BritAngel

There's a significant difference between 1.5 years of control and 7. 
You make that trade when you're already in the 2nd wildcard and within striking distance of the division leader, not when you're 5.5 games out from the 2nd WC. 
I know he's controlled through next year but I just don't think it's a trade the Angels win. 
If you're going to trade Marsh, you trade him for a pitcher controlled past 2023. Just how I see it.

I would trade Marsh + for two years of Gallo without blinking. 
Great defense. 80-grade arm. Good speed. Enormous power. High OBP. 

I actually like what they've done with all the Ps.  Some of them are lottery ticket types...which is good.  I just am surprised and a bit disappointed there hasn't been one catcher thrown into the mix at some point.  But whatevs...all good

The Los Angeles Dodgers have selected all pitchers with their 8 picks so far today (only 2 being high schoolers with their first 2 picks). The San Francisco Giants have taken 9 straight college pitchers with their first 9 picks with the exception of taking a college outfielder just now in the 10th round.

You know one name that was a million times tied to the Angels in draft discussions was Ty Madden.
And then he went 32nd.
Can we all acknowledge that if the Angels had grabbed Ty Madden at #9, we all would have just just nodded and said “good job” or “that’s seems about right” not knowing that he would have been passed over for 23 more picks?
I mean, it’s not like Bachman wasn’t highly touted as a mid first round pick all over the place.  He was.
So let’s just be glad the Angels have another high ceiling pitching prospect and trust the new front office. . . until they actually give us a legitimate reason to not trust them.

We all know Kumar’s name because was once touted as possibly the #1 overall.  Then he was probably top three.  Then projected to be top 6-7ish. . . 
And Angel fans then salivated that MAYBE a couple of teams would make weird picks and Kumar might be there at #9.
There is a reason he was drifting.  That is no accident.  So the Angels passed and he went tenth.
I am not going to rip the Angels for not taking him.
You know when the draft is pretty far off, all the projections are mostly based on stats and visual analysis of watching guys play.
As the draft gets closer and teams hone in on smaller lists of names, they start to really dig into these guys as people.
As this discovery unfolds, there is going to be movement up and down draft boards based on all kinds of things.
Don’t catch a falling knife.  Rocker only went one spot after the Angels.  Yes, that very well could end up being a mistake in hindsight.
But it isn’t automatically a mistake just because Rocker was often ranked higher than the spot the Angels picked.
The question is do we have a good GM that is good at drafting.
This is the kind of pick where we find out.
I have read about 25 scouting reports on Bachman now and I don’t see anything that tells me this guy can’t be a damn good major league pitcher.
I am not going to let passing on all the obvious Rocker hype spoil my enthusiasm for Bachman.  If this front office is good at drafting, this very well could end up being the specific proof of their drafting prowess.
Let’s have the patience to find out.

Exactly.  The Tigers have the same number of playoff appearances since 2015...I know few people on here will probably agree with me, but sometimes it's better to suck for a few years than to be mediocre.  It pays off more in the long run.  (And the Tigers had a pretty good run from 2006-2016)

Lol so when do we get our reward? 

There's a time and a place to pick bonus minded prospects. Depending on the outcome of picks 1-8, picking ninth overall is probably NOT the time or the place. 
If Jobe, Rocker, Leiter (obviously) are all off the board, then pick a Bachman or Madden type. 
Bit probably the last thing the Angels should be doing at this point in time is picking some prep arm ninth that otherwise would've gone 40th. The system itself needs more upside arms and that neither lends itself to best player available or meeting team needs. 
Don't F this up like you did the bullpen, Perry. 

Desperately need TWO true setup men and good health going forward.
No rentals, controllable required!
Ohtani, Cobb, Sandoval, Heaney, and Suarez can handle 5/6 of the rotation just fine.   CRod could well be back within a month, stretched out to 90 pitches.  

Then if Detmers is ready come mid-late August, Suarez can go back to being the key long innings guy and occasionally handle late innings work.

i don't get too worked up over mlb drafts, but if they pass up on one of the top SP prospects to draft a high school CF, then i'm gonna lose my shit.

Impossible to like this post enough. Going back in time, the closest thing to a stupid pick the Angels made in the first round is probably Taylor Ward, as he was projected to go in third round, which was just Dipoto being Dipoto. And even then, Ward has developed into a passable major league outfielder. 
But during Eppler's tenure, they typically did an exceptional job with their second round picks. Brandon Marsh, Griffin Canning, Jeremiah Jackson, and Kyren Paris. Every single one of those guys either ended up as top 100 prospects, or appears to be on their way to earning such a distinction. I don't know if there is a single team in baseball that has done better in the second round than the Angels. 
And draft grades are more like reactions, rather than actual assessments. How many times in life have we all hated something at first but grown to love them later? Just as an example, when the Angels drafted Trout, I didn't like it. It had nothing to do with Trout, I loved his build and physical tools, they were incredible. But I didn't see the point in drafting him and Grichuk back to back. I thought they should've drafted one or the other and went with a pitcher with the other pick. But that just shows that judging, as you would put it, a marathon in the first 100 yards is ridiculous. 

Here's what I think will happen; Heaney and Cobb have really solid chance 9f getting trade. Heaney needs to get on his groove again.
Iglesias, If the price is right than yes, but if not I dont think he gets traded.
Iglesias the SS. I think gets moved. 
 
 

If we get a top Prospect for Iglesias. Than make the trade, if we can try to resign him.
I really doubt we trade Iglesias for any small. We've finally gotten a closer!

If you are in last place, there is no reason to hold on to any expiring contracts and you might as well get whatever prospects you can get for those players.
But two things:
1). The Angels are arguable “in it” and not in last place
2). The vast majority of the expiring contracts on the Angels are not going to get you high level prospects.  They will return additional bodies where you might  get lucky that one turns into a high impact prospect.
The goal is always for the major league team to win.  I just don’t see this team throwing in the towel with Trout coming back and still sitting within striking distance (especially if you can further improve with other trades.)
I would like to see the Angels intelligently use some minor league trade capital to land an impact starter that is controllable for a few more years.
Now, if the Angels can land a premium starter, I am totally comfortable with additionally trading away Bundy or Heaney since there are only so many rotation spots.
But the last thing I want to see is the Angels just dump these expiring contracts, punting on this season, just to land a group of C level prospects that will likely never have any meaningful impact on the major league roster. 

Any trade for a closer doesn't make sense because Raisel is doing ok and he has shown that he's not as good if pushed to non closer role.
You would be better off trying to get another 7th and 8th inning guy which would also cost way less than Kimbrel.

Having a real closer is neat.

Honestly, at this point I don't envision Shohei re-signing with the Angels. It's not to be a Debbie Downer, I promise. But looking at the situation....
1. Billy Eppler signed him. He signed with the Angels because of that connection he felt. Eppler is gone now. 
2. He's gone through three managers in four years. Lots of instability in the coaching staff. The pitching coaches haven't been consistent with him, and the medical staff certainly hasn't had answers as to how to keep him on the field other than "rest". Though that's hardly their fault.
3. Some of the players he's developed bonds with, Calhoun, Kinsler, Valbuena, Pujols, they're gone. There has been so much carry over. The only one that's been constant is Trout. 
4. The Angels we're supposed to win in 2018 when he arrived and that didn't happen. They were supposed to be healthy and better in 2019 with him at DH and they lost even more. 2020 was a lost season for most, and the Angels lost yet again. 2021 was supposed to be their season, Shohei is back, they've got a supporting cast around him, and still, this is a .500 ball club that can't seem to get out of it's own way or catch a break. 
5. Shohei wanted to go somewhere where he can build his own legacy and not live in the shadows of former Japanese greats. He certainly was willing to listen to what teams like the Mariners, Rangers, Red Sox and Yankees presented him, but ultimately he wanted to make his own way, and he has in an Angel uniform. Re-signing with them to establish brand or legacy is no longer necessary. He's shown the whole world who he is, and now he doesn't live in anyone's shadow regardless of team. He can go anywhere and not worry about drawing comps to Matsui or Ichiro. He's Ohtani.
But if the Angels win in 2022-2024, and he is healthy and establishes a close relationship with Maddon and Minasian, and they offer him more money than anyone else, then yes, he'll stay. But that's a pretty narrow scope. I'm just going to enjoy having him for as long as I can. 

There is but the defense problems cannot be resolved other than quit using Rojas, Rengifo and Wong in the outfield. We have a fixed roster for all three positions, they just have get their ass off the IL. Ward is passable for right field, Upton is Upton and Trout is awesome.
On the infield Walsh is a work in progress but he is no Dunn statue at first base. Iglesias is a shortstop, not great but passable. Fletcher is a very good compliment at 2nd base. The head scratcher is Rendon that probably made more errors this year than his previous five. I'd have to look it up but he has not been good. Suzuki is garbage, I'll give you that. 
The point is, the defense is what it is and adding a couple better gloves doesn't keep Canning and Heaney from giving away 0-2 counts for walks and dingers in their three innings of tossing 80 pitches. 
Raise the pitching floor and the defense doesn't have to chase so many rockets after sitting on their heels waiting for a 3-2 count resolution. The starter ERA is not a bullshit stat at this point. They are what they are. Crap.

Norris and Boyd were both Blue Jays prospects in Minasian’s time there. I see both being good fits here and shouldn’t be exorbitantly expensive.
Based off my research on what Toronto and Atlanta did when Perry was there, I’m expecting a blend of buying and selling - there was a lot of change of scenery type moves made. 
Personally, I’d be seeing how far Adell, probably one of Canning/CRod, and maybe Jackson would go in regards to Berrios, Castillo, Marquez + Story, Alcantara, Gallen…you could improve the MLB team in a big way now and later without really hurting it. 

I would package him and Adell for the best starter with three plus years of control I can get. 

There's several guys probably in the 'Stroman tier' that I think make sense...Rodriguez, Gausman, Matz, Pineda, Duffy, Gray, DeSclafani, Rodon, Wood, Ray, maybe Lynn, some much better/older/riskier/more expensive, but all have a reasonable outcome to live in a good #2-#3 range, not break the bank, and be a solid #4 at worst. And there's time for guys like Velazquez, Norris, Perez, Davies, even Bundy, Quintana, Heaney and Cobb to show something to work into that too. 
Deadline:
Deal any vet possible; get fringe AAA depth (Buttrey, Reyes, Sandoval, Thaiss, Rojas, Rengifo types) or low-A boom-bust lotto tickets Ideally, you get an MLB-ready decent/cheap back-up C or glove-first SS in there, plus a couple RP-types. Boom or bust low-levels focus on SP prospects (like Salvador). That should not be hard to ask for and receive. From that same stash, deal Adell + for Berrios, Castillo, Marquez, or a similar frontline arm Sorry, I like Adell but we need to try to win next two years and he isn't lighting it up. We need an arm, Ward is fine, and we still have Marsh, Adams, Martinez, Wilson, FA... Offseason:
Sign one of the vet SPs mentioned above, maybe a cheap vet flyer if we had to trade arms in the Adell deal Add someone like Lorenzen or Norris who can start/relieve If the money is there, sure, go hog and maybe sign someone like Semien, Taylor, Villar, or Crawford who won't command a huge deal, unless Rengifo kicks ass this fall. Keep an eye on star SS market for value. Sign a closer, and then go a route similar to this winter, with a bunch of vets on cheap one-year deals and internal options. There's no sure-fire fix for the pen, this is easiest to tear-down and rebuild. I don't think any of that is too fantastical, and it balances the MLB team and each rank of the minors out nicely.
Rotation leans a lot to the youth, but should have a fearsome front with Ohtani, trade, and FA acquisitions, but we have a bunch of options to work with on the back. Lineup should continue to be fairly solid. Bullpen will always be a work of progress for every team, not just the Angels, keep it cheap and free of big contracts so you aren't stuck with deadweight in there AAA has a nice stable of optionable arms in who we receive, plus Hernandez, Higgins, Warren, Wantz, and should have decent MLB position player depth still between other returns and current internal options now AA should start to get a good chunk of arms from the strong A ball ranks this year (Killam, Smith, Salvador) to be tested A ball should get the influx of minor league 'mashers' we're seeing in AZL, coupled with some lotto-ticket Salvador-type trade returns

All of this is highly subjective, so feel free to tell me I'm an idoit. Very simply, a 50 FV prospect projects to be an average regular; everything above that is good or better (55 = good regular, 60 = all-star, etc), and everything below that is worse (45 = fringe regular/platoon, 40 = bench, etc).
LIKELY means I would be surprised if the player in question wasn't traded. MAYBE means there's at least a 50-50 chance. UNLIKELY means I would be surprised, but it could happen given the right set of circumstances.
The Players Most Likely to Be Traded (in rough order)...
Raisel Iglesias - LIKELY, as plenty of contending teams could use him for the stretch run. He's probably worth the most at the deadline and could earn the Angels either a good to very prospect (50-55 FV) or a couple solid ones (45 FV). In a best of all worlds scenario, the Angels get a 55 FV guy and a 45 FV guy, but we shouldn't bank on it.
Alex Cobb/Andrew Heaney - One of them is LIKELY, either one on their own or both is MAYBE. Kevin Goldstein at Fangraphs called Cobb the "most underrated" trade target; hopefully major league teams agree. Both could be useful for a contender needing a fourth solid starter, so have some value. I think either could get the Angels a prospect in the 50 FV range. Heaney is younger and a perennial tease for being a #2-3, rather than the #3-4 he usually is, so might get the Angels a slightly better return.
Mike Mayers/Steve Cishek/Tony Watson/Alex Claudio - LIKELY at least one gets traded, MAYBE for each. I think Cishek or Watson would be most likely, with their veteran cred. All of these guys would get no more than a decent Rondon (30-35 FV, maybe 40 FV if they're lucky).
Jose Iglesias - MAYBE. He could be a useful bench player/fill-in guy on a contender. Won't get them much in return, but maybe an intriguing low level prospect in the FV 40 range.
Phil Gosselin/Juan Lagares/Kurt Suzuki - MAYBE. Gosselin has played well and might catch someone's eye, to fill a similar role as Jose Iglesias as a bench guy. Similarly with Lagares for a contender wanting a defensive 4th outfielder. Suzuki is less likely, but maybe someone will see the name and think, "I know that guy, he can hit a bit." None will get more than Rondons in return.
Dylan Bundy/Jose Quintana - MAYBE one, UNLIKELY both. A team might take a flyer on one of these guys, and the Angels would probably take whatever they could get, at least for Quintana. I think both will remain on the team and fill out innings, and either could be re-signed for a very cheap contract as a back-up plan. I don't think either would get more than a 35-40 FV prospect in return, and the Angels might have to pay some of their contract.
Justin Upton - UNLIKELY. The scenario in which Upton is traded is this: he comes back and resumes where he left off, channeling his 2018 self. Not a star, but a good player who could plug a hole on a contender (gross). Someone wants him, but needs money in return and the Angels have to pay half or more of next year's $28M salary. I don't think they trade him if it is much more than half, though, unless they get a prospect in return. Someone would throw in a Rondon or two.

Dark Horse 1: Taylor Ward - MAYBE/UNLIKELY. A team wants to fill a hole and acquire a cheap, useful player. Ward fits the bill and is expendable with Thaiss in AAA. The Angels probably wouldn't trade him for less than a solid 45+ FV prospect, but someone might cough that up. As solid as Ward has been, he's expendable and has limited upside (fringe regular, solid bench player). Meaning, he's the type of player that 45 FV prospects are projected to become, so if the Angels can get a 45+ pitcher, it would make sense for them.
Dark Horse 2: Jaime Barria - MAYBE/UNLIKELY. He got an extra year of options this year, but will have to be on the major league roster next year (I believe), but there's probably no place in the rotation, so he'll end up being a swingman. But someone might see potential here and could offer a decent (45 FV) prospect. If the Angels can get a higher upside lottery ticket for Barria, I could see them trading him.
Everyone Else - UNLIKELY. The Angels are unlikely to be buyers, so won't trade any of their cost-controlled young players and prospects, unless they're fringy and packaged to sweeten a deal. 

Usally i am on the boat for the best available player should be picked, but I think this year it shou;ld be more of a team need vs best player. I am just tired of wasting money on free agents starting pitcher, and them sucking, while our young guys pitch much better than them. I truly believes that our best chances of devloping a solid rotation will be Internally! lucky for us, we're half ways there. When i mean a team need, I mean a guy with a good upside. 
Othani is our Ace
Canning, I'll be frank, he's been an disappointment this year.But he's pitched much better last two months, ERA combined over the last 45 inngs is under 4. he's been a 3/4 so far. 
Sandoval: the surpsie. I think he can be a guys with an ERA in the uppers 3s and low 4, while eating solid inngs, with the upside to be a solid 3.
Than you have Detmers and Rodrigues, both with high upsides.
Even with high upside arms that are ready, I would still like us draft a pitcher! It never hurts to have too many pitchers. If the best avaialble player is a pitcher, perfect! if not, you still draft a pitcher with atleast good upside!  

Trade him.  Get value.  Then try to bring him back as a FA.