Here is your projected opening day roster for the Los Angeles Angels. There are no big surprises, unfortunately. Ron Washington’s quote of the day: “And the bottom of the line is you don’t want to get on that bus.” The context is about Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon playing in Tempe yesterday instead of against the Royals. Is it really all that bad traveling from Tempe to Surprise? What’s on the bus? Are there monsters under the seats? Maybe Nuke Laloosh will be playing guitar. At 25:50 the MLBTR podcast explains why they think the Angels had the worst off season for all you gluttons for punishment. On that topic, here is another list the Angels pretty much bottomed out on. It’s an age 26 and under power ranking. Those kids we are going to let play are not impressing people. Logan O’Hoppe, though, was middlin’ on this list ranking the MLB teams’ catchers. Here is the homer by Miguel Sano from yesterday:
Injured List
Gerrit Cole is out for a couple of months. Jamieson Taillon will be on the injured list for the start of the season. So will Taj Bradley. Rob Refsnyder has a fractured pinky toe. Darryl Strawberry had a heart attack, but he is recovering.
Trades And Roster Moves
Dylan Cease will be going to the Padres in exchange for four other guys. Some people are critical of the price tag. Heyman, of course, thinks it’s the Yankees loss. Third baseman Carter Kieboom got outrighted to Triple-A Rochester.
Now I know the correct excuse for how to get out of jury duty.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Have we done the predict our final record thing yet this year?
If not, I’ll put in for 59-103.
Strikeout KING still has the record:
Pound for pound, stepping up to the plate and slugging a big-league pitcher is just about the toughest task facing any athlete.
Armed with little more than a wooden wand and a few bits of flimsy protective equipment, Major League batters have just a fraction of a second to register what kind of pitch is heading toward them and where they are planning on hitting it.
These days, there is an absolute premium on pitchers throwing at peak velocity. The faster, it seems, the better. But while it is contemporary relief pitchers that throw the most heat, the likes of the ‘Big Train’ and the ‘Ryan Express’ used to wheel, deal and have batters whiffing right from the get-go.
Though big leaguers, both present and past, will all have different answers as to who dealt the fastest pitch they ever faced, the arrival – and acceptance – of Statcast has busted many myths, with many believing that pitches recorded before 2015 should come with an asterisk.
However, as we are not physicists, we’ll leave others to argue semantics.
Due to the primitive technology used to record them, the record books do not recognise the opening pair of pitches on this list, yet we’ve opted to pitch these two curveballs in there for you.
Batter up!
1. Nolan Ryan – 108.1 mph/174 kph – 1974 – California Angels (laser radar)
Link if you want to look at the other losers, but hopefully #5 can get his Ricky Wild Thing Vaughn right.
https://www.allsprt.com/top-ten-fastest-baseball-pitches-in-history-26758/amp/
I can’t disagree with this Wash quote
“If we can get ‘em out there keeping the opponent to two or three runs every night, we’re in good shape”
That’s a lot better than Nevin’s classic
Unfortunately, we give up 2 runs in the first inning most nights.
trAdition
I’m still down with TAME.
We Will Win Some Games.
I’m ready for a trade, don’t care who, just want some action. Got my ‘gar, bourbon and ready to jaw all night about how bad we screwed the other team.
Who are you, Tony Soprano?
A-Aron Hicks:
When the Angels signed outfielder Aaron Hicks in early February, he created a bit of a stir by telling reporters that he was going to be an everyday player.
The Angels, it turns out, had never told Hicks or his agent that. Hicks was simply speaking from years of experience and voicing his plan to play his way into that role.
“If you make yourself feel like you’re a bench player, you’re going to be a bench player,” Hicks said this week. “Obviously, I want to work my way into playing every single day. But, you know, whenever my name is called, I’ll be ready to go.”
Hicks is doing all he can this spring. Through his first 29 plate appearances, Hicks was 8 for 21 (.381) with eight walks.
Hicks said he’s been feeling good because he’s still sticking to the mechanical changes the Baltimore Orioles suggested last season, reviving his stalled career.
Hicks, 34, signed a seven-year, $70 million extension with the New. York Yankees in February 2019. It came on the heels of his best season, when Hicks hit 27 homers with an .833 OPS in 2018.
Ever since then, though, Hicks had been declining, to the point that the Yankees released him last May, when he was hitting .188. The Yankees still owed Hicks more than $27 million through the 2024 season.
The Orioles, who had a vacancy because they’d just lost Cedric Mullins to an injury, picked up Hicks, with the Yankees still paying the bulk of his salary.
Hicks hit .275 with seven homers and an .806 OPS over 236 plate appearances with the Orioles. He had a .381 on-base percentage.
“When I got to Baltimore, they already had a plan for me,” Hicks said. “They figured out what made me click and had certain drills that got me the results I was getting, and a lot of those are still going today.”
Part of his value to the Angels is that he’s a switch hitter who has a career .758 OPS against lefties. Last season he had a .970 OPS against lefties. That makes him the perfect platoon partner to go with left-handed hitting Mickey Moniak, if that’s the way the Angels choose to use him.
Of course, all of that is subject to change. If Hicks, Moniak or Jo Adell gets hot, any of them could work into playing every day.
“I’m just working hard and trying to make as big a splash in spring training as I possibly can,” Hicks said. “It seems like everybody’s having a good spring. It seems like this whole team is hitting. The vibes are good. The people here are all motivated to start off good and have a good season. That makes me happy, because all I want to do is win. So I’m excited.”
DECISION LOOMING
Angels manager Ron Washington said they are “close to coming to a decision” on an Opening Day starter.
Although he wouldn’t drop any names, he said “there are a couple of them that are already in line for it.”
Right-hander Griffin Canning and left-hander Reid Detmers both pitched on Wednesday, which would be perfectly in line to start the March 28 opener in Baltimore. Canning pitched five innings in an intrasquad game and Detmers pitched four in the regular exhibition against the Kansas City Royals. Each allowed one run.
Left-hander Patrick Sandoval hasn’t been as good as either Canning or Detmers in spring training, but his career track record is the best of the three. He last pitched on Monday. If he pitched next on Sunday — a game for which the Angels haven’t listed a starter — he could easily be worked into a schedule for the opener.
Opening Day Starter – reigning NL Cy Young winner, Blake Snell
https://youtu.be/Dd7FixvoKBw?t=103
Thanks for pasting these pieces 20Twenty
Regardless of the Snell/Monty decisions, it is getting to the point that waiting is hurting everyone. It is getting harder for either of them to have enough time to acclimate to their new catchers and team in time for opening day.
And if I’m paying millions of dollars to someone to play, it matters to me that they are not ready for opening day. Especially if they are supposedly the new “ace” of a staff.
Especially if they get signed with some dumb opt-out after 1 year. That means that you might be paying them only for a year. If you miss a start or two, that is a huge loss on your investment.
My long-form way of saying that, it is getting to the point where waiting longer is going to start lowering the prices, and what a team is going to get out of a signing.
Only caveat – waiting until after Opening Day means no draft pick compensation (I believe)
No, it is after the Draft.
Been working far too many 60-80 hour weeks for the past two years, but this is the first year in my lifetime that I’m not pumped for the baseball season. I usually buy the MLB package to watch Angels games (the curse of living the SF Bay area), and told my wife this year to not buy it. Can’t bear to give Arte any of my money nor watch another failing season.
Sorry to hear life has been crazy, but it is good to hear from you!
Hopefully you can don the Rally Thong at some point and enjoy some games.
I never claimed I’m not wearing the Rally Thong. It’s a cherished item of clothing. Kinda like not wearing pants.
Kinda hard to show it off with pants on.
Dude! It’s been way too long. How the heck are you?
We need to melt down some servers this season!
Also, do you have a copy of the Manly GIF? I can’t find mine.
The good folks at the old place haven’t found it yet…
http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/assets/4716680/DGRF.gif
Thanks, bro!
Still not convinced the world can handle this much manliness.
No convincing needed. The world can NOT handle it. That’s why it is used so sparingly.
In order for a draft class to be very good to excellent there is one component that is necessary and that is having a scouting department that knows what they are looking at.
Arte has never been a great proponent of having the best scouts and a lot of them to travel to the nooks and grannies of HS Baseball or comb through the Carribean/Central and South America. Using the scouting combine works for him.
Once you have completed a draft of what you believe are top notch player’s then what? Next is another Arte just shooting blanks and that is development. It has always been with Arte to buy your stars and cut down and out any and all expenses stating with the minor leagues.
In Southern California the coaching at High School level is for the most part excellent, but even HS coaches age out/get to retire or move on. So many HS have great programs for 10-15 years then fall to the wayside as other programs succeed and have a run. Teaching basics is easy, teaching what you don’t know is impossible.
Grannies know baseball
It’s a shame she’s a Doyers fan.
That’s Angelas mom
Dirty Doyer Granny.
I don’t know how great our talent is, but I do feel that Washington and his staff will be good at evaluating it, maximizing it, and putting it in a position to succeed. I haven’t felt that way in a while. I would still like to sign Montgomery or to a lesser extent Snell on a short deal as we have nothing we can rely on at the top end of a quality rotation, even though some of it might still finally fully develop under the new coaching staff.
I’m in the minority around here, but I’d go for Monty and Bauer. Maybe Trout and Wash can put the hard sell on Monty to come here. As for Bauer – minor league minimum and let him prove himself worthy of the second chance.
I’ve got no problem with Bauer, especially if we would sign for nothing as you suggest.There are plenty of worse people than Bauer who get to wear MLB uniforms, and we need an infusion.
I’m fairly certain I saw Bauer say he would play for 1 year at MLB minimum.
Bauer for us is getting to be a no brainer. IT’s all about management’s decision of Image: A -Do we want to be the rebellious organization that signs ‘bad guy’ Bauer. Or B- We are content being mocked as a team losing the greatest player and responding by doing nothing significant in the offseason.
In fact let me predict the next headline “ Yankees sign Trevor Bauer to league minimum contract” move made to cover for Cole’s elbow injury.
Bauer and Gerrit Cole do not get along at all. What a circus it would be to have those two in the same rotation when Cole comes back.
Yeah, huge red flag. No way the Yanks go there.
Clevinger and Plesac got along too well, that’s why I never saw Clevinger joining us.
That was with the Indians though.
Now they would have 15 WAR Wash as the coach.
Clevinger better than Plesac anyway
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29679378/sources-choices-mike-clevinger-zach-plesac-break-protocol-caused-rift-cleveland-indians
LOL…booze buddies
No one cares about the Angels. Sign Bauer already.
A few blue haired 4th Wave feminist types will whine. They always whine. Whatever. Camille Pagalia, a feminist that I have a great deal of respect for, can’t stand the 4th wave types.
Fuck it, Bauer & Montgomery give this team playoff potential. Are we
really that scared of Seattle? Houston will regress at some point. Let’s Go….
Banned, let’s Sir it up!
I havn’t been this bored with the team since like 1989….
I’m so checked out I’m surprised I’m even here
I remember 1989 as being pretty good. Our pitching was awesome, wasn’t it?
If we had the same playoff structure as we have now, I think we would have been “in”. But those cheating roid A’s kept us out.
At least that is what I remember, not putting any effort in to verify.
You’re posting on apathy fuel, eh? Haha
Stir It Up is my bag baby.
They will opt for B.
Org isn’t committing to winning, just selling tickets (they don’t even care who actually shows up). They’ve done things like sell off sections to third party retailers just to get over the 3 mil marker. Signing Bauer might make sense W/L wise but they are not going to do anything to peeve the few relationships they still have.
They also aren’t signing Snell or Monty. We will be sellers at the trade deadline with what we do have. It’s not really a personal opinion, just what I expect to happen given. We’ll see regardless.
We’re going to look really ugly after the trade deadline.
You should be all about this (in)action from the Halos considering your Jihad for $2.00 tix….
Haven’t complained once
No its not
or C – Not care what any says because their opinions mean nothing in the long run
I also have renewed confidence in the staff but I am much less confident about the talent, which maybe is irrelevant for this year. But I am interested in seeing who develops this year and what kind of roster improvements happen next year. I’m concerned that we will be spinning our wheels for the next 3 years waiting for Rendon’s contract to go off the books.
Today’s Lineups
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/angels-vs-white-sox/2024/03/14/747969/preview
Now I can start worrying about Trout’s health
He did leave after the 2nd inning the other day with ‘soreness’… after he said his pooholes-esque best shape of his life comment.
Por Que?
With the lack of depth, this is what I fear our line up will eventually look like and it’s not a major league line up.
Maybe SS but I don’t think there is a lack of depth. Lack of quality, yes.
That’s kind of what I meant. I like the players but in recent years we have eventually had line ups made up of players who probably should not be playing everyday.
Rengifo at short? Yikes.
But this is the only way Sano makes the squad.
Miguel Sano was always making the team as long as he showed something this Spring. He’s shown something.
I’m not giving up total hope on Snell, but I have a hard time seeing it.
Opening Day can’t come fast enough.
I love giving him a chance because there’s a high ceiling with Sano, unlike the other options.
You’ve been in on Sano from the jump. Good call.
Who makes the opening day roster (it is an achievement and must feel pretty damn good) and who sticks around are two separate stories.
Same shit in the NFL.
The opening day starts shuffling almost immediately…..
Shit…. Are we allowed to say “shit” around here?
Sano seems like a sneaky add for sure. If he can muscle up on baseballs, certainly becomes an interest trading piece or vies consistent playing time. I’ve yet to see him barrel up consistently, but he is intriguing.
Opening projected roster looks logical. I don’t see Zuñiga though. I’d guess Joyce but that one spot is in flux. I thought Sanó would make it and still do. We will see. Any further word on Stephenson? Last reports I heard were encouraging but that’s it.
I don’t understand why Rhett isn’t more confident in O’Hoppe, Neto, and Schanuel. I expect at least two of them to play well. I don’t think that’s being overly optimistic.
Bubble Watch for two spots:
Adell, Marisnick, Sanó, Adrianza
It has to be Adell and Sano. Marisnick will regress.
Adell will get spared. Everyone else is fighting for the other spot.
Maybe Caceres for the “last” BP spot? Although how do you start Stephenson on the active roster if you’re 14 days out from your season opener and he’s yet to throw one ST inning?
I share your concern, but I’ve observed RPs don’t need more than a few ST innings to get ready for the season, but I’d prefer that he’s fully healthy before being added to the active roster.
Jordyn Adams on MLB debut:
Jordyn Adams’ dream came true when he reached the big leagues, but it quickly became a nightmare.
Adams, who had been known as an outstanding defender, misplayed a fly ball and made three bad throws in his first big-league game in August in Atlanta. He also went hitless in four at-bats, with two strikeouts.
Now, the Angels’ 24-year-old prospect can look back on his big-league debut and appreciate what was missing.
“Mentally, I probably wasn’t ready for that,” Adams said this week. “It probably showed. But now I’m ready for anything.”
Angels manager Ron Washington, who was the Braves’ third base coach when Adams made his debut, said he sees a different player now.
“He finally matured,” Washington said. “The first time I saw him, he couldn’t hit a cutoff man. The first time I saw him, he got a ball and didn’t know where to throw it. Now, he’s learning the game.”
Adams, who was optioned earlier this week, doesn’t have a spot in the Angels’ short-term plans because the outfield is crowded with Mike Trout, Taylor Ward, Jo Adell, Mickey Moniak and Aaron Hicks.
In the long run, though, Adams could still work his way into a role.
Adams hit .128 in the majors, with no extra-base hits. He hit 15 home runs with an .817 OPS last season at Triple-A.
Adams said he’s been working on his defense and making more consistent contact. He struck out in 16 of his 40 plate appearances in the big leagues, and his 27% strikeout rate in the minors is also high.
“As long as I get a good swing off, that’s the main part for me,” Adams said. “Last year, I was getting in position to not even get a good swing off.”
Part of that involves “simplifying” his mechanics and turning back to his athleticism, Adams said.
“Most guys when they get to pro ball, you try to change stuff and tweak stuff and just fit in,” Adams said. “But at the end of the day, you are yourself. Athleticism is my best tool, so I just tried to put myself in that position to let that come out and show.”
Washington said there’s still more to come in that respect.
“He’s got a little baby body,” Washington said of Adams, who is listed at 6-foot-2, 180 pounds. “He’s not a man yet. I told him that. He’s still got some shoulders to get. He’s still got some chest to get. He’s still got some legs to get. And he’s still got some knowledge he’s got to pick up. When all that comes together, he’s gonna be dangerous.”
The knowledge comes with comfort in the big leagues, which Adams admittedly lacked last year, but not now.
“The nerves are gone,” he said. “The butterflies are done. Now, it’s time to go out and perform.”
Also Fontenelle News:
Third baseman Cole Fontenelle, who was drafted last year, remains in big-league camp, even though almost all of the prospects who aren’t in the immediate major-league plans have now been sent to the minors.
“If I was a betting man, I would have told you no,” Fontenelle said when asked if he expected to be around this long. “But I’m super grateful for every day here. I’m just trying to take advantage of it.”
Washington said Fontenelle’s continued presence in big-league camp is because infield coach Ryan Goins wants to keep working with him.
“He’s made tremendous strides in his game,” Washington said. “Ryan wanted to keep hitting him till he can’t keep him anymore.”
Fontenelle, 22, was the Angels’ seventh-round draft pick out of Texas Christian University last year. A switch hitter, Fontenelle hit .261 with a .738 OPS last summer in two Class-A stops. He has played in 13 major-league games this spring, with three hits in 22 at-bats.
https://www.ocregister.com/2024/03/13/angels-jordyn-adams-i-probably-wasnt-ready-for-big-league-debut/amp/
Who in the hell drafts Adams, who doesn’t know where to throw the ball and can’t hit the cut off man at this level? How did he even make it in high school ball without having those skills?
Exactly!
I feel like ignorance/playing dumb has been a common theme this offseason… attack the baseball on defense, throw strikes for pitchers.
HS ball is very forgiving. For defense smaller fields, everyone is the OF should be athletic. For hitting, opposing pitchers know the other teams ‘top’ bats and challenge with their ‘best’ stuff instead of pitching what they can’t hit. A lot of smoke and mirrors.
Jeremiah Jackson was same draft, scouting director was Matt Swanson… let go in ‘21.
I can see why he was let go. I can tell you that unless they are short of players, Adams would probably have not made the varsity HS team where my son will be going to school. He would be relegated to JV.
And we did not develop players over the last decade or so. You draft an athletic player and then develop their skills. I think that Washington and company get the player development angle at least.
Just drafting an “athletic player” is a recipe for failure. If they can’t recognize the curve ball, or hit the cut off man, or know where to throw, and how to throw by the time they are drafted, then they are a crapshoot at best.
Eppler and JeDi resemble that comment.
In the first round, you draft players that already know how to play, have built-in instincts for the game and have shown such. In the seventh round, you can draft athletes and develop them (if that happens).
The amount of stories I’ve read just this Spring about guys learning how to properly play defense or making huge strides in a matter of weeks due to Washington’s staff actually *teaching* them is jarring.
Adams was always a raw athlete you had to mold and shape. Same as Adell. Why were we drafting unrefined players and apparently letting them figure it out for thesmelves?
Why were we drafting them in the first place? They would have been far better served drafting a HS or college player with basic baseball skills and knowledge.
Mike Trout was a high school player. So was Bryce Harper
And they were HS players who played baseball, and had been playing baseball for years. They both had baseball acumen by the time they were drafted.
“This is the way”
Hi risk and hi reward. There is no question that Perry’s approach is counter to Eppler’s by selecting college players, safer albeit lower ceilings.
In hindsight, everything looks obvious.
Definitely but it sounds like the development was so shoddy that it was almost doomed to fail. Perry’s college players straight to the majors plan actually makes sense when you realize we apparently didn’t bother teaching our football player draftees how to even apply that athleticism.
It is hard to say what has gone down on the farm and the capability of the instructional leaders. Is it shoddy or just the players drafted were not just malleable. Both Adams and Adell were ranked high in pre-draft.
Probably based on athletic prowess alone.
I suspect our problem is drafting more so than development, but then again, I have no freakin’ idea.
That would be Billy the Epp. It was a constant theme here . “If they can dunk a basketball then can certainly hit a curve ball.”
He’s been in our minors since 2018. He progressed all the way to AAA. How does he progress through the minors for 5+ years and not get taught the fundamentals?
There’s too many people responsible for this INCLUDING Perry. It’s wonderful he figured this out in year 4 of his responsibilities as the baseball operations exec for a MLB franchise, but geez – there’s just no rationalizing away the historical depth of incompetence top to bottom that exists with the Angels.
I completely agree. Why have two of the greatest players of all time, and an amateur like Minasian running the show. All you have to do is look toward Arturo to understand why our franchise got to the position it’s in.
If anyone can develop him, it’s Washington. It doesn’t cost us anything to try.
There was a time when Adams was a fast riser, tracked by many baseball publications as the Angels 3rd ranked prospect trending upward, then it all fell apart. Besieged with injuries. That’s too bad. Now just appears to be a “guy.”
A lot of fluff before getting to the point of the article, this is who FloBaseball has as a potential draft candidate at #8:
This seems like a spot for Charlie Condon of Georgia.
The No. 5 overall prospect in the FloBaseball composite rankings, Condon is off to a scorching start for Georgia this season. He batted .532 with eight home runs in his first 12 games, slugging 1.191 with an OPS of 1.808. Last year the 6-foot-6, 216 pound first baseman and outfielder hit .386 with 25 home runs. He was named the national freshman of the year by just about every outlet.
He is not as big as Aaron Judge but he’s just as tall, but his ability to play outfield should be enough to make him a top-10 pick. He’s a phenomenal hitter, but he may need time in the minors to adjust to more off-speed pitches.
The way Condon is playing, he may be making a case to be off the board by the time the Angels pick.
https://www.flobaseball.tv/articles/12253688-mlb-draft-2024-analysis-who-do-the-los-angeles-angels-take-at-no-8
Condon is too close to Rendon, if you ask me 😉
Yeah, but can he pitch?