The Dodgers remain something of an enigma as Spring Training approaches. It’s possible to imagine the organization making any number of moves over the next few weeks, with so many opportunities still available on the market. At several areas on the roster, the team could conceivably either make an external move or utilize existing players. There is, however, an overarching need for a right-handed hitter, per manager Dave Roberts (via Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times). While the skipper hardly gave much away, he did say that he believes there are more moves to come. And Roberts, at least, would like to see one transaction that would “kind of balance out the lineup with a right-handed bat.”
Here’s more from out west …
- Angels GM Billy Eppler told reporters following his team’s signing of right-hander Cody Allen that the Halos had to “stretch” the budget and were only able to do so with the blessing of owner Arte Moreno (link via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register). As such, it seems unlikely that there are any other sizable moves on the horizon for the Angels. Eppler explained that the team was undeterred by Allen’s inflated 4.70 ERA last offseason, citing Allen’s long ninth-inning track record and plainly stating that the organization fully anticipates Allen serving as the closer in 2019.
- Though Ichiro Suzuki has widely been expected to receive a send-off from the Mariners during the club’s season-opening series in Japan, Jim Allen of Kyodo News writes that the legendary outfielder doesn’t necessarily see things that way. Rather, per agent John Boggs, the aging but impeccably conditioned veteran is “working toward playing the whole season.” It’s a bit tough to imagine any MLB club giving Ichiro a guaranteed contract, but perhaps the 45-year-old still has another trick up his sleeve. He’ll have a chance to show his form in camp with Seattle, at least. Beyond the news item here, the article is well worth a read for Allen’s chat with Boggs about his famously unique client.
Sweet. Another 3rd place finish for the Angels. So excited to be a fan.
Jose Martinez for Joc Pederson. The cards need a lefty and the dodgers need a righty.
wrong door!
Pederson for Justin Smoak.
No. Teams don’t trade an all star first baseman for a platoon outfielder
Living in the past huh? Only looking at Smoak’s 2017. They’re similar players but Joc is more valuable due to his 2 years of control and defense.
Blue Jays talk about the future yet aren’t aggressively shopping Smoak to open a door for Tellez. Tellez has nothing to prove in AAA. As for Joc, either he plays well or he doesn’t. The main goal is to get Tellez at bats in the big leagues and a trade like this would do the trick.
If we take on Joc we would need to send Pillar along as well.
Smoak/Pillar for Joc and a couple of blocked low level prospects
I would be happy with this. Going forward the Jays won’t have a use for Pillar and/or Smoak and might as well try and get some value out of them.
Smoak especially, I am shocked there hasen’t been much talk about him. I was never a huge fan but he has been solid for us the past few years and on a nice deal.
Smoak and Pillar? I’d be fine with that.
Trades are for both sides and not for getting rid of your Garbage,none of these trades are possible,if you studied the game you might know that
Smoak is not garbage by any stretch and is equal in value to Joc given his track record and contract. Pillar is top 3 defensive Cf in baseball. Far from garbage as well. And replaces the D joc gave
Joc seems to have fallen out of favor in LA. Jay’s and LA line up well
Having Smoak at 1B to allow Muncy and Bellinger to play elsewhere strengthens your team. Plus Smoak can pop more bombs than Pederson. Fact.
You have to get more than 395 AB to be an All Star caliber player. The often injured Pederson has not qualified in any of the last 3 seasons. Just say no to guys that can’t stay on the field.
“As for Joc, either he plays well or he doesn’t.”
Well, yeah. That’s generally how it works.
Nah pretty sure we’ll be 2nd in division and get 2nd wc
What leads you to believe that… no Ohtani pitching, highly ineffective Matt Harvey on the staff, injury prone Trevor Cahill, good luck
Lots of opinions from a chap questioning opinions…
As rough as it may seem…I believe that if we’re competitive…and it’s a big if…within 7 games at break…we go big then. I know, I’m an optimist
Yeah, they aren’t there. The infield is Cozart, Simmons, Fletcher and Bour! Whaaaat?
Artie is as cheap as the Thriftpons. Probably 3rd or even lower.
He should take on some additional investors. But he won’t.
I’d be cheap if I had to sign Pujols checks
In my opinion, since the first World Series, the Dodgers got worse each year..last year I don’t think they were as good as they were the year before and this year I don’t think they are as good as last year. I’m sure people can argue differently but it just seems that way to me. In sports you either get better or worse, you never stay the same and I’m not a fan of the direction the Dodgers are heading in. I get wanting to get younger but shedding payroll shouldn’t be a topic for one of the biggest market teams out there especially considering the tv deal they landed and the sell out in ticket sells every night.
Yeah but it’s hard to make it to the World Series and then get even better. They were just the best team in the NL… hard to do better than that no matter how good their direction is or how much $ they spend. They look like they could go back this year. They’re in about as good of a situation as any team in baseball right now and that’s about all you can ask for as a fan.
Not true
Why, not true?
Anything short of a WS ring is apparently an atrocious failure
2017 to 2018 they got worse. But i dont think they are worse than last year if they make another move before the season. Last year their whole offseason was adding Scott Alexander and the Braves trade. At least this year they were able to help the pen with Joe Kelly.
Also, did addition by subtraction when Puig’s attitude left. Now Dodger CF can make plays as OF captain without Puig collision worry all times.
When was the last time Puig ran somebody over?
Charging Puig, listen to call off, never. May not hit in physical, but always makes for a mental caution. Negative effect on CF range.
You won’t get any argument from me. They are a couple of trades and signings away from being better than they were last year, but it remains to be seen if they are prepared to pay the few million in CBT it would cost to get there.
As a Dodger fan and someone who has watched quite a few games for the last few seasons, I see how you may have a point. However, I think that’s just looking at the surface and going by W-L and record in 1 run games.
Part of the problem in comparing the 2017 and 2018 regular seasons in that there was a huge chunk of the 2017 season(Belly’s call-up until August)where the Dodgers had an unbelievable run. Whether it was fortune, luck, better match-ups for their hitters and pitchers, it was a crazy run. They fell back to Earth in mid-August with a bad streak for about a month and still managed to set a LA franchise record for wins.
They ran up against 2 very good teams in the WS, with a bit of luck they may have beaten Houston, but Boston was too stacked of an offense for them.
They seem to now be retooling with the past two seasons in mind: strengthen the bullpen to be closer to what it was in 2017; move away from having so many platoon position players like the lineup was in 2018.
They were also without Seager for almost the entire year. Prior to 2018 season, therewas a compelling argument via Fangraphs article that he was the best all around SS r/t WAR(Correa more power, Lindor better def). I’m not saying that as a biased Dodger fan; watching Lindor the last few years(esp 2018) and I can’t say any SS looks better.
The point remains though that the Dodger were missing their 2nd best hitter for 2018. On that alone, it’s easy to say that they were worse in this last season.
It definitely hurt during the regular season to be without Seager and a couple of months sans Turner, but by July they’d found a pretty good replacement for Seager, and Turner was back to form. Kemp had by that time surprised the entire sport by carrying the team in the first half. The difference in the World Series was they were probably going to be facing a stacked AL team. The Dodgers are a couple of moves away from being that stacked team this year but so far in this offseason they’ve mainly subtracted.
@ BlueSkyLA;
I know everything here is statistics, stereotypes, and static – but has it occurred to anyone that other then real stars or mediocre guys that slowly fade away, that most ML established players have good and bad seasons in their careers? Like everything else in life, MLB players and teams are not static, they’re dynamic.
Every off-season things are so clear. Then the competition begins. By the first week of May things are not moving along as forecast.
Teams do not need to make moves to get better. And making moves often makes a team worse – even if the player(s) they bring in have a good year.
There are some younger players on that roster that can get better…..of course, others can get worse. Verdugo needs to be broken in, and maybe one of their young catchers as well (I remember when Mike Piazza came up – no one had heard much about him, and going into Spring Training that year he looked like any prospect that got some reps before being assigned to a minor league affiliate. The guy hit .318 / .370 / .561 /.932. Go figure).
ST is a few weeks away, opening day a few months away. Surprises – good and bad – are going to happen.
If I take what you are saying correctly, nothing guarantees success in baseball. If that’s your point then I agree. Teams are not building teams for guarantees, though, they are building them for increasing the probability of success. In theory a team loaded with marginal and/or very young players can go the distance, but in practice, that happens only rarely, and not for no reason. Teams that proactively address the gaps in their rosters have the best probabilities of success, and that’s all you can do in baseball. The teams that want to be the last team standing aren’t waiting for lightening to strike.
In terms of individual players, someone with a track record in the majors is going to have a pretty well-established mean performance profile. It will vary plus or minus around that mean in the future, barring unpredictable catastrophic events, such as major injuries, and of course inevitable decline with age.
This team is starting the season with a degraded baseline, minus the production of Kemp, Grandal, and Puig (and a useful arm in Wood). How has that production been replaced, even arguably? Not with the expectation of getting really lucky, is what we hope. We know it could be replaced with something other than pure luck, it can be replaced with a higher probability of success. To that end, I believe they should trade Pederson, Barnes, and maybe Verdugo, to get Polluck, Realmuto, and Harrison. Hard to argue that wouldn’t increase the Dodgers’ probabilities of success over the roster they have right now.
@ BlueSkyLA;
I grew up an Indians fan. Every off-season for over 30 years, they took actions to fill gaps. They were never in a pennant race in August; usually out of it by July 4, and often before that.
Ownership changed. They brought in Hank Peters from Baltimore to run the organization. He brought in John Hart to be GM, and told Hart he wanted a blueprint. They stuck to the plan, made a few adjustments each year, and magically the Indians became a power.
No doubt Friedman has a plan. From where I sit he’s shedding a layer of dead skin, and growing another.
I expect they’ll get another RH bat – probably OF – and start the season. As they see what happens, other moves will be made in 2019.
If the baseline is too low then all the gap-filling in the world is unlikely to be enough. A team can’t cheat on the scouting and development side and expect results, which is what happened during the Fox and McCourt ownerships (and they weren’t exactly big spenders on the free agency market either). Current ownership has done much to revitalize that side of the organization. I believe most Dodger fans fully appreciate the difference this has made. On pushing a good team that extra step to become a great team, not so much.
The situation as I see it is Dodger fans would be quite tolerant of the team not winning the division every year if they went all the way every so often. This takes getting into the timing of the roster and who will be coming up from the minors and when, which leads to knowing when and when not to push forward those extra markers. This is what they’ve done in Boston and it’s brought them four championships in 15 seasons. I’d much rather see this approach, a couple of not so great years followed by a championship than a constant string of rosters that might be good enough to win the division but are not as well prepared for the postseason as the teams they are likely to face.
I sure do differ with the analysis that some sort of enigma is a work here. Last year the FO held to the religious doctrine of not exceeding the CBT. The conventional wisdom at the time was they were resetting it in order to use that financial flexibility this year. I’ve always doubted that theory. I think they still have the same religious convictions about not paying the CBT. I’d love to be proven wrong and see them make the moves required to make this a better team this year than last year. So far, no evidence of such. More to the contrary.
On Friedman, he’s had control of this roster for four years now. He totally owns the results, for better and for worse. So sure he has a plan, but a plan to do what? The answer to that question should matter to fans.
@ BlueSkyLA;
If you’re still checking……
Last year your team lost one of its best position players. Friedman / Dodgers used the packed farm system to bring in a replacement. For the 2nd year in a row the team went to the WS.
And you’re complaining.
The franchise is staying within a budget.
And you’re complaining.
In 2018 they had the 3rd highest payroll in MLB..
And you’re complaining.
You write this “baseline” nonsense that allows you to interpret their moves in a way so that you control the narrative and no one can disagree (as the writers on here do); inferring that you’re simply being objective. Therefore, case closed.
The Yankees took a step back a few years ago. In 2018 they gave their fans 2 young stars – Stanton and Andujar – players that fans in most MLB cities would be thrilled to have. The Yankees starting pitching was bad, so they wound up being only the 2nd best team in MLB. They just went out and got 2 veteran starting pitchers for 2019. Are Yankee fans happy? Of course not They come on here saying the Yankees need to replace Stanton with Harper and Andujar with Machado. So what if it costs an additional $40-45m a year (they’ll have to eat some of Stanton’s contract). Heck, they could get back 4-6 prospects – and what team wouldn’t lay out $40-45m a year for that?
The complaining on here is ridiculous.
Let’s review:
Catcher, they’re worse now
1b, Berlinger? Muncy? Which Bellinger, 17’ or 18’? Muncy, will he regress?
2b, a mess. Taylor? Hernandez? Not an upgrade by any means
SS, Seager but which Seager? Healthy?
3b, should be fine.
LF, Toles/Pederson? Combined probably won’t equal Kemp.
CF, Bellinger? Taylor? Pederson?
RF, Verdugo? Puig’s numbers considerably better.
SP, probably better with Ryu healthy.
RP, Jansen? Which Kenley are we getting?
Toles is a crazy wild card… Love to see that guy in left every day. Not big power, but sneaky power. When he was healthy and playing, good (and exciting) things happened. If he was a RH hitter, there probably wouldn’t be any lamenting.
I’m hoping they get another second baseman too, but it’s hard to say they’d be worse with Taylor or Hernandez instead of what they got from Forsythe, Utley and Dozier last year. I’m interested to see if they try Muncy there. Catcher, I really hope they improve. I feel like they have some moves coming, and I really hope it’s not just wishful thinking.
What doesn’t look good is the Dodgers are going into their 6th-year without being on TV for more than 2/3 of Los Angeles. A whole generation of fans will continue to be lost…
The Seager and Turner injuries were big hurdles for the Dodgers last season. Muncy and Buehler exceeded expectations. Overall, the pitching was worse in 2018 than in 2017.
To me it sounds like Eppler has something up his sleeve (Machado???Kuchel???) I mean is it necessary to say that you went over budget?sounds like we’re the mystery team to me
My thoughts too, I don’t feel like that comment is a guarantee that the Angels are done spending this off season.
Could be ‘stretching the budget’ was signing Allen on top of already trying to sign someone else who was going to cost more. They saw an opportunity for a bounce back candidate and the made the case to add him despite still working on other deal(s) we don’t know about yet.
As much as I dislike Machado imagine him Trout and Ohtani in the middle of the lineup that alone with Great defense and decent pitching would be enough to fight the Astros for the AL west
I mean after Verlander and Cole the staff is as questionable as ours
2B Cozart
CF Trout
DH Ohtani
3B Machado
RF Upton
1B Bour/Pujols
SS Simmons
LF Calhoun
C Lucroy
That’s a hell of a lineup and in the middle of the season go all in and trade for an ace worst case scenario we get prospects back for Trout
Too bad it wasn’t the version of Pujols from 10 years ago. That would indeed have been scary. I see in your lineup 2 outstanding players, 2 slightly above average players, and the rest meh. Taking the west is doable though if Astros fall off a bit as predicted.
That way I look at it in that lineup you have 2 HOF players in their prime (Trout and Machado) 2 all stars (Ohtani and Simmons) 1 really good player (Upton) specially since he would have runners on base when he’s up and 3 bounce back candidates (Calhoun Cozart and Bour) and what ever you get from pujols and Lucroy is a plus that’s a deep lineup
Plus players like Ohtani Trout Machado pay for them selves they bring in enough revenue that Moreno wouldn’t have to put out his pocket Common Eppler let’s hit a homerun
They almost have to sign a guy like Machado to have a chance. The Astros are just so so much better. But I seriously doubt they sign Machado. There’s no way they would have room for the $45 million a year it will take to extend Trout and they wouldn’t take themselves out of the running to pay Trout already. Even with Pujols coming off the books having Trout at 45 million, Machado at 30 million, and Upton at $20 million is $100 million a year for 3 bats. Yeah, Machado isn’t happening.
2B Cozart
RF Harper
CF Trout
DH Ohtani
3B Machado
LF Upton
1B Bour/Pujols
SS Simmons
C Lucroy
That lineup is going to the playoffs no matter who’s pitching.
You don’t think Simmons is an Outstanding player? Upton is much better than slightly better than average. Trout is so good he’s more than outstanding. If their pitching is remotely healthy, they should be in the wild card race all year.
That lineup does not compare to Houstons.
Simmons I did mention him as an all star caliber player and Upton is a middle of the lineup bat that any team would love to have he runs well hits for power the only negative is his defense he has a plus arm but his reads of the bat are pretty awful
I think the Astros will have a bad year the pitching depth isn’t what it once was.Yes you have the Rookie phenom coming up but I’m sure he’ll be on a pitch count and common he’s a rookie
They lost or are gonna lose Marwin Gonzalez Kuchel They’ve lost AJ due to injury and a good clubhouse guy in McCann I can see them missing the playoffs
you don’t know how cheap arte has been.
C’mon, the Angels have a top 10 payroll every year. So many fans would love to have that.
well, he stops spending exactly where spending just a little more will help greatly. he always talks about spending more if the right player comes along. but nobody seems to be the right player to him.
That’s an inaccurate meme.
12 months ago, the fan wisdom was that the team needed to sign Greg Holland. He signs with StL—Arte’s cheap, say the fans. Except $14M for a reliever not named Mo Rivera in 2010 is a terrible idea. And Holland was released by the Cards in early August, with the team eating the $$$ owed.
Where it’s Arte’s fault is that he miscalibrated the fan expectations with the 2004 and 2010 free agent spending, along with the Hamilton contract in 2012. Fans came to expect he was the West Coast version of Steinbrenner, and Eppler has taken away the keys, building something durable, instead of huge contracts which clog the payroll.
Fiscal restraint is not a bad thing. Eppler is working a plan. Let’s see how it plays out.
One thing Arte isn’t is cheap he’s recklessly spent in the past so i don’t know where you get that he’s cheap
The Angels are stretching the budget so they can finish third in the AL West. They need to trade Trout before it’s too late.
The Braves will take him off your hands. What would you like back?
Your entire organization
Haha – no kidding. Has to be tough to be a Halos fan right now. You will never get enough for him and if you do trade him it will be a public relations nightmare. So stuck in the frightful middle of indecision – a baseball team’s kiss of death. There is always the draft pick when the Phillies sign him in 2 years. He can get his money’s worth on the Eagles tix.
Hes not going anywhere, we have a bright future.
Philly fans are consistently delusional, or at least overconfident.
If any player should bet on himself at hit free agency it should be Trout. So I wouldn’t be so sure.
Mike Soroka, Joey Wentz, Kolby Allard, William Contreras, Christian Pache, Austin Reilly, Ender Inciarte, and Dansby Swanson for Mike Trout, Andrelton Simmons, and Money
Swap out Contreras and Pache for Teheran and one pitcher Single A pitcher with upside and I could see it. Just made a point on another board, and I’m a big Dansby fan – his D is underrated, Simba is the one guy I’d trade him for as Braves making move to next level. Phillies might give you all of the above and some steak subs too.
Not that this is a credible idea, but a Trout trade to Atlanta starts with Acuna and goes on from there . Without Acuna in that deal the Angels don’t even take the call.
Have you looked at the A’s?
Ichiro whatever holds in your future… Hats off to a hof career
Can’t believe he is still playing.
Good for him!
Ichiro, meet Dirk. Dirk, meet Ichiro. Both of you, smell coffee, roses, whatever. Then say sayonara and Auf Wiedersehen.
Ichiro is baseball so much! His rituals and discipline are reason I’d want him around my young developments. Find him a spot and get him some reps!!
And to you X and whatever your future holds… hats off to a troll of fame career.
Troll – noun
a person who makes a deliberately offensive or provocative online post.
a deliberately offensive or provocative online post.
Of the two posts, yours and Xabial’s which fits the definition?
BTW, I realize that my post of this definition could be considered trolling, I admit that. Will you?
This has become ridiculous. There was nothing “troll-like” in his post, yet the little kid in you (and so many others on other posts) just can’t be contained.
If he posts something you disagree with, post a rebuttal. Otherwise grow the hell up…it’s well beyond the point of getting old. I have told X the same thing.
End of rant….have a nice day
Comments like this are par for the course for cubsfan2489 we are used to it.
all the Owners and Front offices pleading poverty from their publicly supported offices. We can’t afford to spend because we have fans who will pay to see the stuff we put on the field now.
Well after hearing all of that about the angels stretching their budget I guess we can stop all the ridiculous talk that they are the mystery team after Manny Machado or that they are in on Harper.
Angels could have utilized that 8.5 Mil differently. Could have signed Blevins and Diekman for about 9-12 mil total. A few extra million for TWO pitchers, lefties that we actually need. Whatever, I believe in Eppler
believe in him and watch, at best, a third place team.
Dan Lozano is also the agent of one Albert Pujols. Coincidence? Cough Machado cough cough…
And how about that Pujols contract?!?! Ouch.
Can Lozano swindle Moreno again??? Stay tuned baseball fans!!!
Arte isn’t cheap, he’s just paid through the nose for horrible decisions time and again: Gary Matthews Jr., Vernon Wells, Josh Hamilton, and currently Albert Pujols.
However, those were his mistakes, 100% the last two.
He needs to either recognize the sunk cost of Pujols and extend payroll or tear the team down, stack prospects, and intend to compete once Pujols is off the books in three years. No more in between.
all of them are arte’s. reagins did better than he is known. his only fault was not saying no.
I agree with you 100%. It is time Moreno pay for his mistakes and increase payroll by at least Pujols salary. Or lose the greatest player in the last 50 years.
I believe all the 1 year deals are the beginning of a 2020 tear down/youth movement if the gamble does not pay off by July. Most of these players will be moved near the trade deadline and Trout. Will be a sad day.
Like or not, please see Bonds numbers when say best player in last 50 years is Trout. Sorry, a lot. However, I do really want October Trout and I want Trout vector continue up so maybe, maybe, maybe he can be the one who is better than Bonds, and clean. That is why, we say, all together, make big signings, maybe even risky signings and help get us a October Trout! Volunteer to eat Greinke’s contract first. Give Keuchel 3/48 second. Sign Jose Iglesias for late inning infield defense specials and depth. Then we like, a lot?
By the time Bonds was an all world bat his defense and base running had fallen off a cliff.
Trout’s all around game is the best in several generations.
I can’t compare a chemically enhanced player to Trout.
Bond’s War in his 20s was 66. Trout’s is 64 with three years left.
WAR also relative stat, score reflect a comparison of the player to same year player at same position. I LOVE Trout but his WAR has inflation because CF is relatively weak these days.
….And CJ Wilson.
CJ Wilson 5/75 deal, much bigger pain then. Keuchel could be a steal if he comes at less. Or even at same…
Yep. I was referring to Halos post about Moreno being cheap. Don’t think he’s cheap at all.
Gary Matthews Jr., Vernon Wells, Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols – red flags with horns blaring but still signed them. some of the worst contracts ever…
Angels need to take a page from the Mariners. They are spinning wheels. I understand they have Trout but I’d rather not have him and have a World Series team.
it’s the dip dip that put this team in the pile of dump.
Right, and the fact that Eppler says every interview that he hangs up when another team inquires on trading for Trout drives me nuts. This team is going no where. And any player in baseball should bet on himself and hit free agency its Trout. If they finally do decide to deal him next year, they won’t get a haul for only one year of control of even the best player in the league. The whole thing is so idiotic to me.
Why does this site have such a bias against the A’s?
What kind of rumors are the A’s putting out lately? Billy Beane isn’t trading, they’re rebuilding and they’re not spending on free agents. The A’s rumors will come at the end of February when bargains can be had.
I’m pretty sure the A’s aren’t rebuilding. Other than that your post seemed accurate.
A’s have surprises for us, always, a lot! My understand is short though. Why, in boom area of the US, real estate jumps and jumps, jobs grow grow grow, and yet, A’s never with money? Only poor big business in Bay Area? Spend some too, not just bargain men, go for the gusto some day!
Bingo
That’s right on point and because of all that good stuff you posted it makes us baseball fans wonder and express ourselves negatively about the A’s
The A’s play in a really terrible stadium and a lot of the money in the Bay Area is across the bay in SF
Rebuilding teams don’t win 97 games
Great Teams don’t go from 68 wins to 69 wins to 75 wins then jump 22 wins.
They A’s lost their best player and have no starting pitching. Their best FIP guy last year now pitches for the Angels.
As an Angel fan, I’m not worried about the A’s. They are much more like that 75 win team than that 97 win team. If I had to pick a team for the 2nd wild card, I’d pick TB. But the Angels play in an easier division.
Not to single out the A’s so I’ll throw in other teams that are in the same boat as them Marlins,pirates,Rays the reason why there are negative thoughts and/or comments are cause they don’t run the operations like they belong in MLB and rather yet run it like they’re a AAA team and for different reasons but regardless year after year they receive a check from the other teams Yankees Dodgers Cubs Red Sox etc… and yet they’re always looking for bargain signings (nothing wrong with that) but it takes a tole on the fans which leads to empty stadiums and lose of baseball interests
I’ll take for example the Marlins brand new stadium yet they can’t fill it up why????? Let’s see they’ve traded away an array of talent(Stanton Yelich Ozuna Gordon) for what a bunch of kids that fans don’t have interest in and that’s just recently they’ve been in existence for a little over 25 years and they’ve had fire sales 3 times already
So my question is how can you have a regular fan base if you don’t show commitment which leads to all the negative things about teams like Marlins A’s Rays etc…. And don’t get me wrong the A’s put out a winner but there’s just no excitement because of the lack of spending and probably the worst stadium in the majors
I find it confusing why the Angels think they have a good chance again, just like they have thought that the last several years for some odd reason. Their pitching is probably bottom 5 in baseball, and it’s not like their lineup is much more than mediocre either.
Also, Eppler insisting that he hangs up when anyone calls to inquire on trading for Trout drives me nuts too. This team is going no where again, and Trout only has two years left. How do you not at least listen on the chance you get a franchise altering haul for him?!
It’s like Eppler is too thick headed to see the obvious, and in a couple years they’ll just have nothing to show if Trout leaves (which is a real possibility).
If any player should bet on themself, and hit free agency it should be Trout.
I wouldn’t say bottom 5
Marlins
Padres
Rangers
Mariners
Royals
White Sox
Orioles
Blue Jays
Reds
All have worst pitching staffs than angels
This staff we currently have reminds me of the 2002 World Series staff no real ace just a bunch of decent pitchers
Skaggs and Heaney both solid pitchers
Harvey hmmmm let’s cross our fingers lol
I think the Red have passed them for sure this offseason, and I think the Blue Jays, White Sox, and potentially Padres are better too. The only teams I’d say the Angels pitching is better than for sure is the Marlins, Royals, Rangers, and Orioles. All rebuilding teams who aren’t trying at all to win.
“Just a bunch of decent pitchers”. They have two decent pitchers- Skaggs and Heaney. That’s hardly a bunch.
Sorry man I just don’t see it with them. There’s no way the Angels have the pitching to get in the playoffs.
Jose Barria also pitched a hell of a season he’s an awesome 5th pitcher
I think we have just enough decent pitching to make us playoff contenders
Look at the A’s last year they made the playoffs with Edwin Jackson and Cahill
The Padres and white Sox staff
Name a padres pitcher
Those are two awful teams that no one gives a shot too. But I would take the way they are set up with their young stud prospect arms over the Angels. I just think the Angels pitching is absolutely horrible. Like terrible. Im pretty sure that I’m not the only one either. Most everyone that I hear talk and that know MLB think the Angels should rebuild. It’s not new info about them having very little shot.I’m not sure what else to say.
Yeah dude we just disagree by a mile. No reason to continue this discussion we are so far apart in our evaluations of their pitching.
You are really reaching here. No one outside of yourself probably considers the Angels a fringe playoff team. They are the third/fourth best team in a division that they can’t come close to sniffing first place. The East has at least 3 teams better than them, and the central might have two decent teams depending on how the streaky Twins play. And Edwin Jackson… come on man, he made his first start on June 25th, it’s not like he broke camp with them and got lucky lol.
Yeah, it’s weird how anyone could look at that Angel roster, and think they’ve got a decent chance to make the playoffs. Sure the they’ve got the best player in the game, but it’s not like the NBA where one player can get you into the playoffs himself.
I don’t know if I’d call the Royals “rebuilding”; rebuilding teams don’t sign 32-year-old pinch-runners to major league contracts. The Royals are in the bottom third of teams w/r/t prospect rankings and almost all their best prospects are years away from the majors. So they seem to be trying to build a weird formula to win at the major-league level with speed and defense, ignoring power and on-base skills almost entirely. It’s an odd strategy to be sure – I think Royals fans will point to the A’s and Cards of the 1980s as examples, but both those are really poor examples – those teams had on-base machines and power too, along with speed and defense. The closer example would be pre-1920 baseball, which is interesting because obviously nobody plays the game like that anymore for a reason. The fact that the Royals are managed by a man who was famously allergic to ball four during his playing career may give some insight into their philosophy.
But who knows? Maybe they’ll steal 200 bases and at least be entertaining to watch, although I think by mid-season they’ll painfully realize the old “you can’t steal first base” adage. But they seem to be in stasis; not quite committed to a full rebuild – if they were they’s have dealt their best asset, Merrifield – for a king’s ransom by now. The rest of the roster has little trade value except for Perez, and even he is a pretty flawed hitter. It’s hard to ascertain what they’re really doing, but I wouldn’t quite call it a rebuild.
The Angels were a 500 team last year with most of their starts coming out of their top 5 pitchers. With few exceptions, all 500 teams are just a few wins from playoff contention. And the Angels got better.
Their projected #8 pitcher had 26. Now he’s projected #5. Seven of their top seven projected starting pitchers went on the DL.
Cozart was hurt all year. Trout missed 20 games. They lost almost all their RPs.
The team is a contender. No question about it. Especially if they remain relatively healthy.
The Royals are doing that move that some teams that rebuild so when they sign veterans and try to rebuild their value and trade them at the deadline at the profit. Similar to what the Cubs did with Scott Feldman in a deal for Arrieta from the Orioles.
Just because a team is rebuilding doesn’t mean they can’t still sign veterans to provide leadership and hopefully trade value. There’s no chance the Royals are actually trying to win in ‘19. Zero chance.
Oops – 28-year-old pinch runner. I misremembered Gore’s age.
No one with a clue would say bottom five.
You didn’t even list the A’s. I’m not sure I’d trade Barria for anyone on their staff. And of course their best pitcher last year is now pitching for the Angels. Their second best pitcher is going to be out until the all-star break.
Lezzardo is a fine prospect. But I doubt he starts the season with the big club. If he does, that’s their best pitcher.
Sure bottom 5 might be a little too much since there are a group of teams going out of their way to lose games. But I still stand by my point their pitching sucks overall for a team trying to win. And really it’s impossible to compare any team to the A’s and what they do is. It’s just weird and not really even something other teams can probably do, so they are not a good comparison.
Well, you are back-tracking a bit, which is actually good. It means we might be able to have some dialog. Skaggs has terrific stuff. K’s over a batter an inning, Keeps the ball in the park, doesn’t walk people. Heaney has terrific stuff. Doesn’t walk people. Strikes out hitters, has a little difficulty keeping the ball in the park.
Cahill was the A’s best pitcher last year. He’s only 31 years old. He’s a ground ball pitcher, who misses bats. Control is a slight. issue. Not major issues.
Barria is a solid number five. He had a 3.41 ERA last year, and he’s number five.
You want to diss Harvey? Go ahead. But I’ll take my chances with him.. If he stinks, he stinks. I can’t argue for any type of comeback. The data isn’t’ there. But his velocity is up and it’s possible. The Angels also have a top 100 prospect pitcher in the pipeline.
If the staff can stay relatively healthy, if Trout can stay healthy. It should be very competitive. .
I totally agree with you our pitching staff should be good
I hope Ichiro starts pitching and plays til he’s 51.
Ichiro you are a HOFer what else do you need? You’ve hit so many HOF milestones, you won’t extend the seasons with 200 hits. You’re good man. Walk away we love you enough.
I don’t think the game will ever see a player like Ichiro in his prime. Incredible speed, hitting tools, a canon of an arm – he was a truly remarkable player.
I agree, I hope he hangs it up too, he has nothing left to prove.
I would say Tony Gwynn – the early version – was very Ichiro-like. Incredibly fast, great throwing arm and the superlative hitting skills. I think we remember the older Gwynn – a lot heavier and always hurt – but the dude stole 56 bases and hit 370 in 1986. with 21 outfield assists. Gwynn was Ichiro before Ichiro.
If the angels miss out on Machado , should bring in Josh Harrison or Jose Iglesias
Jose Iglesias is a stat enigma! Watch his glove and appreciate. Throws great and range too. Makes easy ones and hard ones. But stats don’t say he is elite SS glove?
I like him for an Angel but would really like him for a Brave or Oriole.
Hey if Julio Franco can still play at 49, there’s got to be room on someone’s bench for Ichiro…
Pederson and prospects for Braun
angels need pitching and pitching only. no need for machado or harrper.
Boggs? Did we go from Ichiro being represented by John Biggs to… umm… Wade Boggs?
Is the thing about Ichiro a joke? Are the Mariners seriously going to let him play all season long? If they do, I will never ever be a Mariners fan again.
If the Dodgers need a righthanded bat try this three-way trade:
Dodgers get::
Edwin Encarnacion (one year, $25 million)
$7 million from the Braves
$3 million from the Mariners
The Mariners get:
Julio Teheran (one year, $12 million)
The Braves get:
Joc Pederson (two years with 2019 salary of $5 million)
Dodgers get Encarnacion for a net $15 million
Mariners get Teheran for $15 million total ($10 million less than Encarnacion’s total salary)
Braves get two years of Pederson at a 2019 cost of what the Braves would otherwise pay Teheran)
The Dodgers get ther righthanded bat, the Braves get their corner outfielder and the Mariner balance their rotation with a righthanded arm.
Encarnacion cannot play in the National League.
Encarnacion is a statue in the outfield. he would have to be a $25M pinch hitter. Hardly fits Friedman’s MO…
Edwin Encarnacion would be at first base (where he has appeared in 434 games) while Cody Bellinger moves to the outfield, where he made 81 appearances last year.
rosterresource.com/mlb-los-angeles-dodgers/