aznhockeyguy

That's more like it. 

1 hour ago, Redondo said:

Real story was the bats went to sleep like they always do starting on opening day

Pound the ball all spring and then ......

I'm always leery when hitters hit well during spring training.  People forget that a good portion of the pitchers the hitters face are either; minor leaguers getting their work in and getting a look, bounce-back candidates who's trying to make the team, a veteran just getting his throws in to get ready for the season.  So most of the time the hitters aren't facing MLB quality regular season pitching. 

New season same bullpen meltdowns.  Lol, wasn't a bad pitch but damn this bullpen. 

Shohei is like okay enough messing around, I'm just gonna throw heat to get out of the inning.  Filthy. 

Can't wait! 

Detmers looked great the last few months of the season.  Hopefully this season we start seeing more improvement.  Detmers and Sandoval are the main reasons why I'm excited for this season.  Seeing them progress further this season is the key for the Angels to make the playoffs. 

I don't get excited about Spring training stats after Adell had a strong last season as well.  We all know what happened once the season started.  Also remember Shohei had a TERRIBLE first spring training and then showed out once the season started. 

I need to adjust to these pace of play rules.  I checked the score about an hour ago and the game advanced 3 and a half innings.  Crazy!

On 2/21/2023 at 4:41 PM, eaterfan said:

I would normally agree with the reliever stuff, but with the slot pool allocations, if you can save money on a 3rd rounder and put those funds elsewhere then have at it. 

The pool money (and remaining college eligibility) makes evaluating a draft impossible without looking at the thing holistically. Great drafts can tank early picks to load up in later rounds. 

Excellent point.  I didn't think of this. 

1 hour ago, Blarg said:

If Joyce can locate and offer a quality secondary pitch that would elevate the bullpen quality to competitive standards it hasn't been at for a long time. 

This was one of my criticism of him when the Angels drafted him so high.  Throwing 100+ is great, but if he can't locate or get a good secondary pitch, it doesn't matter.  I'm also not a big fan of drafting reliever prospects that early in the draft.

He had a solid season last season.  Hard to forget he's only 25

13 minutes ago, Rico said:

Arte realized that franchises from the major sports leagues don't lose value.  He purchased the Angels for less than 200 million, can flip the team right now for 2-3 billion easily, and in 10 years it probably doubles again. 

Our only hope is for Arte to realize he's flush with capital and can afford to go a bit more crazy with payroll. Not holding my breath though. 

I'm expecting if Shohei leaves, the valuation will good down a few hundred million.    Arte realizes that he's making a lot of money on the Angels by skimping out on the other aspects of the team and not spending too high on the roster, while the team worth increases every year.  Arte can be even worse as an owner and he'll still probably make more money, when he eventually sells the team at a later point in time.

1 hour ago, TempeAngel said:

So I was listening to Mason and Ireland today when the news broke. Been a fan for years, since the Go Go Zelasko days in SD, but they are really clueless to all things Angels.

Their immediate narrative was to create a trade package for Ohtani to the Dodgers prior to opening day. SMH.

They were unable to deduce this means Ohtani is not getting traded right now. They were including players in positions we don't need help in. They have no idea what the Angels needs are. Clueless. Dumb and dumber clueless. You would think they would maybe spend 30 minutes each week researching the Angels so they don't come off as idiots. I mean it's their job. And if they are dumb and dumber then their their producer, Greg, is dumbest. He should be prepared enough to at least help them make it through an Angels discussion without coming off as clueless.

Do better John Ireland and Steve Mason. 

 

I was listening to their show when they broke the news as well.  I mostly listen to them because they're entertaining and they do stupid bits that make me laugh and gets me through the work day.  Need to remember they're not analysts or journalists and to take their opinions with a grain of salt.  I listen closely whenever Momo (Ramona) is on the show because she's actually a journalist and knows what she's talking about when it comes to the NBA and the Lakers.  I agree their Angels takes are stupid and misinformed, but they're not paid to care about the Angels and it doesn't seem like many Angels fans listens to ESPN 710 ever since they lost the Angel radio games to AM 830. 

Didn't expect this today.  Obviously super disappointing and sad day for Angel fans.  If Arte was hated before, he's going to be really hated now, unless he signs Ohtani to an extension and starts fixing the messes he caused.  Not holding my breath that those events are going to occur. 

3 hours ago, Warfarin said:

Seeing all this talk of mega contracts reminds me of when Kevin Brown signed the very first 100mil contract.  I remember how insane that seemed at the time.  Fast forward to about 25 years later, and we are now discussing the possibility that a player might soon sign the first half-billion dollar contract.  Wow.

I remember that contract,  7 years 105 million given by then Dodgers GM Kevin Malone, almost 25 years ago.  Everyone said that it was outrageous and it'll destroy baseball because small teams won't be able to keep up with rising salaries.  He was pretty decent over the life of the contract.  Think he averaged like 3-4 WAR where he was pretty elite the first 3-4 years and then towards the end was done an awful.  Time flies man. 

2 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

I think this is largely an upside play.  13.5mil for a "gamble" of sorts.  Estevez, conceivably, should have better results than he does.  This is a reasonable commitment for someone who has pretty decent numbers that should likely be better given the stuff he has.

Even if he doesn't improve much though, he's still an upgrade over the current depth relievers we have, so as we have said - continue to improve the floor, which this move should help do.

It's so hard to project relievers because they pitch fewer innings and a few bad outings really messes up their stats.  His stuff is great but his swing and miss rates for a person who's value is on his stuff is a cause for concern.  I agree with you that this is an upside play, but like Tepara and Loup, it wouldn't surprise me if the signing doesn't work out.  There are reasons to like this, mainly the upside and his stuff.  I do like that Perry addressed the bullpen.  I would like to see one more bullpen arm brought in. 

HIs swing and miss rates are a little curious with how hard he throws.  With how much relievers are getting, this isn't too crazy. 

Boy that escalated quickly.  Can't fault DeGrom for taking that contract.

A position that I think Perry might address is Catcher.  Stassi looked awful and there's a few catchers in free agency that won't break the bank but would improve the team like Omar Narvaez who seems like a great bounce back candidate because his BABIP was pretty bad, and Tucker Barnhart, who'll be cheaper than Narvaez and the Angels can use to set up a platoon situation with Stassi.  Both of these catchers will hopefully be better than Suzuki was. 

7 minutes ago, Angelsfan1984 said:

he has a way better arm than ward. Makes sense.

I agree, Ward's arm doesn't really profile for a RFer and he's terrible there with a -.8 WAR.  Usually your weakest OFer plays LF. 

4 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

He had a wrist issue. I don't think he's done. And if he is, we're done. It's as simple as that.

That knocked him out in 2022, hip injury was 2021 and looks like it was affecting him during 2022 before the wrist injury.  Rendon's signing is looking a lot like Pujols and that's not good, which is the reason why Perry got Gio Urshela.  Again I hope I'm wrong but it's not looking great for Rendon. 

7 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

It's also worth noting the continuing trend of short term deals. Minasian got rid of the long term contract of Raisel, and his only deal more than this season was Anderson (a mere $13m for each of the following two seasons).

I know that isn't a new insight, but it makes me wonder how much of this mild spending spree, as it appears to date, is Moreno wanting one last shot and pushing the payroll just a bit while still avoiding the big expenditure due new ownership wanting to avoid too much on the books when they take over. If Minasian were to pursue a bigger contract that extended over multiple years, would he need to get approval from potential buyers?

I guess we'll have a better sense of where things stand in a few weeks as we get through the Winter Meetings.

Excellent points.  I think Arte is acting like a house flipper right now, doing some upgrades that are simple and not very expensive but adds curb appeal and adds value to the house. 

Having said that, I would love to see some upgrades to the bullpen but don't think it'll be realistic due to high demand and prices right now.  While SS was a huge disaster last season, if the Angels want to go the budget route, Aledmys Diaz would be a pretty solid signing and probably won't be too expensive and easily get able on a 1 year deal. 

My longshot sign would be Josh Bell.  He struggled pretty bad late with the Padres but he's a very good player.  If Walsh isn't healthy and Bell's market fails to materialize or doesn't get an offer that he likes, I would like it if he can come to the Angels for a 1 year high dollar deal and go back to the market again next season, but I think he'll get a pretty decent deal in the 4 year 80 million range.  

Just now, Pancake Bear said:

If we're giving up on Rendon, we might well throw in the towel right now. We aren't competing if Rendon is toast. That said, even injured Rendon was the 6th most valuable position player on the team last season (in only 47 games and less than 200 PA), and was still slightly above league average as a hitter.

I never said to give up on him, however it's difficult to rely on Rendon after all the injuries.  Rendon having the 6th highest WAR for position players is a commentary of how poor the team's depth was last season.  His OPS+ last season was 101 which is literally average and when he did play he didn't look too good and appeared to be unable to generate much power because of his hips .  He still has an excellent eye and that's his saving grace right now for hitting, but I wouldn't bat him behind Trout due to said lack of power.  I would actually bat him leadoff due to his high walk rate, so that he can get on base for Ohtani and Trout.  He still is a good glove at 3B.  I hope he's finally healthy this season and can give the Angels a 4 WAR season but looks like the team has a solid back up plan if he can't play the entire season. 

1 hour ago, Second Base said:

If 16 million was still on the payroll and due to Iglesias, then it's unlikely you get Urshela or Renfroe. 

The Angels would've had a lot of holes and too little money. The Braves rescued them and Iglesias pitched better in a Braves uniform than he has in any other his whole life. 

All parties walked away happy on this one. ATL got the stud reliever they need. Angels got the salary relief. Iglesias gets paid and plays for a contender year in and year out. 

Exactly.  Elite closers are a luxury and the Angels have many holes to address. The recent moves have definitely helped, but they're still a bit away from competing with the Astros.