Are we always so optimistic?

[Slegnaac]

@Dochalo made a good point about not having to deal with the cheaters this season.

I really hope that Fans in the stands at every ball park that team visits remind them what a lousy bunch of low down cheating scum they are.  Hopefully that sticks them with a few Loses that they avoided last season.

[Duren, Duren]

Solid optimism.

A smart GM who seems able to think outside the box. Some under the radar shrewd acquisitions that can fill roles. Not big names, but respectable smaller pieces to fit between the established stars. Glue to keep the lineup deep and solid. And most on one year contracts with a lot of motivation. 

A nice replacement for Simmons and improved defensively up the middle. A legitimate future replacement for Pujols at first who will be able to gradually work his way in as a starter. 

More depth with the starting pitchers and better late relief options. Bundy with a chance to become a legitimate ace and earn a big contract. 

Ohtani looking like a major difference maker at bat and on the mound. A profound boost for the team if he plays at his best.

Rendon with a year under his belt with the team and on pace for  typical all star production.

Upton can only improve from last year, and has personal pride and motivation to do so.

Same with Albert to some degree. Knowing it's his last year every at bat will be something he intensely focuses on. He will want his final season to be a good one and leave the field with dignity and an improved statistical imprint. 

Trout should be back to his usual production. Their will be continuity and a full season for him to find his comfort zone.

Maddon with familiarity and in sync with the GM. 

If the pitching is even just slightly above average and there are no major injuries they can win in the high 80s to mid 90s. And be a division winner.

Now let's get the season going!

 

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, Warfarin said:

My optimism is mainly around the faith I have in Minasian as a talent evaluator/system developer and Maddon as a manager.

It is easy for us fans to say "we added this pitcher or that hitter" and have an opinion on it, but there are a lot of things that happen behind that scenes that are tough to gauge.  What kind of analytics are being put to use?  What kind of traditional scouting is being utilized?  A lot of nuances and things like that are hard for us to perceive.

It is only spring training, which means we are just seeing a super small sample size, but it does seem that on the whole, more of our players are looking better than they previously were.  Perhaps it wasn't so coincidental that some of our young players started doing well after spending time with Maddon and the coaching staff last year and getting away from some of the principles that Eppler was utilizing - Maddon made a vague reference to this.

Atlanta is an incredibly well run organization, as Anthopolous was always a very good GM, then spend a year learning under the best executive in baseball (Friedman) and likely brought his learnings over to Atlanta.  Minasian spend multiple years working right under Anthopolous, and he has in turn brought over Tamin, who played an integral role with the Dodgers under Friedman until he went to Atlanta for a promotion.

I think what we are seeing is the true impact of a well-run front office, as well as a coaching staff that embraces a blend of analytics and scouting.  My optimism mainly has to do with that more than it does any individual player.

I'd much rather have faith in a system instead of an individual. I think if anything, Trout had taught us that there is no such thing as a baseball Messiah. One person, one GM, one player, no matter how good, can not create a winning baseball team or organization.

It has to be a system in place that fosters development and success. 

It would be sort of like if after the Revolutionary War, we installed George Washington as the monarch. Removing one king with a better king wasn't and isn't the answer. It's to put in place a system that fulfills the sovereignty of the people in perpetuity, forever, not just until the king dies. 

I think Minasian and Maddon are trying to create an entire winning baseball culture from scratch. It's been a long time since they've had that. It seems they had it under Stoneman and Scioscia. 

[Slegnaac]

One other plus this season, Trout is already a Father and as far as we know he will not need to miss time for the birth of a second child this season.

Edited March 18, 2021 by Slegnaac

[Second Base]

43 minutes ago, Slegnaac said:

One other plus this season, Trout is already a Father and as far as we know he will not need to miss time for the birth of a second child this season.

I heard that every time Trout robs a HR, and women in attendance conceives. Sort of like how when a bell rings an angel gets its wings. 

Let's just say good rookie year was, "fruitful."

Edited March 18, 2021 by Second Base

[HaloSpurs]

This year more than ever I’m so optimistic and I’m not sure why. I’d say when you have a payroll we do and the star players on the roster it’s only natural to come into each year with some level of optimism, but this year just feels to me like the one where things actually click, the rotation is settled, and the hitting is well above average. Ohtani is just hyping everyone up too, can’t help but gush over such a talent. If we didn’t we wouldn’t be baseball fans  

[T.G.]

[WicketMaiden]

There are some really well thought out answers on here. Really nice thread. 

For me, I don't know if it's optimism or just excitement. For once the pitching looks OK without a major reclamation project required to make the rotation stand up, and the pitchers all seem like guys I can get behind and root for (I would have struggled to truly support Bauer- he's a prize numpty that guy) but the line-up looks so much fun to follow:

Fletch - I always stop what I'm doing to watch Fletcher bat. The guy is a hitting phenomenon we will be talking about for years to come.

Then the best player in baseball - what more can be said about Trout? We get to watch him every day.

Then the great Ohtani experiment - will he smash a monster homer, will he run the bases with the grace of a gazelle?

Next up Tony Two-Bags with his .400 OBP and bases clearing doubles.

Then it's Upton - is he Hot-Pocket today? Is he Just-Got-Them-Out-Of-The-Freezer-Pocket? Who knows? Nobody knows, not even J-Up. But it's fun to watch because when he's hot he's an absolute game changer.

Walsh or Pujols next - Walsh making his way in baseball and keeping Albert out on merit should be fun to watch (Yay), or will Albert (after staring down the barrel of a retirement swapping playing a fun game, in front of thousands of people, for millions of dollars, for day-time television and a blanket over his legs with Deidre's afternoon book club) decide he wants to play on and actually play himself into another contract? A super-focussed Albert playing for his next gig might turn out to be a pretty useful no 6 in the line-up - how well would he need to hit to get a $5m contract next year, or even a $1m gig? (Please God, not with the Angels) If I was Albert, I'd be playing my heart out for more time in the game and another couple of years playing a bench role. 

And even after all that line-up fun we still have Iglesias and his .373 average last year (he also had two other years at .300 plus BA and has increased his average every year for the last three years). He might be an RBI machine, might be a hitting machine, might be just ok.

And then after that it's Stassi and the question of who the real Max Stassi is - the Angels .886 OPS Stassi of 2020 or the Astros sub-Mendoza Stassi we acquired. If not Stassi then either the Great Taylor Ward Late Replacement Catching Experiment, or the competent Suzuki, looking for a meatball to punish from a pitcher who has been traumatised by the preceding 7 guys in the Angels line-up and just might relax that little bit too much against Kurt.

Then finally the 9 hole, full of Right field questions and offering the promise of Marsh or Adell later in the year but for now, this is where I go and get another beer or more nibbles because Fletch is up next and I always stop what I'm doing to watch Fletch bat.

Whatever happens, this is going to be fun.