The changes to the Angels schedule vis a vis the Tampa Bay Rays are in. Luckily, in early April Steinbrenner Field might not be completely miserable. Here are some additional overall details about the schedule changes.
Rhett Bollinger goes through the list of candidates for the Angels rotation, other than the “big upgrade” Kikuchi.
The Salt Lake Bees have new logos and uniforms. I kind of like the Black Alternate Jersey.
The Braves are looking for a left-handed hitting outfielder. I guess the “hitting” part leaves Moniak out of the discussion.
Mike Napoli got a job with the Reds, but he’s not officially part of the coaching staff. Robinson Chirinos, on the other hand, gets to be a bench coach over in Baltimore.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Let the pre-holiday butthurt begin!
Well… why didn’t Arte just sign Snell? there is a very real possibility that at some point Glasnow, Ohtani and Snell will not be able to pitch for most of the same season at some point in the next few years. The Dodgers will have three starting pitchers not pitching that equal some team’s total payroll. If Yamamoto joins that group…. oh what a magic season it would be.
But the game’s so much better without a salary cap.
Yes another superstar player bought by the Dodgers, and they are not done yet. For Guggenheim and friends it’s all about them. Who cares about the competitive health of the MLB. The poor teams can just fade away while they continue every year buying stars away from those same teams for a dynasty. Shame on Manfraud for allowing teams to do this.
see, if we sign a guy to a contract like that he gets hurt or doesn’t perform it cripples us for the length of the contract. If the Dodgers or Yankees sign the guy and the same thing happens they just sign someone else. Oh Manfred! Check out the possibility of teams abusing their financial situation which helps them but is harmful to baseball.
I think it’s “fantastic” that you’ve made the bases slightly larger but consider a real salary cap and salary floor.
You forget. The Angels are also in LA and should be spending major market cash because they secretly make almost as much as the Dodgers or something plus the weather…. I hate my dad because he doesn’t maximus revenue streams and he is no gladiator…. wait, I mean Arte.
When ever we get NewUnicormOwnerz they are just as likely to Sacramento A’s us as they are to double the payroll and “compete for LA”. It’s just sad.
I hope the Royals win the series next year…….
The Angels make “plenty of money” don’t you read the comments here? Our financial prognosticators have told us all based on nothing but feelz, once Arte is gone, payroll will rocket to Cohen heights with a magical owner!
Snell to the Dodgers. That’s quite a staff! Over/under on how many more WS Championships in next 5 years. I’ll set it at 1.5.
that’s sadly funny. $36mil a year. He missed his chance to come here for $15mil/3 yrs
I’d have been fine with that. He’d be off the books just a year after Rendon’s done and then all the magic starts happening because Rendon’s not making our collective vaginas ache on CtPG any more.
Go Doyers. They will really enjoy Snell and his 5 inning domination starts for 2 years of that contract. They’ll also enjoy guessing when he’ll come off the IL the other three years. And the whole time they’ll just laugh, light their gold dipped cigarettes with $100 bills and then put them out on the shaved heads of grateful young Mexican kids cause Fernando 40 years ago.
I have tried to imagine enjoying winning a WS with a team that costs four times what the normal MLB roster costs. I can’t see how it would feel any different than when a kid wins a car race or something cause his dad bought him a McLaren. Just…. McBurger. If a team I actually like gets to be like the DoYkees I’m not sure I’d be into the wins as much as i’d hope.
Another reason the NFL rules. Salary caps the same in LA and Cleveland.
Yes. If there ever was proof a hard salary cap is necessary.
Ohtani (the pitcher) $35 mil
Snell 35 mil
Yamamoto 30 mil
Glasnow 25 mil
That’s quite the AAAV for just 4 starters.
probably going to go with a 6 man rotation to accommodate the Unicorn, Yamamoto and Sasaki?
This LA Times sports writer, probably a doyer fan, is quite charitable to the Angels and their offseason moves thus far:
https://www.si.com/fannation/mlb/fastball/news/los-angeles-angels-speed-run-offseason-reshape-lineup-and-starting-rotation-alike-free-agents-yusei-kikuchi-kyle-hendricks-travis-darnaud-kevin-newman-trades-for-jorge-soler-scott-kingery-01jdj87hjwkk
Isn’t this article from Sports illustrated and not the L.A. Times?
Potato, potahto
Spud
Stoopid cheap Arte
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/11/dodgers-blake-snell-agree-to-five-year-deal.html
Ony $36.5 million AAV for 5 years . Probably deferred until 2058
The rich get richer.
“Checkbook” Dodgers strike again. Up next, Roki and Taveres. Pricks.
Fun fact about Snell: MFer never even threw a complete game until this past season. Dude has no durability.
Nah man, he’s a beast lol.
Well, I went and ordered Opening Day Tickets. I know, it’s foolish to have any expectations. The main reason is my lady friend has never been to an Opener and I wanted to set this up for her. I mean this woman actually tolerates my presence. I owe her big time.
you had to. You had no choice. It’ll be fun, too. Opening Day…nothing else like it.
Are you in Chicago? Or do you mean the Angels home opener?
There’s nothing like opening day. I’m willing to bet I’m there too.
Enjoy.
I still say boycott until Arte sells but y’all do you.
Thank You for that permission slip ’71
I think Arte selling went away with the TV deal.
I’ve cut way back on Angels games but I’ll only get this time with my son once. The flyovers and ice cream are magical at this stage and he wants to be with me. That’ll all change soon.
I certainly remember those days with my daughters – that was in the early 2000s and included not only season tickets but also taking them to playoff and WS genes. The time together was priceless. Definitely understand your desire to enjoy these days with your son.
Me personally – until Arte sells I have no interest in attending an Angels. It’s not the losing I mind as much as the awful Org. It’s like a company/stock I just don’t want to invest in. Maybe it’s too strong a position but I am sticking to it.
We are undefeated at the start of opening day, I love that day.
Unfortunately even this wouldn’t make a difference with Rendon…..from Coach Bobby Knight:
“The greatest motivator in the world is your ass on the bench. Ass meets bench, bench retains ass, ass transmits signals to the brain, brain transmits signals to the body, body gets ass off bench and plays better.”
I think Redon has a lot in common with Benoit.
benoit.wav – Benoit Benjamin: “I don’t give a sh*t about the fans.”
Benoit, what a jewel. Showed up to an expedition in Fresno vs the Warriors with two left shoes.
Ass on bench? It’s not 1975 anymore. It’s not even 1985. Sparky, Tommy, and Earl are completely dead. He will collect his pay and smirk his way thru the season – on the bench.
healys_attitude.mp3 – Howard Cosell imitator: “Tony Rendon, you’ve got a horse***t attitude.”
Bing Bang Boom?
https://x.com/FoulTerritoryTV/status/1861115339305542064
We are winning the offseason. Cant wait for the trophy celebration.
Win the offseason? ✅
Next up…Win Spring Training? ✅ ✅
Then……we shit 💩 👎🏽 💩 👎🏽 💩 🛌 the bed in the regular season….
trAdition
Like Meatloaf said:
2 out of 3 ain’t bad.
Angels add more rotation help with Yusei Kikuchi
The deal: 3 years, $63 million
Grade: C+
The Angels certainly have a thing for left-handed starters — they lead the majors in most games started by lefties over the past three seasons — so linking up with another southpaw in Yusei Kikuchi hardly qualifies as a surprise. They’ve also been the most active team, adding Kikuchi to a list of offseason acquisitions that already includes Jorge
Soler, Travis d’Arnaud and Kyle Hendricks.
Kikuchi is coming off the two best months of his career following a deadline trade from the Blue Jays to the Astros. In 10 starts with Houston, he went 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA, striking out 76 batters in 60 innings with an impressive 31.8% strikeout rate and holding batters to a .188 average.
There are reasons to believe in the improvement: With the Astros, he threw his slider much more often (from 16.9% of the time while with the Blue Jays to 37.1%) while throwing his four-seam fastball and especially his curveball less often (he also utilizes a changeup against right-handers).
It’s just two months of performance that stands out from the rest of his career. Since signing with Seattle in 2019, Kikuchi has always had a plus fastball — he has averaged 95 mph over the past four seasons, including a career-high 95.5 in 2024 — but he’s also never had a 2-WAR season. While he has been durable — he made 20 starts in 2022 only because he was banished to the bullpen — he has also been homer-prone. His control has improved the past two seasons, including a career-low 6% walk rate in 2024, so in combination with the increased slider usage, maybe this is a new and improved pitcher entering his age-34 season.
Maybe.
It’s also true the Angels have struggled to get the most out of their starting pitchers or to keep them healthy. Oddly enough, despite all their struggles in the pitching department over the past decade, this signing is the second biggest in total dollar amount in franchise history for a free agent pitcher, trailing only the $77.5 million deal given C.J. Wilson in 2012 (Mark Langston in 1990 would be regarded as a bigger signing just in evaluating the player).
After trading Griffin Canning in the Soler deal and non-tendering the injured Patrick Sandoval, the Angels needed to fill their rotation. Kikuchi and Hendricks at least do that. Now they just need to upgrade the infield, the outfield and the bullpen. — Schoenfield
Yep – this is pretty accurate and well written. I would give the signing a C but lower it to C-/D+ given the cost and overall situation with holes everywhere. It becomes a C+ for me if the budget is more expansive than we expect. If they can upgrade the infield, outfield and bullpen under the current budget and sign Kikuchi – then fine. Maybe Arte is signaling a willingness to spend up to or above the Cap. We will see.
“Now they just need to upgrade the infield, the outfield and the bullpen.”
Awesome!
We’re almost done ha ha.
I like the Bees new uniforms. Both the home white and alternate black look really sharp.
I think we field a AAA team with some intriguing names for the first time in a long time.
Still think my idea is a good one…..The Bees, alternate jersey/nickname…….Murder Hornets…….Black jersey, lots of red and this logo.
“Murder Hornets”? Nah….SLC demands the “Mormon Hornets”
Yah. They are classic/classy and just look “baseball” instead of Nike/University of Oregon. I’m just glad they didn’t fk with Bumble. I really like the bee with the bat.
The write-up on Hendricks is close to hilarious. He basically had a 6 ERA last season but pitched better down the stretch just to get his ERA to that level. Wow. We can hope for something out of him, but no one should expect much. Detmers stats last season were painful sadly. At least the talent is obvious. We will see where it goes.
Let’s hope Silseth can turn back into something. I kind of liked what I saw of the Italian wonder last season as a future arm for the team. Prayers everybody.
If you’re looking for hopium on Hendricks, he was elite at limiting hard contact and well above average at getting ground balls last year.
The concerning part is the steep decline in strikeout ability. Once you can’t put guys away they only make outs by putting balls in play and at times that will lead to rallies and runs.
And, as an added bonus, from all accounts hes like having another pitching coach and seems to be a perfect fit for helping develop a young pitching staff. https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2024/11/08/much-love-to-kyle-hendricks-a-superior-pitcher-and-an-even-better-teammate/
Of course none of that matters if he’s so shitty that he gets released before July.
I’ve always seen Silseth as a swing/long relief guy.
Same.
And in the modern game there’s value to that.
No longer have high expectations for Chase, just too much of a physical wreck but he is the best talent from that fateful 20-pitcher draft. I see him now like a wild card, not that old to where he could come back to shape but no one to count on.
How many injuries has he had?
Aug 2023 – hit in the head during Mets game by errant throw.
Ahh yes…. one of our finest “The Fan Ju Ju is Real” moments. Plus elbow flames. Were there more injuries. This sounds like an injury plus a guy throwing a baseball at his head….
A Trey Garbage career highlight Ladies & Germs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNnGzrLwl7Y
also known as “The Echo heard ’round the world”
Prior to receiving the Noggin Nuke, In Silseth’s previous 5 starts he was 3-0 with a 3.08 ERA 1.05 WHIP striking out 35 batters against 8 walks in 26-1/3 innings .
Since his return it’s been a disaster for him.
The curse strikes again
April 2024 – elbow inflammation, started on 15 day IL, moved to 60 day.
Interesting Rhett doesn’t include Klassen in his piece.
I know there’s debate as to whether he’s a starter or reliever but he’s been a starter in the Angels organization and he’s rated only behind Dana on the pitching side.
I like the way the pitching depth is trending. Hopefully we can draft a front of the rotation college guy in 2025.
Klassen should probably spend all of 2025 in the minors.
Holliday or Bremner are my very early top 2 prospects
Some good college OF potential is there too. Perry will go the college route.
I’m stoked this year because, though it’s all a crap shoot, there are some guys I really like in this draft that will be in our draft slot.
Thus we will draft a catcher from Dagobah State Elementary University.
Hopefully the strategy is a bit different in this draft than drafting someone they think they can sign for less money. If the Halos end up with a top 3 pick I really hope they pay whatever it takes to sign him even if it means a possible over slot pay.
Can you pay a #1 pick overslot?
Good question. I think so? At least full slot.
You can pay any player over slot but if your overall player bonus pool exceeds 105% of your total bonus pool amount, the penalties are pretty draconian.
Yep. So you’d have to draft college seniors and pay them peanuts to pull it off.
Put 10th round pick this year got peanuts, for example.
Thanks for positivity. The initial Hendricks write-up had me thinking of Joe Blanton — who I don’t think lasted last June. But maybe I’m mistaken. He certainly was a disappointment
Trade Anderson, sign Bieber?
I love that we are being active. Wondering if Perry is saving anything for us during Winter Meetings (12/8 – 12/12).
And the draft lottery is 2 weeks away. Whatever black magic needs to be performed in order to get the #1 pick must be done. The opportunity to draft Ethan Holliday would complete our IF — Schanuel, Moore, Neto, Holliday, O’Hoppe.
Glass half full…we are doing something!!!
But of course…not good enough for some.
“Don’t mistake activity for achievement. To produce results, tasks must be well organized and properly executed; otherwise, it’s no different from children running around the playground—everybody is doing something, but nothing is being done; lots of activity, no achievement.”
― John Wooden
I would say the Angels Org is similar to children running around the playground or like chickens with their heads cut off. Great quote!
“Life is too short to spend in negativity. So I have made a conscious effort to not be where I don’t want to be.”
— Hugh Dillon
“Realism over optimism or pessimism. I advocate for cautious and realistic analysis not because I do not have faith in the future but because I do not want to encourage blind faith..”
-Me
“The time may come later in life when you are driving down the road and you look into the rearview mirror and begin pondering your life, then you run into the back of a fuel tanker and die.”
-Me
Or a Pinto.
-The old me.
😂
A few of my friends had Pintos, after the revelation I consider myself very fortunate.
My parents gave zero shits about me…let me ride in the back of a 1972 Ford Pinto……the one that had a “little problem” with the gas tank exploding on rear impact.
(Seatbelts back then were for suckers)
But I made it……here today following a shitty baseball team that hasn’t done shit for almost 15 years with you good people. Good times!
“Keeping it REAL”…. the excuse that’s always there when I want to be a stupid asshole.
Nothing worse than blind optimism in my opinion. Maybe I am just jaded over all the seasons of baseless optimism on this site. Probably so.
We will see the standard predictions of 95 wins and playoffs on CTPG as we approach the season. I remember a few people were predicting the Angels would average 7+ runs per game leading into 2024. 🙄
See. I use my incredible intelligence to identify what is blind optimism and what is just people sorting out how a situation may work out to a positive outcome. Then, that same incredible brain power, paired with my Captain Piccard level poise, just sort of blots out the stupid ideas like 7+ runs per game or 95 wins.
They’re coo coo so their ideas just sort of slide out of my mind’s eye. After all, they are likely wrong, if they are right I’ll be happy, and either way it has just about zero effect on anything so why do I need to be the optimism hall monitor?
You do know that we are going to win 100 games in 2025 and average 10runs a game, don’t you?
We win definitely win 100 games in 2025 & 2026 and by that I mean the total of both seasons.
All I read here is blah blah blah….
All I hear is Radio Gaga.
in 3 months it will be time to declare once again this will be Trout’s comeback season !
Where does “15 WAR from Washington” fit in your theorem?
I get it. Harder for me to ignore the crazy optimism. Maybe it will be a New Year’s Resolution.
Gitch, add to that: “I just speak the truth to authority.”
(The forever unemployed uncle in the family).
Oh, hell yeah. The guy who ALWAYS has a boss that’s a piece of shit. And HE’s the guy who setting things right by collecting unemployment.
Have I told you about the Angel optimist and the Angel pessimist?
The pessimist says, “Things could not get worse.”
The optimist says, “Oh yes they can.”
😀
Anderson has essentially zero value per the Trade Simulator.
True but if the cost of mid tier free agents is $20ish million per year for 3+ years, then Anderson will have value at only $13 million.
We’ll see pretty soon how much Eovaldi and Flaherty are priced.
Agree, with the QO at $21M, offers will need to start around that price. It will be interesting to see how much Manaea, Severino, and Pivetta get, Tier 2/3 guys.
F*ck The Trade simulator
“ Simulate this🖕🏼” trade simulator!
Ha! This one made me laugh.
I paid $29.99 for a year of that Simulator so expect to see frequent references to it!
I know. I can’t just make up bullshit trades based on my eyes and a stiff wishing stick anymore. I hate you data!
Oh, come on. If you can trade Napoli for VW, you can make up anything.
That is a great point!
Yeah and I am Hugh Hefner
Anderson is interesting as far as BTV site goes. He’s the perfect test case for having a financial/WAR value of basically null, so if he is traded you can actually see the amount that “scarcity” moves his value…. or the effect that scarcity + adding some cash to cover his salary has.
So if the blank slate of Anderson nets you two top 20 prospects from a team worth say 9.0 when you add in 3M in cash then we can actually see the added value the SIM doesn’t include but GMs that really need innings from a totally average value pitcher do include.
Or the other way around.
Yes. Covering day 50% of his salary would likely net you at least one decent prospect. It is a good test for the simulator.
So did Thaiss and we got cash baby!!!
https://twitter.com/TaylorBlakeWard/status/1861162683716002011
Kikuchi is an innings eater. Leaving out 2020 his average per year is 152.44 for 5 years.
So you’re saying he’s ready for his “welcome to to the curse” Tommy John surgery? 😄
You might be right Senator!!
“Innings eater “@ 152 innings per season? What has happened to the game when that has become true? Hitters hitting for power numbers not seen since, well, since steroids. Third time around in the batting order falls to the bullpen and the pen gets pounded and that makes sense to the number crunchers and analytical new wave crowd. Inning eaters used to go 200 to 300 innings; those days are done though.
Back in the day, Nolan Ryan used to pitch 152 innings by the 2nd week in May….
Agree, but it is what it is in the so called modern era.
I read “152 innings” laughed a little. The definition of pitching “studs” has changed so much. Now 125 innings and your “gritty and tough” (on our side) or a “giant douche” (LAD, NYY, BOS, et. al).
When the Angels brought Geoff Zahn on board, Gene Mauch said “he’s a decent pitcher who should give us 250-275 innings”.
Yes. As demonstrated in every other field of athletic endeavor, human athletes are continuing to achieve “more” by almost every measure. But in our beloved game something has become so out of balance that performance is going in the other direction except where directly attributable to the bat or the ball. Hence, we get Manfraud’s feeble tinkerings with bases, clocks etc. I despair!
Probably would be more if he pitched effectively enough to stay in the game.
That was because Mike Trout fucked with him, hard line drives
Former employee #17 also owned him.
Perspective.
https://x.com/BeyondTheHalo/status/1861204100530217206
What I found most ironic is the Blue Jays still won 4 of those disastrous 8 Big A starts by Kikuchi which is probably says a little about his ability to battle and more about the horrible state of our bullpen.
“Perspective harshes a good buzz.”
— Matt Harvey