Mike Trout may be the best player in MLB, but the Angels' future may be the worst

[nate]

14 hours ago, Stradling said:

It's only as bleak as Arte is cheap.  If he spends until the farm get healthy we could be decent in 2018.  

How has Arte and any of the GMs since Stoneman shown any semblance of fixing the farm?  Not to mention it takes several years, not just two. 

[Angel Oracle]

When even was the last time we had a good farm system?

Ten years ago?

[Stradling]

37 minutes ago, nate said:

How has Arte and any of the GMs since Stoneman shown any semblance of fixing the farm?  Not to mention it takes several years, not just two. 

Well it starts with good drafts.  I don't think we will have major league ready talent in two years but you can certainly have a farm with a few top 100 prospects in a couple years.  I have no idea if Eppler has the right direction for the farm, my guess is he does because I thought that's what he did for the Yankees.  Just because Dipoto had a weak draft strategy doesn't mean Eppler will.  

[nate]

It wasn't the draft strategy, it was also trading away any talent in the farm over and over.  Reagins and Dipoto did it. And it will take a lot more than two years.

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, nate said:

It wasn't the draft strategy, it was also trading away any talent in the farm over and over.  Reagins and Dipoto did it. And it will take a lot more than two years.

But even if we traded those guys away what have they amounted to?  The best guys we've traded are Grichuk and Segura, that's not saying much.  It's draft strategy and total disregard of international signings.  

[nate]

What about Corbin?

 

if only two of the ones traded amounted to anything that makes a gigantic difference. 

[arch stanton]

51 minutes ago, nate said:

What about Corbin?

 

if only two of the ones traded amounted to anything that makes a gigantic difference. 

So which is it? Can 2 players make a gigantic difference or will it take a lot longer than 2 years?

 

[California Cajun]

16 hours ago, Angels_Baseball said:

Keri is a very good writer and quite honestly, nothing he said in the article was really off base. I'd argue he sold Simmons short when he was brought up but everything else was pretty spot on. 

Unfortunately for the Angels, the Richards and Heaney injuries were tipping points. With those 2, competing could've been likely this year and in 2017. Without those 2, Eppler is going to have to be a magician to get this team back to competing. 

The injuries are the problem by far.  Who ever won without their #1, 2 starters?

[nate]

58 minutes ago, arch stanton said:

So which is it? Can 2 players make a gigantic difference or will it take a lot longer than 2 years?

 

It takes a lot of guys to end up with the guys that could make an impact.

[Angel Oracle]

Even Pat Corbin hasn't been the same since his major injury.

Start showing REAL scouting passion in Latin America, and maybe then things will change for the better.

I get that Arte Moreno is principled.

But come on, he's going to let 29 other teams mine Latin America because he can't handle how business is done down there?

Yet he gives $125 million to a former coke addict?

Take it away The Miz:

Really? Really? Really?

Really??

[Stradling]

50 minutes ago, Vladdylonglegs said:

Arte spending hundreds of millions is the main reason the future is hopeless. You don't seem to remember the Pujols/Hamilton signings.

I remember that very well.  I'm not talking about signing $125-250 million players.  I'm talking about signing everyday players not supposed super stars.  Basically players that don't cost a pick but will supplement the team until the farm is back where it should be.  And no signing those two is not why the future is "hopeless".  

[tdawg87]

Denard Span would look good right about now.

[AngelsLakersFan]

If spending hundreds of millions poorly is the reason we are in this position then I'm not sure how spending $0 is going to work out better....

[ten ocho recon scout]

On 6/17/2016 at 2:50 PM, Oz27 said:

That attitude is precisely what got us into this mess.

Disagree. Sure, the bad contracts killed us. It doesnt mean you stop spending completely. 

Off the top of my head, no other teams out there with a mega media deal and no debt are sunk by a payroll thats mostly covered by said media deal.

Its not about signing or not signing huge contracts. Its about aigning or not signing people to improve where you suck and have no better in house options.

[Docwaukee]

leveraging every bit of currency you have, including players, and financial resources on only the major league club is a recipe for disaster.  Even when trades and free agents work out mildly in your favor, you decrease org currency and potential org currency in the form of cheap, club controlled talent.  Everything we have done since mid 2008 has been to do just that.  Some of the moves worked out very well.  Others, not so much, but it has all gone to expiring players, a disproportionate outlay of money to talent, or what amounts to an equal exchange on money/control that has actually not worked out.  

But the thing is that you went into this offseason with major league talent and an opportunity to prop up the major league club without the use of players or giving up picks.  Yet they decided not to and further decreased cheaper potential talent for major league players.  

While injury has definitely put a damper on this season, it begs the question as to what situation you'd rather be in.  It's true that you'd have been better off doing nothing.  

But that doesn't change the fact that there is still a solid core of major league talent for 2018 (assuming reasonable recovery from injury) but it will be for not if there isn't additional supplementation, and it's not going to come from the farm any time soon.  At least not in the form of potentially impact players.  Plus, after 2017 you've got quite a bit more payroll flex so there should be no excuses.  

My biggest nit with the team over the last 6+ years is that they complete the team to 80% and hope for the best.  Then they scramble in season to try and piece things together.  

While not ideal in that we are losing club control of our core for the next two years because of injury, there is a silver lining if we end up with a top ten pick the next two years as well as the hope that we can spin some guys off for some additional talent.  It won't be much, but by 2018, 1 or 2 players could really make a difference.  

If this team wants to have any chance beyond that 2018, 2019, and 2020 window, they are going to have to make some hard decisions.  Like moving some guys before they become free agents.  

We'll see how it work it, but it's not the catastrophe that it might seem because at any given point you can sell off all your parts and end up with a pretty solid farm system and a much better outlook for beyond 2020 when we sign Trout to a monster extension.    

[ten ocho recon scout]

5 hours ago, Vladdylonglegs said:

Arte spending hundreds of millions is the main reason the future is hopeless. You don't seem to remember the Pujols/Hamilton signings.

Rekative to inflation, how much do pujols and hamilton cost, with the fox deal in place, vs signing colon, escobar, guillen and vlad while handing anderson a multi year extension, when the media deal was a fraction of today?

The difference was the team won, so we continued to open the wallet.

Its not finances that are keeping us from spending...

 

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

Denard Span would look good right about now.

Perfect example. It doesnt alwayw have to be the biggest name...just better than what you currently have

[ScottT]

Might be?  Isn't Harper hitting .260 or so?  Not that batting average is all that important, but c'mon mang

[Ohtaniland]

David Ortiz is the best player in the game. Have you seen his numbers?

I'm referring to his current numbers. 

[Stradling]

14 minutes ago, CALZONE said:

David Ortiz is the best player in the game. Have you seen his numbers?

I'm referring to his current numbers. 

He might be one of the better hitters but he is far from the best players.  I'd take 25 guys ahead of him.  If you can't run at all and you can't play defense you can't be considered a top player.  

[ScottT]

Plus, there's something to be said for being in the conversation.... i mean.. being the best in the game for five years now.   Harper had a better year last year.  Someone may have a better year next year, but Trout is always right there if not ahead of everyone. He'll probably get shafted when it comes to the MVP again,

[Ohtaniland]

3 minutes ago, Stradling said:

He might be one of the better hitters but he is far from the best players.  I'd take 25 guys ahead of him.  If you can't run at all and you can't play defense you can't be considered a top player.  

Well Strad the DH position is a part of MLB. His numbers still count and they are quite impressive. He's out hitting players 15-20 years younger than him. 

[Stradling]

Good for him.  I'd still take:

Trout, Harper, McCutchen, Machado, Cano, Adam Jones, Seager, Springer, Correa, Altuve, Boegarts, Arrenado, Jackie Bradley Jr, Goldschmidt, Donaldson, Chris Bryant 

[ten ocho recon scout]

13 hours ago, nate said:

It wasn't the draft strategy, it was also trading away any talent in the farm over and over.  Reagins and Dipoto did it. And it will take a lot more than two years.

I think it was both. If anything, i think the drafting and development is the key problem. Put it like this, if we made a bunch of trades for solid guys, it wouldnt hurt so much.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Either way, in reference to ortiz, guy is having a monster year at 100 years old. Impressive no matter how you cut it

Who knows how much test therapy is involved though...