59-103.
72-90. I like Sandoval to re-emerge as best pitcher. Trout team MVP but Neto best year of the youngsters. Perry’s last year with team.
I don’t have any predictions but for all of you who are predicting a big comeback year for MNT – I hope you’re right. However, him becoming a papa again in a few months makes me fear that won’t be the case. Old guys need sleep.
He and his wife should have a lot of help in that department though..
70-92. My prescription for hope-ium expired and I’m not due for a refill this year.
81-81. Healthy years from Trout and Ren-not quite-done, along with progressions for the SP, a supposedly solid BP, solider defense, [improvements from the less experienced younger ones). Puff, puff, pass
I love all the hopium. But..
Pretty much all teams that improve do so because they have stud minor leaguers forcing their way into the line up ahead of established solid players. That’s what will hurt us – we have nothing of the sort. This complete lack of depth will be our Achilles heal. We’ll end up playing AAA players (not even AAAA) for way too many games when the inevitable injuries happen.
If we avoid serious injuries, especially to Neto, O’Hoppe, Trout and most of our pitchers, we could be a .500 team.
Best case scenario: we are enough below .500 nearing the trade deadline, numerous short timers are having very good seasons, and we trade everything with value for prospects. Also helps our draft position.
Worst case scenario: we’re around .500 or even a bit above, and we trade nothing; end up out of the playoffs and maintain our bottom farm.
Prediction: 63-99. Hope I’m way off.
I just had a thought – if all goes well with the Angels this year, we have 3 legitimate CPOY nominees – Trout, Ward, and (don’t laugh) Rendon.
Trout will have the #s, and probably the name recognition, but if Ward is close enough, he’s going to have the heartwarming story of coming back from a beaning, as if nothing happened and he’s just continuing to rake. That may make him win over Trout.
Hopium it is, but if we have healthy and above-average years from Trout and Ward (they play 130+ games each), and each of Trout, Ward, Sano, O’Hoppe, Moniak and Drury hit 25 HRs or more, we may have a fighting chance at the WC. Or at least make it close enough to be exciting, but still no cigar.
Ward will be epic this season.
I’m going with 77-85.
Ward (aka Cinnamon) will be the MVP of the team.
Detmers will be the best pitcher, but Silseth will gain confidence to become the team’s next ace.
Neto will just miss a gold glove.
Wash will get so frustrated with Rengifo’s defense that Rengifo will ride more pine that most will expect (until any injuries occur, which mandate him playing).
I pray for Drury’s health.
Oh yeah, Rendon will play 46 games. Sano will barely be above the Mendoza line, but will hit 32 homeruns.
Go Angels!
Mainlining, so I’ve got 87-65, O’Hoppe MVP, Detmers as best pitcher, turns out the kids can play, and advantage of not having to have a sixth starter due to loss of Kenny Ohtani Rogers.
Is there going to be a strike?
Nah, will go back to 154 with two ties
😄
I’m thinking:
Record 85 – 77 – Lose out on the final wild card by 2 games.
Team MVP – Trout – I think he returns to form this year hits fewer home runs, but hits for higher average and steal 30 bases.
Runner Up MVP – O’Hoppe – I think he is the real deal
Gold Glove Winner – Neto – I believe he will really show up with the glove work, hitting will take a bit more time to develop.
Come Back Player – Ward – Makes it all the way back from the beaning hits 30 home runs, is better than adequate left fielder a very solid player.
Top Pitcher – Reid Detmers – This year he makes great strides toward being the staff Ace, not quite one of the top pitchers in the major, but close.
66W-96L
Go team
38W-32L
Oh shoot wait, that’s my pants size
You should see my inseam!
My wife wishes I’d be 2 games closer to .500.
But I am too fond of those sundaes-in-a-helmet…
😋
The pitching is good enough to avoid stringing losses together but not good enough to string wins. The offense is not good enough or consistent enough to string wins together either, and when you factor in trading people like Drury and bullpen pieces at the deadline, I believe it will be hard to win 70 games. On the other hand, the new coaching staff will make an impact and could get the team over the 70 mark. 70-92
YARRRRR! SNIFF MAH HAPPY DRUGS PEEPLE!
I am gonna jam some hopium up yer snoots!
I think MNT plays 120+ games and is in the MVP race. People seem to forget that he’s M FkN T.
I think minds will be blown when Drury, Moniak, Ward, O’Hoppe and yes Rendon also have OPSs over .720. Neto and Rengifo won’t be too shabby either.
But the sickest illest twist will be when Schanuel hits over .320…. all be it with 10 HR, but I don’t care.
I think Sandoval will be our best pitcher, but that none of our starters will Verlander out. On the flip side I think that Sandy, Canning, Detmers and Anderson all clock in with WHIPs under 1.35 and ERAs under 4.5.
The bullpen will be sick. This will hold some leads/kill some losses so our top 4 starters will have records at or around .500. We will also have a couple relivers with more than 6 wins.
That’s a huge pile of happy thoughts! Still, even with this, we will be similar to recent Mariners teams and not even sniff the play offs. We’ll finish around .500 (I’ll just say 81 wins) but the Astros, Rangers and likely Mariners will edge lord us in the standings.
Alternate happy: We look pretty good, Drury, Rengifo, Ward, some starters, the bullpen all look pretty solid through July…. and we trade a bunch of players and the team collapses to 68 wins. But our farm system gets a big boost. This is fine with me too.
But yeah. 81 wins. Trout. Sandoval. Or 81 injuries. Matt Duffy.
Most of these predictions look like they are assuming the same roster at the end of the year as the start of the year, but there is a possibility that the team trades many of their veterans for prospects at the trade deadline meaning that the last two months could look a like last years last two months, which would definitely impact the record. The worst thing would be if they don’t trade the veterans and end up not acquiring any future assets.
But but…. we can resign Brandon Drury if we can just get him a sniff of the post season. And if we cater to his every mood and whim. And we make his mom happy. AND we fret over how every shift of the wind makes him feel. we can retain DRURY!
Or we could get Juan Soto, pending FA
A cleaner more fundamentally sound, aesthetically pleasing team will emerge. Pitching will show a noticeable improvement from last several years. Finally, maturity from some decent arms and with Wise and all the crap attached to him/them is gone. New set of eyes-ears-voice-brain. But still be meh. Offense will be meh. Stay healthy, maybe meh+ with both. Become closer to league average top to bottom. Farm system will gain some momentum and will gain some attention. Hope it’s good enough to finish ahead of the M’s.
76-86
BET ON IT!
* If that unexplainable Magic JU JU catches fire on this team (sensing a potential eruption {41.7% chance} I’ll bump the win total 84-78.
Brace for impact!
Godspeed.
My 2024 guess:
Between 65 and 70 wins. WHY? I do not believe the key players (Trout, Rendon, O’Hoppe and Neto) will be healthy enough to remain on the field and productive. There is not enough depth to overcome the loss of these players for any length of time. In addition. my feeling is that the starting pitching staff does not have the consistency necessary for the team to win low scoring games.
What has to go right to exceed 70 wins? 1) Neto and O’Hoppe must play at least 150 games each this season. We’ll need a minimum of 135 games from Trout. 2) Detmers needs to become the staff ace (sub-3 ERA). 3) Adell or Moniak need to surpise (wRC+ of 130 or greater). 4) Nolan needs to hit for power (> 20 HRs).
Best offseason move? Hiring Washington. I’ve been impressed with his ability to teach.
Biggest fail of the offseason? Ohtani was always gone, thus the biggest fail was not strengthening the SP. This is one area that would not have limited “playing the kids”, but would also provide the best chance to improve the culture by winning some games. The last thing we need is the youngsters getting used to losing.
Prediction: Arte will seek to retain Perry for 2025, but Perry tells Arte to pound sand.
It’s difficult for a catcher to play 150 games, so I’m not sure that’s reachable for O’Hoppe. Sure, he could be the DH for games he doesn’t catch, but that means more games with Thaiss penciled in and I think that kind of defeats the purpose.
Reasonable point. My only issue is that he’s a legitimate power threat and a leader on this team. There needs to be a way for him to contribute beyond part-time catching duties. There should be no reason why O’Hoppe couldn’t hit the gamer thresholds Buster Posey did during his first 5 years as the full-time catcher for the Giants (148, 148, 147, 150, 146).
Yeah, 65-70 sounds about right. But hey, we get a rally Mando out of the deal this year, right? Right?
On the plus side – I’m back in CA this year, so I can go to a game without hearing Rangers snark. Just some chill games with friends and family. Nice.
Rangers are lame. Ranges are lame, too. Pick a number.
Not all Rangers are bad…..
&ct=g
I think a notable improvement over 2023 may end up being our bull pen. We shall see.
74-78 games. I wish I believed in this team more but a lot will need to go right and their fall back plans with organizational depth are not great.
Trout – Will he adjust or does he continue to become a mistakes only aging hitter?
Rendone – Fools gold guy that doesn’t care enough for me. Hangnail will cost him four months.
Young positional guys – Hoping they work out but we just don’t know.
Starting pitching is marginal and bullpen is still just okay. I do like Silseth and Soriano if they can stay healthy.
Ward, Hicks, Drury have been solid major league players but what version do we see?
Adell, Rengifo and Moniac have always had pitch recognition issues with holes in their swings that have been exploited. They can get hot at times but can be awful as well.
I think the defense should be better with an emphasis on teaching with Wash and young guys with good defensive tools/upside.
I’ve mentioned this before but will restate that I see the current pitching staff as improved over the past few years. Canning, Detmers, Anderson and Sandoval should all pitch about average (which would be a big improvement for Anderson). The true wild card is Silseth, but I expect them to keep him to 120 to 130 innings this year. That would mean they’ll need another starter for about a third of the season. Despite the improved bullpen, I say the staff will give up about 800 runs. I don’t believe our hitters will be as hopeless as some are saying, and a healthy Mike Trout will take some of the sting out of losing Ohtani. If the starters remain healthy, and they don’t have to sign lesser players to replace them, I see the team scoring about 760 runs. Based on those numbers, I predict a record of 76-86 (give or take a win or two).
MVP should be Trout as I see him as the only one to produce a 5 to 6 win season.
Top pitcher will probably be Detmers, but I’ll won’t be surprised if Silseth gets an all-star nod.
I’d be okay if Rendon can play 120 games with a .350 or better on-base percentage (just won’t hold my breath) but could accept Sano’s 25 homeruns in place of that.
Angels 2024 Prediction Thread
The Cactus League and Freeway Series are wrapped up so it is time to make our annual predictions. After a pretty quiet off season in which the talent leaving was more notable than the talent acquired, the Angels are definitely embarking on a youth movement in 2024.
So let’s look into our crystal balls to see how many games the Angels win, who is the Team MVP, who is the Pitcher of the Year, and which player(s) look like building blocks for the future.
Jeff Joiner
This was a 72 win team last year despite a huge roster churn and the brilliance of Shohei Ohtani. The same was true in 2022. So I’m going the safe route and saying another 72 win season.
Looking at the first six weeks of the schedule it is brutal and I can’t see the club being near .500 to start the year. As the youngsters adapt to MLB play we’ll see some stretches of good baseball mixed into other of bad losses. The team is really set up to sell the entire bullpen at the deadline to add prospects.
Team MVP: Zach Neto. I think he emerges as a sparkplug shortstop with decent pop.
Pitcher of the Year: Reid Detmers. His curveball is great and the slider is developing nicely. Just a little fastball refinement and he’ll reach his potential.
Players that emerge as building blocks: Neto and O’Hoppe are obvious. I think Schanuel looks like good but not great piece and Davis Daniel emerges as the long reliever/spot starter.
John Henry Weitzel
I had no faith in this team before and even less now. The Angels have somehow hit the under on predictions for 6 straight years and it will be 7 this time. Fangraphs say 78 wins. How? Seriously, how? I see no way that this team even sniffs that. I will say 69 wins for this team, and that is because I am being nice about it.
Now, there is the chance that everyone steps up with Ohtani gone, but that won’t matter as that won’t be good enough. Rendon is not playing much this year, Trout is striking out and will get himself injured again, just look how he is playing in the OF.
Team MVP and Angels pitcher of the year will be Canning as he shows his potential finally until he gets injured in August and people mald at the fact he should have been traded for prospects.
One big upside is that tickets will be cheaper as demand plummets. So, we have that going for us!
Will Stevens
Why do I feel like a took a big dose of Hopium this year? I don’t think it’s because I’ve been out with the flu for the last 2 weeks. I personally feel like this is the year the team far outperforms expectations. Am I saying we make the playoffs? No, I haven’t gone that crazy, but if we were in the AL Central I think that could be a possibility. I’m going to be what I consider optimistic and predict the ’24 Halos win 84 games, finally finishing over .500 and in third place ahead of the not as good as expected Mariners.
Just to clarify, I think this is possible with no major injuries, return to fringe All-Star level Trout, decent Rendon, typical performances from the other vets, and slight step-ups from the youngsters in the lineup and on the mound. If even one or two of these things don’t happen the wins could very easily drop down below 70. But I’m going to be optimistic and say the Ron Washington magic will be truly magical!
I think Team MVP will return to it’s former yearly recipient in the person of Michael Nelson Trout. If he stays off the IL this year, this is a lock.
Pitcher of the year will be Reid Detmers. He has always had ace stuff but has difficulty commanding it for frustrating stretches. I get a feeling that Enright and crew are the right kind of pitching coaches for this team, so Reid will get straightened out and reach his potential this year.
The biggest building block will be Logan O’Hoppe. His power is a game changer, given that he had the pace to hit 44 home runs last year, albeit in a small sample. I don’t think his MLB level bat is really in question. It’s more a matter of what is his ceiling. I think his biggest impact will be on the pitching staff. He just oozes leadership qualities with a perfect balance of passion and calm. Pitching will be better, especially with the younger guys here and still to come. Neto and Schanuel will continue to be great building blocks as well, though probably not superstars.
Jessica Sica
My optimism has waned more and more with this team over the past few years. I’m not sure if they can win 73 games without Ohtani in the lineup. The odds makers have them around 72.5 over/under and I’d take the under on that so I guess around 71 wins.
The loss of your biggest bat and best pitcher is going to hurt. The Angels rotation is full of #4 and #5 guys with a few who can maybe push to a 2 or 3 on a GOOD day. The bullpen IMO is about the same level they were in 2023.
There are really a lot of question marks in the lineup as well. Who will Neto, O’Hoppe, and Schanuel really be? It’s not like any of these guys were ever top 10 MLB prospect level. O’Hoppe is not Buster Posey. Neto is not Lindor or Seager. Schanuel is a contact, non-power guy playing a power position. I like all 3 of these guys but I’m lukewarm on their ceilings. Rendon is washed – even if he stays healthy. I’m not expecting much more than a .250 average maybe .320 on base with him.
Let’s face it, this team is in a soft rebuild. It might work, it might not. The junior years of the above mentioned players will tell a lot about the Angels post season odds in the next 2-3 years.
Comeback player of the year: Mike Trout. I fully believe he has some juice in him still and I’m guessing will be in MVP talks when September rolls around.
Best pitcher: I’m going with Reid Detmers and his Kershaw-like curveball. I think he has the best potential in this rotation to be a #2 guy (sorry, I don’t think we have a potential ace in this mix).
Biggest Surprise: Taylor Ward. I think we are going to see peak Taylor Ward in 2024 and he’ll hit 30+ home runs with a .350+ OBP.