2020 strategy--what to do?

[floplag]

57 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

So after about roughly 2 months of watching this team, I see a lot of great potential for future years, but I also recognize that it's not really a contending team this year.  It could have been with a few lucky breaks and good health, but when you consider several of our best players will have each missed more than a month of playing time at the minimum, well, it just wasn't in the cards.

Still, we have the foundation in place to have a really good team fairly shortly.  The key thing is to keep building up the farm system and to NOT trade from it at this point, at least until it gets stronger and starts pumping out MLB players regularly.  I would, ideally, like to trade as many tradeable players at this deadline as possible - Skaggs, Calhoun, Lucroy, most of our arbitration-eligible relievers, etc. While I realize we aren't going to win every trade in a landslide like the Kinsler for Buttrey trade, I do think we can start targeting some high-level MILB SP prospects and, ideally, a catching prospect.

Take one step back, two steps forward.  The Yankees don't often rebuild, but they famously traded 2 months of Chapman for Torres, who is now their top performing player this year and will be a cheap asset for them for many years.  We need to make several moves like that (but on a lesser scale, since we don't have a Chapman-quality trade chip to use), to help fuel our rebuild.

The reason we see teams like the Yankees, Astros, Dodgers, etc continue to flourish is because even when they have injuries to significant players, they have so much minor league depth that they can replace their best players without much of a drop-off.  We are not there yet, but as long as we focus on strengthening our minor league system, then slowly supplementing that with a few selective FA signings, we will be in position to compete with those teams.

See thats the thing though, if thats the key, then any significant trade is out, AND, we have a limited budget to go after significant FA.  Effectively you are limiting how this team can improve itself and creating a self fulfilling prophecy of failure.  We can close the door on options if the goal is wins at the ML level... we just dont go full dipoto... never go full dipoto

[totdprods]

1 hour ago, floplag said:

See thats the thing though, if thats the key, then any significant trade is out, AND, we have a limited budget to go after significant FA.  Effectively you are limiting how this team can improve itself and creating a self fulfilling prophecy of failure.  We can close the door on options if the goal is wins at the ML level... we just dont go full dipoto... never go full dipoto

They can make a significant trade. They could probably even make two.
We can put together a package pulling one from the following groups and it would not hurt our immediate MLB club or long-term farm:

• Ward, Thaiss, Rojas, Walsh
• Marsh, Jones
• Soriano, Yan, Bradish, Hernandez, Duensing, Swanda, Pina, Molina
• Deveaux, Jackson, Knowles
• Lund, Hermosillo
• Tavarez, Warren, Higgins, Wantz, Hanewich
• Depending on who we're acquiring, you can probably pull one from Barria, Sandoval, Suarez, Madero as well.
• That also does not count prospects we may bring in from potential Lucroy, Calhoun, Skaggs, Robles, Bedrosian deals

The following comes off the books this year:

• Harvey ($11m), Cahill ($9m), Calhoun ($9.5m), Allen ($8.5m), Bour ($2.5m), Lucroy ($3.35m), likely Garcia ($1.8m), Tropeano ($1m),  Ramirez ($2m)
• That's about $49m - factor in arbitration raises and such and we'll assume we have somewhere around $25m-$35m to work with.

And some of our better players this year didn't really cost anything to acquire to begin with, so that remains a source too:

• Goodwin, La Stella, Smith, Pena, Cole, Robles, Bard

Next 7 months:

• 1) Trade vets in July and add to our prospect pool
  • Lucroy, Calhoun, and probably 1 SP and 1 RP will be tradeable - that's 4+ prospects
• 2) Promote the kids in August/September for extended looks
  • Especially the or SPs and the IFs, perhaps Adell
• 3) Either in July or offseason, swing a trade for a very good arm using the prospects named above
  • Snag a Stroman/Ray/Boyd type with some prospects above, maybe even Bauer. Ward, Marsh, and Hernandez.
• 4) In the offseason, sign another arm to help shore up the rotation with the money we've freed up
  • Cole, Wheeler, Bumgarner, Ryu if you need help at the top, Wood, Roark, Gibson, Odorizzi, Pomeranz, Wacha,  Porcello, Perez if you traded for an 'ace'
• 5) With the leftover money, sign a vet catcher, maybe roll the dice on a 1-yr SP or a FA 1B/3B if the kids didn't impress, waiver claim some bench/relief help
  • Let's say this is the year we finally sign Avila, and we re-up with Kendrick on a 1-yr
• 2020 Rotation:
  • Shohei Ohtani
  • Gerrit Cole
  • Robbie Ray (for Ward, Marsh, Hernandez)
  • Griffin Canning
  • Andrew Heaney/Tyler Skaggs (one is dealt this July)
  • Jaime Barria/Jose Suarez/Felix Pena/Patrick Sandoval as the #6
• 2020 Bullpen:
  • Buttrey, Anderson, Middleton, Bard, Cole, #6 SP, couple waiver claims.
• 2020 Line-up:
  • David Fletcher 3B
  • Tommy La Stella 2B
  • Mike Trout CF
  • Shohei Ohtani DH
  • Justin Upton LF
  • Andrelton Simmons SS
  • Matt Thaiss/Albert Pujols 1B
  • Jo Adell RF
  • Alex Avila C
• 2020 Bench:
  • Smith/Briceno, Kendrick/Rojas/Walsh, Cozart/Rengifo, Goodwin/Hermosillo 

We're fine. This year sucks but the problems are temporary. We have money and prospects to work with.

Edited May 25, 2019 by totdprods

[floplag]

31 minutes ago, totdprods said:

They can make a significant trade. They could probably even make two.
We can put together a package pulling one from the following groups and it would not hurt our immediate MLB club or long-term farm:

• Ward, Thaiss, Rojas, Walsh
• Marsh, Jones
• Soriano, Yan, Bradish, Hernandez, Duensing, Swanda, Pina, Molina
• Deveaux, Jackson, Knowles
• Lund, Hermosillo
• Tavarez, Warren, Higgins, Wantz, Hanewich
• Depending on who we're acquiring, you can probably pull one from Barria, Sandoval, Suarez, Madero as well.
• That also does not count prospects we may bring in from potential Lucroy, Calhoun, Skaggs, Robles, Bedrosian deals

The following comes off the books this year:

• Harvey ($11m), Cahill ($9m), Calhoun ($9.5m), Allen ($8.5m), Bour ($2.5m), Lucroy ($3.35m), likely Garcia ($1.8m), Tropeano ($1m),  Ramirez ($2m)
• That's about $49m - factor in arbitration raises and such and we'll assume we have somewhere around $25m-$35m to work with.

And some of our better players this year didn't really cost anything to acquire to begin with, so that remains a source too:

• Goodwin, La Stella, Smith, Pena, Cole, Robles, Bard

Next 7 months:

• 1) Trade vets in July and add to our prospect pool
  • Lucroy, Calhoun, and probably 1 SP and 1 RP will be tradeable - that's 4+ prospects
• 2) Promote the kids in August/September for extended looks
  • Especially the or SPs and the IFs, perhaps Adell
• 3) Either in July or offseason, swing a trade for a very good arm using the prospects named above
  • Snag a Stroman/Ray/Boyd type with some prospects above, maybe even Bauer. Ward, Marsh, and Hernandez.
• 4) In the offseason, sign another arm to help shore up the rotation with the money we've freed up
  • Cole, Wheeler, Bumgarner, Ryu if you need help at the top, Wood, Roark, Gibson, Odorizzi, Pomeranz, Wacha,  Porcello, Perez if you traded for an 'ace'
• 5) With the leftover money, sign a vet catcher, maybe roll the dice on a 1-yr SP or a FA 1B/3B if the kids didn't impress, waiver claim some bench/relief help
  • Let's say this is the year we finally sign Avila, and we re-up with Kendrick on a 1-yr
• 2020 Rotation:
  • Shohei Ohtani
  • Gerrit Cole
  • Robbie Ray (for Ward, Marsh, Hernandez)
  • Griffin Canning
  • Andrew Heaney/Tyler Skaggs (one is dealt this July)
  • Jaime Barria/Jose Suarez/Felix Pena/Patrick Sandoval as the #6
• 2020 Bullpen:
  • Buttrey, Anderson, Middleton, Bard, Cole, #6 SP, couple waiver claims.
• 2020 Line-up:
  • David Fletcher 3B
  • Tommy La Stella 2B
  • Mike Trout CF
  • Shohei Ohtani DH
  • Justin Upton LF
  • Andrelton Simmons SS
  • Matt Thaiss/Albert Pujols 1B
  • Jo Adell RF
  • Alex Avila C
• 2020 Bench:
  • Smith/Briceno, Kendrick/Rojas/Walsh, Cozart/Rengifo, Goodwin/Hermosillo 

We're fine. This year sucks but the problems are temporary. We have money and prospects to work with.

OK but in the previous post you mentioned not trading from it... my point is that you have to be open to any option that makes the club better. 

[totdprods]

13 minutes ago, floplag said:

OK but in the previous post you mentioned not trading from it... my point is that you have to be open to any option that makes the club better. 

??? I’ve never shied away from dealing from the farm. I think it’s a necessity. We haven’t had the luxury for many years, and one trade wasn’t going to change our fortunes, but I firmly believe we will see some trades before 2020 season begins. We have the depth.

[Slegnaac]

Who is our every day MLB catcher if they deal Lucroy?  And if they don't resign him, who do they go after?

[totdprods]

Just now, Slegnaac said:

Who is our every day MLB catcher if they deal Lucroy?  And if they don't resign him, who do they go after?

Depending on how Smith recovers, he could play a majority. If they’re able to keep Garneau, he or Briceno can play as well. 

There are many FA catchers currently slated for next year. Avila, Cervelli, Romine, Maldonado, Chirinos, d’Arnaud, Lucroy, Wieters, Castro. I think  Gomes and Flowers are likely to hit the market. 

[beatlesrule]

We make these posts every year about what the Angels should and shouldn't do and they pretty much never do what they should or shouldn't. Why do people here think this year is any different? Arte likes to give the illusion of contending. You can't do that when you trade away 3 or 4 or 5 of your players for prospects. Unless you have MLB ready players to replace them with that contribute right away, Arte has shown he doesn't like to waive the white flag so I expect history to repeat itself once again. Fiction can be fun but I find the reference section much more enlightening.

[totdprods]

7 minutes ago, beatlesrule said:

We make these posts every year about what the Angels should and shouldn't do and they pretty much never do what they should or shouldn't. Why do people here think this year is any different? Arte likes to give the illusion of contending. You can't do that when you trade away 3 or 4 or 5 of your players for prospects. Unless you have MLB ready players to replace them with that contribute right away, Arte has shown he doesn't like to waive the white flag so I expect history to repeat itself once again. Fiction can be fun but I find the reference section much more enlightening.

But Eppler does trade away pending FAs pretty often since he started.

Lucroy, Calhoun, and I imagine eventually one SP and one RP will likely be dealt.

[floplag]

1 hour ago, Slegnaac said:

Who is our every day MLB catcher if they deal Lucroy?  And if they don't resign him, who do they go after?

easily our most important question right now to  me.  We at least have options at 3B but C is a black hole organizationally speaking 

[Warfarin]

3 hours ago, totdprods said:

They can make a significant trade. They could probably even make two.
We can put together a package pulling one from the following groups and it would not hurt our immediate MLB club or long-term farm:

• Ward, Thaiss, Rojas, Walsh
• Marsh, Jones
• Soriano, Yan, Bradish, Hernandez, Duensing, Swanda, Pina, Molina
• Deveaux, Jackson, Knowles
• Lund, Hermosillo
• Tavarez, Warren, Higgins, Wantz, Hanewich
• Depending on who we're acquiring, you can probably pull one from Barria, Sandoval, Suarez, Madero as well.
• That also does not count prospects we may bring in from potential Lucroy, Calhoun, Skaggs, Robles, Bedrosian deals

The following comes off the books this year:

• Harvey ($11m), Cahill ($9m), Calhoun ($9.5m), Allen ($8.5m), Bour ($2.5m), Lucroy ($3.35m), likely Garcia ($1.8m), Tropeano ($1m),  Ramirez ($2m)
• That's about $49m - factor in arbitration raises and such and we'll assume we have somewhere around $25m-$35m to work with.

And some of our better players this year didn't really cost anything to acquire to begin with, so that remains a source too:

• Goodwin, La Stella, Smith, Pena, Cole, Robles, Bard

Next 7 months:

• 1) Trade vets in July and add to our prospect pool
  • Lucroy, Calhoun, and probably 1 SP and 1 RP will be tradeable - that's 4+ prospects
• 2) Promote the kids in August/September for extended looks
  • Especially the or SPs and the IFs, perhaps Adell
• 3) Either in July or offseason, swing a trade for a very good arm using the prospects named above
  • Snag a Stroman/Ray/Boyd type with some prospects above, maybe even Bauer. Ward, Marsh, and Hernandez.
• 4) In the offseason, sign another arm to help shore up the rotation with the money we've freed up
  • Cole, Wheeler, Bumgarner, Ryu if you need help at the top, Wood, Roark, Gibson, Odorizzi, Pomeranz, Wacha,  Porcello, Perez if you traded for an 'ace'
• 5) With the leftover money, sign a vet catcher, maybe roll the dice on a 1-yr SP or a FA 1B/3B if the kids didn't impress, waiver claim some bench/relief help
  • Let's say this is the year we finally sign Avila, and we re-up with Kendrick on a 1-yr
• 2020 Rotation:
  • Shohei Ohtani
  • Gerrit Cole
  • Robbie Ray (for Ward, Marsh, Hernandez)
  • Griffin Canning
  • Andrew Heaney/Tyler Skaggs (one is dealt this July)
  • Jaime Barria/Jose Suarez/Felix Pena/Patrick Sandoval as the #6
• 2020 Bullpen:
  • Buttrey, Anderson, Middleton, Bard, Cole, #6 SP, couple waiver claims.
• 2020 Line-up:
  • David Fletcher 3B
  • Tommy La Stella 2B
  • Mike Trout CF
  • Shohei Ohtani DH
  • Justin Upton LF
  • Andrelton Simmons SS
  • Matt Thaiss/Albert Pujols 1B
  • Jo Adell RF
  • Alex Avila C
• 2020 Bench:
  • Smith/Briceno, Kendrick/Rojas/Walsh, Cozart/Rengifo, Goodwin/Hermosillo 

We're fine. This year sucks but the problems are temporary. We have money and prospects to work with.

I like the thought you put in these things, it's quite impressive how you put that together.  I'd probably avoid Robbie Ray because he's due to be a free agent after 2020.  I think I'd target someone we could have through at least 2021, perhaps longer.

Also, I'd personally go after Grandal to play catcher.  He's an elite framer and strong defensive catcher.  He could probably hit in the middle of the order as a LH hitter, too.

So, imagine, vs RHP:

La Stella 2B, Trout CF, Ohtani DH, Grandal C, Upton LF, Goodwin RF (til Adell is ready), Simba SS, Thaiss/Pujols 1B, Fletcher 3B

vs LHP:

Fletcher 3B, Trout CF, Ohtani DH, Upton LF, Simba SS, Pujols 1B, Goodwin RF, Grandal C, La Stella 2B

[totdprods]

43 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

I like the thought you put in these things, it's quite impressive how you put that together.  I'd probably avoid Robbie Ray because he's due to be a free agent after 2020.  I think I'd target someone we could have through at least 2021, perhaps longer.

Also, I'd personally go after Grandal to play catcher.  He's an elite framer and strong defensive catcher.  He could probably hit in the middle of the order as a LH hitter, too.

So, imagine, vs RHP:

La Stella 2B, Trout CF, Ohtani DH, Grandal C, Upton LF, Goodwin RF (til Adell is ready), Simba SS, Thaiss/Pujols 1B, Fletcher 3B

vs LHP:

Fletcher 3B, Trout CF, Ohtani DH, Upton LF, Simba SS, Pujols 1B, Goodwin RF, Grandal C, La Stella 2B

You’re right, Grandal might make more sense than signing another infielder. He cannot be offered a QO next year either, so won’t cost a pick...but I thought there was an option on his deal? Additionally, he’s going to get big money and at his age, catchers can crash FAST. 

To me, Eppler has done a really good job finding production from catchers very cheaply. It isn’t dramatic, but they’ve all been quality in one way or another. I’m fine with him continuing to fill that and the bullpen cheaply since his track record holds weight there.

And regarding Robbie Ray...yes. He, Stroman, and Bauer...all free agents after 2020. There’s some risk. I would swing that trade under the assumption Eppler feels like re-signing or extending one of those is very achievable. Boyd would come with more control, but perhaps without the upside or ceiling of Ray or Stroman or Bauer. Costs vary too. Either way, we can build a package that would grab an arm without hurting our short or long term needs. Ray would give us what Skaggs never became. My thinking is...we’re going for it in 2020 and this offseason proved that even with money to spend you can’t guarantee you’ll sign who you want, so trade for one now, and still try to sign a big name this winter.

Edited May 25, 2019 by totdprods

[Warfarin]

48 minutes ago, totdprods said:

You’re right, Grandal might make more sense than signing another infielder. He cannot be offered a QO next year either, so won’t cost a pick...but I thought there was an option on his deal? Additionally, he’s going to get big money and at his age, catchers can crash FAST. 

To me, Eppler has done a really good job finding production from catchers very cheaply. It isn’t dramatic, but they’ve all been quality in one way or another. I’m fine with him continuing to fill that and the bullpen cheaply since his track record holds weight there.

And regarding Robbie Ray...yes. He, Stroman, and Bauer...all free agents after 2020. There’s some risk. I would swing that trade under the assumption Eppler feels like re-signing or extending one of those is very achievable. Boyd would come with more control, but perhaps without the upside or ceiling of Ray or Stroman or Bauer. Costs vary too. Either way, we can build a package that would grab an arm without hurting our short or long term needs. Ray would give us what Skaggs never became. My thinking is...we’re going for it in 2020 and this offseason proved that even with money to spend you can’t guarantee you’ll sign who you want, so trade for one now, and still try to sign a big name this winter.

It's a mutual option - either side can opt out.  I imagine Grandal is definitely opting out.  Since he can't have a QO offered, he's likely to get a better deal.  I agree catchers can crash, but I'd gamble on him, just because we have such little catching depth in our minor league system.  Our overall lack of minor league catching talent increases my willingness to make such a gamble.  Kruger looks like he could develop into a backup catcher, but not sure about much beyond that.

[Pancake Bear]

14 hours ago, Dochalo said:

if he does that, I think there's about a 90% chance he makes less money than if he signs a multi-year deal.  

I’d put it at 80ish, but I won’t quibble over it. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

6 hours ago, floplag said:

See thats the thing though, if thats the key, then any significant trade is out, AND, we have a limited budget to go after significant FA.  Effectively you are limiting how this team can improve itself and creating a self fulfilling prophecy of failure.  We can close the door on options if the goal is wins at the ML level... we just dont go full dipoto... never go full dipoto

Its not that trading prospects isnt on the table. Its for who were trading for.

Trading the future to try and fix today would be a huge mistake.

Heres the reality....a week ago making some moves seemed reasonable. The team looked pretty decent. (I believe they are). But they arent good. And not near good enough to push this october anyway.

And the only reason were even teasing... is because of guys like goodwin and la stella. I just dont see that holding up. Both have replacements in house (like marsh, adell, thaiss... not to mention upton). It makes more sense to flip them for players who will contribute when the replacements are up, not flip the replacements to help goodwin and lastella.

I keep saying the same thing. We partied when we were younger, ended up in a crap job. Now were going to night school (farm). Still woking at the crap job (majors). Lets finish night school and get our nursing cert and better ourselves instead of picking up overtime at night at our crap job.

Overtime that buys us a boat isnt going to change our lives.

[floplag]

1 hour ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Its not that trading prospects isnt on the table. Its for who were trading for.

Trading the future to try and fix today would be a huge mistake.

Heres the reality....a week ago making some moves seemed reasonable. The team looked pretty decent. (I believe they are). But they arent good. And not near good enough to push this october anyway.

And the only reason were even teasing... is because of guys like goodwin and la stella. I just dont see that holding up. Both have replacements in house (like marsh, adell, thaiss... not to mention upton). It makes more sense to flip them for players who will contribute when the replacements are up, not flip the replacements to help goodwin and lastella.

I keep saying the same thing. We partied when we were younger, ended up in a crap job. Now were going to night school (farm). Still woking at the crap job (majors). Lets finish night school and get our nursing cert and better ourselves instead of picking up overtime at night at our crap job.

Overtime that buys us a boat isnt going to change our lives.

Of course, there is no today in reality.  This season isnt going anywhere.  If you make a trade you make it with eyes on 21 or even 21

[Jeff Fletcher]

Eppler has never traded a significant player with remaining major league control. I think José Alvarez is probably the most established big leaguer he traded, besides walk-year guys.

Unless Skaggs or Heaney are somehow so awful that they become non-tender candidates, they aren’t going anywhere. 

If they’re good enough to be worth trading, they’re too good to trade. Trades of good, established major leaguers are almost always for prospects, which makes no sense for the Angels if they plan to win in 2020.

Ohtani, Skaggs, Heaney, Canning will all be on the 2020 rotation depth chart. If they’re going to trade anyone, it would be someone like Barría, Peña, Suarez, Sandoval, in a deal for a more established starter like Stroman or Ray. 

[Second Base]

Stroman and Ray are probably the prime targets for 20 different teams this deadline. If I were the Jays and D-Backs, I'd sell high. The Angels will likely be in the mix for both, but you have to know the asking price likely includes Brandon Marsh, one of Chris Rodriguez/Jose Soriano, one of Jaime Barria/Felix Pena/Jose Soriano and another project prospect with upside like Trent Deveaux or Stiward Aquino.

Many of us would be fine with sacrificing that sort of load for a year and a half of a mid rotation starter, but that kind of trade seriously depletes a farm system. Many of remember the cost of acquiring guys like Haren and Greinke. It meant losing guys like Pat Corbin, Jean Segura and Tyler Skaggs back when he was an elite prospect. 

You have to know going in that you're giving up four major leaguers for one. That's not a sustainable practice as we saw with Dipoto. So if you make a trade for Marcus Stroman, you do so knowing full well that this means no more big trades for a couple years at least, lest you want to go through a farm system rebuild all over again, which takes a few years to complete, even for a great farm system building GM like Eppler.

So I guess you just have to ask yourself, is Marcus Stroman or Robbie Ray what puts this team over the top? Are they "that guy" for you?

[34red4]

9 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

Eppler has never traded a significant player with remaining major league control. I think José Alvarez is probably the most established big leaguer he traded, besides walk-year guys.

Unless Skaggs or Heaney are somehow so awful that they become non-tender candidates, they aren’t going anywhere. 

If they’re good enough to be worth trading, they’re too good to trade. Trades of good, established major leaguers are almost always for prospects, which makes no sense for the Angels if they plan to win in 2020.

Ohtani, Skaggs, Heaney, Canning will all be on the 2020 rotation depth chart. If they’re going to trade anyone, it would be someone like Barría, Peña, Suarez, Sandoval, in a deal for a more established starter like Stroman or Ray. 

Why were the Yankees scouting Skaggs and Heaney last July if Eppler wasn’t open to trading them? If it was definitive he was not trading them, I’m sure the Yankees of all teams would have known.

[Stradling]

4 minutes ago, Second Base said:

Stroman and Ray are probably the prime targets for 20 different teams this deadline. If I were the Jays and D-Backs, I'd sell high. The Angels will likely be in the mix for both, but you have to know the asking price likely includes Brandon Marsh, one of Chris Rodriguez/Jose Soriano, one of Jaime Barria/Felix Pena/Jose Soriano and another project prospect with upside like Trent Deveaux or Stiward Aquino.

Many of us would be fine with sacrificing that sort of load for a year and a half of a mid rotation starter, but that kind of trade seriously depletes a farm system. Many of remember the cost of acquiring guys like Haren and Greinke. It meant losing guys like Pat Corbin, Jean Segura and Tyler Skaggs back when he was an elite prospect. 

You have to know going in that you're giving up four major leaguers for one. That's not a sustainable practice as we saw with Dipoto. So if you make a trade for Marcus Stroman, you do so knowing full well that this means no more big trades for a couple years at least, lest you want to go through a farm system rebuild all over again, which takes a few years to complete, even for a great farm system building GM like Eppler.

So I guess you just have to ask yourself, is Marcus Stroman or Robbie Ray what puts this team over the top? Are they "that guy" for you?

My answer will be tied into what else they are going to do this offseason on the free agent market.  Stroman by himself is not a guy that puts you over the top.  However if we were to sign a guy like Cole and then we are thinking of Stroman as our 2 or 3, then yea, I think you can look at a deal.  But would I give up that type of package just so they can call that their big acquisition, no I don’t think I would be on board with that.

[T.G.]

Psssst...  guys...

It's out of our control...

Wake up now...

Time to go to school.

[Jeff Fletcher]

19 minutes ago, Jinzu said:

Why were the Yankees scouting Skaggs and Heaney last July if Eppler wasn’t open to trading them? If it was definitive he was not trading them, I’m sure the Yankees of all teams would have known.

You don’t ask permission to scout someone. Teams scout all kinds of players. 

[Second Base]

24 minutes ago, Stradling said:

My answer will be tied into what else they are going to do this offseason on the free agent market.  Stroman by himself is not a guy that puts you over the top.  However if we were to sign a guy like Cole and then we are thinking of Stroman as our 2 or 3, then yea, I think you can look at a deal.  But would I give up that type of package just so they can call that their big acquisition, no I don’t think I would be on board with that.

Just playing advocate here, but you're in favor of trading away our prospects for short term fixes and bloating payroll at the same time. How is this different than what Dipoto did?

 

[Stradling]

Just now, Second Base said:

Just playing advocate here, but you're in favor of trading away our prospects for short term fixes and bloating payroll at the same time. How is this different than what Dipoto did?

 

I guess I should have added that I would expect we sign Stroman to an extension.  As for signing Cole, his contract would be paid by simply subtracting Harvey, Cahill and Allen.  We are graduating players to replace those guys for league minimum.  At some point you have to build a staff that can actually compete for a division and not a wild card.  If we are only planning on drafting and developing front of the rotation arms, then it is safe to say that Trout will be 30-32 before we can actually do that.  

[Glen]

We should get another opener.

[Second Base]

7 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I guess I should have added that I would expect we sign Stroman to an extension.  As for signing Cole, his contract would be paid by simply subtracting Harvey, Cahill and Allen.  We are graduating players to replace those guys for league minimum.  At some point you have to build a staff that can actually compete for a division and not a wild card.  If we are only planning on drafting and developing front of the rotation arms, then it is safe to say that Trout will be 30-32 before we can actually do that.  

Agreed. And a major difference in that strategy I suppose would also be that while it's the same actions as Dipoto, his draft strategy and lack of presence internationally made it so that he couldn't rebuild the farm even if he wanted to.  Now If Eppler traded such a collection of prospects away, I have greater confidence that he could replenish that deficit. 

Just the way things have gone, but in the future, the Angels will only have room for 2-3 of Adell, Marsh, Adams, Knowles, Deveaux and Alex Ramirez.  Meaning that even if guys like Deveaux and Ramirez flamed out, they'd still need to trade one of Knowles, Adams or Marsh.