LA Angels Thursday News Crash: Big Deal – Crashing the Pearly Gates

Super Member

1 month ago

Nice Cortez interview, seems like a good kid. We gotta work on your light set up though, you look like one of the angels in angels in the outfield.

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Jeff Joiner

1 month ago

Reply to YOUknowulovetheIE

Definitely. I was at my work office with lots of fluorescent lighting.

My good friend hosts a boxing show on YouTube and is helping me out.

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Fansince1971

1 month ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

Dude – you looked like a phantom! Floating over Angel stadium. Content was great. Thanks.

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tanana40

1 month ago

Reply to YOUknowulovetheIE

Good interview, thanks Jeff.

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Rangers send five prospects to the Nationals for MacKinzie Gore. Sheesh. That’s likely a big chunk of a good farm. Stupid Rangers and Nationals and their trade. Why not just reload?

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

It won’t happen. But if all the guys the Nats work out they got their future SS, 2B, 1B, a starter and a power hitting CF candidate in one trade… gambles, but fun.

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Senator_John_Blutarsky

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

Reminds me of the Braves trade for Teixeira:

From Rangers to Braves: Mark Teixeira (1B) and Ron Mahay (LHP).
From Braves to Rangers: Five minor league prospects, including Elvis Andrus (SS), Neftali Feliz (RHP), and Matt Harrison (LHP).

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FungoAle

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

Snagged their top 2025 pick, high schooler.Fein. Texas MLB Pipeline ranked 2, others rank 6, 12, 16 and 18. All top 20 prospects. Cannot speak to their grade.

Feel for the rudderless Nationals.They have the 4th richest owners (Lerner’s) and have not done much since their championship, Soto trade was great but they are not building on it. Looks like step 1 trading Gore and Abrams will be next then likely Wood.

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Turk's Teeth

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

Hard not to see this as influenced by the coming lockout. The Nats have little path to contention this season, and 2027 is going to be a mess. Two years of Gore is doing nothing for a team that projects to 66 wins in 2026.

Fien is a pretty divisive prospect, and this trade feels a bit more quantity-over-quality to me, from a Texas farm system with a clear down arrow on it – one that is going to be in even further decline after this exchange.

I would have at least wanted to bring back Caden Scarborough in the exchange, maybe Evan Carter. The Nats’ FO must have some bullish long-horizon projections on the younger kids, as you can make a Carter-Scarborough-Fien package work in the sim, and that’s a good return for Gore.

But this is likely a real-life example of what Jose Soriano might bring back in a trade.

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Fansince1971

1 month ago

Reply to Turk's Teeth

I would do a 5 for 1 prospect deal for Soriano in a heartbeat. The Angels are essentially the Nationals. There really is not much difference except the Angel Org seems reticent against a rebuild even though a rebuild is by far the best option.

Last edited 1 month ago by Fansince1971

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Eric_in_Portland

1 month ago

Reply to Fansince1971

Nats wins, last 3 seasons: 71, 71, 66. Average 69.3
Angels: 73, 63, 72, Average 69.3

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Fansince1971

1 month ago

Reply to Eric_in_Portland

Yep – Angels = Nats and vice versa

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to Turk's Teeth

Texas system, like some others, is SABASTEIN WALCOTT and then some other guys who are OK. System wise Seb kinda lifted all boast last year. But now they are pretty short on farm talent.

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Turk's Teeth

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

And they’re obviously not trading Walcott before the lockout.

But Scarborough is a very interesting prospect, and Rosario was touching 100 with three plus pitches and some frontline projection before TJ. Those two in a package with Fien or Carter would have made this a solid haul.

But Fien needs a swing change and a long runway, so as a package headliner, feels rather light.

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Pineapple12

1 month ago

I want Caden Dana to be our 5th starter. Most fun in-house option and lets him work with Maddux.

Actually, I want to see all of our young pitchers in the lost season of 2026. The Bees rotation will be the Angels September rotation Manoah, Silent C, Mederos, Aldegheri, Farris.

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FungoAle

1 month ago

Reply to Pineapple12

I’m hoping Dana’s frame can still find room for more gas on his FB

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milehigh

1 month ago

Reply to FungoAle

Greg Maddux solved the speed vs movement debate for me. MLB hitters can hit just about any fastball.

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Jeff Joiner

1 month ago

Reply to milehigh

Agreed. Changing speeds and locations is more important than anything.

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Pineapple12

1 month ago

Reply to FungoAle

IIRC his fastball was holding 94-95 late last season.

He turned 22 in December. I’m buying more Dana stock on the dip

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FungoAle

1 month ago

Reply to Pineapple12

That’s decent, and I was not talking high 90’s just needing some movement on that 4-seamer than he leaned in last year.. He was getting barreled up.

He really is still developing and a notch or two would be great. He is built well and not out of the question he could squeeze more out it. Agree, hoping Maddux an harness him. I think Perry rushed him. MM will help.

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Fansince1971

1 month ago

Reply to Pineapple12

I have seen very little in Caden Dana to convince me he will benefit from pitching at the MLB level. He has a lot of developing to do.

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Super Member

tanana40

1 month ago

Interview with Soth at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rblXtSGqGxs

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tanana40

1 month ago

Reply to tanana40

There are audio problems in part 1 but it is worth listening to (and Soth still follows the Angels as he talks about Trout’s last 2 weeks in 2025). Here is the second half with better audio, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbwNRSdaC-s

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TrojanBoiler

1 month ago

Reply to tanana40

I’ve always wondered – why does everyone call him Soth?

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tanana40

1 month ago

Reply to TrojanBoiler

Ha! It’s a meme leftover from Halos Heaven. One night, someone meant to post a comment mentioning Sosh and instead posted “Soth” and from then on, we all called him Soth. Red Floyd is the historian on this one and he might remember who posted the first Soth comment.

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DMAGZ13

1 month ago

The truth is there is no pathway to contention over the next 5 years because of a lackluster farm no superstars. Superstars win. We have no superstar pitchers coming up and no superstar bats.

We also don’t draft guys that can be trained into superstars because of their profiles. Smaller offense , don’t have easy mechanics on pitching to last starter innings.

I don’t think signing a bunch of FAs is also possible because we’re not owned by hedge fund billionaires, have a giant TV contract or both.

Regarding the last point, I wish that the Angels were creative in regards to a TV contract. You could do Ducks and Angels. OC high school football, baseball, basketball and volleyball. UC Irvine and Fullerton sports. Toss in contracts with inland empire as well. Corona sports.

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Want to read a bunch of stuff about MLB payroll parity? Get a pretty good low down on what we actually know and how all the actual factors work? Think just a cap and floor will do it? Think maybe the MLBPA might let it happen? Read this.

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Roy Hobbs

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

Not sure there is much hope for baseball. A work stoppage in 2027, which I believe is highly likely, will take years to recover from.

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

The Mets got Freddy Peralta. The Guy the Brewers POBO said they WERE NOT TRADING. Even though the Brewers always trade a guy after they say that about him, I wonder if there is a Brewers version of CtPG Guy who is pissed about the FO saying that and then trading anyway the way our resident paste eaters get angry any time our crap GM says we are “in the market” or “plan to compete”.

The SIM, which doesn’t matter, generally to the same guy who believes statements from front offices, has the Brewers coming out ahead on the trade 44.7 to 33.5. Both Williams and Sproat are Top 100 prospects. Basically will be MLB ready this year. Williams is a good middle infielder and Sproat is a starter. Because it’s the Brewers they will now become All-Stars and be traded to the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox or Dodgers. Yay. Baseball.

Peralta has one year of control. Tobias Meyers, the back end type starter the Mets also got, is an FA in 2031 and isn’t in arb till 2028. If he breaks right he will make the Mets the winner in this trade.

This trade also reminded me. Never trade with the Rays. Tobias Meyers was a Rays prospect of some note. The Indians traded Junior Caminero for him. Then eventually let him walk away as an MiLB free agent when he hit a wall in their system. The Brewers got 188 innings of 132 ERA+ out of him in two years and now a solid prospect. If the Guardians fans were as “real” as some Halos “fans” they’d be bringing up this trade regularly in 2035 still. Apparently even the Guadindians FO can’t avoid the curse of the RaysTrade.

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grichmanpoorman

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

Peralta trade was weird to me. They got Sproat, yes… who will be a 25-year-old rookie who wasn’t particularly dominant in AAA last season and was clearly the least appealing of the Mets’ three MLB-ready SP prospects. Even packaged with Jett, seems like scant return for an ace.

Last edited 1 month ago by grichmanpoorman

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to grichmanpoorman

The take away is DON”T HOLD ONTO GUYS YOU WANT TO TRADE TOO LONG. Of course, if you are going to do that, the Brewers did it well. Peralta had to stay last year, he anchored them, they made the play offs again and made money. But still, the value in trade went down.

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2pints

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

This would be a great and informative comment if you removed all the ctpgguy/halo fan bashing. But you just can’t stop yourself, can you?

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Super Member

Turk's Teeth

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

I think some here are underrating Sproat and Williams. The former is a pretty stable prospect with 3/4 upside, and Jett is just the sort of profile that thrives in the Brewers org. Pretty sure MIL is happy with the return – otherwise they would have kept Peralta.

I’ve yet to see an analyst who thinks the Brewers got hosed on this trade – most favor Milwaukee, and the sim (imo, correctly) shows they won the trade by a decent margin. One year of Peralta vs six years of two top 100 guys who each have a strong chance of becoming everyday players. The latter simply have more value for a mid-market team looking for sustainable success as opposed to a one-year win-now hail mary season before the lockout.

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FungoAle

1 month ago

Reply to Turk's Teeth

Brewers doing Brewers things. I doubt they could do better than this trade with NY. There are those out there that thought Peralta had some red red flags. Dodgers interest was cooked up, they want Skubal.

Turns out David Sterns was not the genius behind the Brewers competing with limited resources. Brew-Crew keep rolling and draft well and on the flip side, what a mish-mash of FA signings by Stern in NY. Good luck with that.

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Super Member

Turk's Teeth

1 month ago

Reply to FungoAle

I think this FG article is a fairly comprehensive review of the Brewers’ return in this trade:

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/brewing-with-gas-evaluating-jett-williams-and-brandon-sproat/

Basic takeaway: both will be useful MLB contributors, with a fair amount of variation in possible outcomes. Harnessing command is Sproat’s challenge – upside case is a #2 with six pitches anchored by an upper-90s FB if he can do so. If he can’t, he’s a backend starter due to pitch inefficiency. Meanwhile, Jett is either an everyday infielder with a 50-grade glove, or a useful utility guy who bounces around due to a 35-grade hit tool, but with enough secondary abilities to be a frequently used bench weapon.

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Jeff Joiner

1 month ago

Reply to Turk's Teeth

I’d love your insight here, but it seem to me like how a writer or publication defines value is a huge part of their rankings.

Solid MLB regulars are valuable, especially to a smaller market team like Milwaukee. For the type of guy who puts his money in an S&P 500 ETF and lets it grow over time, I’d imagine he’d value Sproat and Williams floor.

However, upside is so tantalizing to some guys. They want the next Tesla and would rather have Seth Hernandez’s potential over the floors of Sproat and Williams.

I’m the same way. Right now the Angels need so many pieces, I’m good with acquiring as much floor as possible. If I’m the Dodgers I’d go for prospects with more boom or bust potential.

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Super Member

Turk's Teeth

1 month ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

The top half of prospect rankings definitely value ceiling more – you want your national profile rankings to predict future stars where they can – but there are plenty of mid-rotation projections and “this guy can be a solid everyday player” types in the back half of top 100s.

Smaller market teams definitely value high-probability guys who are cheap and controllable, but in the Brewers’ case here, you have a couple guys who are both high-floor and have some legit ceiling to them, especially Sproat. If he can simplify his sprawling pitch portfolio a bit and improve command, he’s a legit #3. And Williams is just an obvious fit as a speedy super-ute on a Brewers club that gets the most out of profiles like that.

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to Turk's Teeth

Yep. I was gonna say, when you develop pitching and general use position players the way the Brewers do it almost adds a little extra value to guys like this. Just as I won’t be surprised if Jett goes nowhere on the Pirates or Angels, I feel like he’ll be their starting 2B for five years.

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jco

1 month ago

I would guess that they’re basically done on the position player side. I just hope that Suzuki realizes that Adell should not play CF except in emergency situations and that Soler should avoid defense entirely even if it means Teo in CF and Soler on the bench.

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steelgolf

1 month ago

Reply to jco

Soler should always be on the bench.

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Jeff Joiner

1 month ago

Reply to steelgolf

Soler has been a streaky hitter in his career. Ideally he gets started on a heater and gets flipped for a lottery ticket at the deadline.

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jco

1 month ago

Moncada is fine. When he’s in the lineup, 3B doesn’t feel like such a hole.

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RexFregosi

1 month ago

Reply to jco

yes. as a switch hitter, it gets another LH bat in the line up too when needed

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to RexFregosi

He basically only has power from the left side anyways now. 4 million isn’t bad and he was likely the best guy we could get. When he’s hurt we have the meh pile that can play 50 games between them at 3B. Wow. The team is still bad.

Last edited 1 month ago by gitchogritchoffmypettis

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Roy Hobbs

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

In addition to the fact that he was one of the worst defensive 3B in all of baseball last year. Not against it as he’s a cheap body who can hit a little but as you say, the team as constructed is worse than last year’s 72 win team. I’m content to watch them spiral down the drain until Arte sells.

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RexFregosi

1 month ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

$4 million.

for comparison what the Doyers paying Ohtani and Tucker this year, combined?

$3 million. 🙄

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2pints

1 month ago

Reply to RexFregosi

saying they’re making $3M this season leaves out a ton of context. Signing bonus for Tucker, luxury tax costs, etc.

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RexFregosi

1 month ago

Reply to 2pints

yes, the big etc: their deferred moneys.

this is just a straight up 2026 salary comparison.

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grichmanpoorman

1 month ago

Reply to jco

Weird to realize that his injury-riddled 2025 was his least injury-riddled season since 2023. If we can get 400 ABs and .800 OPS out of him, huge win.

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TrojanBoiler

1 month ago

Reply to grichmanpoorman

That’s a weird way of saying he played more games in 2025 than he did in 2024 lol

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MarineLayer

1 month ago

Reply to jco

I agree.

Also, I would’ve gone for Luis Robert and his $20 million salary for two years to fill the CF hole. He is injury-riddled, which is a Minasian favorite, and cost the team he was traded next to nothing, Of course we’re not trying to compete so I understand why we didn’t

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Jeff Joiner

1 month ago

Thanks for linking my interview. I appreciate it. Chris is an interesting prospect to watch.

Moncada fills third base, kind of. And keeps the one year deal train rolling. We’ll see what is next.

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2pints

1 month ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

I’m going all in on the theory that Arte is prepping for a sale of the team. Rendon has been restructured. Skaggs trial is over. One-year deals for GM, manager and a bunch of players. Put up a mostly blank canvass for sale and let a few billionaires dream of how they could each build a championship team from the ground up, just like they did with their businesses, as they bid one another up.

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Jeff Joiner

1 month ago

Reply to 2pints

You and me, both. This team is set up perfectly to sell. No long term debt, an entire management and coaching team that can be replaced on a whim. You even get the chance to work with the City to bid on the stadium.

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MarineLayer

1 month ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

I sure hope you’re right.

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RexFregosi

1 month ago

Reply to MarineLayer

while we see how it is set up nicely for a sale, there’s two big unkonwns with the 2027 strike/lockout and the TV deal.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

(I think it will be an estate sale Ala Paul Allen I’ve said before and it will be a long time.)

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2pints

1 month ago

Reply to RexFregosi

Those are unknowns that could both make Arte want to sell (to cash out prior to a lockout) and induce a really rich guy to pay top dollar (figure out a TV deal in the new climate of sports media. Netflix anyone?).

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 month ago

Reply to 2pints

That’s what’s kinda funny. Back when Arte declared he “still had business” I wondered about it. Sure, I think he wanted to take a crack at resigning Ohtani. That would up the team value. But I also think plenty of business guys didn’t like a lot of the side issues the team had. Remember. Last year the Braves made 46 million in profits last year. Our org is similar, and those issues we had likely ate a large chunk of 46M.

A lot of the “business” really could have been actually taking care of business. Not “he thinks he can still win a title” type Chuck Norris “BUSINESS”. Arte may have been done when the stadium deal got buggered.

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HaloLew

1 month ago

Reply to 2pints

From your lips to God’s ears.

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Kevin

1 month ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

Moncada fills 3B with lefty power. Of course, he likely will be hurt at some point. He also allows the team to play others here and there at 3B and doesn’t block anyone else coming in.

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Super Member

RexFregosi

1 month ago

Awesome interview with Cortez. Will be excited to see his development. Looking forward to more of the same with other players too.

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steelgolf

1 month ago

Reply to RexFregosi

Excellent interview!!!

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Jeff Joiner

1 month ago

Reply to steelgolf

Thanks, guys.

One thing I’m really hoping to increase this year is interviews.

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MarineLayer

1 month ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

I will look forward to all your content this year.

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RexFregosi

1 month ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

did you think about asking him about his kerfuffle with CMo in the SEC?
https://www.instagram.com/reels/C8nGEgzu1nm/

I saw CMo had commented on it previously as ‘heat of the moment’ thing and they were ‘good’.

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Jeff Joiner

1 month ago

Reply to RexFregosi

Nah, it didn’t seem like the right time and it definitely looked like a heat of the moment type thing.

I’ve played enough sports to know things like that happen.

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RexFregosi

1 month ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

good choice! he had a very good career at A&M and unfortunately that was what we first saw when we heard about the draft, not a bunch of videos with him dominating hitters.

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Pineapple12

1 month ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

Are you planning on being at as many home games as possible? Not sure how that works out with your full-time career and family life.

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Jeff Joiner

1 month ago

Reply to Pineapple12