The Angels will consider ex-Marlins executive Michael Hill to fill their GM vacancy. This is a new name we haven’t discussed before. It appears Tony La Russa is the only person the White Sox have interviewed so far for their managerial vacancy. Several other teams are expected to compete with the Angels in the pitching market this off season.
World Series Links
The Dodgers plan to start Tony Gonsolin in game 6 of the Worlds series. The Rays will counter with Blake Snell. Hunter Pence bought shots for everybody in a restaurant after the Dodgers lost Game 4 of the World Series.
Other Baseball News
Steve Cohen apparently has the votes to get his ownership of the Mets confirmed. The designated hitter will not be used in the National League in 2021. Whether it comes back or not is subject to negotiation between MLB and the players union. The Detroit Tigers are preparing to enter round two of interviews in their search for a new manager. The Mariners have already announced their coaching staff for the 2021 season. Hulu dropped several regional sports networks. It’s getting harder and harder to watch baseball every year.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
They did say that the postseason without rest days would benefit a stocked team like the dodgers and yankees. If teams were told this, the trade deadline would have been crazy and teams could have stocked up.
This the most bizarre trophy ceremony… I wonder if some of that crowd noise is piped in.
Dammit. Now I’m going to have to listen to blue-bleeding-sister gloat for an entire f***ing year.
Worse than listening to Lodge?
Outside of Kershaw and Betts, very unlikeable team to me. Can’t stand them.
I get a whole week of it during my annual Thanksgiving camping trip this year. i think I’ll tell my brother in law that we need to practice social distancing that week ! 😁
Thanks for all the kind, supportive comments re my recent mishap. I hope to be back putting in my two cents as the stove warms up.
Glad you’re on the mend.
These links are the best out there that I know of, but I’d pay to read Stirrups daily.
Like the middle infield market, I think the pitching market sets up pretty well for the Angels.
Bauer is the ultimate prize on most boards but Stroman isn’t far behind. The second tier is alright: Gausman, Tanaka, Porcello, maybe Happ and Walker. But there’s an absolute surplus of back end arms who can likely be had cheap. Garrett Richards, Robbie Ray, Brett Anderson, Mike Fiers, etc.
This could be the year to actually establish some MLB level depth.
It all comes down to two things. One is how much control Arte holds on to and second how much money Arte OK’s to be spent. Money needed to purchase talent and money to put into the Front Office positions.
Definitely comes down to money. IF Arte is willing to spend, though, there are surpluses at the two areas of greatest need: pitching and middle infield.
Nice if the Asst GM, Stoneman, whoever, could pull off another 3 or 4 farmers for 1 Bundy trade this year.
I’m with you on this. It’s pretty much been established that if we get our hearts set on the top two or three FA pitchers out there there is a good chance we will have our hearts broken or balls flicked for South New Jersey, Clearwater, Fla or having a dad who was a Yankees fan. This year Someone we want will probably sign some place like Cleveland because his wife misses Altoona or what ever. There is a very good chance the Yankees step in and overpay for Bauer/Ray/Stroman which would leave us competing with about 10 other clubs to sign the remaining two.
If we are all big boys and girls who have had a beer and a scare we can see that demanding we sign one of those three guys or we will burn our season tickets and drink the ashes is probably setting ourselves up for a tantrum.
But I see plenty of names I wouldn’t be angry about signing. Some of them are even names I’ve seen listed here as guys I should be angry about signing…. yet when I looked them up I realized they would totally be an upgrade for us.
At the right price I’d be glad to land Mike Fiers, Kevin Gausman, Rich Hill, Garret Richards, Brett Anderson, Anthony DeSclafani, J.A. Happ, Mike Minor, James Paxton, Jose Quintana, Masahiro Tanaka, Taijuan Walker and Alex Wood. Any of those guys will likely upgrade our pitching. I know it isn’t the “big splash” (which we want now?) that will show “real commitment” and blah blah poo poo blah and it’s similar to the dumpster diving we’ve done in the past. It’s just that this dumpster has some nicer stuff in it, and if one of the dozens of reasons that one of the top 3 FA pitchers may not sign here comes to pass (no, it’s not always just Arte not wanting to “do what it takes” to show you how much he cares like you care.) then we can still make progress here.
Or the Halos could make a trade with a team like Detroit for Norris/Boyd or the Pirates for a starter and pen combo of Richard Rodriguez or Chris Stratton and Chad Kuhl or Joe Musgrove. Or get really crazy, sign a guy like Freddy Galvis and Cesar Hernandez, then package David Fletcher and his max value off to some team for an ace…. like if the new Mets owner doesn’t want to pay De Grome.
The real hope is that Joe Maddon is as brilliant as advertised and that our next GM is good at finding Lance Lynn instead of Julio Teheran so we can turn more Dylan Bundies into DYLAN BUNDY….. who we should also extend.
The point is, Bauer/Stroman aren’t exactly Koafax/Gibson to begin with and there are other roads to progress.
and Perdition.
Good stuff. I like the idea of preying on the Pirates. Get Musgrove and some of the bullpen arms. I like Descalfani and maybe Gausmann/Ray as a much cheaper package that Bauer/Stroman. Bauer is kind of a tool although he has an edge about him that I like.
It’s time to make a splash on the trade market. Prospects are assets, use them and get a top tier arm. I’m no longer infatuated with Adell or anyone else. DeGrom would be great but with moneybags Cohen, no longer obtainable is my feeling.
For me, I gotta hang onto Fletch unless the return was significant. But he needs to slide over to second. I think Simba is a goner as evident by last years stunt. There will be a cheap SS out there. Wait until next year to splurge, SS market will be rich. Maybe Phillies dump Segura this year.
Get some speed injected in the lineup and find bats who work the count and put the ball in play. Sit Upton and Puljos on the pine, get a OF who grinds in a trade. We need tough outs beyond Fletcher, Trout and Rendon.
I love Fletch. But I also recognize he’s probably our most valuable trade chip. If we can get a SS and 2B combo that’s passable for say 13-16M a year combined and then trade Fletch and some prospects for a truly true #1 pitcher THEN I’d be ok with sending him off…. otherwise nah.
They are never gonna bench both Pujols and Upton. Besides, I want to see if Upton can be solid again with no injuries and an actual Spring Training…. I think all the downtime and injury he’s had over the last couple seasons has screwed him up. I don’t see when exactly he would have gotten his feet back under him, literally. Same holds true for Ohtani. I think if they can rebound a bit it will go a long way toward the team greatly improving. We had a pretty big pile of guys who were REALLY bad this short season and I doubt ALL of them will stay that bad. If Walsh/Ward can combine for an OPS+ even slightly over 100 that will be big too. It would allow us to get by with a fella like Galvis at SS and Profar to pair with Ward in right.
Then spend spend spend on pitching and a cheap catcher. I’ll totally take Bauer if he’s willing to sign here, douche bag and all. I am just prepared for him to suddenly realize he’s always wanted to pitch and run a YouTube channel in New York.
Those “other roads” are not winning roads. But hey, if you are satisfied with being .500 and missing the playoffs again then I guess you’re good with that.
Totally. I love it. While some angrily wistful fans may demand a unicorn NOW NOW NOW I will totally be OK with trading some of our donkeys for horses and a 2021 draft full of pitchers. At this point I’ll gladly take being a few games over .500…. then a few more the next year… and so on…. because I am just not stuffed full of grit that demands the best because I’m the best. I never took kicking lessons at Cobra Kai. I have never owned a trans am. I always thought Van Halen was limp. I drink cheap whisky and hate craft beer. I don’t even prefer blondes. For 2021, I will be truly happy with anything over .500 and f*** Trout’s prime. I’ve been an Angels fan for 45 years. If how well they do had any say in how satisfied I am it would have made me a pathetic slob decades ago. I know the Angels will never be the Lakers of baseball. I just want them to slowly become the Spurs.
Who said I want them to be “the Lakers of baseball?”
Besides, baseball and basketball are very different sports. For starters, the players play offense and defense alternatingly more or less simultaneously (over short stretches of time).
And BTW, we’ve already had this debate about what you see as the futility of fan complaining/voicing their displeasure et or whatever you’ll call it. You obviously think fans are powerless. I don’t.
For the truth you can just ask your fav player of all-time Darren Erstad.
I didn’t say anything about your futile whining. I said I myself will be happy with a couple better pitchers and a .500+ record in 2021. As for the blessed Ersty, what makes you think he’s a big fan of constantly whining like a bitch?
I like how you switched my word “complaing” or “voicing displeasure” to “whining.” That betrays more than a little bias on your part. So don’t pretend you don’t have one. Bitch.
What I am saying is that my original comment didn’t mention anything about how you are a whiny bitch. You brought the topic up.
Then you whined about it.
All I said was I’ll take .500 for this next season because I don’t NEED to win the WS to enjoy a season of baseball…. just suck less and less each year hopefully. If they don’t win 100 next year because Baur and Stroman sign with the Mariners for some crazy assed reason I will be OK.
Now wait just a dad gum minute… Van Halen is not Limp Bizkit. At least not until Sammy joined.
They were just never my cup of tea. Too much glamour and smiling and yowing. But there are surely far worse bands a fella could like. My cousin is marries to the guy who drove their bus for forever and he’s super cool, so they have that going for them.
You’re a punk style singer dude, no? If so, you’re supposed to hate VH, I understand. I won’t post it but if you haven’t heard the Henry Rollins VH comedy clip on YouTube, it’s funny… to old guys like me at least.
That Rollins clip was funny. I remember it. I dunno. I’ve been in a bunch of mathrock, hardcore and soulcore bands. I never had to wear stupid hair or safety pins, etc and play like not being able to tune a guitar is cool. A lot of the guys I came up with had their “guilty pleasure” bands. I’m sure some liked VH. Like I always liked at least old Aerosmith albums, Quiet Riot, Skid Row, GnR… the scene I was in was way more forgiving as far as what we liked, probably because all of us, on some level, were ripping off Rush and King Crimson at top volume and we all knew it deep down.
Some of the bands we were contemporaries with were guys like Sweep The Leg Johnny, At The Drive In, Blue Tip, No Knife, Ex-Models, The Locust, Blood Brothers, Q and Not U, SuperSystem, Monorchid, Chik Chik Chik, Minus The Bear, Drive Like Jehu…. not exactly punk…. punk adjacent. But you may like some of em.
Work from home lockdown listening, cool. 1st band I was in was high school with (future) Great White’s bass player, then had to shave the hair off for varsity baseball. I was confused, still am.
Analytics will lose the WS for the Dodgers.
Analytics is for people who can’t think on their feet when they have to. This isn’t like Apple CEO Tim Cook trying to figure out what direction to go to in 2022…..SMH!!!
Analytics lost the WS for the Rays.
More accurate to say a “one-dimensional, rigid application of analytics lost the World Series for the Rays.”
I had dreams of Bauer becoming an Angel, but now I’ve lost hope in that regard.
Not sure if it was here on CTPG that I read it or somewhere else, but in Bauer reportedly made a comment about the Angels fans who are clamoring for him and he said (paraphrase) “I’ve heard alot of Angles fans talking about me joining them but I have one question for them: why?”
He’ll probably go to the high-end contender who pays the most.
Bauer will be great with the Angels. He’ll join Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg, giving us a terrific 1-2-3 at the top of the rotation. I remember, as we all do, when Cole said he preferred to play near his hometown and Strasburg said “close enough to San Diego. I’m in!”
But seriously, every year we get excited about possible signings and then we get Harvey or Teheran. Maybe a new GM will help but if we don’t get a new GM until Thanksgiving I’m afraid the top pitchers will be gone. Perhaps that’s Arte’s plan. Take too long and then feel he’s off the hook. “We had to do due diligence” = “we waited until we didn’t have to pay top dollar”
This year it’ll be Julio’s brother, Harvey Teheran. The most coveted pitchers may sign at the Zoom virtual Winter Meetings, after Arte hires his Thanksgiving turkey as GM. I like your phrase “do due diligence”. More like doo doo diligence.
I think I linked to one of his tweets to that effect. He’s kind of been on tour promoting himself. I think the Dodgers were his primary target when he swung by Southern California. The last I heard he was in Texas saying he would even consider signing with the Asstros.
Bauer is marketing himself to all suitors and I’m pretty sure his “Why?” is genuine. He’s asking fanbases for their pitch and searching for the best fit. I love his approach and would be thrilled to have him head our staff but I’m not optimistic. He’s claimed to want
1) Freedom to shape his future. He wants to attempt pitching every 4th day and a team has to be willing to grant him the ability to try
2) A strong analytics system in place. He’s know to be a practitioner of many unorthodox methods (weighted ball training, long tossing, ect.) and is heavily involved with Driveline and pitch tracking data. He studies numbers and builds gameplans based off of the data.
3) A winning culture with a strong expectation to play postseason baseball yearly.
He’s softened on his 1yr mercenary stance and is now open to a 4-5yr term if it’s the right fit. He’s made it clear that he doesn’t want to be stuck in a bad situation some I’m sure opt outs would be a necessity if it were a multi year deal.
I just don’t think we check any of the three boxes though. We may allow the flexibility for #1 but we certainly aren’t at the forefront on #2 or #3.
#3 would in fact rule us out from the start.
In one or two days Alex Cora and A.J. Hinch will have completed their suspensions. It should be quite a side show to see who interviews them and for what.
ATT: Hunter Pence
I want a Shot!
Mondo links have been Missing.
Has anyone see them?
Hard to live up to the legacy Stirrups leaves behind. He always had the right blend of humor/news/seriousness.
Retired and hit the road, but yeah we do miss him a lot.
He’s not officially retired from work yet, so help a blog out stirrups. 😜
It’s a ton of work and there is not even the pittance of pay that there used to be on that other site. I think he has a right to smell the roses if he wants to. I can try to elevate my game (though I am even older than Stirrups). John Henry seems to be doing fine on Wednesdays.
It’s hard to burn a few hours on a perfectly good Sunday finding links. They do help hold the community together, though. As we head into what promises to be a rather grim off season I could see how a little more analysis of what the links mean, coupled with a little humor, would be an improvement.
The recipes and activities on the official Angels site seem to have petered out, but more serious stuff should pick up as we approach the labor negotiations.
Edit: I should have linked the Wikipedia article on Michael Hill today, for example. He went to Harvard but also played pro ball (MiLB).
I’ll try to chip in more often. I’ve been buried in the biggest refi boom of all time and just closed on my first home purchase.
Not that I’m in Stirrups class, but another set of hands on deck is needed.
Congrats bro, y’all are doing just fine.
Congrats Jeff, you are doing a great job.
Thanks for all you do CS. Now if you could just buy the team.
Shoulda used my SBA stimulus loan for that!
I was just trying to mess with stirrups. You guys do a great job of keeping me updated everything angels related.
Monday’s links would have been ten or fifteen stories about what the Dodgers need to do to win the World Series.