Good morning Angels fans! Feeling good? Have some links!
Angels News
The MLB draft lottery ping their balls and the Angels have the 2nd overall pick this year! That is amazing… and I have no idea who is good enough to draft that high. WILDLY SPECULATE!
Because of this news (not really) Nolan Arenado is willing to waive his no trade clause to come play for the Angels. Wow, Rendon AND Arenado in the same lineup? The Angels must really love 3B that peaked years ago… Anyway he is an OC kid, as that is most likely the ONLY reason why he would allow this to happen as all other 5 teams are actually good.
How about a new 2B as well? Gleyber Torres, the forever prospect who was untouchable on the MFY is a free agent and the Angels seem interested? Ummm, maybe? What do you think?
We need pitching, and the Angels have OF to trade. Ward may be traded for pitching. His agent hasn’t heard of that yet.
Around Baseball
Max Fried is going to the MFY at 8/218M. Yeah, that is a LOT.
Cleveland and the Blue Jays made a trade. Andres Gimenez will now have to learn how to speak French. Canadian French. And then Cleveland traded THOSE guys to the Pirates Spencer Horwitz.
Nathan Eovaldi is staying with Texas. 3/75M.
To help pay for Soto, Steve Cohen has sold off the Mets AAA and AA teams. I wish our AAA team was close to us.
Nats won the draft lottery. And the Mariners finished 3rd somehow. HAX! I call HAX!
Roki Sasaki seems to care about team success. Welp, there goes the Angels’ chances. But he would prefer a smaller market because the media were mean to him in Japan.
Cubs look to trade Seiya Suzuki. He would like to NOT DH.
Kevin Pillar will not retire despite saying he would earlier. He had one good month with the Angels and suddenly he thinks he still has it.
Alex Cobb is still playing and is now a Tiger. He only pitched 16 innings this season.
Jake Burger is now a Ranger. Marlins traded him to Texas. What? A Burger?
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes!
How serious?
Checking an off-season box? (Look how serious we are Angel fanbase, oh well we tried) or
Is Osama bin Moreno is going for it? Looking for new trAditions?
https://nypost.com/2024/12/11/sports/yankees-werent-max-frieds-top-choice-heres-how-they-got-him/
Meh. That could basically mean the Angels called, asked where his market’s at, and said ‘OH” then hung up.
“No you didn’t get disconnected, I hung up on you”
-PTP (after they call back)
Sam the Hat says we never Had…no trade in the works.
https://x.com/BeyondTheHalo/status/1866916812140712112
I bet the Angels start the season with Ward, Rengifo, and Anderson. Arte will want the appearance of competing.
Serious question. Would you trade any of those three if the returns would not see the majors till the ‘28 season? I’m assuming no one would give an equal value starter for any of the three.
Yes. Though why are they not making it to the MLB for 3 years?
Ward all day. He’s an average hitter, less average defender, and is too streaky.
There is always talk about trading for ‘prospects’ or ‘high value prospects’, but no definition of what a prospect is. I’m curious what our pain point is with any prospects any of the three, Ward, Rengifo, Anderson, could return.
I think the time to trade Anderson was last mid-season. We all know his even/odd year splits. I also think he would not return a player that would reach MLB. But that’s just me.
I feel that the Angels are waiting for the draft to then determine what to do with trades. See what they draft and then what else do they need. There is a danger in waiting to long, I think.
Yes. Absolutely
Yes if their upside was notable.
Anderson?
Is that the appearance of competing?
Anybody remember the Angels’ former first rounder, Will Wilson? He was just grabbed by the Guardians in the MiLB Rule-5. Had previously been with San Francisco
What I remember most was the D-Backs selecting Corbin Carroll (BPA on my board) with the next pick, and the Mariners selecting George Kirby (my personal pick) four picks later.
Screw Billy Eppler.
But we need players who get to the bigs fast to keep Trout, I mean Ohtani, no wait I mean Neto happy….
No question that Wilson really “flew through the system”.
Like three espressos and Del Taco.
He already did that himself!
What about Jose Urquidy on a 1yr? I don’t care or follow rule 5.
Might be worth a try. We’ll likely do something like this closer to ST.
the guy that just had TJ surgery for a second time?
sure, lets pay him to not pitch
Every pitcher will have injuries, this one year deals.
I’m extremely 🧠 intellijent
not sure if you’re joking or not.
He literally will not pitch in 2025
Rule 5 pick is in.
Angels: Garrett McDaniels, LHP (Dodgers)
opinions, please?
I don’t know anymore than you probably do, but his minor league stats look pretty good. He made slow progression through the minor leagues finally getting to AA ball in his 24 year old season. 108 strike outs in 92 innings of minor league ball. The question is whether he is ready for the MLB because I believe he will have to be on the MLB roster all year or he can be reclaimed (this is why we stuck with Taylor Featherston all those years ago).
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=mcdani000gar
Who is he?
From MLB:
Garrett McDaniels, LHP, Dodgers: McDaniels began the year at Single-A and ended it at Double-A, finishing with a combined 3.19 ERA, .229 BAA and 10.3 K/9 rate. He originally signed as an undrafted free agent with the Dodgers in August 2021 while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, making his pro debut with one outing late in 2022, then not pitching again until July 2023.
30th round choice of the Marlins. Went to the University of Mount Olives. Minor league stats are meh – nothing spectacular jumps out.
Crochet to Red Sox in blockbuster trade (source)
https://www.mlb.com/news/garrett-crochet-traded-to-red-sox-white-sox
Per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the White Sox will receive catcher Kyle Teel (Boston’s No. 4 prospect), outfielder Braden Montgomery (Boston’s No. 5 prospect), infielder Chase Meidroth (Boston’s No. 11 prospect) and right-handed pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez (Boston’s No. 14 prospect) in return.
Fauck, White Sox did well.
CBS just wrote that the Red Sox get an A for the player. White Sox get a B for what they got back. Hence, not everyone is all that enthused with the “prospects” acquired.
Why want Teel if Quero is the best thing since sliced meats?
Queso
Querogoes great with sliced meats.Top 50 prospect who has a ton of value and could be flipped to many other clubs for something of need if White Sox want.
Better to go for high value targets than exact matches at this point in the offseason (given the White Sox are far away from any contention window).
Yah. I know. I’m just picking on the idea that we lost the second coming of Syd Finch when we traded for Giollito…. also to keep Ohtani engaged with us….
Excellent question about Quero. It might be the Angels didn’t lose much there.
That’s a lot of prospect capital for two years of an oft-injured arm who has never put up 150ip in a season yet.
Both of Boston’s first rounders from the past two drafts (and incidentally the consensus best players on the board when the Angels selected in both years). It’s a good return for Chicago.
Yeah. I can totally see Crochet’s arm exploding soon…. just after he signs a 250M contract
I really like the return for Chicago. Braden Montgomery was a guy I hoped the Angels would take. Teel is pretty much unanimously considered to be a stud.
Noted. See my other post. CBS thinks Red Sox clearly won the trade.
As always we’ll see in a couple of years.
Reminds me the last time these teams hooked up in a prospect haul for Chris Sale. Boston won that one. Prospects are sexy until they are not. But I side with the White Sox on this one, for today.
Thing is, prospects that may be good but mostly bust are always far more useful than the FA pitcher that is pitching for another team.
How awesome has it been having decided to keep Ohtani? Pretty rad.
Braden Montgomery is kind of like a Jo Adell that went to college. Huge power, great athleticism, better arm, but plenty of swing and miss.
He got great coaching for a few years and is coming out of Texas A&M much more polished than Jo was after three seasons of Angels development, but there is serious potential for his 20% K rate in college to be 30% in the pros and sap away at his value.
I think Montgomery is perfectly capable of putting up the ugly BA with 30 bombs you brought up earlier while playing a really nice right field and possessing a nice arm even if his K rate is higher than average.
The kid really increased his walk rate last year, though, so if the K rate is about league average he’ll be a beast.
[[[ Watch Rule 5 Draft live from Dallas (2 p.m. ET ]]]
https://www.mlb.com/news/rule-5-draft-results-2024
#2 pick will be overshadowed by 2025 AL MVP, Jo Adell.
Seriously tho, I have big expectations for Jo. He’s coming off a GG-caliber defensive season and looked like a totally different hitter with the shortened leg kick.
Jo Show coming to a theater near you 🔜🔜🔜
.270 BA
.330 OBP
.500 SLG
30 HRs
30 doubles
30 SBs
Gold Glove finalist
From your mouth to God’s ears! 🙏
That would be huge. From July 2nd on last year he slashed .235/.318/.408 with 7 HR and 8 doubles so that would be quite the improvement.
I think a midway point is possible. Say .250/.325/.430 which would be quite valuable with Jo’s defense. To do so he’s probably at 20ish HR and another 20 doubles.
I am curious to see if the defensive applause helps him hit this year. I am almost certain that his going from a solid OF in the minors to a laughing stock in the MLB had to have hurt him at the plate, at least a little. If he has the monkey solidly off his back maybe we see a nice jump in offense this year?
He’s got serious power. I think 30HR with an ugly BA and maybe a small uptick in walks could happen…
Yeah, the power is currently limited by his rate of contact. If he settles down at the plate, you could very well be correct.
Since eliminating the toe tap ( since July 28th of last year)
.248/.320/.451 25% K rate with only a .299 BABIP so this should completely be repeatable or even improved on
Fully agree on getting the money off his back.
I’ve followed Jo’s career closely and he’s always been applauded for his work ethic. The question has been, can his natural athletic abilities turn into a great baseball player? Wash is helping him get there
Same. Saw him play center in spring training when he was 18 or 19 years old. He took natural routes and seemed to be playing the game back then.
Fast forward to Opening Day 2022 and he’s in left field second guessing every move he made. He was clearly in his own head rather than simply playing the game.
That would be a huge jump in home runs. He played every day last year and only had 20.
Will this increase or reduce the 15 WAR that Washington will deliver someday? 😀
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤷
to the moon, Senator
Don’t think the BA will hit .270 but everything else should be in order
Not a chance
More rumors about that M’fer Tucker….and doing the reverse “George Costanza Yankee Bastard” leaving Houston.
As several mentioned here yesterday, would be outstanding to get him out of Houston.
https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-rumors-trades-and-signings
Could you imagine if Sasaki chooses the Angels!? There would really be some justifiable excitement for the team at that point! As it stands now, even if Sasaki doesn’t pick the Angels the team is on a good path to success IMO.
Sounds a lot like Hopium, the cure is one dose of buttercup. (LOL at my own joke)
I sniff Hopium salts before every workout so forgive me lol
Perfect response.
I think it’s inherent in baseball, and one of the beautiful things about it.
At trivia last night, during the “name that tune” music round, one of the songs was our least favorite tune.
In case anyone’s interested, here’s a link to the list of number 2 overall draft picks: https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/index.fcgi?overall_pick=2&draft_type=junreg&query_type=overall_pick&from_type_jc=0&from_type_4y=0&from_type_unk=0&from_type_hs=0
Reggie, Will Clark, and Justin Verlander (I know he’s still playing) all had great careers while Bobby Witt Jr and Alex Bregman are in the midst of excellent careers. There are some busts too.
The Halos have never picked 2nd overall. In fact, they’ve only picked in the top 5 a total of 6 times in their history and haven’t had any since 1997.
5th overall in 1969, Alan Bannister
3rd overall in 1981, Dick Schofield
3rd overall in 1993, Brian Anderson
3rd overall in 1997, Troy Glaus
1st overall in 1975, Danny Goodwin
1st overall in 1995, Darin Erstad
Man. Perry and Arte managed to screw up most of those picks too because cheap and stupid.
That’s right! Arte could’ve selected a HOF like Roy Halladay or Todd Helton in 1995 and perhaps we could’ve dethroned the Yankee dynasty of the 90s. Arte is evil!
I’ll settle for another Troy Glaus.
With or without the ‘Roids?
When was Weaver picked?
12th. That was before slotted bonuses so several smaller market teams passed on him figuring they couldn’t afford his bonus demands.
It took Arte several months to get him signed.
Neither of which are possible under the current system.
IIRC he signed on the very last day, one year later
So, what is the site’s consensus to preferences on LaFayette, Holliday or a pitcher for the #2 pick. (Yes I know, it depends on the Nat’s pick).
I’d like to see the SS picked over the OF. It’s easier to get offensive or impact OFers and not so much for SSs.
It is way too early to hone in on a pick. Every year some players see their draft stock rise and others fall.
As of now, I think the consensus is the Nats take Holliday leaving the Angels the best college player on the board. As of now that would be Jace LaViollete, a powerful CF, or a college arm like UCSB’s Tyler Bremner or the southpaw from FSU Jaime Arnold.
The only thing I’ll predict right now is that the draft lists, like this one, look different in June than they do today.
A lot of scouts think the younger Holliday will probably move off short to 3B or a corner OF position anyhow.
And as JJ says, there’s a lot of ball to be played between now and late summer. If the Angels picked tomorrow, I might go for Bremner due to some concerns with LaViolette’s K rates, but it’s not a clear cut decision, and the team has a lot of nice options.
Let’s see how healthy each player is come July, and what the 2025 performance record looked like.
What’s kind of sad… you look at the top 250 and it seems like 75% of the pitchers bios have some story involving “season lost to arm trouble”.
Angels have a SS and have drafted about six of them in the last many years. Pitcher please — a clear difference maker.
It’s the draft. Demanding a CLEAR difference maker is silly.
I just mean a good pick.
Hopefully someone that can be a starting rotation member for many years. I also mean not an underslot guy that should have gone 12th but we took at 2 to save money.
We already have a short stop, we need a power hitting outfielder. I’d be willing to bet that if Jace LaViollete is available that’s who they’ll take.
…are we still linked to Corbin Burnes….?
He wanted SoCal badly but not us because we are not a playoff team. . He’s still disappointed Dodgers took Snell over him. Unless Giants, Burnes and his agent will probably just look for the highest paying contender now.
He’s from Bakersfield. Went to Centennial High School, which is where my sister went. By all accounts he actually is an Angels fan.
But at this point, I think you are right. I think he’d jump at the chance to go to SF but other than that he’s chasing dollars at this point. With $200 million or so he can fly his family to games.
Wasn’t he a SS in Major League?
Picking second in the first round is great, but as gitcho keeps pointing out we pick 5th in the second and subsequent rounds as well. This is a pivotal draft.
Man, I know it’s kind of like extolling the best foods available at Dollar Tree, but there are some really good prospects that’re gonna be available for us to pick in rounds 2 and 3. The college arms that should filter down to our #2 pick are way better than what was around last year, at least in my mind. There are even some good college arms in round 3 that’ll probably be around. Some solid position players too. This is a really good draft to be picking early in rounds.
I care because it means the Angels can take Holliday if the Nationals pass on him and still get “fast to the bigs” SEC type college guys too. There’s enough talent that PTP could literally just draft Pitcher/SS/CF for the first nine rounds and then let players filter out to the OF/IF positions as they develop and he’d probably do an OK job.
If I hear any small peepings about the Angels hiring more guys to help with development etc I’m gonna be pretty stoked.
Hoping there is a stellar year one of the amateur college arms that will be just too hard for the Nats to pass up and leave Holliday available. Nats do have Brady House coming and drafted Seaver King last year. We shall see.
Here I am the opposite. I’m perfectly fine letting the Nats take the high schooler while the Angels draft a front of the rotation arm.
Frontline starters are becoming rarer and more expensive on the free agent market. Bats seem to be more plentiful.
I think the Angels have a plethora of mid to back of the rotation candidates in house and Perry likely adds to that pile at the deadline. But a front end guy is elusive.
I agree. Especially when you consider that someone like Holliday is less likely to fit into our contention timeline. Our current youngsters would probably be mid to late 20s by the time Holliday is ready to contribute.
The best part of this draft is that we will likely have our pick of top college player, who can be fast tracked to the majors.
Lately, we’ve had what I would have called 3’s in the pitching roatation10-20 years ago. A true emergent ace would be a very welcome site. I also agree the window is 1-3 years if they don’t mess it up. Pitching is king.
It’s got to be a clear top of the line starter, Bremner dominates again, he could very well be the play. Angels system is void of positional superstar or even all-star talent, like a Bobby Witt, to carry a team the way Trout did early on. The story will unfold this year.
That’s why I’m stoked. Bremner + college position guys can be totally fine. Holliday + Collge arms can also happen…. all good.
LOL, Sasaki has no idea that no matter where he plays, the parasite media will follow him.
True but with a huge contingent of Japanese media following Ohtani and Yamomoto, he could avoid a lot of them by not playing for the Dodgers.
As far as US media, which he can brush off a bit by not speaking English, the OC and San Diego are far kinder markets. And with SD having success lately, that could give them an edge.
Hey, I hope you’re right Jeff, Sasaki with the Halos would make (Realistically) ’26 look like a year for us to contend.
Sorry for the last response.
I got to see Sasaki pitch against Hokkaido Ham Fighters in Sapporo. I am surprised to see if he was allowed to vault for MLB. Of course, I read what Japanese media writes, but he is way less mature than Sho. He could have used a few more years of seasoning in Japan league and come to MLB when he is at least 25 years old. That way at least he would have had guaranteed couple of 100M of dollars. I predict he will fail and return to Japan in 3-5 years.
But clearly would be worse in NY. Pulling for the SF Giants or Padres myself to see the Sasaki take on Yamamoto and Ohtani.
“Hello America. The first thing I want you to know is that I am sensitive, proud and bitter at an early age.” – Roki
I get not liking reporters. What bugs me is this guy’s comfortable enough to just kick off his career with a dramatic victim statement instead of just keeping his mouth shut and signing with a team that fits his preferences.
He’s dramatic enough to join CtPG.
What will Sasaki think of you-know-who?
R.I.P. Rocky.
Rocky stopped playing before my arrival but his name always stuck out to me as a young squirt reading Baseballs Who’s Who digest
After today’s Rule 5 draft ends, the meetings are over and everyone leaves town. This is shaping up to be one of the most boring winter meetings in recent memory. We’ve only seen 2 major trades and one major free agent signing but just a bunch of echo chamber speculation . BFD
Well at least we hit the quasi lotto with our draft pick ( if we dont f it up) With the exception of that bit of good news, following this snooze fest has been a waste of my precious time that I would like to have back.
Maybe we pick up a Rule 5 body here in a couple of hours? We currently have one open roster spot and we draft 4th behind the White Sox, Rockies ( their 40 man is full as of this morning so not sure if they can draft) & Marlins. So there may not be any intriguing candidates left to draft by the time our number comes around. Here are a list of potential candidates. It is widely believed that Smith will be taken by the Pale Hose.
https://x.com/BeyondTheHalo/status/1866873171691163670
I have to imagine the Winter Meetings were a bigger deal before GMs and agents could just text each other.
And from what I’ve read lately a lot of the Winter Meetings are GMs and agents just texting each other but from the same location.
So Tony Reagins was right all along?
Corona High School has 3 potential first rounders in next June’s MLB Draft. That would be a first, boy oh boy, that was a once in a lifetime fun coaching job by that staff.
Coach Andy Wise, pitched in the Cubs system, never advanced but gained the coaching itch working alongside Jim Riggleman and Fergie Jenkins
Last year, ex-Corona Panther Ethan Schiefelbein was selected by the Tigers, Competitive Balance Round B of the 2024 Draft, 72nd overall. Top 100 MLB Prospect. Riverside County has some good baseball roots.
In today’s market, Arenado is a bargain if he were a few years younger, but once again not having a dependable 3b is enough of a reason to bring in Arenado in a trade for some castoffs. It’s money that will not go back into the system anyway. Retirement in SoCal is expensive.
Arenado claims he wants to go to a contender and finish his career with playoff appearances etc. I don’t see the Halos as a fit. We will see though.
Named the Halos as one of his “OK” teams to be traded to. So maybe….
You mean, the Halos weren’t on his “Ecstatic to be traded to” list?
I would like a Holiday, a time of great importance. Jace saying……..