I believe there is a direct correlation to Maddon's "Fun" that he wants to cultivate & the success that follows..

[angelsnationtalk]

Arte must’ve fired Ausmus because he stated that playing time would be performance based and didn’t start Pujols much in the beginning of the season. We know Pujols is Arte’s favorite. 

[Stradling]

23 minutes ago, RBM said:

I really don’t see what some people see in Matt Thaiss. He was with the Angels the entire second half of the season and was a total bust. His numbers were much worse than Pujols. I don’t see him as an upgrade to Pujols at first. He is limited on defense and has little to no trade value.  

The fact his OBP is 90 points higher than his average is a pretty good indication he knows what he’s doing in the batters box and a good chance he will improve. 

[tdawg87]

55 minutes ago, Stradling said:

The fact his OBP is 90 points higher than his average is a pretty good indication he knows what he’s doing in the batters box and a good chance he will improve. 

Also the fact that he's 24 and has had a whopping 164 plate appearances.

[tdawg87]

Remember when Trout sucked in his first 130 plate appearances? Thankfully they kept that POS in AAA where he belonged.

[Stradling]

Who’s counting on Thaiss being a difference maker rather than a contributor?

[failos]

Off topic but, people here seem to Ersty is the the opposite—someone who would pressure players into performing well. For some reason I think this team needs an Ersty type...

Edited October 27, 2019 by maddong

[failos]

10 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Who’s counting on Thaiss being a difference maker rather than a contributor?

Lol no one in their right mind

[Stradling]

27 minutes ago, RBM said:

Contributor or difference maker. Semantics. 
You think he should be our starting 1B. 
I think he should be starting in AAA. 
It will play itself out in ST. 

No there is a big difference between the two.  You are basically calling him awful and lousy, yet he had over a .700 OPS in his first taste of major league pitching, plus he drew some walks.  Hell he had a better WAR than Albert in a 1/3 of the at bats.  So yea, I will be more patient than you choose to be.  I have zero idea if he will ever be good, but I’d start him if I could to determine that.  

[Docwaukee]

39 minutes ago, RBM said:

The reason Thaiss had limited PA's is because he sucked so much they sat him on the bench. He was with the Angels for the final 75 games but only started 39 games and 8 of those were after Rengifo was injured on September 17. And the age 24 thing makes no sense because it was the 22 year old Rengifo who kept him on the bench.

Seriously, if we are expecting Matty Thaiss to be a difference maker in 2020 we should revisit our expectations. I think he is back in AAA to start the season . I think Fletcher, La Stella and Rengifo will handle 2B, 3B and backup SS.

wrong.  When Thaiss started playing regularly in game 104, he played in 45 games with 137 PA starting 32 of those 45.   In that same period, Rengifo played in 44 games and got 161 PA.  with 41 starts.  

he and Rengifo had the exact same wRC+ of 89.  

thaiss also accumulated 0.7 WAR in his limited time as a 1bman.  

Also, in case you forgot, he started playing 3b this year for the 1st time in his career and did so capably at the major league level after only getting 43 games there in this year in the minors. 

And he's 24.  Not 28.  It was his first time in the bigs.  

Thaiss may not end up being much but to conclude that now based on what you are saying is absurd.  

[Chuck]

I would like Thaiss and Walsh battle it out for the majority of time at 1B. I think they'll both have a solid season in 2020 if they're given the at bats. 

[Docwaukee]

14 hours ago, RBM said:

So I don’t get it Doc. I have much respect but last night was out of character for you. I said two things about Thaiss yesterday.

1. He was ineffective last year and was basically nothing more than a bench player/injury replacement.

He was. 

2. In my opinion he will most likely start the season in AAA this year.

I still think he will.

I never said anything about what he may end up being 4-5 years from now. Who knows? I'm rooting for him, not against him. My comments last night were limited to his role and his performance in 2019 and my thoughts on his role in 2020.

 

On 10/26/2019 at 4:38 PM, RBM said:

The reason Thaiss had limited PA's is because he sucked so much they sat him on the bench. He was with the Angels for the final 75 games but only started 39 games and 8 of those were after Rengifo was injured on September 17. And the age 24 thing makes no sense because it was the 22 year old Rengifo who kept him on the bench.

Seriously, if we are expecting Matty Thaiss to start or make a difference or contribute in 2020 we should revisit our expectations. I think he is back in AAA to start the season . I think Fletcher, La Stella and Rengifo will handle 2B, 3B and backup SS.

 

 

On 10/26/2019 at 11:05 AM, RBM said:

I really don’t see what some people see in Matt Thaiss. He was with the Angels the entire second half of the season and was a total bust. His numbers were much worse than Pujols. I don’t see him as an upgrade to Pujols at first. He is limited on defense and has little to no trade value.  

the first part of your statement is your opinion and if you don't like him that's fine.  I get it.  I'm not super high on him either. 

My issue is with the statements you make about him to support that opinion.  They are significantly exaggerated.  

He wasn't a total bust.  He had and ops+ of 88.  He wasn't way worse than Albert who had and ops+ of 94 and Thaiss was a much better defender.  

He wasn't just an injury replacement.  He didn't get benched.  He was a rookie getting a look.  He got the second most at bats on the team by a rookie.  It was actually a fairly standard audition as far as those go.   

I could see him starting the year in AAA in 2020.  He certainly didn't hit the ground running and make a huge case for replacing Albert outright but he probably showed enough to where it warrants giving him additional at bats to see how he can adjust.  

as an aside, I think because he was a first round pick he doesn't get the same benefit of the doubt that guy like Walsh gets who actually did look horrific at the plate.  

[Mark68]

On 10/25/2019 at 8:26 PM, angelsnationtalk said:

I’m excited for post game interviews to have more than 3 words. Ausmus was like a silent fart.

And we all know about silent farts...

 

...They're deadly.

[Glen]

I thought this thread was about fun.

[Chuck]

Just in case anyone missed the full presser, here it is. 

 

The Angels introduce Joe Maddon

 

[ten ocho recon scout]

On 10/25/2019 at 11:50 PM, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

They need to lure the Astros' hitting coach away...

 

On 10/26/2019 at 12:20 AM, ten ocho recon scout said:

This guy you mean?

And I thought I was just making a stupid, baseless joke back then.

Anyone want the winning lotto numbers?

[Lou]

6 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

 

And I thought I was just making a stupid, baseless joke back then.

Anyone want the winning lotto numbers?

I've always known you're a genius

[Dtwncbad]

I have been saying all along that the “fun” having Cole on the mound would really help the team win.

[Docwaukee]

7 hours ago, Lou said:

I've always known you're a genius

you spelled genious wrong.  

[Lou]

25 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

you spelled genious wrong.  

f'n spellchex

[fan_since79]

On 10/25/2019 at 8:23 PM, Stradling said:

I will laugh when Maddon decides its fun to start Albert most nights.  

In the cleanup spot!