Things are very slow at the moment. Sorry for the abbreviated links.
Merry Christmas! At least our largest contract was not our worsiest.
Mitch Garver came to an agreement with the Mariners. He gets $24 Million over two years.
Where will Teoscar Hernandez go?
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Well, anyone who had Kiermaier in their IIWPM just had their bracket blown…
How many here believed that Shohei should have been traded at any point of time from July of 2022 to off season ’22-’23 to July of 2023 to the Dodgers or any other team. Gitch was one who advocated for a trade as early as July of ’22 along with some others of our group here, but very few of us. Shohei was always aware that he was holding up the timetable by not committing to a multi-year contract and Arte thought all along that he did not want to pressure Shohei and his shrew entourage that were always in the driver’s seat by never saying anything one way or another about the future of Ohtani.
Arturo never thought that Shohei would leave the Angels benevolent owner after being paid 30 million dollars. Moreno’s self-importance is only surpassed by his impotence as owner of a MLB team in the biggest MLB market in the world.
Shohei Ohtani never planned on re-signing with the Angels-never. If his intention was to remain an Angel. He wants to be in the “Hollywood/SoCal limelight” and always wanted to be a part of a winner and apart from the Halos.
I wanted them to trade him couple of years ago, but too many fans were crying like spongebob screaming: “can’t trade the next babe ruth, can’t trade the next babe ruth”, while others were crying “you can’t take my boyfriend away” while he is suffering here. And then you had the ones enjoying him waste his peak performance on a dysfunctional team and didn’t want to get prospects in return because “wE cAnT lEt dA OtHer tEAm wIn” a specific person claimed that.
All they get is a comp round pick and lost prospects for rentals which turned out to be another clown season. But at least we’re not helping the other team win right?
LOL, in hindsight, Arte should’ve stayed pat, went with arby decision and not the $30M, then trade #17. That would’ve probably really sweetened the deal. The worst of both worlds last season. The Halos traded Quero and others for rentals we jettisoned and #17 left as well.
Oh well, I shudder to think of what 2024 will look like. BTW, all these “Blow it up and rebuild” don’t remember what Trout said (Paraphrased) that Halo Mgmt said they would strive to be competitive aka IMHO and not do multi-year rebuild(s).
The one thing that would make Trout ask to be traded would be to (As many have said on this site), trade O’ Hoppe, Ward, Rengifo, Neto, Drury, Anderson?, and therefore openly declare, damn the 100 loss torpedoes for multiple seasons, we’re rebuilding.
I said it over and over and over
They should’ve traded #17 to Tampa for Junior Caminero if that was indeed on the table. There was still a week of post Giolito trade debacle before the actual deadline where the team was losing. The IF would’ve practically been taken care of for the future with Junior, O’Hoppe, Neto and Schanuel.
I find it hilarious people still rip Arte for not trading Ohtani to Dodgers. People think Dodgers would have given us the farm. Seriously?? No way, first they love to spit on us on when they can. Second look at their history, Dodgers have ripped off so many teams in trades of star players for prospects, since the billionaire boys owned it. Started with the Adrian Gonzales/Beckett/Crawfrd mega trade. How did that package of prospects they sent do? Then later Darvish from Texas, Betts from Boston, Machado from Baltimore. None of the prospects Dodgers moved ever became anything, and those trades should have emptied the farm. Yet they still keep bringing up good rookies. Dodgers masters of trading hyped prospects and keeping the best. And they would have definitely tried to screw Angels in Ohtani trade too. Better off if he got traded to east coast contender
I’m convinced Ohtani’s representation told LAD to hold off and wait for Sho to hit FA.
Well then F it. trade him to Toronto. Who gives a shit who we would have traded him to in the there was better return than a Comp Round B draft pick. . There were viable offers on the table and Arte said no. Even Bobby V has said that . https://twitter.com/BeyondTheHalo/status/1735433829517873536
I am just not sure what Pineapple and Angelz4ever are on about on this subject – not trading Ohtani was such a bonehead move by any metric compounded by the other bonehead moves related to giving away top Angel prospects for nothing other than a one month rental. I would think we could all just agree on this here. There should be no dispute on something that is so obvious. Then we can all move on and hope for the best going forward. But if we cannot agree on this really clear thing then I see no hope for certain parts of this fanbase. They will just keep blindly following like sheep and lemmings.
I’m not saying the Halos shouldn’t have traded him, I first just said I was glad we didn’t “Match” the $700M asking price. In hindsight we all wish the Halos had traded him, but lots of trades net low returns, even when “Highly ranked” prospects are involved.
Some on here think we’d have netted three or four instant all-stars, I’m just saying there was no guarantee, that’s all.
Even if the Angels had matched he still would have chosen the Dodgers.
I was saying trade him starting at the July 22 trade deadline. And I said it so many times I was accused of repeating myself annoyingly.
To be fair, even if you were right the repetition was getting annoying. We knew your point. We are only fans, so we don’t have control after all.
Well of course there are no guarantees. That is an accepted part of baseball. Guess what…. whoever traded for Ohtani could have thought “well there is no guarantee that he will pitch us into the playoffs”!!! Does that mean that no teams would have wanted him? Of course not. But look…. he played 1 more month and was out for the year.
Because fans would be crying and screaming “trading da next bab rut” and “I have to keep watching him suffer on my team that is going nowhere so we can’t let him go”.
It’s true many fans would have been upset – until the team began to turn things around with young talented players. Fans are emotional but winning appeases them. Winning is the opiate of the masses.
This can’t be true. Shohei translated into English means “Most Honorable Man In the World”.
Joking aside, Shohei, either directly or obliquely thru his reps, should have made it plain to
the Angels that he was likely to leave via Free Agency IMO.
Perhaps he did and Arte still stepped on the rake and perhaps
he didn’t – which I suspect – and Arte “thought he had a chance” and rolled the dice at every turn.
I lean towards that Shohei would’ve been MORE “honorable” by letting Arte know. Shrug.
Even 1 prospect in return would have been better than 0 and then to make things worse they gave away a few of the Angels best prospects.
Disagree. That’s like saying buying a lemon car is better than getting no car at all. Better to save your money and get something worth buying.
I’ve had lemon cars and also had to ride the bus, at least the bus was reliable….LOL
<Memories of waiting for a bus in the rain makes me cold>
It’s not like that at all. I’m not commenting on the quality of the prospect. I’m just pointing out simple math. Angels received nothing (other than a pick between the 2nd and 3rd rounds) for Ohtani. Math would say even a single prospect would have been better than zero. And on top of that the Angels gave away some of their top prospects who would still be in the Org. So the Angels would probably have at least 6 more quality prospects in their Org than they currently have by simply trading Ohtani and not giving up top prospects for a 1 month rental.
The only car comparison I would agree with is if you called the Angels Org a jalopy.
Sir, I don’t know if you will ever convince them all, no matter how clear you explain it. I agree completely… it was so obvious they should have traded him, and it was so obvious he was leaving. Our team made franchise-altering blunders this year the likes of which we’ve never seen. The only choice the Angels did right regarding Ohtani was to not panic and go overboard with a desperation move like offering $720MM.
Of course, tomorrow it will be revealed that the Angels made an offer for $721MM that he rejected.
Quero didn’t have anywhere to go with, at the time, four catchers ahead of him and O’Hoppe being a young starter. Was Quero supposed to come up and ride the pine playing every fourth game? That being said, I wish he’d have been spent in a piece that would’ve helped long-term instead of just prolonging Halo fan torment…..
How about using Quero to trade for a piece the Angels actually need long term. I’m getting tired of this silly conversation. You don’t think the Org would be stronger with Quero as either a backup to O’Hoppe or available to trade to fill holes? Instead they basically threw him away for a one month rental.
Quero would’ve had to have been moved or he’d had rotted on the farm. I said in the past you responded to that I had wished Quero would’ve been spent for long term benefit.
Dude – I think all that Hopium has rotted your brain. If you cannot see that the Angels completely shit the bed on the opportunity to trade Ohtani for prospects and then made things worse by trading several of their top prospects for a 1 month rental of Giolito et al – then I give up. Farm systems mean something and the Angels already had one of the worst in baseball when they just basically threw away one of their top100 prospects in Quero. They gave him away for NOTHING! You dont think that Quero would have some trade value in the market this off-season?! I am fine with rose-colored glasses and convincing yourself that everything is fine with this Org, thats just a different perspective. What gets under my skin is irrational thought – there is no way to make the non-trade of Ohtani and the giving away of top prospects for nothing into an “its okay” type thing. It’s not okay. It was a total shit the bed and the crap in the bed has not been cleaned up and stinks to high heaven!
1971, I am not arguing that guy, I am just saying there was no guarantee we would’ve netted a “haul” like many here are saying. The Halos should’ve read the fact that they obviously got nowhere in extension talks as verif that #17 was going to walk.
I truly think had we traded #17 and then didn’t net earth shattering talent, most posters on here would be tearing Arte apart.
Agreed, the dodgers wouldn’t have traded the whole farm.
On the other hand, they did trade Yordan Alvarez for Josh Fields. The return for Ohtani should have greatly exceeded what they gave up for Fields.
Well the Rays just ripped them off for one year of an oft injured pitcher who has never pitched more than 120 innings.
BTW, reportedly the Blew Crew are now looking at signing Teoscar, my 2024 hopium just got Narcanned…..
I hope they do sign Hernandez. I want the Doyers to sign everyone, and implode during the playoffs.
Too much swing and miss with that guy. M’s moved on for reasons beyond the dollars.
The only thing scaring me away would be his age.
Teoscar has been effing awesome for the last 6 seasons. Dude can hit, and hit well.
The only thing that scares me are carnies…
I’ve been coming around on the idea of us signing Teoscar. If LAD is seriously interested in him, I can kiss that dream away.
I’d only sign Teoscar if it was on a 2-year and it translated to moving off of Ward and Moniak to get some talent and expand our razor thin farm system. Otherwise, not sure this signing makes a ton of sense.
I just gotta say, Rendon as a F/T DH would be brutal…….well, until Rendon pulls/strains/breaks/dislocates/tweaks/destroys/perforates/pierces/punctures/bruises/crushes/misplaces his [Insert body part/internal organ/chakra point] in April or early May.
I would really like to know who made the decision to trade #17 for half of the (fill in the blank)’s farm system. Looking back, that may have been the single worst decision in the Moreno era. Yes, I’m including Vaughan and Rendon in that. We missed a golden opportunity to jumpstart a rebuild.
So many posters here think that as well. Trades are just another gamble, never a sure thing, but many here think that they are.
No one here thinks that trades are a sure thing but when you’re gambling you try to go with the best odds. Speaking for myself, I believed the likelihood of signing #17 was extremely close to zero and in the event we did sign him, it would potentially be crippling to the club. We now have one draft choice in return. The odds were much better that we would have gotten better value from the Dodgers in a trade than the one draft choice we received. The choices aren’t even close to being equal gambles. Artie was stupid and foolish in his handling of the #17 situation. It might not have worked out but at least with a trade there was a chance to get something of value in return.
Not signing Texeira netted us Mike Trout, so….you never know. Signing Pujols (Conceivably) cost us drafting Wacha.
Roy, I get the frustration. The best investments are typically re-signing the guys you have. Teams know the most about them. Front offices also determine their strategy and go with it. The don’t sit around calculating odds. People are involved.
I didn’t mean to sound so harsh but the Angels are where they are because they make bad decisions and have bad strategies. I am very happy that Artie did not sign Ohtani for 700M though.
I agree, for two reasons:
Nice post Roy. Well said. Look, we all know the Angels FO has screwed the pooch in the team for the last many years. The Hamilton deal was unhelpful. The constant desire to make a splash versus signing strategic pieces undermined the club. Perry’s choice of Tepera and Loup wasn’t good. We can all make other gaffes. The Ohtani non-trade I don’t blame them for. Keeping a quality player in the hope of re-signing him even if the odds are against isn’t a mistake. It shows legitimate interest and an effort at winning.
We all just need to hope for better management going forward. And stop rooting for Shohei as his contract is ruining the league. The deferral is weighing against all other teams.
You keep repeating the same thing in a way that warps both the facts and the opinions of those who are you are apparently disagreeing with. Reminds me of cable news.
😆
vs RHP
1. Schanuel 1B
2. Trout CF
3. Drury 2B
4. O’Hoppe C
5. Ward LF
6. Rengifo 3B
7. Rendone DH
8. Moniak RF
9. Neto SS
vs LHP
1. Rengifo 3B
2. Trout CF
3. Drury 2B
4. O’Hoppe C
5. Ward LF
6. Rendone DH
7. Neto SS
8. Adell RF
9. Schanuel 1B
I don’t see JD Martinez on this list
Also I suspect Rendone will be playing some first base against lefties this year . Maybe we pickup JT to spell Rendon at third ?
I’m slowly talking myself into signing Teoscar, but the moment we sign him he will age 1000 years.
I like your idea of adding JD or JT quite a bit. Probably lean JT.
We need leadership P12
Hey P12, no way in Hell Rendone’s batting any lower then top 5. His contract alone guarantees that. I’ve always said, (With rare exception) if your DH isn’t batting in the top 5 WTF is he batting for?
I know I know 😔
I wonder if Ward will ever be the same or if he was Conigliaroed
That Paisan lost the sight in one eye. Hitting is hard enough without losing the service of an eye. Ward is going to have to fight through that flinch reaction to up and in pitches. When he gets a few high-and-tight pitch, that may show how he does or does not move past it.
Dickie Thon was never the same after he got hit in the same area’
Hopefully he is using the face guard on his batting helmet now.
Hell, the Halos should mandate it for all hitters.
Would it be worth it to bring in Joey Votto on a near minimum or heavily incentivized contract? He was close to a league average hitter last season, something the Angels didn’t have at first outside of Schanuel, can still hit lefties and could mentor the younger guys. Obviously, this isn’t a playoff caliber move, but should improve on last season.
I think we need some vet presence – outside of Trout, Drury, and Rendon – but I am not sure someone who plays only 1B/DH is the way to go here. I think we need someone more versatile in the role – as we will have limited bench options (Rengifo, Adell, Catcher/Thaiss, and 1 more).
Joey Votto would be an outstanding vet to bring in, with an team option second year. He’s been a class act for his entire career, is Italian (That’s for me) and he can hit his weight even at this point in his career.
Big fan of Votto but I’m afraid Joey’s cooked. Maybe ok on a minimum. As this year hopefully aimed at playing the kids, I would avoid taking ABs away from Schauny Singles.
BTW, I was thinking (For a change) in regards to former employee #17.
Arte gets trashed regularly for lack of baseball business awareness, and not listening to those that are supposed to have it, but no one can doubt his business savvy (“Self-made billionaire”). Many fans regularly posting here bemoan 5-7+ year Halo contracts (Except Trout’s) also whined when Arte didn’t “Match” the Dodger offer.
I believe that if Arte would’ve “Matched” the Dodgers’ offer, former employee #17 would’ve probably signed a $710M contract with the Dodgers. #garretcole #marktexeira and I am sure other players.
I truly believe, now that I take my heart out of the equation, former employee #17 was never going to sign with the Halos. Arte wisely walked away from the table. I applaud him.
Do you applaud him for not trading #17 for 1/2 of the Doyers farm system ?
No one truly knows what the Dodgers would’ve traded away for former employee #17. I don’t believe the Dodgers would’ve gone in that heavy as they knew they had more money that most country’s GDPs to get him in free agency.
You believe wrong 4eva. think of the haul the Rays got for Glasnow and then triple it ( at the very least double it )
I agree. The conventional wisdom around here was that the Jays put a scare in the Dodgers when all the Friday high-jinx’s was reported.
By the Dodgers getting E17 before the free agency period would have eliminated the risk of another team doing something unprecedented.
I do think the Dodgers would have made a respectable trade offer for E17 before the trade deadline.
Getting a 3rd round pick for E17 is not comparable to the pick we got for U-Haul.
In hindsight, of course not.
Do you applaud him for trading away the best pieces of the Angels farm for one month rentals of Giolito et al rather than trading Ohtani for prospects at the deadline?
I never said that, but in regards to (Incorrectly) holding out hope that former employee #17 was possibly going to re-sign, I understand what he did.
Had Arte got a nice haul for former employee #17, then he’d be harpooned for closing the door forever to employee #17.
Fans on here think we would’ve got three or four “Mookie Betts” players and a CY winner or two as well in that trade.
Trades are just another gamble. Maybe we would’ve got the Dodgers “Highly ranked MiLB players” but their versions of Dallas McPherson or Brandon Woods (Remember them?). Going all in was a gamble, just like any FA contract, contract extension or trade.
Trading former employee #17 in 2023 ST, early in the season or at the deadline was going to be a gamble-Arte gambled in another way and lost.
He moved on and we need to as well.
“Holding out hope” sounds like an emotional decision not a business one.
“Holding out hope” would corporately be communicated as “Blue sky” projections or “Market friendly projections.” LOL
suggesting the baron of billboards was savvy in the ohtani dealings is …impressive
Thank you, I appreciate your support cb.
Sorry to pile on but some of my favorite teammates were the ones that called me out.
Arte just drove the Angels car around a sharp corner at 80mph in the midst of an epic ice storm. After sliding off the road and rolling it four times in the process you crawled out of the wreckage and thanked him for remembering to turn off the headlights.
I agree that signing him wouldn’t have been smart but one good decision doesn’t rectify so many poor ones.
I never said all his decisions were smart, I’m just saying after playing negotiation aid for an unknown amount of free agents, I am glad that Arte finally knows when to walk away (Kenny Roger’s reference).
I get it and I was just having some fun with you. He did miss an opportunity for a good prospect haul in an organization that’s way short on those.
This Branch Rickey Quote applies: “Trade a player a year too early rather than a year too late.”
I’m with you there.
The trade deadline and all that was long past, and there was no way to go back. Arte made the smart move at this juncture in time to walk away instead of committing $710MM or whatever.
I’ve wondered how often owners or GM’s try to drive up the price knowing the player will sign elsewhere.
Things should start heating up in the next few days, now that Ohtani and Yamamoto have finally signed. Although I really don’t expect it to get too hot as this is a pretty lackluster free agent year.
Yes, but now that those two are one, the remaining players’ stocks (Price) have risen.
I’d like to see us acquire a top end pitcher, but I don’t think Thaiss is going to get us anything other than a possible #4-5ish (Promising) pitcher.
Bad free agents could mean more trades. The TV contract mess could also mean more teams shedding salary if other teams are willing to take money back in trades.
Yeah, the TV sports conglomerate implosion has thrown a monkey wrench into a lot of team’s plans for 2024 and beyond.
Snell, Montgomery, or (lower tier, imo) Stroman. Getting one of them should be a priority (and doable).
If it were my decision, I would stand pat, bring up the kids, get them MLB experience, and punt on the season.
I understand the sentiment. I do not think we are that far away though – the kids are already up, they just need to be healthy all season (Neto, O’Hoppe, Moniak).
The rotation is ok, but we lost our ace. So, he needs to be replaced, which allows for one of Canning, Sandoval, Detmers, Silseth to backslide or have injuries without us needing to rely on next years Parker Bridwell.
That, plus rotation pieces, makes us at least a viable team moving forward.
We don’t gain by tanking, we aren’t waiting for the farm to come in.
So 2023 was a result of injuries, and everyone being healthy in 2024 will result in more than 73 wins without replacing E17?
I wouldn’t bet money on it, but I’ve seen turnarounds from year to year by other teams. Sometimes it is a culmination of a whole bunch of little things that can swing results a lot. Plus, I do honestly think that especially after Ward, our team emotionally collapsed and we spiraled.
I said we have to replace our ace. So, we need to sign Snell, or Montgomery, or at worst (not really an ace) Stroman.
Then we need more support in the pen.
But it isn’t so dire that we need to trade everyone and ‘start over’ (whatever that means).
Good morning, it is the day after Christmas and the Angels did not leave any packages under the tree, i checked first thing. I was ready to tear open the Angels motif wrapping paper to see what was left by Santa, but we didn’t receive a lump of coal either, although it would have been surprising to find that Arte had ok’d a big trade.
Speaking of a big trade, according to Ken Rosenthal, a lot of teams are offering to trade for a young, former first round pick Mickey Moniak. Why would the team do that? Slow news weekend, I guess. 🐢