WeatherWonk

Yeah, the Astros have already announced that McHugh will be a starter this year. They are also high on 25 year old lefty Framber Valdez. You might remember he started one game against the Angels last year and gave up one run in six innings and struck out nine, walked two. 4-1 last year with a WHIP of 1.2. I believe I just read that Brad Peacock agreed to arbitration, and he has started games in the past. They have lots of options. Their bullpen is pretty solid with Rondon, Devenski, Joe Smith, Will Harris, Pressly and Ozuna. I think a lot of people forget that Correa and Altuve missed a total of almost 80 games last year. Correa never really recovered completely and Altuve stopped stealing bases and had the lowest total of his career for a full time season. Springer missed 20 games. They got no offense from catcher and very little from the DH spot (10th in the AL) ............and they still won 103 games. That was in a division with one team that finished 30+games over .500 (A's), one 16 games over .500 (M's) and a team one win under .500 (Angels). M's and A's wont repeat those seasons. Angels MIGHT be better, if all goes as planned. I would say that in all the divisions in baseball, the Astros are the most likely to repeat their division title.

I bet McHugh pitches better than Keuchel did. And McCullers missed two months of the season anyway.

Ward needs to start at AAA. He isn't ready for prime time yet. His bat and glove said so. But he has time. Heck, he wouldnt have been anything but a Sept call-up if Cozart hadnt gotten injured and the Angels hadnt fallen out of playoff contention by mid July. He might not have even been a call-up, if we remained in contention. We would probably have stuck with Valbuena over his inexperience.

This thread seems like it's a month early. Much can still happen. Plenty of time to get off their hands. Many are waiting out desperation in the players, as the clock ticks. But the teams that are in competitive divisions are doing a lot. Washington and the Mets have been active because the Braves are no shoo-in. They Yankees have had to keep up with the loaded lineup of the Red Sox. Minnesota has sensed weakness in Cleveland and has responded. The Cardinals and Brewers are keeping pace, while the Cubs seem like they are stretched financially to do much. Darvish is wait and see. The Dodgers dont really have to do too much to remain competitive in the NL West. The Rockies are their only competition this year. They lost Ottavino and DJ, but added Daniel Murphy. Then there's the Astros. The A's are weaker, the M's are weaker. The Angels have tons of question marks. The Astros can introduce two youngsters to their starters, absorb the loss of Gonzales (Brantley will hit better, anyway) and still probably win the division by 5-10 games. Chirinos improves their offense at catcher. Barring injury, I dont see anyone overtaking the Astros in the AL West. The A's starting pitching is still a mystery.

There are many ways to look at this signing. It certainly gives the Yankees an incredible amount of infield depth when you look at Voit, Bird, Andujar, Tulo, Torres, LeMahieu and Didi returning by mid season. They could have DJ play some 1b if Bird get injured (again) or Voit turns out to be a flash in the pan. Or they could move one of the younger players in this group in a trade for more starting pitching, possibly Kluber or Bauer. Indians are motivated to continue retooling now that they have lost Chisenhall, Brantley, Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, Yan Gomes, Encarnacion.

Meanwhile, in other significant hot stove news not related to Caddyshack, the Yankees just keep getting stronger. LeMahieu signs on for two years. Machado seems like a real longshot with the Yankees, at this point.

Hey, I think they just broke Arte's record, didnt they?

I dont know, but I wish I had seen the thread back when he originally posted it. I would have sent him the 300.00 and told him to keep the jersey for better times. Sometimes it takes a village to teach decency in people.

It's certainly the most revealing one.

"Ok, so what's left behind door #2, Carol? What do these Angel fans get?"

This certainly is the off season of the one year deal. I wonder if the potential (though probably very unlikely) departure of the Angels from the LA area could affect Trout's decision as to whether he signs an extension with the organization or not? Would Trout want to play in Las Vegas? I also wonder if the desire of other organizations like Tampa Bay or Oakland to relocate might work in Anaheim's favor. Can Anaheim legally approach those ball clubs about possibly relocating?

OMG, please let this season start, already...................

That would be sad, IMO. It would be another "well, if everything goes right, we MIGHT compete" year. I feel like the last two were like that. Really, if this is it, the most interesting aspect of the year could be watching how all the youth, including the one's we acquired in pitching last year AND the farmhands, develop. It will be an interesting, but not necessarily exciting, year. I have serious doubts about our offense, especially until that unknown point in time when Ohtani returns. But, in looking at our early schedule, it doesnt seem like that tough a schedule at all. Unless the A's get going on replacing starters, the only good teams we face through May are the Yankees (4), Cubs (3) and the Astros (2). Hard to say about the Twins and A's. We really play a lot of bad teams this year, based on last year's records. And the A's and Mariners should be weaker.

The equivalent on Angels Win will be............. "Where were you when you first heard that Trout signed a long term deal with the Yankees?" IF it happens, of course. And the even more heinous equivalent to 9/11 will be........... "Where were you when you first heard that Trout signed a long term deal with the Dodgers?" ......

Yeah, then only Japanese fans would ever see him live. LOL!

Really, Doc, it's a win-win situation for me. If Trout goes, I'm right. If Trout stays, he stays with my favorite team since the late 70s. There is one big upside to Trout heading east for me. I live in the Mountain time zone. If Trout goes east, I will be able to watch more of his games at a decent hour. Lots of Angel home games end approaching midnight.

I thought the argument for why Trout was NOT coming, NOT ever, as in never, exclamation point (from the writer and from the Yahoo writer) was without any substantiation at all. It was like he was saying, "don't jinx it" and that's all. Besides, he will be a Yankee. That's what great players do, when they want to win. It's been that way since free agency began. Nobody wants to be the Ernie Banks of his generation.

And Ward's never had a major league season with the bat, the way Fletcher has. Fletch will never have the power of Ward, but Fletch will never have so many unproductive outs (over 30% Ks) as Ward. Ward's numbers were great at SLC last year, but only 8 HRs in all those hits in that environment is somewhat disappointing, if one is enamored with his slugging. There's still a lot to tell about these two. But one thing is sure. Fletch can hit at the MLB level, while Ward still has much to prove. AAA is where he should start. I expect some regression from a .350+ average at SLC from Ward. Heck, even Fletch hit .350 at SLC and got on base at nearly a .400 clip. Just not the power. These two could easily co-exist in the same lineup, after Cozart leaves.

Another closer type, off the board. White Sox expected to sign Herrera. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/01/white-sox-sign-kelvin-herrera.html

It's that time of the month on Angels Win, again. OTR Trout Blues. About 19 more of these, figuring through September 2020. Man up, guys. Suggest you get on Frank Thomas' hormone pills.............."and she'll thank you, too."

Lowrie hasnt played any significant SS since 2014. He was 30 then. Now he is 35. Both Fletcher and Cozart can cover than position, in a pinch. No, I think we spend money elsewhere, unless Eppler thinks Lowrie is the answer as a leadoff hitter. I like Lowrie. I think he could help us. I just dont think we will spend money in that direction.

Are we really at 185-190 mil right now, or is that a projection? I thought it was much less.

Houston hasn't sat on their hands. They got a better hitting catcher and a great hitting outfielder. It will take more than one injury to have them come back to us. And that assumes we have no injuries. Correa was almost a non-factor last year, due to injuries. And they still won 23 more games than us. I still like their 3-4 starters better than any of ours. I'm talking about McHugh and James. They really should trade some of their outfield surplus. Brantley, Springer, Kemp, Reddick, the kid Tucker, Marisnick. Although, I can see a situation where some of those outfielders would simply become DHs, depending on the matchup. Would love for the Angels to get Kemp as a leadoff hitter. I cant imagine the Astros would help us out like that, though.

No thanks. I'd rather take a chance on our potential starters and spend the money elsewhere.

Jon Jay to the White Sox. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/01/white-sox-jon-jay-in-serious-discussions.html