News Flash! Justin Upton and Shohei Ohtani need to play better this year. For his part, Justin Upton says he had the first normal offseason in “a while.” Now here’s what I’m talking about: Shohei Ohtani hit 97 MPH on the radar gun yesterday. 97 MPH baby! The Angels got a grade of “B” for their offseason in this Bleacher Report article.
Links From Around Baseball
Jose Abreu tested positive for the coronavirus and Andrew Miller came down with COVID-19 ten days before pitchers and catchers were to report. Andrew Miller has now completed his self-quarantine which he served in his guest bedroom in order to stay away from his wife and children. Twins prospect Royce Lewis tore the ACL in his right knee and will have surgery. The result will be that he will miss the 2021 season. Round and round Jake Odorizzi goes. Where he stops nobody knows. The Dodgers and Blue Jays have completed their Ross Stripling trade. The Dodgers got Ryan Noda as their second player to be named later. Yoenis Cespedes will be holding a showcase on March 2. Who here is afraid Perry Minasian is not done hiring outfielders?
There is still an excellent chance that Trevor Story will be available among next year’s class of free agent shortstops. Vlad Guerrero Jr. lost 42 pounds in the offseason. That is a lot of weight to lose in a few months. I hope it works out for him. Tyler Glasnow is developing a pitch he refers to as *ahem* a “slutter.” Ok. It looks like that Jarred Kelenik grievance is incoming. On the topic of labor unrest, Mike Trout speaks to Tony Clark nearly every day heading into the negotiations for the next collective bargaining agreement. I guess anybody paying as much union dues as Mike Trout probably pays doesn’t usually get put on hold.
Good News, But Not As Good As 97 MPH Baby!
Congratulations to Freddie Freeman, whose wife gave birth to twin boys! Happy birthday Eddie Murray! A signed 1933 Babe Ruth card just sold for $761,100 at auction.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Athletic reporting Ohtani hit 100mph in BP today. Nice!
Usually we just “hope” for improvement from our pitchers, but this 97 mph sighting becomes a piece of incremental progress. Keep it coming! Oh I want this!
Vlad Jr lost 42 pounds, but I think I saw that ourJuan Graterol lost either 40 or 60 pounds.
These guys must be combining low carb with lots of cardio. I lost a steady pound a week with Atkins but at that rate it would take almost a year to lose 42 pounds.
(Probably about 11 months.)
Pena dropped 20, I read.
Better nutrition, comprehensive training program, these things help. Does MLB test for Clenbuterol? Several fighters and some soccer players have been popped using that in recent years, really helps you burn fat while maintaining muscle mass.
I’ll just add Clenbuterol to my Christmas list.
Was just jotting this one down myself…
lol me as well before seeing Steel’s and your reply.
Getting old and having your metabolism pull the emergency brake while also being a foodie is it’s own special hell. 🙁
Absolutely and completely OT.
I went to an old site hosted by Vox… Apparently JDL and HT Ennis are still the site managers according to its masthead.
😂
Apparently, vox owes you guys some money, then!
We just picked up Jack Mayfield. I think we locked up the pennant.
They designated Robel Garcia. Since Garcia’s batting is far superior to that of Mayfield, this must be because Mayfield is a shortstop while we are flush with second basemen.
I always thought that Fletch was the backup SS, and we have lots (Rengifo, Barretto) to back him up at 2B. But sure, in fighting for 3-4 down the depth chart having more SS capable players is better, no?
Mayfield’s obviously a great clubhouse & chemistry guy. That automatically makes the lifetime .481 OPS irrelevant.
Yeah. Mayfield looks like John McDonald on paper. McDonald came in handy as far as it went.
I liked Old McDonald.
It’s not like the Angels have much of a farm…
Makes zero sense to me. But what do I know.
Mayfield has two option years left. The only sense I could make of it.
If you’re willing to exchange decent for below average, there are plenty of players with options that can be acquired.
Yes those options are slim and none.
Dammit, we could have had Stripling if Arte hadn’t been an asshole.
It is only Pages that I feel we missed in that potential trade.
Yes, Sosh could have come back to flip him
Obviously hard not to get excited about what Shohei could mean to the Angels and baseball in general.
I’ve been saying for months there were some encouraging underlying numbers for Upton last year, notably his exit velocity and improved performance throughout the year. Fangraphs predicts a wRC+ of 109 for him for 21, less than his career average but enough to add some depth to the lineup.
What an inheritance. Also kudos to him for just barely missing The Spanish Flu and COVID-19.
If all these guys rebound it should be a fun season. Wait, where have I heard this before?
Ohtani news is the best from the entire offseason with the possible exception of Raicel. Now if he can maintain and even improve from here it would be the equivalent of having signed a front line pitcher. Forgive me if I take a wait-and-see approach after last year’s optimism followed by huge disappointment.
With all the bad luck we’ve had on the bump, maybe this is the year we get a few breaks. We are definitely due.
I would like to believe that too. Honestly I have become a bit jaded. But hope springs eternal as the season begins. It would be great to see (and would be fun) if the team’s good fortune increase this season.
It looks like the Alex Claudio link didn’t make it in here somehow. He’s been cleared to come to camp, but is not cleared to throw yet.