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LA Angels Wednesday News Crash: WBC Champ Venezuela

March 18, 2026

Morning Angels fans, have some links.

Angels News

Who will be the Angel’s 2B? MLB Trade Rumors wants to know as well. They lean Adam Fraizer.

As for Fangraphs, they still thing Moore will get the most PA this season. Not good PA, but the most. “Welcome to Anaheim, or as it’s known around these parts, the bottom.” -Fangraphs

The Angels finally announced their Opening Day SP. It is Soriano.

Around Baseball

USA vs VEN for the WBC Champion. And it was Venezuela who won!

The WBC teams have been criticized for having quite a few “American” teams instead of the country they represent. On the 30 man rosters, here are the amount of those born in the 50 states. With Italian citizenship being changed by the new PM, the next WBC will have to have more Italians and fewer Italian Americans…

Fangraphs are ranking MLB teams by position. So far they have C, 1B, and 2B. Let’s just say, they do not trust the Angels to be any good. At all.

MiLB will be getting rule changes which are a mixed bag. Rule 1 is for the SP to re-enter the game after being removed, IF he throws at least 25 pitches in the inning of removal, must be re-entered in a fresh inning, and again, only the SP is eligible. Rule 2 is the ABS system and check swing. Same as the new MLB rule really. Rule 3 is tightening up pitch clock and pitchcom loopholes. Rule 4 is moving 2B closer by 9 inches in the 2nd half. Which, huh? What? And rule 5 is allowing umps to officiate base coaches not being in the box.

Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes!

39 Comments

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Trusted Member

grichmanpoorman

1 hour ago

Time to groom Guzman for third.

Trusted Member

grichmanpoorman

1 hour ago

Reply to grichmanpoorman

And yes he was pretty serviceable there last year after his AAA call-up… only one error in 23 games. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=guzman000den

Legend

MarineLayer

4 hours ago

Has anybody noticed an improvement with Maddux here. This is not a question with an agenda. I haven’t watched a single inning. Who takes the 5th starter role? Jack C?

Legend

FungoAle

4 hours ago

Reply to MarineLayer

Too early and appears the Angels will be forced to use Koch. Certainly not my favorite.

Legend

MarineLayer

3 hours ago

Reply to FungoAle

Who is?

Trusted Member

milehigh

2 hours ago

Reply to MarineLayer

If he can keep his ERA under 5 then go with him. But if he can’t then call up Klassen and give him 4 innings per start.

Trusted Member

DMAGZ13

1 hour ago

Reply to MarineLayer

It’s been like a month. Maddux is a real coach and these guys have barely pitched all of like 10 innings. I’m assuming he’s just assessing these guys before any major improvement comes.he won’t improve their talent just their decision making, mechanics and a strategy . That takes time. The emphasis on strikes rather than velocity will weed out some of the guys who suck and make them learn how to pitch which means they might hit around early in this process. And who knows, maybe some of these guys can’t throw strikes. That’s on Perry for drafting them. Too early to tell.

Super Member

RexFregosi

1 hour ago

Reply to DMAGZ13

The emphasis on strikes rather than velocity will weed out some of the guys who suck *cough*Manoah*cough

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Pineapple12

5 hours ago

Roster for our ST Breakout game —

Pitchers:
Tyler Bremner, Chris Cortez, Trey Gregory-Alford, Joel Hurtado, Dylan Jordan, Keythel Key, Samy Natera, Peyton Olejnik, Chase Shores, Nate Snead, Ubaldo Soto, Najer Victor

Catchers:
Gabriel Davalillo, Juan Flores, Marlon Quintero

Infielders:
Yilver De Paula, Ben Gobbel, Denzer Guzman, Joswa Lugo, Capri Ortiz, Nick Rodriguez, Anthony Santa Cruz de Oviedo

Outfielders:
Hayden Alvarez, Nelson Rada, Lucas Ramirez, Raudi Rodriguez

Notable omissions: George Klassen, Walbert Urena, Ryan Johnson

Lost prospect eligibility : Christian Moore, Caden Dana

Last edited 5 hours ago by Pineapple12

Super Member

RexFregosi

5 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

11 AM start time.

Hope you are sitting down: it looks like it will be televised on MLB.
(what an amazing time to be alive)

maybe I will visit Diablo this year after all.

Last edited 5 hours ago by RexFregosi

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Pineapple12

4 hours ago

Reply to RexFregosi

You gotta go!!

I have no idea how I’m going to balance tomorrow with work, March Madness, and the prospect game

Trusted Member

grichmanpoorman

2 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

I’m totally gonna hit that shit.

Trusted Member

grichmanpoorman

5 hours ago

A Frazier/Peraza platoon seems the likely, reasonable and truly unexciting 2B scenario to begin the season.

Trusted Member

CAoldskoll

5 hours ago

Hats off to WBC Champs Venezuela. Team USA was lucky just to get to final. Except the first 2 games, why did every other team seem to have more energy and effort. US hitting was pathetic. Can’t hit Rodriguez, Lorenzen or any other starter?? Stars like Raleigh, Bregman, Buxton were total no show, Schrwarber forgot how to HR, Judge non-clutch. Line up would have been better with Angel scrubs Trout, Neto, Adell in there! Baseball may be America’s game but Latino and Asian countries have embraced it, taking WBC play to the next level.

Legend

Pineapple12

5 hours ago

2 games today — Silent C with the regulars, R Johnson with the minor leaguers.

I’m fairly confident Silent C is breaking camp as the #5

Trusted Member

KelN90

5 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

I really feel like silent C can be a solid back end rotation guy. Would be nice to see him perform well

Super Member

Roy Hobbs

5 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

I agree, and not only are we rebuilding, but there will be little effort to actually win games. No reason to waste service time this year.

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Pineapple12

5 hours ago

Reply to Roy Hobbs

Your last point being key. We erroneously started the clock early on Dana and Moore, and we can’t keep burning service time on players who aren’t ready

Last edited 5 hours ago by Pineapple12

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MarineLayer

4 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Minasian is a throw it against the wall GM. There has never been a plan besides his hopium.

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MarineLayer

4 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Anybody but Manoah works for me.

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GrandpaBaseball

9 hours ago

STOP! Moving 2nd base will not change the game, just like making the bases larger did not change the game.

Getting on base more will change the game, there just are way too many players with OBP under a dismal .30% playing in today’s game. Base on balls and hits are what will change the game for the better. MLB could make the bases 85 feet apart and if players can’t get on base, then you haven’t done anything but ruin the game.

Instead of going for a HR every pitch, try just hitting a fastball by slapping at it for contact. imho. 🤓

Last edited 8 hours ago by GrandpaBaseball

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steelgolf

8 hours ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

Yep, this is part of the fallout of the “Launch Angle” revolution.

Super Member

RexFregosi

6 hours ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

Agree with 95% of this! But more Walks would not make the game better.
I saw the Brazil-USA game. The ball needs to be put in play.

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FungoAle

3 hours ago

Reply to RexFregosi

Slightly off topic concerning balls in play, when I used to go see Nolan Ryan pitch in Anaheim, nothing but strikeouts and walks. Dominant and hard to hit. Some starts, upwards of 20-25 batters would fail to put the ball in play. I knew ahead of time, if it was lots of action I was looking for, simply skip the Ryan start and attend the game the next night. But had to go in case of a no-no.

Super Member

HalosFanForLife

9 hours ago

I still think Madrigal will be up when one of the guys falters. A biased – gut feeling. He was the 4th overall pick for a reason and has shown signs of a plus player. Showed it in the spring too.

Super Member

RexFregosi

8 hours ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

Overall and all things considered, Perry did OK so far with who he brought in on the infield side of things with his limited budget. Candelario, Frazier, Moncada are solid adds too.

Cant get excited about OF, nor pitching but I will give him an “A” for IF.
Of course it’s mid-March still way too early.

Legend

FungoAle

3 hours ago

Reply to RexFregosi

Frazier seems out of place here. Much like Kevin Pillar was. Truly a pro’s pro. Known for their grit and hustle. Then…there is Soler, Moncada and Candelario.

Trusted Member

KelN90

10 hours ago

Why are so many people getting butthurt that players born in the US but have ties to other countries are playing for those countries in the WBC? For the Olympics, some countries allow representation based on the birth of a parent or grandparent

Last edited 10 hours ago by KelN90

Super Member

HalosFanForLife

8 hours ago

Reply to KelN90

It’s strange. Countries have all different rules themselves. My wife is Austrian born and raised. My son who is an 18u, contacted the Austrian national team, they loved his metrics and video. They said they knew what other teams are doing but their rule is you have to be a citizen and must actually live there. They knew they could not be as competitive as teams importing players – but they wanted it to be a true Austrian team. On the other hand, his buddy has the German team trying to find all kind of ways that he could play having distant relatives. Both parents are of German ancestor, but not in so many generations. They were trying to find a way.

Super Member

ryanfea

6 hours ago

Reply to KelN90

Yeah it’s silly. I want to see more competitive teams. Italy would not even be talented enough to make the tourney without Italian Americans

Trusted Member

KelN90

6 hours ago

Reply to ryanfea

Right?!?! Isn’t Aldegheri the only current MLBer born in Italy? That team would be god awful if they only allowed Italian born players on the team

Super Member

RexFregosi

6 hours ago

Reply to KelN90

Fox broadcasters said over 50% of Italy was tuned in for the US game in Italy and that’s a very good thing!

Doyers may have Japan but Angels having Italy would be much more fun. Any FAs from Team Italia? we should sign too, might as well. (Of course, Italian-Americans have a long tradition with the NYY going back to Dimaggio)

Godspeed Sam Aldegheri!
🇮🇹

Trusted Member

KelN90

6 hours ago

Reply to RexFregosi

That’s amazing. A potential untapped market. Maybe picking grapes and olives correlates to being a good fielder. And having an espresso homerun cele is hilarious. The Los Angeles Angelos of Montepulciano here we come

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Twebur

4 hours ago

Reply to KelN90

With the Italian stereotype of talking/communicating with their hands….maybe we can find an Italian 3rd base coach….. another thing we always seem to be league worst at. We let our best run off to the Doyers…. No coincidence “Dino” a common Italian nickname.

Trusted Member

Marcotor

1 hour ago

Reply to Twebur

You do know Dino spent 16 or 17 years in blue before he came to the Angels org as the Manager at Salt Lake, then took Maddon’s spot on the bench right?