There's something different about this team

[notherhalo]

Usually every season a few homers will crank out that line, and I think it even happened once this year 

But now its really different 

• No prospects left to send away at the deadline
• Games played with 0 superstars
• Last place plausible 
• Record lows in attendance likely

There is something different about this team 

It's great news because it's the only way out of this hole.   Superstars won't want to come here, preventing albertrosss contracts, well hopefully get good picks for some years

Waiting another 4-7 years is a tough pill to swallow but at least there's a chance to be competitive again in our lifetimes 

[totdprods]

I’m pretty good (bad?) about finding things to be optimistic about, or looking for silver linings, but this team is just a brand new experience for me. Assuming it’s kind of like the 1992 team. I came around to the Angels as a kid during the ‘94 season, so a healthy baseball card diet led to me notice how lackluster that team was (Gaetti led the team with 12 HR) and this team feels similar. 

Goodrum, Guillorme, Adrianza, Pillar, Tucker, and Calhoun. Yikes. 

Only thing keep my attention is that Schanuel, O’Hoppe, Neto and Adell are still showing signs, and some of the lower-level prospects have some intrigue. A good draft and a smart deadline sell or two could accelerate things but this could be the beginning of a rough few years.

[jsnpritchett]

21 minutes ago, notherhalo said:

• Record lows in attendance likely

 

It won't be a "record low" for attendance, but it will likely be down significantly from the higher levels of years past.  So far, attendance is down an average of 3,317 from last season, which is the fourth-largest decrease in the majors (the Mets, Blue Jays, and Astros have had larger declines so far).

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/2024-misc.shtml

 

[Dtwncbad]

23 minutes ago, totdprods said:

this could be the beginning of a rough few years.

Beginning??

[Sully151]

I am hoping this team will be like some of those early 90’s teams. Nobody went to the games, so you could buy cheap tickets and make your way down to the field level. Ushers and security didn’t care. 

[Duren, Duren]

Happens regularly in all sports. A team hits rock bottom and has to face reality. Some stay in denial and frantically paper things over without a serious longer term plan. Others accept reality and the hard road ahead. Realizing that with a smart plan and some luck they may rebound quicker than expected. Or, at the least,they don't insult fans by acting like everything will improve somehow without serious change. 

With Ohtani the big draw and focus the last few years the Angels were in denial about their actual talent pool. Ohtani and Trout when healthy were the face/identity of the franchise. A lot of people just paid attention to what they did and went home talking about that. And post trade deadline last year may have been the most panic filled I've ever seen a GM act. It's not like the Angels were a serious contender positioning themselves to go deep in the playoffs. It was desperation and intended to somehow influence Ohtani's long term career path. 

And this year the bad luck of Trout's injury and Rendon again immediately becoming invisible has stripped away even the flimsiest illusion that the present and near future are on a positive track. Especially without any off-season upgrades or a farm system with great prospects. 

I still watch because I cheer for the underdog. It's nice to see some of these journeymen come up with good games whenever that happens. And watch the progress and growing pains of the younger guys.

Team solidarity and spirit can start building during tough times and carry into the future. Some of these games are tough to watch when they are over matched and keep making mistakes. But each day is a new day and you never know how the game will go. 

[Angelsjunky]

2 hours ago, notherhalo said:

 It's great news because it's the only way out of this hole.   Superstars won't want to come here, preventing albertrosss contracts, well hopefully get good picks for some years

Well, that assumes that Arte doesn't panic buy and overspend on older guys and middling free agents, in the hopes of returning to relevancy. Meaning, what you're saying should be the case, but it is contingent on Arte accepting the reality of the situation.

I suppose the good news is that he didn't do that last offseason, and seemed to accept the "taking stock" approach to 2024. If 2024 is truly a taking stock year, as I suggested before the season began, the stock is that the Angels suck, top to bottom. There's some potential, but the nucleus of young guys is both not large or good enough to build a near-future contender. Meaning, the Angels entered the season with the hope that Trout and Rendon could stay healthy and lead the young guys to, if not a wildcard, at least a winning record and franchise upswing. Now it looks like they're only going deeper in the hole. Any hopes of a Rendon revival and a Trout renaissance are squashed, and the young guys all still have a ways to go before they reach their prime, and probably not as good as hoped.

 

[fan_since79]

The fact that only a very few of those 20 pitchers we recently drafted will pan out as good major leaguers shows that drafts are mostly hit or miss unless you get a real star in the making like Trout. They come along very infrequently.

That being said, we need to build up the farm because now we've got basically nothing there. Players that are less than spectacular going in can be developed with the right coaching and not rushed to the majors, and it begins with good scouting.

[Stradling]

7 minutes ago, fan_since79 said:

The fact that only a very few of those 20 pitchers we recently drafted will pan out as good major leaguers shows that drafts are mostly hit or miss unless you get a real star in the making like Trout. They come along very infrequently.

That being said, we need to build up the farm because now we've got basically nothing there. Players that are less than spectacular going in can be developed with the right coaching and not rushed to the majors, and it begins with good scouting.

What do you think the success rate is for drafting players? In a 15 year study from 1996-2011, 66% of first rounder played a single major league game. Second rounds were 49%, 3rd round, 39%, then 35%, 33%, then 24%, 20%, 17%,17%.  
So while neither of these guys are dominating the team has seen Bachman and Silseth pitch at the major league level. 

[CaliAngel]

I wonder if a team with 10 straight losing seasons loses its value significantly?

If that's the case, in one instance I'm fine with it because hopefully Arte has to eat a shit sandwich for backing out of selling when the team was top dollar.

On the the other hand if the value is low, it might suck because Arte might keep holding for another decade while we get through these rough patches, until the team value grows higher than it ever was previously.

[Chico]

Figures one of the Angels top farm teams is the Trash Pandas.

[zenmaster]

We will get a good draft slot?

[bruin5]

Arte could buy himself some good will if he would come out and say that we are switching our focus to development and, rather than paying ridiculous free agent salaries, we will invest in that area. I think most would understand that. 

He won’t. He has a record of thinking only short term. Whether it’s his age, or vanity, he only wants to invest in new shiny toys.  

[Angel Oracle]

Other than Burnes, Moreno shouldn’t even think about any other big money FAs for a few years.

[Blarg]

47 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Other than Burnes, Moreno shouldn’t even think about any other big money FAs for a few years.

Okay, I'm going to stop you there, because I know that Burnes name is going to buzzing in your head for the next 7 months, but, the Angels are not signing him. The Angels are still far from competitive so any free agent that is worth their money is going to look for a more complete team. They are not going to sign with a top 5 draft pick team.

[Dtwncbad]

38 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Okay, I'm going to stop you there, because I know that Burnes name is going to buzzing in your head for the next 7 months, but, the Angels are not signing him. The Angels are still far from competitive so any free agent that is worth their money is going to look for a more complete team. They are not going to sign with a top 5 draft pick team.

Maybe all this would be easier if you released a Blarg approved list of things to talk about, and a Blarg approved schedule for each approved subject?

[Blarg]

Maybe we should talk about what a missed opportunity Snell was. 

[greginpsca]

Only thing different is this is now a 60 something win team versus a 70 something win team. Yet, they are working hard to make it a 50 something win team.

[Dtwncbad]

14 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Maybe we should talk about what a missed opportunity Snell was. 

So it’s a month too early to talk about trades.  And six months too early to talk about free agents next years. But after six weeks, it wouldn’t be too early to judge the outcome of a deal with Snell?

So the comment was super dumb.  And I will say right now I would rather the Angels had signed Snell than not have him.  This team stinks.  And they are going to need better starting pitching the rest of this year and for the next few years.

 

[Angel Oracle]

1 hour ago, Blarg said:

Maybe we should talk about what a missed opportunity Snell was. 

Nah, 2023 was one of two outlier years for him, not to mention the previous injury marred seasons.

Burnes is consistency and durability, so far anyway.  And a Halos fan growing up

Edited May 13 by Angel Oracle

[Jason]

They are very different from last season's team as they are significantly worse now. 

[Tank]

1 hour ago, Angel Oracle said:

Burnes is consistency and durability, so far anyway.  And a Halos fan growing up

burnes has been in the playoffs with milwaukee and should see a decent and deep run in the playoffs this year with baltimore. 

aside from the nostalgia factor, you have to ask why would he (or any other top tier FA) even entertain the thought of signing a contract with an angels team that is far from being a playoff team in the immediate future.

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

I wouldn't say it's different outside of no Ohtani rather it's a continued downward progression.  Trout and Rendon are injured, the young pitchers (Detmers, Canning, Sandoval) haven't stepped up, the young position players have been below league average for the most part, the signings are largely misses, they don't have success with reclamation projects and the farm is weak.  Dysfunction has been the name of the game from the top down and I'd be surprised if there's any kind of turn around in the next 3-5 years.  Stranger things have happened and I hope they do right the ship sooner rather than later but I just haven't seen anything in the last decade that makes me think they will.

[Angel Oracle]

33 minutes ago, Tank said:

burnes has been in the playoffs with milwaukee and should see a decent and deep run in the playoffs this year with baltimore. 

aside from the nostalgia factor, you have to ask why would he (or any other top tier FA) even entertain the thought of signing a contract with an angels team that is far from being a playoff team in the immediate future.

I get that.   One never knows though until Burnes signs with someone this off-season.

Granted Moreno never signed a pitcher to a large contract since Nibs Wilson after 2011.

[Angel Oracle]

3 minutes ago, Catwhoshatinthehat said:

I wouldn't say it's different outside of no Ohtani rather it's a continued downward progression.  Trout and Rendon are injured, the young pitchers (Detmers, Canning, Sandoval) haven't stepped up, the young position players have been below league average for the most part, the signings are largely misses, they don't have success with reclamation projects and the farm is weak.  Dysfunction has been the name of the game from the top down and I'd be surprised if there's any kind of turn around in the next 3-5 years.  Stranger things have happened and I hope they do right the ship sooner rather than later but I just haven't seen anything in the last decade that makes me think they will.

Need Moreno, Carpino, and Kuhl to get out of Dodge.