Offseason To Do List

[kevinb]

re: the bullpen, I think a lot of it has to do with coaching and usage.  RPs are incredibly volatile from year to year, so guys that look bad one year can be great the next, and vice versa.  You have to be careful what you wish for in wanting the BP completely blown up and rebuilt.  No guarantee it will be any better.

We should keep everything the same next year this team is a 100 win team. Man I love fans. I hope Arte gets his wish next year we won't even sniff 3 million fans in attendance.

[ELEVEN]

we looking for SP between weaver and Wilson.....or one between Wilson and Vargas?

The 2 on the left appear to be circling that drain.

[HaloMagic]

he will probably make about 8 million (hardly enough to set yourself life)

LOL

[Hollyw00d]

wilson is having a good season.

 

at least there's that.

[Mauch Won]

In this upcoming off season what would be a list of things that Arte and Jerry need to address.  I want to know what people think is the most important.  I'll start. This is by importance.

 

1. Release Joe Blanton

2. Fire Mike Butcher

3. Trade Kendrick and Bourjos for Starting Pitching

4. Resign Jason Vargas

5. Start talking with Trout and his agent about contract extension.

Still have a couple of years on this, but needs to start this year.

 

 

Just to name a few

 

1. Yes,

2. Yes but that should be part of the house cleaning.  Dipoto, Sosh, and all the coaches should be sent packing.  Two years ago, I thought Dipoto was the answer but I was wrong.   Arte needs to start fresh and promise to stop requiring the big names.  Cashman was able to pull Steinbrenner back from that ledge and win some rings in the 90's.  The next GM needs to do the same for Arte.

3.  Trade Howie only if you think Green is ready and you can get a 2-3 SP that is controlable for 3 or more years.  Might be asking too much for HK though, especially when they know we are desperate.  Petey will have to be traded and we will live with Shuck, Calhoun, and possibly Cowgill as the bottom 3 OF.

4.  Yep.  Pretty his price will be reasonable wanting to stay in OC and the fact that he was injured.   2 years max, including options.

5.  Trout needs to be an Angel for life. 

 

To relieve some pressure on the team, put Hamilton on revocable waivers now and let him go on the claim.  We don't get a player back but we clear an "untradable" contract.  

[Homebrewer]

To relieve some pressure on the team, put Hamilton on revocable waivers now and let him go on the claim.  We don't get a player back but we clear an "untradable" contract. 

[HaloMagic]

LOL at the thought that someone would claim Hamilton and his god awful contract. We were the only one stupid to sign him for that much when everyone thought he was good. Why in the world would someone else pay him that much now?

[Homebrewer]

LOL at the thought that someone would claim Hamilton and his god awful contract. We were the only one stupid to sign him for that much when everyone thought he was good. Why in the world would someone else pay him that much now?

A team with a real coaching staff might take a flier on him.

[The God of Runs]

The Real List:

 

Fire Dipoto

Fire Scioscia

Arte sells the team

[ettin]

1. Objectively re-evaluate the coaching staff and front office personnel to determine what is working and not working.

2. Acquire one or two young, cost-controlled starting pitchers by trading one or more of either Kendrick, Trumbo, or Bourjos.

3. Extend Mike Trout (for me I would prefer to see a record-breaking contract that keeps him an Angel for life).

4. Make the bullpen a priority and either acquire one or more young, cost-controlled arms through trade or spend on the free agent market.

5. Double down on the farm system and aggressively expand our international presence and scouting corps.

 

Those appear to be the biggest priorities.

 

None of us know what goes on in the clubhouse and although it appears as if S-C-I-O-S-C-I-A is on the chopping block, there may not be appealing options available to replace him. I think Dipoto stays at least one more season. All key office personnel and coaching staff should be evaluated fairly and objectively.

 

Kendrick and Trumbo seem like the more likely candidates to be traded for a starting pitcher. I have always been a fan of Bourjos and as much as we all agree that Trout is a good center fielder I like the idea of letting Mike save his legs a bit (and his body!) by not having the CF workload possibly wear him down a tad. Let Peter race around out there if possible. No matter what we shouldn't sell low on any of them simply to get a pitcher. Any of those players would and should bring back a high quality starting pitching prospect that is MLB ready or near MLB ready.

 

I have been a proponent of making Trout an offer that he couldn't possibly refuse. 20 years/$500 million. Not joking. Pay him $30+ million in his age 25-32 seasons (a mid-loaded contract, I just coined the term), lower to higher amounts in his age 22-24 seasons, and then higher to lower in his age 33-42 seasons. $16, $19, $20, $24, $30, $32, $35, $35, $35, $32, $30, $27, $25, $23, $22, $21, $20, $20, $17, $16 would be an example year by year outlay. Taking salary inflation into account and an average of $25 million per year is probably a team-friendly contract. No matter what, we need to, at the minimum, grab at least a couple of his free agent years.... that has to happen!

 

Even if we lose Kendrick or Trumbo (or both) in trade for starting pitching the priority must be to acquire at least two more reliable bullpen arms. They can either be acquisitions as part of a Kendrick/Trumbo trade or free agent signings (the free agent market for relievers is decent this off season). If we can add at least one good young bullpen arm through trade and then 1-2 more free agent signings it would go a long way towards shoring up the poor performances that we experienced this year. The focus should be on relievers with good peripherals, poise, and good medical histories. One should be a good candidate for the closer role.

 

Finally as part of Dipoto's rebuilding effort we should pour more money into the farm system, our international presence, and adding to our scouting department. I think Jerry is already doing this to a degree but more money spent up front should help create a postive impact later on down the line.

[70runner]

No way to "clear" Hamilton.  Just like the Albatross, we are stuck with him.  No sane GM would take either of these washed up bums UNLESS they were packaged with Trout and even that might not be enough. 

 

1st priority: reboot the coaching staff, otherwise new players but same turn the page baseball

2nd priority: Trout

3rd priority: pitching (trade anyone except Trout)

4th priority: Conger full time, Iannetta backup or gone

[HaloFan85]

Bring in Mike Piazza to replace Scioscia as manager.

 

I'd give my left nut to sit in Arte's office as he's giving Sosh the news of his new replacement.

[WallyWorld]

We should keep everything the same next year this team is a 100 win team. Man I love fans. I hope Arte gets his wish next year we won't even sniff 3 million fans in attendance.

 

woah woah woah, where did I say that we should keep everything the same?  No one can argue the BP has a lot of issues, I'm just saying the issues aren't 100% due to personnel, nor is it realistic to think we're going to have an entirely brand new BP next year.  For instance, a guy like Michael Kohn I know a lot of people are down on right now, but he has a good, live arm and is just a year removed from TJ surgery.  I think he has the potential to be a lights out RP next year. A guy like De La Rosa could be really useful too.

[Homebrewer]

Bring in Mike Piazza to replace Scioscia as manager.

 

I'd give my left nut to sit in Arte's office as he's giving Sosh the news of his new replacement.

That is freakin cruel.

I love it.

[Homebrewer]

woah woah woah, where did I say that we should keep everything the same?  No one can argue the BP has a lot of issues, I'm just saying the issues aren't 100% due to personnel, nor is it realistic to think we're going to have an entirely rand new BP next year.  For instance, a guy like Michael Kohn I know a lot of people are down on right, but he has a good, live arm and is just a year removed from TJ surgery.  I think he has the potential to be a lights out RP next year. A guy like De La Rosa could be really useful too.

The BP will still be crap with butcher hacking at it.

I just love his mound visits, they always work.

[greginpsca]

Bring Percival in as a bullpen coach. He mentored a lot of angel pitchers during his years here. and during those years we had the best bullpens in franchise history.

[Homebrewer]

And Percy was mentored by Lee Smith..
That is a whole lot of RP knowledge to pass on.

[WallyWorld]

I'm down with the Percy idea, I just don't know if he's personally ready for the time commitment.  Last I heard he was wanting to be at home to watch his kids grow up.

[ELEVEN]

Get Percy's kids seats in the LF bleachers. He can see if they are getting bigger from there.

[stormngt]

Give me a quarter of that and I would be set for life. 8 million is way more than enough to live, very comfortably on.

 

Yea, you would be very happy turning down 180 million because you would be more than happy with 8 million.....Sure!

[ettin]

Get Percy's kids seats in the LF bleachers. He can see if they are getting bigger from there.

 

Indentured servitude? I like where you're going with this....

[stormngt]

To relieve some pressure on the team, put Hamilton on revocable waivers now and let him go on the claim.  We don't get a player back but we clear an "untradable" contract. 

 

So according to you, Arte should eat 25 million and fire Scioscia and than eat another 150 million by DFA Hamilton.  Would we have enough money to extend Trout?

[ettin]

So according to you, Arte should eat 25 million and fire Scioscia and than eat another 150 million by DFA Hamilton.  Would we have enough money to extend Trout?

 

Storm if someone were crazy enough to claim Hamilton on revocable waivers we could simply dump the entire contract on that team. However the problem with Homebrewer's scenario is that Hamilton could invoke his no-trade clause and block it from happening in the first place.

[Homebrewer]

So according to you, Arte should eat 25 million and fire Scioscia and than eat another 150 million by DFA Hamilton.  Would we have enough money to extend Trout?

To me Arte has proven ONE thing in his time here.

He has money in huge bags and isn't afraid to spend it.

I laugh when people say we can't afford players...I have seen NO reason, no evidence, to believe that money is a consideration for this org.

[Mark68]

we looking for SP between weaver and Wilson.....or one between Wilson and Vargas?

Between ___ and Weaver. But none of those guys will be available. Except possibly David Price, who will cost too much to acquire.