Good morning Angels fans. Still no Baseball until Friday. Have some links.
Angels News
With Kikuchi not pitching and no other Angel there, the All Star Game was rather… un-angelic this year. This was all the Angels got this year.
At least he got to talk to the media. Yay…
Oh and the Angels drafted a bunch of players, signed undrafted players, and made most Angels fans mad. Here is a list of the players signed so far.
Around Baseball
The NL beat the AL in the All Star Game on a Home Run Derby. Yes. A Home Run Derby. NL blew the save but the 9th ended 6-6. Schwarber then led the NL to victory in the Home Run Derby instead of Extra Innings.
Naturally Schwarber won the All Star MVP for his performance. Even though technically he shouldn’t have been even eligible.
In case you weren’t watching, there was a tribute to Hank Aaron’s 415th home run after the 6th inning. It was a cool fireworks and light show.
Alright, in non All Star Game news, the Rays got sold. Lucky.
They will also play the playoffs in the Yankees’ Florida stadium if they make it. That’s really bad but hey, at least that place will sell out.
Oh and the Twins will also be sold eventually. Eventually…
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes!
Washington has signed their draft picks 6-10.
#6 – $50,000 vs $386,700 slot = $336,700 savings
#7 – $10,000 vs $302,500 slot = $292,500 savings
#8 – $10,000 vs $239,900 slot = $229,900 savings
#9 – $10,000 vs $207,500 slot = $197,500 savings
#10 $5,000 vs $193,800 slot = $188,800 savings
And I’ll bet they will have more of the same. They mostly picked 22 and 23 year olds. I’d be outraged if I was a fan and they didn’t pull off something huge by doing this.
They must think the 3 high schoolers they took in Rounds 3 4 & 5 are going to need huge over the slot deals to sign and not go to college. More than just the 5% overage and $2+ million Reggies kid give them
I looked them up – I think you nailed it. Miss St, LSU and Ole Miss. All of them went later than their ranking. Get yourself a good agent kids.
Anybody select Jack Bauer? I know he wanted a ton but I’m sure one of the cash rich teams took a chance.
He can play for 24 hours straight.
Also when severely injured.
Not drafted, said Monday he’s going to Mississippi State
From their local paper “ He was ranked as the No. 44 draft prospect by MLB.com but was not picked in the draft that ran from July 13-14.”
One home run derby is too much. Two of them is ridiculous.
They should have a coaches HR Derby the day after the AS game.
Maybe all the UDFAs being signed by the Halos amounts to a tacit admission they’re unlikely to sign all the underslot HS talent they drafted this year. Say they save $2M on Bremner (they better, fer Chrissakes) and $400K-$500K on Shores and Snead and Munroe collectively… is that enough underage to entice each of the seven HS pitchers? (Five of which are Top 300 types and likely to ask for more than the $150K latter-round max.)
Spin Monster was a good start.
At the very least, the UDFAs are a tacit admission the org neglected position players in the draft itself. Agree that it was an outre drafting strategy, but echoing earlier comments, at least it was a strategy that appeared to be mindfully scoped out.
I am actually blank on this. Is UDFA signings part of our draft pool?
Only if they sign for more than $150k
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2025-mlb-undrafted-free-agent-tracker-agreements-for-all-30-teams/
Ahhhh…. yeah, most of those senior signs are not getting that. These are the guys who come play for my beloved Santa Barbara Foresters after the draft….
I mean before the draft.
No… up to $150K as SW notes above. My thought: even though the Halos drafted 20 players, the HS-heavy approach means more than usual are likely to be unsigned.
…and upcoming comp picks for unsigned draftees?
Except for unsigned picks 11-20. No (comp) picks for You!
Actually, unless there’s been a change I’m unaware of, compensation for unsigned picks is only awarded for players from the first three rounds who do not sign.
Ok Check that:
For unsigned picks in Rounds 4-20. No (comp) picks for You!
at this point I’m most concerned with Slawinski and the Mississippi Player of the Year and also the Guam Player of the Year and also the Aleutian Island Player of the Year.
Slawinski already announced that he’s signing.
Talon Haley would be the one most likely to forgo signing.
and of course Haley is the one I want the most, of the later picks.
I’ve got to think Haley was negotiated and not a huge gamble. Corbin looks for character kids. I think he had a price and they met it. They do have a great Trump card in how fast they will move guys to the show. That’s worth a lot of money. I think it’s one thing the Angels are doing right from a positioning standpoint in the draft. So with all the disadvantages of moving them fast, that’s a huge advantage in July. Some of these kids have never been on a bus until rookie ball.
Catching up on Slawinski just reinforces my opinion the Angels should have taken Holiday or a different bat with the first pick. Johnny has the goods and presents some good value in the 3rd round.
The club has signed a healthy number of UDFAs, 6-10 or so, each year since the draft was shortened to 20 rounds.
So I wouldn’t call this year’s haul a new strategy per se, but it does reflect the many roster holes that need filling across the farm after so many pitching-centric drafts.
Cowboy posted this in the draft thread and it is good news. Only $120k north of slot value for the Spin Monster.
https://x.com/BeyondTheHalo/status/1945001531943661921
This feels like a solid deal.
It’s interesting, because Dylan Jordan last year was ranked in a very similar zone as Luke LaCourse (#170 vs #213 on the BA 500 – both 6-8 round guys), but Jordan received $1.25M while LaCourse looks to getting a little north of $500k.
I thought Jordan’s bonus was rather steep for the talent level, as he was known to have bullpen risk, and I don’t think he was going to get big NIL money from Florida State.
John Henry, I demand that you return those 300 home runs that you have stolen from Mr. Aaron!
Hey, he didn’t say that Hank ONLY hit 415, he said they celebrated #415. Why they’d celebrate that particular one instead of #715 is up for debate!
June 1, 1966 and the Braves lost so the mystery deepens
ESPN Analysis. Its funny to look back at TT’s analysis and see a category “The Angels Type” and sure enough, Shores and Snead are on it.
Best value: CJ Gray (fifth round). Gray popped onto the scene last summer with a dazzling performance, but scouts tempered their enthusiasm when he had trouble throwing strikes all spring. He finished the season better and showed well at the draft combine, giving teams a glimpse of what his plus athleticism could mean in terms of improvement in the next few years.
He’s a loose 6-foot-2 with a heater into the high-90s, a lower release height and an above-average slider with the makings of a changeup. If he can just keep throwing it over the plate, he has a big league future.
Quickest to the big leagues: Chase Shores (No. 47 overall, connected in my mock 3.0) or Nate Snead (No. 105 overall). If both are left in relief like in college, then Shores will win and could be in the big leagues before the 2026 draft. If Shores is stretched out, Snead has the traits to, with some adjustments, move quickly as well.
Sleeper to watch: Jake Munroe (fourth round) or Luke Lacourse (sixth round). Munroe graded out well defensively at third base and has the polish (pitch selection, ball flight) on top of fringe-to-average tools to be a big leaguer along the lines of Jared Triolo, which is a nice find in the fourth round. Lacourse has the highest breaking ball spin rate in the draft, but was underwhelming with fastball velocity this spring in the low-90s. He could break out with more progress on that front.
One big thought: They opted for savings at the No. 2 pick with Tyler Bremner instead of Ethan Holliday or Kade Anderson. Those savings mostly went to prep pitching, with Johnny Slawinski in the third, Gray in the fifth, Lacourse in the sixth and Xavier Mitchell in the 13th all seeming to be overslot — or at a seven-figure slot in Slawinski’s case. It’s a bulk strategy contingent on pitching development and I like the confidence to do something different in that spot. Because it’s such a high-leverage, public decision, it just needs to work.
Shockingly useful info for ESPN!
It’s a bulk strategy contingent on pitching development and I like the confidence to do something different in that spot. Because it’s such a high-leverage, public decision, it just needs to work.
This is exactly how I and others likely feel. I’m unhappy because I wanted something else. BUT I am also unhappy when ever a GM has “no plan”. PTP obviously has a plan. I think it’s a bit crazy, but it’s a plan. For example. Clearly we have more than one scout working. They went “bulk” and they had to have scouted a lot of HS arms to get to these picks. Also, unless they are totally insane, they are gonna need to continue investing in becoming a “pitching factory” like the Mariners, Rays, Indians, Twins and Brewers. The Mets just got into this game too. It appears the Platypus has squawked his way into Arte signing off on this.
I look at it this way. If this draft I don’t like results in the Angels building the lab in Tempe, upgrading it regularly, and expanding the learning process from there all the way through AA then I think we actually got something out of this…. even if only Bremner shows up in the MLB. If we actually become a place where Nick Mears becomes a sub1.0 WHIP reliever because of “the lab” that’s gonna help us succeed for a long time. If we become a place where a guy like Snead (or Detmers) can actually be stretched out into a starter we have a gold mine. If Arte really has been talked into investing in this then, they will try to go get coaching for it…. like the Driveline Red Sox of Boston.
Sure, there’s about 20 gallons of hopium poured out on this. But at least it’s a plan. And it’s needed, if you look at the FA starters who make it to market. AND, unlike in the past, the Angels aren’t doing this ten years after everyone else. Small wins.
Perry has The Lab. Perry has a big pile of teenagers with “good thing” highlighted on their scouting report. My guess is the first big test is getting Bremner tweeked as far as high fastballs and slider control.
So we’ll see. Say one thing. Perry’s got huge balls.
All I have to do is not pay attention to any of the hitting prospects I wish we’d taken….
Or he’s an idiot. We’ll find out.
Idiot is likely. But the idiot’s doing something….
True. I’m not saying he is, he might be a genius, we just won’t know for a while.
Billy Joel: “You may be right. I may be crazy. But it just might be a lunatic you’re looking for.”
….eternally angry as an angel fan. PIL lyrics for PTP.
Anger is an energy
Anger is an energy
Could be wrong, I could be right
Could be wrong, I could be right
https://youtu.be/jPj-8_wOZcA?si=LDI7rHknClWuSfyb
I, in my north of 60 years on this planet, have learned by observing, that idiot people do idiot things. But they are things. Besides Bremner, he needs to catch lightning in a bottle on at least 2 of the other pitchers and at least 1 of the position players.
I would’ve preferred the idiot draft off the “expert” lists. TT’s was a good place to start.
Big arms too. Perry has Big arms.
An incredibly well-thought out post.
It’s so crazy it just might work, damn it.
Well….. it’s a very small needle to thread. BUT if we end up with just Bremner and some chaff AND a pitching development lab that takes cast offs and makes them useful that was built originally to develop these kids… well, I’ll take that…. in three years….
As Turk’s pointed out, rather than investing $9 million on the singular Hernandez the Angels are spreading that risk among multiple high school kids. Each is rated lower than Hernandez but we’re talking about 18 year olds and the bust rate on all 18 year olds is super high.
It does seem like Perry is fine with a bunch of mid rotation starters if he can build a dynamic bullpen. Not my favorite team building strategy, but in the modern game that can give you a chance to win most nights.
We need some bats desperately, though. At this point I’m hoping any selling at the deadline focuses on offense.
A bunch of mid rotation starters and a dynamic bullpen sounds like how the Royals won their last championship. Maybe Perry can make it work.
I dunno, IMHO Hernandez has more boom than bust. I would have rolled the dice for a chance to develop a home grown ace.
I’ll be watching his development. Sucks that he landed in the Pirates organization. I really like the Pirates but they are just not interested in developing a championship team.
What will really hurt is when the Pirates trade him to the Dodgers for a boatload of prospects that will never make the major leagues.
I’m with you. Also wish the Pirates would get new ownership.
They’ve been really good of late in developing pitchers, however.
Just FYI, I follow the Pirates and Jered Triolo is hitting .158, so not so much of a find perhaps (talking about Munroe, the 4th round pick).
Yeah. That made me laugh. The only thing sadder is KeBryan Hay I Can’t Hit Still
I’m sorry, but using the #47 overall pick on a reliever seems like such a mistake given the players available at this pick and the plethora of needs the team has.
But since Perry allegedly has a plan, I’ll just smile and wave….
How about some pitcher with #2 instead of Holiday.
Yeah…. the guys available three…. prett lame. Hell, just take a hitter and take shores in the 3rd round. He was gonna be there.
poop draft
I’m writing a draft review article on this, but the Angels could have lured in FOUR first rounders, top 40 guys, on Day One.
(2) Kade Anderson (MLB #2)
(47) Quentin Young (MLB #37)
(79) Anthony Eyanson (MLB #40)
(105) Mason Neville (MLB #35)
I would have put aside my own board picks at 79 and 105 (Taitn Gray and Turley) to grab Eyanson and Neville, who fell into their laps.
Wouldn’t have mattered a lick what came next – that would be an industry consensus A+ draft. Two rotation spots addressed in 18-24 months, promising sluggers at 3B and CF/RF.
And at (47), there were lots of alternatives to Young, if the team wanted more safety. Devin Taylor (MLB #30), Alex Lodise (MLB #43).
Chase Shores over Anthony Eyanson. I’m still shaking my head over that one.
Eyanson, SoCal kid born in Long Beach, has a three year track record of starting – never had a FIP over 3.13, and is the Saturday starter on the national champion Tigers (2.49 FIP across 18 starts this season), and Perry says:
Nah, give me bullpen kid on the same team, the one with a 5+ ERA and control issues across his whole career, still rehabbing from TJ. One inning relief is what we need, not this 7 innings grandstanding bullshit.
RP Julio Urías is back on the boards. No hitting is a problem for him.
I saw Bauer was demoted in Japan to minor leagues there. Maybe Urias can take his spot.
More likely though is the Astros sign him tomorrow.
McCollum sounds like a decent prospect. The Draft and UDFA signings >>>> the All-Star Game
McCollum: At 6-foot-5, 210 pounds, McCollum is not your prototypical leadoff hitter. This season he hit a career-high .371/.472/.540 with 20 extra-base hits and 17 stolen bases. McCollum has a sound approach, but his double-plus bat-to-ball skills are his calling card. In addition to his 87% overall contact rate, McCollum posted an impressive 94% overall in-zone contact rate. As a cherry on top, McCollum runs well and is an effective basestealer.
Yep. Both McCollum and Graeber are guys I am actually a little hopium for. Are they likely Jeff DeVanon level talents? Yes. Future Camperos? Almost certainly. But if anyone has the off chance of being a good pick up out of the whole UDFA slough these are two of them. They lack TALENT but are really skillful and McCollum actually has some abilities which, if they grow far more than expected, could make him a very good player.
Zaborowski is the opposite. He has a talent that chicks dig. He’s likely to be Niko Kavedas. But as Turks said, maybe they try him out at 3B and see if they catch lightning. Then all he has to do is make contact with AA pitching…. easy.
All I know is I’ve never felt like poo pooing UDFAs. Like going 4 years playing at Georgia is a sign of failure. I don’t have the scouting knowledge to understand why I am supposed to be over the moon about a HS prospect like Josh Hammond and his power potential but a guy who mashed at an SEC school is garbage after playing in COLLEGE for four years.
BUT. This also pissed me off because if I wanted to be Captain Buildapen I could draft some actual prospects with my 2nd and 4th picks in the draft and pick up several Joe Baseballs from Oberlin College as a UDFA if I’m just looking for a cheap guy to pitch the seventh inning.
Jeff DeVanon talents?
That means a Big League Cycle 🚲 is guaranteed.
The most boring few days in sports is today and tomorrow.
World Class Curling is on Fan Duel.
I do know that there were men that would stare at goats.
It’s quite funny how people are just about finding out that players don’t stay until the end of the game. They say adios when subbed out and actually fly back home as the game is still ongoing.
Hell most of the people at the game who could get tickets for the game had left by the end too….
We may have just lost a trade partner in KC, oh well.
CtPG would be excited to trade Taylor Ward for magic beans such as this. Imagine the hopium!
Devanney, a pre-arbitration player who can suit up at multiple positions but spent the majority of his time playing shortstop at Triple-A Omaha.
Devanney, a 2019 draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers, was called up to the Royals last week but has yet to appear in a major-league game. In 69 games with Omaha, he’s hitting .272/.366/.565 with 18 home runs, 55 RBIs and an OPS of .931.
Frazier is a utility player. Ward would be a major boon to that team.
KC is still in play.
I’ve disliked Kershaw for a long time (Weaver fan) but that was pretty cool to see him go out with the mic last night.
I’ve always liked Kershaw. I will like him a lot more when he stops putting the uniform of the grossest team in baseball on. Had to hear a lot of Doyer talk this week… is there a team more pompous than the Doyers? They make Red Sox fans seem balanced.
Dave Roberts is a twat. He is extremely West LA Strong.
Same, Kerhsaw is the only Dodger I could/can respect
the last Dodger I liked was Bobby Valentine
Sandy Koufax for me.
Jimmy Wynn the toy cannon. Although I met Dusty baker as a kid. he was ( and probably still is) a great guy.
Freddie Freeman WAS one of my favorite players but he just disappeared from my mind a few years ago….
Hey, I’m from West LA.
Didn’t Cheech sing a song about you?
I really, really like Kershaw. He’s incredible on the mound and I respect his charity work. Class dude on and off the field.
Just wish he wore a different uniform.
Like my grandpa used to say. There were millions of Nazis and a couple of them were nice guys.
Of Course after the war they all somehow disappeared from Germany
Probably to Gallup New Mexico…. I hate that place.
AL lost because they didn’t play any Angels.
Cursed until the Angels win a WS.
It’s science.
Aeronautical scientists.
when one manager doesn’t have Judge and the other manager has Schwarber and Alonso, it’s like one guy can’t make a paper airplane and the other is designing B-21s.
Or the AL didn’t lose in 9 innings bc they didn’t play any Angels.
But the AL ultimately lost in a Home Run Derby because they had no Angels hitting them. And we typically do really in good in HRD’s ( Well except for the Unicorn he sucked giant Ballz)
GA let us down too
GA won the Derby and the ASG MVP on the same weekend what are you talking about? GA slander will not be tolerated.
I’m a huge GA fan, my memory let me down.
the only thing I remember from 2003
I had just graduated hs, about to have a kid, and getting ready to leave to boot camp all within a few months. I had alot going on lol
Wow. That’s a ton of responsibility at that age.
I’m too GA to correct GA slander.
Trout was our perennial All Star until…the demise
perennial All Star MVP
How about this way to resolve an AllStar game tie:
Both teams get the bases loaded with 2 outs. If the game is still tied after that, the next inning goes to bases loaded one out. If still tied it ends in a tie.
I actually think adding a few additional pitchers would be fine. They are on the roster, but fillers from a play standpoint. Let them know they are likely only going to play in the event of extras or injury, but they could play and will get the experience. There are so many teams. Why not?
Should give each team a keg. 1st team to finish, wins the tiebreaker! MVP goes to the guy pumping the keg.
How about each side stash a couple of multi-inning pitchers on hold in case the game goes into extras. Let it play out. Players who were subbed out early in the game could come back into the game, in case of an injury.
what a concept!
I’ve spent an hour looking at past extra inning All Star games and there have been some classics. I still hate the play, but kids today won’t see anything close to 1970. Here are others and if I remember correctly, the 2nd half of the season survived in each of the below.
Even that long game in 1967 in Anaheim, it’d be nice to have a HR Derby that year, but still prefer it not be in the game itself.
Great recap! I think it was the 2008 game that sent everyone in a tizzy because they ran out of players. The managers substituted frequently which boxed them in a corner along with the desire to get everyone in the game.
In that ’67 game Catfish Hunter tossed the final 5-innings and ultimately took the loss (Tony Perez walk-off). The AL side only used 5 pitchers, spread over 15-innings. Plenty of resources left.
For me, I love to watch the top players complete, if the game went extras, great. But theatrics have now taken over, players mic’d up during the came, John Kruk bailing out against Randy Johnson…it’s lost the technical edge forever.
Interleague play also took some of the pride out of it, I think.
I cant believe someone would think that ending a tied All Star game with a Home Run Derby would be more exciting than this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tmX1OHwYvs
That is a delicious cherry.
Extra inning games feel exciting because you just want the fking thing to finally end. When it does, it’s like finally getting that turd to drop. If you win. Otherwise the turd dropped on your chest. Either way all of your pitchers are fked for a week. Only the relief of finally getting the game over with is powerful enough to help you forget how fking boring it is watching Carlos Torres pitch three innings against the likes of Shawn Abner and Luis DeJesus.
Even better if it’s the All Star game and your team’s got the guys who get the wonderful “extras”.
All hail the Ghost Runner and HR Clown Show.
As long as we only have one guy on the roster and he’s hanging out in the clubhouse at the end of the game, or his hotel room, I say you get all of the players out on the field and then release some starving tigers. The team with the most players still alive after 15 minutes wins. Oh no. Que lastima. The Doyers. So many all stars.
I say you get all of the players out on the field and then release some starving tigers. The team with the most players still alive after 15 minutes wins.
While it worked for Rome and that empire lasted much longer than ours, it probably is not allowed today because animal rights. Maybe if they held the game in Texas.
How about we do a Flag Football game? It worked for the NFL and the boys would like that.
Hand to Hand combat is always a nice entertaining finisher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmInkxbvlCs
NONE SHALL PASS!!!
Misiorowski and his 98 MPH slider was filthy.
So when the Angels win the pennant in October, who will be the manager next year in the All Star game? Ray or Wash?
If the Angels win the pennant, Ray would definitely deserve the AS nod. 2nd half record would outshine our 1st half.
It’s up to Wash – if he is healthy, he should get the nod. Wash still is the manager, he’s just on “leave”.
You can get 700:1 on Fan Duel right now to win the World Series. I’m thinking about $100 or $200 on that. If they somehow make the playoffs – I’d likely hedge out and make a pretty penny. Of course, that’s a big if.
That’s people a lot smarter on odds telling you the reality over emotion.
I am not saying it’s a good bet – neither is the Lottery – but when it gets over $500 million – I’ll throw in $10.
Data. It’s all lies.
Tori Hunter
https://youtu.be/7LtjzQaFZ3k?si=nk6Cpf3igvVUy5AC
I blame the other team in LA for yesterday’s MLB AS Game loss.
15 yrs of bad farm system (which was a deliberate choice BTW) How do you explain LA’s other team from first passing Kumar Rocker and then Kade Anderson who BTW pitch for our divisional rivals NO LESS!!
😡
Maybe you need to go back to posting pictures Toots and you’d realize that a 3 times drafted loser with career 1.5 WHIP, 5.90 ERA amassing a -1.5 WAR is the last thing we need. We already have Silent C costing us nothing we dont need another one.
Maybe you can make sense of statistics better in your Mom’s basement. Make sure you’re home by 4pm 🤡😜
Man. You have no idea how much sex happens in moms’ basements do you? Not everyone who has hung out in a basement is a sex starved loser who is bitter about some guys at Mutt Lynch’s mocking him back in 1998 and Arte being 1000 times more successful than he is.
The same rocker the angels just put 6 runs?
It’s nice to see someone still has their rectum on fire about the “failure” to draft Kumar Rocker. Is he your nephew? Favorite Grinder swipe? How did this happen?
Insert some rage about the end of the all star game here.
Man – they got me to watch all the way to the end. And I never watch ASG’s all the way to the end.
the Aaron tribute was pretty excellent- good job BRAVES.
always a good show, always worth watching mainly for the “who the hell is that?” guys.
rage? Ok I will rage and scream at the sky-
the local Phoenicians appear to be pleased as punch this morning .
save it for the Dodgers in October fellas.
Are we gonna at least break the 9 yr run of losing seasons and leave the pirates to it?
This season? Not likely. But we also already knew that.
Add some politics to it! How could that NOT have been a great decision?
Since it was a comedic event, Manfred prancing in the stands wearing Jesse Cole’s yellow tuxedo would have been an appropriate ending.
Singing “I Did It My Wayyyyyyyy”
The comical approach on resolving that tie is how I feel about the rules for regular season play tied after 9-innings
#GhostRunner4Girls