Former All Star Ryan Pressly announced his retirement after thirteen seasons.
Former Giants right-hander Sean Hjelle has signed with the Orix Buffaloes.
Reliever Yacksel Rios got a minor league deal with the Cubs. The Nationals signed Trevor Gott to a minor league deal. The Astros signed both Carlos Perez and Amos Willingham to minor league deals.
The Halos need to realize that it’s Trevor Bauer time.
😉
You aren’t watching the college football championship?
The only football game in this house this week was the rams game.
Some nightmare fuel for many Halo faithful:
3 reunions the Angels should explore as free agency chaos kicks in
As per the article:
Rengifo – oh, God, please, NO!
Hunter Strickland – eh. Sure, why not?!
Yoan Moncada – no, thank you.
Things that won’t happen but are fun to think about:
Straight across trade of Brett Baty for Christian Moore.
Like Ryan Ward of the Dodgers post-Tucker, Baty has no obvious home post-Bichette. LA and NY could keep either as depth/bench assets, or they could move them for younger upside prospects.
Two players out there who cost <$1M, who fill positions of need for the Angels (3B, LF), who are controllable for 4+ years, and who satisfy M&M's tacit objective of payroll reduction.
Things that won’t happen but are fun to think about:
Arte sells the team
Can we start with that one?
oh. snap. lolz.
My commenting MO tends to always be: groan once, not thrice, then accept evolving parameters and suggest solutions that fit what I assume them to be.
My understanding is that Angels fans are stuck with Moreno for the time being and that (post Skaggs settlement and media contract debacle, and pre-lockout) Arte wants to lower payroll.
Can the team still better itself under those conditions? Well, maybe – sign up to my newsletter to learn how….
My theory is that if the Tampa Bay Rays, a team in Florida that has fewer fans than the Yankees in their home city with a Yankees farm club IN THEIR CITY that plays in an out of the way dank dungeon and has always had a crap TV contract can compete regularly with all of their REAL ISSUES including actual cheap owners then so can most teams.
I mean crap. Look at the India… I mean Guardians.
As a fan, the choice is simple. Look at the landscape you have, see how other teams that have it tough are doing it, fonder how your team can do the same.
Or just be a bitch. But complain about wanting to grow bananas in Arizona all you want, you’re not getting anywhere but sad.
All FL pro teams have a bandwagon following ask LeBron James and Tom Brady.
Stan Kroenke ends up buying the team from Arte and hires a lot of people from the T-Rays and LSU
I love CMo and think he will be a star, but a LH-batting 3B?
That makes tremendous sense!
My reasoning for why this *might* make sense for the Mets – if they’re looking for anything positionally, it’s OF help, so if you think of Moore as a corner OF like I do, he could be part of the solution for them. Their LF depth chart is weak, and Semien is an aging, and likely fragile, asset at 2B. Enter Moore.
I don’t think reinventing Moore as an Angels 3B is likely to have short term success, and could impede his development if done at the MLB level out of need, so Baty seems like a solid replacement (and likely an available one). OBP/K% is an issue, but they’re issues with Moore as well, and Baty’s glove and handedness just make sense for the club.
Eez not bad idea. Then again… Moore’s difficiencies at 2B seem widely exaggerated. His .983 fp was slightly better than average no? And his -3 Rtot while not impressive would certainly figure to improve, given that he played last season as a 22-year-old rookie. He doesn’t look particularly natural out there, but we know he’s a plus-athlete, and we know he’s a gamer.
Also worried that Baty’s sudden competency at the plate last season is fleeting.
Agree that Moore’s future at 3B is science fiction.
Baty was only 25 last season. In ’24 he only played 50 games in part due to a broken finger on a HBP. A high school draftee finding his stride at age 25 is hardly unusual – we’re not talking about a grizzled vet here (otherwise he wouldn’t still have 4 years of control).
I don’t know of anyone still using fielding percentage to evaluate defenders, especially infield defense (and < a third of a season). Moore's range is not great and his arm strength fringey. I think his -2 OOA likely worsens in a larger sample. But even if he's just slightly below average at the keystone, that 34% K rate (29% at AAA), isn't going to play at any position. He's particularly vulnerable to sliders, hitting only .119 against them, and had a jaw-dropping 45.5% K rate against four-seamers. Prospects are rarely promoted to the MLB with those sorts of issues exposed in AA/AAA. I'm not an outlier in raising several red flags on Moore's swing decisions. He really needs another year in the minors working on pitch recognition, especially breaking stuff.
100% on fielding percentage. Fielding percentage can be so misleading. Go watch balls hit to an infield position on Baseball Savant and look for balls hit to an infielder with the result being single. It’s mortifying how many singles should have been outs or could have been outs. DRS is close, but still can be questionable. I had a long conversation with an MLB 2nd baseman about how he plays conservatively – but he wants to be a little more aggressive. For instance, he talks about how he can take a ground ball well to his left with a runner on first and less than two outs, and so he doesn’t make an error, he takes the easy out to first rather than spinning glove side. No error – got an out. But he thinks he could have made the turn and at least got the lead runner if not turned two. By the way – this guy doesn’t make errors. Like at all. But he’s very average in DRS. He knows there are plays he could make and wants to, but he’s wired not to make errors. It was a fascinating conversation. Basically he makes the routine – but he’s considered an average defender because he doesn’t have a bigger “routine” like a guy like Gimenez does.
Yep, you can have a perfect fielding percentage and still fail to minimize run probability for the opposing team. And you can make a “error” by attempting to make a low probability play that another more conservative player wouldn’t even attempt, based on the score keeper’s judgement.
Always surprised when someone pulls out FP as a justification for a player’s defensive prowess at this point. We’re more than four decades removed from Bill James’ deconstruction of the metric.
Wilbur Wood passed away. Not a physical specimen or flamethrower, but a prolific knuckleballer who started as many as 49 games in a season and threw over 370 (!) Innings in a season including for the ’72 White Sox.
Many of us tried to learn the knuckleball in the back yard. Wood, the Niekro brothers, and later Wakefield were all pitchers who I followed. The knuckleball seemed like the great equalizer in that if you could throw hard, you could baffle the hitter with the knuckeball.
Rip Wilbur Wood (I have a 3D baseball card of him from about 1973 from Kellogg’s cereal).
Also HOF Hoyt Wilhelm who pitched with us in 1969.
I should have said, if you could NOT throw hard….
Angels strategy decoded:
Look, you all know I’ve been critical. Everyone has. But they’ve clearly thrown in the towel and here’s the actual play:
They’re running a call option strategy:
If 2-3 pop off, you’re suddenly sellers with leverage in July.
The farm is DEPLETED. This is how we get some prospects back. Zero long-term risk. Pure asymmetric upside. It has merit and it’s clearly their unofficial strategy.
The smarter move? Do what they’re doing AND sell the guys with value NOW (April/May) when premiums are HIGH. Throw in the towel and get actual prospects back. Can’t be emotional about players we love – there’s no other path. We don’t have Dodgers/Mets/Yankees money or a strong farm to build around.
But they won’t. They’ll hang on to the guys with value too long and go from getting top prospects to flyers. You watch. (Or of course they will overpay to keep then in Angels red and the cycle will continue.)
It’s a solid strategy. The problem is the org is being run by people allergic to honesty.
In fact, I’d argue what they will do is put lipstick on the pig and sign some well known person just to make the unknowing fan feel better.
I’m sure he’d sweep in and sign Bellinger if he could. “Hey Los Angeles Region! Reeemmehmburrrr!”. But I don’t think players with that splash effect are willing to come here now nor does he really have the money.
The splash effect signing most likely scenario would be some one like Belli for one year contract. That isn’t too far out of the imagination for a Boras client.
I hope it happens. Would be a dose of serotonin for the org and folks around here could use it.
You really think that a big long term splash type contract is at all likely given:
1. Loss of television deal;
2. 2027 likely to be a lost season with a lockout;
3. Top players not wanting to play in Anaheim.
I just don’t see any big splash deal coming.
I agree and have pointed out this being the direction we’ve taken post Ohtani.
It hasn’t always been executed correctly, which I’ll place the majority of the blame on Arte — i.e. not trading Kenley at the deadline.
To trade or not to trade Neto, Adell, Soriano. I am an emotional fan and want all 3 extended. The worst case scenario for us is that the 2027 season is heavily truncated or entirely locked out and we lose Jo for nothing while Neto and Soriano get closer to FA.
In my heart I love and want to keep all three of those players and Nolan. But in my brain I know that desperately holding onto Dale Murphy, Dion James and Glenn Hubbard when you are the 1987 Braves is how we stay the 1987 Braves.
Dude – you really think there is an actual baseball strategy being employed by this 2-bit Organization? The only strategy they are capable of is marketing and that means selling tickets and merchandise to fools like all of us.
Arte has lost the certainty of television revenue and therefore the budget has come way down. That is what is happening here.
Let’s just say that the strategy is …… uhhhh…. “Fluid”!
Fluid – like diarrhea? 😂
What gets me is they are giving us Ramen noodles and will still try to pawn it off as Linguine alle Vongole. Just admit the rebuild. Sell the new guys getting reps. In baseball – a horrible team still wins 4 out of 10 games. Win 6 out 10 and your easily in the playoffs.
They will never ever ever be transparent. For years it was “compete” – now it is radio silence. I think attempting to understand the inner workings beyond (1) the lack of guaranteed revenue due to no media rights package causing less spending and (2) the disastrous prior free agent contracts is the equivalent of trying to figure out what a cow is feeling.
I still don’t give a shit about transparency. You know who loves being transparent? Jerry Jones. Be silent all you want, just don’t suck while you do it. If you do suck, I don’t need the FO to talk it over with me like I’m a teenage girl. Just fix it. You don’t have to tell me how you plan to fix it because I have no agency in the matter. Oh NO! I have very few quotes to hem and haw over! Don’t care. Just fix.
I agree that when things are running well, I don’t need transparency. I an owner wants to run things how they want to run them and not tell me about it, sounds pretty good as long as the team is not a complete shit show. But when the team is a complete shit show, if you want me to spend my hard earned money on that shit show, a few nuggets to understand why would be helpful.
As an example, I would find it very refreshing if the Org would just come out and say they’re not spending money because of the uncertainty of the media rights. That would be a very welcome bit of transparency imo.
That would be an idea that most fans who are bothering to think at all instead of just saying “WE KNEE SIGNS BELLI!” have already had. WTF does it matter if PTP shows up and tells me all about it?
I have seen other teams do it. It had ZERO influence on the fan base. They’re either pissy or they aren’t.
At the MLB level there is a vast chasm between winning 4 of every 10 during a season and 6 of every 10. It is so much easier to write than to actually accomplish. It requires a level of consistency and excellence to win 2 more out of 10 sixteen times in a season. That’s equates to 32 more wins out of 162 games. The difference between 64 and 96 wins. Such a huge and vast chasm and yet it all comes down to winning 2 more games out of every 10 in a season.
What is frustrating for me is that teams with far more demanding fanbases and media, like Boston and St Louis, team’s Arte admires, have done full tear downs and they are on the rise fast. But he’s still afraid to admit that we need an overhaul and the fans can suck it if it pisses them off.
Only team my impression Arte admires is NYY, that was his team growing up. and it explains a lot wrt rebuilding philosophy.
Actually, that is happening “Here, There and (Almost) Everywhere” in my opinion.
The farm is depleted because of terrible drafts. Other than the trade with the Pale Hose, AM/PM have kept our top prospects.
The issue remains that the very same people who created this situation are the very same people who developed and are executing today’s plan.
If they would have admitted how dire it was – we’d have Ethan Holladay – who will likely still be ready in a couple of years. I would have been optimistic of a savvy management team manipulating to get Slawinski, Gray, LaCourse, Haley, Mitchell, etc. – but I have zero faith based on their track record that any of these will land. We’ll likely end up with a bunch of edge MLB players that get some cups of coffee – but maybe one hits as a +2 WAR guy. Holladay has a chance to be a perennial All Star.
How does admitting things are dire get us Holliday? We don’t have Holliday because he’s not a pitcher and the Angels wanted to draft a pitcher.
I think they feel pressure to get the college ready guy. A guy they could have plugged in last season if they had a push after the draft. So maybe it’s not admitting it to us, but admitting it to themselves. And yes – they love to draft pitchers. Love, love, love drafting pitchers. And with their stellar track record – why wouldn’t they? That’s part of why we have no bench.
The draft has been poor, as has development. Those would help. But the majority of strong farms with a pile of players who can come up and make a team good within a set time frame also involve trading players away for prospects. But we reload.
Agree, terrible drafts. I recognize the Angels are not the only team that struggles but it sucks JJ Wetherholt and his 65 grade hit tool got snagged 1-pick ahead of CMoore but could have Perry could have regrouped by taking Yesavage or Griffin (No.1 or 2 MLB ranked prospect). Or taken a Kevin McGonigle and his 70 hit tool who was drafted in the compensation round of 2023 draft. Or how about in 2021, Angels selected a Schwellenbach, Woo, Bubba Chandler, bonafide starters vs drafting an arm with reliever-risk. For me, couple of these past redrafts and some luck would definitely change the teams projection to relevance.
In 2022, a MLB redraft would show the Neto should have been the guy at No.2 behind The Roman Empire. Perry got this one right.
Picking No. 2 last year, Bremner needs to make it as a No. 1 or his pick is a bust. Still favored Seth Hernandez as a baby Paul Skenes. Recognize this chapter is yet to be written but one I’ll be closely following. F–k I wanted Seth.
Angels need to take big swings when available and go for the upside as a cellar dweller. No college safe picks or reliever-risks. Their picks cannot just make it to the big leagues (Exhibit A. Schauny), we need to find a couple of guys who will dominate at the big league level.
Yep. This is pretty much what a team should do if they are full of holes, have no farm, and don’t have Dodgers/Yankees money to just “replace team” with. But oh no! We’ll piss of John Zucherman from Mission Viejo who has been watching the Angels since 1972!
My level of hate for Arte is not nearly as high as some folks. But it’s pretty clear he doesn’t under stand how to do “the middle” at all. It’s either buy a Lambo or nothing. Buying a Toyota Supra and a shed full of new parts never shows up on his screen. This is frustrating because he keeps getting his ass kicked by teams that do know how to buy useful and build better. He relies heavily on people just thinking his 1989 Testerosa (Trout) or what ever “names” he has to generate interest and he just doesn’t trust the value of a garage full of Toyotas and Hondas.
Have you ever driven a DeLorean? I have. They are total cool looking shit. Even when we had Ohtani we were a DeLorean. People go “Oh cool!” but inside it’s a heavy ass car that can’t corner or go fast with doors that are hard to close. I give him credit, he was willing to spend liberally on players to go with The Stars. But they never worked out and he was never willing to waste some Trout or Ohtani building a farm.
So now we are a mid-2000s Nissan Altima.
It’s time to embrace the suck and start growing a team out of this compost pile.
No news today. I thought we’d see something like “Angels Sign Free Agents Mark Appel and Tyler Kolek.”
Tyler Kolek is doing pretty well for the Knicks right now 😂
😂
