Freezer

Just read an article on the Atlantic regarding the new rule that pitchers must face 3 hitters (consecutively) or until an inning ends. The discuss a lot of strategies that can be employed. Both offensively and from a pitching standpoint. It is a really good read. I know that it requires a ‘script, but those that have it should give it a read. One thing that really stood out to me is that the intentional walk will see a major increase this season. To the point that it could go from the lowest usage (2019) to the most usage ever. They even contemplated the Barry Bonds treatment where a batter could be intentionally walked with the bases loaded. That has only been done once in fairly recent memory. That was a Bonds IBB at the direction of Maddon. 

There is nothing saying that the Indians have to keep what we would have traded them. They may look at them as a traceable assets that they could have used to get what they want. Hell, they could have already had a possible trade partner, in a rebuilding situation, that would have netted them a MLB or MLB ready player. 

I imagine he would also be considered for the bench coaching job considering his clubhouse presence. 

I was curious about our draft. Have we signed everyone?  Where do we stand with our draftees?  I am asking about the 1st ten rounds in particular. 

Thanks in advance

Thanks Chuck!  It really is a better experience not having the ads. 

I hope they realize you don’t have to sit a guy who is on a hot streak or reward him with a bench seat after a 4-4 game. 

1 hour ago, floplag said:

The one thing i wish there was more of in that list was anti-tanking stuff.  The game needs a legit salary cap AND floor.    There are 10 teams in this league spending under 100 million.  Only 12 that are above league average (which by the way is only 121 M), even though thats skewed some by the extremes.   The whole handful of teams with no budget restraints to rule them all thing has to be ended.  As ive said before if the Angels cant compete with the supposed big dogs money wise, then who can really? 

I liked an idea that was mentioned in the MLBTR chat earlier this week. It involved the draft order  Basically, it was suggested by someone to determine the draft order by having the best non-playoff teams record draft first and then move down from there. So, the first 20 picks would be all the non-playoff teams in order from best record to worst record. Then the next 10 picks would be the playoff teams. I really like that idea while doing the same with the international draft and doing away with the draft pool allotments. Whatever is done must include incentives for teams to perform well and try to eliminate advantages of tanking. 

I am not familiar enough with all our prospects to give a reply to whom I would protect. However, in an effort to keep this going or even expand upon it and maybe this deserves a thread of its own, but assuming you were a GM if an expansion team, how would you build your roster. Would you go for the best possible team now to energize your fan base?  Would you build a team upon as many young, high upside prospects as you could?  Would you do a mix of major league talent and prospects?  Perhaps you would build a team with as many players as possible to flip at the next trade deadline to bring in some of the higher level prospects that were protected?  I imagine one could build quite an effective pen with an expansion draft along the lines later out by the OP. 

Was just curious where where most of you stand. 

2 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

There is a 0.000001 percent chance the Angels sign Manny Machado.

I find it amusing that the Angels can go 5-2 on the week and ESPN drops them from 19 to 20 in their Power Rankings. 

It is small things like that that sometimes gives players/teams a chip in their shoulder. I can see this team using small things like this to make this a "magical" season. 

15 hours ago, disarcina said:

MLB seems to be doing well. Attendance at most parks is up and TV deals both local and national are lucrative.

The Yankees and the Dodgers (Red Sox too?) have their own networks with media rights revenue keeping them flush.

But don't be misled -- MLB may be on the precipice -- fewer kids are signing up for Little League these days -- and for advanced junior ball past little league -- heck the league in our area had only TWO teams in their league (Babe Ruth League baseball) which means the two teams played each other all season.......there used to be two different leagues with about six teams each.

if kids are not playing baseball and signing up for Little League -- well, it means in 7 to 10 years, those same kids won't be going to MLB games or watching them on TV.

I don't think MLB can handle another strike / lock out --

I understand the problem of having fewer kids sign up for recreation league baseball, but there has been a rather large increase in the number of kids that are now playing travel ball. Especially in warmer climates, like here in SoCal. 

If you suspect or know you were tipping pitches, wouldn't it be better to use that tell and try and deceive a couple hitters?  Continue to do that and let the other team figure it out and adjust. Seems that would be better than going public with it. 

1 hour ago, fan_since79 said:

Albert is currently 13th in the AL in home runs and 10th in RBI.

 

He is also 5th all time in GIDP. Only 29 away from taking the top spot from Cal Ripken. 

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/hitting/higidp1.shtml

Yeah, in the topic "Angels raking in the cash" the Forbes article, linked, shows the Angels with $304 mil revenue. 5th best in baseball. Behind the Yanks, Sawx, Dogs, and Giants.

The Angels are a mid-market team and are at their limit. Their owner would like to win, but ultimately, as it stands with any ridiculously wealthy individual, the profit always comes first. The Angels will have over 40 million come off the payroll next year, and there's no indication the team plans to make any more major bids on free agents.

I could be wrong, but someone posted a new topic not too long ago about team finances and whatnot. In the article, that was posted in that topic, it had the Angels as the 4th or 5th best team at bringing in income. I believe that the Angels bring in a bit over $300 mill/year.

I would go out on a limb and say that would not make the Angels a mid market team, but above that quite a bit.

I am going off memory, but I believe that to be correct.

No issues here either. Using iPhone 5 with latest iOS version. Also, I have all pop ups blocked. Not sure if that makes a difference.

What is mind boggling is that the Doyyers have signed 28 players since the July 2nd signing period began. They sure make the most of their seemingly unlimited resources during their ability to sign international FA's.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/11/dodgers-sign-yusniel-diaz.html

I don't think #1 is a factor. The two teams made a trade during the offseason.

Some thought Weaver earned a spot his rookie season after his hot start. He was sent down.

Like that he wore #19 for all teams except the Padres.

Indifference

Condolences to all his Family and Friends.

I believe that the first all Wild Card team World Series was 2002 and not this year.

Waiver wire deal to get a REAL lefty reliever, who can actually pitch inside to lefties?

In my opinion, there is no way that a REAL lefty reliever would make his way to us on te waiver wire.

Another small bonus to this is that with Trumbo gone, the Angels could probably offer Trout a bit more of a raise than last season. It was probably hard to give Trout a much bigger raise than Trumbo. Would be a good opportunity to help repair any damage the small raise last season created.