Jeff Fletcher

They have the 12th highest weighted OBA when they put an 0-0 pitch in play. wOBA is basically OBP, but weighted so hits and extra base hits count more than walks. I used it because that's what Trendon used. I'm not sure it's the best stat to use in this situation because there are no walks. I think plain ol BA or SLG are probably just as good. They are 15th in BA and 13th in SLG. They are 12th in OPS. As for the frequency of 0-0 swings, the Angels are tops in the majors at 34.6%. (The MLB average is 30.5%, though, so there's not a big difference between the most and least.) They have put the first pitch in play in 11.1% of their PA's, which ranks 8th. (The MLB average is 10.7%) Also, they rank 10th in most pitches per plate appearance at 3.94. (MLB average is 3.90)

Never say never. But if you're asking what I think they're going to do, I don't think they're going to trade him. I think they feel they have a better chance of re-signing him than all of you do.

By the way, as of today they're 12th (I have no idea if this link will work) https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPTM=&hfPT=&hfAB=&hfGT=R|&hfPR=&hfZ=&hfStadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfPull=&hfC=00|&hfSea=2023|&hfSit=&player_type=batter&hfOuts=&hfOpponent=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&hfMo=&hfTeam=&home_road=&hfRO=&position=&hfInfield=&hfOutfield=&hfInn=&hfBBT=&hfFlag=&metric_1=&group_by=team&min_pitches=0&min_results=0&min_pas=0&sort_col=woba&player_event_sort=api_p_release_speed&sort_order=desc&chk_stats_abs=on&chk_stats_hits=on&chk_stats_woba=on#results They're also 5th in xwOBA

No

This is probably what you’re looking at. Maybe with a fourth fringe guy thrown in. I think the main problem with the “trade Ohtani” talk is that people are over-estimating what the Angels would get back. As I’ve said many times, look at the Scherzer-Turner trade. The Nats gave up more than Ohtani in that deal (Turner is a SS and had a whole year of control left) and they got 2 top 100 prospects (Josiah Gray and Kiebert Ruiz). I think if subtract one of those guys, you’re close to what Ohtani would net.

Which never happened, by the way. Is @Trendon connected to those guys? As for the first pitch swinging, that’s a good question. It may just be an over correction from last year, when the whole team was clearly too passive at the plate.

This is kind of a silly point. He’s looked really unhappy when they lose. But he’s looked really happy when they win. Like everyone else.

I would expect Neto, Drury and Moore back when the second half starts (or within a few days of the start). I’d also like to think Rendon will be OK by then but I know better than to assume. If you think about it, who are some of the guys who weren’t starting in May who are going to be counted on now? Fletcher, Adell, Moniak, Moustakas, Escobar, Walsh. (I also think Rengifo has looked a little better lately, but we’ll see.) That beats Mayfield, Lagares, Villar, Stefanic, Gosselin, etc. They also still have a lot of room for improvement from Anderson and Sandoval. Do they have an uphill climb? A challenge? Sure But it’s too soon to give up.

Check back after his next bullpen in a day or two.

First, with that BABIP there is some bad luck. Second, in general a player will say the right thing a lot more often than he’ll do the right thing. So, which seems more likely: A) After a very successful year, he consciously tried to do something different? B) He is still trying to do what he did last year, but he’s not doing it correctly. I’m taking B. Also, I looked up some numbers that suggest this year he’s swinging more and chasing more with runners in scoring position, which is probably the exact thing he was talking about avoiding in the quote you referred to. It makes sense to me that he’s slumping so he puts more pressure on himself to come through in big spots and that makes it even worse

Are you suggesting that his mental approach in 2023 is different than it was in 2022?

Also, you guys stumbled into on my pet peeves: the runner at 3B with less than two outs. People seem to think this is should be an automatic run, like kicking an extra point. The MLB average is always around 50 percent. The Angels are currently 49.7 percent. The Astros are 51.5. The best team in baseball is 58 percent and the worst is 42 percent.

Personal services contracts are no longer allowed. Also, a player is not allowed to have any ownership interest in a club. And the promise of that in the future would presumably not be allowed for the same reason that there are no personal services contracts anymore.

No. The whole point of moving him back a day was to get him extra rest. They want him to have a 10-day break.

His velocity was up today.

First of all, there’s only a 3-year window when Rendon would overlap with Ohtani and Trout, and they could probably backload Ohtani’s deal to mitigate that. Also, if you have a good farm system you can more easily trade for a 28-year old to fill a hole for $7M instead of paying $15M for a 31-year old.

That’s not actually what I’m saying. I’m saying all teams need a lot of good young guys to win. Guys who cost a lot of money are usually old and on their way down.

The only way the Angels can win consistently while paying Ohtani that much is to have a strong farm system. Also, the only way the Angels can win consistently without Ohtani is to have a strong farm system.

Guardians

Look up Renfroe’s career. He’s been really consistent. This is not a case of the Angels getting some guy off his career year and then he turns back into a pumpkin (Zack Cozart). I don’t think you should give up on him. His first two months were good. His third month has been bad. As for Adell, go back and read what I wrote about him yesterday. His OPS, K% and BB% at AAA this year are all very similar to what he did at AAA last year, and we saw how that translated to the majors. I am not sure why people seem to be so sure he’s figured something out that suddenly makes him a good bet to be productive in the majors. I’m not saying he won’t be. I’m just saying that there’s no reason to be confident of it until he does it.

Nothing in this post is true. I just picked a random schedule (the 1980 Angels) and it had all of the things you said didn’t exist. Honestly, the schedule gets better and more logical every year. I know this because it keeps getting harder for me to make Platinum with my miles (more efficient grouping of cities on road trips).

1B seems like the easiest spot but they really have so many guys who can play so many positions that they could basically fit in a bat at any position except CF. They probably also couldn’t get a 3B who only plays 3B because presumably someday Rendon will be healthy and he can’t play anywhere else.

It seems to change every week. I was saying a starter a couple weeks ago, but now the starters are all improving, so maybe it's a bat. And every team can use more relievers. In other words, ask me in about 28 days.

This is the last year that Fletcher can be optioned. Going on and off the 40-man roster doesn't change the number of options you have. It's all a moot point once he gets to 5 years of service time. At that point, he could just refuse to be optioned and become a free agent, without giving up his salary. Another team could then pick him up for free. He began the season with 4 years 111 days. He got about 15 days at the start of the season before he was sent down, and now the clock is ticking again since he's been back. Once you get to 172 days, it goes to the next year. So he's got maybe 40 days left to be optioned.

Wait, which Twitter account is you @Trendon? And I did find out the reason that Moustakas didn’t hit but it was off the record.