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LA Angels Thursday News Crash: Nyet-O

September 18, 2025

It’s official. Zach Neto is shut down for the rest of the season. Carter Kieboom was brought up in his place.

Starting pitcher Ryan Johnson of Tri-City made the All Star Team for the Northwest League. Inland Empire got swept in the California League Championship Series.

The Cardinals shut down Willson Contreras for the rest of the season. Their arch enemies the Cubs just secured a postseason berth. Jose Quintana just went on the injured list retroactive to September 15 with his calf strain.

The Cubs GM Carter Hawkins is no longer under consideration to be the Nationals POBO or General Manager; whatever they were going to call him.

This is interesting. Freddy Peralta is being helped out by his team’s defense so much that he greatly outperforms his peripherals. Meanwhile, Brandon Woodruff pitches in front of the same defense and it is at its worst while he is pitching.

Apparently, Bo Bichette is fourth on this list of 12 MLB players under the most pressure to perform for the rest of the season while simultaneously being out for the remainder of the regular season with a sprained knee.

The Tampa Bay Rays just acquired outfielder Marshall Toole as their PTBNL from the Jose Caballero trade. The Braves claimed Carson Ragsdale off waivers from the Orioles.

Photo credit: Rex Fregosi

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Legend

Eric_in_Portland

1 month ago

Musing this morning on salaries. If we didn’t have the $73 million tied up in Trout and Rendon I doubt Arte would then let Perry spend that elsewhere.

The Angels payroll went way up to accommodate Ohtani but when he left we didn’t have that extra money available anymore. If Mikey were to retire I believe our 2027 payroll would be around $135 million as Arte would have learned his lesson and wouldn’t sign high priced free agents

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to Eric_in_Portland

Eh. What’s wild is that our active roster payroll is 109.6M and our total payroll allocation is something like 206M. Dropping us down to 135M would put us with the Royals. I doubt we drop down that far, but I’d like us to. Get down towards 100M, then start deciding who to pay and start bringing it back up with extensions first. the team is profitable, even with a 190M type payroll, if it wins. There’d still be space for a “make the WS” splash if the rest of the roster was strong.

I would also be a great basketball player if I were seven feet tall and danced like Ricky Ricardo.

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steelgolf

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

But the trick is to dance, conduct the band, AND sing Babbaloo!

Super Member

Roy Hobbs

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

Rendon’s 40M a year is really killing us and we have a lot of other money coming off the books over the next 2 years. We just don’t have enough home grown organizational talent to fill positions decently so we have to buy too many players. And I’m not talking about stars, just regular everyday players who are at least league average. Look at all the players we have that we are forced to play who are 20% or more below average. Our catchers are not good defensively and they are both 25% or more below average hitters. So is our CF, and 2B, and 1B right now, and anyone who plays 3B other than Moncada. We’re terrible.

Even if we brought everyone back next year, We still need a new catcher, a CF, and a 2B. It’s possible that we have someone already in the organization to fill a couple of the spots but maybe not.

Trusted Member

milehigh

1 month ago

Reply to Eric_in_Portland

You put the words Arte and learned in the same sentence. Did you mean to do that?

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

I’ve been looking at Spotrac. It’s kind of crazy how NOT allowing a busted ass huge contract to bleed your roster dry matters. If you look at a team like the Yankees, yes, they have Stanton, and Cole is out with TJS. But otherwise they don’t have a ton of bust money. Guys who looked bad one year get better, etc. Same with the Phillies. Castellanos is a bit of an anchor, but the rest of their expensive guys at least produce, other than Nola who is hurt. Mets, Doyers and Cubs are pretty much in the same boat. Blue Jays too, now that Springer is producing.

I was looking for crappy contracts that a team may want to pawn the last couple years of off on the Angels for prospects while we become the MNT Center for Aging. Not a ton out there from the winners as far as BIG losers that would net us prospects to take on.

There are some CLEAR dogs, like Xander Bogaerts. But that has too many years left on it to work for us. Maybe Carlos Correa? But the Astros have very little prospect talent to give and likely think that, while Correa isn’t gonna earn 32M a year, they need a 3B and he is still a meh hitter. The Giants will be in the boat with Devers and Chapman later, but not now. Maybe Boston wants Trevor Story’s money off the books and a way open for kids? But again, Story doesn’t suck enough to demand prospects.

Nolan Arrenado from St Louis? Joc Pederson from Texas? And of course the great Kris Bryant.

It’s actually surprising how few teams are actually in mega-contract hell right now and how few teams actually even bother with 25M+ per year contracts on more than say one or two players. It clearly shows the haves/have nots.

We should never have tried to be Yankees West. We already know that, but dayymm. It’s really not necessary and a lot of teams, even high payroll teams, are getting away from it and moving more towards paying extensions that are in the 15-22M per year range. Oh, and having good farm systems.

Editor

Legend

Jeff Joiner

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

Yeah, taking on a bad contract to add talent elsewhere makes so much sense. But the Angels, and really most of baseball, rarely do it.

Legend

gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

Trouble is, it makes since for contracts with maybe 3 or fewer seasons on them. Not seven. There are very few of those out there that are busted so bad a team will GIVE US prospects to take em.

Super Member

clover_black

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

When the league zigs, we zag.

Arte reads this analysis as a challenge.

Legend

Angels2020Champs

1 month ago

10 games to go, looking back at my preseason prediction:

Hope I’m wrong but I see us being 3 wins better than last year:

66-96

Already 3 games better than that. Definitely fun seeing Paris start the season, sweeping the Doyers, playing great against Bos/NY, went to 12 games and having a winning record while getting some ok-ish giveaways. From 7/4 on sucked, again. I don’t see anything coming of these next 10 games as far as player development but we’ll see.

Super Member

Roy Hobbs

1 month ago

The Mariners are better than us but they’re not really very good as they are slightly below .550. However hitting wise their top 5 hitters have OPS+s of 170, 145, 134,129, and 125. In contrast, our top 5 hitters have OPS+s of 121, 116, 115, 113, and 113, and one of those is Trout. Our best hitter would be the 6th best hitter on their team, and Zach Neto would be 7th. As many have previously stated, we have a talent problem.

Nolan Schanuel would be 6th on our team at 105, the last regular player above 100. For all the hoopla about some of our players, Jo Adel is the single player on the team who actually measurably improved as a hitter. Neto, Schanuel, and Ward, are essentially the same players they were last year and everyone else declined significantly.

Other than Adel, counting on the core of kids getting better wasn’t a great strategy. We need better kids. Of our top 5 hitters, one of them is gone after this year, one is gone next year, and another is gone the year after leaving just Neto and Trout after the next two seasons. We have a big hole to climb out of. Like the rest of you, I want the team to get better but also like many articles have stated, there isn’t a visible near term path forward and this doesn’t even address our starting pitching issues.

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to Roy Hobbs

I was saying this on July 15th. This team is not very good. Noticeably worse than fringe contenders like the Reds, Royals and Guardindians. On the bright side we kept Ward and Jansen so that people wouldn’t have to wonder who they will watch and we even have the chance to roll this same team out next year.

Super Member

Roy Hobbs

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

I know, I was kind of stating the obvious and whining over the same things.

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FungoAle

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

and I believe sad-sack, fringe non-contenders like the Pirates and the A’s are much better too

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to FungoAle

They need to combine the A’s and Pirates. Holy shit the Pirates are boring and can’t hit. I watch them some. It’s like our line up…. without home runs plus ground outs. The A’s have no pitching and then a bunch of speed and power. Voltron those two clubs together and they’d WIN.

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FungoAle

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

That would be a nice merge. The prospects moving forward appear to be bright for both teams if managed correctly.

Currently, Pirates have top 10 pitching staff today (with Chandler and Hernandez as reinforcements) that should be good enough to get you into perennial playoff contention. Skenes is generational. They need ownership attention.

The A’s are rising too. If ownership is serious, they can make the leap. Bring in a couple of key arms. Not sold yet on Jamie Arnold but A’s develop well. As far as WHIP and OBA goes, they are better than the current Angel staff.

Super Member

BannedInLA

1 month ago

Re: Trout, we can only hope that these past 2 months of horror are at least (in part) due to his sore knee. I’m not sure that I actually believe this is the case but, I’ll roll with it for now.

Hopefully a healthy offseason and some fine tuning will result in better numbers in 2026. Hopefully.

Legend

gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to BannedInLA

I know it is a total cliche dig… but honestly, he should get his eyes checked too. Swings slow down, this is true, but he looks CLUELESS. Like he isn’t seeing the ball come out and can’t see any spin or something. Then he’s glitching because he’s uncomfortable and….. 93 MPH fastballs over the plate are a problem.

He has/had skills. Even if his swing slows down a little he can likely still hit the baseball, just not 450ft as often. But he looks like he got a brain transplant during one of those long injury lay offs. The thirsty begging for walks is lame shit.

I’m gonna go with some Trout hope next year. It worked for Adell this year. Trout heals up that knee a bit, trims off a little more bulk, works on his approach, maybe gets contacts, comes back and hits .280/.360/.440 with 20-25 HR instead of trying to hit 40HR, getting 27 and batting .220.

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Eric_in_Portland

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

A few years ago I was too vain to wear glasses at a softball tryout. I could not hit the ball. Swing and miss. I put on glasses and thwack! It’s not too crazy for Trout to try that

Trusted Member

Dogface1956

1 month ago

Reply to Eric_in_Portland

Don’t you think that the team has asked him to have is eyesight checked, my sight was perfect until it wasn’t, I needed glasses when I hit about 35 to see distance, everything was starting to look a bit blurry. I always assumed that was one of the first things the team and Trout himself would have and checked.

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Super Member

Charles Sutton

1 month ago

Reply to Dogface1956

He can certainly afford the optometrist in his own right, and he has to read the eye chart at the DMV just like the rest of us. I think he would know if he can’t see. It would be terrifying to play outfield if you can’t see the ball.

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FungoAle

1 month ago

Reply to BannedInLA

I think it might be more than just the knee. In 2022, he was diagnosed with costovertebral dysfunction, a “rare back condition affecting the T5 vertebrae and the connection to the rib cage.” Trout can only strengthen the muscles around the area but there is no medical procedure to address the issue. Plausible that his other issues are brought on by this condition when trying to favor his back. Who knows but I’m not expecting Mike to turn back into the Kid, ever.

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GrandpaBaseball

1 month ago

Good news, Ward hit 100 RBI for the season, you know that meaningless baseball number according to sabermetrics, but the sure would like to see Adell reach that 100 RBI mark too. 😆

Super Member

YOUknowulovetheIE

1 month ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

It also shuts up 2002

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

Yes. Just look at all the meaning that those 100 RBIs has brought us. I will be tattooing the date on my chest for sure.

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GrandpaBaseball

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

It is a very good individual accomplishment. Enjoy your tattoo though.

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FungoAle

1 month ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

Ward might be tolerable if the Angels did not surround him with other players that have similar attributes, like low OBA and high strikeouts. Not even mentioning the defensive deficiencies.

Super Member

Roy Hobbs

1 month ago

Reply to FungoAle

Yep!

Super Member

Roy Hobbs

1 month ago

Reply to FungoAle

We’re just poorly assembled. We have 3 DHs and two of them have to play and both are terrible defensively. If Ward was the DH and hit 5th, that would be ideal. He’s the perfect #5 hitter with an excellent SLG avg but makes too many outs to hit higher in the order. Ward, Soler, and Adel are all the same guy except Adel can play decent defense. We only actually need one of those guys, probably Adel, because Trout has to DH.

Last edited 1 month ago by Roy Hobbs

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Legend

Jeff Joiner

1 month ago

Reply to Roy Hobbs

We’ll have all three back next year. Well, 4.

Ward, Adell, Trout, and Soler will all be Angels. Book it.

Super Member

Roy Hobbs

1 month ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

I don’t doubt that which tells you all you need to know about Perry’s complete ineptness as a GM. We have a bad team but let’s just keep the gang together. More of the same.

Legend

FungoAle

1 month ago

Reply to Roy Hobbs

Laid it out well in your comments, poor roster construction

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GrandpaBaseball

1 month ago

Recently a politician on this site thought I was not showing respect to a certain legend on the Angels as I basically posted that maybe he should retire. It is sad to watch a legend fade and just try to hang on and look like just a shell of what used to be and worse when that player was an all-time favorite of yours. I will have no problem if the legend returns next year and can return to have a decent season and could hit .275 and 20 HRs, but watching him now is just sad really. I mean no disrespect at all.

Legend

DowningDude

1 month ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

And you don’t disrespect a legend by spelling Michael as Micheal.

Legend

gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to DowningDude

In grandpa’s case I buy it. Guy can’t spell for poop.

Legend

DowningDude

1 month ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

Trout can stay as long as he wants. He’s earned it. We just have to accept that he’s gonna suck. We can write and be bummed about it. For the record, I’m a classic Boo Bird but I would never actually boo trout in person. I would definitely type frustration but not voice it out. He’s just been too good and important to our franchise to disrespect him in person. 🫡

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MarineLayer

1 month ago

Reply to DowningDude

If he stays and he can’t produce, he needs to be placed at the bottom of the lineup and not play everyday so the DH Skot can be used appropriately for defensive or rest purposes for other players.

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MarineLayer

1 month ago

Reply to MarineLayer

DH slot.

Legend

gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to MarineLayer

Good news. No one will question it if he gets a mysteriously severe oblique strain from all that acting like strike three was ball four. Then it’s Kavedas Time…. cause why would we trade for prospects?

Legend

MarineLayer

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

We could a Josh Bell type for free who could deliver 20HRs and do nothing else. Minasian or his successor need to do a better job of finding scrap heap talent if that’s the strategy while waiting for Minasian’s RP prospects to develop.

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Senator_John_Blutarsky

1 month ago

Reply to DowningDude

Thanks for pointing out the error in my original reply.

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to Senator_John_Blutarsky

Oh…. it was YOU who can’t speel!

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Senator_John_Blutarsky

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

Yeppers – it were mee.

Super Member

RexFregosi

1 month ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

Yes it’s frustrating being Mike fans in 2025, but he’s a few years away from retiring.

He is not the same player but let the knees rest up.

Legend

gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to RexFregosi

It reminds me of Arte. It is the reality. Best look for ways to work with it. See if we can find a way to get better with these handicaps. Enjoy what works. Hope Trout even bounces back.

The other option is to just whine the same noise game in and game out for five years.

Legend

Senator_John_Blutarsky

1 month ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

My only point was that you don’t kick a legend to the curb. Now, before you get wound up, I’m not saying those were your words. However, it has been noted by others in the chorus who want Trout gone.

IMHO, Trout is not the biggest problem that has destroyed this franchise. He’s not even in the top 10 list of “things to fix”. This team is no better with Trout gone because Arte will still be paying some or all of his contract to facilitate him “being gone”. When everything else directly associated with the franchise is fixed, then give 100% of the focus on the steps to help guide Mike to ride off into the sunset as the legend he is.

It’s always sad when the hero can no longer do heroic things. It’s even more painful when the hero’s talent fades so rapidly as it has with Trout. Trout has earned the benefit of the doubt. Let Trout leave on his own terms, if it’s in 2025, fine. If it’s in 2030, fine.

To quote Mr. Croce:

You don’t tug on Superman’s cape,
You don’t spit into the wind,
You don’t pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger,
And you don’t mess around with Michael Nelson Trout.

Legend

gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to Senator_John_Blutarsky

If Trout’s “the weak spot” in our line up then we will have a very solid line up and will likely be winning games. Trouble is we have to depend on him a lot, and he’s not dependable. And he’s expensive. But we do indeed have far bigger problems.

Legend

MarineLayer

1 month ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

34 is a very young age to be permanently terrible. It would seem that some actual coaching or change of approach might help. His legs being gone through injury is another one. He has moved into the three true outcomes part of his career. Seemingly less valuable than old Pujols. Another sad outcome for a sad franchise.

Super Member

Roy Hobbs

1 month ago

Reply to MarineLayer

For the first 2/3 of the season, Trout was hitting 25-30% above average, but for the last 6 weeks he’s fallen off a cliff and dropped to a little over 15% above average. I’m interested to see what happens next year.

Legend

MarineLayer

1 month ago

Reply to Roy Hobbs

I’m guessing a new injury, failing to address his mechanical issues, and further eyesight deterioration, on top of further aging.

Legend

gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

It really is depressing. And with the contract and the MLBPA they will roll him out there with two mop handles for legs and make him keep “hitting” until every dollar is collected if they can.

Legend

GrandpaBaseball

1 month ago

The strikeout accumulated this season is just so over the top that it is to the point that we expect a strikeout every AB. Moore with 4, Trout with 3, and if a player has only one, he will push his chest out being proud. Is this a lineup just playing out the sting and saying, “so Fing what?” The at bats with only achieving 3 or 4 or 5 hits a game is certainly not very impressive a look if you are a player who is thinking of showing what you can do to help a team. But the K’s help move the air around a bit.

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MarineLayer

1 month ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

I don’t want to jump the gun, but Moore is looking more and more (see what I did) another bad Minasian pick.

Super Member

Roy Hobbs

1 month ago

Reply to MarineLayer

Just because Neto and Schanuel somehow survived, doesn’t mean that throwing the kids in the lake is a good way to teach them to swim. He needs to stay in the minor leagues until he looks like he’s ready for Major League Baseball.

Legend

MarineLayer

1 month ago

Reply to Roy Hobbs

As long as he has some coaching that actually helps. I wonder how much quicker Adell could’ve developed in a better org.

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to MarineLayer

I don’t think he’s a bad pick yet. He’s years from that. But why we brought him up this year, or even advanced him from AA? I don’t know. He had issues still at AA. Then at AAA. He’d have a hot streak because he’s talented, and the PROMOTE HIM! But he’s looked like what I expect a guy in what has mostly still been his first pro-year would look like against MLB pitchers. Kid shit.

Compare him to Nolan in the same situation, one more reason I still hope for more from Nolan.

Legend

MarineLayer

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

There were some warning signs. I understand the pick, and there’s still hope I hope, but he’s moving backward and seems to be losing his swag.

Legend

GrandpaBaseball

1 month ago

Good morning on this rare rainy day. It was a few months ago that I posted that I believed that Zack Neto was my current fav on the team while also pointing out that I also considered him to be a liability as an injury prone player. He plays baseball all out, is always aware of the situation on the field especially what’s happening in front of him and thinks about what he is going to do if the ball is hit to him before every pitch and he does want the ball hit to him on every pitch. He is a very exciting player if there ever was one. His fielding and base running is where he excels. But now he is shut down for the season with a sore hand/wrist. We will miss him.

Now if we could come up will a new SS for 2026, Neato would make an excellent 3b for the coming seasons where it might be easier on him to play every day, just a thought.

Super Member

BannedInLA

1 month ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

He’s shut down due to an HBP.

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to BannedInLA

Take your facts and silence them!