In order to bring more attention to the event, MLB moved the 2021 draft to the All Star break. The Angels pick at #9 this year. Low enough that a franchise altering pick could still be on the board but just high enough that the biggest names are sure to be gone.
Who will the Angels draft? Turk’s Teeth has done a great job of looking at a wide spectrum of possibilities. As far as those other sites, enjoy a mock draft smorgasboard.
Baseball America’s mock requires a subscription.
Fangraphs says a really high upside arm.
Elite Sports NY pegs a quality college arm as the pick.
CBS Sports must think Billy Eppler is still here.
In the coolest looking mock, ProspectsLive agrees with CBS pick.
If I had to venture a guess, I’d guess Ty Madden but nothing would surprise me. Madden has the look of a guy who moves through the system quickly and has just enough upside to tantalize at #9. He has reliever risk for sure, but a stud bullpen piece for 6 years isn’t that scary to me. We need those too.
Back to current days, there’s one stat that tells the Angels problem this year more than any other: innings pitched by starters. For those of you without The Athletic, the Angels starters have thrown fewer innings than only the Orioles and Royals. When the starter does go 6, we fare well. Sadly, that rarely happens.
The draft coincides with the All Star break. Two men who won’t be attending the game are the Asterisks Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa. They aren’t man enough to face the boos and guys they screwed over in the clubhouse.
That’s alright. I know just who should replace one.
The story of the All Star break, just like the story of the first half of 2021, figures to be Shohei Ohtani. He’s the odds on favorite to win the Home Run Derby.
Ohtani’s power is legendary. Remember when Jacob Faria told me Ohtani lifts more weight than anyone he’s ever seen? Other teammates tell ESPN their favorite stories of being amazed by Ohtani’s power.
Perhaps one reason Ohtani is staying fresh this year is that he hasn’t taken batting practice all season. Yeah I had to read that twice, too.
Yes, Ohtani truly is a super hero.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. There are three games against the resurgent Mariners before the break. They have gone 14-7 over their last 21 games and are just a hair in front of the Angels in the standing. MLTBR mulled over their trade deadline options and dropped news that Justus Sheffield will be sidelined for a significant time.
No matter your personal feelings on the Mariners, I think we all loved Ichiro. I had a blast watching him stretch and pose in right field all those years. And although quite a few of them cost us, his patented high chopper he beat out for a single was indefensible. The Athletic did a nice piece on the legend of Ichiro, focusing on his overlooked but very animated personality.
So let me know who the Angels draft in the first round, how many pitchers overall in the 20 rounds, and who wins the Home Run Derby below. And, of course, link anything I missed.
Enjoy.
Oh yes he did. On the third pitch of the game
https://twitter.com/SaltLakeBees/status/1413661394185031686
gotta be hot with that hair and beard
Damn! Marsh looks like a caveman !!!
Gotta love the lag time between humanity and baseball players when it comes to fashion. Someone should tell him it’s not 2014 and he’ll still be cool if he cuts his hair and shaves. He’s got to be a humid mess.
Going for the Dan Haggerty look.
3 of the 4 umps in this crew are in the bottom 25% of umpires…swing away, boys
Slegers down, Wong up…which sounds funny.
Watching Richards implode against Philly is making me sad he never really reached those 2014 levels.
He righted the ship, though.
He’s probably looking good and about to turn the page as we speak.
…along with a six-pack of Yoohoo.
Good link on Ichiro. While I am extremely impressed with the two-way ability of Shohei, it can be argued Ichiro was the greatest Japanese ballplayer ever. I think so.
Was able to see one game during his final season with the Orix Blue Wave before he came to test his talents in MLB. I cannot recall the events and how he became a Mariner but man, he took MLB by storm. He earned the ROY, AS, Silver Slugger, Golden Glove and MVP in 2001. In 2004, finished with 262 hits and won the batting crown. For his first 10 seasons with the Mariners, over 200 hits.
Loved to watch him play. Hitting machine with a canon for an arm. He did hang on for an extra 4-5 years and got to 3000 hits. Passed Rose in total hits when you tossed in Japanese stats but there would be no doubt, had he started in the US earlier, he would be the true MLB hit king.
So do we fatten up the farm system with the Best Available draft system, or do we concentrate on pitching? Also, where do you all stand on high school pitchers vs. college arms? Turk’s Teeth, you know every dammed thing there is to know about Halo draftees, weigh in here please?
Pitching for at least the first 4 rounds / picks
Yep. Always cheaper to grow your own.
Yes. draft 4 strait pitchers, then ask them if they know of any pitchers we should go try to sign as UDFAs. Get ALL the pitchers.
I say College Pitching in the early rounds, high schoolers are too risky (especially pitchers). Can’t afford another Joe Gatto, Hunter Green, or Jack Kochaniwicz (hard to spell Polish last nam).
I’d take a couple more Jack Kochaniwicz….s
No I’m not gonna mention Mookie Betts or Cody Bellinger anymore ( 5th round in 2011 and 4th round in 2013 respectively ) because that would be redundant. Both HS stars BTW.
I’m Polish- a few years ago we were back in my mom’s home town (South Bend, go Irish!) looking for my grandfather’s grave, and I realized Polish is like Wheel of Fortune. Vowels are insanely expensive but you can have all the Z’s you want for free.
The Yanks released him on July 4th. Unless he’s the worlds biggest ass wipe why wouldn’t we try to sign him and platoon with the goose or Ward and play him in right field ?
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/07/nationals-to-sign-derek-dietrich.html
So what is the reason for the early lines at the stadium?
Nothing to see, move along.
You don’t get to watch The Angels batting practice anyway. By the time they open the gates, The Angels are done and the visiting team is on the field.
Boo. Boo boo booooooooo. Boo Arte.
Sorry to hear the Tetsu-jin 28go.
It used to be that if you RAN into the stadium right when it opened you could catch about the last 5 minutes of the Angels BP. I wonder if they have changed the starting time for the Angels over the years….
I was about the 10th in line when they opened the main gate and went straight to the field and it was all BoSux on the field.
I bet the Angels now start earlier than they used to.
Very good piece from SI’s Emma Baccellieri:
https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/07/08/katie-hamilton-where-are-they-now-2021
I think this piece crystalizes the fact that Arte is a moron.
Cliff notes for those of us that don’t want to waste the time reading about a drug-addled millionaires ex-wife?
Josh Hamilton wasn’t just a drug addict who beat his kid once. He was controlling and abusive for many years and his ex-wife is finally trying to pave her own path by starting a podcast to talk about how horrible Hamilton was.
Not sure that “talking about how horrible Hamilton was” equates to her “paving her own path.”
Me either. I was probably a bit mean in the way I phrased it though. If you read the article and read a bit between the lines, she basically devoted her life to trying to keep Hamilton happy. I think the only marketable skill she has is to talk about her life experiences with a controlling, abusive, drug-addicted baseball star. I understand the focus will be more of “this is how you cope” rather than “look at what he did, what a jerk.”
So yes, she’ll be starting a career by making money off Hamilton being an ***, but she’s doing it because she wants to help others who are in similar situations (and because it’s the only thing she really can do).
I’m fairly positive that Hamilton has some money left from the F’ing $150,000,000 we gave him, that’s not including the other millions he made….she has been well compensated in the divorce of Mr. Hamilton.
I know I’ll be listening. Nothing entertains and inspires me more than borrowing a wave of someone else’s grief and surfing as far as I can on it. I may have a little trouble internalizing her experiences and making myself feel like I’m a victim too, but I’ll do my best.
and even here, it’s too soft on Cokehead.
Dear Perry,
do NOT, I repeat DO NOT draft Benny Montgomery, a high school outfielder, with your #9 pick. because A: Your job depends on it. B: Outfielders are everywhere and you have no clue if he can hit major league pitching, you know what isn’t everywhere? Good pitching. C: This site will go into meltdown and pitchfork, tar, and feather sales will rise. D: World wars have started for smaller mistakes.
Don’t forget the torches, you always need a good torch.
This should find a way into Perry’s email inbox, solid advice here.
Prep OF? Could be the next Millville Meteor
If he drafts Montgomery I will have an episode, do that weird thing where you laugh and cry uncontrollably at the same time, start wearing a rainbow afro wig, begin talking to plants and become a soccer fan.
Or I’ll just have a stroke and die.
hahahahahaha
https://twitter.com/Jstylep/status/1413380457610293248
How the hell was that pitch a strike? maybe they need to calibrate the machine.
I dislike a bad umpire call as much as the rest of you, but if experts are saying roboumps aren’t ready…maybe they’re not ready.
judging by that video, they are not ready, not even close to ready.
Thank you for recognizing my, how can I say this without needing to size up on my head wear, expertise.
CHALLENGE EXCEPTED: by a Mr. A. Hernandez
He probably calibrated the machine.
“just getting the signal from above”. What does that mean, exactly? Is the ump reading the robo-ump calls?
I presume the ump has an earpiece and someone is relaying the robo ump calls to him.
he needs to be able to override obvious mistakes like on that one.
Yes, but baseball will never do something sensible like allowing the umpire to have the final call while providing access to a robo ump for assistance with the borderline calls.
Stadium entertainment team played “Let it go” LMFAO. That’s a hard one to just let go.
Re Angels being second worst to the Orioles re starters innings….is that a function of the starters or Maddon’s managing style?
Well, I’d say when at least 3 of your starters have already thrown 86 pitches in the 3rd inning, then it probably is your starters (looking at you Canning, Heaney, Bundy, Sandoval, and Suarez)
And…looking at you Arte, lack of scouting, lack of a Front Office, no priority in development, lack of an organizational plan…..looking at you Mr. GM past and present, wouldn’t know a thing about quality pitching, even if Arte doesn’t believe in spending on it……looking at you Wise, not your fault, hired as a bullpen coach with no coaching experience…..looking at you baseballs gods, give us a F’ing break sometime soon, please, we are due for some good fortune…you asshole.
Rum and cigars. That is what Jobu craves.
We already removed the Big A Ancient Indian burial ground hex quite a few years back so I guess its time to come up with another Causation Theory for our Malevolence?
We need to focus on taking the hex off of Ward, Rengifo, Gosselin glove…cut off the head of a chicken, or is it a roster?
…maybe Gold Glove can help rectify this…
No shortstops and no outfielders for the early rounds of the draft, please. Load up on pitchers and maybe that one catcher guy in the top ranks.
I also didn’t realize the Mariners were ahead of us until this morning. What the hell is that?
All I can say is that the #9 pick had better be used on a pitcher, or else I am grabbing my pitchfork and heading over to the Stadium looking for Perry !!
As for the Mariners being ahead of this, I have commented on this several times over the course of the first half and it still amazes me that the M’s are over .500 with their dearth of talent.
Actually, the Mariners have an abundance of young talent. They lack only experience. Kind of the opposite of the Angels collection of shiny baseball cards.
I am not talking about potential. I am talking about talent that produces on the field. As for lacking experience Kyle Seager has been around for 10 years! Haniger and Crawford each has four years of experience and Shed Long has three years. Face it, they just aren’t that good. Even the really highly touted youth are crappy. For example, Kelenic is supposed to be one of the top prospects in the country but he hasn’t done shit. He is hitting .096 with an OPS of .398 !!
The Mariners lineup is full of singles hitters and just flat out crappy hitters. Their entire roster only has two hitters (with at least 50 AB’s) hitting .260 or better. In fact, in all of MLB their team average is DEAD LAST at a paltry .217!
Doesn’t seem like much talent to me.
This is year #3 of the rebuild by JDP in Seattle, and they did it without signing somebody expensive like Anthony Rendon or Gerritt Cole. They probably need to think about making a major deal either this July or in December since no matter how good your farm system is rated by Baseball America ( see the Angel’s in the mid 2000’s with Brandon Wood, Jeff Mathis, Casey Kotchman, and Kevin Jepson ) it’s never as good as they say it is. Highly touted prospects do in fact fail and even expert pundits can be wrong……
Also just need to be a lot better at just signing a few good serviceable outfielders for cheap like Oakland does. I don’t know why other teams haven’t yet figured this Billy Beane tactic out.
So is Boston.
There at #4 and taking Jack Leiter!! Gotta hope Scott Boras is his agent.
What if Leiter goes earlier, say to the Rangers or Tigers (both need pitching desperately)? I hope he does because I don’t like the fact that Leiter is saying he wants the Red Sox to draft him as if those other teams have no right to him.
Plus, I don’t want Boston to add good pitching….
No Will Wilson????? How can we erase either J-Up or Rendon’s contract? That’s what first rounders are for, right? They’re intended for quick salary relief the next year.
Wilson is now in AA. We’ll see if he ever makes the majors. It was a screwy trade and, in my opinion, a screwy pick in the first place.
Will Wilson = The horrible Zack Cozart signing and why can’t we have a guy like Zaidi build our system……we’ll never have nice things.
Farhan Zaidi came from the Oakland A’s
They really know how to fix broken toys like a house flipper and rehabber from the DIY Channel in Detroit or Jesse James with beat up rusted out clunker cars. He found Kevin Gausman and Anthony De Sclafani from a landfill in Fresno when any other team could’ve had these two guys!
I wish we could do that too!!! 😫 😥
The Angels haven’t done well with HS prep stars, Mike Trout and?……..
In the past we got Mike Witt, GA, Jim Edmonds and IMO still to this day the greatest Angel homegrown pitching talent evuh ( Frank Tanana……thanks Dave Garcia for blowing out his arm 😢 ). Dick Schofield is a Honorable Mention for his walkoff GS vs the Tigers.
I have for two weeks been watching Mock Drafts and they are all over the place except for 1st, 2nd, and 4th. Rocker for some reason does not excite me as much as Ty Madden. To me the luckiest team is the Rangers.
Some have written there are only 7 or 8 players to get excited about but then reading all articles you come away with 12-15 are good choices. We need top line college pitcher with 1-2 years in the minors. WE can use a RF’er with high upside too, but PITCHING is our biggest need and fast as our CF’er is not getting any younger. Have I covered our need for PITCHING yet?
Jordan Wicks is my new mancrush
LHP ( Yay!!!!) Kansas State…..the next Shane Bieber or Walker Buehler?
Yah. Wicks isn’t flashy, but he’s solid through and through and will make most MLB rosters pretty fast.
I know drafting by current need for the major league roster isn’t usually a good strategy In baseball but I will say I would be disappointed if we drafted anything but a pitcher.
Problem is pitching has been the need since before 2015 and they have basically ignored it until the later rounds, using the philosophy of “we will just draft the best athlete and flip them for pitching”, only problem is, any team with good pitching is not trading that pitching for “the best athlete”. This is baseball, not a triathlete Olympics.
I think that idea kind of began with Theo Epstein that was hesitant on drafting pitchers in the first round.
He didn’t give a clear answer but if I had to guess, it either had to do with dealing with the injury risks early on in their careers ala Carlos Rodon or Stephan Strasburg, or High Risk High Rewards that become busts like a Brady Aiken, Jacob Nix, Mark Appell, or Cal Quantrill.
I will say that Rodon and Strasburg has improved after their injury bugs.
In general drafting based on MLB need is a failure.
However, Mike Trout hits 30 in August, Rendon is already there, and Ohtani only has two years left. This isn’t “in general.”
7 years down the road we might be kicking ourselves for bypassing the All Star stud OF’er of this class. But that kick will hurt a lot less if the Ohtani/Maddon/Detmers/Daniel Davis rotation of 2023 carries Mike and crew to a chip.
will Ohtani get $30mil in 2023? That’s what I’m guessing. Maybe more. That’s why “Maddon/Detmers/Daniel Davis” is so important. We’ll need those lower salary pitchers because we won’t have enough money to sign deGrom.
can Joe Maddon & Daniel Davis Pitch?
Only time Maddon pitches is when he pitches a commercial advertisement for One a Day men’s vitamins.