AngelsWin.com Today: 2021 Angelswin.com Primer Series: Introduction

[AngelsWin.com]

By Robert Cunningham, Angelswin.com Senior Writer

 

Special Request from Angelswin.com: This year, after discussion with Chuck, we have decided to tie-in the 2021 Angelswin.com Primer Series with a wonderful GoFundMe effort called “Hope for Education”.

This is a focused fundraiser, to help ten needy families in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, obtain laptops for educational use in this challenging COVID-19 pandemic environment. These families are unable to afford these computers, themselves, and so it is up to charitable people and donors to help bridge the gap so these children can continue to learn, safely, from their homes.

Education is very important to me, personally, and Chuck and I are asking our fellow Angels fans to contribute to this very worthy cause, organized and supported, in-part, by a former colleague of mine and her friend. Any amount is appreciated and you can donate here to help them reach, and even exceed, their initial goal:

 

Introduction

 

Chaos.

That is probably the right word to describe the year 2020 and the disorder and bedlam around the country, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a direct impact on baseball and sports in general.

In addition to the country’s turmoil, a battle is looming between the Player’s Union and team owners. Real and potential reductions in scouts, Minor League farm systems, and front office personnel have plagued the professional ranks. Real or feigned cutbacks in team payroll are already heavily influencing the 2020-2021 off-season. Coronavirus impacts, to the industry as a whole, are striking players and families, now, while the long-term impact of a poor U.S. response to the pandemic now threatens the 2021 regular season as well.

Yeah, lot’s of chaos.

Set to this scene, the Angels entered the off-season without a Major League General Manager (GM), both Assistant General Managers, and a slew of personnel cuts and player non-tenders that seem destined to make this another challenging off-season for the Halos.

More chaos, more entropy.

The Angels appear to have set sail with their long-tenured shortstop Andrelton Simmons, although a very unlikely reunion is still a possibility in free agency. Steady reliever Cam Bedrosian is gone, after an outright assignment and subsequent decision to elect free agency. Relief pitcher (RP) Jacob Barnes, another looming arbitration decision in a depressed economic environment, was picked up by the Mets on waivers. Additionally, non-factor’s from our 2020 roster, like starting pitcher (SP) Julio Teheran, are mercifully off of our payroll.

This leaves Mike Trout, a champion looking for a supporting cast, yearning for the changes needed to take the next step toward contention with an uncomfortable amount of signs possibly pointing in the wrong direction. Mr. Trout may or may not be growing concerned about when the Angels are planning to flip the script and shove; and fans, from the outside, looking in, are thinking the same thing, based on team standings and zero visits to the postseason over the last several years.

Unless Albert Pujols suddenly decides to retire, the Angels will have some payroll space but will have to strategically determine where to spend it, to fill the multiple holes on their 40-man roster. Trades are certainly a possibility with an improved farm system but everything has a price and the Angels may not be able to absorb the loss of quality Minor League depth; you have to give to get. That could derail the long-term farm system rebuild that former GM Billy Eppler initiated and new GM Perry Minasian just inherited, which is just beginning to come to fruition but could provide controllable talent to address some, if not all, of the holes on the Angels roster.

Save for a complete out-of-character turnaround by owner Arte Moreno to push the pedal-to-the-metal and exceed the Competitive Balance Threshold (CBT) by a hefty amount, the new Angels management team will have a finite set of resources to answer the pressing questions in the rotation and bullpen as well as at catcher (C) and shortstop (SS).

To be clear it is not all doom and gloom.

There were some bright spots in 2020 that gave some hope for the future. Mike Trout had another solid season. David Fletcher continued to shine on both sides of the ball. Young prospect Jo Adell got his feet wet, as our new right fielder (RF). Jared Walsh came up to play first base (1B) and showed why his reputation with the bat is so well deserved. Starting pitcher (SP) Dylan Bundy and relief pitcher (RP) Mike Mayers looked like stars on the mound. SP’s Griffin Canning and Jaime Barria had really solid showings this year, as well. The question is can they repeat or even build off of these performances? Can the rotation and team defense regress toward the mean, improving on the poor showings in 2020?

As we do every year, Angelswin.com will attempt to answer these pressing team questions and provide some visibility into team decision-making. Because of the increased chaos and entropy in baseball, the conclusions will likely be more general and the Primer Series more succinct simply due to a historical lack of clear general manager guidance, quotes, and transactions and a disarray and lack of visibility around baseball in general.

So, just like the 2020 baseball regular season, enjoy the abbreviated 2021 Angelswin.com Primer Series!

[Chuck]

Hey @ettin is back in town! 

Great to see that the Primer Series has returned for what, the 6th season in a now? Always a full featured series that I look forward to. 

More importantly, I hope our members will donate to the GoFundMe charity that Robert is passionate about. 

Even if it's just 10-20 bucks! Every little amount helps AngelsWin.com brethren. 

[ettin]

1 hour ago, Chuckster70 said:

Hey @ettin is back in town! 

Great to see that the Primer Series has returned for what, the 6th season in a now? Always a full featured series that I look forward to. 

More importantly, I hope our members will donate to the GoFundMe charity that Robert is passionate about. 

Even if it's just 10-20 bucks! Every little amount helps AngelsWin.com brethren. 

Yes, thank you @Chuckster70. I'll reiterate the request of donations to this GoFundMe page, it would mean a lot to me if you could spare a few bucks to help them reach their goal, it is a truly worthy effort and, as I said at the start, I do know one supporter personally and she was born in that region and is a truly good human being and excellent engineer, so every dollar matters and can make a difference in these children's lives.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy the Primer Series! - Robert

[Chuck]

13 hours ago, ettin said:

Yes, thank you @Chuckster70. I'll reiterate the request of donations to this GoFundMe page, it would mean a lot to me if you could spare a few bucks to help them reach their goal, it is a truly worthy effort and, as I said at the start, I do know one supporter personally and she was born in that region and is a truly good human being and excellent engineer, so every dollar matters and can make a difference in these children's lives.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy the Primer Series! - Robert

[SkyMonkey]

Most importantly, I urge everyone here to visit the GoFundMe page and do what you can in these difficult times. I did, and I challenge you all to participate if you can.

Secondly, really looking forward to the Primer series this season. We need all the help and information we can get in this particularly challenging off season.

[ettin]

2 hours ago, SkyMonkey said:

Most importantly, I urge everyone here to visit the GoFundMe page and do what you can in these difficult times. I did, and I challenge you all to participate if you can.

Secondly, really looking forward to the Primer series this season. We need all the help and information we can get in this particularly challenging off season.

Thank you SkyMonkey, I sincerely appreciate the donation. Sincerely, - Robert

[Chuck]

3 hours ago, SkyMonkey said:

Most importantly, I urge everyone here to visit the GoFundMe page and do what you can in these difficult times. I did, and I challenge you all to participate if you can.

Secondly, really looking forward to the Primer series this season. We need all the help and information we can get in this particularly challenging off season.

Amen! 

I just donated $100. You all can chip in at least $10-$25 bucks! 

[ettin]

12 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Amen! 

I just donated $100. You all can chip in at least $10-$25 bucks! 

Thank you Chuck, appreciate it!

[Angelsjunky]

Glad to see you (and the Primer series) back, @ettin.

I voted "better," because 2020 was marred by a slow start, and I think the second half was closer to the team's true talent level.

Through August 25: 9-22 (pro-rated to 162 games: 47-115)

After August 25: 17-12  (pro-rated to 162 games: 95-67)

Overall: 26-34 (pro-rated to 162 games: 70-92)

This is not to say that the team as-is would win 95 games next year with no changes, but far closer to 95 than 47. If we split the difference between 70 and 95, then they win 82-83 games, which is much closer to how I think they'd perform with no changes.

Adding a couple bench pieces, a solid starting pitcher or two, and a couple good relievers, plus a bounce-back from Trout to his normal 9+ WAR/180 wRC+ hitting, and I think the team can win 90+ games next year. 

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by Angelsjunky

[Chuck]

On 11/23/2020 at 3:48 PM, AngelsWin.com said:

By Robert Cunningham, Angelswin.com Senior Writer

 

Special Request from Angelswin.com: This year, after discussion with Chuck, we have decided to tie-in the 2021 Angelswin.com Primer Series with a wonderful GoFundMe effort called “Hope for Education”.

This is a focused fundraiser, to help ten needy families in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, obtain laptops for educational use in this challenging COVID-19 pandemic environment. These families are unable to afford these computers, themselves, and so it is up to charitable people and donors to help bridge the gap so these children can continue to learn, safely, from their homes.

Education is very important to me, personally, and Chuck and I are asking our fellow Angels fans to contribute to this very worthy cause, organized and supported, in-part, by a former colleague of mine and her friend. Any amount is appreciated and you can donate here to help them reach, and even exceed, their initial goal:

 

Introduction

 

Chaos.

That is probably the right word to describe the year 2020 and the disorder and bedlam around the country, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a direct impact on baseball and sports in general.

In addition to the country’s turmoil, a battle is looming between the Player’s Union and team owners. Real and potential reductions in scouts, Minor League farm systems, and front office personnel have plagued the professional ranks. Real or feigned cutbacks in team payroll are already heavily influencing the 2020-2021 off-season. Coronavirus impacts, to the industry as a whole, are striking players and families, now, while the long-term impact of a poor U.S. response to the pandemic now threatens the 2021 regular season as well.

Yeah, lot’s of chaos.

Set to this scene, the Angels entered the off-season without a Major League General Manager (GM), both Assistant General Managers, and a slew of personnel cuts and player non-tenders that seem destined to make this another challenging off-season for the Halos.

More chaos, more entropy.

The Angels appear to have set sail with their long-tenured shortstop Andrelton Simmons, although a very unlikely reunion is still a possibility in free agency. Steady reliever Cam Bedrosian is gone, after an outright assignment and subsequent decision to elect free agency. Relief pitcher (RP) Jacob Barnes, another looming arbitration decision in a depressed economic environment, was picked up by the Mets on waivers. Additionally, non-factor’s from our 2020 roster, like starting pitcher (SP) Julio Teheran, are mercifully off of our payroll.

This leaves Mike Trout, a champion looking for a supporting cast, yearning for the changes needed to take the next step toward contention with an uncomfortable amount of signs possibly pointing in the wrong direction. Mr. Trout may or may not be growing concerned about when the Angels are planning to flip the script and shove; and fans, from the outside, looking in, are thinking the same thing, based on team standings and zero visits to the postseason over the last several years.

Unless Albert Pujols suddenly decides to retire, the Angels will have some payroll space but will have to strategically determine where to spend it, to fill the multiple holes on their 40-man roster. Trades are certainly a possibility with an improved farm system but everything has a price and the Angels may not be able to absorb the loss of quality Minor League depth; you have to give to get. That could derail the long-term farm system rebuild that former GM Billy Eppler initiated and new GM Perry Minasian just inherited, which is just beginning to come to fruition but could provide controllable talent to address some, if not all, of the holes on the Angels roster.

Save for a complete out-of-character turnaround by owner Arte Moreno to push the pedal-to-the-metal and exceed the Competitive Balance Threshold (CBT) by a hefty amount, the new Angels management team will have a finite set of resources to answer the pressing questions in the rotation and bullpen as well as at catcher (C) and shortstop (SS).

To be clear it is not all doom and gloom.

There were some bright spots in 2020 that gave some hope for the future. Mike Trout had another solid season. David Fletcher continued to shine on both sides of the ball. Young prospect Jo Adell got his feet wet, as our new right fielder (RF). Jared Walsh came up to play first base (1B) and showed why his reputation with the bat is so well deserved. Starting pitcher (SP) Dylan Bundy and relief pitcher (RP) Mike Mayers looked like stars on the mound. SP’s Griffin Canning and Jaime Barria had really solid showings this year, as well. The question is can they repeat or even build off of these performances? Can the rotation and team defense regress toward the mean, improving on the poor showings in 2020?

As we do every year, Angelswin.com will attempt to answer these pressing team questions and provide some visibility into team decision-making. Because of the increased chaos and entropy in baseball, the conclusions will likely be more general and the Primer Series more succinct simply due to a historical lack of clear general manager guidance, quotes, and transactions and a disarray and lack of visibility around baseball in general.

So, just like the 2020 baseball regular season, enjoy the abbreviated 2021 Angelswin.com Primer Series!

C'mon guys, we can do better than just @SkyMonkey & I donating toward this great cause! 

Please give something if you can. Even just 10 bucks helps! 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/give-a-child-a-chance-4-education

[Lou]

@tdawg87

[ettin]

1 hour ago, Lou said:

@tdawg87

We all know you can afford to reallocate $10 from your AstroGlide supply to this worthy effort, Toby!

Even Lou agrees and he told me privately he'd match it, if you do it!

[Docwaukee]

1 hour ago, ettin said:

We all know you can afford to reallocate $10 from your AstroGlide supply to this worthy effort, Toby!

Even Lou agrees and he told me privately he'd match it, if you do it!

Lou is a maybe