LA Angels Weekend News Crash: Scandal in the Visiting Clubhouse!

I was able to attend. The questions were controlled by Roger Lodge either his own or a handful from season ticket holders’ emails. Only one question was allowed from the audience at the very end of the program. Despite the format it was entertaining and somewhat informative. Some of the paraphrased highlights from Billy were:

He talked about to the failed Pederson /Stripling trade ( he never specifically referenced the players) as initially a 4 team trade. He said that he had known for quite a few days prior to the press leaks that Mookie Betts was going to the Dodgers so he had had numerous conversations with Andrew Friedman which lead to all four teams submitting medical records for all of the players involved through the league information system. After there was problem with one of the medicals of one of the other teams players , with the the delays that occurred the Angels portion of the trade never went through. He refused to discuss any other details referring everyone to the press articles on the Angels involvement in the trade.

He did mention that the Angels did have discussions with the Red Sox about acquiring Mookie Betts before the Dodgers did but the Red Sox wanted one of our pitchers ( Griffin Canning? ) and a young position player ( Adell?) without mentioning any names he said the Red Sox were asking for more than what the Angels were willing to give up.

He said he had pretty much talked with every team in the league about the availability of every pitcher in the league with the exception of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Walker Buehler but struck out on all efforts.

He talked about free agency and their attempts to sign Zack Wheeler. Billy said that he had a good relationship with Wheeler’s agent going back to his Yankees days and the Angels were very interested in signing him. When Billy told Arte of his interest Arte told him that the Angels should go right away to visit Wheeler. So Billy & John Carpino took a red eye out of LAX to fly to Atlanta ( I guess Wheeler lives about an hour out of Atlanta) to visit Wheeler at his house along with Joe Maddon. The meeting went well and Wheeler seemed very interested but Wheelers agent called a couple of days later to tell them that Wheeler’s wife’s family is from Jersey and with the baby on the way she wanted be able to be near her parents when Zack was out on the road so there was no way he would sign with the Angels.

He talked about the failed attempt to sign Cole. He said Boras texted him at about 10 pm and told him that Cole was going with another team . After talking to Arte, they decided the next best available player was Rendon and if they thought it would improve the team they should go after him. So Billy called Boras back and went and met him that night at Boras Newport beach offices along with Carpino who met with Boras staff to iron out the contract details. By the following afternoon the deal was done.

He talked about Ohtani’s schedule for 2020. Since most of the Angels off days are on Thursday they will probably pitch him on Wednesdays when he comes back. Eppler also said the Angels went to MLB to get a variance to allow Ohtani to pitch in the minors on a rehab assignment while being active on the MLB roster as the DH. The Angels reasoned that the league is better with Ohtani playing even if only as a DH than sitting on the IL until his pitching rehab is over.

Billy expects the offense to be in the top 3 of baseball this year averaging about 5 runs a game. Eppler said there are a number of ways to build a winning team but he acknowledged the importance of having top pitching in the playoffs and says they are poised to acquire a top pitcher this year if one comes available. He also said that you can’t have productivity without the availability of players and the Angels have targeted pitchers with healthy pasts. He said that when Ohtani gets back he will be one of the top 10 pitchers in baseball. Even though they don’t know Canning’s availability , they had 7 viable pitchers to start the season. ( Heaney, Teheran, Bundy, , Suarez, Sandoval, Barria & Andriese-He specifically mentioned the quality of Andriese’s stuff) so they will not be picking up any new pitchers before the start of the season. He says that November , December & July are really the only times to make a trade so even though he is constantly communicating with all of the GM’s nothing will get serious until late June at the very earliest.

Billy was also asked about the expectations of when Jo Adell will be called up to the Bigs and he referenced an old saying from one of his past mentors that a prospect will let you know when he’s ready by ” tapping you on the shoulder”( not literally of course) referencing that they will force you to promote them by excelling in their performance in the minors. He said that reports are that Adell has been very inquisitive asking a lot of the right questions while hanging with Pujols , Trout and others .

A question was asked about the Angel’s tendency to draft very athletic high school kids in the last few drafts and he talked about how it is easier for athletes to learn and improve their technique than someone who is not as athletic.

Lastly he was asked one question from the audience that since Mike Trout has given his “seal of approval” on Jo Adell , has he done the same on any other prospects.? Billy said that Billy has never met anyone like trout as he wants to review potential draft prospects for the team’s June draft. So Billy sends him videos starting in May of potential draftees so Trout can give them his recommendations. Billy has no clue where Trout finds the time to review all of the video. While the Angels do value Trout’s input, they can’t always draft his recommendations. Billy did joke that they will also hold Trout accountable of any of his busted draft selections.