First Base (still the elephant in the room)

[Hubs]

8 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Only five teams in baseball scored 800 runs last season. The Angels we're about 80 shy of that or about half a run a game. It won't take that much to get there, the question is, can they suppress runs from being scored? 

I also think 800 runs scored and 670 allowed gets them a wildcard, and are in play for the division. 820 scored and 620 allowed gets them the division.

 

[beatlesrule]

28 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

I wish I was as optimistic.

I really don't think his types of problems are solved with surgery and rest.  I personally think his body just is no longer capable of the normal every day rigors.

And if that is the case, his body failure could just as easily come in April as it could in August.

That just how I view it.

You are entitled to your opinion of course.  I just think you are underestimating Alberts mental state. He is one of the most delusional players I've ever witnessed play the game.  If he says he's good to go, not sure what the medical staff can say or do to counteract him.  DH is already taken by Ohtani.  That means a healthy Albert has to play 1st and I think he thinks he will be healthy enough to play there 100 plus games. I am not stating it's right or the best thing for the team but it's what I think happens.

[Dtwncbad]

It only makes sense that the advertised $30m figure was deliberately low.

If a team doesnt see value and they decide to hold back, they don't want to fall far short of their advertised improvement budget in the eyes of their fans.

I would not be surprised if they added $40-45m and then said something like "We just saw an opportunity and decided our fans were worth it.  We are committed to winning."

[Hubs]

21 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

I want to be wrong on Ward.  I swear I do.  But I just hate his swing.  It just seems to be too long and too inside out.  The margin for error is too high.

The jump to the majors is big and I can't get myself to have optimism that his offensive game will translate.

But he is in the organization and I beg to be wrong.

This looks pretty good to me.

https://twitter.com/Twoodward_3/status/1069372889978232832

[Dtwncbad]

1 minute ago, beatlesrule said:

You are entitled to your opinion of course.  I just think you are underestimating Alberts mental state. He is one of the most delusional players I've ever witnessed play the game.  If he says he's good to go, not sure what the medical staff can say or do to counteract him.  DH is already taken by Ohtani.  That means a healthy Albert has to play 1st and I think he thinks he will be healthy enough to play there 100 plus games. I am not stating it's right or the best thing for the team but it's what I think happens.

You and I agree he will report he is "good to go" on days when he should not be in the lineup.  But you can't do that forever.  At some age your body just fails.

I think we are close to that time when what comes out of his mouth will be irrelevant.  When you have torn ligaments in both feet and you hobble to first in 24 seconds, words are not going to matter much.

[Dtwncbad]

5 minutes ago, Hubs said:

This looks pretty good to me.

https://twitter.com/Twoodward_3/status/1069372889978232832

The video isn't comforting.  That is a fantastic swing for slow pitch softball or the batting cage or to face less than major league pitching.

That swing is brutally long, and that is a major obstacle for critical timing to adjust pitch to pitch.

Look, some guys have been very successful with long swings.  It's not impossible.

I just don't like the odds.

[VariousCrap]

What about signing Justin Bour who was non-tendered?  He is a left handed first baseman with some pop.  Kinda like a left handed Cron. 

Have Bour play 1B in games against right handed pitching and have Pujols play 1B in games against left handed pitching.

Limit Pujols this season to one game at DH a week and 1B against left handed pitching only.

[beatlesrule]

8 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

You and I agree he will report he is "good to go" on days when he should not be in the lineup.  But you can't do that forever.  At some age your body just fails.

I think we are close to that time when what comes out of his mouth will be irrelevant.  When you have torn ligaments in both feet and you hobble to first in 24 seconds, words are not going to matter much.

If we are talking about him not being able to walk, that's a different story.  If he legit hurts himself, he obviously can't play.  I guess it has a better chance of it happening the older a player is.  Unless there is some kind of serious injury, Pujols will be the opening day 1st baseman and the first option to play first base.  Barring torn ligaments, get used to Pujols once again in the middle of the lineup playing first base and pray to the maker the Angels can win in spite of him.

[Dtwncbad]

1 minute ago, beatlesrule said:

If we are talking about him not being able to walk, that's a different story.  If he legit hurts himself, he obviously can't play.  I guess it has a better chance of it happening the older a player is.  Unless there is some kind of serious injury, Pujols will be the opening day 1st baseman and the first option to play first base.  Barring torn ligaments, get used to Pujols once again in the middle of the lineup playing first base and pray to the maker the Angels can win in spite of him.

I understand.  Respectfully there isn't anyone who disagrees that Pujols will play 1B, will be the opening day 1B, etc.

The conversation is how realistic is it to expect him to physically hold up?

I think it is almost ridiculously naive to think he isn't headed for the DL, so I hope the private plan for the roster is deliberately built to survive that.

[Hubs]

15 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

The video isn't comforting.  That is a fantastic swing for slow pitch softball or the batting cage or to face less than major league pitching.

That swing is brutally long, and that is a major obstacle for critical timing to adjust pitch to pitch.

Look, some guys have been very successful with long swings.  It's not impossible.

I just don't like the odds.

It looks sort of long, but I don't think it's that bad. Who is a major leaguer who succeeded with a long swing, so I have a point of reference. Do you think he's a Brandon Wood type?

[Stradling]

19 minutes ago, VariousCrap said:

What about signing Justin Bour who was non-tendered?  He is a left handed first baseman with some pop.  Kinda like a left handed Cron. 

Have Bour play 1B in games against right handed pitching and have Pujols play 1B in games against left handed pitching.

Limit Pujols this season to one game at DH a week and 1B against left handed pitching only.

Can Bour play any other positions?  If not then there is no room for him on the roster.  

[Stradling]

6 minutes ago, Hubs said:

It looks sort of long, but I don't think it's that bad. Who is a major leaguer who succeeded with a long swing, so I have a point of reference. Do you think he's a Brandon Wood type?

That is not a long swing.  That is a swing you see off of a pitching machine.  He isn’t dipping, he sets his hands and goes at the ball.  

[VariousCrap]

1 minute ago, Stradling said:

Can Bour play any other positions?  If not then there is no room for him on the roster.  

I get that.  It was just a suggestion as a way to cheaply improve the numbers at 1B only.  He'd probably only cost 4 million or so.

[Hubs]

4 minutes ago, Stradling said:

That is not a long swing.  That is a swing you see off of a pitching machine.  He isn’t dipping, he sets his hands and goes at the ball.  

Ok, that's what I thought when I posted it. It looks good right? I was trying to see @dwtncbad's point, but it didn't look that long. I thought, maybe a little bit on the follow through.

I know it's a world of difference, but I like that he was in the cage last week, working on his swing. That to me is what young players need to do to be successful.

 

[eligrba]

3 hours ago, Dtwncbad said:

I just barfed in my mouth a little.

Try swallowing faster. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

If our plan A involves a combination of Pujols, Fletcher, Ward, Thaiss, La Stella, Calhoun, Hermosillo, et al then we will not sniff the wild card.

[Dtwncbad]

25 minutes ago, Stradling said:

That is not a long swing.  That is a swing you see off of a pitching machine.  He isn’t dipping, he sets his hands and goes at the ball.  

I guess it is a matter of perspective.  I would absolutely call that a long swing.

I am no professional hitting coach but I did coach baseball, including hitting, for 20 years, along with a million hours listening to legit hitting coaches helping players.

Again that doesn't make me an expert but it would make my opinion not illegitimate.

[eligrba]

42 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

The video isn't comforting.  That is a fantastic swing for slow pitch softball or the batting cage or to face less than major league pitching.

That swing is brutally long, and that is a major obstacle for critical timing to adjust pitch to pitch.

Look, some guys have been very successful with long swings.  It's not impossible.

I just don't like the odds.

Swing is ok, compact to the hitting zone with a long finish.....the issue may be how he loads his swing.......

[Dtwncbad]

2 minutes ago, eligrba said:

Swing is ok, compact to the hitting zone with a long finish.....the issue may be how he loads his swing.......

Longer on the finish than on its path to contact, which is something positive.

But I still think it is too long.

I think adjusting to timing pitch to pitch for him is going to be a challenge.

[Hubs]

12 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

I guess it is a matter of perspective.  I would absolutely call that a long swing.

I am no professional hitting coach but I did coach baseball, including hitting, for 20 years, along with a million hours with legit hitting coaches helping players.

Again that doesn't make me an expert but it would make my opinion not illegitimate.

In this one, you can see what you mean by a long swing a bit more. But it still looks good. I found this other tweet on his training buddy's timeline.

And Ward tweeted out at Trevor Bauer, when Bauer posted something about wanting live hitters, and paying them $1k for every HR hit off him in off season training.

 

[eligrba]

1 minute ago, Dtwncbad said:

Longer on the finish than on its path to contact, which is something positive.

But I still think it is too long.

I think adjusting to timing pitch to pitch for him is going to be a challenge.

Frank Thomas is the only hitter that comes to mind that has a similar approach.  He seemed to do pretty well with that kind of swing.

[Dtwncbad]

No interest in actually arguing who is right. It is all opinion.  The reality is sometimes you are right and sometimes you are wrong.  I already said I hope I am wrong.

I am fearful he will have timing issues and will be very prone to longer slumps.

But again, I hope I am wrong.

[TroutAdell]

6 hours ago, totdprods said:

Just get an outfielder or infielder who can also play 1B and actually hit better than Pujols. It would be a waste of resources to get someone like Belt or Smoak, guys who are really only 1B, when there is zero chance if the Angels benching or cutting Pujols.

I agree that Moustakas makes sense here, despite his OBP. Put him at 3B, Cozart at 2B, with La Stella on the bench. When/if Pujols gets hurt, Moose can move to 1B, or if he’s ready, give Thaiss a shot. If Moose/Cozart gets hurt, you’ve got La Stella, Cozart, Ward, Fletcher, Rengifo ready to cover. 

Two years straight and Marte, Valbuena, Cowart, not JMF even were able to top Bert so that sort of tied our hands. Ideally, Thaiss starts showing he’s ready for a chance by midseason. 

 

Moose isn’t the answer. The Angels need a more versatile bench player, someone like Wilmer Flores who can play multiple infield postions. The ideal guy would be Merwin Gonzalez. 

[greginpsca]

4 hours ago, Dtwncbad said:

The video isn't comforting.  That is a fantastic swing for slow pitch softball or the batting cage or to face less than major league pitching.

That swing is brutally long, and that is a major obstacle for critical timing to adjust pitch to pitch.

Look, some guys have been very successful with long swings.  It's not impossible.

I just don't like the odds.

The follow thru of the swing is long. Not so much thru the zone.  That follow thru provides more bat speed and leverage thru the zone. Similar to the swing of Mark McGuire. 

[totdprods]

10 hours ago, TroutTrumbo said:

Moose isn’t the answer. The Angels need a more versatile bench player, someone like Wilmer Flores who can play multiple infield postions. The ideal guy would be Merwin Gonzalez. 

Marwin Gonzalez career slash, minus his 2017 .907 OPS campaign: .252/.311/.399/.710 with a 97 OPS+ and 1.8 average WAR.

Marwin’s repped by Boras and hitting FA at a time when the super-sub player is a hot commodity. He’s going to make way too much money for me to be interested.

David Fletcher already does that for ya.

I think Moose still makes some sense - he may be limited to 1B/3B, but it turns Cozart, Fletcher, La Stella, and Rengifo into our versatile IF depth, and it gives you options with Ward and Thaiss’ development while giving you a safe .750 OPS 2 WAR bat. On the Angels, I could see him sneaking up on pitchers with Trout, Ohtani, Simmons, and Upton around him as well. Given that he may be fairly cheap, he’s someone to consider still.

Matt Davidson is interesting too. Agree on Wilmer Flores.