dimitrig

7 hours ago, OregonLAA said:

One of the worst farms in baseball and one of the worst teams in baseball. It was never this bad with Dipoto

He should have never signed Hamilton and Pujols.

Based on the topic I thought this post would be from Pujols himself.

5 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

He's a troll but he isn't wrong. Pujols is a shadow of his former self and enormously overpaid, the Angels don't have a farm team and pretty much suck.

I don't think we need a fan from another team to point out what we already know. This guy is a few years late in his prognostications.

1 hour ago, CAAngelsLifer said:

We could use Bartolo's power in our lineup these days.

Not to mention probably being the ace of the staff.

11 game hitting streak!  Simba's batting average higher than Pujols and Trout!

 

While I'm reading too much into April numbers....

 

Side note - Erick Aybar is hitting .136. 

The trade wasn't for Aybar. Aybar was to fill in a gap. Newcomb and Ellis are pitching very well.

The scouting report on this guy has always been that he makes a lot of contact and doesn't strike out much. He strikes out about 10% of the time and he's right there this year. I would not hold my breath about "When those hit balls start finding the gap he will hit for more average" because that's never been the case for him. He has had a higher than career BABIP for the Angels so far.

He makes contact but he needs better plate discipline because he's up there swinging at a lot of balls out of the zone. I'd like to see him have the same batting average but take more walks.

Championship is secured!!!

Doc I think you're missing my point a bit. Having a bullpen full of talented guys will still mean that there will be certain relievers that are not utilized as much as the others. You and I both know that Scioscia will generally go with the relievers he feels most comfortable with as most coaches do.

Invariably there will be under-utilized relievers, especially if the starters go deep into games, and you'll be paying them free agent dollars and you won't be extracting the value out of them that you paid for in the first place.

I don't disagree with the idea of having an elite bullpen just the fact that some of that investment will be wasted (and how much is certainly up for discussion).

Perhaps this is the way Eppler will go this offseason. Since we just gave up two of our depth pieces in the rotation building a high-end bullpen and then only have the starters go 5-6 innings max.

This was attempted in Colorado a couple of years back but they didn't have the right pieces in place. The Angels used Cory Rasmus in a short innings starting role two years ago combined with the bullpen which produced good results.

Acquiring or trading for 3-4 elite relievers and then specifically going to the short start/bullpen model would be a risky but interesting route to go in terms of offseason expenditures.

I agree with this philosophy. The bullpen just needs 2-3 solid guys. Sure, it would be better to have more, but then you are paying for an asset you may not use too often. Plus, relief pitchers not named Mariano Rivera are unreliable year to year. Spending money on mop-up guys is a luxury. If you can do it, great, but there are usually more pressing needs.

That's an understatement. Five stolen bases last year.

Mike will send him much more often for better or worse. Pujols stole 5 bases last year!

Day later and I still think it is outstanding. 

 

Nobody makes a defense better at SS than Simmons. Knowing you can't get better at a position is a big relief and building tool.

 

However, GM's should be judged by what they can do without dangling their top prospects. That's what separates this deal from being an A to the B that it is.

 

Such a premium position. Now out of worry. 

Angels would have done well to dangle a lot more of their top prospects. For every Weaver and Trout there are dozens of Kotchmans and Woods. If Simmons was our prospect traded to Atlanta instead of a proven MLB stud we'd be bitching that we traded him away.

I don't care how good defensively Simmons is, you don't trade an already plus defensive SS (regardless of contract year) that is also your best contact hitter, and then ADD two of your top level prospects on top sprinkled with $3 million for good measure, for a friggin' 9-hole hitter!!

 

One of the worst trades in recent memory for this team.

I think contract year is very important. If Aybar was the same age as Simmons with a similar contract you don't do the trade - but he's not.

This reminds me of when John Schuerholz took over the Braves in the early 1990s. His obsession with glove men helped the young pitching staff, but it also left the team with no bats on the bench. IMO this was a big contributing factor in the team winning 14 consecutive division titles but only one World Series win. They simply weren't built for the post-season, when situational hitting is a big deal.

 

Ironic that this trade was with Atlanta.

Yeah, winning 14 consecutive division titles would suck.

I love this trade. It would be nice if Simmons could hit a little, but Aybar was gone after next year. Now we don't worry about that position. I usually hate giving up pitching, but a good shortstop helps the pitching staff a lot.

Let's sign him to 3/$30M

I'm like some of the others here. Why wait until now if he knew he needed to have this done?

Company Time

Fat Trout

stallone's rogue cop movie Cobra deserves to be mentioned in this thread.

 

anything eddie murphy did after the beverly hills cops movies. seems like it's just a matter of time until he teams up with adam sandler for some delicious crappiness. 

 

any movie where rob schneider or david spade is the lead actor.

Bowfinger was hilarious!

Lots of people like the Nutty Professor, too.

It's called getting beat by teams better than you, that's all.  The Astros and Dodgers have players who are far better than ours in most positions.

Astros were considered a joke when they joined the Division.

Double feature:

Battlefield Earth

Shanghai Surprise

So, if I understand your post...he's been a big leaguer for 9 years...since 2006...and it just happens that in July of 2015 the league figured him out and he will never be a productive bat again?

 

Wow...Angels sure have bad timing.

I get your point but... Ibanez? Finley?

I would have preferred Dale Murphy.

Even at his current age (59).

This is the most egregious case of Scioscia going with veterans over youth to the detriment of the team. Kotchman and McPherson were two of the highest rated prospects in all the baseball at the time, and holding their own at the major league level.

Kotchman and McPherson both accomplished very little when they got the ABs.

Good job, mang!

After Wilson's last start why would the Angels trade him?

Because of his next start.

Walks are a false stat.