Morning Angels fans. Have some links.
Angels News
The Angels are bad. How bad? They have won 1 series this year and it was at Miami. They haven’t won 2 in a row since. Somehow, they won last night, which means that today they have a chance to finally win 2 in a row once again.
Who has the most expensive Hot Dog? The A’s, But who has the 2nd most expensive hot dog? The Angels. Yes, more than the Dodgers.
Arte Moreno is so cheap he won’t even advertise at conferences anymore. And advertising is the best thing he does!
Houston is in last place! HAHA! Angels are only half a game up on them though.
Around Baseball
So, MLB teams are trying to convince the best prep athletes to play abroad so they can evade the draft. Yeah, the league is going to be really mad about this.
Boston can never escape their drunkard reputation as a car sped through Fenway park and crashed. How did they even get past security?
Manfred shifts blame when it comes to sports betting all while sports betting ads are everywhere in stadiums and in broadcasts. He really cannot stop being a lying liar who lies. Oh and he still wants public funds for new stadiums.
It may be because owners are getting in trouble from the IRS for tax evasion. Silly owners, even the Joker fears the IRS.
White Sox will have a fire sale this summer. Angels should do the same honestly.
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes.
I’m confused, maybe someone can help me understand. I’m told here over and over that the Angels player development system sucks, they can’t develop decent players, the coaching sucks, the food sucks, the pay sucks – in general Angels minor leagues are made of suck.
Add to that Perry is stupid and gets fleeced in every trade he makes.
So WHAT is the point of trading players for “a few decent prospects”?
Since we probably won’t be good for a few years, we’re hopefully trading players who are performing well now, cost more, and have limited years of control to teams that might give up something for a chance to win now, for players who cost less, have more years of control, and the potential to become good. Regardless of our current organizational challenges, the more inexpensive and cost controlled players with potential that we can acquire will limit our financial exposure and possibly produce a few players that pan out and get us headed in the right direction. Even though we get your point, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.
So.. we’re the A’s now. Without the brain trust.
Jo Adell gets a nice writeup on former top prospects excelling in 2024:
Nice!
We shouldn’t necessarily wait for the deadline IMO. If a particular player is hot (Tyler Anderson) and a decent offer is on the table, do it.
Agree. Marlins has started the fire sale, and the White Sox has now joined the party.
At the same time though, if Anderson keeps this up, there would be someone desperate enough to overpay for him at the deadline.
Just like how the Angels were desperate last year.
But that’s the gamble though. Do you gamble that Tyler will be consistent like this for the next 2 months and someone will overpay? Or he may regress big time and we only get a bag of balls for him?
What does Ippei’s crystal ball say?
The crystal balls said, “Don’t bet on it”
but he says go for it.
and is there anyone out there who’ll pay the equivalent of Quero and Bush? I don’t know if there is. That was a weird one, Perry!
Weird is a nice way to put it. Dreadful or pathetic is more accurate.
Hoping there is a team desperate enough. You’ll never know
Yes yes! Everyone should be “available”. Almost everyone *should* be traded if we can get someone back who is younger with potential.
I think on the 40-man, my order for players who we should resist trading the most are:
As usual, I need to list my disclaimer that I’d only trade someone if we’re getting something of value in return that out-weighs the value of keeping that guy. So no “You want to just give away all our young players for nothing” replies.
Let’s hope for more than 1-2 runs today from the Halos. As to the roster, I realize Trout and Rendon are likely out until the all-star break. Sano? I haven’t seen a timetable. He just disappeared. Silseth? Same thing.
Does anyone know as to the latter two? The Angels seem to just stop talking about players that aren’t active except for Trout.
Today’s Lineups
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/angels-vs-pirates/2024/05/08/745507/preview
Free Willie Tucker!
Another fugly lineup – on paper – but I said this yesterday.
I’m 100% OK with moving & holding Jo Adell in the 8th spot for the same reasons they should keep Neto at 9th. Minimize relative pressure and they bring speed & power at the bottom of the order.
You’re right, the line up is really ugly. Nothing against any of the players it just is where we’re at right now, which is in a bad place. Still think we actually have a good chance to win today for 2 in a row and a series win. Good thing we’re playing the Pirates.
Another rare win with overkill pitching and hitting at the same time. Hope they can take series with a win today but I stopped thinking maybe they are finally turning the corner. The good teams consistently find a way; pitching comes thru when bats are cold and hitting covers bad pitch days. Angels can’t get that going this yr. Today, more likely a 4-1 loss.
Like Wayne said last night, they’re not going to score 9 runs each night. So they have to find a way to win those 2-1, 3-2, 4-3 games…
Angels win 9-0 last night!
Then the Yankees tagged the crybaby for 7 runs!!!
What an amazing night!
I don’t know why the Cheaters insist on having a competitive race with the Angels to the bottom, but hey, if they insist…
Maybe they are starting their adjusted re-tank. Tank, but with staying just in the fringes of the rules, depending upon interpretation of said rules.
Roster Check —
Trade pieces that have to be moved imo = Ward, Anderson, Canning, the entire bullpen, Drury
Most valuable asset (I wouldn’t move) = Rengifo
C – O’Hoppe
1B – Schanuel
2B – Rengifo (look at Kyren Paris’ 2024 #s at your own peril)
SS – Neto
3B – Rendone (Cole Fontenelle blew out his knee a week ago)
OF – Trout
OF – Adell
OF – Mickey
SP – Soriano
SP – Detmers
SP – Sandoval
SP – Silseth
BP – n/a
Squint hard enough and you can see the foundation of our future is there. Now, is it a good foundation? That’s a different discussion.
Depending on where you stand regarding Rengifo, the positions most in need of young talent reinforcements are 3B, RP, SP, 2B.
Any new news on Fontenelle? All I’ve seen is that it was a gruesome injury, but nothing else…
Placed on the 60-day IL. No confirmation on full extent of the injury.
https://twitter.com/trashpandas/status/1787923668061876525?t=D88Nm7G01b9HpltOQxCKOw&s=19
Bad enough that you’re out on a stretcher and taken directly to the hospital. That bad, even for the Angels.
https://x.com/SamBlum3/status/1786953074046800259
Original Angels report said it was a blister.
My take on Rengifo is his trade value is at an all time high. He is bound to regress. His batting average on balls in play this season is a whopping .377. He won’t be able to sustain that over the season- that’s a whole lot of batted balls missing fielders.
He hit a combined .264/.315/.436 over 2022 and 2023, with a 103 wRC+ in the first of those two seasons and a 114 wRC+ in 2023. That’s definitely above average but not anywhere close to a player you can build a team around. He’s a good complimentary player but nowhere near an untradeable superstar. .
Rengifo has proven himself to be a decent bat and his value will never be higher than now. He is making $4.4m this season so even teams with concerns about future television revenue can afford him.
I think his value is probably maximizing at this time. That’s the time that a rebuilding team should make trades.
Really solid points.
Trading Luis would be easier to swallow if we had literally any depth at 2B, 3B, backup SS. We don’t.
Extending him wouldn’t be the worst thing. Can always trade him later on down the road.
Using your logic of very scarce backups in the infield, why trade away Drury? Your love affair with Rengifo has clouded your judgement of talent. When accessing talent whether in High School or college, athletic ability and fielding and defense come first. Rengifo and his fielding and range are not made up by his awesome arm. He is not a talent to build around and may bring in trade some very good infield talent.
Drury will be 32 in August and is pending FA.
He’s also hitting .158 lol. We’d be lucky to get a pack of big league chew for him. As many said during the winter, we shoulda already traded him. Missed that boat
I’d agree. The Angels need to start looking at their players as a commodity to be bought or sold when their value is high or low. One great issue they have is buying(trading for) when they are high, then dealing with the regression, and selling when they are trending up, usually to get somebody on the way down. Can you name a player they bought while on their way up? I’ve got O’Hoppe and that’s about it, but the list of players on the way down is extensive.
Eppler helped us out:
Rengifo for Cron
Sandy for Maldy
Can’t think of a trade off the top that Perry “won” besides the O’Hoppe/Moniak moves.
I’d call that one a draw. Moniak wasn’t terrible. The rest have been losses.
Torii and Vlad?
Kelvim and Bartolo?
Luis is definitely a trade chip at this point. No sense in waiting this out for him for whenever the team will contend. It’s the same logic I have for trading Sandy as long as he continues to improve. This team won’t contend until maybe in 3 years time. No need to hold on to players like Luis and Sandy when the team can still find some comparable value for them in return.
Sandoval is a 27 year old SP who has found a level of success in the bigs. I’m not trading him, unless it’s for a legitimately good haul.
That’s why you trade him this year. If his ERA is 3.50 by the deadline, I’ll pull the trigger.
If/when this team finally contends, who would you want on your team – a 30-year old Sandoval, or a potential 24-year old stud you got in a trade for him?
Is Sandy worth that type of prospect? If so, I can dig it.
Key word for me is “potential.”
We’ll NEVER get an on paper Top 100 prospect for Sandy (at least I don’t think we will), but if we can hit a lottery like Clevinger (for Pestano) or Bradish (for Bundy), that would be amazing. Neither were Top 100 prospects – Clevinger was the Angels top 10, and Bradish was Angels Top 21 when traded. But despite all that, they were able to flourish for their new teams.
That’s the scenario I’m hoping for, if/when they trade Ward, Luis, Sandy and Tyler.
Dodgers pen is banged up. Easy trade partner
Please anybody but the Dodgers. They are masters of lopsided trades. Because they are good at keeping their best prospects and convincing other teams they are getting quality who turn out to be scrubs. See (Gonzales, Darvish, Machado, Betts). They would make an already bad Angels team look silly. Try Toronto or Rays, I think we would get a lot more.
I am intrigued with the idea of them attempting to fix Charlie Sheen and Luis Garcia…
So far they’re on the losing side of the Michael Busch trade.
And they’d also probably want Yordan Alvarez back. Well not this year anymore, but for the previous 2, 3 years.
Don’t worry though – we’ll finally make them pay for Willie Calhoun!!!!!!
LOL, I HOPE SO! Free Willy !
Didn’t the Dodgers lose some pretty lopsided trades too? You might be attributing too much awe and wonder to them because of their recent signings. Didn’t they send away Alvarez?
How expensive does Canning get in the next couple years? I wouldn’t want to see them deal him unless they had some plan to fill the slot. Alternatively, Anderson might be unmovable given some of the decreased salaries from this past offseason. We will see.
I don’t see Rengifo as foundational except for (as you note) the lack of any replacement you can play with a straight face. On the whole, you are on the right track with your analysis.
Canning, like Rengifo, will be a FA after the 2025 season. I don’t value him as a key piece in 2026 and beyond, but that’s just my opinion. Would have liked to ship him out this past offseason, oh well.
Praying Tyler A can keep up this witchcraft long enough into July, to which I think we can get a team to bite.
Tyler A will fetch something good when the Halos throw in cash. More cash= better prospect.
I think the Tigers are a good fit for us. In my IIWP series I had us trading Sandoval for Jace Jung (2B) AAA Ty Madden (SP) AA and Izaac Pacheco (3B).#30 Tigers system. All positional need for us.
Jung is a top100 guy and #2 2b which we desperatly need.
I think we could flip Rengifo and Anderson instead (with cash) and try to get that haul in return. It allows the Tigers to try and make a run in what I think is a wide open Central.
Drury and the plumber hold down the fort for this year and we Sept. call up Jung for a long term solutuon at 2B.
Arte will never agree to giving up cash and never will he agree to anything to any invest in the team as he is hell bent for leather to make and hold on to his money no matter what.
Next year we need a full time DH and I’m not convinced we don’t need a middle of the order hitting outfielder as well. If you trade Ward, you may need 2 OFs. Have to wait and see where Mickey and Adell end up this year.
I would tell Trout to consider 70-30 DH-CF playing time. Or at least, move to a corner OF spot. If he’s not open to it, then it’s time for a serious conversation about parting ways.
I know CF is the glamour position, and Trout has a healthy ego. But he’s played the position for more than 10 years. It’s time to move on. That USA Today article re: Griffey and Trout is so spot on. There’s a reason there’s no 35-year old CF stud. The position takes a toll on the body faster than any other position.
If Trout prioritizes playing till his late 30s than being in a quarterback-like position, he should really consider the change.
Good points and if Trout becomes the DH or Corner We just need a CF unless Moniak becomes something other than what he is right now. Have to watch this season.
I’m probably one of Mickey’s biggest boosters here, but I really think he can be an above-average player. I agree with Wash – he needs to stop being a HR hitter, and he’ll be much better. He’ll probably not be the superstar you expect as a #1 overall draft pick, but eventually someone who can give 3-4 WAR in a year when he’s playing full-time.
If he doesn’t turn out to be that way, I think he still has value as a Peter Bourjos type player – late game defensive replacement, pinch runner, LH bat off the bench.
You are bringing up what we need next year? I kind of laughed, thinking we almost need 26 new guys next year.
Trade everybody you can and rebuild so they might compete before Trout’s contract is up.
Does anybody care if the Angels finish last instead of second to last?
If the package is right ( cough., cough… pitching, and more pitching) then I think you trade him. This team isn’t going anywhere this year or next year.
All the Wilson Contreras injury noise is taking over the interwebz. I don’t know why. Simple example of “catcher interference” , though the narrative seems to be now that the coaches told him to move forward. Yeah, he has been in the league forever and should have known that this was a possible outcome. Well, I guess he can enjoy his summer rehabbing and fishing.
OUCH!!!
https://www.mlb.com/news/willson-contreras-exits-with-injury-suffers-fractured-forearm
Brutal and painful looking.
Good stuff today John Henry! Appreciate your humor and wit, oh and Go Halos!
Not last place…WOW!!!
It’s a very low bar during the Arturo/Minasian era.