This team is one arm in the starting rotation and one in the bullpen from competing in 2014

[Brent Maguire]

Funny that Hellickson has the best K/BB ratio of his career and is posting a reasonable HR rate and his ERA is higher than it's ever been.

 

These types of pitchers are very confusing to judge. 

[ettin]

Simple ettin, because we'd be buying low on Hellickson right now, who's proven in the past he's a much better pitcher than we're seeing, and he's rounded the corner just in the last month or so. On top of which we'd have him for 3 years pretty cheap.  

 

I know you're just trying to solidify your point, but no one actually thinks Joe Blanton > Jeremy Hellickson and I suspect you don't either. 

 

So why is buying low on a crappy pitcher good? Again please point to his peripherals (FIP, xFIP, SIERA) over any of his major league seasons and tell me that is something you want in our rotation? I'm not saying there is a chance he won't improve but do we have the time and patience to wait over the next 3 years to find out?

 

He's not a strikeout thrower, he's more of a finesse guy and for Kendrick you can and should get more in my opinion. I just don't see the "better" pitcher that you are saying you see.

 

And my point about Blanton was simply that if we want a 4.60 ERA on our staff we might as well just roll Blanton out instead of trading for a different version of him.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Is one BP arm really going to fix....this? This bullpen is awful.

 

God of Runs and I are going to ST next year. We've got this.

[Tyler]

advanced stats are the absolute worse.

[ScottT]

Yeah. They should focus on basic stats. The ones that were hot in the 1890's.

[Tyler]

oh, hi brian kenney.

[nate]

The OP forgot a manager that is worth a damn.

[ScottT]

Brian Kenny is awesome.   He is a bit over the top at times... but i think he is doing so to be entertaining AND make a point.  The "kill the win" campaign is a bit silly.  People should just understand what pitchers' W/L records mean... and what they don't. Many starting pitchers do.

 

 It's partly entertainment, but some people have to be bashed over the head with it until they get it.  General Managers understand.  Baseball people understand.  Media members are getting there.  That's why Felix Hernandez won a CY Young.  

[The God of Runs]

God of Runs and I are going to ST next year. We've got this.

So, how do you get to Biogenesis clinic again?

[Docwaukee]

No matter what dipoto does this off season, a large component of the teams success will again rely on the performance of Hamilton and pujols. The best chance they have of making that work if those two perform similarly is to out pitch their opponents

Trying to outslug teams didn't work and a different approach is needed

The key will be upgrading value in areas where it's low and minimizing the downside

Biggest potential areas to upgrade:

Two starting pitchers and back end of the pen

Areas of where losses can be minimized:

Trading Trumbo and Kendrick.

Those two are nice players, but their replacements don't hurt as much as what they could bring in trade would help.

[ScottT]

Saying the Angels just tried to outslug teams is oversimplifying matters to the extreme.  

 

The Angels have a second order win percentage of .518.  Third order... .506.   That is accepting the individual performance of everyone... including Pujols, Hamilton, Blanton, and Hanson.  That is accepting injuries to Weaver, Pujols, Burnett, Madson, etc.   

 

They made some questionable moves.  They've had some bad luck (in terms of real performance and W/L results).   

 

They've had disappointing production in the lineup, in the rotation, and in the bullpen. 

[stormngt]

I disagree. I don't think we ever shopped him around. The Pirates even wanted him this past deadline, but with no other impact bats on the market the Angels wanted a ridiculous return.

 

What exactly should we be trading Trumbo for? 

 

We need a starting pitcher.  We need a closer.  If we are not getting one of those we shouldn't trade him.  

 

So, since you know so much, what was offered for Trumbo and who did we turn down?  

[Angel Oracle]

And also one GOOD pitching coach and one GOOD GM away

[Tyler]

What exactly should we be trading Trumbo for? 

 

We need a starting pitcher.  We need a closer.  If we are not getting one of those we shouldn't trade him.  

 

So, since you know so much, what was offered for Trumbo and who did we turn down?

How many times are we going to have this same discussion? move on little buddy.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Or he's another Kazmir that the Rays are looking to get rid of. Kazmir was the same age when he started to take a dump.

but kaz is making a comeback right now, per the other thread.

So the key is to trade for hellikson in 4 years.

[tshurtz]

I like it Scott, but it just seems like we're spending money on things we already have with Stauffer. 

 

1. Trade Hanson to KC for a prospect.

2. Non-tender Williams, give him a shot with someone else in baseball.

3. Offer Jason Vargas compensation, for which he'll surely decline and gain compensation round pick.

4. Trade Kendrick, Cron, Grichuk and 5 million to TB for Hellickon (yeah I'm sticking with it).

5. Trade Cowart, Jepsen and the compensation round pick from Vargas to Cubs for Jeff Samardzija.

6. Sign Edward Mujica. 

 

C- Conger. 1B - Trumbo. 2B - Lindsey. SS - Aybar. 3B - Green. LF - Trout. CF - Bourjos. RF - Hamilton. DH- Pujols.

 

Nelson splits time at 3B with Green while Green also splits time at 2B with Lindsey.  Shuck and Calhoun are both kept on staff because Bourjos is an injury risk and both Hamilton and Pujols are injury and ineffectiveness risks. 

 

BENCH: Nelson, Shuck, Calhoun, Iannetta.

ROTATION: Weav, Wilson, Samardzija, Hellickson, Richards

BULLPEN: Mujica, Frieri, Burnett, DDLR, Kohn, Maronde, Morin

 

I'd be willing to bet that team would finally break the 90 win plateau, assuming Scioscia shows a quick trigger finger on certain players not hitting the ball. 

There's absolutely zero chance you're getting Samardzija for that package, especially since you can only trade competitve balance draft picks.

[VariousCrap]

I'd like to see the Angels resign Vargas.  He is a solid #4/#5 starter.  If Richards can continue to do well, he will be perfect for #4/#5 in the rotation next year.

 

That would mean the Angels only have to get one starter and I'd say they should just fork out the $$$ at get Garza. 

 

Weaver, Wilson, Garza, Vargas and Richards would be a very strong starting rotation and a huge upgrade from this year.

 

They could then trade for some solid relief pitching.

[Scott34]

I'm curious to see how Sappington does in his 5 starts for the Travs.  If he does well, we could possibly see him mid-year next season.  That could factor in to our off-season pitching strategy.

[Angel Oracle]

What VERY good college pitchers are expected to be in the 2014 draft? 

If we finish with a top 10 pick, that would be the perfect use of that pick if a really good pitcher is available from the college level.

Of course, a Weaver won't drop 10 spots anymore due to the draft pick bonus slotting.   Maybe someone from a medium college like Chris Sale came from (FGCU)? 

 

Sappington needs to work on his control though.   He's walked a lot of batters so far in 2013.

He's probably on target for ST 2015.