Pablo

No one. Replace the 6-man with the remaining 5-man rotation, and keep an extra bench player through April.

I can be prone to hyperbole...

Problem is, if you wait a month or so you have to rebuild his psyche as well. Confidence is a fragile thing, especially if you're a 23 year old with the hopes of a nation riding on your shoulders. Kid is too talented to risk screwing him up.

That's gonna take alot of Taco Bell runs. Maybe TDawg can help pitch in...

Well, yeah, that's why I said they would have to have very clear communication with Ohtani and make SURE he understood it was for his long-term good. Given the language and cultural barriers, that could be a very difficult thing to do. And as for the CBA, no they don't state that's why their sending him down, anymore than the Cubs did. But it's kinda like stealing signs; strictly against the rules, but tough to prove and it happens. Finally, not just talking about Shohei's money; It's franchise value; its W's & L's, it's doing what's necessary for the good (and yes, the value) of the team. Hey, I'm not even arguing FOR this; it's just that if it happens, and IF it happens well, might not be the end of the world. I'm rooting for the guy - just watching him you can see the top-of-rotation talent is there. I'm not in the "Blowtani" camp; I just believe we are getting what we had every right to expect - a VERY young future ace learning to pitch. But I'm old enough to remember David Clyde, the first HS pitcher to go straight to the majors with Texas. HUGE expectations that he had no hope of living up to. Destroyed his confidence, ruined him as a pitcher. I firmly believe if they'd let him get his feet wet in the minors, allow him a normal learning curve, they could have had something special.

I kinda have a problem with this. At the end of the day there is much money at stake; Angels front office should/must/will do whatever is needed. If that means sending Ohtani down for a month, I sure as heck hope the media doesn't get a vote. They could even spin it publicly with a Kris Bryant kind of thing; extending his club-controlled years. As long as they communicate clearly to Shohei that this is for his own good and development, which I think shouldn't be too tough considering the eye-opening he has probably gotten this spring. At the end of the day, it's transparent to the Angels; they established a 6-man rotation for Ohtani; if he gets sent down they still have the other five starters for a standard rotation. Added benefit, an extra bench guy for a month or two.

Still, it's more fun to win meaninglessly than to lose meaninglessly

Why yes, yes it is...

Ridiculous article. I feel pretty comfortable mocking them right now.

Wait - I thought you could pull a guy off waivers once he's claimed if you really don't want to let him go. Why didn't they do that with Jenks if they were that upset?

Agreed. - @Dave Saltzer, make it so!

We hit up Culvers on the way out of AZ -- Cheese curds & Frozen Custard.... yummmmm.....

I'm down!! There's going to be 6 of us, and two cars. I'm thinking not all of my party is going to need to see Ohtani pitch; so if some of us could get dropped off at Tempe Diabo, the rest can take the cars and get parked at Cubs stadium. Then whoever of us want to see Ohtani can do the Uber thing from Tempe Diablo to Hohokam.

Thaiss continues to impress...

Yeah - tough break for Ohtani, but great play. The best part was Terri Smith was the only one in the audience who didn't know it had been caught!

My wife just said 'last year he'd still be on 2nd'

I heard that, too. I have tix to Wed & Fri - my fear was he would pitch Thursday and we'd miss him altogether. Now, if he pitches Friday in the "B" game, at least we'll see him bat on Wednesday. HOWEVER - there's part of me that thinks the team understands the public relations value of Ohtani pitching in front of an audience, and Scioscia will be under at least some pressure to pitch him against the Cubs. Fingers crossed!

My understanding is they wanted to be able to control his pitch count. They wanted him to get 50, spread over three innings. I think I read that he only got two outs in the 2nd (when he gave up the three hits), but Angels didn't want him to throw any more that inning, so both teams agreed to take him out, but let him come back for the 3rd. Can't do that stuff I guess when people are paying $$ for tix.

Ahh, thanks. Got spoiled with all the day games so far. Tried watching the Dodgers instead..... but, yeah.....

NO LIVE LOCAL BROADCAST???

OTOH - from the same site - after 2 HR in their 7th game of the spring, the Angels have moved up to a tie for 24th.

Early returns on MLB batting average* - two Halos top the list. *A batter must have 3.1 plate appearances per team game played (1.86 PA during spring training) to qualify for league leadership.

I'll echo that. As much as I enjoyed the Sat night dinner and guest speakers, I think I enjoyed the Tim Mead talk even more. The ambiance of sitting with a small group of dedicated fans looking out over an empty Tempe Diablo stadium (other than some early morning player workouts), chatting with the front office in an informal give and take setting was remarkable.

4 fer 4 to start the game.

Chuck - do you need tickets to the Sunday game to get in to the Tim Mead talk?