The Official 2021 Los Angeles Angels Spring Training News & Notes Thread

[Warfarin]

Adell is super young and has plenty of time to improve.  His odd defensive lapses are concerning, because typically we see prospects who struggle significantly offensively but nothing like this defensively.  Players improve all the time, but the sheer frequency of his defensive errors is a bit concerning.  I can't recall seeing someone struggle this much on the defensive end and then turn it around tremendously.

But, as pointed out - he is super young and has plenty of time to improve.  His athleticism is off the charts, which is a key aspect to his ability to improve.  It's not like he's a lumbering OF who likely can't get much better.

But the biggest factor of all that our prospects have had to endure - constant change of leadership and vision.  In the last few years, we have had 3 managers and now 2 GMs, which means different ideas on how to optimize results, improve, etc.  With Maddon here for the second straight year, and Minasian coming from really good draft and develop type organizations, I'm hopeful that our young players will have access to strong development tools/techniques as well as continuity.  

I'm bullish and think we will see a lot of good growth this year from our young players, Adell included.

[Angel Oracle]

Building on what Warfarin said, it’s time for this org to build stability.

[Chuck]

 

[Chuck]

 

[Chuck]

 

[totdprods]

17 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

 

Good to hear. My guess is Barria will be kept down and stretched out as a SP now. 
I bet Sandoval is in the pen to start the year. Don't think it's a coincidence that all 6 of his appearances this spring have come in relief. 

Wouldn't be surprised if Faria is kept at the alt. site/AAA too...I know he's pitched well and could go multi-innings, but he'd require a 40-man spot cleared, especially considering Lagares will already require a spot being cleared when/if he makes the team**. All of this could increase the odds of Rodriguez starting the year in the pen, as he can go multiple innings as well. Either could be optioned when Pena returns.

Rotation:
Bundy, Heaney, Quintana, Canning, Cobb, Ohtani
Bullpen:
Igesias, Mayers, Buttrey, Claudio, Guerra, Sandoval, Rodriguez with one spot to go. 

It's a little difficult to cut guys from the 40-man given how shaky some of the pen depth is currently. Slegers, Keller, Quijada, Bard, perhaps even Yan all stand to be on the fine, but they're all sort of interchangeable, lumped into the same spot on the depth chart, and are dealing with injury/readiness issues as is. 

Edited March 24, 2021 by totdprods

[tdawg87]

30 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

 

This is fantastic.

[Warfarin]

29 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Good to hear. My guess is Barria will be kept down and stretched out as a SP now. 
I bet Sandoval is in the pen to start the year. Don't think it's a coincidence that all 6 of his appearances this spring have come in relief. 

Wouldn't be surprised if Faria is kept at the alt. site/AAA too...I know he's pitched well and could go multi-innings, but he'd require a 40-man spot cleared, especially considering Lagares will already require a spot being cleared when/if he makes the team**. All of this could increase the odds of Rodriguez starting the year in the pen, as he can go multiple innings as well. Either could be optioned when Pena returns.

Rotation:
Bundy, Heaney, Quintana, Canning, Cobb, Ohtani
Bullpen:
Igesias, Mayers, Buttrey, Claudio, Guerra, Sandoval, Rodriguez with one spot to go. 

It's a little difficult to cut guys from the 40-man given how shaky some of the pen depth is currently. Slegers, Keller, Quijada, Bard, perhaps even Yan all stand to be on the fine, but they're all sort of interchangeable, lumped into the same spot on the depth chart, and are dealing with injury/readiness issues as is. 

If Slegers is healthy, I imagine he gets a spot, but it doesn't appear that he is, so.. we'll see, although it appears he is slated to pitch today.  

Still not sure if we see Rodriguez on the opening day roster either.

I agree that Barria will be optioned and kept stretched out.  I think Barria and Suarez will be "next man up" in terms of SPs whenever anyone gets injured.  

Sandoval seems like a good option to me as a multi-inning weapon, given that we don't have much in terms of LH relief pitchers.

[totdprods]

12 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

If Slegers is healthy, I imagine he gets a spot, but it doesn't appear that he is, so.. we'll see, although it appears he is slated to pitch today.  

Still not sure if we see Rodriguez on the opening day roster either.

I agree that Barria will be optioned and kept stretched out.  I think Barria and Suarez will be "next man up" in terms of SPs whenever anyone gets injured.  

Sandoval seems like a good option to me as a multi-inning weapon, given that we don't have much in terms of LH relief pitchers.

Rodriguez is looking more likely for the pen simply because he's on the 40 (unlike Faria, Reed, Rowen, Pannone, Chavez)Nand the rest of the guys who could fill out the pen are hurt (Bard, Pena, Slegers) or behind in camp, like Quijada. 

He might make it simply because of the roster squeeze, especially if we add Lagares still.

Edited March 24, 2021 by totdprods

[Warfarin]

6 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Rodriguez is looking more likely for the pen simply because he's on the 40 (unlike Faria, Reed, Rowen, Pannone, Chavez)Nand the rest of the guys who could fill out the pen are hurt (Bard, Pena, Slegers) or behind in camp, like Quijada. 

He might make it simply because of the roster squeeze, especially if we add Lagares still.

Barreto could get 60 man IL'd to clear up a spot.  There are other guys on the fringes who I could see getting DFA'd as well too to make room for someone like one of those guys, if the FO feels they're worth the roster spot.

[stormngt]

1 hour ago, Chuckster70 said:

 

I am confused.  Why did Barria get an extra year but the other guy mentioned yesterday did not.

Either way Barria gets screwed out of a major league uniform....AGAIN!

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, stormngt said:

I am confused.  Why did Barria get an extra year but the other guy mentioned yesterday did not.

Either way Barria gets screwed out of a major league uniform....AGAIN!

In years past I would agree.  Not sure he is one of the best 6 this year.  It really depends on Cobb’s performance.  

 

[stormngt]

6 minutes ago, Stradling said:

In years past I would agree.  Not sure he is one of the best 6 this year.  It really depends on Cobb’s performance.  

 

Based on spring performances I can't argue.  

I have a feeling we are going to see a 2019 Barria when he called back up.

[Stradling]

2 minutes ago, stormngt said:

Based on spring performances I can't argue.  

I have a feeling we are going to see a 2019 Barria when he called back up.

Then he doesn't deserve to be in the rotation.

[Angels 1961]

44 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

If Slegers is healthy, I imagine he gets a spot, but it doesn't appear that he is, so.. we'll see, although it appears he is slated to pitch today.  

Still not sure if we see Rodriguez on the opening day roster either.

I agree that Barria will be optioned and kept stretched out.  I think Barria and Suarez will be "next man up" in terms of SPs whenever anyone gets injured.  

Sandoval seems like a good option to me as a multi-inning weapon, given that we don't have much in terms of LH relief pitchers.

 

1 hour ago, totdprods said:

Good to hear. My guess is Barria will be kept down and stretched out as a SP now. 
I bet Sandoval is in the pen to start the year. Don't think it's a coincidence that all 6 of his appearances this spring have come in relief. 

Wouldn't be surprised if Faria is kept at the alt. site/AAA too...I know he's pitched well and could go multi-innings, but he'd require a 40-man spot cleared, especially considering Lagares will already require a spot being cleared when/if he makes the team**. All of this could increase the odds of Rodriguez starting the year in the pen, as he can go multiple innings as well. Either could be optioned when Pena returns.

Rotation:
Bundy, Heaney, Quintana, Canning, Cobb, Ohtani
Bullpen:
Igesias, Mayers, Buttrey, Claudio, Guerra, Sandoval, Rodriguez with one spot to go. 

It's a little difficult to cut guys from the 40-man given how shaky some of the pen depth is currently. Slegers, Keller, Quijada, Bard, perhaps even Yan all stand to be on the fine, but they're all sort of interchangeable, lumped into the same spot on the depth chart, and are dealing with injury/readiness issues as is. 

Claudio, Buttrey and Guerra big ???? coming out of pen

[stormngt]

22 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Then he doesn't deserve to be in the rotation.

Screw with a guys head and he very well may not perform.  He had the best ERA on the team in 2018 and gets demoted in 2019.  He had the second best ERA on the team in 2020 and he gets demoted. 

I wish they traded him.

[tdawg87]

2 minutes ago, stormngt said:

Screw with a guys head and he very well may not perform.  He had the best ERA on the team in 2018 and gets demoted in 2019.  He had the second best ERA on the team in 2020 and he gets demoted. 

I wish they traded him.

If he's as good as you think he is then surely we'd get a king's ransom for him in a trade, no? You'd think he would have already been traded if that were the case.

[Angels 1961]

4 minutes ago, stormngt said:

Screw with a guys head and he very well may not perform.  He had the best ERA on the team in 2018 and gets demoted in 2019.  He had the second best ERA on the team in 2020 and he gets demoted. 

I wish they traded him.

I agree to a point but he still might make bullpen to start season as long man. Do not have anyone in pen that can go 3 to 5 inn now. Peters also having decent spring and can go 3 inn plus.

[Lou]

10 minutes ago, stormngt said:

Screw with a guys head and he very well may not perform.  He had the best ERA on the team in 2018 and gets demoted in 2019.  He had the second best ERA on the team in 2020 and he gets demoted. 

I wish they traded him.

Sucking ass in 2019 didn't help his cause. 

[totdprods]

57 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

Barreto could get 60 man IL'd to clear up a spot.  There are other guys on the fringes who I could see getting DFA'd as well too to make room for someone like one of those guys, if the FO feels they're worth the roster spot.

Hard to say either of those is all that clear...putting Barreto on the 60-day for elbow inflammation could be an option to get Lagares added, but a 60-day stint for an injury of that type seems excessive on the surface. 

The only other spot on the 40-man they can cut from is the fringe RP depth, which is exactly where we're lacking and we'd replacing guys like Keller, Quijada, and Bard, relievers who have options, with guys like Faria, Chavez, or Pannone who don't. That could make make the upper minors relief depth very thin very fast, and in my opinion, it's already dangerously thin. 

That's why I have a feeling Sandoval and at least one of Barria/Rodriguez make the Opening Day pen, and I think Rodriguez makes the most sense at this point based off his stuff. Barria hasn't really done well out of the pen and he's proven enough as a SP to be worked out as the 'first guy up' role if he couldn't crack the Top 6. 

[Angel Oracle]

Stormngt has a point.   What if Barria is one of those guys who benefits more from having a set schedule?

Heck, just have him as a scheduled tandem with Ohtani, where he would pitch 3 innings each time.

[tdawg87]

1 minute ago, Angel Oracle said:

Stormngt has a point.   What if Barria is one of those guys who benefits more from having a set schedule?

I'll trust the organization knows significantly more about that possibility than we do.

[totdprods]

1 minute ago, Angel Oracle said:

Stormngt has a point.   What if Barria is one of those guys who benefits more from having a set schedule?

Heck, just have him as a scheduled tandem with Ohtani, where he would pitch 3 innings each time.

And that might just be what gets him a spot. I have a feeling Ohtani is going to be a real short leash early in the season. Wouldn't be surprised if he's limited to 3-4 innings, 60-80 pitches depending on how it's going. 

Have a feeling Canning will be on a short leash as well, also due to some concerns over his durability or the 'big inning' meltdown most young SPs deal with. Cobb could be on a short leash too. He seems like he is the type who might kick ass the first and second time through a lineup and start getting real shaky afterwards, at least until he proves himself. 

[Stradling]

36 minutes ago, stormngt said:

Screw with a guys head and he very well may not perform.  He had the best ERA on the team in 2018 and gets demoted in 2019.  He had the second best ERA on the team in 2020 and he gets demoted. 

I wish they traded him.

At some point he has to be a professional, get over it and perform.  If he sulks and underperforms that is on him.  

[totdprods]

6 minutes ago, Stradling said:

At some point he has to be a professional, get over it and perform.  If he sulks and underperforms that is on him.  

Believe I read last year that in 2019, he had a hard time adapting to working from the pen or with an opener. 

When 2020 rolled around, he had better adjusted to it and the very small results seemed to indicate that as well. 

He's still pretty young, I imagine there was a part of him that felt a little stiffed when he did well in '18 only to be used with an opener and out of the pen, but he seemed to make some mental adjustments, as well as attitude adjustments (though I hesitate to see that since he didn't verbalize it or show it) last year. 

I think for this season, any pitcher would be happy to be in the MLB pen rather than the weirdness that will be Tempe as an alt. site...even a 'normal' AAA would probably be more inviting.