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I totally agree with you. I wasn't on the selling bandwagon until this disaster series with the Rays. If we package Heaney, Iglesias, and/or Cobb I think we can get some 1 really good or perhaps 2 decent type prospects.

I think Eppler went a long way to stabilize the program, but I also believe we saw the franchise regressing. Eppler's drafts were starting to become lack-luster, and even though he is given credit for rebuilding our farm system, let's not forget he had five years to do it and we are still rated in the bottom half of the league. Now, I realize a lot of these high-risk/reward types could erupt and our farm system could catapult in to a top 15 farm, but let's be realistic. Eppler's entire draft portfolio is mediocre. In fact, much of our success came in two draft classes because the others were quite piss poor. Eppler's ability to find free-agents has also been very disappointing. I am sympathetic regarding Arte and the payroll, but it's not like we have a shoe-string budget. Yes, Eppler inherited a lot of bloated contracts, but he missed out on a lot of solid players as well, and continued to fail in his back up plans. The one-year starters were atrocious, and the only positive trade moves he made was Bundy and Simmons (in which we traded away a future starter). I know Eppler has limited budget compared to the Yankees, but almost every year he's had 30-40 million to play with (which ain't chump change) and there are consistent major problems our teams have had that have never been substantively addressed. The Manager merry go around under Eppler was also disastrous. I still can't help but think Mike Scioscia would still be our manager if it wasn't for Eppler. Yes, I realize for the past ten years it seemed like Scioscia was treading water (and I wasn't against making a change), but to go from the best managers in the program's history to an experiment gone really bad in Ausmus, was quite the blunder. Now, obviously Eppler did some (not good but brilliant) things like extending trout, signing Rendon, and of course Ohtani (although, they completely mis-handled him). There have been other good moves as well like the Renignfo (sp) trade, Bundy/Simmons, La Stella, a variety of solid catcher decisions, so he wasn't as bad as Depoto or Reagans. But it did feel like our program under Eppler was about to head in the opposite direction. We were about to lose of the gains he made. So, I think a change was needed. I also believe that Eppler was pressured to upgrade the on the field managerial staff, and if Eppler and the staff were completely on the same page last year (despite the poor season) Eppler would have been given another year. I can say, the approach I have seen this team take on the field this year has been night and day compared to other years. I see us running and stealing a lot more. We manufacture more runs. Also, the pitchers are given more flexibility to work themselves out of jams. Allowing both Ohtani and Canning to work themselves out of jams, will only add to their confidence. For me though, the biggest positive (and I am not sure who get's credit for this one yet), is the continued development of Walsh and the resurgence of Upton. The one benefit from the Covid year was a lot of players had in essence two full off-seasons (with a little baseball in between) to get healthy. Maybe that's what's going on, or maybe there is a different approach behind the scenes that's enabling this. But this organization is clearly operating (at least on the field) much more confidentially than in years past. I want to see a full draft class before I begin to formulate an opinion on Minisian.

Admittedly, I am optimistic around this time of year. I do have a better feeling about our team for a few reasons. Starting pitching: So, we made no major acquisition, but we have a lot of guys coming back who are finally coming of age. Barria, Canning, and Sandoval have all gotten enough exposure to the big leagues where they'll finally settle in. I have a bit more faith in Barria and Canning than Sandoval (he's quite wild now that he's dramatically increased his velocity), but it's about time for these players to reach their potential. In addition, Quintana is probably the best starting pitching acquisition we've made (one may say Bundy, but Bundy exceeded expectations last year) in the past five years. Ohtani is also back and healthy, and hitting triple digits. Finally, this is the healthiest I can recall our rotation being in a long time. We just came off an shorten season, where quite frankly a lot of players got the opportunity to finally get healthy because in essence they've had a two year long off season, with a little baseball thrown somewhere in the middle. This is why I think Cobb looks so good now. This last point though, will benefit more than just the Angels. Relief pitching: If we had better relief pitching we could have been in the extended playoffs last year despite our poor starting pitching. I can't recall how many games the bullpen blew. I think we got rid of the dead weight in the bullpen, and brought in some quality relievers with potential. With this said, I thought the bullpen was going to be our strength last year but man oh man, a lot of those guys imploded. Nevertheless, for the first time in a while, I think we have a legitimate closer. With this said, I'd be much happier if we had one more proven ready arm in the pen. Line-up: Putting up hits and runs has never really been our issue. Any line-up with Trout and Rendon will produce a good amount of offense. But throw in Fletcher, Iglesias (who I think is an upgrade offensively over Simmons), an emerging Walsh (who I think will regress a little but still have a decent OPS) I think we should be just fine here. If Upton comes back healthy (another guy who will have extended from a two year off-season) this could be a real dynamic line-up. Coaching: Maddon has had these guys for a full year and I think now has a GM he wasn't forced upon. I see our coaching staff (one of the best in baseball) and front office being on the same page. Spring Training: Our performance during spring training has really fueled my optimism, especially in our rotation. Ohtani looks like the mega star we thought he'd be, Bundy is looking good, Cobb looks good, and Quintana also looks good. Maybe I am setting myself up for disappointment (it has happened before), but I figure sooner or later we should catch some breaks.

Dude, I ain't gonna lie. I am getting jazzed. I don't know if this is faux spring optimism or what, but thus far Ohtani is showing his velocity is back up (which means he's mentally recovering from his injury), Cobb's velocity is up, CRod and Detmer both looked good in their brief appearances, and I even thought Brady showed some potential (although his control needs to improve). For some reason, I have a sneaky feeling the Angels are going to be really good this year.

The choke year was pretty awful. And like you the following year I was expecting a huge rebound and we just shit ourselves. Those are two very disappointing years. Also, the year we got Hamilton. Also, three years ago, I was expecting the Angels to completely erupt and we got off to a great start. Of course, then everything fell apart

I voted yes, but he's no doubt been an upgrade from what we have before. Yes, he's rebuilt our farm system, but he's also bungled some drafts. We've had five full drafts under Eppler and we are somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of minor league depth, and we still don't have any top tier pitching prospects ready to make an impact. Yes, we signed Ohtani, but I also argue we have completely mismanaged him. Hats off to Epp for finding some diamonds such as Goodwin and La Stella. But, we've rolled the dice plenty and come up short with pitching. I also had to take into consideration his absolute bungling of hiring a manager. The Ausmus experiment was a complete disaster. I am not adamant about making a change, and if we kept Epp one year longer I wouldn't have lost sleep. But I do believe we have reach our ceiling under him, and this outcome was inevitable.

I am gonna say 38 I am actually pretty excited for this season.

I appreciate the thoughts . I actually support Middleton's right to kneel (and I never criticized Middleton), and him kneeling doesn't bother me it all. I am a pretty left guy actually and support many of the social justice policies in the BLM movement. But, I only follow a couple of Angel columnist/reporters on twitter and at least in my twitter feed that's what dominated my news feed and IMHO it was way over covered. But, hey, that's just one guy's opinion. At the very least it reminded me I should renew my mlb.tv subscription so I can watch the game live oppose to getting updates on twitter lol.

Thanks halonatic ... to each his own I guess. Not to get into a tit for tat, but between posts about Middleton kneeling, Giant player kneeling, and retweets most of yesterday's commentary was more about kneeling than the game. I mean, after all, it is only the first real game (albeit an exhibition) since the pandemic. I guess that's not a big deal. And professional players have been kneeling during the anthem for the past two years, so it's not like it's new. Granted, I acknowledge the BLM protest have brought new life to the debate (and I agree with the majority of BLM's political objectives ... hell, I even have a PhD in political science and one of my areas of study was race relations in the US), but I guess I seek sports out to watch and read about sports. If that makes me a snowflake so be it.

I appreciate all you do Jeff, but yesterday you made more tweets about the kneeling than about the game itself. I completely support Middleton's right to kneel, but many of us go to sports to get away from the struggles of society. It's our escapism from the hardships of real life. I know some of it will overlap to some degree, and maybe that's appropriate, but I sure hope that this doesn't become the new norm or our Angels coverage isn't dominated by social commentary. I know I may get criticized for this point of view, but I believe many folks feel the same way.

How much of the early success of Bundy, Barria, Suarez, Cole, and Andreise have to do with Calloway? I know many on here gave up on Barria and Suarez to some extent (I know I did), it's still important to remember both are still younger than the average double A player. If just one or two of the above was having a good spring I wouldn't think anything of it. But, when all of them are off to their best starts of their career that has to be more than a coincidence. I am expecting at least one if not more will tale off eventually, but considering how week our pitching core is it is the one position where we needed to see a strong start. Once upon a time Barria and Suarez where projected to be solid number fours, and the wheels completely came off last year. But I also keep forgetting how young both are and both could still develop to be solid rotation pieces. And once upon a time Bundy was one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. I do not expect Canning to pitch this year, and fully anticipate him getting Tommy John, which means we have to trade for a front line pitcher at some point. Nevertheless, the hot start by all the guys who were angling for a spot in the bottom half of our rotation has me encouraged. If their success has to do with Calloway, then that means it will probably maintain, to at least some extent, into the regular season.

I have been anticipating this quite frankly since last summer. Being shut down for "elbow inflammation" means only one thing in the angels organization. Hell, apart of me wanted him to get his TJ over and done with last year. It's vital to get another pitcher now. The season is not over by any means, but we are gonna have to do something. Let's just hope Matt Andriese and Felix Pena (and I like both pitchers BTW) better have great starts.

I subscribe to BA and have a few thoughts on the rankings. 1. We have a lot of young pitchers with a tone of upside. Guys like Aquino, Franco, Pina, Soriano (besides his TJ but he'll be back), Yan, Koch, Holmes, and Rivera. It should be interesting to watch their development. 2. I am still surprised that Ortega was not drafted in the rule 5 draft. When he wasn't, I figured there was something about him that wasn't made public yet. Apparently BA doesn't know either. 3. I am surprised Jose Rodriguez (and Matt Ball to a lesser extent) made the list. Are either more project-able than Trent Deveaux or Davis Daniel? 4. I thought Aaron Hernandez would be a bit higher, and although I believe Orlando should be on the list I do not think he's the 18th best prospect. 5. There is a clear bias towards fringe guys in AA or AAA than really high upside raw guys in low single A.

The truth be told our system is flooded with high ceiling guys. There are three guys alone I can picture being potential top 100 players by mid-year if their season goes right (not including Adell and Marsh). If Rodriguez has a strong start and is moved to AA by the all-star break (which BA projects to happen), then he could sneak into the top 100. His tools are off the charts. If Adams starts off strong, he'll jump in also. I also believe Soriano could break into the upper-half of the top 100 with a strong start as well. Nevertheless I expect at least two of the three to have the type of year, because there are a lot of positives signs with each one. By the end of the year I can see us having another three to four guys climb up the rankings. We could see Jackson, Vera, Kochanwicz, and maybe even Pyris, if he has a big year. In addition, there are a handful of true wild card guys who the organization holds in high regard but are still very raw. Guys like William Holmes, Knowles, Treveaux, Daniel, Bonilla, Pina, Placencia, and Steward Aquino. BA just released a TOP 10 prospect chat for the Angels, and said very complementary things about Holmes, Pina, and Aquino. I believe if Eppler really uses this draft to pick high-up side pitchers in the top 4 rounds (obviously not round 2) we could have one of the better systems in baseball next year. Granted, maybe I am looking a the state of our system very optimistically, because injuries could persist with a lot of these guys and some could just flame out. But hell, even if half of them pan out then the Angels will have a steady supply of talent coming from their farm beginning with Adell this year.

I would easily rather overpay than give up the prospects (granted it is not my money). But, long term sustainability through any program comes from the farm. And money will not negate a bad farm, but very good farm can negate dead money.

I can see that perception to be honest with Spring Training less than a month away. Especially, when we start making trades for more reliever-starter types. Don't get me wrong, I like this trade. Now, granted, maybe Eppler is really working the phones currently, but when the GM publicly says trade involving front liners are too pricey, I think it's a good indication he's not making much headway on that front. And historically, the need for pitching increases once the season starts, which is why teams often over-pay for players at the trade deadline. Now, granted Cole was traded very late so there is still hope. And for teams seeking to dumb salary (i.e. Boston and Chicago), maybe they'll start asking less the closer the season gets here.

Jeff, I have a subscription to BA. They haven't even listed our top ten yet. Where did you find BA's top 30 for 2020?

I am also including Richards and Tropeano.

If all those things happened, we'd be a 95 win team. Also, throw in there if we are in striking distance you could see a trade for a top of the line pitcher. Unfortunately, I do not think we are going to bring in an additional arm until Eppler sees how things played out. I am also curious to see if under completely different management, the wave of tommy john surgeries cease.

I believe if La Stella has a hot start, he's the one who will get traded. I am beginning to think Rengifo may be as much of an untouchable as Fletcher. If Rengifo takes off the way Fletcher did, then I see us trading La Stella and letting Simba walk during free agency. Unless we trade for someone controllable like Boyd, we are going to be a couple starters short again next year when FA approaches. We're going to need the Simba money allocated elsewhere.

I've referenced how I liked the Daniel pic a lot, and I also think the Kyle Molnar pic is also intriguing, although he's a bit more of a question mark than Daniel. Daniel will be able to start throwing again sometime in the summer. I do not know if the Angels hold him out another year, or put him in Rookie ball and let him get his feet wet. Then next season I fully expect him to start in A+. Now, I believe Daniel is rated a bit too high in those rankings. Although he has good stuff, it never came together at Auburn. In fact, the year before his Tommy John he was demoted to the bull pen. He has good stuff but he's never really proven he could utilize it. Molnar is a different story altogether. He had to TJ's on the same arm. I think he should be completely cleared to pitch by the Spring and am curious as hell where he starts. Has anyone heard anything about Molnar's progression?

I would also add a +2 WAR for a healthy Upton, a +6 WAR for Rendon, and a +2 WAR for Buttrey and Middleton collectively. I think we have a 90 win team without Keuchel and a 93-95 win team with Keuchel.

Hey, I am not advocating it, but this is what I believe to be true. I hope I am wrong and would love to bring in Keuchel (I've been on the sign Keuchel bandwagon since July when I argued he was a good pick up for the Braves). But, without him, I believe we are a 90 win team already. I think between Ohtani coming back (120 innings) and the 320 innings between Tehran and Bundy we will be dramatically improved. Now, we aren't built for the playoffs and will be paring a #4 against a #1 or #2 every game, but we are built currently for a wildcard run, especially with the inclusion of Rendon. I also believe if we use a designated starter for both Tehran and Bundy we could even improve upon last year's numbers for both of them.

This signing makes me believe we are done in the FA pitching market. I still can see us trade for Boyd or probably Ray more likely, but if we sign either Keuchel or Ryu, we have basically eliminated our chances of trading for any additional arms during the year if we are within striking distance. Plus we still need to sign a catcher. I think this is a good move, and is very Billy Bean like. Let's say he produces to the effect of 170 Innings with an ERA around 4.30. Isn't that more than worth 9 million?

So the fact that the Indians wanted Marsh and another top ten prospect for Kluber blows my mind. Organizations will always ask for more than their trade chip is worth. GM's in this instance act like agents. Obviously, Ray would be cheaper because he has one year left, but if the Angels traded for him would be able to attach a qualifying offer to him next year? But what in terms of prospect capitol do you think Ray and Boyd would actually cost? A