Major League Baseball is on pause. Nothing to report on the field, and a broken record of “no deal yet” off the field.
The good news is the lead negotiators for each side continue to meet.
Mike Trout is the greatest player of his era. One of the greatest of all time. However, Mike Trout is not a “look at me” type of athlete and he’s been very quiet during the entire lockout. Which makes me take his first bold public statement pretty seriously.
For his part, Rob Manfred wrote an open letter to fans basically saying the lockout is nobody’s fault and that all are seeking a fair deal.
Moving along from what is not happening to what is happening it is important to remember that MLB does not control the best parts of baseball.
Last week I took a look at college baseball schedules and broadcasts. And there are a ton of broadcasts. This week let’s take a look at minor league ball we can support.
The Angels High-A affiliate Inland Empires will kick off their season on April 8th. They have promotions every night of the week and should highlight some of the Angels best prospects.
The 66ers are not the only minor league game in town. Spread out through the IE and Central Valley is the California League. Really, any night at any of these ballparks should be a fun outing. And a lot less expensive than a big league game.
For most of us, Inland Empire is the only affiliate we can attend. However, all Minor League baseball games are available to stream. If you’ve ever wanted to get more in the know on our farm and others, this is a great time.
The closest you’ll get to MLB is AAA ball. The Angels AAA squad, the Salt Lake City Bees, kick off their schedule April 5th. They also visit Las Vegas quite a few times. Might be fun in April, but I’m not catching a ballgame in Vegas in August.
I’m sure a few of you grew up playing Stratomatic or other baseball games. As with everything, baseball simulation has gone to another level. Take a look a Magnus Effect Baseball and how it has grown to be the biggest baseball sim game out there.
Of course, if you are my generation or younger there is a solid debate as to the best baseball video games of all time. Many will answer “Ken Griffey Jr.” and many will answer wrongly.
After anointing him a saint for two decades, EastSPiN now wants Jeter for a broadcast role.
Baseball is a game of failure. Wheel of Fortune took failure to a whole new level.
I’m dumbfounded at that link and it is really almost impossible to follow. Let’s skim YouTube for something Angels and nearly as silly. Oh, I found it.
Remember that time the Angels hosted the Mariners at Dodger Stadium and Police Squad was there to save Reggie Jackson from killing the Queen of England?
Enjoy your weekend, folks. And please link what I missed below AND name your favorite baseball video game(s).
I’ve reached the point where I’m sick of it. Wake me up when they come to an agreement.
Meanwhile Oregon State is 9-0 this season but is currently down 2-0 to UC Irvine in the 7th.
Acceptance will be the next stage.
https://fansided.com/2022/03/05/angels-owner-lost-mlb-season-incentive/
 💩  💩  👈 
https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1500525142308319233
I guess he turn(er)ed on the overdrive.
Definitely taking care of business
It was his Turner.
Today’s featured sport is NCAA Womens Basketball, which is fun too. It sure beats out Bowling and Tractor Pull. And there must be some Golf airing somewhere today.
Always golf airing, plus the Hoag Classic senior tour at Newport Beach Country Club.
What about the combo sport of Tractor Pull Bowling? That might be fun
Six in the morning gave me no warning that after I cleared all the white snow away,
that having a cleared driveway and walkway that another plow would come along today,
Eye contact made should have been just about enough to warn that driver Dickweed,
that I needed no more of another snow berm piled high, enough the fill Lake Mead.
Return back down, hands out and mouthing sorry, he indeed cleared the road,
But I know he is a Snow Snake leaving that ribbon berm and his tractor is a toad,
Old Man Winters last gasp at trying to give us some more of his fun,
Today we will just shovel, piling high our snowball material in the blazing sun,
Only to remember that snowplow driver’s face in the Super Market checkout line,
And remind him that filling my driveway that was clean of snow was just not fine.
Also for some mad cap (Hat? lap?, rat?) entertainment, I recommend watching the “Screwball” documentary on Netflix. Its about the whole Biogenesis/ ARod scandal. I’m not sure who the real screwball is since there are so many characters to chose from whether its the Charlatan Anti Aging “doctor”, His not so bright wacky clients, his low level mob associates or the narcissistic megalomaniac A Rod or even Rob Manfred and MLB’s keystone cop P.I’s
The whole story sounds like a Zucker comedy only its true. The thing thats a little strange is the documentary director uses child actors for scene reenactments I guess because he felt that everyone involved acted like such immature children anyways.
On a more positive note, if you are looking for general baseball content that’s interesting and really well done to entertain yourself with, take a look at these Dorktown guys on the Youtube Channel Secret Base. They may be the best I’ve seen at creating a stat driven narrative but combining history, other anecdotes, jokes, music, and everything else so that it isn’t dry or overly geeky. I also tend to already know at least 80% of what most baseball youtubers tell me, but these guys really find some deep info that is actually interesting… not just yammering stat cast at you.
This is a good example, a documentary on Dave Steib. I don’t care about Dave Steib at all, and yet this was still a great watch. So there you go. If you’re bored, check it out.
Even up to now College Basketball is anti-climatic today as the Big Show is going to start this week and we are just seeing the seedings change. Coach K’s last game at 3pm and later UCLA-USC will be fun.
In the 60’s I was in a league that twice a week played APBA Baseball along with playing with my dad and uncle and cousin, good times for all.
Drive that knife of a delayed season in just a bit deeper :/
Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon Healthy For Start Of Spring Training
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/03/mike-trout-anthony-rendon-healthy-for-start-of-spring-training.html
Good news is welcome, but can they pitch?
I might be crazy, but i’m actually not feeling too bad about our pitching.
Particularly as the don’t have to pitch!
Its March 5th and we’re still undefeated baby!
Trout could throw a no-no still I bet.
banned.
Oh, bother. 😔
Both Trout and Rendon may be healthy now but think how much HEALTHIER they will be in 2023 when mlb hbaseball starts up again!
Only problem is healthier does not equal younger.
You’re killing the vibe, bro.
Didn’t mean to be a wet blanket. It’s just a reflection of my overall feelings about baseball right now.
99% of the time i’m being sarcastic 🙂
But you are right, the window is not getting any more open :/
If y’all are looking for baseball to watch, UCLA is up 6-0 on Oklahoma from Minute Made Park.
Almost scratches that itch!
That “Wheel of Fortune” cannot have been real.
It had to have been scripted.
That’s Another Feather On Your Rat!
2021 Brave’s payroll was less than a damm $150M Yes we had a higher payroll than the World Series Champions!
Plus the 2019 Washington Nationals (they won the WS that year……I think) had a team payroll of roughly $172M……….NO EXCUSE ARTHUR! So Bob Nutting can be the strawman punching bag and scapegoat along with Houston Astros trash cans?
 😟  💩  😖 
No one should be this worked up on a Saturday morning. Chill, bro.
Go smoke a fat blunt, or four.
And now we got a GM who was integral in building that WS team so I’m thinking our future is bright if they’d ever start playing the damn games again
Stupid Arte spends to much Money!
Braves dont’ have any big $ guys on their roster, let alone 4 guys that total 100+ mil
I have mixed feelings about Arte voting against the CBA proposal:
This is why, to me, some of what the players are asking does not make sense. They keep talking about more competitive balance and it to be more fair, and anti tanking, etc. But they havn’t brought up a salary floor, and they want the CBT to expand even further. That will WORSEN the competitive balance, not fix it. If they just want more money, then just say that, don’t preach about competitive balance in the same sentence when sending a $43 mil pitcher to negotiations
This is unbelievable……..Good Gawd.
LOL!!! Part of me thinks (or wants to think) that Arte wasn’t necessarily voting against the players, but against other owners. Arte has shelled out millions and millions and our payroll has been near the top for a decade. I think Arte may have been sending a message to other owners and teams that have outrageous payrolls compared to others, and wants there to be a competitive balance aspect in that regard………Yep you typed this. YES EXCEPT HE DOESN’T SPEND ON PITCHING AND PLAYER DEVELOPMENT!!!!! HE ONLY SPENDS ON HITTERS WHO WILL BRINGS GULLIBLE SOULS INTO HIS STADIUM LIKE LEMMINGS TO WATCH 3 HITTERS WHILE THE PITCHERS HE FOUND STANDING IN FRONT OF HOME DEPOT.
He isn’t a good owner dude. Anybody here ever figured out why he hired a 75 yr old Tony LaRussa to be a adviser or did that just get swept under the rug like everything else about this team?
 😠 😠 😠 😠
If it makes anybody here happy, I don’t like Bob Nuttting either………
Bye…….I’m done for today!!!
Can’t you be done 4EVA?
Dude. You need help.
What you responded literally had nothing to do with what I posted.
Take your meds.
And given his history, this surprises you how?
Derp derp dee doo deet do…. that’s TootyTwo!
“I’m done. I have poops. Bye!”
What if Arte was voting no to counting player meals towards the cap?
Magnus Effect Baseball reminds me of a wonderful league I used to be in, the Global Baseball Consortium. All fictional players but you quickly developed personalities in your mind for them. My team really took off when another owner needed to drop salary and I was able to get Dale Parks and John Bockus cheaply. Over the years I had stars like Glen Groves and the pitchers Roy Nevel and Laddy Charleston. Good times! We played year round so one season would end, we’d quickly set up free agency, close that out and start the next season.
We started in 1997 with the 1997 season (of course) but since we just kept going I think the last year was “2024” which must have happened around 2006, real time. I had stacks of stats and ratings in my office drawer and when my wife found that it was like Wendy reading Jack’s “novel” in the Shining.
I am not going to shed a tear for any of these people involved in the CBA. When I see gas prices at nearly $6 a gallon knowing there are people who are just trying to put food on the table it makes me sick. This was the absolute worst time to have a labor dispute.
Just another day releasing unlimited barrels of Bullshit from the worlds strategic reserve.
Interesting development, owners are wary of Steven “Mr. Insider Trading” Cohen lapping the field in spending a la the Dodgers.
I hadn’t thought of it, but that is a valid concern. Most owners of Premier League teams lose tens of millions each year but treat the teams as toys/ego projects rather than businesses. Cohen has more than enough ill gotten money and the personality to do just that.
If I’m the Brewers or Angels or an owner that needs the team to cover its expenses, I’m leery of Cohen as well.
Yeah I see people in Fabian’s comments asking how limiting the Dodgers gets the Pirates to spend more and I think it comes back to the fact that the Dodgers can always be “in” on free agents to plug holes and have the resources to outbid the Pirates or Brewers anytime they want. Never winning a bidding war because its the richest guys in the room bidding it up means your payroll never goes up. If there is a disincentive for the big guys to blow past a soft cap, the lack of their presence in the bidding process probably keeps the free agent at a more attainable value to mid-tier teams.
Problem is the impact is obvious on the players: what helps competitive balance hurts players wanting to set new salary benchmarks via the Dodgers/Yankees/Mets etc.
No Jeff. You are wrong. If an owner truly cares about winning and championship grit he will spend my enemies into oblivion. If an owner truly has balls and a winner’s heart he will sign both Pujols and Cabrera, and when both fart out, he’ll sign Anthony Rizzo for 7/200M. Why? Championishness. Mic drop.
Hey! It’s Enrico Pallazzo!
I think I stayed there in Vegas
Good morning, always a nice day waking up to fresh snow. In the 909 we have Baseball times 2 with the Quakes in Rancho Cucamonga being a Dodgers low A and San Bernardino ’66ers as a low A for the Halos. Both Parks are like the Park in Lake Elsinore being relatively modern, clean and safe. The Stadium in Adelanto is not being used by the California League any longer. The kids will have a grand time going to the Stadiums along the interstate 10 because of all the fun focused on the little ones. Prices are very fair and the atmosphere is high paced with between innings mascots. Try it out as you will be pleasantly pleased with the Baseball and fun.
Looks like we get to bitch at Arte today!
https://theathletic.com/3162810/2022/03/04/sources-angels-diamondbacks-reds-and-tigers-owners-opposed-mlb-luxury-tax-increase/
To nobody’s surprise really.
I can at least see an argument for how the Scherzer and previous Gerrit Cole negotiations probably have Arte convinced the luxury tax has some actual importance to competitive balance. Certain owners can be more belligerent than others in free agency and Arte has boxed himself into NEEDING free agents to be competitive.
Either way it sounds like the league agreed to that $220M figure despite the objections of those 4 owners. It’s not impossible this information was leaked by the league to show the players that the offers won’t be going much higher than $220M due to hard liners.
MY MOST LEAST FAVORITE ARTE TRAIT! Dude, if you hate having to waste money on boner free agents and/or being out bid for same JUST SPEND 1/10 the money on the FARM AND PLAYER DEVELOPMENT! I’d think we are the perfect org or this. Sure, we are a secondary team in a big market, but we are perfectly placed to spend big on the farm and then ACTUALLY KEEP the stars we develop.
Exactly. The Angels should be able to both develop and keep talent. It is pretty rare for a homegrown player to leave here. That’s an indication of both the scarcity of homegrown players and the financial resources of the Angels.
There should also be a floor on spending for player development and pitching. Spending $2.00 on pitching and player development is stupid.
Sick. Burn. Tooty toot two doooo…. dumb for to day. Bye.
pitching and 30 yr old power hitters
 😡  😡  💪  💪  👈 
I’m fine with not letting the Yanks and Dodgers buy everything.
However, counting meal money towards the cap is petty and low.
Yeah. Between counting meal money and the players setting up a fund for workers hurt by the lock out the players win today’s “rich entitled pricks trying to look like regular people” points.
Sup guys.. I haven’t been on here since last year.. but after this damn article.. I don’t know. It’s like I have to go take outside and take a walk. It’s very upsetting.
Why the fuck would you change the name to the LA Angels and give Pujols that ridiculous contract, then get the big TV deal….. ALL just to just act as a mid…. ?!?! To know that he’s one of the guys holding this season up?!?!
I dont hear AM830 that much but what do I always hear when I tune? Fucking Rodge blabbing on the air “WeLl I kNoW fOr A fAcT tHAt MoReNo Is DoInG aLl ThAT hE cAn To PuT a WiNnInG tEaM”
Sorry I realize that I probably used up all my swear word allotment for the month and YES I know its not surprising and par for the corse but this is beyond infuriating.. AND I really haven’t been a bash Arte guy either.
Rest a little easier. Those 4 owners aren’t holding up the season at all. Their NO votes fell short of stopping the MLB from sending an offer they knew the MLBPA would reject to the MLBPA for rejection.
Regardless if it is or it isn’t the bottom line is that this is contradictory to putting the Angels as a big market team. Why do this? Why?! Make it make sense!
The Angels rock a payroll of about $180 million per year putting them consistently in the top 10. That is acting like a big market team.
However, it is apparent the Angels resources allow for a payroll of about $180 million and not much more. So allowing the YankSux and Dodgers to spend $250 million will put the Angels at a competitive disadvantage.
You’re living in what the game is right now and what the game should be.
The players want the CBT to go up because of the obvious increase in revenue. This means that big market team threshold has gotta be well past $220 or at least increased from the upper 100s (which it is now)
At that point it dwarfs $180 and thus that class of franchise probably gets recatorized as a mid market.
This is why I’m upset. He’s been saying all along that’s his vision and his goal as some great business man. Well if he saying this .. why in the hell is he positioning the franchise to operate as a mid market?
I’m living in reality. The reality of a top 5-10 payroll each year means he’s operating like as big of a market club as he can.
But we all know the Angels aren’t and never will be the Yanks or the Dodgers. Hopefully the real estate development helps bridge that gap a bit but that will cost money and take years to complete.
For the next CBA, the five years in front of us, there’s no reason to let a handful of teams lap the field.
Besides, a salary floor, if actually enforced, would give the players a bigger win anyway. On average 10 teams pay out less than the revenue sharing split.
Hes not approving $220 right this second.
That means the angels’ payroll is not going near that level while the “big market teams” are going to increase theirs if the CBT goes to that amount which by all account is or more.
You’re assuming that no one (including the BOS, the Mets, Phills, etc etc) is going to increase their payroll accordingly and just stay put.
The CBT still doesn’t prevent front offices from doing stupid things like signing Albert, Hamilton, Upton, etc., etc., etc.
Jeff’s got it exactly. As is the case with most of the instances where people bitch about business owners and their money, I have to ask, has anyone who is incensed about this asked themselves what the actual consequences of Arte just shrugging and saying “OK” to a 240M salary CBT would be? The Yankees and Red Sox at 265M a year… 85M more than even Arte can afford and almost 200 more than a team like the As. Sound fun?
If you’re thinking “Well, he would juz half durrr spend mur money cause he are rich and I don’t like his richness and I like champions.” then let us all know when your mom stops tying your shoes or let us all know how you enjoy a 30% hike in the cost of everything involved with rooting for the Angels…. all of which would still probably only mean we get a chance to have our asses beat by the even bigger spenders in the play offs every few years…. or worse, just get worked over by a hot team with a 100M payroll.
Our owner’s being smart about this. If you want “Cool Arte” then get ready to root for the Portland Trail Blazers of baseball for the rest of your life.
Yes but indications are that any additional increases over the $220,000,000 CBT would have resulted in a rejection vote (8 or more dissenting owners) by MLB clubs.
Interesting that of the 4 dissenters none of them are small market clubs . Maybe because the small markets don’t want to bite the Big market hand that feeds them since the big market teams are the ones subsidizing the other clubs with about 1/2 of their lucrative attendance and local broadcasting revenues. I believe a small portion of revenue sharing also comes from the CBT taxes but I doubt this amount would be large enough to motivate the small markets to go vote against a higher threshold
I believe that the “Gang of Four” voted against the last offer since they are afraid of competitive advantages from the Skanks, Mets Doyers & Chowds (the Cubbies don’t seem committed to their spending capacity) But these 4 dissenters probably dont really receive any revenue sharing. The Angels with their TV deal may even be a payor by the time you factor in their local broadcasting & stadium revenue.
There is a slight chance that the 4 ball clubs voted against the league’s last and final offer because they knew the players wouldn’t take it and were concerned about establishing a floor that the MLBPA will negotiate off of in the future. ( I had an attorney who always advocating against giving best and final offers for this very reason) But I am also curious why this particular information leaked out after so many previous meetings resulted in basically zero ownership leaks . Was this done to send a message to the players that its not all Manfred fault and the Owners with their different factions just cannot accept a higher threshold? or is this story the result of frustrated larger markets that are pissed off that a smaller contingent of Ballclubs wouldn’t collectively offer a higher threshold?
I believe the Reds may actually be the smallest market team in the MLB…. not sure.
What all these teams have in common is, in the last few years, they have all pushed past their budget’s comfort level in payroll and seen very little gain from it. If the CBT mark goes up then teams like these have a higher risk of becoming teams that build and win only to do shit like sell off as soon as they can’t handle the salary strain any more. A higher CBT pushes all of these teams, who are in the “if we build and then spend big maybe we can go toe to toe long term with the Cubs/Dodgers/Giants” range will be pushed back down towards having to be more like the Tigers, or even the Marlins, when it comes to expensive players.
The poorer teams, like the Guardians, Royals, Brewers etc won’t make a stink cause they don’t care. They don’t push huge piles of money onto the table to try and win or keep players and they wouldn’t even if the CBT was at 170M.
Looked it up. Pittsburgh is Metropolitan Statistical Area #27, Cincinnati is #30, Kansas City is #31, and Cleveland brings up the rear (for MLB cities) at #34.
The real issue is how do these teams rank in terms of local attendance & local broadcasting revenues? This will determine whether they are revenue sharing recipient or donor as well as the magnitude of those funds.
From June 1995 to April 2001 the artists formerly known as the Indians had consecutive game home sellouts so I’m not sure MSA size is the entire story.
Very true. The whole story is pretty much impossible to dig out without the owners actually disclosing their books, which might happen in time for the heat death/proton decay of the universe.
I believe Milwaukee has the lowest TV deal in the league. They do pull a decent crowd, but that TV deal is a killer.
Yet their payroll consistently sits right about the revenue sharing take.
Sorry Dude, but the fact is, if I, of all people on this blog agree with you then you fell into the Rabbit Hole in “Alice In Wonderland”. To many souls in this online community want to pretend that we have a owner who wants to win and then in the same hypocritical breath trash Pirate’s owner Bob Nutting for being cheap. I never said we’re on the same level as the BIG 3 teams of MLB (not gonna rehash this because we all know who they are.). The Braves just won the WS 5 months ago and before them, the Washington Nationals, meanwhile the Giants won 3 between 2010-2014. These 3 teams are definitely in the same financial stratosphere as we are……..can’t help it if the 75 yr old rich guy doesn’t wanna win. If we’re gonna trash Bob Nutting for not having the TB Rays or Oakland A’s in western PA, then we have to do the same with why aren’t we as good as the Giants?
Wait. What is the why that we have to do the same with why aren’t we as good as the Giants? Dean Chance? Farhan Zaidi? Done for today? Bye?
Jackson Mahomes?
Considering the team has won one championship in over 60 years of existing, you sure do have some high expectations on them winning championships.
Seems like an odd stance for a team that doesn’t ever go up to the threshold anyway – unless his payroll number is based on x% of the CBT level which I suppose could be possible.
Without a raised floor a higher CBT will create more imbalance. Raising the CBT to $265 mil means the dodgers and skanks will spend more and the pirates will still pay as little as possible. Arte will still spend $180 mil and we’ll fall further behind in relative payroll.
Exactly, which is why the players cries of competitive imbalance are hollow. they say they want balance but they also want to reduce revenue sharing and increase the CBT, which will simply create more imbalance.
He would spend even less if he could. Remember Donald Sterling always had plenty of cap space even though he was always way wealthier than Jerry Buss.
Sorry CTPG, but I won’t trash Bob Nutting just to deflect criticism away from our own owner.
 😡  😡 
He could have spent less. We all know that. Did he ‘need’ to drop 35+M on Mike Trout? Did he ‘need’ to sign Rendon?
You can quibble about how he spent money, but it hard to argue he hasn’t spent.
You can pimp him out as your new hot button go to, one steaming train of thought at a time, groaned and grunted, all 45 IQ points focused like a laser, autism speaks and it hates Arte muse of the moment but Bob Nutting’s not any more likely to return your DMs and end up in your twin racecar bed under the glow in the dark stars on your bedroom ceiling than Zaidi, Hader, Alonso or Freidman were.
What ever Arte did to you, you should just accept it happened because Arte’s just plain a better and more important person than you are and move on to a career moderating a Sub-Reddit somewhere in the stained white undershirt corner of the interwebs.
Are you ever done for the day? Can you say Bye?
Not if you don’t want other teams to spend more than you do.
If he actually cared about the team being competitive, he should be welcoming a luxury tax increase. But of course, he’s a cheapskate.
I blame Andrew.
I blame the strippers.
I blame Boras
This is all Boras
Boras is all this.
All Boras this is