A full week of games. Isn’t it great. Some were even televised!
I’m not going to dwell on the Bally’s situation, but MLB has added staff to its local broadcasting department and could take over broadcasts for 17 teams including the Angels.
17? Yes. Bally’s/Diamond isn’t the only player exiting the sports broadcasting market. Warner Bros. and Discovery Sports networks are considering bk and put the Mariners, Astros, Pirates and Rockies on notice.
And while I might not dwell on it a second week in a row, make no mistake this is the biggest story in baseball right now, likely affecting every part of the game and changing the economics substantially.
The good news is fans shouldn’t lose access to games n 2023 and MLB is being proactive to make sure we can still tune in and watch a little baseball between beer and Viagra commercials.
Not only did we get to watch baseball from Phoenix, a real life Angel chatted with me after playing in a game. Make sure to catch the Trey Cabbage interview from Monday. This is the second time Trey has joined me and his last interview was also fun.
Need to catch up on all the Angels off season moves? MLBTR published their offseason review of the Angels yesterday. Looks like the notable additions are a lot better than the departures to me. What grade would you give the Angels off season?
I went B. I love the depth the Swiss Army Team creates but the lack of a true shortstop on a team trying to contend is glaring. No way to get an A when you leave such a critical hole on the squad.
MLBTR also hosted a live chat on the Halos.
The names and numbers on the field this time next week will be quite a bit different as a host of Angels will play in the World Baseball Classic for their home countries.
Once the Classic wraps up it will nearly be Opening Day and the Angels Opening Day roster is starting to shape up. I think the sixth starter spot is truly up for grabs and might not even exist if Barria or somebody else can be a long reliever who starts as needed.
Barria looked pretty bad in his first outing, but the rest of the rotation hit the ground running.
Reid Detmers looked good in his first game. Patrick Sandoval looked good in his first outing.
And of course all eyes were on Shohei Ohtani.
You all know my two sporting loves in life are the Angels and boxing, so I had to put this in.
And there’s a new guy in the rotation, Tyler Anderson. He’ll make his Angels debut today.
One guy I think might make a good long reliever/spot starter is Chase Silseth. Guy has filthy stuff and has added a new pitch. I’m not saying he should be the guy on Day One, but come July he could be that guy.
From around the league:
The biggest story this week was Gavin Lux tearing his ACL. Already down Trea Turner at short and Bellinger’s great glove in center, the Dodgers don’t appear to be as lock solid as they’ve been in the past. Here are four ways they can fill the hole left by Lux.
The Padres are always a little lower key than the Dodgers. Joe Musgrove managed to break his toe and will be out for a while.
Injuries on playoff contenders tighten what are already expected to be close races. Musgrove in SD and Glasnow in TB could make a difference in who makes it to October.
Minor league pay has been an issue for some time. Recently the minor league players unionized and are working out a collectively bargained contract. In the meantime, Florida is trying to apply minimum wage laws to the ballplayers and MLB is pushing back.
While I almost always immediately side with players, this is such a non-traditional work environment that I can see pitfalls in applying normal laws. However, until collective bargaining results in a deal, the minimum standard needs to be applied IMO.
Statcast has changed the game more than we realize, particularly pitch selection. Spin is in, velo is taking a backseat, and how that changes at bats. There’s your longform reading for the week and it is very much worth a read.
But wait, there’s more.
What happens when a usually cash strapped team starts spending like drunken sailors? We’re about to find out in San Diego where the Padres are spending big in a small-ish market.
That’s right, two long form reading pieces for the price of one this week. If you’re a free reader, thanks for the love. But if you can click on the Patreon button below and help fund the site even more love. There are a lot of things we’d love to do to improve the site but they take money.
Have a great weekend and link what I missed. We’ve gone from not enough news to too much news in the course of a week.
