TheOGGabyC

Just for the fun of it:

2B Fletcher

DH Ohtani

CF Trout

RF Judge

3B Rendon

1B Walsh

LF Upton

C Stassi 

SS Iglesias

Sure, it might have taken something like Marsh/Adell + Detmers/Rodriguez + others like Adams, Jackson and throw ins like Thaiss, but it’s still fun to think about.

I actually made a youtube video on this exact topic if any of you wanted to check it out! My channel's name is The 2 Seamer, but essentially, if Ohtani excels in a 2 way role, I think he can put up 7 WAR over a full season. Ohtani's rookie season offensive WAR was 2.7 so a oWAR of about 3 definitely isn't out of the question. If he's able to hit his stride pitching and have a 4 WAR season on the mound, ala a Mike Clevinger level of production, then Ohtani can reach the 7 WAR mark, even in a limited amount of at bats at the plate.

Does anyone want to know the craziest thing I just found out? Earlier this spring, we had Franklin Barreto and Jose Rojas battling for the utility infielder spot (and Rengifo as well).

But what's Barreto's full name? It's Franklin Jose Barreto Rojas. We literally had a Jose Rojas vs. Jose Rojas spring training battle, and we didn't even know it.

I wonder if Maddon could try to be similar to the dodgers pitching staff, and move some starters into the bullpen with piggy back roles. For example we could see Quintana get the first 5-6 innings of a start, for Sandoval or Barria to come in and pitch another 2-3 innings to set it up for the back of the bullpen. It's a little bit easier to do when Dustin May or Julio Urias is your next man up, but this might be an option for the Angels.

I’m definitely excited to see the offense continue to improve this season and in the seasons to come as Adell and Marsh get going and we lose some dead weight. 
 

My curiosity is whether this offense has the potential to be even better than our top offense back in 2014.

3 hours ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Did you read the article? It takes forever for them to get to it but the only sound theory was that defenses were statistically making more plays in the field on the same exit velocities probably because the lack of crowds makes it easier to pick up the ball and communicate with your teammates. There is probably something else going on as well.

I honestly think the biggest factor at play here, and I know it’s something that has been discussed before on here, is that the players just haven’t had the time to adjust yet. I’d like to see offensive stats in August of this season vs. September.

I know Joey Votto, who’s accumulated a -.1 WAR this season, has gone on record in the past saying how methodical his spring training routine is and how many pitches he needs to see in order to be ready for the season. There’s a lot of other big time performers out there like Rendon and Yelich who definitely look to be out of touch so far this season and still in the warm up phase.

It’s ok, I think it’s just dehydration. Nothing to see here 

It’s kind of crazy, because I could never see the rhetoric that people like Correa are giving, telling Bellinger and others to F off, come from Mike Trout or Albert Pujols. 

24 minutes ago, Lou said:

Ok, now list the players who have signed with the team that offered the most money. 

Probably most of them, but if team A and team B are offering you the same years and money, I’m sure that comes into the equation at least a little bit.

12 minutes ago, Lou said:

You know what really sticks with people?

Money. 

The contract Nolan Arenado has isn’t keeping him from voicing his displeasures with the team. And plus, something tells me that if Trout made it to free agency, the Angels wouldn’t be the only team to offer him a 400+ million contract.

The Angels have done a good job in giving Mike Trout the pedestal he deserves to be on, unlike how teams like the Red Sox are doing with their own generational talents.

I’m sooooo glad we never put Mike Trout through this process. Words are something that stick with people for a long time, so who knows if that might have affected Trout’s decision to stay here.

#21? Isn’t that the same as our farm system ranking LOL

34 minutes ago, Dick B Back said:

I’m guessing Ippei did not join in on the off season workouts.

Are you kidding me? Ippei is in the best shape of his life

I wonder if Jo Adell’s call-up will be linked to When Ohtani starts to take the mound in May, as this will open up more at bats in the line up and make it easier to find a spot for him.

Prediction: with a revamped (?!) starting rotation and what seems like it could be solid depth in the bullpen, Robles, Buttrey, and Middleton will prove to be a deadly late inning trio.

Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if Anthony Rendon has more RBI’s than the 126 he had last year hitting behind Trout.

It’ll be interesting to see how Simmons ages as his career goes on. Ozzie Smith is obviously a close comp to what Simmons could look like as he ages, and Smith didn’t have a negative WAR season until he was 40, bouncing back with another positive WAR season at the age of 41.

Ozzie Smith had a career OPS+ of 90, so if Simmons could hit somewhere around league average while maintaining high level defense, he could prove to be extremely valuable even as he ages.

Depending on health and how he does this year, I wouldn’t mind giving him something like a 4/55-60 million contract with an option for a 5th year.

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

If they want Archer I think they can get him now for a package of guys like Jam Jones and Suarez.  

I’ve never really understood the infatuation with Archer. I get that he has good stuff, but the dude hasn’t had an ERA under 4 since 2015 with the Rays. 
 

I’d love to potentially get someone from the Indians like Clevinger who we’ve obviously talked a lot about, but maybe someone like Carrasco could be had for much cheaper. He’s only a year removed from being REALLY good.

Came across this video talking about the career of our favorite Angels catcher, Jeff Mathis. Foolish Baseball for those of you who don’t know is an awesome analytics focused channel that goes over some cool topics like how our boy Simmons is an under the radar HOF candidate. Do you guys think Jeff Mathis was over or undervalued over the course of his career?

The real question is how good Trout would be with the use of trash cans...