ScruffytheJanitor

I'll put this here-- Women's soccer is 200% better than men's soccer. Way less flopping, way more emotion, and Americans are actually good at it.

Pitching prospects are like a raffle at a county fair. Billy Eppler is the guy who buys 500 tickets because he really wants the John Deer riding lawn mower-- along with the off-brand tablet, the prize-winning peach cobbler, and BOTH $50 Walmart gift cards too.

I have to say that it's David Fletcher looking like a long-term solution at 2nd/3rd. I'd also include LaStella at 3rd, but I am still not quite sold on his glove. Even so, compare to the last few seasons, I'd take LaStella and Fletcher over whatever garbage we've had over the past five years.

Otherwise, it has to be our crappy starting pitching. I would love to see how this team would look if we had three league-average starters take the place of Cahill, Harvey, and Stratton/Pena/"opener" du jour.

21 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

I'm not faulting them, it's called development for a reason and teams are always going to try to get everything they can out of a guy.   Just saying he's one of those guys where it seemed the constant tinkering may have slowed him up a bit.   I think we can all agree that there is no one way for a team to develop talent, if there was there would be a lot fewer misses and nowhere near as many busts.

Thaiss won't be a star, but if he can be useful it's a win.

If he can play Third @ 2-ish WAR/ Year,  I'd consider it a MAJOR win.

He also strikes me as the sort of guy who puts up a random 6-war season in the middle of a solid-average career.

6 hours ago, totdprods said:

They didn’t have to go over for Paris very much either, only $90k and from what we know, they had saved about ~$630k so far. Curious to learn what Kochanowicz went for, and how much he’ll eat into that.

Yeah; if it's like 100K over, we have a chance at signing Spencer Jones; If it's closer to 500K, then we probably missed out.

This is the list I see so far of who as signed:

1. Will Wilson (SS)
3. Jack Kochanowicz (P)
10. Chad Sykes (P)
11. Brett Killiam (P)
14. Zac Kristofak(P)
16. Dakota Donovan (P)
24. Shane Kelso (P)
33. Justin Kuntz (P)

7 hours ago, Dochalo said:

so are we happy with this draft?  

The Wilson pick surprised me.  I was a little meh about it at first but I really like his bat.  

Paris has huge upside.  

Kochanowicz also has a ton of potential. 

Rivera is probably one of the most interesting  

I am pretty happy. I love Wilson, I like  Parris, and I think Kochanowicz could be something special. I also like going after the two-way players; .If we can find a way to add Spencer Jones, I'd have to think it would be because he could go both ways (giggity). I think I like Stallings a lot even if there is a decent chance he's just a AAAA guy--he's a control master. I also  like a lot of the pitchers they have taken between 11-25 (or, at least, their stats profile and velocity; I have not seen or scouted the every damn college reliever in the country).

Having said that, I was REALLY expecting us to get a decent catcher in the top 10 (even if it was just a top senior-sign guy or something) and to take at least one bat-only slugger. All in all, I'd say B+.

5 hours ago, Dochalo said:

@John Smith is 0-1 so far.  anyone we don't sign I blame on him.  

Real talk, though: the great thing about the internet is that, for a few weeks a year, I depend on a guy that I have never met to provide me with information all because he his obsessive and willing to compile all of this information.

6 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

yes.  so the pool money only applies to the top ten drafted.  

our bonus pool is 7.6 mil.  you can go over by 5% with only a monetary penalty (75% tax on the overage)  So that gives them an additional 380k to play with from the get go.  Their 5-10 picks have slot values of about 1.3 mil.  

I think Wilson will go under slot by a decent bit.  Thaiss went for 500k below slot.  It might not be that much and they're likely going to need some extra for Paris, Kochanowicz and/or Rivera.  But let's say they get the top 4 guys for near slot value by the time it's all said and done.  

They drafted more college juniors this year in rounds 6-10.  So my guess is they're not going to save almost the full amount like last year.  If they can save maybe half of it they have about 1m total between that and the 5% overage.  

My guess is that they already have a pretty good idea of how much they can offer him and it's already been discussed or they wouldn't have taken him in the 20th round.  

I am sure there are guys in the war room constantly working the phones during day three trying to get a feel whether guys are still signable at any give point.  

The other reason they may have waited till the 20th and not grabbed him sooner was that Billy was already discussing bonuses with the guys from the first two days and it took some time to get a feel for where they were at.   

 

Man, if there is some way to sign our top 10,  Spencer Jones, AND Southard, we win the freaking draft.

43 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

I actually like this plan. 

I was sort of hoping for a catcher and a 3B/1B guy at some point, but yeah-- always need pitchers.

10 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

Interesting HS kid from Texas Jared Southard with our 20th rounder.  ranked 154 by mlb.  curious about signability at this point.  

Yeah; guys like this you usually take in the 11th-13th because you are pretty sure they will sign or wait until the 36th round as a "might as well" pick. 20th Round is a weird spot.

Well, I guess that's what we get when we ask for more pitchers... seems like we have a good crop.

I wonder if we drafted Garrett Stallings to study him and find the "Control and Command" gene. His scouting report sounds like late-career Dan Haren.

I would love Brooks Lee (who I didn't even realize was on the board), Drew Mendoza (We need another 1B), or Zach Hess, who feels like he has a floor of "really good bullpen guy" and a ceiling of a #3 if he continues to smooth out his delivery, improve his control, and develop his slider or his change-up to complete his arsenal.

On 5/8/2019 at 7:44 AM, ScruffytheJanitor said:

I am a huge fan of Zach Thompson; he's one of the few College arms I'd love to get.

Josh Jung feels too perfect; I expect if he's off the board, Brett Baty (who is basically Josh Jung three years ago) could be a target too. Otherwise, I'd just go for one of the College SS; Bryson Scott (if he falls) and Will Wilson will be great 2nd basemen; Logan Davidson could stick at 3rd.  This draft is deep in College (and Prep!) Infield talent, so part of me hopes we sorta just draft a bunch of those guys. Bryson Scott would be terrific if he falls just a bit, but if we drafted all infielders for the first three rounds I'd be happy.

Hell, if teams could trade picks, I'd be begging the Angels to trade down, since I think there will be an early run on Pitchers.

Not to toot my own horn, but I am one pick away from being happy. There are just so many good IF prospects this year that taking three-4 early seems like a good way to guarantee at least one really. really  good one comes out. We've had far too many problems finding decent 2B/3B for me to hate on this pick.

Having said that, I wouldn't have hated the idea of Zach Thompson, but it's not like he's clearly better; he just fits the org needs a touch better.

18 hours ago, Second Base said:

Well, I think the problem with that is that you really don't want prospects to be your bench depth.  It takes a special skill set to be able to be productive with limited playing time, and the lack of PT tends to stall a young player's development.  So I'd only do that if development had finished within the young player, or their ceiling just wasn't very high, or you didn't have another option.  Like with Michael Hermosillo next year.  He'd make an ideal 4th OF, assuming he's healthy.  But using someone like Thaiss as a bench bat, almost assuredly would ruin his future as a regular, if one exists. 

That's a good point-- especially since they can't really both be at the Majors next year anyway, what with there being only three real bench spots these days-- two of which are reserved for Catcher and a guy that can play short.  I should have said "organizational depth" because Ward has to be one of the first guys up for that inevitable two-week period when Pujols goes down or Cozart is put on paid administrative leave for gross negligence at the plate the DL.   I am also not all that sold on Ward as an everyday regular anyway-- but you are right, next year is probably a year too early to relegate him to bench status.

I also think there is at least a 20% chance that Thaiss is going to start at 3B next season if we can't acquire a decent third baseman over the next nine months-- especially since he can also step in a 1B if needed.

On 5/28/2019 at 10:25 AM, Second Base said:

You're absolutely correct.  If Ward does make it to the major leagues on a permanent basis, it will either be as a starting 1B or LF with the emergency ability to cover 3B and C. Thaiss on the other hand may not be competing with Walsh and Ward for 1B as much as he's competing with Luis Rengifo for a spot in the infield.  If Thaiss wins 3B permanently, that means Fletcher and La Stella move to 2B and utility, which means Rengifo isn't part of the equation.  And if Rengifo wins the 2B spot, that means La Stella and Fletcher are the 3B and utility men, meaning Thaiss is in direct competition with Walsh and Ward for 1B duties.  Moreover, if the Angels hang onto Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell, that will likely mean Justin Upton shifting over to 1B at some point in the next couple years, so if Thaiss doesn't win 3B, he very well could be competing with Marsh and Upton. 

Basically, Matt Thaiss' best way to make it to this club on a permanent basis is to play 3B, so it's a good thing that the Angels have experimented with him over there, and it's an even better thing that he's looked pretty good too.  He could win out 1B for sure, but there's less competition for 3B. 

With our situation at Corner OF (How good is Godwin really?) and 1B (Can Pujols really play 100 games at 1B? lolnope), and 3B (f'n Cozart) I kinda sorta like both as bench bats next year.

You know what? Compared to the absolute dumpster fire we've had at 2nd and 3rd over the past 3 5 8 10 years or so, I'd totally sign up for 3-4 years of solid production from him at the keystone. Now, all we need to do is sign Anthony Rendon in the off-season and we could have a pretty nice offense next year (even with Pujols clogging the proverbial toilet).

6 hours ago, Stradling said:

I was just thinking the other day how awesome it would be to start tagging people into random threads, that are members but have never posted.  Right @Jeff Boice, @Jeff Fortune, @Jeff McCamey?   

Apparently, "Jeff"  is the most random name possible. What about @dane15? @Parson714@yahoo.com?

On a side note-- man, the MLBPA needs to fix this issue. Why in the hell would they ever agree to attaching a Pick to a player signing?

I really expect this next labor dispute to be huge. If the MLBPA doesn't attempt to eliminate draft pick compensation (or just reduce it to "comp picks"), stop teams from holding prospects for a month just to avoid "starting the clock,:" and reduce the number of seasons before FA to five instead of six, I have no idea what they are doing.

I am a huge fan of Zach Thompson; he's one of the few College arms I'd love to get.

Josh Jung feels too perfect; I expect if he's off the board, Brett Baty (who is basically Josh Jung three years ago) could be a target too. Otherwise, I'd just go for one of the College SS; Bryson Scott (if he falls) and Will Wilson will be great 2nd basemen; Logan Davidson could stick at 3rd.  This draft is deep in College (and Prep!) Infield talent, so part of me hopes we sorta just draft a bunch of those guys. Bryson Scott would be terrific if he falls just a bit, but if we drafted all infielders for the first three rounds I'd be happy.

Hell, if teams could trade picks, I'd be begging the Angels to trade down, since I think there will be an early run on Pitchers.

On 4/22/2019 at 2:51 PM, Angel Oracle said:

Could LaStella move over to 1B, once Rengifo is truly ready?    Bour is meh, and doesn't cost much to trade or release.

Once Ohtani returns?

Fletcher 3B, Goodwin LF, Trout CF, Ohtani DH, Simba SS, LaStella/Pujols 1B, Lucroy/Smith C, Calhoun RF, Rengifo 2B  

A true righty/lefty mix in the lineup

  

I had the same thought -- LaStella feels like the obvious choice for 1B when everyone is healthy. Even with Ohtani and Upton, we only have 7 productive bats, and his is one of them.

10 hours ago, stormngt said:

No argument from me!

I think that we can all agree that Trout,  Simmons, Goodwin, Fletcher,  Calhoun and (I can't believe I am saying this) Pujols need to be in the lineup every damn day they can  until Upton and Ohtani are healthy (or we decide that Thaiss is ready).

What's frustrating is that Fletcher and Rengifo SHOULD be starting at 2nd and 3rd for the time being, and if they like Rojas they should be giving him a chance at DH when Pujols isn't there-- It's not like these things are mutually exclusive. We need to do what we can to keep Cozart and Bour out of the lineup as often as possible.

On 4/29/2019 at 11:51 AM, Second Base said:

Great job!!

Really encouraged by what we've seen from de Horta, Deunsing and Bradish.  We've got some lively arms that were acquired for relatively cheap.  They aren't top prospects, but ina  couple of years, they'll be the depth any team needs. 

Really looking forward to seeing a healthy Jo Adell grace this list with his presence. 

Being an Angels, Colts, and Michigan fan, these past 6-7 years have taught me two things: Never, ever, EVER  underestimate the value of a solid, ho-hum #4 pitcher or a basically competent but unspectacular offensive lineman.  I feel like my sports fandom the past decade has been an exercise in what happens when you replace "average" with "awful" at those two positions in particular.

The Angels paid 300 million because Trout is worth it, and 130 Million just to stop those "WHERE IS TROUT GOING" clickbait articles.