So now what?

[Torridd]

11 hours ago, CALZONE said:

So are we still with the "Win Now" plan?

Buying? Selling? Retooling? Rebuilding or ready to blow it up?

Or will the Angels Organization remain in denial and continue to sell us on the Rally Monkey, Pujols and Buttercup because we have MIKE TROUT.

I just don't see the sense in rebuilding when you have Trout and some others on the team. More like retooling. I don't want to throw in the season, at least not yet. If we can get some offensive help from dumpster diving, I still have faith that we can stay in the race.

[Torridd]

10 hours ago, Dochalo said:

You got to get through about 70 to 80 games before you can just close up shop for the year.  

Last year, Texas was 43-49 through mid july.  9 games back.  In the second half, they had the 10th best offense and the 16th best SP with the 10th best bullpen.  Going 45-25.  They had some talent, but they weren't exactly spectacular in any one facet of the game.  I am not sure we are remotely capable of something like that and frankly I doubt it. 

In fact, It would surprise me very much if we are anything close to .500 by the deadline which is game 105 for us.  But you've got to spend some time figuring it out.  

We have a .419 win pct right now.  If we have 30-35 wins and 45-50 losses on July 1, it's time to start making some moves for next year.  I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to add payroll for mediocre declining players (my suggestion of Shields was mostly in jest).  

I also wouldn't be afraid to start seeing what we might have with several guys in the minors.  Cowart, Kubitza, Johnson, Smith, Ortega, Agulera, Bandy, McGowin.  

At the deadline, I would trade Joe Smith, CJ Wilson, Salas, Soto and Pennington. You aren't getting much from that crew but a few mid level prospects at best.  But at this point you take what you can get to supplement the farm.   

You have to also consider the fact that if the team isn't capable of winning with what they have right now then they likely won't be able to next year as well because you aren't really getting your pitching back until mid year at best and we know that there are horrible SP option on the FA market.  For that reason, I would definitely consider trading Escboar, Santiago and Street.  I would actually consider extending Hector for a couple of years first though.  I would not trade Calhoun right now unless I get an offer that absolutely blows me away.  If you could get anything for Weaver, I'd consider moving him, but only if he's ok with it.  He deserves that.  You can't move Pujols.  Trout is Trout.  

By the time the deadline has come and gone, Cowart would be my 3bman, Johnson my 2bman, Kubitza LF, Bandy/Perez C, Bedrosian Cl, Morin 8th.  

FA's for the winter are slim except for the pen which could be bolstered considerably for next year. 

I figure that one of Johnson, Kubitza or Cowart will show enough promise to earn a starting gig for next year.  There are also a bunch of short term option position players which might actually work out better for our situation anyway.  

I enjoyed the beginning of what you wrote, but then it started to sound like next year would be forgotten also. That doesn't sit right with me.

[Angelsjunky]

What now? We party like its 1999. You know, when the Angels sucked year after year, with just tantalizing glimmers of hope and then...wham! 2002.

Seriously though, this franchise is in very deep doo-doo. But it isn't absolutely hopeless. But if I were the Angels I would quietly let go of 2016 and see as a "taking stock" year. Give time to players like Cowart, Kubtiza, Choi, Ortega, Johnson, etc. See if any of these kids take a big step forward. Then, once the trade deadline looms--and assuming the Angels are 10+ games out--start shedding spare parts. Hope CJ comes back and has a few strong starts so is tradeable. See what teams offer for Santiago, Soto, Cron, Escobar, Smith, Street, etc.

2017 won't be that much better, but maybe we'll have a new direction. There simply isn't enough via free agency to fix this team. This past offseason was the time to do that, if they wanted to give it a shot. 90 losses this year might get the Angels a top 5 draft pick. Maybe they have a good draft this year.

I still feel the same way I felt before the year started: Stop worrying about the "Trout Window" and start worrying about building a team that Trout will want to be a part of for the rest of his career.

Oh yeah, we really should stop blaming Scioscia. There's only so much he can do with the mediocre talent on the field.

[Adam]

We suck it up and have a bad team for 1-3 years. Enjoy an uncrowded yard in the summertime and root for whoever is playing the red sox. 

[Adam]

3 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

What now? We party like its 1999. You know, when the Angels sucked year after year, with just tantalizing glimmers of hope and then...wham! 2002.

Seriously though, this franchise is in very deep doo-doo. But it isn't absolutely hopeless. But if I were the Angels I would quietly let go of 2016 and see as a "taking stock" year. Give time to players like Cowart, Kubtiza, Choi, Ortega, Johnson, etc. See if any of these kids take a big step forward. Then, once the trade deadline looms--and assuming the Angels are 10+ games out--start shedding spare parts. Hope CJ comes back and has a few strong starts so is tradeable. See what teams offer for Santiago, Soto, Cron, Escobar, Smith, Street, etc.

2017 won't be that much better, but maybe we'll have a new direction. There simply isn't enough via free agency to fix this team. This past offseason was the time to do that, if they wanted to give it a shot. 90 losses this year might get the Angels a top 5 draft pick. Maybe they have a good draft this year.

I still feel the same way I felt before the year started: Stop worrying about the "Trout Window" and start worrying about building a team that Trout will want to be a part of for the rest of his career.

Oh yeah, we really should stop blaming Scioscia. There's only so much he can do with the mediocre talent on the field.

100% agree

[AngelsLakersFan]

36 minutes ago, Torridd said:

I enjoyed the beginning of what you wrote, but then it started to sound like next year would be forgotten also. That doesn't sit right with me.

Losing doesn't sit right with anyone, but it's unavoidable at this point.

[zenmaster]

It's hard to believe just 2 years ago we had the best record in baseball (i think?).

At least we know things can turn around quickly and maybe it can turn back to good quicker than we think?

[bloodbrother]

28 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

What now? We party like its 1999. You know, when the Angels sucked year after year, with just tantalizing glimmers of hope and then...wham! 2002.

Seriously though, this franchise is in very deep doo-doo. But it isn't absolutely hopeless. But if I were the Angels I would quietly let go of 2016 and see as a "taking stock" year. Give time to players like Cowart, Kubtiza, Choi, Ortega, Johnson, etc. See if any of these kids take a big step forward. Then, once the trade deadline looms--and assuming the Angels are 10+ games out--start shedding spare parts. Hope CJ comes back and has a few strong starts so is tradeable. See what teams offer for Santiago, Soto, Cron, Escobar, Smith, Street, etc.

2017 won't be that much better, but maybe we'll have a new direction. There simply isn't enough via free agency to fix this team. This past offseason was the time to do that, if they wanted to give it a shot. 90 losses this year might get the Angels a top 5 draft pick. Maybe they have a good draft this year.

I still feel the same way I felt before the year started: Stop worrying about the "Trout Window" and start worrying about building a team that Trout will want to be a part of for the rest of his career.

Oh yeah, we really should stop blaming Scioscia. There's only so much he can do with the mediocre talent on the field.

This is where I'm at. Don't try to put band-aids on this current situation and make things worse as we go forward. Use this time and probably next season to clean up the mess and figure out which pieces will work for this team going forward

 

[beatlesrule]

13 minutes ago, zenmaster said:

It's hard to believe just 2 years ago we had the best record in baseball (i think?).

At least we know things can turn around quickly and maybe it can turn back to good quicker than we think?

You think too much.

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

I've been an Angels and Lakers fan longer than I've been a fan of any other sports teams.  We used to go to the big A on fan appreciation day during the late 80's and early 90's and I've still got polaroid's of me as a kid with guys like Lance Parish, Chili Davis, Wally Joyner and so on.  After seeing the franchise struggle more often than not my expectations weren't that great and it wasn't until 2002 and after that like most of you my expectations were obviously higher.  That said in the last so many years I've gone into each season not expecting much and it's partly due to seeing good Angel teams in the last decade or so come up short of expectations.  

I'm still bitter about the 2005 ALCS because the Angels won game 1 in Chicago when few thought they would coming off a 5 game series with NY then the infamous play in game 2 seemed to turn the series.  For me the answer to now what is the same it's always been but maybe it will be easier and cheaper to get tickets when I do make it over for a game.  As others said there's no easy fix for a team that was mediocre on paper coming into the season that's suffered the injuries the Angels have.  Ride it out for now and if they're out of it at the deadline see if they can move some veterans who don't fit into the long term plans.  Hopefully some of the younger guys who get playing time surprise. 

Edited May 10, 2016 by Catwhoshatinthehat

[Angel Oracle]

I agree with AJ too.

That still means looking into strategic FA signings after 2017, and not ignoring the Moncadas.

[Angelsjunky]

Speaking of Moncada, he's hitting .317/.450/.510 in A+ so far.

[floplag]

As much as i think the team might need a new voice and has for some time, i cant blame Sven for this season or any part of it.  I think he is far to casual on losing with the turn the page mentality. 

This team was not given a chance to win by the front office so you cannot hold the manager accountable for whether or not it wins or loses.  Maybe we will find a diamond in the rough among the young players or something but at this point evaluation of that talent is pretty much all we are playing for this season IMO.  

Thats not giving up, i didnt think we had a chance going in so this really doesnt change anything other than maybe 4th or worse instead of a shot at third, either way we werent in the post picture.  The front office gave up long before any of us.  They decide that the payroll was more important after leading us to this place leaving the fans with blue balls after teasing us for a few years and then friend zoning any chance to actually be competitive.  

[Pujols4MVP]

Think about it this way: instead of prolonging the pain of what will eventually happen with the team reaching 90+ losses, let them reach rock bottom sooner so that they recover faster with 3 successful drafts. Sign FA's with the purpose of flipping them for prospects at the trade deadline.

[ten ocho recon scout]

10 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Can't they be gold dust too?

I'd have to Google it, but I think the Crosby stills and Nash song actually says they are star dust, they are gold dust. So maybe?

[AngelsLakersFan]

3 hours ago, floplag said:

As much as i think the team might need a new voice and has for some time, i cant blame Sven for this season or any part of it.  I think he is far to casual on losing with the turn the page mentality. 

I don't think it's Sven's fault either.

[AngelsLakersFan]

3 hours ago, floplag said:

As much as i think the team might need a new voice and has for some time, i cant blame Sven for this season or any part of it.  I think he is far to casual on losing with the turn the page mentality. 

This team was not given a chance to win by the front office so you cannot hold the manager accountable for whether or not it wins or loses.  Maybe we will find a diamond in the rough among the young players or something but at this point evaluation of that talent is pretty much all we are playing for this season IMO.  

Thats not giving up, i didnt think we had a chance going in so this really doesnt change anything other than maybe 4th or worse instead of a shot at third, either way we werent in the post picture.  The front office gave up long before any of us.  They decide that the payroll was more important after leading us to this place leaving the fans with blue balls after teasing us for a few years and then friend zoning any chance to actually be competitive.  

In some ways perhaps all of these bad breaks are a good thing... maybe I'm reaching here... but I felt the same as you for the most part. This team was already a couple of players short of being legitimately competitive. At best we were hoping for some good breaks here and there to sneak in through a wild card. With the FA market the way it is, we were stick in this same position for 2017 as well. That much has not changed but perhaps the turn of events to start the season will net us a couple of good picks in this year's draft and prevent Moreno from wasting a bunch of money in the FA market.

[Kendo36]

Keep turning the page. Hover within .500 until Wilson and Skaggs come back. We have nothing to sell and the guys we do have could help us in the long term so why dump them?(santiago, Calhoun ect) Take the team as is and we will have some cap space next yr. I think you hold tight. And that is pretty much all you can do.

[Tank]

the rest of this season is an audition for next year as well as a chance for the kids to show if they can play here. 

i wouldn't make any trades, TBH, because we have nothing to trade and because we have nothing to gain. just let everyone play and hope we get to watch some more exciting moments from Trout.

[70runner]

Treat this as an opportunity, employ any strategy that results in getting younger and more athletic.  Recall Ortega, let the kids play, give Pujols some days off and/or (gasp) move him down in the lineup.  Trade Smith, Street, Soto, Escobar, Santiago, Nava for youth.  Enjoy watching the kids trying to get better around a core of Trout & Calhoun.

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

Now! We play Dominoes!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited May 11, 2016 by SlappyUtilityMIF

[tdawg87]

I'll bring the Kool-aid.

[FabulousFabregas]

On 5/10/2016 at 9:21 PM, zenmaster said:

Sell anyone not named Trout for anyone willing to be buyers. Cole, tropeano, street, smith, Santiago, Skaggs when back, blow it up. 

You know Dipoto will want Skaggs again.

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

There's such a long list of people to blame.  

 

The Angels are a cursed org.  If we didn't have the greatest chemistry ever in 02, we'd be sitting on 55 years of failure.  We lost Nolan Ryan this way.  Even winning in 02, it seemed like we were headed to greatness.  We've underachieved badly in the last 14 years.  No sign of a turnaround.  

[yk9001]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23EOVuhIhdg

Edited May 11, 2016 by yk9001