Usually by this time of year I have my Spring Training trip booked. And I go kind of Griswold on this: scouring the schedule to pick a group of 4-5 games, booking a fairly central AirBnB, even buying game tickets. But not this year. Not yet, anyway. But the door is open.
MLB has told owners to expect a full 162 game season. The league safety protocols would allow for fan attendance as early as Spring Training, in pods separated by at least six feet, with masks, etc.
Here’s a good breakdown of the protocols for Spring Training. Fans in attendance will no longer roam the back fields or cram by the dugouts looking for autographs. The first three rows will be empty and seating will be limited.
As of now MLB does not plan on implementing a policy demanding vaccine cards for entry to stadiums. Plan on plenty of local and state agencies to do so anyhow, taking MLB off the hot seat for that decision.
Japan has a number of sensible measures in place and is using baseball as a dry run for potential Olympic attendance. MLB would be wise to look at their model and learn from it.
For their part, MLB stadiums across the country are being used as vaccination sites including Dodger Statdium and Petco Park in the Southland. Citi Field will be operating around the clock.
I realize this topic has serious potential to turn into a political debate and to a degree that’s unavoidable. I also realize this is a baseball forum and we use data here rather than simple platitudes. This isn’t a one size fits all pandemic and there isn’t a one size fits all solution. There are, however, multiple calculators to help you calculate your personal risk for a serious Covid illness and the risk for those in your household. Take a look and attend or don’t attend games according to your risk and comfort level. Just be smart about it, please.
Once the games to kick off, here’s the Angels Spring Training schedule as well as the Cactus League master schedule.
As far as who plays those games for the Angels, GM Perry Minasian recently said basically nothing on MLB radio. One constant during his tenure in Atlanta was a solid bullpen and there are still plenty of arms he could add.
One name off that list is Archie Bradley, who went to Philadelphia on a one year $6 million deal.
And who will be the voice of the Angels once the season begins? Friend of the site Victor Rojas has moved on to his front office goals, much to the dismay of the Angels faithful. The Athletic took a look at some potential replacements.
Prior to getting to know Vic I used to think he had the best job in the world. Then I became a husband and a father and saw how much time he spent away from his family. You just don’t get that time back.
As for a long form read or documentary to watch, I can think of only one thing as we head into a weekend dedicated to celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. I’m grateful every day for his impact. And, of course, he was a baseball fan and friend of Jackie Robinson.
Enjoy the extra day off if you get one. Be safe.
interesting tidbit from CBS Sports
“Griffin Canning’s swinging-strike rate jumped from 9.9 percent in his first six starts to 14.5 in his final five, and with it, his K/9 jumped from 7.5 to 10.4. His ERA dropped from 4.88 to 3.14.”
He must have found an old recipe lying around of Bubba’s sticky stuff
Spin it!
I’ll get excited if he can get into and possibly through the 7th inning on a regular basis, with a lead. I think this trend of twice through a line up and then turn it over to the pen, is not a sound strategy in a 162 game season.
Callaway didn’t get a usual spring to work with his staff.
Brad Hand still out there? The Pale Hose have two closers maybe a trade here would work. We are closer to winning the division than you might think if we can get some pitching help.
Mets probably.
With the Phillies looking to have their catcher resigning with them and the return for the Yankees to bring their second baseman back to the fold the dominos falling faster now. the waiting period is over. Kluber at 11 million was crazy high but pitching is at a premium and we may still be in a blockbuster trade for a pitcher otherwise we are in trouble. What is it about pitching that Arte does not understand? We fans know we need pitching help but the Angels seem to not see it. Jake Ordizzy and James Paxman are still out there but they are iffy, but iffy is still better than nothing.
They will get someone. He will almost certainly be iffy. Or he will cost too much in money or prospects, will be a big splash just meant to get butts in seats, etc. No matter what happens, even if it’s nothing, we can still find a way to have a big problem with what ever happens. Unfortunately Arte is too stupid to use the tactic I endorse, sending Central American hitmen to convince free agents and other teams GMs to do what we want when we want.
Right now with the latest settled pre-arbitration salary amounts, Shohei’s requested figure and the Suzuki signing, I’m calculating the Angels have about 16 million left to spend to reach last years budget. Thats not even close to one year of Trevor Bauer but that could get us at least one and a half Dark Knights
Check out the Suzuki article at the team’s MLB page; we still have $35M to the luxury tax cap!
Yes, I would be encouraged if the CBT thresh hold is the 2021 budget amount, but Arte has only met or exceeded the salary cap once in his 17+ years of ownership. He only committed to not reduce the 2021 payroll form 2020 amounts. He never said anything about increasing it.
Again… a little talk from MS13 is all it will take to fit Bauer and, say Paxton, into our budget.
LAA should apply for a PPP loan – Pitching for Perry the Platypus.
Yeah I know, LOL’d when I read it. Not nice to tease the fans.
I would have paid Otani the 3 million. By going to arbitration you might save some money as a club, but is it really worth the potential outcome? We hear from our new GM that the team is relying on this guy to pitch effectively once a week and return to form with the bat and are fighting over in the world of MLB almost nothing. Arte is really starting to show what a crumb he really is.
I’d let him prove he can be that guy before we go out of our way to pay him more. The idea of him is great, now he has to prove he can make it a reality. He was…not great last year. Weird sample, I know.
Angels will make that argument, and Shohei will make the argument about his ceiling. We’ll see.
This is the system he agreed to by coming over early.
Suzuki signing hopefully means Perry keeping all his trade chips for pitching.
Ohtani the only Angel not to settle on a contract today? He’s such a tough one to pin point a value to, but it can’t be good for us long term that we now have to sit in an arbitration meeting and talk to him face to face about why he isn’t deserving of the contract he wants. Not a good look so far for Perry IMO and I wonder if Ohtani is pissed Eppler is gone? He was the guy to bring him in after all.
Ohtani was horrible last year, pretty ballsy move to me asking for $3.3M. I’d like to hear Ohtani’s justification other than his oddity as a dual pitch/hit player. To date, Perry has been very complementary, outward and supportive of Ohtani maintaining his dual role. I don’t think this is a bad look for the Angels (Perry).
Yes absolutely sucking at 2 baseball things instead of just one definitely deserves more money in arbitration.
Ehh. We went to arb with Weave, and then he ended up taking a discount.
Business is business, these aren’t kids, they understand.
Remember Ohtani’s initial contract and bonus was a colossal underpay so his agent likely has been waiting for opportunities like this to increase Sho’s pay (but really, his own commission)
That’s good motivation imho as the player get the benefit too.
Kluber to the Yanks, one year $11m
That is more than I would have wanted the Angels to pay, with the risk associated. If he returns to form, it is a steal, but we couldn’t take a chance.
I am still hoping for two SP, one trade one FA. Fingers crossed.
If $11m is too much, we’re in trouble.
11M isn’t too much for a SP, but too much for Kluber with the injury history. I have bad memories of signing bounce back candidates for that price (Harvey, Cahill, …).
We could get Tanaka for not much more, Walker, Paxton, Oddorizzi, Lester could all be had for less.
Minasian claimed to seek reliable pitching if I recall correctly. I hope by that he means no bounce backs or high injury risk types.
If we had a reliable 5-6 starters already, I could see going for the high-risk, high-reward FA signing.
That just isn’t our situation. We need a top of the rotation starter and a reliable middle of the rotation innings eater. If either proves flawed (lost stuff or injury prone) we are back in the Harvey/Cahill desperation again.
So, we hope the same!
Since over half the league sent scouts to watch Corey Kluber’s showcase event, it isn’t surprising that there was some significant money on offer for the veteran righty, who ended up signing with the Yankees on a one-year, $11MM deal. Several teams made eight-figure offers, according to SNY.tv’s Andy Martino, and the Yankees’ offer wasn’t the most expensive contract on the table.
Per MLBTR.
So does this mean a “Stupid Arte” comment is due?
Cheap Arte, never forget cheap Arte
Cheap and stupid Arte
I think it’s “Stupid cheap Arte?”…. like I’m not sure if I really wanted Kluber at 11M but I am 100% sure I want to bitch about Arte.
I don’t know about Stupid Arte, but Stupid Flanders is always appropriate, as is Stupid Sexy Flanders.
Agreed. We need innings in bulk. Even if he’s back to form somehow, he hasn’t pitched in two years. Not sure what type of workload to expect.
1yr $11m sounds familiar, but unlike us, I bet this will workout for the Yankees
Tend to agree….
Pitching in that band box with his digressed repertoire??
the Skanks are in a position where if it doesn’t work they go “oh well” and spend more money elsewhere. For us if it doesn’t work it’s just a disaster.
If the intent is to stay at or near last seasons payroll, isn’t that the reality with any SP we sign?
Yes. It’s pretty much reality for all the teams but the Doyers. Even the Sux and Yanks aren’t just kissing the tax limit on the way past for multiple years anymore.
CHP?
Can He Pitch?
Speed trap.
Erik Estrada?
Paunch.
Would still like to see an extension for Bundy
So let it be written, so let it be done.
With the money we have left – Suzuki is a fantastic bet. Love this move.
Yep. He’s a solid vet with championship experience.
And at 1.5 mil it is a very good price.
$1.5M for a used Suzuki?
I guess that means we’re out on Willson.
How about Granderson?
Is he available?
4/58
Stassi also signed
I was hoping it would have been Max!
Scherzer.
Kurt Suzuki come on down…
Did ya know he went to CSUF? /s
I am stoked on this. If we couldn’t get Caseli this was the guy I wanted. Solid part time catcher.
For 1.5 million, not a bad signing at all.
I’ve had a ton of respect for Kurt since he raised funds for his college teammate John Wilhite who survived the Adenhart tragedy.
I think in a timeshare with Stassi we’ll be OK.
Stassi still scares the crap out of me. Was hoping we could have landed an above average catcher and limit Stassi involvement. But I am onboard with signing Suzuki. Let’s go.
Suzuki is still capable of playing more than half the games if need be.
I just pictured Kurt and Max by the pool at a condo in Orlando. That’s not what you meant is it?
Decent signing….and since they didn’t sign Realmuto or trade for Contreras it means more money for pitching.
Unless Arte green lights blowing well past last year’s budget, we are still going to have to trade for one of the two starters we need. To get a good controlled starter the prospect package is probably going to hurt.
Well better to use those prospects for pitching rather than getting someone like Contreras.
I learned something about trading prospects when the lakers sold all the young guys for Davis…
You get over it pretty damn quickly.
That trade has worked out pretty nicely for the Lakers, lol.
If nothing else big happens for them with AD they already won the Chip with him.
BI may turn out to be a multiple All-Star but that is not a lot to give up for a Top 3 player in AD.
As stated, $1.5M is a good signing. Not exactly a cannon arm but steals are not a big part of the game anymore.
“OK” signing. He’s weak defensively, but the bat still lives.
Heaney gets 6.175 mil
Bargain. I’m expecting a solid year.
Yup I have seen this movie to many times.
International signing: Angels sign Eiver Betancourt, catcher from Venezuela. Maybe he can start 🙂
No significant signings, all but two of the top 25 prospects have been spoken for and nobody is heading our way.
We got Denzmer Guzman didn’t we? He’s pretty well regarded.
He was their big signing, $2M. Ranks 29th on the MLB pipeline of international players. Dude is a SS with a good bat.
Yeah I remember reading about him and din’t know the Angels were in on him. Not a bad pick up with the pool money.
Yeah, their pool was $4,732,700. The other two signings were pitchers so at least they zeroed in on the correct positions; 2-arms, 1-C and a SS who profiles as a 3rd baseman down the road as he fills out.
The numb6 1 ranked prospect signed for $2,050,000
Cheap Arte couldn’t cough up the extra $50,000
Yes but either way, this prospect is only one quarter of the value of the great Bobby Baldoquin
Yeah but he writes great romance novels.
I’m confused. Was he going to sign with us but the 50K was a sticking point? Were we gonna get #61 and #29 and those two pitchers and catcher but then we squabbled over 50K? Does this mean we still have 2M in pool money? Can we spend it on pitchers?
Or did you just see that the #61 signed for 50K more than the #29 prospect that signed with us and has no connection to us at all, you just did some math and that’s it?
If we can sign more IntlFA right now that would be cool.
A buddy of mine knows the top International players pretty well. Says Guzman is a beast with the stick. His actions aren’t as fluid at short as a typical Dominican, he’s not that quick, but, he can really rake. Definitely projects him at third.
Angels agree with Michael Mayers on a 1 year $1.2 million deal, avoiding arbitration.
Noe Ramirez got a one year $1.175 MM deal with the Reds.
https://giphy.com/gifs/hollywoodsuite-waynes-world-l0HlvcRyVJeO8Gmju
How would fellow members feel about a trade for Corey Dickerson & Jorge Alfaro? With the Marlins surprise success last year I’m not sure either is available but, if they are, they fit two team needs nicely. Maybe a Matt Thaiss/Jam Jones type plus going back?
If Japan’s model is based on a dry run for the Olympics, steer clear. It’s motivated by forces from outside of that country. During the whole pandemic, the Olympics seems to be only worried about holding the event as soon as possible. Never standing up to support COVID-19 relief efforts.
“Forces from outside the country.” Hmmm.
Who could that be?
There was a time when I didn’t know anyone who had gotten Covid. Now I either know personally or know indirectly (friends of friends) approximately 100.
There was a time where no one I knew had ever died of Covid 19. I now know five people who have died of Covid. Two of the deaths were described to me by friends of mine. I will spare you are the horrific details. Two of the 5 people I know who have died were healthy and under 50.
With that as an introduction, and with the infection and death rate soaring, I am having trouble coming to terms with anything involving fans attending something as frivolous as baseball games. It’s unnecessary and an unnecessary risk to the general public.
It will likely remain that way until hundreds of millions are vaccinated- but I have been informed that large numbers of conspiracy minded folks believe the government is installing microchips into you with the vaccine and are refusing to get it. Others believe vaccines are dangerous and are telling people not to get vaccinated. Sheesh!! Are you kidding me?! We would still be dealing with polio and small pox without vaccines.
The long and the short of it to me is there should be no in-person baseball until we get this all straightened out. It’s just not worth the risk. Or, if you want a middle ground position, only folks who can prove they have been vaccinated can attend baseball games. We have got to get a handle on this as a society before we even care about crowds of folks intermingling.
The vaccines were made under the Trump administration and I was told not to trust the back in October so now I don’t.
wait, what? lol. It’s not like Trump made the vaccine. It’s been in the works for 2 decades. Even Biden took it. All that “trust” crap was a political ploy. Not saying you should or shouldn’t take it, but that’s a silly reason.
you fell into the sar chasm, I believe.
wow, not sure how i missed that. good call
The SARS chasm
What some were saying a while back is that the vaccine shouldn’t be rushed to market without proper testing. That was the “trust” concern, that the testing was going to be done on the population as a whole, if it was put out there too soon.
Well it was objectively more than that – but even that is a statement of distrust of the FDA and their approval methods. These vaccines are not dangerous. They do not contain live virus. The distrust or lack of trust is rampant in the pro-wrestling-is-real crowd.
What does them being made during the Trump administration have anything to do with them being trustworthy? Some of you people, man…not everything is political.
Trying to head this off here (and love the user name), Gitcho loves to be sarcastic and a bit provocative. This is a joke.
You are correct. I happen to know Gitcho pretty well, having the same parents and all.
The good child?
It’s probably a joke based on https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/some-states-plan-vet-covid-19-vaccines-themselves-bad-idea-n1242355.
In any case, the mechanism for these vaccines make a lot of sense, and it’s great that they’re finally getting them to work.
https://theconversation.com/how-mrna-vaccines-from-pfizer-and-moderna-work-why-theyre-a-breakthrough-and-why-they-need-to-be-kept-so-cold-150238?
Been reading this same technology will likely greatly change cancer treatments, particularly cancers in the blood. Imagine being able to train your body to attack those cancers rather than put your body through chemo.
I have a very good friend who fought leukemia a few years back and the chemo almost killed him.
Yes, this whole “vaccine template” method they developed could be INCREDIBLE down the line. In the end this whole Covid thing could save magnitudes more people than it kills if that pathway leads to some of the treatments I have read may be on the horizon.
Also read this morning UCI is working on a vaccine that targets 10 coronavirus proteins instead of just the 1 spike protein the current vaccine targets. In effect, it could prevent infection from future variants and new SARS/MERS type viruses that may not even exist yet.
Kinda neat assuming it doesn’t create the zombie apocalypse.
That’s incredible.
Can He Pitch?
On December 23rd I lost a close friend at age 43 to Covid. Her husband, who I love like a brother and who would’ve traded places with her in a heartbeat, wasn’t able to be there for her. It was brutal. I have two other friends who lost their dads to this and also know dozens who have had it.
That said, per John Hopkins the odds of a person with my health profile having a serious illness are 2 in 100,000. I’m more afraid of the unknown long term effects than the short term. I’m also pretty concerned about my mental health which hasn’t been doing so well at times (probably like most of us).
Considering my incredibly low odds of problems, the fact that I don’t live with anybody in a high risk level, and that I have my own office, I’m seriously considering heading to AZ for a bit of sunshine and mental break IF the numbers are trending down by then.
I’ll drive rather than fly. I always book an entire house and I’d only let dad join me if he’s vaccinated and I’d work from home for a while once I came back. But me and my also very fit cousin sitting at a reasonable distance from other fans, wearing masks, not running rampant when we get back, is an extremely low risk to both ourselves and the public.
The realization that most people aren’t doing as much looking into this as I am is scary. Hard to trust people to make rational, data driven decisions when so few realize the data is there or want to believe it.
Jeff – I understand and the mental part of this can be tough. I would respectfully advise against the trip – mostly because this is the time to double down on discipline. Whether or not you are personally at risk, there is risk if we as a society focus on our own odds rather than the risk to society as a whole. Look at it this way, if 100,000 people with low overall death odds travel to Arizona, what does that do to the overall odds that the virus magnifies in Arizona and someone unknown to you gets the illness and dies or has long term health problems. I think we have to think societally right now.
When I hear people speak of their own odds, I understand it but I think it’s a bit short sighted. We need to get past this thing. The more people think of their own needs and travel unnecessarily or eat at restaurants or have a drink at a bar that is supposed to be closed, the longer this drags on. Unnecessary travel in the middle of unprecedented Covid numbers is something to discourage in my humble opinion.
I definitely look at the risk to my community. I’m also fortunate to be able to work from home and enjoy a large office by myself when I do go in.
I would definitely work from home for quite a while IF I came back. Hopefully two months from now (I wouldn’t go until the end of March) a considerable portion of our most vulnerable will be vaccinated.
My potential risk to AZ is something to consider. Generally before seeing my family I isolate for a few days and get a rapid test. I’d add that to my list if I went thanks to your response.
I think as vaccinations ramp up, we’ll see deaths and the hospital load drop faster than people are expecting. Of course, the disease can seriously affect younger people, and there’s still a lot of unknowns regarding the long-term effects, especially on the heart, but the people who die or get sick enough to end up in the hospital are very disproportionately older people, which is why they’re being prioritized for vaccinations.
I really hope/think so. I’ve read many times that we only know of about 1 in 8 infections. I also look at the OC and CA numbers each day and realize that about 15% of the population leads to about 75% of the deaths and hospitalizations.
Once we get that 15% vaccinated, and I think we all know people in that group, I won’t feel in the clear but there will be a lightening of the mental load.
We just have to hope the new strains (UK, South Africa …) don’t spread. They aren’t worse in effect, but are more contagious and thus spread the disease faster. I can only hope the vaccinations come fast enough, and are distributed quickly enough, to help everyone.
Stay safe in California everyone.
The secondary impacts from those who have “recovered” can be pretty significant.
I have two family members who died of Covid, but they were both 80. On the other hand, I have three separate friends who have completely lost their sense of smell and taste, going on 2-3 months now. One was in her mid-40s, one early 50s, and one is a child, eleven years old.
Sorta same here. On December 20, Vickie’s mother died from COVID.
A resident in her assisted living facility went to Thanksgiving dinner with her family, caught it, gave it to the staff, who gave it to V’s mother.
I got it on xmas. I felt weird for the first 3 days, felt fine the next 2 days, and at day 5 lost my smell and taste. As soon as I lost those I started getting bad headaches which lasted for about 4 days. 8 days after I originally lost my senses, I started getting about 5% back. Day 20 and I’m at about 50% taste back and 30% of my smell back.
I haven’t had a cold in or been sick in over 5 years and this was the weirdest sickness I’ve ever been through.
Glad you’re on the mend. Two friends died in the last week.
Yeah this is pretty accurate, and is just ONE societal crisis we’re dealing with right now. People at the league office are kidding themselves with their plans for a full MLB season. We may not have a full season of America at the rate we’re going.
Tomorrow, my son and I will get to enjoy week 2 of Little League clinics before actual try outs and the start of the season next month. The look of enjoyment on all the kids faces last week was amazing as they were reconnecting with all their former team mates and opposition players.
Nice. Balancing physical and mental health is difficult right now.
That sounds fun. I don’t think we are allowed to do that.
You know, I generally like to keep it light here (and you love to joke) but this has been a brutal year on mental health. Suicides and relapses are through the roof. I have a very close friend who attempted the former, another who died after the latter.
We might not be the best of friends on this board but if you need help, please reach out. Hopefully we’ve provided just a bit of distraction here through this. Humans are social and it has been great to pop in here and talk baseball with y’all from time to time.
There is a whole back story to even get my kid to go to the clinics and play baseball this year, which included the obligatory “you are not just going to stay in the house and play video games when you are not in school” conversation. The mental health aspect affects the kids also. My kids started to argue with each other a lot until they got back to school, then magically they started getting along again.
Oh man, you don’t have to tell me. I am currently in the Covid industry since no graphic design is happening anymore. My current position sort of shakes hands with mental health workers a lot. My dad’s a shrink, was a honcho at Santa Barbara and Ventura County and I hear a lot from him and his friends.
No joke, next to death itself, the biggest possible tragedy of Covid is that the data itself on the disease is a circus fire. The jabs about car accident victims and people who were shot being “Covid victims”, much less flue/pneumonia deaths, are based in some pretty sad realities. So we aren’t going to learn a lot of important stuff we actually could have from this event.
Second to that, try to find any accurate data on suicide right now. Anything other than a general “officials fear increase in suicide BECAUSE OF DEADLY DEADLY COVID !!!!”. Suicide has been RAMPANT since about June. Incredibly high. But there is real pressure to under emphasize and under report how many people try or succeed at offing themselves now days because it makes lockdowns look bad. And again, we will likely never really be allowed to know how screwed with the data is on that. In fact a boss of mine knows of two suicides in Bakersfield…. that were listed as Covid deaths. There is an overpass by my work. two people have jumped off of it and two more have tried in the past four months…. something that I can’t remember happening at all in that location till this year.
And trust me, with the inflation, job loss and other crap that is still coming down the line the number will grow. It’s a really big problem. But hey, lockdowns baby, let’s do it!
Wasn’t calling you out, just throwing it out there. In case anyone needs help
Suicudes, attempted suicides, overdoses, relapses, spousal abuse, child abuse….lots of bad things happen with isolation.
Want to have real fun look at the number of OD deaths vs Covid deaths in SF.
I’ve probably just kept a close eye on it because of my past issues and friends.
All of that stuff, on a societal cost level, worries me a whole lot more than Covid itself…. it could really screw us all up for a long time.
“Sorry Folks, Spring Training is closed for remodeling, the moose out front should have told you”