Links

LA Angels Tuesday News Crash: Kochanowicz

November 14, 2023

Here is an article with actual Torii Hunter quotes concerning managing or coaching for the Angels. The Angels actual first base coach will be Bo Porter. The Angels selected Jack Kochanowicz, presumably to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.

Happy birthday Kyren Paris! Along with all the other moves, the Angels will be replacing both of their strength and conditioning coaches. Meanwhile, Phil Nevin is now a finalist for the Padres Manager position.

MLBTR has a free agent prediction contest with cash prizes. Have fun!

The Cubs made it official. Craig Counsell is now their Manager. The Brewers are looking at Don Mattingly possibly to fill the vacancy left by Counsell. The Yankees wanted David Ross to be their bench coach, but he said “No.” The Blue Jays hired DeMarlo Hale as their “Associate Manager.”

Dominican teams Los Tigres del Licey and Los Aquilas Cibaenas will play a three game exhibition series in Citi Field in Queens this weekend.

Photo credit: Rex Fregosi

54 Comments

Newest

Oldest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Legend

Cowboy26

17 days ago

So is C Rod going to be this year’s Kyle Tyler?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/11/diamondbacks-select-blake-walston-outright-chris-rodriguez.html

Member

Sharkysurf

17 days ago

Reply to Cowboy26

So did Perry make a mistake placing C-Rod on waivers too soon? Looks like it and the D-Backs were able to keep and bury him off the 40 man.

Legend

Cowboy26

17 days ago

Reply to Sharkysurf

Well if Perry did, the Angels can claim him back. They have an extra spot on their 40 man roster right now.

Super Member

Angelz4ever

17 days ago

Shohei declined?

Super Member

FungoAle

17 days ago

Reply to Angelz4ever

He had Ippei make the phone call to AM/PM. Shohei was busy looking at $500M+ offers.

Super Member

Angelz4ever

16 days ago

Reply to FungoAle

lol

Super Member

FungoAle

17 days ago

Sad, Peter Seidler passed away. Tried hard to get the Padres to the post-season and bring a championship to the city. He probably tried to race the teams success vs his health prognosis. Hats-off to his efforts and built a lot of support for the team. RIP.

Super Member

halofansince1978

17 days ago

Todays 1pm deadline for Ohtani to accept the QO has
passed…Darn!!!

Legend

Cowboy26

17 days ago

Reply to halofansince1978

It was definitely worth a shot.

Super Member

halofansince1978

17 days ago

Reply to Cowboy26

Arte will now have to break out the big money…WRITE THE CHECK!!!

Super Member

halofansince1978

17 days ago

Reply to halofansince1978

All QO’s issued were turned down.

https://www.mlb.com/news/2023-24-qualifying-offer-candidates-and-decisions

Trusted Member

HalosFanForLife

17 days ago

Brewers to hire Pat Murphy. A great, great hire. It will be awesome for him to square off against his former player, Counsell, in the same division.

Last edited 17 days ago by HalosFanForLife

Super Member

FungoAle

17 days ago

Pulling for Phil, hope he gets the job as he will guide them to the playoffs

Trusted Member

HalosFanForLife

17 days ago

Reply to FungoAle

I think Benji is going to get it. Just a hunch.

Legend

GrandpaBaseball

17 days ago

If you were PTP and you knew this was to be your last season at the helm, would Washington and Young and Porter been your first choices? No you say, mine either. But I’m just a dumb Mick and am not a billionaire. I hope that the Phillies-Mets-Yankees want Trout so he can get to the playoffs. With us he is good for about 100 games at best in ’24.

Legend

Cowboy26

17 days ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

So then Who should PTP’s first choices have been?

Don’t be so presumptuous GPa. Based upon the perceived managerial options available I would be more yes than no right now

Trusted Member

Biggiswrth

17 days ago

Reply to Cowboy26

No I think Wash is the best guy for my young core to improve and get better, allowing me another 2-3 years to actually build a team. The 2025 FA class is loaded and the halos will be prime for purchasing what they need. If the amount of holes is small, they can pick up the best on the market (Soto, Glasnow, Burnes, Woodruff, etc.) My IIWPM has the halos back at $210 million payroll with the ability to roll into buy or sell at the deadline, and having the room to grow and build with FA in 2025 with, as Gritch would put it MAWR Pitching!!!

Trusted Member

2002heaven

16 days ago

Reply to Biggiswrth

Forgetting one very important person in this situation, aren’t you?
l think you know who I mean, and it ain’t Perry or Ron!

Super Member

matthiasstephan

17 days ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

Trout hasn’t had repeated injuries. So, basically, you expect some other injury to pop up? This isn’t quite the same as David Wright with the back, is it?

(And he had 3.0 WAR last season, in 82 games some of which it seems he played hurt.)

Super Member

FungoAle

17 days ago

Reply to matthiasstephan

Clearly a trend is occurring and his ability to hit the high heat is concerning, to me.

Super Member

FungoAle

17 days ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

Not sure I had any preferences. The easiest thing would be to just embrace ex-Angel players cuz they played ball here and assume they must be great coaches.

I’ve warmed up to Washington, got my jersey and think his ability to teach our younger players will be invaluable. I’m on board the Halo Express. But I do admit, the long term vision is still unclear. GM on a 1-year, Manager for 2-years.

Super Member

MarineLayer

17 days ago

Boy, if the Padres select Nevin, they really will be DOA.

Legend

Cowboy26

17 days ago

Reply to MarineLayer

Well their owner now is.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/11/padres-owner-peter-seidler-passes-away.html

Man ML are you the Kiss of Death? Now can you do something about Arte?

Last edited 17 days ago by Cowboy26

Legend

Mia

17 days ago

Reply to Cowboy26

San Diego sports fans can just never catch a break. Geez.

Trusted Member

2002heaven

16 days ago

Reply to MarineLayer

Padres are their own KOD.
Clippers and Chargers moved over here to LA and brought stink of failure with them.

Super Member

Pineapple12

17 days ago

Blum with a new article out. I won’t paraphrase, but will acknowledge this franchise is in complete ruins. Deciding to implement a less analytical-approach will be fun lol.

Ohtani is gone. Arte stays. Halos’ baseball remains terrible 💔.

https://theathletic.com/5061021/2023/11/14/troy-percival-angels-pitching/

Legend

GrandpaBaseball

17 days ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Shohei never even hinted that he would return, some of us wanted to trade him in July ’22 for as much as we could have got. A rebuild was really what was needed, not a continuance of sub .500 teams forever. ARTE MORENO IS DUMBER THAN A BAG ROCKS, he is clueless of how to run a franchise, even a McDonalds would prove to confuse him.

Super Member

Pineapple12

17 days ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

It’s tough forsure. We’ve all said our piece regarding Shohei and it is what it is.

Looking towards the future is depressing. We are the only organization currently without an Assistant General Manager, and are seemingly going to rely less on analytics moving forward.

If we aren’t the worst operated major professional sports franchise in North America, we have to at the very least be in the bottom 5 lol.

Last edited 17 days ago by Pineapple12

Legend

Fansince1971

17 days ago

Reply to Pineapple12

This is my frustration and I have caught 💩 saying it. This is not a negative assessment. It’s reality. I GREATLY wish it were otherwise. This is an absolute joke of an Org. I’ll still watch the games and root for them. But I have zero expectations of success.

Super Member

Pineapple12

17 days ago

Reply to Fansince1971

You catch 💩 because you repeat your POV on a near daily basis and punish others close to submission with it lol. I don’t think anyone on a fundamental level disagrees.

Astros used trash cans to win. Angels’ organization is a trash can that doesn’t win.

Last edited 17 days ago by Pineapple12

Legend

Fansince1971

17 days ago

Reply to Pineapple12

I’m hoping if I say it enough times it will change. The problem is I have spent most of my career cleaning up and fixing risk situations caused by incompetence. So it is tough for me to see it and just accept it. I wish I had the power to go clean house over there in Anaheim.

Believe me, if things are ever fixed over there, and this Org becomes even competent, I will be its biggest cheerleader.

Legend

Cowboy26

17 days ago

Reply to Fansince1971

Oh Boy. Now I know we’re in trouble.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_eBBEYBrS4

Super Member

halofansince1978

17 days ago

Reply to Cowboy26

Danger Mouse Rules!!!

https://youtu.be/XzhvICBG2KM

Legend

Cowboy26

17 days ago

Reply to halofansince1978

A super hero live performance.

https://vimeo.com/50975724

Super Member

tanana40

17 days ago

Reply to Pineapple12

I am not sure that the Angels have ever figured out how to use analytics. There was the story about how the pitchers were taught to strike out batters and concentrate on spin, etc. Then the team strikes out a lot (I assume because they are trying to upper cut the ball). It seems that the team does not use situational hitting or pitching but instead uses some plan which I assume is derived from analytics. Not that analytics are bad but I don’t think the Angels know how and when to use them.

Super Member

steelgolf

17 days ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

Rebuild should have started in 2016

Legend

Fansince1971

17 days ago

Reply to steelgolf

July of 2023 was the last real
opportunity to start it in a smart and logical way. But instead the team went all-in (for a month) 😂. Unbelievable. You can’t make this shit up.

Legend

Cowboy26

17 days ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Not sure why spending less focus on spin rates and Rapsodo readings and more time on how to actually pitch the damn ball is such bad thing.

You think Brent Strom is strictly a driveline analytics guy?

Super Member

Pineapple12

17 days ago

Reply to Cowboy26

Yes, actually.

“The lockout prevented Strom from working with his pitchers. But he dove into studying video and the reams of information provided to him by the Arizona analytics department. He jotted observations and ideas in a notebook.

“I can’t say enough about the D-Backs’ analytics people,” Strom says. “They are right on par with what I had in Houston, and that group is among the best in the business.”

Strom has gained a reputation as a master at understanding spin, as evidenced by the successes of pitchers in Houston such as Collin McHugh, Ryan Pressley and Lance McCullers Jr. But his work with power pitchers Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole put him at the forefront of understanding how high-spin, elevated four-seam fastballs countered the bat paths of the Launch Angle Generation that chased slugging by hitting balls in the air.”

https://www.si.com/mlb/2022/05/09/diamondbacks-pitching-brent-strom-the-opener

Legend

Cowboy26

17 days ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Because Strom effectively marries old school with new school pitching philosophies . A practice that the Angels have failed with ever since they hired Strom;s apprentice Doug White and BBB back in 2019.

This is why I believe the greatest additions to this offseason will be who the new pitching and bullpen coaches are.

I think Calloway could have been that guy. Unfortunately he was more enamored with his own Appendage than the arms of our pitchers.

Trusted Member

HalosFanForLife

17 days ago

Reply to Cowboy26

Strom is a Perry Husband EV guy more than anything when it comes to pitch sequencing.

Trusted Member

Roy Hobbs

17 days ago

Reply to Pineapple12

I’ve always given Perry the benefit of the doubt and assumed he was a least mildly competent but after reading the article, he seems to have no idea what he is doing. Analytics are tools to help you do what you do better. You need to understand what it is you’re trying to do and how analytics can be affective in helping you. If you watch your starting pitchers consistently throw 100 pitches in 5 innings, you don’t need to go through 162 games before you recognize something you’re doing isn’t working. As annotated by pineapple, Brent Strom is using analytics as a tool to help him gain an advantage as opposed to doing something for the heck of it.

Super Member

Pineapple12

17 days ago

Reply to Roy Hobbs

I’m pretty positive Perry is carrying out whatever “vision” Arte is demanding in order to keep his GM job.

Perry came to Anaheim and installed analytics in several departments of the organization. Arte probably said something along the likes of “we are no better with these fancy numbers and its costing me money! Take them away!”

Perry came from the Braves and worked under Alex Anthopoulos for years. There’s no way he doesn’t believe in analytics. This reeks of Arte.

Last edited 17 days ago by Pineapple12

Trusted Member

Mikeal1st

17 days ago

Reply to Pineapple12

I agree completely. Can you imagine trying to run a franchise where it’s being sold, then not sold, then we’re all in for this 6% chance of making the playoffs, now we’re all out? Perry could be a complete failure but even if he was great he can only work with the tools that Arte has given him and that direction has change too many times in the last year.

Trusted Member

Roy Hobbs

17 days ago

Reply to Pineapple12

I agree with you, it’s just that every time Perry talks, he sounds as if he has no plan and no idea where he’s going, which as you imply, is probably because his bosses direction keeps changing.

Last edited 17 days ago by Roy Hobbs

Legend

Cowboy26

17 days ago

Reply to Roy Hobbs

Or he’s learning too much on the job.

Legend

Fansince1971

17 days ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Blum is calling it as he sees it. I share his viewpoints.

Legend

GrandpaBaseball

17 days ago

The GM of San Diego should be canned, top choice so far to manage the Padres is, drum roll please, Phillip, LMAO.

Trusted Member

Marcotor

17 days ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

I dunno. He’s very well-liked by the fans in San Diego, many warm memories they have of his massive grit as a player. Why couldn’t it be a San Diego version of the fantasy managerial/coaching hires we see posted here. I don’t see it as any sillier than thinking Darin Erstad could scare millionaires into playing better and not getting injured, do you?

Legend

Fansince1971

17 days ago

New strength and conditioning coaches! 😂

Super Member

steelgolf

17 days ago

Nice to finally hear, directly from Torii, that he was never asked or approached beforehand about the base coaching vacancy. It was just JHS spitballing and throwing names out there, that the starved baseball media ran with.

Legend

Fansince1971

17 days ago

Reply to steelgolf

Well it does say that Hunter confirmed that after it was originally reported, the team did reach out to see if he wanted to (generally) coach and he declined. So it seems probably in-between.

Super Member

halofansince1978

17 days ago

Halo Power Baby!!!

Super Member

angelslogic

17 days ago

Reply to halofansince1978

More like “Hey low” power.