ScruffytheJanitor

2 hours ago, totdprods said:

I really like Arraez, even if he is more of a 2B with defensive limitations. The offensive profile fits our needs really well. It’d take quite a few things dominoing for that to make sense though (such as signing a pitcher and sending a pitcher to Minnesota)…one loco scenario? Angels sign Swanson, trade Suarez + Adell + idk Canning/Daniel for Arraez, then ship out Rengifo for a controllable RHP SP to replace Suarez. Only add Swanson’s money in that scenario, and lock-up 2B and SS for the near-future.

Sick Lineup: Arraez 2B, Trout CF, Ohtani DH, Rendon 3B, Ward LF, Renfroe RF, Walsh 1B, Stassi C, Swanson SS

Bench: Back-up C, Urshela, Fletcher, Soto/Velazquez, Moniak

Rotation: Ohtani, Anderson, Sandoval, trade from Rengifo, Detmers, #6 (Silseth, Canning, etc.)

If we really are into Senga, that would reduce our need to replace Suarez  too. 

13 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Who would you like the Angels to pick at #1? 

Who would you like them to pick at #10? 

At #1? I'd love any of the top three college players (Dollander/ Gonzales/ Crews). In that sense, #3 is almost as good as #1 in my mind. 

#10? It really depends on who falls, but Langford is a guy that should advance relatively quickly, has a power bat that could DEFINITELY stay in the corners-- or could become the 1B of the future.  There's also a nice bunch of toolsy prep bats that would be nice to nab here.

15 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Not a big move but I wouldn’t mind adding Chafin to our pen.  ERA under 3 for the past three years. Struck out 10 per 9, walk rate is consistent at 3 per 9. Last two years he has given up virtually no home runs. Solid WHIP. 

I also like Jharel Cotton and Michael Fullmer as guys who could very well be ready for a consistent setup role. 

People have Awfully strong opinions about this, and since it seems like he gets a shot at closing, I get it.

However, 7.5 Million per year for a guy with some serious upside (even with some notable question marks) is just market value. 

The key to remember -- the Bullpen is a numbers game. Relievers are so volatile that anyone of them can boom or bust in any given season. The key to having a good bullpen is either to have one of the top 10-12 guys who seem immune to this volatility OR to just have a 10 talented dudes battle it out and hope you find 4-5 guys you can trust. The Angels are clearing picking the second route, and Estevez feels like a good add there.  Now they have 8-ish guys (I am assuming Bush/Bachman stay as starters):

• Estevez
• Herget
• Loup
• Tepera
• Wantz
• Quijada
• Joyce
• Rodriguez

Up next would be Ortega/Ingram/Warren, I guess? Still feels like there i room to add another arm to the mix.

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5 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

I wont be bummed if we sign Correa or Swanson, but for me it's Turner or Bogaerts. 

Here's how I see it playing out: Angels REALLY want Turner and probably be in the thick of it early on. However, one of Correa or Bogaerts are going to sign for a little more than the industry thinks and the FO will panic-offer Swanson 6/160 just to make sure they get one of their guys. 

Of course, I could be wrong and we could just finish 2nd for all four and end up trading for Miguel Rojas or something. 

I keep getting the feeling that Dansby Swanson will be an Angel. 

Man, the Angels are sure piling up some powerful enemies of their Baseball ops. If *checks notes* the son of a former assistant GM and a disgruntled, has been manager are against you, you might as well throw in the towel 

On 10/14/2022 at 6:42 PM, mmc said:

Idk man, it feels like any player we trade them for would be just as likely to rebound for us as these two would, so we might as well just keep the guys our front office at one point saw something in and hope they unlock it.  Or at least, that feels more likely than getting anything useful back in a trade for them.  I wouldn’t really care either way though

This is what I am thinking -- relievers are weird. Loup could give up 24 homers in 24 outings and be cut.... or he could finish 5th in Cy Young voting. Both him and Tepera have enough talent that you might as well just see if they rebound. I think the key to building a good bullpen is to have a TON of options -- no sense in just trading some just to trade them.

10 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Topic.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/34788732/carlos-correa-opting-twins-deal-become-free-agent

I mean.... yeah? Of course we should be interested. We desperately need a cornerstone on the infield, and he's as good as any other option.

I have almost no confidence that he will ever be this productive consistently, but if Fletcher and Rengifo can be productive it will make this offseason much easier. There are more outfield options for us to pursue, and it would allow us to really focus in at 1B (unless we move Rendon there). 

However, since we are the Angels, I assume Fletcher will be a baseball god for the next six weeks and will then turn into Jack Mayfield Jr.  next season. 

Soccer style kicker graduated from Collier High June 1976, Stetson University honors graduate class of 1980, holds 2 NCAA Division One records, one for most points in a season, one for distance, former nickname "The Mule," the first and only pro-athlete ever to come out of Collier County and one hell of a model American.

11 hours ago, Trendon said:

That's why I think the priority should be adding a quality hitter at 1B and LF. Then you can add someone for cheap at 2B/SS to go with Rengifo and Fletcher.

 

"So you're saying add Kike Hernandez and Brandon Belt?" - Angels Front Office, probably. 

Anyone else think this Draft was Minasian's attempt at a long-term solution for our Bullpen troubles? While there are multiple guys that can start, I feel like there are about 6 different arms that could be in the bullpen within relatively short order -- and two that could realistically be in THIS season. Toss in a good SS, a slugger, and an upside pick at Catcher, and it feels like a pretty solid effort. 

13 hours ago, fanfromday1 said:

I'm as discussed with this team as much as you are, but you can't get rid of the 1st four players that you mentioned. I think it's time to start building for next year and forget about the rest of this one, and I believe that these four guys could be as good, or even better than the players the Angels replace them with.

Iglesias - He's choked in several games this last month, but up until then he was one of the better closers in the AL. Unless we get a couple of really good young flame-throwers in return, lets wait and see if he rebounds. Then make a decision in the off season.

Syndergaard and Ohtani - Thor is coming off of surgery, and so is Ohtani. Because the Angels didn't want to over work them this year they went to a 6 man rotation. I think that next year we may return to a 5 man rotation, which would make the rotation that much stronger. (No weak, overmatched 6th man).

Ward - Yes, Ward played over his head the first 5 or 6 weeks of the season. But he is still more consistent than Adell will ever be. I think Adell (as well as Rengifo & Fletcher), believe that taking a walk is a failed at-bat. (However, to be fair, I think the rest of the Angel line-up would rather strike out than stand-on-base and wait there for the next batter to strike out. They would much rather be sitting in the dugout eating sunflower seeds before Iglesias throws all the seeds back onto the field again).      

True, this team needs some new blood. From the front office all the way down to the coach's and a few new players. But some of the corner stones for a successful team may be in place already. The time to panic is past. It happened during the long losing streak. Now is the time to make a few changes, not a complete overhaul. 

Syndergaard is a free agent this offseason, and it looks pretty likely that he'll cost more than the Angels will want (or should want) to spend. I could easily see us trading him and some random bullpen piece for a mid-tier prospect or even a low-level regular. 

Trout/Ohtani means that we are going to try to be competative. Assuming we are going to take another crack at it, I want us to enter the off-season with 4 set starters, 3 set bullpen pieces, and at least 6 set position starters. I don't mean we need to have stars at every spot, but we need to have that base to have any hope of competing. Part of this will include making decisions about Walsh,  Adell, Ward, and Marsh. 

Way I see it, we have:
- 3 set starters (Ohtani-Sandoval- Detmers) with Silseth making an argument for a third. 

- 2 Set bullpen pieces (Iglasias [contract] and Hertget). Wantz seems like he could join this, with Tepera and Loup having a chance to turn it around as well. Bush and Bachman could be included here next year as well. 

- 5 Set Starters (Trout/Ohtani/Ward/Redon [contract] and yes, I'm including Rengifo) with Walsh, Marsh, Stefanic, Stassi, Adell trying to turn things around to make this list.

With this list, it seems pretty clear that we are going to have to add, at minimum, two decent free-agent position players, a mid-rotation starter, and also take another 2 or 3 spins on the bullpen roulette.

All of this to say -- I could actually see us being "buyers" on the low end of the market, trying to get more solid contributers for next years team. -think Miguel Andujar, David Peralta, or Brandon Drury.

Guys this is easy. We just need to trade for Jose Ramirez, Xander Bogaerts, Jazz Chisolm, and Bryan Reynolds (as a reclamation project, of course). I think if we get all these guys, it will be a real achievement when our bullpen blows it. 

2 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Focusing on adding multiple middle RP in FA is just a bad move in general, regardless of the GM. 

I doubt he makes those moves had he more faith in the pitching in the system entering the season.  It's a much easier decision to pass on middle RP today than it was last offseason.  I still wouldn't have done it, but I'm a believer of the failed SP route to dominant BPs.

The Yankees success with spending on BPs has been to focus on closers and having them pitch as non closers.  But not everyone is willing to spend 35-40 mil on three guys who won't close as they have done.

I mean, if you aren't spending a bunch, there is a certain logic to signing 3 or even 4 guys on the cheap--- if you only have one or two spots to fill. If you need three or four guys then you probably need to go back in time and rethink your approach to pitching. 

My guess: We are going to acquire Ross Detwiler and Josh Harrison on July 9th. In a cruel twist of fate, they will be uselessly dominant for a month and a half, and we will improve just enough to get the 14th pick in the draft. 

On 4/27/2022 at 12:40 PM, Barf said:

And the Royals released theirs... yikes. All of them have been total garbage imo. Hopefully ours is the best of the bunch.

What's weird is that I like alot of the elements of this.... they are all just slammed together and it looks like a Royals jersey you'd by from Wish.  I think it would be about 100% better if they removed one or both of the white stripes from the sleves.

You gotta think Peguero and Buttry are going to be brought up -- hopefully soon. Probably going to be a few weeks after the roster cut down. You'd have to think Warren gets sent down this weekend.

I don't know how much I still believe in Fletch, but I definitely believe in the *idea* of Fletch. He is such a fun player when he's getting loads of contact and getting on base. 

2 hours ago, totdprods said:

He was one of the guys I wanted them to sign the most in the offseason and he's looked every bit the part of what I had hoped to see. 

I was in the opposite camp. I totally thought he was more of a "just incase we don't add another real starter" signing. However, he's shown that he's much better than that. It was actually his "bad" start that turned me -- his stuff is WAY better than his career stats would indicate.

20 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

It was the best I've ever seen him - a real showcase of craftsmanship. The element I liked the most is that he barely threw his fastball, but occasionally threw it in, as if for shits and giggles. "Here, take a 97-mph heater."

While his ERA is 4.40 due to his second start, his FIP is 1.19.

This is always when I know he's on. He's all "Splitter-curve-splitter-slider" and then he suddenly remembers he can throw 98 and does it just because he can. 

7 hours ago, Second Base said:

Taylor, Kelly, Tristan, Sam, Bobby, Ryan... They all go both ways now. No wonder all those urban gen z kids have gender identity issues. Their parents all gave them gender fluid names. 

Meanwhile in the rural parts of the country, John and Sarah are the only two options. Richard and Ashley aren't biblical and are unacceptable. 

Because Ward was drafted and developed by the Angels, he earned the A in his name. Tyler needs to keep doing what he's doing for another couple years before he earns the right to be called Taylor. 

Anyone naming their kid Tristan (regardless of gender) should be slapped.