Pancake Bear

I think Moustakas was a better idea two years ago. But he's 31 now and the Angels really don't need him. 

How many years does the front office have to pass on Moustakis before people stop lobbying for us to sign him?

Hey guys, I found Arte’s burner account. 

Hey guys, I found Arte’s burner account. 

Hey guys, I found Arte’s burner account. 

I must’ve missed the score. 

perhaps this is why Cole didn't want to wear an Astros hat one second longer than he had to. 
we could use a man with such high moral character like him on our team.

185 innings, 238 strike outs, 3.5 WAR equals trash.  You’re crazy if you don’t see the value of that in a rotation, especially with 3 years of club control.  We can argue how much he’s worth to acquire, Or where he should slot into a rotation.  But if you actually think he’s trash and shouldn’t be a starting pitcher then you’re ridiculous. 

He was top 25 in innings pitched last year and top 10 in K’s.  There is value in that.  Is that value worth Marsh, I don’t think so.  But as a guy that throws you some innings, yea, there is a bunch of value.  He’s averaged over 150 innings the last 3 years with a 4.7 ERA.  He went at least 6 innings in 21 of his 32 starts.  He gave up 3 earned runs or less in 21 of his starts last year.  But trash.  

This is a genuine issue. The Angels, for instance, are a team that needs multiple pitchers and can’t afford to wait on Cole. If he sits around waiting for a mythical figure that will never arrive, the teams with the deepest pockets will look elsewhere and he may well have to settle for less. 
Also, side note.
 

Dunno how this relates to two-way players. 

The first quotes you. I didn’t ask who’d been better to date. I questioned whether Sale is better now. Even if Sale is healthy, that’s highly debatable. 

It would be awesome if their title was stripped. Then the dodgers go "Hey! Does that mean we get the title?!?"
And MLB goes "No. You guys still lost."

Just remember that guys who are heavily reliant on L/R splits are less valuable now that we have a 3 batter minimum for relievers in 2020. So, no more LOOGY’s.

I mean, we can always improve, but Eppler seems to find better arms on the wire than what he spends money on. Relievers are absurdly volatile. Teams that spend on them seem to invariably end up wasting money. 

I don’t want them to spend money on a reliever.

Ok right now at this very moment, we can both agree that Gerrit Cole is likely the better pitcher. I'm about 85% sure of that. The only reason for the other 15% is just in case Cole is hurt from the mileage on his arm, or if Sale is completely healthy again and figures out why he sucked last year.
I think if Sale was a free agent this year, he'd probably get more than Wheeler. Maybe as much as Strasburg, but not as much as Cole. 
Right now, Gerrit Cole is in a class of his own, not only as a free agent but as a pitcher too. That doesn't happen very often, so it'll be interesting to see just how much he will get paid.

Again, that isn’t what I asked. I responded to one question, and you changed it to a different one.
Having said that, while Sale wins on longevity. Per FG, the best two seasons of each are virtual ties in WAR. BRef gives Sale an edge in both also, as does ERA+. Sale has been good longer. But his two best have only been a little better than Cole’s two best fwiw. With Cole being a year younger, it’s far from clear that even if healthy whether Sale would be better, which is why I asked the question.
I never asked who had been better over their career, because that is no more relevant than Blanton being a decent pitcher at one point in his career was relevant to how he would do on the Angels. You said they could get someone better than Cole, I questioned whether that was true. Who was better 3 or more years ago has no bearing on that. 

Again, that isn’t what I asked. I responded to one question, and you changed it to a different one.
Having said that, while Sale wins on longevity. Per FG, the best two seasons of each are virtual ties in WAR. BRef gives Sale an edge in both also, as does ERA+. Sale has been good longer. But his two best have only been a little better than Cole’s two best fwiw. With Cole being a year younger, it’s far from clear that even if healthy whether Sale would be better, which is why I asked the question.
I never asked who had been better over their career, because that is no more relevant than Blanton being a decent pitcher at one point in his career was relevant to how he would do on the Angels. You said they could get someone better than Cole, I questioned whether that was true. Who was better 3 or more years ago has no bearing on that. 

Report: Astros exec recommended scouts use cameras to steal signs in 2017
 
A front-office executive from the Houston Astros asked team scouts to pursue sign-stealing and suggested using cameras to do so, according to an August 2017 email obtained by The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich.
"One thing in specific we are looking for is picking up signs coming out of the dugout," the email’s sender wrote. "What we are looking for is how much we can see, how we would log things, if we need cameras/binoculars, etc. So go to game, see what you can (or can’t) do and report back your findings."
Scouts also discussed sign-stealing with the same executive on phone calls and in a group Slack channel, Rosenthal and Drellich note.
Scouts apparently did not like the idea of being asked to steal signs with a camera and voiced their concerns with management.
"Nobody wanted to do that, and take a chance of getting caught and ruining their reputation, not only as a scout but then even further damage what the Astros had going," a person involved in the conversations told The Athletic.
The email follows a report from earlier this week that claimed the Astros were using electronics to steal signs during the 2017 season, the same year they won the World Series. The report was backed up by pitcher Mike Fiers, who played for the Astros that season.
MLB is reportedly investigating the organization to see if they were aware of the illegal sign-stealing and is apparently expanding its probe to include other teams.
The league plans to interview current and former players and employees of the Astros, including manager AJ Hinch, Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, and newly appointed New York Mets skipper Carlos Beltran. Cora was Hinch's bench coach in 2017 and Beltran played the final season of his career with the Astros that same year.
Major League Baseball prohibits clubs from using electronics to gain an unfair advantage by stealing signs.

and keep in mind that Suarez had Doug White to help him when he got to the major league level.  

it's not about who's been better but about who's going to be over the next 5 years or so.  I'm laying my money on Cole and by a wide margin.  

I don’t want them to spend money on a reliever.

Isn't Suarez like 20? Probably a little young for anyone to give up on.

I mean, we can always improve, but Eppler seems to find better arms on the wire than what he spends money on. Relievers are absurdly volatile. Teams that spend on them seem to invariably end up wasting money.