The Official Los Angeles Angels 2023-2024 Hot Stove Offseason Thread

[EdmontonAngelsFan]

14 minutes ago, T.G. said:

Ronald Acuna, Jr. is hitting .167 with an OPS of .481

Jose Altuve is hitting .233 with an OPS of .648

Bryce Harper is hitting .227 with an OPS of .619

Matt Olson .200 and .667

It's Spring Training...

Some of you need to take a deep breath when looking at Angels ST stats.

IT'S OVER MAN!

[T.G.]

8 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

it's still at least slightly concerning

Maybe.  Maybe not.

[jsnpritchett]

5 minutes ago, T.G. said:

Maybe.  Maybe not.

Given the current roster, are you saying you're not at least somewhat concerned about how the offense will be this year? 

[T.G.]

1 minute ago, jsnpritchett said:

Given the current roster, are you saying you're not at least somewhat concerned about how the offense will be this year? 

I'm somewhat pessimistic about the whole team, but I'm ready to let the season play out... like always.

[jsnpritchett]

Just now, T.G. said:

I'm somewhat pessimistic about the whole team, but I'm ready to let the season play out... like always.

I think most folks here are.  Nothing that I've said about my concerns about the offense indicate I'm not gonna watch or support the team.  I'm ready to let it play out, too--but you can do that and still have questions about the team. 

[T.G.]

8 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

I think most folks here are.  Nothing that I've said about my concerns about the offense indicate I'm not gonna watch or support the team.  I'm ready to let it play out, too--but you can do that and still have questions about the team. 

Even if the Angels offense would have been world beaters, I'd still be pessimistic.  I don't take ST all that seriously, one way or the other.

[jsnpritchett]

David Fletcher will start the season in AAA.

 

[Blarg]

7 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

David Fletcher will start the season in AAA.

 

Along with Squid.

[jsnpritchett]

5 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Along with Squid.

Yeah, but he never really had a shot at making the major league team.  At least Fletcher was in the conversation.

[ThisismineScios]

I am also pessimistic about the offense. Last year with Ohtani they were a top 5 AL offense before the ASB, bottom 5 after. You lose Ohtani and you don't add a single hitter to the lineup? Not any single one of significance. And the rotation, which was not good, didn't have any additions either. Just not sure why we couldn't go after a $5-8 million dollar player to play OF or 2B. Maybe they really, really, really like Drury and Rengifo. And no DH? I think without Ohtani, they are at best a middle of the road offense, especially without a single addition. 

[DMVol]

19 minutes ago, ThisismineScios said:

I am also pessimistic about the offense. Last year with Ohtani they were a top 5 AL offense before the ASB, bottom 5 after. You lose Ohtani and you don't add a single hitter to the lineup? Not any single one of significance. And the rotation, which was not good, didn't have any additions either. Just not sure why we couldn't go after a $5-8 million dollar player to play OF or 2B. Maybe they really, really, really like Drury and Rengifo. And no DH? I think without Ohtani, they are at best a middle of the road offense, especially without a single addition. 

I haven’t been in favor but signing Martinez would help some…and he would be relatively cheap, compared to Snell…and, if he hits well, give you a chip at the Trade Deadline.

[BTH]

Saw this on Twitter, thought that it’s relevant…

Not sure I agree, but it’s interesting to see one projection system rate the Angels’ offense this highly.

 

Edited March 18 by BTH

[jsnpritchett]

4 minutes ago, BTH said:

Saw this on Twitter, thought that it’s relevant…

 

They literally just added the 9 OPS projections and divided by 9.  I guess that's technically an average, but it's not like everyone is going to get the same amount of playing time.  Lol.  Kind of a silly way to do it.

[Pancake Bear]

1 hour ago, ThisismineScios said:

I am also pessimistic about the offense. Last year with Ohtani they were a top 5 AL offense before the ASB, bottom 5 after. You lose Ohtani and you don't add a single hitter to the lineup? Not any single one of significance. And the rotation, which was not good, didn't have any additions either. Just not sure why we couldn't go after a $5-8 million dollar player to play OF or 2B. Maybe they really, really, really like Drury and Rengifo. And no DH? I think without Ohtani, they are at best a middle of the road offense, especially without a single addition. 

Sure, if you assume everything remains static from year to year. Just saying Ohtani is gone and everything else remains the same is kinda disingenuous: Even the Rangers' offensive shift over the last two seasons shows how much a team can change from just one season to the next. The Angels have a new manager and coaching staff, young players who are coming into their prime, and two former MVPs who haven't been healthy in a couple of seasons. Am I saying we're going to have an amazing offense this season? Absolutely not, and I wish we'd brought in another player or two to help with depth, but there's a lot to potential in the lineup - we just seem to get the shit end of the stick every year with injuries. 

[jsnpritchett]

1 minute ago, Pancake Bear said:

Sure, if you assume everything remains static from year to year. Just saying Ohtani is gone and everything else remains the same is kinda disingenuous: Even the Rangers' offensive shift over the last two seasons shows how much a team can change from just one season to the next. The Angels have a new manager and coaching staff, young players who are coming into their prime, and two former MVPs who haven't been healthy in a couple of seasons. Am I saying we're going to have an amazing offense this season? Absolutely not, and I wish we'd brought in another player or two to help with depth, but there's a lot to potential in the lineup - we just seem to get the shit end of the stick every year with injuries. 

I think that's a fair way to look at it.  I guess my feeling is that the offense probably has more variable outcomes than in almost any recent season.  If Trout and Rendon are healthy and are at least in the universe of their prior performance AND the young guys are healthy and take steps forward, the offense could be quite good.  If either Rendon or Trout get hurt for an extended period of time again and/or don't perform up to their standards, then the offense will probably be average.  If Trout/Rendon aren't healthy/don't perform AND a couple of the young guys don't hit like we're all hoping they will, the offense could be disastrous.

Yes, you can come up with scenarios like this for other teams--but given the Angels recent history and the uncertainty around the younger guys, I just think the offense is more of a wild card than most teams' offenses are.

[Pancake Bear]

2 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

I think that's a fair way to look at it.  I guess my feeling is that the offense probably has more variable outcomes than in almost any recent season.  If Trout and Rendon are healthy and are at least in the universe of their prior performance AND the young guys are healthy and take steps forward, the offense could be quite good.  If either Rendon or Trout get hurt for an extended period of time again and/or don't perform up to their standards, then the offense will probably be average.  If Trout/Rendon aren't healthy/don't perform AND a couple of the young guys don't hit like we're all hoping they will, the offense could be disastrous.

Yes, you can come up with scenarios like this for other teams--but given the Angels recent history and the uncertainty around the younger guys, I just think the offense is more of a wild card than most teams' offenses are.

Absolutely. At this point, it's totally fair to wonder whether we'll get anything from Trout and (especially) Rendon, but you also don't have to squint too hard to see strong seasons from either or both. Neither is particularly old. The vets, like Ward, Drury, Rengifo, and Hicks all were above average hitters last season. The kids - O'Hoppe, Neto, Schanuel, Moniak, and Adell - all have to some extent the ability to break out in a big way. 

But, like you said, Trout and/or Rendon could have just another crappy injury-filled season, the vets could regress, and the kids could fail to take the next step, and we could have a bottom tier offense. There's a ton of volatility - and my biggest concern is that we really need more infield depth. Bringing in a JD Martinez would be huge, imo. 

[TroutField]

19 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

Absolutely. At this point, it's totally fair to wonder whether we'll get anything from Trout and (especially) Rendon, but you also don't have to squint too hard to see strong seasons from either or both. Neither is particularly old. The vets, like Ward, Drury, Rengifo, and Hicks all were above average hitters last season. The kids - O'Hoppe, Neto, Schanuel, Moniak, and Adell - all have to some extent the ability to break out in a big way. 

But, like you said, Trout and/or Rendon could have just another crappy injury-filled season, the vets could regress, and the kids could fail to take the next step, and we could have a bottom tier offense. There's a ton of volatility - and my biggest concern is that we really need more infield depth. Bringing in a JD Martinez would be huge, imo. 

I agree with all of this. Let the kids play but get some major league depth in here in the event they don’t take the next step and or injuries happen. 
 

Martinez and a starting pitcher would be a huge boost to this team going into the regular season. I love Trout, he’s my favorite player of all time but I’m just not sold on him playing 150 and not going into any extended slumps. He’s getting to the age where the injuries and games played are going to start to hit the stat line, unfortunately. 

[mmc]

 

[Erstad Grit]

6 minutes ago, mmc said:

 

Well there you go.

Personally I think this makes sense for the Giants. Snell......should have taken the Yankees deal.

Monty or Lorenzen + JD I think still makes sense for us. 

[mmc]

 

[mmc]

 

[DMVol]

I think Rosenthal, Chuck and others had it right….we were never very serious about Snell…..Ever…..

[DMVol]

Just now, mmc said:

 

You may not like him but he’s not wrong…..

[jsnpritchett]

I'm 100% fine with the Angels not signing him to a deal like that. 

[jsnpritchett]

5 minutes ago, DMVol said:

You may not like him but he’s not wrong…..

Agreed. If they have a strategy, it makes little sense. I guess, "trade all the relievers we signed at the deadline if we're out of it" could be considered a strategy, so maybe there's that? Lol.