ettin

Juan has an excellent OBP..... On broadcast percentage

Now you are one of those people that has two first names: Shane Craig!

The pitch framing I already knew about and that was the reason I posted that Blind Player Pick thing the other day. If Iannetta can be traded before next season and if we can find a decent back up to Conger I'd be okay with that scenario. There is a possibility that Iannetta has been playing hurt: http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/mash-report-9313/ (see bottom list) However, I still feel that Chris' only contribution is his OBP. His catching ability is certainly in question. The Angels will really need to evaluate Iannetta and determine his health and worth before next season.

So I haven't even read all of the pages but I have said this previously: Sign him to a 20 year record shattering contract. 20 years/$500 million. 1) Shatters any contract in the history of baseball. 2) Makes him an Angel for life. 3) On the assumption he enters the Hall of Fame, he enters it as an Angel. 4) Allows you to build the team around him knowing he is here forever. 5) Pay him more in his age 25-32 seasons and then taper the value down on the front side (first two years) and the back side (last 9 years or so). 6) The Angels have their face of the franchise for two decades. 7) The Angels will spend $25 million per season for a player who has the greatest potential in possibly the history of baseball. When you count inflation in $25 million per year is a bargain for his talent level.

This thread gives me a positive vision of the future. EDIT: Originally this thread was titled 'Eternal Optomist'

I love Vladdy, he is an A+ human being in my book and his smile was infectious. When you love to play the game like he did, it makes it, as a fan, something special to watch. Best of luck in your retirement Big Daddy!

It was never a perfect stat and I will be the first to admit that. But to dismiss it entirely is garbage too tdawg. There are real signs with Parra such as increased velocity that point to a turnaround.

2.42 SIERA, 11 K/9 rate and his fastball velocity is up 1 mph. Get him before someone else does. His split fingered fastball and curveball are serving him well.

Manny Parra

That's 'two-ee' not 'tow-wer'. It's DiPoto all over again!

I'm hungry for ice cream.

Yes, the gentleman's agreement is a well-known contractual tool that binds two parties together and forces them to follow all of the rules set forth in said "agreement", that is bound by "bro law".

I think this is the third time you've said this now. Something about doing the same thing over and over comes to mind.

You know the funny thing is I really feel like Tommy Field might be a bigger piece than people realize. He's had good OBP in the Minors and he has some pop in his bat as he's average close to about a .160 ISO. Additionally he is above average defensively at most of the infield positions and is even passable at SS. I think he either enters a super-sub role where he gets 4-5 games a week or he will actually platoon with someone like Lindsey. Some of these waiver pickups and minor trades Dipoto made might pan out to some decent incremental value for the team. You notice that he seems to go after young spare parts that other teams didn't have the playing time for and they have above average backgrounds in the Minors but no real time in the Majors to really show what they are capable of. Sure some of them may not pan out but players like Nelson, Field, Lindsey, Jimenez, Green, and Calhoun have some real potential if they can hack it at the Major League level.

It was just a bit of a thought exercise Rageous. If I had thrown in their caught stealing numbers, passed balls, etc. people would have figured out who they were much easier. Also I knew they were both similar in terms of baserunning and overall defense so I didn't include those numbers for brevity's sake.

Although I like the idea of McCann's bat, he is a left-handed hitter like Conger and I am not sure that is the wisest investment of money for the team. If the team had confidence that Conger could hit from the right side this might be an idea but I don't think Hank's had enough repetitions to know if that is an option. Of course if Hank were traded then McCann might be someone to look at but I think Conger is doing well defensively (he was one of the top pitch framer's this season) and he is inexpensive as well.

If Choo comes at a reasonable price (unlikely with Boras as his agent) then I'm okay with it. You have to remember that Choo is on the wrong side of 30 now so his speed will be in decline mode more than likely. I just feel like we should do our best to get younger and more athletic. However if signing Choo allows us more flexibility in trading other players away for pitching then it is something to consider. Differerent question: If you want to sign Choo why not just put Calhoun in right field (or left) instead? I know that Choo gets on base more and has a little more pop but that saves almost $15 million per year?

True. However they have the Vern without the burden of the Vern's back breaking contract. That is much more tolerable than all of the Vern.

I haven't been watching as many of the games lately and I didn't realize how bad Nelson has been over the last 25 games or so. Too bad.

LOL

Drumroll...... Player B is Chris Iannetta's career platoon numbers against left-handed pitchers Player A is Kelly Shoppach's career platoon numbers against left-handed pitchers. Shoppach was just released off of a Minor League deal so obtaining him shouldn't be too difficult. The point is that he comes cheap and offers similar production to Iannetta and since the future appears to be Hank Conger, Shoppach would fit right into the platoon split with Conger picking up all of the at-bat's against RHP and Kelly against LHP. The real idea is that at $5 million next season, Iannetta is a tradeable asset if we need to trade him. This little exercise shows that we can replace his production with something similar if that ended up happening. Don't get me wrong there are arguments that could be made about which is better, I am just advocating that they are similar enough where you could trade Iannetta for a needed piece, save some cash, and pick up a piece that would replace a large part of his production.

Muwahahahaahaha! One already fell into my web! By the way, excellent Admiral Ackbar impression, Glen!

So who would you choose? Oh by the way Player A is 3 years older than Player B. Answer posted tomorrow (if any of you guess who these players are please keep it to yourselves until people have had a chance to vote).

Although I agree wins aren't a useful measurement tool, Scherzer clearly is a front runner in a very narrow group that would include Darvish. I am not sure why you are upset about his placement? Also there is still time left in the season. Scherzer or Darvish could get blown up like Hernandez did today. All three have done very well this season.

Some other names that jump out at me, from other clubs, are Baez, Bryant, Vizcaino, Purke, Almora, and Soler. Lot of good talented players on that team. Something about letting sleeping dogs lie comes to mind.