OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

[canes21]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Your Freeman has struggled a bit with average just like mine did. Hopefully he can pump up that average over .300.

He was over .300 up until about a month ago, then he went into a slump and dropped from .312 to .278 in a 9 game span where he had a total of 4 hits. He got back to .287 by the end of May, but it dropped to .274 4 days into June as he went 2 for 17 in the 4 games up to that day. He's gone 4 for the last 9 to get to .281 going into my game on the 8th of June. He's hit two little slumps in the last 2 months. Hopefully he's gotten those out of his system now.

I am more disappointed in the season my Markakis is having. He started off the year hot with 2 walk-offs in the first week of the season, but he's cooled down and is only hitting .251. At one point he was hitting .222 just 2 weeks ago. He was hitting .284 going into May and finished the month .226. That whole month was just a poor one for most of the team.

I want him to do better because he's already contacted me saying he wants to resign and I want to resign him, but I've been trying to hold off and see how well he does once we're deep into the season. I also want to see if he regresses any before I sign him as well. He's one of my favorite Braves, but if he's going to be a .251 hitter all year I'll have to look at other options.

[N51_rob]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

So all the excitement that we started the 2023 quickly game and went as the team struggled offensively. After scoring 7 runs in an opening day loss to the Mariners 9-7. We scored 10 runs in the next 7 games and were off to a 2-8 start.

It was a rough go for SS Bobby Witt Jr who despite his immense talent wasn't able to put it together quickly at the MLB level. He was sent to AAA after 15 games and a .216/.259/.275 slash. Things didn't go much better at AAA and he was dropped back down to AA to find his stroke and confidence quickly. It wasn't all bad news for the Baby Birds though RF Griffin Conine has been a pleasant surprise his 12 homers lead the team at this writing, he'd probably have more than 33 RBIs if he wasn't hitting in the #2 hole, but we are reluctant to move him. Witt isn't the only Oriole who has stumbled out the gate. LF Joc Pederson has been a huge disappointment this year. His .220/.360/.418 6 hr 18 RBI has been a real hole in the middle of the lineup.

In what has been something of a shock its been the pitching that has been the anchor of the team this year. The rotation has an era of 4.70 and the bullpen has posted a 4.27. Jeremy Good has a team best record of 5-2 with a 4.06 ERA. Roniel Raudas pitching in the 5th spot has also found his form again. He is 4-2 with a 3.12 ERA. Dylan Bundy was off to a pretty good start before he suffered an abdominal injury that has sidelined him for 5 weeks he was 2-1. Wanting a veteran in the rotation we signed 35 year old Chase Anderson to a minor league deal and in his 3 starts he is 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA. He has been a calming presence at the top of the rotation. Nick Storz is back down at AAA after going 0-4 in 9 starts. In the pen, closer Yin-Tou Lai has been lights out as usual he has 12 saves 13 chances. Ryan Messinger has fond his form and his era is 0.98 in 18 innings. Late spring signing Se-Woong Park was called to the bull pen early and his numbers suffered, but his last two starts have seen him pitch deep 7 ip in each and if not for defensive lapses his numbers would be better. But he is 2-2 with a 6.46 ERA in 30 innings and 4 starts. We expect him to produce big things down the stretch.

So after a slow start the club found the magic formula in May and currently are 20-22 after dropping 2 of three to the division leading Blue Jays in Toronto. Sitting 5.5 games out the sense of panic has passed. Players are finding their role and the addition of 1B Jed Gyorko has provided some stability in the middle of the lineup as he has 8 HRs in 25 games. Defensively there are problems all over the place. Gary Sanchez is terrible at throwing out base runners. I rage demoted 2B/SS Cal Conley after his 2 error performance cost us game 3 vs the Blue Jays (to Dominican Rookie Ball.) I have taken to rage demoting/promoting lots of guys as I manage more games this year....(never let them get comfortable).

Injuries have also been a real issue early this year. 5 guys are on the DL right now with 2B Trea Turner due back in one day. Three pitchers including Bundy are there now, SP George Kirby (who I rage kept in after he got rocked and forced him to throw 133 pitches) and RP Do-kyu Kim.

But I am excited about the possibilities of the season. The Blue Jays aren't running away with the division and the Yankees have already dumped Manager Manny Acta. Griffin Conine is a legit ROY candidate Jeremy Good is getting some ASG love. Been managing more games this year, due to the high roster turnover. So much more fun!

[KSUowls]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Braves 2020 Pre-Season Magazine
Opening Day Edition

Opening Day is here, and the Atlanta Braves are looking as good as ever and ready to start the new season. For the first time in almost 2 decades the Braves enter a season as the early favorite to win their division, and they are an early World Series favorite as well. This is thanks in large part to a starting rotation with some new faces to go along with what should once again be one of the league's best offenses.



What we learned in Spring Training?

Spoiler

We didn't expect many surprises in the Spring, and we didn't get many. 23 of the 25 man roster spots were pretty much set heading into the the spring, and so the only positions up for grabs were 3B and the final spot in the rotation.

Let's start with 3B where a lot of questions still remain. Rio Ruiz missed 3 weeks of the spring with a fractured foot, Johan Carmago only managed a .233 batting average with just 3 extra base hits. Travis Demeritte hit an abysmal .136 in the Spring, and last year's opening day starter at 3B Austin Riley was only a little more consistent than him hitting .211 (though he did help his case with 3 home runs).
After a month of inconsistency the Braves have decided to go with Ruiz and Carmago at the position. Carmago's place on the roster was already guaranteed with his prior history with the team and his ability to play multiple positions. Ruiz getting the other half of the platoon role was only mildly surprising. Although he played in just 11 spring games his .310 batting average was more than 100 points better than either Austin or Travis.
There is still plenty of reason for concern as Ruiz only managed 2 extra base hits, but with no one else really winning the job and his lack of minor league options the decision does make sense.

The other position battle we saw was for the 5th and final rotation spot, and it went about as well for the team as the 3B battle did. Lets run down the list of what happened.
Luiz Gohara looked pretty good and had sub 2 ERA but suffered a sprained elbow at the end of March will keep him out of action for a couple of weeks.
Mike Soroka was hit hard all spring and has been sent back to Gwinnet.
Kyle Wright suffered a severe elbow strain during his first spring start and isn't expected back until June.
That just leaves Touki Toussaint and Patrick Weigel. Both had similarly productive springs, but the Braves chose Weigel as the 5th starter.

What do the Experts Say?

Spoiler

Analysts around the league love the 2020 version of the Atlanta Braves. The offense should once again be one of the best in the league with basically everyone returning from a year ago. On the other side of the ball, what do you get when you give last year's #1 defensive team two front-line starters? You get what could be the MLB's hardest team to score runs on. With MVP candidates, Cy-Young Candidates, Gold Glove winners, and stoppers in the bullpen it's easy to see why the projections are so good.

Predicted W-L
106-56

Finances

Spoiler

Team owner Luis Alvarado has been very open about his willingness to spend to give the fans a great product. Those comments will be tested very soon as the Braves have some important decisions to make.

Newly acquired SP Robbie Ray will be a free agent at season's end, and there isn't any reason to believe that the Braves would not want to bring the 28 year old back. Ray will no doubt be looking for a big pay day though, and he is not the only one who the team will need to pay soon...

Franchise player Freddie Freeman is only signed for 1 more season after this one, and there have reportedly been talks between the 2 sides on another long term deal. It won't be cheap to retain the veteran first basemen though.

Ozzie Albies is set for his first arbitration year after the 2020 season, and arbitration is expected to be very kind to him. At just 23 it is likely that the team wants to work out a long term deal with him, but other financial priorities could hold that up.

Dansby Swanson has just 2 more years of team control left after this season, and he is coming off his best season both offensively and defensively so the asking price has certainly gone up.

These are just some of the names the Braves will have to make decisions on because while reports are they have quite a bit of financial flexibility at the moment, that money will quickly dry up after just 1 or 2 of these guys are under a new contract.

[KBLover]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Thinking about starting an Angels save so I can have Ohtani again. Or maybe do a fantasy draft (I've actually never done one in OOTP, which is funny because I always do one or carry one over in The Show).

Angels didn't do a massive shake up in my Marlins II franchise so no offering of Ohtani this time. FeelsBadMan

[bravesfan1984]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Thinking about starting an Angels save so I can have Ohtani again. Or maybe do a fantasy draft (I've actually never done one in OOTP, which is funny because I always do one or carry one over in The Show).

Angels didn't do a massive shake up in my Marlins II franchise so no offering of Ohtani this time. FeelsBadMan

Angels would be interesting. Lots of storylines. Pujols albatross of a deal, can you lock up the greatest player of this generation in Trout, how will ohtani pan out, rebuilding that rotation....would be cool!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Operation Sports mobile app

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Spoiler

So all the excitement that we started the 2023 quickly game and went as the team struggled offensively. After scoring 7 runs in an opening day loss to the Mariners 9-7. We scored 10 runs in the next 7 games and were off to a 2-8 start.

It was a rough go for SS Bobby Witt Jr who despite his immense talent wasn't able to put it together quickly at the MLB level. He was sent to AAA after 15 games and a .216/.259/.275 slash. Things didn't go much better at AAA and he was dropped back down to AA to find his stroke and confidence quickly. It wasn't all bad news for the Baby Birds though RF Griffin Conine has been a pleasant surprise his 12 homers lead the team at this writing, he'd probably have more than 33 RBIs if he wasn't hitting in the #2 hole, but we are reluctant to move him. Witt isn't the only Oriole who has stumbled out the gate. LF Joc Pederson has been a huge disappointment this year. His .220/.360/.418 6 hr 18 RBI has been a real hole in the middle of the lineup.

In what has been something of a shock its been the pitching that has been the anchor of the team this year. The rotation has an era of 4.70 and the bullpen has posted a 4.27. Jeremy Good has a team best record of 5-2 with a 4.06 ERA. Roniel Raudas pitching in the 5th spot has also found his form again. He is 4-2 with a 3.12 ERA. Dylan Bundy was off to a pretty good start before he suffered an abdominal injury that has sidelined him for 5 weeks he was 2-1. Wanting a veteran in the rotation we signed 35 year old Chase Anderson to a minor league deal and in his 3 starts he is 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA. He has been a calming presence at the top of the rotation. Nick Storz is back down at AAA after going 0-4 in 9 starts. In the pen, closer Yin-Tou Lai has been lights out as usual he has 12 saves 13 chances. Ryan Messinger has fond his form and his era is 0.98 in 18 innings. Late spring signing Se-Woong Park was called to the bull pen early and his numbers suffered, but his last two starts have seen him pitch deep 7 ip in each and if not for defensive lapses his numbers would be better. But he is 2-2 with a 6.46 ERA in 30 innings and 4 starts. We expect him to produce big things down the stretch.

So after a slow start the club found the magic formula in May and currently are 20-22 after dropping 2 of three to the division leading Blue Jays in Toronto. Sitting 5.5 games out the sense of panic has passed. Players are finding their role and the addition of 1B Jed Gyorko has provided some stability in the middle of the lineup as he has 8 HRs in 25 games. Defensively there are problems all over the place. Gary Sanchez is terrible at throwing out base runners. I rage demoted 2B/SS Cal Conley after his 2 error performance cost us game 3 vs the Blue Jays (to Dominican Rookie Ball.) I have taken to rage demoting/promoting lots of guys as I manage more games this year....(never let them get comfortable).

Injuries have also been a real issue early this year. 5 guys are on the DL right now with 2B Trea Turner due back in one day. Three pitchers including Bundy are there now, SP George Kirby (who I rage kept in after he got rocked and forced him to throw 133 pitches) and RP Do-kyu Kim.

But I am excited about the possibilities of the season. The Blue Jays aren't running away with the division and the Yankees have already dumped Manager Manny Acta. Griffin Conine is a legit ROY candidate Jeremy Good is getting some ASG love. Been managing more games this year, due to the high roster turnover. So much more fun!

I'm liking all the rage in this year's team.

When were you gonna tell us that you have an expansion San Antonio team in your division? The AL East division? LOL. Maybe I missed it.

Too bad about Bobby Witt Jr. I hope it's an early career slump rather than your scouting was just off base entirely about him. I'd be pretty sad if my blue chipper fell on his face like that.

One thing is if you're managing games now and El Gary is having a tough time throwing out baserunners, try to pick "hold runner," "pitch out," and "throw to base" options a bit more. It also helps if your pitchers don't have poopy "hold runner" ratings. I don't think this is a ratings issue with your catcher, but more a pitcher ratings/managerial strategy issue because I have seen the same with my catcher Jett Bandy.

[KBLover]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

The Angels have been one of the league's stories for quite sometime with the pursuit and acquisition of Shohei Ohtani.

Now, they are making news for another reason.

They are winning.

The Angels end the month of April in a virtual tie for first place in the AL West with a 17-12 record, percentage points behind...the Oakland A's??? Certainly been an unusual start in the AL West Division.

Leading the way offensively is not Ohtani, it's an old standby, Mike Trout. The young slugger has powered his way to a AL Batter of the Month award and has 12 home runs already. He has a 1.200 OPS, on pace for 14.4 WAR, basically, he's been even more ridiculous than usual.

Ohtani, to his credit, has been holding his own, though his prodigious power has not showed up. He has just one home run on the season and a .377 slugging percentage. He's hitting decently when the ball is in play, a .321 BABIP indicates that, but the strikeouts have been cutting into his batting average and the lack of extra base hits he showed in spring training has carried over thus far.

On the mound, Ohtani had a slow start, but has since been lights out. His first four starts, he competed and lasted long enough for the offense to gift him with wins, but in his last three, he's look like the young power arm he was advertised to be. In that span, he's recorded 22 innings of work and allowed just 2 runs with 21 strike outs. He lowered his ERA from 7.23 to a respectable 3.76 and trending heavily in the right direction.

Given the state of the "rotation" the Angels are putting on the mound, Ohtani becoming "just" a power ace at 23-years-old would be worth the price of admission. That and the fact the Angels are pretty much selling out most home games now, combining the allure of Ohtani (and Trout) with rooting for a first place squad.

In terms of early roster moves, Chris Young has been traded and Chris Carter has been waived. The team is going with Jabari Blash, but he figures to be around only if he can actually, you know, hit the ball instead of fanning the fans with his mighty swings and misses. Veteran Eric Young, Jr. is around and he'd at least bring defensive utility, a good character, and some speed to the table.

Chris Young was shipped to the Rays, who started by offering Daniel Robertson. After some talks, the deal expanded by the Angels including Brandon Marsh a couple low minors prospects and the Rays adding SP Chih-Wei Hu, SP Travis Ott, and 2B Nick Solak.

The Angels also picked up Oscar de la Cruz from the Cubs in return for P Blake Parker as the northsiders seem have given up on their young prospect. The Angels have Cruz working at AA, hoping he can put his electric stuff together and start climbing through the system. The path to the majors is there for the taking. Mike Scioscia has handed the closer roll to Cam Bedrosian, who has been very solid in the opening month.

Zach Petrick was signed to a minor league deal in late March and has since been called up to the majors.

And this pitching has brought up speculation on whether or not the Angels should consider trying to add arms. It's hard to go down that path when the offense is held up largely by one man...even Trout can't always be perfect (right?), so what happens when he needs a rest or, gasp, hits a slump or...well let's not think about the third option lest we summon demons.

Albert Pujols will also start playing first base every day as Valbuena has done nothing at the plate.

The organization made a few personnel changes, the most notable was bringing in John Farrell as pitching coach, largely to help Ohtani develop on the mound. Farrell likes working with power arms, so he should be able to help Ohtani refine his stuff going forward.

[N51_rob]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

I'm liking all the rage in this year's team.

When were you gonna tell us that you have an expansion San Antonio team in your division? The AL East division? LOL. Maybe I missed it.

Too bad about Bobby Witt Jr. I hope it's an early career slump rather than your scouting was just off base entirely about him. I'd be pretty sad if my blue chipper fell on his face like that.

One thing is if you're managing games now and El Gary is having a tough time throwing out baserunners, try to pick "hold runner," "pitch out," and "throw to base" options a bit more. It also helps if your pitchers don't have poopy "hold runner" ratings. I don't think this is a ratings issue with your catcher, but more a pitcher ratings/managerial strategy issue because I have seen the same with my catcher Jett Bandy.

I thought I mentioned it. I didn't plan to have the expansion draft and was pretty pissed that I didn't disable it at first but then San Antonio literally took every bad contract I had namely Chris Davis' $23 million per for the next 5 years, they also took Adam Jones and Mark Trumbo from me. Yeah, I need to pay more attention to base runners that is for sure.

I think Witt will be fine, he's only 22 and truth be told I probably rushed him because I had a GM goal of having more drafted players on the big club. I really want him to find his stroke in AA and come back up to the show. I really do miss his glove at SS. He is a legit Gold Glover even if he has to hit #9 as a pro.

[KBLover]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress



Mike Trout is officially scaring me now...

[KSUowls]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

I'm considering rebooting my Braves franchise. I kind of regret trading away Newcomb (after watching him throw 6 shutout at Coors yesterday), and I think it would be cool to stay a bit more in line with what the actual Braves organization is doing instead big blockbuster deals every season. I would definitely still make some trades, but I probably wouldn't trade for Michael Fulmer on Day 1. Also, I'm pretty disappointed with the way my top prospects have been going. Mike Soroka, Kyle Wright, and even Kolby Allard are all considered to be MLB ready or very close to it. 2.5 years into this franchise though none of them really seem to be MLB ready (though I have pushed them into those roles at times). Not sure what I'm doing wrong on the development front.


I'm also considering bumping up the trade difficulty from the default normal. I'm a little hesitant on this one because I don't think that the trades I've seen have been ridiculous, and I don't want big trades to become near impossible. Having the Red Sox openly offer me Rafael Devers who was coming off a 50 HR season was surprising though.

I'd also like to try the Stats only thing. I wanted to this time around, but I couldn't quite figure out how to do it. The biggest hurdle was dealing with the amateur draft where 90% of players in the first couple of seasons don't have HS/College stats.

[KBLover]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

I'm also considering bumping up the trade difficulty from the default normal. I'm a little hesitant on this one because I don't think that the trades I've seen have been ridiculous, and I don't want big trades to become near impossible. Having the Red Sox openly offer me Rafael Devers who was coming off a 50 HR season was surprising though.

I think trading is hard enough and realistic on normal.

Were you able to get Devers (and he hit 50 HR in Fenway???? He turned into an 80 power monster I guess!)? I would say 85-90% of the time when I get those "are you interested in X" mails, I can't make the deal because they literally won't take who I have, or want something very expensive.

I think Ohtani and Royce Lewis are the two I've ever been able to complete in now my 3rd franchise covering 7 sim seasons. And I think the Twins deal Royce because they are usually close to the AL Central lead (and in the first Marlins franchise, they became a 100+ win team), and Ohtani happened only because the Angels went through a total makeover at the top and the new guy hated Ohtani's hitting (he had a maxed "Favors Hitting" and Ohtani was hitting .230 for each of the three years up to that point). So, in his mind, he traded a good pitcher for a good pitcher, a borderline All-Star 2B (Estrada was a steady 3-4 WAR player), a good RF, and a pitcher prospect. I literally debated on whether I really wanted to do it or not.

I think that's realistic. Whether it's easy/hard on a video game level, I don't know, but I'm happy with realistic/logical reasoning and if I'm debating moves it takes, I'm happy.

[KSUowls]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

I think trading is hard enough and realistic on normal.

Were you able to get Devers (and he hit 50 HR in Fenway???? He turned into an 80 power monster I guess!)? I would say 85-90% of the time when I get those "are you interested in X" mails, I can't make the deal because they literally won't take who I have, or want something very expensive.

I think Ohtani and Royce Lewis are the two I've ever been able to complete in now my 3rd franchise covering 7 sim seasons. And I think the Twins deal Royce because they are usually close to the AL Central lead (and in the first Marlins franchise, they became a 100+ win team), and Ohtani happened only because the Angels went through a total makeover at the top and the new guy hated Ohtani's hitting (he had a maxed "Favors Hitting" and Ohtani was hitting .230 for each of the three years up to that point). So, in his mind, he traded a good pitcher for a good pitcher, a borderline All-Star 2B (Estrada was a steady 3-4 WAR player), a good RF, and a pitcher prospect. I literally debated on whether I really wanted to do it or not.

I think that's realistic. Whether it's easy/hard on a video game level, I don't know, but I'm happy with realistic/logical reasoning and if I'm debating moves it takes, I'm happy.

haha yeah I believe it does have his power at 80 now. 50 HR at age 22, and he was hitting .359 with 10 home runs in the first month when the Sox offered him to me. I can certainly justify the deal on their end which is what gives me pause to bump it up. Devers was a huge piece, but I gave up quite a few pieces in the deal. I believe I gave up SP Chance Adams (25 y/o and immediately became their 'ace'), Trevor Rosenthal (29) who gave a dominant BP arm to go along with Kimbrel, a throw away, and 2 3B prospects in Rio Ruiz and Austin Riley. Ruiz was hitting like .280 with 7 home runs for the big league Braves at the trade mark.

So you're probably right that it already makes sense. The fact that I can justify the trade on both ends probably makes it good enough.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

My trade setting is: Favor Prospects/Very Hard.

[KSUowls]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

My trade setting is: Favor Prospects/Very Hard.

Do you think that gives you a more realistic trade system, or do you do it for the challenge? I'm definitely looking for the former, and I'm definitely concerned that bumping it up will take it from slightly unrealistic to no trades unless they are completely unbalanced.

[KBLover]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Angels Remain in Playoff Race
Ohtani, Trout Leading Team to Wild Card Lead at Break

After a blazing hot start that had the Angels over the .600 mark after the first two months of the season, the expected slow down has occurred, and the team has been basically treading water just above .500 in June and through the first half of July.

Part of the reason was indeed a three week period where Trout looked completely mortal at the plate. Fortunately, the starting rotation has picked up a bit and helped keep the team from sliding further.

Still, Trout's poised for a triple crown run in the second half though his WAR pace has cooled to "only" 12.5 and hitting "only" 62 HR.

The other consistent bat in the lineup has been Ohtani's, which is very welcome and relieving to see. He's starting to get some power going, now up to 8 HR in 268 AB, and his hitting line has improved to .315/.380/.472, good enough for a 128 OPS+ and 1.6 WAR.

Beyond those two? Not a lot to speak of. Jabari Blash has started showing a little more consistency, which is encouraging because he does have plenty of power. But that's offset by the problems at 1B by both Pujols and Valbuena, Cozart not doing well at the plate, very little out of the catcher's spot, and Justin Upton's nightmare season where's he's under the Mendoza line at the break.

Some blame Scoiscia's usage of Ohtani as leadoff hitter as one reason why the offense is inconsistent. Pundits would rather see him near Trout, especially with the increased production.

"I get that a lot, " Scoiscia commented, "But I have him where I think he best helps us. If I put him with Trout, who gets on base for them to drive in?"

On the mound, the rotation has done better, thanks a large part to a surprise performance from Zach Petrick. He is 6-3 with a 3.48 ERA so far.

"He never wows you but he's steady and even in his performance. That's been great to see, " Scoiscia commented.

And of course, Ohtani on the mound has been pretty much as expected. He's had some hiccups here and there, but he putting together a nice first season with his 11-4 record and 3.47 ERA. He's currently carrying a 9.8 K/9 rate and leads the rotation in FIP with 3.86.

Moves at the Deadline?

The Angels clearly need more depth in the lineup, but it's uncertain if they will (or can) do anything about the situation. There's not much they can do at first base with Pujols and Valbuena. An offensive catcher, should one be up for trade, would be prohibitively expensive

There's been some interest in Justin Upton. Perhaps the Angels could swap veterans with a team...perhaps bring in someone at catcher.

But would the Angels part with any prospects to make a bigger splash? Teams are expressing interest in Jordon Adell, but, while not untouchable, offers would need to come in better for the Angels to even consider moving him. Zack Cozart has drawn some interest as well, but his leadership is helping keep him around. Not much other interest in any of the other Angels players.

The Angels have Jahmai Jones, but the organization is high on his character and upside, so even if teams were interested, he probably would not move.

That would leave Kevin Maitan...would he be enough to entice some solid veteran talent?

Colon Claimed on Waivers

Bartolo Colon will take the mound for his third team this season as the Angels have brought him in to be 5th starter. For now. This happened when the team sent Andrew Heaney back to AAA-Salt Lake to try to regain his mechanics.

Colon will probably stay as long as he's decent, which is hard to estimate when talking about a 45-year-old pitcher.

Two-Way Adell??

In the minors, one of the more interesting things that's happened is Adell has taken it upon himself to try to be a two-way player.

"I don't know about that, " Angels GM Xander Yarrow commented, "I guess we won't stop him from trying but I have no idea what made him just decide to try it."

So far, Adell's attempt gone poorly in both aspects. Questions remain about his ability to make contact and his .212/.281/.354 batting line is doing no favors in that regard. And the pitching, well that's been 11 bad starts as he has an 0-7 record with an 8.44 ERA. He's allowing a BABIP of .385.

"I think they are just indulging the young man to let him see if he can do it, but I think with this evidence, they can tell him he shouldn't and will put a stop to it, " a local analyst commented.