Morning Angels fans. No Baseball until Friday. Have some links.
Angels News
Angels got a new manager. Kurt Suzuki. Any experience? NOPE. But he was a special assistant to Perry AND was a catcher. So… it’s something? He’s a yes man isn’t he…
Oh and the trial is still on for Skaggs’s family v Angels Baseball. And Mike Trout had to testify, it is in a long thread, and you can read about it here. He did say that he thought Eric Kay has a drug problem and confronted him about it, as well as lots of other stuff. In short, he is not proud of some of the clubhouse stuff in the past, and some of the antics are… disgusting, so read at your own risk.
Around Baseball
Still waiting for the World Series to start in Toronto for Dodgers at Blue Jays. So nothing much besides the glazing of the 2 teams as of now. That ALCS game 7 did bring in a lot of viewers. 6 Million.
For the Blue Jays, their last WS was in 1993. Most of their roster wasn’t even alive.
In non WS news, there is an Expos Documentary on Netflix. So if someone watched it, please answer down below how good it was.
Oh yeah, and there will be a Women’s Baseball League. WPBL. Starts 2026. Only 4 teams? And in LA, SF, NY, and Boston? Seems a bit spread out…
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes!
WTFFFFF
I just read that Suzuki got a 1 year deal. What the hell is the point? That smells like they are blowing it all up next year because Perry only has 1 year left too.
If you don’t trust Perry, then just fire him and be done with it. A competent owner would never let his general manager and manager both be FAs at the same time if they were good. Clearly Arte doesn’t think so, and I don’t blame him, but I have a feeling they are going to be reeeeeeaally bad next year.
Next year the Skaggs lawsuit and Rendon’s contract will both be done. Perhaps Arte has been waiting to sell thinking he’ll get more $$$ once those issues are in the rearview. So he’s going short-term with Suzuki as well. Wishful thinking.
Carter Kieboom gone. Logan Davidson outrighted to AAA.
Man, I just read the Trout testimony stuff and I am pretty appalled. Don’t think I’ll be wearing that douchebag’s jersey again.
Paying someone so you can throw 90 mph fastballs at him is pretty deplorable. Not to mention all of the other meathead shenanigans. Not a person or a player I want to root for.
Totally sophomoric and despicable.
Definitely gross stuff. Completely immature.
But also years ago and it sounds like he’s grown up since then.
I mean, it sounds like it was Kay’s idea.
Not that it’s an endorsement of behavior, but young players do dumb stuff all the time. If this is what doesn’t make you a fan of him, that’s on you.
I won’t lose sleep over it.
Using your money and status as a way to bully someone is about as low as it gets. Being dumb doesn’t excuse you for being a terrible person.
Sometimes I wonder if there will be a last straw for me. Here we are, looking at the Suzuki hiring, shrugging our shoulders and saying “oh well, it doesn’t matter anyway”.
If it doesn’t matter then why follow the team? We shouldn’t sign top talent because signing one player “won’t make a difference “.
I’m sorry but I can’t see rooting for Arte to make a profit and that’s what our team is all about now. I figure if I’m lucky I’ve got about 15 years left. Do I really want to spend that time hoping we can finish 4th in the division?
I hear you my friend. It will be very interesting to see what Perry does this year or if he just sort of mails it in. It’s also difficult for me because I hardly like any of the current players.
I’m expecting Perry to shuffle the chairs on the deck of the ship to nowhere. He will move a bunch of stuff around but it will be the same ship.
If you want likeable possible winners with good players and NOT a bunch of entitled assholes for fans I highly recommend getting some Diamondbacks in your life. You can still root for the Angels, but if nothin much is going on for years why not lick a new cone?
I’d say follow the Reds… but do you really need extra things to be pissed about?
I’ll check them out. No team will ever replace the Angels but it would be interesting to follow a team that’s well run. But not the Mariners. Or Dodgers.
At this point I’m pretty much riding out the Arte regime. I have 3 fewer decades on my odometer so I should get one more good run out of this team before I kick the bucket.
Really, as a kid I thought how amazing it would be to be able to go to games and now as a father and uncle I love time at the ballpark.
That’s my mental space.
yeah, some of my favorite memories are doing things with my Dad. The last game with him was when I lived in San Francisco and we went to Oakland to watch the Angels vs the A’s. We lost that game but still…
I still have my dad but I think I can feel that. We go to spring training together every year and have a blast. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep going once he’s gone.
I’m right with you. It is hard for me to take anymore years of Minasian and his historically flawed years overseeing this franchise. People think, he could not have done better under the constraints of a meddling owner. That’s just wrong. I’m waiting for regime changes. Until then, 4th or 5th place.
I’m eyeballing adopting the A’s once they/I relocate to Vegas. They have their own obscure owner but with the new stadium, perhaps things can be normal and raise their team salary limits.
Yeah I’m pretty much there. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. No rational reason to be a diehard fan of this team unless you just are. I’ve become more apathetic than anything else. Once Arte sells, I’ll hold out some hope. But this situation is about as dire as it gets from a baseball perspective and there really doe not appear to be anything hope-wise (other than pure diehard fervor) to grasp onto.
I pivoted my funds to the Ducks and take my daughter to games. I will always be an Angels fan but am not actively supporting the organization at this point with attendance or streaming subs. I like the community here and fans and enjoy following prospects developing (wish there was more to enjoy though). But we’re like 5+ years past thinking this is just bad luck or an injury here or there. It is quite literally the same thing every single year with no meaningful or bold overhaul. Just new wallpaper on the same rotting house.
Per Sam the Hat, Kurt’s only on a one-year contract, essentially tied to Perry. This is probably what broke down talks with Pujols. More than the $$$, it’s the years.
And one of the main reasons is the potential upcoming lockout in 2027.
Typical Angels – no long-term plans, no real vision and outlook for the future, only short-term bandaids.
https://www.mlb.com/angels/tickets/
Get em while they last!
He and Minasian will be gone after the one year.
Maybe it also means Arte will sell the team. The Skaggs fiasco suit should be over by the end of 2026 ( hopefully) clearing an obstacle to a sale.
We all know how this ends…..
I think I’m ok with landing upright.
“….The Angels will be attention to detail….” – says Kurt Suzuki.
Obviously, he hasn’t a clue about Rengifo.
In 2025, with man on 1st & 2nd, 2 outs — a batter hit a soft grounder up the middle, towards the 2nd base side. Rengifo and Neto came in to field the ball.
If Rengifo fields it, he would need to throw the ball to 1st, while running in and having to throw across his body.
If Neto fields it, it’s a much easier throw.
So, what happens?
Instead of Rengifo letting Neto field the ball, Rengifo grabs the ball, and doesn’t throw out the runner.
The announcer (Wayne) said that this is a play that is easier for a SS, and Rengifo, after all these years, should’ve know that and let the ball go and let Neto field it.
Those watching on TV could see the replay, and Neto’s face as Rengifo cut in front of Neto to field the ball.
AGAIN: if you want to win, you get rid of Jose Suarez in the 5th year (when he had an 8.29 ERA) rather than keeping him for a 6th year.
If you want to win, you get rid of Luis Rengifo in 2024, rather than keeping him for 2025 and now possibly re-signing him for 2026.
Players, with 4+ years of MLB experience, who make bad plays…….will continue to make bad plays.
We need to go drinking
Rengifo will cause you to drink.
To celebrate UCLA’s winning 3 straight!!
I feared we would get our 1st no-win season in history.
In our 98-years, our worst seasons:
1-9 in 1940
1-8 in 1943
2-8 in 1963
3-9 in 2018 (Chip Kelly’s 1st year)
We have plenty of time to drown our sorrows over the Angels during the 2026 campaign, starting with game 1, March 26, 2026 @ Houston Astros. It’s the start of a 4-game series.
So, we’re going to begin the season 0-4.
Did we resign Rengifo?
Asking for a friend that doesn’t bitch about shit that isn’t a problem anymore.
If he is still on the team he is still a problem.
I always liked Suzuki as a player. IMHO he’s as good as we could reasonably expect given the nature of the job and condition of the organization. There are worse hires than ex-catchers who had to grind to be successful. I still think it’s lipstick on the pig until Arte and cronies depart but as previously stated, the ghost of Connie Mack couldn’t win here.
Once upon a time, I recruited some of the smartest people in the technology world for Bay Area software startups. After tiring of repeatedly failing to deliver the perfect candidate with the perfect resume, I began to ask this question. Is this person smart enough to figure what they need to know and driven enough to see it through? Time will tell with Suzuki but how many thought Sean McVay was a slam dunk albeit with a much better foundation than the Angels?
I thought he was well spoken and did a good job answering questions.
So…..we will see.
I completely agree. He’s a solid choice, but he currently has the same roster as last year, a little less actually, and works for an organization that has had a losing recored for 10 years. So, my #1 question is “What’s going to be different this year? The team did not have lots of injuries or bad luck last year and still sucked. Are we getting a new hitting and pitching coach or changing our philosophy? The problem was not that the players didn’t try hard, it’s that the team was terrible defensively and awful at base running and situational hitting. They also rarely walked, hit for low averages and stuck out a lot, resulting in very low on base averages, and the pitching was close to the worst in the majors. It is a talent and roster construction problem. Unless that changes, nothing will change. If they are not going to rebuild, so be it, but please don’t use the word “competitive” when referring to this team unless there are significant changes to the roster and hitting philosophy, and vastly improved pitching and defense.
I apologize for the rant but that’s who they are. I like Kurt, think he’s a good choice, and wish him the best.
If we’d signed up some established manager the reaction would have been…. oh. The same as when we signed Washington.
The one guy I would have really enjoyed for entertainment purposes would have been Buck.
His 2-years as a player in Anaheim were horrible but I recognize we signed him at his sunset. But talking a guy who did not perform and make him manager, ok I guess. For me, uninspiring choice but happy it is not worse. Angels should have put Suzuki in the dugout last year if they were considering giving him the job. What will kill this for me is that Kurt retains many of the coaches that we had last year.
Suzuki said Grit!
World Series here we come!
Sorry, they just lost Sammy Peralta on the waiver wire. World Series hopes dashed!
So… Suzuki… and
we’rethey’re not rebuilding… still competitive.(Translation: They’re declining)
They have not been competitive since 2014.
Well, not totally true. They were competitive in Ohtani’s final year. One home series against Seattle in late August sank them.
The Angels are just a much more expensive version of the Pirates, Athletics, and Rays, because we don’t draft or develop as well as they do. Otherwise, there is little difference.
Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?
🙂
“Meaningful games” in September ???
I heard there is a press conference introducing Suzuki at 1:15. Does anyone know what channel it will be on? Fan Duel?
Okay, it’s on MLB Network
Just as long as Suzuki doesn’t pull a Jim Tomsula fart or liem coen duuuval I think it’ll go good!
What if it’s a submarine made by OceanGate & Stockton Rush Perry?!? Do you want to be in that one?!
Giants hiring the Vols head coach is pretty wild…. if PTP had done that imagine all the shit talking about Tennessee and only having a map with five states on it, etc…
Is that Perry’s brother doing the hiring?
Buster Posey
Oh right! Thanks.
Giants fans not too happy about that signing.
Source: scrolling 3 seconds on twitter
It’s a bold move. I am actually really interested in Posey & Co because they are apparently going to be “Superfundamentaltastic” and shit. With Devers on the team. I wish I gave a shit about the Giants….
That is pretty wild. Just not sure why Buster would put himself out there on this one. has much more to lose than gain. People are waiting to hammer him once this goes south.
For as young as Vitelo is, Posey is nearly a decade younger. This is a chance to get a guy who can possibly be your guy for a couple of decades if things work out.
DP show yesterday discussing which career would you rather have… Springer or Trout. 7 min
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1907652243164409/?fs=e&mibextid=wwXIfr&fs=e
In regards to the Halos org, “…should’ve known” angle, that is awfully bold coming from the person who married, and co-habited with, Skaggs. If the wife didn’t know, how should his employer?
I am just so tired of frivolous lawsuits, of which this is one.
The Skaggs family will have you believe that he was only a drug addict for the 9 months during the year that he was playing baseball. I’m not buying that they didn’t know.
As someone who has never had an addiction I speak from having multiple addicts in my family, a sibling, cousins, uncle and teammates and peers. The heart clouds what you want to know, even though your head knows.
Yup. Lot’s of “Oh he’s just…” and “At some point he will….”
The Skaggs trial testimony is very tough to read at times. Trout at least sounds like he learned from his youthful mistakes and matured, but man is some of that stuff gross.
Still, from the Angels side the fact the rank and file knew about Kay’s drug use doesn’t prove the Angels brass did.
But the testimony from Mead and the traveling secretary were less than convincing.
All the Skaggs side has to show is that management “should have known” with reasonable diligence re Kay. That’s called constructive notice. Obviously the more people who actually knew, the stronger the constructive notice arguments against management.
I thought Mead’s position was a management position.
I think the Skagg’s side is trying to show that anyone in the Angels organization had opportunity to get Kay help and away from the team. I am interested in seeing how the Angels lawyers go about defending.
Mead denied knowledge re Kay’s drug issues and basically denied knowledge of anything relating to same. I think the strategy will be to call Mead’s credibility into question with the related assertion that, at the very minimum, he or others in management with any reasonable diligence should have known since it was so prevalent that only someone hiding their head in the sand would not have seen it.
My recollection, which can be faulty, is that Mead said he was unaware of Kay being involved with illegal drugs. But he was aware of problems with prescription drugs.
That’s correct.
Apparently Mead et al should’ve/must’ve known about all the bad things that were going on with employees and players yet Trout/Shohei don’t know anything and it’s believable.
Yes, and being impaired at work on prescription drugs is still against the rules and Kay should have been reprimanded. He was not.
I’m too GA/TW to look up one of my posts from years ago talking about Trout’s leadership (beyond by example) style. I can tell you it was not a popular swirly thought.
Unfortunately Trout lost his BIL to suicide and best friend to addiction within a short amount of time. That’s really not too uncommon in the real world. Hopefully he’s in a better place to help see what he couldn’t (nor is he responsible for) before and maybe some of us can step up in the real world and be an ear, hand, shoulder to help. That’s really the only good that can come from any of this.
I’m curious if the Angels will call witnesses from Skaggs’ past to establish a pattern and bring light to negligence on others.
Skaggs addiction to Percocet while with the d’backs was introduced in opening statements.
The move that told me nothing was changing to the good is retaining Minasian. Once that was in place, Suzuki became the perfect choice, a catcher who is a Yes Man, no experience, and cheap. I think Suzuki will do better in his next job.
Suzuki is a Yes Man? Source?
Have you heard him say, “No”? Mic drop!!
If he’s ever been offered Durian fruit then he’s said no at least one time….
I just think it’s silly how guys on this site get all Billy Big Balls about other, likely tougher, guys. Where, in real life, is this guy we seem to want? And what good does this guy actually do anybody?
I mean, within my field, in my small circle of hell, I am considered slightly…. not sensitive. And yes. My boss or client and I will go round and round about some things sometimes because I want to do good work and I want the work to be successful. Also, generally, I am there because I know what I am doing and they don’t.
But when the meeting is over I am very likely doing mostly what the boss has decided to do. Maybe I changed his mind a little on some things. But I’m never confrontational with these people. There is never any “putting a person in their place”. There’s no yelling and screaming or even calm owning of these fool bosses and their shitty ideas. Same as when I meet with people who work under me. When we leave the meeting we have a plan and I do what I was told to do at the end of that meeting. Even if I just spent a half hour outlining why a bad idea is bad to these guys.
Basically, if someone is just observing what happens outside an office/conference room, I am a yes man. Or I would be to Billy Big Balls.
But you know, I have to get actual shit done in actual situations with actual humans. WTF gets done if I just go to war with these people over every bad idea? Not to mention that some of those “bad ideas” I’ve hated actually work sometimes.
If you’re not a “yes man” to some extent you’re basically mentally challenged and useless. But there’s always the baseball fan with a Kevlar sack out there hoping some guy will be tough for them. It’s just never made sense to me.
Pretty damning accusations sir. Do you have any evidence to support them? I thought not.
I support Kurt Suzuki as the Halos 2026 season manager.
(I’m Angelz4ever and I approve this message)
Sure. Why not? No reason to think he’s gonna be fantastic, but no reason to think he’s gonna totally suck either.
Look at it this way. Who was excited about Dan Wilson, Pat Murphy and Jon Schneider as managerial picks? Anyone? And on CtPG? There would have been a lot of torn blouses and running mascara.
Kurt’s fine…. like a turkey sandwich.
A turkey sandwich. Great comparison. Minasian should order more of those, rather than the double cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes he apparently loves
Your arguments lose all credibility once you start commenting on people’s weight.
I think we all support the guy, it’s just a very meh move that none of us will know if it helps.
Hiring Suzuki is like bringing in Hendricks as a SP, keeping Anderson, etc. They are all ok, cost-effective notions. None of them move the needle much.
If the younger guys can respect Suzuki and he can treat them well, that should be enough. The future is about Neto, Adell, Moore, and others. Maybe O’Hoppe if he can turn it around, Schanuel, and the guys drafted last year. Until they have a solid core of both hitting and pitching, the results will likely be similar.
That’s the thing. We don’t even know if he moves the needle. He may be a friggin dynamo. I have no idea. You know who was supposed to move needle like they were light as a needle? Joe “blah blah blah me” Maddon.
Hiring a new manager is almost always a meh move. Who got excited when guys like Sparky Anderson and Walter Alston were first hired?
I was hoping for that Twins scapegoat for our 2026 skipper , but….
Yeah. He good.
One of the things that I have noticed about the Angels’ Org is that the only thing they do well is PR – aka words. Every season and every hire starts with the right words and the faithful accept these words without question.
There is an old saying “deeds not words”. The Angels need to be less focused on saying the right things and more focused on doing them.
I was not necessarily a Washington fan, but I do believe he was attempting to do all the right things and was not a limiting factor in their success. I think over time he became frustrated with Perry and what Perry was giving him to work with.
He did however assemble his coaching staff, which other than Enright, was not very good.
Not ready to push Enright overboard but…
Starting rotation ERA – 28th
Bullpen ERA – 28th
Enright was the best of a bad bunch, that says a lot looking at the data.
Agreed
Wash was meh and I felt that way from the beginning. Same with Suzuki. These opinions are tempered by my stronger belief that a field manager might mean, at most, 5% to the total success of a team. So, for Perry to make such a big deal publicly about getting the hire “right” makes me chuckle. He should be focusing those efforts and mindspace on the roster.
I think it is pretty clear what Arte’s main criteria for a field manager – someone who will be somewhat acceptable from a PR basis who can be gotten for the least amount of money possible. Certainly, Suzuki (a first time manager) was willing to take far less money to get his shot at a new career managing. I mean it is pretty obvious, right? Just look at Arte’s first choice (Pujols) who was too expensive and the contract talks ended.
Given my belief regarding the minimal impact of a field manager, I actually support the decision not to spend too much of the budget on that individual. Particularly with the budget limitations Arte has apparently imposed on signing players.
Exactly. If anyone can explain to me why it would be a good idea to go spend a pile of money on a big name manager right now I am STILL WAITING.
Bonus if you can explain who these 3B/CF upgrades you are talking about are and how they make sense. Unless you think this team’s gonna be good within two years even paying the “minimum damage” option of Cody Bellinger doesn’t make sense.
I don’t know how any rebuild can even happen until we actually attempt it. The moment I see Taylor Ward traded for pieces, for one, I know this is finally happening. Signing Alex Bregman tells me we will never learn.
Exactly. If we start blowing money on Gallen/Bregman/Bellinger you’d think it’s a good sign. Hell, it may even work a little one season. But we’re still screwed long term.
I agree, with the addendum that he/Minasian got the cheap Yes Man they wanted.
“Details, playing baseball the right way…” wasn’t that Washington’s declaration when he came onboard? Too far back to remember Maddon’s presser but I do recall he was just glazing everyone. Nevin was just a plug-in interim.
It all sounds good in October but the Angels are going to have to prove it to me. This is a fundamentally/details flawed team with a lot to overcome.
I’d be fine if they embrace the suck and build Kurt and a staff at the same time they are building a farm and MLB system. Sure, they’ll still make mouth noises like they are competing but only morons pay attention to that. As far as raw material goes I think Suzuki is a solid choice, and if they were to plan to build up a young team for three years while Kurt and his staff also get good at managing within the plan I don’t think it would be a bad thing.
Are they even any good at PR? It seems like a lot of us around here kind of get off on the idea that “The Masses” just love Arte and believe every statement the Angels make. Like we’re “the resistance” or something. But most of the less engaged Angels fans I know may not be able to list more than 10 players on the team, but they also completely shrug off what ever announcements the FO makes, etc. As is the case with the fans of other teams I interact with regularly.
In fact, the “dummies” tend to default to negativity. For example, the Rays fans I interact with. The dumbest ones hate everything the Rays do and are under the impression that they don’t spend on anything and have a shit farm. And anything the FO says is a lie. Same with Reds fans. Pirates fans. Tigers fans…. jeez, you’d think the Tigers finished last this year.
There may not be a group who is less effective than baseball PR people.
If I were a Rays fan, I’d be unhappy that the don’t pay to retain the good cheap players they have who are starting to get expensive.
Oh. They are. Christ it’s a sad existence. Who ever your current favorite Ray is you can be sure he will be gone at age 29. Pirates fans are even worse. Just watching Skenes, knowing he’s leaving ASAP. It’s sad.
It would probably be more accurate to say that the Angels Organization is “better” at PR than actual baseball stuff. The bar is set pretty low re the baseball decisions side of things so less incompetent would actually qualify as “better”.
What is impressive to me is that with 30 existing teams in MLB how many fans don’t know who all the players are in their own divisions are. This maybe because real fans don’t go on the internet to look at box scores like we did when I was younger to ck box scores. Plus, the fact that there are already to many teams playing to know all the players and their stats.
Has baseball fixed the A’s and making it work in Vegas? Or have the two Florida teams found a way to stay in Florida with low attendance? What happens to divisional play with 2 additional teams. So far MLB has followed the ways of the NFL and seem happy with the results and will do away with the two-league concept and change to conferences and move to one MVP-CY-ROY, etc. Time will tell.
Expos doc is just ok. Spent a lot of time in Montreal/Québec between 2001-2005. Lack of business investment and lack of fan investment are the two main reasons the Expos left. I’ve seen Canadians v Kings games in Montreal during that time and been there for baseball season, not once did anyone want to go see an Expo game.
In fact, montrealer’s were/are embarrassed by Stade Olympique (absurdly high cost for ‘76 Olympics and wasn’t even complete until a decade later; wasn’t paid off until 30 years later in 2006 because of a not popular cigarette tax since they love to smoke em if they got em, the “retractable” roof was opened only 88 times in total, it would take $500-$700 million to demolish today due to the pretreated concrete/rebar used, etc).
Overall a total embarrassment. Montreal doesn’t deserve baseball. Had it for 36 years, made the playoffs once (in a strike shortened season), and couldn’t support the team financially.
I read recently that Nashville and Salt Lake City are the front runners for expansion in MLB. I have relatives in the Buffalo New York area that like to visit Toronto for games there. But I would add that NFL and NHL are more popular in western NY than baseball in Canada.
I’d go see baseball games in both those cities… Portland or charlotte, not so much.
Yep, Montreal is not a baseball town, although some stellar players trod that deplorable artificial turf.