I wouldn’t say he’s a top notch arm, but Chris Stratton has been beyond solid for the Pirates for the last few seasons. He’s been great when it’s mattered the most this season. Angels could also ask for Richard Rodriguez, but the Pirates’ asking price on him has to be high. He’s one of, if not the best RP on the trade market right now, and has 2.5 years of affordable control remaining. They’re not going to let him go unless it’s for a good offer.
Asked over a dozen different questions, all but one on the AL, none of which were answered. That’s fine, but then noticed that only a couple Angels and a Jays question had been answered. Quick count that took 30 seconds and yeah.
I asked 4 questions, got 1 answered. It was by far the easiest question to answer. I think he just looks for questions he can answer without thinking. He seems to have the most difficulty with the questions on food and music.
You have to have rose in there… the guy was the hardest working player in the game. A guy with very little talent, but was willing to work his butt off.
Arod and bonds and Clemens belong in. So what if they took drugs… everyone else did.
Clemens and bonds faced each other 9 times in 4 games. 2 all star games and 2 regular season games.
Bonds went 0 for 4 with 4 walks and a hbp.
2 strike outs
Clemens team won all 4 times.
Teams were really turned down by Rocker’s big drop in velocity throughout the season. He was averaging 94-96 MPH through his first 4 games of the season. But after that, his fastball only averaged out above 94 one time, usually staying in the 90-93 MPH range. Rocker has always been a bit of a question mark when it comes to durability. Kevin Goldstein wrote a good article about it about a month ago. blogs.fangraphs.com/the-kumar-rocker-velocity-roll…
Leiter has had some questions with his command as well. Not huge things to overcome, but still something that led to a so-so 10.9% walk rate and 1.1 HR/9 rate. His improvement in velocity was promising though.
I think it’s much less been that Leiter and Rocker’s stocks has fallen, moreso that Lawlar and Mayer’s stocks have risen. Plus, many teams see Leiter and Rocker’s stock plateauing. This is possibily as good as they’re going to get and teams would rather take someone who can still build up their skills.
Why not trade Trout to the Dodgers? If they were to trade him and the Dodgers were offering the best package it would just be plain stupid of Minasian to take an inferior package from someone else.
i was recently thinking about Trout and just found myself so annoyed with how people treat him. he’s great. he’s easily the best player when healthy. but people think he’s twice the player anyone else in the league is, even in spite of the fact that the metrics dont totally fawn over his defense, and he stole all of one base last year. he’s the best pure hitter in baseball, but just how much better is he then, say, Mookie Betts, who is faster, a better defender, and has less injury history. LAA would be wise to get that massive cost off the books if they can get a historic return. even if he’s still a good player, its possible within a few years he loses the value that makes him worth the contract.
I remember a couple of years ago during a live chat, someone asked Jeff Todd who the most underrated player in baseball is and he answered Mike Trout. Like, who exactly does Jeff think is underrating Trout?
@jimthegoat I just think in sports in general, Mike Trout is underrated. Everyone knows who Tom Brady or LeBron James are. If you go around asking random people to name a a baseball player, very few are likely going to say Trout. Now ovbisously, many baseball fans know Trout is a GOAT. But he’s not nearly as flashy, or gets the kind of attention someone like Tatis Jr., Acuna Jr., or Bauer does.
Trout may actually be the most underrated best player ever. Though, I would admit, it’s more underappreciated. The Angels have been so lackluster that we don’t get to see just how talented he is. He has amazing talent, and the Angels’ malpractice has robbed us.
It really comes down to your definition of underrated. If you think underrated means his talent doesn’t match his popularity by a decent margin, then Trout is definitly underrated.
My definition of underrated is not getting credit for how good he is. Trout is pretty much unanimously regarded as the best player in the game and it isn’t close. If he didn’t have the stats to back that up, he’d be overrated.
@DarkSide In terms of just pure speed, he’s the 18th fastest player in the league this year with a 29.3 feet/second mark. Compare that to Betts who clocks in at just 27.2 F/S (27 F/S is league average). He’s easily one of the fastest players in all of baseball. He just doesn’t steal that often anymore. Granted, nobody really steals that often anymore. We’re on pace for less than 2200 stolen bases this year. In 2019, only two guys made at least 50 attempts. This year, Witt Merrifield is on pace for the most stolen base attempts with 46. But yeah, he’s not the defender in CF he once was. Though with Brandon Marsh coming up and Jordyn Adams considered a top tier defensive outfieler, we could see him make that move to LF eventually (or RF depending on how Adell turns out).
Why are MLB teams so content on crippling themselves with terrible long term contracts? Trout, Harper, Lindor, Betts, etc. will all be a shadow of their former selves when they reach the back half of 30
Trading Trout to the Dodgers, would get the same reaction from the fans, as if the Yankees had traded Jeter to Boston. Angels fans hate the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers with a passion.
1. Y’all ain’t even division rivals so the only way you’d have to face him is if you make it to the WS in the same year and 2. If I’m an Angels fan I’d be even more mad if they trade to one team when another team was making a better offer, regardless of who that other team was.
I went to college in OC after growing up in LA. It’s amazing how many Angel fans truly hate the dodgers, yet most dodger fans don’t consider them anything close to a rival. I lived and went to games with 2 such guys for multiple years
jimthegoat
Why not trade Trout to the Dodgers?
==========================================================
Too late, imo. They should’ve traded him to the LAD when the RS traded Betts. As good as Betts is, Trout is, or at least was, worth considerably more. They’d have gotten at least one more premium prospect in addition to what the RS got.
In addition to LAD likely not in the market, Trout’s peripherals have weakened considerably. The 1.090 OPS is great, but that includes a .456 BABIP (career .348) and a HR/FB of 30.8% (career 21.6%, and maybe 24% more recently). Add in a declining K/W, and one more injury, my guess is that we are seeing a decline from HOF stats to merely AS-level stats.
If Braves are out at the deadline, why not try to pull the Chapman maneuver with Freeman: trade him, get the prospects, sign him back in the offseason?
If a team trades for Freeman and he’s integral at winning them a title, doesn’t that make it that much more likely the Braves will have even more competition this winter for him, and very possibly be outbid for him?
Wait… the meme with Homer… it was supposed to be wrong… right?
Because an isosceles triangle has two sides the same length… it doesn’t necessarily have to be a right triangle. If it is a right triangle, then you use pythagorean theorem to solve it which it matters which sides you choose… if it’s not a right triangle then you have to use the law of cosines.
what bulpen arms could the Angles target in the trade market? what would they be giving up to acquire some top notch arms ?
Cheese
paul fry and nothing
Angels are too dumb to do anything.
that I dont deny…will probably add more offense lol
I wouldn’t say he’s a top notch arm, but Chris Stratton has been beyond solid for the Pirates for the last few seasons. He’s been great when it’s mattered the most this season. Angels could also ask for Richard Rodriguez, but the Pirates’ asking price on him has to be high. He’s one of, if not the best RP on the trade market right now, and has 2.5 years of affordable control remaining. They’re not going to let him go unless it’s for a good offer.
Most think they’ll be sellers at the deadline.
The way they’re playing, they’ll definitley be buyers. They’ve only lost 3 games since May 29th. This has also been during a Trout-less run.
2 week sample size in baseball don’t make a season
Over 40 minutes in and only 4 questions about AL teams answered. Seems a little skewed.
you really kept track of that?
Asked over a dozen different questions, all but one on the AL, none of which were answered. That’s fine, but then noticed that only a couple Angels and a Jays question had been answered. Quick count that took 30 seconds and yeah.
I asked 4 questions, got 1 answered. It was by far the easiest question to answer. I think he just looks for questions he can answer without thinking. He seems to have the most difficulty with the questions on food and music.
LOL
Ortiz is a first ballot but Arod isn’t because PEDs? The baseball writers are a joke. The fans need to start their own Hall.
yes but [something about how Ortiz’s allegation doesnt count]
The media loved ortiz, so peds dont matter in that case.
The fans do need a hall of fame. What they have now is a joke. Harold baines? Really?
You have to have rose in there… the guy was the hardest working player in the game. A guy with very little talent, but was willing to work his butt off.
Arod and bonds and Clemens belong in. So what if they took drugs… everyone else did.
Clemens and bonds faced each other 9 times in 4 games. 2 all star games and 2 regular season games.
Bonds went 0 for 4 with 4 walks and a hbp.
2 strike outs
Clemens team won all 4 times.
no, everyone else most certainly did not take drugs
Majority of the stars did.
i still think it would be stupid to pick anyone but Rocker and Leiter 1-2 or reverse.
Teams were really turned down by Rocker’s big drop in velocity throughout the season. He was averaging 94-96 MPH through his first 4 games of the season. But after that, his fastball only averaged out above 94 one time, usually staying in the 90-93 MPH range. Rocker has always been a bit of a question mark when it comes to durability. Kevin Goldstein wrote a good article about it about a month ago. blogs.fangraphs.com/the-kumar-rocker-velocity-roll…
Leiter has had some questions with his command as well. Not huge things to overcome, but still something that led to a so-so 10.9% walk rate and 1.1 HR/9 rate. His improvement in velocity was promising though.
I think it’s much less been that Leiter and Rocker’s stocks has fallen, moreso that Lawlar and Mayer’s stocks have risen. Plus, many teams see Leiter and Rocker’s stock plateauing. This is possibily as good as they’re going to get and teams would rather take someone who can still build up their skills.
Either way, RIP the other 7 teams in CWS.
For a minute I thought we were still talking Hall of Fame and you were talking about Al Leiter & John Rocker as #1 and #2…LOL
Why not trade Trout to the Dodgers? If they were to trade him and the Dodgers were offering the best package it would just be plain stupid of Minasian to take an inferior package from someone else.
i was recently thinking about Trout and just found myself so annoyed with how people treat him. he’s great. he’s easily the best player when healthy. but people think he’s twice the player anyone else in the league is, even in spite of the fact that the metrics dont totally fawn over his defense, and he stole all of one base last year. he’s the best pure hitter in baseball, but just how much better is he then, say, Mookie Betts, who is faster, a better defender, and has less injury history. LAA would be wise to get that massive cost off the books if they can get a historic return. even if he’s still a good player, its possible within a few years he loses the value that makes him worth the contract.
I remember a couple of years ago during a live chat, someone asked Jeff Todd who the most underrated player in baseball is and he answered Mike Trout. Like, who exactly does Jeff think is underrating Trout?
@jimthegoat I just think in sports in general, Mike Trout is underrated. Everyone knows who Tom Brady or LeBron James are. If you go around asking random people to name a a baseball player, very few are likely going to say Trout. Now ovbisously, many baseball fans know Trout is a GOAT. But he’s not nearly as flashy, or gets the kind of attention someone like Tatis Jr., Acuna Jr., or Bauer does.
All I’m going to say is that Kike Hernandez sold more jerseys than Trout did during 2020 (mlb.com/news/most-popular-mlb-jerseys-entering-202…).
You can’t be underrated if you are widely regarded as the best player in the game. Let alone be the MOST underrated player.
Trout may actually be the most underrated best player ever. Though, I would admit, it’s more underappreciated. The Angels have been so lackluster that we don’t get to see just how talented he is. He has amazing talent, and the Angels’ malpractice has robbed us.
I’ll ask it again. Who exactly is underrating Mike Trout?
It really comes down to your definition of underrated. If you think underrated means his talent doesn’t match his popularity by a decent margin, then Trout is definitly underrated.
My definition of underrated is not getting credit for how good he is. Trout is pretty much unanimously regarded as the best player in the game and it isn’t close. If he didn’t have the stats to back that up, he’d be overrated.
@DarkSide In terms of just pure speed, he’s the 18th fastest player in the league this year with a 29.3 feet/second mark. Compare that to Betts who clocks in at just 27.2 F/S (27 F/S is league average). He’s easily one of the fastest players in all of baseball. He just doesn’t steal that often anymore. Granted, nobody really steals that often anymore. We’re on pace for less than 2200 stolen bases this year. In 2019, only two guys made at least 50 attempts. This year, Witt Merrifield is on pace for the most stolen base attempts with 46. But yeah, he’s not the defender in CF he once was. Though with Brandon Marsh coming up and Jordyn Adams considered a top tier defensive outfieler, we could see him make that move to LF eventually (or RF depending on how Adell turns out).
Why are MLB teams so content on crippling themselves with terrible long term contracts? Trout, Harper, Lindor, Betts, etc. will all be a shadow of their former selves when they reach the back half of 30
Trading Trout to the Dodgers, would get the same reaction from the fans, as if the Yankees had traded Jeter to Boston. Angels fans hate the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers with a passion.
1. Y’all ain’t even division rivals so the only way you’d have to face him is if you make it to the WS in the same year and 2. If I’m an Angels fan I’d be even more mad if they trade to one team when another team was making a better offer, regardless of who that other team was.
I went to college in OC after growing up in LA. It’s amazing how many Angel fans truly hate the dodgers, yet most dodger fans don’t consider them anything close to a rival. I lived and went to games with 2 such guys for multiple years
It’s a weird dynamic
I’m a Dodger fan who roots for the Angels as my AL team.
Angel fans can never understand this.
Yeah Dodgers fans, like myself, only consider the Giants a rival. Most couldn’t care less about the Angels and Padres.
If the Angels see themselves as rivals to the Dodgers, how about actually competing with the Dodgers? A pitching rotation would be a nice first step …
I’m sure the Giants would love to get involved with Trout. They have some prospects and the money to take on his remainder of contract.
jimthegoat
Why not trade Trout to the Dodgers?
==========================================================
Too late, imo. They should’ve traded him to the LAD when the RS traded Betts. As good as Betts is, Trout is, or at least was, worth considerably more. They’d have gotten at least one more premium prospect in addition to what the RS got.
In addition to LAD likely not in the market, Trout’s peripherals have weakened considerably. The 1.090 OPS is great, but that includes a .456 BABIP (career .348) and a HR/FB of 30.8% (career 21.6%, and maybe 24% more recently). Add in a declining K/W, and one more injury, my guess is that we are seeing a decline from HOF stats to merely AS-level stats.
If Braves are out at the deadline, why not try to pull the Chapman maneuver with Freeman: trade him, get the prospects, sign him back in the offseason?
Imagine him in the Red Sox lineup this fall.
He has 10-and-5 rights, so if he doesn’t want to leave Atlanta, too bad.
I would fully expect the Braves to inform him of what was going on.
“Hey, Freddie. We’re not gunna win this year. Wanna go win a WS then sign with us for $200 mil next season?”
Goes home to the Dodgers or Angels, signs and stays until his final AB
ThAt AlMoSt NeVeR hApPeNs!
If a team trades for Freeman and he’s integral at winning them a title, doesn’t that make it that much more likely the Braves will have even more competition this winter for him, and very possibly be outbid for him?
That’s conceptually unrelated
Wait… the meme with Homer… it was supposed to be wrong… right?
Because an isosceles triangle has two sides the same length… it doesn’t necessarily have to be a right triangle. If it is a right triangle, then you use pythagorean theorem to solve it which it matters which sides you choose… if it’s not a right triangle then you have to use the law of cosines.
Or… it’s a joke and it went over my head.
OMG!
Excellent explanation of the lux tax ramifications. Most think it is just about the money when in fact it is much more.
the direct tax is the least of the issues, arguably