Anthony Rendon Interview

[Inside Pitch]

On 1/11/2024 at 11:33 PM, Erstad Grit said:

I'm saying that my sense is for Rendon to ever have extended success again he will not only need to get healthy, but potentially relearn training and an approach to baseball with a skill set diminishing in one's injured 30s.  It would require an attitude and drive that I have not seen in him. 

I'm sorry, I respect your opinion and even more your love for all things Angels but this sort of reads like some Tony Robbins gobbledygook. 

The one thing I've asked you to point to repeatedly is what skills you believe have shown any real erosion that couldn't be explained by his injuries and you've not done that while now talking about diminishing skills. The area he showed the biggest regression in was throwing and it's hard not to believe not having a base wasn't an issue there.  Watching him try to slow his swing or drop his bat-head was painful to watch, he couldn't slow his bottom half at all and still he managed to make contact. 

As far as "attitude" goes.  He's always been known for his laissez-faire, aloof manner -- it's pretty much defined him as an athlete so to assume he suddenly needs to retrain his way of thinking in order to be successful is the sort of fan driven stuff than makes them believe a guy having a fit after a strikeout means "he cares".  

The biggest issue he has, the biggest issues he's ALWAYS had is he's been injury prone, a fact the Angels should have been aware of given his injuries were an issue even in college. Most evaluators had him pegged for the first overall pick until a leg injury (sound familiar) saw his power evaporate (SLG dropped from .801 to .523), in his final season at Rice

I get that people are mad, frustrated even -- but the target of your scorn should be the team that ignored that the guy was known to NOT BE a dirt rat and was known TO be injury prone still gave him the money he wanted.

What part of his saying "I don't really like baseball other than playing it" wasn't clear?

On 1/11/2024 at 11:33 PM, Erstad Grit said:

Rendon going at it with an A's fan and bickering with Sam Blum is the Rendon I think we will have. 

So you didn't like his "passion" in that instance with the fan, eh? 

As far as the Blum bickering goes -- the initial no comment I'll report something when there is some progress or something new should have been enough.  Blum is Blum.  He went out of his way to make it an issue and the part of the fanbase that wants to see a player "show he cares" loved it. I thought it was lame, but I'm not a "pound of flesh" guy and to be very honest the "I'm not here today" incident is still funny to me.

I wouldn't have signed Rendon, I also believe that IF healthy he can still hit.  My personal bias influences the first opinion, my belief in data drives the second.  It's as simple as that for me.

[Inside Pitch]

5 minutes ago, Taylor said:

T.G. did and said it was a very nice interview.

I did too, and as has been posted it was mostly NOT about baseball. 

I thought some of his comments about growing up Catholic were actually funny.  Something along the lines of "yeah we went to Church but mostly to avoid going to Hell".

[Stradling]

Angel fans:

”Rendon needs to show more passion””no not that kind of passion“”nope not that either” 

[Stradling]

I haven’t watched the interview mainly because we all hear what we want to hear.  If you think he is a piece of shit that is stealing money, then you will hear that in his interview. If you judge a player because of religion, that is what you are going to hear. If you like the guy, then you will consider his injuries and their part in his inability to live up to his contract. If you hate the guy you will say that he doesn’t care. If you like the guy, then when he says he wants to spend time with his family, you would say he has his priorities straight. If you hate the guy and he says he wants to spend more time with his family, you will say he “hates” baseball.  If you like the guy and he says he has to do a minor tweak to his off season routine, you say, good, hopefully he can get healthy again.  If you hate the guy and he says he has to do a minor tweak, you lose your shit over a lack of commitment to not have a complete overhaul of his off season routine, or you ask, “where was this minor tweak 3 years ago”.  

Personally, I see him as an injured player that hates the media. I see him as another in a long line of “what if” type players. 

[T.G.]

36 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I haven’t watched the interview

Lost me right there.

[fan_since79]

20 hours ago, Erstad Grit said:

Absolutely. It was infuriating hearing Rendon have zero sense of urgency.

$37 mill a year and why would there be any urgency? Living the good life. He just happens to play baseball...when he plays.

[fan_since79]

11 hours ago, Angelsfan1984 said:

I’ll take the under and parlay it with 5 more trips of 25 games or more on the IL. 

Resumption of internal bleeding. That's worth a few months.

[Erstad Grit]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

I'm sorry, I respect your opinion and even more your love for all things Angels but this sort of reads like some Tony Robbins gobbledygook. 

The one thing I've asked you to point to repeatedly is what skills you believe have shown any real erosion that couldn't be explained by his injuries and you've not done that while now talking about diminishing skills. The area he showed the biggest regression in was throwing and it's hard not to believe not having a base wasn't an issue there.  Watching him try to slow his swing or drop his bat-head was painful to watch, he couldn't slow his bottom half at all and still he managed to make contact. 

As far as "attitude" goes.  He's always been known for his laissez-faire, aloof manner -- it's pretty much defined him as an athlete so to assume he suddenly needs to retrain his way of thinking in order to be successful is the sort of fan driven stuff than makes them believe a guy having a fit after a strikeout means "he cares".  

The biggest issue he has, the biggest issues he's ALWAYS had is he's been injury prone, a fact the Angels should have been aware of given his injuries were an issue even in college. Most evaluators had him pegged for the first overall pick until a leg injury (sound familiar) saw his power evaporate (SLG dropped from .801 to .523), in his final season at Rice

I get that people are mad, frustrated even -- but the target of your scorn should be the team that ignored the reality that the guy who was known to NOT BE a dirt rat and WAS known to be injury prone but still gave him the money he wanted.

What part of his saying "I don't really like baseball other than playing it" wasn't clear?

So you didn't like his "passion" in that instance with the fan, eh? 

As far as the Blum bickering goes -- the initial no comment I'll report something when there is some progress or something new should have been enough.  Blum is Blum.  He went out of his way to make it an issue and the part of the fanbase that wants to see a player "show he cares" loved it. I thought it was lame, but I'm not a "pound of flesh" guy and to be very honest the "I'm not here today" incident is still funny to me.

I wouldn't have signed Rendon, I also believe that IF healthy he can still hit.  My personal bias influences the first opinion, my belief in data drives the second.  It's as simple as that for me.

I respect you as well, we're just two different types of fans. (that's definitely not a pejorative statement about you)

I was never a football fan, but if I was I'd probably like Tebow because "he just wins" and I'd take a guess that you would have  statistically ripped him to shreds. 

No I cannot specifically identify the main diminishing skill set in Rendon. With pitchers and velocity and break it's easier for me. 

I believe EVERY player by 30 is diminishing in some form, so that also wasn't a specific critique on Rendon. 

With injuries, natural decline, the reality of a guaranteed contract, and the way Rendon has conducted himself I believe he's done.  

[Erstad Grit]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

Angel fans:

”Rendon needs to show more passion””no not that kind of passion“”nope not that either” 

Those, more so the first,  would be examples of lacking mental professionalism like I stated. 

[ettin]

20 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

You might be selling the OBP short and expecting too much power.  But if he hits .275 he likely gets on base at a near .400 clip.

Walks = increased run production... raises his offensive floor, significantly.

[arch stanton]

25 minutes ago, Erstad Grit said:

I respect you as well, we're just two different types of fans. (that's definitely not a pejorative statement about you)

I was never a football fan, but if I was I'd probably like Tebow because "he just wins" and I'd take a guess that you would have  statistically ripped him to shreds. 

No I cannot specifically identify the main diminishing skill set in Rendon. With pitchers and velocity and break it's easier for me. 

I believe EVERY player by 30 is diminishing in some form, so that also wasn't a specific critique on Rendon. 

With injuries, natural decline, the reality of a guaranteed contract, and the way Rendon has conducted himself I believe he's done.  

Tim Tebow threw the best backfoot slider in the history of the NFL

[T.G.]

23 minutes ago, Erstad Grit said:

Those, more so the first,  would be examples of lacking mental professionalism like I stated. 

And Rendon admits he has flaws.  He knows  he has flaws and he continues to work on them.  We've all had moments when we did something that lacked "professionalism" - in his case, it's with cameras rolling. 

[Inside Pitch]

18 minutes ago, ettin said:

Walks = increased run production... raises his offensive floor, significantly.

I wonder if because he knew he just didnt have his legs under him he made a greater effort to milk walks.  But yeah, the fact that he was able to do that and STILL recognize the FB and turned on it when he did see it bode well for his immediate future.

[Ron Mexico]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

I haven’t watched the interview mainly because we all hear what we want to hear.  If you think he is a piece of shit that is stealing money, then you will hear that in his interview. If you judge a player because of religion, that is what you are going to hear. If you like the guy, then you will consider his injuries and their part in his inability to live up to his contract. If you hate the guy you will say that he doesn’t care. If you like the guy, then when he says he wants to spend time with his family, you would say he has his priorities straight. If you hate the guy and he says he wants to spend more time with his family, you will say he “hates” baseball.  If you like the guy and he says he has to do a minor tweak to his off season routine, you say, good, hopefully he can get healthy again.  If you hate the guy and he says he has to do a minor tweak, you lose your shit over a lack of commitment to not have a complete overhaul of his off season routine, or you ask, “where was this minor tweak 3 years ago”.  

Personally, I see him as an injured player that hates the media. I see him as another in a long line of “what if” type players. 

He is definitely a Piece of shit that's stealing money. Mf got paid then became a Bitch 

[Erstad Grit]

17 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

I wonder if because he knew he just didnt have his legs under him he made a greater effort to milk walks.  But yeah, the fact that he was able to do that and STILL recognize the FB and turned on it when he did see it bode well for his immediate future.

My walk rate went up a bit in High School because I stopped swing knowing I had no shot lol

[Inside Pitch]

14 hours ago, Erstad Grit said:

I respect you as well, we're just two different types of fans. (that's definitely not a pejorative statement about you)

Oh, is this a case of super-fandom?  

I have no idea how you could know the sort of fan I am, but I know I played sports a lot longer than I was a fan and I could never stand the guys that pitched fits and made it about themselves.  So a lot of the guys that people love because they "show emotion" were the types of guys I couldn't stand playing with.  Fire is fine, fire to the point of stupidity isn't.  Take Plesac for instance -- dude has injured himself TWICE and hurt his team as a result because of "fire".

And while we both love Erstad, his unwillingness to pull back hurt him and the team as well.  Everytime people bitched about GA not diving for a ball because "Erstad", I'd think to myself -- well at least he won't spend the next three weeks sucking because he's playing through an injury.

I'm guessing you think I'm a stats first guy and all I can say is you don't know me at all.  I got interested in stats because I wanted to prove the stat-heads wrong. While trying to do that I realized that a lot of things I was sure of because of my playing days was a bunch of BS.  In Redon's case I saw the what he wasn't able to do while still being able to turn on FBs and went looking at the numbers.  Maybe we differ in that I'm no so sure of my own BS that I don't feel the need to check if maybe I'm letting my beliefs and what I think I know cloud my opinions..

14 hours ago, Erstad Grit said:

I was never a football fan, but if I was I'd probably like Tebow because "he just wins" and I'd take a guess that you would have  statistically ripped him to shreds. 

He "just won" himself into early retirement.  I thought he was a great college QB -- a better example here might be the former UCLA QB Josh Rosen who's fire and passion made him uncoachable and his self confidence essentially made him prone to errors.  Dude should have been great but nope.

14 hours ago, Erstad Grit said:

No I cannot specifically identify the main diminishing skill set in Rendon. With pitchers and velocity and break it's easier for me. 

Tell you what the biggest skill set for hitters is both young and old.  The ability to identify and pull a FB.  When people were gushing about Adell because he was hitting bombs, I was touting Marsh because while he lacked Adell's top end skills he was already seeing and turning on FBs as early as High A, -- it really became evident in AA but that park masked his progression.  With veterans it's different, one of the biggest signs a batter has lost it is when they start to cheat because they are struggling to see the FB early -- AP was prime example of this.  He sacrificed everything to be able to pull FBs.

I'm concerned with Rendon because I think he's made of glass, not because his skills have vastly diminished to where he can't be a good hitter.

I agree with you, decline is easier to see with pitchers. 

14 hours ago, Erstad Grit said:

With injuries, natural decline, the reality of a guaranteed contract, and the way Rendon has conducted himself I believe he's done.  

You could have saved a lot of time and just taken a page out of @REDneck's page and said you simply don't like him, or who he is.  Nobody really needs to defend that position.  I'm sure you think I'm just being a jerk like you've said in the past but the reality is you made a statement, I wanted to see what if anything you were basing it on because it flew in direct contrast to what I saw last year.

Yes, he's older.  He's not a hard charger by any means but he's not seen the slip in skills for me to believe he's done unless his legs are shot.  If whatever he's tweaking this winter has to do with that lower body then he may be able to fight off father time a little longer.

[Stradling]

24 minutes ago, Ron Mexico said:

He is definitely a Piece of shit that's stealing money. Mf got paid then became a Bitch 

Yep you are absolutely right. Most players opt for season ending surgery twice because they are bitches. 

[Ron Mexico]

Just now, Stradling said:

Yep you are absolutely right. Most players opt for season ending surgery twice because they are bitches. 

Yup watch him hurt his Vagina this year 10 games in then be out for the season again. Biggest Douchebag in Baseball today. 

[Taylor]

41 minutes ago, T.G. said:

And Rendon admits he has flaws.  He knows  he has flaws and he continues to work on them.  We've all had moments when we did something that lacked "professionalism" - in his case, it's with cameras rolling. 

It's true that we can all be aholes in certain circumstances. But Rendon's outburst at the A's fan wasn't typical. If it was, you'd see that kind of stuff happen all the time with cameras rolling. 

And a bunch of posters here jumped to his defense and acted like it was perfectly acceptable behavior.

[T.G.]

2 minutes ago, Taylor said:

But Rendon's outburst at the A's fan wasn't typical. If it was, you'd see that kind of stuff happen all the time with cameras rolling. 

And a bunch of posters here jumped to his defense and acted like it was perfectly acceptable behavior.

Right, it wasn't typical.

Yes, people defended him, but some people (like you), also crucified him.  We saw both extremes.

[Taylor]

1 minute ago, T.G. said:

Right, it wasn't typical.

Yes, people defended him, but some people (like you), also crucified him.  We saw both extremes.

Crucified him? 

[fan_since79]

40 minutes ago, Ron Mexico said:

He is definitely a Piece of shit that's stealing money. Mf got paid then became a Bitch 

Well, language aside, you're basically correct.

Can't wait till we don't see him anymore.

[Stradling]

28 minutes ago, Ron Mexico said:

Yup watch him hurt his Vagina this year 10 games in then be out for the season again. Biggest Douchebag in Baseball today. 

I think the hypocrisy of guys who hate Rendon is very funny.  They complain about how much of a bitch he is while they are being a bitch about him.  Sorry he hurts your feelings.  I am sure Blum will give you a shoulder to cry on.

[Erstad Grit]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

Oh, is this a case of super-fandom?  

I have no idea how you could know the sort of fan I am, but I know I played sports a lot longer than I was a fan and I could never stand the guys that pitched fits and made it about themselves.  So a lot of the guys that people love because they "show emotion" were the types of guys I couldn't stand playing with.  Fire is fine, fire to the point of stupidity isn't.  Take Plesac for instance -- dude has injured himself TWICE and hurt his team as a result because of "fire".

And while we both love Erstad, his unwillingness to pull back hurt him and the team as well.  Everytime people bitched about GA not diving for a ball because "Erstad", I'd think to myself -- well at least he won't spend the next three weeks sucking because he's playing through an injury.

I'm guessing you think I'm a stats first guy and all I can say is you don't know me at all.  I got interested in stats because I wanted to prove the stat-heads wrong. While trying to do that I realized that a lot of things I was sure of because of my playing days was a bunch of BS.  In Redon's case I saw the what he wasn't able to do while still being able to turn on FBs and went looking at the numbers.  Maybe we differ in that I'm no so sure of my own BS that I don't feel the need to check if maybe I'm letting my beliefs and what I think I know cloud my opinions..

He "just won" himself into early retirement.  I thought he was a great college QB -- a better example here might be the former UCLA QB Josh Rosen who's fire and passion made him uncoachable and his self confidence essentially made him prone to errors.  Dude should have been great but nope.

Tell you what the biggest skill set for hitters is both young and old.  The ability to identify and pull a FB.  When people were gushing about Adell because he was hitting bombs, I was touting Marsh because while he lacked Adell's top end skills he was already seeing and turning on FBs as early as High A, -- it really became evident in AA but that park masked his progression.  With veterans it's different, one of the biggest signs a guy's lost it is when they start to cheat because they are struggling to see the FB early -- AP was prime example of this.  He sacrificed everything to be able to pull FBs.

I'm concerned with Rendon because I think he's made of glass, not because his skills have vastly diminished to where he can't be a good hitter.

I agree with you, decline is easier to see with pitchers. 

You could have saved a lot of time and just taken a page out of @REDneck's page and said you simply don't like him, or who he is.  Nobody really needs to defend that position.  I'm sure you think I'm just being a jerk like you've said in the past but the reality is you made a statement, I wanted to see what if anything you were basing it on because it flew in direct contrast to what I saw last year.

Yes, he's older.  He's not a hard charger by any means but he's not seen the slip in skills for me to believe he's done unless his legs are shot.  If whatever he's tweaking this winter has to do with that lower body then he may be able to fight off father time a little longer.

I actually loved GA and defended him against the criticism.

Harper showed me a lot by embracing 1B. I believe Harper will overcome his injures and reinvent himself.  I believe he cares about baseball and carries a personal responsibility to Philadelphia.  I don't believe Rendon gives a shit about Anaheim. If Rendon said "I've been working all offseason at 1B just in case that's needed" it would have gone a long way with me. I don't think Rendon is a bad guy or is stealing anything. I think he's content doing the best he can for the remainder of his contract. 

Trout being willing to shift to CO and some DH is probably the next conversation as well. 

 

 

[Blarg]

3 minutes ago, Erstad Grit said:

I actually loved GA and defended him against the criticism.

Harper showed me a lot by embracing 1B. I believe Harper will overcome his injures and reinvent himself.  I believe he cares about baseball and carries a personal responsibility to Philadelphia.  I don't believe Rendon gives a shit about Anaheim. If Rendon said "I've been working all offseason at 1B just in case that's needed" it would have gone a long way with me. I don't think Rendon is a bad guy or is stealing anything. I think he's content doing the best he can for the remainder of his contract. 

Trout being willing to shift to CO and some DH is probably the next conversation as well. 

 

 

Did you read anywhere that the Angels requested Rendon to work on 1st base skills? I didn't so I have no reason to expect him to extend his off season program to a position the parent club hasn't asked him to work on. And, news flash, Mike Trout hasn't been working out at 1st base as well and has just as much of an injury history as Rendon the last 4 years.