The best news for the Angels is...the Texas Rangers

[Angelsjunky]

A reminder that, in baseball, things can turn on a dime. The Rangers were coming off a 68-94 season in 2022 (and 60-102 in 2021), their 6th losing season in a row. A combination of savvy acquisitions, chemistry, opportunity and luck, and they win their first World Series.

This is not to say that what we're seeing in Texas is the dawning of a new dynasty. They finally won a WS, but chances are they aren't going to be dominating the AL West for the foreseeable future. In other words, they look to be a pretty good team over the next few years, but not a great one. Public perception is also rather...dubious; they could up their win total next year to 91-71 and miss a wildcard berth and be considered a disappointing "one-year wonder." 

In other words, it isn't like the Rangers have become a powerhouse franchise overnight, or a perennial contender. I don't follow them closely enough to have a sense of how they are building their team, but the point is simply that baseball can be fickle.

Are you saying the Angels will win the WS next year, Angelsjunky? No, of course not. I'm merely saying that baseball is unpredictable. The Angels in 2023 probably have just as much, if not more, in-house talent as the 2022 Rangers -- even without Shohei Ohtani.

I share this because I've felt pretty depressed about the Angels. Or rather, not depressed because that implies strong emotion, and really what I'm feeling is indifference. I find myself not really caring if Shohei returns, or who they acquire in the offseason, mostly because I just don't have a lot of faith in this franchise or what I've seen play out over the last year plus.

But...I still like the youngish core, still hold out hope that Trout can have a bit of a career resurgence, and even that if the right factors combine, we'll see a playoff berth sometime in the next few years. I'm even OK moving on from Ohtani and, to some extent, kind of hope he leaves because I'd rather see the Angels take a "lean" approach to payroll and focus on long-term development, and handing Ohtani a half a billion dollar contract would feel like more of the same of the last dozen years or so. I'd much rather Perry Minasian spend the next few years turning the Angels into a West Coast version of the Braves or Cardinals, then try to do a bad impression of the Yankees like they've done for the last 15 years.

But the Rangers reminds us of how volatile baseball can be. Or we can look at the Dodgers, who seem to do everything right, but despite reaching the playoffs 11 years in a row have only won a single World Series. You can't necessarily fault the Dodgers, but they're an example of how fickle baseball can be. I mean, think about the fact that they have the same number of WS trophies as the Rangers over the last 35 years.

[UndertheHalo]

Oh ok.  So what you’re observing here is that the Angels could have a playoff run sometime soon.  Very good. Thank you. 

[Angel Oracle]

At most, they should offer Ohtani 2-3 years.  Don’t like the idea of offering an age 29/30 player $500 million.

Have to have learned from ALL of the other big contracts given since 2011.

Even Trout’s looks bad now, with all of the injuries since 2019.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

I would be far more encouraged by this argument if this weren't an organization with a history of throwing big money at declining stars, ignoring the farm system and doing everything on the cheap. The chief difference is that the Rangers are well run, something that no one would accuse the Angels of. They also have an excellent farm system, which has yielded important pieces of the team.

[Blarg]

Maybe you forget the 6 year drought the Rangers went through. 

[ScottT]

Tldr. But I agree.

People don't realize how quickly things can turn around these days

[Vegas Halo Fan]

5 hours ago, Blarg said:

Maybe you forget the 6 year drought the Rangers went through. 

Not at all. But I also knew that they were taking steps to turn it around, and they have had a good farm system for a while. It took time for some of those players to reach the majors and have an impact. One thing that I haven't heard about them is going cheap on scouting, not providing basic equipment and so forth.

[notherhalo]

Has any team "turned it around" with

- worst farm system

- constantly replaced staff

- continual one year deals to washed up players / experiments

- main pieces with an IL membership club 

[Tank]

3 hours ago, notherhalo said:

Has any team "turned it around" with

- worst farm system

- constantly replaced staff

- continual one year deals to washed up players / experiments

- main pieces with an IL membership club 

so that means the halos will be the first to do it! good call, buddy!

[Kendo36]

Big difference between the production they got for their big contracts vs. ours. Semien & Seager have been far better than Trout & Rendon. Our season will depend on Rendon/Trout again and I have little faith. 

[Chuck]

On 11/12/2023 at 6:05 PM, Blarg said:

Maybe you forget the 6 year drought the Rangers went through. 

 

On 11/12/2023 at 9:59 PM, ScottT said:

Tldr. But I agree.

People don't realize how quickly things can turn around these days

 

On 11/10/2023 at 2:54 PM, Angelsjunky said:

A reminder that, in baseball, things can turn on a dime. The Rangers were coming off a 68-94 season in 2022 (and 60-102 in 2021), their 6th losing season in a row. A combination of savvy acquisitions, chemistry, opportunity and luck, and they win their first World Series.

This is not to say that what we're seeing in Texas is the dawning of a new dynasty. They finally won a WS, but chances are they aren't going to be dominating the AL West for the foreseeable future. In other words, they look to be a pretty good team over the next few years, but not a great one. Public perception is also rather...dubious; they could up their win total next year to 91-71 and miss a wildcard berth and be considered a disappointing "one-year wonder." 

In other words, it isn't like the Rangers have become a powerhouse franchise overnight, or a perennial contender. I don't follow them closely enough to have a sense of how they are building their team, but the point is simply that baseball can be fickle.

Are you saying the Angels will win the WS next year, Angelsjunky? No, of course not. I'm merely saying that baseball is unpredictable. The Angels in 2023 probably have just as much, if not more, in-house talent as the 2022 Rangers -- even without Shohei Ohtani.

I share this because I've felt pretty depressed about the Angels. Or rather, not depressed because that implies strong emotion, and really what I'm feeling is indifference. I find myself not really caring if Shohei returns, or who they acquire in the offseason, mostly because I just don't have a lot of faith in this franchise or what I've seen play out over the last year plus.

But...I still like the youngish core, still hold out hope that Trout can have a bit of a career resurgence, and even that if the right factors combine, we'll see a playoff berth sometime in the next few years. I'm even OK moving on from Ohtani and, to some extent, kind of hope he leaves because I'd rather see the Angels take a "lean" approach to payroll and focus on long-term development, and handing Ohtani a half a billion dollar contract would feel like more of the same of the last dozen years or so. I'd much rather Perry Minasian spend the next few years turning the Angels into a West Coast version of the Braves or Cardinals, then try to do a bad impression of the Yankees like they've done for the last 15 years.

But the Rangers reminds us of how volatile baseball can be. Or we can look at the Dodgers, who seem to do everything right, but despite reaching the playoffs 11 years in a row have only won a single World Series. You can't necessarily fault the Dodgers, but they're an example of how fickle baseball can be. I mean, think about the fact that they have the same number of WS trophies as the Rangers over the last 35 years.

100%

 

[rottiesworld]

On 11/12/2023 at 10:33 PM, notherhalo said:

Has any team "turned it around" with

- worst farm system

- constantly replaced staff

- continual one year deals to washed up players / experiments

- main pieces with an IL membership club 

And owner who will not go over the budget and pay a penalty