2020worldseries

Can’t really disagree with poaching talent from the Astros these days.

He's 18 years old.
Essentially, the Angels are saying it's easier to take a great athlete and teach him how to play baseball, than to take someone who can play baseball and teach them to be a great athlete.
We'll see if it works. It's basically the opposite of what Jerry Dipoto did.

To be honest, you've pretty much already got a firm idea of what's up....  Nobody can really point to anything other than what you have already seen -- the track record doesn't exist.   
Adams is an extreme tools guy who didn't really focus on baseball until his last year of HS, and only after he realized he had performed well in showcase games.   The Angels are betting that with coaching and experience, those tools will translate into production/performance.   Right now he's a collection of physical attributes that cannot be taught, and while that may not be much it was enough for many across baseball to believe he was the most physically gifted athlete in the draft.   
Whether the athlete becomes a ballplayer is still uncertain.

There's a difference between athleticism and elite athleticism.  Like pro level quick twitch and amazing eye hand.  
he had a solid debut as an 18yo at two levels and actually showed good discipline and some solid xbh ability.  Which is actually impressive for a guy who has very little baseball experience.  Thought he was a bit of a stretch personally but there's a lot more that goes on behind the scenes when picking a player of his skill set.  One of the biggest in my mind is work ethic.  He's behind every player drafted around him from an experience standpoint and ahead of every player around him from a talent standpoint. You bridge that gap with hard work.  
Would I have picked someone else?  probably.  Was he a bad pick?  hell no.  He was certainly projected to go where we took him.  It's actually completely unfair to judge him at all at this point.  There is just so little to go on except the one signature video of him beating out a seeing eye single and another of him posterizing some dude with a dunk.  
Here's a small sample from this year's debut.  He whiffed 15 times in his first 42 PA in the AZL with 1 xbh.  In his last 80 pa, he whiffed 15 times and had 8 xbh while moving up a level to orem in between that.  
bump this thread in about a year.  
    

I know it takes two to tango, but you gotta think Eppler wouldn't let Andrelton Simmons play for another team if he can help it. He has the best defensive profile, pretty much ever, and in an increasingly strikeout friendly league, he's the best contact hitter in baseball. 

Pajama Jones has some really nice numbers.

Whatever he does.  I hope he brings whatever shit they’ve been giving the Astros pitchers. 

The Royals are 3 years away from contention. At 29 (soon to be 30), Merrifield probably doesn't fit their timeline. 
I don't know, he seems like a pretty obvious guy that could get moved.

and don't get me wrong.  I love that about Trout.  He's all baseball all the time.  If he never gave another interview, that would be fine with me.  
That works in our favor actually.  No one in the OC gives two craps about whether Mike is a good interview.  He'll get hazed for that in other large markets and I think that matters to him.  
He can be who he is with the halos.  If another team pays him a king's ransom, they're gonna expect more whereas we don't care.  
You hear that Mike?  Stay and play.  Enjoy yourself.  We won't be overly critical.  You'll be highly judged in other markets.  
Can you imagine the flack Pujols would be getting in NY right now?  

dude could be in the booth right now.  he's 19.  damn we're lucky.  
I love Trout and all, but Adell makes Mike seem like he's slapping bologna on his face while singing the wheels on the bus.  

Did he bowl a 299?

That dude is a dead ringer for Kurt Russell. 
And so is Salmon.

I was at a celebrity charity bowling tournament sponsored by In N Out yesterday, and Salmon was one of the few celebrities I’ve heard of that were there.  Pretty amazing day where we raised over $300k for people with substance abuse issues.  Tim couldn’t have been a nicer guy, he didn’t seem annoyed when I thanked him for giving my son his wrist bands back in 97.  He asked follow up questions and gave the appearance he really cared, which is a nice humble thing for him to do.  He’s a big dude, huge hands.  

We all hate boston, ettin. But the chowds cant get worse.
 
Dodger fans can

Do you actually, honestly, believe that they did 10 nine-hour interviews, including flying candidates in and I suspect traveling to interview some (Espada?), just for the hell of it?
As I said when the season ended, I believed Ausmus was the favorite before it started, but he still had to "win" the interview round. Clearly, spending a year sitting together helped Ausmus and Eppler know what the other was about.

I have always liked Teheran... I wouldn’t be opposed to getting him even though he’s a bit inconsistent. He’s kind of like an Ervin Santana type. He has good stuff and will have a good year which makes you think he’s getting to the next level, but then the next year he will pull a Joe Blanton.

Really solid clickbait title

If Ohtani is healthy and producing at the level he did this year, there will be no way Pujols can DH over him. So Pujols is going to have to play 1B. 
It is very possible that all that is going to result in him going on the DL a few times. (I believe Beltre had a year like that.)
That could be the way he’s gradually phased out. 

how do you have so much confidence in Barria, Suarez, Sandoval, Soriano, Rodriguez, and Hernandez to produce and 'amazing' pitching staff Along with Canning, Skaggs and Heaney yet you don't think Adell, Marsh, Rengifo, Jones, Fletcher, Ward, Thaiss, Adams, Maitan, Jackson, Knowles, and Deveaux aren't enough to create an amazing offense?  
I actually don't see a #1 starter in that entire group.  Outside chance for Canning, Rodriguez and Soriano.  We haven't even seen Hernandez yet.  
I am going to work under the assumption that Trout is staying until he's gone.   Even the 2019 offense will finish in the top 7 (by fWAR).  I agree that the pen will be solid next year.  It will be the rotation that makes or breaks this team for the next 3 years.  

Right now, the Braves and Padres have more mid-rotation or better starters than they know what to do with, and they're all going to be arriving in the next couple years. Basically a bunch of guys that don't project quite as high as Canning, but higher than Suarez and they're all finding significant success in AA. Both the Braves and the Padres also happen to have offensive holes that need to be filled, and not many prospects that project to be major leaguers. 
I really think that if Eppler approaches them about trading our excess (maybe Thaiss, Jones And Hermosillo) for some of their excess, then we could all come away winners, with a more balanced system. 

I actually like this idea, depending on the prospect cost of course

Well, I'm attached to more than Adell and Canning as far as our prospects go.  At some price, Realmuto isn't what's best for the team.  And beyond a deal that's something like Marsh and Jones plus a reliever or utility player, it just isn't worth it anymore. 
Why pay prospects and money for Realmuto when I can pay simply money for Grandal or Ramos?  The difference between Realmuto and those guys is literally one win per season.  I'd rather just keep my prospects. 

That's a very fair deal, but you have to consider that at least five other teams are going to be offering a very high price for him.  That means if the Marlins do indeed trade Realmuto, they're going to be getting back something considerably better than "fair" market value. 
Example, the Astros need a catcher in the worst sort of way next year, and have a pretty stacked offense and full outfield.  The Marlins would likely ask for Kyle Tucker and more, and the Astros would liekly oblige because in their specific instance, Realmuto is the type of player that makes the difference between not winnin gthe division and winning the division, or not winning it all and winning it all, because that's where they are right now. 
The Angels aren't there. 
So if the Angels wanted to top that offer, they'd have to be willing to trade the likes of Jo Adell, and that's just not a good idea. 

I think this is a pretty likely scenario. I think if Realmuto costs too much, he’d rather grab an Andrew Knapp and spend his money and prospects on pitching than pay for the decline of a Grandal/Ramos.

The general consensus is the Padres aren't interested in trading Hedges or Mejia.  Though admittedly, I'd go nuts if the Angels dealt for Hedges.  The rest of the country hasn't quite caught on to how good this kid is.  Maybe the best defensive catcher I've ever seen (minus a younger Yadi Molina) and enough power and upside that he can break out the way Andrelton Simmons did after being dealt. 
But I don't see San Diego trading him.  The amount of pitching talent they have on the farm that'll be coming up to the majors in a year or two, they're going to need a great veteran catcher to guide those kids and he's the perfect player for that role.