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Dave Saltzer

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Posts posted by Dave Saltzer

  1. 11 minutes ago, Swordsman78 said:


    Well done and provides the ideal road map for the Halos path back to relevance.   This piece will serve as a good benchmark for where many Angel fans are at going into the season and before the games start and life punches us in the mouth.   Any projections on how the team will react when things inevitably begin to go sideways?

    Could you also post the thoughts from the 2023 Chalk talk?   It would also be an interesting read.

    I can't remember, if due to my health at the time, if I attended that Chalk Talk

    And if I did I probably didn't write up a summary like this, again due to my health. 

     

    I am so glad that I'm doing better now. 

  2. I love and hate doing this, because I don't want to jinx players and the team, but it will be fun. 

     

    Here are some of my predictions, some of which are more bold than others. 

     

    1. The Angels finish with an 82-80 record. Optimism returns to Halos fans and the Arte hatred dies down after 2 months as the Angels have a winning season. 

    2. Anderson pitches well enough that he is traded at the deadline for prospects and to open up a spot for Soriano in the rotation. Wantz takes over the role vacated by Soriano. 

    3. Detmers throws another no-no and becomes our staff ace. 

    4. The Angels draft JJ Weatherholtz who quickly becomes part of our young nucleus at 2B (this would be an awesome long-term stroke of luck for us and we would be lucky if he fell to us, which is looking possible). 

    5. Ward is hitting. 275 with 10 dingers at the deadline and is still traded at the deadline. 

    6. Rada starts in AA and proves he deserves to be our future leadoff hitter. He is promoted after the deadline to start in LF and next year he and Trout flip-flops positions (imagine that tough conversation!). 

    7. O'Hoppe becomes our team and clubhouse leader and provides a stable presence for the team. 

    8. I am healthy enough to get at least 6 interviews at the IE over the whole season (meaning that I am well enough to go there several times). I also am there to get an interview with a player on rehab. The Angels see that I'm healthy enough again and allow Chuck and me to get at least 1 player like Neto for a Zoom interview. 

    9. We trade off a couple other bullpen arms, such as Suarez, to open up spots for Bachman and Joyce,who are both healthy and pitching well. 

    10. Trout and Rendon each play over 125 games, with Trout playing a bit more than Rendon. 

    11. The Angels provide enough story lines that as I regain sensation in my fingers and hands that I can and want to write up at least 6 articles this season, after not writing 6 articles combined since 2020.

    12. Chuck, Victor and Geoff continue to do a GREAT job with the podcast that they get a former player or two to join them on some episodes. I'm thinking that Tim Salmon is their first "get". 

    13. Caden Dana pitches so will on AA that he forces his way into the conversation to be a starter next year. Sandoval is traded in the offseason to open a spot for him. 

    14. The national media still doesn't get the Angels or our farm system, doesn't get how a 28-30th ranked farm system can pull of these trades or promote so many players. We get ranked 26th in terms of organizations next year. How ever, with all the trades that we make, we acquire a young 3B to round out our core team with a young player at every infield and OF position. Ang ls fans realize that we don't need another big splash next year, and still become a dominant team in the AL West in 2025. The national media doesn't get it. 

    15. AngelsWin still remains the best site to talk Angels Baseball, where friendships are made, humor is rampant, and is the awesome place that Chuck made it to be for the past 20 years. We all say thanks to Chuck for all he's done over 20 years to make it such a place, even when we argue passionately about Angels Baseball. 

    16. Schanuel finishes with a .385+ OB‰, 15 dingers, and finishes in the top 3 for ROY. 

    17. The Angels are 8 games over 500 when Neto starts at SS. 

    18. I will be at next year's ST Fanfest, and because of the interviews that I did, bring some prospects for us to meet. After interviewing him again this year, Chuck gets to know Dana well enough that he gets him to come to the Fanfest too! 

     

    I think those are my main predictions. Of I have some more I will add them. But those are some bold predictions in more ways than one. 

     

     

  3. On 3/5/2024 at 11:46 AM, Blarg said:

    In 2012 I was setting up the location for the Angelswin Fanfest. I was looking for an upgrade from the defunct Hail Mary's sports bar and found a nice place with a patio that could hold up to 50 people. That would have been a record showing for an Angels win Fanfest, and I had it locked down at a fan friendly price which included bar food. 

    Then Arte Moreno screwed that all up by signing Albert Pujols to a 10 year contract.

    All of a sudden we started getting more and more people wanting to come and quickly it blew past the 50 person limit. Suddenly it had become a major event and how to house all of those old and new fans was going to be a challenge. So I told Chuck the days of grungy sports bars were over, we had to dress up this event and become more, lots more. And we ended up being just that.

     I found the Fiesta Resort and Conference Center, right down the road from Tempe Diablo stadium, and started wheeling and dealing for a conference room. I reserved a room that could seat 125 people with an attached patio, bar service with a real catered meal and to top it off got special room rates. At the time we had only 75 or so reservations and by the night of the event every single table was full. Somehow @Brian Ilten kept track of all partygoers and checked them in, no party crashers at this event. 

    But that was only part of the surprise for the fans. Chuck with his connection to Tim Mead, put together and amazing list of players, including Jerome Williams and Cole Calhoun that attended a couple of Fanfests over those years. But the surprise guest was Arte Moreno himself. I almost didn't know what to say when I greeted him at the entrance to the conference room. He wasn't even sure what he was walking into so I explained this was a gathering of fans, both casual and season ticket holders, through a website dedicated to Angels baseball. He looked at me like, what? A handshake later, him and Carol, along with some of his staff, entered the room and the crowd went crazy.

    Arte gave a speech to the fans that is on the Angelswin website, I'm sure @Chuck can drop a link to the video. It was the first Fanfest of it's kind and from then it kept growing to the point we hosted over 230 people at the Fiesta Resort in even larger banquet rooms which featured Don Baylor and Tim Salmon as guest speakers. It was a ton of work but to see fans just reveling in being fans of the team made it worth the effort. 

    Ahem, I got the Minor leaguers to attend from all of the interviews that I had done with them. Calhoun was so nervous during the meal, but was an an incredible interview. It was the first time that he had really been treated like a star and never forgot it. 

     

    Here are 2 stories:

     

    1) When Arte showed up, I asked him if he wanted or needed anything. He asked me for a beer, so I went out and bought him a beer. I know that Arte's reputation had taken a hit over the years, but at the time, he could do no wrong. Buying the owner of the team a beer is something I will never forget. He appreciated it, and then started talking for about an hour. All the poor minor leaguers standing behind him, especially Matt Shoemaker with his beard, standing behind him the whole time and unable to sit or do anything because the owner of the team was talking was both painful and funny at the same time. And who can forget when Arte took a swkp at Percy's hat by saying "I used to shoot at things like that back in Vietnam". And it was his own team's promo! 

     

    Later, after the dinner, Matt Shoemaker asked me to drop him off at a dinner that he was having with Mike Trout at a Japanese restaurant. So, my two friends, Mike and Kevin joined me driving him across town and getting to meet Mike Trout. Shoemaker was unbelievably chill and telling us all sorts of stories from camp, most of which I can't repeat, and just having fun with a really great guy. 

     

    I felt so badly when he was hit in the head. He was definitely a favorite player, as was Calhoun. 

     

    Oh, one more nonstory story. Hanging with Steve Geltz. If you know, you know. 

  4. Obviously, it would all depend on the deal we sign him to in order to justify losing the draft pick. As I wrote before in the Hot Stove thread, I can see Arte, in his mind, saying that he wants at least a draft pick for losing Ohtani. And, I would still want to sign JD Martinez. 

     

    But, one argument in favor of signing Snell (again to the right deal, not an opt out after year 1 or 2 at the very least) is that this year's class is considered a rather weak class, especially in terms of pitching. So, losing a end round pick may not be as bad as losing a 2nd round pick in 2025.

  5. Here's a thought:

    Arte held onto Shohei because he didn't want to be the owner who traded that level of talent away. Trading Shohei may have been the "right" baseball move, but certainly wasn't the "right" marketing/business move (although we can argue that if they traded Shohei away a year prior at the deadline).

     

    Because we got our payroll underneath the cap, we get an extra pick after the 2nd round for losing Shohei. And, since we were a bottom 10 record team, we can't lose our 1xt round pick if we sign a player with a QO, and instead would lose our 2nd round pick.

     

    By signing Snell, and forfeiting our 2nd round pick, we essentially (and especially in Arte's mind) will get nothing for Shohei. Snell alone isn't going to get us to the postseason, so, while one could argue that what we got for Shohei was the FA we signed, it's not going to move the needle that much for us. So, I can see why, in Arte's mind, he doesn't want to sign a player with a QO. 

     

    On another note, I can also see Arte and Perry thinking that the RSN bankruptcy isn't truly resolved. Some teams may become more desperate to unload if there is another collapse. So, it might be wise to hold off a bit to see what happens and who becomes available. 

     

    Personally, if we could sign Martinez and Montgomery to reasonable deals, I'd do it.I would like Montgomery to push Anderson into a long relief role at first. With young pitchers, we will have games where we will need him for that. Until he shows me more, I would like to see him get fewer innings, especially fewer critical innings.

     

    As for JD, I think he would add an interesting and valuable role to mentor our younger players and Mike Trout. Father time takes its toll on everyone. And yet, Martinez has managed to stay in great shape and put up solid numbers through his age 36 season. Try as he might, Trout will age and will need to adjust how he approaches the plate and his swing. Rather than having old man Rendon giving and showing the wrong way to g about his game, I would rather someone who continues to post great numbers to mentor Trout on how to continue to hit well as the body ages. Pujols did not show such an example, and more importantly isn't there to mentor Trout on this throughout the season. Adding JD to be an elder statesman and potential leader (assuming scouts say that he can fill that role) might be a good idea because of how young our team is overall. 

     

    I think that, in part, that's what they wanted out of Washington--to mentor the young team into a future core. If Washington can keep Neto and Schanuel developing, and can turn Adell into a solidto above average regular, then he will have earned his contract. 

  6. 19 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

    Blame the POS, former int’l scouting director Clay Daniels.

    Daniel's really didn't do anything that a lot of other international directors did or were doing at the time (or so I've been told by many in the industey). Except, he got caught and MLB made an example of him. 

     

    However, after that, we ignored the International Market, particularly the Latin market for a decade, setting our franchise back about 2 decades (once reputation is lost, and facilities go to hell, it's a lot harder to get top tiered Latin talent). I have always been very critical of the organization's lack of international presence and the organizations lack of scouting and player development. 

     

    If I owned the Angels, I would immediately double or more the scouting budget, especially international scouting, and more than double the budget for player development. 

     

    Having gotten to really see the insides of the different minor league teams, there are very specific things that I would do that would greatly enhance the overall organization, yield more from our drafts, and save the team lots of money over the long haul, as well as producing more Major League players. 

  7. 18 hours ago, Rollinghard said:

    Is scouting really that much of a crap shoot? If I was a scout, one thing I would do is have have batters face pitching machine throwing 105 plus mph. If they cant hit the ball they are eliminated. May sound over simplified but many hitters with "good swings" can't hit velo. 

    Absolutely! Not only are most of these players signing at 16-18, many of their deals have been worked out years in advance. So, you are truly projecting off of 13-15 year old players. You are talking middle school and high school players. That's a LOT of projection, not only in the physical side, but on the mental side. 

     

    Think of yourself at 16 to 18, committing to baseball and weights 8-10 hours a day in an academy, moving to an entirely different country, with a different language, and how you would handle all the changes. Not only do scouts have to project the physical tools, but the mental tools as well. 

     

    I have talked with many of them in Spanish, and they talk about being homesick, missing girlfriends, children, family, food, etc. Want to win a friend for life? Bring some good black beans, rice, plantains, etc for the Latin players. They will aprreciste it like you would appreciate an ice cold Coca Cola after living on a deserted isle for a few years. 

  8. On 1/6/2024 at 8:11 AM, Chuck said:

     

    Not only does Alberto Rios have a great baseball name, he has a very project able frame for power and a great attitude. I would love to have a team filled with players like that who will do whatever it takes to win. we need a more winning attitude on our team and we need leaders who will push players to achieve more than we thought possible (Erstad comes to mind), and we need players who will do and execute whatever is necessary to win. 

     

    I really hope that Rios makes it. It's nice to see good people succeed. 

  9. On 1/3/2024 at 10:33 AM, Blarg said:

    I secured 15 tickets in row M aisle 4 on the third base side for Friday, March 8th. It was the best location with that many available. Stadium is filling up fast.

    Please add your name to the list but try and keep it to no more than two per person. Tickets come to $60 each after the usual ticketmaster fleecing. If you don't want to be in please cross off your name.

    Blarg -2

    @Chuck -1

    @Spirit -1

    @James -1

    @katie -1

    @Brian Ilten -1

    @ScottT -1

     

     

     

     

    Dave 3 please. Trying hard to make it. Gotta confirm with my doctors as they may be switching things up on me. 

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