LA Angels Thursday News Crash: Sammy Gone

It is kind of a slow time for baseball news. Sorry.

The Brewers claimed Sammy Peralta off waivers from the Angels. 

Right-handed slugging corner infielder Kazuma Okamoto will be posted by the Yomiuri Giants this off season.

The Giants hired Tony Vitello as their manager.  This should be interesting. No more aluminum bats Tony.

Here are your National League Silver Slugger finalists. 

Francisco Lindor underwent a debridement procedure on his elbow.  They say he will be ready for spring training. 

Photo credit: Rex Fregosi

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Biggiswrth
Trusted Member
31 minutes ago

Not sure if this is a dumb question. If there is a lockout after the 2026 season, do the players contracts still get paid during that time?

Eric_in_Portland
Legend
2 minutes ago
Reply to  Biggiswrth

From sports law log. Com

“ During the lockout, players will receive signing bonuses or deferred salary payments, but not their base salary if the lockout extends into the regular season. They do not earn paychecks or service time during the off-season or spring training”

clover_black
Super Member
6 hours ago

sometimes i think about daron sutton

DowningDude
Legend
6 hours ago
Reply to  clover_black

Dude. I laughed entirely too hard and too long at this damn comment.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

GrandpaBaseball
Legend
2 hours ago
Reply to  DowningDude

I think about his father every now and then, he was a good guy who is in the HoF. Daron just is not a big city major sport PxP. He gets an A+ for effort and stick to it(ness). But it does make it funny stuff of a comment.  :wpds_smile: 

Roy Hobbs
Super Member
7 hours ago

In moving forward, we’re not rebuilding or tanking, but we need a 3B, a 2B, a CF, and 2 SPs, just to field a team without even addressing the bench or bull pen. We have too many OFs and DHs unless Adell get’s put back in CF which would be a disaster but something I would not rule out. I would have Trout in LF, Rada in CF, Adell in RF, and Soler at DH. I would then trade Ward for a 3B. Trout and Soler are not going anywhere. I would consider playing Guzman at SS and moving Neto to 2B. There’s only 2 ways to move forward right now, trade or buy. I don’t see us spending money and we don’t really have much to trade so 2026 will likely look very much like 2025. It’s anyone’s guess as to who plays 2B, 3B or CF. I think it’s likely Rada plays CF and Rengifo is re-signed to play 2B if he doesn’t cost too much. I am looking forward to creative solutons that don’t cost a lot.

Last edited 7 hours ago by Roy Hobbs
Fansince1971
Legend
7 hours ago
Reply to  Roy Hobbs

I really do appreciate your trying to stay focused on ‘26 but I think ultimately you are “pissing in the wind” when it comes to this team and its decisions. Thinking like this and looking for logical moves at this point is just gonna get it all over your pants as well as your friends standing around you.

Roy Hobbs
Super Member
7 hours ago
Reply to  Fansince1971

I’m just trying to salvage what little positive or interesting things I can. It’s hopeless and we aren’t going to be building for the future but we have to at least pretend we’re having fun.

Roy Hobbs
Super Member
7 hours ago
Reply to  Roy Hobbs

I’m also always interested in smart peoples recommendations for the way forward even if they aren’t going to happen.

Turk's Teeth
Editor
Super Member
7 hours ago
Reply to  Fansince1971

Expecting a model outcome from a franchise at arguably its lowest point may be futile. But by the same token, most fantasy sports are futile I suppose.

What can a fan do but imagine a better team and any way to get there?

Fansince1971
Legend
6 hours ago
Reply to  Turk's Teeth

I hear that. I guess I am done fantasizing as long as Arte has to be part of my fantasy. And this is coming from a guy (me) who consistently would write IIWPM pieces and really tried to offer paths forward. I just dont see any now but its usually when things are at their worse that hope emerges. I guess that is what I will hope for.

Last edited 6 hours ago by Fansince1971
Eric_in_Portland
Legend
6 hours ago
Reply to  Roy Hobbs

I looked it up. The average major league career is 5.6 years so I checked out our 2020 team. The only ones left are Trout, Ward, Adell, and (cough) Rendon. That makes me think Ward will lose efficiency sometime soon and maybe we *ought* to trade him now.

If only our front office could be trusted to make a good trade. If Perry could make a trade as good as the Kikuchi signing then I’d be all for it

JackFrost
Legend
6 hours ago
Reply to  Roy Hobbs

It’s more than a little early to give up on Christian Moore when he hasn’t even played a full season in MLB.

IF Rada plays CF I don’t see why Adell can’t be in RF.

Last edited 6 hours ago by JackFrost
Roy Hobbs
Super Member
6 hours ago
Reply to  JackFrost

No one is giving up on him he’s just not ready to play everyday.

Jeff Joiner
Editor
Legend
5 hours ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Defensively that’s our best alignment but then Trout and Soler are pulling down a combined $50 million to split time at DH.

FungoAle
Legend
4 hours ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Then put him at 2nd and wire brush him to see if anything shines. I really need some good news to make me overcome the draft blues when Perry passed on Konnor Griffin, Cam Smith and Trey Yesavge.

DowningDude
Legend
6 hours ago
Reply to  Roy Hobbs

Other needs:
A complete minor league system
Coaches in the minor leagues
A “baseball way” that defines our methods and how we develop players
Scouts
Drafters
Owner
VP
GM
Peanut Vendor as we no longer are offered salty nuts
Ruby’s Diner at the stadium – miss them milkshakes.

FungoAle
Legend
4 hours ago
Reply to  Roy Hobbs

I stopped watching the team in September, so I missed Guzman. Is he the real deal or just a pumped up prospect who has come from the 28th-rank farm in the majors?

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend

EVERYTHING WILL BE OK! Dick Lovelady is back on an MLB contract. Baseball is good again.

cookmeister
Trusted Member
8 hours ago

I’m going against the grain (again) and going to try to reason with people on this one:

This weight room AC story that Sam keeps pushing and pushing makes absolutely no sense.

  1. You’re telling me that only ONE player complained about the AC not working the entire year? If my AC is off by 2 degrees in my classroom my students let me know instantly
  2. could the AC have been broken/malfunctioning that one particular day? Sure. It definitely happens. But again, NO OTHER PLAYER the entire year said anything, like Sam suggests (in his questioning he even said “several players” which is total BS)
  3. might there be a translation issue there?
  4. Jeff Fletcher himself said that the weight room is next to the club house, and says it’s always freezing in there and he’s never noticed (also said there might be a translation issue there)
  5. the HVAC job was posted 3 MONTHS ago. The fact it was noticed yesterday, or even reposted yesterday is what it is. (maybe it’s Perry just trolling).

I feel like with the access that Sam has, he could have very easily found out if the AC was working or not and would have noticed throughout the year.

This is a big ole nothing burger that makes 0 logical sense. Imo, there was a malfunction on that 1 day he pitched, he was asked in that interview, and the interpretation of what was said made it sound like the AC was always out. Then Sam and others ran with it.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend

Why so glum chum?

So many of us have spent about 14 years begging the sky to send chickens to come roost in the Big A. We got em. Rejoice.

So many bold takes about how Arte needs to suffer humiliation and financial issues because we hate dad. Well, we have about 1.5 billion dollars in pissed away contract money. We’ve got Skaggs. We’ve got lower attendance and a suicide hotline site as our major sponsor. We have a shittier TV deal and no expectation of much better down the line. Arte is clearly making a lot less money. It used to piss us off when he’d show up at the Big A like people wanted him there. He’s stopped that. Oh, speaking of the Big A, we got to laugh at his stadium deal falling apart and make thus far groundless accusations that he had something to do with corruption. He’s likely to ACTUALLY become cheap Arte instead of the version of cheap we were bitching about in say 2017. The team is a mystifying disaster. Maybe we can even manage to lose 100 games… but still reload.

We’ve expended heroic amounts of focus and energy wishing all this would happen because dad’s an asshole who votes republican and hates the music we listen to. We just forgot that Dad pays for our baseball lives and the baseball house we live in. Now we get to live in the burnt dumpster we were wishing for all these years with our one year contract GM and manager running a team with 1/2 the talent we’d need to win.

We sure showed Arte. These chickens are awesome. We should each name one and convince ourselves they make good pets.

I’m gonna laugh my teeth out when the team eventually gets bought by BaseballConglom2030 LLC, they run the team like a fast food franchise, get frustrated with trying to build a stadium, and move to San Antonio.

We won. Our collective will has produced a whole orchard of apples. Power’s gettin a face full of truth. Only problem is, it’s OUR POWER.

But hey, this is a whole lot better than if we’d thrown a little positive thinking at a guy we don’t 100% or even 80% like all that much. Right?

This winter is gonna rule.

Fansince1971
Legend
9 hours ago

INTERESTING take. I would pick some significant nits though with the idea that this was somehow created by the fanbase or even hoped for. This shitstorm was created by the Angels Org only. It’s the inevitable product of terrible mismanagement at all levels. I do not think any blame should be put on the fanbase since it has generally supported this two-bit Org – particularly in comparison to the 1970s when like 8,000 people would be announced as attendance (I was there – it was probably closer to 3,000). Heck, we show up at a silly Angel fan site to express opinion – if that is not caring and loving, I do not know what is.

No, I do not think we showed Arte anything. Even those of us who have been calling for rational baseball decisions like trading Ohtani, building up the farm, restructuring the Org, rebuilding etc. I do not think Arte listens to anyone other than Arte (and maybe Kuhl and Carpino). Its truly voices in a vacuum.

The idea that we wished for the destruction of the franchise we love is a bit extreme. It is even more so that any such wishes would have a chance of coming true. None of us had any role in the Skaggs or minor league system debacle, or signing Rendon, Hamilton, Pujols, making terrible trades from a bereft farm system for 1 month rentals, blowing up the stadium deal, not trading Ohtani, setting of budgets despite $80 million being directed to unproductive players, questionable draft decisions, poor player development etc. etc. That was all Arte and his minions which would include his choices as GM and then his micromanaging those individuals. None of the blame falls here.

No – this one is on Dad. His belief that he actually is baseball-savvy and that his billboard bros can run a baseball Org and make baseball decisions has finally come to roost. That is on him not us. He is and should be the focus of the blame because he was not smart enough to know what he does not know. He and his ego are solely to blame.

Last edited 9 hours ago by Fansince1971
gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Fansince1971

It wasn’t created by the fanbase. It was created by Arte. He owns the team after all. I’m just saying there was serious disconnect between our watching our dad bungle around, our shit talking everything he does good or bad, our wanting to watch him fail because it makes us feel alive…. and realizing we’re in a car wishing the driver would drop dead while he’s driving and we’re in the back seat. On a freeway. In Gallup, New Mexico.

Clearly we wanted to watch Arte shit the bed so we could sneer at it and he’d “pay” somehow. We just didn’t think too hard about where we have to sleep.

Fansince1971
Legend
9 hours ago

Understand your point. I believe many of the wishes that went out into the Universe had more to do with Arte selling the team as opposed to the destruction of the Org we love like we are witnessing now.

It’s like blaming the kids (who prayed for their parents to split up so the nightly yelling would stop) for the divorce. It may be want they wanted but they did not create the situation nor do they deserve any of the blame for wanting it to stop.

I think it is misguided to say that those on this site who want Arte to sell or who did not try to find the silver lining to his terrible decisions (or who hoped that the failure they witnessed year-after-year might lead to a sale) have created this bed to any extent.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Fansince1971

Nope. Their was a fair bit of general wishing for comeuppance. Not just a bunch of “gosh, I wish he would sell.”. And we all got some sweet sweet uppance along with Arte.

Jeff Joiner
Editor
Legend
5 hours ago
Reply to  Fansince1971

Yeah, I’m loving the fact Arte looks foolish and clueless and that the Skaggs verdict might make him sell.

If he’s not going to run the franchise competently, he needs to go. And he’s shown no signs of wanting to go on his own accord.

Terry
Trusted Member
10 hours ago

One year deal. Suzuki is already a lame duck.

The Angels hired a collegiate coach as manager, Bobby Winkles, 1973. Team won 79 games.

The NBA is taking a beating today in the press.

max
Trusted Member
max
3 hours ago
Reply to  Terry

Oooh 79 wins. We could only hope to be that good some year

grichmanpoorman
Trusted Member
10 hours ago

Raudi Rod crushing it in the AFL: https://www.mlb.com/arizona-fall-league/stats/

Turk's Teeth
Editor
Super Member
8 hours ago

He’s been consistently playing well, a bit under the radar because they’re playing him infrequently. Understandably,because he was an everyday guy and had a long season.

But he’s also playing in the shadow of Esmerlyn Valdez in the same outfield, who has been hitting absolutely out of his mind, and will probably earn AFL MVP honors.

But good on Raudi to keep the momentum going.

Roy Hobbs
Super Member
8 hours ago
Reply to  Turk's Teeth

Yes we could use Valdez. Let’s execute a trade with the Pirates.

Turk's Teeth
Editor
Super Member
8 hours ago
Reply to  Roy Hobbs

AFL is definitely a funhouse mirror when it comes to hitting stats. (Last year’s AFL MVP? Niko Kavadas.)

Valdez is probably not this October guy. He can really hit the ball far, but he’s had high K rates throughout his career, and is probably more of a 4th OF or 1B in the end. But he’s putting on a show in Arizona,

Roy Hobbs
Super Member
7 hours ago
Reply to  Turk's Teeth

Kind of like Niko last year.

Turk's Teeth
Editor
Super Member
7 hours ago
Reply to  Roy Hobbs

Indeed – thus the parenthetical. 🙂

Fansince1971
Legend
11 hours ago

Arte not being at Suzuki presser is telling. I wonder if it is lack of interest or not wanting to answer questions re Skaggs trial. Either way it’s not a ringing endorsement.

milehigh
Trusted Member
10 hours ago
Reply to  Fansince1971

Was the Trout testimony going on at the same time? He was there in court listening to Mike. Awkward.

FungoAle
Legend
4 hours ago
Reply to  Fansince1971

Arte is boycotting pressers unitl you come back to the stadium. JK, he was not at Washingtons either.

Fansince1971
Legend
3 hours ago
Reply to  FungoAle

Ha! Well I guess he won’t be back for a while.

PedroCerrano
Super Member
11 hours ago

Everyday the Angels still suck and on most days, I still check in on this site. Brings to mind this Bill Murray scene:

https://youtu.be/U7vkBagg8lk?si=QmhWgpXME22qMXkN

Turk's Teeth
Editor
Super Member
12 hours ago

Direct quote from Suzuki at the press conference, sure to become the CtPG anthem over next season:

“We can control what we can control, right? We can’t worry about the results.”

Cue the Bobby McFerrin, Halo honks!

Roy Hobbs
Super Member
12 hours ago
Reply to  Turk's Teeth

This is disgusting.

Roy Hobbs
Super Member
12 hours ago
Reply to  Turk's Teeth

Why would I support any organization that doesn’t care about the results?

steelgolf
Legend
9 hours ago
Reply to  Charles Sutton

Still one of my favorite quotes by an MLB manager.

Jeff Joiner
Editor
Legend
5 hours ago
Reply to  Charles Sutton

Who said that one? Big Brain Brad?

ihearhowie3.0
Super Member
11 hours ago
Reply to  Turk's Teeth

On the one hand, I get what he’s saying. But it is kind of funny we’re not even pretending to hype people up anymore.

I would MUCH rather they come out and say we’re embracing a full rebuild to get this team where it needs to be in a few years and at least sell some kind of hope. Manage expectations down while still being positive. Turn the negative into something exciting.

But some of these Perry quotes are just resigned to the fact that things suck but without any sales pitch on why you, the fan, should continue to come to the ballpark for the baseball team. Beers, sun? Sure. Results? Ehhhh

Roy Hobbs
Super Member
11 hours ago
Reply to  ihearhowie3.0

I get what he’s saying as well but it’s philosophical and not something you say out loud at least not to your customers.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Roy Hobbs

Transparency?

Roy Hobbs
Super Member
11 hours ago

Yes and no. Transparency would be we know we’re bad and have a long way to go but we’re going to move in the direction of getting better, not we’re bad but we can’t really do anything about it so live with it. Also just saying that you’re going to focus on the little things, try hard, and be prepared, all things said by his predecessors, is uninspiring. Tell me you’re going to consciously address at least one area of failure. We’re going to strike out less, get on base more, hit better situationally, be better defensively, not because we’re going to try harder, but because we are going to implement changes to help make those things happen. I like Kurt but when he says he doesn’t have any idea what he is going to do differently, it’s not a good look. He doesn’t work for me, he doesn’t have to please me or make me happy, it’s just my opinion about what hit sounds like. Since I’m not on the inside, that’s all I have. I’ll try to get any inside insight I can that I can pass on.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Roy Hobbs

You are reading a lot of your extra shit into what he said.

Turk's Teeth
Editor
Super Member
8 hours ago

Yeah, but given you read a lot of extra shit into *everything* Angels and throw that shit at folks here on a daily basis – making up any number of meta fictions and shadow scenarios to fuck with people who are otherwise treating you decently, maybe you should occasionally cut others some slack when they’re simply participating in the community? In short: don’t be a cop. Savaging “CtPG guy” is mall cop shit.

The interminable stunt is just a way of throwing punches without taking responsibility for it. You know that, I know that, we all know that. Folks tolerate a lot from you – maybe you can control your blood sugar a bit, and stop the baiting? It’s just a bummer at times.

Kurt let out a whopper in his first major press avail. It’s inevitable that commenters are going to requote it because it’s right there for the taking. But you immediately pivoted to savaging the CtPG community, as is your tendency, preempting others from expressing opinions without your ridicule, and nagging others who offered their honest reactions to it.

I wonder – would this be a better, more welcoming Angels fan community if you weren’t the resident hall monitor? I definitely taken days long breaks from the site because I’m tired of the meta-gitch nonsense – because sometimes it’s clowining, but other times it’s just abusive assholery meant to demean everyone who participates here.

Seems like something all of us editors and contributors should contemplate, going into another tough year for the franchise.

It’d be nice to endure another mediocre season without “CtPG guy” haunting it.

2pints
Trusted Member
8 hours ago
Reply to  Turk's Teeth

well said

Turk's Teeth
Editor
Super Member
7 hours ago
Reply to  2pints

I think gitch and I agree on a lot and can have good conversations. I like his more substantive longform commentary, his draft/prospect takes, and can even enjoy the onionskinned mixed metaphors and postmodern prosody. He clearly invests a lot of time and energy in the site.

But I’ve just come to haaaaattte the glitching CtPG guy sockpuppet-within-a-legit-user-account trolling. It’s not like he’s just a Jackson Lamb farting and talking over people at a dinner party – it’s often just passive-aggressive community-bashing, thwarting the basic comity the site principles try to achieve, while giving folks the freedom to complain or celebrate as they care to.

But beyond how tired the joke is, the bigger problem is I don’t think he can regularly keep track of his avatars, and the abuse that meta-glitch vomits out bleeds over into his direct comments to other posters.

I really think ‘critic of CtPG guy’ should get ICE-d this season. He’s no longer Statler or Waldorf – and I think he drives a lot of folks out of the discussion, and shrinks the commentariat.

Gitch contains enough multitudes without that shithead taking a ritual turn at the meat puppet.

2pints
Trusted Member
7 hours ago
Reply to  Turk's Teeth

I agree with you, much of what he writes is interesting, mainly because you never really know what the next sentence might bring (he definitely has a gift for metaphors). I’ve mentioned a couple times recently that his griping against “GtPG Guy” has grown rather tiresome and is a pretty lazy device. Before the community can even respond to some topics, its already being raked by Gitch for things he assumes everyone here will say or is definitely (to him) thinking.

I will admit that I’ve at times just not replied or commented on something due to him feeling the need to clown on a decent percentage of what people say. So there is a bullying aspect to it that can hurt engagement here.

Sometimes one just needs to have things addressed and they’ll learn and work on it, hopefully your above comment to him can do that.

Turk's Teeth
Editor
Super Member
9 hours ago
Reply to  Roy Hobbs

I just think it’s inadvertently revealing – meant to essentially say “I’ll do my best – I’m just going to do my job within the constraints I’m given”.

But comes out as: “I haven’t a clue how good we’ll be, because this is a one year deal, I have little leverage and don’t know no what the roster will look like, and hell, I’m lucky to have this job.”

Here we have two cheap lame duck rentals (GM, coach) with incomplete information and clearly no permission or agency to build for the long term. They have no idea if Arte is sticking around, if there’s a succession plan in place, or how lawsuits, media deals, walkouts etc may burden the club over the next 3-5 years. I don’t know how you would build an organization in that environment, and both men are clearly telegraphing that.

Roy Hobbs
Super Member
8 hours ago
Reply to  Turk's Teeth

Much better said than I.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  ihearhowie3.0

I think just getting a glance at the side boob of play off contention showed how CtPG, the fanbase we think we are so much smarter than, and Arte are ALL of a mindset that we would rather reload than hear that it’s gonna be three years till we’re good… at least.

Cardinal fan seems to be handling it. We won’t.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Turk's Teeth

Clearly he doesn’t care about winning. There is no possible way that he means that he intends to address little things first, like fielding the ball, throwing strikes, and not swinging at ball four, hoping that this stupid shit leads to wins on it’s own. What an asshole. I am engorged with rage. I feel alive again. Of course, I’d also be at max flow if he told us he believes we can win and he’s gonna win us lots of games. What a yes man.

No matter what Kurt says he’s gonna piss off CtPG Guy because CtPG Guy is a bitch and a shitty girlfriend.

If he actually gets this squad of flailing and doinking cellar dwellers to be middle of the pack in fielding and OPS I will send him flowers and a love note even if we still finish fourth.

Roy Hobbs
Super Member
11 hours ago

You need more coffee.

Turk's Teeth
Editor
Super Member
9 hours ago

Press training on the job, gitch.

But clearly of a piece with one year contracts in a placeholder season. Let’s not call it “transitional” – because, transitioning to what exactly?

milehigh
Trusted Member
11 hours ago
Reply to  Turk's Teeth

I hope he meant to say the results would take care of itself. This will follow him to his next interview.

Turk's Teeth
Editor
Super Member
8 hours ago
Reply to  milehigh

He’s in an impossible situation – I get that. It’s just rough when a clock-puncher actually communicates that they’re a clock-puncher.

I realize that something like a Tony Vitello isn’t even a thought bubble in an Angels org that looks like this. They found a nice-enough, affordable chap who was already walking the halls to check a box they felt they needed to quickly check.

Inspiration is expensive.

DowningDude
Legend
13 hours ago

Kikuchi wasn’t just blowing hot air.

Calling all HVAC specialists – we pay nearly nothing!

comment image

ryanfea
Super Member
13 hours ago
Reply to  DowningDude

Similar job security to Suzuki

Angelz4ever
Super Member
12 hours ago
Reply to  DowningDude

I am sure HVAC techs were called out to the Big A, of course for Arte’s office, but I digress…..

YOUknowulovetheIE
Super Member
12 hours ago
Reply to  DowningDude

I retired from hvac. I’ll never do another summer in an attic the rest of my life, lol.

Fansince1971
Legend
13 hours ago

Per Sammy – money was a priority in the hiring, of Suzuki, one year was a priority in the contract and the looming strike was factored in.

All of this is the opposite of Perry’s “have to get it right” PR bullshit at the press conference announcing Wash was not coming back.

What the Angels say and what they do are totally different things.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
13 hours ago
Reply to  Fansince1971

Maybe Suzuki replaces Perry when/if 2026 tanks.

Rendone’s contract guarantees that we won’t sign a big ticket 3B or even Okamoto as I mentioned below. He thinks we can wait until 2027 when albatross contract #15 drops off, but we need production from 3B in 2026 and ongoing.

In my Hopium induced fantasy world, the Angels sign Okamoto (3B), sign two high ticket pitchers, re-sign Moncada (1B/3B/DH) and explore 1B & CF upgrades.

Last edited 13 hours ago by Angelz4ever
Roy Hobbs
Super Member
13 hours ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

Same with the rest of us but none of that will be happening.

Mikeal1st
Trusted Member
13 hours ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

Good point, by then we they have only one major contract and with inflation that one doesn’t seem as horrible, then again, it’s not $2million a year.
Am I right?

Last edited 13 hours ago by Mikeal1st
Fansince1971
Legend
12 hours ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

Just Say No. Hopium – the big lie.

Last edited 12 hours ago by Fansince1971
Angelz4ever
Super Member
9 hours ago
Reply to  Fansince1971

I can quit anytime I want….I just…don’t want to….

steelgolf
Legend
9 hours ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

That’s a lot of money spent to win 76 games.

Biggiswrth
Trusted Member
14 hours ago

SO in a prove it year, does Perry go for broke now and try to build a winning team for THIS SEASON? Menaing are more and more of the youth available like trader Jerry does and he depleates whatever farm we can see for guy to help the MLB club? This could be a scary offseason.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
13 hours ago
Reply to  Biggiswrth

Perry may have the desire, but not the budget. I suspect we’re back to the “Innings eaters” mentality, and the .99 value menu for 2026.

Fansince1971
Legend
13 hours ago
Reply to  Biggiswrth

How does he “go for broke”? He is on a tight budget imposed by Arte and he really does not have much of value to trade. So not sure how one goes for broke under these circumstances.

Roy Hobbs
Super Member
13 hours ago
Reply to  Biggiswrth

I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Perry and Arte will be mailing it in this year. We will not be doing anything that significantly improves the club. It is not likely there will be any opportunity for change until at least 2028. Sorry for the bad news.

Mikeal1st
Trusted Member
13 hours ago
Reply to  Biggiswrth

I hope to God not; we they obviously should still be rebuilding, for the 3rd year in a row.

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend
12 hours ago
Reply to  Biggiswrth

His first “prove it” year was a disaster, and he got a 2 year extension from the Dark Lord.

ihearhowie3.0
Super Member
11 hours ago
Reply to  Biggiswrth

Would be the most obvious non-Ohtani moment to just strip it down for parts and slash costs ahead of the lockout. The rebuild we need but only because Arte wants to save money ahead of, hopefully a sale, but really a lockout with less games played.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
14 hours ago

#KOkamotoHalos2026

Omahalo22
Member
14 hours ago

Can’t wait for the lockout after next season. That’s why Kurt got a 1 year deal. Good ole MLB.

GrandpaBaseball
Legend
15 hours ago

My genuine, all purpose, full fledge, heavy duty, fully qualified, short termed quarantined but guaranteed with no gun to my head pick in the World Series after careful study with top probability science experts is, is, is Ok dang it, is your 2024 champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers – the best you can buy with money.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
14 hours ago

Wow, G-Pa, on a roll early today.

milehigh
Trusted Member
13 hours ago

Toronto is giving junior how much money? Yeah, a bunch. Dodgers are not the only ones who have spent. At least they spent and got results.
Mets on the other hand…

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend
15 hours ago

By: Sam Blum

Knowing the question was inevitable, Angels general manager Perry Minasian answered it before it could even be asked.

“It’s a one-year deal,” Minasian said of his new manager, Kurt Suzuki, in the middle of his opening statement at Angel Stadium on Wednesday. “He’s tied in with me.”

It is nearly unprecedented for a team to hire a new manager on a one-year contract. But that’s exactly what the Angels did with Suzuki, who was introduced at the ballpark in front of his family, friends and other Angels executives.

Suzuki and Minasian said all the right things about this hire. But under the surface of smiles and clichés, there is one very undeniable fact. This is a prove-it season for them both. If things don’t go well, all these same people might be right back in the same room a year from now — with two new people getting the celebratory treatment.

For this year, and for better or worse, they are tied at the hip. Their fates intertwined.

“I think the last six years of my career were on one-year deals,” Suzuki said. “And I just kept going. Listen, I want to be here. I want to do this job. And I feel like, throughout my career, I’ve had to prove myself every single year. It doesn’t scare me. It only fuels me to be better.”

From the start of this process, owner Arte Moreno and his lieutenants were focused on hiring Albert Pujols. According to a team source, Minasian flew to St. Louis to meet with Pujols on Oct. 9. The meeting went well, and they were progressing on a hire. A week later, talks fell apart because of a difference of opinion on money and years, the source said.

It’s unclear if the Angels were only offering Pujols a one-year contract. But it is clear that money was a priority in this hire.

With the lockout looming,
Moreno seemingly doesn’t want to be paying a manager while the collective bargaining agreement remains unresolved. Moreno did not attend the press conference.

“We weren’t set on anything, we went into it eyes wide open,” Minasian said. “To me, this was the best fit. Obviously I have a year left. He’s tied into me and we’ll embrace that.”

This isn’t the first time that a manager has joined on a one-year deal. In 2020, for example, the Astros inked Dusty Baker to a one-year contract, one which, like Suzuki’s deal, includes a team option. But Baker’s situation was different. He was 70 years old, and was brought on as a caretaker manager to transition them away from the fallout of their sign-stealing scandal.

Managerial contracts are typically two to four years, with some reaching five. New Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker earned a four-year deal this offseason, while Tony Vitello joined the San Francisco Giants on a three-year contract.
One year is simply not a part of the managerial lexicon.

“You see all these guys that come back from injury, they take one-year deals to prove themselves, that they can do the job,” Suzuki said. “I feel like I had to prove myself every year I played this game. This is no different.”

It can be a positive for a GM and manager to be in the same contractual situation. Had the team hired Pujols, the power dynamics within the organization would have been asymmetrical. Pujols, a legend of the game, could have carried far more gravitas and authority than Minasian on his short-timer contract. With Suzuki, the situation allows for more of a typical power structure, which is generally a plus.

On the flip side, hiring a manager on a one-year contract presents other challenges. Suzuki has to hire a coaching staff, and this situation could complicate that. The Angels are coming off a 72-90 season, and the one-year deal could be a red flag to any coaching candidate. Sure, they’ll get coaches, maybe some good ones; but anyone with multiple options may opt for more security elsewhere.

“We’ve definitely had conversations,” Suzuki said of his staff. “I feel like it’s super early, my second day on the job. We have some ideas that we’re talking about. I don’t know what the timetable is.”

Suzuki may well be a great hire. He earned his excellent playing career — 16 seasons behind the plate with five teams. He won a World Series and is a baseball lifer, whose ex-teammates and current coworkers have nothing but positive things to say.
But he’s starting out on the back foot because of a self-inflicted decision by Angels management. This is a contract that incentivizes a manager to spend more effort trying to earn the job, rather than actually do it well.

Suzuki was brought to the Angels by Minasian in 2021, after overlapping in Atlanta together. He spent two years as a backup catcher, and three more as Minasian’s special assistant. In that time, this organization has produced terrible results — 77-85, 73-89, 73-89, 63-99 and 72-90 were the records. Four different managers oversaw those debacles.

The new manager offered little in terms of tangible answers about what he’s going to do differently. He offered no assurances that it would get better.

“What I can tell you,” Suzuki said when asked that question, “is that these boys are going to be prepared to play every single day to go out there and perform. They’re going to work hard, they’re going to do what they have to do to be successful. We can control what we can control, right?

“We can’t worry about the results.”

After a decade of losing, the results should be a concern. Because year after year, manager after manager, it’s been the same story, just a different way of telling it.
With this one-year deal, the Angels have put themselves in position to get more of the same.

Last edited 15 hours ago by Senator_John_Blutarsky
GrandpaBaseball
Legend
15 hours ago

Signing a new manager to a one-year deal only says that Minasian has been told that both he and his choice are out the door before ’27 if a winning season is not achieved so a new GM can pick his own manager.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
14 hours ago

…well…Perry should pack early or travel light…

Roy Hobbs
Super Member
13 hours ago

This is horribly depressing and even worse than you would hope for but not surprising. Kurt is a good guy but he’s doing this just to get his next job and it is unlikely the team wins as many games in 2026 as they did in 2027. A lot of money comes off the books after this year. No one will be committed to after this year other than those already committed to.

I am very disappointed to hear from Kurt getting hired for the job of his dreams that he has no idea what his plan is. He doesn’t have to share any of it but If it was me, I would already know who the people I wanted for coaches were even if I was not able to get them. It is apparently wait until 2028. What a load of crap. It’s a prove it year with no resources. I have given Arte the benefit of the doubt in the past but now he’s just a loser. Welcome to Pittsburgh.

What player would want to come here unless it was there only option.

Last edited 13 hours ago by Roy Hobbs
milehigh
Trusted Member
12 hours ago
Reply to  Roy Hobbs

“What player would want to come here unless it was there only option.”

Same for a coach.
Arte runs this as a business. In his mind there will be a revenue shortfall soon so he thinks constricting the org is the right thing to do. Old style thinking but that is his world. Really hard to cut a business to success. I think we need to understand that Arte’s thinking of success is not the same as fans thinking of success. He is thinking profit as success. That isn’t bad to me. You don’t go into business to lose money.

The last time there was a revenue shortfall he cut the org to the bone and arguably we have not recovered. I hope he doesn’t do that again.

Last edited 12 hours ago by milehigh
Fansince1971
Legend
11 hours ago
Reply to  milehigh

You like business and I do too. Your life is actually a business of sorts. You have revenue and expenditures. A terrible Org like the Angels may not be worth your business investment. Just like Arte doesn’t want to invest – you can make the same decision.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend

Given our circumstances. This is the situation I want. Bitch all you want, the CBA situation is a problem. I am also glad they’ve got the GM/Manager timeline linked up. If the team improves and we have a better farm and this next draft isn’t a head scratcher and O’Hoppe learns to catch and doves keep landing in the hands of all our much improved players then fine, extend ManZuki at the same time.

If not. Admit to a rebuild finally. Don’t spend any Rendon money. Fire everyone. Hire a GM to build from the farm up and a manager that will be a coach at the end of that pipeline plan. Have an 80M payroll.

Maybe sell the team. Probably trade Neto and friends. Certainly suck. But with a plan.

Probably won’t sell the team. But they’d at least be in position to do so after the Skaggs shit is done.

Roy Hobbs
Super Member
10 hours ago

We can only hope.

cookmeister
Trusted Member
8 hours ago

the contract also has multiple options

But Sam didn’t report that.

GrandpaBaseball
Legend
15 hours ago

Annulment is changing your mind with cause, sounds similar to debridement. Lindor divorcing his arm while repairs made sounds like what he is facing. Good thing that NYC is as large as it is, with lots of lawyers.  😊 

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