TroutCron

2 hours ago, jchalos89 said:

Just curious.

Is there anyway Angels can trade for Maeda Kenta?

He's not great but decent guy under very team friendly contract.

He's also super durable. Never injured moving from rotation to pen every season.

I know with his long, team-favored contract, Doyers have no reason to trade him away, though Maeda has openly shown frustration of being moved to the pen several times and Dave Roberts seems like he doesnt like Maeda too much due to inability of pitching deep into the game.

He often falls apart when he goes 6+ innings but he is usually superb for first 6 innings and he doesnt get injured so I think he could be a major upgrade for Angels rotation.

Anyone think he will be available for trade somehow? or no?

 

 

After losing Ryu the Dodgers probably are looking to add starting pitchers not trade them. 

14 hours ago, Lou said:

Eppler was willing to pay a pitcher almost $300 million

You mean Arte. Eppler doesn’t have a green light to spend that kind of money without Arte’s approval. Eppler has no track record of signing TOR pitching. He seems to only like one year deals for has beens. 
 

Swanson and his scouts seem to be good at identifying OFs and middle IF, but where is the pitching and catching? The Angels should try to poach some scouts and front office types from Tampa Bay. 
 

8 hours ago, SoPas Angel said:

"Sure, adding Rendon to your lineup makes you a better team. Clearly. But what does it truly accomplish?"

When I was a TA in grad school, there was not a day that went by when I did not circle something on a student's paper and write "Did you read this out loud?"

"The Angels are a better team now, but, other than that, what was the point?"

The Angels haven’t had a legitimate 3B since Figgins. Rendon stabilizes  the position that the Angels have no legitimate prospect. The same is true for catcher. 

Eppler needs to find younger pitching with upside. Keuchel is a must sign. Check with the Rays to see if they would trade Snell. 

I would like to see either Walsh or Thaiss take the 1B job and run with it. Hopefully, Albert only plays twice a week at most. Another option is Smoak for one year. Castellanos would be a bad signing because when Adell is ready ( no later than June) you end up with a high salary on the bench. 

4 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

That would be 3 lefties. Keuchel, Ray, and Heaney.

And Sandoval. Remember they need six starters unless they use a bullpen game to fill in. 

On 12/14/2019 at 10:57 PM, Jeff Fletcher said:

No chance that’s true. 
 

I guess the Angels will end up with Keuchel and Robbie Ray. 
 

Just a guess. 

Four lefty starters?  Keuchel is a no-brainer. I would be checking with the Pirates on Jameson Taillon, with the Marlins  for Urena. 

Keuchel makes sense with the infield defense the Angels now have. 

On 12/12/2019 at 1:23 AM, Angels_Fan said:

My dream offseason would be Darvish, Gray and Contreras. Not sure if any of this is too feasible, though (they probably won’t give them away without the Angels trading a lot of good prospects, at least).

Kluber, Contreras and Gray sounds nice, too.

Darvish has been pretty adamant about staying in Chicago. He actually said he won’t give up his no trade option. 

2 minutes ago, eligrba4ever said:

There's a player opt-out after 5.

A player opt-out but can you imagine Cole leaving 4/144 on the table?  

1 hour ago, Sean-Regan said:

Madbum is a back end starter who will get paid like a 2-3. 

MadBum is looking at 4/100mil. plus. That is hardly 3-4 money. Bum at over 100 million is way too risky given his three Straight years of decline. Ryu is also risky considering his long history of injuries. Keuchel is less of a gamble for a 3-5 and should be considerably less expensive. 
 

I think that Donaldson at four years is better than Rendon at seven. Signing Donaldson will create more payroll flexibility. Rendon would only be the right choice if his contract is backloaded the first two years until the Albatross is off the books.  In that case Rendon would be good. 

Forget Barria and Suarez, they are five inning pitchers who give up too many baserunners. Sandoval has some promise but needs to greatly improve his command. I hope that Callaway can help the whole staff be more efficient. 

With Keuchel you know what you are getting, a soft tossing lefty with a high ground ball rate a too high hard hit ball rate. On the Angels he is a #3. With Bumgarner you don’t know what you are getting. Will his velocity level off or will it continue to decline, can he adapt to declining stuff? There are too many question marks to give him over 100 million and five years. I don’t think the Angels should swing for the fences this year. If they sign Cole and Keuchel that is a great foundation for the staff. Let’s see how the  team plays early on and go from there. If they lose out on Cole then don’t compound the failure by overpaying Mediocre talent. Live to fight another day. 

A better question is how can anyone listen to Russo? 

On 11/23/2019 at 5:50 PM, ScottT said:

Tommy La Stella posted a much higher OBP and slightly lower SLG in 2017.  Its not like his offensive numbers in 2019 were outrageous.

I expect his career numbers, at least, and I think he'll post a decent SLG (.440?) Lower home run rate, more doubles. 

LaStella’s career numbers are based on limited AB per season. He has been largely a platoon player and pinch hitter. He was outstanding in 2019, but again, with limited AB due the injuries. I wouldn’t assume that he can replicate his 2019, but it would be nice. 
I would do everything possible not to trade Marsh. He has shown to be a possible 5- tool player who would look great in a in an outfield with Trout and Adell. 

2 minutes ago, Lou said:

That is for three games a week. I am concerned about the games where Ohtani sits and pitches. This goes back to my original premise. 

The conundrum is who will provide protection for Trout in the lineup. Can Upton return to 2018 form, no way Albert can and beyond them there is little power in the lineup. There is a major need at third base so sign Moustakas, hope that Adell is ready by the end of May, Goodwin produces like last season. There is very little room for error. 

3 hours ago, mymerlincat said:

It’s fine to think that the high school kids will all break out in the high minors and get our farm to that status eventually, but we aren’t there yet.  The Mariners had Sheffield who pitched similar to Canning (slightly better xFIP), and Kyle Lewis and Shed Long showed some promise as well. The Marlins acquired Alcantara who was an All Star this season, Pablo Lopez and Jordan Yamamoto who are good starters as well, Zac Gallen and Trevor Richards (though they ended up getting traded away), are also very good major league pitchers. 

Thaiss isn’t that impressive, below average hitter with a .293 OBP and not exactly a great defender.  Most teams have a Thaiss currently.

Lol.

I’ll give you Buttrey and Rengifo, though it remains to be seen if Rengifo can play consistently well enough to be a starter in the majors, but Ohtani was hardly a prospect and Thaiss and Sandoval, while they showed flashes at times, really didn’t produce much as a whole.

Buttrey, Rengifo and Sandoval were all acquisitions. Buttrey spent maybe one or two weeks at  SLC  after his acquisition from Boston. Rengifo and Sandoval count because they spent over one season in the Angels’ system. 
I would like to see the Angels sign Drew Pomerancz., left handed and a multy inning pitcher who had an outstanding run with the Brewers last season. 

9 hours ago, angelsnationtalk said:

I never said you were suggesting that. Just saying my view on what Eppler needs to do to make this a serious team. I think we are on the same page and can agree Cole alone won't get us anywhere and Cole/Wheeler gets us into the WC game and then eliminate. The Angels need three solid arms for a deep playoff run. We can't rely on Ohtani being that guy since he's coming back from TJ and needs to hit as well.
Eppler needs to put his big boy pants on by signing Cole and Wheeler and then making a significant trade for another solid #2 guy. 

I think you are selling Ohtani short. His is going to be 17 months removed from TJ surgery, he should be throwing his whole arsenal when ST starts, hopefully fewer splitters and more curves. I also think that he has been here long enough to pitch every fifth game and not force the other starters to change their routines. Also, his bat is too vital to only DH 3 times a week. 
 

The Cole negotiations are going to last into next year so the Angels have to build the rest of the staff first. I agree with the signing of Maldonado.  I see Wheeler’s negotiations lasting into January also. Eppler has to decide to either sign 2 second tier starters or one and wait for Cole or go all out for Cole and risk having a chance to sign other quality starters. Cole is obviously the number one priority but they need more than Cole to be competitive with Houston and Oakland.

1B  Joyner

2B. Grich
SS  Eckstein

3B. Carney Lansford

LF   Anderson

CF. Who else

RF  Vladdy

C.   Bengie Molina

DH  Salmon/Ohtani

SP  Nolan Ryan

SP  Chuck Finley

SP  Jim Abbott

RP  Scot Shields

Cl   Percival/Bryan Harvey

Adell, Marsh and Fletcher should all be untouchable.Marsh could very well be better than Adell, those two with Trout is an incredible all around outfield. Fletcher is just a solid player who brings so many intangibles to the club. The Angels can’t afford Bryant. I would love to see what it would take to acquire Caratini. 

Boras is close with the Lerners so a Strasburg return is very possible.The Nats let Harper go so they may be hesitant to do the same with Rendon, even though losing Harper may have been a net gain.

On 10/4/2019 at 11:42 PM, hangin n wangin said:

Guy just flops his dick out. I want him. Get him Eppy. 3 years, 60 million or you’re fired.

He already has 4/100. When he opts out he will get at least 5/150, especially with his dominance this Postseason. I love his stuff but not his injury history. I just know that if the Angels sign him he will end up on the IL within a month. Of course he will be a bargain compared to Cole. 

The Angels went years without drafting or developing their high draft picks. Hopefully Adell, Marsh and Canning, Adams and Wilson pan out. 
 

As far as the organization, there seems to be a disconnect between the front office and the team. People need to step up and take responsibility for the club’s failures. Carpino, Eppler and Swanson in particular. The PR department should be gutted and hire a new director who can manage the department and promote a zero tolerance policy when it comes to any transgressions. Arte may need to get more involved in the everyday business (not baseball decisions). 

4 hours ago, Erstad Grit said:

A little surprised on trop. 

Trop (great name) showed absolutely nothing last season in his couple of appearances and his season in AAA. His type are readily available. Why pay over a million  for a guy who can be replaced by a minimum deal.