LA Angels Tuesday News Crash: In Bunches

Trading Ohtani is taking the easy way out. More importantly, it is the wrong way. If you look at Ohtani as a pitcher first, would you trade one of your top 2 pitchers? Don’t think so. And I believe Shohei will recover and return to his dominant pitching form. You don’t trade top pitching.

Second, if you look at winning franchises they have something in common. What is it? Well, take a look at the Giants. What they and a few other teams (SF it is the best example) are able to do, is that they bring in discarded players and pieces and turn them into very productive players or in some cases stars. This has to do with knowledge, coaching, insight into what players still have gas in the tank, but most importantly it is culture.

The Giants have a winning culture that helps marginalized players to thrive, in many cases recovering a prior high level of performance or even to reach new heights.

For the Angels to improve it does not take trading Ohtani, (creating a huge new hole to fill a prior one is not good strategy), but rather to make 2-4 signings or acquisitions where average players become very good and/or good players become great. That is the best way for the Angels to take the next step. This has to do with having a great POBO who can recognize who to target and it takes the coaching staff to get that out of him.

Trading Ohtani will not give us that POBO and it will not turn our pumpkin coaches into Golden Chariots. In short, the answer is to put the right baseball minds in the important positions (Maddon was one, but alas he is now gone).

And yes, this does take us back to the spot most people thought we would end up : Arte. He is the blockage in our pipes that is preventing the waters of winning from flowing.

Asteroid or Y2K?

Yep. Right now the Angels are built like a Wizard’s tower – nothing but a spiral staircase leading to one-room at the top.

If Moreno wants to win, he can either spend on free agents to turn the tower into the Space Needle with a star in every position at the top, or he can spend on scouting, development and operations to build a pyramid with lots of depth.

Unfortunately, Moreno doesn’t like the idea of going over the cap or of spending on non-marketable assets like operations that don’t provide an immediate return, which is why the Angels have been a revolving door of hope and disappointment for a decade.

Okay –

Padres get Ohtani, Adell and Rengifo

Angels get Cronenworth (SS), Gore (SP) and Hassell (OF – stud prospect).

Slight overpay by Pads but they get the reigning MVP to go with their already loaded team. By the way their farm system is a wow!

Ohtani will be a YANKEE, ASTRO, OR RED SOX next year.
Wants to win, hit and make at least $28M a year.

I really think that is what Fletcher is, a very good utility player. That’s not a knock, he’s the sort of guy every team needs to fill that utility role. You might can make a case for him as an everyday 2B, but he’s not a starting SS.

I didn’t mean Fletcher. I forgot he started at SS. Amend that to started the season with their 2B playing SS and a util player at 2B.

Grandpa, BTW Howie Kendrick would like to have a word with you.

Relative to Fletcher, A utility player can still be an Allstar and potential gold glover. Look at Chone Figgins or Ben Zobrist for examples. The problem with Fletcher is his bat which had gotten to the point that all he was doing was playing pepper with the shallow right fielder. Thats why I am extremely hopeful that this was just a detrimental by product of his sports hernia.

From what I’ve read about analysis of his defense, he is a passable (average or slightly below) fielder for SS, and a good 2B. (Which is why I was shaking my head privately at all the calls to make Fletch our main SS and sign a 2B.) We need strong defense (see 2021).
But even more recently I’ve read various analysis of Fletch’s offense and it isn’t as strong as it was a few years back. I remember back when it seemed he always got a hit, lots of them clutch, and lots of these crazy over the head hits that made him look like a master. But that ebbed a lot, and he shows very little power. So I can kind of understand how people might classify him as more of a utility guy.
If he can come back to his peak form at 2B, I’m happy to change my view and celebrate.

This is not a bad idea as long as we understand that half of those guys will wash out.

Don’t forget how he fooled us by passing on “that Hollywood stuff” that had us all steamy and moist while knob-slobbing one another, because it is written (somewhere in the book of “Bro”, I think after the backward fitted cap requirement) you MUST hate the Dodgers to be an Angel fan.

They’ve done the fingers crossed thing for way too long. I don’t agree that you have to trade Ward and Walsh.

I can’t wrap my head around the idea that what I’m seeing from this lineup is an improvement. Records (results based analysis) are often misleading.

No prob. I just assumed I screwed something up.

You might be right 26. Count me in on a challenge bracket.

I remember “Yes We Can.” Fregosi brought us in 2nd in 78..

Tootytoo wins hands down.

Yeswecan used to be a member back at the old stomping grounds