The Angels rotation

[WeatherWonk]

21 hours ago, Dochalo said:

I'm worried.  Anyone else? 

95 wins looking a little less likely?

 

[Lou]

5 minutes ago, WeatherWonk said:

Not this year.

reading comprehension FAIL

[ten ocho recon scout]

7 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Keuchel will come here and allow 240 hits in 190 innings.

That would be the first 190 inning guy we had in awhile

[Angelsjunky]

[Second Base]

The Angels will be fine if prospects step up or if they get some serious bounceback campaigns. 

Cozart, Calhoun, Bour and Matt Harvey all need to be better than they were in 2018, and if they don't, then we need Ward or Fletcher or Rengifo or Thaiss/Walsh to pick up the slack in the infield, Hermosillo or Adell to convert the OF and Pena or Canning or Suarez to pitch well in the rotation. 

Billy Eppler is actually gambling on this to happen and I just don't see it. The prospects are good enough, but this requires a manager and general manager bold enough to make moves quickly. 

Some will bounce back. Calhoun won't be as bad as last year, but money is going to keep Cozart and Pujols in the lineup, whether it's good for the team or not. That's why they'll be a mediocre team that competes, but probably doesn't win. 

[Angelsjunky]

I guess I'm just more optimistic, Scotty. Or maybe it is because I haven't been following the games or looking at stats. I just don't see spring performance translating. Not to mention that baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. I think Eppler is taking, and should take, the approach Billy Bean used to take: you use the first third of the season to see what you have, the second third to get what you need, and the last third to sprint to the finish line (postseason berth).

With the influx of new players, young and old, it might be a month or two into the regular season before it is clear how good this team is and can be. On March 12 I'm not worried. If we're 15-27 on May 12, I'll be worried.

[WeatherWonk]

Darn, I was getting so optimistic  about the springs that Thaiss and Adell and Rojas and Bourjos have had? 

Apparently, it means nothing, NADA.

[Jeff Fletcher]

3 hours ago, Troll Daddy said:

I think the FO is worried. Is it weird that the Angels don’t have a pitcher signed beyond 2019? 

Skaggs, Heaney, Barría, Peña, Canning, Suarez, Tropeano, JC Ramirez are all signed beyond 2019. 

If you just mean “free agents” then the Astro’s also don’t have one signed beyond 2019. 

[Chuck]

53 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

Skaggs, Heaney, Barría, Peña, Canning, Suarez, Tropeano, JC Ramirez are all signed beyond 2019. 

If you just mean “free agents” then the Astro’s also don’t have one signed beyond 2019. 

Fletcher always bringing the facts. Love it.

[AngelsHilo]

Think it's way too early to be worried.  Except for Cahil no one has 3 starts.  Everyone looks like they're healthy.  I view this as the Staff is working on pitches with little regard to winning games.  Nothing more than that.  

[Jeff Fletcher]

I will just add this...

Whatever you thought of the Angels rotation on Feb 10 should be what you think of them today. Nothing has changed. 

[DMVol]

4 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

I will just add this...

Whatever you thought of the Angels rotation on Feb 10 should be what you think of them today. Nothing has changed. 

Jeff:  Nothing about the injuries to Heaney or Skaggs to be concerned about?

[Dtwncbad]

3 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

I will just add this...

Whatever you thought of the Angels rotation on Feb 10 should be what you think of them today. Nothing has changed. 

Agree.

I was worried then.  I am worried now.

I thought there was a gaping vacancy at the front of the rotation then.  I think there is a gaping vacancy at the front of the rotation now.

I was worried about the rotation being primarily 5 inning pitchers then. I am worried about the rotation being primarily 5 inning pitchers now.

I was worried these guys could drop like flies in the first half of the season then.  I am worried they can drop like flies in the first half of the season now.

We absolutely agree.

[Second Base]

 

 

14 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

I guess I'm just more optimistic, Scotty. Or maybe it is because I haven't been following the games or looking at stats. I just don't see spring performance translating. Not to mention that baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. I think Eppler is taking, and should take, the approach Billy Bean used to take: you use the first third of the season to see what you have, the second third to get what you need, and the last third to sprint to the finish line (postseason berth).

With the influx of new players, young and old, it might be a month or two into the regular season before it is clear how good this team is and can be. On March 12 I'm not worried. If we're 15-27 on May 12, I'll be worried.

Not really worried so much as I believe this will end up being more of a transition year. I think they will probably a .500 team until the trade deadline, by which time they'll be 5+ games back of the WC2 team, and then they will trade Allen, Cahill and Harvey, and move on from Cozart. Canning and Suarez will get an audition for next year, Ward, Rengifo, Fletcher, Walsh and Thaiss will all get a ton of playing time down the stretch and the Angels will discover what we all suspected all along, that they are better off playing the prospects.

They will end up being a very close knit unit that knows this is their shot and wont blow it, and the Angels will come charging up the standings before falling a couple games short. All next offseason we as fans will be a combination of angry and excited. Angry that Eppler and Ausmus were too slow to give up on the veterans which probably cost them a playoff spot, and excited because this next wave will have officially arrived. 

Rengifo will prove in August and September that he can bat eadoff, get on base, and play a solid second base, Ward will look better at the end of the test than he did last year or this spring and will actually be an intriguing power option at 3B. Fletcher will be the safety net at both spots and still get a lot of starts. And the games I he isn't staying,  he's coming off the bench in the late innings. Thaiss will be the starting 1B and after so many season of lackluster performance over there, his ability to slash doubles and get on base will be a welcome addition. Walsh will log some appearances in RF to finish the year and get some relief appearances in as a lefty specialist. He will be battling Hermosillo for the 4th OF job next year once Adell is promoted after the Angels manipulate his service clock. The Angels are going to shock the world and sign Gerrit Cole, who will combine with Ohtani, Skaggs and Heaney to form a formidable rotation. In 2020, they will win 95+ games and the division, re-sign/extend Trout and will be set up to win four the next decade. 

[jgimondo]

23 hours ago, CanadianHalo said:

Keuchel ain’t saving this rotation or roster for that matter. I’d rather hang onto our 1st rounder than pay Keuchel.

 

After the draft you won`t lose the pick and can sign him!

 

[jgimondo]

15 hours ago, WeatherWonk said:

95 wins looking a little less likely?

 

The Angels as set area 3rd place team with no playoffs.

[Lou]

13 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Fletcher always bringing the facts. Love it.

ummmm . . . 

17 hours ago, Troll Daddy said:

I think the FO is worried. Is it weird that the Angels don’t have a pitcher signed beyond 2019? 

 

17 hours ago, Lou said:

is Houston's FO worried? 

 

once again, subtlety is lost on you people. 

[Lou]

49 minutes ago, jgimondo said:

The Angels as set area 3rd place team with no playoffs.

who will finish ahead of us?

[Hubs]

14 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

Skaggs, Heaney, Barría, Peña, Canning, Suarez, Tropeano, JC Ramirez are all signed beyond 2019. 

If you just mean “free agents” then the Astro’s also don’t have one signed beyond 2019. 

Technically, they are controlled, not signed.

Skaggs is controlled through 2020.

Heaney through 2021. Ramirez, and Tropeano through 2021 as well.

Barria through 2023 (or maybe 2024).

Pena though 2023.

Canning and Suarez through at least 2024, probably 2025.

And Ohtani through at least 2023.

 

 

 

[Dtwncbad]

Please don't tell me you view Nick Tropeano potentially making starts for the Angels for the next 3 years as a good thing.

[Hubs]

3 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

Please don't tell me you view Nick Tropeano potentially making starts for the Angels for the next 3 years as a good thing.

I do not.

He has shown occasionally a good start, but he's 6th or 7th at best.

[DMVol]

6 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

Please don't tell me you view Nick Tropeano potentially making starts for the Angels for the next 3 years as a good thing.

 

2 minutes ago, Hubs said:

I do not.

He has shown occasionally a good start, but he's 6th or 7th at best.

He can't be 6th or 7th best if he can't stay healthy....

[Lou]

I have as much confidence in Trop as I do in El Camino College beating Alabama in football 

[Hubs]

2 hours ago, Second Base said:

Not really worried so much as I believe this will end up being more of a transition year. I think they will probably a .500 team until the trade deadline, by which time they'll be 5+ games back of the WC2 team, and then they will trade Allen, Cahill and Harvey, and move on from Cozart. Canning and Suarez will get an audition for next year, Ward, Rengifo, Fletcher, Walsh and Thaiss will all get a ton of playing time down the stretch and the Angels will discover what we all suspected all along, that they are better off playing the prospects.

They will end up being a very close knit unit that knows this is their shot and wont blow it, and the Angels will come charging up the standings before falling a couple games short. All next offseason we as fans will be a combination of angry and excited. Angry that Eppler and Ausmus were too slow to give up on the veterans which probably cost them a playoff spot, and excited because this next wave will have officially arrived. 

Rengifo will prove in August and September that he can bat eadoff, get on base, and play a solid second base, Ward will look better at the end of the test than he did last year or this spring and will actually be an intriguing power option at 3B. Fletcher will be the safety net at both spots and still get a lot of starts. And the games I he isn't staying,  he's coming off the bench in the late innings. Thaiss will be the starting 1B and after so many season of lackluster performance over there, his ability to slash doubles and get on base will be a welcome addition. Walsh will log some appearances in RF to finish the year and get some relief appearances in as a lefty specialist. He will be battling Hermosillo for the 4th OF job next year once Adell is promoted after the Angels manipulate his service clock. The Angels are going to shock the world and sign Gerrit Cole, who will combine with Ohtani, Skaggs and Heaney to form a formidable rotation. In 2020, they will win 95+ games and the division, re-sign/extend Trout and will be set up to win four the next decade. 

I know you love the prospects, I get it, but I just don't have faith that more than 1 in 2 will be solid players.

Cozart is not going to go anywhere in 2019, unless he is playing well and they are 5 games back of the WC2 team, as you stated. In which case he makes sense to be traded. Doesn't mean he's going to start, but they will usually not cut players under Moreno until they are in the final year of their deal. Hamilton is the exception, and he had off the field issues. Guys who got cut for performance, only get cut in the last year of the deal. (Abreu, Valbuena - RIP, etc.).

Rengifo looks ok, so far, he's not as close as people think. I think he may be a September call-up.

I do agree that Ward is going to surprise. Thaiss also looked good this spring, and is likely the primary 1B in 2020. But Bour is going to get the majority of the starts.

Walsh, I think actually has a shot to start the season with the team.

Hermosillo isn't going to make the team, and I doubt he ever makes an impact for the Angels.

Agree that their #1 off-season FA target is Cole.

 

 

 

 

[Dtwncbad]

I am glad I read that wrong.

Tropeano is nothing more than a body you hand the ball to when you don't have a good rotation.