Inside Pitch

Comedy gold isn't it? I respond to what he brought up and then he chides me for talking about 20 years ago.

Considering you gave no examples, made up a narrative about everyone talking about Houston/Chicago and basically just blathered on with the same tired opinions, I felt talking facts and discussing what's actually happened might add some perspective to things. To each his own. Should I type LOL now?

As you have pointed out - the Angels greatest failing post Stoneman has been the lack of organizational currency. This team is only now getting close to being where it was in 2007-8 depth wise. It's a good topic and there are definitely two different mindsets of how to move forward, but I do hope whatever they do they don't set themselves back to try to improve their short term desires.

And both these scenarios fail to consider the value the team got out of keeping their players. Salmon, Glaus, Molina, Shields, Erstad, Glaus, Edmonds, Anderson, Napoli, K-Rod, Kendrick, Aybar, Morales, Lackey, Weaver, Washburn, Percival, Trout were all home grown talents that essentially made for the core of the team for almost two decades. How many of those guys were over-valued? Is everyone really talking about the Hou/Chi model? I ask because is there anyone that actually believes the Angels are following that model?? But since you bring it up... look at the names I mentioned above. All of two of them were top 10 picks -- Glaus and Erstad. Tim Salmon was a 3rd rounder. Anderson a 4th. Edmonds 7th. Kendrick a 10th, Napoli 17th round, Molina went undrafted out of college. Washburn was a 2nd rounder. Lackey was a 2nd rounder. Shields 28th round. Percy 6th. Trout 1st round (26th), Weaver 1st (12th. The bulk of the Angels golden era came from players taken outside of the top 10. The strength of the system was it's depth -- when first rounders like Kotchman, Wood, Mathis, failed to live up their draft status the guys picked behind them were able to fill those roles. Forest for the trees time.. How much better would the Angels be right now with Major league average performances from 1B, 2B, 3B, RF, and the bullpen? Players don't have to be superstars to be quality MLB players. I'm sure there are people here that are overvaluing our farm system, but let's not pretend everyone is delusional - there are many who are smart enough to understand that due to attrition, simply getting four MLB average players out of the top 20 would be considered a win for the farm system. If one of them ends up being an all star level player it's a massive win.

Marsh and Jones are both in their age 20 season, they are both 2.3 years below the league average age -- Marsh is in his FIRST season of full season baseball, Jones his second. Instead talking about them having under-performed expectations maybe you should temper yours a bit or maybe consider the name mentioned in the M's write-up - Kyle Lewis. Like Jones and Marsh, he's a top 100 prospect, like the Angels duo he's in High A, only he's 22 and was taken out of college and in the first round. Both these guys could repeat high-A next year and still be younger than Lewis currently is. Let's not "Future batting champion" them while still in high A and at 20.

I'm not one that sees Hand as the answer to everything hurting this team but you're offbase with with a few things. Petco isn't close to the most pitcher friendly park in MLB, not since they redid the OF dimensions and certainly not in any of the three years he's been a Padre. His first year in SD, Petco ranked 12th in most runs scored, this year it ranks as the 5th best. Also pointing to his ERA ignores that prior to becoming a Padre he was still being used as a SP -- which he proved he couldn't handle. The move to the pen saw his K/9 rate double... that alone essentially changed who he was and none of which could be attributed to any park effects even if there had been any (there aren't). He's a world better than his career ERA and any argument that starts with raw ERA is blind to facts.

This is a good topic that will likely continue to be a conversation as the farm continues improving. I understand the point you're making but Bourjos is a poor example of someone that was held on to given he was traded along with an actual prospect for a mediocre 3Bman and Fernando Salas (Grichuk) -- it's also worth pointing out that part of the reason they moved him was a dude named Josh Hamilton. It's hard to argue they wouldn't have been better off keeping PB and never having wasted their time with Hamilton. More on topic... the hoarding you speak of meant that when Wood flamed out, Erick Aybar was still there -- it also meant they had Alexi Amarista, Alexi Casilla, and Alberto Callaspo, all of whom were traded away to try to help the MLB team. They kept two and traded away three of what had been 5 Shortstops in the system. Like Bourjos, Kotchman was actually traded in a go for it now deal -- but again, the hoarding meant that Trumbo and Morales were both in place when they came up empty in 09 and Teixeira went to NYC that winter. Todd Greene was a long time ago and it's hard to argue with the success of that generation of Angels prospects -- Salmon, Edmonds, Anderson, Glaus, Erstad.... If Greene is an example of a missed opportunity then the others all serve as examples of why building from with within should be the ultimate goal.... IMO... based on what we have seen, I doubt Eppler is against using his farm to upgrade the major league roster. We have seen him spend prospect currency in both the Simmons and Upton deals, less so in the Kinsler trade. My frustration is less about them not making trades than it is about them failing to jettison certain players in favor of those guys that could possibly help.

At least you didn't have to spell it...

Precisely.... If you're playing for the Angels you're living in one of the surrounding areas... All of which will come in above Anaheim.

No shit..... I said as much Sherlock, but the reality is that Millville while home for him is far from being the idyllic Mayberry USA that some might think. The post wasn't about shedding light on the place to Mike Trout but rather to people here who may not be familiar with South New Jersey.

Which is IMO a commitment to winning. Neither Canning nor Suarez should be pushed IP wise this year -- bringing them up to have to sit them down when the team would need them most would be dumb IMO. Not saying you're calling for that, but I think this may be what they are thinking and why they are holding off on bringing either of them up. Were the team in a better position than they currently are they might see it differently, but I think as this team has been hit with stuff the focus has shifted towards the future (as you are saying). As someone that was looking at 2019 as the true target, I'm okay with it.

Best take I've gotten from a source outside the org.. "he needs another horse to race against". Basically -- he needs someone else's success to create some in house competition for him. Early guess is that Jeremiah Jackson may be that guy.

Ditto -- he's the big miss but, another chance to grab him next year. Been looking at how other teams spent their money -- pretty interesting differences from team to team. The biggest takeaway is that when Billy said every penny would be used -- he wasn't kidding.

Pretty happy with how they did on the signings -- first 21 picks all signed, 27 of the top 30. Not bad at all.

I've heard the whole, he's a bad practice player attached to him from solid sources. I think maybe we are seeing some of that.

Third base is calling....

Millville is kind of a dump... Check this out... https://www.areavibes.com/millville-nj/crime/ F grades for Crime, Education, Employment, Housing is a D+... It's a go nowhere town with nothing to do. There is no denying he grew up there and it's home but the area itself is pretty shitty and Philly is even worse. Punch in the info for Anaheim and it's not really close... Crime in Millville is a bigger issue than in Anaheim and we both know that if he was going to raise kids, he'd likely pick one of the surrounding communities. The overall crime rate in Millville is 142% higher than the national average. For every 100,000 people, there are 18.83 daily crimes that occur in Millville. Millville is safer than 5% of the cities in the United States. In Millville you have a 1 in 15 chance of becoming a victim of any crime. The number of total year over year crimes in Millville has decreased by 9%. .vs Anaheim... The overall crime rate in Anaheim is 8% higher than the national average. For every 100,000 people, there are 8.39 daily crimes that occur in Anaheim. Anaheim is safer than 32% of the cities in the United States. In Anaheim you have a 1 in 33 chance of becoming a victim of any crime. The number of total year over year crimes in Anaheim has decreased by 5%.

Nobody wants to raise kids in Philly....

I went on record as saying I wouldn't have an opinion until I'd actually seen the guy -- so, I wasn't on him or off him based on what the hype was -- but, it's still way too early to look at numbers and have an opinion one way or another. He's definitely toolsy.

@Angel Oracle Check this guy's name out.. http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&player_id=666517#/career/R/hitting/2018/ALL Not sure there has ever been anyone more primed for you to anoint with a nickname.

Grichuk's put up 7.8 WAR in 1500 plate apperances, Calhoun's done his bit in over 3K PAs, but he was at 7.4 WAR through 1500. Despite the horrible batting averages they have been pretty much equals save for their salaries -- Calhoun was over 10 Mil through his first 5 seasons. 013 25 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim $491,000 0.066 contracts 2014 26 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim $506,000 0.130 contracts 2015 27 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim $537,500 1.130 contracts 2016 28 Los Angeles Angels $3,400,000 2.130 2017 29 Los Angeles Angels $6,000,000 3.130 contracts Grichuk's got flaws in his game but he's not a zero sum guy and at 3 mil he's a decent 4th OF, defensive replacement. I still think he's better off in the NL.

So.... in short, the farm doesnt suck anymore! If the Tubby SOB in Orem keeps hitting, we are looking at a top 10 farm system by the end of summer.

He should have walked though....

I agree, it's all a tad overblown. You worry about walk rates when you're seeing a ton of swing and miss or a guy is being exploited by a certain pitch otherwise it's noise. I improperly used the term concern when referencing Rodgers.. just meant it's something that I've seen chatter about. But I'm with you on him, I don't think anyone will care of he's walking 30 times a year if he's putting up Vinny Castilla type power numbers up the middle.