You can’t tell the players without a scorecard. The Angels have seventeen payers on the injured list. It’s their specialty. They traded for Randal Grichuk and C.J. Cron. Shohei Ohtani apparently would be comfortable staying with the Angels.
Taylor Ward got hit in the face by a pitch on Saturday. He is likely done for the season. Ha-Seong Kim jammed his shoulder the other day sliding headfirst into home plate. Jonathan India has plantar fasciitis in his left foot.
The division is getting tougher. The Rangers acquired Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton from the Cardinals for prospects. They also went out and traded for Max Scherzer. The Astros traded for Kendall Graveman.
Cody Bellinger is apparently off the trade market. The Cardinals traded Jordan Hicks to the Blue Jays.
Miles Mikolas was suspended for five games for throwing at Ian Happ.
I guess the Cubs aren’t selling. There goes my hopes for Stroman. Maybe next year, to play with Troutani?
I think the Cubs are quite similar to the Angels in that GM and manager’s jobs are on the line unless they make the playoffs. Candelario to the Cubs, I am surprised that MFYankees did not get him. That’s a mild ‘Yay’ for us.
On the Angels or Cubs? Word is the Cubbies will offer Ohtani.
Source?
Wonder if Canning’s general soreness is the kind you feel when you’ve been told you’re traded for Verlander.
I hope not, we have invested so much time and energy into him.
Looking at the power numbers for Atlanta and thinking holding them to 5 runs or less is going to be quite a chore. Angel pitchers in this series cannot afford ANY mistakes.
Is Pujols’ personal services contract a tradeable asset
For a few events at Pelican Hill
okay, this got me
Lmaoooooo
If we get swept and the other teams ahead of us win, then we will be pretty much out of the race. All the trades were for nothing. I know it’s a terrible thought, but that’s the reality.
Was there a question there?
Edited the comment. Lol
That wasn’t a question
Jinx
Breaking news:
Angels acquire Verlander from Mets for Rengifo, Arte’s BMW and the giant A in the stadium parking lot.
I was all in, but the Big A is a Nova (No Go) for me.
You lost me at BMW. he owns Mercedes.
Source?
I’ve personally walked his drunk butt to it. It was a E350 AMG, but that was also 7 years ago. (I was on Eagle Duty a lot when I worked In-House Security)
Sources say the deal went down at the Del Taco on Harbor Blvd
I always thought it was the Del Taco in Corona, off the 91
It was
Which one? The one by the classic double drive-thru in-n-out, or the one further down towards the 15 interchange?
Torii’s deal – Main and I-15 in Corona
I bet there are at least 6 different smell crotchos on Harbor Blvd
Fake news.
The deal went down at Chronic Taco’s…
Dang it! For a brief second I thought…
🤦♂️
Soon, during the game. Perry will complete the trade.
At the press conference, Eppler said there wasn’t anything left to trade for in the Angel’s system but he had always liked that giant red A.
It’s kind of amazing how almost identical records can be viewed in extreme opposites when different people look at it on different lenses.
Perry’s Angels stand at 55-51, have arguably been the hottest team out of the break, and could have had a couple more wins, have gone all-in and strongly feels this is the Angels’ year to finally make the playoffs after a long absence.
Dipoto’s Mariners, not too far off at 54-51, have thought about selling assets because he felt the team hasn’t played well enough in the last couple of weeks to warrant to be aggressive buyers. He just traded Sewald.
Of course, the big X-factor here is Shohei. If the Angels have the exact same situation – 55-51, a lot of players on the IL – but WITHOUT the looming free agency of Shohei, if Shohei wasn’t a factor at all, would PTP have been as aggressive as he is now?
i have a feeling that Perry’s commitment to going all in right now is mostly motivated by Perry’s conviction that if he shows Ohtani some GM hustle this summer, that will convince Ohtani to re-sign with the Angels this off-season.
FTFY
One factor might be that the Angels have a lot of players expected to return from injury in the next few weeks and should be better in the near future than they are now.
But, mostly, its Ohtani. Of note, the Mariners went 2-0 vs TB, 2-1 vs SF, 3-1 vs the Astros, 2-1 vs the Blue Jays, and 2-1 vs the D-backs in July. In other words, the Mariners have been successfully beating the teams the Angels need to beat.
Mariners did something similar 2 years ago trading their closer when they were still not out of it. Players were pissed if I recall.
It was Kendall Graveman to Houston for Abraham Toro. Good memory, sir.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/07/mariners-trade-kendall-graveman-astros-abraham-toro-joe-smith.html
Edwin Diaz
Glad Ohtani isn’t pitching this series. Don’t want to give anything away prior to the WS. Better the first time the Braves high powered offense sees his stuff is late October. Love World Series preview series! Not often they happen
Good call!
I see what you did there!
👀
🦄 🌈 💩
Jerry is trading pitchers….not for them
Diamondbacks land Paul Sewald in deal with MarinersThe Arizona Diamondbacks have added a key reliever just before the deadline.
The Diamondbacks struck a deal with the Seattle Mariners for relief pitcher Paul Seward on Monday, according to the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro. In exchange, the Mariners are receiving infielder Josh Rojas and outfielder Dominic Canzone. Seattle will also get minor league infielder Ryan Bliss in the deal, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan Sewald holds a 2.93 ERA with 60 strikeouts in 43 innings pitched this season, his third in Seattle. The 33-year-old signed a one-year, $4.1 million deal with the Mariners. He’s eligible to hit free agency after the 2024 season.
Jerry is waving the white flag. Teams serious about making a run for the post-season do not trade their closers for two utility players and a team’s #14 prospect.
2nd time in 3 years they’ve sold when they were not out of it.
The Angels’ offense was largely MIA in the three games with the Blue Jays. They could only muster five measly runs. Here are the runs each individual Angel produced:
1.50 Renfroe
1.25 Ohtani
0.50 Ghost Runner
0.50 Rengifo
0.25 Wallach
0.25 Thaiss
0.25 Ward
0.25 Moustakas
0.25 Moniak
This is the third time this season Renfroe has led the team in ARP. The Grichuk/Cron infusion could not have come at a better time.
Here is the updated list of Angel pitchers’ ARA/BFs. I went through all of Reynaldo Lopez’s White Sox games to get him caught up and added to our list.
0.06 Moore (127)
0.08 Estevez (184)
0.08 Soriano (87)
0.09 Bachman (77)
0.10 Ohtani (488)
0.10 Sandoval (432)
0.10 Weiss (25)
0.10 Joyce (21)
0.11 Giolito (530)
0.11 Detmers (434)
0.11 Canning (357)
0.11 Silseth (107)
0.12 Anderson (447)
0.12 Lopez (183)
0.12 Webb (124)
0.13 Barria (252)
0.15 Loup (139)
0.15 Wantz (96)
0.16 Davidson (148)
0.16 Devenski (140)
0.17 Reyes (34)
0.18 Herget (71)
0.19 Suarez (123)
0.21 Mederos (14)
0.23 Ingram (14)
So Reynaldo Lopez has been as effective in preventing the batters he has faced from scoring or from advancing runners who would eventually score as Webb has been. Lopez was horrible the first month of the season, but since then he has been terrific, with only occasional meltdowns.
This past week has seen an intriguing separation between Moore and Estevez.
Anderson really wants to join the Canning/Detmers/Giolito/Silseth group.
ERA says that Jacob Webb (3.45) has been significantly better than Reynaldo Lopez this year (4.15), but the reality is that they have been equally effective this season in preventing Actual Runs per Batters Faced.
ERA is a prime contender for baseball’s most unreliable stat.
All hail the GHOST RUNNER!!
Haha
Sorry for the triplets
Arte is taking care of business this week…..Bubba Harkins reached a confidential agreement with the team to settle his defamation complaint on Monday morning, ending the lengthy legal battle between the sides just hours before the “sticky stuff” case was scheduled to go to trial.
https://sports.yahoo.com/bubba-harkins-defamation-lawsuit-against-152151615.html
Much to the relief of MLB and the execs who would have been called to the stand.
Funny how things can magically “get settled” when people in power want them to.
Anyone else think this is a little strange?
https://twitter.com/Jared_Tims/status/1686119124085399552
Fwiw, his brother is a big fan of Showing, right?
Very true. If Angels are the team who would inquire for his service, I would say Ben would approve that.
Shohei. D* autocorrect.
Third and final phase: Burn a lock of Kate Upton’s hair.
is it not a joke? Seems like a joke
That was my thought
I know right ? You would think Kate would have Veto power over his brother .
He must have pictures….er, wait a second.
I have been listening to Ben’s Podcast ‘Flippin’ Bats’. He mentioned that he has communicated with his brother daily and discussed the subject of trade as late as yesterday without divulging the details for obvious reason. Ben has also turned his tune to saying that he fully supports Angels going all out. He used to advocate Sho not staying with the Angles before July 27, when Angels traded for Giolito and Lopez. I was thinking that Dodgers may be another team that Verlander may waive his no trade clause, but again, it will depend on the number and quality of prospects that Dodgers are willing to give up.
About 24 hours left for the deadline. It will be intriguing.
BUILD ME UP BUTTERCUP…..
“Mike Trout is progressing to taking dry swings today, Nevin said. Big step for him.”
https://twitter.com/RhettBollinger/status/1686121565052612608?t=f2y7eTzMy08-v9q9d98d4w&s=19
I know he was stinking it up (relatively speaking) before his injury, but man, I’ve got REALLY high hopes for his return. Trout has to have his eyes locked on the post season, he’s got to be even hungrier than Shohei.
Mike Trout’s last 10 games before injury:
.406 BA
.487 OBP
3 HRs
5 RBIs
5 walks
He was actually heating up lol
Story of our year. Trout catches fire and gets hurt. Ward starts hitting well and gets hurt.
Been a frustrating year on a lot of fronts.
Rendon start to… Gets hurt!
Rendon starts to [do anything]… Gets hurt.
FTFY
What are dry swings?
And don’t tell me they are the opposite of wet swings
I would guess swinging the bat, with no balls involved.
I like the lineup though. https://twitter.com/EricaLWeston/status/1686108573015707650
Lets ride 🤠
I trust this man. He once scored four touchdowns in one game.
Looks great except for Wallach.
But hes a master bunter.
Okay, put * next to his name and we are good.
I’m all for ANYONE who knows how to bunt nowadays. Was listening not watching, but Terry described it as a perfect bunt.
Can’t wait to get Ohoppe back in that slot instead of Wallach
I’m not going to freak out about Canning … yet
Big time opportunity for Silseth !
Anything resembling 5-6 innings, 3 or less ER should be considered a fantastic outing
Canning scratched….
https://twitter.com/SamBlum3/status/1686110279979966464
Thats Generally not good.
still time to trade for another starter.
Time to go get Verlander
dateline.wav – “Dateline…”
I am hoping for common flu, which does cause general soreness. But, I know we just have to wait and see. I am sure Nevin will add a few words of wisdom at pregame press conference, but I don’t think we will find much.
Dammit. We never can just be even moderately healthy. Always has to be a plethora of accumulating injuries
I guess we need to send each injured player a piñata, so we can have a plethora of them.
Hey red, what is a plethora?
A veritable cornucopia
Canning has pitched 84.2 innings this year plus a full spring training. He pitched zero innings last year and 62 in 2021.
I fully expect him to be sore and have his innings limited.
Im sore and I haven’t pitched at all this year.
Hopefully it’s just from a vigorous night of love making.
Perfect.
I thought we weren’t supposed to jinx pitchers before and during the game. 😉
Neto is back in the lineup!
at least for an hour or two.
Hey-o!
With the possibility of Neto being scratched 1 hr before game time, here is the official lineup:
Rengifo 2B
Ohtani DH
Cron 1B
Moniak CF
Renfroe RF
Moose 3B
Grichuk LF
Neto SS
Wallach C
Let’s win the first game of the series. Boo to Las Vegas odds, though they are recommending against betting on moneyline. They recommend under on O/U of 10.
I still think Moniak is better batting lead-off than cleanup. Good to have Neto back in the lineup tho!
Gifo is better in leadoff.
Wrong softie Mr.Chan
Ooo-eee.wav – CB26 expresses a [locker room] opinion.
Not trying to be click bait, I thought it would be fun to review this article back in Dec 2017.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/shohei-ohtani-made-surprising-choice-sign-angels-201604278.html
This is what Nez Balelo said.
–While there has been much speculation about what would drive Shohei’s decision, what mattered to him most wasn’t market size, time zone or league but that he felt a true bond with the Angels. He sees this as the best environment to develop and reach the next level and attain his career goals. More than ever, I believe this is not only a special talent but a man of special character, and like everyone else I’m excited to see him in Major League Baseball.”
Sho has not changed much. He loves to talk in vague language. He would have been a magnificent American lawyer.
A lot has changed since then. I think for Sho, he was coming to learn from Scioscia even with his flaws, has lot to offer. Then you add, Pujols and Trout to help mentor him. I think Pujols had a huge influence on Trout and having those 2 guys help Ohtani was massive. But things change, and some of those foundational components are gone. My problem is the Angels are letting Ohtani do whatever he wants, and there needs to be some guidance to save him from himself, and I think the Angels are acting out of fear which could be a detriment. Ohtani has always been an outlier, so it’ll be interesting to hear his reasoning for the decision of his next contract.
I agree with you. I also hasten to add Joe Maddon to your list of people who had beneficial influence on him.
I don’t have any evidence to prove this, but I have a feeling that Mr. Kuriyama (who was the original manager of Nippon Ham Fighters and the winning manager of Team Japan) has 24/7 policy on any advice that Sho may request. If that was the case, I would thank whoever thought of placing and executed telephone cable under the Pacific Ocean connecting between US and Japan.
For all of Maddon’s faults, he was the one who unleashed Shohei unto the baseball world in 2021. No more limitations, no more restrictions, etc., and baseball was rewarded hundredfold.
So just for fun. Looking ahead to 2024. If the Angels sign Ohtani for say 10 years and $600m.
That would mean approximately $140m to 3 players and multiple empty positions needing filling.
Here are the players I see as being “reasonable” and their positions:
Neto – SS
O’Hoppe – C
Thais – C
Moniak – OF
Ward – OF (arbitration)
Drury – 2B
Detmers -P
Estévez – P (6.75m)
Bachman – P
Joyce – P
Stefanic – utility
Maybe
Schanuel – 1B
Arbitration
Ward – OF (likely big raise)
Canning – P
Sandoval- P (likely big raise)
Suarez – P
So my question for all of you – presuming Ohtani stays, what is your prediction for the 2024 payroll?
If you choose to respond I would like two answers:
1. If Arte remains the owner
2. If Arte sells
Having Stefanic included but not Rengifo is crazy lol.
Well considering his size it’s not too hard to overlook him.
He was supposed to be there under arbitration. I edited and he got erased. I had him there as a utility player.
next year Arb players ( Per Roster resource) are:
Arb 1
Jose Suarez
Jimmy Herget
Jose Quijada
Arb 2
Luis Rengofo
Jaime Barria
Griffin Canning
Taylor Ward
Patrick Sandoval
Not sure how Jared Walsh would be handled since hes no longer on the 40 man. I suspect hes still Arb eligible. The Plumber would still be Pre Arb.
Sorry to answer a question with another question, but I wonder if Ohtani would take less (say 500 million vs. 600 million) from the Angels provided that ownership committed to being aggressive in FA to bolster the roster?
IMO, a retention of Ohtani de facto implies the following:
1.) The Angles will be beyond the threshold.
2.) The Angels have made substantive commitments to be aggressive in FA to “compete” for a WS title.
Side note: Canning needs to he retained and the arbitration bump us worth it.
Which Threshold ? Theres 4. https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/competitive-balance-tax
I’ve daydreamed a bunch about what might be going on behind the curtains, with Arte’s behavior and Ohtani’s intentions.
One thing I wondered is if there was some sort of “gentlemens’ handshake agreement” between Arte and Ohtani that if they get to the playoffs, Ohtani will sign with Arte for a “reasonable” amount, but if they fail, Ohtani said he’s going out to the market and taking the best offer.
That might explain Arte’s pulling out all the stops to win. But I know there are lots of other theories and possibilities.
I doubt Ohtani is going to take less to stay in Anaheim.
That’s the hopium speaking. As with any FA who has any minimal connection to Southern California
Dodnt you know that Costa Mesa is known as Little Iwate?
🤣
If Ohtani has an escape clause written into contract, Arte will spend million more on payroll and receive it back in return if playoffs are reached. Reportedly he’s looking north of 2.5 billion, so he may be all in to leverage that extra dough. As for an answer my guess would be 250-260 million.
As far as having a new owner goes, it depends on who it is. Would a new owner start cutting corners like Arte did, or spend similar amounts like Cohen in NYC did with the Mets?
Other variables include Anderson, Stassi, Renny and Fletcher, are these trade bait or keepers?
Isn’t it fun to realize how spoiled we all were by Arte after he took over – He singed an MVP, a Cy Young winner, Escobar, et. al. then while the payroll remained in the upper third of all of baseball, he was “cutting corners”.
I’ve often wondered WHAT guarantee we have that a new owner would spend like a drunken sailor, and buy us all the things we wanted. Everyone seems to forget whom Arte outbid to get the Angels – a parking lot guy from Boston named McCourt.
Arte also inherited the No. 1 farm system in all of baseball.
Unfortunately Arte didn’t realize how good he had it before he ran the team into the ground.
Singed? Ouch!
No Wonder free agents dont want to sign here.
Easy Marcotor… you’re treading on some sacred fansite shibboleths here. Arte is cheap, corner-cutting miserly f*ck and no amount of spending will change that.
It depends what your viewpoint on being spoiled is. If you are like me and like to watch young players develop and make the big club, you have not been spoiled. If you like big splashy expensive signings that disappoint- then yes you’ve been spoiled.
Vladimir Guerrero was a disappointment?
Overvaluing “home grown” Mathis and Wood for Miggy was a disappointment. Vlad probably would have had a couple of rings instead of “future MVP’s” clogging the lineup
Fletcher is, I’m sad to say, dead money. That’s why I didn’t include him.
I meant to include Rengifo. I imagine he will make around $3 million next season. Anderson- the Angels are stuck with that contract.
Dont forget Stassi hes still under contract next year.
League Minimum/Pre-Arb
Neto, O’Hoppe, Moniak, Detmers, Thaiss, Bachman, Joyce, Stefanic, Schanuel, Adell, Weiss, Warren, Silseth
Assume 750K per = 9M
Set Costs
Trout (37.1), Rendon (38.6), Anderson (13), Fletcher (6), Stassi (7), Drury (8.5), Estevez (6.75)
Total – 116.95M
Arb
Ward (2.75), Sandoval (2.75), Rengifo (2.3), Suarez (750K), Barria (1.05), Canning (850K), Quijada (750K)
If you triple everyone that would be = 33.6M
Ohtani
What 60M?
That gets me 220M with Ohtani (and without some costs that are always added, like insurance and the rest of the 40-man). The CBT limit is likely 237M.
Position Players:
O’Hoppe – C
Thaiss – C
Schanuel – 1B
Drury – 2B
Neto – SS
Rendon – 3B
Stefanic – Util
Rengifo – Util
Trout – OF
Moniak – OF
Ward – OF
Adell – OF
Starting Pitching:
Ohtani
Sandoval
Detmers
Canning
Anderson
Suarez
Bullpen
Estévez
Bachman
Joyce
Quijada
Wantz
Barria
Silseth
Warren
Weiss
Sunk Costs
Fletcher
Stassi
Escobar (buyout)
Loup (buyout)
So, I figure the costs are probably 240M, and they add a few pieces. It will depend greatly on arb numbers and how everything shakes out this year (can we pencil in a Rookie at 1B, or use Cabbage or others? Do we want to upgrade IF or OF depth? How much do we invest in the pen? Do we need/want another/different starter?).
Cron wouldn’t cost much to keep first base warm while Nolan gets some seasoning.
What really makes or breaks the budget will be the pitching staff. We really need that 2021 draft to at least produce some bullpen help.
Kenyon Yovan and Luke Murphy took steps back this year when we really needed them to step up.
This is well done. Really excellent
Does Fletch’s count here if he isn’t on the 40?
As long as his contract is valid, we owe him the 6M. I think it counts towards the threshold, but historically we have counted any monies Arte is shelling out.
I just meant if it counted for payroll for penalty purposes
Any roster involving Ohtani is going above the tax threshold, regardless of owner.
I don’t see Arte being willing to do that but I could be surprised.