THE Official 2019-2020 Hot Stove Thread

[m0nkey]

50 minutes ago, True Grich said:

 

Anthony Rendon not going to the Phillies now confirmed. 

[Taylor]

A live image of the MLB hot stove.

[Second Base]

2 hours ago, GrittyVeterans said:

Yet you have zero plans or desire to improve the offense

I do feel that the offense will improve organically. Keep in mind, Shohei still hasn't even entered his prime, La Stella is healthy again, they're getting Trout back (he missed the last month), they're getting Simmons and Upton back, and chances are, Rengifo and Thaiss will be better now that they've had more reps. Walsh too.

[totdprods]

4 minutes ago, Second Base said:

I do feel that the offense will improve organically. Keep in mind, Shohei still hasn't even entered his prime, La Stella is healthy again, they're getting Trout back (he missed the last month), they're getting Simmons and Upton back, and chances are, Rengifo and Thaiss will be better now that they've had more reps. Walsh too.

Agree fully. The Angels offense was actually one of the best in baseball until Skaggs’ death. Things just unraveled from that point. Ironically, the pitching wasn’t as bad the second half. Signs of life at least. 

Last year really just a fucking disaster and one day will just be seen as an unfortunate aberration of horrible luck, I think. 

[Second Base]

3 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Agree fully. The Angels offense was actually one of the best in baseball until Skaggs’ death. Things just unraveled from that point. Ironically, the pitching wasn’t as bad the second half. Signs of life at least. 

Last year really just a fucking disaster and one day will just be seen as an unfortunate aberration of horrible luck, I think. 

It will, I'm confident of that. These professional ball players, they love a luxurious lifestyle. Well paid, people always wanting stuff from them. It doesn't mean they believe themselves invincible, but when they lose one of their teammates, it F's with their psyche. These guys spend so much time together.

I don't think many of the Angels, or any team for that matter is prepared to face and deal with that reality. It particularly hit Canning hard. 

[mmc]

 

[mmc]

[floplag]

2 hours ago, Second Base said:

I do feel that the offense will improve organically. Keep in mind, Shohei still hasn't even entered his prime, La Stella is healthy again, they're getting Trout back (he missed the last month), they're getting Simmons and Upton back, and chances are, Rengifo and Thaiss will be better now that they've had more reps. Walsh too.

Im thinning thats a largely over optimistic view of how much its likely to improve personally.   WEll some take steps forward, sure, but some may regress as well.  Organic change isnt going to be enough. 

[Troll Daddy]

Yes the offense will improve if everyone manages to stay healthy. The same applies to all teams. Yet, there is some very real concerns with the Angels offense. I don’t need to go into detail but if Arte spends a gazillion dollars on pitching you better protect your investment with great offense. Angels ranked 20th in runs scored. Please don’t bore me with Injuries ... you can bet will have our share of injuries next season. 
 

[Lou]

Howie to stay with Nats.

1/$6.25M with mutual option for 2021 

[totdprods]

Jeepers, 2/$16m for Lyles.

[Lou]

I have no idea who Jordan Lyles is 

[totdprods]

4 minutes ago, Lou said:

I have no idea who Jordan Lyles is 

Off the cuff, it’s almost like Parker Bridwell getting 2/$16m if he was a free agent after that good year he had for the Angels. 

[Second Base]

8 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

Yes the offense will improve if everyone manages to stay healthy. The same applies to all teams. Yet, there is some very real concerns with the Angels offense. I don’t need to go into detail but if Arte spends a gazillion dollars on pitching you better protect your investment with great offense. Angels ranked 20th in runs scored. Please don’t bore me with Injuries ... you can bet will have our share of injuries next season. 
 

I don't know.....I mean look at the three Giants teams that won the World Series this past decade. None of them had a particularly fearsome lineup. But they came up with timely hits. The Angels already have more talent at the plate than those three teams had.

Those three teams just had utterly dominant rotations and a bullpen that could shut down 4 innings at will. That's what the Angels need. I feel like the bullpen is getting there. Eppler has done a great job with that unit. But they're still two good starting pitchers away from achieving that level of excellence. Canning will develop into that, as will Ohtani. But they needed Gerrit Cole AND at least a Dallas Keuchel type before becoming that dangerous. Even then, those Giants teams, a couple of them were wild card winners if I'm not mistaken.

I suppose sometimes you don't need to be the best to win. Just the team with the most momentum.

[Chuck]

4 hours ago, RBM said:

Gerrit Cole shows just what can be done with a personal catcher

By Kevin Kernan

October 6, 2019 | 3:05am

“Back to the communication, like we’re — and this is not to exclude [the other catchers], I think, obviously, he protects the running game quite well, which is why he’s the manager’s preference. He’s so fun to work with, the communication that we have. We’re very honest with each other.”

Noted Cole of Maldonado, “He’ll come in and tell me that, you know, ‘You’re full of it, that was a stupid pitch.’ And I’ll come in and tell him, ‘You’re full of it, that was a stupid call.’

“To be able to have that conversation and be serious but have, like, some lightheartedness to it and know that it’s not personal, that’s pretty cool,’’ Cole said.

...Some quotes from Gerrit Cole on his personal catcher. 

I've been saying this all along that we should just sign Maldonado already, it will help Cole make his decision easier. 

But don't stop there, also sign Jason Castro and get those two in a platoon. Between the two, they could easily hit 20 HR's.

[mmc]

 

[mmc]

 

[Angels_Make_Me_Drink]

Slow news day for Cole...makes me wonder if a decision is looming and he took today to mull it over. 

[floplag]

11 minutes ago, mymerlincat said:

 

No one here interested, but the Astros, who have a rep for building pitchers, are in... 

[mmc]

12 minutes ago, floplag said:

No one here interested, but the Astros, who have a rep for building pitchers, are in... 

Yeah, I really don’t want the Astros getting their hands on him.  

[Taylor]

2 hours ago, totdprods said:

Off the cuff, it’s almost like Parker Bridwell getting 2/$16m if he was a free agent after that good year he had for the Angels. 

I look forward to him pitching like an ace in his four starts against the Angels but posting a 6.00 ERA against everyone else.

[failos]

Jeff Passan looks like a dwarf/midget version of John Krasinski 

[Taylor]

1 hour ago, Angels_Make_Me_Drink said:

Slow news day for Cole...makes me wonder if a decision is looming and he took today to mull it over. 

Stuck on the 5, in line at Del Taco, in a passive-agressive conversation with GA at Roger Dunn, playing Xbox with Scott Kazmir, etc.

[floplag]

8 hours ago, mymerlincat said:

Yeah, I really don’t want the Astros getting their hands on him.  

its not sexy that for sure but he legit could be the steal of this off season if he truly did make the adjustments people are saying he did.  Then again it could be smoke and mirrors i suppose.

[UndertheHalo]

Cool, Jon.