Inside Pitch

Angels Sign 16 year old LHP Ricardo Sanchez:for $580,000.

Was referring to his HS days -- check this video out... I agree he's developing more and more into a line drive type - which actually may server him really well because he's amazingly strong, he wrists things that most guys just have no chance at. BTW, the guy he lost to.. Bryce Harper. Angels fans should seriously be watching RG, because he's got the chance to be a very special player. Just seems like for many people he's the guy that isn't Mike Trout from that draft.

I feel bad for Wood... I think his problem was between the ears,

I think you and I see Cron similarly. My big concern with Cron stems from a couple scouts in the Red Sox and Mariner's systems that both feel he was overrated coming out of college and was the prototypical "Player's son", which they explained as simply being a kid who was ahead of the curve due to full time coaching. Much of what he was billed as being hasn't really materialized so it's a bit worrisome -- what if 21 year old CJ Cron was as good as he was going to get? I'm not saying I think that, but it's something that is in the back of my head at times. Anyway, I do believe he's got more power than he's shown, and I like his hands as a hitter, more than it likely seems from the thing's I've posted.. That's the one area where I may come close to matching Scott's enthusiasm for Cron... his contact rate. It's not really common to see a guy who looks to be able to generate the kind of power Cron is potentially capable of who also move his hands the way he does I just wish he was creating a bit more loft and showing the ability to pull. I'll stop short of saying he can't pull the ball because I haven't seen evidence that, at times it seems he's purposely going with pitches and that his approach seems to be to spray the ball to all fields. Again, he's not yet shown it, but he's got the makings of being a lot more than he's shown to date power wise. To be perfectly frank, Cron is precisely the sort of hitter I would love to see Chili Davis work with. I think under a guy like Davis you would see Cron attacking balls on the inside part of the plate and the power numbers would come. Bobby Grich too. I'd love to see Grich working with some of our minor league guys.

You're overselling here. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm less impressed with the power being shown than I am Grichuk and Lindsey doing well as 21 year olds in a league were the optimal age this season appears to be 23. That is likely to come down some as guys get promoted before August 15th but as of right now, they have a huge jump on the league when you consider their ages.. Grichuk always had plus power, guy was launching moonshots in HS, so really... That's not new. Cron's age needs to be taken into consideration when talking about adjustments periods and tools/body wise, Randal Grichuk is still more projectable than Cron -- let's be honest he can actually run and his glove isn't just for decoration. Sure there are things he needs to work on before he's as sure a thing as Cron, but RG is an impressive albeit still raw talent. RG at age 21 in AA is a massively more intriguing player to me than is the 23 year old college player, Cron. That fact that so many have written him off for not being Mike Trout only adds to story IMO.

Pretty sure that was Khan, of Star Trek fame. The Puzo line may be the one about keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

Predicting 30 HRs in today's MLB is a saying a bit more than he's going to be "solid ML 1B." but I may be guilty of arguing semantics.. I see the connection you're making with Trumbo, but I'm not seeing that sort of game-changing power. I will say this much, the bat speed is likely better than Trumbo's. But as far as power goes... there were all of 15 people who hit 30 HRs last year, looking at the leaderboards this year, it's likely we see 15-20 again this year.. When I look at Cron, I don't see a guy who will be among the top 20 HR threats in MLB, which is where a 30 HR guy would fall now. I firmly believe his park is hurting his HR totals, I also genuinely believe he COULD hit for better power than he's shown, but he needs to start showing the ability to turn on a pitch and drive it over a wall. Grichuk is doing that at age 21, in that very same park. Cron isn't. There is nothing he does as a hitter that would make you doubt that he COULD turn on a pitch, or create loft -- it's just not yet happening. Why it's not happening, whether it's a byproduct of his current approach or whatever is up for debate.. His current line in AA somewhat resembles a post Wally World, Wally Joyner. Joyner, Billy Butler.. That may very well be where he falls. I will say this much... That same swing and set of mechanics will likely manifest itself as a 30+ HR season in Salt Lake, unfortunately, Angel Stadium plays noting like SLC. Of course, it's just as easy to argue that the park in Arkansas doesn't really play like the Big A either.

Tim Salmon never made an all star team. Thank you, Joe Torre.

If they make a competitive offer and lose, at least we were in the fight. The fact that we made no effort at all for Puig or Soler chaps me beyond words.

It's not out of this world but as a whole they have done well. The AL average OPS for the season is .728 (.717 MLB), so at least they are trending in the right direction. The downer of sorts is that the team ERA in June was 3.96, vs the AL average of 3.89 for the month. But, they were finally below the AL average ERA for the season of 4.06, Another plus, they aren't dead last in defensive efficiency anymore, 23th is still ugly but a world better than 30th. The team OPS+ is 111 (3rd highest in MLB behind Cleveland and Boston). The ERA+ is 91 (7th worst in MLB). So the pitching still has a long ways to go. The Rangers BTW have fully morphed into the Stoneman era Angels, their team OPS+ of 95 is below average but their 121 ERA+ is second only to Atlanta.

I'm with you. The catching position seems MUCH more settled than it did a couple years ago. Conger is showing he belongs and getting more comfy behind the plate. Offensively, they both bring something to the table.

Yeah, I don't really disagree -- I'd always take projectability ... ALWAYS. Plus there is the line about a guy throwing 90 in his teens flaming out and throwing 80 is his 20s, which for the smaller guys tends to happen more often than the taller guys (Weaver brothers being an exception it seems). But I do wonder if the thought processes should be different with some of these Latino guys. They tend to be more compact, with shorter movements as a whole. I do think there is some truth to some of the old adages about taking a kid off a farm Vs a kid from the cities in part because the farm kid has typically been working the fields and so forth. There is also the fact that the game is played a little differently -- particularly in places like Cuba where they like the guys that are flashy and acrobatic.. In many cases the players show a different type of athleticism. The recent crop of players from Cuba just seem to be tremendous physical specimens

So you're saying Trumbo is White Garret Anderson.

I agree with what you're saying but at the same time, I think the whole size thing is overrated to an extent. K-Rod, Pedro, Johan Santana.. None of them were physically imposing either. Camilo Pascual? Mike Cuellar? Juan Marichal? Dennis Martinez? Luis Tiant, Bartolo Colon, and Fernando Valenzuela were fat asses, Dolf Luque was maybe 5'8" at best -- my Dad referred to him as a midget more than once. . Really, outside of King Felix, you don't find a lot of physically imposing Latino pitchers. Freddy Garcia, that whackj-ob Zambrano were both imposing guys, and Livan Hernandez had some heft to him. But really, the smaller guys were all better.. Should the team only consider guys who look to have "the good face" too? And this isn't meant to be dismissive towards anyone, it just seems as though where the typical thought process is to find the tall lanky guy that will put on weight and is projectable; historically, the Latin players haven't really fit into that mold.

I've seen the talk on money for Gonzalez, haven't seen the dollar figures mentioned on Alavarez.

This is the sort of thinking that dooms teams to second division status. The glut of mediocre OFers and Peter Bourjos stepping up shouldn't keep the Angels from making a move for Alvarez if he's someone they actually covet or see as an upgrade. Sign him, play him and then at worst you have yet another piece you could move to fix whats hurting the team elsewhere.

Bud Norris, the new Brad Radke.

Gone, to avoid manipulating things. Unless they changed it before finalizing the CBA.

I wonder is the Angels will take a look at Daniel Alvarez,, the 24 year old OFer. His stats in Cuba are right in line with those of Cespesdes.. He's recently been declared a FA by MLB.

Oh great.... He used to run to first on hits now he's walking. No wonder he's such a lard ass.

Agreed

You mean the Ownourasstros?

And when he led off people wanted him to bat second.

A 5 inning guy prone to HRs and with diminishing velocity before age 30. Surely other teams are lining up to trade for him.

Only if you ignore the fact that Glaus was an OBP machine that was actually a decent defensive player. Basically, Trumbo is nothing like Troy Glaus other than they both were massive power threats., If he was then I doubt anyone would even hint at trading him.