jsnpritchett

Again, though: there is literally no replacement who's even a passable major leaguer. Rengifo is not a full-time SS defensively. Adrianza has certainly not shown anything over the last decade-plus to indicate he can hold down the position on a full-time basis. Kyren Paris has a .360 OPS in AA. Elliot Soto, Jack Lopez, and Cole Tucker are the other options at AAA. For better or worse, they just have to ride it out with Neto. I can't imagine them making any sort of trade that would make much of a difference at this point.

It's actually pretty hilarious how frequently you're wrong.

I've noticed this season that they keep throwing it to Weston in the middle of at bats, leading to a number of her reads running right over into the outcome of the AB--and then the announcers don't even reference what happened to the hitter. Not sure why they keep doing that. Her reports also seem more rambling/less focused than in previous seasons. Strange.

Definitely. And if we include Davis Daniel, we can probably work a three-way trade with the Orioles and get Corbin Burnes, too.

Those guys are more like three-year-old scratch-offs that have already been used and thrown away.

That's Matt Vasgersian.

...yet they spent over $6M on Luis Garcia, Kolarek, and Plesac. A semi-competent middle infield option would have been a better use of the limited resources.

Yes, this is what I keep harping on with Neto and Schanuel as examples of the draft-a-guy-who-can-be-quick-to-the-majors strategy. If you're gonna go that route, you HAVE to get it right if you have a farm system that's as lean as the Angels. If those guys don't pan out immediately, you're stuck either playing them or sending them down and replacing them with absolute bottom of the barrel veterans.

Soriano didn't mess around that inning. Good to see him start strong.

Yikes. Ward with a 101-mph liner off of Montas' forearm. Montas threw him out, but he's being taken out. Doesn't look good.

All as expected. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/04/angels-select-ehire-adrianza.html

Stephenson appears to currently be on the 15-day, so they can just move him to the 60-day.

Nope, so they'll have to make a move.

No official announcement about Rendon yet, but if Adrianza is up, that pretty much says it all.

https://www.mlb.com/angels/news/anthony-rendon-hamstring-injury "Rendon, 33, started off his season by going 0-for-19 through his first five games but batted .357/.413/.411 (20-for-56) with three doubles and three RBIs over his last 14 games, including his infield single on Saturday. He had been serving as a catalyst atop the lineup in front of Mike Trout and had been starting to get it going offensively. “I think that's one of the most frustrating parts, right?” Rendon said. “I'm starting to barrel the ball more, and when I didn’t I was just starting to find holes. Like earlier in the season, I was barreling it and they were catching it. I think that’s the most frustrating part, I was getting into a groove and of course this happens." ... "In 2021, Rendon missed time with a left groin strain in April, a left knee contusion in May, a strained triceps in June and a left hamstring strain in July, but it's unclear if this injury is similar. He also underwent right hip surgery that August. Rendon didn’t recall the hamstring injury and said he’s still not sure how long he’ll be out with this injury. “I have no idea,” Rendon said. “A majority of my career, it’s always been quad. I’ve never really dealt with a hamstring.”

It really is shocking that this is the SS depth at AAA and AA so far this year (and obviously Livan Soto isn't even with Salt Lake anymore): Adrianza probably is the first guy up just by default, especially given how absolutely horrible Paris has been so far at Rocket City.

Sonny DiChiara now with a .115/.217/.154 line, with 27 K and 6 BB in 61 plate appearances.

As frustrating as he is, who's better? Despite all the pitchers the Angels have drafted in recent years, it's not like there's someone lurking at AA/AAA who is gonna be any better right now.

Never mind. Ha ha.

Adrianza did come out of the game today after one AB. I don't see anything online that indicates he got hurt. Could be getting called up if/when Rendon gets IL'ed. Again, though, you really can't expect anything from him other than not embarrassing you in the field when he plays. If he does anything at all at the plate, it's a bonus.

We know what Adrianza is: he's an 80 OPS+, .238/.308/.352 hitter who'll turn 35 in August. It's not like he's some youngster with untapped potential--and he's not even that great defensively anymore (not that he was Ozzie Smith or anything even earlier in his career).

Haven't said yet, but they didn't even have him test it out. They pulled him immediately. Probably not a great sign, especially given his history. (Or maybe they're just being overly cautious BECAUSE of his history...)