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I think Trumbo and Kendrick are the two most likely players to be traded this off season. Close seconds might be Aybar and Bourjos.

Injury prone implies that he gets injured through his own rough play. Getting hit on the wrist by a pitch isn't "injury prone". Just a clarification because that phrase is tossed around and players get tagged with it even though the injury happened through no fault of their own.

Looking at his career numbers in the Minors I'd point out the following comparison: Christian Colon: .274/.339/.374/.713 Player B: .269/.364/.424/.788 Player B is Tommy Field who is already on our roster. Both are above average defensively. Colon hasn't been doing particularly well as of late in the Royals Minor League system so I am not sure what we really gain here? Aybar should bring back a top young starting pitching prospect + ? Colon may have been a #1 pick once but he certainly has seen his stock fall and I'd be wary of him, in my humble opinion. I'd rather roll the dice on Field or even Romine.

There should be none.

Andrus was extended mainly for his defense. I agree his bat is light in general but he does have speed on the bases too.

Unless Bourjos and/or Hamilton is traded he won't start, although I agree that he could easily be a starter. The great thing is that he can be depth in our outfield. This is a big reason why I think Mark Trumbo will be traded this off season as Calhoun can easily fill the role of a DH/RF/1B back up and get 3-5 game appearances a week filling in on a starter's day off or hitting in the DH spot. I could easily imagine Calhoun, Hamilton, and Pujols (and possibly Conger hitting DH too) rotating in and out of RF, DH, and 1B. Having depth for injuries is super important so even if he is in a back up role I'll be happy. If someone goes down we don't lose much if anything (heck we may even gain value!).

Aging 2B to what will have to be a 7 year/$200+ million contract.... no thanks I'd rather keep Howie.

Thought this was funny: http://www.fangraphs.com/not/a-paradox-unparadoxed/

Well, frankly, the site has been very negative lately. We can't find happiness in even the small things and most threads turn into brawls over what would normally be reasonable conversations about the many aspects of Angels baseball. I understand that people are deeply disappointed about this season (and the previous three before them) but, in the end, this is just a game and I like to come here to have some intelligent conversations about the team and not have it devolve into "Player X sucks!", "Fire blankety blank!", and "So and so is so stupid!", etc. This is my frustration.

Okay sorry dislike wasn't the correct word. However you do firmly believe those two points above and I firmly disagree. Experienced managers like Scioscia are in relatively short supply and I think a lot of front offices would seriously consider hiring him and even taking on his contract. As far as the "power and authority" part I think that is a pretty overblown perception about Mike and I think the real solution is to find a like minded GM to Mike's style of managing without the GM having to "move aside" for Scioscia.

You are correct about Weiss, but absolutely wrong about the Marlins. These are the same Marlins who signed Reyes and wanted to sign Pujols. They have plenty of money to spend on pretty much anyone they want. The Astros have stated a commitment to Porter but as some of our match ups have shown this year Porter clearly didn't understand some of the fundamental rules of the game that a manager should know by heart. The Stro's will probably keep him but I'm sure they would consider picking Scioscia up if the opportunity presented itself.

You shouldn't telegraph the joke, it loses its humor.... let people pick it out on their own.

No actually I think the Dodgers still might be interested but everything hinges on how far they get into the playoffs. I didn't specifically pick crappy NL teams, only teams that seem likely to need managers. By the way the Mets could easily handle the payroll obligation and in fact the Astros could as well with their new Regional Sports Network deal so that throws your money concerns out the door. You doubt that other teams want Scioscia simply because of your dislike for Scioscia. You shouldn't confuse the two.

Mets, Marlins, Rockies, maybe the Astros.

Actually Scout that very well could be the reason why it didn't go through. It would be interesting to know which teams Howie can block and I wonder if that list will change at the beginning of the New Year?

Ever player who comes up is not Mike Trout, impacting the game immediately. Everyone has to start somewhere and build up their skills and confidence. I'm not saying he hasn't done poorly in his 21 PA's with the Angels big league club but you are writing him off before he ever really gets a chance to show whether he has it or not. You might be right Wally but you could easily be wrong as well. Until he gets consistent playing time in the Majors I wouldn't write him off. This is true of any player coming up in their first year (or even two or three or four years....).

Well the important thing is that it didn't cost us anything to get him. I agree he still has to prove himself at the Major League level but he certainly has not had any consistent playing time to do that yet. Looking at his Minor League numbers shows that he could potentially provide some value at the Major league level whether it is in a regular position, platoon, or even a utility role.

The Rockies released him because at that time in November 2012, they had some players coming off of the 60-day DL and really didn't have a position (SS) open for him (who is really going to replace Tulowitski?). The Twins jumped on him (and Josh Roenicke, son of Ron Roenicke) and then tried to sneak him through waivers to provide depth at AAA and that is when the Angels grabbed him. I don't think there is anything wrong with that waiver claim as we are trying to do the same thing other teams are, which is building depth. I'd certainly rather have Tommy Field as a potential backup/regular in addition to all defensive glove Romine than not have anyone ready at all if Aybar got hurt.

That's quite possible Rageous, as Aybar could easily still be here (and that would be my preferred choice). I'm just saying that we have a player here who has NOT been given real consistent playing time at the Major League level and who has an above average reputation defensively combined with a reasonably solid career .788 OPS in the Minors. For a shortstop that isn't bad and he could be a stop gap to one of our developing prospects on the farm. It is simply an option which is all that I am really saying if we found a good trade package for Aybar.

Yes 75 plate appearances split across three Major League seasons will usually limit what you can show at the Major League level.

I know it's the PCL but an .875 OPS this year is nothing to sneeze at Chuck.

Disagree with this statement, the rest is accurate. We have a good core of players we just need to make a couple of trades and free agent signing to improve our rotation and bullpen and we are right back in it next season in my opinion. Trout, Pujols, Aybar, Weaver, Wilson, et. al. is nothing to sneeze at as the basis for a contending team. Other players like Conger, Bourjos, Calhoun, et. al. can certainly add value and support to that main group.

http://gradingonthecurve.com/2013/09/09/angels-shortstop-tommy-field-breaking/ Well Jason Mast just stole my thunder as I was working on a "Case for Tommy Field" article for AW.com. However Jason pretty much summarizes my feelings that Field could be a reasonable replacement for Aybar if we chose to trade him. One thing I would point out is that Mast talks about Field's poor 2012 which I think was definitely BABIP driven as Field posted a pretty low number which I'm sure helped to depress his slash line. Ringolsby, in early 2011, was the one who called Field the best defensive infielder in his Rockies prospect report and later in December Sickel's called Field "a scrapper who shouldn't be underestimated." The point being is that I think we have a serviceable replacement for Erick if we were to trade him this off season. I've always like Aybar but Field has a Minor league career .364 OBP and what he may lack in overall speed or contact ability he makes up for in being able to get on base. Finally, throughout Field's Minor league career, he has hit pretty well from both sides of the plate which is a bonus. He probably won't hit for high average but he has some pop that could translate into low double digit HR's.

It is hard to do your job when you have someone micro-managing you. If that is really the case with Moreno and Dipoto, then Arte needs to take responsibility and give free rein to Jerry to build the team his way.

I would agree with this. Aybar still has above average defense at SS, above average speed, and can put the ball in play on a regular basis. The thing that I am concerned about is how much longer can he continue to give us above average value? It seems like he slipped slightly on the defensive and base stealing side this year and part of that might be BABIP related but overall now might be a good time to move him if possible if the trade really improved the team enough to balance out his loss at SS. Many of you talk about Andrew Romine being a possible replacement but I would also suggest Tommy Field. Both are above average defensive options with Field's bat being a bit better while Romine probably has a touch more speed. If losing Aybar and replacing them with one of these nets us a young, cost-controlled starting pitcher plus ? I think you'd have to seriously consider it.