JeDi "Chalk Talk" return and report

[TroutBaseball]

I'm surprised no one else has started this topic so I'll oblige and kick it off. Today the Angels had an "Open House" as they opened their single game ticket sales.  This included a structured Q&A with Jerry Dipoto as he answered pre-selected questions. This was largely a value-add for season ticket holders. I would guess 95% of the people there were season ticket holders. Everyone in attendance got a free Baby Rally Monkey Bobblehead on their way out.

 

Here are the  things that stood out to me from DiPoto:

1) Young pitchers are the "keys to the kingdom" and he feels like the organization finally has them.  A team can make almost any trade necessary with young pitching and if not, then you can always use it yourself.  Skaggs, Heaney, Tropeano, RIchards, Santiago and Newcomb project well for 2016, 2017 and 2018. 

 

2)  He couldn't be more excited after watching Newcomb's bullpen session two days ago.  Touches 98mph and just needs to work on a change up.  Looks and pitches a lot like Jon Lester.

 

3) He is not interested in giving up first round draft picks for free agents anymore. (unless it's absolutely the right move).  I think this is something you can just put in your back pocket and assume is the case during every off-season from here on out (unless they change the draft pick compensation rule).

 

4) Baldoquin is projected to be a SS, but IMMEDIATELY volunteered to move to 2B the minute Kendrick was traded.  He hasn't played competitive baseball in 18 months. . . so that's not going to happen.  If a player can play SS they can play any other position (except perhaps Catcher, which he followed up with a funny story about blowing a save against the Angels with Neifi Perez filling in as catcher for the Rockies).

 

5) He gets at least 50 letters a month suggesting trades that will get the team where it needs to be. He also gets stopped in the grocery store on a regular basis. Keep up the good working everyone.

 

6) OPS+ and ERA+ are the two most reliable stats for evaluating talent but he holds analytics on the scales of justice with heart/grit/makeup. He loves the blood and guts exhibited by Calhoun and Cowgill.

 

7) He feels "lucky" to have signed Matt Joyce now that Hamilton's return is uncertain.  He had already envisioned Joyce splitting time between LF and DH with most of his time in the field.  (ergo, Hamilton was going to spend most of his time as DH)

 

 

8) Farm system has FINALLY climbed out of the cellar from 30th place to 27th by analysts. But he notes that 70% of the guys highly ranked never do anything in the majors.  He really respects the New England Patriot's ability to find unknowns who do their job. He wants Edelman, Amendola and if possible an overlooked QB who might end up being the best in NFL history.  Shoemaker and Calhoun are the prototype for this kind of player.

 

9) It's hard to be a Catcher with Sosh as manager.  Iannetta and Sosh have gotten closer every year and Iannetta has improved year over year.

 

10) He still thinks all of our Rondons for Street was the right price.

Edited February 22, 2015 by TroutBaseball

[NrM]

so umm... I ran into Jerry Dipoto today at the airport.

He was traveling alone on his way to Arizona, wearing an Angels polo.

I was probably annoying the hell out of him, but he was incredibly polite and friendly.

 

I thanked him for the great off season. He mentioned something about finishing up with the season ticket holders. Now I know what he meant.

I brought up the Angelswin fanfest. He said he was excited and they are "great people".

leaving out a few details, but it was pretty cool.

 

 

Proof. Yeah I'm short. Don't judge.

Edited February 22, 2015 by Poozy

[TroutBaseball]

Oh, one more thing. His favorite baseball movie is "The Natural".  In college he would regularly fall asleep with the movie on.  I'm trying to figure out if every General Manager should say "Moneyball" is their favorite movie because it's the only movie with a GM as the hero instead of the villain or if they should all hate it because it's about some other guy.

 

If I could have ask open questions I would have asked him 1) if the organization had encouraged Hamilton to get surgery earlier than February and 2) if he could explain what the heck Billy Beane was doing this offseason.

[TroutBaseball]

 

 

 

 

Proof. Yeah I'm short. Don't judge.

 

 

Forget your height. How do you get around with that white box on your face?

[m0nkey]

Damn is he a good looking guy

[JAHV76]

I was there he provided some great answers from the SSH. I asked the question about what the Angels are doing to scout the Asia Pacific market. Jerry responded quite a lot he travels to Japan twice a year with a team of scouts for each years free agents. He also mentioned that the players in Japan must stay for nine years before they leave to pitch in the US. That was something I did not know.

Edited February 22, 2015 by JAHV76

[Blarg]

 

 

 

Proof. Yeah I'm short. Don't judge.

 

 

We are not judging.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're laughing.

[ScottT]

It would be difficult to never give up a first round pick and compete on a regular basis.  The Angels have enough money where they can afford some mistakes... and overpaying for free agents. Players like Vladimir Guerrero, Bartolo Colon, Torii Hunter, Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson have all helped this team win.  

[jdodd]

I was really hoping for another Peter Borjous bobblehead but all I got was a Baby Rally Monkey Bobblehead

[LAAMike]

I hear the free hot dogs were on stale buns that fell apart.

[Dave Saltzer]

I keep saying it folks, if I could pick anyone with whom to watch a baseball game, Jerry would be in my top ten list. If you haven't bought your tickets yet for Fanfest, do so now. Jerry alone is worth the price of admission.

[tomsred]

Damn is he a good looking guy

 

Which one, the tall one, or the guy with square head?

[tomsred]

I keep saying it folks, if I could pick anyone with whom to watch a baseball game, Jerry would be in my top ten list. If you haven't bought your tickets yet for Fanfest, do so now. Jerry alone is worth the price of admission.

 

Narrow it down a little Dave, is he number 1 or number 10 on your list?

[Docwaukee]

I like his balanced approach.  Use recent advances to your advantage while accepting that they aren't going to tell you everything.  

 

You see a bunch of young GMs stocking up on offensive talent as opposed to pitching.  It will be interesting to see which approach ends being the better route.   It still seems to me that young pitching is the best currency.

 

High priced free agents are about as tricky as it gets.  Losing a draft pick for the privilege of paying a guy for something they did for someone else.  Yet even though you are unlikely to get your money's worth, sometimes you just need the talent regardless of the price.  It's pretty rare for a playoff caliber team to not have a key free agent or two.  Unless of course that team has gone through a serious drought for an extended period.  

 

There will always be a few free agents that won't require draft pick compensation so I don't think he's saying that all high priced free agent talent is completely off the table.  

[SoWhat]

Thanks for the post.

I can't wait until the day we see a rotation of Richards, Heaney, Skaggs, Tropeano and Newcomb

Interesting tidbit on Newcomb. Seattle planned on drafting him with the 6th pick if Alex Jackson was off the board.

[wopphil]

TroutBaseball, thanks for the nice summary.

Hard not to be excited about Jerry's approach to team building. There is no doubt that he has a good long term plan in place for the team.

[TroutCron]

I may be wrong but didn't the Giants win 3 of the last 5 WS without high priced free agents? Pitching, in a short series is everything.

[ScottT]

Don't you mean timing is everything?

 

Giants were 8th in the NL in ERA in 2014. 5th in 2012.  1st in 2010.  

[laagamer]

I keep saying it folks, if I could pick anyone with whom to watch a baseball game, Jerry would be in my top ten list. 

 

Mine would be Erstad.

 

That or Ted Williams...but I'd probably think he was a**hole 

[Docwaukee]

Don't you mean timing is everything?

 

Giants were 8th in the NL in ERA in 2014. 5th in 2012.  1st in 2010.  

 

Their WAR rank for pitching was as follows

 

Pitching

2010 - 7th

2012 - 21st

2014 - 28th

 

offense

2010 - 5th

2012 - 4th

2014 - 6th

 

the reason I am posting this is that everyone thinks the Giants have won their championships with pitching.  Yet using a park adjusted metric we can see that their offense is what consistently outperformed the rest of the league.  Playing in that park and the rest of the NL west is a huge deal and has been a big factor in the misconception of what this team is really about.  

[Jeff Fletcher]

I keep saying it folks, if I could pick anyone with whom to watch a baseball game, Jerry would be in my top ten list. If you haven't bought your tickets yet for Fanfest, do so now. Jerry alone is worth the price of admission.

A couple years ago in Houston I needed Dipoto for about 3 questions before a game. I popped into his booth to ask the questions about an hour before the game.

An hour later, after we had analyzed half the guys on the team, I said "I think I should go so you can watch the game."

Guy loves talking baseball.

[Stradling]

I got to see Dipoto last year at Fanfest and in my opinion it was the high light of the event. He is a great speaker and he has an ease about him that makes him seem approachable and real. If any of you are on the fence about coming Dipoto is reason enough, he's that good.

[NrM]

I'm not gonna lie, but I probably came off as a creepy asshole. I work for the TSA(yea I know I'm an evil monster) and he came through the AIT machine to be scanned. Once he was clear, I had to do a double take..... I was like "Are you Jerry Dipoto?!"

 

Luckily I didn't have to pat him down lol

 

On my way to the bathroom I saw him sitting alone browsing his cell phone, so I thought I'd ask for a picture.

It was kind of cringe worthy on my part.

 

dude couldn't be more friendly. 

Edited February 23, 2015 by Poozy

[BaseballMom]

Last year at fanfest I called him Jedi...He said "here's hoping".  Then he took a picture of me with Mike Morin and Mark Sappington.  He wasn't in the picture, he took it.  What a cool guy.

[iiisenordingdong]

I hear the free hot dogs were on stale buns that fell apart.

But it came with chips, and popcorn! 

 

(The chips and popcorn were also stale)