Angelsjunky

This team is pathetic.

Not quite ready to give them those grades. With a strong finish, yes. Let's take an outside analyst who is generally well regarded: John Sickels. In his offseason rankings he gave Jones a B/B+ and Marsh a B/B-. I don't think Jones has improved his stock yet: he's holding his own in A+ but he's also stagnating with the bat and the reports of his 2B defense are mixed. I wouldn't downgrade him, just not upgrade him. With a strong finish he could be a B+. As for Marsh, I would upgrade him a bit, probably to B/B+, maybe even B+/B or straight B+. But not quite in the A- range. But we're quibbling and its close.

I get it and I'm very excited about Marsh and Jones, even seeing positives about this year. I just think the author is overstating their "buzzworthiness," while ignoring someone like Rengifo whose performance should catapult him up the charts. EDIT: But yeah, my expectations were probably a bit high. I was hoping/expecting Jones to really dominate in A+ and receive a AA callup by the second half, and I was expecting/hoping for Marsh to speed past both Adell and Jones, especially after his hot start.

I heard Craig is playing today, Chuck.

Just to be clear, those grades are "based upon their prospect and team performance so far." The operative word is "Performance" - meaning, these aren't farm grades as a whole. Still, it is very encouraging, although the author overstates Jones and Marsh, both of whom have had significant struggles this year and underperformed expectations. No mention of Rengifo, who might be the most underrated prospect in baseball.

Yeah, I know. He was a very good player for the Angels but became a truly great one for the Cardinals. And let's be honest: probably most players in the 90s to mid-00s were juicing.

Canning needs some time. Suarez is closer but I'm worried he'll be exposed at the major league level. I think his upside is about what we're seeing from Barria right now: A solid #3-4 type starter.

As for the OP, I don't fully disagree and while I am far closer to Stoneman than I am Dipoto, I also realize that there is such a thing as overly hoarding and missed opportunities (e.g. Miguel Cabrera). But who to you propose trading? Most of the Angels prospects that are worth trading are either too valuable to the near future of the team (Canning, Suarez, Thaiss), not yet at their peak value in terms of trade (Jones, Rengifo, Marsh, Adell, etc), or way too young and we don't know how good they'll be (Deveaux, Adams, Jackson, Knowles, Soriano, etc). I suppose they could trade players like Hermosillo, Fletcher, Fernandez, Ward, Walsh, Rivas, etc...but even a lot of these guys have good value for the team in the near future. In the end it all comes down to what the Angels need vs. what they have in excess. They need relievers and maybe some offense. Their rotation is pretty good going forward, especially with Canning and Suarez on the verge. For trade capital they have some fairly good prospects and, of course, Garret Rchards (if he's heathy). I suppose Kinsler has a bit of value, but probably only for a salary dump and second tier prospect. Given that we're probably not looking to patch holes for a playoff run, you only go after relievers like Brad Hand, but he's going to be very expensive and the Angels will almost certainly be outbid by a legit playoff contender like the Red Sox. Probably better just to wait until the postseason and build a bullpen with the money freed up by Kinsler, Valbuena, etc departing. The point being, easier said than done. We can't assume the Simmons trade is the new norm, and don't forget that cost the Angels a very good young pitcher in Newcomb.

And a bad one. I know Kennedy was a major part of 2002, but Edmonds went on to be one of the best players in baseball. Consider their WAR after the trade: Edmonds: 45, 42.8 for Cardinals Kennedy: 18, 15 for Angels Bottenfeld: 0.4, 0.3 for Angels Ouch.

I would say there are three general waves of the Angels minor league talent: WAVE 1 (Ready Now or by Opening Day 2019): Fletcher, Fernandez, Hermosillo, Ward, Thaiss, Canning, Suarez, maybe Rengifo WAVE 2 (Ready mid-2019 to 2020): Rengifo, Adell, Marsh, Jones, Walsh, etc WAVE 3 (Ready 2021 or beyond): Maitan, Adams, Jackson, Deveaux, Knowles, Martinez, Soriano, C Rodriguez, Rivas, etc There is talent in all three waves, but the highest upside is probably 2 and 3. So I agree with both WW and Stradling, although it depends upon how things shape up over the last couple weeks. If the Angels keep drifting further behind, I think it is time to shed as many parts as possible (Kinsler, Valbuena, Marte, Calhoun if possible, maybe Richards if they an get a nice package in return) and bench others (Pujols, maybe Calhoun) and play as many of the wave 1 players as possible to get them some seasoning for next year and to see who might be ready.

Orem just scored 8 runs in the bottom of the 6th, including four HR, one of them hit by Maitan, his second of the year.

Last 11 games: .162/.367/.243, 82 wRC+ Dude really sucks.

Well, it looks like we were one year too early on this guy.

Anyone know why Adell didn’t play today?

I'm down to 186, from being 250+ a year ago, 260 two years ago. How about that. My goal is to see 169 on the scale, then build a bit of muscle and stabilize in the 170s.

Out of the kindness of my heart and for your education, I went through the rosters of all 30 teams can up with an entire team of players that don't suck as much as Trout: Catchers: Chris Iannetta, Bobby Wilson, Jett Bandy, Carlos Perez, Jeff Mathis 1B/DH: CJ Cron, Mark Trumbo, Ji-Man Choi, Kendrys Morales, Efren Navarro Infielders: Jean Segura, David Freese, Andrew Romine, Gordon Beckham, Jose Rondon Outfielders: JB Shuck, Cameron Maybin, Randal Grichuk, Ryan LaMarre, Peter Bourjos SP: Sean Newcomb, Tyler Chatwood, Jhoulys Chacin, Bartolo Colon, Wade LeBlanc, Hector Santiago, Mike Clevinger RP: Yusmeiro Petit, Fernando Rodney, Brooks Pounders, Will Smith, Drew Rucinski, Kevin Jepsen, Mike Morin, Joe Smith, Alan Busenitz, Darren O'Day There you go - 37 players who don't suck as much as Trout, and I may be missing some.

He was such a badass, especially in his 1972-76 peak when he was Troutian with a 47.3 WAR, averaging 9.5 per season.

Trout isn't getting less than 10/$400M and probably more than that. My guess is that both Harper and Machado get something like 10/$350M each, with Harper at least insisting on an opt out after three years so he can prove he's more the "odd year Harper" than the "even year Harper." Then Angels will then offer Trout something like 10/$400M and end up extending him for something like 10/$450M with incentives and options going up to 12/$550M.

Including himself.

I know. He isn't at the Hamilton/Pujols level of disappointment, it is just that his numbers are on the "soft side" of acceptability. He's having a typical Justin Upton season, just not one on par with his better years (2009, 2011, 2017), but he's being paid like 2017 was the new norm.

Trout still sucks. He got lucky on that HR last night. Napoli 2.0.

I've been pretty disappointed with Upton this year. I didn't expect him to repeat 2017, but maybe .270/.850 with 30-25 HR would have been nice. He's a solid player, but really no better than an above average player being paid like a star. Hmm...sounds familiar.

Well obviously he needs more time in the minors, @Dick B Back. I just think there's a tendency to expect prospects to excel right away when most need time to adjust. Herm is raw but he's got a ton of tools to work with. Maybe he goes down until September, is called up and gets some more playing time, then has a good spring and is in contention for the 4th outfield spot in 2019. I see him eventually settling in as a .270/.350/.450 hitter with 15 HR and 30 SB. But it might take a few years to get there. He has the look of a player that doesn't hit his stride until 26-27 or so.

I remember when Jimmy Barnes was a sleeper prospect for some on this board. Oh well. Glad to see Martinez moving up. I have high hopes for him and owuld love to see him work his way into the future OF conversation, or at least become a valuable trade chip.