With their first pick in the 2023 Draft, the Angels took slugger Nolan Schanuel. He’s projected as a quick to the majors bat. Nolan had one of the best offensive seasons in the country this year.
Schanuel put up a video game like slash line of .447/.615/.868 this year at Florida Atlantic. He definitely fits the organization’s trend of looking for guys who can start in AA and hit Anaheim in a hurry.
I love how the Angels just draft guys that aren’t even ranked by MLB at 111 because they think they are smarter than everyone, but yet they haven’t won a playoff game in forever.
yes, this. That is the feeling I get too
“But it will be different this time” and “but the injuries” lol
The Angels just took Albert Rios out of Stanford.
He is a catcher and below average (defensively) in LF.
But PAC 12 player of the year. IF he can play 3rd base, then this may work out. From the little information out there, I see things to like and some warning signs ( below average defender in left field?). I’m really not going to consider him a catcher.
Hello Ward.
Except I think Taylor Ward actually played as a catcher in games. I can’t seem to find how many games Rios actually played as a catcher. Besides acting as a bullpen catcher his freshman and sophomore year. Local kid from Bellflower.
Sounds Like Taylor Ward 2.0.
Is the JeDi happy?
The Draft Tracker is calling him a 3B that can catch.
https://www.mlb.com/video/2023-draft-alberto-rios-of-c?t=mlb-draft
I just saw the 3B information.
Here is where I get the catcher and LF information: https://www.mlb.com/prospects/draft/alberto-rios-814362
So he can do it all!!!
Does he have an out pitch?
He can catch? Well thats better than any of our third basemen we have now
Not a huge fan of the pick but if I wanted to look at it optimistically, power/strength is something that 6’3″ guys can grow into. This will be the first time in his life he can year round devote himself to conditioning. Passing college classes is not something that doesn’t take a significant amount of your time. I’m sure his program had a great conditioning program being D1 but at the same time, a little more strength for a guy with one of the best eyes/contact rates in the draft could be a good thing.
Day 2 of the draft, let’s get some talent! Identifying sleepers is a science that I hope our scouts are well trained for.
What? No Monday Links? Is there a draft hangover going on?
Other than the draft, there is not a lot going on right now. The Yankees fired their hitting coach (yawn). Here is a link about de la Cruz stealing three bases in the same inning.
As Jeff posted, Mr. Turk did an admirable job of preparing me for the MLB draft in his section, where I had essentially no knowledge of. It was evident that he watched many college games in addition to keeping close tabs on summer/early fall leagues that these players participate after “regular” season and executed expert analysis on them from Angels perspective.
Regardless of what team Shohei plays on August 1, I hope to do a similar section regarding NPB players who have been rumored to be posted after this season. If I reported and published a section equivalent to half the gem that Mr. Turk produced, I would call that a huge success. It will probably take place in October because posting occurs starting from November 1. I am gaining knowledge regarding the posting system, how it was instituted, and the juicy background which led to the present (still far from ideal) structure. I keep on watching NPB games where players like #2 MLBTR selected Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitch and will update as necessary.
Both NPB players who were posted last season and came to MLB this season, Masataka Yoshida and Kodai Senga, are thriving. I can’t help but think what if Angels had either or both of them. It is safe to assume that Angels probably would have finished better than 0.500 before ASG.
Like most people suggested MLB draft is not an exact science, and that applies to these Japanese imports. My rough estimates suggest that 75% of them turned out to be duds, 23% serviceable to good and 2% superstars, like Ichiro and Sho. My ‘lying’ eye test tells me that Yamamoto is at least serviceable with potential to become multiple Cy Young winner.
As all Angels fans know, they need a SP. Yamamoto, a pitcher who Sho has intimated better than he, is someone Minasian must go after if he is still the GM.
Pretty strange feeling to wake up and know we didn’t lose last night.
Note to Perry. Call eye Dr., ask about group rates.
Trout’s problem?
So yes, I expect that Nolan will be the team’s 1B next season.
All these guys made it to the majors and we can’t make the playoffs or sustain a winning record.
Perhaps another sign of the problem???????
Can you say “pitching?”
Because 1/2 of them are injured and the other half are replacement level players right now.
Also what is not listed is our failed first round draft picks or the years we did not have first round draft picks.
2010 Cam Bedrosian (out of baseball) Chevy Clarke (Out of baseball) Taylor Lindsey ( Out of baseball) Ryan Bolden (Dead)
2011 C. J. Cron ( Traded for Luis Rengifo)
2012 No first round pick (Pujols)
2013 No first round pick (Hamilton)
2014 Sean Newcomb (Traded for Simba but has been a bust)
2018 Jordyn Adams ( finally showing some life at AAA but who knows?)
2019 Wil Wilson (Zach Cozart salary dump but currently has a .698 OPS at AAA)
You wonder why we have wasted Trout and Ohtani’s brilliance? Look at these and the above selections in totality. It’s effectively a trash pile.
Call it the curse of the GOAT or whatever but there is no way any team can generate success without developing better first round picks over the last 14 years. And you are not going to fix this problem over night . that is why it would make no sense to shit can PTP if this season continues to circle the drain
Ah, good ole Taylor Lindsey. I still remember the gnashing of the teeth in the old place when he (along with RJ Alvarez) was traded for Huston Street. And the gnashing of the teeth came from the fact that Lindsey was the 99/100 top prospects and the Angels haven’t had that in awhile. HOW COULD WE GIVE UP A TOP 100 PROSPECT?????? ARRGGGHHHHH!!!!
Sometimes things do work out, even if only for a brief period of time.
There’s a HUGE gap from the 2009 pick to 2015, and slowly over the years, the gap has closed. In fact, the last 3 picks actually has made the team, although obviously verdict’s still out.
But to me it’s a promising sign that the minors system seem to be finally working, even if it took awhile. Perry clearly has a plan, and he’s executing it, even if it’s not all we want NOW as fans. For this alone, I don’t feel as bad as others re: the Nolan pick, and with PTP’s track record, I fully expect him to be the 2024 starting 1B, unless Walsh comes back from the dead and mashes out of nowhere.
The “development” of talent is definitely an issue for this Org.
The “lack of” “development” of talent is
definitely athe #1 issue for this Org.Anyone acting like this is surefire a good or bad pick is silly. The draft is such an inexact science. Everything but Nolan’s cape numbers show he can rake and perhaps most importantly he understands how to control the damm strike zone. Which is quickly becoming a lost art in baseball and especially on the Angels in particular.
Time will tell as always how this shakes out.
Yes, time will tell. However I don’t think it’s unreasonable for fans to react – good or bad – with any decision made by the team from starting lineups to draft choices.
There’s many examples of lower round picks that make the ML team and become stars. There’s also examples of high round, “can’t miss” prospects that flop graphically. To your point, it is an inexact “science”.
There’s a lot of people that do baseball scouting full time that have meaningful perspectives. The jury seems to out with our selection, and that’s okay. The guy we drafted might be the second coming of Goldschmidt. I really don’t know. My issue is not the player, it’s the position that was selected with our first round pick. I still believe we need to find high level players in the skill positions – SP, 3B, 2B, CF. We have skills at SS and C. In my opinion, our focus should be using the high draft choices for getting the skill positions resolved as the priority.
It’s ok to disagree with my perspective and observations.
That’s why I wanted the 3rd baseman, because we can’t count on the 40 to stay on the field.
What a wasted first pick, no 2nd round pick. Wilson was bad, but this is stupid.
Respectfully, what do you know about baseball scouting, and more specifically about this kid, to call it a wasted pick a mere 5 hours after it was made?
Like, come on. Grow up dude lol
Grandpa is just trying to avoid the rush to get on the ” I told you so” bandwagon when Schlemiel Schlimazel cant make his way out of Single A.
*scnhitzel
*wiener scnhitzel…. today’s lunch.
When someone starts out with respectfully, generally they are not exactly telling the truth and you didn’t disappoint. Imagine my surprise to the reactions here, so I’ll reply. First off as a long-time subscriber to Baseball America I have learned a little. Reading CBS Sports online everyday as a source adds a little more adds to my knowledge. Watching College Baseball through the College World Series also adds a little more knowledge.
In the past few weeks there has been a wealth of information along with prospect ratings. The Angels have the 11th pick with having needs in pitching, 3b, 2b, 1b, and ownership, sorry a little humor insert. Sitting on the board when the Angels choice appeared were several players from bigger programs that were available. Schanuel played in a league that can be considered small or weak., meaning the pitching he faced is not what he would have faced in a stronger conference. This is a big young man no doubt, and he raked too, but what may have been small stadiums, weaker opposition means a lot, especially for a slow runner. He is not a bad fielder, but he is no GG either, how does that work out if he continues to grow. BTW, most of those who rated this player in the first round had him 26-32, with most suggesting that he is a second round choice.
Look at my statement, does it not read as an opinion? So, you along with a hoard of others condemn me as if on a nightly basis I am a Doomer. “Like come on dude grow up lol” suggests you are too immature to respect when someone differs from your opinion. Instead of challenging my statement with facts or just stating that you may like the pick, you make a point to but a time limit of 5 hours on my statement not being enough time. Does opinion actually need a clock?
I believe I have been respectful in my reply here, and would further suggest that maybe you think twice before being disrespectful of a comment you disagree with in the future.
Solid response. Glad to hear you expound on your statement – makes a lot of sense.
What a dumb ass comment.
There are about 40-100 of those types of comments on this site a day, the doom and gloom comments are rampant. Wondering, who gets to make the call if a comment is dumb ass?
You I see disagree also, so tell me why it was a better pick tha those left on the board?
Grandpa- I would have loved this guy with a 2nd round pick so in my opinion it’s not a waste. The Angels probably drafted him a round too early, but since they don’t have a second round pick and because they desperately need a 1Bman, it arguably makes some sense. He would not have been around by the time. the third round pick came around.
My preference would have been Teel – but with O’Hoppe and Quero in the system, I can understand why they didn’t pick another catcher. Again, my preference would have been Teel but I think it might be unfair to call this a wasted pick.
The Angels are not in any position to ignore drafting for need.
the cupboard is still barren and having 3 big end catching prospects in the system but little else would have been asinine.
It
Yes – given what appears to be Walsh degeneration into a non-entity, the Angles desperately needed a first basemen. That is why I asked you earlier today before the draft whether you were thinking of Schanuel. He is likely going to play in the bigs next year which makes the ’24 team even more intriguing. Going to be a lot of youth on that team which is exciting in my opinion.
Totally agree and essentially the same comment I made in the other thread (Draft Day) thread… MLB is not like the NFL where the pundits like to talk about the “best player on the board” etc.. Due to the large number of players on an NFL roster and the frequency of injuries the drafting philosophy is alot different…
In baseball it is a very real thing that great players in the minors can get “blocked” due to playing the wrong position on the wrong team. This doesn’t really happen in the NFL except at the QB position…You can’t simply ignore positional needs.
Do you think that having another stud catcher that could be trade bait for one or the other is a bad thing. Could Thaiss play 1st.
I think they need a 3rd baseman more than a 1st baseman.
Right – but drafting one first would signal that they are done with Ren-done which I am not sure the upper management is willing to concede.
Why? It takes most draft choices three or four years (or longer) to make the majors. Neto is the exception. Now is the time to start planning beyond “No Bags”.
No argument here. Who would you have suggested instead of Schanuel?
Brock Wilken was my hope. Turks had him as a tier 1, he went to The Brewers a few picks after ours. Our choice was a 2nd tier player. And a 1st baseman, not exactly a rarefied position, but one that you at least expect power from, and that’s not what they chose.
CB26 had mentioned taking Teel and having him play 1st…..and catcher.
Although this year we seem to think we have 1st covered with random rotation of Lamb, Renfroe, Drury, Thaiss,
Urshela, Walsh, Moose, Ward, Wallach, I’m sure several more to come. So we are ok with this type of coverage at 1st for an entire season, I’m sure Teel (thought to be a better hitter) could cover it in the future.
Willing to concede that Ren-done might be done with us…he doesn’t seem play very often.
He plays about 42% of the time, on average, I round it down to 40% ( I learned not to get my hopes up), so now I’m just going to refer to him as 40.
Ren-done, or 40 for short, needs to have a replacement knocking on the door, waiting and willing to take over when he is on the IL 60% of the season.
I fully agree. Was there a 3Bman on the draft board that you would have preferred over 1B Schanuel?
Brock Wilken, went to the Brewers a few picks later.
Both are important positions of need… I would have been okay with either one, however you could argue that we have more potential options at 3B than at 1B.
Gonzales is currently a power-hitting SS who could have moved to either side off SS.
https://youtu.be/i_lIYthFeLY
C: Logan O’Hoppe
1B: Nolan Schanuel
2B:
SS: Zach Neto
3B
OF: Mickey Moniak, Jo Adell
I don’t feel like doing the pitchers lol.
Speaking of first round picks, any update on Jo?
Oblique injury.
Going off of Moore and Neto’s oblique injuries it’s best to assume Adell comes back sometime in August
Damn, it’s almost like this team is cursed…
Since 2015
Ever Since Stoneman retired in 2009 and Evil Arte and his henchman Carpino became more powerful
So – I’m curious- what is the reasoning of the Angels drafting college players over highschool players?
Get to the bigs quicker, already faced competition from different areas?
Is any of it a lack of confidence in development of players in the Angels system?
Well, they really don’t have a track record of developing young players, so maybe.
High school drafted players can’t hit the fastball after they’re over 31
Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani’s “window” + absolutely barren upper levels of the minors giving the big league team no depth.
Also high schoolers carry more risk. Jordyn Adams and Jo Adell for example.
Does this means Cabbage can now be promoted?
He is already in triple A Salt Lake.
Promoted to the head?
Sorry I’m late to the party but with Teel available I’m surprised they went Schanuel. I guess that says as much about parting ways with Walsh as anything else.
I’ll add that O’Hoppe and Teel would have made the Angels set at catcher for a long time. Quero would have then been trade bait for a 1Bman.
You don’t need two Number 1 catchers — it is a waste of resources..
Unlike the past when we had a lot of no. 2 catchers?
It’s the Angels. They have a starting catcher they traded for and no starting first baseman. So there you go.
Or they could have traded for CJ Cron and went in a different direction with their top pick
Once and for all “we don’t need a catcher !!!! “
.434, .517, .803 with 15 HRs in college- guess the player.
Squid ?
Nope. Hint- he was a first baseman.
Walsh?
Nope. Before Walsh.
JT Snow?
Wally Joyner?
I wish that was it.
Hopefully it was someone good.
Ehhhhhhh.
Cron or Trumbo
Cron
Trumbo was out of high school
Nope.
Th-icy
Nope.
Shohei’s mom?
🤣
Wil Wilson?
Nope. This person was/is a 1st baseman.
THE ANSWER IS…………,
CJ Cron !!!!! They drafted a higher contact, less power, CJ Cron in the first round. Maybe they can trade him to Colorado?
The guy that basically was as good as Albert for $249,000,000 less pay roll!
Yep, that guy. Has done decent in Colorado. My son has a bat signed by him.
I’m sure Cron was aided by his college altitude. I really never thought he had that great of plate discipline so I actually find this very encouraging as a comp considering Schanuel
Now I got one for you. Another renowned first baseman draft year college slash line:
.387/.490./.871
he never played for the Angels but his dad was a dentist.
McGuire????
Went to high school with him
I talked to him once at his bar in Seal Beach one weekday afternoon. Winter, place was dead, about 3 in the afternoon. He was actually very nice and personable with me.
The Abbey?
I guess that’s what it is called. Left side of the street if you’re facing the ocean. A person who used to cut my hair worked for a short while a couple of doors down.
CJ Cron
Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
So he’ll make a living but never be a star…..
Whoooooooo…….Whoooooooo knows? Maybe we will eventually give a hoot about the Woodsey Owl.
Doesn’t seem like an impact player that you burn a first round pick on when you don’t have a 2nd round pick.
If they can develop him into a Wally Joyner type player then I will be ecstatic.
So we essentially just drafted Giffy
Yes a Giffy that is a foot taller and understands the strike zone and how to field a ground ball.
Only at higher altitudes
On the count of three – everybody fart a rainbow!
It’s bad process but if he pans out, cool. I like that his glove at least gets good grades and more contact is slightly more valuable in the post-shift era.
But if one of those infielders selected after becomes Trea Turner or something it would be very Angels.
Given his profile and Angels luck, he could end up being the next Evan White, bad hip and all.
I’m greatly encouraged by that walk to k ratio and his 2023 OPS. I think he’ll be our 2025 1b
Stupid Brewers, I would have preferred that The Angels signed the 3rd baseman. Instead we have s high contact-👍 Below average speed-👎 1st baseman-🫤 We will see how he develops, maybe a 1st baseman/ DH with high contact to move runners? Not a really exciting pick, but I’m always adverse to picking a 1st baseman in the first round.