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The Angels pitching has been decent to good for most of this season. The offense, which was explosive in the first 5 weeks has tanked due to poor roster decisions. Although the batting order is strong from 1 to 5, you can’t have success with hitters from 6 to 9 with batting orders near the Mendoza line. It puts too much pressure on Trout, Ward and Ohtani to always produce. The Angels are getting zero offense from Velasquez at shortstop. You can’t give a guy 4 to 5 bats a game who is hitting below.200. Velasquez should be, at best, a late game defensive replacement. They’re getting little offense from their catchers. I recognize catching is more of a defensive than offensive position, but when you have little to offense at short, third and in left, again it makes your offense as a whole problematic. I know Ward “enjoys” right, but if the Angels want to contend this year, they need to move Ward to third and have Adell playing right field. I get that Adell has defensive limitations but I don’t understand how they thought they could win with Legares who again is at best a .200 hitter, along with limited offense at third, catcher and left and short. Adell in right, Ward at third lengthens their overall offensive capabilities. To recap, the changes need to be done to compensate for the loss of Rendon. I don’t understand the roster choices of Velasquez, Legares (who I know was demoted today), keeping Ward in right and not utilizing Adell. One more thing. The run differential after 6 weeks was plus 45 or greater. As of today, it’s at plus 9, another example of how the offense has decreased in performance.

The problem is more offense versus pitching or defense related. Interestingly, at the start of the season, the Angels had an offensive lineup which was strong typically from 1 to 7 or 1-8. They were getting production up and down their lineup. The lineup featured Rendon and Adell. The lineup didn't feature players like Velasquez and Legares. They have gone from a strong overall batting order to one in which too much is being asked of hitters 1 to 4 because the lower half of the order cannot produce over a .200 batting average. That's an unrealistic expectation for any club that wants to compete for a playoff spot. I don't understand the choices the angles have made with their roster. Yes, Andrew Velasquez is an outstanding defensive shortstop. Yes, you can afford to have a limited offensive player start every day in return for defensive expertise. That's said, you cannot start four players (Velasquez, Marsh, our 3rd baseman, and Stassi/Suzuki) with limited offensive ability (i.e. hitting .250 or less) on a game to game basis. That's what we are dong currently and that's a primary cause of our struggles. Given the loss of Redon, I would move Ward to third. Presto, you have a decent hitting third baseman. Rather than Legares, I would use Adell in right despite his defensive shortcomings. Adell brings an energy to the lineup (and power). I'd play Duffey at 2nd until Fletcher returns. By moving Ward to third and placing Adell in right you stregthen our overall lineup. I'd rather have Mayfield at short than Velasquez. Mayfield can typically hit at the .250 level which is a lot more than we are getting out Velazquez. Unless you're then 69 Mets, you can't have as many poor hitters playing every day unless you have Seaver, Koosman, Ryan and Gentry as your starting rotation.

Dear Friends: I am requesting your feedback. Overall, I believe the starting rotation has been acceptable. Not great, but acceptable. Overall the bullpen has been acceptable. Again, not great, but acceptable. I don't understand the choices being made offensively. They have offensive huge holes at shortstop and third. There is a reason the Yankees gave up on Velasquez. He's a great defensive shortstop but a winning team cannot have a shortstop hitting under .200 in the starting lineup. A hitter who hits under .200 is basically a sure out. Velasquez can be a late inning defensive replacement but giving him 4 to 5 at bats very game makes no sense to me. It didn't to the Yankees as well. I know, it was impossible to predict that Rendon would be lost for the season again, but Taylor Wade or Jack Mayfield is not the answer. Again, the Yankees released Wade because he can't hit. Yes, he has great speed, but beyond walking or bunting for an occasional hit, he is an offensive liability. Lastly, why is Legares playing? Another sure out. If you want to compete for a playoff spot, having 3 to 4 everyday players that are incredibly poor offensively is not congruent with that goal. To me, a much better and scarier batting order would be to move Taylor Ward to 3rd base and have Jo Adell play right. Right now, there is too much pressure on the top of the batting order (Ward, Trout, Otani, and Marsh) to carry the load while the batting of the lower part of the order (Stassi, Velasquez, Wade, etc, languishes. If you add Stefanic when he is off the DL, this batting order can be fearsome. The way this batting order is currently constructed, there is no way it's playoff caliber. Doesn't this batting order look deeper than the one with Velasquez, Wade and Leagares? Taylor Ward 3b Mike Trout Cf Shohei Ohtani DH Jared Walsh 1B Jo Adell RF Brandon Marsh LF Matt Stassi C Matt Duffy SS Michael Stafanic (or Luis Renjifo until Stefanic is off the DL) 2B

Dear Friends: I am requesting your feedback. Maybe I'm wrong (it's been known to happen). I know Andrew Velasquez is an outstanding defensive shortstop. That said, I do not believe that a team with playoff aspirations can have an everyday player hitting at a .200 or below batting average. The Yankees didn't think so. Taylor Ward, who I advocated for prior to this breakout season (a infrequent moment when I was correct on a player) is an infielder who was converted to an outfielder. To me, the most potent team, with Rendon on injured list would be Ward at third (he is a gold glove third baseman), Renijfo at short (as long as he continues to hit at a .290 clip), Adell in right field, and Duffy at second. I don't understand why Velasquez, who I like defensively has been given the keys to play shortstop on a daily basis. To me, that we can offer a much more potent offense than what we are currently providing. If they do not move Ward to the infield (he can paly second or third), you are telling me that Adell will be traded. I think we would regret trading Adell. I welcome your feedback.

I keep asking. Given his hitting in last years short season, his hitting in spring training and his gold glove level defense at 3rd, why wouldn’t he be used at 3rd versus Gosselin? I am baffled for weeks.

Lou, I respect you. Give me your thoughts. Maybe I’m wrong.

I know I have asked this before, but why hasn’t Taylor Ward been brought up? He hit really well in last year’s shortened season and I believe he hit over 400 this spring. He is an glode glove caliber 3rd baseman (while Rendon is out) and can play both corner outfield positions, 2nd and first. I don’t understand the logic of promoting Renjifo over Ward. My only explanation is that he’s in Maddon’s doghouse. I think offensively he’s figured it out and if anything, he seems to be just getting better as he gets more MLB at bats.

Trying to understand why Taylor Ward was not the player called up after Fowler’s injury. He hit well (be it a small sample size) last year and hit the cover off the ball thus Spring. I appreciate the Rojas story, but to me, Ward, to date, has shown to be a better hitter. He can play both corner outfield positions, is a gold glove caliber third baseman in Rendon’s absence and can fill in at 2nd and first.

My bad. A typo. Sorry.

I’m just wondering if given that our new GM came from the Atlanta system and that Sean Newcomb is in the Braves doghouse, whether it might be worthwhile seeing what it take to get him back? He’s young and has ace stuff. His issue has been control. If he can learn to throw strikes more frequently he might be a top of the rotation piece. In general, I prefer to move players after a good year and pick up players after a down year. What do my fellow angels think?

Very sad. Grew up in Queens. Went to see a doubleheader at Shea. Seaver threw a 2 hitter in game one. Nolan Ryan pitched a 3 hitter in game 2. Field level seats were $4.00. Just a great pitcher and part of my childhood. Rest In Peace, Tom Terrific.

Dear Friends: I like Billy Eppler. I have defended and supported Billy Eppler. Billy has done some good things like developing our minor league system. Some of his trades have been good. All that said, he’s done a terrible job at creating/developing a high level starting pitching staff. Again, I have been an Eppler supporter until now. I was wrong. The most important thing (in my view) if you want to win is to have quality starting pitching. I grew up a Mets fan in the late 60’s living in Queens. The Mets had little offense but were in most games due to their starting pitching. Maybe we were wrong to rag on Dipoto when he was fired. It looks like he’s developed a pretty good team and a pretty good starting staff in Seattle. It looks like what he’s done is pretty remarkable in terms of how quickly he’s remade that team. Seattle certainly seems like a better team than the Angels are—at least to me. So, I believe I was wrong about Eppler. Whoever we hire as GM, must be outstanding at drafting/ developing starting pitching. We have lacked that and thats been the primary problem. A strong Starting staff is essential to a winning team. I welcome your feedback.

Salary aside, I’d rather keep Goodwin’s bat in the lineup than Upton. As Tommy Lasorda once said about Kurt Bevaqua (probable misspelling of last name), “he couldn’t hit water if he fell off a boat.” Upton looks lost at the plate. He looks unable to hit a breaking ball. I hope I’m wrong about Upton but right now he’s not helping the offense.

I appear to be in the minority. You will regret the firing of Eppler--especially if Dombrowski is hired, as has been rumored. Dombrowski destroys farm systems. Eppler has made some mistakes. All GMs do. Bill Stoneman made mistakes, but he also signed/drafted the team that won the World series. I thought the Ausmus hiring was uninspired. I said so at the time (as did many others). Cozart was a huge mistake (obviously). Eppler rebulit the farm system. That's huge. Eppler was responsible for the Ohtani signing. Trout said one of the primary reasons he signed his extension was because he bought into Eppler's long-term vision. The trade/signings of Simmons, Goodwin, Castro, Rendon, Bundy, Buttrey, Canning, Robles, and Rengifo were all positive. If he does get let go, the next GM will inherit one of the best and youngest outfields in baseball next year with Trout and Adell. The new GM will probably inherit one of the better and youngest infields as well with Thaiss at first, Rengifo at second, Fletcher at short, Rendon at third and an unknown at this point at catcher. We will have gone from one of of the oldest teams to one of the youngest teams under Eppler. With that all set, Eppler will be able to focus on starting pitching. We have 2 young pitchers in Ohtani and Canning. I like the Bundy signing. Most baseball people agree Bundy needed a change of scenery. You guys are so negative. We are not even two weeks into the season. We have played 8 games. In that time, Rendon missed 4 of the 8 and Trout's missed 2. I know it's a shortened season, but geez, you can't make decisions based on 8 games. I am optimistic that the Mariners will be a non-contender and I believe Houston over the 60 day season will feel the loss of both Verlander and Cole. It's hard to replace those 35 wins and lose what was probably the best one and two in all of baseball. Not only that, the needle is going in the wrong direction for the Astros. Verlander will be a year older next year as will Grienke, they have no draft choices next year, they lost the GM that built their team and they will have to trade some of their key players over the next year due to payroll constraints. Oakland being a small market team can never afford to keep their stars. So you know that they will likely lose their shortstop and another of their top players over the off season. God help us if Moreno signs Dave Dombrowski as GM and partners with Tony Larussa. The Diamondbacks had enough of Larussa after a few years. Go Angels.

I appear to be in the minority. You will regret the firing of Eppler--especially if Dombrowski is hired, as has been rumored. Dombrowski destroys farm systems. Eppler has made some mistakes. All GMs do. Bill Stoneman made mistakes, but he also signed/drafted the team that won the World series. I thought the Ausmus hiring was uninspired. I said so at the time (as did many others). Cozart was a huge mistake (obviously). Eppler rebulit the farm system. That's huge. Eppler was responsible for the Ohtani signing. Trout said one of the primary reasons he signed his extension was because he bought into Eppler's long-term vision. The trade/signings of Simmons, Goodwin, Castro, Rendon, Bundy, Buttrey, Canning, Robles, and Rengifo were all positive. If he does get let go, the next GM will inherit one of the best and youngest outfields in baseball next year with Trout and Adell. The new GM will probably inherit one of the better and youngest infields as well with Thaiss at first, Rengifo at second, Fletcher at short, Rendon at third and an unknown at this point at catcher. We will have gone from one of of the oldest teams to one of the youngest teams under Eppler. With that all set, Eppler will be able to focus on starting pitching. We have 2 young pitchers in Ohtani and Canning. I like the Bundy signing. Most baseball people agree Bundy needed a change of scenery. You guys are so negative. We are not even two weeks into the season. We have played 8 games. In that time, Rendon missed 4 of the 8 and Trout's missed 2. I know it's a shortened season, but geez, you can't make decisions based on 8 games. I am optimistic that the Mariners will be a non-contender and I believe Houston over the 60 day season will feel the loss of both Verlander and Cole. It's hard to replace those 35 wins and lose what was probably the best one and two in all of baseball. Not only that, the needle is going in the wrong direction for the Astros. Verlander will be a year older next year as will Grienke, they have no draft choices next year, they lost the GM that built their team and they will have to trade some of their key players over the next year due to payroll constraints. Oakland being a small market team can never afford to keep their stars. So you know that they will likely lose their shortstop and another of their top players over the off season. God help us if Moreno signs Dave Dombrowski as GM and partners with Tony Larussa. The Diamondbacks had enough of Larussa after a few years. Go Angels.