The quest for .500

[Claude]

It's been kinda fun discussing the chase to .500

It's going to happen soon but then what? Can we get to second place? That should be our next goal.

[Pancake Bear]

I have good news and bad news. 

The good news is we’re gonna win today’s game. 

The bad news is we’re going to lose tomorrow. 

The silver-lining is you all now have some time freed up tomorrow. You’re welcome. 

[Blarg]

Philosophically speaking, tomorrow never actually comes, you are always living in today. 

[Docwaukee]

the quest for .500 is like the quest for a nice pair of pants.  

[Angelsjunky]

2 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

the quest for .500 is like the quest for a nice pair of pants.  

The secret to finding a nice pair of pants is to realize that it isn't about the pants. Its about your fat ass.

[Jay]

3 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

the quest for .500 is like the quest for a nice pair of pants.  

or good Tamales.

[nando714]

Need to take 3 of 4 in Toronto. Bottom line. 

[Duren, Duren]

The Blue Jays enter most games expecting to be beaten. Their announcers (Shulman and Buck Martinez tonight on TV) rarely even talk about winning. It's all about hoping for young players to prove themselves and veterans finding their lost form. 

They do have long ball hitters and some good arms, but are wretched on defense and still searching for an identity. 

But with no pressure to win, you can't get over confident or sloppy. 

The Angels have swept the Blue Jays so far this season. The odds of back to back series sweeps is unlikely, but this is a golden chance to finally move past .500. It would be a nice emotional boost entering St. Louis on a high. 

[Docwaukee]

3 hours ago, Calzone 2 said:

It's been kinda fun discussing the chase to .500

It's going to happen soon but then what? Can we get to second place? That should be our next goal.

it's a good question.  

to me it means that we gone 27-21 since we started 9-16.  Pretty much from the point where we added Canning to the rotation.   In the meantime, we've pitched Allen, got Heaney, and now we've got Upton.  We're also close to getting a 5 win SS back.  

A rotation of Heaney, Skaggs, Canning, Suarez and Pena is mind blowing but it's solid.  

The biggest question right now is the bullpen.  They need a break or maybe some new blood.  We need a healthy Middleton back sooner than later.  Noe has been good in the right role.  Ausmus has done a solid job of that.  

They've got to move on from Garcia.  Get Key back.  Even still, they are one short from making a run.  

The rotation is still making that one bad pitch.  

I should post this in the unpopular opinion thread, but I still think Lucroy has a lot to do with that.  He's a terrible pitch caller.  I'm probably a bit off base because my view is likely anecdotal.  Like today, I actually said to myself, don't throw a fastball.  Fastball was called and boom.  HR.  

Home runs are killing this staff.  To me, that's not an accident.  It's being aware of what certain guys are capable of in certain counts.  

[Claude]

3 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

it's a good question.  

to me it means that we gone 27-21 since we started 9-16.  Pretty much from the point where we added Canning to the rotation.   In the meantime, we've pitched Allen, got Heaney, and now we've got Upton.  We're also close to getting a 5 win SS back.  

A rotation of Heaney, Skaggs, Canning, Suarez and Pena is mind blowing but it's solid.  

The biggest question right now is the bullpen.  They need a break or maybe some new blood.  We need a healthy Middleton back sooner than later.  Noe has been good in the right role.  Ausmus has done a solid job of that.  

They've got to move on from Garcia.  Get Key back.  Even still, they are one short from making a run.  

The rotation is still making that one bad pitch.  

I should post this in the unpopular opinion thread, but I still think Lucroy has a lot to do with that.  He's a terrible pitch caller.  I'm probably a bit off base because my view is likely anecdotal.  Like today, I actually said to myself, don't throw a fastball.  Fastball was called and boom.  HR.  

Home runs are killing this staff.  To me, that's not an accident.  It's being aware of what certain guys are capable of in certain counts.  

You predicted that Mike Trout would be an Angel for life. You were spot on. You also predicted that the Angels would be good in 2019. You're very close to being right about that too. It seems to me that they are on the cusp of being very good if everybody comes back healthy and contributes. That, combined with some savvy moves before the deadline, some call ups, just might push them into a serious playoff run.  It could happen but everything has to go right. 

[Docwaukee]

29 minutes ago, Calzone 2 said:

You predicted that Mike Trout would be an Angel for life. You were spot on. You also predicted that the Angels would be good in 2019. You're very close to being right about that too. It seems to me that they are on the cusp of being very good if everybody comes back healthy and contributes. That, combined with some savvy moves before the deadline, some call ups, just might push them into a serious playoff run.  It could happen but everything has to go right. 

I don't remember predicting they'd be good in 2019.  I remember stating that they'd have a shot if a few things went right.  Those things had a lot to do with the pitching holding their own which hasn't happened.  I was most concerned about the rotation and felt good about the offense and pen.  Right now, I am fine with the rotation as long as Harvey and Cahill don't return to it.  The pen is my biggest concern right now.  They are overworked and lack depth.  I am not sure where those extra 1 or 2 arms are going to come from at this point.  

[HeavenlyHalos]

We could trade Goodwin for a pen arm. Or Calhoun for that matter (plus more in his case). Of course, that move would have been better prior to DFA'ing Puello. When is Middleton expected back anyways?

[floplag]

9 hours ago, Dochalo said:

it's a good question.  

to me it means that we gone 27-21 since we started 9-16.  Pretty much from the point where we added Canning to the rotation.   In the meantime, we've pitched Allen, got Heaney, and now we've got Upton.  We're also close to getting a 5 win SS back.  

A rotation of Heaney, Skaggs, Canning, Suarez and Pena is mind blowing but it's solid.  

The biggest question right now is the bullpen.  They need a break or maybe some new blood.  We need a healthy Middleton back sooner than later.  Noe has been good in the right role.  Ausmus has done a solid job of that.  

They've got to move on from Garcia.  Get Key back.  Even still, they are one short from making a run.  

The rotation is still making that one bad pitch.  

I should post this in the unpopular opinion thread, but I still think Lucroy has a lot to do with that.  He's a terrible pitch caller.  I'm probably a bit off base because my view is likely anecdotal.  Like today, I actually said to myself, don't throw a fastball.  Fastball was called and boom.  HR.  

Home runs are killing this staff.  To me, that's not an accident.  It's being aware of what certain guys are capable of in certain counts.  

to be fair though Doc, a lot of those HR dont look like they are hitting the spot so its kinda hard to put on Lucroy if the pitcher doesnt hit his spot... but perhaps thats just my opinion on the matter.
Aside from that remember more help is on the way, Ramirez, Middleton (though i havent seen any updated news on him)  The guy they hoped would be the anchor at the back nearly sunk the ship which hurt of course.  
Right now i would love to see Epp go get another solid bullpen arm even if not a closer and that top guy at the front.  
But... back to the matter at hand... getting to 500.  This team needs to make a bit of a run to tell the front office they deserve that shot.  Its time.  It needs to happen.  For the rest of the first half we have 19 games vs Tor, StL, Cin, Oak, Tex, and Hou.. no easy run there but if they could win 12 of them, get to a couple games over 500 largely against in division rivals that would put them in striking distance of the WC and completely justify buying.  But... as long as they sit under 500, the rest is moot.

[Stradling]

I agree Flop except I only want to give up meaningful prospects for controllable players in return.  I’m not giving up Marsh and others for Bumgarner.  I am not sure I make a run at a reliever because the cost always seems so high.  I’d be more prone to trade bullpen pieces than acquire them at the deadline.  

[floplag]

37 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I agree Flop except I only want to give up meaningful prospects for controllable players in return.  I’m not giving up Marsh and others for Bumgarner.  I am not sure I make a run at a reliever because the cost always seems so high.  I’d be more prone to trade bullpen pieces than acquire them at the deadline.  

Agreed 100%.. save for the bullpen part pending who were talking about.  in fact im not sure i have any interest in MadBum at all, something bothers me there, he seems fragile mentally, idk id take the chance if the price was right but i would not over pay.   I think i would give more for Bauer/Stroman easily but we obviously match up very well with SF so...
 well see.

As far as reliever i dont mean a high priced closer, frankly i think that time is more or less over for MLB, just someone else in the line of guys we have to give it more depth of quality, nothing we should need to over pay for though i would pay more for the right guy.  It comes down to this, even if we get the ace at the top of the rotation, the rest of the staff are not innings eaters.  Were going to need a deep bullpen regardless. I know we have Ramirez coming back who will probably slot in there at least for the rest of this year and Middleton at some point though i havent seen an update on him lately... but having another Buttrey or Robles type guy out there would make a world of difference. 

As far as what to trade... well thats the 64K dollar question at this point.  I still think that if a player inst part of the 20+ plan he should be on that block to at least see what could be had for them.   Making the run at the WC matters, but not at the cost of a key piece needed beyond that.

[mulwin444]

13 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

The secret to finding a nice pair of pants is to realize that it isn't about the pants. Its about your fat ass.

I thought it had to do with the friends we made along the way...

[totdprods]

We could really benefit from Cole pitching similar to he did last year, and like how Bard did for a stretch earlier this season. 

All the injuries to our offensive depth and the lack of innings from the rotation has forced Eppler to option relievers for fresh arms way too often, and it’s starting to lead to overuse and a reliance on Noe and Garcia too often. The rotation has to stabilize so they can pump the brakes on the lesser pen arms, bump an extra bat to SLC, and keep an extra guy like Bard or Cole up full time.

Edited June 18, 2019 by totdprods

[Lou]

7 minutes ago, floplag said:

.  in fact im not sure i have any interest in MadBum at all, something bothers me there, he seems fragile mentally, 

You must not watch the World Series

[Lou]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

I am not sure I make a run at a reliever because the cost always seems so high.  I’d be more prone to trade bullpen pieces than acquire them at the deadline.  

Getting Buttrey worked out ok last year

[Taylor]

I guess it will be exciting if and when they finally get to .500. It kind of feels like having a kid who keeps failing 8th grade, and then they finally move on to high school at age 17.

[Stradling]

21 minutes ago, Lou said:

Getting Buttrey worked out ok last year

Cool.  Which 34 year old second baseman should we trade for the next Buttrey?

[floplag]

27 minutes ago, Lou said:

You must not watch the World Series

No i watched it just fine but then i see him meltdown over a gopher ball this year and it tells a different story.  The series was years ago, he doesnt seem the same guy today.   Its just my opinion. 

[krAbs]

[Jay]

11 hours ago, Dochalo said:

to me it means that we gone 27-21 since we started 9-16.

To me it means the Angels are 28-29 since their 8-8 start.

 

[Angel Oracle]

14 hours ago, Blarg said:

Philosophically speaking, tomorrow never actually comes, you are always living in today. 

Tomorrow never knows.