Angels trade Brandon Marsh to the Phillies for Logan O'Hoppe

[Halo in Chicago]

Nice interview. I hope he does well in Philly and I hope the catcher we got is the real deal. 

[Angelsjunky]

I can't shake the feeling that this is going to hurt a bit down the road - that the Angels jumped ship on Marsh too quickly.

O'Hoppe is a solid prospect, but I'm a bit leery of his park inflated stats. Still, he looks like a future average regular, which is a nice asset to have as a catcher.

But with Marsh, the potential is still there for stardom. If he can focus on making contact and getting on base, with his defense he's going to be an impact player.

[ten ocho recon scout]

4 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

I can't shake the feeling that this is going to hurt a bit down the road - that the Angels jumped ship on Marsh too quickly.

O'Hoppe is a solid prospect, but I'm a bit leery of his park inflated stats. Still, he looks like a future average regular, which is a nice asset to have as a catcher.

But with Marsh, the potential is still there for stardom. If he can focus on making contact and getting on base, with his defense he's going to be an impact player.

Agreed. 

But part of me also thinks they've seen enough of him that they don't see hope. 

This is the Angels we're talking about, so I don't have a ton of faith in what they " See or don't see" in any young player.

But they cut bait on him pretty early, when he was supposed to be part of the next core..... I have to think they soured on him for a reason 

 

[Angelsjunky]

1 minute ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Agreed. 

But part of me also thinks they've seen enough of him that they don't see hope. 

This is the Angels we're talking about, so I don't have a ton of faith in what they " See or don't see" in any young player.

But they cut bait on him pretty early, when he was supposed to be part of the next core..... I have to think they soured on him for a reason 

 

I don't think as much that they saw no hope for Marsh or soured on him as much as they felt like O'Hoppe filled a void and they didn't need both Adell and Marsh, and Marsh had greater value. I don't think Adell would have brought back a 50 FV prospect.

[Torridd]

9 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

I can't shake the feeling that this is going to hurt a bit down the road - that the Angels jumped ship on Marsh too quickly.

O'Hoppe is a solid prospect, but I'm a bit leery of his park inflated stats. Still, he looks like a future average regular, which is a nice asset to have as a catcher.

But with Marsh, the potential is still there for stardom. If he can focus on making contact and getting on base, with his defense he's going to be an impact player.

Will he be an impact player? I think he may be a good player, but the catcher we received can be a star. And like someone said, it's easier to pick up an outfielder.

[Warfarin]

13 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

I can't shake the feeling that this is going to hurt a bit down the road - that the Angels jumped ship on Marsh too quickly.

O'Hoppe is a solid prospect, but I'm a bit leery of his park inflated stats. Still, he looks like a future average regular, which is a nice asset to have as a catcher.

But with Marsh, the potential is still there for stardom. If he can focus on making contact and getting on base, with his defense he's going to be an impact player.

I think it will hurt to give up Marsh.  I think he'll be a very solid regular.

Still, his greatest value is his CF defense, and on a team with Trout, we weren't going to maximize his value, given Trout wants to continue to man CF.

I think if O'Hoppe becomes an average catcher, which is his current projection, it'll be a decent trade.  Our catching pipeline, for now, looks like Stassi for the next few years, with O'Hoppe perhaps being ready to share duties towards the end of next year.  I can see O'Hoppe becoming the primary catcher by the 2024 season, and then Quero hopefully developing and being an option in 4 years (2026?).

There was a sizeable gap between Stassi and Quero, and trading for O'Hoppe helps provide another very solid option into the mix.  I don't really see this trade as giving up on Marsh, but rather, on using one of our best trade chips to help greatly strengthen a significant organization weakness.

[AngelsLakersFan]

I’m actually fine with this trade, but I question what the hell the Angels are thinking with it.

i suspect we just found our second string catcher for 2023.

[Lou]

Marsh since June 1st:

.177 BA

.239/.313/.552

[Rico]

Marsh the next Peter Bourjos.

[stormngt]

4 hours ago, Second Base said:

So I'm told O'Hoppe is a guaranteed big league starting catcher. While there's debate regarding his hit tool, his defense won't slump. 

My guess is he's Chris Iannetta. 

I will be happy with Maldonado like

[T.G.]

1 hour ago, Angelsjunky said:

I can't shake the feeling that this is going to hurt a bit down the road - that the Angels jumped ship on Marsh too quickly.

O'Hoppe is a solid prospect, but I'm a bit leery of his park inflated stats. Still, he looks like a future average regular, which is a nice asset to have as a catcher.

But with Marsh, the potential is still there for stardom. If he can focus on making contact and getting on base, with his defense he's going to be an impact player.

Minasian appears to make decisions quickly. DFAing Upton, firing Maddon, etc. He seems to move on quickly, IMO.   Good or bad? IDK

[DMVol]

59 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I’m actually fine with this trade, but I question what the hell the Angels are thinking with it.

i suspect we just found our second string catcher for 2023.

And maybe our 1st team catcher from 2024-?….

[sportstr44]

ANGELS ACQUIRE

Logan O’Hoppe, C
Age: 22

Selected in the 23rd round of the 2018 draft out of high school in New York, O’Hoppe is a huge win for the Phillies’ scouting and player development departments. He’s done nothing but hit over the last two seasons, and he represented the Phillies this season at the Futures Game. His defense is surprisingly good for a player his size, and he’s always shown the willingness to work to improve. His arm is plenty strong for the position, but his large frame has meant he’s often had to throw from his knees to get the ball out in time. As talented as he is, he was blocked in Philadelphia by J.T. Realmuto, who is under contract through 2025. The Angels have spent the last few seasons stockpiling pitching prospects in the draft. Now, O’Hoppe will get a chance to work with them.

[ThisismineScios]

The other thing to note, as many do here a lot, is that prospect rankings and value are often times based on reputations. Adding prospects at very little cost (more on that in a second) that slot into our Top 30 only improves our chances when the next Darvish, Musgrove, or Castillo becomes available. O'Hoppe will be our #1. Neto will be our #2 or #3. Davidson will be Top 15. Even the OF from Philly will be Top 30. Add in Joyce, Dana, Osmond, Madden, Sonny D, the DSL boys, Quero, Guzman, Placencia, and some improvements, and suddenly your farm gets a little more respect--perhaps going from 23-25 to 18-20. That's a big deal, and suddenly you can be a participant in some trades. Depth allows you to do this. Perry is adding depth to the system which is really important to both allow you to trade and to give you more tickets in the lottery. 

-Marsh's current status was a platoon OF batting 8-9 and playing really good defense. The power, which was been "coming' since 2016, hasn't shown itself yet. He's a great guy, but he's had more than a few chances to show he's more than a future 4th OF. 
-Thor is a rental; getting back a few darts to throw is fine. 
-Iglesias hurts, but not because it's a mistake. Our timeline shifted a bit, we suddenly have quite a few back end relief guys, and his stuff took a hit. Clearing his salary is valuable going forward. If that's 30-35% of Ohtani's salary, that helps a lot. 

[Angelsjunky]

29 minutes ago, T.G. said:

Minasian appears to make decisions quickly. DFAing Upton, firing Maddon, etc. He seems to move on quickly, IMO.   Good or bad? IDK

Yeah, I don't know. I mean it could either be impulsivity (bad) or a willingness to take action (good).

I think any GM needs at least three years to be fairly judged by a fan-base. We can nitpick the individual moves, but the key is really overall trajectory.

The initial results are not promising, though. Last year was forgivable because, as I argued, maybe he was just getting a sense of the org. But this year is very worrying - none of his offseasons moves turned out well, or at best, "meh."

Next year will be big, to see how he responds and if he can adjust. It is kind of like a hitter: They come up with lots of talent, maybe wow us with a first game double, and maybe even hit well at first, but then they slump. The key is: how do they recover? (And therein in lies the problem with Marsh: he started great, struggled, and then struggled some more).

[Angelsjunky]

2 minutes ago, ThisismineScios said:

The other thing to note, as many do here a lot, is that prospect rankings and value are often times based on reputations. Adding prospects at very little cost (more on that in a second) that slot into our Top 30 only improves our chances when the next Darvish, Musgrove, or Castillo becomes available. O'Hoppe will be our #1. Neto will be our #2 or #3. Davidson will be Top 15. Even the OF from Philly will be Top 30. Add in Joyce, Dana, Osmond, Madden, Sonny D, the DSL boys, Quero, Guzman, Placencia, and some improvements, and suddenly your farm gets a little more respect--perhaps going from 23-25 to 18-20. That's a big deal, and suddenly you can be a participant in some trades. Depth allows you to do this. Perry is adding depth to the system which is really important to both allow you to trade and to give you more tickets in the lottery. 

-Marsh's current status was a platoon OF batting 8-9 and playing really good defense. The power, which was been "coming' since 2016, hasn't shown itself yet. He's a great guy, but he's had more than a few chances to show he's more than a future 4th OF. 
-Thor is a rental; getting back a few darts to throw is fine. 
-Iglesias hurts, but not because it's a mistake. Our timeline shifted a bit, we suddenly have quite a few back end relief guys, and his stuff took a hit. Clearing his salary is valuable going forward. If that's 30-35% of Ohtani's salary, that helps a lot. 

Nice glass half full take. Some good points, though I think you're overrating Davidson - that's a nitpick. I don't see him as fundamentally better than a Jhonathan Diaz/Packy Naughton type. And we already have Barria. But that's a nitpick and I could be wrong.

Sanchez and Moniak are both interesting - both projects (like we need more of those). But at least there's some upside there. I'd rather have a couple lottery picks than more future middle relievers - we already have plenty of those in AA.

The Marsh/O'Hoppe trade could be defining of Minasian's tenure (one way or the other).

[Angel Oracle]

3 hours ago, Warfarin said:

While Marsh was no longer a prospect, he was essentially one in the sense of club control, so I look at this as a prospect-for-prospect trade of sorts.

We basically cashed in a CF prospect for a C prospect.  Given that we are committed to Trout in CF, and Ward is basically our RF, Marsh wasn't really necessary.  LF should be one of the easiest spots to fill on a club.

Given that this team has been hurting for catching depth, I think this is a worthwhile trade.  O'Hoppe could be ready by the end of next year.  Quero is very promising, but he's about 4 years or so away, which is a long time (and also a lot of room for failure along the way, given how far away he is).

If you look at Minasian's pedigree - Blue Jays, Braves - they invest a lot in their catching depth/pipeline, so this deal should come as no real surprise in that regard.

We'll see how it pans out, but I see why the move was made.  Our OF pipeline has been weakened, but with 2 spots already accounted for, we could afford to part with Marsh in exchange for a legit catching prospect.

Isn’t CF supposed to be Adell’s best position?

Try him there the rest of the season.

Put Trout in LF when/if he returns.   He’s 31 in a few days.

[failos]

I like the other trades, but this one is odd

[Vlad27Trout27]

I mean the they did trade a top 100 prospect for Marsh...Should tell you how much they value him.

[Warfarin]

2 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Isn’t CF supposed to be Adell’s best position?

Try him there the rest of the season.

Put Trout in LF when/if he returns.   He’s 31 in a few days.

Given Trout's pedigree and what he means to this franchise, I am guessing they will defer to him on that decision and let him dictate when he will move off of CF.  I'm guessing it isn't imminent, which is probably what made Marsh more expendable in a trade.

[Second Base]

You know you're good when Jomboy is making a video about you.

https://youtu.be/jXSlHA2_o1g

[ten ocho recon scout]

39 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

Given Trout's pedigree and what he means to this franchise, I am guessing they will defer to him on that decision and let him dictate when he will move off of CF.  I'm guessing it isn't imminent, which is probably what made Marsh more expendable in a trade.

With all the goofy shifts baseball does now, we should just tell Trout "you're still the Center Fielder dude, no doubt. We're just trying this new shift the nerrrrds have come up with (big smile, because the players all hate the baseball nerds) where we have 2 right fielders. It's some nerd stat shit, you know how those guys are."

[Paolo11]

Wouldn't shock me I'd they pursued a high-profile, big name, over 30, outfielder in the offseason...and overpay to get him. 

[ThisismineScios]

1 hour ago, Vlad27Trout27 said:

I mean the they did trade a top 100 prospect for Marsh...Should tell you how much they value him.

Yes because this is how teams make trades. And no teams ever ask for certain players. I’m sure the Angels have never seen O’Hoppe play. 

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

Trade away everyone. I like this!