WeatherWonk

I actually did try to post over the last few weeks, especially after the Trout signing, but the internet was pretty lame in Guatemela. I was able to log on, but the ads completely bogged down the site, much less post. But I've been back for a few days and decided to see just how toxic the site would get towards me, if I didnt post. I actually never saw this thread until tonite. I wasnt disappointed on the toxicity. Just not enough mature, analytical types here. Congratulations, Chuck. You've allowed quite a culture to grow here. And to think that some of them were actually moderators at one time. NESN will eventually figure it out..........but I guess you wont care in another few months. Maybe they need some prompting.

Yeah, Whitley, 15Ks in 12 IP. They have a number of players this year that have had fantastic springs. Brantley, Chirinos, Gurriel, Reddick, Marisnick, Correa. Bregman,, though not many ABs. Who are these guys Tanielu and Straw? Tucker is still striking out a lot. About as much as Ward.

I get that. Most everyone struggles at first. But Chapman and Bregman probably never struggled in the field because they had probably been playing 3rd for quite some time. The combination of learning to hit AND learning to field just cant be allowed at this level unless you have no other options or you are out of the race.

OK, so what if Harvey or Cahill or Skaggs go down? Probably better odds of that happening, given their history. Talk about a tough spot. Then what? Tropeano? Canning? Suarez to the rescue? I like the potential of the Astros young hurlers even more than ours. But they are largely unproven. And they had a few players who had worse seasons than 2017 (Correa, Altuve) who probably will bounce back. They got very little from the DH spot and they now have Brantley playing many games there. Brantley will also absorb some of Marwin's 73 games in LF. I think Brantley will hit better than Marwin's .247 avg and more than 16 HRs there. They also got nothing from their catchers..........and might not again. That lineup can afford a few off slots. I also like Kemp or Springer as superior to any leadoff hitter we have. ARE WE STILL HOPING THAT CALHOUN OR COZART ARE THE ANSWER IN FRONT OF TROUT? But I've grown tired of all the predictive posts. You think the Astros are vulnerable, I really don't think so. Nor do most of the writers and systems that have generated predictions. But much stranger things have happened. It's time to play ball!!

Three million butts in seats make it VERY comfortable, punting.

All good points, Strad.

So, you have all these gut feelings about teams that won ~ 100 games being worse this year...........yet you ignore a more scientific prediction like ZIPS. And the Angels "should" be better? The difference between the Red Sox, Yankees, Astros (and maybe the Indians) and us is that if they have injuries or a player or two go into a funk, they have the depth to continue to win. If we have injuries or a funk, we are toast. To me, it feels like another season where literally everything has to go right, for us to contend for a WC slot. BTW, looks like the Yanks are signing Gio Gonzalez, too. Their rotation is definitely better this year, assuming Severino comes back. Not that their rotation needs to be much better. That bullpen is probably the best in baseball, even losing Robertson. The Yankees are for real.

Uh, so which category do you put yourself in?

I dont think that Yankee or Red Sox or Astros or National fans are struggling to be optimistic about their teams. Neither are Rays fans. Probably not Brewer fans or Philly fans or Padre or Brave fans, either. Dodger fans might be, after losing two straight WS and the team is quite different. But, hey, they made it to two WS in a row. Those are successful seasons. I think Angel pessimism is justified. We havent won a playoff game in 10 years; all the while having a top seven payroll the whole time and the GOTG player on our roster. Whatever the reasons why we havent, that feeds into pessimism. But maybe the single biggest generator of pessimism, IMO, is..............the injuries! We've had such a bad run that we are beginning to EXPECT them.

Let's get this seasons started, already. We're reaching the paralysis by analysis stage at AW. Everything in baseball, much like life, can't be fully predicted with numbers. But..............we DO need to make our final prediction on the Angels' overall record for 2019. Yes, many have already been postulated. But other teams are still signing players. Injuries are still happening (don't we know!). Probably by the end of this week would be a good time for the final prediction.

I still think Ward is probably our best prospect for third base. I really haven't seen that much of the large crop of "shortstops" we have in the minors (Rengifo, Soto, Maitan, Jackson, Rivas) to determine if one of them might make a better, future option at 3rd. Hopefully, Ward is only about 1/2 to one season away at AAA. I don't expect that he will solve all his ailments in the field in that time, but he probably will get better. Heck, he's only had about 175 total chances at 3rd in the minors. 2018 was his first year playing third. But if his hitting continues to improve on the trajectory that he has established in his minor league career, a few defensive shortcomings can be overlooked by a solid bat. But not until it does. He has especially got to figure out the throwing from third. He makes too many throwing errors. And those can be very costly. They should be able to get him on track with those. It's easier to accept the occasional booted ground ball. It's like overcoming a single in an inning. You can accept that from a solid hitting third baseman. There have been MANY solid hitting 3rd baseman who had great careers and made 25+ errors each season. I think it would be counterproductive to his career if he made the active roster and then only played 1-2 times/week behind some combo of Cozart and Fletcher.

What has happened to Pac-10/12 basketball? A #9 seed, a #12 seed and a play-in game is all they got? This is, by far, the worst Pac-10/12 season I can ever remember.

Actually, I wish we still had Clevinger and Chacin.

Well, Cozart hasnt really gotten a shot with the Angels yet, either. Yet they are going to be paying him 9 mil a season, or something like that. I think Cozart is less likely to hurt our chances on a playoff spot, than Ward right now. Really, besides the Cozart injury, I dont think Ward would have come up in mid August, unless we were already out of the playoff picture. Cozart will play good defense and he will get better ABs than Ward with men on base. No, he wont hit as many HRs as Ward. Having Ward "learn" while we are playing out the string (last year) doesnt make sense while we still have a shot. Let him get experience in less important situations. Especially THAT defense!!

Ward' got a decent look last year (144 PA). He played virtually every game from mid August on. And it was not pretty. He leads all of ST in errors committed. Pitchers work on things in ST that can produce bad results. Hitters do, too. But fielders? He's striking out about 30% of the time. Walking less than 5% of the time. Two doubles and one HR in 44 PA. Much like last year, an injured Cozart could give him another opportunity at the ML level. But he really should be working on things at AAA, for another half season. I hope that is where he starts.