Yesterday was the deadline for MLB clubs and players to agree to a salary for 2024 without exchanging salary figures for an arbitration hearing. The Angels were busy.
And they were far from the only ones. Keeping up with all the news today was tough. Take a look at MLBTR’s arbitration tracker and see all the millionaires. A lot of these guys are getting their first real money and I love to see it.
The hot stove percolated a little this week, too. The Cubs picked up a good bat from the Dodgers, who added yet another high upside arm to their farm system.
You know you have a good problem when a guy with that slash line doesn’t have a place on your 40 man roster. In a league with a DH, no less.
The Cubs also added Japanese lefty Shota Imanaga who is expected to be another solid contributor to the team.
It has been a very quiet off season for the Angels thus far. Here’s a look at the remaining off season needs.
Some of those needs might be filled off this list of under the radar free agents. I like a lot of those names. Donovan Solano could play third when Rendon gets hurt unpacking his bags in Tempe. Jakob Junis could provide innings for when our starters don’t go deep into games or get hurt. We could do worse for a fourth outfielder than Aaron Hicks.
Bottom line is if we’re going to let the kids play, let’s at least supplement the team enough to where they are playing some close games and learning to compete.
Whatever the team looks like, it will report to Spring Training in just over a month. In case you’re planning or considering a trip, we’ve looked at where to stay, how to get tickets, and the different ballpark experiences out in Phoenix. We’ll have some more tips coming soon.
New skipper Ron Washington says preparation is key and “my players will be ready” to play. So it will be interesting to see how Spring Training differs from previous years.
Hopefully that includes some maturity from Zach Plesac, who is saying all the right things.
This is a three day weekend in honor of a great human being who changed the landscape of America. There’s no longform reading that can compare to his words. Thank you Martin Luther King, Jr. for opening the doors for relationships for so many people I love so dearly. I hope we one day truly live your Dream.
Enjoy your weekend and link what I missed.
https://twitter.com/Jared_Tims/status/1747040305034182704
Anyone have some insight into these guys?
@Taylorblakeward and @Jared_Tims have alot of info tidbits and video. Baseball America ranked Lugo as the #8 best International prospect. Because of the Tyler Anderson signing and our market size out bonus pool was only about $5.15 million which is definitely on the lower end of the signing pool amounts.
Thanks.
Any Canadians? We need more Canadians
Droppin’ the hammer!
Well, we’ll see.
https://twitter.com/FoulTerritoryTV/status/1746969668118614181
Sounds like Rendon is a goner
Ehh. Shit like this always sounds good in the lead up to Spring, gets the fan base excited that this year is ✨different✨.
Will Arte really eat that contract? The safe bet says no. And when it comes down to it that will not be Ron’s decision to make.
I know, some sarcasm there. Washington is just talking. Don’t they all say this?
Fat Boy is going to be doing a lot of pulling.
Along with “We’re going into camp with 26 empty roster spots”
Remember Wash implied that he had good news about Ohtani during the Winter meetings. It’s all BS
Are you just interpreted it that way?
Is that English?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyCEexG9xjw
You’ve got like 2/3 of the posts on these threads. Do you do anything else?
Before or after you go to bed?
Rendon is likely laughing his ass off at the tough guy talk from Washington. The fact remains Rendon gets paid whether he is in the lineup or on the bench.
Washington is funny. The dude talks shit every time someone stuffs a mic in his grill.
His bs signifies nothing. There will be zero surprises when he scribbles in the opening day lineup.
Paging 2002….Paging Mr. 2002…call your office about Jocco.
His head might pop at the thought of Joc Pederson mixing with the Ass’tros.
Former Dodgers All-Star Slugger Predicted to Join Houston Astros This Offseason
https://www.si.com/mlb/astros/news/former-dodgers-all-star-slugger-predicted-join-houston-astros-this-offseason-brad9
He would do well in that park.
Another spot of news…
Did anyone else see that the children of GA and KRod got married?
They will have a kid that will be a great hitter and is an unhittable reliever, and will grow up around the Big A and dream of being an Angel.
When he becomes available, we might not have any pool money available, and he’ll have to sign with Toronto. 😜
Even after said son of player said he had NO interest in being here?
So apparently we just signed our top international prospect…
https://twitter.com/BenBadler/status/1746936359099433214
Say what you will about Perry, he has infinitely improved our int’l presence.
So when will that translate to a real honest to goodness MLB prospect?
To be fair, even 1 is infinitely greater than 0.
Technically we do have one. Unfortunately we developed him for another team. https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Edgar_Quero
Yep. He’s expanded his dumpster diving to all corners of the globe.
The international signings are more of a crapshoot than the draft.
our #1 int’l prospect. At MLB.com they’re calling him the #37 overall prospect. You’d think with 30 clubs our #1 would be in the top 30.
You don’t get it.
The top 7 spots always belong to the Dodgers.
Then the next 30 are among the 30 teams.
Baseball America has him as their #8 prospect. Obviously these kids are so young there is a wide range in prospect evaluations between the different publications.
I’ll go with BA. Thanks
Yeah, Fangraphs has Joswa at #29 rated as FV 40. The author of the article heaped praise for the Padre prospect at No.1 and could even sneak into the Top 100 prospect list. Padres sure draft well and crank out the prospects even after the Soto acquisition. Preller may not be a schmuck like he looks.
Thats 2 years in a row the Friars have done that where they spent 90% of their pool on one guy. Most teams spread it around since the kids are so young you never know how they’ll mature. last years #1 pick 17 year old Catcher Ethan Salas got a cup of coffee at AA while he slashed an OPS of .837 at low A. he may be a top #100 prospect for all of MLB this year
Quality over quantity I suppose. I kind of like it, personally. Salas on MLB pipeline is the top prospect, sure to make the Top 100 I would think. Followed by Jackson Merrill who is pretty stout. 27th pick, 2021.
The Padres and Braves are the very best with the international signings
TrAdition
https://x.com/SadPackersFan/status/1746956613582504216?s=20
Angels fans asking for arte to sell the team even in this post is actually not surprising.
That X post isn’t remotely funny.
Rengifo 3B
Trout CF
O’Hoppe C
Drury 2B
Schanuel 1B
Rendone DH
Ward LF
Moniak RF
Neto SS
Rengifo statistically performs best when hitting 1st and 3rd. I prefer him leading over Schanuel because he brings an element of speed in front of Trout.
O’Hoppe and Drury are the only other power bats on this roster and will have to protect Trout. The O’Hoppe breakout year will be so so so so so much fun.
Schanuel and Rendone in the 5-6 spots will be asked to drive in runs with situational ABs and get on-base. Schanuel can sacrifice some OBP for power in the 5th spot. Ward and Moniak batting 7-8 provides really nice depth down the lineup. Round it out with Neto moonlighting as a 2nd leadoff hitter with some pop.
I like our lineup. At least in my mind, there’s a serious chance they perform above expectations.
oWar in 2023
Rengifo = 2.7
Trout = 2.8
O’Hoppe = 1
Drury = 2.1
Schanuel = 0.3
Rendone = 0.6
Ward = 1.6
Moniak = 1.5
Neto = 1.3
It isn’t totally crazy to think that we get 2+ oWAR from each of these players in 2024.
Bullish on the lineup.
Noting that, for Trout, that was in just 80 odd games (with the hamete injury).
It’s almost like Trout is still good lol
One key will be the progression of the 2-year players. I’m already counting on a subpar Rendon and Trout. I think I’d flip Ward for Adell. Jo needs to be playing everyday. I don’t care how bad Adell’s defense is at this point as the entire team has flaws outside of Neto. Ward can get the short end of the Moniak platoon if he fails to hit left handers.
There should be plenty of ABs to go around for Ward, Moniak, Adell unless Perry signs someone to be a full-time DH. Fwiw, I agree Adell needs consistent reps.
Man, I’m feeling a throwback Trout season and he gives us around 7-8 WAR. Rendone? Eh, maybe Wash and Porter get something out of him, idk.
Regarding Neto, he definitely has flaws as a hitter. Less swing-and-miss and more contact which hopefully comes with added experience.
According to The fielding Bible Adells defense is not that bad as he showed huge improvement last year.
He did look better. He has a chance to make a big statement this year barring injuries. I’d like to be proven wrong.
That would be 18 WAR out of 9 players which translates to 68 wins. Sounds about right.
I agree with you on the starting lineup. If they can remain healthy, an awful big if, they should do better than last year with scoring. The problem I see if that the pitching hasn’t improved so the team may still give up 100 runs more than they score again. Maybe Perry can spend that $60 million to bring in better pitchers.
Oh ya, the pitching is not as fun to project.
Detmers had a 2.41 ERA in his final 41 innings, which directly correlated with him *finally* increasing his change-up usage. Fully expect him to breakout as an elite SP in ’24.
Sandoval was brutally underwhelming last season and I’d expect a positive regression bounce back.
Canning (2.0 WAR in 127 innings!) and Silseth were good in ’23. It was unfortunate that Silseth got beaned in the cranium, which temporarily halted his breakout campaign.
Idc as much about the randomness of relievers, but Joyce and Soriano have immense potential.
Adding Snell at a “reasonable” cost would be interesting.
Snell – Detmers – Canning -Sandoval – Silseth – Anderson
Even with Sandovals regression he was still better than replacement level (109 era+). I curious to see if the regression was caused by him trying to be too fine because he couldn’t trust his defense.
Such an odd season for Sandy. He was GOOD in 2022 and came off a phenomenal WBC.
If I recall correctly, he led all qualifying SPs last season in unearned runs against because of his defense?
he fell apart anytime an Angel fielder committed an error leading to a shitpile of UE Runs . That seems more mental than anything. I’m hoping at the very least that The Red Barry can fix his head.
I don’t know if I say he fell apart every time. Through the end of July he was carrying an FIP of 3.91 & OPS against of .680 but like the rest of the team he really shat the bed starting in August when he carried a FIP of 4.76 & .780 OPS against.
No but he definitely fell apart in the last 2 months of the season. He gave up total of 23 Unearned runs last year leading all of Major League Baseball. Of those 23 UE runs he gave up, 15 were in his last 8 starts when opponents slugged an OPS of .825 while he was hemorrhaging a WHIP of almost 2.00.
Hmm… almost as if he used up all of the energy required for those last 2 months during an intense amount of activity that happened prior to the season…
With no WBC this year, I’m hoping that Sandy will indeed bounce back.
Historians will study how some guy named, Barry Enright, turned Detmers, Sandoval, Canning and Silseth into the 90s Braves.
Or study how he turned them into the Dipoto 4?
Not sure a D4 transformationwould be history worthy though. That would be more like SOS
Hitters laid off of his off-speed stuff and stopped swinging at balls out of the zone. Maybe tipping his pitches?
I don’t think so, The only significant drop in his strike out rate is in his swing strike% (SO looking increased by 5%) which tells me he wasn’t consistently getting strike calls on the edges so batters could spit on those pitches
Arte, is that you? JK. I agree and think that many of these FA are not huge upgrades over anybody we have now IF our players stayed healthy. For example, Moniak is probably giving you the same WAR as Teosco H if you give him the same # of ABs. Jo Adell is giving you the same power numbers as maybe Jorge Soler. Unless Arte is going to sign a Bellinger who could make a bigger impact than I don’t think they’ve “missed out” on anyone not named You Know Who. Pitching wise, they’ve got average to slightly above average potential but they need a work horse or someone that can light up the radar gun from the right side. But Canning is a sleeper fantasy baseball pick and Silseth was showing something. I’d rather spend $10 million on health + coaching to keep those guys on the field and with the preparation /scouting reports that other franchises have.
Plus Moni-Moni’s defense is light years ahead of Teoscar or any other available free agent with the exception of Belli and I still think hes got Belli beat as well.
Rengifo has speed ? Source?
I guess it is because he is of South American descent, small and twitchy-like…just would make sense he has speed.
He’s in the 50th percentile so he’s got the same speed as your average player. Schanuel is in the 30 percentile so Rengifo technically has an element of speed when compared to Schanuel.
That’s better said haha — Rengifo is like Juan Pierre compared to Schanuel’s slow-ass 😂😂😂
I prefer Rengifo on another team.
To quote the Prognosticator of prognosticators, the Seer of all seers, the person who put “So” in the word philosopher, the omnipotent TAME:
”We will win some games”
TAME is a crazyyyyyy throwback omg 😂😂😂
Finally!
https://x.com/mlbtraderumors/status/1746702454199029772?s=46
lnside, outside…
Nowhere is home
Am I reading right that this is a 29 year old infielder who had a -2 WAR over 170 ABs? Aggressive!!
Ricky Martín tour 2024?
Living La Vida Loca!
ReRun
Off-season champs, baby!
It was posted to the Angels MLB transaction page 2 days ago and Senator mentioned it here and the La Vida Loca jokes pored in.
Traderumors is late.
Damn that’s rare for trade rumors….
Absolutely no one is paying attention to us I guess.
The dear diary people just MUST post, sometimes online jokes are even funny the second time around… just ask Reddit 😉
FWIW, someone called Joel Rueter has us signing Clevinger for 2 years at 26 million. This makes a ton of sense while still following the path of fiscal restraint.
I’ll continue to pound the table for Aroldis Chapman for the BP as well.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10104786-resetting-mlbs-sp-market-following-shota-imanaga-marcus-stroman-contract-signings
You want us to sign Clevinger, Chapman, Bauer and Urias lol.
Throw in King Arte sticking around as the owner and that would make this one of the more unsavory and loathsome teams in recent memory 😂😂😂😭😭😭.
Clevinger maybe a tool but he was originally our tool. The Jedi’s second biggest mistake as GM ( I gave him a pass on the Hambone and Grandpa Ground Out signings since thats totally Arte)
Clevinger for Vinnie P and Bradish for Bundy (Eppler, ik) were the worst possible outcomes for us, man.
Fwiw, I would gladly accept Clevinger on a 2 year deal, nothing more tho.
Obviously the team wouldn’t sign all of the above. I’m throwing out options that would ostensibly fit into the budget.
What does Clevinger and Chapman really add? I am not being cheeky. Maybe 1 or 2 wins? 70 wins v 68? Neither puts butts in the seats. Why spend the money?
I’ll bite. They are productive players that fill immediate holes on the MLB roster without requiring longterm commitments. It’s not our money and they would definitely improve the team. Lastly, if they perform decent enough, they can be trade chips used to aquire prospects.
Signing them makes total sense from a baseball perspective.
Wrong. We need to suck giant balls so we can get the first overall draft pick because that will save the franchise someday.
Trying to win is totally overrated
If they would sign 1 year deals in the $8 million range – then sure. No idea if they would do that or if they want to play in Anaheim.
Again, if this team plays better than most expect, they’re veterans that are contributing. If the team sucks as you anticipate, they’re potential trade chips.
More upside than downside and this team will need to sign at least a few vets to round out the roster anyway.
What’s the downside?
Someone named Ken Rosenthal has us interested in Enrique Hernandez. The dude is coming off double hernia surgery and has had 2 lackluster seasons in a row. Wouldn’t we have been better off keeping David Fletcher?
It would be an incredibly dumb move to sign Hernandez. So it just might happen.
PERRY: Mr. Moreno, Kiki Hernandez is available!
ARTE: He’s really named Kiki? That reminds me of a stray cat I found when scouting locations for a billboard in Wetonka South Dakota.
CARPINO: Oh Arte, tell us a story before my nap, for I so love your stories and melodic voice.
ARTE: I sold a billboard to a funeral home and left the cat in Wetonka.
CARPINO: (sounds of him sucking his thumb can be heard in the background…)
PERRY: Sir, what about Hernandez? He’s been injured and we can get him cheap.
ARTE: He’s a baseball player, right?
PERRY: Yes sir.
ARTE: Well Per, I think this situation requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on your part.
PERRY: Sir, I’m just the guy to do it.
ARTE: LETS GET HIM SIGNED!
I think this is a good start on a screenplay called “Fallen Angels”.
TBH, that would be a hell of a documentary, covering the Halos from 2010 on.
🤣🤣🤣
I will rec for the “really futile and stupid gesture” comment although, considering your relationship with Otter thats low hanging fruit for you, Senator.
So who here is who?
I’m quite willing to admit that I’m probably Stork. A certain nameless picture poster is clearly Flounder.
Or maybe he’s Niedermeier?
That sounds like the exact “desperate player” that will sign inexpensively, angree to play in Anaheim and has a 1/20 chance of contributing. Sign him up!
This can’t be more than a minor league deal and a STI . I would much rather sign Tim Anderson to a one year deal . Our coaching staff could turn him around
That depends if you think Tim Anderson will bounce back from a very bad year.
Kike is ‘usually’ just about league average, and is very versatile. (Career OPS+ at 93, and last year ended with 99 for the Dodgers).
Tim Anderson was very good in the shortened season – but even including that has a career OPS+ of just 99 and has mainly played SS.
Not to be too Pollyanna, but could signing Kike mean that Rengifo could be traded for pitching and we still have a versatile bench option?
Would still need a serious backup at 3B for Rendon, imo (like Justin Turner), if we don’t bite the bullet on Rendon and sign Chapman (having Rendon DH while he is healthy).
Kike is no longer good and Rengifo is like our … 3rd best hitter ?
Usually on the same page with ya, but not on this one.
We have to trade value to get value – so if Rengifo (who slots into our bench role) can be traded for better pitching value, that might be a hit worth taking.
I am not thinking we are just getting rid of Rengifo – I am trying to figure out how the Kike rumors might make sense.
Totally understandable.
We (and every other team) need to avoid signing Dodger FAs. It’s never worth it (i.e. Tyler Anderson).
my IIWPM has gone bust. It was basically Wacha, Stroman and roll with the kids. Oh well.
Did Wacha & Stroman end up getting the MLBTR/Fangraph projections or worse?
Per mlbtr, Stroman worse, Wacha better.
They had Stroman at $22 mil a yr, he signed for $18.5, I believe. Wacha at $12mil a yr. I think he’s getting $16 mil or so.
In my unpublished IIWPM I had Stro at $22.5 and Wacha at $13
I liked your IIWPM . That would have provided enough starting pitching IMO
With question marks about the pen
Well obviously we need a veteran presence there as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10EE49BucU8
Enjoy the nothing.
We’re Californians. we’re supposed to actually own nothing, feel great about it, be mindful, look at the sun and repeat.
This team’s gonna be perfect!
But really, it’s about time to scramble and sign about 5 pitchers and 4 position players to prove it contracts so we can trade them in July. Get wiggling Platypus!
I see nothing in a different way…
and it’s my moment so I just gotta say…
nothing is everything
nothing is everything
-SKYRIZI COMMERCIAL JINGLE
What the hell is Skyrizi? is that something you take for Irritable Arte Syndrome?
😂
That song is a bop.
I always turn the volume up and sing w it , no lies.
Nothing is everything!
Zach Plesac meets Mr. Nothing
Giants and Yanks reportedly out of Snell market for now unless his price drops. Many are saying we are his best option. If he doesn’t sign with us soon, clearly means he has no interest and will take a pay cut to play elsewhere. Isn’t anyone else tired of us being mocked as Ohtani-less team? So just do it, sign Bauer and Urias if management really still wants to be competitive. Baseball world would shame us but at this point who cares when the community and even FA players think we are now a joke. Ohtani shaft on us has pushed the franchise in a corner. And if both are still good, imagine how many hypocrite teams would want to trade for them at deadline for prospects.
I’m not sure I’d characterize it as “Ohtani shaft” on us…
LOL
I’d much rather go Montgomery than Snell if Arte is going to go for a big dollar player.
More innings, no draft pick compensation.
sure, in a baseball sense, but who will look better as a mural?
But unless we’re doing the huge overpay how in the world would we beat out the Rangers for Montgomery? I just dont see that happening unless the Rangers are in dire straits over the Diamond BK
Also I just dont see Arte paying BorAss prices for a pitcher even if Snell doesn’t have any other real suitors. I could see him doing a one year prove it deal with Giants, Yankees, Blue Jays, Chowds or Cubs as this is Borass M.O. when the market falls apart for his premium clients.
Montgomery has suitors, it’s a long shot he forgoes a chance to win and takes extra cash to come to Anaheim
A chance to win? hes already won. He probably prefers the cash at this point
I’m sure a one and done is not the pinnacle his career. He’ll sign with a team that has a real chance to win. It’s not like Snell with limited interest.
Limited interest? if I was Snell it would grate on me every minute of every day that Kevin Cash pulled me out early of Game 6 of the World Series only to see the blow pen give up the lead to the Doyers.
Of course if it was Arte I would sign all ex Doyers like Bellinger, Bauer, Urias, JT and Joc Pedersen and trade for Jansen knowing they would have a chip on their shoulder to win every game and beat my ex team and their $300 million payroll.
I guess I’m old school, but if I’m throwing big money at a free agent, I prefer to sign players with a track record versus the AL.
Snell is the pitching version of Bellinger. He’s only had two years where he pitched more than 129 innings. Whether wins matter or not, he’s only won more than 8 games twice. He had one really great year in 2015 at the age of 25 and never really come close to repeating although he was very good last year. He is good but not elite. Not someone you would want to sign for more than 2-3 years.
Not sure I see the correlation. Snell has always performed but cant last more than 5 innings.
Bellinger, on the other hand, started off his MLB career on fire, then began to smoke too much ganja, got released and then finally began hitting again when he was faced with total failure. Who knows how he would perform on a long term contract going forward but I definitely have my concerns he would revert back to the human ceiling fan.
I agree with both of you… Snell and Bellinger are both big risk signings.
They could both go back to subpar performance as soon as they sign with us.
I’d rather get Monty because at least he is more consistent…. although I’m a little concerned with the age.
I would have been fine with Stroman or Gray, because with the age you are also getting possible high performance.
And that other guy, Yamamoto… yeah, I would have been fine with him too.
The correlation is that both of them have had 2 really good years separated by 3 or 4 years of much lower performance and they are looking to be compensated with a multi year contract that reflects their 2 really good years and doesn’t account for the rest of their career. In both cases, the better of their 2 really good years was 3-4 years ago. In Snells case, he has 6 years of an ERA+ of around 110 and 2 years at 212 and 182. So, what are the chances you get the ERA+ 110 pitcher and how much is that pitcher worth. His 212 year was back in 2018 and since then he’s mixed in years of 103, and 92, and the year before was 104. His 8 year career ERA+ is 127, a mark that he has only equaled or exceeded 3 times. In Bellinger’s case, He has a career OPS+ of 120 which he has equaled or bettered 4 times and mixed in years of 112, 44, and 81, with the 44 and 81 immediately proceeding last year. His last good year before last year was 2019. I like them both, and they have both proven they are capable of having MVP/Cy Young level years, but they have both been very inconsistent and have also each had at least two years that were barely league average or below fairly recently. They are both a mixed bag and present considerable risk which is what I meant to imply.
Jakob Junis should be on our radar and they should add Chapman to round out the BP. I think Chapman would impart some baseball wisdom to our youngsters and is a nice piece to flip at the deadline.
Make it happen.
I still wonder if Arte sells like you are wishing, what guarantee is there that the new ownership spends on scouting, real player development, real employees replacing the intern in key positions, and… buys any big time FA that comes along, saddling the team with a 450M payroll. With TV gravy a memory. In an aging facility that has wonderful people attending to it on gameday but is in serious need of some love.
Remember, Arte outbid Frank McCourt, and there would have been no Guggenheim gold at the end.
You don’t need to buy as many free agents and push payroll that high if you develop talent. Scouting and development are far more efficient ways of creating a team.
Any owner is going to face some serious challenges on both the TV money and stadium front.
sometimes one can’t see one’s own flaws but everybody else can. A new owner will not fail to see what needs to be fixed.
And so as long as it can be seen, you are guaranteeing us a mere ownership change will fix it?
No one can or is guaranteeing anything. However what is clear is that the current Org is pretty awful on many fronts including its lack of focus on and failure to prioritize the farm system. So a change of ownership really is unlikely to hurt and may help a lot.
Angels have signed former top prospect and first-rounder Richie Martin to a minor league deal, Martin has a career 54 OPS+ across three seasons in the Majors
And his defense is awful according to The Fielding Bible.
Maybe he should just stick to singing.
just so you know, at least one person got it
When I read the original post I considered making a wise-crack but passed
He’s livin’ the vida loca.
Sounds like he is “living la vida loca”.
I know I might be wrong, but I’m expecting any day to see the announcement that Arte is selling.
He “stayed in the game” because he liked the excitement of having a chance to win. Surely he can see that there is no way that is happening soon.
And with the team as it is, I would think that owning a last place team isn’t at all what made him interested in keeping the team a year ago.
Furthermore, I look at the evidence… we’ve made no effort to improve the team. We’re talking “weakest offseason ever” territory. No matter what the “reason” is (purposeful strategy, concern about TV revenue, etc.)… the fact is that Arte has chosen not to improve the team.
So if the guy likes being in the game because he likes having marque players and at least looking like we are competitive…
and he is knowingly going to put a AAAA team on the field…
It sure seems like he’s going to exit.
He stayed in the game because Ohtani was literally flooding cash into his pockets. I really hope you are right on your prediction.
Nah, Arte has known his chance in re-signing Ohtani was a long shot. He did not “stay in the game” for 1-yr of proceeds and come away like looking like a failure, again by losing his meal ticket. Time to sell was last year. There is no pressure now. Trout is willing just to play his career out here without causing a problem. Thinking…he wants to take a run at another development deal.
Totally. The potential stadium development deal gets him going in the morning. You package that and the team ( or you sell the team and keep the development deal kind of like McCourt keeping part of the Doyer stadium parking lot) lets him laugh all the way to the bank.
The only red flag for Arte is he’ll need a development partner for a deal that large and considering his stated adversity to debt and the fact that most of those big private deals require Wall Street money, he may be more inclined to sell it as a package deal.
Don’t hold your breath. the time to sell was when he announced his intentions in late 2022. he would have looked like a genius if he had gone through with the sale in February of last year. Now with the loss of the Unicorn, the uncertainty with Diamond as well as the City of Anaheim lease, I’d think he would have to sale at a discount. And Arte aint that kind of guy ( even if his cost basis is less than $200 million)
it seems to me he now needs to weather the Diamond bankruptcy and try to finally resolve the stadium situation consistent with the structure of his previous plan which included the surrounding property development. I doubt any of these issues will be resolved until 2025 at the earliest, so like it or not , we’re all stuck with him for awhile.
I’m not sure I would agree that Arte would stick around and put up with all that trouble. Sure, he’d get less sale price now perhaps. But his motivation in staying is far less. Especially if there is any truth that some players would like to avoid the Angels because of the negative reputation that is building up. Arte may see that and realize that it is a sinking ship.
One of the things a buddy of mine once said about the stock market is that wise traders don’t let emotion guide their trades. If the stock you had was once at $100, but you didn’t sell in time and it is now at $50, and because of the market and current times it doesn’t look like there is going to be a boost back to $100, then the wise trader will make his decisions based on current fact… does he want to sell at $50. He doesn’t cling on to it, thinking “no way am I selling until it gets back up to the $100 that I once had”.
Arte is at least a wise businessman… he got to where he is. I don’t think he is going to “ride the team to the bottom” just because he’ll look back and think “gee, my team was in such a good position to sell back when I had both Trout and Ohtani playing like stars and everyone was interested in playing here”.
Arte will let his heirs sort it all out after he’s moved on. Soon he’s not even going to remember he owns a team…..
I hope you are right but if Arte was truly a smart business man he wouldn’t have ever let a once great farm system turn into a laughing stock.
Its all about the oversized ego and I’ve never met a billionaire that didnt have one
After writing the links yesterday I started reading about the Diamond Sports hearings. Diamond had a hearing pushed back to next week as they tried to work out a deal with MLB.
Arte and Perry might very well be waiting for some clarity on their TV money before making any moves. Along with several other clubs (it hasn’t exactly been a busy off season).
Perhaps it is both. But I can’t see a sale or a spending spree happening until the team’s primary source of income is calculated.
That is very sound logic.
I suspect BorAss is waiting as well.
Hicks to SF, 4-$44m
Yikes, that’s an overpay.
Overpay, I don’t think so. Tough to see that 4th year but at $11M AAV hardly think the Giants are sweating at that cost. Price of decent RP pitching these days and was likely, the best reliever on the market not named Hader. 27-years old…acceptable.
But they’re going to use him as a starter .
We’ll see. That’s the talk now but If he somehow figures out how to throw strikes and settles in as a starter, might even be a better signing.
Or he could just continue to be who he is and end up as an injured, unreliable reliever.
He’s not as good as Taylor Ward who is 4 years younger. Hard pass.
Taylor Ward doesn’t have a 100.3 mph average on his four-seam fastball or a 101.1 mph average on his sinker.
True, I was referring to Aaron Hicks. My bad.
He has a big problem staying healthy, not much tangible evidence that he will function well as a starting pitcher given that injury history and his erratic command and control. I’d rather have Bachman and Joyce as we do and deploy resources elsewhere, assuming we’re even trying. I think the end of that contract won’t be pretty.
Wrong Hicks. The pitcher signed with SF.
….soooooo Parry, you have Bauer’s agent’s phone number?
They should sign him and/or Urias on the cheap.
Michael Busch = Louis Friend. He “mashed” as a 25-year-old in AAA, then went on to light it up with a .500 OBP in 70 ABs with the Dodgers. Has AAAA lifer written all over him.
#brandonwoods
#Adell
I was thinking Busch was closer to Trey Cabbage who had a .975 OPS at the Great Salt Lake last year. But Busch really improved his plate discipline at OKC last season striking out “only” 88 times vs 65 BB. This was. a vast improvement over his 2022 numbers ( 167 Ks vs 67 BBs) which were much closer to cabbage’s 2023 numbers at AAA ( 142 K’s vs 45 BB’s)
So I think there is much more hope for Busch than there is for cabbage who is about 6 months older.
I see him as blocked in the Dodgers organization, now having a chance at regular AB’s on the Cubs. In the minors, each time he advanced to the next level, he got off to a slow start, but comes on strong. If the Cubs show patience with him, I think they will be well-rewarded.
I see it as opening up a spot on the 40 man roster with another huge signing coming up for them
Snell to Dodgers? Why not, if they are going to go all in, then go all in.
Which is by the way what Arte should have done for 10 years here… instead of having a top heavy roster with a few superstars and then waiver claims.
Couldn’t agree more. Wasting a prime Trout was the biggest sin of all IMO.
And it got much worse with Ohtani.
Once you had both, and Ohtani showed what he could do…. a winning owner would have cranked the payroll to $300MM and won something. Then if he really couldn’t sustain the payroll, fine, let Ohtani walk and trade a few big contracts away, a la Marlins.
That too. Didn’t they need the spot due to previous signings?
Troy Percival has been named the new manager of the Idaho Falls Chukars in the Pioneer League. The league was formerly a rookie ball league with MLB affiliations (the Angels played in Orem, Utah) but is now an indepenent league.
https://www.kpvi.com/chukars-announce-troy-percival-as-new-manager/video_9ebf3bc5-75ac-50a1-975e-6633aba66224.html
As a UCR alum, i love Percy, but he wasn’t a great BB coach for the Highlanders (111-177) in 5 seasons.
Happy for him but not expecting anything.
I hope his players like to pound the caffeine.