Quinlanforthewin

Injuries happen every year if it was Freese and Gia out last year it's two other starters this year. Santiago is average. Great the first half horrible the second and he might not even be on the team or make the rotation. Not a given that the Catchers are far better, Perez could easily regress and Soto is just another scrub added by Eppler. He is better than Iannetta but I'm better than Iannetta and I wasn't good enough to play Catcher in Little League. Agreed Cron will be an upgrade at DH but for every young guy we have that we expect to improve we have an aging vet who you should expect to decline. Bottom line is the talent on this roster last year should not have won as many games as it did, which is why Scioscia was in the hunt for Manager of the year somehow. The talent on the roster this year is not clearly upgraded and I think most of us see what the Rangers and Astros are doing and don't expect much.

Clearly going to be worse. Richards Skaggs and Heaney could step up but Weaver and Wilson are likely to get worse. Pen looks to be worse than last year as I expect Street and Smith to be worse. Salas is legit the 7th inning guy which is horrifying. And the offense will probably be worse unless you expect Pujols to hit 40 hrs again. Even if it's the same it's a bad team.

If we weren't going to spend this off-season that's one thing that's bad enough, but it really worries me that with the low budget Eppler chose Gentry, Nava, trading for Escobar and trading for Simmons. How on earth were Gentry and Nava the choices? These guys should not be on a MLB roster much less scooped up early in free agency. And then you trade young arms for an aging 3bmen coming off a career year but historically is a average MLB player and Simmons who adds nothing to a terrible offense. Just very troubling moves and makes me question the direction of this organization.

Yes the Newport Beach Boat Parade is exactly the space to start the smoke screen.

Then I'll do the best I can to attend some games this year but don't get your hopes up.

Nava hits .190 last year and is our number 2 hitter. Even with Trout this a bottom 5 offense. There's nothing else there. Trout is to this organization as Joe Thomas is to the Browns. One of the best players of his generation and absolute garbage surrounding him.

As a Lakers and Rams fan I cannot deal with the Angels turning into the same shit show. At least the Lakers and Rams have young talent. We have nowhere to go but down unless Trout decides to hit 80 HRs this year and Heaney turns into Kershaw.

Yes I can blame Arte. We have the best player in baseball in the last twenty years and once he hits his prime we decide to stop spending. It's ****ing idiotic.

How do you figure that LF platoon will be better. It's like we re-signed Joyce.

My ****ing **** the platoon is going to be Nava and Gentry. Why the hell did we trade our top prospects for Simmons? It's almost as if Arte told Eppler he was going for it all this off-season and then changed his mind. Or Eppler is a colossal moron. Good luck getting fans to the big A, let alone getting them to tune in with this disaster of an offense. For the first time in a while I can say I am not very excited for the season to start.

If we're not going to spend, as we haven't the past two off-seasons, this is not an organization that is going to compete anytime soon. Small fixes are not going to improve this team enough and there's no up and coming talent.

I still question Eppler...even if you have limited funds why are you signing Gentry and Nava? Garbage.

Nava was basically Matt Joyce last year and so was Craig Gentry. Not sure why we keep signing guys coming off sub .200 BA years as if we didn't have enough of those types last year.

I do not understand the Simmons trade if we were going to be ridiculously frugal in free agency. Makes zero sense. Why not keep your top prospect if you're just assembling a team to compete for 3rd place at best.

You're only focused on Heyward's bat, which should still improve. Heyward is a gold glove defender and good baserunner. Fowler is there years older and has played mainly in Colorado which inflates his career hitting stats. They don't really compare.

He seems to always be hurt. Already have several guys in our lineup with zero power, don't want to add another. Scioscia managed teams don't run anymore so I think his speed would go to waste. No thanks.

I know it's December 11th but the rhetoric coming out of the front office isn't promising. Definitely get the feeling they're not going to spend. I'm sure the team will be different but I don't expect a splashy LF signing. Trading CJ Wilson for a decent 2bmen is about the best I can hope for. As currently constructed this is a team that will fight for 4th place in the AL West. Bottom tier offense, above average starting pitching, average bullpen. Don't love surrounding Simmons with poor infield defense like Escobar, Johnny G and Cron, what's the point?

Via New York Daily news on Twitter: @FeisandNYDN: Hearing Angels may make a run at Cespedes. He's Roc Nation's second major MLB FA (Cano) but agent Kyle Thousand should have several suitors. Not sure how credible this guy is but I can't say I'm thrilled with Cespedes being the target over Upton or Heyward. Don't like throwing another 100 million at a guy on the wrong side of 30. Seems we should have learned our lesson by now. If we don't have a chance on Upton or Heyward, this is solid.

Considering he couldn't hit for shit in San Berdoo I don't think it matters

We didn't even need a freaking SS! We need plenty of other positions. And now our awful farm system is even worse. I don't get this organization.

This is ****ing stupid

You get a little better defensively, worse offensively, and you give up your top prospect. Unreal.

Alden Gonzalez ‏@Alden_Gonzalez 1m1 minute ago I'm told, thru industry source, that Sean Newcomb, the Angels' top prospect, is headed to Atlanta in the deal. He would be the headliner. **** THIS

Aybar's WAR 5.3. Simmons WAR 5.2. Better not be Newcomb going.

Wow! Hope we didn't give up the farm for a SS who can't hit. Should be really fun to watch defensively. Seems like Johhny G needs to be gone or it's going to be a very lopsided double play combo.