Mailbag Mayhem: On Arte Moreno selling, Mike Trout bailing, where's Hoffa and more!

Welcome to the first installment of Mailbag Mayhem, where I field questions about anything and everything(although MOSTLY about Angels baseball, natch) to the very best of my ability. Most of today's questions came from our esteemed Facebook page, a bastion of rich and nuanced baseball knowledge. Let's just dive right on in.

Marcus Rovira asks:  First time caller, longtime listener. What's our solution for third base?

Yunel Escobar is the solution. For now, at least. I'm sure they'll want to continue taking looks at Kyle Kubitza, especially since he's no slouch on Billy Eppler's favorite part of the game, defense. I'm pretty much okay with this, at this point.

Andy Sturla asks: What happened to Jimmy Hoffa and D.B. Cooper?

They dead. Not sure about Jimmy Hoffa, i'll stick with the cliche "buried underneath a parking lot in Jersey" theory. As for Cooper, I typically go with the idea that he died trying to jump out of the airplane, and there is still cash in them there Washington state hills. I'm not ruling out the Manitowoc Sheriffs Department for either case, though.

Jacob Dominguez Jr.: We need people in that office that want to win!!!!

This isn't a question, but yeah, can't say that you're wrong, exactly.

Tom Platten asks:  are we going to continue shop for free agents at the 99 cent store? i mean i know we can't afford South Coast Plaza but how about at least Target or Kohl's. i'll hang up and listen.

We're done shopping. We're at home already, and Arte has already taken his shoes off. That means that even if there's something he forgot, he isn't going out again tonight. It'll have to wait til tomorrow aka  mid-season trade, at the earliest. They definitely needed to do something on the free agent end, since they don't have much to bargain with on the trade side of things. D'oh.

Bob Trop asks:  How can the Angels organization succeed when Artie has such a pessimistic view of the game? You have the best player in the game for five more years isn't this the time to go all out to win?

They've had to beat Pythagorean projections in the past, and did so with aplomb, much to the chagrin of baseball smarty pants guys. Now, they're going to have to overcome organizational issues. You just hope that they gel, get hot, (insert other non-quantifiable baseball voodoo) at the right time, as well as hoping the rest of the AL West falters. Stranger things have happened. Also, they have Mike Trout. Anything is possible.

Jason Day asks:  What are you doing about Lf. We need great defense cause our pitching is sub pat. Should trade cj Wilson and weaver for one of the top Leftfielders. Plus we need another good bat in the lineup, hopefully a left hand hitter

I'm doing all I can. Which is nothing, unless the Angels are taking cues from Halos Heaven and i'm not aware of it ("Buttercup" is still played at the stadium, so I know this can't be true). Wilson trade could be in the cards in the next 6 or 7 months, Weaver not so much. Like, at all.

Matt Hawk asks:  Am I the only one who thinks if we don't start winning some playoff series mike trout will be out of here? how long can the best player in baseball sit back and keep watching the playoffs . Artie go get cargo now.

This is a deep, dark fear that is in the hearts of all Angels fans: wasting Trout, and then watching him walk. Still a ways away, though. Don't be scurred(for now).

Jager Shook asks:  Rather than using a SP to upgrade LF, why don't the Angels try to upgrade at second or third?(yunel could play either) Id like to see them try and make a trade for Javier Baez and make him a full time player at second. CJ for Baez? What do you think?

Interesting. It's definitely not an idea i've seen thrown out there a lot, if at all. That'd probably be a dope trade, but I don't think there's a chance whatsoever that Cubs want to part with Baez.

Bobby Vivar asks:  Why does Scioscia keep playing players who don't produce like Featherston, Joyce, Finley, Wells, Ernasty and so on? What stats does he look at?

Kevin Kennedy asks:  Will Artie sell the team to someone who knows baseball and won't screw up the team like he did ?

I don't know. If the team continues on it's current shit show trajectory, maybe the luster of owning a MLB team will wear off and he'll sell. At this point, it seems like that'd be the best thing that could happen...so it probably wont happen.

Steven Garrison asks: Is Arte going to get a bat to protect pujols and trout?

At best, they may be hoping C.J. Cron turns into this type of player. But no, Arte aint gettin' nothin'.

Parker Kalmen asks: Realistically, when will the Angels farm system be replenished?

Halos Heaven's very own Turk's Teeth took a look at Baseball Prospectus' report on the Angels' farm system and, to paraphrase, said to abandon all hope for about the next half decade. Here's that BP article, FYI.

Jay Dieguez asks: Over under how many games Efren Navarro plays, kid can get hits.

22.5

Jeremiah Johnson asks: Does CJ Wilson last the entire year with the team?

Like the previous question, this one would be fun to bet on. I'd say his chances of staying with the Angels for the duration of 2016 is about 63%.

Gavin Kentle asks: Do you think the Halos are going to trade?

NOPE.

Bob Goodwin asks: What's going on with Calhoun, Richards, Salas in arbitration?

Nothing that I know of...team has some time to take things slow, though.

Jacob Dominguez Jr.: We need a new owner!!!!!!!!

This isn't a question...but I'm starting to see a recurring theme from our readers.

Josh Dorgan asks: Do you know the way to San Jose???

Of course! I'm not going to tell you, though.

Welp, that's about it for today. I'll try to do this regularly each week, and if you have a question you'd like me to answer, whether it's about the Angels, MLB, tv/movie recommendations, dating advice, or life in general, be sure to look for a Facebook post OR Tweet regarding the mailbag, and reply to me there. If it's good, i'll get to it and enlighten you(or enrage you...your mileage may vary).