Inside Pitch

Yeah it's getting amputated.

I think they know that's likely the case.

Yes, after a season they thought they would contend and failed miserably. There is no such delusion this season.

Or they already made that decision and haven't announced it... like they didn't announce that Eppler had been extended. Not sure what the point of announcing Torii Hunter had been brought back into the fold as a special assistant to the GM if there was any real uncertainty about Minasian coming back.

Or you know, a competent organization would have allowed Minasian to hire his own manager and not waste two years catering to the whims of a megalomaniac trying to force his vision on an entire sport.

It's more a case of player hyper-advancement in Anaheim since about 2017. The lack of adding organizational depth from 2010-2016, while trying to "win now" has been brutal. Thanks O'Arte!

Good info.

Eppler also brought in Julio Teheran, 31 IP 10.5 ERA for 9 million. Matt Harvey, 59 IP 7.09 ERA 11 million. Trevor Cahill 102 IP 5.98 ERA 9 million. I feel both GMs moved the franchise forward from where JD left it, but let's not pretend one guy had an eye for FA pitching talent while the other doesn't.

So, you want to tout FG's methodology so long as it supports whatever POV you are making. Got it. Don't look now but I responded to someone else talking about whether or not he can live up to his contract -- cost/value was the argument and I addressed that directly. Also you mockingly made reference to "shiny ERA" in this thread when talking about Minasian's motivation to sign him but here you're attempting to use it to downplay the return on 13mm. I think ERA is pretty useless myself as it tells us absolutely nothing other than the end result. It's a very low information statistic which is why Im assuming you wanted to put it on Minasian. Look, I'm not a Tyler Anderson "fan", I wasn't in favor of signing him but do I believe he's capable of a 4.50 "shiny" ERA? yes. His value comes from his ability to eat innings, something Angels SPs have been extremely awful at. My argument is that a 2 fWAR pitcher at 13 Mil per is an easy yes. You're guilty of being completely sure of a situation without any actual insight what was available to him be it funds or via trade. This is the FA crop of pitchers signed to larger deals last season TOTALS 67 $1,114,966,666 $16,641,294 AVERAGE 2.16 $35,966,667 $16,641,294 PLAYER (31) POS. AGE BATS THROWS FROM TO YRS DOLLARS AVERAGE SALARY Jacob deGrom QO SP 34.4 L R NYM TEX 5 $185,000,000 $37,000,000 Carlos Rodon QO SP 30.0 L L SF NYY 6 $162,000,000 $27,000,000 Justin Verlander SP 39.8 R R HOU NYM 2 $86,666,666 $43,333,333 Kodai Senga SP 29.8 L R JPN NYM 5 $75,000,000 $15,000,000 Taijuan Walker SP 30.2 R R NYM PHI 4 $72,000,000 $18,000,000 Jameson Taillon SP 31.0 R R NYY CHC 4 $68,000,000 $17,000,000 Chris Bassitt QO SP 33.8 R R NYM TOR 3 $63,000,000 $21,000,000 Zach Eflin SP 28.6 R R PHI TB 3 $40,000,000 $13,333,333 Tyler Anderson QO SP 32.8 L L LAD LAA 3 $39,000,000 $13,000,000 IYO, how many of them are "legit front line" SPs? Other than Eflin who was a career 95 ERA+ (4.36 FIP), guy from 2016-2022 nobody was in the Angels price range. Anderson BTW managed a 108 ERA+(4.18 FIP), from 2016-2022.. And before you try to argue the peripherals were a lot better... ZE: 1.295 WHIP, 9.5 H/9, 1.4 HR/9, 2.2 BB/9, 7.5 K/9 -- 659.1 IP TA: 1.245 WHIP. 8.7 H/9. 1.3 HR/9. 2.5 BB/9, 7.6 K/9 -- 802.1 IP Don't look now but Anderson actually edges him out in most of the peripherals. If we change the data range to include Elfin and Anderson's 2023 where they were polar opposites, they are STILL damn near clones of each other numbers wise. Find another hill to die on.

The Maddon seasons will go down as one of the biggest wastes of time in Angels history. A nostalgia hire that had them spin their wheels while their manager tried to wage his personal war against the way MLB is being played.

Considering the only reason he became available for Arte was due to his having had a "falling out" with possibly the best GM in MLB history Theo Epstein, I found that comment to be slightly humorous. I realize it's just a figure of speech but the Angels situation was less of a "falling out" as it was a straight firing. Minasian didn't hire him, that was 100% Arte. If Maddon is butthurt that's his problem, he hasn't helped himself any with his comments about next time he will make sure that blah blah blah... And the bit about hiring Nevin to fire him. Is there anyone walking the face of the planet who believes that the Angels would had made Nevin the manager long term if not for the unsettled ownership situation? Nevin was a caretaker. Given the strange circumstances I don't think Nevin hurt himself in that capacity.

They lose nothing by sending him down to get his timing down. While his OBO has a lot of value it's hard to argue he's their best option at 1B right now. Mostly because it means they are playing Drury over Rengifo.

Seems pretty obvious he was catering to his manager the first two years and has had to deal with Arte being Arte since. It's almost like we need a system to gauge Arte's involvement when grading GMs.

Likewise my mom can't wrap her head around the costs of new homes today considering what my parents paid for their place in Anaheim Hills back in 82. Anderson's deal 3yr/39mm was pretty much in line with what you'd expect to pay a middle to back end innings eater. Giolito got 2yrs/38.5 mil deal after putting up a 4.89 ERA over 346 innings in 2022-23, a two year gap where his actual output amounted to 22.4mm in actual value using FG's fWAR baseline. If you want to use an example of a pitcher that didn't suck. Sonny Gray got 3/yrs/75mm after a 3 year run where he produced 10.2 fWAR (5.3 of that total in his walk year) valued at 80.9 mil over that span by FGs,

Sigh. I was pretty against signing him when they did. I've also said repeatedly he doesn't need to do what he did with the Dodgers to hold value. The notion that he can't pitch to his contract is inane -- the dude is only making 13 mil per. Since Fangraphs has been brought up often in this thread, FG put the value of a win at roughly 8.5 mil the last time they looked at it in 2022, https://blogs.fangraphs.com/what-are-teams-paying-per-war-in-free-agency/. With the cost at 8.5 a player need only be worth 1.5 fWAR to live up to his contract. So basically if he puts up 3 fWAR combined this year and next he would have surpassed the value of his contract. He was crap last year. If he gives them innings and posts a 4.5 ERA this year he'll be valuable enough.

The Angels no habla Ingles

The funny part is the offense is massively outperforming the pitching. 106 OP+, 78 ERA+. The Red Sox have an ERA+ of 258, its early but it's nuts. Offense as a whole is down a bit league wide. I'm sure the weather is a huge factor early on.

He must smile a lot and answer repetitive questions. Not once did I hear anyone talk about the number of games between hits while he's been hurt. BTW, his OPS+ as a Red Sox player 86 .vs Rendon's 105 as an Angel.

Thats because Angel fans are morons. They think a guy thats always awesome has to be even more awesome when they want him to be. Remember how Howie Kendrick was supposedly the worst hitter in MLB?

Career For his career, he's hit better with men on base be it RISP or just in general than with the bases empty.

Nah, don't be silly. He was just told he had tomorrow off.

Based on some of their interactions it seems Washington is already sick of him or has been told there have been issues because he seems rather pointed when he responds to his questions. Blum tried to ask about Rendon (asking if he had changed anything) and got shut down pretty soundly. It was a pretty stupid question to be honest but whatever, blackballing him would be really stupid. Also, while I find Arte potentially having himself removed from the video to be hilarious, what if anything did that have to do with anything that actually matters? Blum knows the soft targets and how to generate clicks. I know many hate him but the Athletic probably likes him - he's generating traffic for them. Its almost a "don't hate the player hate the game" type of thing.

Or send Nolan to AAA, have Drury play 1st and let Rengifo handle 2B.

hurt.

I knewed that... Dumbass!