The Astros selected pitcher Cody Bolton and optioned Christian Roa to make room. The Brewers just acquired outfielder Luis Matos from the Giants for cash considerations.
The Giants designated infielder/outfielder Tyler Fitzgerald for assignment. They are set to acquire right-hander Dylan Smith from the Tigers for cash considerations.
The Blue Jays have signed Austin Voth to a minor league deal. The Braves selected Martin Perez and optioned Didier Fuentes to make room.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
JeDi doing Jedi things….
The Mariners announced the signing of top shortstop prospect Colt Emerson to an eight-year extension that includes a club option for the 2034 campaign. Emerson, an ACES client, is reportedly guaranteed $95MM — a record for a player who has yet to make his MLB debut. The signing comes with a full no-trade clause and includes another $35MM+ in escalators. There’s reportedly an $8MM signing bonus and salaries that range between $9MM and $18MM from 2028-33.
Must be nice to have actual prospects
#22 pick in the Schanuel draft. Currently a top ten national prospect.
It’s been a few draft cycles since the Angels have expended a top 100 selection on a high school bat, but it might be the year to break that trend. There are some nice options out there this year.
Since O’Hoppe and Neto were together in AA, we haven’t really had a position player to get excited about. That’s like 4 years ago. That’s long dry spell with 4-5 drafts since then, and more since Neto was actually drafted. That would explain a lot. Our farm system is legitimately awful when it comes to position players.
As you probably recall, it was a recurrent theme in my draft coverage last summer. I began pivoting to bats more in the ’22 draft (the last time the top name on my board, Zach Neto, agreed with that of the Angels draft room). But by the time 2025 rolled around, the system was just bereft up and down of offense.
At some point the team has to address it. They don’t have to go all Eddie Bane in 2010, and just draft a bunch of athletic bodies without mature skills – but they could at least diversify their draft portfolio for a few years with upside prep bats and some college hitters with track record.
Hallelujah !!
Moncada is not in the starting lineup !
Maybe Kurt Suzuki has been reading CTPG !!
I will be taking in some Rancho Cucamonga Quakes games. If nothing else – they have a great looking logo/hat. A little q with a halo, and rancho with a halo stitched on the back.
Imo, nicer park, better drive, and better air than San Bernardino.
We’re going to a Quakes game on April 30th.
And dinner at Vince’s
Hmm, Vince’s. Haven’t been there for a long time. Need to get back.
I grew up in Pomona and we went there a lot.
Never been to Vince’s. Looks like a bit of a bellyache, but I’m usually down to try a new red sauce joint.
And the final affiliate roster was released:
https://twitter.com/TC_DustDevils/status/2039064143479935463
The Dust Devils feature Bremner, Shores and Snead, but little on the offensive side of the ledger. The subtraction of Rio Foster and Isaiah Jackson is felt here. Also note that Chris Cortez is repeating the level, instead of being promoted to the Southern League with Gordon.
The torso of the Angels farm remains rather barren of bats. They need a couple offense-oriented drafts, and a few mid-season trades to start addressing that.
The real Halos prospect action starts Thursday night, when the Cal League warms up. A quick reminder: the Angels single-A club is no longer the Inland Empire 66ers. The 66ers are now the Mariners affiliate. The Angels A-ball club is now the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (a previous Angels affiliate club in the Stoneman era).
Even more confusing, the season kicks off with the 66ers playing the Quakes at Rancho this Thursday.
But unquestionably, this is where most of the action is. Full season ball with Jordan, TGA and Soto – and a bit of a surprise, Talon Haley from the ’25 draft. Also, the lineup is full of intrigue: Hayden Alvarez, Lucas Ramirez, Gabriel Davalillo. (Interesting that they didn’t promote Slate Alford – seems to already being consigned to the org soldier lane at this point.)
https://x.com/AnthonyArroyo23/status/2038716991889133694?s=20
appreciate these insights and updates.
Who all then is looking to end up in Rookie Ball in Tempe?
Slawinski! Ford, Grey!
Nice to see Davalillo and Haley skip it.
Imagine we’ll see all those kids in the ACL. But we might see a cameo or two at Rancho as the spring rolls on?
Talon Haley 👀
Angels prospect Talon Haley on his new pitch coming into the year:
“I started off with a kick change and now it’s more of a circle. It’s going to be a big pitch for me. I’ve been working on perfecting it in ‘pens. I have five pitches I can command, I’m really excited for this.”
For the farm-fanatics here, the Pandas released their preliminary roster today.
Overall, a pretty unexciting bunch. Of note, though, Raudi and Nick Rodriguez both made the jump over High-A straight to AA this season. They may be the only bats to watch in a lineup otherwise full of non-prospects and organizational soldiers.
The rotation is also thin. Hurtado looks to repeat at AA, and Austin Gordon got promoted, but guys like Bremner, Shores and Snead will start the year at Tri-City.
https://twitter.com/TaylorBlakeWard/status/2039067958056742973
I think AA is the right spot for Raudi, right?
I don’t understand why Hurtado is repeating AA again. Why not give him a look in the long reliever role that is currently being occupied by … Shaun Anderson?
I think Raudi should be challenged at AA, yes. Especially given how the Northwest League suppresses offense, they probably wanted to avoid that placement.
Surprised Cortez and Alford didn”t make the jump here.
In terms of Hurtado, I don’t know that they have enough rotation reps to give him at Salt Lake, and they don’t seem ready to convert him to relief yet.
The winless A’s go up against a familiar pitcher today: Jose Suarez.
It’s rather amazing to me that Suarez finds steady work in general, but also specifically in the rotation of a team currently predicted to win its division. Maybe not so astonishing as it’s the Braves, given the Angels-Atlanta links.
(And the Braves did coax a 1.86 ERA out of Jose across seven appearances last season, and a 3.38 ERA over five this spring.)
I saw that Suarez is starting…. That being the case I think the A’s win their first game tonight !
My wife will be damn pleased, if so. First season in ten that she’s watched four games in a row, and all losses – not an auspicious beginning!
Nolan Schanuel
24 PA
.350 / .458 / .650
2 HR
16.7% K rate
16.7% BB walk
Small sample size, yes. Good player, also yes.
Recent teams have let these three game slides turn into 6 or 7 game losing streaks. They need to find a way to win a game when they are in a rut. If Soriano can become ace- ish he can stop these skids.
Lots of negativity today, but I beg to differ. My personal hopium meter is trending up. Sure it’s early, but I see the makings of a better ball team than the past few years. Where it goes, nobody knows,but I choose to be optimistic. The only quick hook for me might be Moncada but let the rest of the roster alone.
I need your dealer’s number!
It all comes down to the pitching. If Johnson and Silent C can be decent, the Halos might be ok. The bullpen needs to produce also — but hopefully Joyce can help if he is coming back.
The lineup still has some talent. We will see how much as games pass.
I was hoping that being a catcher might give Suzuki a leg up but he seems a bit off so far. Hopefully he will get better fairly quickly.
The negativity for me stems from bad baseball. It’s one thing to have a lack of talent, it’s an entirely different thing to be undisciplined and unable to play fundamental ball.
It starts with our catching tandem being the worst in MLB. I really really really like O’Hoppe, but I’m tossing him out with the bath water. My eyes cannot take another 100 games of him behind the plate. D’Arnaud is not much better either fwiw.
How many defensive gaffes has Moncada made in the last 3 games? Enough to have me heavily considering breaking my abstinence from alcohol.
Win, lose, whatever — just put out a product on the field that doesn’t make me wanna gouge my eyeballs out 😂
Good points here Pineapple. Especially what you noted about the difference between a lack of talent and not being able to execute the basic fundamentals. This team definitely does have talent. That is what makes it so frustrating when they shoot themselves in the foot with mental mistakes and lack of discipline.
The sad thing is that the GM is complicit in this by bringing back guys like Moncada.
Hey Frosty! I’ve been bad at responding to some of your recent replies. Nice to have you back, the off-season wasn’t the same without ya.
Re: Perry — I’ve supported him and I’m done doing so, he’s gotta go. Not a great look when his only achievements in 5 years are drafting Neto and Schanuel, and the Estevez trade.
Is Perry the guy that brought (back) Soriano? I can’t remember if it was before him or not.
Deserves credit for that if he did.
Nah, he doesn’t get any credit for that.
A month into his stint at GM, Minasian left Soriano unprotected in the Rule 5 draft, and the pitching-savvy Pirates promptly plucked him with the #1 overall selection.
Soriano came back to the Angels in November because Pittsburgh couldn’t retain him on their roster due to injury. No choice by Perry, who didn’t roster Jose. The Angels were simply fortunate to have him returned to them.
See this is where we fundamentally and honestly disagree. You write “the team definitely does have talent”.
I would write, other than Neto the team has mediocre talent. I don’t think most of these guys would have a starting job on any decent ML roster.
As a result, my expectations for performance by this team are extremely low and therefore all of this really doesn’t matter on a daily basis. It’s just a baseball season and we have a crappy team so they’ll win some and lose more and no reason to get too hyped up.
A mediocre baseball team is an inconsistent one. Sometimes decent and showing promise. Other times awful. That’s the Angels. So why stress over them or give it this much brain space?
I agree – very good points.
There will be thunderstorms in Chicago this evening starting around 4pm local time…. My nightmare is that they let up enough near gametime that the umps tell the managers to prepare etc. Soriano warms up and then pitches the first 1-2 innings. Then another brief single storm returns. The umps stop the game for an hour.
Suzuki decides not to bring Jose back after the delay, we are forced to then go with the pen, effectively burning an important Soriano start. Our pen goes on to give up runs and we lose the game, falling to 0-2 in the series and 2-4 overall on the year.
This is the Angels way; a combination of defensive suckitude and bad luck !!
Don’t worry, it may never happen. OCD is a real disease. Don’t fret over what you can’t control.
Feel free to not respond to any of my comments.
Feel free to ignore me. 😀
As Sgt Hulka said, “lighten up Francis”.
It’s baseball and it’s not even April! 😂
Funny you ask me to “lighten up” after provoking me. Kind of like slapping someone and then telling them to relax….
Don’t think people don’t see what you are doing.
You, then, are very easily provoked. You take playful banter and giving shit as an attack.
Relatedly, I honestly could care less what people think. If they have time to stress about this mediocre team or worry about banter on a chat site, then they need to get a life.
Here’s a worse scenario.
Soriano deals 1 run for 4.2 innings and Trout goes 2-2 with a single, HR and 3 RBI and the game gets rained out and doesn’t count.
Yep. That is another way it could go down. Both my outcome and yours are very Angels things to happen.
TrAdition.
After two games, things looked different. After last night’s game, we look exactly the same as last year. Moncada is the Angels vibe in a single body. Mike Maddux doesn’t look like he’s going to “fix” anybody in particular. We’ve got no one in line to replace Jack or Ryan Johnson. Suzuki has got the deer in the headlights look. What a horrible vibe we have. What a mess.
Even the most mediocre teams can look great on any given night. That is why getting too high or too low, or making bright or doomsday predictions, on a couple wins or losses makes zero sense. It’s 162 games for a reason. To get hyped up about two wins or depressed about 3 losses is just inapplicable for a season of this length.
What’s the famous quote?
All teams win 60 games and lose 60 games, the separator between good and bad teams is what happens in the remaining 40 games.
Something like that
I think in our case it will be lose 90 games, and what will happen with the other 73… 😆
Soriano is in his age 27 season. This is typically when players begin to reach their peak. He certainly has the potential to be a legit #1 or #2. He does become Arb eligible next year so if he gets close to elite status, he will be up for a huge pay raise from his current $2.9m (if there is a 2027 season). In any event, he should be plenty motivated this year so this could be a real breakthrough season for him.
If he is excelling near the trade deadline and the team is in the tank, he could have huge trade value and this could be a reasonable thing to do with a lockout looming, particularly if Arte does not want to pay the increased salary amounts he would be awarded in arbitration.
Please sweet baby Jesus, let’s hope so. He’s so inconsistent though. Hopefully he’s the prince that was promised amd gives us the king of kings trade ransom at the deadline.
A smart org would have pursued an extension with Soriano and got it done a year ago.
Arte has no stomach for expensive extensions at this point. Case in point Zach Neto.
I’m no weatherman but today’s forecast makes for a likely doubleheader tomorrow
Ernie Banks would be up for that!
Praise the lord! Trout’s Jesus merch might be working.
I heading to Wrigley tomorrow. I’ve been watching the weather forecast for April 1st since it started appear ten days out very very diligently.
At first, it was to be a nice day at 70F. 😎
Then about five days out it started to go to 40F. 😐
And then about three days ago rain started to appear with the 40F 😕
Yesterday was the worst – rain all day 😪
Today it says no rain for tomorrow 🙂
Fingers crossed. I’ve never been to Wrigley, nor Chicago.
I’ve never been to a rain out. I’ve never been to a doubleheader. I don’t own a winter coat.
But I leave Phoenix at 5am tomorrow regardless. Today I’m buying a winter coat.
🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 safe travels! Maybe you luck into a Soriano start too
I have been to alot of road trips in my life but never have I planned a trip of any distance around a single game. Always has to be at least two games. The idea of losing airfaire etc due to rainout is not something I could take..
Good point Jack.
Art museum, Wrigley and a steak house.
But much more than 10 hours in Chicago?
I’m not sure that something i could take 🥶😂
Let’s leave Chicago to the Eskimos
That town’s a little bit too rugged
For you and me.
Funny you mention the cold. When I saw the schedule I initially considered going to this series… but then I was reminded that in March you sometimes get snow in Chicago, and if not that then very cold !!
If you have not been to the Art Institute of Chicago you must go. In addition to the Seurat it is an amazing collection. I am pretty sure that Rev. Halofan would agree with this point..
Funnily on-topic on a couple (weather) fronts – I was accepted to the Art Institute for grad school, and promptly turned tail with my first Chicago winter, taking a job at a start-up in LA, and never returning.
Agree that the collection is well worth a trip.
Besides Seurat and the Impressionists, looking forward to American Gothic and Nighthawks, some Picasso and my favorite- the Fauvists.
i have my route planned out – a couple hours there, before the game. The trip is definitely about the museum as well as Wrigley. Similar to Paris, a day trip. Bypass the Louvre and spent my time at Musée d’Orsay.
Musee d’Orsay is a fantastic museum. As for the Louvre I understand your reluctance… Last time I went there in about 2007 it was a mad house…. I wrote a little article about that trip. All the tourists taking pictures of the great art with their phones… Half the time it was just the picture and then walking away. No time actually looking at the art.
Sometime between 73-75 when I was a teenager and the A’s were winning 3 consecutive World Series, I went with my friends to a Sunday doubleheader in Anaheim with the A’s. They were the team at the time and they had awesome uniforms to boot. This was back in the day when it was traditional, and seemingly accepted by the stadium staff, for kids and young people to purchase cheap tickets and sneak down to sit anywhere you wanted as long as the seats were empty and there were lot’s of empty seats.
Many people went only to the first game, so in between games, we went outside the stadium and asked the people leaving for their tickets. We ended up with about 10 tickets located all over the stadium so we walked around and sat in all of them. And, we got to see the A’s, who at the time, were like the NY Yankees, only better and way more entertaining. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
Those were the days when Sunday DBL Headers were the norm and you looked in the paper the next morning to see who hit 4 HRs, got 6-8 hits, or drove in 8 runs for the two games. Sorry for the ramble, your DBL header comment resurrected a great memory. Hope you have a great time.
Love Wrigley – have seen terrific games there.
Rex, you must be feeling a bit better about west coast baseball these days, no? UCLA, USC, Oregon, Oregon State and Arizona State all in the Top 25?
(Yes, the former are Big 10 teams now, but conference this, conference that. The West is showing up this season.)
I’m focused on the Devils, they got ranked right after I vented but kind of pissed WV took 2 of 3 this weekend and happily surprised they didn’t drop out of the Top 25. Hoping they get to host a Regional.
Langdon Hariston 😍 🔥 🔥
Happy for SC and UCLA, but the Big West isn’t there anymore, and UCR is a mess.
UCSB and Irvine really took a nosedive this season as well – expected more from the former.
We all knew that UCLA would have a killer team this year, but USC has outperformed. Good year to be a Bruin overall, though.
https://www.mlb.com/angels/video/mike-trout-talks-baseball-and-family
Glad someone winning because it ain’t gonna be us anything soon…
