Here are the Angels moves during the weekend. In a nutshell, Morr and Neto are back from the IL, Trey Cabbage had his contract selected, David Fletcher was outrighted to Triple-A, and Adell, Bachman, and Rendon all went onto the injured list. Do you think they should call it the “injured lost?” Mike Moustakas has been batting a great deal better than I expected him to. Saturday was kind of fun and the Angels find new and creative ways to walk off for the win. I wondered at the time, but yes indeed, Grae Kessinger is related to Don Kessinger, who was his grandfather. Here is what it looked like when the Astros took the hard fought series against the Angels. There are Ohtani trade articles all over the effin’ place. They are not news as far as I am concerned. Bleacher Report is specializing in them.
Shane Bieber just went on the 15 day IL. (Forearm issues.) Terry Francona claims he won’t need surgery. This injury to Rowdy Tellez sounds pretty nasty.
Tyler Danish opted out of his Nationals contract while Matt Bowman opted out of his Yankees contract.
In another black eye on the Big Red Machine, Johnny Bench is apologizing for making an antisemitic joke at a team event. Some people apparently laughed, although Pete Rose did not. When can we grow past that stuff?
August 21, 2007 – I was there for the GA 10-RBI night vs Yankees. THANKS GA!
GOOD MOJO
Box Score Fun:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ANA/ANA200708210.shtml
and furthermore….
I think this point has been made many times but it’s still in my head. Arte will not let Perry trade Ohtani because there is money to be made in 2023.
If I’m wrong on that then I expect a deal to some other team’s version of Moustakas, i.e. an older vet, some team’s version of Tyler Anderson (maybe Cortes or some other injured starter) and the 5th and 17th best prospects of that other team.
So, for example, from the Dodgers a package of JD Martinez, Dustin May, Andy Pages, Landon Knack.
But enough pessimism. Let’s go Halos!
Arte made money before Ohtani and he will make it after. It’s OC – and going to a game is entertainment. Literally millions of people and only 40,000!tickets each night they play.
The question is whether Arte’s ego and vanity will allow the trade.
Games aren’t decided this way, but on paper, this SHOULD be an Angels W tonight.
NY isn’t very imposing at all sans Judge.
I agree but still paying homage to Jobu.
The lineup is fine based on who’s available, though I’d prefer Steffanic at 2B over Escobar.
We’re just wasting the options on Steffanic IMO.
I think wasting the plumber’s options is The absolute least of our worries
Granted, but what’s the point of calling him and not playing him? Particularly when Escobar is a bit of a liability at 2B.
Based on what I read about Plumber, who was undrafted, he had to overcome numerous obstacles to make it to the show. Most of us hope that he succeeds. However, I remember the horror on the face when he failed to convert the sacrifice bunt attempt with runners on 1st and 2nd and again when he failed to catch the beautifully located throw from Wallach to tag out stealing Houston player. I bet he is the kinda player who cannot quite let go of the failure because he feels so responsible for the team loss. He is probably still showing his remorse in body language. In sharp contrast to hee-fo, who never retains any part of his horrible errors. I am afraid that Plumber would be sent back down once Drury is back on active roster.
Must be hee-fo’s scheduled day off. Neto is leading off.
https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1681059747016097792
I predict which ever team makes one less mistake will win today.
One less mistake = win? Well, good thing it is hee-fo’s scheduled day off.
It is satirical reference to two sorry organizations. It is uncanny how similar we are now.
MFYankees; Judge/Donaldson IL, Stanton expensive contract with poor performance and multiple injuries. IKF is like our hee-fo. Only one reliable starting pitcher in Cole. Unreliable bullpen. Angels are almost identical twin brother team.
Not really since the Yankees have a winning record
I predict both teams will miss playoffs because of both of them are sorry organizations. Do you think MFYankees will make the playoffs?
You got half of that equation right …
I assume that you are watching Dodgers vs Orioles. Now those are quality playoff worthy teams. Both of them play sound baseball with amazing defense. I have not seen any error or brain fart moves by respective managers. Unlike MFYankees or Angels.
Fun fact: When I was just a boy (mid 60’s-70’s) the Dodger and Oriole farm systems were virtual factories, churning out player after player. It seemed every team had at least two former Oriole/Dodger farmhands on their MLB roster.
I just saw Rutchman threw a bazooka to get the stealing Dodgers player at 2nd. Perhaps, the Orioles are back to good player producing machine, the way you described. Dodgers have not changed much in that respect IMHO.
You don’t like the Yankees huh?
What about Matsui ?
Matsui and his famous porn collection !!!!
My hat I wore yesterday:
Japanese Media asked me to guess his 2010 stats during Spring Training:
Nope, but they will finish the season with a winning record. You really do hate the Yankees do ya?
Except for moving guys around in the lineup, today’s lineup makes sense in terms of who would play.
Frisbee thrower is back.
https://twitter.com/SamBlum3/status/1681050201447100416
Nothing says winning baseball like having Jimmy “don’t call me James” Herget on your roster!
I can see a possible scenario where Herget is thrown in the 9th inning as closer with Angels leading by a run. Estevez will probably not be used today because he has thrown past 2 days. Only difference from Barria is that Herget has closed successfully once. Of course, he has blown save twice this year.
Bullpen turnstile/merry-go-round continues.
https://twitter.com/SamBlum3/status/1681052245822173184
Next!
guy looks like Rendon
He does. If he had that look, maybe that A’s drunken fan would have backed down sooner. Or maybe not.
Of course. The late inning guys tonight are Loup and Herget likely.
Is this where I should say I should not have stopped sniffing glue? 😉
Fuentes?
I didn’t know. AKA T-Rex. He also shares the same first name as my son.
https://gazette.com/news/spring-training-angels-happy-to-have-former-rockie-funetes/article_230517ee-8165-584c-bd7e-0bd29eaed745.html
All the Platypus is doing is shuffling the deck chairs on the SS Arte Fitzgerald.
He has no plan, he’s literally throwing crap against the wall to see if anything sticks.
Agree with there is no plan.
he has a plan. Get a guy from somewhere, promote him to the big club, make Nevin play him, after the failure DFA the player.
As the season always quickly fades away at this time of year, it’s time for the yearly CTPG Book Club, TV, Movie Streaming Service recommendations. Haven’t watched yet, but hear it’s fantastic. Why watch a D-Grade losing product with very little hope that always disappoints us when we can watch or read something that doesn’t give you night-terrors?
Almost time for football!
Check out “Quarterback” on Netflix
https://www.netflix.com/us/title/81482895?s=i&trkid=254015180&vlang=en&clip=81683682
This is a really good podcast if you’re into the Young coaching trends in the NFL . It’s narrated by the Athletic’s Ram’s beat writer, Jourdan Rodrigue and she’s really good. (And does not wear a dunce cap)
I think it’s free with commercials. https://theathletic.com/4621933/2023/06/21/playcallers-nfl-podcast/
Last night was a lifetime of being an Angels fan condensed into one game. On the field and on the broadcast.
The loss was brutal. Yet natural.
The announcers saying “imagine if Ohtani moves to a big market” fueled all the red headed stepchild feelings.
My five year old saying “I don’t want Ohtani to go to anther team.”
A national audience sitting back, smirking.
I went with radio via MLB app pretty early – it was getting BAAAAD on that EastSPiN boradcast
I had family from Idaho at the entire 3 game series. My 10 year great-nephew really wants to be an Angels fan, he loves Ohtani and Trout and his trips to Anaheim over the years. Try explaining to him about the lack of player development, short-term focus, etc.
10 year child should never be allowed to become a fan of this team without some kind of family therapy and an attempted intervention.
I became a fan around 9 years of age and everything makes sense now as I look back over the decades.
Yes, I am there telling him of my 47 years of fandom, much of which has been misery. Don’t be like me, nephew, instead be a front runner fan.
I became a Mets fan when they went 40-120. Young kids are not necessarily bandwagoners.
Quick recap: first fave player was Joe DiMaggio until I found out he’d been retired for years. Next fave was Stan Musial even though he played on a team far away. Then Mets became my *team*….until they traded
OhtaniTroutSeaver, at which point I was living in Hollywood and became a big Brian Downing fan.But I digress. Kids aren’t looking for a winner. They’re looking for soul.
I just want to lift my head a little out of the abyss just to moan audibly, back down I go…….
Thankful for news drop Angels will not trade Ohtani to Dodgers cause Arte won’t help in state rival. Seeing our star player go to cocky crosstown team would have been insulting to the hardcore fan base. Those of you who disagree and say bad move, we could get Miller and other young arms from them, Don’t be silly. Look at Dodger trade history, masters of ripping teams off getting star players while sending prospects that never turn out, always keeping their best. One deal I thought we could actually benefit from them Pederson for Rengifo . Remember that fell thru, they said hold on we need to wait to make sure we rip off Boston for Betts first. Arte pulled plug
What is the benefit of taking the Dodgers out of a bidding war? That makes absolutely no sense
Not true. Ever see “The Godfather” ?
Remember the line “It’s just business.” In this case it is.
Squeeze every last bit of talent out each bidder until you receive the greatest trade package in modern day baseball.
Then, I for one, wont give a rats ass what Ohtani does every year until 2035.
What I meant was that not trading him to the Doyers is just business… well, actually there is some emotion there too for Arte. But the “business” part is NOT helping his chief geographical rival to peel more fans off of his fanbase. That would be stupid.
Indeed.
I looked at the article on Athletic, about how the top 4 likely destinations for trading Ohtani are Rays, Dodgers, Mariners and Rangers.
If the packages were identical, it is a hard decision.
“Never trade with the Rays.”
Don’t give Ohtani to the Dodgers to take away our fans.
And then Mariners and Rangers are in our division.
I would lean Rays. I’ve always kind of rooted for the Rays, and I’d like to see them win big.
I don’t care if we trade him to the Dodgers. Sure, there will be some taunting, but who cares. If that is the team to give us the biggest package of players, then do it.
we’ve lost like 11 straight against the Doyers with Ohtani. How could it possibly get worse without him?
The ridicule wont go away even if we trade him to the Pirates.
The only way to deal with that is to win.
I want the best bounty possible AND I will still root for Ohtani the player, regardless of the team.
A once in a lifetime talent like Shohei needs to be on the biggest & brightest stage.
We don’t have to worry about it cause it is not gonna happen. Arte would never do that — and frankly, if I was him I wouldn’t do it either ..
bEcAUsE arTE sAiD sO
Yea they already own our asses on the field no need to add to that ownership in anyway.
Newsdrop where?
Someone here mentioned that Heyman may be on Boras payroll.
https://www.mlb.com/news/shohei-ohtani-rumors
It’s a Heyman clickbait and shill piece. Thanks for the warning.
The futility of Arte’s ego knows no bounds. The Dodgers have a very deep farm system. Why not hold out for an exorbitant price to deal with the Dodgers?
Arte can’t prevent Ohtani from signing with the Dodgers, he can only delay it. Why not set the terms instead of closing the door?
The great businessman is anything but.
let’s dream that Rendon retired and waived his salary. What would Arte do with the $38 million? I believe he’d make a $50 million per year offer to Shohei (a $20 million raise) and pocket the rest. Or maybe with the extra $18 million he’d let Perry sign another Anderson and then spend $5 million on a replacement 3b.
My first point is that we have the same people, Arte and Perry, in charge and having “extra” money is unlikely to change much since it appears we don’t know how to spend it.
Trading Ohtani *and* Trout would give us lots of cash but then who’d replace them? Would any free agent want to come to Anaheim to play for a team that didn’t have those two players? Looking at the UFAs for next season maybe Stroman would help. Joc Pederson? That’s about the cream, as far as I can see.
My second point is that we’re looking at the money as if it mattered to us but what counts is the quality of the players on the field. So forget the $$ and look at the lineup.
My third point is the one that’s always lurking. Get a real baseball person in here who can develop the farm system. Develop the scouting department. Arte and Perry are not going to get the job done by themselves. Arte couldn’t care less. Perry doesn’t have the clout to get it right
I recognize Ohtani is unlikely to be worth $50 million per year for 10 years, but I’d rather see the Angels overpay Ohtani to be an Angel for life than to keep overpaying Rendon because he won a WS with the Nats.
This can be filed under the “yeah, everyone on planet earth thinks this” category.
What’s done is done with Rendon. All we can hope for is some luck health wise and PERHAPS he’ll provide moderate production. He wouldn’t be the first player to find late career productivity after a few lean years. He’ll never justify the contract, but most big ticket FA’s don’t.
RE: “What would Arte do with the $38 million?”
Buy a Swiss Alps chalet or a nice little place in Monao or St Tropez?
Or buy a super nice mansion in Dubai and maybe buy a Bugatti if he has some millions leftover
He’d re-sign HGH and Vernon.
Rendon waiving his $38m salary? 😂😂😂😂
Yep, Fantasyland is just down the street a ways from the stadium……
His first words are literally “let’s dream”
Having money to spend is a problem? I go back to my example below. By resetting, traded Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzo and Beckett in 2012. Primary objective was a salary dump on a top-heavy team and freed-up significant salary to repurpose and retool. The following year the Red Sox won the WS. Here was the breakdown of their acquisitions:
No big name stars, short contracts; SP, OF x 2, 2nd/SS, C/1B x 2 , and a closer. Sox acquired some dogs there with Gomes, The Flyin’ Hawaiian, Ross and Naps. Uehara was tough. Kind of like the Lakers this year who went for depth over the top FA nuggets. Much better chance to succeed. I (and Ohtani) just cannot handle to watch another year of Trout and Rendon sitting games out and trust me, they will be cramping again next year, it’s DNA at this point.
Your post made me look up Koji Uehara.
2012 was also the year that Red Sox finally cut ties with Dice-K Matsuzaka ($52 MM x 6 years with $50 MM posting fee). Uehara was a starter for Yomiuri Giants although he served as a closer in one year after injury before he got posted and acquired by Orioles in 2009. Did not do well as starter and injury ridden 2009, he got converted to set up reliever in 2010 and was traded to Texas in 2011. It is amazing to me that Red Sux took a chance on Uehara in 2013 after what we consider Matsuzaka was one of the most expensive flops in Red Sox history.
Uehara had ‘one hit wonder year’ in 2013 winning Red Sox their 6th World Series title. He is forever etched on Red Sox’s fans memory, who got lifted on Papi’s shoulder.
I forgot to add Scott Boras was Matsuzaka’s agent. Now I can see why Sho chose Nez Boleli despite thousands and thousands of love letters and red rose bouquet that he received from Boras.
But the Red Sox have had smart ownership, managership, leadership (GM), and player development, the Angels don’t. If we have a bunch of money, it does not mean that we will spend it wisely in the short-term or long-term (player development, scouting, drafting, etc.).
I do not trust Platypus and Dr. Evil to spend money wisely.
Revisiting the worst free agent signing in sports history. The Doyers and Rangers were also finalist for Tony No bags and he CHOSE US over them.
Other teams, including the Dodgers and Rangers, aggressively pursued Rendon over the past few days. However, he has chosen to team with the game’s foremost player, Angels center fielder Mike Trout, to make up one of the premier tandems in baseball. At $35MM per season, the soon-to-be 30-year-old Rendon is now second only to Trout in average annual value for position players.
Do you think if he ends up a Doyer he would have been this bad or as they do with everything they touch would he still be gold and be more on the Freddie Freeman arch? For the Rangers does Rendon just become the second coming of late career Adrian Beltre (who chose them over us) or is he also this feeble angry bitter old man in Texas too? Like why us??! Why again??!
On the Rangers or Dodgers he would have become an overpaid DH. That might have left him healthy enough to give them an extra 40 to 60 games per season, so the contract wouldn’t look quite as bad. However, I don’t think he’d be crushing doubles for them as a DH and, so it would still be an example of why a team shouldn’t sign long term contracts for aging players.
Yea good point the full time DH option might have helped a bit. Still paying almost $40 mill AAV for a DH would burn.
What did you see in Trout’s future? But again that only a little over 37 million.
What is funny in that snippet is that Ohtani wasn’t even in the radar at that time. – “join Mike Trout to make up one of the premier tandems in baseball”
It was going to be Trout-Rendon. MSM didn’t have the hots for Ohtani yet. Don’t blame them though. He wasn’t a 2-way player in 2019, and he wasn’t the best DH that year either.
exactly. and I recall people (not just fans – but even real baseball people) didn’t want Ohtani to come to the bigs after his first spring training!
The Angels scored 26 runs in their three-game set here against the Houston Oxys. Here are how many runs each individual Angel actually produced:
4.00 Ward
3.50 Moustakas
3.25 Neto
2.75 Moniak
2.50 Ohtani
2.25 Rengifo
1.75 Escobar
1.50 Thaiss
1.25 Cabbage
1.00 Renfroe
0.50 Stefanic
0.50 Wallach
0.25 Velazquez
The Angel offense came to the second half ready to play. This is the third time Ward has led the Halos in Actual Runs Produced (SEA, STL). It is amazing to me that every time this season Perry has called up a player from the minors or traded for a player, that player has produced offensively. Here Moustakas and Cabbage plug in and produce.
As a result, the Angels are currently 4th in the AL in runs scored per game, third in OBP, and third in SLG.
The pitching, on the other hand.
Here is the updated ARA/BF list:
0.07 Estevez (156)
0.07 Moore (99)
0.08 Soriano (69)
0.09 Bachman (77)
0.10 Ohtani (432)
0.10 Weiss (21)
0.10 Joyce (21)
0.11 Detmers (391)
0.11 Sandoval (385)
0.12 Canning (310)
0.13 Anderson (393)
0.13 Barria (236)
0.13 Webb (106)
0.13 Silseth (84)
0.15 Wantz (96)
0.16 Davidson (148)
0.16 Devenski (140)
0.16 Loup (119)
0.17 Herget (69)
0.19 Suarez (123)
0.21 Mederos (14)
0.23 Ingram (14)
0.23 Reyes (13)
Webb and Devenski took big hits to their ARA/BFs this series. The Angels used 12 pitchers against the ‘Stros this weekend, and Loup, Soriano, and Weiss were the only ones who were able to prevent any batters they faced from scoring or moving over a runner who would eventually score.
Anderson leads the Angel starters with 50.00 Actual Runs Allowed this season. Among relievers, the leaders are Devenski and Davidson who tie with 23.00.
The Angel pitching staff is third worst in the AL in runs allowed per game. They have the third highest WHIP in the league. They lead the league in wild pitches and are second in hit by pitches.
That last paragraph says it all. Walks kill this team, like the last couple of years. Where do they rank in team defense?
I think they walk a lot of batters because they don’t have the “stuff” (e.g., talent) to pitch to contact in the zone.
They get hammered in the zone so they resort to nibbling and issuing too many BB’s.
It’s a pick your manner of execution. Both are bad.
One thing I thing I think about constantly regarding Sho’s status is how big does the reality of his tenure here that we all know (as fans who actually watch the team) and that Ohtani himself knows play a factor in the whole “needing to win” narrative.
The national media has no clue or conveniently omits that the first 3 Ohtani years were arch / development years.
2018: ROY Season: 104 Games played. Batting | 22 HR, 61 RBI’S, .925 OPS | Pitching | 51 IP, 3.37 ERA, 3.57 FIP
2019: TJ Recovery Season: 106 Games played. Batting | 18 HR, 62 RBI’S, .848 OPS | Pitching | Did not pitch
2020: COVID Lost Season for everyone even SHO: 44 Games played. Batting | 7 HR, 24 RBI’s , .657 OPS | Pitching | 1.2 IP , 37.80 ERA, 13.99 FIP
2021: The Real Ohtani emerges ya’ll know the stats
The FACTS:
The 1st 3 years of Sho’s tenure were a mix bag of injuries and professional development. The narrative that the Angels are responsible for “wasting” Ohtani’s career is misleading. Much of the Teams struggles were a result of Sho’s return to form / development arch. If Sho and the Angel’s cognitively structure his time here in a logical fashion I think the picture brightens.
If I’m Perry and Arte I negotiate from that perspective and open the blank check with humility and compassion. We nurtured you, believed in you when many people were saying you had to pick between pitching and hitting. We rode with you.. Developed you. Nursed you back to health like a baby bird with a hurt wing so you could fly like the Sparrowhawk that you were always destined to be. Here’s $650 million as a thank you and a commitment to the future. Now let’s go fulfill our championship destiny… together.
That’s not how this works. That’s like a guy taking out a list and reading it out loud to the girl he likes explaining the reasons why she should be his girlfriend.
Um.. that’s exactly how it works. In both scenarios.. ESPECIALLY the dating one. If you don’t think your wife / girl has or had a mental or physical pro’s and cons list for you.. you are TRIPPIN. Weighing contributing factors whether consciously or sub consciously is literally how most sane people make decisions in life.
Maybe in some alternate universe. Unless you always do that when you go on dates. But if ownership decided to go all gamma male on Shohei, I’m pretty sure he will give them are hard pass and go to a winner.
You’re messing up your own analogy with disparate data points. His decision isn’t a date, its a marriage. AND Hell yea I had a mental pro’s and cons list before I proposed to my wifey. Ohtani will no doubt have the same when choosing his next squad.
And you listed that out and explained to her on why she should be your wife during a date? You’re telling me you actually explained to her on why she should be your wife one on one?
Hahaha of course not. But have you ever been a part of an agency pitch or any sales meeting to win business? Free Agent pitch meetings are literally like this. The team usually has a kick ass video presentation that includes a bunch of REASONS why that player should join the team. The hope is that the player then weighs those options from the pitch when making their decision.
I have and either I was always disappointed or never persuaded well
Let’s say we give him $650M. What’s left of the budget to surround him with?
Hatcher – get out of the dugout with your rally cap and waive the runner home from 3rd jumping up and down! The chances of what you are suggesting happening is about the same as that 2002 moment happening again anytime soon.
So we only wasted the three greatest individual seasons in baseball history rather than a full six years.
Not all that much better.
But still 2x as good as wasting 6 years! trA, bleh
I don’t know if this is a good thing, but there’s a chance Perry may have looked at the Houston series and come out thinking “Offense is fine and thriving without Trout and Drury, and we’re getting one of them back soon. It was really the pitching that did this series in. We were so close to winning this series. It’s not as if Astros won 15-0 in the 2 games, and we did pull off an improbable victory.
If we have one more decent starter, Shohei will heal soon, and another bridge to Esty aside from Moore (since Devenski and Webb have imploded since then), then the team is in good shape. No need to panic sell.”
My prediction is the Angels have a bit of a resurgence and finish July 2-3 games above .500. Just enough to make sure they don’t sell but not good enough to make them serious buyers.
They’ll then immediately fall apart in August and will drop out of contention. Trout will return late August / early September and look like the Trout of old, padding personal stats in otherwise meaningless games.
Of course, I could just be jaded from years of mediocrity.
I’ll never get the “padding of stats in meaningless games.” I would much rather see Trout play very well, whether it’s meaningless or not. It means he hasn’t fallen into a cliff and is still a high quality top tier player. Would you rather see him play everyday and hit .600 OPS just because the team is no longer contending?
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll gladly watch the games just to see Trout pad his stats. And of course I’d rather see him do well than not, even if playoffs are not in the picture.
But it would be frustrating to see him struggle in May/June, then get injured in July, when those games could have put the Angels in a position to make some deadline trades for a true playoff push, only to see him return and lead the team to another slightly-above-.500-but-well-out-of-the-playoffs finish.
For both Smithy and Angels fan, the days of Trout being an everyday great player are done and have not truly been consistent for a long time, 2016. Why he has not been asked to move to 1b yet is odd. (Then we use a #11 pick on a 1b) Injuries just keep coming with him. When healthy he is still a power house, but this season seeing him slump and then the inevitable injury, well when he was 20 to 25 years old we saw his best, and boy oh boy was that something special, but now even though he is still young his body is not holding up and it is sad for us to see. Trout should no longer be counted on to be anything more than our next DH.
I think this is a GROSS exaggeration. He is still a great everyday player. He still can and deserves to play everyday. Trout is not Pujols, at least not yet. And why would he move to 1B?! If he would move, he should move to a corner outfield where less range would be demanded of him.
But for the sake of argument, you say 2016. Here are Trout’s stats for the next 3 years after that:
2017 – 114 games, .306/.442./629/1.071
2018 – 140 games, .312/.460/.628/1.088
2019 – 134 games, .291./438./645/1.083 – WON THE AL MVP
2020 – 53 games (out of 60) .281/.390/.603/.993
Even in 2022, where he was out a month and the back issue came into focus, Trout slashed .283/.369/.630/.999, with 40 homers, including that incredible streak of 7 straight games with a HR. In 119 games.
I don’t think we’ll see Trout again play into the high 150s, even if he finishes a season injury-free. He started young and there’s a lot of mileage in those legs. But he’s more than an adequate productive player still, way too far from being a bench or rotational player, and he’s still deservedly in the great players conversation.
Defense – IIRC – also hurt us this series. In addition to odd/poor in-game management. Bunting, pinch hitters, pinch runners, waving people home, poor communication with baserunners, pitching choices (I know the cupboard is bare) – man – the list goes on ….
You sum this series up perfectly DD. When the pitching is bad, how can a team win? Manager and coaching was as bad as I have ever seen in any series – Ever!
I walked out of Angels Stadium last night with so much disgust lol. I truly, from the bottom of my heart, hate this organization 😂😂
Fun fact —
Anthony Rendon has 2 HRs in 148 ABs
Mike Moustakas (as an Angel) has 4 HRs in 50 ABs
Rendon’s contract has done more harm than good, but cherry-picking isn’t the way to prove it.
Fun fact —
Anthony Rendon has 6 2Bs and 25 BB and 6 GDP in 148 ABs.
Moustakas (as an Angel) has 0 2Bs, 3 BBs and 3 GDP in 50 ABs (on pace for 0 2Bs, 9 BBs and 9 GDP in 148 ABs).
Add in MLB worst errors at his position per games played to that mix, as well a noodle throwing arm.
Yes, Rendon’s injuries have sapped his doubles power and throwing arm, causing him to drop considerably across the board in AVG, OBP, SLG and defensive-value. He still has good plate discipline (but draws fewer walks because pitchers are less afraid of him).
The point is you have to look at the entire picture, not a small sample size comparison of a few selected favorable or unfavorable stats.
I really find it impossible to defend Rendon at this point. 🏳🏳🏳🏳
But good effort 👏
Rendon is an injury-prone, overpaid, shell of his former self. I’m not defending him, I’m attacking an analysis that is too incomplete to be worthwhile.
Okay, let’s look at the big picture- He is only on the field roughly 40% of the games. That means we have to have another player play 60% of the games! Does that make the other player the actual 3rd baseman?
The Foundation Building Materials’ keystone of the game for the Halos tonight against the Yankees is “Loan Me a Dime” by Boz Skaggs and Duane Allman.
This song perfectly captures what it is to be an Angel fan after this Astro series.
Boz and Duane are in a lot of pain since their baby left them, like the pain that comes to losing a series to your old nemesis, that comes when you understand the playoffs are but a dream and another year ending in mediocrity is reality, that comes when you accept that you are going to have to euthanize your pet unicorn.
But there is still hope. Or at least a longing for hope. Boz and Duane want that dime just like we want a future with Neto, Moniak, Estevez, and O’Hoppe. And we want a future where the players we get for our golden unicorn are going to help the Angels be winners.
So how ’bout that dime? I’m good for it.
https://youtu.be/oTFvAvsHC_Y
No analysis here. Ohtani is so cool, and I will miss him a lot on our otherwise very lousy team.
There are somethings to like about this team.
I like Mickey. I like Cabbage, I like O’Hoppe. I like Neto. I like Drury. I like Charlie Sheen . I Like Mous he seems to care about winning. I like that Soriano kid even though he walks the world and I still Like Mike.
Everyone else. meh. Giant Meteor
Agreed, there are those few bright spots to an otherwise dreadful situation. I like Estevez, Drury, Gio before he was injured.
I just watched YouTube clip which featured the reactions of Neto and Benji Gil after Sho’s homer in 9th inning last night. This made me like Neto more and respect Benji, who should be nominated for next Angels manager, should Nevin be fired or resign.
The clip is in Japanese and not well edited. The cliff note version is that the clip showed Neto and Gil conversing before the bottom of 9th inning and the film author added caption hinting Gil encouraged Neto to get on base no matter what. Neto struck out, and was seen kicking something in frustration in the dugout after seeing Sho’s solo homerun. It also showed Gil punching the handrail in front of him at the same time. The film caption also said that Neto was the last player to leave the bench.
https://youtu.be/khG14lu1C7s
I like that the Angels players care and are still fighting.
It’s good they can all laugh about just coughing up 3 runs
No disrespect to you, sir, but I thought I heard collective moans from Japan after Bregman’s homer.
There is a Japanese YouTuber who broadcasts all Angels games this season as radio play by play and analyst in Japanese. He also broadcasts all Nippon Ham Fighters’ games that I often listen to. He is actually pretty good and currently my third favorite radio announcer after Terry and Mark. He mentioned that his followers increased 200% and exceeded 30 thousands because of Angels. He is a big fan of Neto and Moniak. I believe there are many Angels fans in Japan not just because of Sho, but also because of these young up and coming players. When I listened to his broadcast of yesterday’s Angels game today, the announcer loudly groaned as he uttered the final out by Kyle Tucker’s fantastic shoe string catch.
I was just observing the smiles and laughs on the Angel bench, nothing about the broadcast or voices heard.
When I lived in Japan, the Yankees, Dodgers are Mariners were jerseys I saw the most. Never saw an Angel jersey in 3-years I was there.
I can’t remember what years you mentioned you were there, but Yankees because of Matsui/Tanaka, Dodgers because of Nomo/Maeda and Mariners because of, of course, Ichiro. Little disappointed that there was no fan of Shige. 😆
Wondering….how would folks feel to just attach Rendon and Trout and ask for nothing in return. Similar to the Red Sox – Dodgers trade where LA took Beckett, Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzales from the Red Sox to enable Boston to reset. Maybe the Yanks would jump in and could use Rendon to replace Donaldson, Trout comes back and side-by-side with Judge. Nice.
Without Ohtani next year, our starting staff won’t let the Angels sniff .500.. Need a couple of more years to allow the farm to develop naturally and avoid desperation moves that have brought up rookies only to flop or hit the IL. Good time to allow the Perry to continue his overhaul of the scouting, developmental and farm system. To reset, need to move on from Trout and Rendon. if we had to kick in a little cash or fine tune the deal, fresh start. Something tells me, Perry would prefer this route.
No. Ohtani will bring prospects that are desperately needed. If Trout would waive his NTC, he would have value. The only true dead-weight is Rendon, and as soon as he’s traded he becomes an all-star. His “punishment” is to remain on a rebuilding team.
The only person that cares about the salary expenditure is Arte.
Mike and the dollars owed, limits any value. Certainly can break him out separately of the deal but Angels should move on from Trout while it is possible. He will become a liability by age 35.
Arte is paying Trout through his age 38 season; the cost is straight-lined $35.5M as measured for luxury tax purposes.
When players are getting $43M for two years (Verlander) and then a vested $35M option in his age 42 season, Trout’s salary won’t age great – but it’s not a monstrosity either. By 2030 you have to figure that yearly $30M contracts won’t be that unique.
Rendon yes, Trout no. I realize Mike has his own injury concerns, but you can’t lose BOTH Ohtani and Trout in the same year.. Trout is the face of the franchise and I don’t see any way Arte would consider this, if just for marketing reasons alone.
Plus, I do think Mike has at least 3 good years of baseball in him. Past that I am not so sure ..
That is a good point, the marketing end of it. Agree, Trout is still outputting good numbers but we’ve seen some dings in his armor and nobody here wants to see a Pujols type landing.
Father time always wins, so yes, the end of Mike’s contract will be ugly. However, he has given so much more to this team than Gramps ever did I won’t have any problem seeing him in a ceremonial role taking Arturo’s money.
Trade Shohei to the Dodgers for pitching and Smith and Lux, Trade Trouty to the Yankees more pitching and youth, Trade Rengifo, Renfroe, Escobar, to contenders for minor leaguers. Release Rendone, Fletcher and Walsh. And let the rebuild begin.
Lock Arte up in some top floor of a casino in Vegas and keep telling him what a great job he is doing.
You start out at spending 37.4 million on Rendone, 6 million on Fletcher, 13 million on Anderson. You keep payroll around 100-120 million a year while developing new talent.
Start performance bearing contracts for Superstars that can make them 50 million a year or 6 million a year if they bottom out. It will catch on as will 5-year max contracts. Invest in the minor leagues until hands cramp up, writing checks to improve the minor leagues.
Make money and keep investing it back to the players through the constant improving facilities, equipment and coaches in the minors, hire only winning coaches and managers at the top and only take winning as a result. And if a player asks for more time off than he is getting, trade his sorry butt.
Make the Angels the team everyone wants to play for to learn and win.
What’s that you say? Arte’s starting to drool, then get him a bib for God’s Sake.
In reality, they won’t trade Trout unless he demands it and they can get some type of decent return. Rendon’s situation is what it is. Angels would need to include talent to move him. They are likely much better off just hoping for better health. He’s one of the few guys that isn’t a total swing and miss guy who works the count etc.
Ohtani could be moved but NOT to the Dodgers and he likely won’t be moved. If he is traded, it should be to a National League team. Ohtani would be a good Met in 2024.
I hope Perry gets another year as as most of the truly awful deals other than Anderson weren’t his doing and the revolving GM plan clearly isn’t working. Rushing all these kids up will likely have some unintended negative consequences ala Adell. Some guys just need more seasoning in the minors and therefor are going to be a crapshoot to project. Plugging them in next year as regulars with unrealistically high expectations seems similar to what they have done with free agents coming off career years.
I’m not sure what happens in the off season but I’m still convinced that a front office culture change from the top down is the only course that will lead to drastic improvement. Arte and his cronies are the main issue and real baseball people don’t have a big enough voice.
It is entertaining to read MLBTR live chat. I needed to have some chuckle this morning. One of the questioner named Arte asked “Is it mere spite that is making me not trade Shohei?”
Which led me to this question that no one has ever broached at this site (Sorry if someone did ask). Was Sho’s joining the Angels a curse or blessing? I was thinking that Sho blossoming as two way player provided ‘false’ hope to Arte that the Angels could win World Series, and that is the reason why he decided not to sell the team. If Sho were on another team, he would have sold the team long time ago. In conclusion, it is Sho that slowed down the transformation via new ownership that the Angels organization has desperately needed.
Would you have been happier if Sho had chosen another team in 2018, or are you glad that you have been able to appreciate and witness the unicorn at Big A more frequently because he has been an Angel?
It was and has been a blessing. First, we’ve been spoiled getting to watch the greatest two-way player in the history of the game. Secondly, he’s a great teammate and really cares about the fans.
Regardless of what happens next, it’s not Ohtani’s fault. Arte and his GMs created the mess that has forced Ohtani to explore the market. There was a window where the team could have signed him to a long-term contract extension. The team missed that opportunity and is now faced with an incredibly difficult choice over the next two weeks. It is a “no win” choice.
If they don’t trade him, they face a very competitive landscape for Ohtani’s services. If they don’t sign him, they get a draft choice that given this team’s history with player selection – it will be a crap-shoot. If they trade him, there’s no way they will receive equivalent value in return. They will get more than if he signs elsewhere, but less value than if Ohtani remained an Angel.
The saddest part of all this is that the majority of Arte’s failures have been self-inflicted.
For this organization to have a chance to be successful down the road a trade is simply a no brainer. Now not ever team has what we can use either. To be the biggest world-wide Baseball attraction ever, if he not now, means either the Yankees, Dodgers, Giants or Cubs. Being on a consistent winner means Yankees or Dodgers. Being on a West Coast team means Dodgers. Dodgers are not stupid people, what they can do for Shohei and vice versa is really more than can be imagined by anyone because this is a talent not seen but once in the history of MLB. (Babe Ruth, and not because of the 2 way thing, but because of what the 2 of them could do compared to all the other players in the game. The Angels cannot and will not ever be able to replace Shohei, how can they.
As far as Moreno goes, he has been a disrespected owner for more than ten years, tearing down the organization to showcase a few stars to get 3 million fans to watch. Shohei has no intention of returning here period. We never had a chance of being a power house team with the business plan that Arte put together. Arte Moreno was the worst thing to ever happen to the Angels, not Buzzi, Harry, Haney, Jedi, only Arte Moreno could have fixed this team to be winners and he failed big time.
As for keeping the team, he thinks that without a stadium deal, and not wanting anything to do with pending lawsuits he should get more than 2.5 Billion Dollars, the is no end to his stupidity.
Analyzing Sho’s Q&A this season allowed me to notice his honest appreciation for Angels organization and fans. HIs #1 wish for this season is still reaching the playoffs as Angel.
It is still difficult for me to imagine that the Angels did not offer to extend him last October when he signed $30 MM one year deal to avoid arbitration. I conjecture that Sho declined the extension to evaluate how serious Arte/Angels FO would be to improve the team to be playoff worthy consistently. After this season, he will take his time with Nez Balelo to decide his next step.
I just thought of another scenario where Arte might not trade Sho. With Trout and O’Hoppe returning even as late as August, he might imagine Sho playing again with them even as spoiler provides best chance of re-sigining the unicorn. Of course, it could also be pure spite for his critics.
I could also blame the whole thing on my delusional hyperbole person, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, who advised Sho to go to Anaheim. 😆
Blessing. We got some incredible viewing pleasure. Exceeded expectations.
Still a blessing and always will be. Got to watch the unicorn playing for my favorite team, even if it took 3 years for the unicorn to come out.
Shohei chose the Angels because it was the Angels who would let him be the 2-way player he wanted to be. As Fletcher wrote in his book – something just “clicked”. They didn’t oversell or overpromise, but what they put on the table was that he can play the way he envisioned himself to play with the Angels – no converting to an OF (like the Dodgers wanted), or to a full-time DH, or converting him to just a full-time pitcher. The Angels will ride the “experiment” with him, for better or worse.
If Shohei went to another team and they converted him to a more traditional player, then we wouldn’t have gotten to see a unicorn even in a different uniform. There’s a reason he’s cheered for by other teams, and why when Angels come to town, the fans come in droves to watch him, even if they’re home team fans.
This organization is horrible, hopeless, etc., but the Angels made Unicorn Shohei happen. And now baseball is enjoying its fruits.
Thank you for sharing that information from Jeff Fletcher’s book as I am still waiting for local library to carry it. If I recall correctly, Billy Eppler was the GM at that time, so he must have produced the perfect presentation.
I also have to give credit to Joe Maddon (although we never got to witness his mohawk), who freed him from ‘rest day before and after pitching’ restriction. His wise decision also led to the MLB decision to have ‘Ohtani’ rule.
I’ll take it one step further, going even further back, and ask the same question about Trout.
Was having Trout on this team one of the reasons we’ve been screwed for 9 years?
I think it is possible that the answer is yes.
Granted, that is only because of the specific combination of this owner and mgmt. On a different team, Trout probably wins 4 WS by now.
Because of Trout, how many years did the team use the “well we can’t rebuild because we have Trout” excuse. That totally screwed us.
We should have rebuilt our farm and started with some young talent years ago, instead of always trading away youth and draft picks for FA signings desperately trying to get Trout into the playoffs every single year.
And now the same thing with Ohtani.
And now… we’re on the verge of one of the biggest mistakes in franchise history…
Will we do the right thing and trade away the most valuable trade chip we’ve ever had in order to build for the future, or are we going to be stubborn and scrape and claw our way to the end of this season only to miss the playoffs.