The Angels need to sell

[mulwin444]

24 minutes ago, fan_since79 said:

...with FOUR teams to pass for that 2nd WC.

 

And?

They are still just 4.5 out of a chance for the playoffs with 77 games to go.

You are not selling right now in that instance when you just got your full offense back for the first time all season.

[Adam]

I'd sell La Stella if I could get a good return. Very good chance this this is a fluke and this is what you're supposed to do with guys like La Stella when they play out of their minds in the first half. Plus, Rengifo is pretty damn good and this wouldn't hurt their chances at  WC

[mulwin444]

9 minutes ago, Jay said:

The only piece they have to sell is LaStella.

If somebody wants him and is willing to pay, I say flip him.

 

Angels have a lot of prospects at AA and AAA they can leverage for a mid-range starter with a year left on their control:

Ward, Theiss, Walsh, Hermosillo, Marsh, Jones, Beasley, Castillo, and a few others. 

Not everyone wants an older, established MLB guy in return...sometimes they want potential and control.

[fan_since79]

3 minutes ago, mulwin444 said:

And?

They are still just 4.5 out of a chance for the playoffs with 77 games to go.

You are not selling right now in that instance when you just got your full offense back for the first time all season.

The 'full offense' that scored a handful of runs this weekend.

And don't get me started on this chaos of a rotation.

This week will be very telling. If we continue our lackluster play in Texas and fall six games back, time to sell.

[GrittyVeterans]

10 minutes ago, mulwin444 said:

And?

They are still just 4.5 out of a chance for the playoffs with 77 games to go.

You are not selling right now in that instance when you just got your full offense back for the first time all season.

You need to look at the bigger picture. The team has a tough schedule and has at no point in the season shown they are more than a 77-82 win club.

I think Eppler will, fortunately

This is what I don't understand about this fanbase. Everyone on this board has always said the window to contend is 2020-2023-ish. So why on Earth wouldn't you try to gain more assets for that time period?

 

[mulwin444]

1 minute ago, fan_since79 said:

The 'full offense' that scored a handful of runs this weekend.

And don't get me started on this chaos of a rotation.

This week will be very telling. If we continue our lackluster play in Texas and fall six games back, time to sell.

It's a four game sample size.  You don't base your entire rest of the season on a 4 game series.

However, if they get shit-hammered over their next 7 games leading into the All Star break and fall somewhere like 9-10 games out, you, as GM, have to evaluate and determine if the season is worth clinging on to at that point.  If this team has proven anything, though, it's that just when you think are down, they win 7 of 9 against the likes of the Dodgers and Rays.

[stormngt]

12 hours ago, Troll Daddy said:

I don’t see Buttrey as untouchable ... he might be your best trade piece. The top teams are looking to bolster their bullpen. 

I can't remember the last time we had a dominant reliever.  We finally have one and we should look to trade him.  Ok.

[ScruffytheJanitor]

If we could trade Cozart, Harvey, Cahill, or Lucroy for anything other than a sack of herpes, we'd do it. I could see Calhoun having some value, but it's not like he's bringing back a # 3 starter or anything.

[mulwin444]

3 minutes ago, GrittyVeterans said:

You need to look at the bigger picture. The team has a tough schedule and has at no point in the season shown they are more than a 77-82 win club.

I think Eppler will, fortunately

This is what I don't understand about this fanbase. Everyone on this board has always said the window to contend is 2020-2023-ish. So why on Earth wouldn't you try to gain more assets for that time period?

 

Who are we selling?

If we are competing for 2020 and beyond you are not trading Trout, Upton, Simmons, Fletcher, Rengifo, or Ohtani...there goes anyone of value.

La Stella, I guess, sure, sell high if someone needs an offense-first middle infielder...maybe someone is desperate.

Blown away by an offer for Skaggs or Heaney...sure, but then you need to replace them with 2 affordable starters next season plus another one to round out a 6 man rotation.

You are not getting anything for Calhoun, Pujols, Lucroy, Goodwin, Bour, Cahill, or Harvey.

You kind of left with using prospects you may end up losing in a rule V draft in exchange for someone's mid-range starter with another year of control.  

[mulwin444]

6 minutes ago, stormngt said:

I can't remember the last time we had a dominant reliever.  We finally have one and we should look to trade him.  Ok.

Yeah, you don't trade Buttrey.

[stormngt]

10 hours ago, Second Base said:

Selling was always the plan. This isn't a sudden development. If selling wasn't the plan, then the Angels wouldn't have signed Cahill, Harvey, Allen, Bour and Lucroy to a one year deal. 

Unless Cahill has a breakout performance in his return to relief, he won't be traded. At any rate, Cahill won't be a member of this team behind the deadline. Matt Harvey too. Eppler clearly had no faith in Allen recovering the lost velocity if being successful, so he just cut bait. Bour is doing pretty well right now, but the market isn't favoring 1B only platoon players. Even if he stays hot, teams would be looking to invest in him. Lucroy will almost certainly be traded. Calhoun.... that's largely dependent upon the market. 

Teams that are in contention, do they need a RF? Maybe Tampa Bay? And even then, there's still Castellanos on the market. I'm guessing Calhoun stays put.

Just my guess, Harvey is released, Cahill has a nice little run in the bullpen and some team will give up basically the base minimum for him. Lucroy wil be traded but the return won't be for much more than a AA pitcher that figures to be a backend starter. La Stella stays, Bour is sent back to the minors in favor of Matt Thaiss. Calhoun stays.

There is absolutely no reason to keep Calhoun beyond the trade deadline.  Adell is embarrassing AA pitching and we have Goodwin, Hermosillo, Fletcher, and Walsh who could all play outfield.  Calhoun is expensive and is no longer necessary.  

[GrittyVeterans]

Just now, mulwin444 said:

Who are we selling?

If we are competing for 2020 and beyond you are not trading Trout, Upton, Simmons, Fletcher, Rengifo, or Ohtani...there goes anyone of value.

La Stella, I guess, sure, sell high if someone needs an offense-first middle infielder...maybe someone is desperate.

Blown away by an offer for Skaggs or Heaney...sure, but then you need to replace them with 2 affordable starters next season plus another one to round out a 6 man rotation.

You are not getting anything for Calhoun, Pujols, Lucroy, Goodwin, Bour, Cahill, or Harvey.

You kind of left with using prospects you may end up losing in a rule V draft in exchange for someone's mid-range starter with another year of control.  

Fair enough. I think if it were up to me I'd be getting the best package for La Stella and Skaggs possible. Not sure what to do with Heaney. Calhoun will have some value but not a ton.

I agree we don't have a ton to sell but I think you could come away with a couple decent prospects, and hopefully, the next Buttrey-for-Kinsler trade

[stormngt]

23 minutes ago, mulwin444 said:

And?

They are still just 4.5 out of a chance for the playoffs with 77 games to go.

You are not selling right now in that instance when you just got your full offense back for the first time all season.

if we are only 4.5 games out after the All Star Break I may agree with you.  I still would look to trade Calhoun.  

[mulwin444]

3 minutes ago, GrittyVeterans said:

Fair enough. I think if it were up to me I'd be getting the best package for La Stella and Skaggs possible. Not sure what to do with Heaney. Calhoun will have some value but not a ton.

I agree we don't have a ton to sell but I think you could come away with a couple decent prospects, and hopefully, the next Buttrey-for-Kinsler trade

If we could package La Stella and Skaggs for an up-and-coming SP with 5 to 6 years control, I'd do it in a second...I just think you are likely getting someone's really good high-A ball prospects in return.  Unless we can get someone in return ready to join the rotation for 2020, I'm not sure Eppler moves Skaggs or Heaney.  

With Rengifo and Fletcher all providing solid D and good offense (Rengifo .278 .327 .760 OPS 118 OPS+ in June), La Stella is definitely a trade candidate and if your Eppler you are gauging teams' interest.

Calhoun can be moved, I'm sure, but it would just be salary relief at this point as I can't really see getting anything of value for him after being pretty meh for almost two seasons.

[Tank]

1 hour ago, Torridd said:

Could this just be three bad games? The team deserves more rope considering how they've come back to .500

You must be new here. Welcome.

[Docwaukee]

Even if we sell, we are only going to consider trading guys with an expiring contract after this year.  

Basically that's Lucroy and Calhoun.  I personally don't think Lucroy has a shred of value on the trade market.  He can't hit, and there isn't one playoff team who'd want him behind the dish in a critical game only to have him allow a wild pitch that he shouldn't have.  His only value (supposedly) is that he works well with the staff.  Tough to build rapport in less than half a season.  

Kole has some value.  Not 'get a top 100 prospect' value but some.  Enough to get another Sandoval, Rengifo type.  He's a very good defender, and hit RHers well above average.  

This team had a crappy 3 games when hope was building.  The timing sucked and even Ausmus sounded frustrated.  But the bottom line is that the offense is very good.  Not elite mind you, but it could be.  The pen has some solid pieces and could use a couple more but 1-2 of Eppler's finds could make them very good as well.  If you can bump Pena to the pen, that actually solves one problem as I think his stuff will play up there.  Middleton is going to be important and maybe even JC.  That could actually be three solid pen additions all coming internally.  

The rotation is the obvious problem.  I still think Skaggs and Heaney can be better.  Not great but at least average and if they can be the ones to fill out the back of the rotation, then you really aren't in too bad of shape for next year.  Ohtani and a front line SP FA make a big difference.  Right now though, I am thinking that you put Canning, Suarez, and Barria out there every five or six days to see what you've got.  

I just don't see them trading anyone who can help in 2020 unless they get a lot more than you'd expect.  

[Inside Pitch]

1 hour ago, ScruffytheJanitor said:

If we could trade Cozart, Harvey, Cahill, or Lucroy for anything other than a sack of herpes, we'd do it. I could see Calhoun having some value, but it's not like he's bringing back a # 3 starter or anything.

Given the advances in medicine, would a bag of herpes be worse than keeping those guys around?

Cozart is done.   A recent article in The Athletic basically quotes him saying he cant get halfway across his body with his arm..   He's apparently gone from having had a loose shoulder for years to one that's impossibly tight and nearly immobile.   The article also stated he was going to have the Texas Rangers team physician look at it but as it stands now the shoulder may be "career altering".

So, he's possibly become Skinny Prince Fielder

[Inside Pitch]

Just throwing this out there...

Simba is probably my favorite current Angel after Trout -- but he's not getting any younger, his contract only runs through next year and the team's play without him may influence whether or not they view him as trade bait.  It may come down to who they think they can keep and continue to play at current levels -- LaStella or Simmons.  My preference would be to keep Simmons but Rengifo's emergence particularly the last month and half.  Since then (35 games), he's put up a .280/.343/.408, batting line.

Im guessing one of the reasons they chose to keep him up was to try and gauge if this recent surge is more than simply a hot streak.

[Angel Oracle]

2 hours ago, mulwin444 said:

And?

They are still just 4.5 out of a chance for the playoffs with 77 games to go.

You are not selling right now in that instance when you just got your full offense back for the first time all season.

Got to have pitching to go with the offense though.    This season reminds me too much of 2000.     

Is Oakland pitching really THAT good?    I seriously doubt it, without Montas.

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, stormngt said:

There is absolutely no reason to keep Calhoun beyond the trade deadline.  Adell is embarrassing AA pitching and we have Goodwin, Hermosillo, Fletcher, and Walsh who could all play outfield.  Calhoun is expensive and is no longer necessary.  

I agree, but whose buying Calhoun? In order to sell, you need a buyer. 

[Lou]

25 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Simba is probably my favorite current Angel after Trout -- but he's not getting any younger ...

We should definitely keep all of the players that are getting younger.

[floplag]

30 minutes ago, Second Base said:

I agree, but whose buying Calhoun? In order to sell, you need a buyer. 

This is simply not true though.  I realize most here think hes trash for some crazy reason but hes putting up a 1.2 WAR, good for 12th best in baseball, the exact same as Dexter Fowler, Jay Bruce, Nick Catellanos which many here want to get, and better than Choo, Harper, Puig, Piscotti, Markakis, Stanton etc... oh and just 0.1 under Haniger who everyone wants tor trade for and Riddick and Pence...  All while giving gold glove defense. 
If you think he has no value, you arent paying attention it would seem.  

[Inside Pitch]

34 minutes ago, Lou said:

We should definitely keep all of the players that are getting younger.

Given his healing tendencies...  Maybe he is!

[Lou]

2 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Given his healing tendencies...  Maybe he is!

He's a wolverine.

Whatever the hell that's supposed to mean

[Angel Oracle]

44 minutes ago, Lou said:

We should definitely keep all of the players that are getting younger.

What positions does Benjamin Button play?