LA Angels Thursday News Crash: Trade – Crashing the Pearly Gates

Legend

1 hour ago

Mickey Mantle knew launch angle if not just the term. Hank Aaron did not know launch angle and the baseball got out in a hurry. Adding this “Launch Angle” bullcrap means you have less chance of hitting the ball. Launch Angle does not equate to base hits or on base %. Making contact means getting on base or moving a runner over or an RBI, but as someone once said “single hitters drive Chevy’s and HR hitter’s drive Cadillacs”, although Gwynn and Carew and Boggs and Brett and the like did alright driving Beamers

You all know that OBP is more important at .380 than at .280, I don’t have to remind you (but I just did 😀 ) but the college grad analytic geek told everyone HR wins games not base hits-the same guy said striking out is better than hitting into a DP or even just grounding out. Us older dudes were taught to choke up a little with 2 strikes, or we were taught how to bunt from an earlier age, or how to hit to the “other way”. Today those terms may not come into play maybe. Hitting like anything else in baseball takes o lot of work and comes easier to some than others but all will improve with practice even with soft toss or “T” batting. Today you will very seldom watch a player keep his head in watching the ball and following it. It’s just not taught. But the guys that get the base on balls know how to do it.

I can talk hitting and it’s finer points all day, but I leave it right there for now but will add that not many coaches today know how to teach hitting and how to break down into the finer points. Why is Maddox a great pitching coach or why was our former mgr a great fielding coach, great know how to be great teachers in showing and winning respect of the players and that is what is lacking with our minor league coaches. (in my humble opinion of course) 😃 PS launch angle means crap just like mph in pitching rather than control.

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Trusted Member

cookmeister

12 minutes ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

Except the data shows that launch angle does improve batting average, and therefore OBP

ground balls (aka low or negative launch angle) have far less exit velo and therefore less likely hits.
flip side, too high a launch angle (30+ degrees) also obviously less likely to be hits, unless exit velo remains high

launch angle of 10-25 degrees means the balls are being squared up, which means more exit velo and more likely to be hits. Minus balls off the end of the bat or jammed, balls at this trajectory have a batting average over .500

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Member

EHC

3 hours ago

I know we all played ball at some point in the past. When we played, there was NO greater humiliation for a hitter than striking out. It was the lowest of lows walking back to the dugout unable to make contact.

Shorten’ up. Make contact. Put it in play. Make the defense work. Remember coaches yelling this? And your dad?

I just can’t understand modern players who seem to have no problem striking out. They see it as the same as hitting a groundout or pop up. Strike outs are the reason this team can be so hard to watch.

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Trusted Member

milehigh

2 hours ago

Reply to EHC

The same analytics and people who treasure 100mph pitching treasure launch angle and home run. It’s not that the players are not as good, just being taught differently and chicks dig the long ball. If your 1 for 4 or 5 is a three run HR, then you had a good day and possibly helped your team win.

Pendulums swing. Contact and situational hitting may come back some day.
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/mlbs-analytics-revolution-led-to-more-home-runs-but-its-striking-out-with-many-who-love-the-game/ovknk78xd8if117eh6l9szegj

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Legend

GrandpaBaseball

4 hours ago

We are a run scoring machine to start the season, we have decent starters, but the pen has some weak spots. The Angels have indeed shown once again at the season’s start that they are competitive and that makes them interesting more than many though would go down. Let’s point out and be happy that giving up walks is not killing the starters like in the past or at least for now anyway. 😃

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Editor

Legend

Turk's Teeth

3 hours ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

Grandpa, it seems a little untimely to suggest the rotation is the team’s strength and walks are not a problem.

Kikuchi surrendered five runs and four walks yesterday, Johnson six runs and four walks, and Koch five runs and five walks. Across the past four outings, the three that were losses were in considerable part due to starter troubles and too many free passes.

Though I might be missing a delayed April fools /s tag in there somewhere!

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Legend

GrandpaBaseball

2 hours ago

Reply to Turk's Teeth

yeah, I missed yesterday’s game, but when we don’t walk more the one per inning pitched, I think we are on our way to a win. When a pitcher has a bad outing it looks bad in the BB category, but when the game is a win or close loss it’s because of less BB so far. Example was Detmer’s game. Look it’s easy to dump on the Angels and finding more than one good thing is difficult at best. We can’t field, draw walls, run the bases well, stop striking out, so if my comment seems out of place then that’s on me, but I want to be much more positive on my comments, and starting pitching as bad as it may appear this early is indeed one of our stronger points of positive outlook, but we looked good with it in Houston and we all knew the Cubs would kick our buts, right, so again I’m trying to find upside as I did a few seasons ago to make it easier to shallow my cold medicine.

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Editor

Legend

Turk's Teeth

16 minutes ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

Not trying to knock your positivity, Grandpa, I just disagree with your diagnosis.

If we’re looking for positives in the first week, I think there are three:

Soriano looks like a legit frontline rotation piece. The Angels lead the MLB in walks, leading to a slightly better than average offense. Their bullpen has exceeded expectations and currently carries a 2.13 ERA (though their xERA is more middle of the road, so some regression is due).

Otoh, their rotation ERA is bottom five in the MLB at 5.61 ERA, with the second worst walk rate in the MLB. And their team defense is worst in the majors per FG.

So that’s why I find your diagnosis strange. The team’s rotation and its tendency to walk folks have been close to MLB worst, whereas the bullpen and offense have been bright spots.

Of course it’s very early, but that’s what the early metrics say. Team defense has not helped the rotation a bit though, and that’s one place where the adjusted and unadjusted metrics agree, as does the eye test.

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Super Member

2pints

6 hours ago

Saw that the #1 prospect, 19-year-old SS Konnor Griffin, is being called up today by the Pirates. He was drafted 9th overall in 2024, so I had to go check who the Halos took in that draft. CMo, 1 pick before Griffin. Maybe, just maybe Perry and his scouts just aren’t very good talent evaluators. Or their strategy of drafting college players hoping they can contribute asap due to the organization severely lacking talent, isn’t a great one.

In a parallel universe the Halos decided to build for the long-term and drafted prep players Griffin in 2024, then Seth Hernandez in 2025 (no hate to Bremner).

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Trusted Member

milehigh

5 hours ago

Reply to 2pints

So were 7 other teams stupid, too? There were questions about Griffin’s hit tool at the time, see Fangraphs. Where the Angels have scouts located isn’t known. Maybe the coaching staff should have CMo copy Griffin’s hitting style.

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Super Member

2pints

5 hours ago

Reply to milehigh

Not saying the other teams are stupid, but the Halos’ draft strategy is. The organization lacks talent, in all levels, so in their desperation to better the ML team, they limit their options when drafting high. There’s a myriad of examples of them being too focused on the immediate future instead of building for the long run, this is just another one.

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Trusted Member

milehigh

4 hours ago

Reply to 2pints

Fair points, all. And I think over the years the community has discussed why. Build around Trout, build around Trout and Ohtani, keep Ohtani, etc. A systemic failure at all levels, to me. I’d be surprised if we don’t get a new GM after this season. I’d be surprised more if Arte spends more money on scouting.

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Super Member

YOUknowulovetheIE

5 hours ago

Reply to 2pints

Moore looks lost at the plate. The power is there. Once he improves as a hitter the all star capability is there.

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Legend

Fansince1971

5 hours ago

Reply to YOUknowulovetheIE

The variable that we just dont really have full insight into is coaching. If the Angels coaching is just not as good as other Orgs, then a player like CMo may not improve and excel like Griffin has. Who knows what happens to Griffin in the Angels Org. For all we know he could be struggling here too.

The Angels have not shown they can develop a position player in a long time. And dont say “Neto” because he was basically developed in college and came to the Angels ready to go. I am talking about taking a toolsy young undeveloped player with lots of warts and having the organization turn him into an Allstar caliber player. That doesn’t happen in Anaheim. And therefore, drafts are much more difficult to evaluate.

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Super Member

YOUknowulovetheIE

2 hours ago

Reply to Fansince1971

The same can be said for the pirates organization

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Editor

Legend

Turk's Teeth

4 minutes ago

Reply to YOUknowulovetheIE

And the Pirates make talent evaluation mistakes as well.

They’ve been blessed with the #1 overall pick twice in the past half decade. In 2023 they didn’t miss and grabbed Paul Skenes (as would have almost every other team in that draft).

But in 2021, they spent the first overall pick on collegiate backstop Henry Davis, now a 26 yo backup catcher with a career OPS+ of 54, fighting for his life to stay in the MLB.

Last year, they lost their second overall selection (a top 50 pick) when we refused to sign.

Drafting ain’t easy.

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Legend

GrandpaBaseball

1 hour ago

Reply to Fansince1971

In drafting college players from winning teams is supposed to give us a leg up by players having reasonable skill level to proceed to the big leagues and with CMO he really wasn’t that highly rated for where we drafted him. “Toolsy young underdeveloped player” should not be our first choice unless he is a prep player. Coming out of college the number one should have more than just some polish. He was just another player drafted higher than he should be to save money for later round players.

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Trusted Member

milehigh

1 hour ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

BA and Fangraphs ranked Moore at 13. Angels took him at 8. Not that far off from the rankings.

That said, I don’t know how many orgs have taken a toolsy young undeveloped player and made them an All-Star caliber player. If that could be done all the time then why spend so much time trying to figure out who the best players are? Why not just look around for ‘toolsy’ players and make them into All-Star caliber and sign them for millions less?

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Super Member

2pints

5 hours ago

Reply to YOUknowulovetheIE

“Once he improves as a hitter the all star capability is there.”

You could say that about the majority of prospects lol

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Super Member

YOUknowulovetheIE

2 hours ago

Reply to 2pints

Alot of fans do, I don’t want to hope for the worst on the kid.

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Super Member

TrojanBoiler

4 hours ago

Reply to YOUknowulovetheIE

~~once~~ if he improves as a hitter

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Legend

GrandpaBaseball

4 hours ago

Reply to 2pints

I’m not a PTP fan at all, but he ended up choosing Moore because he could save money on that signing and to use the saved money to spent later in the draft to convince those players to come on board rather than either continue college or to not commit to college.

does it work out for the best for the team? No, not if it is Minasian doing the drafting as he is clueless as to how to evaluate young players. Why is this an issue? Simply because the Angels do not have enough scouts to help the front office make good choices or because they pay less to scouts because they hire castoffs and has been to save money. 🤐

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Editor

Legend

Turk's Teeth

2 hours ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

Minasian likes to go discount with his first rounder often, sure, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a range of options within that strategy.

The guys I had ahead of Moore on my board, for example – Yesavage, Smith, Montgomery – all signed for the same or lesser bonus amounts as Moore.

And this first round underslot strategy is not unique to Minasian, btw. The majority of top ten picks in last year’s draft signed for underslot bonuses.

So, yes, I think if he’s underperforming, it’s more an issue of talent evaluation, national scout coverage, and the lack of crosscheckers in the system. He’s spent 100% of his bonus pool every year – he’s not going cheap, he’s just picking the wrong stocks.

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Legend

MarineLayer

35 minutes ago

Reply to GrandpaBaseball

Who does he ever get for the saved money? You should always draft the best player or get out of the business and sell to someone who will pay for the best talent.

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Editor

Legend

Turk's Teeth

3 hours ago

Reply to 2pints

It’s still awfully early to assess the results of the 2024 draft. Across the first ten rounds of the draft – 315 players in all – only ten have made their debut as of yet, and two of those are Angels prospects.

Only two of those ten have put up even one win above replacement: Nick Kurtz and Cam Smith (who I had with Trey Yesavage 1-2 at the top of my draft board when the Angels selected.)

In general you can assess the strength of a draft class 3-5 years in, and you certainly want to look at it in its totality, not just round one. The Pirates might have had some great drafts of late – Skenes, Griffin, Hernandez – but I think there was a little luck in getting a unicorn like Griffin, and there is some risk in their prep heavy strategy of the past couple drafts. Angel Cervantes, their #2 pick last year, refused to sign, for instance, despite being offered a very generous overslot deal.

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Super Member

2pints

2 hours ago

Reply to Turk's Teeth

Had a feeling you’d come in with a cooler head. I don’t disagree with anything you said, but the callup of Griffin made me frustrated in the moment, and this is where I levy most of my Halo complaints.

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Editor

Legend

Turk's Teeth

2 hours ago

Reply to 2pints

Just remember, Mike Trout was selected at #25, Roman Anthony was selected at #79, Kevin McGonigle was selected #37, Jackson Merrill (current WAR leader from the 2021 draft) was selected #27,

All prep bats, all passed over by the majority of teams. A consensus 1-1 prep bat like Bryce Harper is the rarest of things, so I wouldn’t judge any club for failing to identify Trout or Griffin or Anthony ahead of time.

And that’s setting aside the fact that many of these kids are tough signs with high bonus demands (Griffin signed for over slot). So not only does your stock picking need to be next level, your confidence has to be so high you’re willing to steal from other draft pick bonuses to place your bet.

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Trusted Member

grichmanpoorman

7 hours ago

Tri-City roster drop on Insta… a lot more shiny objects than the sad Rocket City roster, which has, like, Raudi and Austin Gordon and some old gramma broaches.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWj4zwVFB2m/?img_index=2

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Legend

Pineapple12

8 hours ago

This season will be less depressing once we replace Moncada, Candleman, and Teodosio with Grissom, CMo, and Guzman.

Re: Sori trade — I don’t have access to MLBTR premium so not sure what the article says. In a theoretical trade I expect a giant haul, I’m talking 4 top 10 prospects in a system and an established young MLB ready player. Not that I want to trade him, just saying

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Super Member

TrojanBoiler

7 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Be careful what you wish for.

There is a very good chance CMo isn’t an improvement over Moncada defensively or offensively. If last season is any indication, he will at least be a significant step down offensively.

If we call him up and cut Moncada, we would just get to watch someone as bad as or worse than Moncada, except we would simultaneously burn a top prospect’s pre-arb years all while not benefitting the major league club at all.

We are not going to be competitive this year. I do not see any value whatsoever in rushing these guys to the majors. This is the kind of short-term thinking that is killing this franchise, IMO.

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Super Member

Roy Hobbs

6 hours ago

Reply to TrojanBoiler

I agree philosophically, but in this case I don’t think it matters because I don’t believe CMo will ever be any good anyway, but regardless, you would still be using up a year of someone on the cheap.

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Super Member

YOUknowulovetheIE

5 hours ago

Reply to TrojanBoiler

I like Moore at 2nd, he plays well there.

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Super Member

TrojanBoiler

7 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

To be clear – I do agree that it would be more fun to watch the kids play. Which is probably what you are getting at.

But strategically I don’t think it’s a great decision.

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Legend

Pineapple12

6 hours ago

Reply to TrojanBoiler

Totally, and you unpackaged my thought process correctly. I’m assuming/wishing CMo and Denzer will be ready by June, and that will give the vets ample time to prove their worthlessness (i.e. Hicks, Timmy Anderson). If the kids aren’t ready, throw Frazier and Grissom out there to soak up the innings.

Last edited 6 hours ago by Pineapple12

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Super Member

TrojanBoiler

6 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

100% – if they are ready then hell yeah let the kids play

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