BTH

4 minutes ago, Hubs said:

There’s no longer an AZL rookie league

Yeah there is. There are the four full season teams (AAA/AA/High-A/Low-A) and a complex team in both the US and Dominican for every MLB team (which are short season). The complex team is essentially the AZL Angels.

2 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

How about going the full 2002?

Sign Sugano and Walker to start.

Sign Hendricks and Bradley, and go full ham on the pen.

Sign Pillar and YaMo.

That puts them about $15 million over threshold.   Year from now, get back $24 million and re-sign Bundy.    No key prospects lost for another year

Bundy, Sugano, Heaney, Canning, Walker, and Barria/Ohtani

Iglesias, Hendricks, Meyers, Bradley, Claudio, Pena, Buttrey, Reyes, and Rivera

It's hard for me to see the Angels going over the luxury tax period, let alone to go over the luxury tax for a collection of good- but, besides Hendriks, not star players. I think Arte might go over the luxury tax threshold if it means they get Bauer and complementary pieces, but I can't see him going over for 5-6 average to above average free agents.

I think the Angels still need to add at least 1-2 more quality bullpen arms.

Last season, it seemed like they had a solid back-end with Robles, Buttrey, Middleton, and Bedrosian. Then Bedrosian got hurt and the other 3 collapsed. There's a strength in numbers, and I think the Angels still lack numbers. If you have 6 quality bullpen arms and 3 regress but 1-2 show improvement (like Mayers and Peña did last season), you are still in decent shape.

4 hours ago, Second Base said:

Martinez will be in AAA.

You think so? He hasn't even played a single game at AA. I'd be surprised if he skipped AA and started at AAA.

5 hours ago, Hubs said:

Can someone fill me in on the newer names on this list and where they’re projected to start in 2021? What level I mean. 

With only 4 levels of organized ball now I’d think anyone who played at rookie or short season before would be tickets for IE now that that’s low A (which to me is totally dumb and totally east coast biased).

I hope they revise this when they realize how many rainouts they get in April in full season High A in the Northwest.

Anyway, I’m particularly interested in the 5-15 guys, (Vera) who will move into the top 5 when guys like Marsh and Detmers graduate to the majors. 

1. Marsh - AAA

2. Adams - AA

3. Detmers - AA

4. Paris - High A?

5. Rodriguez - AA?

6. Jackson - Low A?

7. Knowles ?

8. Koch ?

9. Martinez ?

10. Placencia ?

 

 

My guesses would be:

Marsh: AAA.

Adams: High-A with a quick trigger to AA.

Detmers: High-A with a quick trigger to AA (just like Canning at the start of the 2018 season).

Paris: Rookie (AZL).

Rodriguez: High-A with a quick trigger to AA.

Jackson: Low-A.

Knowles: Low-A.

Koch: Rookie (AZL) to control his innings and then Low-A.

Martinez: AA.

Placencia: Dominican (DSL)

5 minutes ago, Angels 1961 said:

Your right maybe they have not but Bauer best  out there. Just makes sense they will or have checked in on him. Where they stand on a pursuit who knows. 

Why are you just making up information? 

You literally said 40 minutes ago that he "Has meetings with Angels." Then you just backtrack it.

The way you word your posts makes it sound like you know things for a fact and then you just say "who knows."

I hope I'm wrong, and I hope that they are in on Sugano but I am skeptical that they are.

There were rumors around the time Ohtani signed that he didn't want to be on a team with another Japanese player.

I don't know how true those rumors are, but the Angels haven't signed another Japanese player since Ohtani. So until they sign another Japanese player while Ohtani is on the team, I'm not going to expect the Angels to be heavily involved in the market for a Japanese player.

44 minutes ago, Second Base said:

The worst mistake Eppler made was when he tried to modernize the Angels by hiring Brad Ausmus as an assistant to sit and study data for an entire season, then hiring him as the manager to specifically integrate that data in a managerial role.

Also hiring Doug White to be the pitching coach, a man who had minimal coaching history, but studied Driveline hardcore. The Angeles had a collection of young pitchers that needed coaching and guidance and instead, they got computer analysis. 

When Maddon was brought in, it was a swing in the other direction, and looking back now, Arte must have stepped in and made personnel decisions over Eppler and that had to be the beginning of the end of Eppler's reign.

Maddon's history with scouting and coaching has given him a unique ability to help hitters tap into their potential, help players with the mental part of the game and help teams gel together. Carlos Pena credited Maddon with helping his career, as did Zobrist, as  did Jared Walsh, Taylor Ward, Matt Thaiss, and pretty much the entire Cubs team has echoed this. He makes a positive difference in the development of players and the cohesiveness of teams. All things that speculatively speaking, I'm not convinced Brad Ausmus did.

Mickey Callaway is probably the best pitching coach in baseball. Yeah, likes spin rate and velocity and movement just as much as the next guy, but the prominent difference between him and Doug White is Callaway actually knows how to help pitchers develop those skills, regardless of the presence of data. It's no coincidence that under his guidance, the Indians saw the development of Carrasco, Kluber and Clevinger. Bauer may have bumped heads with Callaway, but you can't ignore the growth that occurred under his guidance. It's no coincidence that Bundy broke out, Canning improved and Barria rediscovered whatever he lost, right after they started working with Callaway.

Now how does this all relate to Scioscia? He has connections with both Maddon and Callaway, as well as catching coach Jose Molina, and comes across really as a less quirky, more abrasive version of Maddon. Obviously, with Molina on hand, they don't need a catching coach. But if he came to Spring Training as a guest catching instructor and worked with the catchers for a week or so, there could be some value in it.

The thing is, as crazy as it sounds, I think the Angels would've actually made the playoffs in 2020 if Ausmus was the manager.

I say this because Ausmus would've had greater knowledge of the 2020 roster than Maddon did coming into the season. In the early parts of the season we saw that Maddon was still adjusting and getting familiar with the Angels personnel. For example, he didn't use guys like Bedrosian, Buttrey, and Ramirez while instead turning to Barnes and Milner. Maddon eventually figured out who to trust, but it was too late in a short season. Ausmus could've turned a few loses into wins with proper bullpen management at the beginning of the season, and that would've allowed the Angels to sneak into the postseason.

The 2020 Angels had the talent to make the playoffs but didn't partially because the team was built to be managed by a Billy Eppler type manager (like Ausmus) instead of an old school manager like Maddon.

Having a GM and Manager who are on the same page (which hopefully Minasian and Maddon are) is critical for a team.

It's interesting that Minasian (and the Angels as a whole) have yet to make a single waiver claim this offseason.

Like you said, waiver pickups were a common occurrence for Eppler. Maybe it's partially because the Angels didn't have a GM when most players got placed on waivers (at the end of the World Series after teams cleared their 40-man rosters).

56 minutes ago, eligrba said:

https://jaysjournal.com/2020/12/31/trevor-bauer-confirms-phone-meeting-blue-jays-tonight/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=flipboard

Apparently Bauer is scheduled to talk with Toronto this evening.

How is it possible I am the first one reporting this?

He said in his vlog a week ago that he was going to "hop on a call with the Dodgers" and that five people were going to be on the zoom call.

Also, Bauer said that he was talking with Toronto on Zoom during his new vlog that came out today. The vlog is a few days behind, and it sounded like that meeting actually took place on Christmas or a day or two after Christmas.

2 hours ago, Angels 1961 said:

Besides Bauer who is considered a top tier free agent pitcher? Jake Odorizzi, Tanaka? I'm just asking.

For free agents, it'd just be Bauer. I'd say Odorizzi and Tanaka are in the middle tier of free agent starting pitchers.

7 minutes ago, happybat4 said:

Willis or Quinlan.

Willits is actually the Yankees 1B/OF coach

Here's a question: would you trade David Fletcher in a deal for Castillo or Gray? Fans love him, but from a strictly baseball standpoint, they could probably sign a second basemen in free agency who could perform similarly to Fletcher at a reasonable cost.

The reason why you would do it because you can sign a second basemen out there for a reasonable amount, but you can't sign an elite starting pitcher unless you're shell out a ton of money.

This isn't a hiring, but this falls under news for Perry Minasian's front office.

Minasian said on AM830 today: “I’m looking forward to filling out the rest of the front office. There’s still a couple things I’d like to do -- and I’m working on that -- but hopefully, at some point soon, we can send a release out with exactly what we’ve been able to do.”

So it seems like there's still some more hirings to come.

2 minutes ago, Duren, Duren said:

Isn't Edmonds a broadcaster and part time coach with St. Louis? He lives there and seems embedded with that organization. Also a lot of weird stuff with his personal life. 

Maddon will probably bring in someone he has a personal connection to.

I searched Jim Edmonds to see if he was still working with the Cardinals, and all I saw were floods of articles about his personal life. So yeah, cross him off the list.

Considering that Feliciano was also the outfielders coach, I'd assume that they bring in someone who has a background in the outfield.

Some options that come to mind: Ron Roenicke, Darin Erstad, Termell Sledge, Mark Loretta, and Chris Denorfia.

I believe Roenicke also coached the Angels outfielders when he was the Angels third base coach under Scioscia (though I could be wrong). Erstad and Edmonds are former Angels. Sledge, Loretta, and Denorfia all worked for the Cubs under Joe Maddon.

6 minutes ago, Angels 1961 said:

He will be throwing out runners from RF

24 minutes ago, Angels 1961 said:

2019 injuries kept Schebler out and 2020 only 1 PA for Atlanta. You know Joc is not coming to halos Artie will not allow it. As of today Adell back to minors that leaves Ward and Schebler until Ohtani cannot pitch.

Why won't Arte allow Joc to sign with the Angels?

This is not what you would do, but what you think the Angels will do.

Two questions:

First, how many major league caliber starting pitchers do the Angels add this offseason?

Second, what option(s) do the Angels choose to add starting pitching this offseason?

I don't see a package including all 4 being moved. Maybe one of Castillo/Gray + one of Castellanos/Moustakas get moved, but the Reds would still want a lot in return.

I'd be willing to take on Castellanos or Moustakas to get Castillo or Gray, if the ask isn't outrageous.

Not for $5 million. For less than 1.5-2 million, sure. I also don't think you can count on him to make more than 15-20 starts.

6 hours ago, angelsnationtalk said:

But does it kind of worry you that with Minasian not coming from teams with money to spend that he leans more towards trading and lower-tier guys? Angels are in a different $ category than the Braves were and I feel like this could become a weak side of Minasian.... If he has one. 

I'd say it's the opposite. Eppler came from the Yankees, and he wasn't successful closing deals with higher tier guys.

A GM who can find value on the margins and at the bottom tier of free agency is important, especially for the Angels. The Angels have Trout and Rendon as stars, but they need to complement them, and they need to pick up players on value deals.

I'm interested to see if a number of free agents sign in the first few days of this week. I wonder if some players are just going to want to go into the holidays knowing where they will be playing so they expedite the process at the beginning of this week.