What now Mr. Billy Eppler

[totdprods]

7 minutes ago, AngelArcher said:

Brutal schedule in amount of games played, yes, but strength of schedule more than balanced that out. I suspect it's going to get ugly once they play some contending teams. 

Who's more contending than us? We're 4th in the league in wins. Only Houston (38), NY (30), Boston and Tampa (29) have more than us, and three of those teams are separated by a win or two.

Everyone except Houston has been essentially a .500ish team give or take 5 games this year so far, and that includes basically everyone we've played.

Trafitionally, we're terrible in April, okay in May, and pretty solid in June and July, and that's been pretty constant in the Sosh years. We have some guys who are due for improvement to balance out their below career-norm starts. A hot month and we're fine.

[Chuck]

25 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Who's more contending than us? We're 4th in the league in wins. Only Houston (38), NY (30), Boston and Tampa (29) have more than us, and three of those teams are separated by a win or two.

Everyone except Houston has been essentially a .500ish team give or take 5 games this year so far, and that includes basically everyone we've played.

Trafitionally, we're terrible in April, okay in May, and pretty solid in June and July, and that's been pretty constant in the Sosh years. We have some guys who are due for improvement to balance out their below career-norm starts. A hot month and we're fine.

Good post, @totdprods

btw... what does your username mean? I've always been curious. 

[TroutField]

If they go on a solid winning streak all the sudden we are looking good. Floating around .500 until the all star break could set us up to take off afterwards, after we get healthy or find improvements. 

[totdprods]

3 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Good post, @totdprods

bw... what does your username mean? I've always been curious. 

Old video/music production company I had, townofthedamned productions. Moved on to have a record label with a different name now, but never changed my username

[nate]

Angels have had the 10th easiest schedule in the league and are barely .500 and that was with the best player on the planet playing like that.  Now they will face better competition and without the player responsible for a good portion of their wins.  Eppler should just ride it out, this was a lost season before it even started.  Don't blow any more resources.  Look toward next season.

[totdprods]

5 minutes ago, nate said:

Angels have had the 10th easiest schedule in the league and are barely .500 and that was with the best player on the planet playing like that.  Now they will face better competition and without the player responsible for a good portion of their wins.  Eppler should just ride it out, this was a lost season before it even started.  Don't blow any more resources.  Look toward next season.

I fail to see how the schedule is that much of a factor when every team except for Houston is just a few games over .500, or fairly below .500. You can also argue that even though Trout was playing his brains out, 2/3rds or the lineup was MIA and some of those players should see some normalization at some point. 

No need to spend resources trying to fix this team significantly, but also no need to panic, dump players, and write off the year. Give it one more month.

[nate]

Angels played easy competition and barely squeaked by.  Now they are going to face tougher competition without their best player.

[Chuck]

6 minutes ago, nate said:

Angels played easy competition and barely squeaked by.  Now they are going to face tougher competition without their best player.

Well... We're 2-1 so far (I know, sample size), but if we can take 3/4 from the Twins at home, then win some series, split some series for the next 6 weeks I think we may be alright. 

We're still in the WC hunt. I doubt Eppler is going to trade any pieces that are a significant part of the future.

[totdprods]

1 minute ago, Chuckster70 said:

Well... We're 2-1 so far (I know, sample size), but if we can take 3/4 from the Twins at home, then win some series, split some series for the next 6 weeks I think we may be alright. 

We're still in the WC hunt. I doubt Eppler is going to trade any pieces that are a significant part of the future.

Minnesota is starting to crack. Seattle just owned them, and were a better record than Seattle. We own Detroit and have them for 3. We have games against KC and they're one of the worst AL teams. Boston and NYY will be tough, as will Houston. Don't see how it's really that different from what we've been facing though. 

It all comes down to Valbuena, Marte, Cron, Calhoun, Espinosa, Maybin, and Pujols hitting well, and we needed that to happen to compete with or without Trout.

[Chuck]

1 minute ago, totdprods said:

Minnesota is starting to crack. Seattle just owned them, and were a better record than Seattle. We own Detroit and have them for 3. We have games against KC and they're one of the worst AL teams. Boston and NYY will be tough, as will Houston. Don't see how it's really that different from what we've been facing though. 

It all comes down to Valbuena, Marte, Cron, Calhoun, Espinosa, Maybin, and Pujols hitting well, and we needed that to happen to compete with or without Trout.

Yeah... is it too much to ask for to get at least a couple guys in our lineup from that group hot for the next 6-8 weeks?

[Troll Daddy]

1 minute ago, totdprods said:

Minnesota is starting to crack. Seattle just owned them, and were a better record than Seattle. We own Detroit and have them for 3. We have games against KC and they're one of the worst AL teams. Boston and NYY will be tough, as will Houston. Don't see how it's really that different from what we've been facing though. 

It all comes down to Valbuena, Marte, Cron, Calhoun, Espinosa, Maybin, and Pujols hitting well, and we needed that to happen to compete with or without Trout.

Even if the team somehow manages to stay afloat until Trout's return ... the offense still needs a quality MOTO bat to make the playoffs or contend for a WS title, right? 

Surprisingly or not ... first base has been our least productive position. I'm not sure what to make of that info. 

The Angels will probably stay pat and roll the dice on the season. Sell off parts at the deadline and rinse and repeat next year.

[AngelArcher]

1 hour ago, totdprods said:

Who's more contending than us? We're 4th in the league in wins. Only Houston (38), NY (30), Boston and Tampa (29) have more than us, and three of those teams are separated by a win or two.

Everyone except Houston has been essentially a .500ish team give or take 5 games this year so far, and that includes basically everyone we've played.

Trafitionally, we're terrible in April, okay in May, and pretty solid in June and July, and that's been pretty constant in the Sosh years. We have some guys who are due for improvement to balance out their below career-norm starts. A hot month and we're fine.

How about using winning percentage where they're 8th in the league. They've played more games than everyone else except Tampa. As many as 9 more, so using win totals is kinda weak.

Teams they haven't played with winning records. NYY, BOS, BAL, CLE, MIN. Yeah they've basically played everyone.

 

[AngelArcher]

1 hour ago, totdprods said:

Who's more contending than us? We're 4th in the league in wins. Only Houston (38), NY (30), Boston and Tampa (29) have more than us, and three of those teams are separated by a win or two.

Everyone except Houston has been essentially a .500ish team give or take 5 games this year so far, and that includes basically everyone we've played.

Trafitionally, we're terrible in April, okay in May, and pretty solid in June and July, and that's been pretty constant in the Sosh years. We have some guys who are due for improvement to balance out their below career-norm starts. A hot month and we're fine.

Also you list 4 teams with more wins, so 5th.

[totdprods]

7 minutes ago, AngelArcher said:

Also you list 4 teams with more wins, so 5th.

Two are tied with 29, one more win than us. Big whoop. 

[Troll Daddy]

10 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Two are tied with 29, one more win than us. Big whoop. 

If someone put a gun to your head and said "make the playoffs or I pull the trigger" what moves would you make?

[Angel Oracle]

Time for Cronicslump, Valnobueno, Espinohitsa, and Cold Calhoun to wake the #$^#$&^ up!!!! 

[Stradling]

25 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

If someone put a gun to your head and said "make the playoffs or I pull the trigger" what moves would you make?

I'd say a prayer.  We don't have the pieces to get what you're asking for without mortgaging the future.  The only way we make the playoffs is if the guys who aren't performing start to perform AND we get healthy.  

Or I would trade recently released Daniel Wright and Pennington to the Dodgers for Kershaw and Seager, who would obviously play third.  

[Troll Daddy]

5 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I'd say a prayer.  We don't have the pieces to get what you're asking for without mortgaging the future.  The only way we make the playoffs is if the guys who aren't performing start to perform AND we get healthy.  

Or I would trade recently released Daniel Wright and Pennington to the Dodgers for Kershaw and Seager, who would obviously play third.  

We have a future? News to me

I'm hoping that Eppler has the balls to recognize that the future is now and do something about it. 

[totdprods]

18 hours ago, Troll Daddy said:

If someone put a gun to your head and said "make the playoffs or I pull the trigger" what moves would you make?

I really don’t think there are many moves that could be made that would be worth doing presently.
Internally, I would hope that we stay healthy throughout June. By the end of the month, we should look like:
Rotation: 1) Shoemaker 2) Ramirez 3) Chavez 4) Nolasco 5) Skaggs (due back end of June and is starting to throw) with Fister, Bridwell, Meyer, Smith, Scribner in the wings
Pen: 6) Petit 7) Hernandez 8) Alvarez 9) Norris 10) Morin/Street 11) Parker 12) Bedrosian (with Street, Middleton, Guerra, Pounders, names above waiting in the wings)
Line-up: CF Maybin, 3B Escobar, DH Pujols, 1B Valbuena, SS Simmons, RF Calhoun, C Maldonado, 2B Espinosa, LF Young/Revere
Bench: Marte, Graterol, Pennington, Robinson

That still doesn't look too bad.

Externally, I see only a couple avenues where we could get an upgrade of any real significance at a cost within our means; RP and 2B/UT IF. I just don’t see any OF or SP that would be within our reach, and the few I do see, I don’t think they’d offer up enough production to merit the cost.
 

That said, I’d be willing to deal from a group of players including Cron, Marte, Perez, Cowart, one of Middleton/Paredes (have to really be worth it), and be willing to listen to any prospect not named Jahmai Jones for names such as Brad Hand, Yangervis Solarte, David Phelps, Jed Lowrie, Howie Kendrick, Josh Harrison, Tony Watson. I'd look to improve the pen still because I think that's one aspect that can be improved fairly cheaply and under the radar, and I'd look for another UT IF/2B type that could bump one of Pennington/Espinosa and still offer some depth for the future or fill in at 3B, LF, or SS if anyone else gets hurt.

[Troll Daddy]

On 5/31/2017 at 8:01 AM, Troll Daddy said:

The team has 27 wins and still very much in the thick of the race. What's your next move?

Fold up shop until Trout returns and pray? or do we go out and find a replacement bat asap? 

Listening to his interview yesterday he seemed pretty relaxed about the whole situation. Now is the time when the tough get going! 

Trade whoever and get us a impact bat!

 

[Stradling]

4 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

 

We don't have the pieces to pick up an impact bat in early June.  If we traded minor league pieces we would mortgage the future, because our talent is unproven even in the sense of prospects.  If we had a great farm, we could use some depth to get an impact bat in July.  Our major leaguers are underperforming (this the need for an impact bat), so we can't trade any of them to improve our team.  

[Troll Daddy]

4 minutes ago, Stradling said:

We don't have the pieces to pick up an impact bat in early June.  If we traded minor league pieces we would mortgage the future, because our talent is unproven even in the sense of prospects.  If we had a great farm, we could use some depth to get an impact bat in July.  Our major leaguers are underperforming (this the need for an impact bat), so we can't trade any of them to improve our team.  

Whatever 

Teams who lose their star player figure something out ... giving up shouldn't be a option. The future lol

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, Troll Daddy said:

Whatever 

Teams who lose their star player figure something out ... giving up shouldn't be a option. The future lol

Would you rather the Angels possibly be in the wild card picture at the end of this season or be in a real position to compete in 2-3 years?  Would you rather have Segura right now or no Segura?  Right now we don't have Segura, or Greinke.  At that moment going for Greinke made sense because it was a good team with good pitching and a good offense, but we still failed to make the playoffs.  This team has more holes than actual strengths and no prospects to fix the holes.  

[Brent Maguire]

On June 1, 2017 at 11:33 AM, ThomasSutpen said:

In response to @Brent Maguire's post, I don't know about trading Blake Parker. He shows up to spring training and K's 17 straight, looking unhittable, and he has followed that up in the regular season with continued elite performance: 14.1 K/9, 5.43 K/BB, 0.78 FIP, 158 ERA+. He makes good MLB hitters look downright foolish on a regular basis. If he was getting paid $10 million for the season his performance would be justifying it. But he'll be 32 in a couple weeks and has barely qualified as a journeyman to this point in his career, having been DFA'd three times since just last fall...so what are teams really going to offer for him? A young relief prospect who in three years, if he avoids injury, develops into a poor man's 2017 Blake Parker? Keep him right where he is, I say.

If the Angels are to keep any pending free agent for 2018 and beyond, Parker would be at the top of the list. I think what he's shown is legit, at least for the short term. I'd explore adding him on a 2/12 deal or something similar before looking to move him. However, if another team in need of help, such as the Nationals, come asking about both Norris and Parker, I think you'd have to look into it at the very least. Angels definitely have a lot of interesting moves coming this summer but in the end, they'll either benefit by bringing Parker back or flipping him for talent. 

[Troll Daddy]

12 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Would you rather the Angels possibly be in the wild card picture at the end of this season or be in a real position to compete in 2-3 years?  Would you rather have Segura right now or no Segura?  Right now we don't have Segura, or Greinke.  At that moment going for Greinke made sense because it was a good team with good pitching and a good offense, but we still failed to make the playoffs.  This team has more holes than actual strengths and no prospects to fix the holes.  

The first move Eppler make was trading our two top prospects for Simmons. You don't have to trade for a rental ... you can trade for the future or trade for a rental. 

Will see how it plays out. I doubt Trout wants to go through the motions of another wasted season without trying. 

I really not sure what you're expecting in 2018.