The Angels released Hunter Dozier. He was bad. They signed left-hander C.D. Pelham to a minor league contract.
Kevin Padlo just got a minor league deal with the Royals. Can you believe it? Janson Junk just got demoted. Several Angels pitchers names got mentioned there as potential trade candidates to the Brewers. Shohei Ohtani is officially cleared by MLB.
Kris Bryant is going straight back onto the injured list. Cubs prospect Cade Horton is shut down due to a subscapularis strain. Translation: His back and shoulder probably hurt like hell, especially the shoulder. Tripping down the dugout stairs? No way that would ever happen. Fake news!
The White Sox have apparently thrown in the towel and even Luis Robert is on the trading block. Oooh! Drama! Save it for the WNBA guys.
Astros Crash And Burn
Jose Urquidy got season ending elbow surgery. Christian Javier will have the same today. Javier’s was the Tommy John version for sure. Reports are that it’s TJ for Urquidy as well.
Former major league player and coach Tony Scott passed away at the tender age of 72.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
More trouble for the Doyers? Hunter Biden buying drugs from Mookie Betts?
Maybe this is the juice they are injecting into their players? 😀
Let’s avoid a political stream here, but if the first two witnesses at your trial are going to be your ex wife and the stripper you were banging while married to her, just plead guilty and go to jail.
Weedslut420? Wha? Innocent.
I thought that might barely sneak under the political bar…..I mean how many guys named Mookie are running around LA? Where does Mookie Wilson live? 🙂
Yes, you always were that guy in class pushing the envelope. 🙂
Blame Arte. If he were a better owner, we’d have a playoff contending baseball team to discuss and take seriously. It’s always Art’s fault.
That joke was perfectly fine. Much more of a Dodgers joke than a Hunter joke.
It is interesting that the only two Mookie’s I can think of were outfielders. Perhaps I should’ve named my kid Mookie ha ha.
Mookie Joiner does have a ring to it.
So the Doyers are political fodder now?
Did Neto finally ditch the big leg lift? I noticed he didn’t use it on the 1-1 pitch that he homered on. Angel games have been on at my house but I haven’t been super engaged.
no. he mixes it up
Ya, I vaguely remember him saying that he would ditch it when pitchers had big stuff/velocity.
Frequently less lift with 2 strikes.
it’s that plus if a guy is in a wind up, has a slide step, etc
Depends on how much chili had had for lunch
Trashtros next…oh boy!!
Can Can Canning Can.
2 of 3….that’s all we ask.
Can Canning Can the Trash Cans?
It was said on last night’s broadcast that we’ve had the hardest schedule to date in the majors, and from today on will have the 2nd easiest schedule.
I’ve maintained that we are better than our record would indicate.
Time to start stacking wins.
You are correct.
This means there’s no excuses if the team continues to perform as it has to date.
10000% with you Senator.
If I may Senator.
F you and your “no excuses”.
-trAdition
We always have excuses 🙂
that Ohtani guy was holding us back
😅
#1 excuse. The teams the Angels play also seem to have better players. It’s clearly unfair and the Commissioner or the ACLU need to step in.
I think that this situation absolutely requires some really futile and stupid excuse making be done on somebody’s part
Hey – I know someone who knows some guys to do that.
Pathetic CtPG Loser Guy lives by trAdition.
As long as you keep the donations flowing in, you of course may. Thank you.
Keep you gin up!
I would wear one of these. This election brings to mind the “None of the above” campaign from Brewster’s Millions.
That is true. Our record thus far though accurately reflects what we are against the teams we’ve played and for most of the season we’ve had bad starting pitching. The pitching has been much better as of late. We have not been a good hitting team but there is definitely potential for improvement for several players. But as you imply, the opportunity is certainly there for us to win more games the remainder of the season.
Yes, the early schedule was brutal. Just like MLB wanted it — bury us early so they would not have to worry about manipulating outcomes after the All Star break. Keep Arte and Co. in their place. Same old story. Keep it moving.
manipulating outcomes?
Go on, I’m listening………
Well, I’ll just say this ; go back and look at the challenges by Angels in games against the Astros the last 3-4 years (with reviews and subsequent decisions by New York) and that will tell you alot …
…and the earth is flat. Is that you, Kyrie?
YES.
I LOVE THIS.the last thing MLB wants is ARTE and CARPINO getting WINS and showing the league that they have BIG BRAINS and proving the HATERS wrong.
You mean, push the little sub-par team down even further, got it
I thought Brad was the BIG BRAIN?
“Say what again, mutha’ f*cka”
The Halo’s schedule was totally WTF. We didn’t get to play anyone in our division until the middle of May????
Agree.
And if you notice we play the worst divisonal team (Oakland A’s) last. Still haven’t played them yet and we are already playing Houston a second time starting tomorrow. In addition, notice that we still haven’t gotten to play the lowly White Sox, though we have managed to play EVERY OTHER team in the AL Central. Each of them good, btw.
Hmmm….
Strange.
And that is the task… to separate truth from fiction.
What I posted above are facts. Make of them what you will.
I appreciate the effort at optimism, but the Angels would need to have a .650 winning percentage from here on out to finish 89-73, which is what it took to get a wild card last year. That’s basically wining every 3-game series (2-1) and splitting every 2 or 4 game series, which would put them at 88-74. Every time they lose a series from here on out, they need a sweep.
The worst thing that could possibly happen is for the Angels to claw back close to .500 and decide not to sell at the trade deadline.
Hey, I didn’t mention anything about playoffs here haha!
Merely pointed out that our schedule has been mad difficult and now it eases up. I won’t begrudge anyone rooting for the tank, I get it.
Tanking in baseball is stupid. I thought we had already established that…
Who said anything about playoffs?
This is no time to pretend to contend! We must have ping pong balls!
I’m less interested in ping pong balls than in talent that has already been scouted and somewhat developed by teams that are better at scouting and developing talent.
It was humor but…Angels NEED to nail their drafts, desperately. Need to keep bringing on young talent and not chase marginal FAs. This year was a start. I think a Top 3 pick would be beneficial in improving the odds for a generational player, like how Mike used to be. We can fight our way to 5 games under .500 and draft 14th but I would still consider the season a loss.
100 games left
to get to 90 wins, we have to win 66 games (obviously means a.660 winning percentage)
with an “easy” schedule, we will win 70 games and take the division. probably.
And you know who has the easiest schedule, right?
Anyone playing us. 😂
It appears that Rendon may return before Trout.
Good on Tony. There’s no way to prove it, but I’m calling it the Wash effect. In prior seasons, he would be Rendone for the season.
Also, Trouty is the slowest healer of all time.
Trout is the slowest healer I’ve ever seen.
Excruciatingly slow. Anyway, hopefully the Angels and Trout embrace the DH/4th OF role upon his return.
Sometime this month, we hope?
Rendon at 3rd
Drury and Sano more starts at 1st and DH
Drury more starts at 2nd
No more Paris and Tucker
Willie PH duty, big cut in ABs
Schanuel a little less playing time
More starts for Rengifo in the OF and 2nd, move on from the Mick? Or is Guillorme the roster casualty?
Good questions
How I see it shaking out:
Drury = Paris
Sano = Tucker
Rendone = Guillorme
Trout = Calhoun
bullpen arm = Detmers/Silseth
Got to keep Calhoun! He and Pillar are the only off-the-bench bats we have.
Do you think Mickey is a DFA risk. If not, they’ll have to DFA better players to keep him.
See above. I think he definitely a DFA possibility.
I’m not sure why they’re waiting for injured guys to be return before they DFA him. It was fools gold good luck last year on hits falling in and he now has just over 600 MLB at bats. He seems like a good guy and I hate to root against someone but I’d be willing to bet $100.00 that he never makes it to 1,200 MLB at bats. Baseball is a harsh game but he doesn’t help anyone win games unless something drastic changes.
Sort of disagree here Pedo. Baseball is a tough game, even for the really good players. Even those guys have bad or off years. Moniak is still young, and last year he did show he could hit MLB pitching.
I say give him one more year, (with sporadic chances to show a glimmer of past success) no matter what happens the rest of 2024. IF we get to mid-June in 2025 and we haven’t seen a return to “Oh Mickey You’re So Fine” yet, then perhaps you take action. But this is not like a Brandon Wood situation where the guy NEVER showed he could handle MLB pitching.
Fair point. I just don’t believe that his 2023 results show anything that was sustainable as his BABIP was otherworldly. Time will tell I guess.
I also think about Brandon Marsh as comp. I always thought the Angels screwed him up as he was a way better hitter with a solid approach, swing and command of the strike zone when he first came up. He then got progressively worse as he pressed and tinkered with changes but I always believed the guy could hit. Moniak appears to be a guy that is mistake dependant with a very specific swing path. Again, I hope you’re right.
I think Moniak has played himself into a situation where he clears waivers and heads to AAA.
Any team that claims him will have to keep him on their big league roster and I don’t see anybody doing that right now.
Great point and a very feasible outcome.
Good point Jeff. I root for Mickey every day. But things look bleak.
The *only* reason he’s still around is the fact he is 26 years old and was the first pick overall in 2016.
He’s had 660 major league at bats and his average is .221 with 218 strikeouts to 26 walks. His career OPS is .630 and his OPS+ is 73. He’s average in the outfield, and doesn’t steal bases. There’s very little to like about his game, and on a really good team – he’s already been DFA’d.
Unless the guy can pitch (like Fletcher), he’s at the crossroads as a player. He’s on a major league roster because of “hope”, not performance or results.
I agree but it’s still odd that the Angels front office has given him so much rope. With lots of guys who are drafted high they get undo consideration because the guys who made that decision are still with the team with their reputation or jobs on the line which isn’t the case here.
I don’t even know if anyone that decided to draft Adell is still in this organization and who knows who is making these calls.
For now, Adell and Mickey are cheap players until they draft or acquire better ones. There are still 90 games left so there is time to change the story but if they are still the same at the end of the season, I would only keep either one around as a cheap player until the club acquires a much better replacement. I know people must have communicated to Mickey his issues, and they are correctable, but I am surprised he has been unable to make the corrections. I know Mickey was very lucky last year with BABIP but this year he isn’t even putting the ball in play so he has no chance.
Perry traded for him so yeah they’re giving Moniak leeway and making excuses
You didn’t know that Sano stuck a q-tip too deep into his ear and caused a brain hemorrhage? He’s going to be out just a bit longer….
Many questions but I’ll give it a go.
Rendon – I suspect July after the AS break, but before Trout, unfortunately.
Sano – If a dude is going to have a 40% K rate, he better have consistent power. In short, I don’t care all that much about Sano. If not Rendon, I’d prefer to see Rengifo hold down 3rd.
Moniak – One of our biggest 2024 disappointments. It appears that he’s playing himself out of the league. Too bad.
my new comp with Anthony is Kris Bryant, his NL All-Star peer from the 2010s at 3B who signed a big contract.
Anthony is looking quite favorable here
Incredible starting pitching this series. 5 total runs given up, all quality starts, to a good lineup, better than the Angels.
Offense didn’t score a lot, but was just good enough to beat them. The team has to learn to win these low-scoring, close games. It’s why Seattle has been winning a lot of games.
3 in a row and a Sweep!
The Streak
It’s fun to have the Halos winning some games and the young guys coming together. BTW that’s a big reason why whatever trades are made need to be well-managed. They need to swap out certain guys while keeping the vibe positive and making it so guys still want to be here and keep improving. It’s harder than one might think.
Once you get in total tank-a-thon mode, you could wind ip being the Pirates for 10-15 years. Be smart Perry.
Pirates are right now what the Angels can hopefully be next 2-3yrs. Their ownership is worse than ours ; they have great young arms and should have spent on quality FA’s to make them legit contender. But watch them repeat as another minor league club to trade away best stars to teams like Yanks and Dodgers. They have been the National League’s version of A’s.
Pirates have some young talent right now but they have trouble putting it together. Skenes is a once in a lifetime guy (or maybe twice as Cole was the other and they had him too). The future for them is still bleak, and it has been about a thirty year run since they started moving guys and looking to re-build for the future. Still waiting. We don’t want the Angels going that route.
It’s a while ago but, they played a playoff game in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
The Pirates are in a good place if they had an owner willing to spend a bit.
Hypothetically, if Arte’s wallet was able to back up Skenes and the Pirates youngsters there’s a good team to be made.
Nutting wants an entire team of cost controlled players at the same time, which is impossible.
Man. I dislike Nutting. Rebuilds in Pittsburgh are almost pointless, where as here we can at least sign some guys long term and bring in some FAs if things are looking good. Like you said.
Those NL Central teams, other than the Cubs and semi the Cardinals, hope is a thin slice of cheese.
SWEEP…it’s a beautiful thing man!!