I think that Romine is a non starter... I've watched him bat. Amarista is on the fence, but he's been doing fairly well this spring. Jimenez, Moore, and Navarro are guys that may, or may not develop, but they can be held down for the next couple of years as this two year window opens up to either play or be trade bait.

Still, even if the AA, and AAA teams aren't strong overall, there are another 8-9 or so individual stars that will may be MLB ready within the next two year window. Trout, Calhoun, Segura, Cron, Mills, Richards, Cantu, Hellweg, and Shoemaker, not to mention another 5 years of Trumbo, Bourjos, Conger, and Walden, who all could make a strong lasting core of young inexpensive players.

I see Dipoto drafting for specific needs three years from now, as opposed to just best players overall.

Jimenez, Moore, and Navarro are all reaching their minor league service time limits. Navarro has 3 years left, Moore has 2, and Jimenez has 1 before they have to be on the major league roster or granted minor league free agency. That is the point I was trying to make, there are a lot of players that never really make it to the major leagues but still have a career as team depth in the minor leagues. There is always a new batch of kids every year looking to make it to the major leagues.

I have no idea why you include Cantu in the list of prospects, he is a veteran player nearing the end of his career and was signed as depth, kind of like Russell Branyan was last year.

<Cantu> If thats depth...I love it..Based on his recent performance
I think a lot of teams would love to have him on their club...

I'm beginning to wonder if we just might have enough tradeable
pieces to improve our 3B situation..what do you think?

I'm not too sure. I was just reading something on MLBtraderumors about the changes made concerning minor league contracts in the new CBA. It seems like a lot of these veteran players signed as depth may be gone by Opening Day. Here is the link...
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/03/veterans-on-minors-deals-in-line-for-100k-bonus.html

Since a good portion of this "depth" are veterans that signed minor league contracts it gets complicated real quick. They mention Isringhausen specifically, and in his case if he isn't released or on the 25 man roster he gets a $100K bonus and can opt-out June 1. Cantu, Deeds, Langerhans, and several other NRI players signed minor league deals and I think they can opt-out if not on the major league roster Opening Day because they did not have a major league contract at the end of the 2011 season.

Also, I think the Angels are committed to the Trumbo at 3B experiment. When all of this is taken into consideration I don't see any real way the Angels can improve at 3B significantly without creating a "hole" elsewhere.

Regarding having enough talent to acquire a true third baseman, it all depends on who your looking at. We now have a middle of the pack farm system (My opinion) which has been replenished after years of trading away prospects and loosing some of our top picks due to signing Type A or B free agents. But it all depends on who your looking at for a trade. We don't have enough in the minors if your looking for a Longoria, Sandoval, Bautista or Lawrie type player. Those are pretty much untouchables or would require massive high end prospects if those teams ever decided to trade them. We don't have the high end, ready for big league impact players in our farm system like the Braves, Diamondbacks or Rays minor league systems to name a few. If you wanted a David Wright for example, it could be done but your looking at loosing two to three of our best minor league players along with Bourjos, who they have wanted for some time.

We all want the third base situation resolved but I don't think a trade is the way to go right now. There are only a few premium/proven third baseman right now and I don't want to give up Bourjos, Trout, Trumbo, Kendrick, Santana etc. in a trade until we know what kind of team we have during the regular season. And don't forget Cowart is working his way up and looks promising for us.

<Trumbo> Love his bat..Just cant see how "giving him"
20 games at 3B is "the answer"...At least Cantu has played
a lot of 3B...not that I like his defense..

Also, based on your info...IF Cantu continues to perform well,
it could be very advantagous to pay the $100K bonus and
keep him til June..

I'd rather trade for a triple A guy who's blocked by a
"highly paid" 3B who currently has a long term contract.
There are a few examples like Green,etc...

THEN, I'd give a guy like Green the "try" that were currently
giving to Trumbo..(he's a more permanent LF/RF/DH/1B type).

I see what your saying however, if the minor league player who is blocked is good enough, the club will find ways to move that player to another position to help the team. An example is the Washington Nationals have Anthony Rendon who could be a monster at 3rd base eventually. Since they have Zimmerman there for the future, Rendon is transitioning to 2nd base to get his bat in the lineup when he's ready.

My hope is Trumbo can handle some of the load this year at 3rd along with Callaspo. If Trumbo can't handle it, don't forget Callaspo did a decent job offensively. IMO, with the upgrades in our offense, Callaspo's lack of power production won't be so obvious. I don't see the Angels making any type of big move for a 3rd baseman util Cowart can show if he's the answer in a year or two.

I can also see Kendrick moving to 3rd allowing Segura to play 2nd temporarily if Trumbo and Callaspo don't work out.