Angels Official Website: Angels do not need an overhaul this offseason

[AngelsWin.com]

Many of the pieces the Angels need to compete for a playoff spot are already in place, so the free-agent splashes the club made the past two offseasons are not needed -- and would likely be counterproductive.

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[Ohtaniland]

Some things never change....

 

Angels need only tweaking for 2011  

By Evan Drellich / MLB.com

ANAHEIM -- Manager Mike Scioscia said the Angels need only tweaking, not an overhaul for next season, but did not want to talk about 2011 in depth.

"We're not talking about next year," Scioscia said. "We've obviously got a challenge in front of us to play good baseball here down to the end of the year, and we'll make those other decisions at the appropriate time."

Scioscia did say that the return of some missing pieces from this season, none bigger than Kendry Morales, would provide a boost. He did not directly address the potential return of free agent Hideki Matsui.

"When you look at Kendry and you look at Maicer [izturis], we added [Alberto] Callaspo, we'll have him moving forward in whatever role that develops into. A little more experience for guys like [Erick] Aybar, [Howard] Kendrick. Peter Bourjos obviously getting a chance to play, hopefully developing."

[mtangelsfan]

Well, since the Angels did make big splashes the last two seasons and it turned out badly.  Maybe Sosh was correct after all? 

[mtangelsfan]

Seriously though, it's not whether to make big moves or small moves.  It's making the right moves.  If you look at a majority of teams making the playoffs they had good pitching.  The Angels basically ignored that in making most of their moves.  That can't happen again.  They can't go all "low risk/high reward" or "roll the dice and pray for sevens" this time.

[Brent Maguire]

I'm certain that whatever 2 pitchers we get in the rotation next year will be better than Hanson and Blanton were. Even average-mediocre production from the back end would've made us a 83-85 win team last year. 

[Ohtaniland]

Seriously though, it's not whether to make big moves or small moves.  It's making the right moves.  If you look at a majority of teams making the playoffs they had good pitching.  The Angels basically ignored that in making most of their moves.  That can't happen again.  They can't go all "low risk/high reward" or "roll the dice and pray for sevens" this time.

 

MT, I just don't think that our Angels are in any financial position to make significant impact moves. We're going to have to wait this out. Pujols, Hamilton and Wells tie up $59M in 2014. Trout will probably get a nice deal next year when V-Dub is off the books.   

Edited November 8, 2013 by Hamiltown

[mtangelsfan]

They can make some trades to improve the pitching.  They have some decent trade pieces on the ML roster. 

 

Also I doubt signing Tanaka really hurts them at all.  It won't go against the luxury tax and if Arte can build a stadium as he says he can, he can sign Tanaka.  Not saying he will, but one thing Moreno has never done is cry poverty or been cheap.  Regardless, there is not one reason why the pitching should not be significantly better next season.

[Brandon]

I'm certain that whatever 2 pitchers we get in the rotation next year will be better than Hanson and Blanton were. Even average-mediocre production from the back end would've made us a 83-85 win team last year.

That was the goal this year. If Hanson and Blanton were simply mediocre we would have been ok.

[Ohtaniland]

They can make some trades to improve the pitching.  They have some decent trade pieces on the ML roster. 

 

Also I doubt signing Tanaka really hurts them at all.  It won't go against the luxury tax and if Arte can build a stadium as he says he can, he can sign Tanaka.  Not saying he will, but one thing Moreno has never done is cry poverty or been cheap.  Regardless, there is not one reason why the pitching should not be significantly better next season.

 

No doubt that Arte is not poor or cheap but I think his spending flexibility has changed and he's going to be more on the cautious conservative side. He really did go "All In" the past two seasons.

[Adam]

No doubt that Arte is not poor or cheap but I think his spending flexibility has changed and he's going to be more on the cautious conservative side. He really did go "All In" the past two seasons.

 

We say that every year though. Right or wrong, if he thinks spending X on Y & Z will result in a playoff run, he'll likely do it.

[Ohtaniland]

We say that every year though. Right or wrong, if he thinks spending X on Y & Z will result in a playoff run, he'll likely do it.

 

The problem is that we need more than Y & Z.

My thoughts are that Dipoto is not banking on doing huge upgrades because the budget is really tight and we do have lots of "Bounce Back" talent in place. I think that he's also banking on Texas and Oakland coming back down to earth. That could happen. 

[gotbeer]

Some positives about the team next season.  

 

Pujols and Hamilton can't be as bad.  Hamilton showed signs towards the end of the season.  Their WARs were for Hamilton a 1.5 vs a previous year of 3.3, and for Pujols a 1.5 vs a 4.6.  Our offense was ranked 7th in runs scored last year.  So easily I can see it increasing to top 5, maybe even top 3.

 

So that leaves pitching.  Even with how bad pitching was last season, this team was a -4 run differential.  Tampa Bay was the lowest playoff team to make it with a +54.  Blanton's 5.66 ERA/1.59 WHIP and Hanson's 5.59 ERA/1.58 WHIP over 33 starts just killed us.  In those starts they were 6-16.  

 

Tanaka will look good replacing those numbers.  But even if we don't get him, I don't think we need to blow up the roster to be a good team.  Just a few good additions.

 

Hard part is, looking back in a year and seeing if anyone we add this offseason was as good as advertised.

[70runner]

Some positives about the team next season.  

 

Pujols and Hamilton can't be as bad. 

 

Perhaps, but there is little evidence to support it.  Hamilton peaked in 2010-11 and is now well into his downslope.  He looked better at the end, tho even with that surge hit .250 for the year.  He remains anemic (.201) against LHP.  He may enjoy spurts but his consistency is gone.  Pujols, even if he can run again, is still a slug.  His downslope is well established.  With another year on an aging body, a turnaround is unlikely.

 

Good news is, even with these downslope guys clogging up the MOTO, the Angels can score runs, still have the best player in the game, and if they do get some pitching may get back in the hunt.

[Docwaukee]

we need to not think of Hamilton as the big contract, mvp, middle of the order type of guy he used to be.  He needs to be viewed as a decent corner OFer with some potential to be more.  He's basically Andre Ethier or Alex Rios.  A guy that bats 5th or 6th or perhaps 7th on a good offensive team. 

 

I still feel like Albert has way more upside and is much more likely to be a true middle of the order hitter who can be a major component as opposed to merely a mildly helpful piece. 

 

As I've said in the past, the one thing that is in the halos favor is that the truly awful parts of the team were predominately confined to just a few players which makes it easier to upgrade in a short period.  There were also some things that were pretty mediocre to mildly bad, and we are relying on those things to repair themselves which they should to some degree and perhaps even substantially. 

 

The key is that the people who made some really awful decisions and moves last year make some very good ones this year.  That, to me, is the biggest wildcard going.  

[wopphil]

I'm certain that whatever 2 pitchers we get in the rotation next year will be better than Hanson and Blanton were. Even average-mediocre production from the back end would've made us a 83-85 win team last year.

Or even better than that. Simply replacing the 200 innings of utter crap that Blanton and Hanson pitched with 200 inning if league average, 4.00 ERA, and the team's combined ERA would have been reduced by a full quarter run.

[vlad27]

Seriously though, it's not whether to make big moves or small moves. It's making the right moves. If you look at a majority of teams making the playoffs they had good pitching. The Angels basically ignored that in making most of their moves. That can't happen again. They can't go all "low risk/high reward" or "roll the dice and pray for sevens" this time.

the right moves are needed for sure - I'm hoping the front office realizes this year that winning the hot stove doesn't always translate to playoffs- and with said we need pitching , pitching and more pitching

[eligrba]

 

Some things never change....

 

Angels need only tweaking for 2011

 

By Evan Drellich / MLB.com

ANAHEIM -- Manager Mike Scioscia said the Angels need only tweaking, not an overhaul for next season, but did not want to talk about 2011 in depth.

"We're not talking about next year," Scioscia said. "We've obviously got a challenge in front of us to play good baseball here down to the end of the year, and we'll make those other decisions at the appropriate time."

Scioscia did say that the return of some missing pieces from this season, none bigger than Kendry Morales, would provide a boost. He did not directly address the potential return of free agent Hideki Matsui.

"When you look at Kendry and you look at Maicer [izturis], we added [Alberto] Callaspo, we'll have him moving forward in whatever role that develops into. A little more experience for guys like [Erick] Aybar, [Howard] Kendrick. Peter Bourjos obviously getting a chance to play, hopefully developing."

 

 

Custer did not think he needed to wait for reinforncements at the Little Big Horn.  Anyone believe in reincarnation?

[Jim]

The real news here is Don Baylor being named the new hitting coach. Along with the other coaching changes this offseason, one could speculate the many possible reasons why. Why these men? The other parts of the article read like a nicely put together spin piece, one of many to come I suspect. We need those ticket sales after all. It’s almost as if this article was written in an attempt to answer the five highest concerns of the AW poster.   

 

It seems obvious to me that if the Angels are not able to fix their pitching, they will most definitely suffer the same fate as they did in 2013. I believe what is written in the article when it says “The Angels may not be looking to grab the banner headlines with their offseason roster moves, but Dipoto knows there is work to be done without breaking up a core he feels provides a foundation to use for building a championship team.” Translated, they are not putting much attention towards the offense, putting more hope/confidence in our big money dudes to produce. Sound financial move in my opinion.  

 

It all comes down to pitching. It will be interesting to see how Dipoto handles this situation. He failed miserably last season with his acquisitions. One more season like that, and well…who knows. Forget about Scioscia and the other coaching staff, this offseason is on Dipoto.  

[red321]

Whether or not the Angels need a huge overhaul really isn't the point right now. The fact of the matter is the Angels aren't in a position to do a major overhaul, what they have a very short window with the current contracts, for competing. The Pujols, Weaver, Wilson, Hamilton, Aybar, and Kendrick contracts were all geared towards putting a team capable of winning now together for a 3-4 year window with the downside being the team would probably have to suffer through the tail end of the Pujols and Hamilton contracts. For better, or worse, the Angels have to commit to doing what they can to win now, and some of that is taking a leap of faith that Pujols and Hamilton can return to form. 

Edited November 9, 2013 by red321

[YouthofToday]

You can't have a major overhaul with around $500 million of future guaranteed salary on the books.

More than $200 million of that is essentially dead money. Great job Arte!

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Signing guys coming off major injuries and hoping that they return to form isn't a solution - nor is breaking the bank for a single pitcher. The club can still improve significantly by making player moves, but as MT said, they have to be the right ones.

[Toby Ziegler]

This is propaganda. Outside of Wilson and Weaver, the rotation is a disaster. And the bullpen isn't too strong, either.

[OregonLAA]

Richards looked good to me last year

[Toby Ziegler]

Richards looked good to me last year

 

He wasn't bad, but inconsistency has always been his biggest problem. On the other hand, his 3.58 xFIP and 57.9% GB rate were impressive. His solid SwStr% suggests he should rack up more Ks in the future.

 

He was not a disaster last year. I shouldn't have grouped him with those other starters. But he still has some growing to do, and ultimately he was not a league average pitcher in 2013. The peripherals, though, are promising.

Edited November 10, 2013 by Toby Ziegler

[OregonLAA]

He wasn't bad, but inconsistency has always been his biggest problem. On the other hand, his 3.58 xFIP and 57.9% GB rate were impressive. His solid SwStr% suggests he should rack up more Ks in the future.

 

He was not a disaster last year. I shouldn't have grouped him with those other starters. But he still has some growing to do, and ultimately he was not a league average pitcher in 2013. The peripherals, though, are promising.

Once he replaced Blanton in the rotation, he was very solid. The decision to stick in the bullpen was a mistake IMO. I'm hoping one more year of seasoning will help him reach his potential. I really like his stuff