LA Angels Wednesday news Crash: RenDONE

https://www.latimes.com/sports/angels/story/2022-03-14/mike-trout-left-field-joe-maddon-angels-season

1 month ago

Reply to Phil

Do you have a link that states that Trout refused to go to LF? People keep saying stuff like that, but I’ve never seen any proof.

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Pineapple12

1 month ago

Reply to AngelsFanInHell

Trout pushed back hard on the idea of moving out of CF in 2022.

Trusted Member

1 month ago

Reply to Phil

You’re as bad as Kings fans who bash Drew Doughty.

Last edited 1 month ago by AngelsFanInHell

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Pineapple12

1 month ago

Reply to AngelsFanInHell

Phil is committed to bashing Trout at all times lol

Trusted Member

Phil

1 month ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Yes, I am more prone to bashing Trout nowadays (as compared to when he was in his prime).
Do you know when I started to change my mind about Trout?

At that moment when Maddon made the suggestion, and then there was no more talk about the move IMMEDIATELY after that suggestion.

As a player, you need to help the team.

Seriously, what’s the big deal with moving from CF to LF? It’s not like he was a Gold Glove outfielder.
And, it’s not like he was asked to move to Catcher.

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Eric_in_Portland

1 month ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

I think the Angels will sign Jon Berti to play 3rd. Used to steal bases, used to hit, now on the old side.

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Senator_John_Blutarsky

1 month ago

Reply to Eric_in_Portland

What’s DeCinces doing these days?

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Senator_John_Blutarsky

1 month ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

Boras is playing chess while Arte is playing checkers and Perry is just playing with himself.

Legend

1 month ago

Reply to Senator_John_Blutarsky

guck guck guck guck

Super Member

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-rumors-trades-and-signings?t=trades-and-transactions

1 month ago

Let the arrows fly…

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steelgolf

1 month ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

Nooooooooo!!!!!!!

Legend

1 month ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

Nolan’s one of my favorite players from back in the day… so my stupid side would be stoked and hope he has a re-birth of sorts.

But. Yep. This is a bad idea. Especially since we’d have to trade something to get him.

Super Member

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

I think we might get something for taking him based on the simulators. He’s one of my favorites too, and he’s the type that could resurge. But if we don’t get anything for taking that contract – that’s a hard no for me.

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Senator_John_Blutarsky

1 month ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

It’s inevitAble.

Super Member

BannedInLA

1 month ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

If we get a legit prospect or two for taking on Nolan’s contract, I think we should do it. It’s not my money.

Super Member

2GA2Join

1 month ago

Reply to BannedInLA

Yep, I’m for it. That’s what we should be doing in the position we’re in, where we suck, are a long ways from winning, but we have money.

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Pineapple12

1 month ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

I’d rather we not bring in a washed 3rd baseman to replace our now former washed 3rd baseman

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Fansince1971

1 month ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Yes but who else could Arte put on one of the huge banners outside the home plate entrance? Arredondo solves that important problem.

Last edited 1 month ago by Fansince1971

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steelgolf

1 month ago

Reply to Fansince1971

Put a different usher up there every week.

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Fansince1971

1 month ago

Reply to steelgolf

I really do like that idea!

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WallyChuckChili

1 month ago

Reply to steelgolf

Put the Helpful Honda Guy or the Cars 4 Kids Band up there

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Fansince1971

1 month ago

Reply to WallyChuckChili

The wanna-be cowboy from Tustin (let’s ride!)

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steelgolf

1 month ago

Reply to WallyChuckChili

NOT the Kars 4 Kids band. I hate that damn song and my family makes fun of me as every time it comes on the radio I instantly turn the station, turn it off, or listen to a CD ( yeah, I’m old, and every one can hit off mah lawn).

Super Member

BannedInLA

1 month ago

Kirby Yates is perfectly indicative of the entire offseason strategy thus far: Throw a bunch of low cost mud at the wall and pray that some of it sticks.

The Rengifo hate is beyond irrational. He gave us far more ROI than almost any other player over the past decade. I hope he lands elsewhere and absolutely flourishes.

Legend

1 month ago

Reply to BannedInLA

You’re probably right about Rengifo. But my small, angry man ovaries say you are still wrong and he is horrible. DO NOT make me actually look at his stats. I have eyes. And feelz. My truth matters most to me.

Trusted Member

1 month ago

Reply to BannedInLA

Rengifo had no range and was clearly lazy at times. He led the team in errors, but let’s pat his back for getting so many hits in meaningless games. That’s my rationale. How many times would we say, “Rengifo giveth when he got a hit and taketh away when get got an error right after?”

Trusted Member

1 month ago

As I said previously, I still liked Rendon more than Rengifo.

May we have the pleasure of never repeating either name again with respect to this franchise.

Last edited 1 month ago by AngelsFanInHell

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Pineapple12

1 month ago

Reply to AngelsFanInHell

Career WAR as an Angel
Rengifo = 6.7
Rendone = 3.9

Career earnings as an a Angel
Rengifo = $14.5 million
Rendone = $245 million

Super Member

Angelz4ever

1 month ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Rendone and earnings shouldn’t be in the same sentence without a negative qualifier.

Trusted Member

1 month ago

Reply to Pineapple12

I would be intrigued to see their defensive rankings. Rendon was never a liability defensively. I would have preferred that Rengifo spent more time on the IR.

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AnAngelsFan

1 month ago

Rendone – Worst contract in hindsight.

Hamilton – Worst contract with foresight.

Super Member

1 month ago

Reply to AnAngelsFan

Both so bad. Although I was hopeful, I thought Rendon’s was just too much and that’s not knowing the passion issue. Living in DFW – I had seen how unstoppable Hamilton could be. He was barreling everything. I thought he could get it back – like he had before. Character matters in these big contracts – and should be the most important check box along with injury concerns. Teams need to stop paying for the past and look at the guy. Lets take for instance Bregman. I think you’re buying the old Bregman. But, and this is a big but, he’s a grinder that will be that way until the end. Will he be the same? No. But he’ll contribute because of his approach to the game. Am I saying to sign him? No. But on big contracts, find guys that love the game and have a grind to be the best they can be. Look at what the Dodgers got with Rojas. A guy with declining tools, but a dude that’s going to bring it every time he touches the field.

Super Member

1 month ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

By the way – Bregman is a Boras guy – so someone is going to get fleeced.

Legend

1 month ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

Problem is, people change with 300M dollars. For example, I’m not so sure Trout’s a grinder anymore. On the flip side, I was fairly sure Francisco Lindor would fade once he got huge money in a big city…. and he is the team leader, generally playing 150 games a year and posting 5+ WAR a season. Better than in Cleveland. Just with stupid hair. The guy could “coast” with a few 3 WAR seasons at this point and make the HOF.

In Rendon’s case I kind of think that people misunderstand the image he had in Washington. “Tony Two Bags” was cool. Unflappable. It wasn’t that he didn’t grind, or cared less, it was that he was stoic and wasn’t a red ass about things. This stood out on a team with young Bryce Harper, Papelbon, etc. But he was competitive. I remember how he was frustrated that he was basically a gold glove 3B, and you don’t get that without grind, but he was always edged out by Arrenado all the time. Everyone saw how he calmly dispatched the opposition in the Nat’s title run. But even when they won he wasn’t a spazz about it, though he was clearly very happy.

We shouldn’t have been all that shocked that he handled always being injured and basically losing his ability to play baseball the same way. He kept trying to come back, kept having fun surgeries etc. You don’t do that unless you want to keep playing. He’s also clearly not a wuss who’s afraid of a fight. He just wasn’t interested in sharing his emotions with MarineLayer etc. It doesn’t mean he wasn’t passionate. It means he wasn’t performative.

I think that’s why actual baseball players he was on teams with liked him. He was steady. But that doesn’t work for the Gilmore Girls of Baseball Fan is Short for Fanatic types. So he’s an asshole who never really cared about baseball and just wanted free money and years of physical therapy.

Super Member

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

Supposedly – there were signs (don’t remember who said it)- and some ex teammates did have a problem with him on his intensity level. But – the Angels did go for it – and I don’t fault them for that. One of my favorite moments in the last 5 years was his left handed HR. That was so fun.

Love your analogy of thinking him excelling vs Lindor with the cash in their pockets. I kind of thought the same thing on the Lindor front when he got his big check, so I can totally relate.

Super Member

BannedInLA

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

Re: big contracts – the line from Marvin Hager (RIP) comes to mind. Something about it’s hard to be motivated when you’re wearing silk pajamas.

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steelgolf

1 month ago

Reply to AnAngelsFan

Excellent. A complete review using brevity like a master. I’m sending this quote to my son.

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Kevin

1 month ago

Reply to AnAngelsFan

I never understood the Hamilton deal. He was a known substance abuser who got things together in Texas with a whole support system. Plus he was swinging at curves on the outside part of the plate he couldn’t hit. All of this was know beforehand . The chances of him making it through 5 years elsewhere without a problem were minimal. But they signed him anyway. Once he turned up having lost 15-20 pounds, it was a red flag.

Rendon was an unusual sign. He was a nice player that had a great postseason one year. That’s not a good formula. He knew how to play which should have helped. He obviously wasn’t going to be what he had been before as the contract aged. I had him pegged as a guy with injury issues. But an expectation existed that his know how should at least make him serviceable as a slap hitter and fielder in his last couple years. He never got there though. The deal was too long — as was known when it was signed. But it wound up far worse than that.

Legend

1 month ago

Reply to Kevin

Thing is, he didn’t have injury issues. His injury history was pretty normal. Put another way, if you were gonna say Nationals version of Rendon was a guy you shouldn’t sign because of injury concerns then you would also have to not sign pretty much every other free agent.

They did pay him too much. But we were in the “don’t waste Trout etc” phase. We needed a 3B. So we paid the premium for him… a thing we keep saying we want an owner to do when the team is competitive.

I knew he’d slow down with age, but figured he’d be a good defender at 3B for a long time with fading power but still fairly good offensive stats as he got older. The contract would hurt the last couple years, but OK. He was still a beast in 2020. Then the juju ate his body. And that was it. Once Angels fan cancer hits your baseball mojo you have less than even odds of ever being good again.

Or walking without a limp.

Super Member

Roy Hobbs

1 month ago

Reply to AnAngelsFan

Rendon was really bad luck, although as mentioned,the length of the contract was a bad decision going in. All the other bad contracts were bad decisions before the player was acquired or signed. All clubs end up with a bad contract once in a while. The Angels made a habit of it and a way of life. They just made one bad decision after another.

Super Member

1 month ago

I totally respect Andruw Jones. (Maybe not how is name is spelled – but his game. I love great defense.) But I think Edmonds was better. And to me, the numbers support it. Jones has +24.4 dWAR (the most ridiculous stat in baseball, especially on historic prediction) vs Edmonds +6.4. Jones won 10 Gold Gloves (he was a beast) – but Edmonds won 8 (he was a beast too). Let me remind you Keith Hernandez – an 11 time Gold Glover is a +1.3 Career dWAR. It’s a worthless stat – which makes WAR a worthless stat. I’m a bigger sized HOF fan, because there are so many more teams and players than in older era. They were both HOF caliber players.

Last edited 1 month ago by HalosFanForLife

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Pineapple12

1 month ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

Andruw Jones was my favorite player growing up. What a shame that he completely let himself go at only 30 years old.

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Biggiswrth

1 month ago

Reply to Pineapple12

But at 30 he already had 12 years in the league. Guy was so good so early! Called into the postseason at 18 and never looked back

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Roy Hobbs

1 month ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

Jones was 11% better than the league as a hitter. I don’t believe that is a HOF. Edmonds was 32% better. They are not comparable as hitters. Jones was a very good defensive CF.

Editor

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Jeff Joiner

1 month ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

Guys like Hernandez and Jeter winning gold gloves is far more of an indictment of the voters than the dWAR metric, although the dWAR numbers need to be taken with large grains of salt.

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steelgolf

1 month ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

My son and I still joke about Jeter’s gold gloves.

Super Member

1 month ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

dWAR before the modern tracking is utterly worthless. A total joke. Jeter did not have range and would have surely scored low on DRS – but back then coaches were more thinking about making the routine. They treated the great plays as bonus, but you needed to make the “routine.” Somewhere between 10 and 15 years ago, they added SDI (SABR Defensive Index – I think) into the voting- but it’s still 75% voted on by coaches and managers and 25% SDI. So it’s still a popularity contest, but they are surely guided by defensive metrics. DRS is so much better than dWAR, it’s a joke. Jeter had a .986 fielding percentage over one of his GG seasons, which is still subjective judgment, but he made only 6 errors on the season at SS. That’s the kind of stuff they were voting on. You don’t think Hernandez deserved Gold Gloves? Say what?

Super Member

1 month ago

I love Sarah Langs. I just see her name and I feel good. She’s one of the best at what she does and has such awesome energy. I remember watching her before her ALS took over and thinking – this gal is great. And though her ALS has progressed, she keeps getting better. Keep battling Sarah – we love you.

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steelgolf

1 month ago

Let’s see, you are in a Angels management strategy meeting, there a a huge list of available relievers, dare I say, a plethora, besides the SHIT TON of arms Perry has drafted, SOMEONE floats the idea of signing the OVER 38 yr old pitcher with high mileage on his arm and a over 5 ERA, and it’s agreed that he must be worth 5 million a year, certainly not a number closer to league minimum, because he is a veteran with name recognition! Yeeeesh.

Super Member

1 month ago

Reply to steelgolf

This must be the guy making the decisions.

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Fansince1971

1 month ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

Seriously. It’s all “this guy had a good season at some point and some name recognition so let’s take a shot”. These folks who think it’s based on science or scouting or anything else than a flyer and a hope keep deluding themselves.

Legend

1 month ago

Reply to Fansince1971

But now I know who I will watch this year as we reload and go for it.

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Kevin

1 month ago

Reply to steelgolf

They obviously have some backward behind the scenes stats plus maybe some opinions from Maddox as to who can be effective this year. It has to be based on something like that. Otherwise, it’s just pin the tail on the donkey.

Super Member

1 month ago

Reply to Kevin

100% Kevin. The technology is being deployed in facilities all over the country that can tell them so much. Trackman and Rapsodo are in a lot of places now as they have become affordable for training centers and not just the pro and D1 teams. Slow motion cameras are on the rise too – and that can measure a lot. You can almost be assured that most of these guys are putting up bullpen metrics that they think they can work with. Or had metrics in the past they think might return post injury recovery. We shall see. The thing is everyone else are getting those numbers too.

Last edited 1 month ago by HalosFanForLife

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Pineapple12

1 month ago

Reply to Kevin

The hopium take on our pitching acquisitions — GRod, Manoah, Romano, Yates — is that Maddux’s input is a driving force and he believes he can work his magic on these dudes.

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Fansince1971

1 month ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Yes and then the team will only lose games 4-2. Get that team ERA down and it should fully expose the lack of offense.

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RexFregosi

1 month ago

Reply to Fansince1971

Until we can pitch, nothing else matters.

Pitching has been the bigger weakness, it needs fixing first. There’s offense there as I’m counting on the kids to continue to get better and a bounce back from Trout and Soler.

If not fix it later, but get better pitching first.

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Fansince1971

1 month ago

Reply to RexFregosi

I totally agree re pitching but want to keep this on planet Earth. We are talking about pitchers who are projects AT BEST and the team does not have the offense (unless we think magically) to support a roster full of project pitchers even with the mystical Mike Maddux unicorn.

Last edited 1 month ago by Fansince1971

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