3 hours ago, Jay said:

I'm going to take a wild guess and say, "Mission Viejo"

Legit LOL.

Definitely still need to sign or trade for another arm. I wanted Alex Wood as a buy low guy that has solid potential and is still young. However, that's not necessarily the impact arm. There are a lot of arms in our system Suarez, Pena, Barria, Peters, etc. Doesn't mean any of them are worth a damn. If our current projected rotation of Ohtani, Heaney, Canning, Teheran, Bundy gets hurt we're in the exact same position as 2019 by filling the injured spots with turds.

3 hours ago, gotbeer said:

Since @HaloCory22 is back.   

A NEW DYNAMIC DUO IN ANAHEIM?

Anything that keeps Manson off the ice more I'm fair game on. However, I'm still not a huge Fowler fan on the PP.

On 1/8/2020 at 6:12 PM, gotbeer said:

Damn.  A @HaloCory22 sighting.  It's been a while, hope all is good.

All is good, GB! I'm a Texan now hah. Things are good though. AW got lost in the shuffle of the move. Definitely trying to get more involved here again though. Feels like forever.

On 1/3/2020 at 6:32 PM, gotbeer said:

I'm not sure I can blame Eakins.  He is bringing a fast pace hockey for us.  But we are now at the half way point.  So x2 of what our guys have already scored and we get.

The good:

• Silfverberg 56 points  Would be a career high.  Maybe I was wr, he doesn't suck as much.
• Getzlaf 50 points 48 last year was a career low.  Let's face it, he old, but he's still the face and ours.
• Rakell 50 points  Not going to dog him.  This is closer to his career norm.  Just expected so much more when he scored 69 3 seasons ago.
• Henrique 41  Could be better.  But on the low end of his norm
• Fowler 40  For a Dman not too bad.  Actually would match his rookie high.  
• Lindholm 34  Again, not bad for a dman.  This would tie his career high
• Grant 24.  He is what he is.  A solid 4C

Disappointing

• Kase 28  Really thought this was going to be his breakout year.  But it seems he might be just a bit overrated.
• Steel 26.  Leading our young guys.  Really disappointing showing.  He's still young and can improve, but really expected much more from him
• Ritchie 20 points.  See Kase.  He's regressing.
• Comtois 27 points.  injuries have a play.  He's still young though.  
• Rowney 18 points.  He is what he is.  4th line fodder.
• Terry 16 points.  I think of the young guys, he might be the most disappointing.  He's been one of the higher hyped players.  Hopefully he can figure it out.
• Jones 12 points.  Again, another young guy that just isn't cutting it.  
• Larsson 8 points.  Our young Dman, but we need more.  The -8 isn't helping either.

 

I think half way through this season, it's pretty obvious we don't have that difference maker on D or O.  Hopefully Zegras will be that guy on O, but considering how the top rookies are doing this season, not holding my hopes up.  Murray has really built up a 2/3/4 line.  But his inability to get those difference makers is what is going to doom him.  

The Ducks are putting themselves in a solid position for the draft. We're due for some luck. If we can somehow get the #1 pick and get Lafreniere that would be huge. Zegras looks like the real deal. He actually looks like an elite talent. Steel, Terry, Jones, Comtois are all very talented guys and I think in the next year or 2 they'll significantly improve. None of them are elite level talents to lead the next gen like Getzlaf and Perry were. Zegras and Lafreniere could be those guys. Elite level guys that have impact right away when they hit the NHL. Not just rookies getting their feet wet. That's been the Ducks biggest problem. None of our rookies are true impact guys right from day 1. Not to say they won't be eventually.

If I'm GMBM I completely sell off at the deadline. Commit fully to the re-build for the rest of this season and next. Trade Henrique, Silf, Fowler, Manson. Silf's stock won't be higher than it is right now. Some say he could net a 1st rounder. Dumping those contracts frees up a lot of money we can use to sign key pieces in free agency. Mix that in with draft picks acquired and player progress. We'll be in a good spot. At least the Eakins Ducks are more entertaining to watch than the Carlyle Ducks. 

What an offseason so far for the Angels. I’m glad they’re “all in” though. I was really pissed odd earlier and now I’ve had a chance to calm down. I’m still incredibly upset with the news. Now our Plan D option of Ryu/Bumgarner as our top targets feels so damn underwhelming. At this point there’s not even a guarantee we can grab those guys. Grandal, Wheeler, Stras, Cole. Goose egg on all of them. It’s very frustrating. More so with Arte. I can’t blame Eppler on this. I don’t get why others are either. Even if we get Rendon we'll be in a similar spot as the 2013 team trying to slug our way to wins. Looking at next offseason there’s really nothing great on the board either. This was the chance to nail down an anchor to lead this retooled team back to the post season or at least get on the right path. Not looking good at the moment. Sure things can change but ehhh. I’m not holding my breath. 

1 hour ago, Calzone 2 said:

Selling points.

Location: Anaheim > New York

Money: Anaheim = New York

Winning: New York > Anaheim 

It’s a toss up. I don’t think either team can get blamed for not signing him. 

 

FWIW, money will not be equal even if we out bid NY. That CA tax will take a serious bite out of any deal we offer. 
 

Location is all about preference too. 

Cole is the must sign. After that we still need a second arm and I'd rather do that via FA than trade. As I've mentioned a few times I'm really into Alex Wood (2020 would be his age 29 season). He'll be cheap and has a really solid track record with the Dodgers in the past. Odorizzi is another I like as well. Either of these guys would be solid 2/3s to build around Cole, Ohtani, Canning. At the end of the day we need at least 2 arms and doing it via FA seems better than trading for the arm especially since we'll lose a pick on Cole.

30 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

If Bauer rubbed shit all over himself while painting a club house with it after murdering someone he would absolutely live stream it.  Not great, but morbidly compelling. 

We'd get some epic action shots from his drone too.

11 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

He could kill a man and rub his feces all over the clubhouse and I'd still trade for him because he can pitch more than 4 innings.

The potential for this happening makes me want him more.

11 minutes ago, Bronson said:

He was hitting .290 before he got injured. 

 

I blame a lot of his woes right now on the ankle injury. And he’s still hitting .272. Hardly terrible.

 

And he’s still the best defensive shortstop in the game. Again the injury probably has something to do with the drop in defense but I firmly believe he will feel 100% better after the offseason.

His wRC+'s since joining the Angels.

2016- 90

2017- 103

2018- 109

2019- 85

He's coming off back to back 5 WAR seasons and going into his age 30 season in 2020 about to hit free agency. I like Simmons. He's obviously an amazing defender and has tons of tools and smarts you can't put in a stat necessarily. Great clubhouse guy too and a fan favorite. However, is the difference he makes at SS worth the cost for his salary vs what Fletcher/Rengifo produce PLUS what we can acquire by trading him?

11 minutes ago, Bronson said:

I just don’t see how trading a top 3 shortstop in the game and the best defensive shortstop of the past 30 years makes sense if you want to make a playoff push with Trout in his prime.

 

Simmons has already said he wanted to stay and would probably take a discount to stay here. And there’s evidence he could have his best years in his early 30’s. I think he should absolutely be off limits and they should be looking to extend him this offseason.

What evidence is there that he'll get better in his 30s? His wRC+ hovers right at 100. Literally average. Defense has been down this year (granted might be due to the ankle injury) compared to years past. With Rengifo and Fletcher along with the guy we drafted this year we have options. Much cheaper options that we can put money towards a true need in starting pitching. Simmons could be put to good use with that one more year on the contract.

Agree with Strad. Dodgers have made all of their big SP moves via trade or development. Greinke was the last one. Most/all of their FA SP signings have been for mid tier guys. Not saying the Dodgers won't check in on Cole and see but this is a guy the Angels almost have to overpay for. Do whatever it takes to get him signed. 

I'm wondering if the Angels get Cole in the off season and sign 1 of Odorizzi or Alex wood. Jake will be in his age 30 season and Wood will be entering his age 29 season. Pairing Cole with Odorizzi/Wood along with Ohtani, Canning and company would go a long way. Like Jeff has said in the past. We don't have the luxury of having assets we can sell for prospects that we can afford to lose building towards 2020 and beyond. 2019 is a wash at this point. Look to 2020. We keep the farm intact and improve the rotation significantly as well by adding those 2 FA pitchers. Let Canning, Saurez, Barria continue to start and hopefully figure some things out to end 2019 on a good note and come into 2020 with some confidence.

Tigers apparently looking to keep Boyd. They haven't been blown away with any offer. They asked Houston for Tucker gives you a bit of an idea on the market for him. Then again.. This is coming from Nightengale so this probably means he's getting traded.

This just absolutely heartbreaking. Makes my heart go cold just at the thought of this. Such an amazing person and always great with fans. A reminder that this really is just a game and these are actual human beings out there. I'm truly gonna try to refrain from personal insults to players anymore. This was very humbling. Something we all should do. RIP, Tyler. TS45

It's stupid either way. This only benefits the area for both sides. CA is such a financial clusterfuck as is why not do something good for the area and pump some revenue into it along with bringing a mall back to life? Angels fans in Ventura County/LA County can easily access the 66ers for away games in this case as well. Who wants to go to the IE? Especially with Lou there

I was wondering what we'll do with him when Upton returns as well last night. The guy is earning his keep for sure. Whether that's sustainable that's obviously to be seen. He's bound to drop off a bit but even so he'll still be a very solid option to take Kole's spot in RF. I'd be very pleased if Kole continues to at least hit for some power and hopefully we can deal him at the deadline for a bullpen arm and give Goodwin the starting job the rest of 2019 and compete for the spot in 2020 with Adell and Hermosillo. Fortunately, we still have a month+ till we have to worry about it and by then we should have a much clearer report on Goodwin and what he's capable of. 

The team will get better and more importantly Trout will get better. He'll actually get pitches to hit with Ohtani protecting him.

The biggest thing for me as a fan (besides watching Trout) is starting pitching. When we had Weaver/Haren at the top of the rotation it was truly fun watching them. They had lights out stuff and made watching them a joy. I felt incredibly confident in the team's chances of winning that day. Not a single one of our guys even remotely gives me that feeling today. Skaggs is the closest due to his stuff but even he is far from it. He's more like CJ Wilson confidence level. I know he has the stuff and potential to do it but will he? That has to take a toll on the offense too. I know 2 of our big bats are out right now so things will get better but it's a lot for the current group to take on. Taking on two bottom of the rotation FA signings and hoping they'll fill the gaps is blind faith. You can argue the team is building for next year, sure. Ohtani could be that "Ace" we're talking about but I'm not putting all my eggs in that basket. I'd love some insurance to build WITH Ohtani. Who knows how Heaney will pan out. Hell, who knows how most of our rotation/prospects will pan out (obviously). We need some stability at the top. Depth is great especially with how crappy the Angels luck has been of late with SP injuries but there needs to be a horse on the hill every 5 days we can truly be confident in. If we have 4/5 guys with 4.50+ ERAs is that actually depth?

Yeah it's going to come down pretty damn hard. People here are scrambling to get their cars some protection. Had to take my car to an underground parking garage to keep for the night. It's nice right now. Sunny and 80 but it's supposed to start rolling through around 10pm here. Tennis ball sized hail they're projecting.

This is just the greatest news ever.

1 hour ago, stormngt said:

Let understand your point:

If Trout decides he wants to play closer to home or if he feels he cant win with the Angels and wants to sign elsewhere, you are saying it's perfectly fine for Trout to veto any trade (even though he plans on leaving anyway) or you are fine that he leads the Angel's on and let them think the team has a chance to extend him 

That isnt disloyal to you?

I don't think that's disloyal. He's just using one of the tools provided to him in the contact extension the Angels gave him. Shouldn't have given him a no trade clause if they were worried about that to begin with. Which makes me believe Trout has zero intention of doing that and never gave the Angels any intention of doing that when he signed the deal.

If he's leaving for sure and we have a trade in place to lock down a few pieces and he decides to veto it then oh well. It'll suck, sure, but he's more than earned the right to do that at this point. Not like it's Josh Hamilton's contract we're trying to deal away.