What’s the plan for next season

[TroutField]

So, I don’t see a path to contention for the near future. I don’t see how the collection of decent young players we have graduated to the majors, paired with a bunch of free agents is going to somehow ever work. Trout and Rendon are injury prone and past their prime, the pitching staff all took a step back this year, entire bullpen needs to be rebuilt, will need a new manager and coaching staff, the list goes on and on. We are all well aware of all the issues. 
 

It’s probably about time to do a thorough and complete rebuild, which now comes at an awkward time with the Schaunel, O’hoppe, and Neto all breaking through to the majors and seeming like major league regulars. 
 

The question becomes, do they do a rebuild in hopes of trying again around 2027 or 2028? What does that look like in your mind, who becomes available? Detmers, Canning, Sandoval, Ward, maybe Trout? The unfortunate part is we don’t have a ton of major league currency to trade and get impactful young talent, the impact talent doesn’t seem to be on the way in the minors with us being ranked 30 out of 30, so this begs the question. What do we do?! 
 

I guess what I’m asking is, does ANYBODY see a path to contention for this team in the next… idk… 4-5 years? I’ve lost all hope in this team and don’t see them sniffing the playoffs for the next decade. 

[mmc]

I realized like 5 years ago this team would never win anything as long as Arte owns the team.  He's not going to approve a full rebuild.  I 100% expect them to spend more money again this offseason, and again not go over the luxury tax, to try to win with the young group we have + free agents + whatever you get from Trout/Rendon

[Stradling]

My thoughts on where they are for next year is they will run it back, with free agent acquisitions.  We just have to hope for a few things.  One, that Perry chooses wisely how he spends the huge amounts of money he will have available to spend.  We have to hope for health of Trout and Rendon, which even if this team played well this year, we would have to hope for the health of those two.  The last thing we need is for the young guys to take a step forward.  If you have a strong bullpen you can win a lot of games.  So if Bachman, Joyce, Soriano, and possibly C-Rod lock down the bullpen, the team has a chance.  We also need Sandoval and Detmers to pitch like they did in 2022 and not like they pitched this year.  Sure there are a lot of question marks but it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that the young guys the team has puts it together.  

1b: Schanuel/Drury

2b: Drury/Paris/Rengifo

SS: Neto/Rengifo

3rd: Rendon/Drury/Rengifo

Catcher: O’Hoppe/Stassi/Thaiss

LF: Ward

CF: Trout

RF: Moniak/Adell

4th OF: Free Agent?

SP: Sandoval/Detmers/Canning/Anderson/Silseth/Free Agent/Free Agent

RP: Joyce/Bachman/Soriano/CRod/Estevez/Suarez maybe/Free Agent

 

That is probably where we are at and we know there will be money spent on pitching and probably one infielder and one or two outfielders.  That team I lined out has only about 4-5 guys over 30 and the rest being 26 or younger?  Without actually checking Trout, Stassi, Anderson, Drury, Rendon are over 30 next year? Ward I think is turning 30. Then the rest are 26 or younger.  

I will take this roster over most that we have put out there in the last decade because we have 3 very young everyday players that can be the core of the next generation of Angels baseball, and we have some talent on the pitching staff that is young and one you don’t have to squint to see their talent.  

[Jay]

3 hours ago, Stradling said:

My thoughts on where they are for next year is they will run it back, with free agent acquisitions.  We just have to hope for a few things.  One, that Perry chooses wisely how he spends the huge amounts of money he will have available to spend.  We have to hope for health of Trout and Rendon, which even if this team played well this year, we would have to hope for the health of those two.  The last thing we need is for the young guys to take a step forward.  If you have a strong bullpen you can win a lot of games.  So if Bachman, Joyce, Soriano, and possibly C-Rod lock down the bullpen, the team has a chance.  We also need Sandoval and Detmers to pitch like they did in 2022 and not like they pitched this year.  Sure there are a lot of question marks but it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that the young guys the team has puts it together.  

1b: Schanuel/Drury

2b: Drury/Paris/Rengifo

SS: Neto/Rengifo

3rd: Rendon/Drury/Rengifo

Catcher: O’Hoppe/Stassi/Thaiss

LF: Ward

CF: Trout

RF: Moniak/Adell

4th OF: Free Agent?

SP: Sandoval/Detmers/Canning/Anderson/Silseth/Free Agent/Free Agent

RP: Joyce/Bachman/Soriano/CRod/Estevez/Suarez maybe/Free Agent

 

That is probably where we are at and we know there will be money spent on pitching and probably one infielder and one or two outfielders.  That team I lined out has only about 4-5 guys over 30 and the rest being 26 or younger?  Without actually checking Trout, Stassi, Anderson, Drury, Rendon are over 30 next year? Ward I think is turning 30. Then the rest are 26 or younger.  

I will take this roster over most that we have put out there in the last decade because we have 3 very young everyday players that can be the core of the next generation of Angels baseball, and we have some talent on the pitching staff that is young and one you don’t have to squint to see their talent.  

No mention of Ohtani or DH, interesting.

[UndertheHalo]

[Angels 1961]

The more players change the more the results remain the same. I am looking to 2024 to see Neto, O'Hoppe. Moniak, Schanuel, Adell, Rengifo and young pitchers develop. Hopefully with Trout DH with Rendon they can stay healthy for most of season. I hope Nevin stays I'm with Swordsman on this.

[Slegnaac]

Any chance this team can get assigned to the Central Division?

[totdprods]

Real hard to speculate for me, because I think it really comes down to if Arte stays more than anything - whether or not it’s immediate or over the course of the next year or so. 

I think, Arte or not, Shohei or not, the org needs to take a deep breath, temper expectations publicly, and focus 100% on internal development in 2024 and probably 2025. Drop this ‘we expect to contend’ line and spending to try and keep up with the Joneses. Swing a trade or two of high value MLBers like Sandoval or Rengifo or Ward or Estevez/Drury over the course of this winter or next deadline, try to sign a couple rebound FAs like the Cubs did with Bellinger with the intent of flipping them, draft MLB-ready guys, and hope the young core all starts hitting their peak in 2025.

Trying to sign/trade around the current core with the expectation of making the playoffs in 2024 is a recipe for repeating the last decade.

[James]

14 minutes ago, Slegnaac said:

Any chance this team can get assigned to the Central Division?

Sure, move to Nashville

[TheLordofOuts]

The plan is to double the amount of alcohol and dispensary purchases to get through next season without feeling too depressed 

[BTH]

It’s unrealistic to expect that Arte will changes his ways, so I expect more of the same:

- Signing a handful of free agents around the existing players.

- Hoping the health is better next year.

- Hopefully, a new manager and coaching staff that can unlock more out of the players. (This is where I think the biggest difference can be made, provided Arte lets the GM hire their own manager and provides proper resources to pay the manager and coaching staff)

[gurn67]

The good thing is, other than Ohtani, it's one of the worst free agent classes I can remember. When, Ohtani leaves, Arte will not be able to blow his money on any more overpriced over the hill veteran players. Of course, that didn't stop him from trading for Wells, so who knows? Without Ohtani, this is a 70-75 win team at best. Following the example of teams like the Orioles, Astros, Braves, etc...the best thing to do would be to tank for a few years and undergo a full rebuild. I think most real fans would be on board for that at this point. Of course, that's not going to happen without new ownership.

[Stradling]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

No mention of Ohtani or DH, interesting.

Yea I went with who is under contract for next year. I also think Rendon and Trout will DH a ton if we don’t re-sign Ohtani. 

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, gurn67 said:

The good thing is, other than Ohtani, it's one of the worst free agent classes I can remember. When, Ohtani leaves, Arte will not be able to blow his money on any more overpriced over the hill veteran players. Of course, that didn't stop him from trading for Wells, so who knows? Without Ohtani, this is a 70-75 win team at best. Following the example of teams like the Orioles, Astros, Braves, etc...the best thing to do would be to tank for a few years and undergo a full rebuild. I think most real fans would be on board for that at this point. Of course, that's not going to happen without new ownership.

Urias, Snell, Flaherty, Giolito, So it’s a pretty good pitching class. 

[totdprods]

5 minutes ago, gurn67 said:

When, Ohtani leaves, Arte will not be able to blow his money on any more overpriced over the hill veteran players

Arte be like “challenge accepted”

Edited September 1, 2023 by totdprods

[totdprods]

6 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Urias, Snell, Flaherty, Giolito, So it’s a pretty good pitching class. 

Honestly, Trout’s recent health/2023 slump have me really worried about the offense, especially without Ohtani. And there’s barely anybody interesting on the FA market, and not much to trade with.

I feel better about the pitching coming around than our offense, more so if we have any injuries to the offensive core again.

Real skeptical of placing very high expectations offensively on guys like Schanuel, Neto, O’Hoppe, and maybe Moniak/Adell parallels after what we’ve expected of guys like Detmers, Sandoval, Canning and Suarez the last few years.

Edited September 1, 2023 by totdprods

[totdprods]

Even if we re-sign Ohtani, there’s still enough uncertainty around if he’ll have surgery and how he’ll recover that expecting the same from him as DH shouldn’t be a given. 

It’s part of why I’ve advocated for them dealing someone like Sandoval for a couple MLB-ready hitters. Baltimore has a glut of infielders. Prying away one of those guys or an outfielder and then signing an mid-tier arm to a 2-3 year deal might help address Sandy’s inconsistency in the rotation and add another hitter to the young core. 

I’m still not a huge Perry fan but I cannot deny his strong track record in acquiring and drafting productive, quick-to-bigs players. Honestly, he’s been pretty close to stellar in that regard. So if he is here next year still, I say the org plays to that strength, sells a high-value guy like Sandoval or Rengifo for quick MLB talent, sign another Syndergaard-type or two and hope to replicate the Moniak deal come July. Draft well. Go into 2025 with a solid young core.

Edited September 1, 2023 by totdprods

[tdawg87]

Stick our thumbs up our ass and sing Buttercup.

[Angels 1961]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

Urias, Snell, Flaherty, Giolito, So it’s a pretty good pitching class. 

Giolito? I would sign Lorenzen on short deal 2 years before Gio

[Ron Mexico]

Give me Urias 

[Lazorko Saves]

I don't know what ya'll mean by "rebuild".

You can't trade Trout, Rendon, or Anderson.

So "rebuild" means you're keeping those guys and trading what we have of value, for even younger, less-proven players: Neto, O'Hoppe, Sandoval, Detmers, Schanuel.

WTF do you all think that does?  Is it all about losing 100 games and getting very high draft picks for the next five years?  Or what?

Edited September 1, 2023 by Lazorko Saves

[Swordsman78]

1 hour ago, totdprods said:

Even if we re-sign Ohtani, there’s still enough uncertainty around if he’ll have surgery and how he’ll recover that expecting the same from him as DH shouldn’t be a given. 

It’s part of why I’ve advocated for them dealing someone like Sandoval for a couple MLB-ready hitters. Baltimore has a glut of infielders. Prying away one of those guys or an outfielder and then signing an mid-tier arm to a 2-3 year deal might help address Sandy’s inconsistency in the rotation and add another hitter to the young core. 

I’m still not a huge Perry fan but I cannot deny his strong track record in acquiring and drafting productive, quick-to-bigs players. Honestly, he’s been pretty close to stellar in that regard. So if he is here next year still, I say the org plays to that strength, sells a high-value guy like Sandoval or Rengifo for quick MLB talent, sign another Syndergaard-type or two and hope to replicate the Moniak deal come July. Draft well. Go into 2025 with a solid young core.

Good take.  I would hate to see Rengifo traded.

The starting pitching is a real problem.  This needs to be addressed first and foremost (imo).   So aggravating to see the stick post an early lead only to see the SP cough it right back up and then exit the game in the 5th or sooner.   This then over taxes the BP which leads to blown saves and late inning crushing defeats.   Morale goes down and players lose focus.

 

 

 

 

[James]

Heard they are just going to tour with the Savannah Bananas. 

 

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

More losing.  
 

Let the kids play. All of them. Suck but get them prepared. 

[ShotimeDynasty]

7 hours ago, Stradling said:

My thoughts on where they are for next year is they will run it back, with free agent acquisitions.  We just have to hope for a few things.  One, that Perry chooses wisely how he spends the huge amounts of money he will have available to spend.  We have to hope for health of Trout and Rendon, which even if this team played well this year, we would have to hope for the health of those two.  The last thing we need is for the young guys to take a step forward.  If you have a strong bullpen you can win a lot of games.  So if Bachman, Joyce, Soriano, and possibly C-Rod lock down the bullpen, the team has a chance.  We also need Sandoval and Detmers to pitch like they did in 2022 and not like they pitched this year.  Sure there are a lot of question marks but it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that the young guys the team has puts it together.  

1b: Schanuel/Drury

2b: Drury/Paris/Rengifo

SS: Neto/Rengifo

3rd: Rendon/Drury/Rengifo

Catcher: O’Hoppe/Stassi/Thaiss

LF: Ward

CF: Trout

RF: Moniak/Adell

4th OF: Free Agent?

SP: Sandoval/Detmers/Canning/Anderson/Silseth/Free Agent/Free Agent

RP: Joyce/Bachman/Soriano/CRod/Estevez/Suarez maybe/Free Agent

 

That is probably where we are at and we know there will be money spent on pitching and probably one infielder and one or two outfielders.  That team I lined out has only about 4-5 guys over 30 and the rest being 26 or younger?  Without actually checking Trout, Stassi, Anderson, Drury, Rendon are over 30 next year? Ward I think is turning 30. Then the rest are 26 or younger.  

I will take this roster over most that we have put out there in the last decade because we have 3 very young everyday players that can be the core of the next generation of Angels baseball, and we have some talent on the pitching staff that is young and one you don’t have to squint to see their talent.  

It’s a pretty solid core if some health and luck could finally fall our way. Biggest void is top end SP. If Perry could pull off some early offseason signings; say two of Snell, Flaherty, Urias, Gilolito, Lorenzen, then get Moose to come back and finally bring back Moore and Lopez for the pen.. might Shohei feel like staying for a year or two while he recovers from TJ? If Ohtani moves on I’d pivot to Bellinger so Trout & Rendon can share some of the DH duties.