LA Angels Weekend News Crash: Extended

The big news out of Angelsville is the multi year extension for general manager Perry Minasian.

It isn’t often the GM of a last place team receives a multi year extension. The Angels are at the beginning of a rebuild, so perhaps ownership is looking at the young core and giving Perry leeway to see the rebuild through.

How is the organizational talent? I spoke with farm guru Taylor Blake Ward about that this week.

Between the trade deadline and draft, Perry pretty much remade the top 5-10 names on the prospect lists. Plus he’s created the young MLB level core that is showing growth and promise. Now we see if he can finish the job and build a full roster.

Speaking of the core showing development, many of the kids are doing just that.

Nolan Schanuel got off to a really tough start to the season. On June 11th he had a miserable slash line of .207/.275/.327. In the two plus months since then he’s producing at a .294/.414/.422 clip. The walks are way up, the contact his harder, and he’s striking out at a very manageable 16% clip.

Jo Adell also got off to a bad start. We’ve seen him limit his leg kick and take off quite a bit. Jo bottomed out on June 29th with a .180/.245/.383 line. In the nearly two months since then, he’s posted a respectable .250/.331/.421 line.

And then there’s Zach Neto catching absolute fire and chasing team records.

Logan O’Hoppe is another Perry addition and is an obvious building block. Jose Soriano has proven he can be an effective piece of the rotation, and Ben Joyce did this the other night:

In short, I like Perry as a trade seller and his early draft picks are showing promise. Given the restraints of the job (cough, Arte, cough) I’m fine with letting Perry acquire more talent over the next couple of years. But at some point his strategy of drafting a bullpen is going to need to pan out.

I could use the highlight of Joyce above as the Highlight of the Week, but I love a web gem almost as much as I love a suicide squeeze. On Tuesday, Jack Lopez was in the midst of both. Which highlight do you prefer?

Or flashing the leather?

So now we watch the kids grow, look for some value plays, possibly make some trades this off season, and build for a brighter future. We hope.

From around baseball:

Joey Votto cracked the code of hitting. The future Hall of Famer retired this week after failing to make the roster of his hometown Blue Jays.

Am I allowed to post that Ohtani is closing in on a 40/40 season and has enough time to possibly get to 50/50? Here’s a piece on the 5 players who have previously hit the 40/40 mark.

White Sox fans have a legitimate gripe about their owner. Jerry Reinsdorf is clearly failing the White Sox. That’s a better read than my buildup might indicate and is your long form reading for the weekend.

Happy trails Mariners manager Scott Servais, who got canned by Jerry Dipoto. Enter Mariners legend Edgar Martinez to turn the offense around.

The Little League World Series is always fun and magical. Team Mexico was down by 3 and down to their last out when this happened:

Enjoy this last summer weekend with perfect weather and link what I missed. We have no plans this weekend and it feels great. Sometimes down time is the best time.

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gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend

Remember when CtPG Guy, in a fit to sign at least one of the “BIG SHORTSTOPS” three years ago, was demanding Arte show his comitmonk to champihamsandwich by at least signing Javier Baez?

I do.

Man, imagine that left side of the IF with Rendon and Baez, plus Trout, and the UNICORM! So many trophies!

Twebur
Legend
3 months ago

The hyphenator | The big ———————

Tune in to the Pre-Game Chat with Bees Pitcher Michael Darrell-Hicks ahead of game three against the Round Rock Express.

https://x.com/SaltLakeBees/status/1826764609904410728

Twebur
Legend
3 months ago

I missed this if it’s already been posted

George Klassen was able to walk off under his own power but was taken out of the game after being hit in the face by a combacker

It was a grounder and he is up and moving around but it looks like he is bleeding from his mouth.

https://x.com/Jared_Tims/status/1826781128579318130

Angelz4ever
Super Member
3 months ago

Quick no gives a F*** story:

Yesterday I tuned into the game on the way home, it’s already 5-0 and Canning is pitching (That’s all I know at that point). He seems to be mowing through the Jays and the broadcasters are lauding him. I’m thinking to myself, “WTH is wrong with you two ultra-homers? He gave up five runs!” Only after the game, when I get home and online, I see that B & B where who gave up those runs.

Captain Clueless strikes again.☺

Twebur
Legend
3 months ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

Well, at least we won’t need to watch Baumann display his craft anymore…

RexFregosi
Super Member
3 months ago
Reply to  Twebur

zeferjahn the jayhawk appears

JackFrost
Super Member
3 months ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

Actually, you were not entirely wrong. Shutting down a team who is already up 5-0 is much easier than pitching 6 shutout innings as the starting pitcher. The broadcasters were indeed being homers.

Turk's Teeth
Editor
Super Member
3 months ago

I’m less enamored of Perry’s drafting than Jeff seems to be. Much can be ascribed to simply having high draft position due to perennially not performing at the MLB level.

His 2021 all-pitcher draft looks like a real bust, and 2023 doesn’t look much better. His reputation largely hinges on three picks (Neto, Joyce, Dana) in 2022, which was one of the strongest MiLB draft classes in recent memory, and one where he threw away a second rounder for 80 innings from Noah Syndergaard.

This year, he mismanaged his bonus pool so badly he lost the ace of Texas A&M, when he ultimately offered more money to a late reliever on the same team, and a sketchy prep prospect that was rated a 6th-8th round talent.

The two prospects he traded in last year’s fire sale are now top 100 talents – Ky Bush has a mid-3s ERA in his first taste of the MLB, and Edgar Quero would be the Angels #2 prospect currently.

I think Minasian’s track record is decidedly mixed, with some real stupidity along the way. I give him credit for Neto and for some decent Latin drafting in the past 2-3 years (though that’s as much the maturation of the Halos Latin program, that has been paying dividends across 3+ GMs) – and we got pretty lucky with Joyce and Dana panning out. But on balance, given the Angels’ excellent draft position four years running, the team should have gotten more, and he’s subtracted *a lot* in ill-fated win-now moves, when the MLB club’s ability to succeed was marginal at best.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

We traded away more than just Bush and Quero in our desperate attempts to pleasure the Unicorn and his mom. PLUS we skipped out on getting several 50+ grade prospects for Unicorm. It would be a very different farm. What’s worse, the Angels record in 2022/2023 probably would have been about the same too.

Turk's Teeth
Editor
Super Member
3 months ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

If we can’t even trust the GM to protect his top farm assets, how can we credit him with sensible acquisitions? We’re embracing this ridiculous fan narrative that every mistake Minasian makes is due to the fact that Arte’s hand is up Perry’s puppet hole, but every successful transaction is a result of Perry’s genius, autonomy and agency. That’s rather selective petting, no?

If Minasian can’t explain to Moreno that losing six years of control of two MLB assets very near the show for two months of Giolito is bad in both the short term and the long term, then he. isn’t. worth. shit. Seriously – it just shows that the mix of the two is net-net not productive for the franchise. I believe Arte extended Minasian mostly because he keeps his mouth shut in public (except to mutter non-stick generalities that outdated versions of Chat GPT could produce).

But.

Given how truly terrible ownership is, and how mercurial Moreno’s judgment is in front office hires, consistency at this point is probably better than whatever might come next. Because Moreno also tends to follow up perceived failures with a tightening of purse strings. So little good would come from firing Minasian in the short term, even if I’m not a fan of the guy.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend

I can’t believe Arte actually stuck with the PTP/Washington co-lab long enough to see if something can come of it rather than letting PTP go, hiring Dave Dombrowski’s message boy, who fires Wash cause “stamp” and hires Jim Leyland cause Arte.

I think, in a lot of cases, if you get an OK GM and an OK manager in at the same time and let them work for a while they can paste together a fairly good org. Now we may get to see it.

This is not the Arte way at all. Where is the splash? And what craziness is next? Trout AND Rendon with 140 game seasons next year?

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

Yes, Plans. I have them. I love them. Let’s do them.

Eric_in_Portland
Legend
3 months ago

battle of the .443 OPSs! Kavadas “hitting” 7th, Dreary 8th

Angelz4ever
Super Member
3 months ago

Dreary still on the team?

Cowboy26
Legend
3 months ago

Ding Dong one of the witches is dead.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/08/angels-designate-mike-baumann-for-assignment.html

Long Live the Zeferjahn

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Cowboy26

Damn. I was hoping they would call up Toki Wartooth

Eric_in_Portland
Legend
3 months ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

I hope Baumann gets picked up by his 5th team of 2024

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend

So does Baumann

Twebur
Legend
3 months ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Ζέφυρος Zeferjohn, is the Greek god of the west wind. The gentlest of the winds, the messenger of spring. It was thought that he lived in a cave in Thrace.

Free the Zefer

Born_in_59
Trusted Member
3 months ago

When was the last time the Angels had a solid core of players come up at the same time? I’m thinking it might be 2006 when Napoli, Morales, Kendrick, Aybar, Santana and Weaver were all under 25 years old. In any case, it’s been a long time.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
3 months ago

I’ll throw out an early Halos 2024 season award nominee.

I nominate Jack Lopez for best Halo player contrasting hairstyle of 2024.

Cowboy26
Legend
3 months ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

that is very true, but the best halo hairstyle ever still is Soggy Joe’s Mohawk that never was.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Cowboy26

It’s funny, Maddon was such a fart on a windy day when he managed us I actually keep forgetting we actually HAD the manager that Haloes Heaven Guy was SURE would stand up to Arte and provide ultra-legit in game management and single handedly develop all our players while providing a zany clubhouse atmosphere full of transparencies.

Twebur
Legend
3 months ago

Maddon’s biggest failure came from having the alpha manager manliness of Nevin in his proximity. We all knew seeing him there, he was the answer.

red floyd
Legend
3 months ago

Follow up to yesterday’s note…

I still have two seats in 113 available for 9/1 vs the M’s (the people I was going to go with had an unexpected change of plans)

Angelz4ever
Super Member
3 months ago
Reply to  red floyd

That’s nice Red, I wish I could take you up on the offer.

Mikeal1st
Trusted Member
3 months ago

Joyce
Oh man we got something there!

Angelz4ever
Super Member
3 months ago
Reply to  Mikeal1st

Yes, it was probably his control that dropped him down in the draft.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

Is this where I just post a headshot of Josh Hader and Hoyt Wilhelm?

Pineapple12
Super Member
3 months ago

Jo Adell in August (no leg kick)

74 PA
.304 / .343 / .464
23.3% K rate
5.5% BB rate

Jo Adell in the 2nd half
116 PA
.272 / .353 / .418
24.1% K rate
8.6% BB rate

Has Jo solidified himself as a full-time starter within our young developing core? I say, yes.

Adell Era begins in 2025 –

Last edited 3 months ago by Pineapple12
Mikeal1st
Trusted Member
3 months ago
Reply to  Pineapple12

Finally!

Angelz4ever
Super Member
3 months ago
Reply to  Pineapple12

IF he doesn’t catch the non-cowbell HR fever.

Fansince1971
Legend
3 months ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

If you truly think Wash is responsible for player development, then he should be demoted to AA or AAA to work with and develop the young players. I’m partially kidding but if that is really his forte then why not bring those talents to where they are most efficient and needed in the Org?

Last edited 3 months ago by Fansince1971
Twebur
Legend
3 months ago
Reply to  Fansince1971

Whoa there young fella…..give him some time. He just got here.

Hopefully it is his influence! I’m thinking he is a big part of it.
Give them some time to get the game plan in place top the bottom in the organization. It’s not gonna happen overnight. Maybe Perry is finding some better talent to work with? Maybe we are due to have some good luck? Maybe the evil baseball Gods hate us less?Maybe we are in the early stages of stealing and implementing the cheating ways from the Doyers up north?

Maybe we still suck ass with no hope at all….and are being teased with a little taste of the appearance of hope.

trAditions are hard to break.

Cowboy26
Legend
3 months ago
Reply to  Fansince1971

Sorry ’71 but it’s 2024 . The Crash Davises of the world no longer exist. The Angels like many other teams are doing the lion share of their Training at the major league level especially when players like Jo Adell or Mickey Moniak burn all their minor league options and still take another 1,000 MLB PA’s to start developing in into something more than replacement value.

Pineapple12
Super Member
3 months ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

MLB’s FA system is extremely archaic and unfriendly to the players imo.

Promoting these kids so early hurts from a team control perspective but I like it. Whether it’s out of necessity or not, less manipulation of team control is a good thing.

Regarding Wash, man I hope we give him more talent next season. He ain’t sticking around baseball forever and we need him much more than he needs us

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Pineapple12

Sharks. Sharks are also very unfriendly in general. I hate those bastards, their teeth and presidential glare…. yuck

halofansince1978
Super Member
3 months ago

“Year of the Shortstop” Guess who is missing? Classic east coast 4-Letter bias.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-shortstops-are-better-than-ever-in-2024

angelslogic
Super Member
3 months ago

Zach is mentioned only in passing in paragraph 19.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
3 months ago
Reply to  angelslogic

….so you’re sayin’ he got mentioned….?

Eric_in_Portland
Legend
3 months ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

he did get mentioned.

“also includes a number of other up-and-coming players posting above-average offensive seasons, such as Zach Neto of the Angels”

angelslogic
Super Member
3 months ago

Extending Minasian = extending the mediocrity.

MarineLayer
Super Member
3 months ago
Reply to  angelslogic

That a generous use of the word “mediocrity.” I would tend to use a word that more accurately uses a term that reflects just how awful this team currently is.

Mikeal1st
Trusted Member
3 months ago
Reply to  angelslogic

I’m tentatively OK with him at the moment. I like the kids in an organization that up until O left appears to have had no direction.

YOUknowulovetheIE
Super Member
3 months ago
Reply to  angelslogic

Cool, man. Thanks for the input.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  angelslogic

YARRR! AH HAY DUMB! I WAN SUM UDER GAH!

DowningDude
Legend
3 months ago

Missed that bunt – thanks for highlighting that amazing play.

frosse
Member
3 months ago
Reply to  DowningDude

The Joyce whiff of Witt Jr was awesome, but that suicide squeeze bunt was sick. I don’t know how he managed to square up that ball and put it in play. Definitely one of the top plays of the year.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
3 months ago

Ku-Ku-Kachoo on the mound tonight.

red floyd
Legend
3 months ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

We signed John Lannon?

Angelz4ever
Super Member
3 months ago
Reply to  red floyd

No, Paul McCortney.

Cowboy26
Legend
3 months ago
Reply to  red floyd

I thought we signed Mrs. Robinson.

I didnt know she could pitch

GrandpaBaseball
Legend
3 months ago

A very good piece at MLB about this year’s MLB SS’s. While maybe not a Witt or Henderson this season I like our guy to improve in coming seasons by a lot. Go Zack!

Angelz4ever
Super Member
3 months ago

Yep, Neto has all the “D” and his “O” is improving. He will be an oft mentioned SS in the coming years.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
3 months ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

Good news, we’ll need him next season.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
3 months ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

No worries Jeff, you do a great job for us.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
3 months ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

De nada jefe!