It seems some people didn't see the "Don't feed the trolls" signs posted all around this forum. Then again, I actually find this "Ricky" thing pretty funny...for now.

@Jurickson

Who said anything about loaded? Reading is fundamental. I said the Angels have most of their roster locked up through 2015. Whether that's a good thing or bad remains to be seen, but their lack of a farm system isn't the issue it would be were they facing massive FA losses.

Also, while I agree it's become more difficult to fix a farm overnight with the new CBA, three years is enough time for them to get it back to where it can offer help. They have under their new GM moved to more of a sabermetric approach to the draft and are pursuing more and more college players -- less ceiling but also more of a chance they play in the majors and don't look now but they just graduated the best player in MLB to their roster. Their best prospect right now just so happens to play 3B which is the position they likely need the most help at, and say what you will about how awful their rotation may be, it bought them some time for that Garret Richards guy and that lefty they called up late last year to get better.

Their farm sucks, but the only potential FA's they have on the roster are Ryan Madson, Scott Downs, and Jason Vargas, with Callaspo a FA after 2014. Lord knows that when the time comes to fill a hole they can afford to go buy it Forbes estimated their new TV deal at 2.45 billion for 17 years.

Conversely we are facing the possible departures of Cruz, Andrus, Nathan, AJ, Soto, Lewis, Murphy, and if we are being technical Berkman and Frasor over the next two years. Our potential losses are far more impactful than the Angels so, it's a bigger priority that our farm be ready to produce now. Thankfully we also have more payroll room.

I much prefer the condition we are in as we have more room for error and to deal for needs, but I do believe our fans have a tendency to predict doom and gloom for the competition and looking at everything they do from a glass half empty perspective. Everyone is hoping that the Angels are stuck with two bad contracts in a couple years and no way to buy their way out of the mess but I doubt that will be the case. Moreno is worth more than a bil and it's liquid. He's also got a TV deal that pays him 100 mil a year, easy, Throw in the national TV money and they are over 150 million in revenue without selling a single ticket, beer, or hot dog. Have people really forgotten how the Wells trade was supposedly going to ruin their chances to sign anyone good?

When it's all said and done, I think the AL West is going to be very competitive. It's not just the Rangers and Angels anymore.

Although there is no official cap in baseball, there is the luxury task, and at the end of the day, this is a business. You cant spend all willy nilly. The Angels have made some questionable moves to win over the LA fan base. It is as simple as that. To build through the draft you have to hit on your high picks now, you no longer have type A and B free agents, which means you also most likely have less picks. Even after 3 years if you develop somewhat of a farm you still have to develop your prospects. Look spending big now and hoping it wont bite you later is a risky strategy. The Yankees were able to do it because no one could bid with them. Now, other teams can. The new way to build teams will be primarily through the system, look the Angels think what they are doing will lead to success. I beg to differ. I have no evidence to show you know, but in 4 years we will all know what I was talking about.

Might be just as cheap or cheaper to have no farm team and spend it all on FAs and waivers. Almost what the Yanks have done.

Might be just as cheap or cheaper to have no farm team and spend it all on FAs and waivers. Almost what the Yanks have done.

Not even close to being true. At the height of the Yankees in the late 90's and early oughts, they did have a pretty nice farm system, even with all their expensive Major League talent. They had an excellent scouting department. What they did, which cornered the market for their own short-term success, was overpaying both for free agents and through trades.

The point is, prospects are worth it on two major fronts. Prospects are valuable as trade chips, and as replacing guys that sign elsewhere. They make the league minimum for their first 3 years, and go through the arbitration process their next 3.

Rivera, Jeter, Posada, Pettite(?). The Yankees have done their fair share of building from within.

You guys are acting like the Angels are mostly FAs. Looking at the information at BBref, they have 8 players acquired via FA. same as the Rangers. They have simply spent on some of the biggest names in FA, maybe they got the memo about the problem with FA isn't the cost of signing stars but rather the cost of signing mediocrities.

Jurikson, you seem to be 100% sure you know the future and the Angels fate, I really have no interest in changing your mind, because honestly I don't know if their gambles with the rotation and their dependence on defense will work. What I AM saying is that the Angels have a strong recent history of building their team from within and have time to get the pieces in place to do so again. If the ONLY guy they have playing at superstar levels in 2015 is Trout that's one more than most of the division. For all the talk about salary caps and the limits it will put on the Angels there isn't much to back that other than you think they will flop. Look at the actual salary breakdowns. They have a lower payroll this year than they did last year and their projected salary of 149 million is 40 million below the tax cap of 189 Mil. So, getting back to my original point they have 19 players under club control for the 2015 season, most of that team is locked up. Your entire scenario revolves around all their guys going into the tank and NOBODY in their system developing. Im betting that won't be the case what's more I'm betting they will spend money to patch holes if needed.

We have 14 players under control for the 2015 season, the info at BBref estimates it will require 101 mil to retain those players based on guaranteed contracts and projected arbitration salaries. No doubt in your world none of our guys will have declined and all our farmhands will pan out , right?

So, are the Mariners going to be the team to beat in 2015, given they have one of the best farms systems in the game 15 players under club control and a projected salary of less than 50 mil to keep those guys around? Are all their guys going to bust too?

My guess is both the Angels and Rangers will be competitive three years from now.

You guys are acting like the Angels are mostly FAs. Looking at the information at BBref, they have 8 players acquired via FA. same as the Rangers. They have simply spent on some of the biggest names in FA, maybe they got the memo about the problem with FA isn't the cost of signing stars but rather the cost of signing mediocrities.

Jurikson, you seem to be 100% sure you know the future and the Angels fate, I really have no interest in changing your mind, because honestly I don't know if their gambles with the rotation and their dependence on defense will work. What I AM saying is that the Angels have a strong recent history of building their team from within and have time to get the pieces in place to do so again. If the ONLY guy they have playing at superstar levels in 2015 is Trout that's one more than most of the division. For all the talk about salary caps and the limits it will put on the Angels there isn't much to back that other than you think they will flop. Look at the actual salary breakdowns. They have a lower payroll this year than they did last year and their projected salary of 149 million is 40 million below the tax cap of 189 Mil. So, getting back to my original point they have 19 players under club control for the 2015 season, most of that team is locked up. Your entire scenario revolves around all their guys going into the tank and NOBODY in their system developing. Im betting that won't be the case what's more I'm betting they will spend money to patch holes if needed.

We have 14 players under control for the 2015 season, the info at BBref estimates it will require 101 mil to retain those players based on guaranteed contracts and projected arbitration salaries. No doubt in your world none of our guys will have declined and all our farmhands will pan out , right?

So, are the Mariners going to be the team to beat in 2015, given they have one of the best farms systems in the game 15 players under club control and a projected salary of less than 50 mil to keep those guys around? Are all their guys going to bust too?

My guess is both the Angels and Rangers will be competitive three years from now.

pitch:
that wasn't worthy of being posted once much less twice.

@pitch.... The Angels payroll will be around 159 million this season and thats only counting contracts that were over 1 million per season. If you add all the minimum guys to that you get up close to 170. I know thats still under the luxury tax, but when you consider that they have several guys that will soon get huge raises through arbitration aka Hanson, Trumbo, Trout etc. their payroll will skyrocket well above the tax threshold as soon as next season. Then you add in the fact that they wont have a first round pick this year and they traded too much to get the Greinke rental, and the fact that if God forbid they dont win this year there will be a ton of pressure to keep signing guys so they can win soon it doesnt look like their system will be getting a shot in the arm anytime soon. They have set themselves up to have a great present while sacrificing the future. If they dont win it all in the next 3 years they will go down as one of the biggest payroll blunders ever, and be in the same shape the Yankees find themselves in now. The Yankees did have a pretty good system pre mid 90's but since then anything that looked remotely like a good prospect they had to trade to get their fix of a big name "now". Thus there system went to crap and now they have a bunch of aging players that seriously need to be replaced and no one in house to do it. The Angels will be in the same place in 4 or 5 years.

Your payroll information is incorrect or baseballreference.com, cots baseball contracts, usa today, and everyone that tracks the info just hasn't been privy to the information you seen to have at your disposal.

Calculating the luxury tax liability isn't as simple as looking at a team's current payroll.

Multi-year contracts are totaled using the AAV + bonuses met, buyouts, cash considerations from trades. Teams are also liable for a 1/30 share of player benefits which equates to a little over $10.5M this year.

Not sure if any of that was relevant to this discussion, but now you know.