Angels mailbag: What kind of position are the Angels in?
Hello, Angels fans. This is coming to you a day later because of the holiday, but the Angels are otherwise in about the same position as they’ve been, playing well sometimes, losing more times and floating along. Let’s recap the lengthier week with some questions and answers, as always.
Here’s the place to ask anything you want about the Angels, with questions submitted through my email (pedro.moura@latimes.com) and Twitter accounts (@pedromoura). Let us begin.
@HBMike27: Hey Pedro, do you know if the Angels have insurance on Hamilton? since he’s out for the season, I was wondering.
The specifics of insurance are hard to decipher, but I can say this: As far as I know, Josh Hamilton’s season-ending injury does not affect how much money the Angels must pay him: a ton of money, still, for one more year after this one.
@gingerkid1616: Is Chris Lincecum staying around for the season, to coach Tim through his comeback?
Chris Lincecum, Tim’s father, was there for Tim’s Angel debut in extended spring training on Saturday in Arizona. I’m sure he’ll be in Tacoma, near his home, for his son’s next start on Thursday. Beyond that, I’m unsure, but he has been around his son a lot over his career. Chris taught Tim his distinctive delivery.
@OnBaseUnit: Are the Angels in the worst spot possible? Not good enough to contend but not bad enough for a top level pick?
Andy McCullough and I talked about this on our new podcast, Sportswriters Blues. There’s an argument to be made that they are the worst-positioned franchise in Major League Baseball, which is, yes, the worst spot possible. This season specifically, it seems like they could get to a pretty good pick. If the season ended Sunday night, they would have had the sixth pick in the 2017 draft.
There’s an argument to be made that [the Angels] are the worst-positioned franchise in Major League Baseball
@BrentMartin_NC: At what point do the Royals acquire Yunel Escobar?
I thought this was funny. Last week, I wrote that there was a lack of potential landing spots for Escobar, despite his reasonable pay rate and his success this season. Already, one has emerged, as Kansas City lost its third baseman, Mike Moustakas, for the season.
Sure, consider the Royals a possibility, but also take this news as an example of how fast things can change. Two months remain until the trade deadline.
@jaydieguez: Best intro music from the bullpen is? Also new Thrice
This is a hard question to answer right now, but I will monitor it for a few months and hopefully get back to you. At Angel Stadium on Sunday, they played The Strokes’ “12:51” during a 13th-inning review, which was awesome enough that I feel like I should mention it.
The new Thrice album is awesome. “Black Honey” is such a great song.
@tweetsthechad: Question. If lincecum is lights out. At the end of the yr, can the #Angels make a Q-offer and possibly get a draft pick?
Sure they can, if the same qualifying offers remain in place. But baseball’s collective bargaining agreement needs to be renewed this off-season, and there’s reason to believe the compensation system will be revisited.
@JonathanPeet: You’re one of the few people associated with the Angels that hasn’t had a stint on the DL this season. What’s your secret?
My secret is a lot of caffeine, a lot of water and mediocre stretching.
@OCArtGuy: Arte will be 70 in a couple months...when do you think he is going to retire and sell the Angels to a decent owner? // @ettinone: Can you ask Arte how and when he knew that Tim Lincecum was the “right player” to go over the Luxury Tax threshold for? :D
The Angels’ owner, Arte Moreno, has declined my repeated requests for interviews, in person and through intermediaries. Of late, he has opted not to respond through a team spokesperson. So I cannot ask Moreno how he decided to OK a passing of the luxury-tax threshold for Lincecum.
I can note, though, that even if Lincecum hits all the incentives in his contract, the Angels will not go over the threshold by very much at all. We are talking, like, a couple hundred grand of tax money at the most.
@angelfandan: Will CJ Wilson ever be in an Angel uniform again? Could he be traded? // @davidusc708: Any chance CJ Wilson stays beyond this season? The role of team ace is up for grabs
Here’s a little C.J. Wilson section of the mailbag. The 35-year-old left-hander said Sunday he is undergoing an MRI exam Tuesday, but the Angels said Monday they have not decided whether he will. He was supposed to be about a week from returning to the majors, but then he felt something in his arm, and now he’s not anymore. It would be foolish to try to predict when he could return now, but I still think it’s more likely he makes some starts as an Angel than none. It would be very difficult for him to be traded without some successful starts at this level to re-establish what he is at this stage in his career.
From what I heard, his velocity at his rehab start for Class-A Inland Empire was not wonderful. Wilson will not be under contract after this season, and it’s hard for me to envision his returning to the Angels.
@DavidTheNica: Assuming our rotation is healthy, Richards’s rehab goes well, how do we stack? Richards, Skaggs, Weaver, Wilson, Lincecum, Heaney
I get why these questions are appealing to ask, but they are so hard to answer. What, exactly, is healthy? Is Jered Weaver entirely healthy? If Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney come back to pitch this year, will they be? It’s probably impossible to say. I don’t really feel comfortable guessing about who will be in better shape than another pitcher. Richards is the Angels’ best pitcher.
Beyond that, it’s mere conjecture, and their rotation in September really could be any combination of Richards, Tyler Skaggs, Weaver, Wilson, Lincecum, Heaney, Nick Tropeano, Matt Shoemaker or Jhoulys Chacin. Math tells us there are 126 possible combinations of five-man rotations out of those nine. And there might be other candidates.
@frankgigy: What’s the latest on Heaney and Richards?
There is not much to report, really. They are both in town, around and working out at Angel Stadium. Heaney said a few days ago that he is doing the same five-day routine he does in between starts, just without the pitching.
In two weeks, Heaney will be evaluated and tested to see whether the stem-cell therapy he had regenerated any of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow. Two weeks after that, Richards will do the same for his right elbow. Then they go from there. If there’s no improvement whatsoever in either of their limbs, it’s conceivable they will then choose to undergo Tommy John.
@microe: I seem to recall that Heaney sold stock in himself. How does the UCL tear effect this?
The injury does not affect the money he receives from Fantex for selling off a portion of his future earnings. It may affect his stock price, but that is not necessarily of his concern. He gets $3.34 million no matter what. The possibility of injury seems to me to be kind of the whole point of going through the stock-selling process.
@mynewhate: Do you like pineapple on pizza
Sure, I guess. More and more, though, I am finding that I enjoy simplicity with regard to pizza.
@DuranSports: How do you like the beat?
It’s great. I like work road trips. Nothing beats eating good food and not having to pay for it.
That’s it for this week’s Angels mailbag. Send in your questions to the below addresses at any time, and check back each Monday for answers.
Twitter: @pedromoura
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