SigBaby

Also a big Eagles fan. Is it too much to ask for an Eagles superbowl and Angels WS in the same year?

I go to A's games all the time, as I live nearby. Parking used to be free at the bart station and made it easy to park there then walk across the overpass, but I'm sure they'll charge on opening day. I'd say eat in Berkeley then bart to the coliseum. Angeline's Kitchen is my favorite spot in Berkeley.

I interviewed for a baseball operations internship with the Reds back around the time qualifying offers were going out, so I looked into their roster in preparation and was impressed by Cozart. Three important trends to look at imo are Outside Zone Swing%, Hard hit%, and BB and K rate. Just from looking at the numbers, Cozart's walk rate, Hard hit%, and Outside the Zone swing% have improved not just last year, but incrementally over the past 3. So basically, he's been selecting better pitches and making harder contact, the only difference being that his BABIP did not increase along with it. This past year it did and it jumped to a completely reasonable .312 from the .250-.270 it had been in the years prior. Add in the above average defense and we might've gotten the steal of the offseason. I told the Reds they should offer Cozart a QO and later in the interview was asked about what I would do for the team I followed. I told them I'd upgrade second, with Cozart being a good target. Didn't get the job but hopefully Cozart can make them pay for letting him go for nothing.

Isn't that what Valbuena's for? Harrison I assume would be a full time starter at third with Valbuena getting a 2-3 starts a week between 1b and 3b.

If we go with a 3 man bench, which it looks like we will be with a 6man rotation and 7 man bullpen, I highly doubt we keep Valbuena and Headley. Yes to Cozart, no to Headley. I've been advocating for Cozart for a while, as he really seems to have turned a corner after looking at trends in his Hard Contact rate, Outside the Zone Swing Rate, and walk rate. They all validate his improvement and as others have said at worst he is an above average defended with a mediocre bat.

I'd be surprised if it was Headley. I'm sure the Padres just want to drum up interest

Solarte or Eurgenio Suarez would be cool

Alexi Amarista. Or if Cowart can handle 3rd, 2nd and cover short in a pinch, then I'm sure he can cover the outfield.

Serious question. Is Ohtani expected to come in and be a better hitter than Valbuena right from the get go?

Valbuena shouldn't be a starter, he's best getting 2/3 starts a week and pinch hitting.

He's been discussed here a bit, but I think Eugenio Suarez would be a great fit. Would give us great production from 3b and is cheap and controllable. He will be traded eventually, as he's blocking Nick Senzel. If we get him, I'd just plug in Cowart to 2nd and have Valbuena be a backup 3b/1b and pinch hitter.

I want to see what Cron can do with a full season of ab's. I like Valbuena as a pinch hitter/ 2 starts a week kind of guy spelling Cron and whoever we have at third base. I really don't trust anyone who had a career year with the only noticeable difference being fly ball%. It's been shown there's really no correlation from player to player between an increase in fly ball% and change in wOBA so it's really not a good indicator for success. I'd stay away from Morrison and Yonder Alonso

Have people forgotten the disaster Norris turned into after his solid yet unmaintainable start? No way should he be brought back unless it's on a minor league deal, there's plenty of guys who can eat a couple innings and post a 4 ERA out of the pen pitching in low leverage situations. Definitely re-sign Petit, but Norris is just not very good. I like Noe Ramirez, he seems to be similar pitcher to Petit,a guy who relies on off speed and command. I think the current locks in the pen are Parker, Bedrosian, Middleton. Add to that Petit and Ramirez and that's a pretty good and inexpensive group of guys to hold down the 7th, 8th, and 9th. I think we should add a lefty who can actually be relied on in high leverage situations and think Jake McGee would be a solid get with his value at somewhat of a low point. Then the final piece would be putting one of JC/Tropeano/Bridwell in the pen. It's remarkable the job Eppler has done evaluating bullpen talent by sifting through the scraps, it's something you don't see a lot teams able to do successfully.

I agree but also pitching around a guy to pitch to Votto would also be considered a big no no. Plus Cozart's actually got some pretty solid trends. BABIP was the highest of his career in 2017 but not outrageous at .312. The past 3 years his walk rate has increased and his %hard hit balls jumped last year from 25.4% in 2015 to 31.2% in 2016 and he maintained it in 2017 at 30.8%. He's also dropped his outside the zone swing% from 31.4% in 2015 to 28.9% in 2016 to 24.4% in 2017. So overall he stopped swinging at pitches outside the zone, therefore he's become more selective and makes more solid contact. The combination of swinging at less balls outside the zone and just being a more feared hitter probably combined for the huge increase in walks. Combine this with the fact that there's never been much of a market for him and I'm sure he can be had for a reasonable price. Plus if he's an above average SS based on UZR every year of his career, I'm sure he could handle 2b.

I doubt he got pitched around with Votto batting behind him. Maybe the batting average jumping 50 points was an indicator of being him more selective which would be reinforced by the fact that his BB% nearly doubled.

Keep Cron and let him get consistent ab's for a season. Sign Cozart who I think has actually turned around his approach at the plate (basically doubled his walk rate, which doesn't just happen by chance) and would provide an excellent combo up the middle defensively with Simmons. Let Valbuena and Coward handle third. I would like to see Cowart get a chance as the starter (that infield defense would be ridiculous) but likely it'd be Valbuena. Sign Cobb, Jake Mcgee, and re-sign Petit.

I actually think Skaggs would be good out of the pen. Keep less wear off his arm and it seems like he's only a fastball curveball pitcher anyway. I'm sure he could rush it up to 95 96 out of the pen. I'm hoping for our rotation to look like: Cobb Richards Shoe Heaney Bridwell/JC/Tropeano

Which also implies he's mediocre. Not good enough for high leverage

I guess he does just seem to be a medium leverage specialist

Why not just bring back Howie and let Valbuena and Cowart handle third? Let Cron have a chance at full time Ab's

Not sure where those numbers are from Career: High Leverage BAA: .346 Medium Leverage BAA: .214 Low Leverage BAA: .269 2017: High Leverage: .294 Med Leverage: .208 Low Leverage: .278 Also only 3.2 innings pitched in 2017 in high leverage situations because he isn't trusted in them.

I would also say neither. Mous is coming off a career year and all he can do is hit home runs. Gordon would be expensive and is also a one trick pony. Honestly, I'd rather go for Prado and rotate him around 2b and 3b. He'd come cheap in a trade and has a somewhat reasonable price tag.

3.90 FIP is not particularly good for a reliever and neither is .250 BAA for a lefty against lefties. Not bad but not good so mediocre

Alvarez is what he is: extremely mediocre and a fine low leverage option. I know there's always talk about his spin rate and how his peripherals show he should be better, but the guy is just so underwhelming and can't be trusted in high leverage situations

I think anyone who followed this team last year knows that it was able to stay afloat for 3 main reasons. 1) Mike Trout 2) the defense 3) the bullpen. Trout will continue to be amazing and the defense should be solid again anchored by Maldonado and Simmons. However, I am nervous that the bullpen as a whole over performed last year and if we fail to continue to improve it, this team will regress even if improvements are made in other areas. Luckily Eppler has shown a tremendous ability when it comes to finding clean peanuts for the pen, but I wonder how much of that has been luck and how much is actually attributed to the FO seeing something other teams aren't seeing. As it stands now, the only reliable pitcher we have down there is Parker and somewhat reliable Bedrosian and Middleton. I hope we never have to see Alvarez pitch for us again and this team can find an actual solid lefty to come out of the pen. Assuming all starters are healthy by the start of next season (I know, asking a lot) and I still anticipate us adding a starter (I'm hoping for Alex Cobb or maybe a trade for Joe Kelly who seems to be perennially an adjustment away from becoming an ace and at worst a solid reliever) we will have at least 2 of Skaggs, Tropeano, Bridwell, JC Ramirez in the pen. That leaves 1 reliable guy 2 somewhat reliable guys and 2 question marks. Hopefully we can land someone solid ala Hernandez and Petit to fill at least one of the remaining 2 spots because there's going to be a lot of innings to replace.