Was arguing with someone about a particular player, who I was a big fan of, but I think is overrated.

And I started mentioning guys from the past who had far better numbers, but nobody remembers. As Angel fans, Tim Salmon works perfect here. And that recent Abreu thread I think was pretty surprising, and hes a good example.

Anyway, I was looking up guys from the past that nobody remembers, or at least talks about, and one who really surprised me was Shawn Green. I totally forgot he was a pretty decent base stealer too, to go along with his power numbers.

Who you got?

Recently, I started reading FB for the first time in years and found a baseball group. Theres like a whole movement out there to argue this topic, it seems.

Whats everyones take here? Obviously were Angel fans so were going to be biased, but all that aside, whats everyone think?

Forget his Reds years. He was hurt, and his Seattle years were about the length of Trouts career to this point.

 

One way to compare teams is to consider how frequently they're in a place to compete. Every team goes through cycles from good to bad; even the franchises that we might characterize as bad, have periods of time in which they are good. Remember when the Orioles made the post season in three of five years? It wasn't that long ago: 2012, '14, and '16. Or remember when the Rangers made the World Series two years in a row (losing both times)? That was just a decade ago, and they reached the postseason five times from 2010-16.

On the other hand, some teams seem to always be good - and sometimes almost always are. Everyone knows the Yankees are the premier franchise in baseball history: they've won as many World Series (27) as the next three franchises combined (Cardinals with 11, Red Sox with 9, and Dodgers with 7). But what have you done for me lately? Well, after a characteristically poor period in which they didn't reach the postseason from 1982-94, the Yankees have reached the playoffs (including wildcard) in 23 of the last 27 years (1995-2021), including five World Series titles. Even though they haven't won--or been to--a World Series since 2009, they've reached the postseason in 9 of the last 12 seasons. In fact, the Yankees haven't had a losing record in 30 years: since 1992.

2021 Marked 50 Years of Angels Baseball - Time to Throw a Fancy Party?

So, before we dive into the numbers, we need to have a discussion about the approved payroll number that Angels owner Arte Moreno provides to General Manager (GM) Perry Minasian.

As the Orange County Register’s Jeff Fletcher reminded me recently, that number Moreno provides is not transparent, it could include or not include player salaries, player benefits, Minor League player salaries, non-guaranteed salaries, the cost of a Pepsi or Coca-Cola out of the clubhouse vending machine, yacht fuel, etc. The point is that we, as fans, do not know, so determining how much payroll the Angels have available for the upcoming season is not entirely clear.

The current 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), clearly states the following regarding ‘Actual Club Payroll’:

Was Raisel Iglesias a One-Off, Elite Closer for the Angels?

The Angels started the 2021 season with what could only be described as a questionable bullpen with two exceptions, in the form of Raisel Iglesias, an established, premium arm, and Chris Rodriguez, a young, promising prospect from the farm system. As the team limped past the Trade Deadline, the front office shook things up and made a series of promotions from the farm system to audition some new, young arms in anticipation of rebuilding the 2022 bullpen.

Realistically, if Minasian focuses most of the available payroll and resources for one or more starting pitchers, a shortstop, etc., that will leave little left for relief help, thus relying heavily on that aforementioned bastion of young arms. The signing of Aaron Loup did not come without a cost, so barring a Moreno financial flex, it is quite possible the Angels front office may be done in this area, despite a potential desire to retain Raisel.