The Angels outrighted Dillon Thomas who has the right to refuse the assignment and elect free agency. Here is the shopping list of high priced free agents we could acquire and then regret this off season. At least we don’t have to regret Logan O’Hoppe for the time being. Fangraphs ranks him the fifth best prospect traded at the deadline.
Magneuris Sierra chipped in with extra inning heroics yesterday with both an RBI single and an RBI double. I guess we don’t have to regret him either.
The Athletics designated Jed Lowrie for assignment. The St. Louis Cardinals just designated T.J. McFarland for assignment. The Mariners just optioned both Brennan Bernardino and Kyle Lewis to triple A Tacoma to make room for Dylan Moore and Diego Castillo.
The Detroit Tigers fired their General Manager Al Avila. Assistant General Manager Sam Menzin will take over for the time being.
It looks like Angel Hernandez umpires little league games too.
As one might expect, the Defendant in Trevor Bauer’s defamation lawsuit filed a Cross-Complaint for sexual battery against Bauer.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Meanwhile , in Alabama…
O’Hoppe homered again, Neto went 3 for 5, the Thicc King went 1 for 4 as the Trash Pandas won 3-1. Ky Bush with the start.
Also Luke Murphy got his10th Hold and Eric Torres notched his 15th save while lowering his ERA to 1.50 so I think bullpen help is on the way
Sounds like Borass has ordered his lap eunuch to start licking Ohtani boots hoping he leaves CAA.
Yes it does. Consider the source. Now I understand. It’s all Ohtani’s fault. Ok….
Sam Blum with a O’Hoppe interview at The Athletic:
what he said about his impression of the Trash Pandas pitchers and his general impression of the club is outstanding:
I’ve been blown away with the staff and the team itself. As far as the pitching staff, I’m blown away with how convicted they are in every pitch and how good they are at executing that pitch as well. It makes it fun behind the plate. You have so many different options. It’s fun when you know that the guy on the mound can dominate whoever’s in the box. It’s a feeling that I can’t get enough of. And I’m really happy to be working with these guys.
Send the Pandas up and the varsity down for the rest of the year, and let’s see what happens.
It just proves that the coaching assets and prime instruction in this organization is happening down on the farm and not in Anaheim. I believe that scouting and player development is more of Perry’s forte than any of his predecessors.
Free agent signings are not a strength.
Well…. most of us gave him credit for signing Iggy, Loup, and Tepera. Our bullpen has been the big issue in the prior few years. We rarely held a lead, and had lots of blown saves. Perry signed these 3, and we all figured “sweet, finally a solid bullpen”. No one could have predicted all 3 would melt down.
So I give Perry the credit of actually doing what seemed humanly possible to really address a major need we had, with FA signings.
Thor….I’m meh on that signing. Not terrible, not the best.
I think if those bullpen dudes performed like they all had for years, we would not be saying Perry’s free agent signings sucked.
and recognizing deficiencies
How did Arte get this guy to give himself to the lie so completely so fast? Could it be that O’Hoppe is….. evil?
The little league umpire calling balls as strikes is par for the course in little league. I have seen pitches at the outside edge of the opposite batters box called as strikes. This especially happens in the single A through triple A divisions. It is supposed to tighten up to a true strike zone in the majors, which it does to some extent, but still there are some really bad calls.
Um, just a note of incredible importance, Avila was VICE PRESIDENT and GM. Sam Menzin is VP Assistant GM. So totally different than just a GM and AGM, but not as powerful as a POBO, who in turn is apparently not as powerful and capable of literally blinking the marketing dept out of existence the way a Chief Baseball Officer can. Though, obviously, we all understand that none of them are as powerful as a Level 4 Mage or a Dark Lord of the Yellow Glooming.
I thought Sam Menzin is VP Assistant TO the GM?
Oh yeah. So he’s not really even at wizard level. More like an Oracle of the Limpid Forest type power level. He can silence a standard marketing analyst, but nothing at management level, and the team owner can literally sleep in his bed next to him if he wants to.
Fun fact, I learned AJ Preller is a POBO, but he just has GM responsibilities. He probably gets paid more than a gm though and has a sexier title.
Does Verlander make sense? It will again be a short term contract for high AAV. And maybe bring back Lorenzen?
Verlander
Ohtani
Sandoval
Detmers
Suarez
Lorenzen
(Barria)
Toussaint
Davidson
Canning
I think we still have money left over for a SS at that point.
Signing Verlander makes as much sense as the Rangers signing a 42 year old Nolan Ryan in 1989. That turned out to be a stoopid move by them.
Plus, I hate the guy. He doesn’t have that humble, chill attitude that is the Angel way. He seems to be kind of a dick. So, as good as he is I don’t think I could bring myself to root for him.
Pass.
Doesn’t this team need more dick?
Especially one that goes deep… into games.
St. Jered Weaver, holy father of dickish gritty pitchers says hello!
Difference is that Weaver was tough, but I would not call him a dick.
The pompous factor is what makes Verlander a dick. Weaver was not pompous. Lackey on the other hand did have that dick factor, I think.
He did after he left for the greener pastures of Boston.
Weaver was a total dick. He was just our dick. Just cause a guy wears flip flops a lot doesn’t mean he’s not a dick and all dicks are pompous. Weaver was easily as hateable as Verlander if you weren’t an angels fan.
I can second this. I’ve met him, and he was a dick… just our dick. Seatlle hated him. Just ask Seager!!
Its all about the laundry. A dick in our laundry is tough and a gamer. A dick in another team’s laundry is….well….a dick or a douche. Until he is a free agent and wears Angel laundry and then all his doucheyness is forgiven and he is gritty!
Ex: Ian Kinsler
Exactly. There is some seriously big dick out there in the baseball world that I think we’d love to have in our lives.I mean just look how thirsty for Mad Max so many guys were around here last year.
I have zero hope that Canning will be healthy enough to play next season. He and Rodriguez seem to get injured simply by breathing.
Next point: any pitching staff that has Tucker Davidson in a prominent role is not going to win many games. I’m sure Tucker is a good guy, and loves his mama. Loves Jesus and America, too. He’s a good guy, who’s crazy ’bout Elvis. Loves horses, and his girlfriend too.
It’s fun to play “rosterbation”, but let’s get real. Verlander has earned nearly $318M during his career – not counting endorsements. What would possess Verlander to sign with the Angels? He’s 39 – who really believes he wants to spend his last seasons in MLB losing?
I think Davidson can be serviceable…. he’s not a sure thing, say a Casey Mize or Shane Baz or Forest Whitley, but he could become a mid-rotation arm. If he was total garbage he wouldn’t have been their #5 prospect (I know, in a depleted system, but still) and he wouldn’t have pitched in the WS. He’s also, at least on paper, low maintenance. His mechanics and pitch mix aren’t volatile. I kind of lump him into the Reid Detmers genus of pitchers. We could do worse.
And Toukie…. I gotta love the autohate on that get. We got a guy who, as a prospect, hits the high 90s with his fastball and had arguably the best curve in the MiLB, with an actual solid changeup, as of 2019, who was pretty new to pitching when he was drafted and has failed, thus far, by basically being wild within the strike zone, getting hit and then chickening out and walking guys. So basically being young and not “trusting his stuff”.
But, if the change of scenery, a little coaching (he’s a prospect Perry knew), and the fact that he’s had about 170 MLB innings actually gets him to click he’s gonna be really good and we got him for nothing.
Well Davidson trusted his stuff real well with that grand salami meat pitch he served up to Jesse Wanker.
I would have had way more respect for him if he just drilled that douche.
“I saw one pitch…. so now we know….”
I actually saw 91 pitches and it wasn’t good.
I was driving on the 91 and it wasn’t good.
What if Ohtani gets traded?
Actually, one thing to consider, and it’s not a “hey, if we trade Ohtani then it’s actually good news!” type thing, but we have Upton’s money coming off the books. Ohtani was gonna get all of that in arbitration this off season. With no Thor and no Ohtani/Upton sized pay out on the books we could actually sign some pitching (not a hot ace, but solid) and a SS.
And no, Donkey, I’m not saying this WILL work, I’m saying it COULD work.
I don’t think Verlander would sign here unless they paid way over market rate for him, and then maybe he still wouldn’t. Once Aybar bunted on him, that sealed his Angels hate.
I don’t think he’d sign here because why would he? Idon’t think he gives two shits about Erci Aybar having been on the team. If we were a contender and offered him a big pile of money he’d be interested.
I’m pretty sure he got over the Aybar debacle like a mature person. Plus, he makes more than Aybar ever could.
Plus Kate.
Maybe he signs here so Kate can make the connections to be star in hollywood movies
Sure already is in my book.
I think Kate gets pretty much all the connections she wants where ever she lives.
You think, I’m pretty sure she does
That too
im not as worried about our Pitching as I am our SS situation and overall line-up right now.
sign Turner and Judge first
Arte has the money – he’s just needs to go all-in for once – sign Verlander too.
Gene had bigger cajones – for 1977, he went out and got Rudi, Grich, and Baylor
Arte needs to be like Gene – go spend some money on baseball players.
Sure, as long as he spends as much as Big Ball Gene did on Rudi/Baylor/Gritch we’ll be fine.
Also…. don’t actually state out loud in type that our pitching may be OK! The gods may hear that!
Arte had bigger ones back in 2003 when he was cutting beer prices and signing Vladdy and Colon.
I agree, but would add bullpen to our list of serious problems.
The problem is that with the exception of a few unavailable — or insanely expensive — arms, bullpen signings are a crapshoot.
“Here is the shopping list of high priced free agents we could acquire and then regret this off season”
Just because we know what will eventually happen doesn’t mean you have to stab us and twist the knife in us knowing the eventual outcome down the road.
“Stab us and twist the knife“? Not true. This will once again be self inflicted just like Harry Caray.
I guess you are right, if you listened to Harry Caray, that’s on you.
I can see it now.
Angels are in on DeGrom. While the DeGrom bidding is ongoing, teams sign other pitchers like Rodon and Diaz. Angels get outbid on DeGrom and Moreno authorizes a huge contract for Trea Turner.
CtPG is torn. Some fans point out how much money we have tied into Trout/Turner/Rendon with no pitching. Others point out how Turner has been a consistent quality player at a position of need and how good Rendon/Turner/Fletcher could be.
Naturally, Turner gets injured in spring training and returns mid-May, when the Angels are floating 1-2 games below .500. His return sparks hope, as the team goes on a hot streak for 10 days. Then Rendon goes off to the DL, followed a week later by Fletcher and a month later by Trout.
Sounds like par for the course.
But as usual we will not sign any really good FA starting pitcher. Though, I must admit, this is one area I am unusually optimistic about. With the return of good Detmers and the rise of both Suarez and Barria I am starting to think we could have a decent rotation… Of course with Ohtani probably leaving or being traded we will still need an ace, so the DeGrom pursuit would make sense…
Oh sweet baby Jesus in your ghost manger in the sky PLEASE DON’T LET ARTE SIGN De GROM! The guy’s already cheap crystal. If he signs with the Angels I wouldn’t let anyone else ever fly on a plane with that guy…. or let him eat solid food for fear of choking to death.
For the first time in a while, it feels like we have a lot of pitching depth (potentially for 2023). The tough part might end trying to pick the best accurately with small sample sizes. All the Touki’s and Silseth’s of this year on top of the Bachman’s and Joyce’s in minor leagues. Spring training will be interesting.
Yes, we still could use another starter – but it’s shocking how our needs seem to have shifted from pitching, pitching, pitching…to “well, we could really use a few bats.”
I still say pitching. Always pitching. MOAR pitching. Even the Yankees needed MOAR.
Sounds like exactly what will happen.
That or we finally nab the ace we so desperately need but DeGrom gets hurt signing the contract and we still lack a shortstop, an outfielder, and a bullpen.
If it’s a pitcher, I would go after Rodon.
Rodon’s going on almost a year of being healthy…. which is like a bomb that stats humming….
Yes, this show has been in syndication for years. News Flash: the ending is Arte makes a metric-shit-ton of money, the players make a ton of money, and everyone else pays the bills.
Boooo hoooo rich people.
I’m not a communist, I’m just lamenting the “Arte Cycle” of the Angels.
I want them to pay more tax than me.
Most of them do.
TrAdition.
He’s going to lose his speed early in on the contract, and I don’t think we should overpay again for a player in the 30s on an 8-10 year contract.
We need to avoid that list for at least 1, probably 2 of our clear needs.
Shortstop: there are way more big market teams needing one than are available.
Pitching: Degrom will get hurt signing his contract here. Probably the same with Rodon.
Outfield: Not many on that list I’d like to see here anyway
Obviously trading Ohtani would fill at least 1 if not 2 of those needs. For example my May/Miller/Lux/Pages package from the Dodgers fills all three.
I’m going to be doing a couple of pieces on unorthodox ways to fill a couple as well.
You can’t trade Ohtani unless you get PROVEN Major League talent back in return. Further, now that Rengifo and Fletch both appear to be options to share the 2B/SS duties we don’t really need Lux. Yes, a defensve upgrade at SS who could hit would be great, but we could live with Fletch at SS and Renny at 2B if our bullpen and starting rotation were solid…
What we really need for 2023 is for our established players to stay healthy and produce, and then up and comers like Walsh and Ward to do the same. The offensive talent is basically now there if it stays healthy and produces. Of course for us those are big “IF’s.”
You can’t tell PTP what to do. He can trade Ohtani for Kyrie Irving if he wants to. We can’t stop him.
We aren’t getting a bunch of PROVEN MLB talent back in a trade for a guy that’s gonna cost 45M in 2024. Where are all these trades you’re thinking of where several PROVEN MLB players, who are NOT getting paid a ton, are traded for a single star player? Are they back in 1983? I can’t think of many recent ones.
The nail you punched in with a single blow is the HEALTH issue. If we could just trade Ohtani for three years of guaranteed health and a #4 starter I’d be happy.
Since you mention Kyrie Irving I will go ahead and mention Kevin Durant (same team). How anxious have the Nets been to trade him for draft picks and secondary talent they have been offered? Answer: they’re not! That is because you don’t trade a top 5 talent like that for stiffs. Both Ohtani and Durant are Top 5 (probably Top 3) in their respective sports. Yes, Ohtani does only have one year left of his current deal, BUT it still does not make sense to trade him for prospects… especially not to the Dodgers who make a living ripping off other teams by taking their stars for lame “prospects.”
It is what happened with Betts AND it is what happened with the Scherzer/Turner trade. Josiah Gray was supposed to be this sure thing future SP star and he has turned out to be nothing but CRAP for Washington. This is what happens when you trade superstar talent for prospects.
No thanks. I will keep Ohtani for 2023 and do my best to make the playoffs next year with him as my Ace. And if he walks the next off-season, so be it.. I will not trade him for another Josiah Gray and his 5.60 FIP.
This makes your team worse rather than simply not making it better !
So you honestly think that the Scherzer trade…. or the Soto trade…. is about what happens within twelve months of said trade?
And you think having Ohtani in 2023 gets us into the playoffs?
And, I’m guessing here, Ohtani will then want to stay here because we made the play offs? And it will thus be a good idea to pay the man?
I’m also curious. If Josiah Gray is a “lame” prospect, what qualifies as not lame? Especially in return for a rental trade.
Actually, I DO think with Ohtani in our rotation and as a regular hitter in the top third of our batting order we have a good shot at the playoffs. That 14 game losing streak was really a fluke that was due to a combination of bad luck, untimely injuries, being screwed on replay reviews and an unexpected bullpen collapse. If we had even gone 7-7 in that stretch (could have happened considering the number of 1 or 2 run losses in that period) we are still in the Wild Card hunt and all this Ohtani leaving talk is very different.
Really, for us staying healthy is the key. This is why I have been complaining about our crappy S & C team for some time now. That and in the larger picture Arte’s unwillingness to invest in the organizational infrastructure are the key issues right now.
And you think Arte will do that next offseason? How many seasons of they just have to get healthy again are you going to anticipate? Another year of hope and faith right Jackie?
Actually, this brings up another mystery of the Angels universe that I have yet to see any actual info on….
What’s the big negative difference between the Angel’s strength and conditioning crew and other teams?
Does anyone know?
And yes, there is such thing as a stupid answer, like “Hurr Durr players get hurt but hurr dee durr players no.”
But what corners are being cut? Do we just throw holy water on injured players? Did all of our PTs go to real schools or train online? Has anyone actually come out and said anything about this, or are we all just shitting out our mouths? What are we doing different (other than sucking ass at press releases)?
Because this current crap result is from a group of trainers that are actually our third (I think?) iteration of an S&C staff over the last few years.
Well, in addition to PT and recovery a big part of the job is helping players to avoid injuries. It is PREVENTATIVE exercises and practices that are key.
So, sorry, but I am going to give the obvious answer here, mainly because it is true. If alot of players are getting injured it means they are not doing their jobs. Or they are not doing a good job. Period.
Can’t get any simpler than that.
So…. “I don’t actually know anything. But the thing that they are doing wrong is obviously the job. Perhaps these athletes all stopped stretching after they became professionals. Period.”
That cleared it up.
Oh, I guess you are right they are doing a fantastic job !!
I was going to say, didn’t they hire a new trainer? Frostad is pretty new, yet there are still injuries. I guess we need to find another athletic trainer for next season, maybe the new one will use stimpaks on the players so they heal quickly.
Dude, they use stimpaks on ME when I’m hurt. I’m sure they’ve got to have the…. in addition to a sack of dirt that they rub on the injury.
Yeah. This is Frostad’s first year.
I sure hope we don’t do what you are saying.
I cringe when I read the ideas about trading Ohtani for other MLB players.
Ohtani is the most valuable player in the sport, no question (and I’m not talking about just stats, I’m talking about Marketing too, which easily puts him over the top).
There is no way a team will trade for Ohtani, and give us that much value directly from the 26 dudes they have playing on their field each night.
However, they might give us a boatload of top prospects (see Soto) that could make a huge difference in our future.
I think we should be aiming for 2024. Trade Ohtani now. Enough with the “but we have Trout” crap. We’ve had Trout for 10 years, and look where that got us. Do what is best for the team. Not an obsession with Trout must be in the playoffs.
Trust me, the gaslighting is getting tiresome as well. I want to watch Ohtani play in the playoffs, he won’t here. I rather they take the risk then hope and pray once again Trout and Rendon will stay healthy or muh 24-13.
The catcher may turn out to be a .240 hitting stiff, too.
Hey if he hits .240 it would be better then what we have playing the position for us now.
We could all die tonight.
The fact that the FA market sucks is actually another minor plus when it comes to trading Ohtani.
Deep inside my warmest, fuzziest dreams PTP has scouts out there right now looking at the young, cost controlled talent on various “Ohtani Appropriate” teams and their MiLB systems…. hatching a plan to pull of a Chris Archer type haul.
Sadly, they are probably just watching games online like me.
Ohtani’s great, but he occupies DH and guys like Trout and Rendon need time there.
Yup. I think the Ohtani/Nelson Cruz era may be the last with dedicated DHs.
I think the best thing about the Angel’s analytics is how great they are at identifying that special free agent who is on the downside of their career and will often get injured. Pretty much they nail it 100% of the time. In fact, can you think of that big free agent signing that wasn’t a loser… in the last ten years?
TBH, CJ actually gave us decent value the first three years….
We have the Goose wasting at bats.
Might as well bring back the Plumber and see if he can turn things around.
How about that McKinnon guy? I heard he’s pretty good with the glove and can hit left-handers.
Great idea, I like it. Oops I forgot that Perry DFA’d him and now he is I believe with the A’s
It’s entertainment at it’s finest to watch Perry collect as many sub-.200 hitting players for the starting nine. He’s got to be spending some real time finding these guys – most of them I’ve never heard of before. What’s ironic is that his efforts are paying off, games are being won, and our draft position is getting worse.
All you can do is laugh at this point.
He’s got to be spending some real time finding these guys – most of them I’ve never heard of before.
This guy is dead
Then cross him off the list
At the end of the season Arte will move the team to Las Vegas and replace everyone with new players
That will be awesome. The fanbase in Las Vegas will be all happy and excited. their lack of sad sack will lead to a WS win the first couple years. PLUS! Lazy rivers.
Mostly likely no Indian burial ground under the stadium, maybe a few wise guys buried in Vegas
Much better.
I was watching Wednesday’s game, and I was wondering why Walsh didn’t start… The A’ss had put a lefty on the mound.