The Angels won a series this week, 2 games to 1 over the Pittsburgh Pirates. They had to rally late in the third game to win their first series in over a month. This is only the second series the Angels have won this season, the other was a sweep in Miami.
The combined records of the two teams the Angels have won series against is 27-50.
Highlight of the week? How about a guy who was sitting on the couch a couple of weeks ago having a multi homer game?
The player of the week has to be Mickey Moniak. He had a big game against Cleveland on Saturday and another big game in the Steel City on Tuesday. His swing is sweet. Just needs to keep working on his pitch selection.
And in the starting to prove me wrong department, Jose Soriano is having success as a starter (as long as I’m not at the ballpark watching him).
Soriano’s stuff is legit. My concern was taking a sprinter and trying to turn him into a distance runner. Particularly when this sprinter has elbow injuries in his past. So far, so good other than the CtPG meetup night.
Death, taxes, Anthony Rendon to the 60 day IL while somebody who wasn’t in camp gets added to the Angels infield mix. Welcome aboard Luis Guillorme.
Listening to Roger Lodge, this team is only 7 games out of first place so the fans shouldn’t give up. While true the Angels did climb out of the AL West cellar this week, the franchise as a whole redefines organizational failure under Arte Moreno.
That piece reads a lot better if you’ve read the Arte Moreno’s Legacy of Abject Failure piece from 2022.
When you go from World Series champs with a stacked farm system to being in the cellar at every division in the sport, you are an abject failure. Arte Moreno + his college buddies = failures.
Speaking of the farm system, FanGraphs took a look at the Angels best prospects this week. It isn’t pretty.
I’ve suggested staying away from The Big A until Arte is replaced. There is quality baseball in the area including nationally ranked UC Irvine who is playing the Long Beach State Dirtbags this weekend. Dirtbags games are fun and very family friendly. I’ll hit UCI’s ballpark later this month and give a report but I’ve heard great things. Fullerton is having a bad year but we’re also getting bad baseball at the Big A.
Meanwhile from around baseball:
The team up the 5 has won 7 in a row and 14 out of 16 games. This juggernaut was built from the scrap heaps of the McCourt bankruptcy while Arte failed to build anything of substance around Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Ouch.
Speaking of Ohtani, his interpreter Ippei is pleading guilty to a host of federal crimes in exchange for a reduced sentence. I have to imagine he’ll also testify against the bookie as that’s the only leverage he had.
This case has moved at warp speed and still has some unanswered questions. Particularly in the math department. Every single reporting I find shows Ippei losing a total of $40 million but stealing $17 million. Where’s the other $23,000,000?
If Ippei ultimately gets the 87-108 months in Club Fed he’ll get out just before all of Ohtani’s deferred money starts rolling in.
Former top prospect Monte Harrison is ditching baseball to play college football. He’ll be a 29 year old freshman. He had a cup of coffee with the Angels in 2022.
The Angels are bad but expected to be bad. They have title hopes in Houston. And while I don’t expect this to last long, I love seeing the Trashtros in last place.
Meanwhile, it seems like we’ve seen this movie before….
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. Enjoy the weekend with your loved ones and link what I missed.
Can CTPGs start selling the Sell Arte Sell t-shirts?
I just noticed that KC is actually pretty good this year. Oh oh.
That lineup is so……. apathy inducing. Geez.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe Ehire has the 2nd highest salary of all hitters on the active roster
Today’s Lineups
No Halo at 4:15
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/royals-vs-angels/2024/05/10/746240/preview
They must be waiting for that guy from some independent league that Perry signed the other day. Arte wouldn’t pay airfare so the guy is bicycling to Anaheim
Lineup’s out:
Schanuel 1B
Moniak CF
Ward LF
Calhoun DH
Goodrum 3B
Thaiss C
Adell RF
Neto SS
Guillorme 2B
hysterical. Goodrum….smh. Geez.
11 total games at 3B in his 7 year career and didn’t play at all in 2023.
Our lineup is starting to resemble that Tigers lineup from 1912 when the team went on strike and fellas were actually signed off the street to play that day. The “Tigers” lost 24-2 and the real players came back the next day. Unfortunately ours won’t be back until 2025 or so
I guess this is why Wash and Perry have continued the dumpster diving:
When you collect players on the wrong side of 30 this is what you have to look forward to.
I gotta get me one of those t-shirts !!
Kyren Paris is back. Not sure why.
“His ability to contribute as a hitter is far less clear, as he was striking out at a 39.1 percent clip across 92 plate appearances with Rocket City prior to his promotion.”
yes, he was hitting .093 at Rocket City.
What about this guy? He was actually legit player for Houston last year:
Astros designated OF Corey Julks for assignment.
The 28-year-old has had a solid start to the season at the Triple-A level posting a .802 OPS with five homers and 15 RBI in his first 31 games with Sugar Land. He had an outside chance to make Houston’s Opening Day roster, but the team decided to stash him in the minors. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Julks is picked up by another team while he’s on waivers.
We shy away from legit players.
Or do legit players shy away from us?
A 28 year old minor league Journey Man with an OPS of .802 in PCL bandboxes in more Meh than legit IMO
He would fit right in though.
We can fire Washington, slide Pillar over to manager.
Kolton Ingram went from the Rangers to the Cards.
It would have been super foolish to continue with that injury…smart choice by MNT.
https://www.si.com/mlb/angels/angels-news/mike-trout-could-have-avoided-surgery-but-reveals-why-he-elected-to-have-it-01hxfsk86jy5
Oh damn, tonight’s game is an Apple TV cluster.
At least Wayne will be on the call.
My condolences to out to Sean Burrough’s family, especially his son… that is an awful thing to go through, especially amidst the joy of spending time with your dad at baseball.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/05/sean-burroughs-passes-away.html
Sad. I sure do recall his Little League career. Hard to believe it was 30 years ago.
Hate to rub salt in a festering gash, but Ohtani is leading MLB in BA & OPS and is 2nd in bombs
I don’t really make that big a deal about it in my mind. I don’t usually follow the Dodgers, and so I don’t pay much attention to all of that. And I don’t feel like anything “unfair” really happened, so it doesn’t bother me.
I’m basically just marveling at how great he is.
He is dead to me.
Who?
Never heard of him.
He’s pretty good at baseball now that he’s quit gambling.
1st in OPS as well, kind of makes him the best hitter in baseball currently. And when he get’s healthy he can pitch.
Imagine how insane his pitching is going to be after he gets the midas touch from the Dodger’s coaching staff
Maybe
Look on the bright side…
If it can happen with McCourt and post-McCourt, then that can happen to us too.
A new owner can buy the team and turn it around.
Frank still owns the parking lot.
Let Arte own the Billboards around the stadium parking lot.
I don’t think he owns the parking lot. But he does get a piece of the revenue for parking.
Most Google hits say he still owns them or at least 50% of them.
I know somebody who has contact with agents and has met or talked to people in Dodgers ownership. Apparently in negotiations to sell the team to Guggenheim group McCourt asked to keep the parking lot and they declined. The compromise was that he would get a piece of revenue.
ALSO, if Chavez Ravine land is ever sold for Real Estate development he would get a piece of that deal as well…
He actually owns the parking lots.
Hmmm. Well, that is not what I was told.
Be sure to let Google know
…. and Google is sacrosanct of course …
To be fair, I am getting my info from LA City council members, so probably need to take that with a grain of salt since they are not the most intelligent of people in the community.
No it won’t. There won’t be a Guggenheim style rescue. It will be someone like the peanut guy on a shoestring, making a couple of flashy moves. The Angels are not a cornerstone franchise, and never will be to anyone but us.
Well, I guess we’ll have to see what happens. I disagree and think your assessment is on the pessimistic side.
I think being in one of the top media markets in the country puts you ahead of 90% of other clubs in many advantageous aspects immediately. NY, Chicago, LA.
But, when it comes down to it, it is all in the execution of a plan. We’ll see.
BR grades all 30 teams.
Los Angeles Angels: D-
Post-Shohei Ohtani, the expectations were very low for the Los Angeles Angels. And so far, they have played very poorly.
Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon are now both on the injured list for extended periods, but is that really a surprise at this stage? The problem for general manager Perry Minasian is that the Angels don’t have a highly ranked farm system or any trade candidates who would bring back franchise-altering returns.
The A’s may return to the playoffs before the Angels do.
D- ?
Points for showing up and completing every game keeps this from being
an F-?
Funny stuff Twebs.
Should be a new grade lower than F … we get a G
G would be Good and we’re not…how about S for SUCK?
or Z for zzzzzzz
CTPG Friday poll question?
The starting pitching has remained healthy outside of Silseth. But we all know it’s coming. The emotional injuries have already begun, bodily always follows, it’s a trAdition.
Will PTP make a call to Panda Land and ask for “Not the Thor” to jump on a plane?
Or, will he let him marinate this season?
There’s no reason to call him up this season.
Dana is currently struggling in AA with a 1.69 ERA and a 0.72 whip. It’d be better to bring in some scrub castoff
What we need here at CtPG is a sub group of loyal Halo fans who are not going to abandon the Angels for any reason…EVER!!!
I’m in. Tickets getting really cheap now. Nobody wants to pay to watch a losing team, currently with a bunch of scrubs Perry digs up from the minor league graveyard. I still enjoy tailgating with my cooler of beer and peanuts. I just love going to MLB games; faithful to the Halo. Fk the Dodgers and thumbs down to ‘The Easy Way’ Ohtani.
Ditto for me.
It still feels icky how the MSM and the rest of the world licked Ohtani’s jock when he finally joined a winner and fulfilled his “destiny,” while LeBron James was declared the devil incarnate by the same MSM and the world for practically doing the same thing.
I live in Idaho so making a trip to Anaheim in expensive. The reality is that the trips the last few years were to watch bad teams but also to see Ohtani and Trout. But I agree that the best thing is being at a MLB ballpark and I often have the best time before the game starts during batting practice and walking around the stadium.
Isn’t this already that “CtPG sub group of loyal Halo fans who are not going to abandon the Angels for any reason…EVER!!!” ??
Why else would anyone come there with this team? One of the worst organizations in MLB and years ( MAYBE) away from coming close to posting a .500 record….except for undisputed loyalty? I come here for the shitty baseball and stay for the CTPG loyalist!
FREE CTPG!
Now, if you’re talking about putting a happy horseshit smile on this corpse of organization without the unmerciful ridiculing and mocking? Then you are one sick Angel Fan!
Free Rengifo’s infected feet
Free Sano proof of life video
Free Suarez for always being healthy
Free Ward the Bright April Quasar that turns into a black hole every May
Free Ward’s lo mein noodle of an arm
Free all the new players they fly in everyday to play like traveling nurse to a hospital
You may be on to something with Suarez always being healthy. Perhaps that’s why Perry is chubby chasing other team’s castoffs. They simply can’t move fast enough to injure themselves.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
You might be right Tweb…we already are that sub group.
No one is abandoning anyone. If you are here you are pretty diehard.
I think criticism is part of a healthy relationship. Unconditional love with blinders on is pretty darn unhealthy.
So while I love the team, I am extremely critical of the Org. It doesn’t have to be black-and-white or wit-me-or-agin me. That type of thinking is way too simplistic and is not nuanced.
There is room for criticism and even protest (not going to games) while still being a true fan.
Then you can will be our woke rep.
I thought he already was?
Thank you for reinforcing this 26.
I’m not sure I understand what you are saying? How does what I wrote make me “woke”? And is being “woke” a bad thing? Very confused by this comment.
Does “woke” mean being able to care but also be critical and not just blindly supportive? If so, then yes I’ll be woke.
You had to edit that four times to get it right…wokeness on full display.
How is that “woke”? I don’t get it. I think your understanding of that term is very much off. You are showing your ignorance.
Here’s the definition:
“Woke is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) originally meaning alertness to racial prejudice and discrimination. Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities such as racial injustice, sexism, and denial of LGBT rights.”
Also known as taking all the bait I’m feeding you…hook, line, and sinker.
Well then you’re an asshole. Good for you!
Yep…I win!!!
And frosty said I was too serious…sheesh.
Must have some bit of threat. Now, with all they have pulled I’ve never left, but they better fix it. 😉
I have been a fan since 1961. I will continue to be a fan. But I will acknowledge what has been thrown in front of my eyes —that the 2024 version of my Angels as constructed by Arturo and Minasian sucks.
i found arte’s social media intern
What ever it takes!!!
The person who loves you the most in this world is the one who tells you when you are screwing up and demands the best out of you.
that makes CtPG is the #1 Fan site in love with Arte Moreno
I admitted the other day that I am a hopeless boot licker.
Yep. We’ve entered the stage now after a decade where the team is the metaphorical addict in the family. Everyone has tried to smile through it and tell themselves its a phase and they will grow out of it. There’s always enablers in the family who are afraid of change, reality etc. and their good intentions just make things worse and last longer than they should.
We have a tank in progress. It may be driven by a cat – and it may be powered by Roomba, but it’s our tank.
What we see today is the reaping of what Arte sowed years ago when he gutted the scouting department and completely shut down the Dominican/ Caribbean scouting in an ill advised fit. Honorable mention to being scammed in the Baldoquin disaster, who is now out of baseball, the last I can find of him was 2022 Atlantic Division Independent League.
Fun Times Friday!!!!
This franchise can not consistently evaluate talent. First-round choices since 2000.
2000 Chris Bootcheck Right-handed pitcher
2001 Casey Kotchman First baseman
2001 Jeff Mathis Third baseman
2002 Joe Saunders Left-handed pitcher
2003 Brandon Wood Shortstop
2004 Jered Weaver Right-handed pitcher
2005 Trevor Bell Right-handed pitcher
2006 Hank Conger Catcher
2007 Jonathan Bachanov Right-handed pitcher
2008 no first-round pick
2009 Randal Grichuk Outfielder
2009 Mike Trout Outfielder
2009 Tyler Skaggs Left-handed pitcher
2009 Garrett Richards Right-handed pitcher
2009 Tyler Kehrer Left-handed pitcher
2010 Kaleb Cowart Right-handed pitcher
2010 Cam Bedrosian Right-handed pitcher
2010 Chevy Clarke Outfielder
2010 Taylor Lindsey
2010 Ryan Bolden Outfielder
2011 C. J. Cron First baseman
2012 no first-round pick
2013 no first-round pick
2014 Sean Newcomb Left-handed pitcher
2015 Taylor Ward Catcher
2016 Matt Thaiss Catcher
2017 Jo Adell Outfielder
2018 Jordyn Adams Outfielder
2019 Will Wilson Shortstop
2020 Reid Detmers Left-handed pitcher
2021 Sam Bachman Right-handed pitcher
2022 Zach Neto Shortstop
2023 Nolan Schanuel First Baseman
I remember the gnashing of the teeth on the Taylor Lindsey/RJ Alvarez trade for Huston Street. Good times.
In relation to the trade of Monte Harrison, looking back at the prior trades history of the Angels, It’s quite fascinating seeing how some of the Angels farmhands offloaded who have become successful for other teams are those from trades people just shrugged off – Clevinger for Pestano, Bradish (and others) for Bundy, Segura for Greinke, to name a few.
But those “highly-regarded” prospects that the Angels should have traded but held onto – Jeff Mathis, Howie Kendrick, Brandon Wood, etc. – flamed out big time, except for Howie, who did have a solid, if unspectacular career (and didn’t win the batting title).
Prospecting really takes a lot of work, and a lot of luck. For example, would Bradish prosper the same way had he stayed in the Angels system? Then there’s once-upon-a-time MLB Top 99 prospect Taylor Lindsey for Huston Street. Taylor never made it anywhere, but Huston was a key piece in the 2014 season. Even the better organizations get an egg on their faces sometimes. Yordan Alvarez for Josh Fields is probably one that Doyers would like to take back.
What do you think Chevy Clarke is doing, right now?
Asking the most important question:
”Do you want fries with that?”
That’s deep Senator!!
Now try to find anybody of significance drafted after the first round.
Where’s that 7th round pick who turned into a bullpen piece? That 4th round pick from a smaller college that is now at second base?
In the last decade or so Chase Silseth has certainly contributed the most of all of the Angels non-first round picks and he sports a 5.06 ERA across 89 innings.
I would say Howie Kendrick was a steal in the 10th round of the 2002 draft. HK ended up in the MLB top prospects list, topping out at #15, I think. He had a solid, if unspectacular career as an Angel. He certainly stabilized the 2B position for 8 years after Adam left. So yes, in the overall picture, despite not winning a batting title, HK was a great pick and steal.
I would also argue Mark Trumbo was a good find, in the 18th round in 2004. His stay with the Angels was much shorter than HK, but he did thrill the crowd with his signature Trumbombs, even if he couldn’t figure out how to cut down the Ks. On a well-run, well-constructed team, Trumbo wouldn’t be the superstar, but he would have been a good complimentary piece to have.
But your point remains, Jeff. Howie and Mark are just two of the thousands of prospects that came through the system for the last 20 years. What happened to other 900+?!
I can’t remember the details… wasn’t the Red Baron a low pick too?
How could I forget?! Yes, he was picked in the 8th round.
Kole was a great RF for 7 years for the Angels. Definitely one of their better draft steals.
I thought you meant the WWI German pilot. `;~}}
quite the drop off after ~2010.
Coincidence? no
That is painful to read.