Morning Angels fans. It is still “Winter” whatever that means. Anyway, have some links.
Angels News
Mike Trout has some words towards MLB Network for what they think of him being only the 39th best player in Baseball right now. I mean, he has to play at least 120 games first, something he hasn’t done since 2019.
Zips top 100 prospects is out. Only 1 Angel on this one.
Around Baseball
How good is each team projected to be anyway? Well, Fangraphs has a chart out now that breaks it down in the 4 main areas, IF, OF/DH, SP, and RP. And the Angels are in the bottom third in 3/4 of them.
Mets owner is really mad about his attendance numbers. I mean, they were a playoff team in NYC and somehow the Angels had better (paid) attendance. That’s bad.
Speaking of those attendance numbers, it was mostly up in 2024 over 2023. 18 had more fans while 12 had fewer. Of course, the Angels are a part of those 12.
Justin Turner is still not retiring. He will be a Cub now. 1Y/6M.
Vlad Jr will head to Free Agency in November and will want to be on a winning team. Welp, so much for that.
Speaking of, it will be expensive as he and Tucker will be the only Free Agents that are in the top 25 in FWAR the last 4 seasons. Everyone else is locked up for at least 5 years.
Manfred is insisting that the A’s in Sacramento will be fine and that they will have that Las Vegas stadium built by the 2028 season. Construction hasn’t started yet.
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes!
Too bad none of the guys on the top of the board are this filthy.
https://x.com/_NoahHiles/status/1892252809636016393
Silent Sammy – Did he get cut out of Arte’s interview? Again? 🤣
(he didn’t write about it and hasn’t posted an article since Fletch posted his a few days ago)
He posted this yesterday but you’re right Rex hes been totally radio silent regarding the Arte Pauper speech:
https://x.com/SamBlum3/status/1891941298031972750
I wonder if he got recalled back to New York for a real assignment.
Yes, pump up Rengifo’s trade value by playing him in CF. *Evil laugh*
I’m gonna miss 👑 Luis when he’s gone!
Good times and great memories form the Kingfish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMAF_L7Agk0
It’s definitely worth a listen.One major takeaway is Tim Salmon reinforces how important Joe Maddon was to this franchise. Even if we never got to see the Mohawk.
Man-Fred Saul Goodman.
“It’s a Great thing” – $400,000,000 Doyer payroll. Parity is for suckers.
https://sports.yahoo.com/rob-manfred-thinks-dodgers-spending-is-a-great-thing-as-payroll-hovers-around-400-million-225422948.html
No salary cap, no problemo I guess.
When they eventually do put it in, they better put in floor as well.
Also, the league doesn’t deserve parity right now. Owners have never been cheaper than before. Of course 95% of the players are overpaid, but there needs to be compromise on both sides. If that means the dodgers spending $500M in payroll and cake walking to 2 more titles to force change, so be it.
Yep, there needs to be a floor and a cap. Every dime taken out of the revenue sharing pool needs to be spent on payroll. I’d say the same for the money MLB gives each team from the national TV contracts and network.
Until guys like Nutting actually try to compete, the Dodgers spending spree isn’t really changing their odds of competing.
I remember going to the games in early 2010s and attendance always being consistently at 40,000 for home games, regardless of opponent. These days, it looks like it’s 60% full unless the Yankees or dodgers are in town.
World Series bump right into Vlad playoff teams right into Trout.
We had a great, stable run. Its OK to have bad years or stretches but the team is bad in a way that is more frustrating than just a normal, natural down cycle of rebuilding. By trying to avoid a rebuild they’ve stuck the team in mud where its bad but there’s been no amazing farm system infusion to spark hope in the background.
It’s a lot to ask of a SoCal region that is notoriously fair-weathered and front running with sports. The Angels aren’t the Lakers and don’t have the generational goodwill or brand equity for fans to withstand the decade-long slog they’ve created by avoiding rebuilds.
All the while the NFL has returned to LA, the Dodgers are amazing and younger people are just watching less sports across the board.
Just to be clear, I don’t blame the fanbase. I’m right there with them as I only go to games now if I’m invited or if it’s like Star Wars night, etc. 10 years of ineptitude will of course wane the crowds…frankly I’m surprised it’s still in the 30K range. Respect to those still faithful and they deserve much more than what has been given to them. Both from ownership and the players.
No I know you’re not blaming fans. Was more just echoing your observation
Those were great days and fun teams. We still had the WS glow but we also had Torii and Vladdy. Weaver and Frankie.
My wife knew absolutely nothing about baseball at the time but still enjoyed going to packed houses and fireworks on Friday nights.
Why you need ST
https://flic.kr/p/2qMAGHm
How is the access Rex?
Its OK, similar to last few years.
So Mike was supposed to stop at second base?
Didn’t want his calf muscle to explode in February?
RFs don’t need stupid stop signs.
Yes, you learn all sorts of baseball fundamentals in February.
apparently when one rounds second base, you are supposed to look at the coach and if he says ‘Hold! Hold! Hold! Hold! Hold!’ while holding both hands in the air, this is the Angels secret sign the baserunner is to stop running and get back to second base.
as reported previously, they are learning all sorts of things 🤣
And I am happy to report Mike quickly caught on to the concept of picking up the 3b coach when rounding 2b on a ball hit to RF, and following his instructions on whether to proceed to 3b, or not.
There were no further mishaps. And the rest of the team also seemed to grasp this concept too. 😁
What sorcery is this?
I think he was supposed to stop at third, and didn’t realize it till he was halfway home.
I can see the logic in the rankings. Until some of the kids prove they are MLB caliber we have to doubt them.
However, I can see both the starting pitching and bullpen improving considerably over the course of the year. Not enough to change the year long results much, but enough that we head into 2026 looking like we’re turning a corner and heading for brighter days.
Hendricks will be pushed aside, Anderson is traded, and there are more bullpen hopefuls than bullpen spots. That will get worked out by the best of the bunch securing spots.
Yep. I think if half to two thirds of the guys we are watching for continued improvement pull it off then we end up in that 15-18 range of rankings at the end of the year. Unless of course we counterbalance improvement from say Schanuel by trading Rengifo and Ward for prospects… then we stay in the low 20s for offense but there’s a good reason for it.
I don’t put too much stock in these lists, not cause they are wrong, just that they basically say, “here’s how you did last year”…. no duh. They can’t really extrapolate guys getting better, which is fair, but on a team where 70% of the roster is focused on getting better or getting healthy?
The pen is a good example. I actually have fairly high hoped for the pen, but I wouldn’t expect them to rank us 15 based on hope.
I actually believe the bullpen will be better than last year, starting pitching will be the weakest, and hitting will be slightly better. I don’t see the defense being any better and possibly worse.
Funny Roy but I actually think the opposite . With the return of Karsay, the Red Barryon and the addition of Sal Fasano I think we will be ok with the starting pitching but have alot concerns with the bullpen. Injury concerns over the two headed closer monster notwithstanding, I’m concerned that Cheap Arte has now put the kibosh on Perry picking up any experienced veterans to help set up the middle innings.
Of course if your starting pitching sucks so really dont have any Save or Hold opportunities, Any bullpen can look much better with strictly mop up roles.
I dread to say it out loud, but I think the “experienced veterans to help set up the middle innings” are bad Suarez and worse Suarez.
Chase Silseth likely fits into this role. Possibly Sam Bachman. But until they cut Suarez, you are correct.
It’s a little bit of a guess at this point so you may very well be correct. I like Jansen and Joyce and for the 8th and 9th, and I think that Silseth and Suarez could provide decent multiple inning relief if they go that route. I don’t know too much about the rest, which is maybe what your concern is. Those middle inning guys.
Saturday cannot come soon enough. Silent C opens up ST on the bump!
My preference is Detmers grabbing the 5th spot in the rotation, but I would be perfectly satisfied with Silent C as well.
The juxtaposition in watching Soriano and 🤫 C firing 97+ mph, while Anderson and Hendricks lob in 87 mph would be something to behold lol
Anyone but Hendricks.
Hendricks is there so Dana gets some needed minor league time. I expect him to be bad most days and also to be released in or by June.
If he buys Dana 8 or so starts in the minors to work on some things, he’s done his job.
I agree, but you also have Detmers and Silent C.
On average teams run thru around what? 9+ starters a seasons?
All these guys will get opportunities, including Silseth, Aldegheri
Hendriks is also a veteran who I think is a good club house guy so he can talk to the young pitchers, etc.
I’m good with that, I just don’t want him pitching.
“Hey kids, did you see what I did out there? Don’t do that.”
I do like the voices the Angels have for the young pitching staff and O’hoppe.
Hendricks was known as The Professor in Chicago during his prime. Great guy for Silent C and the gang to glean knowledge.
d’Arnaud was renown for working with young pitchers in Atlanta and IMO will be an MLB manager at some point. Great for Logan as well.
And they better call Sal now that hes the Asst PC
It’s funny with all the new/refurbished Angel stadium stagnation the Ducks are redoing the entire neighborhood. Actual wet water in the Santa Ana River, restaurants, music venues, condos, shopping……………and just across the way, right next door, still Tijuana.
I hear rumors the city plans on dumping the waste from the “fancy new urban renewal OC mega sports resort” right in the Big A parking lot, with a shiny new sewage treatment plant. Well at least when we take in an Angels game (a likely disappointing loss) we can see the bright lights from the new OC sports metropolis, maybe even smell the food cooking in the fancy new restaurants.
https://www.anaheim.net/5157/Honda-Center-OC-Vibe#:~:text=OCVibe%2C%20proposed%20and%20financed%20by,Links%20to%20prior%20documents
Was at the fights at Honda Center on Saturday night and that development is massive. As a longtime proponent of keeping the team at the Big A, I’d say the smart thing to do would be build a new stadium on the east side of the lot.
Development in the Angels parking lot too….tram connecting both, shared parking, development of the River would be interesting, parks, outdoor amphitheater, ball fields. Year round activity.
Now living in Dallas, it’s pretty cool having the old Globe Life (now being used for rugby, soccer, UFL, concerts), the New Globe Life and Jerry World all within walking distance. They built very cool amenities near the new Globe Life (restaurants, hotels, retail and office). Have only seen one game in Globe Life with the ceiling open. Definitely was brutal watching games in the old stadium in July and August. Was there when both events were going at the same time, and traffic was bad, but they made it work. What they did with the Cowboys practice facility in Frisco is super cool too. Their indoor stadium is used as the home field for all the Frisco high schools and it’s quite amazing.
Nice. Jerry is a bit of a fight fan and hosts boxing cards at the practice facility from time to time. That entire campus looks incredible.
Rex, or anyone else who has been there, how is the access to the back fields at Spring Training this year? I heard they were considering opening it up more again, but wonder if they did.
its the same as last year basically. limited OF access on Field 4
you can walk down to the Quad and see Field 4 and 5 ok, but most workouts on Field 3 and you can’t see those too well because they limit access to the quad center.
they have been using Fields 1&2 early before 930am, but only for IF
Overall not much changed, but pleasantly surprised they are using the two upper fields more.
WE DID IT BY NOT DOING IT! We didn’t even sign Justin Turners gross ass face to be a “veteran presence and a name the plebes know” who needs ABs. Bring on the kids baby! Then go get more kids and bring on those kids too!
Man. Those attendance stats kind of bum me out just cause there are a lot of teams I’d be excited to watch not cracking 70% attendance. The Royals, Tigers, Mets, Orioles? Heck, even the D Backs and Twins are fairly engaging. Plus most of those teams have nice ball parks.
Of course, the biggest mystery to me long term is the Florida teams. Sure, the Marlins suck now, and the Rays fans have a bunch of excuses about stadium location, but let’s be honest, building a new flashy stadium in Miami and getting to the play offs (also having won two titles) hasn’t done squat for the Marlins and a new stadium in the Tampa area? Also not likely to stir the needle. And that team’s awesome. If they were in Pittsburgh the last 25 years they’d be selling out. I seriously think the people who are into local baseball in Florida are poor, and the people who can afford local baseball are Yankees fans. When the Rays move to Nashville they are gonna go bonkers.
I’m surprised at Baltimore and really the Mets. Good teams in large metro areas and good baseball history.
Pretty surprising to see the Mets with that big attendance drop. Maybe the dip was front-loaded before they turned it around?
I suspect those attendance numbers will drop substantially in 2025 unless a baseball fairy jumps out of that huge silver cocoon like structure near Angel Stadium and sprinkles pixie dust this year resulting in an unexpected winning season and a Trout reemergence. If the suspected 74 or fewer wins occurs, attendance will continue to fall except for games when premier teams (like when the Dodgers and Ohtani) come to Anaheim.
Keep in mind that the numbers on that list are artificially high as many of those tickets were bought by local ticket brokers at a discount. Also, the ’23 numbers are somewhat surprisingly low since Ohtani was on that team.
If things go as I suspect, the attendance per game will be in the 25,000 per game range and that will be ticket sales. Actual attendance except for giveaways and key teams will be more like 15,000 and below. On a random Tues night with the Rays in town, we may see 10,000 fans in the stands after the 5th inning.
How utterly shocking you would feel this way, Debbie. But history tells us probably not.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ANA/attend.shtml
Yeah, the hating dad so much attendance magically drops to 1992 numbers isn’t likely to work. But it doesn’t have to. The team is surely feeling that fewer actual humans are in the stadium and watching on TV. Orange bald guy is selling less insurance. Fewer shitty OGs Pizzas are being scarfed down. The lessness of money is on spread sheets and the company is built to want the bigger pile of money that was coming in so they’ll be motivated to fix that.
My friend, I am not Debbie Downer. I am Ruby Realist. My viewpoints do not come from anger or depression. They are reality based – the only difference from many CTPG folks is I do not smoke from the pipe of Hopium. I saved that for my much younger days.
Does Debbie Downer ever admit she is Debbie Downer? At what point does constant pounding repetitive manic realism become surreal? Are we in a simulation? Aliens?
People always think they are who they think they are but in reality they are who they are.
Dennis Green would like to point out that “some” might not share this opinion
https://youtu.be/SWmQbk5h86w?si=bVl_ZjtoNQVAUQK4
Much like the Angels! 😎
Those attendance figures were greatly influenced by 714 Tickets
Yup. And this is kinda good. Let the money sour a little for a couple seasons, the lesson sinks in, buying names doesn’t work. Build the farm.
I think we can be confidant that, if the Angels are good again, they’ll cross 3 million fans again too. But I want ownership to see that investing in the system yields good cheap players and that large attendance equals more profit when you have a steady stream of young talent.
It’s gonna help that there are basically no free agents worth a shit coming to the market other than Tucker next winter. Gotta develop those kid in order to win and make money. No other option.
Yes, this is my perspective as well. I think the only thing that Arte really listens to is money I get that, he is a businessman, and I have no problem with that. But if that is what he listens to, then this hopefully will all be an important lesson to him, and the team can emerge in a couple seasons younger, stronger and much more sustainable not to mention much more fun
Yup. Can’t gloss over those red digits in the cells.
In the meantime… they might have enough excitement around the young core that fans will get behind it, even this year. Wouldn’t hurt to start off April and May with some Gritty play and a few surprising series wins, a walk-off win or
2,3, 4….Be competitive this year, the kids continue to play well, I’m seeing a fun team the average fan might grow into. If they can play, they have some marketable talent. Already seeing some interest in Neto, Adell, and O’hop with the ladies, if you know what I mean. We will need a little help from the Baseball Gods and some magic JuJu dust…fingers crossed.
When it looks too good to be true, it usually is until luck intervenes, and then it isn’t. Arte was directly responsible for trading for Wells (lost it), signing Albert (Previous ‘roid use numbers & injuries and yes, I believe that.), Hamilton (Drug use), Rendon (Injuries and lack of digging deep and being honest about being injured and playing through injuries. But with those signings still came the people to see them and Trouty and Shotime and the team drew three million plus fans for 15 years or so. Now attendance is down, and payroll is out of whack with lack of production.
The good news on the hopium front is the starting pitching doing very well and big improvement from Neto and O’Hoppe along with Trouty somehow playing in 145 games. The “Pen” should be good again and there might be a lot Moore breaking out. More good news is no big contracts weighing us down and drafting in a good position along with decent surplus to trade away in July. I’m looking forward to this season to see the positive changes that could bring on a lot of fun and 70-win season.
Can’t forget about pooholes playing as a mid-twenty-year-old in high school… and I thought that was just saved for actors/actresses playing a high school character!
I’ll ask Jack Clark how the public accusation about Puljos ‘roid use worked for him. As I recall he retreated with his tail between his legs because he had no proof at all. Accuracy matters and so does truth. If someone has proof let it out. Otherwise forget it and let it go.
Rendon not honest about injuries? Like when he fouled that ball off his shin and it was three months later that he had to announce the tibia fracture and the Angels never said a word about it? Honesty goes both ways and I think we are pretty certain the Angels aren’t always honest and open about injuries. I always scratch my head over that one.
For this year all I’m looking for is incremental improvement from the kids. I’m not yet sold on the hopium of starting pitching doing well. I’m hoping Detmers hits the mean between his first six starts last year and the horror of the rest of the year. I would happily take that. Same for Kikuchi, the mean between his Astro and Toronto work would be great. I don’t think Neto or O’Hoppe need to improve from last season. Neto had a great season and I think it would be hard to improve on in a substantial way. I would like to see Nolan improve barrel rate by 20% (he was so low last year). I don’t care about HRs, just hit the ball well first. I would like to see any improvement at all from Rengifo on defense. That would be a plus. I would like to see Adell decrease his strikeout rate by 3% and put more balls into play. I would like to see Trout have a full season that would be the same as last season’s start. If we got replacement level play at 3b that would be incredible. With the right performance improvements I can see this team winning 77-80 games. Attendance could hit 3mil again, if they win at home. You have to win home games.
Just my opinion.
That Rendon foul ball off the shin injury “conspiracy” is hilarious to me. I saw it live. As soon as it hit him and I saw him drop and saw his face I was like “That shit’s at least a cracked bone. He’s done for this year. Fk.”
Jack Clark retracted as his source, with working knowledge of the facts, stated he would deny what he told Jack.
It was all high reps, low weight, skinless organic chicken breast, fresh vegetables, and B-12 shots.
LOL…Albert is about as clean as a priest with a stack of nudie magazines
I thought Pujols scrubbed this image from the internet!
The 3 MLB franchises that for years led the way in discussions about relocating have been the A’s and Rays. Good things MLB listened to the fans, or both would be playing in sand boxes this season. The Angels played there first season in a fire waiting to happen woodened stadium back in ’61 called Wrigley field where HR Derby was filmed. Hope it all works out, but both places will run out of ice in the summer or as Buster Poindexter “Hot- Hot- Hot”.
Who was the third franchise?
Ha! Come on – that is just Grandpa and his malapropism.
Our chief weapon is surprise!… Surprise and fear… fear and surprise… Our two weapons are fear and surprise… and ruthless efficiency! Our three weapons are fear, and surprise, and ruthless efficiency… and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope…
It’s kind of like the old programmer’s joke…
The top three programming errors
Les Expos De Montreal
Great links today JHW, thank you.
Go Hålos