What everyone is thinking?

[AngelsLakersFan]

6 minutes ago, Mark68 said:

That's correct, because of his age (23). Therefore, there shouldn't be a bidding war. It will be between whatever teams want to cough up the $20 M to the Ham Fighters and however much of their bonus pool they want to dedicate (and whatever "handshake" agreement can be negotiated as far as contract extensions...as long as the Commish doesn't get wind of that).

That brings up another question... How long do teams have to wait to offer a player a contract extension? A team might be capped at $5 million but theoretically in a year or two they could buy out the 6 years of service time at well above market rates... Obviously this could raise a red flag, but I doubt you could prove anything.

[Mark68]

Just now, WeatherWonk said:

It could also come down to what team might be willing to let him pitch and play the outfield. That could be an important consideration for him.

 

Or at least pitch & DH. That might be better for a team's long term investment in him.

[Angel Oracle]

Otani can feel free to DH here when he pitches, at the least.

Thirty plus less DH starts for Pujols is a good thing.

[Mark68]

1 minute ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

That brings up another question... How long do teams have to wait to offer a player a contract extension? A team might be capped at $5 million but theoretically in a year or two they could buy out the 6 years of service time at well above market rates... Obviously this could raise a red flag, but I doubt you could prove anything.

Everything I've seen regarding Otani states that they have to wait a year, but if a team is willing to risk severe penalties if the Commissioner finds out, they could try to do so earlier (but not announce until after the season is over).

[WeatherWonk]

1 minute ago, Mark68 said:

Or at least pitch & DH. That might be better for a team's long term investment in him.

If it turns out he is a decent hitter at the MLB level, he would be like a DH for an NL team, on the days he starts.

Does he start? I am not that familiar with him, really.

[AngelsLakersFan]

5 minutes ago, Mark68 said:

Or at least pitch & DH. That might be better for a team's long term investment in him.

I doubt he signs with an AL team because his value will be significantly less in the AL. His offense will be compared to DHs instead of pitchers. If they want to put him in LF he needs to hit like Justin Upton to justify it. Odds are in the AL he is just a pitcher.

[Mark68]

4 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I doubt he signs with an AL team because his value will be significantly less in the AL. He won't get to bat when he pitches and he probably will DH the other days. 

Doubtful he loses too much value. If he DHs 120 games and starts 32 games, that's still 152 games (with less risk of injury).

[AngelsLakersFan]

Just now, Mark68 said:

Doubtful he loses too much value. If he DHs 120 games and starts 32 games, that's still 152 games (with less risk of injury).

I just mean there is too much downside in the AL. If you forgo the DH in games he starts then you are SOL all game if he struggles, so he will need to be significantly better than your next best hitter to justify it. If you put him at DH or LF he has to hit because the baseline is very high.

In the NL there is no downside and the value his bat provides is based on how much better of a hitter he is than your pitcher. His skill set is going to open things up for an NL manager in ways they probably don't in the AL.

[Mark68]

2 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I just mean there is too much downside in the AL. If you forgo the DH in games he starts then you are SOL all game if he struggles, so he will need to be significantly better than your next best hitter to justify it. If you put him at DH or LF he has to hit because the baseline is very high.

In the NL there is no downside and the value his bat provides is based on how much better of a hitter he is than your pitcher. His skill set is going to open things up for an NL manager in ways they probably don't in the AL.

How long do starting pitchers go nowadays? 6 innings? That's 2 or 3 PAs. So you're losing about 100 PAs (at most) if there is a DH in his games. Or you could have him hit for himself, and then you'd have to manage with pinch hitters the rest of the game if he gets bombed (not ideal). But when you consider injury implications, he'd have a better chance of staying healthy if he's DHing in games he doesn't start and not hitting at all in games that he does. Does that mean that the NL teams might have a slight advantage, since there's no DH? Maybe.

One thing's certain, it actually could open the options for managers of BOTH leagues. Let's say you want to pull him off the mound, then you could put him in the OF (therefore not losing his bat). If you run out of pitchers, you could then bring him back FROM the OF to pitch for a batter or two.

You could even have scenarios where he picks up the win, goes to the OF, comes back in the 9th, and picks up the save (not that they would count that). It does open some fascinating scenarios.

[greginpsca]

On 9/23/2017 at 3:43 PM, nate said:

Plenty of teams would be interested in having Scioscia.  His kids are grown up now, I can see him continuing to coach elsewhere, and perhaps even doing a good job.  It just shouldn't be the Angels.

Let him go to Seattle. He might like it there. {please note sarcasm}

[Inside Pitch]

 

I'm think Hurricane Irma knocking out my cable and internet for three weeks saved me a lot of aggravation...   Seriously -- talk about lemonade from lemons...  I missed out on a whole lot of awful.

[DMVol]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

 

I'm think Hurricane Irma knocking out my cable and internet for three weeks saved me a lot of aggravation...   Seriously -- talk about lemonade from lemons...  I missed out on a whole lot of awful.

[T.G.]

7 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

 

I'm think Hurricane Irma knocking out my cable and internet for three weeks saved me a lot of aggravation...   Seriously -- talk about lemonade from lemons...  I missed out on a whole lot of awful.

Glad you're ok!!  Tough times down there.  Your area hit hard?

[stormngt]

On 9/27/2017 at 1:16 PM, AngelsLakersFan said:

I doubt he signs with an AL team because his value will be significantly less in the AL. His offense will be compared to DHs instead of pitchers. If they want to put him in LF he needs to hit like Justin Upton to justify it. Odds are in the AL he is just a pitcher.

How the hell is your value less if he plays pitcher and dh off days

[Inside Pitch]

4 minutes ago, True Grich said:

Glad you're ok!!  Tough times down there.  Your area hit hard?

All the really bad stuff happened in the Keys (they got wrecked), most of Miami and the surrounding area got off pretty easy ... to be honest I've seen much harsher/stronger Santa Ana winds...  albeit there was rain involved and it was coming at you sideways...   Still, given the sandy soil in South FL., trees were uprooted everywhere -- those fallen  trees did most of the damage to cell towers, power lines and cable TV....    There was one stretch on Ocean Drive where what used to be an entire street lined with palm trees had ONE left..  was totally trippy.   

Thanks for the well wishes TG..  As always, good to see you posting.

 

[AngelsLakersFan]

2 hours ago, stormngt said:

How the hell is your value less if he plays pitcher and dh off days

If you haven't noticed pitchers bat in NL parks, and they aren't very good at hitting. What seems like a bigger advantage to you, Otani vs a pitcher or Otani vs a DH like Nelson Cruz? This is based on the assumption that if he can really hit than NL teams would be willing to play him in the field and that he wouldn't be a liability there.

[disarcina]

I'm thinking it's another October where the RV/Boat Show at Angels Stadium gets an early start.

[stormngt]

1 hour ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

If you haven't noticed pitchers bat in NL parks, and they aren't very good at hitting. What seems like a bigger advantage to you, Otani vs a pitcher or Otani vs a DH like Nelson Cruz? This is based on the assumption that if he can really hit than NL teams would be willing to play him in the field and that he wouldn't be a liability there.

If he could pitch like Garret Richards (very good but not great) and DH like 2016 Albert Pujols than i would consider him more valuable than Nelson Cruz who is just a DH.

I am curious if he pitches for an AL team and plays the role of DH in the same game,  coukd he stay at DH once removed as a pitcher?

[arch stanton]

How many Japanese hitters have come to the US and been dominant? 2? Maybe3? If you're signing Otani it's as a SP. If he's spending all his time trying to make his bat play as a DH then it's got to affect his pitching prep. After all, it's hard to be a good MLer at just one or the other. So once you get past the circus act novelty he's really just a NL pitcher with a strong bat who may be able to pinch hit from time to time. How much is that worth?

[Ohtaniland]

6 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

All the really bad stuff happened in the Keys (they got wrecked), most of Miami and the surrounding area got off pretty easy ... to be honest I've seen much harsher/stronger Santa Ana winds...  albeit there was rain involved and it was coming at you sideways...   Still, given the sandy soil in South FL., trees were uprooted everywhere -- those fallen  trees did most of the damage to cell towers, power lines and cable TV....    There was one stretch on Ocean Drive where what used to be an entire street lined with palm trees had ONE left..  was totally trippy.   

Thanks for the well wishes TG..  As always, good to see you posting.

 

Good to see you’re doing fine IP.

[WeatherWonk]

Here's my current thinking. Nunez is too much of an injury liability.