Here's your chance to get the insider of all insider's views. Mr. Flores has generously offered to take questions on all topics player development related -- specific player performances, promotions, injury status, etc., or on the Angels' general organizational philosophy. Fire away in the comments section below...
I need everything you've got by tomorrow morning!
0 recs | 38 comments
OK
“the Angels’ general organizational philosophy”………..
what is it? really?
We’ve seen an entire team pillaged and look—→ we really, really suck unless the Lucky Charms are in full force.
sarcasm time: get rid of the good and get unknowns/untesteds? what happened to getting rookies and having the vetruns take them under their wing for a season or two and THEN get rid of the vetruns???
ladybug - May 25, 2010
veterans?
or are you racing a Corvette?
44FAN - May 25, 2010
why...
is third base such a black hole?
cupie - May 25, 2010
Q1: After a very strong period of building cheap, effective bullpens...
…the Angels of late have chosen to pour 20+% of payroll into free agent arms, increasingly on multiyear contracts. Meanwhile, our AA and AAA teams have not cultivated MLB-ready arms like they used to (though Kohn, Diaz, and Aldridge give room for hope).
What changed? And is the organization concerned about what happened to our bullpen, and how slow our farm has been to effectively replenish it?
Turks Teeth - May 25, 2010
Angels drafts have sucked
because they have had few high picks, foregoing them for free agents of varying quality.
Plus they haven’t been big spenders internationally.
scareduck - May 25, 2010
Maybe they just suck at judging offensive talent
And maybe that explains why Morales was stuck in AAA while Kotchman was handed the 1B job.
Or Wood’s “production” after seven years of prepping him for major league pitching.
Robviously - May 25, 2010
Except that you don't need high draft picks to develop BP arms.
Shields was a 38th round pick for instance. Troy Percival was a sixth rounder drafted as a catcher. Mariano Rivera was a non-drafted free agent signed for $3000.
You don’t draft bullpen arms — you develop them. High draft picks are for starting pitching and high ceiling position players.
Turks Teeth - May 26, 2010
Q2: Did the organization overestimate our depth at 3B?
It’s somewhat amazing that we managed to trade away Chone Figgins, Sean Rodriguez and Matt Sweeney all in the span of six months — placing all of our chips on a single player in Brandon Wood with little room for error.
I work in management in a corporate setting, and a series of errors like that would probably be a fireable offense. Who is currently paying the price for this level of compounded miscalculation?
Also, are we hoping to get some magic out of moving Nate Sutton to third at Salt Lake?
Turks Teeth - May 25, 2010
Chone Figgins != trade
Allowed to walk in his free agency year.
scareduck - May 25, 2010
Yes, yes.
Typo, scareduck, typo.
Turks Teeth - May 26, 2010
Q3: The BP arms that got away.
Darren O’Day. Darren Oliver. Bobby Jenks. Kevin Gregg. Each of them have left our organization to deliver up to four years of good to excellent relief to their new teams.
I understand Jenks had makeup issues, and perhaps we thought we had milked Gregg for everything we could get, but shouldn’t we extract a price for our talent, and trade them when they have value if we don’t intend to retain them? The Chi-Sox got Jenks (and a subsequent championship) for nothing. O’Day was lost to mismanagement of the 40-man roster. We didn’t even offer arbitration to Oliver, even though he publicly stated in the media his desire to return to Anaheim.
Does the organization understand how badly organized serial gaffes like this make it look?
Turks Teeth - May 25, 2010
Clock on Conger
Barring injury here, is Conger a 2011 Angels or Bees starter.
Rev Halofan - May 25, 2010
Q4: Is there any hope for a farm-grown leadoff candidate before Trout arrives?
There was a lot of media reportage in early 2009 that the recent presences of Mark Teixiera and Bobby Abreu had made the Angels organization rethink its commitment to a contact-heavy batting approach, with a new move toward understanding of the strike zone, taking pitches, intelligent at-bats, on-base tendencies, etc.
That’s all great, but we’re not seeing all that much of it at the upper levels in the minors. Peter Bourjos has a K:BB problem, and is looking more like a nine-hole hitter than a leadoff candidate. Any hope that someone may arrive before Trout’s 21st b-day to show Aybar how it’s done?
Turks Teeth - May 25, 2010
AMARISTA
Does Amarista’s small frame set a lower ceiling of projectable major league success for him and does that alter the course of how he is played and promoted in the minor league system?
Rev Halofan - May 25, 2010
Q5: I like what Dillon Baird has shown in early returns...
…how close is he to returning?
The initial reportage on his injury was that it was a day-to-day affair. But he’s been out for weeks.
Turks Teeth - May 25, 2010
Last one, Q6: Alexander Torres.
Alex Torres became a top-ten-rated prospect for the Rays when he joined the club in the Kazmir trade. Currently he has a 2.64 ERA with a K/9 of 10.0 and a SO/BB near three. In short, he’s dealing, and one of the best pitching prospects the Rays now have in pitching-rich organization.
Meanwhile, Kazmir has underperformed, both in the playoffs and in the 2010 regular season — and the starting pitching situation in the upper minors looks bleaker than it has in a number of years. Do the Angels regret trading Torres away, given that there are few prospects in our upper levels with his sort of stuff? Why did we pay so highly in prospects when Kazmir’s salary cost was already quite high for a player with his recent injury history?
Turks Teeth - May 25, 2010
Questions...
1) extended spring training is set to conclude in about a week, where are gomez and mallard heading?
2) are you concerned about jordan walden, it seems like at best he’s stuck in neutral?
3) what has been the main reason for chatwood’s success to this point of the season?
4) are you surprised at how well tyler skaggs has performed considering he’s still a young kid?
5) are they any chances that any prospects will be changing positions?
thejd - May 25, 2010
YOUNG PLAYERS
Does the organization have curfews / chaperone situations at any level for players?
Rev Halofan - May 25, 2010
ODD MAN OUT
Did Abe Flores read ODD MAN OUT have any reaction to it or see any impact it made in the organization?
Rev Halofan - May 25, 2010
i don't want to get political but are there any concerns about...
the immigration bill in arizona and how that could affect our young latin players? do they get coached or prepped to have their documentation on them when they go out in public especially considering some of the young dominican players don’t speak fluent english and could very easily be mistaken for a young mexican kid?
thejd - May 25, 2010
JAKE LOCKER
Is there a major leaguer Abe thinks of when he sees Jake Locker take his swings?
Rev Halofan - May 25, 2010
What are the chances Locker ever plays pro baseball?
By next Fall he’ll probably have a $70M contract with the Bills, Raiders, Rams, or Seahawks after being drafted in the top 5.
(And, BTW, good luck with that Jake….)
Robviously - May 25, 2010
How does he feel about Money Ball?
DAD OF VLAD - May 25, 2010
to add to that
IS there a ratio of High School to College players they seek in a draft?
Rev Halofan - May 25, 2010
College seem to do better quicker then High school
less risk with college?
DAD OF VLAD - May 25, 2010
What is the actual basic timeline you look at for bringing up a player
through the farm system and possibly the bigs from when you first draft them?
Why is it so hard to get a good 3rd baseman?
steelgolf - May 25, 2010
Your opinions on when
Trout and Skaggs will be promoted and who has the quicker route to the Majors.
Q#2 Do you see Reckling or Will Smith being called up first?
Q#3 Do you think Kohn and Ryan Aldridge have chances at being called up to help out our anemic (being nice) bullpen?
angelskid2210 - May 25, 2010
Why can't the Angels draft and develop a good major league hitter?
And when is the last time they did it? (And he’d better not bring up Howie Kendrick and his .751 career OPS.)
Robviously - May 25, 2010
SALT LAKE ELEVATION
Do they take into account the offensive numbers at Salt Lake due to its reputation as a high altitude pitchers’ park?
Rev Halofan - May 25, 2010
I do wish
they were back in Lake Elsinore.
OCangels - May 26, 2010
I realize this was single a
but i used to live there and it was cool to see the up and coming talent from your fav team
great stadium btw
OCangels - May 26, 2010
Go to Rancho Cucamonga...
not much further away.
Downing Rules - May 26, 2010
What role does Abe Flores have in the Draft?
Do Eddie Bane and Tony Reagins consult with you somewhere in the process of selecting a player?
blochead - May 25, 2010
Does Rob Quinlan have the ugliest swing in the organization?
Does Rob Quinlan’s existence on the team the last 3 years have anything to do with Brandon Woods’ current struggle in adapting to being in the majors as a permanent fixture?
Quinlan's Goofy Swing - May 25, 2010
Is fuentes going to develop any further
or are you also begging sosh to give up on this cLOSER!
I’ll also take as many CGs as we can get this year… can we subtract salary from relief and reward the starter who pitches 9 innings with a bonus
OCangels - May 26, 2010
Conger's bat is alleged to be major league ready...
…hype or realistic?
Rev Halofan - May 26, 2010
Mark Trumbo is finally developing some of that power....
is it due to the Salt Lake air or is he finally coming around Can we expect good things out of him or just another SLC bust like Woody and S-Rod?
angelskid2210 - May 26, 2010
PJ Phillips
How is PJ coming along with his injury?
Joe Nerio - June 1, 2010
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