Good morning Angels fans! Happy today? I sure am. Here, have some links!
Angels News
Actual Angels news comes as yesterday, fans were blindsided by Perry’s signing of Noah Syndergaard to a 1/21M deal. Thor is here! Hope he is healthy.
The signing is the largest in a single season for an Angels SP in the history of the franchise.
Said news does torpedo the IIWP series a bit. You can still read them as they come out but the timeline split was Monday.
The Angels may not be done either as rumors are swirling that more pitching may come to Anaheim. Verlander is a bush-league guy though. Don’t think I want him.
Ohtani is investing in a cryptocurrency. For some reason.
Around Baseball
MLB managers of the year were announced. We here at CtPG nailed it.
Howie Kendrick is now the special assistant of the GM of the Phillies. Query: Why the Phillies?
Jose Berrios is staying in Canada with a 7 year extension with Toronto. Would have rather had that to be honest.
Mets may be looking at Buck for manager. What are you gonna do now?
[Athletic] $Bally Sports RN may go bankrupt. $ HAHAHAHA!
The RSN are in trouble and may cause owners to lose money. Things can really change for TV and sports this decade.
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes.
I am digging this hot stove season! We already have interesting news. We can look forward to the MVP award…I think Shohei will win it. We’ve signed a pitcher of note. We’ve missed out on another that we don’t like. It’s solid news. Not like scrub player X (you all know him) has decided to play in Korea.
Me too. Its going to suck though if everything goes dark in December as the Billionaires and Millionaires duel over the proceeds again.
Verlander back with the Astros
Thor and Verlander are comps……
Well we got the cheaper one
Oh no. We totally missed on Verlander. oi mi tristezas! I’m glad this option has been removed from Arte’s table.
2 years, $50M
reports are the Iglesias will turn down QO.
We gain a draft choice if he signs elsewhere
Still can sign with us….don’t think we get it then.
https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1461160196252700672?s=20
Thor chose Us!
According to Peter Gammons he had matching offers and one at almost 25m.
We were the Chosen One!
So when he got the $25MM offer, did he respond with “I SAY THEE NAY!!!!”?
We need to thank him….and tell him not to suck.
https://twitter.com/_JacobCisneros/status/1461013789055205379?s=20
He clearly didn’t ask his spouse.
Is HK “special assistant to the GM” or “special assistant GM”?
Been saying for years the there would be a reckoning in TV land. Broadcasting deals keep going up as does the number of cord cutters. At some point it was going to get bad.
We’re at that point.
There have been signs of decline for awhile. Every time a tv provider stopped carrying RSNs due to a contract dispute, it was a signal that the RSN model was in trouble.
If you think about it, the RSN model is based on the premise that local teams, RSNs and cable providers use their combined monopolistic (or semi-monopolistic) clout to coerce local sports fans to pay for cable that they might not otherwise want and to coerce non-sports fans to pay for RSNs that they might not otherwise want. When every family in a team’s region is paying $3 per month for the RSN whether they like it or not, the teams, RSNs, and cable providers prospered. Live sports is also a good place for advertising revenue.
Now though, the non-sports fans have plenty of other options for entertainment either by going the sling route (or other online provider) or picking and choosing from the myriad entertainment apps. Local sports fans also have options though they may not always be legal.
Unless cable providers can reduce costs, they will continue to find more and more people cutting cords. That means less revenue for RSNs. Many of the teams are under contract with RSNs, so they won’t see decreased revenues until the contracts expire unless the RSNs go bankrupt. I don’t think teams will be able to sell their broadcast rights for nearly the amount they do now.
MLB, the NBA and NHL all have a day of reckoning coming and it could prove to be painful. As RSNs go bankrupt, teams could save some of the damage by ending blackouts on MLB.com and likely increasing the price of MLB.com and doing a better job of getting advertising on MLB.com.
Yeah. My parents took a package from Dish specifically because it didn’t have RSNs. They don’t watch sports and it cut their bill in half.
MLB definitely needs to be proactive here. Do a national streaming service, no blackouts, and give the RSN’s a cut of what would otherwise be their local revenue. MLB needs the RSN’s to provide the broadcasts, after all.
I find it hard to believe that a company like BALLY’S didn’t have an egg head inside it’s meeting room who has MY lame assed basic understanding of what a black market is, what creates it, and how nothing ever stops them other than getting rid of what drives it. Then they should have run from that TV deal like it was a bull on fire. How would a gambling company not be MORE aware of this?
I don’t think I’ve “legally” watched sports outside a bar in a few years. RSNs are done.
For many years cable and satellite held onto the idea that live sports is what kept subscribers. Movies and TV were time-shifted and there was no reason for anyone to watch a program at time networks deemed.
When streaming started gaining momentum, cord cutting was right there. Between ever-increasing carriage fees and the higher cable costs didn’t make any sense when most people watch a handful of channels.
MLB has a world-class streaming operation, and professional sports leagues from around the world beat a path MLB’s door to understand how it works, from both a technical and business perspective.
MLB-TV will continue to grow and single-team subscriptions will be the next hot item.
Directv can’t wait for the clock to strike midnight on the 2022 NFL season so they can dump Sunday Ticket. The NFL brass has been knocking on Amazon’s and Apple’s door to convince them to buy Sunday Ticket and stream it. Word has it that Apple is the preference since the NFL is leery of Jeff Bezos and doesn’t want someone around who has enough money that he can literally buy every NFL team.
Streaming is the final nail in cable tv’s coffin. The cable providers don’t want to be just a pipe, but that’s where they’re headed.
I was thinking about the Thor deal last night. I would have really liked an option year even at a high price. If they could have added a $25 option for 2023, then at least there would be more stability to the deal. At least then, the Angels would have been able to retain Thor if he proves health and quality.
I was thinking the same thing. Correct me if I’m wrong but we also can’t offer him a QO as he had one this year correct?
Unless the new CBA changes, yes – you are correct.
Quote from Craig Calcaterra- “Thor goes to Anaheim” is either a movie that comes out when Marvel has REALLY run out of ideas or an unexpected free agent signing.”
Shall Thor go to Knott’s? I SAY THEE NAY!!!! Thor shall go unto Disneyland!
Here’s Rosenthal’s take on Thor:
The industry reaction to the Angels agreeing with free-agent right-hander Noah Syndergaard on a one-year, $21 million contract was perhaps best summarized by one rival executive.
“F—— ludicrous,” the executive said.
The exec reasoned that Syndergaard, after throwing just two innings the past two seasons coming off Tommy John surgery, probably will be good for only about 125 innings next season. So, the Angels are paying a premium rate for a pitcher who will work only about 70 percent of a 180-inning workload, not that many starters even reach that total anymore (only 18 did in 2021).
Factor in the penalties — the second-round pick and $500,000 in international bonus pool money the Angels will sacrifice because the Mets extended Syndergaard a qualifying offer — and the acquisition cost grows even higher. The pick figures to be around No. 50, and the slot value of that selection last season was just under $1.5 million.
The parts after that section seemed to give the Angels thinking. They don’t believe Verlander will want to come West and they aren’t comfortable with the multi-year commitment to some of the other options.
Junior Guerra DFA’d. Clears a spot for Thor on the 40 man.
No on Verlander coming onboard, way to sketchy upside. Why would he turn down QO? At his age and coming off TJS. Don’t you think that the Astros dodged a bullet with Justin turning the QO down. To bad the Asstros don’t keep him as they deserve each other.
So Correa is not a big Jeter fan ok, but why piss the fans in MFY Land off as the Yankees have expressed interest in signing him.
Simba’s value has fallen so why not take the chance on a 2 yr deal w/ him? He still has the glove and we missed that part last season in the infield.
So Fox Sports could buy back Bally’s Sports West on the cheap? BK happens more times than not when business’ expand to quickly especially when the business model is weak going in. (i.e. KMart purchasing Sears as an example). 3 of my kids and a Grand daughter have in the last 2 years have all “cut the chord” and we may follow, just not sure yet is all.
Have a great Wednesday everyone.
-verlander would turn down the QO because he will get more money than $18.4m
-doesn’t matter what correa said, yankees will pay him if that’s where he wants to go
-simba’s value has fallen so why give him 2 years when it’s easy to get him for 1 year