Your Off Season Wish List

[Jeff Fletcher]

You should read this before you start clamoring for big money relievers 

https://nypost.com/2018/08/25/relievers-can-blame-themselves-if-free-agent-paydays-dry-up/

[Blarg]

Like a battered girlfriend, we fans always think the next big money free agent won't treat us badly like the last one.

[Tank]

3 hours ago, Memories of 02 said:

Hopefully, the day of the big name veteran contract is ended under Arte Moreno's ownership

Albert Pujols is kicked upstairs to fulfill the remaining years of his contract as the most expensive Assistant GM in the history of baseball.

Ohtani is the Angel's closer which limits him to a max of 70 IP's a year and the Angels every day 1st baseman or DH. Preferably 1st baseman, so the fans can watch him run down to the bullpen after leaving his 1st base position after the end of the eighth. Then  the fans can wait breathlessly as Clark Kent changes into his Superman closer clothes to emerge walking out with the strobe lights going crazy and the music blasting, and the scoreboard dancing in the dark, to save yet another one for our Halos.

Finally, a patient new manager, who is not afflicted with yank and jerkitis, someone similar to the Astros skipper, or the A's Bob Melvin , who will patiently stay with Ward and Fletcher, and maybe one other great looking rook, until the playoff   gel has completely molded.

[mulwin444]

10 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

You should read this before you start clamoring for big money relievers 

https://nypost.com/2018/08/25/relievers-can-blame-themselves-if-free-agent-paydays-dry-up/

"The Rockies signed the three largest relief contracts, totaling $104 million for Wade Davis, Jake McGee and Bryan Shaw. Each signed three-year deals. Shaw (6.42) and McGee (5.98) had the majors’ two worst ERAs (minimum 50 relief appearances) entering the weekend and Davis (4.99) was fifth.

Brandon Morrow (two years, $21 million) received the fourth-largest deal. He pitched well as the Cubs’ closer. But the concern with him was health, and Morrow (biceps tendinitis) has not pitched since mid-July.

Philadelphia’s Tommy Hunter (two years, $18 million) has been good, but not as good as last year and missed the first three weeks of the season. Seattle’s Juan Nicasio (two years, $17 million) took a 6.00 ERA to the disabled list (knee inflammation). Minnesota’s Addison Reed (two years, $16.75 million) is having his worst season. Houston’s Joe Smith (two years, $15 million) has seen a diminishment in his groundball rates and effectiveness. And rounding out the top 10 is Anthony Swarzak (two years, $14 million) who has been hurt or awful for the Mets."

Woof...a lot of old, broken (or breaking) and potentially expensive coming up this offseason as well.

As much as Twiter-verse screams "Fix the BP Eppler", the BP issues this season appears more "effect" than "cause" with injured starters and inconsistent/injured offense.  Although there no "elite" closers in the mix, at least not yet, Eppler has assembled some decent pieces at minimal cost.  

[Jeff Fletcher]

5 minutes ago, mulwin444 said:

As much as Twiter-verse screams "Fix the BP Eppler", the BP issues this season appears more "effect" than "cause" with injured starters and inconsistent/injured offense.  Although there no "elite" closers in the mix, at least not yet, Eppler has assembled some decent pieces at minimal cost.  

^^^

This is what I’ve been telling people. 

The way to have a good bullpen is to ...

1. Have a large enough volume of guys who have major league potential and options so you can keep cycling them up and down till you find the ones who are good that year. 

2. Have good starters and a good lineup, so every time you ask the pen to protect a lead it’s not 9 outs with a 1-run lead. How about 3 outs with a 3-run lead?

Spending any kind of serious money or de assets on relief at the expense of the rotation and lineup is just dumb. The only exception to this would be in July when you already have a very good team and an elite closer can get you a World Series (2016 Cubs). 

[ten ocho recon scout]

6 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

2. Have good starters and a good lineup, so every time you ask the pen to protect a lead it’s not 9 outs with a 1-run lead. How about 3 outs with a 3-run lead?

Agreed. The pen obviously has to do its job. But both it and the starting staff have spent the last few years either being able to relax a bit, because trout did something good last inning, or having to be perfect, because trout doesnt hit for another two innings.

Again, these guys are paid to execute. But its tough going day after day of only scoring or expecting to score 3 innings a game.

[Dick B Back]

15 hours ago, Memories of 02 said:

Hopefully, the day of the big name veteran contract is ended under Arte Moreno's ownership

Albert Pujols is kicked upstairs to fulfill the remaining years of his contract as the most expensive Assistant GM in the history of baseball.

Ohtani is the Angel's closer which limits him to a max of 70 IP's a year and the Angels every day 1st baseman or DH. Preferably 1st baseman, so the fans can watch him run down to the bullpen after leaving his 1st base position after the end of the eighth. Then  the fans can wait breathlessly as Clark Kent changes into his Superman closer clothes to emerge walking out with the strobe lights going crazy and the music blasting, and the scoreboard dancing in the dark, to save yet another one for our Halos.

Finally, a patient new manager, who is not afflicted with yank and jerkitis, someone similar to the Astros skipper, or the A's Bob Melvin , who will patiently stay with Ward and Fletcher, and maybe one other great looking rook, until the playoff   gel has completely molded.

[Dick B Back]

15 hours ago, UndertheHalo said:

@Dick B Back we need your cat smoking drugs gif again.

Done.

[Dick Enberg]

2 minutes ago, Dick B Back said:

Done.

NO CATS BROTHER DICK!!

[Dick B Back]

On 7/23/2017 at 9:44 AM, Slegnaac said:

I wish they would sign Danny Elfman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have him write a new 7th inning stretch song.

Or just play Violent Love and pay him royalties.

 

[Docwaukee]

I go back to the importance of a guy like Petit.  That bridge guy who's gonna give you two solid innings in the 6th and 7th.  We haven't had anything remotely reliable in that regard this year.  Make no mistake.  In 2019, you won't see our starters getting much deeper into games than they are this year.  Maybe a bit better, but based on who we'll be bringing back, they're gonna have to be better prepared. 

the options/shuttle thing is important as well, but then you're having tryouts all season.  Ultimately, you may end up settling on 5-6 guys but it's likely that they are just one inning guys.  and then you run the risk of not having the right guys up because they're burnt and you're going with Paredes or a steady diet of Noe.  

If your starters aren't going to get you any length, you have to have a pen guy or two who can.  I am hoping Felix Pena can be one of those guys next year.  

[totdprods]

19 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

I go back to the importance of a guy like Petit.  That bridge guy who's gonna give you two solid innings in the 6th and 7th.  We haven't had anything remotely reliable in that regard this year.  Make no mistake.  In 2019, you won't see our starters getting much deeper into games than they are this year.  Maybe a bit better, but based on who we'll be bringing back, they're gonna have to be better prepared. 

the options/shuttle thing is important as well, but then you're having tryouts all season.  Ultimately, you may end up settling on 5-6 guys but it's likely that they are just one inning guys.  and then you run the risk of not having the right guys up because they're burnt and you're going with Paredes or a steady diet of Noe.  

If your starters aren't going to get you any length, you have to have a pen guy or two who can.  I am hoping Felix Pena can be one of those guys next year.  

Taylor Cole has shown he may be able to work within that role as well. 

I'm not nearly as concerned about the pen. It's flaws this year were only exposed by the decimated rotation and the fickle offense. 
We've got a lot of guys with options, which is key. As of right now, Anderson has 3, Pena has 2, Anderson, Buttrey, Jewell, and Cole have 3. Jerez, Middleton, Tropeano, Almonte, Paredes (if he gets his shit together) also have 2. Robles has one, not sure if it's in effect for this year or next year. For that reason, I'm also way down taking a flier on a bunch of cheap/minor league vets. Don't spend big money. Look at how well Petit, Norris, Parker, Hernandez, and, in a way, Yates worked out. Stock the opening day pen with those guys and rotate the options as needed, and deal off the vets for prospects as situation allows.

That's a whole lot of guys you can cycle through the minors, and Eppler is good at finding this talent cheaply so I'm sure he'll add to it still. 

We just need 5 guys to get us 20-25 starts and for no more than 1-2 lineup positions to be total black holes, instead of the usual 4-6 we have each year.

[Troll Daddy]

A lock down closer is under rated or is it

[totdprods]

2 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

A lock down closer is under rated or is it

I think it's only needed when you have the resources, be it money or prospect, to acquire one and you have everything else tied down nicely. 
If you know you're going to have a killer offense, a strong pen, and a great rotation, yeah, it's absolutely worth it. If you're the Astros, Braves, Red Sox, Yankees, Phillies, go for it. 

The Angels? Not a good idea. 

[Troll Daddy]

5 minutes ago, totdprods said:

I think it's only needed when you have the resources, be it money or prospect, to acquire one and you have everything else tied down nicely. 
If you know you're going to have a killer offense, a strong pen, and a great rotation, yeah, it's absolutely worth it. If you're the Astros, Braves, Red Sox, Yankees, Phillies, go for it. 

The Angels? Not a good idea. 

It worked out for the Mariners or did it

[Angel Oracle]

17 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

It worked out for the Mariners or did it

Given that the M's are 19-26 in their past 45 games, not so much.

That said, Diaz has been unhittable after June 1, like a young Kimbrel.     34.1 innings: 20 hits, 58/3 K's/BBs ratio, 1.05 ERA, 0.67 WHIP

[Stradling]

14 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

It worked out for the Mariners or did it

They didn't trade or sign him as a free agent.  If you can develop them like we did in the past then perfect.  If you can't then signing a Kimbrel for $15 million probably doens't make a lot of sense.  

[Troll Daddy]

2 minutes ago, Stradling said:

They didn't trade or sign him as a free agent.  If you can develop them like we did in the past then perfect.  If you can't then signing a Kimbrel for $15 million probably doens't make a lot of sense.  

What makes sense is winning ... sounds like you don't have a lot of faith going into season 2019. In that case I agree with you. I'm not suggesting spending $15M on a FA closer or am I

[Troll Daddy]

19 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Given that the M's are 19-26 in their past 45 games, not so much.

That said, Diaz has been unhittable after June 1.     34.1 innings: 20 hits, 58/3 K's/BBs ratio, 1.05 ERA, 0.67 WHIP

You could say that without Diaz they wouldn't even be in contention at all ... Mariners won a shitload of one run games.

[Stradling]

Just now, Troll Daddy said:

What makes sense is winning ... sounds like you don't have a lot of faith going into season 2019. In that case I agree with you. I'm not suggesting spending $15M on a FA closer or am I

oh it has nothing to do with faith.  It has to do with priorities of spending, either money or prospects.  A lock down closer, like others have said, is a luxury.  I don't know what the numbers are these days, but I would assume a lock down closer saves about 95% of the games he pitches in with a save opportunity.  A regular closer probably is successful 90% of the time.  That might be a 2-3 game swing over the course of a season.  

[Troll Daddy]

21 minutes ago, Stradling said:

oh it has nothing to do with faith.  It has to do with priorities of spending, either money or prospects.  A lock down closer, like others have said, is a luxury.  I don't know what the numbers are these days, but I would assume a lock down closer saves about 95% of the games he pitches in with a save opportunity.  A regular closer probably is successful 90% of the time.  That might be a 2-3 game swing over the course of a season.  

It also might be a 5-6 game swing over a course of a season. If you want a legit chance of contention you can't have a closer by committee situation in the bullpen. I had high hopes for Middleton this season ... if Anderson can improve his command and keep developing his pitches who knows

[Tank]

i'd also like to see jim johnson get a new contract

 

 

in kansas city.

[Stradling]

5 hours ago, Tank said:

i'd also like to see jim johnson get a new contract

 

 

in kansas city.

You spelled Houston wrong

[tdawg87]

3 minutes ago, Stradling said:

You spelled Houston wrong

He'd go there and save 50 games.

[Stradling]

16 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

He'd go there and save 50 games.

Probably, but he still sucks.   We all thought Fuentes sucked and he got around 50 saves one year for us.