Cap'n Piranha

As of today, Buxton has more WAR than Mike Trout. 20% more WAR. If he plays at this pace all year, but only plays 120 games, he would still put up SIXTEEN WAR. That would put him in the top 10 WAR seasons of all time--all the others are in the 19th century, save Walter Johnson in 1913. What he's doing right now is simply unbelievable

The Twins could make a trade right now, but they'd be doing so at a huge disdavantage, for two reasons; Other teams are still looking to evaluate their players/compete. To get them to forgo that, you'll have to pay a huge premium If you're targeting a reliever or two who's looked good so far, there's always the chance that it's SSS, and come June they'll be at the end of your bullpen. In that scenario, you'll need to trade again to fix a problem that you paid prospect capital to not solve.I would be shocked to see the Twins make any kind of move before June, and even a move in June would be pretty surprising.

You're right--we have had this debate, in the 2019 offseason. Since then, the Angels have gone 109-135 (equivalent to 72-90--their exact record in 2019), and finished 24 games out of the playoffs in 2019, 3 games in 2020 (would have been 9 if not for 3 more teams, equivalent to 24 games in a 162 game season), and are currently less than a 50% chance to make the playoffs this year. Having Mike Trout has done the Angels no benefit in the grand scheme of winning a championship over the past 2 years, and it's not looking like it's benefitting them much right now either. 1. Getting fair value depends on your definition of fair. The Angels would undeniably be a worse team now if they traded Trout. Would the 2-5 players the Angels get back be worth more WAR combined than Trout in 2 years? Probably not--Trout is in all likelihood still a great player as he approaches 32. But if you look at some peripherals, there's reason for some concern. Trout's babip and hr/fb are at completely unsustainable levels, he's pulling the ball more than he ever has, his contact rates are notably down, and he's swinging and missing at a career-high rate. His UZR/150 in CF, which had stabilized in 2018, has been negative ever since, meaning he'll likely have to shift to left. He'll still be above average there, but the shift costs him 10 runs, or one WAR. Given all that, are the 2-5 players you get for him worth more WAR than Trout in 5 years, when he's about to be 35, and perhaps transitioning to part time DH? 2. You're right it's not the same as the NFL or NBA draft, but moving up in the order gets you a better chance to get a better player. It also gets you more money to get better players at the bottom of round 1, and in rounds 2-3. It's a big part of why teams that are bad for 2-4 years generally have the best farm systems (this year, according to MLB, Tampa is #1, but Detroit, Baltimore, Seattle, and Miami round out the top 5, with Pittsburgh and KC also in the top 10). The Angels are in the mid-20's; do you think picking higher in the draft the last 2-3 years might be a boon to their system? 3. $35M every year is still significant. It would have gotten you Cole last year, and put you in the conversation for Bauer this year. Having that available would have allowed you to make a play for Betts, or any other player approaching free agency (like Lindor, or Bogaerts--who can opt out after next year). Or, you could fill 2-3 holes with solid regulars, which is what has bedeviled the Angels for years; an inability to fill out a roster of quality options. The case for trading Trout is that the ANgels were clearly heading into 2019 nowhere near being able to compete. That's been true the past 2 seasons (when Trout was 41st in all of baseball in PA's), and doesn't show a ton of signs of being different this year. Why keep trotting him out there, getting nowhere, rather than admitting that you've mismanaged your team, and hitting reset? I confidently predicted before the season in 2019 the Angels would not make the playoffs with Trout until 2022 at the earliest, and right now, I'm leaning towards expanding that to 2023 or 2024.

That's the exact way to look at team building if your goal is to actually assemble a championship roster. Mike Trout does you no good if you can't surround him with enough talent to get to the playoffs and make noise there. Once you get to 2017/2018/2019 and it's clear the minors are bereft of talent, and the payroll is pretty much tapped out, there was nowhere for the Angels to go but down. Mike Trout acts as a parachute, keeping the Angels from truly bottoming out. Obviously, the Angels organization is a disaster, and that's not Mike Trout's fault, but for the Angels to truly become a legitimate contender for a world series, getting a haul of prospects in a trade for Trout, plus $35M a year is probably the best way forward. Sure, they clear a lot of salary with Pujols and Fowler going away, but they only have three starter pitchers under contract for 2022--Ohtani, Canning (career 4.73 ERA), and Saurez (career 7.99 ERA). 4 of their top 8 relievers this year by WAR will be UFA, and they'll need to give arb raises to 2 of the remaining 4. To get a quality pitching staff they'll probably need to sink close to $50M into it, and they still will need starters at first and short.

Thome keeps saying Eddie Rosario is going to be a great player once he gets more experience. Do we think Jim is aware that Eddie turns 30 at the end of September, and has 2900+ career MLB PA's?

The Angels front office has generally been ineffective sure, but Mike Trout getting them 10 wins actually has hurt the Angels. I did the breakdown a couple years ago, but Trout has singlehandedly dragged them into the middle of the draft every year, where they would otherwise be in the top 5-10. As such, the Angels have missed out on premier talent and draft pool money that could have made the last 2-3 years very different.

I would imagine he's not great at pitching.

Freeze or regular?

I know I suggested it, but to be fair, do we need Buxton stealing bases while we're up 6?

Do they let Buxton run?

Gasolina Papa!

It begins...

Jeffers needs to be the starter now. If Garver is not hitting lefties, he is of no use at all, and we need to start finding out if Jeffers will be.

Eh, with only one out and Donaldson and Cruz up next, I'd prefer Kiriloff not get nailed at third on the off chance the shortstop gets to that.

Brilliant baserunning there by Buck. He knew Eddie was going to throw that towards home, and therefore had the opening to take the extra base.

In reality, so long as no one makes an out, the inning never ends, so any type of hit can be on pace for an infinite number, as long as there has been one of that type. If the first 5 hitters go walk, single, double, triple, homer before an out is recorded, the hitting team would be on pace for an infinite number of all of those type of hits.

Not when the emphasis is on the "too". The correct way is "As-too-DEE-yo". The announcer said "As-TOO-dee-o"

Until an out is recorded, a team can be on pace for an infinite number of any positive offensive play, or even all of them simultaneously.

The Cleveland PA guy just called Willians "As-too-dee-o".

Man, I thought that was gone. Just too much loft.

The Youtube broadcast team is awful rough right now. edit: ninja'd by MNT1996

Man, Rocco has been just brilliant with his managing today.

Bomba Season!

What's the record for most consecutive HR's to start a game?

RAINBRINGER!!!