Good morning Angels fans. No, no it is not. I am still mad. Have some links anyway.
Angels News
Despite Arte Moreno saying he is keeping the team, thus making every fan unhappy, there is still optimism. And by optimism I mean more proof that Arte is an emotional man who might do something drastic that might be good for the team. Seriously, cold feet?! COME ON!
Actual optimism though, Mike Trout looks healthy. That thing was DESTROYED.
The HOF results were announced yesterday. While no Angel got in, K-Rod and Hunter stay on the ballot for 2024, while Lackey and Napoli got at least a vote. Weaver did not, however. Sad, but fair.
Around Baseball
Scott Rolen was the only player elected by the writers this year for the HOF. While Helton was close, he will have to wait for next year. Jeff Kent fails to get even 50% in his final year, he will have to see what the Veteran Committee thinks of him in 2025.
The Royals send their most fragile player to Boston. Maybe being around Sale will make him feel better?
Mike Clevinger is under investigation due to domestic violence accusations. This included his 10 MONTH old daughter.
Jesus Aguilar is an Athletic now. Even he can’t save them.
Brad Ausmus may end up as the next Astros GM. Maybe the former ANgels manager can make them worse?
Apparently the Marlins are also not being sold. Think the LA Times owner is just bitter Arte hung up on him.
Baltimore is having their own owner dispute but it is a family one so more like Family Feud rather than what the Angels are going through.
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes.
Does it make sense for the Angels or any team to spend $500 million on any player, when the majority of that contract will be performed as the player is declining in his 30’s. How many times do we repeat the same mistake before we learn this lesson.
In the case of the Angels, where does Mike Trout play when his back prevents him from playing the OF in the next couple of years. How can we have a balanced roster with three players consuming more than half our budget. Whoever is running the Angels will need to consider these roster construction isues.
Trout needs to step up and demand a trade, put Arte on notice, publicly.
Are you saying “Kick his ass Sea Bass!”?
I won’t mind, or will at least understand, if they trade Trout, but I hope Trout doesn’t become captain of the chapped asshole club and make a whining bitch out of himself to give CtPG guy a few months wearing hi heels before he starts crying about the 120 loss team he’s stuck watching.
Hell, I’ve said it in the past, if there’s a tear down, which would be why Trout’s gone, I’ll enjoy watching the build. I just don’t want to watch Trout become a sticky wall poster for the snivelers on this site before it happens. I want to keep admiring the guy.
I’m in for the rebuild. With Arte not moving on, I think this is the prudent course.
This. This is the cold hard wisdom. If some other fool team wants to go “full Arte” and give Ohtani 10/500 let them. We, of all teams, should know better. But if the FO does the smart thing it will be because….
A) Arte is such an asshole and Shohei’s mom is so wise that there was no way Ohtani was going to sign up for any amount so Arte had to tuck tail and trade him/not sign him.
B) Arte is cheap and meddlesome. Learned nothing… just cheap and stupid.
C) Arte hates Asians.
D) Bade Root is special so wisdom isn’t wisdom thus Arte is evil and PTP is stupid.
All of the above plus CtPG guy hates his dad. All of this will double if Ohtani ever wins a WS while draining the entire Royals payroll away from a team yearly for a decade. Cause then it’s totally worth it. Champiham sandwich for fat baby baseball boy!
Just a thought, but if Ohtani gets $50 million a year, is it a little easier to slide in as a full-time pitcher or hitter and thus less risky of a contract?
Interesting- my former Angels rep reached out to me today. He asked if Arte’s recent announcement made a difference and maybe I want to reconsider whether I want to buy some tickets. This is all clearly a marketing strategy.
Poor recent college grads have a big job picking up those phones on Arte’s behalf
Oh jeeezz… those have got to be some tough ass calls.
The best part is, what ever you told him, he probably had to type into a little box full of searchable response information. One small step….
Told him I have no interest as long as the Arte and his marketing boys are running this dysfunctional Organization.
What are arte’s profits every year from the Angels? Any link? I’d love to check it out.
It’s a private company, so no. I think the Braves (and maybe Blue Jays) are the only public owners who have to show what the “baseball” part of their holdings is doing.
Impossible to know with any certainty.
Here’s what I do know: every team gets $60.1 million from MLB for the national tv deals.
Each team normally gets a small piece of MLBAM media but they’ve been selling that off in chunks and each team got a final $30 million this off season.
Each team puts in 48% of their local revenues into a pot then takes an equal 3.3% out of the pot (to the benefit of small markets). That was about $115 million pre pandemic, supposedly more now.
Sponsorships and international money are hard to nail down, although 48% of that is in the revenue sharing pot to my knowledge.
So basically, Arte was pretty much guaranteed $205 million this year and he still gets to keep 52% of his local revenue.
Oakland makes money, and they don’t even try. Artie is doing quite well. The real money, though, comes from the appreciation of the asset, so holding means he will keep getting richer and richer.
And if every team is getting roughly 200M, I am happy we have an owner that puts at least that amount into salaries.
Now, if we could translate dollars spent into wins, that would be lovely (and honestly, that is down to health and its mitigation as much as anything).
Bullshit alert: MLB’s new Top 10 shortstop prospects list excludes Neto…. https://www.mlb.com/prospects/2023/ss/
It’s galling, to be honest with you. Brooks Lee at No. 10? .850 OPS in A+?
Pfft. Bitch, our dude bested that in AA. Same age, same draft class. No respect!
Good. Motivation is a powerful tool. Just Like when they overlooked a young Albert Pujols even thought he was playing against kids half his age.
Gold.
My suggestion is do not believe anything written from “floated” information. My understanding is that offers were not due until Feb. So, no one knows how much was going to be offered. It serves Arte’s narrative to have everyone believe he pulled back from huge potential offers because he suddenly realized he loved the team and had “unfinished business”. These articles serve that narrative and is likely PR spin.
No one knows except maybe the very inside crew what was truly going to be offered. So, the press being fed PR is not something I would listen to.
Day 1- “Obviously Arte wasn’t getting the massive offers that his ego demands. Also, he’s cheap, so he wants every last dollar he can get. His pride was hurt when he wasn’t offered as much as he expected so now he’s staying but he’s also lying to me about why and won’t be transparent about his billion dollar business. Obviously it’s all about money. He’s an asshole. I hate him hate him hate him.”
Day 2- “Arte was offered a record amount of money to sell the team but then realized he doesn’t want to sell it yet!?! That’s unpossible! I’ve never heard of anyone ever deciding to look into selling their business and then deciding not to do it. This is intolerable! And it’s all about his megalomania. His ego is so huge he doesn’t even care about the money. But I’m also sure he hates championshits and won’t buy me one because it’s all about money. He’s an asshole. I hate him hate him hate him.”
All I know is that if our self made billionaire owner was as smart as I am he’d understand that the key to success is giving up as soon as some faceless twerps on the internet are mean to you and you can make some money getting out.
The guy wants to keep trying. He likely knows more about the situation than I do. And most real fact of all, it’s HIS friggin team. So whether I like it all that much or not, it is what it is. Here’s hoping Fletch can play short and Renfroe hits 40 mighty dingerz.
My understanding is there were no offers. Those were supposed to come in Feb. So it’s just as likely the press is being fed massive PR bs about the offers that were going to come in to feed into the narrative. It’s all PR and spin right now. Arte is trying to achieve loyalty in the face of this decision.
I’m with Rex on this one.
Arte never mentioned selling the team until the stadium deal fell apart. Arte is a real estate/developer guy to the core.
He must think he can get that stadium deal back on track.
We’ve known the people lining up bids. Some even publicly acknowledged it. The commissioner said investors were going over the Angels financials. The process was moving along.
Arte changed his mind. His motivation to sell was gone.
Disney still holds a majority on the Anaheim City council so I assume they are still pro business entertaniment /tourism. Long Beach still has an interest and can be used for leverage. The new mayor is a Lawyer that comes from a Family that operates a very powerful OC personal Injury Law Firm. I do not know how she feels about the Angels but she’s more than capable of putting a deal together.
Consummating the stadium Deal would still be a Legacy Grand Slam for Arte even if he’s too old to see it through.
Yeah, but if Arte seals a stadium deal that keeps the team from moving then I hate it. I will also hate him if he sells the team and they move anywhere other than the exact spot I am used to. I also hate the sun if it shines on Arte.
Best scenario that I have read so far, believable. Something opened up for him to give him hope.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10063019-shohei-ohtani-rumors-new-angels-contract-far-less-likely-after-moreno-decision
Shohei Ohtani may not be a member of the Los Angeles Angels much longer.
The Moreno family, which owns the team, announced Monday that it was no longer exploring potential sales of the Angels. That could have a ripple effect, as Andy Martino of SNY reported Wednesday there is belief around the league Ohtani will be gone after the 2023 campaign.
“The strong perception around the league was that Moreno’s decision to walk away from more than $2.5 billion made it far less likely that Ohtani, a free agent after this season, would stay in Anaheim,” Moreno wrote. “He was already viewed as a likely goner, but one never knows what a new owner could have done to convince him to commit.”
Good.
And now that its Day #3 here comes the Ohtani rumors.
All this proves is how much speculative bullshit is out there. Please God can we just open up the spring training camps already?
“This just in, unexistent sources say that Shohei Ohtani was likely to leave the Angels before the sale fell trough, but now that a significant contingent of Angels fans are DEMANDING that Spring Training start in the third week of January it is a certainty that, while Shohei wants to stay in the LA area, he will not be staying with the Angels.”
It is ALL speculation. There were no public offers. Everyone on this board and in the press is speculating. The one thing we know is that Arte hired a PR company and it serves his interest to have Angel fans think he was willing to walk away from billions due to “unfinished business”. Dont be a sucker.
“This just in, unexistent sources say that Shohei Ohtani was likely to leave the Angels before the sale fell trough, but now that his mom has assured him that there is absolutely no way Arte Moreno could have had any sense at all of what prospective bidders were going to offer him, and that Moreno actually has no real interest in running a baseball team and is just saying he does because of his huge bulging ego, Shohei is gone for sure. It’s been floated that Shohei’s mom would like him to play for a team and city where there is absolutely no chance that the owners will feign interest in baseball and winning.”
I thought it was all ball bearings.
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/d05bef1a-35b5-465a-bb72-6ff729179b74
Just saying…
This guy works for SNY. Guess who wants to sign Ohtani? Cohen’s Mets!
Just some perspective here.
“This just in, unexistent sources say that Shohei Ohtani hates Arte Moreno but loves clam chowder and fog. Has told friends he hates the less obtrusive and quiet tones that Californians speak in and want to live somewhere where people talk out their nose and loudly state everything they say.”
-Tony Massorratti
Agree. Ohtani knows how Moreno runs the franchise. It remains to be seen if having that experience is a good thing….or a bad thing.
Billy Epps has a little history here that says it is possible
Welp, but look at the bright side, at least we’ll have a second round draft pick for the first time in 3 years.
This. Changes. Everything.
I’m confused… I thought we did not.
Oh, you mean next year, as compensation for Ohtani walking….
LOL…yes, this is true. But that would assume Perry will extend a QO.
Just don’t go to Seattle. That would just be revolting to see Jedi in his preppy polo along sourpuss Servais gloating.
It will get funnier when he is eventually a 50M a year DH for ol’ Jer Jer.
Yeah, could be a nice poison pill. Hitting .230ish, home runs reduced to 27-32 bombs playing in Safeco in the not too distant future.
Mother of God.
what struck me was the mention of development. We suspect that part of Arte’s declining interest in the club is the way that agreement fell apart. But if someone else thinks it’s possible then I’m guessing Arte regained interest.
Cubs must’ve read my article. Luis Torrens on a minor league deal.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/cubs-sign-luis-torrens-to-minor-league-deal.html
Considering how much optics mean in this world, if I was Arte I would have followed up my announcement with a signing of Chafin.
No, signing a 33 year old reliever to a 2 year deal doesn’t change anything in the past but it would send the message of “I’m back and I just signed the best piece I could possible sign at the moment.”
As usual, Arte and co. have done just enough to make it look like they’re really trying.
It’s not like I want a Kardashian for an owner. Optics is usually shit. But Jeebz man, Arte is like that strong willed kid who never brushes his teeth or washes his clothes. Optics Arte, like deodorant, you don’t have to put it on every hour, but once a day would be nice.
Arte changed his mind when the alternative sunk in. He didn’t want to become the new Mr. Irrelevant.
I think it is quite possible for the team to contend again soon based on the young pitching. Imagine if the three headed monster of Torres/Murphy/Joyce backs the rotation and this team turns into a beast.
Right after Arte sells.
His reputation as the man who wasted Trout and Ohtani would be cemented.
Maybe Being Mr irrelevant isn’t all that bad. https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/49ers/brock-purdy-mr-irrelevant-named-finalist-nfl-offensive-rookie-year
The HOF has become a total joke. Let Bonds and Rose in and I might be interested.
Rolen…the Harold Baines of the NL.
Rose and Schilling for me should be in. Don’t care if people’s underwear get too tight based on some comment. When big time baseball is on the line, these guys produced.
Yup. Scott Rolen and Harold Baines…. basically the same player. You look em up, cover their names, and you’re like “Who is who? And why are they in the HOF?” You nailed the shit out of that snit.
Things. Things aren’t as good as they was when they was mah things.
How many gold gloves did Harold Baines win?
Does it matter since he is basically Scott Rolen? He can just have four of Scott’s.
Baines like cuz his good years were never that great. Baines just made in on stats collection and a manager with some pull. Ask yourself, how did Harold Baines make it in? Yes, Rolen had the GGs.
Rolen also had almost twice the career WAR… maybe even in fewer seasons.
True, I’ll admit I am not a WAR guy but on WAR, Rolen is deserving w/the GGs
Schilling probably heard more crap/harassment in one day game in Chicago that those skin-thinned journalists heard in a lifetime. The writers hate him.
The players hate him too. He’s never getting in.
Not all writers, it’s the liberal sportswriters who don’t support vs just focusing upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship and contribution to the team(s) on which he played played. He’ll get in. The political pendulum will swing back the other way at some point.
I don’t think Rickey Henderson had a strong connection with players, talent has got to matter at some point. There are other players not liked by teammates who are in the hall.
But Rickey got along with some of his teammates. I know that Rickey Henderson liked Rickey Henderson
I loved Rickey Henderson while not playing as a Yankee. Loved his arrogance and such a great talent.
Yeah. That stuff is a shame. One of the many things I like about the HOF is that there are weird men like Lou Gehrig, psychos like Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby, dicks like John McGraw and Bob Gibson, golden boys like Walter Johnson and Nolan Ryan, drunks, drug addicts, rapists, pedophiles… it’s all a wash other than one fact, they were all extremely good ball players.
It’s not the Hall of Heroes or Goodness or what ever. That’s kind of more what a team’s HOF is for. It should be purely how great they were, the rest of it is side info. Schilling will be far from the first nutty guy in the Hall, in fact most guys who are THAT good at something are a bit bent.
Curt had a post that showed a tree, a stickman, rope and added journalist. LOL. He said it was a joke. Nope, we don’t forgive you Curt. I know I am an outlier but enjoyed watching him on the biggest stage, elimination games, complete games and ridiculous strikeout to walk ratio.
Rose only gets in after Shoeless Joe gets in.
I think Rose has money on getting in first.
Rose interfered with Wins-Losses, that’s the ultimate baseball sin. He was my favorite as a kid, now he’s gotten what he deserves.
Uh…not to be nitpicky but domestic violence “allegations“.
And it’s his 10 month old daughter. Which is even more unfathomable.
For the life of me I can’t see how anyone can hurt, abuse, or neglect a child.
You know I skeev Clevinger. But still, as in all cases, let’s see what’s really been happening before we light the man on fire.
Updated.
One thing that seems clear is that Perry probably isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and any post-Nevin managers won’t be big names. Maybe a good thing, who knows.
If Arte’s volatility scared some of the premium names off from interviewing in the past, you gotta think that is exponentially more true going forward with the industry knowing he could rage quit and bring in new ownership and financial uncertainty from a sale at any point.
Cleveland pitching staff a few yrs ago had Callaway as coach with Bauer and Clevinger on staff.
Oh my.
Kluber must be a prick too.
Great player development, pitchers continue to materialize
Warts and all.
I understand the post was to show some shady characters within the Indians previous clubhouse and agree, Mick and Trevor were peas in a pod. But I’m envious of their farm system being ranked 3rd overall. Qty-7 Indians are in the BBA Top 100 MLB prospects and 4 of those are pitchers. No. 19, No. 20, No. 85 and No. 86. Add in a seasoned Beiber, McKenzie, Plesac, Clause, Karinchak. and some others. Good stuff. Sleeper pick to win it all next year.
Pretty good warts.
Speaking of future HOFers, the WBC USA team is stacked compared to earlier squads.
I can easily imagine 8 of them. Previous teams had no more than 5.
Trout, Goldy, Arrendondo, Kershaw, Wainwright, Harper, Mookie, Turner?, Realmuto? Griffey Jr is a coach.
And Dino is a HOF coach and all around major dude.
And what about the Ninja?
I can’t wait to watch that squad. We’re probably looking at a Tucker/Trout/Betts outfield which is insane.
I’m dying to see Ohtani pitch against Trout!
Have to root for Trout in that one.
We could see Urias pitch to Betts in the opening round in Phoenix.
Sandoval vs Trout in PHX
Forgot about that one.
Urshela will be playing for Team Columbia in PHX too. We could see him vs. Sandoval or Urias in the first game.
Trout for me too
There have been no player signings since Arte decided to keep the Angels.
His next press conference will be him announcing Shohei has signed a 20-yr, 1 billion $ extension!
And then immediately laying off half of our minor league & scouting staff and forcing all of the minor leaguers back into clown houses while serving them old leather cleats.
That’s only like two dudes losing their jobs.