2b competition update

[Jim]

lmao @ Gavioatella

lol, no way to say it without using an accent. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

More than that, they hate the Irish.

leave the italians alone. Lots of people hate the irish.

Lots of irish hate other irish.

[ten ocho recon scout]

what's his nickname by the way? Telly? Gia-y? Votty?

nutella

[disarcina]

Dodgers don't need much -- could use some pen help now that their closer is out for two months or more........

 

but it's not what the Dodgers need -- it's what they may be discarding -- if they discard Darwin Barney -- he's worth picking up -- and I assume we'd have to give up something to get him.

 

that something might be some pen depth help for the Dogs or a decent (not a top) pitching prospect who is about two years out.........

[LAAMike]

Dodgers don't need much -- could use some pen help now that their closer is out for two months or more........

 

but it's not what the Dodgers need -- it's what they may be discarding -- if they discard Darwin Barney -- he's worth picking up -- and I assume we'd have to give up something to get him.

 

that something might be some pen depth help for the Dogs or a decent (not a top) pitching prospect who is about two years out.........

Barney with a five year 162 game average of .246/.294/.334 and an OPS of .630 with an average of 44 RBI's and 7 HR is not what the Angels need IMO. I would not want to give up anything for Barney.

[Jeff Fletcher]

I'll just say that neither my projected 25 man roster nor the MLB depth chart are just pulled out of thin air. And we don't change them on a whim.

[LAAMike]

As far as 2B it could be worse. The almighty Cubs are going to start the season with Javier Baez at 2B - with a ST line of .128/.190/.205 with 14 K's in 39 AB's. At least Baez is a stud on defense. Also Rizzo has had a terrible ST at .118/.211/.147 and he will be the starting 1B as well. Small sample sizes and all that but I like Giavotella and Pujols better than the Cub's respective starters at this point.

[ukyah]

As far as 2B it could be worse. The almighty Cubs are going to start the season with Javier Baez at 2B - with a ST line of .128/.190/.205 with 14 K's in 39 AB's. At least Baez is a stud on defense. Also Rizzo has had a terrible ST at .118/.211/.147 and he will be the starting 1B as well. Small sample sizes and all that but I like Giavotella and Pujols better than the Cub's respective starters at this point.

 

you must be kidding. do you know who baez and rizzo are? baez was the cubs 2014 #1 prospect, ranked ahead of kris bryant and the rest of the glut of top 100 prospects they have. rizzo had the #1 offensive season by a 1b last year in all of mlb, based on war at 5.6.

 

baez may turn out to be a bust and rizzo may fail to duplicate his success last year, but there is no gm in baseball that would take our 2 over their 2 right now, and definitely not down the road.

Edited March 26, 2015 by ukyah

[LAAMike]

Yes, I do know who Baez and Rizzo are. Baez with his pitiful ST and his 2014 WAR of -1.7 in 229 PA sounds like Brandon Wood to me at this point. Rizzo had a breakout year in 2014 with a WAR of 5.1 but he also has a pitiful ST line this year. I know that just about all that can be determined by ST numbers is whether the player in question is healthy and I hope that Rizzo has a great 2015 as I have him on my fantasy team. Of course I am not a GM and do not have the information that they can access but I will stand by my argument that right now I like our two players better than their respective counterparts on the Cubs. I think that Albert Pujols looks great this year and I expect him to have one of his best seasons in years. Let's revisit this discussion in three months.

[ItzTacosYerrp]

That last hr pujols hit was so beau!!!

Dat follow through

Dat bat speed

[Mark68]

That last hr pujols hit was so beau!!!

Dat follow through

Dat bat speed

From what i have seen (including that bomb yesterday), his approach and follow-through are looking very good.

[Second Base]

From an optimistic view, I'll say this, the Angels have more potential talent than they've had in a while. If you need defense, put in Featherston, if you need offense, stick with Green, if you want to simply be ok, go with Giavotella.

That's essentially how I see Giavotella performing if he gets the whole season, ok. Maybe .260 with sporadic DB's and HR's, 10-15 SB and ok defense.

It certainly won't make us forget about Howie, unless Heaney's lights out, but Giavotella should be a good stop gap until Yarbrough's ready.

[Angelsjunky]

I'm a bit more optimistic about Giavotella's bat, Scotty. I think he can hit for a good average, maybe .280ish, with some walks, a fair number of doubles and a few HR  - somewhat similar to Green, but with better plate discipline and a bit less power.

[Troll Daddy]

I still see Rutledge in the mix ... it will be him or Gia

Edited March 26, 2015 by Troll Daddy

[Troll Daddy]

I don't see offensive stats being a big factor in the decision ... since no one is tearing the cover off the ball.

Experience will still play the biggest factor.

[disarcina]

I don't see how Halos can keep Giavotella, Rutledge and Featherston.

 

Green seems to be playing more OF this past week so he may looking to stick there as well as providing some additional flexibility at 2B/ 3B

 

Featherstron, Rule 5 guy, makes the 25 so then it's Giavotella OR Rutledge.

 

Rutledge has options remaining -- so looks like he'll be the odd guy out -- not sure if he can demand F/A as opposed to be being sent to SLC.

 

As for the prior comment about Darwin Barney's offensive stats -- you wouldn't be getting him for his bat, he's a defensive specialist -- won gold glove at 2B for Cubs, can play 2B/ SS and 3B  - I don't think he's going to stick with the Dodgers -- someone's going to grab him up when the Dodgers send him out or cut him............perhaps the A's..........

[Angelsjunky]

Won't the Cubs want to keep Barney as insurance for Baez, who looks thoroughly over-matched by major league pitching so far? They might want to send Baez to AAA for a bit to regain his confidence.

[KevinJ14]

From what i have seen (including that bomb yesterday), his approach and follow-through are looking very good.

Agreed. He is lacing everything. Including his outs.

[Hollyw00d]

Baez is far from a sure thing.  He's still young, but his swing is long and his plate discipline is a real issue.  I think there's a pretty good possibility starlin castro is the cubs SS for a while, he might have defensive issues and maybe attitude issues, but he might be the most talented SS in the majors and has the upside of a perennial all-star if he puts his mind to it.

[Second Base]

I'm a bit more optimistic about Giavotella's bat, Scotty. I think he can hit for a good average, maybe .280ish, with some walks, a fair number of doubles and a few HR  - somewhat similar to Green, but with better plate discipline and a bit less power.

 

If that's true then the Angels will have won the Kendrick deal by a fair margin.  Kendrick's a .280-.290 hitter with a fair amount of DB's a few HR's and great glove.  If Giavotella hits .280 and is merely average with the glove, it'll mean the Angels will have saved 9 million and basically acquired 6 years control over a top LHP prospect for free. 

 

That's hitting the lottery in my book.  The only way it gets better is if Giavotella hits ,300 like he did in the minors and Heaney reaches his ceiling sooner rather than later. 

[OregonLAA]

Barney is a Dodger

[Troll Daddy]

Dodgers have easily won the trade as of right now. Losing Howie's might be a bigger deal than some of you believe. Number 5 starters are a dime a dozen.

I'm not liking the trade yet. I prefer to win now.

[disarcina]

little early to register the 'winner' in the Kendrick trade.

 

essentially, both teams may 'win' it........Halos traded HK before they lost him to F/A and gained a young prospect lefty (Heaney) who may or MAY NOT help the Halos this year. But Heaney will be under club control and should be in the Halos rotation if not this year then in 2016 and beyond......does he need to be an ace to 'win' the trade? NO. Even a solid number 4/5 for a three year period would do.

 

I'm leaning towards the Angels keeping Heaney at SLC to start the season to work on some things and gain some innings as the part of starting rotation.

 

Dodgers get HK who is solid and steady and should be for them this year -- with Rollins at SS, Dodgers need a line up that wins now. HK helps give them that.

 

As for Darwin Barney -- he was traded by the Cubs to the Dodgers about a year ago or so -- and now there's no room for him on the Dodgers roster........Barney is solid defensively-- was the Cubs starting 2B about three years ago and won an NL Gold Glove at 2B.  He's better defensively than any of the 2B folks we have in camp.

 

Perhaps Angels can ship Rutledge back to the Rockies -- they still need 2B help -- and figure out a way to acquire Barney -- if I had to pick between Rule 5 guy and Barney - I'd probably send Featherston back to Colorado as well (that's not going to happen).   Ironically, shipping either one of those guys back to Colorado might be the best thing to happen to them - they'd probably get more MLB playing time there than in Anaheim in 2015......

 

Gaviotella (spelled wrong, I think) seems to have moved to the top of the heap in the 2B sweepstakes. Perhaps Halos feel Gaviotella (a Scioscia type player), Rule 5 guy Featherston (for D) and then if an OF/MIF/DH spot on the 25 man roster can be left open for Grant Green (unlikely) you have some additional MIF/3B depth in a pinch there as well.

 

Halos are probably going to carry one less pitcher (would that mean 10?) on the opening day roster as a fifth starter not needed until April 14 or so -- this likely means Heaney, Tropena (spelled way wrong) and others vying for the fifth spot likely destined for SLC...........hey, I noticed on some of the opening day 25 projections there's no listing of Salas for the pen?  I assume he makes the team. NO?

[Oz27]

Dodgers have easily won the trade as of right now. Losing Howie's might be a bigger deal than some of you believe. Number 5 starters are a dime a dozen.

I'm not liking the trade yet. I prefer to win now.

Like clockwork

[Troll Daddy]

Rutledge isn't going to be shipped anywhere soon. I suspect the Angels have scouted this guy extensively before they made the trade. I hope they didn't trade Diaz just to see how Rutledge would do in ST.

Edited March 26, 2015 by Troll Daddy