Things to enjoy about the rest of the year (aside from contention)

[Angelsjunky]

Unfortunately it is likely to be a slow and excruciating falling away from contention, assuming that's what happens, but let's put that aside. What are you looking forward to or hoping to see for the rest of the year, aside from a playoff berth? For me:

• Ohtani reaching 50 HR and winning a 2nd MVP
• Trout getting back on track
• Neto and O'Hoppe returning
• In the "so you're saying there's a chance" category:
• Seeing what this offense can do if everyone is healthy
• Adell winning a major league job and mashing
• At least one prospect breaking out big time with an O'Hoppean performance

 

 

[Angel Oracle]

Arte Moreno finally sells the team after the season?

[Taylor]

55 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Unfortunately it is likely to be a slow and excruciating falling away from contention

Two days ago you made a thread about why the Angels are contenders and should buy.

[Angelsjunky]

14 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Two days ago you made a thread about why the Angels are contenders and should buy.

Then they lost two games in a row to the White Sox, so I'm being unreasonably down on the team. I'm sure I'll bounce back after a win or two.

[REDneck]

A magical thread couldn't hurt at this point.

[AngelsLakersFan]

I'm looking forward to the nice weather

[Revad]

I’m hoping to see Rendon come back and remain healthy.  The trade deadline is always fun, so there’s that to look forward to.

[Slegnaac]

I am really hoping that when Neto comes back he provides a spark to both the offense and defense.  Dude plays the game hard.

I am hopeful that Ward finds his center of balance at the plate so he can regain his "Superman" posture as pointed out by @Second Base, and start driving the ball with authority. 

[fan_since79]

British Open golf in a few weeks. (I'm sorry, they call it simply "The Open")

NFL football after that. 

And yes, Arte selling the team, and new ownership making a real effort to get us competitive again.

 

[Duren, Duren]

I'm going to the Cleveland series in September and hope they are still (mathematically at least)  in contention. I would rather see them going all out than playing out the string. 

Otherwise the Ohtani watch is bittersweet. The better he does, the higher his price in a likely bidding war. But I still would like to see the 50 homer/200 K milestone. In fact, he isn't far off a 60 homers pace. He may be the focus of baseball as much or more than Judge was last year. 

It would be nice to see the rotation make progress. Sandoval, Detmers, Canning need better consistency.  Anderson will be here a few more year and needs to justify his role going forward. The younger pitchers can start making cases for themselves to be bigger parts of next year's mix. And the bullpen has to sort itself out too. Probably quite a few guys will be playing for jobs next season. 

If they don't contend, then acquiring all the veteran hitters will have been wasted. Other than Drury and a healthy Urshela there isn't much long term future for the others. 

If Neto and O'Hoppe were able to play a few healthy months it would be good experience for the future. But that remains questionable. 

Watching Trout go through another meaningless season would be depressing. Especially if he doesn't regain more of his career form. That will add more question marks for next year. 

Because of Ohtani's status it seems to be all or nothing. A bad finish and I don't see him coming back. And even a wild card berth still doesn't do it necessarily but it increases the odds.

If they clearly are out of contention by September then the future might as well be a priority. Bring up the prospects who have a chance to be on next year's team. Experiment with different combinations. Sit the veterans more often and play the younger guys. And even rest Trout a lot more as the season winds down.

 

[stormngt]

22 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

Unfortunately it is likely to be a slow and excruciating falling away from contention, assuming that's what happens, but let's put that aside. What are you looking forward to or hoping to see for the rest of the year, aside from a playoff berth? For me:

• Ohtani reaching 50 HR and winning a 2nd MVP
• Trout getting back on track
• Neto and O'Hoppe returning
• In the "so you're saying there's a chance" category:
• Seeing what this offense can do if everyone is healthy
• Adell winning a major league job and mashing
• At least one prospect breaking out big time with an O'Hoppean performance

 

 

Neto doesnt count as a "prospect breaking out".  Seems a little greedy asking for three prospects to breakout the same year:

OHoppe, Neto, 3rd

[WicketMaiden]

For the first time in years I'm genuinely interested to see what Perry does at the trade deadline. I'm hoping for good things.

[Angelsjunky]

1 hour ago, stormngt said:

Neto doesnt count as a "prospect breaking out".  Seems a little greedy asking for three prospects to breakout the same year:

OHoppe, Neto, 3rd

I mean in the minors. "Breaking out" doesn't have to refer to the majors - it could be things coming together on the minor league level. Right now that isn't really happening with anyone, at least according to the stats.