The bad things that stand out to me the most at the ASB among the many bad things, continuing to lead the league in striking out, the Minasian built bullpen continuing to suck, and our starting pitching getting worse as the season progresses, specifically Soriano and Detmers, our top two guys. What am I leaving out. There’s so much to chose from.

The best thing by far is firing Minasian, and hiring an experienced person in his place. We see the dividend already in the recent draft. Developing a few young players like Walbert, Denzer and Peraza is hopefully promising.

Legend

BannedInLA

53 minutes ago

Reply to MarineLayer

Mostly concur, though Peraza/Pazuzu has trailed off markedly over the past month. Alarmingly so. Hopefully he can “find it” soon.

Denzer Guzman looks like a keeper and he’s one of the players to be most optimistic about. Great defense, doesn’t strike out a lot and seems cool as a cucumber. It’s ridiculously premature to invoke Adrian Beltre, but, I’ll do it anyway.

Editor

Legend

Jeff Joiner

16 minutes ago

Reply to BannedInLA

Insanely impressed with Guzman’s batting practice and infield work before games. His hands are silky smooth. Great baseball build.

Would love for him to stick as a long term answer.

Legend

BannedInLA

1 hour ago

Soler being on the roster is most problematic to me. Not only is he a .220 hitting DH, he also justifies the continued presence of Mike Trout in CF, which obviously negatively impacts the defense.

Without Soler, Trout could be the primary DH and the team could play Siri/Rada in CF.

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MarineLayer

1 hour ago

Reply to BannedInLA

Completely agree. The faster we eject the Minasian mistakes the better. He would’ve been a better DFA than Walton, and I like DFAing Walton.

Trusted Member

milehigh

1 hour ago

Reply to BannedInLA

If M&M haven’t had a serious heart to heart talk with Trout they need to do so ASAP. Trout in CF keeps Soler and Lowe on the roster. Lowe isn’t going back to 2023 and it doesn’t look like Soler will be a consistent power hitter again. If Trout wants the team to improve he needs to figure out where he’s a part of that improvement and where he is not.

Can’t keep kicking this can down the road. Need to do it now since Mozeliak has the cred. Leaving it for the next GM not good at all. And wastes time improving the team.

Legend

MarineLayer

1 hour ago

Reply to milehigh

Especially if Moz doesn’t plan to stay. Better for Moz to pull the bandaid off than leave it to the next guy who will have to live with Mike as the bad part of his contract winds down.

Legend

BannedInLA

48 minutes ago

Reply to MarineLayer

This an excellent point. He could truly go scorched earth on the existing roster and force a true reset. It would also remove the decision from the incoming permanent GM. Let’s hope he pursues that path.

Editor

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Jeff Joiner

14 minutes ago

Reply to MarineLayer

Moz should have a talk with Trout and tell him the long term plan for the organization so Trout can make an informed decision about requesting a trade or not.

I think Trout has earned that conversation.

Super Member

smithy610

3 minutes ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

The problem with the conversation about the long-term plan is both know that Moz is only temporary. It’s really hard to discuss long-term plans with someone who’s only going to be here until December. Because such “long-term plans” will most likely be different once a different person is in-charge.

Legend

BannedInLA

59 minutes ago

Reply to milehigh

Exactly, Trout could/should seamlessly slide into the role of regular DH and spot starter in the OF. If he/they are insistent on him playing in the field, the compromise would need to be LF.

Rada in CF will cover a lot of ground to compensate for Trout in LF and TBD in RF.

This is another reason I wanted to see Hey Siri get more playing time. He probably isn’t starter material, but, this is the perfect time to find out. Ditto for Christian Moore.

Last edited 56 minutes ago by BannedInLA

Legend

MarineLayer

1 hour ago

I’m okay with the haul for Detmers, but I saw a proposal involving Milwaukee I like better.

Editor

Legend

Jeff Joiner

1 hour ago

Reply to MarineLayer

Detmers value on the sim has increased in the week since I wrote that piece.

Think I will do Detmers, Soriano, and Adell trade pieces over the next couple of weeks. Probably two or three of each.

Legend

MarineLayer

1 hour ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

I would love to hear your thoughts. You know so much more than me.

Editor

Legend

Jeff Joiner

1 hour ago

Reply to MarineLayer

I have the same thoughts. He’s struggled lately.

But I think the list of potential buyers has increased.

Detroit, for example, is hot and only 3.5 games out of a playoff spot. Do they trade Skubal or try to cash in a playoff run?

The Dodgers are definitely looking to add an arm. Boston is 1.5 games out, Toronto is 2 out and after last year you know they want back in.

There should be a scarcity of quality starters available. And with Detmers bullpen experience a playoff team could use him in either role come October.

Super Member

smithy610

1 hour ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

I think the bullpen experience will be enticing for teams. They know Reid already has experience coming out of bullpen in the middle of the game, rather than just having a full-time starter during the season suddenly be asked to be a reliever. And Reid can be really dominant in 1, 2 innings, he would be a great bridge to the closer.

Legend

BannedInLA

57 minutes ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

My assumption is that Arte would not trade Detmers to the doyers unless the return was unrealistically high.

Editor

Legend

Jeff Joiner

11 minutes ago

Reply to BannedInLA

Agreed. I did a Soriano to the Dodgers piece a while back and the common refrain was “Arte would never.”

If we pulled of the Soriano trade and extended Detmers, that could thread the needle a bit. Compete better in 2027 and stock the farm.

Legend

MarineLayer

1 hour ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

He has been bad the last few starts. I wonder how that increases his trade value. I’m not complaining, just curious. I can’t imagine his trade value can get much higher as long as he’s here. I expect he will break out once he’s traded.

Super Member

HalosFanForLife

3 hours ago

Roch got $1 million under slot.

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Senator_John_Blutarsky

1 hour ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

“The UCLA shortstop landed a $10.35 million bonus, according to MLB.com, about $1 million less than the slot value for the pick, but $1.1 million more than the previous signing bonus record”

Legend

MarineLayer

1 hour ago

Reply to Senator_John_Blutarsky

We could’ve done that with our #2 pick last year. But Minasian galaxy brained us into signing a lower upside player who doesn’t even seem that close to a MLB promotion anyway.

Super Member

HalosFanForLife

3 hours ago

Was just doing research and my inclination is right, Shadow zone pitches that are takes are missed 18.1% at the MLB level. That is a lot. ABS is very fast – why not just get it right? Calling balls and strikes is hard. I’d argue that college is about 25-30% and high school is 33% plus. Whoever figures out the affordable tech for HS and youth games is going to make a mint. It would actually keep more umpires from getting abused and reduce the shortages.

Trusted Member

toad2065

8 minutes ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

A half season of experience with ABS has made this a no-brainer! Putting the onus on batters and catchers to make ball/strike determinations is silly. Use the technology!

Super Member

Roy Hobbs

3 hours ago

There were other guys we could have sent down besides Walton that would not have had to clear waivers. Whether or not you believed he was due for regression, he was currently far and away our best LH hitter. He may do nothing, but I hate to just throw things away.

Super Member

TrojanBoiler

2 hours ago

Reply to Roy Hobbs

We needed to keep Josh Lowe and the .585 OPS he is sporting this month.

We seriously cut someone who we had batting cleanup for us, in order to keep someone (who was optionable) who bats 9th most nights 😒

Legend

MarineLayer

1 hour ago

Reply to Roy Hobbs

Releasing a 32 year old career minor leaguer is fine with me. He is a nice story but not part of a rebuild. Feels more like a Captain Jack 2.0 to me. Lowe has actually had some good MLB results in the past and seems rejuvenated since he received better coaching in the minors.

The DFA I’m most interested in is Brady Anderson.

Super Member

YOUknowulovetheIE

4 hours ago

First time I havent watched the home run derby or atleast part of it, in years. Why Netflix and why on a mon night? MLB is ran by idiots.

Legend

MarineLayer

1 hour ago

Reply to YOUknowulovetheIE

Jordan Walker is leading my NL only fantasy team to a 20 point. I hope his victory does not mess up his swing.

i bet this is the least read or worthwhile post on the thread.

Legend

Senator_John_Blutarsky

5 hours ago

Yes, I would pull the trigger on that White Sox trade.

Legend

Pineapple12

3 hours ago

Reply to Senator_John_Blutarsky

Yeah, it’s a no-brainer

Super Member

smithy610

1 hour ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Even if it’s just Billy Carlson and one of those comp pieces, it’s a huge win for the Angels. I like Reid and I wish we were more competitive during his time here and in the next 2.5 years that he would have still been here, but it’s not gonna happen. Moz should pull the trigger. And c’mon, it’s not like Reid is a big ticket draw like Shohei was (which was the reason why Arte squashed all trade proposals).

Editor

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Jeff Joiner

6 minutes ago

Reply to smithy610

For the record, Reid is a super nice guy. Really enjoyed my time with him at the baseball clinic.

In talking with Angels employees, Detmers and Adell are generally cited as being great human beings and my limited experiences with both indicated that is the truth.