If you had total control, what 3 things would you do immediately?

[Dtwncbad]

If you had total control of the organization (basically owner and GM at the same time) what two or three (or more?) things would you do immediately?

[halomatt]

16 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

If you had total control of the organization (basically owner and GM at the same time) what two or three (or more?) things would you do immediately?

1.  Ensure Arte Moreno stays far, far, far away from any player-based decisions.

2.  Cut Albert loose. 

3.  Play the kids.  Trade off any assets for anything (even salary). Screw the playoffs.  Gotta know if Ward, Thaiss, Rengifo, Adell, Jones, Marsh, et. al. are going to be anything. 

(It's fourth, but imaginary fun option:  Go back in time and hire Andrew Friedman when the Angels had the chance.)

[nate]

28 minutes ago, halomatt said:

1.  Ensure Arte Moreno stays far, far, far away from any player-based decisions.

2.  Cut Albert loose. 

3.  Play the kids.  Trade off any assets for anything (even salary). Screw the playoffs.  Gotta know if Ward, Thaiss, Rengifo, Adell, Jones, Marsh, et. al. are going to be anything. 

(It's fourth, but imaginary fun option:  Go back in time and hire Andrew Friedman when the Angels had the chance.)

Totally agree with this except the Angels never had a chance at Friedman.

[Dtwncbad]

1 hour ago, halomatt said:

1.  Ensure Arte Moreno stays far, far, far away from any player-based decisions.

2.  Cut Albert loose. 

3.  Play the kids.  Trade off any assets for anything (even salary). Screw the playoffs.  Gotta know if Ward, Thaiss, Rengifo, Adell, Jones, Marsh, et. al. are going to be anything. 

(It's fourth, but imaginary fun option:  Go back in time and hire Andrew Friedman when the Angels had the chance.)

Can you never put Taylor Ward in the same sentence/list as Adell and Marsh ever again please?

Ward is no kid now. He was NEVER the caliber of prospect Adell and Marsh are.  Those two are legit prospects with high ceilings.   Ward was never that.  And almost everything indicates he has already reached his ceiling as a guy probably not good enough to stay in the major leagues.

I wouldn’t waste another at bat on Ward.

[wopphil]

1. Figure out, financially, how to afford a top free agent pitcher this offseason (Bauer). Then make financial moves to help make that happen (trade Simmons, non-tender Bedrosian; there really isn’t much flexibility here). 
 

2. Play the youngsters. Not sure which ones, but definitely Rengifo and Thaiss, and possibly Adell, Marsh, and Detmers. See if they can make it at this level and be relied upon to contribute next year. 
 

3. Figure out the Pujols situation. It is easy enough to keep him on the expanded roster this year, but he shouldn’t be around next year. Figure out a respectful exit strategy. 

[tdawg87]

1. Invite Jerry Dipoto over for dinner and punch him as hard as I can in the nuts.

[eligrba]

7 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

1. Invite Jerry Dipoto over for dinner and punch him as hard as I can in the nuts.

You still have two more wishes.

[Angel Oracle]

7 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

1. Invite Jerry Dipoto and Clay Daniels over for dinner and punch him them as hard as I can in the nuts.

FIFY

[Angel Oracle]

1.  Going forward, no big money FAs signed from other teams, at least through 2024-2025.  Focus on your own.

2.  Beef up MLB scouting (too many big and small money acquisitions losing it).

3.  Focus on 2-3 pitching acquisitions, looking for another emerging pitcher like Bundy, another late innings guy to go with Robles, and another middle innings guy, while hoping 1-2 of the guys not named Robles can step up in the late innings.     

4. Regarding Pujols, see if he will retire with his remaining $30 million for 2020 spread out over 5 years (none of this 25 years crap like with Bonilla).

5. Re-sign Stella and give him a 1B glove permanently.

6. Re-sign Simba as long as it's no more than $10 million/season for 3-4 years.

7. Give Upton the first two months in 2021, playing 2/3 of the time.   If still hitting like Wells, then either DFA him or trade him and eat whatever money they have to.   Goodwin and Marsh both should have the rest of the four OF spots by then.      

Edited August 17, 2020 by Angel Oracle

[fan_since79]

1. Figure out a way to get Upton out of here as quickly as possible without losing too much money.

2. Platoon Albert this year and then buy him out next season. If he refuses a deal, cut him and wish him well as he heads to the HOF in a Cardinals uniform.

3. Look for pitching, pitching, and more pitching. Preferably under the age of 30.

 

[eligrba]

1. Find a first baseman to make Albert expendable.  He is still able to contribute more to the Angels than anyone currently on the roster who can play first base.  That is a problem.  He is a distraction as an everyday player.  His at bats have become predictable and painful.  I don't fault him in thinking he can still help the Angels, because he is probably correct until a replacement is acquired.

2. Trade Heaney to a contending team for some young arms.  Invest more time, patience and coaching into Barria, Suarez and Sandoval.

3. Hire a new GM.  The team is in a better place thanks to Eppler, but he has not shown the ability to creatively navigate the next step.  This team needs to do a much better job at scouting, drafting and developing players.  That is the Achilles heel of this organization and why it has sucked for so long. 

[DMVol]

4 minutes ago, fan_since79 said:

1. Figure out a way to get Upton out of here as quickly as possible without losing too much money

[DMVol]

4 minutes ago, eligrba said:

1. Find a first baseman to make Albert expendable.  He is still able to contribute more to the Angels than anyone currently on the roster who can play first base.  That is a problem.  He is a distraction as an everyday player.  His at bats have become predictable and painful.  I don't fault him in thinking he can still help the Angels, because he is probably correct until a replacement is acquired.

Unless you think LaStella might be an option going forward....I'm not sure....but the guy can hit...

[eligrba]

2 minutes ago, DMVol said:

Unless you think LaStella might be an option going forward....I'm not sure....but the guy can hit...

LaStella's defense is brutal, but he can hit.  I would look to trade him.  One of the problems with this team is that they have too many one-dimensional players.

[GrittyVeterans]

Pujols and Upton are due 55 million dollars next year. It’s going to be an uphill battle next year too, unfortunately. I’d Try to compete next year but really have an eye towards 2022

but what would I do?

1) Get rid of Pujols. Pay him his cash and move the fuck on. It’s absurd this hasn’t happened already

2) Sign one top of the rotation pitcher this offseason or next. This is an absolute must. Ohtani is basically toast and the rest of the rotation is low to mediocre upside pitchers

3) hope and pray you get A top 3 pick and Marsh/Adell figure it out in the majors quick

[Tank]

2 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

1. Invite Jerry Dipoto over for dinner and punch him as hard as I can in the nuts.

 

1 hour ago, eligrba said:

You still have two more wishes.

invite him back over for lunch tomorrow and wednesday.

[Angels in 2030]

1 hour ago, Angel Oracle said:

1.  Going forward, no big money FAs signed from other teams, at least through 2024-2025.  Focus on your own.

2.  Beef up MLB scouting (too many big and small money acquisitions losing it).

3.  Focus on 2-3 pitching acquisitions, looking for another emerging pitcher like Bundy, another late innings guy to go with Robles, and another middle innings guy, while hoping 1-2 of the guys not named Robles can step up in the late innings.     

 

That would basically be my three items.  Regarding #2, i'd especially beef up the Int'l side too and commit big-time to such.  Otherwise, i'd rebuild and end this weird trying to win in Trouts prime thing that is NOT working.  We will not annually contend for playoffs+ until we build a strong farm system that can consistently bring guys up who can actually play and make an impact.  Who cares about alienating the fans with a rebuild -- the fan attendance has been atrocious this year anyway (). 

[GrittyVeterans]

10 minutes ago, Vladdylonglegs said:

There’s really nothing that can be done at this point that would make any difference. Way too much money tied up in so few players.
 

If I had my way a few years ago they would have traded Trout and Simmons for the biggest return in sports history and they would be well on their way to contending for years to come. Instead they tried to build around them with the likes of Justin Upton and dumpster dive pitching additions. And here they are as one of the worst teams in baseball with no path forward. 

The money tied up in Trout and Rendon isn’t the issue.

Those guys are worth every penny and will both be in MVP contention at least the next 3 years I would assume(Trout probably for longer). The 60 million per year combined we give those two is absolutely worth it

it’s the money tied up in Pujols and Upton that kills us. Especially when the pitching could be completely reloaded with that 50+ million. It’s a tough pill to swallow. Upton is Eppler’s fault and Pujols is on Arte

You’re right it’s a shitty situation but it’s too late to rebuild. If they were going to go in that direction then there was no point in paying Rendon this past offseason. 
But he wasn’t a bad signing. At least with Rendon you got a superstar in his prime.

what kills me is when we pay a premium for borderline stars or Above avg regulars or aging players. That was the problem with Upton. It was also the problem with Wells, Hamilton, GMJR, and many others over the years

 

pay the extra coin and get the best prime player you can find. It’s what the dodgers did with Betts and Greinke. It’s what the Nationals did with Scherzer 5 years ago. It’s what the Yankees did with Cole

its a much higher success rate than paying a pretty good player 20+ million

[Erstad Grit]

Not any good options. Trout and Rendon make us in win now so trading bundy and heaney don't make sense but we're clearly many pieces away.  I guess I'd make ohtani a set up pitcher and go all in on bieber and some pen pieces.  

[GrittyVeterans]

3 minutes ago, Vladdylonglegs said:

It’s not worth it if the rest of the team blows. The harsh reality is that the Angels are still one of the worst and most boring teams in baseball even with those 2. It’s wasted money for their current situation. 

The money is only wasted until Pujols is gone and the Angels can invest more into pitching

Eppler compounded the problem and made his job 10 times harder by saddling us with Upton

 

[Inside Pitch]

5 hours ago, Dtwncbad said:

If you had total control of the organization (basically owner and GM at the same time) what two or three (or more?) things would you do immediately?

1 -- Double or more the scouting and player development budget.   You make all that money back on the money you save not spending on mediocrities in FA
2 -- Double the analytics and information department budget.  
3 -- Wait 6 months then ask the scouting/player development and analytics/information departments if they need more money.

[Claude]

Scrap the win now plan. Winning is not happening anytime soon enough for Trout.
 

This organization is not on the cusp of being a sustainable playoff team anytime soon. Trout is great and fun to watch but they failed him. Trout is a huge commodity but he is extremely expensive.
The team that’s currently built around him does not have a winning formula so they’re wasting his career.

I don’t believe that this team can do enough in the next three seasons to be a serious powerhouse contender. The farm is not loaded with much and they already have some wrong side of 30 contracts in place. We don’t have the pitching that’s required to be competitive enough for a realistic championship run. It takes years to build that kind of staff. 
 

Trout signed a massive extension with the understanding that the Angels were going to be competitive. They’re not and he’s going to start to get frustrated. He wants to win. He wants to be part of the October discussion every year. That’s why he works so hard. Trout will turn 30 next season and we already know that Upton and Pujols are going to be on the roster so that’s another year gone by without a chance of being competitive especially with no pitching and there’s not much left to spend. 
 

The Ohtani situation has again thrown the Angels off another season. He was supposed to come back and be our Ace and a monster hitter but he’s been none of those. He may or may not even be able to pitch effectively again. 
 

What about Simmons? He’s great defensively but he’s injury prone and can’t hit. He’s not worth keeping long term. He’s also on the wrong side of 30.

Fletcher is a bright light to play along side of Rendon. Simmons can be moved for something or just let him walk to save money. 

The bullpen is not very good at all. We need a solid closer and some setup guys. But again the money that’s tied up on the elderly will delay patching those holes. 
 

The organization needs to rid itself of Pujols but they won’t so next season will suck also. They need Walsh to step up and mash like a big leaguer. 
 

Outfield. Upton is toast. Adell will most likely be good next season and maybe a star by 2022. We need Marsh to step up and become a solid big leaguer. 
 

1) Trade Trout and cash for a massive haul from the skanks. Judge / Torres / Severino and one of Ottavino or Britton

2) Buy out Pujols and Upton

3) Extend Eppler one year if he can pull off a great offseason. If not send him packing too.
 

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by RendZone

[oldguy]

1)  Release Pujols and sign a retired Kendrys Morales (thus, admitting our previous mistake).

2) Release Upton and sign a retired Josh Hamilton or Vernon Wells or Gary Matthews Jr. or Jose Guillen for league minimum.

3) Untrade Clevinger and Corbin (and Carney Lansford, Dante Bichette, Rudy May, Ed Figueroa, Jerry Remy, Leon Wagner, Jason Thompson, Dave Collins, Mickey Rivers, ...)

[Angel Oracle]

The monkey wrench in everything is the lack of a minor league season to see how guys like Marsh, Adams, CRod, Detmers, etc. are progressing.

The farm isn't barren, it just isn't quite to where it needs to be yet. 

[Claude]

6 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

The monkey wrench in everything is the lack of a minor league season to see how guys like Marsh, Adams, CRod, Detmers, etc. are progressing.

The farm isn't barren, it just isn't quite to where it needs to be yet. 

It isn’t barren but Trout is already balding so the clock is ticking on getting enough talent around Trout while he’s still playing at a high level.