instant karma

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.

Dear Fellow Angels Fans, I love the Angels. I have followed them since the mid 1970s. I have not submitted a post since about a year ago. That was after Scoiscia was let go. I submitted a post with the heading, Be careful of what you ask for. concerning his being let go. I have not been overly impressed with Ausmus. Yes, I know we have had injuries and tragic losses this year. That said, Ausmus still doesn't overwhelm me as a leader. I have questions/concerns after watching this team throughout the season. I apologize if any to all questions have been addressed in prior posts. 1) Our Minor League System: Although Billy Eppler is regularly given credit for revamping our farm system, how good is it really? From where I sit, the players we have brought up have all regrettably UNDER performed. Thaiss, Walsh and Ward, are hitting at a 200 level. Rengifo is hitting at a 240 level. Are any of these individuals going to mature into major league hitters? I don't know. For the Angels to be successful, we need at least 2 of our young hitters to improve significantly in 2020. At least, that's what I think. I can't think of one starting pitcher we have brought up from the minors who has been impressive. Compare that with the young pitchers that have been brought up by Oakland, Cleveland, the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Rays, etc. It's depressing. I ask myself the question, why has Oakland, the Yankees, the Indians, etc, rebuilt their teams via the farm system without enduring any significant down time, while we spin our wheels? Oakland is especially amazing. They are going to be a force for years to come with their young talent. 2) Our 2020 Infield: I have questions about 3rd and second. I know Albert will be at 1st and I suspect Simmons will remain with us at short. We have Fletcher, La Stella and Rengifo who are all 2nd baseman. To me, Fletcher needs to be our 2nd baseman. It's his natural position. He clearly has shown he can hit. Yes, you can move him to 3rd base, but he has no power--which makes him more appropriate at 2nd. If Fletcher is our 2nd baseman, than Rengifo has no position on the team and La Stella probably doesn't as well. If we want to be competitive in 2020, and if we keep Simmons, I believe we have to an infield of Albert at 1st, Fletcher at 2nd, Simmons at short, and I have no idea at 3rd. Between now and the start of next year, the Angels need to locate a viable 3rd baseman. I'm not here to bitch, but what are we doing? I'm just not seeing any significant improvement over the past couple of years. I had high hopes for the the guys in our farm system, but so far I have seen bupkus. Let's not even go down the path of pitch counts. I hate this 60 pitch limit and I think Gubicza and Rojas hate it as well. Who decided that a 60 pitch for young pitchers was a good idea or taking a pitcher out who has good stuff out at 100 pitches? What evidence that 125 pitches is more harmful than 100 pitches. Jesus. I hope the Angels do great in 2020. I'm just not brimming with optimism based on my eyeball test. Best to you all.

Dear Friends: Like many of you, I remain optimistic our Angels can compete for a wild card spot this year. Hopefully, we take advantage of our upcoming games with Baltimore and Detroit. We have an above average offense and an above average bullpen. With the addition of Adell next year, Ohtani returning as a pitcher and the maturation of guys like Canning and Soarez, we should be better next year. If we sell prior to trade deadline, that doesn't necaserilly mean we are giving up on this season. It all depends on what we sell and we we get in return. We have a surplus of good infielders (La Stella, Fletcher, Renjifo, and Simmons. We have Thaiss as well, but he's yet to produce offensively. We have more good infieiders than postions to play them at. Fletcher and Renjfo are probably going to even get better next year, as will Thaiss. We know Simmons is terrific. So from an infield perspective, we are solid for years to come. With trout and Adell manning two of your outfiled spots, we are set for years to come in the outfield. I think our bullpen with Buttrey is good as well. We all know, that we need more start pitching. You can never have too much starting pitching. Gabe Paul coined that phrase years ago. Yes, we will have two studs next year in Ohtani and canning, but we need more starting pitching. You have to give up quality to get quality. I'd rather give up a veteran than a young player who we have salary control over. I love Simmons and I don't want to give him up. Let me repeat, I love Simmons. But I'd be willing to listen to hear what pitching prospects we might get in return for a Simmons who is the best defensive shortstop in baseball and is a slid 280 hitter. Please don't hate me. I love Simmons. We would have Renjifo at second and Fletcher at short. That's not awful.

My humble observations after the first 3 games are as follows: Sooner than later, the angels will part ways with Zach Cozart. You just can't have a third baseman who produces no power and hits below the Mendoza line. My hunch is if Cozart contnues not to produce, he'll be released by the end of April and the team will go with another option. Maybe Rojas as has been suggested. Peter Bourjos: Same as above. we can't have a left fielder who hits below 200. Felix Pena: I love his stuff, but I've noticed over almost every start I've seen that he is dominant as long as no one gets on base. The moment he walks someone or someone gets a hit, he becomes a different pitcher. He implodes. I don't know if he just cannot pitch out of the stretch or if he loses confidence or if he starts to grip the ball tighter, but it's a pattern. That said, I have confidence will Angels will contend this season, I welcome your opinions.

Dear Fellow Angel Supporters, As many of you, I am not blessed with inside information. That said, I have a prediction (which I will probably receive much deserved criticism and ridicule for): Albert Pujols will announce his retirement prior to the start of the season. My reasons (in no particular priority order): 1) Billy Eppler is as smooth as a velvet glove when delivering the "don't let the door hit you on your ass on the way out" message. He essentially fired Mike Butcher and all Mike said when leaving was how smart and wonderful Billy E was. Billy was able to end Mike Scoscia's tenure as smoothly. I think Billy will have a clandestine meeting with Albert this off season. At this meeting, Billy will let Albert know approximately how many at bats he might expect to get this year. It won't be many, if any, at the DH position. And I think, because the priority ts to field a team that is playoff worthy, in an effort to keep Trout, Bill will let Albert know the best offensive player will get most of starts this year, whether that's him, Matt Thaiss or someone else. I think Albert's pride will kick in and he will choose to retire. 2) Billy will coordinate some sort of Albert Pujols appreciation /retirement event that will feed Albert's ego. 3) On some level, Albert has to see the oddity of his pursuing the Willie Mays model (playing too many years), versus what Adrian Beltre and David Ortiz did--retiring before they started to lose their skills. 4) The Angels want to have as much payroll flexibility to improve their team this year. If they can't convince Trout to sign an extension this year, they would be fools not to trade him before he gets to his final year. The Angels would get far more assets selling two years of Trout versus one year. If that's true, this is the year they need to add talent to push this team into the playoff picture. That's what I think. I know watching the MLB network everyone believes Albert will be at first base to start the season. I just don't see how they can expect to motivate Trout to stay while at the same time keeping an over the hill, mediocre hitting, double play "machine" at a corner infield position. I know I am gonna get hammered, but I love you all. Go Angels.

That's the problem with some fans. For the love of god, the man managed the team for 19 years. Of course, he made a staffing mistake now and then. Who wouldn't. You are evaluating hundreds, if not thousands of players over that period of time in the minors and majors. You, like most of the people on this site have unrealistic expectations. You people want to focus on a specific mistake versus the scope of his work over close to a 20 year period. God help us. How the heck do you know that Sosh was heavily involved in the Vernon Wells deal? Tell us what inside sources you have that allow you state that so forcefully? Yes, I suspect that Napoli may not have a great opinion on Sosh. That's one player in 19 years and I suspect that Sosh may regret his decision on Napoli. I'll take his batting average on player evaluation over 19 years if all you can provide is Napoli (and Mathis and I'll grant a few other players). Yikes.

Thank you, Jeff. I always enjoy reading your work. Enjoy your off-season.

Dear Fellow Angels Supporters: Under the heading, be careful of what you ask for, as you may get it, Mike Scioscia is gone, just as many of you have been so anxious to see for years. I recognize that I may receive hate mail, but I believe Mike was a really good manager. Here are my reasons (not in any particular priority order): His players loved him, even when they had losing seasons. In 19 years, he never lost the club house. That is amazing. Orlando Cabrera said he was the best manager he ever played for. Torri Hunter, Juston Upton, Garrett Anderson, Mike Trout, Otani, etc, --they all loved playing for Mike. Lots of manager lose the clubhouse when seasons go south. That never happened with the Angels under Sosh. To me, that says something about his ability to manage the clubhouse. You can't blame Mike for the past 3 seasons, How can a team win when four fifths of their starting rotation is gone for the season. I think it's incredible that the team was as good as it was last year and this year they projected a rotation of Richards, Otani, Skaggs, Ramirez, and Shoemaker. Basically, except for Skaggs, the rest were out for the year and Skaggs had at least 3 stints on the DL. You take 4 starters out of most teams, and I think they may have trouble competing. Yes, I know Oakland managed it this year, but I suggest that is an outlier. I think it's amazing how Sosh developed quality bullpens despite significant injuries over the years. Last year, Street basically missed the entire season. This year, Kenyon Middleton missed the season. His players love the guy, his peers respect the guy as as very knowledgeable, and the Angels fans have, by and large, ripped him since I have been on this site. I really don't get it. When he had talent, the team won. When his team was destroyed by injuries they often were still in the hunt late in the season. And most importantly, to me, it speaks volumes that in 19 years he never list the clubhouse. That is very rare. It's not his fault the club signed Josh Hamilton, Pujols and Vernon Wells. He and the entire club suffered as a result. It's not his fault that Dipoto savaged the farm system , leaving the Angels with little talent to draw on for years. Of course, I hope the Angels select a great manager and I am confident they will. They should be much improved next year, as many of their pitchers are set to return (Ramirez, Shoemaker, Bridwell, Middleton, Meyer).

I'm guessing Jeffrey Marte is heading out after dropping a little league pop up tonight.

I agree. Marte is contributing very little and over an extended period of time this year. Cowart deserves a long look this year. We know he's outstanding defensively. If he can show that he can hit the curve, he's a quality, cost controlled option moving forward which provides us a long term option at third base. He needs to given enough major league at bats to where he gets comfortable and confident. This is a time to provide him that opportunity. Offensively l, he can't be worse than Espinoza or Marte have been.

The Mike Trout injury might make the Angels sellers as we approach the trade deadline. In the long-term, that may not be so bad for us. With Trout's injury, along with the injuries to Richards, Skaggs, Street, and Bedrosian, it's not out of the question that we may drop further behind the Astros and in the wild card standings. If that occurs, we may be able to improve our team for 2018 and beyond by moving some players who might garner interest from other clubs. Players we might want to listen to offers on include: CJ Cron Yunel Escobar Huston Street Kole Calhoun Ricky Nolasco Cam Bedrosian I'm not suggesting trading everyone/anyone on the list. I am suggesting listening to offers. Escobar, Street and Nolasco are in the final year of their contracts. If the team isn't going to retain them, I'd prefer to get something in return. With the upcoming draft, I expect Eppler to perform well and continue to upgrade our farm system. With the free agent class, we can recruit talent now that we will be rid of the Hamilton contract. Depending on the needs of the other clubs heading into the summer, we may be able to upgrade our major league team or our minor league system via trading some the players I listed. What do you think?