I’m having a hard time finding a lot of links for you today. Sorry.
Wander Franco is now in custody in the Dominican Republic. The Atlanta Braves traded Vaughn Grissom and some cash to the Red Sox for Chris Sale. Frankie Montas just got a one year deal with the Cincinnati Reds. Janson Junk might be improving now that he is no longer with the Angels. His fastball touched 96 mph a couple of times last season. This article speculates that the velocity might even be sustainable if he is converted to a relief pitcher.
Fox News has apologized for calling Frank Thomas dead.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Yamamoto’s contract is so back-loaded that his 2024 salary is $5million.
I predict that the next CBA will do something about this sort of contract. There will be a ridiculously long work stoppage before it’s resolved.
But then, maybe not. The owners want to be able to hand out contracts like this to minimize the pain, and the players want to maximize the gain.
At some point, these will start to affect future signings and someone will see the light then. This is the ultimate ‘win-now’ strategy.
I’m watching Groundhog Day right now on AMC. Helps me prepare for the next Angels season.
ha ha perfect!
Oh no .Say it aint So Woo Suk Go. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/01/woo-suk-go-nearing-deal-with-padres.html
Preller exercising his Asia-Pacific playbook
Babylon Bee’s Dodger related 2024 predictions:
February 12 – Los Angeles Dodgers sign all baseball players in existence, including the reanimated corpses of Babe Ruth, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and Ty Cobb
October 4 – 162-win Dodgers eliminated from playoffs in first round by 83-win Padres
That’s pretty good
That is completely ridiculous. Everyone knows that a 162 Win team would not be eliminated until the second round because of a first round bye
Trade market: come on Perry. I’m looking at Edward Cabrera with MIA. Send them Rengifo, Canning and Thaiss. They need ready made players. Check the stats (minds be blown) but this trio gives them 4ish WAR over the next few seasons.
A young trio of Detmers, Cabrera and Silseth would give me young Washburn, Ortiz and Schoenweiss vibes. Give me Sandoval with Barry Enright’s oversight that would have potential to be a consistent above average. Assemble this and then you can spend good money on Jordan Montgomery to lead that rotation. Tyler Anderson should stick in the bullpen as the long reliever/ mop up duty guy or the next man up after an injury.
What they need to do is let the promising trio of Caden Dana, Barret Kemp and Wally Urena marinate in the minors for a few seasons. Personally, I would draft a #1 starter potential at their slot and then let those 4 be the future staff in 4-5 years. Out of those 4, at least 2 should fulfill their potential. That being said, those guys are years away therefore it kind of is useful to drop a lot of money on a real starter like Montgomery who will be a part of it for awhile and trade for a guy like Cabrera who has potential to fill in, and who’s already proven something.
I would hope the tingling up your pant leg would be a better vibe than the Washburn, Ortiz and Schoenweiss trio. They pretty much were the poster children for mediocrity when they were in the starting rotation together.
It’s common knowledge that our farm is terrible, right? This from today…
“ the Halos are in the unenviable position of having no realistic path to contention while also being saddled with one of the worst farm systems and young talent bases in all of baseball. ”
My question is do you think Arte is concerned about that?
OK. I’ll bite. He should be concerned about it – but I don’t think he is or at least he hasn’t been. If he cared about the Angels Minor League system, he probably would have seen the value of trading Ohtani either in 22 or in 23. So, I don’t think it’s been a priority at all for him, and I don’t think he cared because from a marketing standpoint not many people go to the games because of the players the Angels have in AAA or AA.
We all know the difficult position the team finds itself in. As several of us have said, a few years of pain (including trading Trout) to build up the minor league system might be the best solution – but again, will Arte be willing to do something like that?
I certainly don’t know and don’t have the answer. But if the past is a predictor of the future, Arte’s focus will almost certainly not be on the minor leagues.
All Arte’s knows about the farm system is that’s the people who whined to the press about sleeping 25 players to a room. It cost him more, so he dislikes them all.
His favorite minor league player is Will Wilson: he paid him below slot plus he got him out from Zack Cosart’s contract.
Wouldn’t it be nice (Beach Boys ’64) if the starting rotation of Detmers-Canning- Sandoval-Silseth-pick any young pitcher for #5, all average 11 wins this coming season by not only pitching great but staying healthy.
O’Hoppe will hit 25-30 HRs staying healthy and DHing when not behind the plate. With a healthy Trout and Drury that is some firepower. Add in Moniak hitting another 20-25 HRs and Ward hitting 15-20, it is possible to have a decent team this season.
A decent pick up would be adding old friend Lorenzen for spot starter and pen use.
There is nothing wrong with picking up more pen pitchers, we need all the help we can get in the bullpen. And one more young catcher, never can have enough catchers around.
What are the odds of Renny playing more 3rd than Rendone?
I would like Anderson to pitch like he did in his last year with the Dodgers. We still have him for a couple of years, so no sense forgetting about him.
But agree, we need some more depth in the rotation, so someone like Lorenzen (if he can be had for a reasonable fee) and Moore in the pen would really help.
14 starters used last year . 16 the year before that . Even if we now have 5 legit ones, WE NEED MOAR PITCHIN
Definitely.
Montgomery and his dependable innings looks like a great play but there’s money and Boras involved.
We could also go with Hader or Stephenson and try to shorten games. In that case a Lorenzen would work nicely.
Unfortunately Stephenson reminds of Loup coming off that otherworldly year before Perry signed him. Hader is definitely dominating but we would be giving up a draft pick and I know how everyone feels about that.
True.
I’m on the Jordan Hicks wagon. Kid is only 27, pretty consistent, doesn’t give up a lot of HR, doesn’t cost a draft pick. He’s my preferred target
Hector Neris is due to regress but even so would be a stud and at age 35 not be too long of a contract.
I’d gladly take Matt Moore back.
One of those and a Marcus Stroman would be less than just Blake Snell and combine for about 80 more innings.
I’m fully against signing relievers to longterm expensive deals. The overall propensity and randomness of regression amongst relievers leaves my appetite small for a Hader, Hicks, etc.
Build the pen thru the farm + stealthy signings, waiver wire pickups, trades. No reason to invest significant money in FA to address that area of the team IMO.
I don’t hate the additions Perry made of Garcia and Cimber.
It is a very dicey area for sure. Unfortunately the all pitcher draft hasn’t added much to the bullpen yet. I really though Luke Murphy would be a force by now.
Hader is too rich for my blood. The three I mentioned above will be a lot less.
I do like the Garcia deal and Climber could be a steal or a waste of a roster spot. We shall see.
Jeff, I would go two years of Stroman and one year of Matt Moore tomorrow. I hope that doesn’t cost too much. Can I get Moore for $5 million? Stroman for $20 million per?
That still leaves money for some hitters and general depth
my very own IIWPM was unfinished. It read “sign Wacha and Stroman and uh….”
Anderson and our new pitching coach, Barry, are friends.
Barry should be a real one and fix his buddy’s pitching.
If Perry signs Lorenzen, I’m driving up to the Big A to spray line drives at his car with my fungo bat. His stats took a dive once traded away from Comerica. We already saw what stuff this guy has as a starter and nothing stood out.
He’d be a great long reliever/spot starter but he’ll get a rotation spot somewhere. Jakob Junis could be an option for that role here.
Montgomery fits in a lot of ways but also likely destroys the budget. From the second tier I’d take Stroman or Clevinger in a heartbeat.
I’d absolutely love Zach Davies on a minors deal. He’s still young and only a year away from being good.
Lorenzen gives me the Thor vibes. Reputation with a big arm that plays down to the competition. He needs to be perfect to keep him from getting hit hard. Flamed out hard with the Phils. Walks historically a problem. You could sign an Alex Wood for half the price and for only 1-year or maybe Junis as you mention. He had a decent year last year with SF. Will it repeat?.
One guy who might be interesting as a swing man is Sean Manaea, added velocity. Pitched well for the Giants coming out of the pen and some starts in September. Not keen on a multi-year to any of these guys. Lauer is good as a cheap flyer.
I’m not feeling Montgomery for what he will command. Perry’s avoided Stroman thus far, I say that continues. I’ve looked at Clevinger a lot, perhaps on the right deal, do it.
💯 – What a great comp Lorenzen and Thor. Perfect.
Lorenzen wouldn’t be an awful add, but I’m with you on Stroman or Clevinger instead. Interesting idea on Davies.
Lorenzen had some good starts here. He had trouble staying healthy and was dealing with issues of stretching out. But they got some good starts from him. More than they got from Giolito or even Anderson
I like the idea of Lorenzen (SP), Moore (RP) and Whit Merrifield as IF/OF depth.
None of the above should be cost prohibitive and if this Goddess of Health smiles on this squad, they could surprise the league.
I need the Jo Adell breakout year I’ve been waiting for since the day he was drafted 10th overall in 2017 more than I need water.
Jo turns 25 in April and has yet to have a full season with the big club for all 162. Maybe (hopefully) Wash works whatever magic he worked on Atlanta’s young players on Adell 🙏.
Hindsight is always 20-20 but, I will not forgive Perry for forcing me to watch Renfroe instead of Adell. Renfroe ABs made me question my love for the game.
Trout, Ward, Moniak, Adell is pretty awesome.
Adell was injured for about two months with an oblique injury. The plan was to play Adell every day starting in July, but….shit happens.
Yeah, it was a tough break.
It won’t prevent the Adell 2024 breakout thooo
Until his his other Oblique blows out from “supplement” overuse
I wish I thought Adell was an answer. I don’t see him as a guy who makes many adjustments but what do I know.
He is an answer. The question is what matters, lol
I had given up totally on Adell, but he looked very close at the end of last season. His approach looked so much better.
Speaking of politics and the New Year.
What will be more agonizing to follow in 2024?
A. The 2024 Angels season
B. The 2024 Election season
I use the restricted words filters on apps to block anything that says Trump or Biden. Makes for a much better user experience.
It depends on if Arte signs Snell, Montgomery, Belli, Moore, and Hader or not.
😄
I recommend Bull Run 14YR Barrel Strength Whiskey out of Oregon which is both an excellent whiskey and a great deal at $45 a bottle. We will need it to deal with A&B.
Well, one’s going to be over a lot sooner than the other….
I’m shocked, shocked that Faux News just made stuff up.
They didnt make it up. They just got the wrong Frank Thomas.
https://ripbaseball.com/2023/01/24/obituary-frank-thomas-1929-2023/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCvcheTyb5w
So that’s a massive step up for them. Maybe the nearly $800 million in fines and counting are having an effect.
No Politics Jeff or I’m going to have to report you to Jeff.
😀
I’m going to ban myself, ha ha.
Pointing out a complete lack of truth and journalistic integrity is not politics. Anybody who makes up fake election results and runs with them until admitting under oath it was a lie should lose their broadcast license, regardless of political affiliation.
Thats true. At least when the Government does it, it provides cover for the News Agencies that report it.
In all due fairness-CNN-FOX-MSNBC all do the very same things day in and day out to hold on to their audience, all opinions and faux news.
I remember the earlier Frank Thomas well. He was one of the few Mets who belonged in the majors.
It’s bigger than Watergate!!😀
[insert Generalissimo Francisco Franco news flash here]
Holidays are over, Perry needs to get busy. Time to shakeup off season with Angels involved in Blockbuster trade. How about Brewers trade Burnes and Yelich to Angels for Ward, Rengifo, and Silseth. Why it would work: Brewers have stingy payroll and be interested in 2 proven players that are reasonable and controllable, along with young arm. Angels need star power in lineup, especially after Ohtani fiasco. Brewers would have to at least cover for some of Yelich salary, and Burnes would have to agree to a fair extension 2-3yrs first. (like how Dodgers got away with Glasnow). Some of you may think this is crazy, but doesn’t it sound better than sitting around waiting for prime FA’s that probably we are going to lose out on.
Creative thinking like this is what they will need to do if they want to improve with the current market.
It will definitely take something like this to get the Angels moving in the right direction.
Drove by Tempe Diablo this morning- no mural up yet which is good because surely Perry will find a sub 6.00 ERA starter we can throw up there with
Trout, Rendon, Detmers
Rex, how is your recovery going. Hopefully well.
It’s going well enough- each day brings more range of motion on my right arm and I’m functioning pretty much normal – these big backside scars though are going to be around a long time.
Chick’s dig scars and the long ball.
And a man in a uniform.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fbXfk51R1o
Happy New Year to all! I do feel bad for Tampa, but who knew…..Great weekend if you like College and Pro Football…… NFL has issues with officials/umpires like we do, cost the Lions an important game and that officiating crew is non-gratis for the playoffs. Yikes……Well, no news is good news from the offices of Arturo and PTP as they did not waste time and money on any signings or trades and they didn’t screw up by making stupid trades, Good for them……As noted by Halofan ’78 43 days until ST starts, I already can’t wait to get back to Baseball postings…..Have a great day…. 😃
So we got rid of our Junk, and someone else was able to make use of it? Color me shocked.
One man’s trash is another man treasure!
Recycle baby . save the planet!
The trio of Ben Joyce, Jose Soriano and Sam Bachman will be locking down the 7-8-9th innings for the next half-decade.
Happy New Year 😇😇😇
…but it’s what happens in the first 6 innings that is the concern. Locking down games when the team is down 5+ runs is a piece of cake. 😎
Happy New Year!
Gosh darn it. Got me on that one haha
where do i sign up?
Happy New Year Everybody!
Time to go to work Perry.
My sources tell me there’s a sign on his office that reads: “Closed for remodeling”.
we have a budget for that?
Money saved on a Bench Coach.
There’s plenty of talent still available. Beneath the top names, guys like Rhys Hoskins, CJ Cron, Whit Merrifeld, Lorenzen, Evan Longoria, Soler, Adam Duvall, Matt Moore, and others are all still available. None are guys whose picture would go on the front of the stadium. But many can help a team win games and hopefully be signed for realistic money. Quite a few decent relievers need to find homes. Let’s not overpay just because and instead take some cheaper guys that could have decent years.
I agree, but the key is picking the right ones, which has been a challenge for Minasian.
And his predecessors
Yup. Arturo seems more interested in saving money at GM than winning.
And many many other GMs over all the years.
I agree with you MarineLayer. But we can at least hope. No reason to throw money away on overpriced Boras clients just because we don’t know what else to do.
43 days till Pitchers & Catchers report to S/T.
No matter how good/bad we are…I can’t wait.
Yay!
We never know what surprises the future holds….
https://x.com/Super70sSports/status/899081199326564357?s=20
Really funny