Opening Day Roster vs. Trade Deadline Roster

[Hubs]

Crazy how different these two are.

Opening Day:

Shohei Ohtani (Two Way), Mike Trout (CF), Taylor Ward (LF), Hunter Renfroe (RF), Brett Phillips (OF), Logan O' Hoppe (C), Matt Thaiss (C), Brandon Drury (1B), Luis Rengifo (2B), David Fletcher (SS), Anthony Rendon (3B), Gio Urshela (UTL), Jake Lamb (INF), Patrick Sandoval (SP), Tyler Anderson (SP) Reid Detmers (SP), Jose Suarez (SP), Tucker Davidson (SP/RP), Carlos Estevez (CL), Jimmy Herget (RP), Jaime Barria (RP), Matt Moore (RP), Aaron Loup (RP), Ryan Tepera (RP), Andrew Wantz (RP) Jose Quijada (RP).

IL: Max Stassi (C), Jared Walsh (1B), Chris Rodriguez (RP)

 

Day Before Trade Deadline:

Shohei Ohtani (Two Way), Mickey Moniak (OF), Randal Grichuck (OF), Hunter Renfroe (RF), Matt Thaiss (C), Chad Wallach (C), CJ Cron (1B), Luis Rengifo (2B), Zach Neto (SS), Mike Moustakas (3B), Andrew Velazquez (INF), Eduardo Escobar (INF), Michael Stefanic (INF), Lucas Giolito (SP), Patrick Sandoval (SP), Tyler Anderson (SP) Reid Detmers (SP), Griffin Canninng (SP) Carlos Estevez (CL), Jaime Barria (RP), Matt Moore (RP), Aaron Loup (RP), Reynaldo Lopez (RP), Jose Soriano (RP), Jacob Webb (RP), Chase Silseth (RP/SP)

Injured List: Mike Trout (CF), Taylor Ward (LF), Logan O' Hoppe (C), Brandon Drury (1B), Anthony Rendon (3B), Gio Urshela (UTL), Jose Quijada (RP), Jose Suarez (SP), Sam Bachman (RP), Chris Devenski (RP), Ben Joyce (RP), Austin Warren (RP), Jo Adell (OF), Chris Rodriguez (RP), Max Stassi (C)

Minors: Jimmy Herget (RP), Andrew Wantz (RP), Zach Weiss (RP), Victor Mederos (RP), Gerardo Reyes (RP), Kolton Ingram (RP), Livan Soto (SS), Trey Cabbage (OF/INF), 

Outrighted: Brett Phillips (OF), David Fletcher (SS), Jared Walsh (1B/OF)* 

Cut: Ryan Tepera (RP), Tucker Davidson (SP/RP), Jake Lamb (INF),

* in DFA limbo still.

 

[Revad]

It’s amazing we’ve done as well as we have, really, and a credit to stating out with some depth to begin with.  

[arch stanton]

Moniak, Neto, and Thaiss weren’t even considered part of the roster in spring and have essentially saved the season 

[Warfarin]

1 hour ago, arch stanton said:

Moniak, Neto, and Thaiss weren’t even considered part of the roster in spring and have essentially saved the season 

What is interesting about Neto is I do remember in the offseason, various people insisting we pursue Turner and that we shouldn't consider Neto, as he was several years away and that it was essentially silly to worry about blocking him.

Fast-forward months later, and he is one of our most indispensable players, and has been more value than Trea Turner on a per PA basis in terms of fWAR.  Go figure, eh?

[Jason]

1 hour ago, Warfarin said:

What is interesting about Neto is I do remember in the offseason, various people insisting we pursue Turner and that we shouldn't consider Neto, as he was several years away and that it was essentially silly to worry about blocking him.

Fast-forward months later, and he is one of our most indispensable players, and has been more value than Trea Turner on a per PA basis in terms of fWAR.  Go figure, eh?

Neto is proof on why the most important thing this franchise can do is to heavily invest in scouting, drafting and player development. 

[Angelsfan1984]

Hard to have a top 10 farm when they come in and contribute so quickly. 

[HeavenlyHalos]

3 hours ago, Warfarin said:

What is interesting about Neto is I do remember in the offseason, various people insisting we pursue Turner and that we shouldn't consider Neto, as he was several years away and that it was essentially silly to worry about blocking him.

Fast-forward months later, and he is one of our most indispensable players, and has been more value than Trea Turner on a per PA basis in terms of fWAR.  Go figure, eh?

Turner was the last of the available SS I would want. His game is very much built around speed, the skillset that ages the worst. Naturally, that is who Arte wanted to pursue and we owe a massive thank you to Perry for preventing this.

[Jason]

19 minutes ago, Angelsfan1984 said:

Hard to have a top 10 farm when they come in and contribute so quickly. 

That is a great problem to have

[ten ocho recon scout]

3 hours ago, Warfarin said:

What is interesting about Neto is I do remember in the offseason, various people insisting we pursue Turner and that we shouldn't consider Neto, as he was several years away and that it was essentially silly to worry about blocking him.

Fast-forward months later, and he is one of our most indispensable players, and has been more value than Trea Turner on a per PA basis in terms of fWAR.  Go figure, eh?

I was quietly hoping we'd sign Correa. Not because I'm a fan, but because I wanted another bona-fide hitter.

And Neto has basically been the same for a fraction of the cost. It's crazy how bad Correa is looking now, money wise.

That whole crazy saga this past winter with him, the Giants, Mets etc.... they dodged a huge bullet.

[Warfarin]

5 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I was quietly hoping we'd sign Correa. Not because I'm a fan, but because I wanted another bona-fide hitter.

And Neto has basically been the same for a fraction of the cost. It's crazy how bad Correa is looking now, money wise.

That whole crazy saga this past winter with him, the Giants, Mets etc.... they dodged a huge bullet.

I think the morale to the story is most of those big money contracts turn out poorly.  Still, every team can take some gambles and calculated risks on that front, depending on their total payroll and where they might be in terms of producing talent.

With Trout and Rendon already on the books, and with the hope that they can sign Ohtani to what will likely be a 40-45mil AAV per year contract for an incredibly long time, it never really made sense to pursue a high cost SS.  The FO likely intended to push Neto quickly all along and hence were never seriously involved in any of the SS talks.