Mark PT

Cole is a must for me. But they must acquire enough to make Heaney the number 5 that he is.

Cole is a must for me. But they must acquire enough to make Heaney the number 5 that he is.

Cole is a must for me. But they must acquire enough to make Heaney the number 5 that he is.

Location and pitch sequence are the most important. Pitchers in the past did not try to throw the ball as hard as possible but worked on locating all their pitches. There are not many pitchers in the league today that have that control and we don't have anyone even close. Getting up there and chucking the ball 98 mph means nothing when you have to throw every pitch down the middle.

Terrence Mann never returned from the corn. Please know what you are talking about before posting.

Terrence Mann never returned from the corn. Please know what you are talking about before posting.

Terrence Mann never returned from the corn. Please know what you are talking about before posting.

So are you going to tell us or leave us in the dark? (the tootsie pop thing)

Ryan didn't GAF what anyone wanted him to throw. He was a Veteran and historical figure.  Similar to the shift. Don't shift if your can't execute the pitches required to get them to hit into it.
infield straight away, up the middle, left pull, right pull.  Outfield Straight away, no doubles, left pull, right pull. 

Yes, the whole third time through the line up is BS. None of that would matter if the pitchers could hit their spots, which no Angel can. It is also the pitchers job to find combinations that challenge the batter. As you say, this is pitching at the major league level. I honestly dont think there is one major league pitcher on this starting roster (Canning might be eventually).

If an opener starts the game and shuts down the opponents 1-2-3 hitters and then the starter comes in to the second inning and gives up 3 runs, both him, and Ausmus, should get kicked in the nutts. 

Root for Trout and for the development of the younger guys. This will still be fun to watch.

Angels are buyers for 2020.
Their offense and BP is solid but can slump at times...the rotation as it is, though, makes it extremely difficult to compete with the likes of Boston, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Minnesota, and Oakland.  The Angels are in that weird in-between area where they can beat the best team in baseball for 2 games on the road and then lose 4 out of 5 at home to the worst league has to offer.  It doesn't mean you stop trying to win but it means you try and leverage the pieces that aren't going to serve you next season into assets that will.
Lucroy was highly coveted by the A's pitching staff but, here, he's been pretty meh. Smith/Garneau can handle the position fine...if they can get what they got for Maldonado, you do it.
Goodwin is having a career year, is cheap, and is controllable but is also 28 and his dWAR is not great.  If someone is desperate and offers you a young, projectable AA starter with mid-rotation potential, you go for it.
On the flip side, you don't have to do any of this...you can keep both with Goodwin going into next season as a buffer between Adell coming up and losing Calhoun after you decline his option, and Lucroy leaving as a free agent.  

That's what mechanics effect, as he said. That is on the pitching coach. 

That's what mechanics effect, as he said. That is on the pitching coach. 

Ours is like that
 
 
 
 
 
without  Tanana  and Ryan

If baseball were full of Fletchers, the game would be much more exciting.  You wonder why they're not bringing in new fans, it's because you sit around for 3 hours waiting for someone to hit the ball 400 feet off a pitcher throwing 95.  An era ago, it was the opposite, which was more fun to watch. 
The year I spent in Japan, was the most entertaining year of baseball I've had in my entire life.

Despite tonight's slaughter, my feeling is that this is a team that isn't far from being very good, a true contender. In my mind the definition of "very good" is a team you can project to win 90 games ("good" would be 85 and "great" would be 95). They're really only two or three impact players from that very good threshold, the most probable and beneficial combination being a couple good starters (at least strong #3s) and a catcher. 
The team has other question marks, but all can be handled from within and/or with minor moves. 
With that in mind, I see three big questions that need to be answered for next year. The first is absolutely crucial to the team's success; the second is important but not crucial; and the third may have more of a psychological than on-field impact. (For visual reference, I'm putting all considered possibilities in bold-face; if I don't bold a player, it means they're either an Angel or not being considered as a possibility).
1. HOW TO IMPROVE THE ROTATION?
This is obviously the big one. Here we have a Big Four in free agent starters, with one true #1 in Gerrit Cole, and three solid #2s/fringe aces in Madison Bumgarner, Zack Wheeler, and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Cole is obviously the top choice but will also be very expensive (~$30M AAV). The Angels want need one of these four guys.
The next tier of free agents include Jake Odorizzi, Kyle Gibson, Cole Hamels, and Dallas Keuchel - all guys who are solid #3s and would probably be the best starter on the staff right now, but none who really fits the mold of "staff ace." Signing one of these guys as your top free agent pitcher means the Angels are confident that Shohei Ohtani can be the staff ace.
So you've got to think that the Angels will get at least one of those eight starters, and may even sign a second innings-eater type from the next group of free agents, which includes Wade Miley, Jhoulys Chacin, Tyson Ross, Michael Wacha, and several others. But these guys are variations of lottery picks and/or solid innings eaters, but shouldn't be counted on to be better than solid #4s.
The other option would be a trade, either a Noah Syndergaard, Trevor Bauer, Matt Boyd, and Robbie Ray being possibilities. These guys cost in prospect value, so may not be worth it - unless the Angels strike out on one of the Big Four.
2. WHO TO SIGN AS CATCHER?
Yasmani Grandal is a bit underrated. With Buster Posey in decline, he's fighting with JT Realmuto (and perhaps Wilson Contreras and Gary Sanchez) for the best overall catcher in the game; his 3.2 leads the major leagues among catchers and he's on pace for his fifth season in a row with at least 4.5 fWAR.
The question is whether the Angels will pay up or not. Grandal is on a one-year deal because no one offered him a multi-year contract which he liked (he wanted four, I believe). At this point a four-year contract for Grandal looks like a missed opportunity, but at age 31 next year in today's context he might accept a three year deal. I would think he'll ask for and receive at least 3/$45M.
After Grandal the free agent pickings are slim. The Angels do have Kevan Smith, who has played quite well, so they could go after a platoon partner, maybe Travis D'Arnaud, Brian McCann, Russell Martin, Matt Wieters, or even bring back Martin Maldonado if they want a hitter/defender duo with Smith.
Finally, a third option would be trade. One interesting player would be Blake Swihart, who was a first round draft pick and former top prospect for the Red Sox, and was traded to the Diamondbacks earlier this year but has performed terribly. The D-backs have Carson Kelly as their starter and he's hitting very well, so don't really need Swihart. But this would be a clean peanut trade. Another thought would be trying to pry Francisco Mejia or Austin Hedges from the Padres in the hope that they've soured on one of them. But this would probably require a decent prospect.
I suppose the Angels can roll the dice with either bringing Lucroy back, or going with Smith as primary and Garneau or Jose Briceno as back-up, but that doesn't really improve the team.
3. WHAT TO DO WITH KOLE CALHOUN?
He's having his best season since 2016 and is on pace for over 30 HR. Even though a 3 WAR player is pretty much the definition of "average full-time player"--which is what Kole is, in his better years, no more or less--3 WAR players don't grow on trees; an average full-time regular is a good major leaguer. Furthermore, Kole is a clubhouse--and fan--favorite, and has been an intrinsic part of the team during the Trout Era. We can't use the Tyler Skaggs card to justify keeping Kole forever, but it does matter right now and for the near future.
Balance this with the fact that the Angels have the best outfield prospect in baseball absolutely destroying AA: .363/.428/.633 in 30 games played. Now given that it is only 30 games, Adell could use some more time to ripen...but how much? There's about a month and a half left in the AA season (final game is September 2), at which point Adell will likely be called up to the Angels to get a taste of major league action. The Angels will get a better sense of where he's at - whether he can handle major league breaking stuff (oftentimes the final hurdle for a hitter to be ready for the majors), or if he needs time in AAA. But regardless, it will probably be hard to keep him in Salt Lake next year for more than a month or two next year, especially if he puts up his expected Pacific League numbers.
Barring something unforeseen, it is a virtual guarantee that Jo Adell will be starting in the 2020 Angels outfield at some point, certainly no later than midseason. We can pencil that in. So the question, then, is do you pay Kole $14M when we all know--he knows--that his time as the regular RF is limited? And even if Adell needs some AAA seasoning, the Angels can go the cheap route and play one of Hermosillo, Walsh, or Ward in RF for a couple months - for much cheaper rates.
But there is an option to keep Kole, even if it is only delaying the inevitable. You extend him for $14 million and use him as a multi-positional player in RF, 1B, and DH. Adell can work his way into the primary RF, but can also back up LF and CF.
But again, isn't that just delaying the inevitable? Either way the Angels are going to have to face the hard choice of letting go of a fan and player favorite in Calhoun, whether now at the deadline, in the offseason, or after 2020. 
 
Addendum:
After 2020 the questions will might be:
1. Do you offer La Stella a contract? 
2. How to make room for Brandon Marsh (and what to do with Justin Upton?)
3. Is Ohtani working out as a two-way player?
But none of those are pressing now and this has gone on long enough.

Good post. I agree. And I think all these guys have not reached their ceiling. 

This is all so overblown. 

Everyone's doing exactly what they should. 

Marisnick screwed up. It wasn't intentional but it was wrong. He got popped by MLB as a result. 
The Angels retaliated in a very fair way. They denied it the right way. 
The Astros had to chirp to show support for Jake. Hinch is just doing what he has to do to his team.

That should be the end of it...it would be nuts for the Astros to one-up it again tonight.

I think you have a good point. If this is the end of this, meaning no retaliation from Houston, I think Merisnick really did not mean for this to be intentional. He accepted his fate, so to speak, and prevented further escalation.

I think they all knew that Heaney couldn’t risk getting tossed the night after Canning shit the bed and blew out the pen. First reliever in did more or less what was expected 

If only his parents knew how the spell Kevin.....

I honestly do not think it matters which strategy you employ with this team because they are inconsistent with the strike zone. You cant really ascertain what they are capable of. Are they strike out pitchers or contact?  Do they get ground balls or fly outs? We dont know because they are wild. Most of the time they are down in the count and are forced to throw middle zone pitches that get hit over the wall. 

I honestly do not think it matters which strategy you employ with this team because they are inconsistent with the strike zone. You cant really ascertain what they are capable of. Are they strike out pitchers or contact?  Do they get ground balls or fly outs? We dont know because they are wild. Most of the time they are down in the count and are forced to throw middle zone pitches that get hit over the wall.