AngelsHilo

And that's all that needs to be said.

Good point Mr. Fletcher. As much as Moose would be a great story coming home to play, we need to figure out how the Trifecta fits in the long range plans. Signing Moose just delays the inevitable. If the Trifecta totally screw up, then we can look at options for 2020.

I like it a lefty that can get lefties out with a crazy walks/9 of .6. Jennings seems to be a bargain. Not sure who gets bumped from the 25.

This is cool. Like the idea of versatility on our roster.

https://www.drivelinebaseball.com/2018/10/introduction-driveline-hitting-assessments/ If you are at all interested, read the link to Driveline Baseball. Jason Ochart was a hitting coach at a small college in California before partnering up to create Driveline. I read recently that the Phillies have hired him as a hitting coordinator. Angels also made an untraditional hire in Derek Florko who was previously with Axe Bat and Titleist as part of their development staff. Again, with the idea of teaching the hitting approach based off of technology.

No. Eppler has done a great job of not succumbing to overpaying this off season.

Ha. Think Fletcher looked better at 3rd than Cozart. Cozart should start at 2B and let the battle at 3B run its course. Either way Fletcher makes the 25.

Good point on the 60 day. I would prefer Bourjos as the 4th OF.

Hope you're correct about Albert. I don't think his health will allow him to be effective stating more that 80-90 games. I know he' s got some personal milestones he wants to hit, but at this point anything over 300 AB's hurts the team.

Think Hermosillo makes the Opening Day Roster only because picking up Bourjos messes with the 40 Man.

I don't think Eppler is ever done. He still is looking for pieces, especially pitching at this point.

The Pitching will be a nice surprise and the 92 Wins gets the Angels in the Playoffs.

Understand. A lengthy rebuttal from you would be most unexpected.

Fletcher may not have been considered a top prospect, but of the group, he was first to make his MLB debut. He will be relied on heavily this coming Season at least as a versatile backup. He's the best we got in terms of off the farm infielders, that are MLB ready. Unfortunately, he is no Gleybar Torres. I would think there is an expectation early on that Thaiss (16th Overall) and Ward (26th Overall) would have evolved into Top Prospects. Canning has, as a 2nd Rounder. Our last Top Prospect was 25th Overall in the 2009 Draft. He was drafted after another Angel Draftee who hasn't shared the same success as the 25th Overall. Speaking of the 2009 Draft, 2 to 5 Overall were Dustin Ackley, Donovan Tate, Jorge Sanchez, and Matthew Hobgood (Strasberg was #1). I would consider them all to be Brandon Woods. Guess a top 5 pick can completely bomb now days. Oh and Cowart was drafted 18th Overall in 2010. Somehow his Angel career seems similar to Woods. What do you think? How many Superstars do I expect on one Team. More than 1. How many do you think the Angels have currently? The Farm has vastly improved under Eppler. That is for certain and I am grateful this has evolved. But we have not seen anything out of the farm come to fruition yet. While I am hopeful that Ward, Thaiss, and Canning can make an impact in the very near future, I am more certain that the next group led by Adell will make a larger impact. If Eppler decides to not use the Farm as trade bait, the Farm will continue to bring in 50+ players, thus eliminating the below 50's players off the Top 30 List. Meanwhile, we need to be hopeful that players like Pujols, Cozart, Calhoun, Lucroy, and the Other Infielder (Ward, Fletcher, Refigo), can at least be at replacement level. That will get us 3-4 more games and get us in the Wild Card hunt.

Not sure why this is such a hard concept to understand. Eppler was focused enough to try to build the Angels without trading prospects. He continues to sign low priced, with hopefully high upside FA for short contracts. Some have been almost successful but really haven't gotten us to the playoffs. Meanwhile, the farm keeps accumulating 55+ players. As they start to accumulate, the 50's, 45's, start dropping off the Top 30. Eventually tie stature of the Farm goes up. But here in lies the problem. How many of these guys actually produce once they hit the Bigs? Ward? Fletcher? Thaiss? Canning? Are they the new Superstars? Yeah it's great to have a great farm. But how many Brandon Wood's and Kaleb Cowart's do we have to go through to get a Trout? Ok he is the GOAT. So, an Anderson, Salmon, Edmonds, or Erstad?

I'm fine with seeing if Calhoun can work his way back offensively. His defense certainly doesn't go in a slump and he contributes greatly on that side of the game. Think Bourjos would be a good compliment as a right handed batter to face tough lefties. Though he would force a roster move to the 40 Man. I still think if there looking to pickup another offensive piece, Marwin would be a great fit as he could play in right as well as fill in any infield spot. Marwin could actually be the starter at 2B or 3B, go to right field against a tough lefty, and in essence have Fletcher be the platoon partner for Kole.

Nice interview. Hope he stays a back of the pen arm for years to come.

I'm a realist.

Interesting that we have no lefties projected for the pen. With the increased utilization of using metrics in making game management decisions, is Eppler insinuating that the lefty - lefty pitching matchup is now not statistically significant? That a right handed reliever can just as effectively negate a lefty hitter? My eye test watching Kole struggle to hit lefties tells me otherwise. I think we need at least one lefty.

We'll need to carry 13 position players. Especially when Ohtani becomes available. That being said, we have the 3 starting OF's, two catchers, and Cozart, Simmons, Pujols, and Bour who are guaranteed spots. LaStella wouldn't have been acquired if they didn't want his versatility and left handed bat. That leaves 3 spots open. So the battle will be between Fletcher, Ward, Rengifo, Hermosillo, and Bourjos. Fletcher makes the most sense for one spot, because of his versatility to play 3 infield positions and RF. It's going to come down to who ends up winning the 2B and 3B job and the 4th OF spot. Marwin Gonzalez solves some of the issues if he gets signed. He can platoon with Calhoun and start at 2B and 3B or even SS when needed. Plus he' a switch hitter. He would eliminate the need to have a 4th OF when Ohtani comes back.

You could. But I won't tell you.

Cozart gets off to a great start, Has .850 OPS at the trade deadline. He's flipped to the injury laden Rox along with Jam Jones, and Marsh for......Nolan Arenado! Pujols hits game winning, pinch hit single in the bottom of the 9th off Zack Britton to score starting 2B Luis Rengifo to win Game 7 of the World Series. Pujols promptly announces his retirement. Trout signs 10 year extension. Arenado signs 8 year, $240MM contract with money freed up from Albert's retirement. Arenado happy to be back living in Newport Beach.

Do we try to get him?

Don't think Ward or Rengifo make the team out of ST. Think we need to see them prove themselves further in AAA. Fletcher deserves a spot for his outstanding defense. His bat lacks, but is still better than what we got out of Kinsler, Valbuena, and Marte, ok, Pujols also, last season. Just seems if we can get back to at least 0 WAR at 1B, 2B, 3B, C, and RF, our Offense would be way ahead of last year. LaStella get's the first shot as the utility guy. I would move Fletcher to 3B. He looked pretty soldid there. Fletcher is actually better at 2B than 3B, but I think Cozart has an easier time away from the Hot Corner. I do hope Ward and Rengifo tear it up at Salt Lake and force some moves at the Major League level. I'd like to see Ward's power in the middle of the lineup as well as Rengifo's speed at the top.

Dang it. Thought this was an article on "Who's Better? Jeff or Taylor Blake." Disappointed.