What a week for the Angels organization. On the field it was really good up and down the ladder. Off the field, well, this is still Arte Moreno’s team.
First let’s get to the good stuff. The Angels are playing solid baseball and came within a Jose Quijada meltdown of sweeping the Tigers.
The walk off bunt on Tuesday night was a thing of beauty and had baseball fans everywhere in awe. Really one of my favorite plays of the year.
Of course, the biggest news here will center around Ohtani.
In the land of the ludicrous, take a look at this. I didn’t think this was even possible.
Shohei is in the running for both the MVP and the AL Cy Young Award. While he’s not the betting line favorite for either, FanGraphs takes a look at just what a unicorn he is.
I’d think Ohtani would be a slam dunk for MVP, but he’s going against a guy from New York who is also having an incredible season. In New York.
Just to remind you he’s back, Mike Trout has been torrid and is riding a 4 game home run streak.
Hopefully his fantasy football pool runs a little smoother this year.
Let’s get to the good stuff around the organization.
Yes, our affiliate out in the desert laid down an absolute beat down on Visalia to clinch the second half title in the California League. Anyone down to head out to a playoff game in the IE?
Want to know some of the player stories out there? Catch my interview with Steve Wendt here.
There’s almost too much good news out of Rocket City to fit in one links piece.
First there was the no hitter over the weekend. Get familiar with all three names there. One has been in Anaheim, the other two will follow shortly.
They finished the weekend off with another home win pushing their overall record to 75-51 with a ridiculous 45-18 at home.
And they kept on rolling. On Tuesday O’Hoppe cracked a 424 foot three run bomb to lead the team to a win against the second best team in the Southern League.
And then there was this highlight on Wednesday.
While I generally like to spread out the twitter links, this is my 2020 draftee crush Luke Murphy on a promo for a playoff game.
That makes two squads heading to the playoffs; one of them an absolutely stacked AA team with a tantalizingly good bullpen and one heck of a catcher. Yes, I’m dreaming pretty big on this Trash Pandas team.
And in case you missed it, catch my interview with their manager Andy Schatzley.
And now for something completely different.
The Angels are being sued in Dominican court for not fulfilling verbal agreements made with players too young to sign actual contracts. There’s nothing in that sentence that looks good.
Underage players? Check. Common in the DR, but still. We’re talking about kids who should be worried about a zit as they nervously walk into a middle school dance.
Verbal agreements apparently carry much more weight in the DR than the do here. At best, the Angels look like untrustworthy a-holes in the largest talent pool outside of the US. At worst, they are in court yet again.
If you’re keeping track that makes the Skaggs wrongful death suits, the stadium fraud investigation, and now this. Not sure if I should mention the wrongful termination suit of the guy who sold sticky icky to opposing teams.
Yet every one in Arte’s inner circle still has their cushy executive jobs.
This sale can’t come quickly enough.
From around baseball, Jesse Chavez is happy to be back “home.” Why wouldn’t he?
John Daly looks like Santa Claus and threw out a cool first pitch.
The polar opposite of the Angels, take a look at how the Dodgers built an injury proof rotation.
Meanwhile Steve Cohen’s NY Inside Traders, err Mets, have been struggling. Seinfeld thinks the cause is Tommy Trumpeter.
Here’s one that has the possibility of going political. Please don’t. One of the biggest stories in all of baseball is the MLBPA’s attempt at unionizing minor league players. FanGraphs took a look at how other industries and corporations responded to unionization of their employees and ponders what the best move for MLB might be.
I found the article to be informative and liked the comparisons between entities. That’s why I linked it. No more, no less.
Hope you survive the hot, rainy weekend. We should be back to California weather soon.
And when we get back there, let’s check out some minor league playoffs.
I posted this on the wrong thread because I have Saturday morning brain. I wanted to put it here….
Know what’s crazy? Our “blowpen” is ranked 16th in the MLB in ERA, sandwiched between the apparently also horrible pens of Cardinals and Twins, then the Brewers and Phillies. In WHIP we are 10th, with Baltimore and Toronto ahead of us and San Diego and Milwaukee behind. The entire pitching staff combined is basically 9th in the MLB behind the Mets and Cleveland and ahead of Baltimore and St Louis.
So if you’ve been wondering why Matt Wise still has a job, this is likely why.
This also gives me a little more hope for the near future than I had. Why? Our team OPS is 5th worst in baseball. It sits at about .677 now. The Indians are at 690, the Orioles 694, The Rays 696, the Mariners 700, the Padres 700. The Dodgers are the best at .788.
It’s much much more likely that a team can compete if their pitching is fairly strong and their offense is weak than it is if their pitching is below average and their offense is strong. Do most of the competitive teams have both? Yes. Of the top 10 offenses only Boston is a lame duck with bad pitching. But 3 of the bottom 10 offenses in baseball are in the play off hunt with three weeks to go.
On top of that, I won’t go into it too deeply, it looks like it’s easier to buy or just improve an offense by 25 points of OPS than it is to raise the level of a pitching staff. Basically, if we had the Rendon we had early season and Rengifo/Fletcher with Squid on the bench we’d just about be there. Stassi and Walsh could still have their down years, Trout can trAdition and miss 1/3 of the year, we’d still be pretty close.
But as the roster sits now it’s far less hopeless than say the 2017-18 teams, which is how I kind of saw them.
It also makes me more comfortable, though still uncomfortable, with the idea of paying Ohtani. His offense is nice and all, but replaceable. His pitching though… that’s tougher. And we actually have a solid staff with him now, which means we don’t need to sign 5 pitchers to compete, which is the way I always feel. We still can’t really afford Shohei, but it’s not as dire a cost as I thought at first because we don’t really have multiple expensive needs.
John DeLorean BTW
I’d really….really……really love for Mr You Know Who to end up being this guy 2.0 40 yrs later. If the late great radio sports talk show “The Big Nasty Joe McDonnell” was still alive he’d absolutely bury him everyday just as he did Donald T Sterling.
Is that Carlos Montalban’s brother?
Ricardo’s Brother.
I keep looking for any sign of “soft Corinthian Leather” in that photo to help seal the identity.
MLB is recognizing MLBPA-MILB union? That’s wild, I thought there was no chance they’d do that without calling fir a Nat Labor Board vote.
A Public Bulletin from The Steven A Smith Institute for Dumbshits :
PEOPLE OF CtPG. THERE IS A THING CALLED THE INTERNET. ON THIS NET ARE SITES CALLED FANGRAPHS AND BASEBALL REFERNCE, YOU CAN ACTUALLY LOOK UP THE THINGS YOU ARE GOING TO TYPE BEFORE YOU TYPE THEM ON THERE AND SEE IF YOU ARE TOTALLY FULL OF BOX WINE FEELINGS AND BULLSHIT OR NOT. IT’S FREE.
ALSO, IN AN EFFORT TO HELP YOU LOOK LESS LIKE A STUPID HOMER, PLEASE BE AWARE THAT OPS+ FACTORS IN BALLPARKS.
WE ARE JUST SAYIN. AND WE HOPE YOU SAY LESS.
Generalisimo Franco is also still dead.
Thank me. I’ll have a nice day.
Funny stuff. Pot calling the kettle black sort of humor, which is always appreciated!!
Maybe we can have a CtPG mathematics/statistics course or vote of sorts to see which variable is more important than others!! Maybe you can combine the two (a statistic of OPS, WAR) and why you think that’s a more important factor than another. There’s also a crowd of us that go to games, taking score or not. Let’s take HR for example. Is there a stat that says which HR are “actually” HRs…. Like not vs a position player, scrub AAA player, when the score is 6+ runs in either teams favor… does a solo HR from really matter)?
Lots of maybes. Im not trying to be an asshole, it’s already been admitted, but it’s difficult to tell when you’re being /s, trying to engage in a baseball related convo, or whatever else your hurr dee hurr hurr stuff is 🙂
Mostly Hurr dee durr…. although, in the case of WAR and OPS+ and WRC+ and ERA+ there are really good reasons a bunch of nerds from schools I can’t afford with brains that shine out their nostrils developed those stats. Add that to the fact that said nerds often times also go to games and watch them with their eyes and stuff.
But the above comment isn’t an invitation to conversation. I’m saying “Hey you idiots, it takes 3 seconds to look a guy up on bref. why not do that more often and say less stupid shit?” Discuss? 🙄
We’re not a bunch of Red Sux fans here people….
No stat specific to HRs, but some of what you described is captured by WPA (win-percentage added). WPA won’t tell you if a home run was hit off a position player or scrub, but it will differentiate between a solo shot with a 6-run gap and a 3-run go-ahead HR.
Nerds… they find a way to squiggle something for everything.
Check with Blast21Dave. He used to teach statistics at the college level.
🔥
Hey hey hey! Box wine feelings are tooootally valid baseball commentary!
Especially when stated as such!
What you boys do in the privacy of your homes is your business. 😂
Stats R4 losers trying to hide their team/players inability to win.
Ah… so that’s why……
Aguilar and Toussaint are gone to make room for Lorenzen and Moniak. Toussaint was merely optioned, so he could be back. We’ll see what happens to Aguilar on the waiver wire.
Moniak is a bust
Is he Perry’s version of Kevin Maitain who was Eppler’s Rule 5 joke
Maitan not a rule 5 pick
You’re right he’s a great player too for us.
BTW 59-78………………Yep, they’re getting better, right?
7 straight Sunshine…
I’m all in favor of the MLB changes that were just voted on *unpopular opinion*
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/34556355/major-league-baseball-passes-significant-rules-changes-including-pitch-clock-banning-defensive-shifts
Shifts – Yes. Big bases – Yes. Pitch timer will prove to be an absolute nightmare due to the inclusion of pickoff attempts. Will be a complete mess and will disappear before mid-season.
It seems to work in the MiLB…. where they do indeed have pick off attempts.
I’m a big fan of pitch clock with the bases empty. With runners on I like the pitcher to have the ability to hold the runners. With a clock, it will be easy to get a jump.
That said, I love me some stolen bases so it might lead to more action on the basepaths.
I’d rather try all the clock we can get and then, if it’s a problem, we fix some details.
🙋🏼♂️ For angels playoff baseball (of any sort!). Great links, tons of info packed in as usual.
Thanks.
This organization is just so bipolar right now. Trash Pandas are a joy, 66ers are a ton of fun, other three levels struggle on the field.
Trout has a higher batting average but is about 27 at-bats short of qualifying. So, essentially, this chart is dominated by Ohtani and Squid.
Once Trout reaches the qualifying at-bats, he will overtake Ohtani in Avg, OBP, Slugging, and I am predicting he surpasses him in Home Runs. If I was Trout, I would be very motivated to remind everyone who Mike bleeping Trout is in the remaining games.
Hi Jess
And he would do accomplish it with 160ish fewer plate appearances!
I looked up career WAR and Trout is now 62nd all-time with 80.9. Griffey Jr. isn’t too far ahead at 83 or so but Trout has gotten this close in 5300 fewer plate appearances
Amazing statistics. Just think if Trout had played the majority of games 2019-2022. And if no Covid shortened season.
Imagine if we had 4 or 5 other very good players with him. 2 SP’s a closer (Josh Hader) a Austin Riley……
💪 💪 💪 💪
You’re wrong and very enthusiastic about it. Your statements are often very similar to someone who one might think is not very smart in the traditional sense…. the sense that pretty much measures how well your mind does it’s job.
“I suck this year. Look.”
But that’s the point. He didn’t. I never knew fish were made of glass.
I am excited particularly about the Trash Pandas who I think are loaded with talent. If a few of those players pan out like they might – that would go a long way to improve this team.
Speaking of this team – Im sorry, I just cant get too excited about taking 2 of 3 from Detroit. And that easily could have been 1 of 3 without the comeback. So, for all my optimism about the Trash Pandas, I agree with Jeff that the sale of the Angels cannot come soon enough for me. The lawsuits and legal battles are just the shit icing on the crap cake.
As for Ohtani, I believe he should be MVP, but am also okay with Judge winning it for his fantastic season. Either decision is justifiable. Judge is having a more classic MVP type season with dominant offensive statistics. But I will continue to say what we have witnessed over the last two seasons from Ohtani may never be seen again. Its almost like there should be another category for any player that can hit 30 HR and win 10+ games on the mound. Its truly mind blowing.
Ultimately, I am looking forward to the season winding down and the sale taking center stage. I realize that with any change, there is the chance things will get worse. But I think if the team can be moved to more of a baseball operation than a marketing operation – things will improve – particularly with some young talent at both AA and AAA.
When ever I feel sad, or frustrated, or dead inside, I think about how someday in the not too distant future Kuhl and Carpino will be hardening their arteries somewhere else and, when they die, it won’t mean a thing to me.
And I smile.
That is a perfect statement of where I am as well.
Here we are getting amped up over a AA team (shhhhh…..a long way away), A few years ago either over at HH or the beginning of this one we had Jo Adell, Brandon Marsh, and Griffin Canning (can he even lift a pencil?) and yet we’re gonna have #7 consecutive losing season.
syphilis bro.
Might have the wrong Yankee (Babe Ruth was rumored to be a out of control womanizer)
Plus we had Tony Phillips and Josh Hamilton.
So you’re a Saint Jeter lover too? What a tool.
Well worth it when you receive such a wonderful and thoughtful gift basket.
Fire is part of the rebirth of the land and our farm system….and who is Griffin Canning?
Great piece on Scott Spezio on The Athletic today. Highly recommend.
I will never forget his 2002 awesomeness!
https://theathletic.com/3578407/2022/09/09/scott-spiezio-angels-recovery/
The Owners are responsible for the reasons that there will now be Unionized Minor League Baseball and I hope it will flourish and be stronger. 🙂
In the last week having watched the Angels doing well has had everything to do with more than great Starting Pitching as Trout and Shohei have been putting on a clinic for HRs that we have always known they could do at the same time. It has been an uplifting time to see this after suffering through what for GMB and myself has been a long dreary and disappointing season.
Next season we will comeback to be contenders and we shall overcome the Moreno years with getting to the Playoffs and Troutani will lead the way.
GO ANGELS!!!!
Hire either Jeff Luhnow or Theo Epstein
Have a $200M farm system and baseball ops infrastructure.
Epstein’s under contract right now. Luhnow…. I would totally hire him. You want a FO that is very worried about looking like they cheat or sell drugs to kids? Luhnow. Wanna build the farm? Luhnow. Wanna avoid “big SPLASH”? Luhnow. Want to piss of Doyer fan? Luhnow. I’m in.
Uh thats a big no on Luhnow. Not even this organization would hire that pond scum again.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10046476-report-former-astros-gm-jeff-luhnow-deleted-cell-phone-data-amid-mlb-cheating-probe
Shohei Ohtani with go down in mind as the most complete and awesome MLB for at least two seasons back-to-back of all time. As for career, that will be decided latter. But I admit to being biased towards Shohei as he is after all an Angel. Sorry that the team is doing poorly at best, I still admire the fact that he leads the team in so many categories as a two-way player and achieving results never seen before. Therefore, I believe he is the Most Valuable Player in MLB and not just the American league for 2022.
I wonder if some of those stats only belong to Ohtani because Trout doesn’t qualify yet (SLG for example).
Ohtani is the MVP though, and Trout will finish top 5 (again again). Ohtani maybe top 3 in the Cy?
Ohtani isn’t going to win it.
Give it rest dude. PS Wins and Losses still matter not just for pitchers.
I don’t think it’s close. Hitting a lot of HRs in a tiny stadium is cool but it does match Ohtani in any way, shape or form. It would be east coast bias if Ohtani doesn’t win.
I’m no Yankmee fan nor a Judge fan and I’m DEFINITELY skewed to favor Ohtani.
BUT – take a look at Judge’s spray chart for homers. Almost NO cheapies … Angel Stadium now has a more HR prone park factor due to the yellow line.
Both Angel and Yankee stadiums favor lefties. Judge bats right handed. The dude is absolutely mashing baseballs.
He’s winning right now but that’s not to say that Shohei doesn’t have some surprise or tricks up his sleeve here down the stretch. I’m hoping that Ohtani wins, but won’t be traumatized if he doesn’t. Judge is having a historic season as well.
Lost me at comparing the two parks and HRs. NY is little league (by my eye test… a game I went to in NY ended 21-9 with the most grand slams ever in MLB). So while I know I’m in a stats based sport/site, my main point of reference is usually seeing something in person. Meaning I weigh LOBsters, clutch hits, or whatever else ‘feels/emotions’ stuff irrationally more than the sit back and collect data points crowd 🤷🏼♂️
https://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor/_/sort/HRFactor
So basically I lost you when I started typing. Funny. 😆
It’s corn 🌽
https://youtu.be/_caMQpiwiaU
THIS IS AWESOME !!
Stats and data R4 losers
Bill Parcells (You are what your record says you are) meaning if you can’t make plays when it matters thEn YOU SUCK…….
💪 💪 💪 💪
Parcells. Well, he’d know a thing or two about sucking.
He also knew a thing or two about not sucking……PS can anybody tell me where the 2020 AL Cy Young winner’s from and why we didn’t get him……
BYE!!!
💪 💪
?
Yankee stadium might be little league, but if Judge’s HR’s are 20 feet over the wall, then why would that matter?
Look here: Aaron Judge Statcast, Visuals & Advanced Metrics | MLB.com | baseballsavant.com
Scroll down to expected HRs by park and you can see Judge has hit 57 balls hard enough to be HRs in both Yankee Stadium and Angel Stadium. Of note 26 of Judge’s 55 HRs have been away, so it isn’t like he is only hitting HRs in Yankee stadium.
By comparison, Ohtani would have 36 HRs if he played exclusively in Angel stadium and only 29 in Yankee stadium.
Can’t two things be mutual exclusive? I never mentioned Judge or “judge”d his accomplishments. I’ve seen first hand him take over games. I still think yankee stadium is a little league ball park. It’s a biased opinion and a stereotype (if you will) I have of the place. Doesn’t matter if MFY have a guy with a high HR total or not. I also have preconceived notions on coors field, so when I look at our ex players (Cron, Iglesias) I take their offensive outputs as more outlier than to straight up give them whatever my ‘credit’ means.
Awesome stats link – thanks. Have really missed hittrackeronline since ESPN swallowed it up and did away with it. Was an incredible resource. This spray chart gets us close to what hittracker had. Thanks again!
NO! I am going to loudly declare that Ohtani is the MVP and that it’s a war crime if he doesn’t win the award! And don’t make me look at any candy assed statistics or facts that may challenge my chubby! Just agree with me now. And also agree with me when I comment on how much I hate it when other fan bases do this.
Fact: Judge is most likely a little better than Ohtani this year.
Can’t argue. Judge is excelling at one baseball thing. Shohei, however is by far the most complete baseball player ever seen. I would compare it to a novelty act who creates a hit song that dominates the charts vs. one who creates an incredible album of fantastic music.
Bullshit. Shohei’s fantastic and I love him. If he wins, and Yankee fan is pissed, I will savor it. But your “one hit wonder” comparison is f***ing clown honk. The “one baseball thing” that Judge is excelling at is completely outpacing Ohtani offensively while playing all 3 outfield positions well.
If he gets to 62 homers and 400 total bases, game over. He is the AL MVP. Does not mean he is better than Ohtani but splashy, long-running, rare plateau stats weight out. Just like Miggy getting the Triple Crown as Gitcho mentioned.
If 2012 could have a re-vote I’m convinced (so who tf cares lol) they’d vote Trout
Yeah, I mentioned Miggy because WE are being Tiger fans about Ohtani. Judge’s much higher WAR and OPS clearly show that he is, indeed, a better over all player than Shohei this season. The only splash involved is the tears and “bu bu Beh Roooot!” whining we are doing.
It’s a good point that Ohtani is admittedly (stats supported) a better pitcher this year than last year but not as good of a hitter. So I’d expect some of his offensive stats to be down. I’ve watched waaaaay more Ohtani than Judge and am 100% biased. If miggy got the eye test vote (with some stats that don’t matter as much anymore supporting) I’m just hoping Ohtani can too… he won’t. East coast bias and you can absolutely make the case for the NY guy.
His OVER ALL stats are very similar to last year. He’ll have about 9 WAR. It’s just that Judge is better over all. Maybe Ohtani will throw a no hitter and crush 10 HRs this week, then he’ll make up the ground.
I just don’t want to be the fan base that does the…
“Maybe….
It’s just….
Well, not necessarily….
You never know….
It’s a gray area…..
It’s hard to say…..
Who can be sure?….
It’s about intangibles….
Can you measure?….
I just won’t believe….”
Dance.
If we do I’m gonna mercilessly mock every scrub that mentions how we’re a “no bullshit” baseball site for the rest of time.
I thought this was an all BS site 🤦🏼♂️
No, that’s (insert website don’t like cause politics). Har har harr hurr durr……
I don’t think that’s a fair comparison, nor is it as clear as you say that Judge is better overall. The difficulty with Judge v Ohtani is that there is no good way to truly compare Ohtani (hitting + pitching) vs Judge (hitting + fielding).
With Trout v Miggy, there were lots of ways to compare them and the voters ignored all of the well-reasoned methods in favor of factors that were highly dependent on the performance of others, rather than those dependent on the performance of Trout and Cabrera.
You take their total WAR. You see which number is bigger. Clear comparison. Not that hard to understand unless you really don’t like what the numbers tell you. Nothing makes data and comparisons murky and difficult like when the data tells me something I didn’t want to hear.
My only quibble is that FIP based pitching WAR doesn’t give any account for fielding the pitching position. For most players, this is meaningless – but for Shohei it would take away the penalty for being the DH on days when he pitches. That might make a difference in a race when the combined WAR difference between Ohtani and Judge is just around 1 WAR.
Nothing about it going to change this year, but I think that pitching WAR, or how they combine WAR needs to still account for two-way pitching (just as the rules had to accommodate Ohtani being able to continue to DH when he pitched in the same game).
It’s the Honk factor. Just think of all the “cheater” comments if Ohtani was doing his Superman act in Seattle, Oakland, Boston, NY, or LA. it’s like being an Angel fan prevents you from recognizing talent on any other team.
Angel Stadium has always had a higher park factor, and more HR’s hit compared to “new” Yankee Stadium year after year. Either it’s a “cheaters bandbox” or not. We can all have opinions, but none of us are entitled to our own facts.
And yes, I have seen more than 4000 games 😂
I have a lot of opinions.
So you have multiple assholes too?
You seem very hostile today……..I love berating the neighbor’s Rottweiler with a broom handle at his food dish through the fence line……LOL!!!!
😆 😆
“Are you suffering from a Rottweiler Broomstick addiction? The California Wastamillion Nonsense Treatment Fund can help. Call 1 888 OWW BALS”
He has Anorectal Malformation or Imperforate Anus syndrome
Are we hitting more HR at home than on the road… are we giving up more HR at home (our pitching has sucked for awhile now… we just gave up 2 in the top of the 9th vs DETs 8 & 9 hitters lol)? Stats cans be confusing even when I look them up and the fine print at the bottom.
Stats. They are confusing and untrustworthy when they tell you things you don’t want to be true. If you’ve been hurt by statistics before, call 1 888 EAT BOOZ….
I’d exchange hurt for manipulated tho 😉
“Have you been manipulated by numbers? Who knows what they are REALLY trying to say? If you’re tired of the squigly shapes that simple math creates trying to take your shit and make you look stupid call the LAUSD. We’ve been putting a stop to math for years and we can save you from math too.”
you really are the guy who produces the corporate HR training sessions. yikes.
“Have you been made to feel doggish by a Human Resources presentation in the past? When you think about Kuerigs do you wish you were dead? Call 1 888 4SADVAG.”
It’s only tiny in right field.
Judge is also hitting .300 and plays in a tougher division where as the AL West has only two good teams. Has to hit against the Blue Jays and Rays who both have outstanding pitching and improving Baltimore.
We hate your facts so much that they aren’t true anymore.
Looked up the definition of job security in the dictionary and it said “Los Angeles Angels legal team”
And front office.
Yeah, no job turn over in that FO ever.
The front office is the shocking part. I’ve often said Arte is loyal to a fault and it showed in keeping Sosh and Pujols around too long. But nothing demonstrates it like Carpino and Kuhl surviving every scandal without a scratch.
I thought it was LAUSD…. man, you want to talk about not caring about winning and just drawing 3 million to make piles of money…..