Good morning Angels fans. The Angels have nothing really new going on until Arte Moreno hires a GM or something. So links will be very non Angels specific for a while.
Around Baseball
Today, there will be 8 playoff games. Obviously the most in history and good luck watching them all. MLB really needs a NFL Redzone equivalent.
Fox regional networks are being booted off Youtube Tv. Although Fox Sports West was already off of it before the season started.
Rob Manfred has suggested that the new extra inning rules may stay. Everyone disliked that.
Matt Shoemaker got to pitch in the playoffs. For 3 innings. Apparently that was the manager’s plan but he didn’t tell the Cobbler. The Blue Jays went on to blow the game.
Twins do not have to face the Yankees anymore in the playoffs, yet they still lost. For the 17th time in a row.
It was the Astros who beat the Twins. An Astros team that had one of the worst decreases in offensive production in the history of the MLB.
A 16 team playoff means we will see bad plays more often. Like walking in the go ahead run in the 9th inning. That has never happened before, ever, in a playoff game.
Angels Legend Tommy La Stella broke up a perfect game in the playoffs. This team traded him for a now injured Franklin Barreto.
The Playoff Bubble for MLB is not really a bubble. Hotel wasn’t even fully reserved by MLB. It is really frustrating with how well the NBA and NHL did with their bubbles.
Angels really needs pitching and last offseason target Gerrit Cole made history by striking out 12 batters yesterday in the playoffs for the 3rd time. Get pitching, Arte!
Anything I missed? Post below for uovotes.
Carpino quotes cracked me up. “Something is wrong with the organization” says one of the only common links between every failed regime.
I have zero faith in these idiots to hire the right person. A hallmark of Arte’s ownership is hand picking the wrong guy.
This is the first offseason in a while where I can’t muster any optimism. I’m over the Moreno/Carpino tag-team of crap. I don’t think things are going to get better until Arte sells the team.
Update from Gammons
Peter Gammons
@pgammo
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2m
There has also been a lot of talk that Dave Dombrowski may not choose to go to Anaheim, and that Tony LaCava may get serious consideration for the Angels job, especially with his connections to John Carpino and Joe Maddon
LaCava is an interesting name, but it’s another first time GM (he was interim for a few months, but was passed over for the full-time job). He’ll be grateful for the opportunity and continue to be hamstrung by Arte’s desire to be a part of the decision-making process.
So much for hoping we get a GM that will have control of the team
Greg Beacham
@gregbeacham
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19m
Arte Moreno will still be involved in the Angels’ baseball decisions under a new GM, John Carpino indicates: “For him not to have a say, I don’t know. I think it’s fair he has communications with a general manager. Arte loves baseball … and he likes being part of the process.”
Can a hope I didn’t really have be dashed?
We feel a tremendous duty to Mike Trout. Just not enough to let a pilot fly the plane. Arte really loved model airplanes as a kid and this is fun for him! Weeeeeee
Well, another season of mediocrity coming. Ugh, this just confirms my lack of optimism.
Carpino also stated that they are putting together a large list of candidates to replace Eppler, sounds like a lot of hoopla to making hiring Dumbo look like the best candidate.
Yeah, the “large list of candidates” thing almost always has a false ring to it. I mean, in some abstract sense it might be true, but this is a pretty small community. I’m fairly sure they have strong favorites. If they don’t, that’s kind of scary in its own way.
But would he ace Billy’s test?
Al Carpino on looking in the mirror and not liking what they saw, so they fired Eppler, now if only Carpino and Arte were standing in front of the mirror we would see a new owner and president of baseball coming. Also saying that they may not have a replacement until Thanksgiving, so don’t look at making any improvements as the offseason will be half over by then
What is the fascination with putting ARod on these games, the man is a cheater and liar. I just flat out get sick that he is on this game Reds vs Braves.
He’s also bad at it. Chris Archer did a couple games a few years back and was the best analyst I’d heard on ESPN in years. A-Rod is famously stiff and fake. I’m not sure who he appeals to.
I’m with you here. He’s unlistenable.
It would be very ‘2020’ if the Astros somehow rallied and won the WS*. Talk about the team most qualified to represent this awful year.
Perish the thought, nevar happenin’. Cruel thought, lol.
One of the things that is really going to drive me nuts if the Astros somehow do well in this lottery ticket playoff format is the inevitable “redemption” stories that would come out of the media. Like it’s somehow OK that the Astros have been involved in the worst cheating scandal since the 1919 White Sox if they just win. It shouldn’t work that way, but I can practically see the redemption media stories in my head and it will drive me nuts!
Fortunately, in the first (and only) article I read about the Twins game yesterday they blame the Twins for record breaking sucktitude rather than crediting the Astros. https://www.mlb.com/news/ranking-all-8-wild-card-games-wednesday
Neither here nor there, but for those of us that spent less than exciting 2019 gamethreads horrified by not only the Angels, but also season 8 of GoT, I thought this was funny.
https://youtu.be/jAhKOV3nImQ
yes but also doing my best to forget the show altogether!!!! =)
Definitely a good plan!
lol, basically the top comment
“You wanna know how bad season 8 was? We are in The middle of a long quarantine, and not a single person I know is rewatching this show.”
Yep, I saw that!
Really good article you linked on the Astros. A 25% drop in team production from 2019 to 2020 with basically the same players is pretty telling!
Looking at that Astros chart, I am even more surprised they are paying Gurriel 8M for another year. Money they can’t spend replacing Verlander though – so good for us, I suppose.
What was Ohtani’s drop in production? I heard his had to do with lack of replay film in-betwern innings. Maybe similar drop for the Trashtros? I don’t like cheaters but I keep thinking of Shohei’s drop from 19 to 20 and we had no cans to speak of.
Yeah, I get your point. There are other players you can point to as well. Yelich is one that pops up there.
To me the fact that it’s the whole team and the heart of the team that is pretty convincing. However, I’d grant that such things can happen even if they usually don’t.