Move one of them out of position and they have less value to the team (thought I’d still want both of them out there).

I still really love the idea of the two of them sharing the outfield–Imagine the value they’d provide if they could cover the outfield without a third man?

and let Tori play shallow center while having VW DH. having these guys on the corners would take advantage of their range.

Vernon Wells won 2 Gold Gloves while owning a negative dWAR in 2004-2005, according to baseball reference.

He’s hella fun to watch and brings needed excitement and energy to the team.

Two numbers for 2011 that concern me:
BABIP: .362
SwStr%: 12.2%
I hope that the first is a trend and the second an anonaly, and not vice versa.

He has exceeded my offensive expectations of him and had lived up to the defensive ones. The area where he needs to improve the most is getting on base. To round out his value to the team, he needs to raise his OBP to a minimum of .360 (which will come with better plate discipline, i.e. walks). When that happens, “Fleet Pete” will have even more opportunities to showcase his speed. (Even Sosh wouldn’t have the audacity to accuse him of clogging the basepaths).

When the season started, I wasn’t convinced that he could get on base even 25% of the time. His numbers at Salt Lake just weren’t strong enough yet. And while that K/BB rate is still brutal, he has a reasonable chance to finish the season as a league-average hitter, but with outstanding defensive value. I think he’s in the majors to stay now. If the organization was already this high on him during the offseason, it makes the Wells decision even more baffling.

I’ll get it right some day

Whether Trout is in Left or Right depends on whether his arm is stronger or not than whoever else is out there.

We knew his defense was all-world, but my thing was that last year’s 51 games were a small sample size, just enough for teams to make one or two adjustment to him to keep him off-balance. I felt that this year, he’d be more prepared for those things and would be able to use his speed and quick hands to get infield hits and smack balls down the left field line. I think a lot of people put too much emphasis on his BABIP numbers in this case, his speed will trump normal convention. I think he can sustain a .300+ BABIP for a few years with that speed, maybe not as high as it is now but somewhere in the area. As other people have commented here, his minor league track record shows this is possible.

I think it is assumed the power will come, though he might not hit more than 25 HR per year. His reflexes are very good and the first step is dynamite.

But the same can be said of Bourjos, who may not hit more than 15 HR in a year, but who has a better arm than Trout.

So it Trout shaping up to be Matt Holliday with less pop and much, much more speed? Perhaps our own, home-grown Carl Crawford? The name of Mickey Mantle keeps coming up in comps from scouts (who, admittedly, have seen Trout play more games than I have), but Mantle had prodigious power and also was a switch-hitter, while it remains to be seen what sort of longball ability Trout’s bats have, and he is strictly a righty at the plate. The mantle of Mantle might be overselling the young man.

In thinking about this, I am very comfortable with the idea of Trout in LF and Bourjos in CF.

I am impressed by what I see as poise and confidence in Trout; while it is true that he hasn’t been called up in the middle of a pennant drive, it is also true that the Angels have been playing very good baseball over the past few weeks, they’re still in hot pursuit of the Rangers and first place, and no rookie wants to be called up and screw everything up.

I believe the Angels still have work to do on Trout’s game, but he is getting his exposure to Mike Sciosica’s “Taste of the Bigs” ® (“Hey! We fly to our games and someone carries our bags for us!”), which Scioscia likes to share with every prospect during the year to keep them focused on the goal.

I don’t think, though, that the Angels’ front office expected Trout to fly through the minors as he has, or else I doubt that Abreu would have received that vesting clause for 2012. I think the team thought Trout wouldn’t emerge until 2013, and saw keeping Abreu around as a prudent move. Instead, barring a trade of either Bourjos or Abreu, that vesting deal will serve to keep Trout in SLC until 2013, as there is no point in bringing him up and letting him rot on the bench. Hunter/Wells/Trout could cycle through the RF/LF/DH slots in 2012, but not if Abreu is around. I figure him to be on standby in SLC next year in case any of the starting OF comes up lame.

While I am stoked to see such a young star promoted so early…is it too early? If the Halos really want Trout to “arrive” in 2012, then they gotta move someone. The two most likely candidates to me seem to be Peter or Abreu. With the aging outfield we have and no one in the minors to really replace it except Trout (Petitt…maaaaybe), I don’t see Pete going anywhere.

As for a Abreu, a team like the Rays would likely entertain the idea of picking up Abreu: i.e. relatively low-cost for an aging but still productive veteran.

I hate to say it, but I feel like Abreu might be the best to go if Trout is to arrive in 2012. We cant get rid of Wells cuz of the contract, same goes for Torii. Pete might be the future. Bye bye Abreu…

Finally, no one is talking about the possibility of Morales coming back. I KNOW I KNOW…he’s probably done. But what if he ISNT? Then what? The idea of moving K-MO and or Trumbo to the OF is not possible. DH? Maybe for a year but then I am sure Wells or Torii will eventually move into that position.

I sense some trading going on in the not so distant future…