Troutstanding

Last I checked, the general manager was a guy called "Eppler"

Don't we have two 1B?

The poll that was posted here a few weeks ago was strongly in favor of the deal. My initial reaction was disgust, but quickly I grew to like the deal a lot.

Oh, sure. I agree with you. I do. I also think it's absurd that people think that it's absurd. But what statistics are you referring to? Just out of curiosity.

Of course you're aware that WAR isn't the only statistic that can be used to measure player contribution.

Why wasn't Cliff Pennington an option?

What makes you think that Calhoun would suffer so greatly by moving to left field? In any case Heyward is a better defender than Calhoun.

That's one big reason why not's not a valid comparison. He was made relevant to the discussion when he was brought up as reasoning for Heyward being overvalued.

If you want to use a more appropriate comparison than Keirmaier, be my guest. A run saved is just as valuable as a run scored, though. Defense is valuable. If you don't feel the same way then I imagine you aren't too pleased about the acquisition of Aldrelton Simmons. Heyward played for the Braves for the first 5 of 6 seasons of his career. I'll concede that moving Calhoun to LF is less than ideal but I think he'd do fine. That's something I would think the Angels would explore with Calhoun prior to signing Heyward but I don't know. Who's saying he's going to get $200 million anyway? I thought the estimates were closer to $160 million? Cespedes is an option, too. Personally I'm not a big fan of Cespedes but if the Angels signed him he would obviously be a major upgrade, too.

I'm not sure why we would even want him... he hasn't even had a 7.0 WAR season yet. Trout's been above that every season.

$200 mil doesn't buy you MVP caliber any more. Keirmaier isn't a valid comparison to Heyward for a multitude of reasons.

There's more to (his) value than (his) BA and home run totals. To name a few, he's very young, possesses excellent defensive skills, and gets on base at an outstanding rate.

It was clear to me from watching the games that Aybar wasn't getting get a glove on some of the balls he would have in year's past. Eye test confirmed.

Pujols is an above average defensive first basemen whether he is worth his salary or not.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-2015-american-league-gold-gloves-by-the-numbers/

I was irked by the notion that Pujols is an average or below average first baseman.

That article seemed to have been written by someone not totally familiar with the Angels team.

No, we couldn't have. Brendan Ryan was worth negative value the last four years and even in his prime was not comparable to Simmons.

Aybar was worth -3.0 DRS last year. Not exactly plus defesively. For reference, Simmons was worth 25.0, more than three times the entire Angels team.

Thank god.

No it isn't. Aybar's is 93. Last year Aybar was at 81. Was Aybar's offense atrocious last year? If 85 is atrocious, then what's 115? Outstanding? No. 130-140+ is Outstanding. 85 is poor, but for a shortstop not outside the realm of ordinary.

Okay guys... Simmons isn't "marginal." Not by a long shot. He's possibly the best defender of all time... He's an upgrade, a big one, and with 5 years of club control to boot. He's very valuable. Yes I get that we gave up a lot, too much even, but to say that Simmons is a "defensive specialist" is insulting to the guy who has no match defensively. It's not like he's completely inept with the bat either. He's a 85 OPS+ hitter with the best defense you've ever seen. 4 to 5 WAR is expected. He's 26 and coming into his prime. He's worth a lot.

Wow... the difference between Aybar and Simmons defensively is significant, and at shortstop that defensive difference will be a dramatic upgrade, but to give up Newcomb and Ellis... Time will tell as always but right now I'd say we gave up too much... We as fans are always going to overrate our own player's values but still... Newcomb and Ellis? We do get Simmons for years to come but...Really? Really??!!?!?!

Defense at shortstop is obviously critical to team success. Aybar is no slouch, though last season I thought he was not quite as effective as year's past. Simmons is one of the best defenders of all time. I would absolutely love to have him. But no to Newcomb. Gotta keep him...

I'm not sure what crazy circumstances would have to be in place for me to feel that batting a .590 slugger lead off is the best idea.