Frieri Meatball

And from August first of 2023, the Angels had zero shot of keeping him.  Their only chance to prove to Shohei that they could do what was necessary to win was 2023.  Just prior to the deadline they were within shouting distance of the wild card.  Injuries had piled up and Perry was essentially forced to make a bunch of trades to maintain what he was able to piece together from earlier in the season.  The problem was that his deadline was an absolute miserable failure that ultimately left the team with 73 wins and zero chance to re-sign him.  If you pull out all of the stops and end up with 73 wins while going 17-38 over the final 55 games of a must win season, you have zero chance to keep a guy who's main priority is winning.  
The long term success of any baseball franchise is the farm system.  You might be able to occasionally piece together a halfway decent team via the free agent market and some trades, but ultimately, to create sustainable winning, you need to have a capable farm system.  This is not a mystery to any of us.   
And it's not just about having a young, club controlled, major league team.  You always need to worry about the next guy.  Injury and poor performance happen as we've seen.  Over and Over and Over.  
Having Ohtani and Trout.  Two generational players and not being able to piece together a winner just tells you how important this really is.  And the real kick in the teeth is that the farm was kinda moving in the right direction yet to convince Ohtani to stay, you have to essentially put a major dent in what little progress the system had made.   And because they're stubborn and short-sighted as a franchise as they've been for the last 20 years, they were never going to trade their golden goose for what is actually even more important that a Unicorn.  
So here we stand once again.  With the worst farm in baseball.  Yes, there is some young talent on this roster but in order to win it will take everyone reaching their potential and very few, if any, injuries.  
I actually don't care that they didn't keep Shohei for that kind of money.  I'm most annoyed because of the double bitch slap at the end.  Not trading him AND selling off a bunch of prospects to try and keep him.  Recently I have wanted to believe that this franchise was doing things to move in the right direction.  Nope, they just doubled down and put themselves in a lose lose.  
I really don't think I'm gonna feel a lot of positivity toward this team until Arte no longer owns it.  

And to be clear we could have locked Ohtani up a couple of years ago and probably at about 50% less than what he just signed. Of course Ohtani would have to be agreeable to sign it, but this could have played out a lot differently, years ago, if Arte had the balls.

I don't give two shit's how Arte is feeling. This is just another nail in the proverbial coffin of the Angels franchise, because he didn't have the foresight to lock up Shohei Ohtani. To his credit he did lock up Mike Trout, but at what cost when he didn't have the balls to be a large market franchise and make large market moves to surround Trout (and Ohtani at the time) with the right supporting cast. He just contributed to some big fumbles over the last decade to make the "splash", rather than consistently smart baseball moves.
The day that he needs to sell the franchise hopefully comes sooner, not later. Like Scioscia, he has been at the helm too long, no matter what you think of him, good or bad.

I’m going to get shit on for this, but there is NO way in hell he will be worth that. None. 

Ohtani has been living in a tent by the Santa Ana River.  He doesn't plan to move.

If he signs here for 600 million then Arte better be ready to blow past the tax threshold for the next few years to win with Trout/Ohtani and go out there and get Snell or Yamamoto and get some 3B insurance and a couple relievers like Hicks and Stephenson. 

So many people are completely discounting Ohtani returning to the Angels.  But he’s got a place in his heart for the team, the fans.  Angels have a legit shot of him returning.  

This is what I tell everyone. 
 
There are really 3 factors that determine where a FA plays: winning, comfort and money. I think everyone agrees that money is no 3 for Ohtani. 
 
If winning is No 1, it’s the Dodgers. If comfort is No 1, it’s the Angels. Difficult to see how another team could trump the Angels or Dodgers in those categories. 

I would be far more encouraged by this argument if this weren't an organization with a history of throwing big money at declining stars, ignoring the farm system and doing everything on the cheap. The chief difference is that the Rangers are well run, something that no one would accuse the Angels of. They also have an excellent farm system, which has yielded important pieces of the team.

Hahahahahaha.
What a fucking idiot!

It's a damn fucken shame that Arte keeps getting involved.  We will never ever get anyone respectable running the Angels as long as Arte owns the team

Good time to move on from mediocrity.

Too long; didn't read? 
Let me paste the most important 8 words: 
"Player development is the lifeblood of any franchise"
 
 

So, our owner has turned into Jackie Autry.  Even the cheap beer has essentially disappeared.  
Mr. Moreno, if you're going to run the Angels that way, please take the 2.3 billion dollars, or whatever it was that you were offered, and move on.  

every year i'm hopeful that the team will turn the corner and get back to being a winning, championship caliber team. the revelations that have come out over the course of this year no longer inspire me to feel that way.
significant changes need to be in approach and front office personnel, including ownership. until that happens, we're in for a long, dark night.

You couldn't have fucked up the organization any more if you had tried.
 
Are you really a Dodger fan who always intended to make this organization a laughingstock? If so, mission accomplished. 
 
Sell the fucking team. We don't want you here any more. 

The fact that they won't even give an update until tomorrow is such a bullshit Angels thing to do. They obviously know, yet are making the fanbase wait around. This team is such a massive shit show. My only hope is that all of this convinces Arte to sell this offseason. This is the saddest day of a very sad season. 

If they just found out two weeks ago.....either this is the worst medical staff in the history of professional sports or Rendon is liar.  Both are probably true though. 
This organization is a total shit show under Moreno.  

Happens the same way every single year for the last 8-10 years..
20 games left?
15-5
I'm not rooting for losses,but the pattern is fucking ridicous!

Arte has a toxic obsession with "self-reliance". Nobody in his organization "deserves" anything. No wonder minor leaguers are living in vans down by the river, and radio announcers are calling plays in Anaheim instead of on the road. I loved his comments on "Ohtani needing to want to be here". No shit you caustic fail of a leader. 

Why?  Is she planning on suiciding some of the players?  

Firing Perry would be so brain dead I can't even stand the thought of it.

The moment there wasn't a response in Toronto for Chapman mouthing off and Ward getting hit in the face, showed a lot about the team from the coaches, to the management, to the players. And they've played like dog shit ever since. They play with no edge, no identity, no swagger. First thing that needs to be changed if we miss the playoffs and there's a makeover in the leadership of the team, is this identity problem.

1. New ownership. Unless that changes, this losing culture that has been with this team for 9 years will continue. 
2. See number 1.

It’s like how Chapman in the Toronto saying to his manager why are you pitching to Ohtani, nobody else can hit?! And then we go ahead and roll over like a bunch of soft ass losers and do exactly what Chapman said we would. 
 
pathetic.