OC Register: New Angels infielder Gio Urshela is ready for utility role

[Warfarin]

6 hours ago, TempeAngel said:

It will be interesting to see where Urshela plays, but he will play somewhere everyday if healthy. He's that good - in the field and against LHP's and RHP's. It will depend on the health and effectiveness of others as is the norm. I know Rendon will be productive at 3B if healthy. Health and productivity is a question mark with Walsh at 1B but I hope he can turn it around. But he will be in the lineup for 145 games I think.

The more I think about it, I think Perry's #1 goal this offseason wasn't really a position in of itself, but rather, his #1 goal was to "BUILD DEPTH."

Urshela will likely play a full complement of games, and it is because it is very likely that either Rendon or Walsh (or, most likely, both) cannot play a full season and need someone to fill in for a solid chunk of games.  This team, for quite awhile, has needed a solid 3B/1B backup, and that is exactly what Urshela is - very sorely needed depth.  We had a lot of castoffs playing 3B for Rendon when he went out, and that was one of the major reasons as to why this team flopped.

Basically - just look at the upper levels of the minors and see which positions we have players that can capably be promoted and step in, and which positions we do not.  OF is one of them.  3B/1B is.  With Soto and Velazquez in the middle infield, we at least have some depth there now, but we probably need some more.  At catcher, we have O'Hoppe playing there now, so I think that spot is good.  We also have a good amount of our young prospects being promoted to AAA, so hopefully, SP depth is solid too.

[tdawg87]

2 hours ago, Warfarin said:

The more I think about it, I think Perry's #1 goal this offseason wasn't really a position in of itself, but rather, his #1 goal was to "BUILD DEPTH."

Urshela will likely play a full complement of games, and it is because it is very likely that either Rendon or Walsh (or, most likely, both) cannot play a full season and need someone to fill in for a solid chunk of games.  This team, for quite awhile, has needed a solid 3B/1B backup, and that is exactly what Urshela is - very sorely needed depth.  We had a lot of castoffs playing 3B for Rendon when he went out, and that was one of the major reasons as to why this team flopped.

Basically - just look at the upper levels of the minors and see which positions we have players that can capably be promoted and step in, and which positions we do not.  OF is one of them.  3B/1B is.  With Soto and Velazquez in the middle infield, we at least have some depth there now, but we probably need some more.  At catcher, we have O'Hoppe playing there now, so I think that spot is good.  We also have a good amount of our young prospects being promoted to AAA, so hopefully, SP depth is solid too.

I think I agree on the depth part. Poor depth is really what buried us this year. Well, that and the bullpen. When Velazquez, Mayfield, Rojas, Sierra, Wade, Duffy, Gosselin, Suzuki, and Lagares amass over 1200 PA's, and put up a combined -3.8 fWAR, that's very sad. That's also not including Mackinnon, Ford, and of course Adell, who all provided negative value.

Injuries happen, but you need the guys filling in to at least be replacement level. The 6-9 in the batting order was a fucking disaster. Hell sometimes it was the 5-9. It's like giving the other team 12-16 free outs every game. Not every hitter is gonna be good, but you can't have half your lineup be utter trash. 

So yes, depth is good. This is why I hope they add a SS so we can push Fletcher into a utility role. He and Urshela can get the lion's share of at bats in the infield when someone inevitably goes down and/or isn't performing. They'll get at least 900 PA's between them. Possibly more. That's a pretty big chunk. Like me.

The bullpen is another issue of depth. We can't rely on FA signings here, as we saw. We need to take flyers on pitchers and sign guys with upside to minor league deals. Get as many arms as possible in the mix. 

[Warfarin]

5 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

I think I agree on the depth part. Poor depth is really what buried us this year. Well, that and the bullpen. When Velazquez, Mayfield, Rojas, Sierra, Wade, Duffy, Gosselin, Suzuki, and Lagares amass over 1200 PA's, and put up a combined -3.8 fWAR, that's very sad. That's also not including Mackinnon, Ford, and of course Adell, who all provided negative value.

Injuries happen, but you need the guys filling in to at least be replacement level. The 6-9 in the batting order was a fucking disaster. Hell sometimes it was the 5-9. It's like giving the other team 12-16 free outs every game. Not every hitter is gonna be good, but you can't have half your lineup be utter trash. 

So yes, depth is good. This is why I hope they add a SS so we can push Fletcher into a utility role. He and Urshela can get the lion's share of at bats in the infield when someone inevitably goes down and/or isn't performing. They'll get at least 900 PA's between them. Possibly more. That's a pretty big chunk. Like me.

The bullpen is another issue of depth. We can't rely on FA signings here, as we saw. We need to take flyers on pitchers and sign guys with upside to minor league deals. Get as many arms as possible in the mix. 

100%.  And this is by far the cheapest way to upgrade the team, too.  Replacing 1200 PAs of -3.8 fWAR with even a 0.0 fWAR would generate 4 extra wins, and finding players who can yield a 0 fWAR should be incredibly cheap to do.  Low hanging fruit, so to speak.

The bullpen, I think, you take one calculate modest swing at someone on a 2 year deal, a la Chris Martin, and the rest you fill with an array of intriguing options and hope that one or two pan out.  Even though the Loup and Tepera deals didn't pan out, you can live with those deals because a a 2/14 type deal is not going to make or break your team's future.  And maybe one of Loup or Tepera (or both) will rebound enough this year and make it a decent overall signing.  

Someone I keep forgetting about in terms of bullpen considerations is Chris Rodriguez.  Assuming he can actually pitch, I would assume he'd be ticketed for the bullpen.  

If he can actually pitch, and you add someone like Chris Martin to the bullpen, then a prospective pen of Herget, Martin, CRod, Quijada, Loup, Tepera, Barria, and 1 or 2 others (Wantz? Weiss?  Warren?) seems like it should actually be a pretty good pen.

[Pancake Bear]

Urshela will undoubtedly play most games. When he doesn't, it allows him to pinch hit for middle infield or catcher. Having someone off the bench who can get you that key hit is vital too. 

[Torridd]

How difficult is a transition to first base for a third baseman? 

[Pancake Bear]

50 minutes ago, Torridd said:

How difficult is a transition to first base for a third baseman? 

Less difficult than it would be for a first baseman to transition to third base. 

[TempeAngel]

On 11/22/2022 at 6:52 PM, Jeff Fletcher said:

Here’s the actual quote. The question was, “if everyone is healthy what’s his best alternate position?”

“I think first base. Just with talking to the different people that have been around him and he's worked in a lot of different positions. Obvously third base is his spot, he's a very good third baseman. In a limited amount of time with the Yankees in 21 He played some shortstop, it was playable.  I  think second base is something he's done in the past, not much, but hes done it. He'll work at it in spring training. First base I think is a more natural fit.

@Torridd, here is the quote from Minasian about Urshala playing 1B this year.

He'll be playing a lot of 1B with the Angels this year. I'm thinking more than Walsh will.

[Pancake Bear]

24 minutes ago, TempeAngel said:

@Torridd, here is the quote from Minasian about Urshala playing 1B this year.

He'll be playing a lot of 1B with the Angels this year. I'm thinking more than Walsh will.

If Walsh is healthy, I expect he'll be playing most of the games at first base - better defense and at his best he was clearly better than Urshela, albeit not against lefties. Urshela will get plenty of playing time, though. Rendon likely needs a couple of days a week off. Walsh will get at least one game a week off and maybe two. Urshela has enough experience at SS that they could play him there once a week without his defense being a huge issue. He'll be available to pinch hit the other days. If everyone's healthy, that's fantastic depth and it's a luxury we haven't had in a while. More than likely guys will be injured or underperform and if Urshela is healthy and not hitting like he did in 2021 but more like the other three of the last four years, he'll be playing most days one way or another. It's pointless getting ahead of ourselves on who will be playing more at any given position. Things change quickly and it's rare to have everyone healthy and performing well. At that point, it'll be about who gives us the best chance to win. But I'm really excited to have this many genuine major league level players on the roster. Even shortstop isn't really a big hole, it's just not quite as deep as I'd prefer, so I'm happy they're still looking to bring in someone else.