The first full week of Cactus League action is a wrap and there’s not much news to link.
Arte’s comments about not winning are clearly the most noteworthy thing that happened. I really enjoyed smacking him On SI and that piece has gotten the most views of anything I’ve published there. I know some of those are from you folks and I appreciate it.
I then doubled down on some key free agents that would have really helped the Angels this year without costing nearly what Arte said he’d need to spend. Put those guys on the team and it is at least watchable and worth being on TV.
As far as games go, George Klassen stole the show for me. At least the show I was able to watch.
The kid was flat out nasty and mowed through SD quickly and efficiently. I’ve been talking the kid up all off season and think he’s going to make an impact in 2026.
Klassen leads my list of prospects who should make their debuts this year.
Another great sight to see, or not see, was Tyler Bremner working in the bullpen but not being put into games.
I can’t emphasize enough how not Angels this is. If you’re looking for a sign of a real rebuild it is the Angels doing the opposite with Bremner that they’ve done with Neto, Schanuel, and Moore.
Klassen, Bremner, Soriano, Detmers...are the Angels actually developing some good starting pitching? Not a ton of it, but there’s enough to think the ship is pointing in the right direction.
One young hurler I did not name is fireballer Joel Hurtado, who spoke with me after pitching against the Giants.
Yes, I did just sneak an interview in mid links. Joel spoke to me from the Angels redone locker room in Tempe and was nice enough to show it to me via Zoom. Great kid, really hope he works out.
Limited sample size and all due to the games not being on TV, but Christian Moore’s blast off Michael King was the best at bat I’ve seen so far. It looks like the Angels are giving Moore all the opportunity to earn the second base job.
On the surface, second base looks like an old fashioned WWF melee with Moore, Vaughn Grissom, Adam Frazier, and Nick Madrigal all vying for the spot. But the competition is not as open as it appears.
If you take a look at the MLB roster and the lack of AAA depth, player options will go a long way towards deciding who gets a hat.
From around baseball:
Mad Max is back in Toronto on a one year deal. I really hope the baseball gods give us Max vs. Verlander this summer.
The big story from camp is the automated balls and strikes system. Give our friend Jeff Fletcher a read.
Enjoy your weekend and link what I missed. I’m going to spend my time with my family and try to crank out lots of content for SI tonight so I have some free time.
