billy Eppler could get any Japanese player he wanted at this point because the track he's laid there the past decade, and that the Kikuchi bidding wouldn't be strong, though I was not told why (I wonder if this had to do with their personal scouting report).