10…9….8…yes, it is New Year all over again. This time Lunar New Year and the Year of the Rabbit, or is it Year of the Cat? Whatever it is, I’ll be hosting my annual shindig with live lion/dragon dancers, drums, egg rolls, and plenty of red envelopes.
Happy New Year, again!
We are officially closer to Opening Day 2023 than we are to the end of the World Series. Have the Angels done enough this off season?
I’m going to say no at the moment. Then again I’m also predicting some of the 2022 Trash Pandas to come up and pitch like stallions.
That’s Silseth to Luke Murphy to Eric Torres for a no-hitter last year. We’ve seen Silseth and I’ve linked Murphy since he was drafted. Torres is the under the radar guy and the lefty in that screen.
Eric Torres 2022 numbers: 42 games, 51 innings, 81 K’s, 0.94 WHIP, 1.59 ERA.
In case you’re wondering about my 2021 draft crush Luke Murphy, here are his numbers: 37 games, 44.2 innings, 52 K’s, 1.14 WHIP.
And then there’s this guy, who probably has the best raw stuff of the group:
That bullpen and position players like Zach Neto and Edgar Quero have some executives thinking the Angels farm system is under rated.
I think we have a handful of impact players at position of need, but there’s no frontline starting pitching, perhaps not much back end pitching either.
However, the Angels have two of the top 10 catching prospects between Quero and Logan O’Hoppe.
And the Angels added to that farm system with a large international class highlighted by a supposedly good shortstop. Come 2030, we could be cheering some of these guys.
Meanwhile the Padres went full Padres and paid $5.6 million for the top prospect, a catcher from Venezuela.
In less joyful Angels news, Arte also cheaps out on the Spanish language broadcast crew. Having a dude broadcast from essentially a closet is low. Really, we should be promoting such an accredited baseball guy, not hiding him.
Perhaps 2023 MLB will be the year of the rabbit on the base paths as new rules create more stolen base opportunities. Colorado’s Zac Veen is ready to run.
In news that made me smile, Andrew McCutchen set sail for home in Pittsburgh. That’s a good link from FanGraphs.
Hall of Fame voting is taking place and a player I truly loved is in danger of falling off the ballot. But Torii Hunter’s HOF case is stronger than a lot of people realize.
SI thinks eight players under the age of 30 are making HOF cases now.
The Hall of Fame may soon be full of shortstops from this era. Is this the golden age of MLB shortstops? In my 40 plus years on Earth, yes. I’ve seen some incredible ones but never an age with so many great shortstops spread around the league.
26 days until pitchers and catchers report. Have you booked your trip yet?
Have a great weekend and as always, link what I missed below.
