Jeff Fletcher

Could be either way. I’m not sure what happened here.

Nevin has on a few occasions said he thought about doing something he ultimately didn’t do, and that the other choice might have been better. The last one I remember was in Baltimore when he said he was thinking of walking Santander, who hit a 3-run HR.

I will definitely see if I can find out today what was going on.

By the way, I finally watched what you guys are talking about. Erica asked that. I give Erica tons of credit for asking tougher, and more insightful, questions than most TV people, but a person is her job is never going to really “grill” a manager or player on something they don’t want to answer. They essentially (although not directly) work for the team. That is exactly the type of situation for what I was talking about. After the camera stops, Nevin explains. Whether that explanation gets reported depends what it was and which reporter got the answer.

Makes you appreciate me! Seriously, though, this is why people need to subscribe to whatever outlet they like. It’s easy to say “oh I can get all the same stuff from Twitter or the message board or the broadcast,” but you can’t. I don’t think there’s any “etiquette” in a case like this.

I wasn’t there this weekend so I don’t have anything beyond what was reported in the stories that are already posted here.

Late here, but I don’t think this has anything to do with Neto. Fletcher replaces Neto Moose/Escobar replace Urshela/Walsh

I didn’t hear the exchange or see the game, but sometimes in a case like this if the manager is really pissed off about something and it’s on camera your best bet is to pull him aside after the cameras stop and get the answer. With strategic stuff they very often don’t want be quoted ripping one of his players, but if you get him off the record after he’ll tell you the actual reason and you just have to find a way to work it in without attaching it to his name. Of course if you just try to corner him or embarrass him on TV in the interest of gotcha journalism and getting Twitter to cheer you on, then he’s not going to tell you anything. I don’t know about this situation exactly, but speaking in general when there are unresolved issues from what you see on TV, that’s why.

They do have extra uniforms with them at all times, along with a lot of numbers and letters. I assume the home team has the equipment for attaching the stuff.

Yes. The best case scenario is late August

We talked to him on Tuesday and he was hoping maybe he could start some baseball stuff this weekend. I am not in Colorado so that’s all I’ve got.

I was just listening to the ESPN Baseball tonight podcast that aired on Wednesday. Buster Olney and Jeff Passan. I was prepared to poo-poo these National guys spewing all the usual stuff about Ohtani. But no. They pretty much said everything that I’ve been saying. And I’m sure they didn’t get it from me. Worth a listen.

It’s interesting that you found those insightful because to me they were just all nonsense. If you didn’t know who said them it could be the GM of any team at any time of year. But maybe I’m jaded.

There are really two separate questions here, and you're sort of bouncing back and forth in your responses. 1. Does Ohtani want to be an Angel? You don't think he does. I think he's open to it, at least. Neither of us knows. 2. Will Ohtani sign where he can get the highest offer? That's the one I'm sure about. It's a definite "not necessarily." I'm not just saying that as it applies to the Angels. I think it applies to all teams. He could sign with the Dodgers for $500M even if the Mets offer $600M because he feels he'd be happier and win more with the Dodgers. It's going to be the same as the first time he picked a team, just with a few more zeroes. He's going to have 5 or 6 teams that are able to get in the financial ballpark (including the Angels) and after that he's just going to pick where he wants to be, as opposed to picking which of those 5 or 6 writes the biggest check. So the Angels don't have to be able to outbid the Dodgers/Mets. They just have to convince Ohtani that this is the place he'd be the happiest.

First, there's a big gap between "two top 100 prospects" and "only fringe prospects." I think Ohtani definitely gets you one top 100 prospect, and another decent one (maybe someone in the 100-200 range), and then maybe a third fringe one. That's more than any other single two-month rental player would yield. But it's not so much that it's going to immediately fill holes with sure things. Ultimately you're still just crossing your fingers and hoping. I keep going back to the Scherzer-Turner deal, because I think that's the closest you can come to approximating Ohtani, and even that's a bad approximation because Turner wasn't a rental and he was a shortstop, and Scherzer was a proven "every 5th day" not "every 6th day" starter. And for all that, the Nationals got two top 100 prospects. So I find it hard to believe you'd get close to the same return for two months of a pitcher and two months of a DH.

There's definitely a possibility they could do that, but I am not sure they'd want Adell up in the majors if he's only going to play against lefties.

I did my best to get to the bottom of the Fletcher thing yesterday. As I wrote in my story, the bereavement situation was an issue. Probably the main one right now, although they won’t say that publicly because then that raises questions about exactly what happened and that’s something that’s up to him to reveal. Beyond that, they don’t love his approach at the plate. You need only to look at Jared Walsh for a reminder that AAA pitching is not major league pitching (never mind the altitude).

The one thing I feel the most confident in regarding the whole situation is this: Ohtani is going to play where he wants to play, even if another team is offering him more money. The guy doesn’t care about money and has literally no life outside of the ballpark.

No chance you’re getting two top 100 prospects for Ohtani right now.

But the players you would get in an Ohtani trade are sure things to be All-Stars right away?

Honestly I think the same applies to Goldschmidt since they have him next year too. For as bad as the Cardinals have been, there’s no reason for them not to try to win the division in 2024. The division is so bad that I wouldn’t even rule out the Cubs being in the race this year, which would eliminate Stroman.

On your first point, yes I think the Angels could win a bidding war. He won bidding wars for Hamilton, Pujols and Rendon, and he’s going even more motivation to win this one. Plus, I don’t think Ohtani necessarily needs every dollar he can get. If Ohtani would rather play for the Angels than Dodgers, he’ll sign with the Angels, no matter what the Dodgers offer. As for your second question, it is very possible that whoever signs Ohtani ends up regretting it. That’s true of every premium free agent.

@disarcina I think you’re overvaluing what the Angels would get in return for Ohtani and undervaluing what it be worth to actually make the playoffs (in terms of the overall fan experience, the money the Angels make from it, and the amount that it would increase their chances of re-signing Ohtani). It would also send a terrible message to the players (including future players you might want to sign) if you trade Ohtani away while you’re in the race. You’re probably also undervaluing the draft pick they’d get for him. (Zach Neto and Ben Joyce were “just draft picks.”) Also there’s a bunch of extra draft pool money you get with that pick.

I will definitely talk to him at the ballpark today to get an update.

Why do so many people think Neto is coming back this quickly? Its a strained oblique. I doubt you can find a guy who missed less than a month with a strained oblique.