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I am not against Cowart.  Give him a chance, that's all fine.

But I don't want to be the Padres.

Cowart is probably potentially a pretty clean 4 cylinder Pontiac.  Keep him.

I don't want all 4 cylinder Pontiacs.

The point is the Angels have one legit middle of the order hitter.

Let's start with getting a second one.

Then a third.

When the winning is too much, then stop pursuing more.

I see zero #1 starters on this team. . .

This team isn't going anywhere with one legit 3/4/5 bat and no top of the rotation horse, regardless of maybe improving incrementally in other areas.

That's just my opinion.

That's all I am saying.

4 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I agree, but much easier said than done.  I guess if the Angels signed Mous, Hosmer, Arieta and Darvish this off season we would be 2/3 of the way there.  

I know it isn't easy and it is likely not realistic to have five MOTO bats.

What I want to see is focused, concentrated effort to address the rigjt things.

For example, tinkering to make 2B passable is, in a way, annoying.  Not that this wouldn't slightly improve the team. . .

It just that the lineup doesn't have enough impact bats.  That's the big problem.

The pitching doesn't have the #1 and #2 kind of horses that they need.

Lots of other problem become so much less relevant if you are top heavy in the rotation and have MOTO  bats.

The rest at that point is backfill.

I made the point too long, but I hate when a team is trying to improve the backfill by 10% when the foundation is not there.

Frontline pitching and big bats.

All hands on deck to draft, develop, acquire those pieces.

I am so flipping bored with discussing if Cowart can hit enough to hold down third, or if one of the 13 back of the rotation starters blah blah blah. . . For the most part, those things don't matter if you don't have the core pieces.

The signing I enjoyed was Carl Crawford.  I never wanted that guy and was so happy when he landed somewhere else.

I want the Angels to NOT be a team that checks off position by position as good enough.

I want a relentless pursuit of becoming the best team in baseball.

For example, lots of depth at #4 and #5 starters makes me want to puke.  How do the top 3 match up against teams you will face in the postseason?  That is infinitely more important.

How many legit MOTO bats do you have?

Angels have one.

I want four or five.

If I am a car collector, I don't want to boast having more clean 4 cylinder Pontiacs than anyone else.

I don't care what players get paid.  I only care in the narrow context of how much flexibility the current payroll gives a GM to make moves.

Do I care if Pujols makes $30m?  No.

Do I care if the team is "maxed out" on its budget for salary this year and therefore doesn't want to make a move that costa money to help the team?  Yes.

Those are two totally different things.

Right now he stinks.  He might never be good again.  But frankly, Sandoval at major league minimum isn't the worst idea on earth.

He is 30 yrs old. 

Somebody will sign him for nothing and risk really nothing except a roster spot.

To be clear I am not hoping that team is the Angels at all.  Low probability of success.  But measured by risk alone, at mlb minimum there isn't much risk.

11 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Kendrick for Heaney is somewhat recent in Angels fans minds. Your's, not so much. 

Ha! I forgot about that one.

I don't "give up" on these two players.  But it is wise to mentally move these guys to another category in planning a winning roster.

I do "give up" relying on them in any way for the plan.

I guess we will find out but I wonder if our assumption that taking on the Stanton contract makes him attainable proved to be wrong.

He is a special talent and there could be a team that has resources that decides he is a must have.

The Yankees could puff their cheat out and go get this guy with top prospects and barely notice the money.  If they wanted to.

10 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

We would need to trade Calhoun, Marsh, Barria, Chris Rodriguez, Middleton and probably something else to get those two. Cron would be a throw in, or we'd also have to include Thaiss. 

OK

How about I simply ask for transactions?

There is no reason to be inactive.  I will be satisfied with just making moves that make progress.

31 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Quintana. 

43 minutes ago, Stradling said:

So realistically, who would bring in the bigger haul, Quintana or Rendon?  

Except of course the Nats are not looking for prospects. . .

Or do what the Cubs did and make a decision now so that if you believe you are in it, you can make a move NOW and get help now rather than 2 weeks from now.

Waiting from July 13 to July 28th to decide seems stupid.  The management has almost a full half season to assess the situation.

The other thing I like about what the Cubs did was they were willing to make a deal now.  They have ground to make up so why not get the help now rather than two weeks from now.

It makes you question the mentality of "let's see how we play and where we are in a few weeks until the deadline". . .

Why not make a decision and go forward?

Interesting to me is that the two Chicago teams made a big deal with a big name. Seems like the history here is it is taboo to make a deal between the Angels and the Dodgers.

9 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

there are some articles from back in late 2016 where the Angels tried to block the city from doing this project. Then LT Global came in and met with the halos brass with carpino coming out and saying they've resolved their issues.  LTGlobal declined to disclose what 'accommodations' were made.  Which I thought was kinda humorous.  My guess is that it was some free stadium improvements.  

Or equity in some of the surrounding projects. . .

4 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

http://ltplatinumcenter.com/

Thanks.

And hopefully pump cash into the stadium to make it an experience, a drawing asset and not a "passable" quasi-nuisance to tolerate to see a game?

At risk of being revealed as not knowing something I should know, or not getting a joke, what is LT Platinum center?

All I really hope for is flexibility for the right players.

People will point to a bad Pujols contract but the reality is Arte will survive that problem without much of a blink (in the big picture).

While I don't want a repeat of that deal, it also serves as proof these mlb teams in big markets can roll through fairly big mistakes and still massively grow on the balance sheet in equity.

Arte has no debt on the team.  He doesn't need to get himself into a debt problem but larger point is the resources are there for him to go to another level and the resulting status of the team.financially would still be stellar and considered conservative among his peers.

He isn't getting younger and going to another level mathematically isn't even remotely reckless. . .

I hope he wants to win.

None of what I just said means changing course on fixing the minor.league system.  It's just about being willing to sign the right players not being afraid of salary.

I'm sick of Cron. . .I don't hate him or anything stupid like that but my personal patience is expired with him.

If even for a moment of fun to read about an Angel trade, I hope they move him.

The only thing he consistently hits is my friends personal trainer.

Good riddance.

When Forbes says you are worth 1.75 billion, it means someone will pay like 2.2 billion.  That just how it rolls with premium franchises in major markets.

So is Arte a big picture balance sheet decision maker or an annual cash flow decision maker?

I guess it depends on the player?

I know which way I WANT him to be. . .and he still would live and die so filthy rich is nuts.

Somebody make him see that balance sheet, please?

Gimme Machado and Harper and two stud pitchers.

Oh No! The team pays a few million in luxury tax and all that winning is embarrassing because it was purchased. . .

1 minute ago, Angel Oracle said:

Yep, Bedrosian, Norris, and Parker are all no Chapman or Miller.   None of those three dominates an inning likes Chapman or Miller can.

But are the likes of Chapman and Miller available this year?

The targeted arms will be the best available, not always like Chapman and Miller.

Fair?

So even if we say the Angels can't get Rendon, go after somebody that will be a contributor.

I personally would rather have my bullpen be my assignment for improvement in the off-season over having a glaring hole in an everyday position.

So I'm fine trading bullpen arms to a contender for something thatbaddreases a hole in the everyday lineup.

That is awesome.  Looks like they gave the chronic jaywalker a crossing guard sash. . .and it works?  That is cool.