The Angels wrapped up a disappointing 77 win and 85 loss season. Losing record + no playoffs = a bad year no matter how you slice it.
Want to know how special Ohtani was this year? Listen to the calls of each of his home runs by visiting broadcasters. The excitement and awe in the voices of people who have watched countless baseball games is telling. When they are impressed, it is impressive.
And while the home runs and K’s get most of the love, his speed led to a ton of excitement as well. A personal favorite of mine was the 9th inning against Baltimore when he stole second twice then scored on a shallow hit to right that nobody should be able to score on.
This bad year also featured some young pitching emerging. I didn’t know that was allowed to happen here.
Patrick Sandoval put up 2.2 WAR in 87 innings. He even got some love with a dedicated FanGraphs piece on his changeup.
Jose Suarez put up another 1.9 WAR in 98.1 innings.
Keep in mind these men turn 25 and 24 this off season.
Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh showed signs of improvement and make the best set of BFF’s we’ve had in a long time.
Of course any real change in fortunes will depend upon developing more talent. Taylor Blake Ward did a great job breaking down the farm system and throwing in MLB comps to our prospects. The pipeline is definitely getting better.
Really it wasn’t anything on the field that made this year so great for me (although I did enjoy the things I linked above). It was the time I spent at the ballpark, particularly with my son and my wife. The talks with friends at the ballpark, the fresh air and freshly mowed grass. Just having the rhythm of life back with a ballgame.
I took my Nana to a game. My 3 year old son belted “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” with me during the 7th inning stretch, my wife got wrapped up in Ohtani’s year. Yes, the standings were bad, but I loved having baseball back.
For the teams that did have good years, the serious business of a World Series run is at hand.
The Yanks pennant hopes died thanks to a bad outing from Gerrit Cole. That dud was the end of a longer slide. Dude misses his SpiderTack but he did put up the second most pitching WAR in baseball this year. It will be interesting to see if he gains back some command this off season or settles into the slightly better than Houston version he was post sticky this year.
My favorite baseball rivalry, the Giants and Dodgers, takes the stage in October for the first time ever. Unlike the YankSux, I actually have a team I like in this one.
The Brewers have been getting overlooked all year. Some would argue Corbin Burnes’ great season deserves a Cy Young award.
Opposing the Brew Crew is an Atlanta squad whose season was saved thanks to remaking the entire outfield at the trade deadline. Alex Anthopoulos pulled off a series of key moves while the team had a losing record and now they are NL East champs.
The last time the White Sox and Astros played in the postseason, the Sox swept the ‘stros out of the World Series. I was actually pulling for Houston in that one after the BS way we lost to the Sox.
And ultimately, let’s go Tampa Bay!
There are endless prediction lists out there. The fact of the matter is that winning 3 out of 5 games in baseball is very random. One guy gets hot and he can carry a squad. One pitcher loses the feel for his fastball and games get blown.
Perhaps you want to wager a bit on the outcomes. Take a look at the odds.
I’ll throw my predictions out there (although I’m hoping to be wrong on many of these):
Tampa over Boston in 4, Houston over Chicago in 4, LA over SF in 5, Milwaukee over Atlanta in 5.
Tampa over Houston in 7, LA over Milwaukee in 6.
LA over Tampa in 6.
Of course, try not to lose your job while following all the action. There are four playoff games on today, after all.
Longform reading? Not on a playoff weekend. Enjoy the games.
Kind of a banner weekend for me, as I’ll also enjoy Fury vs. Wilder 3. Great card on ESPN+ leading up to the PPV. Just in case you want a break from baseball.
Of course I was gonna post this guy’s pic……..BTW Ric Wilson glossed over him too…..
4th RD 2014 MLB Draft outta HS no less!! We could’ve taken him in RD 3 since we took Jeremy Rhodes in RD #4 who was part of the Simmons deal.. Dude looks like my niece’s hubby BTW……stocky ginger dude…
Ric Wilson was terrible!!! 😭 😫 💩
”Now” we all know how good he is……shouldn’t we (or most teams in Baseball) taken him in the 1st or 2nd round? Seems like TB and the Brew Crew screwed up too.
A lot of times it comes down to signing bonus $$$$$.
We have a history of low balling more than a insurance company. Kumar Rocker will be going from dark blue & orange to well the same ( Mets—-Astros in the future. ). 😥 😭 😠 💩 👎
Or…. arm issues.
If signing bonuses and shitty drafting is the issue for the Angels…..what is the problem with all the other teams that passed on drafting him?
What about the fact that he was a HS kid and not a college player?
HS kids take longer to develop and are a bigger risk ( quote from the Master Yoda Billy Beane from the Moneyball book ). You’d have to ask Ned Colletti, Brian Cashman and Ben Cherington of the RS why they passed on a raw talented HS arm like him. He’s the perfect kind of guy that these teams steal in the mid rounds because small market teams want a college guy a lot more.. A*te cares more about nickels and pennies, because he’s that kind of guy. 😠 😭 💩 👎 👎 👎
What about actually answering his question?
Just did…..in bold letters too…..
I don’t care if other teams missed too. I care about us first.
25th out of 30 farm systems sucks. Now I’m seeing people write that Eppler wasn’t that bad after all….WTF!!! Perry has a enormous hill too climb us out of because of his predecessor. We could string together 8 straight losing seasons before the hemorrhaging stops..
Still not a Matt Swanson fan either, and he might even be worse than Ric Wilson actually. 😠
So your answer is “Arte bad! Ask the other GMs why they passed on him, but Arte bad! I mad! 💩 ”
Well put.
Why do you and many others defend this organization by making the excuse well “why did all the other teams pass on him too”? So the fact that your own kid/kids are flunking out is excusable, because the valedictorian also got the same questions wrong on the mid term? Because we needed that guy more than most of those other teams who passed on him “that’s why”!!! We’re the Angels and I don’t give a f**k if TB, LAD, OAK, BOS, or HOU, passed on him and because we haven’t developed a good decent SP since Ervin Santana back in the mid 2000’s.
Now you know why it pisses me off why this happens and not why Joe Maddon yanked Dylan Bundy in the 7th inning when he decides to pitch well in one late August game after he was deplorable the previous 4 months before. 💩
Yes, but you’re a bullshit cherry picker. Half the pitchers you post images of weren’t drafted by the team they are on now. The fact that the Angels need better development has nothing to do with their not drafting DeSclafani in round 6 of 2011, and no one at all is arguing that the Angels haven’t failed to develop pitchers.
What we are all trying to get your simple/special mind to grasp is that simply posting a picture of a pitcher who was good yesterday doesn’t make the point you seem to think it does, the development point you made above. Also, no one needs you to make that point, because I don’t think anyone disagrees with it.
It’s just that most of us are smart enough to realize that simply picking out a good player and posting his picture is the way retarded children make a statement. Especially when the “obvious logic” you are trying to put in front of everyone is far less obvious because said player was passed over by all the teams for several rounds of the draft.
Another things that at least some of us can grasp is context. Until 2015 you had the Weaver/Wilson rotations. We had a plan going forward with Richards, Heaney, Skaggs, Shoemaker and Tropeano ALL OF WHOM HAD THEIR BODIES AND CAREERS FALL APART. At the same time, the way the FA pitching market was working changed in about a two year period and suddenly there were only a couple good pitchers on the market each winter. And at the same same time we got a GM who decided to draft talented position players because, as has been proven, they are easier to develop quickly and trade for pitching… but his plan failed.
You may be simple, but the problem was not. In short, nobody just comes out and agrees with you because you’re a dim clown. 🙈 
🍤
Yes I suhpose the Big 3 also could’ve had him a round earlier ( Red F**ks, F**kees, and Douchers ).
Dude looks like the dude from Breaking Bad…….
Another reason to hate the Jedi
Ric Wilson was the farm system director. ( probably a Arte guy ).
Why was he able to get Logan Gilbert and Chris Flexen up there?
BTW Logan Web was before Farhan Zaidi too.
Just face it Your Eminence, refuses to sign payroll checks for a good community of good little people then and now ( his firing of scouts last year showcased all that……wonder if they do that across town? 😥 😭 😠 👈 )
Good News! your rep as a delusional dung digger is still in tact! Could you actually do a little research before you post stuff here? I’m going to have to start sending you a bill for my valuable time since I have had to continually correct your ignorant postings .
Flexen came from the Mets in a salary dump deal. Not sure how Dipoto shot his wad on that one. Logan Gilbert was just a first round slot value draft pick. Unfortunately when the Angels made their selection 3 picks later , The Angels actually paid $400,000 over slot value ( and more than the M’s paid for their pick) to lure high schooler Jordyn Adams away from College So Arte McScrooge sure saved lots of money there. Just like he did when he wrote $14,000,000 in checks to sign Dipoto’s Love Child, Roberto Baldoquin. If you want to post a picture. Post a picture of the other 29 GM’s who Laughing their asses off when that signing went down.
It turns out that you’re just a charlatan and foolish Devil’s Advocate..
You don’t really know much about baseball…….and you don’t.
Roberto Baldoquin again? LOL!!
What is this Halos Heaven circa 2017? 😃 Many teams violated the international pool money Rubicon ( including those other guys who are still playing in the Bay Area right now ) and just paid the fine, same as the Luxury Tax. I think Jedi was forced to keep Ric Wilson by Arte and John, probably to hide from the local sports media that all isn’t well in Arte Land since he always tries to avoid negative publicity. Meanwhile Ric Wilson is still out of baseball and BTW Dipoto didn’t hire Wilson, he was a in house promotion by his predecessor Tony Reagins, so what does that tell you?……right? Now I have to root against Dipoto, because he has the autonomy to do what he was hired to do in Seattle and yet wasn’t allowed to actually do what he was hired to do when he was here…….LOL!!! Why can’t the GM just fire people here if they can’t meet the bottomline results then?
TRY HARDER AND KEEP FAILING WORSE… 😆 💪
Flexen was a former 14th round pick and is only 27, plus he played in Japan too? LOL!!
So he was making several million a year and he’s a salary dump case?
Maybe this proves that Dipo can fleece the Mets. Did Dipoto also get a first round pick from the Mets so they could get rid of Flexen’s salary? Shhhhh we’d never do something like that would we? Baaa Haaaa!!! 😹
Cue the Sad Trombone sound for you 😜
Wow! I must have really gotten under your thin skin if you have had to respond to my post with 3 different replies. Unfortunately volume doesn’t equal content. So I think I’ll wait until you actually post something factual, relevant or cogent before I eviscerate your ramblings. Until then enjoy your weekend assuming they loosen the restraints on your straight jacket long enough for you to scratch your ass.
How about six straight losing seasons and still having the 25th rated farm system in MLB grab you? What am I lying? Is Packy Naughton supposed to get me excited and full of optimism for 2022? Stefanic the plumber will probably get released and get picked up by the Orioles in the spring and never be heard from again and meanwhile you’re phony expertise will still be celebrated here by Pollyanna and blame the skipper types. Fact is if you got a bad team then there’s not a lot the skipper can do. Hope he speaks Japanese, because I’m not sure even they would want him. People like you and others in CTPG were clamoring for Maddon and Perry ( and they did ) to play the kids and found out that most Eppler’s kids did in fact suck and now you’re seething about it against the nonbelievers. 💪
You should just caption all your stupid posts as “All of baseball sucked 306 times before TEAM got it right and drafted this guy…. and then waited six years…. and then he was good.”
Yes, super smart of the Giants to draft Webb in the 4th round and pick up Tyler Beede with the first. Some brilliant crystal ball they had there.
At least we drafted 3 pitchers – isn’t that the point of this exercise (Newcomb, Gatto, Ellis). That is the real comparison you could make, right?
Do you look back at the stock market like this? If I bought Netflix back in ….
Back to you on Paul DeJong
If we can get him at a decent price ( he’s still under 30 yrs too ) with his power he should at least get us by for two seasons. Keep our fingers crossed and hope one more guy that Perry’s predecessor drafted can actually play at the MLB level.
I don’t think DeJong’s the worst idea ever. Solid defense, and if he bounces back some he is really valuable. But he’s also getting 15M over the next two years and we’d have to trade prospects for him…. prospects you’d most likely be posting images of 3 years from now.
So he may not be the best value as a stop gap.
You are counting a lot on his rebounding. He is under control (so still likely costs prospects), has had diminishing skills with the bat, and is expecting a pay raise.
I think Villar and Galvis are safer FA options, with a better track record. Also, as vets, they will help with team chemistry (part of Maddon’s stated strategy for favoring Fowler) and won’t want a long term commitment (we want the young SS prospects to pan out – so we can afford the pitching we NEED).
The easiest answer here is If we had drafted him, we wouldn’t have been able to develop him
All we need is to invent a time machine and have Arte hire 2002heaven as GM in 2014.
Dodgers lose, Dodgers lose!
Please sweet Lord Jesus, anyone but the Dodgers.
Please sweet Lord Jesus, anyone but the Dodgers or Asstros
Please sweet Lord Jesus, let me hit the Lottery!
Please sweet Lord Jesus, anyone but the Dodgers or Asstros….or Red Sux’s
Wonder if he’s mulling over whether to have a Dodgers, Red Sox, and Giants viewing party at Anaheim Stadium? A lot of transplants and bandwagon fans in the area.
Meanwhile seeing less and less people wearing Angel’s gear anymore.
😭 😖 😠 👎
He could pass for the Dos Equis guy.
Arte is the dog, the dude on the couch represents the fans after another lost season of Angels baseball…
that is awesomely cruel
What does Walt Disney have to do with this?
Arte does look like the real late Walt Disney.
Who is that? Can he Pitch?
Great links today, Jeff. Now the reality is settling in– been 5 days since an Angels game and now watching all the postseason drama it hits me that my team isn’t anywhere near sniffing this. Barring a miraculous offseason haul, it’s hard to be over optimistic. 7 straight Octobers without the Halos in a postseason game starts weighing on fandom. I guess it was probably easier to swallow last year with the odd specter of a COVID-short 60 game season without fans, so it was weird for fans of all teams. Even the Dodgers winning a World Series wasn’t the same as it would be with their fans packing Dodger Stadium to celebrate. So as someone who loathes Dodger fans, at least I had satisfaction that their fans didn’t get to have a “normal” experience watching them win.
But hey, 2021 brought us the ballpark back and for that I am grateful. Got to go to a few myself and it was just awesome to be able to be there in-person. The last game I went to, the final Saturday home game where they drubbed the Mariners 14-1… that was the most fun I’ve had at an Angels game since probably 2018. There was an energy back in the crowd, the team’s youngsters plus “what will Ohtani do?” brought the offense and home crowd to life, at least for one game.
IYHO do you think the owner at least kinda looks a little like Walt Disney?
I do. 🤔 👍
Nice write up thank you. I just watched that Ohtani score from 2nd base on the shallow rocket to right field about 10 times. 🙂
The Plumber’s MLB comp is Johnny G. That, somehow, feels esp fitting….
There is one group of teams I root against more than the Doyers and that is any team from the San Francisco Bay Area. Having lived here for 30 years, the fans hatred of all things SoCal makes me want to deny them any win for any of their teams. You wouldn’t believe the crap I had to put up with when I attended Game 3 of the 2002 WS. I will suspend my dislike of the Doyers for just this one series.
Beat NoCal!!
how bout sacrifice this one for the majority here in So Cal ad let the brew crew handle the giants in the next round? win win!
I’m with you in a way, but I want he Brew Crew to handle the Doyers in the next round.
Now they probably look down at us, up there.
Since the Angels haven’t been very good anymore since the last out of the 2009 ALCS. Next year will be 20 yrs since 2002 and we’ve fallen off a cliff since 2009. With more money and resources no less.
Have you been to SF in the last 25 years? They look down on everyone, sports or no sports. I’ve been all over the world, to huge cities with long histories of mattering to humanity…. and they were all half as smug as the asshole farm that is San Francisco, and it’s way worse since I lived up there.
It is dreadful and getting worse every day.
Does the local news still start by referring to itself as the news from “the best place on earth”? Uhhhh. The more I think about some of the people in the Bay Area the more I enjoy watching that dumb movie San Andres.
No, Gitch, the people in San Francisco don’t look down on everyone, Just you, because you are gutter-scum.
Can’t argue with that. San Francisco is known for it’s friendly, humble, down to earth people, while I do enjoy the savory goodness of a puppy who has been kicked to death and then BBQed with lots of garlic every now and again.
Also, cause gutter-scum, I just want to thank you for fixating on me the way you have. Sometimes I just get so tired of people constantly thanking me for being so damn smart, well read and logically grounded and your sassy little sentences are pure crystal bells of variety during my long drawn out days of being awesome.
A lady friend of mine who has the voice of a tight young Kathleen Turner records herself reading them word for word for me. You’ll be happy to know that you are the fuel that fires my evenings and I always fall into a deep and comfy sleep thinking of you thinking of me.
Te amo mi hongo de fuego…..
I can’t even begin to tell you how overjoyed I was when we punked them in 02.
So is Randy Arozarena just some kind of calendar-flips-to-October and he turns into the baseball equivalent of The Wolf Man with a bat? Any time you do something Jackie Robinson is revered for, you are having a pretty good game. So my team, Notre Dame tries to get real again, SWMBO’s team, Iowa, plays Penn State, and all this baseball. Rooting for the Rays and the Giants.
Rooting for the Rays and the Brew Crew.
Fury is always a good read/listen as well. I want to watch, hoping to make it happen.
Playoff baseball is awesome. 4 games in a day, woohoo!! I think your predictions are pretty spot on but hoping for anyone but Dodgers to win it.
Football (college/pros) in full swing and hockey is starting back up. I believe I’ll get back into basketball this year too. Should be a great weekend!