2020 was memorable for a plethora of reasons, none of them good. Amid the death and destruction across our land baseball seemed like the trivial exercise it truly is. That said, there was some baseball played and it set up a really bizarre 5 round draft without full platform years from any of the talent.
The Angels were short one pick due to the signing of Anthony Rendon in the off season. However, the draft with only four picks is one of the most beneficial to the Angels franchise, thanks to first round pick Reid Detmers. Let’s take a look at how the Angels 2020 draft class is faring.
Reid Detmers – the highly polished college hurler out of Louisville was exactly what the Angels needed. Armed with an MLB ready curveball he projected to be a fast to the show addition to the rotation. He was brought up too early in 2021 and pitched a rough 20 innings. Since then he’s hurled 323 innings at exactly league average level (ERA+ 100). At times, though, he’s shown flashes of ace potential and has even thrown a no hitter.
David Calabrese – was a third round selection (the Angels did not have a 2nd round selection due to the signing of Anthony Rendon). He’s currently on the 7 day injured list in AA and hasn’t lived up to expectations. Over 1070 AB’s he’s hit .217 with a .314 OBP.
Werner Blakely – another in the “athlete we’ll make a baseball player” picks that defined the Eppler era, Blakely showed real flashes in A ball last year but has been more bad than good. He’s in High A this year as a 22 year old and has a .219/.342/.343 career line in the minors. That’s a good OBP and he’s supposed to be good with the glove, but he really needs to work on making contact.
Adam Seminaris – was traded to Milwaukee but his Angels pedigree is showing as he’s on the 7 day injured list. The Long Beach State Dirtbag has more K’s than innings pitched but also a career WHIP of 1.44.
It was going to be very difficult to land a ton of help in this draft. Most clubs had five picks, the Angels had four. The key to this draft was signing undrafted free agents after the truncated draft. Unfortunately, Arte Moreno fired pretty much all of the scouting personnel prior to the draft and all of the decent undrafted talent signed elsewhere. It was another shortsighted move that deprived the Angels of potential talent.
However, to come out of a draft with a solid rotation piece that has shown flashes of brilliance is pretty solid. And there’s still an outside shot Blakely can combine his good eye with this athletic ability and start making more contact.
I remember us signing a few of those undrafted free agents.
Are any of them still with us?
Is it possible Arte following in the footsteps of the A’s?
Ward, with a decent throw from the outfield? That’s different.
Almost
Pillar can do no wrong!
Go Gamethread!
2-0 Angels.
I can get behind this, win while I’m awake, lose by the time I’m asleep!
It’s called Blowpen.
Am I missing something? Halos get some luck.
The MLB draft is full of guys that don’t work out too well. Here are the first 10 picks in 2020 with my brief comments
#1 – Spencer Torkelson, Detroit. Lots of HRs lasr year but not much else. Currently a .628 OPS for Detroit in his 3rd season
#2 – Heston Kjerstad, Baltimore. A rookie with a 35 OPS+
#3 – Max Meyer, Miami. Doing very well so far in 2024. Ding ding ding!
#4 – Asa Lacy, KC. Has been hurt for the last couple of years, had TJS in March
#5 – Austin Martin, Toronto. Now with the Twins and has a -0.4 WAR
#6 – Emerson Hancock, Seattle. 5.24 ERA this year, just sent down to the minors
#7 – Nick Gonzales, Pittsburgh. Career 70 OPS+. I expect Perry to try to grab him
#8 – Robert Hassell, San Diego. Fast OF with little power. Doing relatively well in AA
#9 – Zac Veen, Colorado. Lighting it up in AA. Fast, hits for average and Schanny power.
#10 – Reid Detmers
Anyones that have worked out?
Detmers seems to be at the top of his class.
Firing the scouts showed Arte Moreno for what he really and truly is and that is putting it nicely, A Selfish Nincompoop, an Ego out of control with no plan or direction to achieve leading an MLB franchise to being a respected and winning team in MLB’s biggest market.
Are the Angels a joke by baseball fans coast to coast? – you bet as it is a Clown leading the parade with the juggler’s, unicyclist, and pets bringing up the rear! as the crowd is booing. He just keeps stuffing his pockets with money and expects us to like him – notice the reaction on our home opener showing how loved he is was chilling. Arte is a fool of all fools leading additional fools trying to fool us.
Ehh . Arte just provved that his team can suck just as much as many other franchises without wasting money on them useless scouts.
You mean the 2020 Halo quartet?
Thank you for this update. However, everything Arte does makes Hulk sad.
So you’re saying the Halos are consistent in draft choices and results?
If 25% of your draft picks turn into MLB average players you are doing quite well. That’s what happened here.
And I’m still intrigued by Detmers. He’s shown the ability to be really, really good. So I know that ability is in there.
Since an Average MLB player > than a an MLB replacement player How many wins above replacement should an average MLB player generate per season?
I don’t like WAR for pitchers but I believe the number is 2.