Trade Deadline

[instant karma]

Dear Friends:

Like many of you, I remain optimistic  our Angels can compete for a wild card spot this year.  Hopefully, we take advantage of our upcoming games with Baltimore and Detroit.  We have an above average offense and an above average bullpen.  With the addition of Adell next year, Ohtani returning as a pitcher and the maturation of guys like Canning and Soarez, we should be better next year.  If we sell prior to trade deadline, that doesn't necaserilly mean we are giving up on this season.  It all depends on what we sell and we we get in return.  We have a surplus of good infielders (La Stella, Fletcher, Renjifo, and Simmons.  We have  Thaiss as well, but he's yet to produce offensively.  We have more good infieiders than postions to play them at.  Fletcher and Renjfo are probably going to even get better next year, as  will Thaiss.  We know Simmons is terrific.  So from an infield perspective, we are solid for years to come.  With trout and Adell manning two of your outfiled spots, we are set for years to come in the outfield.  I think our bullpen with Buttrey is good as well.  We all know, that we need more start pitching.  You can never have too much starting pitching.  Gabe Paul coined that phrase years ago.  Yes, we will have two studs next year in Ohtani and canning, but we need more starting pitching.  You have to give up quality to get quality.  I'd rather give up a veteran than a young player who we have salary control over.  I love Simmons and I don't want to give him up.  Let me repeat, I love Simmons.  But I'd be willing to listen to hear what pitching prospects we might get in return for a Simmons who is the best defensive shortstop in baseball and is a slid 280 hitter.  Please don't hate me.  I love Simmons.  We would have Renjifo at second and Fletcher at short.  That's not awful.  

[Troll Daddy]

 

[Angel Oracle]

Anyone else surprised that with just 8 days to go, and there being no August trading period anymore, there hasn't been very much movement at all yet? 

[Second Base]

13 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Anyone else surprised that with just 8 days to go, and there being no August trading period anymore, there hasn't been very much movement at all yet? 

Lots of teams still trying to decide if they're buying or selling. The second wild card and the firm trade deadline are incompatible. I'm guessing you'll see a lot of teams sit this one out.

The few sellers there are can ask for the and the stars with no other alternatives. Buying teams know that spending so much in trades is an unsustainable team model and are wary to part with the few prospects they have. The rest of the teams in the middle have no reason to buy or sell.

My guess is that the deadline will be a snooze fest with only a few relievers changing hands, and maybe one or two SP, that's about it.

[tdawg87]

We've got Detroit and Baltimore before the deadline, so naturally we'll "get hot" and not sell anything, only to start August with a 6 game losing streak.

[Claude]

16 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

We've got Detroit and Baltimore before the deadline, so naturally we'll "get hot" and not sell anything, only to start August with a 6 game losing streak.

We’ll still get 3M fans so mission complete. 

[Dick Enberg]

52 minutes ago, Calzone 2 said:

We’ll still get 3M fans so mission complete. 

Half warm bodies, the other half ghost fans. Arte is into the spiritual thing...

[eligrba]

4 hours ago, Calzone 2 said:

We’ll still get 3M fans so mission complete. 

Would things be better if the attendance was similar to the Rays?

[disarcina]

for the deadline stuff -- my question -- what do the Halos have (realistically) to sell?

Calhoun is the only player I can think of.

Simmons ? No way I  trade him. He makes the team better.

we just don't have anyone to trade,  Bedrosian? some team desperate for pen help, I guess. Wouldn't get much in return.

Fletcher or Renifgo (spelled wrong). Not sure I'd part with either one, maybe Fletcher -- would want some pitching prospect in return. not really a 'deadline' type deal on our side, then.

[Claude]

We just need some minor tweaking. 

[TroutAdell]

The problem is that the Angels are just good enough to be mediocre, always drafting in the middle of each round. To become a perennial contender it will take some superior development of the young players coming through the minors. There has not been evidence that the current instructors are good at their jobs. I know that Minor League team records are secondary to the development of the players but the Angels have to have the worst organizational winning percentage in baseball. If the organization was developing pitchers Eppler wouldn’t have to acquire so many DFAs. There is a serious lack of catching in the organization and Third Base is still a black hole. Personally, I think that Swanson should be replaced. There have been no All Stars produced in several years. It is hard to see the Angels consistently contending without producing its own pitching. 

[Angel Oracle]

Just now, TroutTrumbo said:

The problem is that the Angels are just good enough to be mediocre, always drafting in the middle of each round. To become a perennial contender it will take some superior development of the young players coming through the minors. There has not been evidence that the current instructors are good at their jobs. I know that Minor League team records are secondary to the development of the players but the Angels have to have the worst organizational winning percentage in baseball. If the organization was developing pitchers Eppler wouldn’t have to acquire so many DFAs. There is a serious lack of catching in the organization and Third Base is still a black hole. Personally, I think that Swanson should be replaced. There have been no All Stars produced in several years. It is hard to see the Angels consistently contending without producing its own pitching. 

Part of this is the aggressive promotions now taking place in the org.    It's always been more about player development than winning % on the farm, and for a good reason.

It is disappointing about the lack of catching prospects, although Eppler does seem to find catchers from other orgs (Machete in 2018, and Smith this season).

3B at least now has Fletcher and his solid glove/arm and solid enough hit tools.  

[TroutAdell]

23 minutes ago, disarcina said:

for the deadline stuff -- my question -- what do the Halos have (realistically) to sell?

Calhoun is the only player I can think of.

Simmons ? No way I  trade him. He makes the team better.

we just don't have anyone to trade,  Bedrosian? some team desperate for pen help, I guess. Wouldn't get much in return.

Fletcher or Renifgo (spelled wrong). Not sure I'd part with either one, maybe Fletcher -- would want some pitching prospect in return. not really a 'deadline' type deal on our side, then.

No to trading Fletcher. He is way too valuable hitting in front of Trout. You have to develop most of your players not count on FA and trades. They are only valuable if you are one or two players away from competing. 

[TroutAdell]

1 minute ago, Angel Oracle said:

Part of this is the aggressive promotions now taking place in the org.    It's always been more about player development than winning % on the farm, and for a good reason.

It is disappointing about the lack of catching prospects, although Eppler does seem to find catchers from other orgs (Machete in 2018, and Smith this season).

3B at least now has Fletcher and his solid glove/arm and solid enough hit tools.  

The problem is the lack of development of players that you can build around. I am a big fan of Fletcher but there doesn’t seem to be anyone in the system to play third. Jackson started out at SS but has now been moved to 2B, he is also at least 3 years away. The system has real good depth in the outfield but not on the mound. Again, where will the catching come from? How many early round picks, not counting the first round, are considered top prospects. These are the results of poor scouting and drafting. Swanson has to be held responsible. 

[Angel Oracle]

Lance Lynn has seemingly reinvented himself.   His command is much better than ever, only 45 BBs in 189 innings back to about a year ago when the Yankees acquired him, while striking out 213.  He’s only allowed 15 HRs in that time.

He still has two years to go after this season, owed only around $20 million total, and is still just 32.

Sounds like a great target, but what does Texas need most, and are they willing to deal him now or after the season, or at all?

[totdprods]

38 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Lance Lynn has seemingly reinvented himself.   His command is much better than ever, only 45 BBs in 189 innings back to about a year ago when the Yankees acquired him, while striking out 213.  He’s only allowed 15 HRs in that time.

He still has two years to go after this season, owed only around $20 million total, and is still just 32.

Sounds like a great target, but what does Texas need most, and are they willing to deal him now or after the season, or at all?

Texas seems like a team that would have interest in Ward, Thaiss, Walsh, Rojas, and Hermosillo. Their hitting prospects have underwhelmed. Assuming their new ballpark, modeled after the current one, continues to be hitter-friendly, it could be a stadium that lends more to the success of those Angels prospects more than other teams’, which could give our guys a little boost in value to them. 

Mike Minor I think is the real variable here. He’s more attractive to trade for Texas, but he doesn’t seem to want to go anywhere and has a limited NTC. If they can trade Minor, they probably keep Lynn because they have no pitching right now - he’s important to them purely from an innings-eating role at a minimum.

But if they can’t find a taker for Minor, they might ramp up efforts to deal Lynn just to get *some* prospects for a pitcher this July, because the only thing they need more than pitching is some more prospects. It’s a tricky situation for them. 

I’d imagine someone like Barria, Suarez, or Sandoval would be insisted upon too. The Angels might part with one, or I could see them trying to offer two lesser arms instead (say, Andrew Wantz and Aaron Hernandez instead of one of the first three) which the Rangers might be okay with. They’re in a similar position to where the Angels were a few years back, and might be fine opting for quantity over quality, simply to help restock the farm.

 

[Slegnaac]

Trading within the Division always makes me nervous.  We want to get better, but do we want to help our direct competition get better as well?

[totdprods]

1 hour ago, Slegnaac said:

Trading within the Division always makes me nervous.  We want to get better, but do we want to help our direct competition get better as well?

Understandable...but I think Texas will need a lot more help than what the Angels would have to give up for Lynn to really make themselves a threat again. 

I think this deadline could come down to 'which team out there has a SP to deal and reasonable interest in Taylor Ward', and Texas might fit that bill.