Good morning Angels fans! Have some links!
Angels News
It is the last Wednesday with no baseball until late fall, and the Angels are getting ready for their first Spring Training game this weekend. Amongst the roster players and non roster invitees is an old man who is fulfilling a 10 year deal, Albert Pujols.
While that isn’t very neat, these shoes are Neto.
Arte may not trade Ohtani midseason. But those are the thoughts of a man who can’t spell, so what does he know anyway?
Troutani had their photo day by MLB and they were stunning as usual. Ohtani and Trout will be here this year and that is all that matters.
Around Baseball
Mookie Betts admits the Red Sox cheated in 2018. How the hell is this not a bigger deal?! Is it because he knows Manfred won’t punish anyone?!
As players retire due to not being able to perform, perhaps health issues should force Terry Francona to. He is obviously not well.
Pirates get bad news as one of their players collapse on the field. Maybe athletes are pushing a bit too hard.
With pitch clocks being a thing, the reliever golf cart may return. Japan does it the best.
Standings from 2013-2022. It is even worse for the Angels just from 2020-2022. The Astros need to go back to the NL central please.
Rangers will no longer wear Red Uniforms for 2023. No more confusion for games against them now.
Foolish Baseball had his Youtube channel hacked by a phishing attempt by someone imitating a major company. He has it back now though. Be careful out there, the scams are getting rather elaborate.
If Bally cannot get out of their bankruptcy and has to shut down, it will change the way media rights are handled by MLB (and maybe other sports) in the future. 22% of revenue is TV broadcasts, which is why cable bills are so high. 14 MLB teams have media rights with Bally Sports.
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes!
It may just be the angle, but Trout looks really slimmed down in that pic. Hopefully helps keep him on the field.
Whispers going around that he wants to reclaim being the Team GOAT and is tired of the Ohtani nonsense. #63Homers
Your ears must be better than mine. I haven’t seen anything.
That chris Rodriguez media day interview was rough. I’m not sure if sandoval hates the guy or is just messing with him.
I think the awkward cringe was intentional by Rodriguez and the veterans definitely were not playing along to pay it back.
our “reliever cart” path from the BP by June..
More like
If there is one area of our team that is likely to sink us this season it is surely the bullpen.
In recent seasons it has been starting pitching, or lack of depth if not the pen (sometime all three!!), but this season those first two look to be solid.
I think we will all be drinking more come the late innings of Angels games this year.
😂 😆 😂 😆
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One last thought from GPB, Robert Manfred, like Bud Selig before him, have no backbone for doing the tough things like punishment to those that cheat. For years you all have read how I feel about protecting the game as it should be protected. Now every time something screwy takes place it will be followed up by asking about cheating. Now the Major Leagues in all sports are tying into the money being offered by Gaming interest. (Gambling) Selig in the Hall of Fame is a Joke, he did that all by his self. Manfred thinks he is doing a great job, but the fans boo him at every stop and as a watch dog for the owner’s interest he makes 50 million dollars a year. So, Houston paid a price for cheating, why did a lot of other teams skate? Because of a lack of back bone, that’s why.
Integrity, that is what will make the game stronger, and integrity starts with doing what is right. Selig and MLB knew what was going on before the 1994 strike but chose to do nothing. By not addressing the issue early on and making sure that it did not ender, Selig chose to hope the problem of steroids would go away. By doing so the integrity of the game is still suffering today.
Manfred worried that the fans would turn against MLB if he slapped to hard and convenient excuse of ” I had to give immunity to those involved.” was thrust upon us.
Now, do you trust MLB to do the right thing when it comes to cheating in the game?
Both managers were out of MLB for one year. Do you think the Owner’s will protect the game?
How to fix it, get a Commissioner who is independent like a Bowie Kuhn.
When it comes to sign stealing you can’t suspend 2/3 of the MLB. Everyone’s huffy till it turns out their team is also full of sign stealing roid users.
I have a baseless theory that the MLB actually knows about crap like this, but if it has already grown to a point before they catch on, they just let it permeate through the league so that there isn’t really a big group of teams that can loudly demand punishment since they have dirty players too.
So will we have a break out from one of our 7,000 pitchers drafted? Who is your prediction of a hidden gem to break through this year?
Tucker Davidson…bahahaha. Sorry, just had to say it. For me, Chase Silseth.
I wouldn’t be Canning the Griffin just yet.
I would. It’s not like he was great before the injuries. I’m excited for rodriguez.
Excited because he’s still hurt? I’m not getting the same positive vibes that hes that close to 100% as Canning is.
Don’t sleep on Ben Joyce.
Yeah, he wouldn’t make a good mattress.
Lol!
Now, if I were a few years younger….haha.
If a pitcher can throw a ball 105 mph, can a hitter really see the ball well enough to react? Is it time to move the mound back 18 inches to 62 feet from 60 ft 6 in.? ⚾
They can time it up if it’s not moving and it’s all he’s got. 105 up and in has an EV of about 112 though, that’s crazy. To catch up to that with any exit velo, you have to be sitting on up and in. If he mixes in a tight slider taking off 7-8mph, it’s almost unhittable. Does anyone know his secondary pitches? Does he have a 2-seamer or change-up?
105 mph measuring from the pitchers hand is the equivalent of 95mph measured at the plate as we were used to for decades. So he’s still way slower than Ryan and they could hit Ryan (not easy but possible).
Can we talk? No one asked me, but; I am thinking about us finishing over .500. PTP has really done a good job as Arte has seen fit to raise the bar financially…….I think Trout is due for his career year, especially if he can play in 150 games this season…….Believe Shohei is going to have a race with Trouty for MVP……. Seeing comeback seasons from Fletcher and Walsh…….If anyone leads the team in HRs this year other than Trout or Shohei, we are in deep doo-doo…….Getting rid of full time 6 pitcher rotation and going with 5 pitchers in not only going to improve our chances of winning more games but, will help the starting staff stay sharper…….My big get for years before he went Free Agent was Machado, and now he has announced he is using his opt-out clause to revisit Free Agency once again, so if we miss out on Shohei returning we will have a new SS and Fletch can move back to 2B. 2 great gloves together……We still need a bat for back up OF, Moniak does not thrill……Can only go up at #2 position this year, right?…..Thanx for reading 😎
I’m hugely bullish on Moniak. But I saw him play at the Area Code Games when he was young and am hugely biased based on what I saw then. It was about as hot as you’ll ever see someone. If he finds it at the MLB level, the dude has perennial All-Star potential. We also have Rendon coming back. With the new schedule, you have to win those AL West matchups. The AL West is going to be tough.
I do hope that Moniak comes through, he will make a big difference to the team if he does. seems Manfraud wants to copy the NFL and do away with the leagues and do conferences. While I embrace most of the changes, doing away with the leagues and making everything the same is just not going to work for those who know the game with 2 different leagues. The new schedule is written in stone for 2 years. I do agree that 18 games the old way was a bit much for playing in division, we maybe could have played against other American League teams more often. But once again New York listened to the non-fans to make a decision.
By the way, Moniak was asked his hitting approach back then after destroying the Area Code Games, “I treat every pitch like 3-1 until I have two strikes.” Everyone fell in love with that comment, because he already understood hunting pitches. Some guys can never pick that up.
I’m fairly confident that the MLB has a consumer research group. Those guys most likely didn’t go out and hunt down non-baseball fans to get their consumer info. I know they also ask players and FO guys about stuff. What they failed to do was limit their data collection to men 65 years and older. Those who “know the game the way it is” and will be huffy about stuff will do a few things. First, most of them will make noises and do nothing and still watch baseball. Second, they will spend less money than any group accept kids. Third, they’ll all be dead sooner than later.
There will always be 2 leagues cause World Series. Allowing the two leagues to play each other a little more is exciting for more people than Angels/Rangers game 17. So is the DH instead of watching Jaime Moyer hit. They are basically trimming down at least some of the crap that 18-35 demographic doesn’t love. It’s smart.
The way I see it, if a game as stodgy as Cricket can make the massive changes it’s made to maintain a fanbase then baseball will likely do the same… or it will become like Americas 2nd most popular sport in 1900… horse racing.
To back this up, as a 27 year old I love the new scheduling where every team faces each other at least one series, along with the universal DH. I don’t think I’ve met one of my friends who is either a die hard or casual baseball fan that doesn’t love this change.
What I don’t like is banning the shift along with the 3 batter rule because it’s messing with strategy and telling teams what they can’t do. The pitch clock, while I don’t like it is a rule I do understand is necessary and long overdue. The reality of the situation is this; baseball games are too long, so are the NFL. The difference is the NFL is 17 game seasons. The MLB is 162 games. No one has time watch 3+ hour games every single day unless you are a die hard fan of the sport. This is a rule I think will finally shave down a significant amount of time that MLB has been desperate to fix. It worked wonders in the minors and should do the same in the majors.
I always liked the separation of leagues and the unbalanced schedule. I liked that you didn’t really know how teams were going match up, especially in the WS before interleague play. Now, it just doesn’t make sense that teams are flying so far and so much to me. It would be tough to be in a Cal division with the Dodgers, Giants but competition is what the sport is all about.
With all of the blending that’s occurring lately, I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.
The problem with Moniak is that he has not hit since become a professional. His career BA in the minors is .256 with an OPS of .718. Brandon Wood could at least hit in the minor leagues. I hope that I am wrong but it would seem that figuring it out at the MLB level is going to be difficult to say the least. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=moniak000mic
What stood out to me is he was at least 2-3 years younger than the average age of the league at each level he played at. That makes me think the Phillies saw some underlying metric that made them believe. Or they were blinded by the fact that he was the 2016 1-1 pick
Every team has multiple representatives at the Area Codes. I’m quite certain most were blinded by Moniak’s play there. I sure was. He’s still very young. He’s got the tools. We’ll see if he figures it out. I know it’s a small sample, but it was so impressive – it has to make you biased.
I think all of this could happen…. it’s not a sure thing, but it’s not a crazy long shot either. Though my dark horse HR leader is Renfroe. I don’t want to pay Manny Machado to be age 32-42. I don’t know who it will be but I really think one of Detmers/Sandoval is going to have a season where they become “a name” and I’m buying the hype that Estevez can be a leverage arm…. which unfortunately means I’ve probably doomed him.
I don’t see him getting a 10 year deal this time around for the reason you state, age. It’s the same with Shohei too, but someone will pay the price for both of them next off season. Do I really believe that Machado will end up here, no, not unless he learns to pitch.
BTW like you I do see one or both Detmers or Sandy or both having big years.
You were very optimistic last year too…..until you weren’t. But I agree, there is a chance for over .500.
Optimistic is in my being. As far as the halos are concerned it started big time for me in 1962 and before every season since. Last year I truly was sweep in by my own hype. I was for sure thinking that the train was going to go all the way. Until September of ’21 we were over .500 playing Garbage players who were doing the impossible, playing over .500. Last season was built on a house of cards.
This season I refuse to allow myself to get too amped up until the end. With that said, this team is really built well, guys will be competing for positions and playing time from the gate. The potential to a winning season is there.
No trains this year unless we clinch around August first 😂
It’s not just foolish optimism. Smart people who actually get shit done take what’s in front of them and try to figure out “How can this stuff possibly do something good? It’s sure not the best stuff, but if we can get it to do this….”
It doesn’t mean you wouldn’t prefer better stuff. It doesn’t mean you are certain “things” will happen. It just means you can see a path to good stuff with the things in front of you.
This is what keeps you from being on the dole for 30 years.
I think they’ll be better but worry we’re in the early stages of Buttercup.
I think it is just this simple, if Rendon plays 150+ games and hits his normal 0.280+, over 500 will occur. If this happens, Walsh can flail away versus lefties all he wants.
Good morning to all, getting ready for 4-6 feet of snow thru Sunday AM. Should be powder snow, easy to deal with every 5 to 8 inches. ( 😀 I know, that’s what she said.) Haven’t seen this much snow since 2011-2012 season. Bring it on! ⛷ You guys stay safe with possible flooding by the weekend. Mud slides anticipated in burn areas. Hard to think of Baseball right now.
That’s going to be incredible. Take some pictures and share!
Something wrong with the site again?
Same problem as before but last time I didn’t have time to fix it properly – more of a bandaid. Hopefully this time it won’t re-occur. May take a bit to make things work/look the same. Something that is installed is incompatible and I have to test it all one by one.
Thank you!
Thanks for doing that Jessica
Just need to delete 2002heaven and site will be fine.