Holy Hell, Trevor Bauer!

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, Second Base said:

Minasian grew up in clubhouses. He knows pitchers have been using illegal substances for years, and that it has now reached its fever pitch. The league is on the verge of being forced to investigate and ban it, because it's making them look bad. 

Maddon knows about, Callaway obviously does too. For a lot of reasons, they need to steer clear of Bauer. But the question then becomes, who can they acquire that isn't specifically benefiting from illegal substances? Who is clean? 

I think that's where Minasian and the coaching staff and their vast network and respect in the league probably come into play. 

I think the more likely scenario is for the league to give the pitchers an approved substance other than rosen to get a grip on the ball.  I highly doubt they are getting rid of it completely.  

[Angels 1961]

48 minutes ago, beatlesrule said:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/01/angels-not-expected-to-pursue-trevor-bauer.html

Pretty much the nail in the coffin when MLBTR is reporting it.

We've known that Bauer doesn't like Callaway for months now and it was suggested then their could possibly be a problem. I'm wondering if Bauer's agent being a female has anything to do with the fact that a female is reporting the story. Could she have given Maria the scoop on the article? Girl power going on?

Why could it just be agent and reporter

[rafibomb]

 

Considering they've already called out Heyman before and their infatuation with social media it's pretty interesting that both Bauer and Luba have kept quiet.

[Taylor]

Bauer's a little bitch. Good riddance.

[T.G.]

We can always stream “24” instead.

[Inside Pitch]

35 minutes ago, ScottT said:

Ha.

Reporting?

Hahaha

MLBCopyPaste.com

[Erstad Grit]

12 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Bauer's a little bitch. Good riddance.

[Billy_Ball]

 

[Blarg]

I would rather have Callaway as a coach than Bauer as a constant distraction.

[Pancake Bear]

Please, it's obvious what this is about. The Angels FO/Arte are doing damage control. Either they were never going to sign Bauer or they've decided it's just too much. Regardless, Arte isn't gonna spend the money, so they leaked out a nonsensical story to the Times that was in the news a few years ago as an excuse why they just can't sign him. Coincidentally, this excuse gives them deniability from looking cheap, which, even though it would be pushing the budget, a lot of fans will see it as. 

[tdawg87]

2 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

Please, it's obvious what this is about. The Angels FO/Arte are doing damage control. Either they were never going to sign Bauer or they've decided it's just too much. Regardless, Arte isn't gonna spend the money, so they leaked out a nonsensical story to the Times that was in the news a few years ago as an excuse why they just can't sign him. Coincidentally, this excuse gives them deniability from looking cheap, which, even though it would be pushing the budget, a lot of fans will see it as. 

No.

[Pancake Bear]

1 minute ago, tdawg87 said:

No.

Keep drinking the kool-aid. 

[Docwaukee]

4 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

Please, it's obvious what this is about. The Angels FO/Arte are doing damage control. Either they were never going to sign Bauer or they've decided it's just too much. Regardless, Arte isn't gonna spend the money, so they leaked out a nonsensical story to the Times that was in the news a few years ago as an excuse why they just can't sign him. Coincidentally, this excuse gives them deniability from looking cheap, which, even though it would be pushing the budget, a lot of fans will see it as. 

the tin foil hat crew is back!

[tdawg87]

17 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

Keep drinking the kool-aid. 

Wake up sheeple

[Inside Pitch]

1 hour ago, Pancake Bear said:

Keep drinking the kool-aid. 

Bro, say what you will about the Angels/Arte they just haven't done that sort of shit during his ownership. Time and again when something like this has happened they have reverted to the whole we have a budget, we will do something if it makes sense/if its the right player.  That's been an efficient catch-all response/excuse that both answered questions while being vague enough to leave fans frustrated -- it's pretty much defined the Arte era and their decision making.

I just have a hard time believing this is what's happening, and if indeed it is happening, then I'd say its an ugly precedent and a reason for worry about Minasian's front office.....so, I refuse to believe its as "obvious" as you think.

We have already had a front office that leaked propaganda to the media once... I want none of it.

[rafibomb]

6 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

Lastly -- Sandoval hasn't done it yet, but he's quietly done some peripheral stuff that makes one believe he's a solid candidate for breakout.  He's one of like 8 pitchers in all of MLB to have elite level K percentages with two pitches.  He's not someone you can consider a sure thing or view as a core piece but he's a world better than he's shown early on.

Are you referring to the changeup and slider? I feel like Sandoval can greatly benefit from a similar pitch distribution as Bundy. Sandoval threw his fastball 44.6% of the time while Bundy threw his 33.6% of the time (42.4% in 2019 with Baltimore). Even Sandoval's curveball is in the 79th percentile in spin rate and he only threw it 7% of the time. There is a good pitcher in Sandoval somewhere, but I don't know what needs to happen for it to finally click.

Edited January 28, 2021 by rafibomb

[Inside Pitch]

11 minutes ago, rafibomb said:

Are you referring to the changeup and slider? I feel like Sandoval can greatly benefit from a similar pitch distribution as Bundy. Sandoval threw his fastball 44.6% of the time while Bundy threw his 33.6% of the time (42.4% in 2019 with Baltimore). Even Sandoval's curveball is in the 79th percentile in spin rate and he only threw it 7% of the time. There is a good pitcher in Sandoval somewhere, but I don't know what needs to happen for it to finally click.

So yeah - that's the list and a reason to still dream on Sandoval...   He's thrown what -- 80 MLB innings, the kid is a work in progress.  When Minasian talks about the importance of catchers and sequencing etc etc...  this is the sort of stuff that comes to mind.

[rafibomb]

10 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

So yeah - that's the list and a reason to still dream on Sandoval...   He's thrown what -- 80 MLB innings, the kid is a work in progress.  When Minasian talks about the importance of catchers and sequencing etc etc...  this is the sort of stuff that comes to mind.

 

Quite a list of names for him to be a part of. I am curious and gna look into how many of those guys have a below-average fastball like him (in terms of spin). Looks like Marquez is in the 23rd percentile. Sandoval was my breakout choice for the 2020 season and I am picking him again for 2021. 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2021 by rafibomb

[Inside Pitch]

25 minutes ago, rafibomb said:

 

Quite a list of names for him to be a part of. I am curious and gna look into how many of those guys have a below-average fastball like him (in terms of spin). Looks like Marquez is in the 23rd percentile. Sandoval was my breakout choice for the 2020 season and I am picking him again for 2021. 

 

 

Yup, 100%....  How many times have we seen this guy dealing then fall apart?  His change is getting plus results and yet still getting below average pitch values.  Its all pitch mix/sequencing with him.  

[Warfarin]

In terms of prospects, etc - I think the key thing is Minasian likely recognizes that we have an "okay" farm system with potential.  It is by no means a bad farm system, but it isn't a top one either.  To do what the Padres did this offseason, or some other teams, we likely need to continue to build our prospect pipeline, not subtract from it.

My guess is Minasian intends to utilize the FA market to find another SP.  He found Quintana, who isn't exciting but is likely very dependable and should be a solid SP3 type pitcher, at a great value of 1/8.  Maybe he gets an Odorizzi or a Paxton to complete the picture.  No ace, but that should, at least, give us a stable of solid SPs, which is definitely quite an improvement upon what we saw before.

And by doing that, we keep the payroll fairly clear for big additions in future years, while buying our farm system a year of development time.  This year, we should be able to see whether CRod can stay healthy all year and develop well, how close Detmers will be to joining the rotation, etc.  We do have a lot of intriguing prospects, but outside of Adell and Marsh, none have had quite enough development time to be considered a top 100 prospect yet.

This is not a rebuilding year, but what it is, is a year to try to cobble together a contender with an undervalued free agency market, while giving us time to further build and strengthen our farm system.

If Minasian can complete the offseason by signing Paxton and, say, Joc Pederson, and perhaps finding an intriguing BP candidate, I would say we'd have a very competitive team:

2B Fletcher, 1B Walsh, CF Trout, 3B Rendon, RF Pederson, LF Upton, DH Ohtani, C Stassi, SS Iglesias

Bundy, Paxton, Heaney, Quintana, Canning, Ohtani, with Barria, Sandoval, Suarez as "next man up."

I would say this should be a very competitive team, and it would enable us to keep all our prospects and continue to build.  Yes - we are likely to see injuries to Paxton, Heaney, Canning, etc at various points - but having Barria, Sandoval, and Suarez should help fill those gaps, as all 3 have varying degrees of promise.  

[JAHV]

Finally got around to reading the SI article that Torres cites. https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/02/19/trevor-bauer-cleveland-indians-training-tools-twitter-controversy-cy-young

Seems to me like Bauer has the potential to be a pretty divisive character. Also interesting that his greatest supporter in AZ was Dipoto. I'd be happy if they stayed away from him. 

[Taylor]

2 hours ago, JAHV said:

Finally got around to reading the SI article that Torres cites. https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/02/19/trevor-bauer-cleveland-indians-training-tools-twitter-controversy-cy-young

Seems to me like Bauer has the potential to be a pretty divisive character. Also interesting that his greatest supporter in AZ was Dipoto. I'd be happy if they stayed away from him. 

Bruin.

 

 

Sorry, @Lou

[Lou]

5 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Bruin.

 

Sorry, @Lou

Why are you sorry? He was right and is going to sign a 7-figure contract.

Also, that article was from 2 years ago. 

[Angels in 2030]

59 pages...lol

[Angels 1961]

2 hours ago, Warfarin said:

In terms of prospects, etc - I think the key thing is Minasian likely recognizes that we have an "okay" farm system with potential.  It is by no means a bad farm system, but it isn't a top one either.  To do what the Padres did this offseason, or some other teams, we likely need to continue to build our prospect pipeline, not subtract from it.

My guess is Minasian intends to utilize the FA market to find another SP.  He found Quintana, who isn't exciting but is likely very dependable and should be a solid SP3 type pitcher, at a great value of 1/8.  Maybe he gets an Odorizzi or a Paxton to complete the picture.  No ace, but that should, at least, give us a stable of solid SPs, which is definitely quite an improvement upon what we saw before.

And by doing that, we keep the payroll fairly clear for big additions in future years, while buying our farm system a year of development time.  This year, we should be able to see whether CRod can stay healthy all year and develop well, how close Detmers will be to joining the rotation, etc.  We do have a lot of intriguing prospects, but outside of Adell and Marsh, none have had quite enough development time to be considered a top 100 prospect yet.

This is not a rebuilding year, but what it is, is a year to try to cobble together a contender with an undervalued free agency market, while giving us time to further build and strengthen our farm system.

If Minasian can complete the offseason by signing Paxton and, say, Joc Pederson, and perhaps finding an intriguing BP candidate, I would say we'd have a very competitive team:

2B Fletcher, 1B Walsh, CF Trout, 3B Rendon, RF Pederson, LF Upton, DH Ohtani, C Stassi, SS Iglesias

Bundy, Paxton, Heaney, Quintana, Canning, Ohtani, with Barria, Sandoval, Suarez as "next man up."

I would say this should be a very competitive team, and it would enable us to keep all our prospects and continue to build.  Yes - we are likely to see injuries to Paxton, Heaney, Canning, etc at various points - but having Barria, Sandoval, and Suarez should help fill those gaps, as all 3 have varying degrees of promise.  

I would worry about Paxson drop in velocity and sore forearm. Walker or Odorizzi