aznhockeyguy

This reminds me of the Angels signing Gary Matthews Jr. for some reason.

Man those are some memorable names. I would have to say Pujols. I was excited for Vlad and Colon when Arte signed them both after the disappointing 2003 season, but getting Pujols, an all-time great player to come to the Angels was a coup. Of course there were warning signs during his last season with the Cardinals, but I thought it was overblown. Of course, we all know how that signing worked out.

What's to explain? Shohei wanted to win badly, so he picked a franchise that has won a lot of regular season games, division titles, and have been to the playoffs every season since he's arrived to MLB, that also has have stability in their front office and manager, with a great support staff. He also received the biggest contract in MLB history and only have to move about 25 miles up the 5 freeway to make this happen. Angels had 6 seasons to show Shohei what a great organization they were, only for Arte to cheap out at every corner, had 4 different managers during his 6 seasons here, and never having a winning MLB season since arriving. The explanation is, we're a shit franchise, the Dodgers aren't.

Arte's only pissed because he lost his cash cow and the franchise is worth less, now that Shohei and the revenue streams he brought in are now gone. Arte is still the penny pinching blow hard he's always been. Now that Shohei is gone, the Angels should start a complete rebuild, but Arte won't allow it to happen and the money he would've given to Shohei, a fraction of that should be spent on improving the infrastructure of the team, but Arte won't.

Oh definitely. The Dodgers ownership and FO are full of ultra smart people.

Forgot about the deferrals. Much more manageable for the Dodgers to get other pieces for the team. I was discussing with a friend that if Shohei wasn't Japanese, he wouldn't have received the 700mil contract. Teams know he brings in so much additional revenue, that'll probably pay for the additional money he's given in the contract.

I predicted that Shohei would sign with the Dodgers in Free Agency towards the middle of the season. It made too much sense. For those of you bashing him for leaving and going to the Dodgers, can't fault a person who gave it his all to a poorly run organization, then decided to go to a team with great management and track record of winning, while also giving you top dollar. No one here would do reject that offer, so why do you expect Shohei to? All of us would leave a job with crap management & support staff to a rival company that has better management & staff, and offers you much more money. As for the move itself, Shohei is perhaps the best pure hitter and is worth, as just a hitter around 4-6 WAR. This alone would've gotten him a contract in the 10yr/350-400 million range. His career hitting stats is pretty much inline with David Ortiz's stats in terms of OPS and OPS+. His pitching stats also give him another 4-6 WAR a season for the past 3 seasons, which would've given him a contract of the same range as a hitter had he not have had a 2nd TJ surgery. While the price tag is insane, it's not out of this world that he got it. Hard to say how he'll do pitching wise after the surgery, but I wouldn't doubt him. I do worry about the wear and tear and injury concerns as he approaches the mid 30s. A tremendous risk, but one worth taking for a tremendous and unique player. Sad to lose the unicorn, and I'll miss watching him every game.

Damn, can't imagine. Glad to see.

I saw that picture of the stadium with the dreariness and I was thinking that's the perfect picture to show how shitty this season has been.

The article just adds more anecdotes of stuff we've already known. Arte spends money on flashy signings and not on the infrastructure that is needed to build and maintain a quality roster. Another article (Rosenthal's maybe?) quoted an anonymous person from the Angels "It's like buying a lambo but getting it tuned at Jiffy Lube."

Fuck Arte. Seriously Fuck Arte.

Is this why Angels players are injured so often? They get the wrong diagnosis for their injuries? Wow, not a great look.

Lol, Arte really needs that yacht fuel doesn't he?

Arte needs his yacht fuel.

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I know it's a private concern, I'm really wondering what's up with Stassi from a human standpoint. Must be very serious to be away all year.

Of course the situation hinges on whether or not Trout asks out. While I would want him to stay with the Angels, it's going to be an Ernie Banks situation where an all time great will never sniff the World Series. Trout has continually said he loves it here as it's a very laid back environment, which jives with his personality. However, after the taste of the WBC, he would probably want to start competing for championships, and the only way to do that is by asking out.

With the Angels taking back Schwarber, 40% will probably be enough. While Schwarber is a plus bat, he's so terrible with the glove that it negates his value. Even though Trout was in a down year this season, he was still on pace for about 4-5 WAR which is still All-Star caliber. Basically getting Trout for free for the first 2 seasons by trading away Schwarber and with the remaining 5 years at ~25 million after retaining 40%, might be palatable for a big spending team like the Phillies.

Trout has all the power. He has a NTC by being a 10/5 player. If he asks to be traded, Angels will have no leverage and as you point out, the Angels won't get anything of value for him, except getting out of his contract. IF Trout does request a trade, it'll be to Philadelphia. Makes a lot of sense. A framework would be something like. Phillies get: Mike Trout (Angels pay for 40% of remaining contract each season) Angels get: Kyle Schwarber, 2-3 prospects outside of Phillies top 15. Angels get some salary relief after 2 seasons and have the possibility to flip Schwarber during the 2025 season, while helping PHI get his contract off the books. Phillies get a productive albeit injury prone Mike Trout, who can still mash, and maybe stay healthy away from the terrible Angels training staff.

Surprised Renfroe got claimed and not Grichuk.

I think everyone except Renfroe will be claimed. I'm 70/30 Grichuk will be claimed, he's a versatile fielder albeit not great, with an average bat, so a team that needs a better bench RH OFer option will put in a claim. Starting pitchers with proven track records get picked up and Giolito is no exception. If Lynn and Thor can get traded during terrible seasons this season, Giolito can be claimed. Relievers that can throw gas are a hot commodity, all of them will be easily claimed. Renfroe is the one that's highly doubtful to be claimed. He's an average bat that's very streaky, a terrible fielder with a plus arm.

After the failure of the past month+, what they're doing now is actually the best move. No sense in playing guys the Angels weren't planning to keep. Start tanking and improve the teams' draft position and allotment dollars.

Yea, I called this shit when the trade happened and most of you ripped me and/or liked posts ripping me. At the time of the trade, he was getting extremely lucky in BABIP (.279), while giving up 1.5/9 HR, while playing on a porous defense with the White Sox, meaning he was getting super lucky on hard hit balls being directly hit at fielders. Even with all of this luck, his ERA+ of 116. It was only a matter of time that would stop and it did on the Angels.

If you like poker, I suggest visiting the local cardroom and play some poker.