Both Jordan Romano and Shaun Anderson have been designated for assignment. Joey Lucchesi is back. Logan O’Hoppe got a fractured wrist on the same day and is on the injured list. I guess the Angels lost their third game in a row against the mighty Royals. Mike Trout did set another record over the weekend.
Around Baseball
Tommy Pham also got designated for assignment. The Red Sox fired some people, including Alex Cora. Chad Tracy is their interim manager.
But I’ll gladly settle for a lead.
Yes! The buttercup is in sight!
These.guys epitomize how we all feel. Right fellas?
https://youtu.be/47ISHxl0m3Q
That’s awesome and should but won’t embarrass Arte and Perry. People are making fun of them.
AI is fun. That basically took 30 minutes of playing around.
Jeff Joiner: I just read your article regarding the Burke/Lowe deal its an excellent article, very well done, I hope Minisian reads it, as well as Artie. “Raw hamburger in a car trunk on a hot Bakersfield day.” LOL, so true!!!!
Thank you. I appreciate it.
I don’t think my candor is getting me any favors with the Angels brass but the media folks there like me so far.
The deeper you report on the franchise, the more Sam Blum you become.
Not sure if that is an ouch or a compliment. lol
To me, its a compliment. To those who disliked Sam because he tended to focus on negatives instead of doing more fluff pieces, its not.
Yes, very nice and points out the absolute thoughtlessness with a lot of Perry’s decision making. I know Gitch would disagree, but I think half the people here could do a better job with major league roster construction and that says a lot more about Perry than it does about the people in our community, not that there are not some really sharp ones. It’s as if he doesn’t even look at the numbers.
Hindsight is always clear and very easy to come by.
Eh, ok – but foresight can be improved by skill, practice, data, and talent – calibrated by rational expectations.
Lowe has had one good season in five, and we’re well removed from that season. He’s never been a particularly strong defender.
Exchanging a player who has been good for two seasons for a player that has been bad for two seasons, without significant injuries explaining the discrepancy? That’s a case where foresight and hindsight should probably converge.
This reminded me of something. A head to head football board game where I got behind early, things got worse and I started calling ridiculous plays hoping something would work but nothing did. I ended losing 55-0.
Well Perry is kind of like that. Maybe this signing will somehow pay off. No? Then maybe this one will. Or maybe this other one.
An under-discussed element of the Angels’ recent troubles is how bad the team defense remains. Tied for last in the league in Def at Fangraphs, last in the league in Fielding Run Value, 27th in OAA. (And this mirrors the team’s defense last season.)
This has had a disproportionate impact on some of the pitchers. Kikuchi’s expected batting average is .265, but his BABIP is a ridiculous .357. On a rate basis (BABIP+), it’s 23% worse than you’d find in a luck/defense neutral context. His expected ERA is 1.3 pts lower than his actual ERA, and his fielding independent mark a full 2.5pts lower.
Detmers has a 4.28 ERA, but a 2.92 xERA and 3.22 FIP.
You can sample the play logs and find many cases where singles and doubles had 65-80% out expectancy but were hits against the Angels’ defense, and resulted in some big innings for the opponent. A little of this is bad luck in small samples, but a lot of it is also bad defense, and poor player positioning.
We mentioned that he failed to address this and it could have been done without spending money.
There was some mention of it in the offseason (not least by me). But lately the focus has been bullpen, offense and SP depth.
Some of the worst pitching meltdowns recently, however, have been defense-aided. 2-3 highlight reel plays have overshadowed how many high-probability outs were not made at all.
TT – Question completely unrelated to this. I asked in a thread last week but forgot to go back and see if you responded.
Do you know what’s up with Slawinski?
I did answer then, but don’t mind repeating:
Slawinski (and all of the seven 2025 drafted prep arms save for Talon Haley) is in extended spring training in Arizona, preparing for Arizona Complex League play later this summer.
In extended ST, prospects see action against other teams who have affiliate complexes in Arizona, along with close coaching and time in the pitching lab.
Both Slawinski and CJ Gray (5th round pick) have had good reports in Arizona, and Jesus Cano (formerly of BA, now a beat writer for the Athletic) highlighted both as pitchers impressing in XST a couple weeks back.
A long, athletic lefthander, Slawinski offers intriguing upside as a potential starter thanks to his blend of projection and feel. His fastball sat at 94-95 mph and received plenty of whiffs. His slider has taken a step forward, showing sharper bite and the ability to miss bats, while his curveball remains a softer, less consistent look. He also mixes in a fading changeup that continues to develop into a usable third pitch.
In his outing against the Brewers on Tuesday, Gray tossed two innings, sitting 94–95 mph and touching 97 with his fastball while showing a solid feel for the strike zone. His offspeed pitches were inconsistent at times, and he wore his emotions on the mound when calls didn’t go his way.
Still, Gray remains a high-upside arm. His fastball projects as a potential plus pitch if command continues to improve, while his developing slider and changeup each flash promise. Ongoing work to refine his delivery should help him throw more consistent strikes and fully tap into his explosive, athletic arsenal.
Was Haley promoted because they think he is further along in his development? It seems odd that he’s the only guy not in AZ.
Haley is 12-18 months older than the others, already 20. His arsenal is more fully developed – four average or better pitches – whereas the others are more raw, trying to find a third pitch.
Was a top 100 talent, only medicals and age really setting him back from being a second round talent.
I think I remember Moncada clanking at least one just yesterday.
Moncada is a serial clanker!
😂
Re: BABIP, both Soriano and Jack K are below .215 in BABIP. Nothing to make of that really. Soriano has pitched spectacularly and Jack has done well, too. My main takeaway was that when/if BABIP creeps up for those two, as it probably should at some point, games may even be harder for Angels to win.
I don’t think you can evaluate holistic team defense looking at Soriano or Koch – you’re talking about two of the most extreme statistical outliers not just on the team but across the MLB. They’re unicorns, frankly.
Koch is tied with George Kirby for the highest GB rate in the Majors, and Soriano is #4. Soriano in particular is in the 90th percentile for both groundballs and weak contact, half his balls in play are topped and hit to left/left-center. He induces weak grounders to the same location again and again – and his expected batting average and BABIP nearly converge as a result.
Both guys are ripe for some regression, but Jack K much more so, as his Statcast profile looks modestly improved, but still similar to last year’s. Hitters have been pulling the ball more to the left side on him, and going less up the middle, which was a vulnerable zone for him last year.
I think if you want to evaluate current team defense, look at players with a more normal distribution of ground/air events and hard/medium contact. You see more divergence between BABIP and xBA in cases like Kikuchi and Detmers.
Nobody wants to hear his name again, but Romano was an extreme case of xBA and BABIP divergence before DFA. xBA of .225 vs a BABIP of .455. In his final outing before he was fired, the two singles he surrendered (neither of which made it past the infield) had 78% and 69% out expectancies against a league average defense. You find cases like this with Detmers and Kikuchi as well.
Devin Williams is suffering a similar fate on the Mets right now. xBA of .236, but a BABIP of .591. He has a 9 ERA as a result (while his xERA sits at 4.24). And the Mets have a superior defense than the Angels.
Suffice to say, pitcher BABIPs of .455 and .591 aren’t real things – even in terrible years, BABIP rarely peaks over .320 for these guys, and their career BABIPs are south of .300. These are small sample mirages based on bad defense and bad luck.
Did anyone see the prank Paul Skenes played on Connor Griffin? Epic.
https://www.mlb.com/news/why-the-pirates-now-have-a-bounce-house-in-their-clubhouse
I think my prank would be to start rolling in the turtle when our relievers take the mound. It’s kind of how the hitters feel.
Maybe that’s what’s been missing in the Angels’ clubhouse?
I have been listen regularly to Halo Territory on YouTube. Digiovanna and Trumbo don’t pull any punches.
Wow – are we really longing for the days of Moniak and Ward and Burke? We lost with those guys already. The armchair GMs are hilarious. How many times did you all point out that winning 65 or 75 games doesn’t matter, so why look back?
A bit of revisionist history, agreed. Particularly for Moniak who didn’t look that good at the time. But Burke for Lowe was commented on at the time, I believe, and thought to be nuts.
Hopefully the Ward trade for Rodrigiuez eventually works out well.
I don’t anyone is saying that Burke was a lights out reliever, but, he’s light years better than Hydra known as Romano-Pomeranz-Zefferjahn.
Our BP actually had stretches of OK productivity last year, but, we’re grossly overused.
This year? They’re horrible. Almost all
of them.
Burke is representative of a longstanding tendency with the Angels. Joe Smith. Jose Alvarez. Brock Burke.
All good set-up guys with some multi-inning capacity who put up stable performance in Anaheim for multiple seasons on cheap contracts then are unceremoniously dumped. They then go on to the next team and continue being stable contributors.
BP guys are inherently volatile. So finding stable veterans in their 30s who are both affordable and grow to perform well in a specific park and team environment like Anaheim – that’s not common. In many ways, it’s even more valuable than one or two good seasons at higher cost for a closer.
The Angels bullpen was not good last year. It posted the 28th best ERA as a unit.
Perry then subtracted the 3 best arms from the bullpen in Jansen, Detmers, and Burke.
Then he hoped that somehow the bullpen would improve.
Granted, the move with Detmers is one to make 10 times out of 10 but you can’t be surprised when we get the results we’ve gotten.
Did NOT say they were good last year. I simply said they had stretches of OK production and this year’s BP is even worse.
Re: Detmers.
I’m forced to ponder the question – Is he more valuable as a solid reliever vs. a mediocre starter?
Valid question. I’d like to see what he does for a full year as a starter.
His underlying metrics are still very good – a lot of red on Statcast, high K rates, low walk rates, keeps the ball in the park, average or better barrel rates.
Expected ERA is 2.92. To date, he’s showing the best control and command in his MLB career.
But as I mention upthread, he has the MLB-worst defense behind him. His BABIP is 60+ pts higher than his expected batting average, and his expected ERA 1.3 pts lower than his actual.
At the moment, he should be given a lot of rope. I think team defense, poor catcher quality and a little bad luck are at play.
Hard to judge the performance of a team owner and GM without reviewing the personnel moves made by them with respect to current state of affairs.
EHC isn’t evaluating the performance of owner, GM or personnel though.
EHC is evaluating the performance of this community and the commenters who populate it. Always.
EHC is on the record that he doesn’t really like baseball, he just likes the Angels. Make of that what you will.
I watched the game yesterday and wasn’t that upset. The metaphor for this team is the old under maintained Pinto I drove in college that had too many miles on it. I wasn’t shocked when it didn’t start or brokedown.
I’m just happy that Trout is healthy
Let’s see how our old friends are doing;
Ward, Moniak and Marsh in top 30 in mlb batting averages (though Moniak is just shy of necessary plates appearances), but Mickey is so fine at .315, 8 dingers and 15 ribbies.
Burke at .068 era and 6 saves for Kenley. Of course Renigfro is being Renigfro, trolling under the Mendoza line.
But we got Grayson – don’t discount that.
And Grayson’s ERA remains at a Stella 0
00.
Stellar
Return on Grayson still TBD.
Even at the time of the trade, I said we’d likely see little impact from Rodriguez in year one. If we see value back, it’ll probably be in the last two years of the contract, when the first of the young farm arms begin to arrive. That’s the most optimistic contention window for this club (’28-30).
If he never plays even 20 games in a season, the trade was a bust. But it’s four years of a guy who is only 26. (In comparison, Detmers is three months older and still figuring it out.)
It was certainly silly of Minasian to pencil him in as the #4 guy in the rotation this season – that was a red flag that the GM had conceded the season before it even had begun.
But I think the wisdom of the trade itself can’t be judged for another 2-3 years, honestly.
I remember when everyone here (myself included) was celebrating that we had won the O’Hoppe trade, but boy has that milk gotten sour.
I thought that no one won that trade – but that it was a pretty even swap at the time. Marsh was my favorite prospect, but the Angels were struggling to unlock his bat, and weren’t giving him adequate playing time to develop him properly.
That was a hard trade for me to accept from a fan perspective, but I also thought it was a good one for Marsh, because he’d have a clearer shot at becoming a strong contributor in PHI. And lo, the Phillies took little time at all in making swing adjustments, and he’s been an above-average player for four seasons running since then.
Mickey could do exactly what Lowe is doing except better, and we could’ve kept Burke.
Another Perry masterclass
Burke would be huge for the Angels bullpen this year. Moniak also for the outfield, he’s only 27.
Sigh.
I don’t recall a lot of arguments when Mickey was released after the 2024 season where he batted .219. Actually he was released in March 2025.
Should have kept Burke, definitely.
He was the 5th OF at the time but we didn’t have any minor league depth. Ward was only going to be here this year and was getting expensive. Grayson has 5 years of control. The trade was never about this year. It was a lottery ticket that may still have value for a guy who was getting expensive and you weren’t likely to re-sign. I don’t think it was a bad move. We were never going to win this year but the mistake was not pursuing a full rebuild.
Or keep Mickey and not trade for Soler.
Perry gave up on Mickey because Paris had a hot ST lol. Bad asset management defines Perry’s tenure
Agreed.
That’s only because we were all so infatuated with Kyren Paris at the time lol
And we’d still be able to enjoy the “Hey Mickey” memes.
The real loss !
The Burke trade made no sense at the time and even less sense now. Quality outfielders are not available for the cost of a good reliever.
Lowe has been horrible for the Angels. So has the bullpen.
I’m not saying the team is world beaters but it is much better with Rada in center, Trout in left, Burke in the bullpen, and Lowe still in Tampa Bay.
Thanks for the inspiration for this piece. I did not like the Lowe trade at the time and it is aging like raw hamburger in the trunk of a car on a Bakersfield summer day.
7th worst record with a good chance to move into last after the NYM series.
Dax Whitney, you are an Angel!
2027 The Year of the Dax
Does “Dax” mean season long lockout?
Dax left Friday’s game in the middle of an at-bat in the 7th. That’s a troubling thing. I haven’t yet seen an update on this
See ya blowmano, won’t miss you one bit, same goes with man bun anderson.
As much as we don’t like those guys I’m not sure we have any better options.
I was thinking the moves could be partly because of bringing back Yates and Joyce. I could be off on that, though.
Bring up anyone from the minors. Give them experience over some vets with no recent success. Shaun anderson had never been good, no idea wtf Perry and his team saw in that dude.
Funny thing is, people were talking about how horrific the Royals bullpen is ….🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 The Angels showed them that their bullpen is horrific-er. 😆😆😆😆😆😆
I’m very afraid every time Perry has to find replacements for guys that he previously determined were the best for the team.
But I digress. How ’bout that parking?
If Trout had real protection behind him – and a few more guys getting on base in front of him – he’d likely be hitting 40 points higher and would be breaking 1.000 OPS again. They are so pitching around him because they have little fear looming after him- which is why his OPS is so dang high. It is so sad what they have done to this team and to Mike Trout.
So what you’re saying is that it’s just another season of Angels baseball under the ownership of Arte Moreno.
Yes, but I actually think we’re at a new low.
FTFY
We’re at a new Lowe.