Good morning Angels fans, got candy yesterday? Have some links.
Angels News
The Angels bats weren’t so good last year, taking way too many strike 3’s down the middle. Hopefully that doesn’t happen as much this year.
Phil Nevin won’t have bad players clogging up the lineup, for what all that is worth. You play to win the game.
The 6th SP this season seems to be a swingman. It makes sense if Ohtani will start every 6th day instead of every 6th game.
New Angels SP Tyler Anderson has a pitching habit that may explain how he improved last year. If the Dodgers told him to do that, he should keep doing it.
Around Baseball
The biggest news has been MLB rule changes with the most uncertain one being more enforcement of the Balk rule. As the image above shows, explaining what a balk is can be difficult, which will ultimately anger fans if it is indeed called much more this season.
One of THE most hated rules, however is the fact that the Manfred runner in extras is now here to stay. We now have enough data to see the effect it has had on the game.
Another rule change that got some people angry are the base sizes changing. This should be good for safety and base stealing, not good for kids stealing them at Angel Stadium.
Negro League data is now available at Fangraphs. I wonder how angry the comment section there will get…
Mike Clevinger, who is under investigation for domestic abuse, will be allowed at White Sox camp. Bauer will not be happy about that.
Now you can watch out of market MiLB games on MLB.TV. Price increase of 10 dollars, however.
Wacha is now a Padre. The last FA that anyone cared about is now off the table.
And the new walls for Toronto are nearly complete. Looks like the seats will be closer to the walls now.
Sneak peek at the ST. Patrick’s Day hats since that is the next holliday up that people care about.
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes!
no pictures today, no flash card. but the workout scene was located in the same place as last year so just not very good access. its the minor clubhouse the club – west of Diablo, and the MLB roster works out on the lower two fields to the west of it, that are off-limits to public/press.
today was cold but sunny. over half the fans there were Japanese fans, maybe 50-100 overall. a lot of minor league players were working on the upper two fields with plenty of access. that was new. and pretty cool to see. the upper fields were literally covered with minor league teams. i haven’t seen that in mid February. they apparently are staying at the stadium for now.
as cool as it was, didn’t watch – because MLB was was on the lower two fields – you can see pitchers working out and doing long toss best – everything else is distant. i saw O’Hoppe in full gear catching some pitcher i couldnt see. lot more Japanese media this year – they didn’t travel here much at all last year. i saw the scribes standing there with them not much better access than the public in the morning but i guess Trouty did and press conference later – i didn’t see him, but i saw Shohei and I saw Arte, Nevin, Phil all out, and Stoneman too always. And i saw the pitchers working out. I will get some pictures tomorrow. i need to find a roster of invitees.
it was a good day. I saw all 9 starters. I saw relievers. and i wish i had the time also to watch the minor leaguers too because they’re on the upper fields with better viewing access.
true, i’m kind of grumpy they have not renewed the P/DH yet for $500B and that access and viewing isn’t as fun as when you had a lot closer viewing access and see Scioscia running an infield, but it make sense for the Angels to run camp like this and work got in the way at 11am.
but like it said, it was a good day. cant complain. except no flash card.
nonetheless, they’ll win 100 games. i go the first day because i’m also go to the last day win they win the world series. alpha and omega. can’t wait for it to unfold. and the weather will just get warmer from here.
Why do I feel a sense of deja vu reading this?
The vast majority of baseball fans appreciate the Negro Leagues and realize those guys got a raw deal.
Yes there will be an occasional comment that sucks, but the overwhelming response to the recent Negro Leauge love has been overwhelmingly positive.
The fact researchers have spent countless hours accumulating and go through box scores from 100 year old newspapers is pretty inspiring.
Yeah. I’m not sure why there’d be a problem. I mean sure, the current feelz need to try to make the Negro Leagues close to the same level of competition as the MLB at the time is a little weak, but it’s no big deal and it’s the only thing I can think of to get hung up on. Otherwise it’s all just more cool baseball stuff. I’d think most people would enjoy that. If not, it’s also really easy to ignore it. So who’s being hurt here?
We’ll make the post season when MLB copies the NBA’s playoff format……MAYBE!!
The good old days……top rated farm system, pitchers who could throw over 65mph without giving up 3 run bombs. Then the Philly eagles fan in CF and OhtaniSan and then all of a sudden winning didn’t matter anymore
this is a good move, having TWO guests give you the thumbs up.
Yeah but what mom wouldn’t be proud of her son’s work even if its just a bunch of psychotic ramblings?
Or Physiotic and “Hud” constant Yankee knob-slobbing.
Thought that was mostly Phyzzz. Hud was too busy being goofy.
Shocked
https://sports.yahoo.com/jacob-degroms-first-spring-training-with-rangers-delayed-by-left-side-tightness-201333457.htm
Ok, now we have a chance at finishing 3rd.
Because of course he is.
I think this has less to do with how injury prone De Grom was before he signed or how huge a desperation contract the Rangers gave him and more to do with how Arte just won’t invest what it takes to build a championshit club around Mike Trout.
Well I would sure as hell hope so. https://twitter.com/Alden_Gonzalez/status/1625890468734328832
Not getting injured and playing in 150+ games would help.
He hasn’t played more than 140 since 2016.
Exactly. How has the team done during that time? 😎
How has the team done since his draft year?
#TheCurseofTheGOAT 🐐
It’s OK to pass on 4 years of Michael Wacha. The way most of you guys weep and mouth breath over crappy back end starters you’d have mummified yourselves by the time the contract is over.
But we’d get more production out of Wacha than Pujols.
Is it too late to get our draft pick back?
Most likely, yes. But we’d get to sit through a bunch more gushing about how the Machine is now #7 all time for singles between the 3B and SS. Celebrate everyone! Is Albert! 20th all time in cups of Gatorade consumed! Libe dat baby oop!
You’d get more production out of my ass than Pujols.
My ass produces methane, which is a component of rocket fuel.
Gotta love the Angels St Patty hats.
Intern sends Teams Group Message – “Hey guys, what do we want to do for ST hats this year? Those city connect hats sold well. Maybe we should throw a new logo mod on there? We’ll get a green version for St Patricks too. Give the people something new to buy?”
Angels FO – “No. Send out the same .EPS file to New Era. You know, the same bullshit energy drink logo from 1995 we’ve always used? We are just like the A’s and Red Sox and Yankees… we stick with the classics. Besides, we’d have to pay someone who knows how to AdAI a few hundred bucks to change that thing….”
According to my 13 yr old son, the St. Patrick’s Day hats are ugly and the flat bill looks stupid.
agree esp on flat bill
mlb.com has a clip of Trout’s take on the season that’s worth a listen. I don’t know how deeply he believes that the team is greatly improved but he says he likes the depth. He, like us, feels that if the team doesn’t win Shohei’s gone.
Fascinating that Trout would say that about Sho. That is remarkably honest. But I think it confirms the obvious – if the team doesn’t make the playoffs, Sho will find a new Shome.
Let’s trade him then.
Not gonna bite other than to say you know how I feel about that issue.
Didn’t you just take a nibble?
A nibble is a bite. I’d say I gummed it.
4 years, 24M for Wacha sounds really cheap to me. I get that last year was kind of an outlier for him but still.
I have no idea how Fulmer felt about joining the Angels but I thought this should have been totally doable on our end. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/02/cubs-sign-michael-fulmer.html
It’s doable, accept I don’t think anyone will join the Angels willingly because of all the evil and cheapness and night before game sex. If an organization isn’t “real” can it even be joined?
So much good stuff in these links! Wonder if they will use the old smaller bases for “Steal 3rd” or if they will raise the age a year. Some of those kids struggled with the previous base.
Not sure it matters . With some questionable timekeeping, I don’t think any kid has lost that promotion since 2007.
Whenever I have to sit through that cutesy BS I hope the kid falls over. Not like he gets hurt, just biffs it.
See. I have always wondered what it was like when Joshua kept the sun from going down in the book of Exodus so the Israelites could defeat their enemies in battle. What ever the guy handling the countdown timer does when the kid stealing 3rd flops to the ground will be as close as I can come to experiencing that.
The ten seconds that lasted a minute. Listening to the crowd try to count it down as it drags… like a Dilla beat…. gold.
We coddle our kids so much these days. Back in my day they shot flaming arrows at us as we ran down the baseline.
Bring this back!
Easiest way to sell out every night. It’s a no brainer!
Yeah, and it was uphill both ways. In the snow. Chased by polar bears!
Man. I’d pay the price of a ticket just to skip the game and shoot arrows at some kids.
I’d pay more
These rule changes are unnecessary and are creating way too much “process” in what at it’s core is a “game”. Baseball is becoming Facebook or Twitter: a great idea that becomes hated.
Please stop fecking up what has been America’s last remaining great professional sport.
Sports change. I’m not that worried. I’d be more tense about it if the rules committee was all owners and MLB office guys, but it’s not.
I have no issue with any of it I guess because as a watcher of other sports, rule changes are not taboo in any other league. And those sports (NBA, NFL) have higher viewership than MLB so “last remaining great professional sport” is an eye of the beholder type thing.
The games I’ve enjoyed the most recently have been ones that moved fast and had pace. Remember Silseth’s first start? Where he worked fast and mowed people down and the game was like 2 hours long? Amazing!
Exactly. One man’s “last remaining great professional sport” is another five men’s sport that won’t have hardly any fans less than 65 years old in a couple decades.
Yall remember back when track and field events drew thousands and thousands of people all over the world? It did. If Cricket can change so that it’s actually watchable so can baseball. Or baseball can become Lacrosse.
It is time to change the distance of the pitcher’s mound from 60.5 feet back to 61.5 feet. Why? Because pitchers have evolved to throw 100 mph. It is common for every team to have four or five “Flame Throwers on every team. Decreasing strikeouts and putting a ball in play will score more runs. Move the mound back.
I think it’s worth a try. I saw a good break down of this on YouTube a while back…..
I agree. More balls in play means more excitement.
Definitely.
Hitters now have about the same reaction time as guys did 30 years ago. The only way to bring that back is to move the mound back one foot.
It would’ve been the easiest way to increase balls in play. One change instead of the half dozen or so they did.
Manfraud and his “Improving the Game” by making permanent the free runner in extras. Bad idea. Catchers have vastly improved the way set up and deliver the ball to where the base runner is headed. Instead of increasing the size of the bag, should be teaching how to read the pitcher to increase leads. Things go in cycles, currently it’s on the side of the pitcher and catcher, soon it will return to the runner even without the extra 6 inches for help. I could be wrong though, I predicted that hitting the other way against the “shift” was going to be the reason that the shift would be eliminated. How did that work out? Players would not adjust. “Ghost Runner” could have been made to show up in the 13th inning so normal baseball could have been played.
Good morning to you all, currently 9 degrees in Big Bear. Gotta take the dog out for morning business, brutal. ⛷ ❄ ☃
Hey GPB, I think you forgot the number in front of the 9.
Just took the trash out here in Twentynine Palms and it was 39. We had a dust storm yesterday coupled with some drizzle, so my newly washed car looks like a barn find on one of those shows with Pickers (Nose or American?) on cable.
50 F here in Tempe at 11am, workouts have started at Diablo.