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I need @Swordsman78 to create a thread on Jan 1st, 2024 titled "How the Angels fell apart"

nice try, nostradamus.

Congrats, Rangers. And THANK YOU for sending the Astros home.

The Rangers are 3 outs and 5 runs away from making this one of the most epic fail posts of all time on AW. I was rooting for the DBacks this whole series, but not anymore.

Hifives! It's strange. Had the Rangers beat St Louis in 2011, it would have been pure joy and excitement. But, because of that devastating loss, the dominant emotion I feel is a sense of relief.

The blackouts aren’t about getting people to buy a ticket to the game. The reason for the blackouts is because MLB sold its soul to the regional cable networks in exchange for billions of dollars. Blackouts exist because MLB has sold exclusive rights to broadcast those games to the RSN. RSNs in turn are not in demand enough to be able to market themselves successfully outside of their core business model, local cable television subscriptions. The lack of availability is the one thing keeping the RSNs afloat. When that goes away so do the huge tv contracts.

I’m not looking forward to this off season

Woot! Suck it, Houston. The 11-0 road record is something else. Records are always meant to be broken but, I don't see that one falling anytime soon.

This is only the 4th time in MLB history a team has lost over 100 games, then 2 years later won the World Series. I give the Rangers credit. A great combination of development, free agency, a new manager, and luck. 2 years later they are champs, this without having deGrom for 136 games. Their owner should write a memoir immediately and have Artie read it as a homework assignment.

The only thing Nevin is sweeping is floors.

Hahahahahaha. What a fucking idiot!

I think, for starters, nobody cares outside of Arizona or North Texas. I mean, when you have the 6th and 10th best records in MLB playing each other, it's kind of a snooze fest outside of those markets.

Mystery-not-candidate-man speaking for everyone here. Hilarious.

Griffith Park yet again. Hollywood Peak Back of the Hollywood Sign. A mole or ferrit or some rodent. It was a vegetarian like Tank. Believe it or not. First time I hiked to the front of the Hollywood sign.

Lots of pain.

In Kalabaka, (that's our hotel at the base of the mountain) I walked the streets at night while my wife passed out and met some locals. Super cool people, though I'm not a fan of their signature drink Ouzo.

Here are the important dates and deadlines for the coming weeks and months via CBS Sports. Nov. 2: As of 9 a.m. ET on Thursday, all eligible players (i.e. those with six-plus years of service time) are free agents. It is important to note free agents cannot sign with new teams just yet. They have to wait five days for that. The first five days of the offseason are an exclusive negotiating period in which the player can only talk money with his previous team. Here are our top 25 free agents. Nov. 5: Gold Glove winners announced during a live ESPN broadcast at 7:30 p.m. ET. Here are this year's Gold Glove finalists. Nov. 6: Finalists for 2023's major awards will be announced during a live MLB Network broadcast at 6 p.m. ET. Those awards are Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and Most Valuable Player. Three finalists are announced for each award in each league. As a reminder, voting for these awards was completed before the postseason. These are regular-season awards. Nov. 6: Most contract option decisions are due on this date. Some contracts specify a different date (the Yankees had to make a decision on Zack Britton's 2022 club option in November 2020, for example), but the vast majority have to be made within five days of the end of the World Series. Club options are controlled by the team, player options and opt-outs are controlled by the player, and mutual options are kind of pointless. They are essentially a way to move money to next year's payroll. Some option decisions are no-brainers, like the Giants picking up their $10 million club option for Alex Cobb (even after his recent hip surgery). Among this offseason's notable contract option decisions are Tim Anderson ($14 million club option), Josh Bell (can opt out of one year and $16.5 million), Kyle Hendricks ($16 million club option), and Eduardo Rodriguez (can opt out of three years and $49 million). Nov. 6: Deadline for teams to tender their eligible free agents the qualifying offer. Specifically, the deadline is 5 p.m. ET. The qualifying offer is a one-year contract worth the average of the top 125 salaries, or $20.5 million this offseason, according to the New York Post. To be eligible for the qualifying offer a player must have spent the entire 2023 season with his team and have never received the qualifying offer previously. For example, the Angels can make Shohei Ohtani the qualifying offer, but the Rangers cannot make Jordan Montgomery the qualifying offer because he was traded at midseason. Marcus Stroman, on the other hand, cannot be offered a qualifying offer because he accepted one from the Mets after the 2020 season. Nov. 6: Free agency begins. The five-day exclusive negotiating period ends and free agents are truly free. They can negotiate and sign with any team as of this date. That said, much like the regular season, MLB free agency is a marathon, not a sprint. We (probably) won't see a rash of signings on Day 1 because MLB is not a salary-capped league, and free agents aren't worried about getting left out in the cold when cap space runs out. Here again are our top 25 free agents. Nov. 7-9: GM Meetings in Scottsdale. Generally speaking, the GM Meetings cover off-the-field matters, such as rule changes. But, when you put all 30 GMs in one place, inevitably deals get discussed and sometimes completed. Last year, the Braves traded Jake Odorizzi to the Rangers for Kolby Allard at the GM Meetings, for example. Also, the groundwork is often laid for trades that are completed at a later date at the GM Meetings. Nov. 9: Silver Sluggers announced during a live MLB Network broadcast at 6 p.m. ET. If Silver Sluggers are your thing, this is the date for you. Last year, a utility player Silver Slugger was added, and this year there's a new team Silver Slugger. So that's the nine usual positions plus the super utility player award plus the team award in each league, bringing us to 22 Silver Sluggers total. Nov. 13: Rookies of the Year announced during a live MLB Network broadcast at 6 p.m. ET. In our unofficial September voting, Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll and Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson won the award. Nov. 14: Managers of the Year announced during a live MLB Network broadcast at 6 p.m. ET. In our unofficial September voting, Brewers manager Craig Counsell and Orioles manager Brandon Hyde were victorious. Nov. 14: The deadline for free agents to accept or reject the qualifying offer is 4 p.m. ET. Players who accept the qualifying offer sign that one-year, $20.5 million contract and remain with their team (players who accept the qualifying offer cannot be traded until June 15 without their consent). Free agents who reject the qualifying offer are attached to draft pick compensation. Their former team receives a draft pick if they sign elsewhere, and their new team has to forfeit a draft pick and international bonus money. Ohtani, Cody Bellinger, and Blake Snell are among the free agents who will surely reject the qualifying offer and instead sign a lucrative multi-year contract this offseason. Nov. 14: The deadline for teams to add eligible minor leaguers to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft is 6 p.m. ET. Generally speaking, college players drafted no later than 2020 and high school players drafted no later than 2019 are Rule 5 Draft eligible this winter, as are players signed internationally no later than 2019. Among the notable Rule 5 Draft eligible prospects this offseason are Brewers catcher Jeferson Quero and Twins outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez. Expect both (and many others) to be added to the 40-man roster on this date. It should be noted there are usually several minor trades on this date as teams get their 40-man roster in order. Last year the Rays traded JT Chargois and Xavier Edwards to the Marlins at the Rule 5 Draft protection deadline to clear 40-man roster space. Nov. 14-16: Owners meetings in Arlington, Tex. The quarterly owners meetings cover big picture business matters and are rarely a source of hot stove news or rumors, though November's meetings are notable because the owners are set to vote on the Athletics' proposed relocation to Las Vegas. The A's need 22 votes from the other 29 owners to approve relocation. Nov. 15: Cy Youngs announced during a live MLB Network broadcast at 6 p.m. ET. In our unofficial September voting, Snell and Yankees ace Gerrit Cole won the award. Nov. 16: MVPs announced during a live MLB Network broadcast at 6 p.m. ET. In our unofficial September voting, Ohtani and Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. took home gold. Nov. 17: Non-tender deadline. This is the deadline for teams to offer their pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible players a contract for 2024. Contracts do not have to be signed yet. An offer just has to be tendered. Players who do not receive a contract offer are considered "non-tendered" and become free agents. Notable players are non-tendered every offseason as teams determine their salary outweighs their performance, and the trade market turns up nothing worthwhile. Bellinger and Jeimer Candelario were among the biggest names non-tendered last offseason. Nov. 20: The 2024 Hall of Fame ballot will be released. Just the ballot will be announced, to be clear. The voting results and 2024 Hall of Fame class will be revealed at a later date. Here are the players eligible for this year's ballot. Most notably, this is Gary Sheffield's tenth and final year of eligibility. This is also Year 3 on the ballot for Alex Rodriguez, Year 9 for Billy Wagner, and Year 6 for Todd Helton. Adrián Beltré, Joe Mauer, and Chase Utley are among the first-timers set to join the Hall of Fame ballot this year. Dec. 1: Competitive balance draft picks are assigned. These are extra draft picks given to teams that fall in the bottom 10 in revenue and/or market size. There is overlap between the two groups, so there are usually 14 competitive balance picks awarded each year, not 20. Competitive balance picks are MLB's only tradeable draft picks. Dec. 3: The Hall of Fame's Contemporary Baseball Era Non-Players Committee voting results will be announced during a live MLB Network broadcast. The Hall of Fame announced several changes to their Era Committee voting structure last year and the Contemporary Baseball Era Non-Players Committee considers "retired managers, umpires and executives whose greatest contributions to the game were realized from the 1980-present era." Here is this year's eight-person ballot. Dec. 3-6: Winter Meetings in Nashville. This is typically when all hot stove hell breaks loose. The Winter Meetings are the busiest days of the offseason and feature plenty of trades, free agent signings, and rumors. It is four days of non-stop hot stove action. Historically, the biggest moves of the offseason are completed at the Winter Meetings. GMs can talk face-to-face with agents and other GMs to get things done. Dec. 5: Draft lottery during a live MLB Network broadcast. In an effort to curb tanking, MLB and the MLBPA agreed to a lottery to determine the top six picks in the annual amateur draft. The 18 non-postseason teams each have a shot at the No. 1 pick, though the worst teams have the highest odds. Here are this year's odds for the No. 1 selection in the 2024 draft (via MLB.com Teams that pay into revenue sharing can not select in the lottery in back-to-back years, so the Nationals, who had the No. 2 pick in this year's draft, are out of the lottery despite finishing with baseball's fifth-worst record. Teams in Washington's situation can not pick higher than No. 10 overall. The lottery determines the top six picks, then the next 12 picks are in reverse order of the standings. The 12 postseason teams are then ordered by their finish. Dec. 6: Rule 5 Draft. By rule, players selected in the Rule 5 Draft must remain on their new team's MLB roster all season in 2024, otherwise they must go through waivers and be offered back to their original team. Teams don't expect to get difference-makers in the Rule 5 Draft (Jose Bautista was the exception, not the rule). They often look for middle relievers, platoon bats, and lottery tickets, and most players wind up back with their original team. Last offseason's notable Rule 5 Draft selections were Kevin Kelly (Rays), Ryan Noda (Athletics), and Blake Sabol (Giants). Jan. 12: Deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to submit salary figures for 2024. The player files what he believes he should be paid while the team files with what they believe the player should be paid. This is only the filing deadline and the two sides can still agree to a contract of any size even after filing salary figures. The vast majority of arbitration-eligible players agree to a contract before the filing deadline. Matt Swartz and MLB Trade Rumors released their salary arbitration projections in October. Their model has proven to be quite accurate over the years. Jan. 15: The 2024 international signing period opens at 9 a.m. ET. The annual signing period used to run from July 2nd to June 25th, though MLB and the MLBPA agreed to push the start of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 signing periods back to January because of the pandemic, and now the new January start is permanent. Here is MLB.com's list of 2024's top 50 international prospects. Last year, the Padres landed catcher Ethan Salas on the first day of the international signing period. He made it all the way to Double-A as a 17-year-old this summer. Jan. 23: The 2024 Hall of Fame class will be announced during a live MLB Network broadcast at 6 p.m. ET. The ballot is revealed in November, votes are compiled in the following weeks, then the results are announced in the dog days of the offseason. Among holdovers on the ballot, Helton was the closest to getting in without actually getting in last year. He received 72.2% of the vote and 75% is needed for induction. Beltré, Helton, and Wagner appear to have the best chance at getting into the Hall of Fame this voting cycle. Jan. 29 to Feb. 16: Arbitration hearings. Inevitably a few arbitration-eligible players and their teams will be unable to come to terms on a contract, and they wind up in front of an arbitration panel. Each side states their case -- hearings can be contentious because the team essentially outlines the player's shortcomings and explains why he deserves a lower salary than he believes -- and the three-person panel picks either the salary the player filed or the salary the team filed, nothing in-between. Again, teams and players can work out a contract of any size prior to a hearing, even after filing salary figures. Luis Arraez, Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, and Kyle Tucker were among the players to go to an arbitration hearing last offseason. Mid-February: Spring training camps open across Florida and Arizona. Each team sets their own reporting dates for pitchers and catchers and then position players, though they'll all be up and running by the second full week of February. Cactus League and Grapefruit League play begins Feb. 22 and all 30 teams will be action by Feb. 24. March 20-21: Seoul Series. The NL West rival Dodgers and Padres will open the 2024 season with two games in Seoul, South Korea. They will be MLB's first ever regular-season games in Korea. Following these two games, the Dodgers and Padres will return to Arizona and play their last few spring training games before resuming their regular seasons. March 28: Opening Day 2024. All 30 clubs will be in action on Opening Day, with six of the 15 games featuring intradivision matchups. Next year will be Year 2 with the league's new, more balanced schedule. Once again, every team will play at least one series against every other team in 2024. No more rotating divisions for interleague play.

Nov 1st…

Lock it up and put it in the HOF. Legit didn't care who won but first thread I looked for now that it's over.

Somewhere Hank Hill is celebrating

Andrew Heaney is a WS champion, who would have expected that!

Started out like a close, interesting series. But form prevailed. Texas was the best team for some months. Arizona a fringe playoff team that over achieved. Amazing Texas road playoff record.

@Angel Oracle?

But didn’t the Rangers fail with 6 weeks left in the season? Thats what we were told.

Who is insisting that Arte and co are competent at their jobs?

It was a calculated risk that almost worked but one I wouldn't have taken. I think it was dumb but I'm possibly biased as I've always been high on him, you just don't see guys capable of throwing four legit plus pitches. Throw in the bulldog shit, the work ethic, the character. I hope he does well in AZ.

Game 1 of the World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks was, according to one headline, “the least-watched World Series game in recorded history.” Like many headlines, this one contained a nugget of truth but did not convey the whole story. Tracing this particular slice of history, one must begin in 1969. That’s when average television ratings were first recorded. To understand the difference between average viewership then and now, start on Saturday, Oct. 11, 1969, the date of the first World Series game played in the Nielsen era. Staging a prime-time sports telecast on that particular Saturday night meant, for rights-holder NBC, bumping off “The Andy Williams Show,” “Adam-12,” and “Saturday Night at the Movies.” It meant pitting your World Series broadcast against Jackie Gleason and Lawrence Welk and, well, nothing else, because there were only three networks at the time. Did the strategy work? We’ll never know. The game began in the afternoon, long before prime time. And yet, Mike Cuellar’s complete game victory over the New York Mets still drew more viewers than the Rangers’ 11-inning win over the D-backs. The record-low ratings beg a common question: So what? The answer is nuanced and, hopefully, points to a future in which more and better World Series broadcast options exist for more fans. It’s also a litmus test for your opinion of the game of baseball. Your answer to “so what?” will tend to sort you into one of four camps. Camp 1: Those who have no intention of watching the World Series under any circumstances. Camp 2: Those who have every intention of watching the World Series because they’re diehard fans of baseball, or the teams involved. Camp 3: Those who used to watch the World Series but for whatever reason no longer do so. Camp 4: Those whose rooting interest is primarily financial, because you are a primary stakeholder for MLB, a major network, or one of its business partners. Camps 1 and 2 are the constants. Camp 3 has the full and complete attention of Camp 4. People in Camp 3 are often opinionated. They’re quick to share their idea of how baseball “should” be played – ideas that might lead to such novel experiments as moving back the pitcher’s mound in the Atlantic League, or pitch clock ads featuring Bryan Cranston. Really, though, Camp 4 should be listening to Camp 5. Camp 5 is younger than Camp 3. It hasn’t lived long enough to view the World Series through the lens of ratings, and we should hope they never become so jaded. Camp 5 is a lot like Rob Holub’s students at the University of New Haven. “If I talk about baseball in my class, freshmen and sophomores know who Jomboy is,” Holub said, “but they can’t afford a cable subscription. (They watch) small clips that catch your attention.” Holub, an adjunct faculty member of the Pompea College of Business for Sport Management, has a good reason to be jaded himself. He grew up a fan of the New York sports teams and was aghast when the MSG Network (regional broadcaster of New York’s Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Giants, and others) disappeared from his Optimum cable package and moved to a pay-per-view model charging $10 per game. For baseball, Holub could purchase YES, the Yankees’ regional network, for $240/year. But that package would not get him access to the World Series because those games were exclusive to Fox’s linear television channel. (Not a particular problem for a Yankees fan this year, of course.) For older millennial cord-cutters and non-cord-cutters alike, the cost of watching baseball has become prohibitive. “I’m 37 and I’d rather watch Jomboy for 4 minutes,” Holub said. “I watched 10 minutes of (Game 2) the other night and fell asleep. Jomboy’s breakdown of someone getting tagged out on the batting glove was riveting.” Ironically, an August 1969 cover of TV Guide asked the question, “Will Soaring Costs Knock Sports off TV?” Finally, we have the answer: yes, in part. Holub believes that’s where the interesting, nuanced part of the so-what-if-ratings-are-down question comes into play. It doesn’t mean that baseball is dying. He contrasted Fox’s approach to this postseason with ESPN’s approach to football, where the Manning brothers and Pat McAfee have provided popular “alternative broadcasts.” In some cases, Holub believes, the “alternative” broadcasts have been more successful than the “primary” linear offerings. “I’d much rather watch Brockmire call a game than Joe Buck,” he said. TruTV and Max toyed with an alternative broadcast format during the National League Championship Series. Host Alanna Rizzo moderated a group discussion among Albert Pujols, Pedro Martinez, Yonder Alonso, Nestor Cortes and other players and former players alike. It was conversational. It ignored the play-by-play that anyone could observe for themselves on screen. It was easy to tune in and out. Unfortunately, it wasn’t available during the World Series. Of course, that’s my own bias, and therein lies another litmus test. Some will view the suffering World Series ratings as the fault of the decline of the starting pitcher. Others will point to the teams involved, and the general lack of household names on either the Diamondbacks or Rangers. Or bat flips. Or John Smoltz’s commentary. Whatever you don’t like, blame that. The death of cultural monoliths (like, say, “The Andy Williams Show”) is well-chronicled. Who can blame someone who simply enjoys having the television on in the background for choosing one of a hundred things other than the World Series when their options number in the triple digits? Heck, you could even have watched Game 1 of the 1969 World Series last Friday if that was your cup of tea. It’s on YouTube in its entirety. But the networks are still married to old-school metrics, like Nielsen ratings, as a direct connection to advertising revenue. Holub believes the notion of spreading out a number of alternate game broadcasts over multiple corporate properties is the key to future success. Why expect one failing product to generate 10 million viewers when 10 products can give you one million viewers each? Or so the thinking goes. In 2021, ESPN extended its contract with the NFL through 2033. Fox only holds the World Series rights through 2028. The need to cultivate more viewers over a 12-year period is enough to inspire more experimentation, Holub believes – hence the Manningcasts, he said. If you’re in Camp 3 and you believe baseball is dying, that’s fine. Just don’t use the World Series ratings as definitive proof. “I don’t think baseball is dying,” Holub said. “Interest is changing because society-wise we just have so many more options for what to do with our time.” View the full article

yep

A laugher!

Unbelievable error opens the door to a Ranger title.

I think the 2023 season ends tonight. Major error for the D-backs just now scores 2 runs for Texas. Not much longer now.

Game over.

I can appreciate your faith in our organization's abilities. I wish I had the same faith, but two decades of incredibly questionable decision-making has me quite down. And yes, I believe it starts with Arte, but that has been regurgitated to death.

At this point, I just want the WS to be over so free agency can start soon. Hopefully, we'll get a quick resolution to the Ohtani situation, one way or the other, since I'm assuming a lot of other Angels moves will hinge on what happens with him.

I am, partially because I'm aware of the nature of his injuries. The back thing was something the Angels gambled on rehabbing and ended up needing to perform the surgery. The shoulder cap issue is both a lengthy rehab and one where guys tend to recover -- that said shoulders are STILL a crap shoot, I liked that the Angels played it safe with him. But yeah, he didn't have any peers in the system when it came to pitch quality. Pitchers are both bigger risks and easier bets in some ways. A hitter misses two years early in his development and he may never reach his potential. A pitcher misses two years and so long as he has the ability to make hitters miss he'll be fine. People believed it was nuts to think he could go from A ball to getting MLB hitters out then he did it -- while not throwing his best pitch at all. I'd be less disappointed had I not been getting updated the entire way through, including the planned shutdown BEFORE he had even made his first appearance back. Like you said - any of Warren, Marte, or any of the TJ crew could have been exposed and would have likely passed through waivers.

Well, I do think you are a bit biased with him - which is unusual for you - but I also get it, and I trust your talent assessment. I've said my piece already, though (to mmc above).

Its hard to find comps because his situation was kind of odd. A true 17 year old so that first year wasn't even a season, then the Covid season. But its not difficult to find guys who sat out a couple years and have made it. Lets check in on Jose Soriano in a couple years. Sadrac Franco too. Neither guy has the same upside, both guys have missed a ton of time.

@Inside Pitch, just say it: The Angels are a dumb organization, Perry or no. It is one thing after the other; this is just another instance in a long stream of them. It is not a well-run org, thus the streak of losing seasons. I don't care what his injury history is, you just don't let go of an upside guy like C-Rod for nothing, especially when you're protecting absolute schlubs. This has a good chance of being equivalent to Pestano for Clevinger. Or to paraphrase a former president, "A loser organization."

...and that's different from now in what way?

Those are the things that gives me pause. He's in their backyard, and they made room for him. Did we get caught trying to be cute? Again?

Whatever it is, I hope it passes.

In all seriousness, hope everything is okay with you, dude.

Who's the cat that won't cop out When there's danger all about? RIP Richard