Good morning Angels fans. Have some links to go with breakfast.
Angels News
Joe Maddon is setting up David Fletcher to be the right fielder to start the season. He is planning to Zobrist him at the very least. Could be interesting and leaves Goodwin in shambles.
Ohtani has changed his batting stance. Leg kick is back. Hopefully it works this time.
Arte Moreno has stated that plans for the future of Angel stadium will be out this year. Not yet decided to fix the old one or build a new one. Rev has an article about where a new stadium may fit.
Arte is also a fan of Simba. No deal on the table yet. Just talks. Better hope he doesn’t blow this. Simba is on a HOF track.
Manfred News
The head of Baseball itself continues to enrage baseball fans. He has called the World Series Trophy, the Commissioner’s trophy, a piece of metal. He apologized later after much backlash.
Manfred regrets not acting sooner. Riiiiiiiiiiiight. He regrets that people found out about the cheating he regrets that there was video evidence he regrets that someone got a hold of a private letter and he will regret that the rest of MLB will make his job even harder. Hoo ra!
He has made press conferences in Florida and Arizona now to address the media. It did not go well with the fans.
One particular nugget was that Manfred blamed the Players Union for the Astros players immunity. Which makes him look like he is trying to get the discord enough to get more from the players in the next CBA.
Around Baseball
Astros fans sue their own team over being lied and overcharged. I am no law expert but that seems to be damaging in the public opinion of the Astros more than what Manfred did. One even wrote a letter of disappointment.
Mark Cuban is throwing shade at the whole situation in MLB. This brings the question on what owner would be the one to oust Manfred? Is there one out there?
Giants show integrity by not letting a former player at their anniversary celebration of 2010 for being a POS.$ Even though he was vital for the team. That’s not the Astros way.
The Astros way is to keep cheating even after being caught cheating. Because that’s what one their pitchers has done after getting caught for PED use. Again.
Padres and red Sox still look to get a trade done after all. Will Wil Myers be in San Diego to start the season? Or will he make Sox fans even more confused on what their GM has done.
Red Sox will be punished soon how much is still unknown. But this is not their first offense which may mean something. Especially since the Astros backlash is immense.
Oh and Boston also signed former Angels catcher Lucroy. Less likely chance to be run over by Astros players out there.
The A’s have given up radio broadcast in favor of an app. As their own radio station was Giants biased anyway this was inevitable.
Did I miss anything? Add it below for sweet upvotes.
Christ I am ready for games to start. It’s not really anybody’s fault, it being dead and all, but soon we will have to change the links page title to Today In Outrage; The Latest Things That Make Rage Rage.
Very Good start to the day Jmw, thank you. A New Commissioner is coming to MLB soon. So far it is fun to read from some who do not think steroids were not cheating against fellow player’s and the Game but find what the Cheatstros did as what it all is and that being cheating. Almost universally the Astros have been seriously condemned and the anger level is high as the Game has taken a broadside and has been injured and based on Manfred’s moves or lack there of, it will take sometime for many to return to the game. The Player’s Union was of no help as the player’s are finding out but Tony Clark had to protect their rights. In future negotiations the Player’s Union will help MLB root out cheating in the new labor agreement allowing some type of leeway.
He’s back-
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/02/angels-to-sign-jc-ramirez.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
Maybe he has healed enough this time
Aubrey Huff to my knowledge has not been arrested or charged with any sort of crime. He can be an asshole on twitter, but banning someone for being nuts on Twitter is like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500 to steal from Apocalypse Now.
Unless I’m missing something absolutely horrible he’s said/done, which is likely as I’m not a social media whore, this seems like Huff’s real downfall is being a nutjob for the less popular side.
I encourage everyone to read this article, which goes into a bit of Huff’s statements in the past. Then make your own decisions.
So there was stuff to which I was unaware. Personally I wouldn’t want the things mentioned in that article associated with my brand name, either. He’s free to say whatever he wants to say but he also needs to learn to deal with the consequences.
he’s not banned from anything, just not invited to someone’s party.
I wonder if any fan who wears Huff’s jersey to a SF home game will be “invited” to leave???
I wonder if any fan wears Huff’s jersey at all.
Dang … That chunk of metal quote is a really bad look for Manfred. He’s not long for the commissioner position.
As long as Manfraud keeps the owners’ best interest he will be commissioner of baseball. This is all leading up to an ugly CBA negotiations in the offseason. He’s throwing jabs at the players union and they responded back last night. I have a feeling we might be in for a lengthy strike in 2020.
yet many of the owners have to pissed at him, notably the owners of big market clubs in LA and NY. I can see a split in the owners developing just like one in the players ranks.
Let us hope that split among the owners does develop, but I remain skeptical. I mean, we here all pretty much knew what we were getting with Manfred, and yet he was approved almost unanimously.
The CBA expires on December 1, 2021 so despite the vitriol I doubt there will be any work stoppages until 2022 (if at all)
Ahh I thought the CBA expired this year. That at least grants another year of negotiations for Manfred and the MLBPA which is a good thing for everyone. If it expired this year I think it’s safe to say not much would have been accomplished.
those floating twitter and facebook buttons should sing…you know, like they would if they were of the “follow the bouncing ball” type.
So…I’m intrigued by the carrot dangled by Arte, about a possible starting pitcher. I assume he has nothing in mind except a vague “we might do something at a later date.
Yeah, I’d like those floating buttons more if they had wacky Hanna-Barbera sound effects to go along with their gyrations.
You would like that….. the first day.
If they were really funny, I might last a week.
The A’ss aren’t the first team to go radio-less. The LA Kings did this a couple of years ago. It’s a f***ing pain in the ass, too.
Like hockey is a real sport, and the NHL is a real league
Hockey = soccer on ice. Soccer = hockey on grass.
FTFY:
Hockey = soccer on icebut faster… AND WITH FIGHTS
Yup.
If the refs don’t police the ice correctly, then the offended team will. It’s only a 5-minute penalty as opposed to being thrown out of a baseball game.
You try controlling a puck while you are on ice skates and a 230 lb. guy is washing your face with his hockey glove.
I suspect it’s going to be a trend. More vehicles are equipped with Apple Car Play and Android Auto, and TuneIn is a component of both. I probably spend 80% of time in the car on streaming services, and only 20% on terrestrial radio.
I also still do a terrestrial radio broadcast weekly, but the audience has increasingly moved to our web-based and app-based streams.
The key downside of moving from local radio to an app-based ecosystem is the loss of cross-promotion. People no longer anchor on a single station and receive promotions for upcoming games all day.
Wai? Wha?
You are a radio star? Where do I tune into to hear the velvet throat?
/sWhile I don’t like the trend away from radio broadcasts, I am glad for Gameday Audio, because here in Pasadena, in the middle of a massive granite shelf, KLAA does not come in after dark, and I can’t always park myself in front of a telescreen during a game.
The same KLAA radio silence occurs where I live too when night hits. So I’m glad that Sirius XM does carry Ducks game play whenever I’m on the road.
Sirius XM carries Kings, but only on the internet portions, not on the satellite broadcast.
Same in the SFV.
Welp, time to put THAT place up for sale!
I like Fletch at 2nd. I guess we’ll see if TLS can perform on offense again, we know his defense is bad. It would have actually been really nice to have Joc out there in RF, but if JA is called up early in the season it will never matter.
Just like the cheatin’ Astros, Manfred is only apologizing because he got caught.
You would confuse people if you apologized for things they never knew about. We should be glad he is making any statement with a whole Payless Shoe store in his mouth.
Does anyone ever apologize before they get caught?
An Outfield of Fletcher, Trout and Goodwin sounds OK to me
What’s the drop off from Fletcher to Stella at 2nd, though?
Pretty Damn Good to All Star
Depends on whether La Stella was for real, and how much his leg injury hampers future performance. I still think Fletcher is better at 2B, but his versatility allows them to use him in more situations.
Bat Vs. glove, but Stella may have been a one year wonder with the juicy ball. BUT, will the juicy ball be back for an ManBearFred, let us forget the past “Bygone’s Be Season Tour”
@eyespy … Manfred juicy ball …. It’s just a chunk of rubber bands and rawhide.
There’s actually a little depth if La Stella turns into a pumpkin, either move Fletcher back full-time or up the PT for Rengifo.
I personally wouldn’t mind bringing Zobrist in on a minimum league deal if he isn’t retiring to see if he’s cooked or still has some life left in his bat. That’s the kind of dumpster dive that teams should do, possible improvement on the edges without counting on anything.
On a minor league deal, like we did with Chris Carter in 2018. No harm no foul that way, if he doesn’t work out.
Zobrist already announced he won’t be back this year. I have to believe the Angels already reached out to him but probably didn’t want to pay very much. The biggest concern I have with Stella at second is the drop off in defense. My eye test ( I know this is not always the best measure) shows his range is limited and he has Roberto Duran hands.
I had not heard that about Zobrist.
I thought the same watching La Stella. Seemed like the definition of a mediocre defender to me. Not going to hurt, not going to help. But, if he hits within 5% of what he did last season when healthy, that’ll play somewhere in a lineup.
Love the Roberto Duran reference. I’m stoked for the fight Saturday. Was at the first Wilder/Fury but tickets to this one were too outrageous to justify.
Well, this makes it clear that Joe plans to start La Stella at 2nd. Tommy is his guy. Cub fans loved him cause he was clutch etc. Even though I am a big Maddon fan I am not sure about this move. What about Fletcher’s arm in Right Field ? That is the most important OF spot to have a strong throwing arm in. He will be charged with keeping those runners from advancing to 3B on fly balls, as well as trying to throw out guys going for triples. I like trying to get playing time for Fletch everyday, but when push comes to shove I’d rather keep him at 2B and work La Stella in were we can.
I thought they had issues because Maddon would not play TLS
I know it is over and done with but this is why I was hoping they could/would have worked out some sort of deal, like the one he received from AZ, to keep Kole in RF. But with Adell in the wings, I get it.
I’ll take Upton over Goodwin every day. I think Upton is gonna have a big bounce back this year.
The Upton shade is so annoying tbh
No shade, he is bad at his job
Seriously. Upton is a 4-WAR player when healthy. He wasn’t healthy last year. It happens. Let’s maybe wait to see if it’s the beginning of the end before sitting our $20 million dollar B-level star on the bench in favor of a journeyman OF…
I know we hear this every single spring regarding every bounce back candidate, but Upton is looking pretty jacked at the pictures I’ve seen. That only has to be a positive right?
Regardless Upton is a year removed from posting a 123 wRC+ with 30 HRs. If he’s able to replicate those numbers this year with the offense we have, that would be HUGE. More than likely he will be our 5th batter behind Ohtani/Rendon.
And Ohtani himself had a “down” season offensively compared to his 2018. I think him not pitching had a lot to do with it. He’s used to pitching and batting so hopefully this season he explodes and stays healthy on both ends.
Now, if Upton could only learn to run a decent route in LF.
Yeah, I chuckled at the BSOHL references that came out on Upton last week. Then I saw some images of him online and thought “damn, he actually does look like he did not spend much time sitting down this off season at all”.
Upton was worth 3.8 bWAR in 2018. He’s had a year to rest and recoup. Defense might never be gold glove caliber, but his bat and a few rest days has me thinking a solid 3.5 WAR is on the table.
He always LOOKS really bad, which doesn’t help. I remember when we traded for him I thought he was really really bad, but on that day I looked at his actual defensive stats. I know stats aren’t perfect on D, but they aren’t 100 miles off either, and he was far more average than I thought he was.
But he looks friggin horrible out there.
That’s a tough one for me. Goodwin’s defense is alot better and upton has been bad with risp.
Is production with RISP a sticky stat or is it kinda random? I’m leaning toward randomness.
He was pretty bad last year but that might lead to some positive regression this year.
RISP over a single season is too small a sample size. Over the course of a long career, it should trend toward the AVG. To illustrate, Upton’s slash lines are:
2018: .257/.344/.463
2018 RISP: .197/.289/.368
2019: .215/.309/.416
2019 RISP: .258/.357/.500
Career: .266/.347/.476
Career RISP: .257/.357/.460
As expected, Upton’s RISP fluctuates from his normal stats year-to-year but his career performance (.817 RISP-OPS) approaches his regular career stats (.823 OPS).
The Upton hate comes from emotionally selecting the data that supports the desired conclusion. It combines his terrible year with runners in scoring position in 2018 with his overall down year at the plate in 2019 while completely ignoring that Upton was quite good last year with RISP. In fact he was substantially better than Brian Goodwin (2019 RISP .205/.343/.313) and better than Kole Calhoun (2019 RISP .211/.353/.390).
This is mostly what I suspected.
He should be fine.
He got off to a horrible start with RISP in 2018 when fans were most hyped about him being the big bat behind Trout. Fans were disappointed, perception of Upton was set and once set it is hard to shake. These numbers are pretty cool.
Your numbers feel like lies to me so I plan to ignore them.
The key factor is how badly you want to complain about a player. For example, if you get weak in the knees over Darin Erstad, then his .753 OPS in high leverage at bats is great! But at the same time, because you want to hate Justin Upton because you are so much smarter than Billy Eppler, then Upton’s .849 OPS in high leverage at bats is not reliable because those situations are so random and fraught with all kinds of weird factors and Upton sucks when it matters.
You know, like most numbers in most fields these days, they actually mean nothing concrete, what matters is your feelings about them.
Point well taken. Let’s hope Upton has a chance to shine in the postseason as Ersty did.
If healthy, Upton is still a bad defender. I think if anything we see an outfield of Goodwin/Trout/Fletcher from left to right late in games and occasionally when Ohtani doesn’t DH. Much better defensive alignment.
Agree ryanfea.
I’m a little concerned with the overall defensive robustness. With a mediocre pitching staff a good defense really helps. That has helped Oakland the last few years. Not sold on LaStella’s glove, Fletch is not a natural outfielder and both Goodwin and Upton scare me sometimes. And god knows what the catcher position will be like.
Agreed. I think Rendon, Simba, Fletcher makes an awesome infield. I’d rather have one kick butt area than two meh ones.
Astros Fans suing the Astros is Music to my ears
Games starting soon, OPTIMISM!
Now those are some links.
Just need some Trout Porn and the Duffel Bag
Indeed.
Off topic, I always liked Enterprise. Thought it was an underrated Star Trek series