AngelsFanSince86

Exactly. His slash line since June 1 is: .263/.342/.780 with 27 RBI and 8HR in 46 games. That would project out to 25-30 HR and close to 100 RBI over a full season. Keep in mind the guy is still in the first year of his first child. That is always distracting. He had a very rough start, but has come around. Wait until the end of the season before you even contemplate talking about needing to replace him.

I read most of the first page, but then just scanned your responses. You have been asked several times who you would have chosen? Who would you have signed? Angels went with quantity over quality for guys who have had success in the past and so far it hasn't really worked out. However, they didn't sink much money into them as a whole. Almost all of the big FAs that, at the time, everyone thought could make a difference have all way underperformed. I know two years ago I was one of the biggest proponents of trying to sign Heyward because of his value at the time and potential as he entered his prime. How did that work out? I'm curious what your hindsight plan is? You've criticized what they did and stated what they should have done, but you only have spoken in generalities. What specifically should they have done that would have made you a happier fan today?

At the beginning of an inning? Not with RISP? There was other opportunities in that game and will be more in others that would be lower leverage situations. That was probably the single worst time in the entire game to bring him in.

I like Mike and Mike, but hardly ever listen to it. It's far and away the highest commercial to show ratio among sports radio shows.

I don't know a whole lot, but I've read he was worked pretty hard. Threw a 130 pitch game last year.

I thought the same. I was convinced the best was yet to come and he was coming off of back to back 6+ WAR seasons.

I think its a combination of this and of expectations. The radar gun wasn't really as commonplace until recently. It's now widely available and used at many levels of the game. Scouts grade pitchers on their average fastball velocity. This has all taken time to trickle down, but now it starts at a young age. Combine that with the ever improving training regiments and the fact they aren't expected to pitch as many innings as they used to and you get an influx of flamethrowers. You would expect that if these guys were all taking steroids that they would not get injured as often as they do, but it seems the opposite is true. They are overworking their arms to produce the desired velocity and in the process are wearing down their arms.

I don't know if its so much who they are drafting, but what is available. I'm 30. When I was growing up competitive little league wasn't as big. I remember playing at North Sunrise LL and we had many teams at every level. I just coached my kid's tee ball team last year at NSLL and they have now combined leagues because parents are signing their kids up for these competitive leagues with coaches who get paid to teach your kids baseball. Could it not be that the rise in velocity has to do with how the kids are being taught today and could it also be the reason why TJS is so prevelant? Kids are taught to throw as hard as humanly possible at a young age and so more are able to hit these higher marks, but at the same time their arms are all falling off. Edit: Meant to put "they NOW combined leagues." Basically, kids who play baseball these days, for the most part, are being groomed for the majors and it starts incredibly young.

Part of i could be that the average velocity of pitches has been rising for over a decade. During that same span, the average amount of runs scored during a game has gone down. During the steroid era, HRs were up, but so were runs scored. I think this is different. Its not like offense is just booming all around. Its specifically HRs. If it was PEDs you would expect more offense in general with a rise in power. All we are seeing is a rise in power. Seems like a combination of faster pitches, an influx of strong younger players, and players' approach at the plate.

I'd keep it and sell it. It would be rough getting the negative media attention, but if Pujols wants it he can pay for it. It would probably go for 100k-200k. Basically what Pujols makes in one game. If I was offered season tickets for the rest of my life in one of their suites I would take that too. But I'm not giving up the chance to add greater financial stability to my families life so that I can have a feel good story and a signed ball by Pujols.

Don't get me wrong, I definitely would not mind having him on the team. I just remember him being a frustrating pitcher to watch. Maybe that is just the way I remember it. If you include his breakout year at age 25, his last 5 years as an Angel he posted a 4.08 ERA and a 100 ERA+. Not terrible, but not exactly inspiring. Its telling of how he was with the Angels. Up one year and down the next. He was never actually average. It was either above average or below average. He has been very solid since leaving the Angels, but you can't predict this stuff. But like I said, its not like they replaced him with better options. He wasn't even replaced with pitchers who at the time seemed like better options. So yeah, they probably should have kept him. I just remember not being too upset about it when they didn't resign him until I found out who was going to be filling the rotation in his stead.

Santana was all over the place. One year he would be great, the next he'd be terrible. Here are his ERAs from his last four seasons as an Angel: 5.03, 3.92, 3.38, 5.16. Then he went to the Royals and pitched great and then had two mediocre years after that followed by a very solid year last year. That being said, what he was replaced with was absolutely terrible. That was the year Dipoto rounded out the rotation with Jerome Williams, Tommy Hanson, and Joe Blanton.

I believe that the front office is holding themselves accountable. If they weren't they would be making the same short-sighted mistakes. Yes, this is a dead period. Eppler put together a team that didn't mortgage the future, acts as a stepping stone for being a true contender, and at the same time is a team where if things break right they can compete. When you go to games you aren't very inspired by what is out on the field for the most part, but you still feel like they can win most games even when they are down. A lot of it comes down to their pitching though, which is how you started this thread. The Angels have had some of the worst luck in recent memory with injuries to their pitchers and there really isn't anything they can do about that. They did something solid and traded for Heaney. He looked like everything he was cracked up to be until his injury. Shoemaker came up through the ranks and surprised everyone and you have to credit the FO for that. What happened to him was a freak accident and likely threw him off mentally. Tropeano looked like a solid middle of the rotation guy until he went down with injury. Richards is an ace that can't stay healthy. Skaggs was drafted by the Angels and came back to them and looked the part until he went down. That is 4 guys who came up with the Angels and one smart trade they made for guys who would make up one of the best rotations in the league if the could all just stay healthy. You have to credit the Angels for these pitchers and give them a break for the incredibly poor luck they have had with their injuries. They have done a lot to put a solid rotation up there and keep getting hit with bad luck. Richards and Skaggs will be back before the end of the season. Heaney and Tropeano will likely come back some time next season. The Angels will have a lot of money freed up and the FA class gets a little better next year and is possibly the best ever in 2019. By that time their improved drafting should start to pay dividends at the MLB level. Its not fun to have to sit and wait, but it is smart. They are headed in the right direction and getting anxious is what has killed them in the past. They are better this year than last year. Their farm is also better. They also have more money to spend. Be patient and be happy this team doesn't feel utterly hopeless like they did last year.

This sums it up. Trout was one of the best in his rookie year because he was trying to prove more. Guys like Pillar and Keirmaier have little else besides their defense. Once they stop laying themselves out they become replaceable. Trout is one of the best in route running, has one of the best ranges of any OFer, and makes very few errors. Trout is an amazing defender in every aspect besides his arm. Its just that he chooses to only be very good to save his health. We have seen Trout make those spectacular diving catches other players make. But we haven't seen anyone come anywhere close to making the kind of home run robbing catches he has made. Since 2014 when Trout took over CF full time, no outfielder has made more outs than Trout has. Last year I saw a stat they posted from Statcast that showed Trout was second in the league amongst OFers next to Lorenzo Cain in route efficiency. They just don't post those stats anywhere for some reason. Edit: The stat was posted during a game. There is a lot of information they haven't released that statcast tracks.

And they still have scored more runs than the Cubs

Two young guys who put up solid numbers and who looked good when they were up. Both pitched about 100 innings/20 games started for the Angels and put up very solid numbers both around 3.60 ERA. Both are relatively young. Combine that with freed up salary and there should be much more to look forward to in the rotation than there is this year. I never said those two were going to be aces. If Richards comes back and stays healthy, Shoe pitches like he should, and Skaggs continues to develop then you really only need one guy to step up. We have plenty of #5 guys this year. If one of Heaney, Tropeano, or Meyer steps up next year then you are looking at a solid rotation. On top of that we still have not seen this year play out. What if Marte or Cron have a break out year? Simmons is already looking very solid at the plate. Even without adding a FA the offense could be very solid. I said they will likely contend next year. Doesn't mean I think they are going to be the best team in the league.

Part of it is advanced stats. They don't like Trout. What I didn't get is how his dWAR was so much lower than guys like Kiermaier and Pillar in 2015. He had zero errors and got to more balls than any CFer in MLB. I also remember seeing a statcast list late that year that put Trout #2 in the league in route efficiency. He also made that insane catch over the wall that is better than any catch the two Kevin's have ever made or likely will ever make. Keirmaier had more assists and DPs and had nearly as many put outs as Trout in like 200 less innings. Meaning his range was much better then Trouts (which is saying a lot). So I get why he won the GG. Still not sure how his defense was as good as dWAR suggests relative to Trouts. Pillar had a much higher dWAR despite having the same amount of assists and no DPs in about 100 less innings. I think in the past Trout may have gotten the GG due to his offensive performance combined with his defense (see: Derek Jeter), but recently there has been more of a shift towards advanced metrics which is a good thing. Plus guys that are mostly defense tend to lay themselves out often creating more highlight reel plays. Trout just doesn't do that anymore for the most part, which is also a good thing. No point in getting injured. I think part of what makes him so great is that he maintains one of the best ranges in CF despite not diving for balls. Purely off of getting a good jump, solid route running, and speed.

Curious why Meyer isn't being given a shot right now with Richards down and other guys not really performing. Seems like at his age you would want to see what you have in him and since the rotation is so thin it seems like a great time to see if he can hack it.

Heaney and Tropeano will be coming back and Skaggs/Richards will be another year removed from injury (granted Richards comes back). There will be more payroll freed up and a better FA class available then this last offseason. There are some guys in the farm like Thaiss who may be at the point where they can start competing for a spot on the roster. 2018 is the year I've seen as well as the year the Angels should be able to contend. That being said they still have a lot of opportunity this year. Their offense isn't as bad as the last few games have shown. Skaggs just showed us all what he is capable of with that 7 IP, 9 K, 0 ER outing. If Richards comes back and can stay healthy and Shoe and Skaggs perform to their abilities then this team will compete. If Meyer steps up and does what he seems capable of on top of all that then this team has a chance to be pretty good. There are a lot of "ifs" this year. I think next year a lot of those ifs will be taken away.

Meh, Angels still have a decent record. Especially for April. This was bound to show up at some point with Richards out and it was good they got the comeback wins they got. If Richards can come back relatively soon and Skaggs and Shoe can start putting together some solid outings then all will be fine. If Richards doesn't come back soon and/or one or both of Skaggs and Shoe can't get it together then there isn't much that else to say other than the team is in general heading in the right direction. Personally, going into the offseason I viewed this year as a stepping stone to contention in 2018 when we got more of our pitching back, had some payroll freed up, and had some younger guys like Thaiss starting to contribute. As the offseason progressed I became more and more optimistic. We all knew things were going to have to break just right with the pitching for contention to be a possibility. The offense has shown it is capable of being very good. We'll have to wait and see how the pitching holds up, but for now the team as a whole has been decent. Who knows, maybe Meyer will surprise everyone and Richards will come back better then ever.

I am optimistic about the rotation coming together. Richards will miss his one start and come back into the rotation. He looked great before he left his last start. I think Skaggs is still getting his confidence. He is only 25 and you can see his stuff is there, he just needs the confidence and consistency that comes with that confidence to put it all together. As has been said, Shoe tends to be a slow starter and I think he will hit his stride. What is important is that we are getting decent outings from Chavez and Nolasco and that the offense is picking up the slack while the SP figures it out.

It depends on how good teams think he will actually be with his bat. If he is better than anything you can put at DH then why not do it that way? Only catch is that if he has a bad game and gets pulled early you are in a bit of a bind. Its also possible they would just have him DH on days he isn't pitching and have a DH for him on days he is. Here is my take: If there are AL teams that think he will be able to hit they will give him a shot at DH on his off days. In that case I think he will be more likely to sign with an AL team simply because he will have more opportunities to play. If teams don't think his bat is a game changer in MLB, then he is more likely to sign with an NL team because he will get a fair amount of opportunities to bat. Seems to me he wants to at least have the chance to do it all and so he will likely go to whatever team is going to give him the biggest chance to do that. Angels don't fit either of those scenarios.

Actually, the DH rules state that you can opt out of using the DH as long as you make the decision before the game. AL teams just don't ever use that option for obvious reasons.

I don't think so. I envision him either going to an NL team and strictly being a pitcher who can hit or going to an AL team as a pitcher with the team opting for no DH on days he pitches and him DHing on days he isn't pitching. This doesn't fit the Angels mold because they have their DH. Although I briefly read something where he wouldn't get much money because he is under 25, so if he is inexpensive its possible. I will admit I don't fully understand what his price would really be. They could sign him and use him as a pitcher and if he pans out would take on the DH role once Pujols retires. Its hard to say with this guy. You want your starting pitcher to rest and unless this guy comes in and is one of the best hitters in the league it is hard to see him being used as a DH which is much better suited for a veteran player that can't field anymore.

I think it comes down to how well his bat translates. If he can hit better than any other DH option you have then you put him in there.