Can the Angels still improve enough to be in the playoffs next year?

[Torridd]

Although most of the free agent pitchers have been taken, is there enough talent on the market available for LAA to help the team? If so, who do you suggest? Is it still feasible that they may make a trade for pitching? If they did nothing else, with everyone healthy, could they compete for the playoffs? Please list your doable suggestions to better the team.

[mmc]

I personally don't see a realistic path to it but the Giants had the best record in the league last season out of nowhere so who knows.  I see both Houston and Seattle finishing ahead of us with all of Detroit, Seattle, Minnesota, and 3 of Toronto/New York/Tampa Bay/Boston battling for the Wild Cards.  Odds aren't in our favor.

[Docwaukee]

41 minutes ago, Torridd said:

Although most of the free agent pitchers have been taken, is there enough talent on the market available for LAA to help the team? If so, who do you suggest? Is it still feasible that they may make a trade for pitching? If they did nothing else, with everyone healthy, could they compete for the playoffs? Please list your doable suggestions to better the team.

I sorta said this in another thread.  If they were going to just spend their way to really improving this team enough to make them a legit contender, they'd already have done it.  

They would have to gut the farm and/or damage the major league club to stay within what I assume is about 8m left to spend. 

Could they contend?  Sure if a ton of stuff goes right after a potentially franchise altering trade or they get a shit ton of luck.   Which is pretty much what we've said for the last 5 years where they end up with a sub .500 record.  

 

[AngelsLakersFan]

6 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

I sorta said this in another thread.  If they were going to just spend their way to really improving this team enough to make them a legit contender, they'd already have done it.  

They would have to gut the farm and/or damage the major league club to stay within what I assume is about 8m left to spend. 

Could they contend?  Sure if a ton of stuff goes right after a potentially franchise altering trade or they get a shit ton of luck.   Which is pretty much what we've said for the last 5 years where they end up with a sub .500 record.  

 

This is the least optimistic I've been in a few seasons, so maybe that's a good thing... Ultimately the success of this team will come down to how productive the young guys are. 

[Inside Pitch]

27 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

This is the least optimistic I've been in a few seasons, so maybe that's a good thing... Ultimately the success of this team will come down to how productive the young guys are. 

Same.   I see it exactly the same way.

I'm of the belief they stand a greater chance of extending the last 6 years of futility by trying to go for it all via trade.... all that will accomplish is eat away at what should be looked at as a big part of the foundation IMO.  They need to bite the bullet and spend to round out the team...and If they aren't willing to when it makes sense to... I doubt they ever will.   

Marsh/Adell, Sandoval Suarez, the 17 possible RPs in AA/AAA, I have a good feeling about.  I think Canning's 2021 was a blip..  But I have serious doubts about the defense turning it around, Rengifo translating talent into production, and certain players staying healthy.

The potential is there, as are the risks...  So, more of the same.

[TurboFan]

Imagine what it would be like to be one of the young fringe starters. Because you recently made it to the Majors you haven’t demonstrated enough efficiency and durability yet to be penciled in as a 1-6 starter, but you are given the opportunity to compete for one of the spots. With that offense behind you, what could possibly be a better place to be than with the Angels? That ought to be a huge motivation to a young guy with a fierce competitive spirit. They all know that. A few of them need to have breakout years and we will be OK. Like Sandoval did in 2021. Maybe he can step up another rung in 2022. No small feat, but quite possible. So yes,of course the Angels can make the playoffs next year. Of course.

[Warfarin]

The caveat to this conversation is how many playoff teams will be in each league.  The MLB proposed a 14-team playoff field, whereas the players proposed a 12-team playoff field.  It does seem playoffs will expand.

If we have a 14 team playoff field, the 7th best team in the AL last year had 90 wins.  In 2019, they had 84 wins.  In 2018, they had 89 wins.  In 2017, they had 80 wins.

So in terms of a 14 team playoff field, I think we absolutely have a chance, but we'd need both Trout and Rendon to be healthy and perform at their normal level.  That, along with Ohtani having a similar year as he did last year, would likely give us a decent shot.

Adding a healthy Trout and Rendon to last year's team would have probably at least made us an 85 win team.

[Docwaukee]

56 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

This is the least optimistic I've been in a few seasons, so maybe that's a good thing... Ultimately the success of this team will come down to how productive the young guys are. 

to me it's just become more and more obvious that the things they keep doing over and over aren't going to work.  And if they do, it might work for one year.  

could have a shot.  could have a shot.  could have a shot.  

I had more optimism last year when I thought the Astros could take a step back if their young pitching didn't become as good as they did.  Now we're likely back to being in a spot where it'll take 95 wins to get a division title.  

[Justin]

19 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

but we'd need both Trout and Rendon to be healthy

Damn.

[failos]

[Angelsjunky]

As I see it, there are two types of teams that make the postseason: Great teams like the Dodgers, who are highly likely to make it, barring catastrophe, and pretty good teams that have a wide swing of possible outcomes, like the Cardinals this year, who were about average in terms of hitting and pitching, but played great defense to send them over the edge.

This, of course, supports @Inside Pitch's concerns about the defense - it really needs to be addressed.

But my point is, you don't have to be a great team to make the playoffs. Obviously it helps, and it would be nice to essentially be a write-in every year like the Dodgers, Yankees, Astros, etc. But most playoff teams aren't like that. The Angels are definitely in the category of "swingy teams."

Minasian hasn't turned the Angels into a powerhouse, but I think his acquisitions--plus better health from Trout and Rendon, plus a developing young pitching staff--should yield more wins next year. 

[Dtwncbad]

Every free agent player is too expensive and a waste of money, and is not the path to success.

Not signing free agents means the team is poorly run, the owner is an idiot, and they have no commitment to winning.

Trading for good players to compete is too expensive, guts the farm, and is an indication the team is desperate and foolish.

Not making the necessary trades to get the players you need now wastes Trout and Ohtani’s prime, means they are not committed to winning and that the front office overvalues the homegrown talent and are incompetent.

Did I miss anything?

[UndertheHalo]

I think the angels have a team that is capable of getting into the playoffs.  I don’t think that they’ve done a whole lot in the offseason to improve or diminish their odds.  It’s going to be about health and whether or not the the club is able to help the players be competitive.  Eppler use to talk about the range of outcomes.  If things break right winning the division is a possibility.  Also, things could just go bad again.  That’s how it is.  There’s not really any other way to look at it imo.  They haven’t done enough to be overly optimistic or pessimistic.  
 

As @Inside Pitch pointed out the thing I really fear is that they really fuck up some trade.  I really hope they just get a few more bullpen guys.  I think there are a few guys out there that could really be helpful. I’ve mentioned Ryan Tepera a few times.  Maybe they can eat some salary on a middle infielder that gives us some insurance or maybe can give us reasonable decent everyday play.  I can’t think of anyone but i haven’t looked into it.  I mean hopefully that’s that then.  Let’s see how it shakes out on the field.  I don’t think they can do anything that will really dramatically impact the “range of outcomes” without doing an unreasonably risky trade.  
 

 

Edited December 5, 2021 by UndertheHalo

[stormngt]

4 hours ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

This is the least optimistic I've been in a few seasons, so maybe that's a good thing... Ultimately the success of this team will come down to how productive the young guys are. 

Last year we had Suarez and Sandoval  have breakout seasons.  If they pitch like last year and one of our young pitchers have a break out season (which is possible) we could contend.

I feel good about our bullpen.  

Our offense should be good if our key players Trout, Ohtani, and Rondon are healthy.

 

I would be much more confident had we not let Cobb leave.

[Stradling]

It comes down to health and bullpen. If our top four are healthy (Trout, Rendon, Ohtani, Noah) then we have a good chance of having a good season. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

23 hours ago, stormngt said:

Last year we had Suarez and Sandoval  have breakout seasons.  If they pitch like last year and one of our young pitchers have a break out season (which is possible) we could contend.

I feel good about our bullpen.  

Our offense should be good if our key players Trout, Ohtani, and Rondon are healthy.

 

I would be much more confident had we not let Cobb leave.

Those were good signs for the future for sure. That said our run differential had us around a 73 win team. A healthy Trout and Rendon makes them a mid-80's win team. It's hard to imagine Ohtani duplicating last year (lets hope he does) so it will take even more growth from the young guys to find those extra 5-10 wins we will need to really contend.

It's certainly in the realm of possibility, because Adell and Marsh have a lot of upside, and the young arms have plenty of room for growth over last year. Unfortunately there is always going to be some realized downside that cuts in to some gains as well.

[stormngt]

2 hours ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Those were good signs for the future for sure. That said our run differential had us around a 73 win team. A healthy Trout and Rendon makes them a mid-80's win team. It's hard to imagine Ohtani duplicating last year (lets hope he does) so it will take even more growth from the young guys to find those extra 5-10 wins we will need to really contend.

It's certainly in the realm of possibility, because Adell and Walsh have a lot of upside, and the young arms have plenty of room for growth over last year. Unfortunately there is always going to be some realized downside that cuts in to some gains as well.

Stats can only tell you so much.  

Our bullpen is significantly better.  

How much did Quintana and Bundy effect our rubs given up?

Sandoval and Suarez only started 28 games combined.

Having Iglesias, Goose, Mayfield get as Manny PAs effects those stats as well.

Defense, I  assuming was a anomoly by having so many guys play out of position (Like Rojas, Goos, and Wong playing so many positions).

All those factors play a part in team stats.  

 

[AngelsLakersFan]

14 minutes ago, stormngt said:

Stats can only tell you so much.  

Our bullpen is significantly better.  

How much did Quintana and Bundy effect our rubs given up?

Sandoval and Suarez only started 28 games combined.

Having Iglesias, Goose, Mayfield get as Manny PAs effects those stats as well.

Defense, I  assuming was a anomoly by having so many guys play out of position (Like Rojas, Goos, and Wong playing so many positions).

All those factors play a part in team stats.  

 

"Our bullpen is significantly better. " - I think so too but bullpens are traditionally fickle, aside from Iglesias I could see any one of our relievers turn into a pumpkin.

"How much did Quintana and Bundy effect our rubs given up?" - How much will Lorenzen and our worst starter effect our runs given up? Going in to 2021 Quintana and Bundy looked far better and we were saying this about Teherran.

"Sandoval and Suarez only started 28 games combined." - Good point. Hopefully we can get significantly more innings out of them this year. This also speaks to the uncertainty in projecting them for 2022 though.

"Having Iglesias, Goose, Mayfield get as Manny PAs effects those stats as well." - We have a potentially worse group penciled into the lineup right now, so this is easily an area the team could take a step back.

"Defense, I  assuming was a anomoly by having so many guys play out of position (Like Rojas, Goos, and Wong playing so many positions)." - I honestly have no idea what the problem with the defense was. The things you listed were certainly issues, but ultimately everyone sucked last year and I don't think that speaks to the defensive talent on the team. I'm skeptical that the team has identified the issue with the defense to the level that they will adequately address it.

[tdawg87]

30 minutes ago, stormngt said:

How much did Quintana and Bundy effect our rubs given up?

Bundy definitely affected it significantly.

[UndertheHalo]

32 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Bundy definitely affected it significantly.

Damn what a fucking dime she was. 

[Slegnaac]

In a Strike-shortened season anything is possible. 

However, they will need to come out of the gate strong.

[Torridd]

Does anyone know the latest on Trout and Rendon's injuries? Are they both completely healed? Has Rendon already had surgery?

[rafibomb]

4 hours ago, Torridd said:

Does anyone know the latest on Trout and Rendon's injuries? Are they both completely healed? Has Rendon already had surgery?

Minasian said in a recent interview that everyone on the roster is healthy minus Chris Rodriguez.

[ten ocho recon scout]

5 hours ago, rafibomb said:

Minasian said in a recent interview that everyone on the roster is healthy minus Chris Rodriguez.

 

[Torridd]

7 hours ago, rafibomb said:

Minasian said in a recent interview that everyone on the roster is healthy minus Chris Rodriguez.

Thanks!