ksangel

Really!  With Cron emerging as an average defender, the only position we won't feature a solid defender is third base, and even then, there are some balls that Yunel gets to that very few other 3B can reach.  It's just his ridiculously inaccurate arm that kills us. 
The name of the game next year is run prevention.  Eppler went on to acquire a series of pitchers who are pretty much reaching their make or break moments in their respective careers, with Campos, Banuelos, Pounders, maybe even Smith and Meyer.  And he's set them up for success by putting up the best defensive unit in baseball out there to support them. 
Not just that, suddenly...quietly even, our offense is beginning to take shape.  Adding Maybin and Espinosa to the bottom of the lineup makes us a deeper, more dangerous team than last year.  
Now about that bullpen.....

We are a signing away from having the best defense in all of baseball. That can go a long way to helping out the pitching.

Looking a little deeper, Espinosa does provide some additional depth at SS. This is a plus because it does technically make Pennington expendable. I don't expect the Angels to now go and cut Cliff, but does minimize his necessity. If opportunity comes along, we can move him - much like how we traded for Brendan Ryan last year.
Additionally, if Espinosa does well, being a local guy, he could slot into our future plans. He could be a good bridge until Fletcher or another 2B comes along, and could shift into a super-sub role nicely as soon as next year once Cliff walks. 

We have an actual, honest to God LF and 2B for the first time in two years. 
His OPS+ may not be much better than what Gio provided, but his glove will be light years better.
Wonder too if maybe the league's unfamiliarity with him will play to his advantage. Much like Simmons, one of his finest years offensively was his first year. May be a guy pitchers underestimate the first few times around. 

What a WOW for the Rangers...pay Desmond about what the Angels are going to pay Maybin, get a solid season from him, finish in first in the division and have the next draft pick after the Angels and the 28th pick in 2017.  So they stock up their farm system more than the Angels again.

Someone we have no idea about will be the starting 2B. 
Believe Eppler will acquire a young 2B who plays good defense and has the potential to be a good  bat with high OBP.

Thanks for the info...but pass if it meant trading Cron, Thaiss or Jones.
Could David Fletcher be a similar player in the future? 

Someone we have no idea about will be the starting 2B. 
Believe Eppler will acquire a young 2B who plays good defense and has the potential to be a good  bat with high OBP.

Someone we have no idea about will be the starting 2B. 
Believe Eppler will acquire a young 2B who plays good defense and has the potential to be a good  bat with high OBP.

Wonder if Maybin could transform into a lead off hitter?  In 2670 PA's he's lead off 100 times and 70 of those times were in 2010 and 2011.  In the last three years he's led off 12 times. 
Unless the Angels are going to sign a top FA 3B I'd keep Escobar and let Marte develop so he's an option in 2018 when Angels will need a 3B.
With Maybin and Escobar the order could be:  Escobar, Calhoun, Trout, Pujols, Cron, Maybin, Simmons, Bandy/Perez, 2B
Could flip Simmons and Maybin too.

Totally agree on 2 year limit.  I like that he's got that "don't mess with me attitude" which seems to be missing from the Angels.
Escobar, Calhoun, Trout, Bautista, Pujols, Simmons, Cron, Bandy/Perez, New 2B.
Plus having another bat like his deepens the lineup and would make it easier having a defense first 2B.
But can see Boston signing him as their DH too.

Yankees have their LF of the future in Clint Frazier who they acquired from Cleveland in the Miller trade so maybe the Yankees would move him.  He was Cleveland's #1 prospect and in AA/AAA last year.
Gardner would be a good stop gap in LF for a couple of years...better than a Jon Jay type IMO. 
Maybe Thaiss could be a LF and in the majors in 2019?  Wasn't there talk of moving him to the outfield after playing 1B this year?
But the reality is the Yankees would want a couple of Angels top prospects to do that deal.
Pass on Ellsbury...

Trade Escobar for relief pitcher (that's what Nat's got for him from Angels) and let Marte play 3B where he belongs.  Saw enough of Escobar and his one dimensional skill set this year.
Resign Weaver as #5 (how many other #5's had their team go 16-14?).  He looked better at end of year.  Stats don't tell the whole story either.
Move Meyer to bullpen where his stuff would be dynamic. RP's would be Street (he's going to be there no matter what until he fails), Bedrosian, Meyer and Bailey.  With Morin, Chacin (ok long man) and others.  Need to keep building the pen.  Really weak area this past year compared to the years when the Angels competed.
Richards, Shoe, Skaggs, Nolasco and Weaver.  Got to believe Richards will be ok (will see more after instructional league) and Shoe will recover. 
Need more starting and relief pitching depth but would be ok with above as a start and see how season develops.
 
Sign Ian Desmond - LF solved. Brings offense and defense and 20+ steals.  Batting order of Calhoun, Desmond, Trout, Pujols, Marte, Cron, Simmons, Bandy and Cowart (2B).
And don't trade any top minor leaguers either.  Let Thaiss, Ward, Jones, Williams, Marsh and whoever they draft #10 next June develop into the next wave of Angels.
Go Angels in 2017!
 
 

Johnny G disappointed me the most.  After reading a preseason article about how hard he worked in the offseason with Ron Washington to improve his defense (and Washington praised him too), he just flat out stunk again and didn't hit well either.
Cowart has been a disappointment too.  Thought he would step it up in 2016 and be the starting 3B in 2017....fools gold he is.
Appreciated Weaver's season despite the stats.  He gutted it out and performed well at the end. 
Shoe showed he is top of rotation pitcher.  Was quite dominant before the injury and hope he recovers to be the same pitcher in 2017.
Trout impresses me that he continues to grow and IS the best player in the game.
Cron improved both defensively and offensively...now if he can keep it going in 2017.
Marte impressed me enough to believe he may be the everyday LF next year - but his defense has to improve.
Simmons defense is just otherworldly...WOW is all I can say.  And he hit ok too.
Never thought Bandy would be the everyday catcher.  Perez stunk at the plate this year.
 

They have clearly made up their mind about him.  They're the baseball experts and no player has ever started their career struggling over 126 sporadic plate appearances spanning 2 seasons while performing solidly in the minors.  
Even if you think you know, don't you want to make sure that you are right?  
There are plenty of players across baseball, seasoned vets even, that would struggle getting 19 PA over a 3 week span.  
But how could they be wrong?  He is what he is right?  
Put the kid in the best position to succeed.  If he doesn't then you are no worse for wear.  I mean honestly at this point, if he sucks and the team loses more games that it could because of him, so what.  
They're 7-3 over their last ten games.  Does anyone really care?  Is is going to mean two shits if we win a bunch of games at the end of a lost season and end up with less than 90 losses?  
If they think so, then I guess I have no argument and clearly they do.  I am sure the fans will flock to see the team coming off a 73 win season next year because Gregorio Petit and Cliff Pennington helped them win those 2 or 3 extra games.  

Here's the definition of stupid: Nick Buss has more PA than Kaleb Cowart.
I don't get it.
I know one player who sucked in his first 40 games, hitting only .220 with a .281 OBP. I'm sure glad that the Angels didn't give up on him.
I know, I know. That other player was just 20 years old and one of the top prospects in baseball and Cowart is 24 years old and considered a failed prospect who might be limping his way to a bench career. But given that the Angels are 17 games under .500, there really is no justifiable reason not to give Cowart every possible start and at-bat.
The only thing I can think of is that they've already decided he's going to the AFL, so they feel like there's no rush. I guess.

I fully agree with both of you. We know Buss is a AAA player but we are giving him playing time. We have overwhelming evidence that Cliff Pennington can't hit MLB pitching but we keep running him out there. Meanwhile, Cowart rots on the bench. I know I'm in the minority in thinking Cowart could be something useful and there is every chance I am wrong and he will never be a good enough hitter to make him worthy of MLB playing time. But for us not to be giving him a chance now, in meaningless games, coming off a moderately encouraging AAA season and at a time where his competition at 2B is terrible, defies any logic.
We have given Cliff Pennington 165 ABs this year and a heap in September, to produce exactly what would have been expected ...not very much. A 32-year-old who probably gets DFA'd before Opening Day is being given more of a chance than a 24-year-old with exceptional defensive talent who has also shown at times he can hit. Some people might think that's wise, but I would like some of what they are smoking.

There are just too many variables and subtleties at work here for us to really know what's up. Coaching staff may have pulled him aside and told him he needs to work on pitch recognition and working the count and they're going over that in BP and the cages. To gauge his progress, they're cutting back his at-bats. It may be beneficial to his development if all he has to focus on is an at-bat late in a game when his task is to simply show increased patience and recognition, rather than do four times a game everyday.
It's easy for fans to judge a player off a live game and a stat line, but coaches and players are the only ones who really know what all is entailed here. 
We're effectively in spring training. For all we know, coaches and FO may feel Cowart is ready with the glove as a UT IF job right now, and that his bat is even closer than we are giving him credit for, and they're tasking him with very small things in repetition to accomplish in an at-bat (take all sliders, only swing low and away, try to see 5 pitches, whatever) that he's working on that we are unaware of. Pennington and Petit may be getting playing time because they are vets, we know their ceiling and floor already so there's not much they're learning in live-game action or training in the cages, and the FO is trying to decide if either Petit or Pennington is worth keeping next season.

We're going to face a big time roster crunch in about a month when all of our 60-day DL guys have to be added to the 40-man, and with Cowart's youth, control, versatility, and potential, he may even already be more valuable to the club than Pennington or Petit, and they're getting playing time now to determine which of them they prioritize keeping this offseason.

Read where Meyer and Nagy looked at tapes of Meyer's pitching at Univ. of Kentucky and saw that his arm slot was higher - so he worked on that and was much more comfortable.
Agree with Troll Daddy....DAMN !!! He could be a gem.  Richards, Shoe, Skaggs, Meyer and Nolasco could be a solid 1-5 in 2017.
Also Gubi talked a lot of seeing Meyer go to an abbreviated windup to control his mechanics...pitched better out of the stretch than full wind up.

Read where Meyer and Nagy looked at tapes of Meyer's pitching at Univ. of Kentucky and saw that his arm slot was higher - so he worked on that and was much more comfortable.
Agree with Troll Daddy....DAMN !!! He could be a gem.  Richards, Shoe, Skaggs, Meyer and Nolasco could be a solid 1-5 in 2017.
Also Gubi talked a lot of seeing Meyer go to an abbreviated windup to control his mechanics...pitched better out of the stretch than full wind up.

Read where Meyer and Nagy looked at tapes of Meyer's pitching at Univ. of Kentucky and saw that his arm slot was higher - so he worked on that and was much more comfortable.
Agree with Troll Daddy....DAMN !!! He could be a gem.  Richards, Shoe, Skaggs, Meyer and Nolasco could be a solid 1-5 in 2017.
Also Gubi talked a lot of seeing Meyer go to an abbreviated windup to control his mechanics...pitched better out of the stretch than full wind up.

Weaver finish above .500 and beat the Astros at home on the last day of the year to a standing ovation - then announce his retirement.
Trout stay healthy...and win MVP
Nonnie Williams continue to rake at AZL...up to .230's now after a dismal start.
Continued success for Thaiss, Jones and other high end prospects.
Middleton get September call up and show the "heat"
Bandy keep improving to silence the need for a catcher in the off season.
Skaggs stay healthy and end the year on a high note
Richards get back on the mound and show he's ok
Cowart settle in and prove he's the 3B for 2017.  He looks much better this time around.
 

For Cowart to play everyday at third.
Try Escobar at a couple other positions, to keep his bat in the line up and possibly see if he can play a passable 2nd or left.  

We may need pitching badly now, but I'd stick to best player available. Even if it means the catcher Schwartz.