UCLAngel

14 hours ago, totdprods said:

Suarez, Sandoval, Barria...real excited to see how these guys do this year. They were tested at an incredibly young age and were promoted very aggressively, only being here in 2019 out of necessity. 

The Angels’ fortunes could turn their favor real quickly if these guys take a step forward this year.

I feel the same way...if those guys get held back a year in AAA, we likely have three high achieving prospects rather than three underachieving MLBers.  If 2 of the 3 take a significant step forward, we could be looking at a solid core of young arms. 

2 hours ago, Taylor said:

Where will he play? Obviously, Upton would be the preferred odd man out, but we're kind of stuck with him for a few years.

Like AO mentioned, ideally Upton moves to first/DH and forms a platoon split with Thaiss/Ohtani at those spots.  If Maddon has the balls to do it, I think Albert is going to largely sit in his final season.  Marsh/Adell/Trout/Upton rotate in outfield as well.  There are ABs for all of them but we have to put AP on the bench where he belongs. 

1 hour ago, rafibomb said:

https://www.mlb.com/news/prospects-ready-for-big-seasons

Saw this posted on the Prospects forum and thought this would be a good share with all these trade ideas floating around centered around Marsh.

I hope Eppler holds onto Marsh.  Having two above average outfielders on league minimum contracts for 3 years would give us so much financial freedom to improve other areas of the team. 

I believe it's opening day.  If a player is traded during the season, he isn't eligible for a qualifying offer.  The real problem is Ray very well may accept the QO and based on his recent results, he probably isn't worth that AAV.

33 minutes ago, Second Base said:

While logically, moves like this make sense, I think they're devoid of the very human element behind team building.

- Padres: Despite only ok production offensively from Hosmer, he's the leader in the clubhouse, very much the heart beat of that team. Takes the young guys under his wing and shows them how to conduct themselves as a major leaguer. Likely won't trade that personality away.

- The Braves are very hesitant to trade their pitching depth right now. They're starting to see that not all prospects turn out the way you'd hope. Sean Newcomb and Touki Toussant immediately come to mind. Wright as well. 

- The Pirates are just beginning their rebuild. They're going to want prospects ready about 3-4 years from now, and lots of them, in bulk. Marsh is great and everything, but likely won't fit their competitive timeline they're looking at.

You very well could be right--these are somewhat far fetched moves.  But each team views team building differently--some value leadership and others value bottom line returns.  They've also got Kinsler in that clubhouse who likely fills a similar role. And your point might make the Pirates more attractive a partner--I'd much rather give up quantity that's far from the majors than quality that's close.  I'd give up Adams, Jackson, Kochanowitz + more for a guy like Keller.  That would fit their timeline better and would help us hold on to Adell/Marsh.   

3 minutes ago, jchalos89 said:

If it's against Padres, it's probably Will Myers contract they are dumping, not Hosmer

That's a good point--Myers would make more sense to dump than Hosmer. 

Someone posted in another thread that Eppler might be working on a completely unexpected trade.  I could see that happening as well.  So I started looking at which teams have an excess of pitching and how a deal could be structured.  These are still more unlikely than a Price/Gray/Ray trade, but they'd be interesting to see if they could be worked out. 

• Padres - Padres have a lot of young pitching with Gore and Patino nearing their MLB debuts.  Paddack, Lauer and Lucchesi probably aren't going anywhere.  But Dinelson Lamet is the type of pitcher Eppler likes--throws hard, lots of spin, strikes guys out, controllable through 2023.  Plus the Angels might be able to package him, one of their catchers and take a chunk of Hosmer's salary.  Hosmer is a millstone around the Padres' necks, but he's a decent platoon guy (career .291 against righties and hit 21 of his 22 homers last year against righties).  Platoon him with Albert for 2 years and then platoon him at first with Upton after that.  We could hopefully give up a limited haul (maybe Thaiss and a younger pitcher) to make the deal happen for taking Hosmer off their books.  Lamet walked too many guys but could really benefit from Callaway. 
• Braves - This would be a harder one because we'd almost certainly have to include Marsh as their future replacement for Markakis.  But they have a wealth of young pitching--the most likely target would be a guy like Kyle Wright--really good fastball and lots of minor league success even if he's struggled in his limited MLB action. He's still got 6 years of control and is only 24 years old.  He could develop into a frontline guy. 
• Pirates - While there's been rumors about Musgrove, I think you push to get Mitch Keller away from them.  He'd require a package of Marsh + a couple others most likely.  Young guy (23).  Rough go of it last year (7.13 ERA in 48 innings) but underlying numbers more positive (12.2 K/9 and 3.19 FIP).  Still has 6 years of control.

The one thing I've like about Eppler's moves is he isn't willing to sacrifice the long-term success of the team for short term returns.  That's hard to do as a GM in a contract year.  The easier route would have been to move Marsh for Kluber and boost immediate returns to get himself an extension. 

31 minutes ago, totdprods said:

One report today had the Angels having kicked the tires on Joe Musgrove. 

It'd be great to hook up with the Pirates, but I'd like to see them pry away Mitch Keller. Pirates wouldn't want to give him up, but a package of multiple high ceiling prospects (e.g., Marsh, Jones and Paris) might get it done. 

16 minutes ago, nate said:

Are people actually mad that the Angels didn't top the Yanks offer?  That offer is insane.

What's funny is how many people want to do EXACTLY what got us into this mess in the first place--pay too much for too long to a player who has a high likelihood of crapping out half way through the deal.  We aren't the Dodgers or Yankees that can spend indiscriminately.  Fiscal management pays off in the long run. 

I'm glad the Angels didn't sign Cole at that price.  He'd have been great to have but Yanks went two years too long and about $50M too much.  We have too many holes on the roster to spend a huge portion on one guy.  

They're 1 year contracts.  The SP FA market next year is pretty solid. Rather than the Angels clearing a path for young arms, I think they're looking at 2020 and ensuring they have the ability to add guys--

MadBum, Sale,  Cole, Gibson, Odorizzi, Wheeler and some good veterans as well--Verlander, Hamels. Nova, Porcello, Hill. 

1 hour ago, mtangelsfan said:

No Adams signing yet?

He's in OC today--just ran into him, his family and his advisors at Yardhouse in Fashion Island. 

Do we have two Young, Jr.s on the team

1 hour ago, AngelsWin.com said:

 

I know this question gets asked every year, but is Albert Pujols gonna bounce back this year?  pooholesfan69@yahoo.com, Brownsville, TX

Glen: He’s gonna bounce, all right, like a damn rubber ball!  Seriously though, we all saw the recent pic of him and he looks like he’s in the BSOHAC (AC = Angels Career).  I predict he’ll be slightly better this year than last, stat wise, but he’ll break down sooner from having to play 1B regularly again.

Nate:  A bounce back is unlikely, I think if we are lucky, Mr. Ohtani will take a bunch of ABs away from Pujols and maybe the Angels will take a late run on a 1b/DH.  Otherwise, I suspect it will be a painful season if you are a fan of the back door… err Pujols.

 

 

Can you share this pic?  I haven't seen it and would love to have a bit of my faith restored that Pujols can bounce back.  Thanks!

1 hour ago, Troll Daddy said:

Using other teams offers to your benefit to sign with the team you prefer ... is a form of collusion. 

No.  Collusion involves cooperation between groups.  One player using various teams' offers to get the best deal from a team the player prefers is not collusion.  Now, if a player went to say the Dodgers and said, "I'm signing with the Giants no matter what, but if you offer me more money then they'll feel like they have to match it," then that's collusion.

If I remember correctly, we're again able to spend International this year.  Is that correct?

For those of you who follow this more closely, are we expected to land any top International talent this year?  Seems like there are often early leaks about who these kids are going to sign with.

Those Angels sure are clever.

Pretty simple concept actually. Just most here are either too emotional or too dumb to realize it.

The rhetoric coming out of the FO is exactly what it should be. If the front office were to signal that they were willing to spend recklessly to add a big bat, they would lose leverage in every negotiation. If they were to say that they offered Hayword 200 million, every agent would know their budget. I'm not saying that the team is going to make a splash, but the information that hits the media has to be taken with a grain of salt. Everyone getting bent out of shape over what's being reported publicly needs to take a breath and understand why the message is what it is.

I still think we add one or two more bats.

I thought Newcomb, Ellis, Gott and Cron would've been close to enough to pry Arenado away from the Rockies.  At the very least, I don't think they hang up the phone right away. 

Murph and DeJesus have both hit the ball hard. Those'll start falling. Victorino is a good piece to have off the bench, but was probably an unnecessary addition with Robertson here.

I'd be pretty surprised if they promoted him that aggressively.  He's still 17 (turns 18 in a couple weeks) and will likely be brought along slowly.  He's certainly been much better of late.  Three more steals yesterday.  But who knows?  The Rangers seemed to be among the most aggressive promoters and I'd guess that Servais had some influence on that philosophy.  Promotions are a fine line between finding where a prospect is challenged and must grow and being totally overwhelmed to the point of destroying confidence.  Cowart is a good example of that--didn't seem ready for AA.

Nevermind. I just saw this...

Angels Transactions ‏@LAATransactions 4m4 minutes ago

3B Kaleb Cowart has been assigned to Triple-A @SaltLakeBees from High-A @66ersBaseball

Kaleb Cowart has been removed from the 66ers roster.  In fact, I can't find him on any of the minor league affiliate rosters.  Has his time come to make the switch to pitcher?  I wonder if they sent him back to the instructional league to make the change.

DJ Stewart please.

Agreed

It would be nice to see the Angels actually take advantage of the fact that they're over the international bonus limit for this signing period.  The top rated Cuban player by MLB.com is free to sign in this period and would add what the farm seems to need most of all--a high upside position player. 

The likelihood it happens seems low but here's to hoping. 

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2015/#list=int

It'd be nice to see a position-player heavy draft.  In some ways, though, drafting a guy like this (college SS in the first round) would likely mean they've given up on Baldoquin being a SS.