Alvarez to Philly

[Docwaukee]

when we hired Doug White, we talked about his track record and how Eppler was going to make a few head scratcher moves on the pitching side based on White's advice.  

this is one of those moves. 

Guy can hit triple dig on the gun.  

Threw his fastball 48% of the time last year.  Slider 40% of the time.  Change up 12%.  

The year before, when he had a successful year, fastball 63%, slider 23%, change 14%.

Previous years it was also buckets full of sliders.    

BTW, he wasn't unlucky last year.  His LD rate allowed was 24.2%.  He got hit hard.  His fastball in particular.  

This has to be one of those targets where White sees an opportunity to add some movement to his fastball.

I could be wrong.  

I would also say that the likelihood of Alvarez repeating his 2018 isn't very good.  

[Angelsjunky]

So Garcia's upside is...Alvarez.

[Stradling]

3 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

So Garcia's upside is...Alvarez.

If Alvarez threw 98

[TroutAdell]

1 hour ago, angelsnationtalk said:

Might be time we create "Go big or go home" posters and stand in front of the Angels' front office so Eppler and Moreno get the message. Forbes estimates we revenue over $330million per season. That's before we got Ohtani who is now marketing us in Japan. if we work a few trades to clear a little more salary room we can afford Harper and a Yusei Kikuchi and a lower end starter and still have money left over. 

No thanks on Harper. Who wants another 10 year contract at a ridiculous amount of money. That would leave you with four players making 120 mil. Kikuchi is a Boras client so that probably eliminates the Angels. 

Right now the Angels are playing for the second WC. They have too many holes to compete with Houston, Boston, New York and Cleveland. I think 2019 will be another .500 finish . 

[GrittyVeterans]

Slowly losing faith this club can compete in 2019

[VariousCrap]

This move makes zero sense to me, but I'm willing to let Eppler do everything he wants to do this off-season to see how it all plays out before passing judgement.

 

[Second Base]

I wasn't a big fan of Avalrez in the first place, so my feeling aren't hurt. Was he good last year? Yeah. Did I expect more in a trade? Yes I did. But whatever, if Doug White thinks he can fix something with Garcia, and he actually can, then we just got an elite reliever. We'll see. 

Now if only we can find a landing spot for Bedrosian. 

[Angelsjunky]

Its a bit of a non-issue, really. But it does mean that Eppler is going to sign a LHP, unless he has faith that Williams Jizz can handle the LOOGY role.

[UndertheHalo]

Eppler says he’s building what he calls a “high octane” bullpen. 

So I guess Noe Ramirez is fuc*ed.

Edited December 7, 2018 by UndertheHalo

[Second Base]

So right now so right now, the LHP spot in the bullpen is up for grabs between Jerez, Peters and Suarez. Jerez can be death in lefties, and strikes out a ton of batters, and sits in the mid to upper 90's, but also has issues with control and reliable secondary offering. Dillon Peters is a year removed from being the Marlins top pitching prospect. He had a rough go of it his first year in the pen last year. Undersized, Peters can still sit 92-93 and can go multiple innings if necessary. The Angels may opt to keep him as starting pitching depth in AAA this year. And finally, Jose Suarez, just 20 years old, and already in AAA. Solid 92-93 fastball that he'll run up to 95 when needed and excellent secondary offerings. Racks up tons of K's at every level with decent command to boot. He can pitch in the pen, but the Angels may be foolish for not keeping him in the rotation, as he definitely has mid-rotation upside and could meet that potential by the time he's 22/23. Still if they need a lefty and no one else steps up, Suarez can definitely do it.  

[Jeff Fletcher]

28 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Its a bit of a non-issue, really. But it does mean that Eppler is going to sign a LHP, unless he has faith that Williams Jizz can handle the LOOGY role.

Eppler has no interest in having a LOOGY. He says it’s a waste of a roster spot to have a guy who faces, what, 50 batters a season?

[kevinb]

Um 6 era this year? Why do we need this?

[Halokingfish]

Trying to figure out what Eppler knows and what we don’t know. 

[Tank]

1 hour ago, Second Base said:

I wasn't a big fan of Avalrez in the first place, so my feeling aren't hurt. Was he good last year? Yeah. Did I expect more in a trade? Yes I did. But whatever, if Doug White thinks he can fix something with Garcia, and he actually can, then we just got an elite reliever. We'll see. 

Now if only we can find a landing spot for Bedrosian. 

if given the choice between keeping alvarez or bedrosian, i'd have kept alvarez without batting an eye.

[eligrba]

He may have acquired a potential closer by trading a middle reliever. I'mean good with it.  I only liked Alvarez because most of the other relievers sucked more.

[totdprods]

continuing with my assumption that Eppler is going to make a lot of fairly surprising moves involving guys who have been on the team for awhile or looked like they would be a part of the team next year.

Shoemaker, Parker, Alvarez...I still think we’ll see Cowart, Tropeano, Bedrosian, and potentially Calhoun and Skaggs be moved before all is said and done, and some prospects. I think Billy is going to rewrite a lot of the teams DNA this year and begin setting up the new core for the Ausmus years, using 2019 as cover for any growing pains by the youth.

[Stradling]

If they trade Skaggs I’d be shocked.  Also if they trade him it better be for something less of a project than the Álvarez deal.  

[Dtwncbad]

5'11" 180 throws 92

Vs.

6'3" 230 throws 99

 

[AngelsFaninGA]

Apparently Eppler found some ancient manuscript that says if we acquire every pitcher with a 6+ ERA we achieve some sort of transcendental state and go 162-0. 

[totdprods]

14 minutes ago, AngelsFaninGA said:

Apparently Eppler found some ancient manuscript that says if we acquire every pitcher with a 6+ ERA we achieve some sort of transcendental state and go 162-0. 

JC Ramirez is a pretty good comp for Luis Garcia, btw. Similar size and stuff, similarly awful production. 

[totdprods]

40 minutes ago, Stradling said:

If they trade Skaggs I’d be shocked.  Also if they trade him it better be for something less of a project than the Álvarez deal.  

Yeah, I would too, he’s definitely the least likely, but Shoe, Parker, and Álvarez all had a little shock at first glance too. 

It’s hard to say because there hasn’t been any big moves to indicate the direction yet. They could be clearing payroll to make a big splash, they could be clearing out vets to make room for kids.

Skaggs may be at his peak for trade value in his Angel career right now, and the SP trade market is buzzing. 

[totdprods]

8 hours ago, Second Base said:

So right now so right now, the LHP spot in the bullpen is up for grabs between Jerez, Peters and Suarez. Jerez can be death in lefties, and strikes out a ton of batters, and sits in the mid to upper 90's, but also has issues with control and reliable secondary offering. Dillon Peters is a year removed from being the Marlins top pitching prospect. He had a rough go of it his first year in the pen last year. Undersized, Peters can still sit 92-93 and can go multiple innings if necessary. The Angels may opt to keep him as starting pitching depth in AAA this year. And finally, Jose Suarez, just 20 years old, and already in AAA. Solid 92-93 fastball that he'll run up to 95 when needed and excellent secondary offerings. Racks up tons of K's at every level with decent command to boot. He can pitch in the pen, but the Angels may be foolish for not keeping him in the rotation, as he definitely has mid-rotation upside and could meet that potential by the time he's 22/23. Still if they need a lefty and no one else steps up, Suarez can definitely do it.  

I could see Sandoval moving quickly too.

[jordan]

Literally every other year he has a 6+era. He had one last year, so he’s due for a more effective season upcoming. Maybe Eppler is banking on that. 

Edited December 7, 2018 by jordan

[totdprods]

Let's all remember J.C. Ramirez and how poor he was before the Angels got him.
Big-bodied, hard throwing righthanders.

J.C., pre-Angels career vs. Angels career
6.39 ERA in 80 innings vs. 4.04 ERA in 200 IP
5.79 FIP vs 4.82 FIP
H9 of 10.1 vs. 8.9
HR9 of 1.8 vs. 1.3 
BB9 of 4.5 vs. 3.1
K9 of 6.4 vs. 6.3
-1.6 WAR vs 2 WAR
 

[failos]