Minasian: "We have to play quality defense."

[Warfarin]

Listening to Minasian's comments, it does sound like he is going to place a very big emphasis on catching in particular.   I would not be surprised to see him bring in a catcher, whether via FA or perhaps via trade (Contreras with the Cubs?).  Stassi showed well and will be expected to be a significant part, but I think Minasian is going to place a huge premium on the position.

[Warfarin]

37 minutes ago, GrittyVeterans said:

The bottom line is the outfield is a total disaster defensively. Upton and Adell were liabilities and Trout has clearly lost a step and can’t cover for them. I don’t think the infield is going to be the issue...you’ve got Rendon, Fletcher, Rengifo and can add Wong or Simmons. That seems just fine to me

 

once again we have too many DH only guys on this roster in Upton, Ohtani, and Pujols. Minasian has his hands full with that

The OF defense is concerning.  I think Ward actually looked decent out there with more experience, though.  Marsh projects as a very good defender in RF, so helpfully, we can solve some of our OF defensive issues internally.  I do think we'll be looking for a LHH corner OF, though, on a one-year deal to help bridge the gap to Marsh.

[BTH]

9 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

Listening to Minasian's comments, it does sound like he is going to place a very big emphasis on catching in particular.   I would not be surprised to see him bring in a catcher, whether via FA or perhaps via trade (Contreras with the Cubs?).  Stassi showed well and will be expected to be a significant part, but I think Minasian is going to place a huge premium on the position.

I got the same sense as well. I'd assume it's priority #1 besides pitching.

It will be interesting to see who he goes after. Perhaps he goes after someone he's familiar with from Atlanta, like Kurt Suzuki or Tyler Flowers.

[totdprods]

49 minutes ago, Trendon said:

I got the same sense as well. I'd assume it's priority #1 besides pitching.

It will be interesting to see who he goes after. Perhaps he goes after someone he's familiar with from Atlanta, like Kurt Suzuki or Tyler Flowers.

I've been thinking there's a good chance we will see Tyler Flowers. 

If I were to predict, right now, a handful of names I think the Angels acquire this winter...it would be Wong, Flowers, Odorizzi, Foltynewicz, and Melancon or Greene. 

Three with Atlanta ties and one pitcher with Maddon ties. Could apply to Archer or Quintana as well.

[Warfarin]

1 hour ago, Trendon said:

I got the same sense as well. I'd assume it's priority #1 besides pitching.

It will be interesting to see who he goes after. Perhaps he goes after someone he's familiar with from Atlanta, like Kurt Suzuki or Tyler Flowers.

I'm a bit doubtful he'd get Flowers.  It says something to me that the Braves started d'Arnoud in 7 consecutive (!) games in the NLCS.  Sure, he was good, but even in the playoffs, you'd think they would have given 1 start to a backup catcher when faced with no days off.  

Given the emphasis on catching, maybe Minasian will look to make a trade for another team's catching prospect and try to build our catching pipeline, as we really have no catching prospects to speak of.

[BTH]

Often times, new GM's will end up bringing in players they were familiar with previously. Some guys with Atlanta/Toronto ties from when Minasian was with those organizations include:

C- Tyler Flowers, Luke Maile*, Jeff Mathis, John Ryan Murphy*, Kurt Suzuki.

1B- Matt Adams*, Edwin Encarnacion, Eric Thames.

2B- Charlie Culberson*.

3B- Pablo Sandoval*.

SS- Adeiny Hechavarria*.

LF- Matt Joyce, Rafael Ortega*, Marcell Ozuna.

CF- Billy Hamilton*, Kevin Pillar.

RF- Nick Markakis, Scott Schebler*, Dwight Smith Jr*.

SP- Brett Anderson, Jhoulys Chacin*, Mike Foltynewicz, Cole Hamels, JA Happ, Tommy Milone*, Aaron Sanchez, Anibal Sanchez, Julio Teheran.

RP- Joe Biagini*, Jesse Chavez, Darren O'Day, Robbie Erlin*, Shane Greene, Liam Hendriks, Jeremy Jeffress, Aaron Loup, Mark Melancon, Chris Rusin*.

*- probably minor-league deals

[Warfarin]

5 minutes ago, Trendon said:

Often times, new GM's will end up bringing in players they were familiar with previously. Some guys with Atlanta/Toronto ties from when Minasian was with those organizations include:

If he can somehow bring Acuna over here, I'd be cool with that

[totdprods]

6 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

I'm a bit doubtful he'd get Flowers.  It says something to me that the Braves started d'Arnoud in 7 consecutive (!) games in the NLCS.  Sure, he was good, but even in the playoffs, you'd think they would have given 1 start to a backup catcher when faced with no days off.  

Given the emphasis on catching, maybe Minasian will look to make a trade for another team's catching prospect and try to build our catching pipeline, as we really have no catching prospects to speak of.

I didn’t realize Suzuki was a FA, so he’s probably in the mix too.

Also wouldn’t be surprised if McCann was a top target, or Contreras on the trade market.

[Revad]

Minasain likely knows some good cheap SS with upside.  We can’t just buy veteran FA.

[Warfarin]

6 minutes ago, totdprods said:

I didn’t realize Suzuki was a FA, so he’s probably in the mix too.

Also wouldn’t be surprised if McCann was a top target, or Contreras on the trade market.

I hope we see Minasian prioritize drafting catchers (who will actually catch, not like Thaiss, Ward..) in upcoming drafts.  Our catching cupboard is bare, and just listening to his strong emphasis on catching -

Quote

“Pitching is first and foremost, and with pitching comes run prevention,” Minasian said. “And I think we can’t lose sight of that either. We have to play quality defense, we have to catch the ball. Catching [is] beyond important, game calling, game planning, positioning.

I have to imagine we'll see a strong effort on his end to strengthen this part of our team.  I would expect to see at least one catcher signed or traded for.  I would also expect to see our draft reflect this level of importance.  Maybe he'll even try to trade for a "blocked" catching prospect with a team (i.e., Keibert Ruiz with the Dodgers).

[Angels in 2030]

So let me get this straight, ALL we need is: two very good SPs, 1-3 very good RPs, a starting MI, starting C and a starting RF.   

[Revad]

10 minutes ago, Fourts said:

So let me get this straight, ALL we need is: two very good SPs, 1-3 very good RPs, a starting MI, starting C and a starting RF.   

And there’s a chance

[stormngt]

11 hours ago, totdprods said:

I’m really high on Kolten Wong for 2B. He’ll be 30 next year, the same age as La Stella’s first with the Halos. 

Look at their slash through age 29...

• La Stella: .264/.345/.366/.711, 10.6 K%, 9.6 BB%, .131 ISO
• Wong: .261/.333/.384/.717, 15.2 K%, 7.7 BB%, .123 ISO

They’re fairly similar players - La Stella obviously has a little better pitch recognition a discipline, but Wong isn’t bad in that department, especially in recent years. And obviously, Wong is tremendously better defensively. 

I maintain that Jeremy Reed has unlocked something with left-handed hitters finding more power. He turned Calhoun around. La Stella broke out here. Goodwin played his best. Castro and Bemboom both had solid power/discipline. 

I think he could be a bargain and could turn a corner. We’ve seen a lot of light-hitting, defense-first infielders turn a corner later in their careers recently...La Stella, Turner, Murphy, Cozart, Gennett...Wong could be the next.

La Stella was a defense first infielder?