jessecrall

Trout was compared to Aaron Rowand

Everyone understands that talent matures at different times, if it didn’t the following things wouldn’t have happened:
Trout the 27th player drafted would have never been the best player in the league
Altuve who went undrafted wouldn’t be one of the better 2nd baseman ever
Arrenado wouldn’t be an amazing 3rd baseman since he was drafted in the 2nd round
McCutchen was also a 2nd round pick and was one of the best players in the NL for 5 or so years
Bonds would have been the first pick in the draft
Hell every hall of famer ever would have been the first pick in the draft unless they were drafted the same year as another hall of famer
look at the list of rule 5 players that have gone on to be really good players
David Ortiz was released
 
So if a guy who wasn’t drafted in the first couple of picks becomes one of the better players in the minor leagues it shouldn’t be a big surprise.  

There should be a law that says if you call a broad weird-looking on a forum, you gotta post a recent photo of yourself.

There should be a law that says if you call a broad weird-looking on a forum, you gotta post a recent photo of yourself.

Ideally, most of the Canning-Suarez-Jones-Rengifo-Fletcher-Sandoval-Adell-Marsh prospect collection come up and show an ability to be big league regulars by the end of 2020, at which point, you have enough contributors under team control that you CAN break the bank for multiple people (Trout and Simmons extensions, signing Gerrit Cole or Arenado, trading surplus talent for a catcher, etc). I'm sure Eppler's just waiting for the farm to really come to fruition at a big league level before he risks long-term expenditures. Cole and Arenado are both OC products who would presumably show an interest playing for the Angels if they're competitive both on the field and in salary negotiations. You win 85 games this year and have minor leaguers coming up and making noise in the 2nd half, you're gonna appear real enticing for guys looking for 5+ year deals. 

There should be a law that says if you call a broad weird-looking on a forum, you gotta post a recent photo of yourself.

The Royals won a World Series with the legendary Edinson Volquez as their ace. We won with Jarrod Washburn. As much as we'd all love to have '99 Pedro making 32 starts a year for the league minimum, the next best thing is a deep rotation in which 5 or 6 guys can give you quality efforts game after game after game. For ~$40 million, Kikuchi's a great gamble. Not to mention he's young enough to make a long-term deal palatable and the Angels could potentially have Ohtani in the ace role next year with other prospects or free agents (Gerrit Cole?) on the way. This team has top-line talent in Trout, Ohtani & Simmons. What they've lacked in recent years is a stable of solid to good players to supplement the stars.

There should be a law that says if you call a broad weird-looking on a forum, you gotta post a recent photo of yourself.

There should be a law that says if you call a broad weird-looking on a forum, you gotta post a recent photo of yourself.

Mike Trout is the right player.

added Bourjos on a minor league deal
added La Stella via trade (for nothing).  set to make +1.2m in arb
released Shoe and Parker (and their -8m in salary).  
traded Alvarez for Garcia.  (-1.7m for +1.7m) 
signed Bour (+2.5m)
signed Harvey (+11m)
signed Cahill (+9m)
signed Lucroy (+3.4m)
so the total outlay is 19.1 mil.  Expected payroll increase is approx 30m.  So that leaves around 11m left to spend.  
 

My experience with Eppler is if you try really really hard you can get him to say who he ISN’T interested in, but you can never get him to say who he is interested in. 

Thaiss has a really nice stroke, hits the ball to all fields, dropped his ground ball rate...there's definitely untapped potential and like you said, there's no reason to sell low.

Jed Lowrie's sprint speed in each of the last 2 seasons was 26.7 feet/second, just a touch under the 27.0 average (for those unfamiliar, 30+ is elite, Trout averages a touch over 29, which is well within the 90th percentile, Ohtani's was 28.4 last year, Pujols was the slowest in baseball at 22.2). More encouraging is that Lowrie's sprint speed was actually LOWER in 2015 and 2016 when he had some injury problems, so while he isn't fast, he also isn't showing the usual signs of decline for someone his age. 

Ideally, either Fletcher would bump up his walk rate or Cozart rediscovers his 2017 plate discipline if not the power so Grandal could hit 7th or something...but yeah, he wouldn't be a bad option at all. Calhoun ran a 13% BB rate in the 2nd half so he COULD be an option if he looks functional...

Crap no. Nothing to do with Matt Thaiss being irreplaceable and everything to do with acquiring one of expensive year of a starting pitcher that won't be an ace. The Angels have enou pitchers that they're gambling on upside on with Harvey and Cahill. If it were just a one year, nine million dollar contract, sue, but one year, nine million plus six years of a starting first baseman. Not only that, you're selling low on Thaiss. He hasn't broken out yet. Just because he hasn't yet doesn't mean he won't. Give him one more year. 

Lowrie would be great signing if you could get him for 2 years and much as I would push for Fletcher to start based on our current roster, he's probably best suited for the Maicer Izturis-style 100 games, 300-400 plate appearances/year utility role. If Cozart struggles again or someone pulls a hamstring, his defense alone makes him, in my mind, at least a league average option at 2nd or 3rd and plus option off the bench. 

Ideally, either Fletcher would bump up his walk rate or Cozart rediscovers his 2017 plate discipline if not the power so Grandal could hit 7th or something...but yeah, he wouldn't be a bad option at all. Calhoun ran a 13% BB rate in the 2nd half so he COULD be an option if he looks functional...

Right now, Fangraphs has Fletcher projected to put up 2 WAR and Moustakas 2.8 WAR, which seems optimistic. One is young and athletic, the other is big, slow and 30. I just don't see the upside or improvement evident to make a $10+ million investment. 

The point is Mous will put up a 2 WAR as an everyday starter.   The Angels will get 2 WAR from his position using a platoon without spending $10 million extra.  What if they get 1.5 WAR and can use that money to improve elsewhere.  

Right now, Fangraphs has Fletcher projected to put up 2 WAR and Moustakas 2.8 WAR, which seems optimistic. One is young and athletic, the other is big, slow and 30. I just don't see the upside or improvement evident to make a $10+ million investment. 

I remember a scout being quoted as saying Escobar's defensive degeneration (from a good SS to a lousy 3B) appeared to be due entirely to effort rather than age/injury so I don't think there's anything to feel guilty about.

I doubt doubt that Machado will be a valuable, 5-6 WAR player for the next few seasons. But what about after? That's where the "Johnny Hustle" and makeup issues come in. Will he work hard to maintain his abilities even as age slows him down? Do you want to spend $30 million a year on a 32-year-old Machado, particularly if he's a douchebag who antagonizes opposing players and engages in bizarre and even violent antics that turn off fans? Jeff's point about him needing to be on his best behavior for all of 3 months and not pulling it off is a good one; what's he gonna be like when he's already got the money?