bruin5

Arte is definitely going to squeeze more money out of Bally. It’s not the Angels fault that Bally could not secure a deal with Dish and most of the live streaming services.  And, the numbers I saw, they will be charging much more than they get from those services. 

2 hours ago, mmc said:

For those of you who have been following the Angels drafts for a long time, what's the most disappointed you guys ever were with a first round pick that the Angels made?  Asking about your thoughts at the time the pick was made, not your thoughts looking back in retrospect.

Will Wilson, 2019. It wasn’t that he was a bad pick, it was more about the team needing pitching far more than a SS at that time. And, IIRC, it was thought that he was more a 2B than a SS. And then, he gets traded to SF along with Cozart.  It was the actual trade that started turning me off on Eppler because he basically wasted a first round pick.  

I’ve always thought there had to be a backstory there, more than SF having to take over Cozart’s contract. 

I’m on the optimistic side. Minasian, in two drafts, has added a great deal of needed depth and talent to the farm system. The Trash Pandas roster is better than anything DiPoto or Eppler ever put together. Minasian seems to have a much better feel for the longer term needs of the organization and has addressed the need to develop depth in pitching and catchers. The glaring hole right now is outfield talent and depth which is something that Eppler seemed to be focused on and which has not panned out as of yet. Of course, we’re talking about prospects but at least we’re seeing an upward trend in our ML talent. We have a potential SS in Neto, and Rengifo (and Eppler acquisition) has showed signs that he belongs. 1B, corner outfielders, and a league average SS on a short contract should be a big focus in the offseason.  He also needs to cull the deadwood on the 40 man. 

I’m in the trade Shohei camp as the return in viable prospects should be good. Given Trout’s and Rendon’s health issues building and spending on a roster to compete for the playoffs next year seems to be a fools errand right now. 

50 minutes ago, Second Base said:

Get them all together and competing in the playoffs. Create a winning culture and expectation amongst the next wave of Angels. Hopefully they can turn this organization around. 

I totally agree. Get players used to being winners. Rocket City won the first half of the league and is one game behind the Cub’s affiliate in their division. 

3 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

I was agreeing with you that he wouldn't have traded Adell or Marsh.

You're certainly right that we don't know if Billy was a better GM but I do like what he did for the minors after Dipoto completely gutted it. 

Eppler was left with an absolute shitshow, and at least made the minor league system respectable. He also got us Ohtani.

Minasian has done nothing with that, so far. We'll see.

Got it. I read it wrong.  It’s still very early, but I’m more confident in Minasian’s drafts than Eppler’s, mostly because there is the potential for more immediate help. And, at least Minasian had the balls to drop Albert and Upton which is hard to imagine Eppler doing. For whatever reason, I feel like Arte is a bit more hands off with Minasian. 

24 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Definitely not.

And that's why I think Eppler was a smarter GM.

Out of curiosity, why do you think he would have traded his prospects? And, I think the jury is definitely out that he was smarter. 

1 hour ago, Angelsjunky said:

I wouldn't read that much into it, at least not until we see another trade that supports that view.

My guess is that Minasian saw an opportunity to address a need, and was willing to give up one of Adell or Marsh. I'm guessing he even offered the Phillies their choice of the two for O'Hoppe, and they picked Marsh.

 

I’m not sure that Eppler makes that trade, or one involving Adell. GM’s can become very invested in their draft picks. 

I’m firmly in the “Trade Ohtani” camp.

1. We can’t have the payroll flexibility with Trout, Rendon, and Ohtani making big bucks. We’re essentially the Lakers, building around Lebrun and AD with a bunch of average to marginal players.  Doesn’t work.

2. We need much more organizational depth. For all the optimism, Eppler really struck out on a lot of his high risk/high reward picks. When we are calling up Jose Rojas for depth you know we are in deep trouble.

3. We need much more batting order depth. 

4. By trading, we control his destination. I would hate to see the Dogs or another AL West team sign him. Trade him to the Giants, or Arizona.  

If we could get 1 MLB above average player, 1 MLB average player, and 2 higher level prospects in return I would be fine with that. 

Rojas makes it official - we are tanking.

Forget farm system rankings. If Rojas is the best we can do for outfield depth then we suck.  

6 minutes ago, Ron Mexico said:

What does that have to do with drafting and developing players ?

Didn’t the total tear down of our Dominican system lead to a lot of these issues? 

IIRC, Eppler went to Trout for his opinion on Adell prior to the draft. So, I blame Trout….

5 hours ago, Stradling said:

I don’t think the team gives two shits about any kind of Anaheim connection. 

They don’t. It’s just basically the best thing that can be said about his performance to date. 

3 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

I'm trying to figure out what the organizations fascination with Rojas is.  It may just be they like Rojas the person, but even as a Davis doubter I see little reason not to try to pass Rojas through waivers first.  Older, less position flexibility, semi-established level of non performance.  Seems like a dude that could pass through.

Agree. I’m long over the Anaheim High School connection. Guys like him are put on waivers every day. But, the Davis consternation seems a bit off. He’s just another guy who’s bounced from team to team and has no really pathway to the Majors with the Angels. 

6 hours ago, Dochalo said:

we've got guys like that now.  guys that aren't in our top 30 who could climb a list quick.  in the past if someone dropped off we were scrambling to find a replacement and it was a bit contrived.  Now the combo of depth and the nice job that Perry and team have done with excavating a few bodies from the minor league free agent list has made things fun again.  Not gonna win any awards for top farm but it's a hell of a lot different than 5 or 6 years ago.   

Agree. It’s nice to actually see the beginnings of guys (especially pitchers) who could provide some legitimate depth in 2023 and beyond.  I’m looking forward to this year’s draft. My sense is that it will be about 50% pitchers this time. I would concentrate on middle infielders and catchers. 

If he has a good hit rate again we have the beginnings of a farm with some real depth and tradeable assets.  

Thankfully Jerry Dipoto was there to oversee Trout’s development.  

So, integrity of the game is not as important as sending a message regarding sexual predilections?  No Astros players were suspended as a result of their cheating, and MLB tried to cover up the Yankees doing something similar. 

If MLB has more information (as some have alluded) then Bauer’s suit will certainly bring that to light. It doesn’t sound like Bauer or his team are afraid of that happening.  

Bauer is a POS as a person, but this seems ridiculous. I see MLB reducing the suspension to just this season only but that may not be enough for Bauer. 

2 hours ago, StandOutRealty said:

Jomboy has a lot great videos, you should check him out... dude's also spot on with his lip reading, it's funny actually seeing what's getting said during arguments and fights

He has a great one on the Yankees/Guardians game where Yankee fans were being their typical a-hole selves….

This is very early, and not indicative of future progress, but current Angels affiliate records:

SLC. 9 -10

Rocket City 10 - 6

Tri City 9 - 6

San Berdoo  8 - 8

Overall record 36 - 30

Last year 238 - 287

Obviously development is the most important thing, but learning and getting used to winning is a good thing as well…

It’s like he’s Jerry Seinfeld taking over Newman’s mail route. 

Taylor Ward with a touching tribute to the departed Justin Upton…

4 hours ago, mmc said:

 

Based on Morosi’s in depth analysis here, I would put Jose Rojas on the trade block for  number 3 starter.  

Denny Hocking is filling in for Gubi this week.  The plan is to have him as part of a rotating crew in the Jose Mota role.  

1 hour ago, eligrba said:

Eppler reinvented....Who is that guy?

He’s a guy who is not yet emotionally attached to the farm since he didn’t draft them.  

I wouldn’t say my excitement has waned but rather my hope that we will contend has caused me to be less optimistic year after year.  Probably two main reasons. 

First, not addressing our biggest need which have been and continue to be solid to good pitching.  We haven’t addressed it in the trade or free agent market and..

Second, a good to excellent farm system is what gives me hope.  Truthfully, our farm has been pretty bad the past few years We MAY have a couple of scores with Adell and Marsh, but we haven’t drafted effectively overall and have no real organizational depth.  Since we won’t trade Adell, Marsh, Dietmers, or Bachman, we really don’t have much in the way of trade value and that is supposed to be one thing a good farm system is supposed to help with. 

However, I do like Minasian’s last draft since he directly addressed our biggest issue and, it seems at least from early reports, there is some real promise in last year’s draftees…

2 hours ago, Dochalo said:

Skaggs was also part of a union where they collectively bargained a joint drug policy with MLB.  

They will argue that the Angels should have had some sort of policy in place for non player employees.  Which theoretically could have exposed Kay.  He would have been fired or asked to leave or given a reason to go away quietly.  Maybe that happens but it wouldn't have saved Tyler Skaggs from his addiction.  Maybe it saves him from being dead already.  Maybe.  

But in the end, the Skaggs family isn't just going after the Angels.  They are also going after mlb and the mlbpa.  Not officially, but in terms of creating significant collateral damage.  It's the wise play on their part (and the part of their attorneys) in order to maximize their payday.  

And it doesn't matter how much money the Skaggs family has.  Any major firm would take this case on contingency in a heartbeat and see it through due to the potential lost income of Skaggs.   

In the end, both sides are probably motivated to settle.  Which is why I don't think this will ever go to trial.  

Agree with everything you say.  What I think will be problematic for the Skaggs is the thought that the Angels should have had their own drug testing policy in place.  

Mandatory drug testing only happens in select jobs that deal with things such as heavy machinery, transportation, or medicine.  It’s not used in office environments.  There was nothing to suggest that Kay’s daily work product was a problem. In other words, neither at the time or now is mandatory testing of all employees in all work situations considered a “best” or an effective practice, especially when privacy laws are considered (i.e. you are an office employee and test positive for marijuana, but are in all respects a good employee) and employee moral.