A case for Matt Chapman

[tdawg87]

Let me start off by saying Rendon is a stupid moron with an ugly face and a big butt and his butt smells and he likes to kiss his own butt. 

Matt Chapman plays 3rd base. He plays 3rd base well. 

"But tdawg, we already HAVE a 3rd baseman!"

Please refer to the top of the page. Also there's some statistical nerd shit that I'd like to share. 

Fangraphs really likes Matt Chapman in 2024. These are his current ZIPS projections:

.240 AVG, 25 HR, .339 wOBA, 117 wRC+, 4.0 WAR. 

And remember, ZIPS is generally on the conservative side (Taylor pls) when it comes to projections. 

You know who Fangraphs doesn't like as much for 2024? Cody Bellinger. His ZIPS projections:

.267 AVG, 19 HR, .327 wOBA, 109 wRC+, 2.8 WAR.

Yes, Bellinger is younger. Yes he's a LHH. But he's almost certainly going to get a much larger contract than Chapman. 

Now what do we do with Rendon, then? 

Bat him DHth. Take him off the field and lower the boo-boo risk. Give him a day off once a week so Trout can DH. God I'm such a genious.

And although it's very unlikely, signing Chapman as opposed to Bellinger might give the Angels enough freedom to go after Snell or Montgomery as well. Again, highly unlikely and I know I just set off an alarm at @Inside Pitch's house by suggesting we forfeit 2 draft picks but I'm going balls deep here, man. 

Anyway, what are your thoughts on signing Chapman as opposed to a guy like Bellinger? Am I an idiot? Yes. Should we stay away from any big contracts for hitters? Focus on pitching? 

[mmc]

So your argument is he’s not some other guy that the team also has no business signing?

[tdawg87]

46 minutes ago, mmc said:

So your argument is he’s not some other guy that the team also has no business signing?

[OhtaniSan]

At this point in the off-season, if Chapman can be signed at a reasonable contract I would be prettt okay with it. Something like 5/100-120m or 3/75 maybe? The Boras thing makes me think that’s unlikely though.

Still though, Rendon would definitely benefit health-wise moving away from 3B. DHing and maybe even transitioning him away from 3B completely to instead share a couple ABs w Schanuel at 1B instead could give him some longevity for once.

[arch stanton]

He can't hit for average and he strikes out a ton. How is he not already an Angel?

[tdawg87]

1 hour ago, arch stanton said:

He can't hit for average and he strikes out a ton. How is he not already an Angel?

I mean, where's the lie here?

[Stradling]

14 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

I mean, where's the lie here?

The lie is he plays good defense. We don’t have a lot of those. 

[AngelStew43]

49 minutes ago, Stradling said:

The lie is he plays good defense. We don’t have a lot of those. 

If he can hit .240, and save 4 or 5 runs a season with his glove, then he'd be worth his deal.

[Taylor]

10/10 thread, 7/10 idea. 

[Erstad Grit]

Rendon would need to have the mental drive to switch to 1B, and I believe he's demonstrated that he isn't that type of player 

His off-season goal was not to have surgery. 

[Second Base]

A case against Matt Chapman: He's not the difference between playoffs and no playoffs. 

Otherwise, he's a fine target. 

[tdawg87]

24 minutes ago, Erstad Grit said:

Rendon would need to have the mental drive to switch to 1B, and I believe he's demonstrated that he isn't that type of player 

His off-season goal was not to have surgery. 

He's not going to 1B. I would have him DH and nothing else. 

[tdawg87]

5 minutes ago, Second Base said:

A case against Matt Chapman: He's not the difference between playoffs and no playoffs. 

Otherwise, he's a fine target. 

I don't think anyone is.

[BTH]

I think Chapman would be a good addition and obviously improve the team, but I don’t really love the idea of forfeiting a pick for him.

[Erstad Grit]

45 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

He's not going to 1B. I would have him DH and nothing else. 

Being that his glove is still solid, but his throwing has tanked, that's a shame. I think he would defensibly be a very good 1B if he had the drive. Harper impressed me a lot. 

[Stradling]

51 minutes ago, Second Base said:

A case against Matt Chapman: He's not the difference between playoffs and no playoffs. 

Otherwise, he's a fine target. 

Scotty that’s literally the case for every single player. So it’s not a case. 

[Stradling]

46 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

I don't think anyone is.

If anyone was it was Shohei. It’s a bad argument 

[Dgar24]

Been in on replacing Rendon at third for a while. I believe keeping him and Trout  healthy is top priority. Chapman to much money for defense first type of player.

How about we give Rengifo third base and quit moving him around, give him the opportunity to play daily one spot with Ron and staff working 

with him, he might just be the answer. I would bring in Bellinger for center field  move Trout to left. 

.

[Docwaukee]

This would be my guy if we were going to go over 3 years for someone.  For four years in a row, he's had an expected wOBA that's higher than actual.  

He should be a better hitter and I'm not sure why he isn't.  The only thing that stands out is his low contact rate on pitches in the zone.  But his swing and miss isn't horrendous.  

would be great to get him at 3/60.  But I think I'd also be ok with a 5yr deal for a lower AAV.  

[Angel Oracle]

33 minutes ago, Dgar24 said:

Been in on replacing Rendon at third for a while. I believe keeping him and Trout  healthy is top priority. Chapman to much money for defense first type of player.

How about we give Rengifo third base and quit moving him around, give him the opportunity to play daily one spot with Ron and staff working 

with him, he might just be the answer. I would bring in Bellinger for center field  move Trout to left. 

.

That’s something I have said since Wash was hired.    We now see Rengifo’s bat and the arm to handle 3B.   Wash can then work with him on the mental errors.

Was climbing on the Bellinger wagon, but they need to see if the asking price comes down.   He’s still only 28, and not in his 30s already.

[Dgar24]

Agree with price needs to come down . Like his age as well.

[Second Base]

57 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Scotty that’s literally the case for every single player. So it’s not a case. 

I disagree. It's a great case to rebuild. 

[Inside Pitch]

9 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

Again, highly unlikely and I know I just set off an alarm at @Inside Pitch's house by suggesting we forfeit 2 draft picks but I'm going balls deep here, man. 

18 minutes ago, Docwaukee said:

He should be a better hitter and I'm not sure why he isn't.  The only thing that stands out is his low contact rate on pitches in the zone.  But his swing and miss isn't horrendous.  

He has this Pujolsian way of torquing balls directly at people, it typically shows up in his BaBIP but last year he was way lucky and still managed to only post a .240 batting average.

It's not like his LA is bad or anything, he just hits 104 MPH right at people...

[UndertheHalo]

Yes I also think he’s a reasonable target for the Perry. 

[Stradling]

37 minutes ago, Second Base said:

I disagree. It's a great case to rebuild. 

They have been. Chapman doesn’t prevent them from continuing to draft well. You lose one pick which sucks but it would also help the young guys develop.