DCAngelsFan

I have no idea what would lead us to some of those decisions - was it scouting? Or was it a GM who needed pitching so desperately that he just ignored or changed the scouting reports? I've always been an advocate of taking a retrospective analysis of draft decisions - to help answer why we made certain decisions, like drafting some head-case who washed out of Rookie ball over an MVP candidate - what went wrong? What did we miss or misinterpret (if anything.) Should similarly take a hard look-back at what led to our crap free-agent signings, and find out where we went wrong. Then fire any scout who said Joe Blanton could be an effective starter for us. If necessary, hire him back, and fire him again

I think in general, true top-tier pitchers rarely reach free agency in their prime - if you have an "Ace", you try to lock him down. So, the few "can't miss" free agent pitchers are usually mad-expensive. And seems we chose to spend our money on such all-stars as Hamilton, GMJ, Wells, and Pujols. That left us with the more affordable 2nd and "3rd tier" reclamation projects - which haven't worked so well. For the most part, you need to draft/develop your own pitching (or trade for it before their value is apparent - and not be the sucker on such trades) - position players are more easily obtainable as free agents. True aces are actually pretty rare in the sport - and not all of them were first rounders - many were buried in lower rounds - it's like a lottery - you more you draft, the more likely to hit on one. So, you know, you can't give up those 1st round FA picks so easily, and you need to look at international FA's like NPB players (we ignored them for years), and sign every pitcher with a pulse in the international market (again, we were non-factors for years - the signing period opens, what, Friday? Will be interesting to see what we do there - if anything.)

That sounds about right - he might get more - but I feel like he'd have to get it somewhere else. And not knowing the club finances in the out years, it *still* might be too much for us to bear.

Club option, right? 4/120 kinda makes me want to puke - so, guess that's probably the right number It's an overpay, except our alternatives are too costly - for all the progress in the farm, it's not exactly overflowing with talent ...

A response to the article that tried to justify an equal or greater contract AAV for Bauer than for Cole. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/01/trevor-bauer-gerrit-cole.html

Oh, yeah, I know - he seems like a really smart and focused guy -mature, too - which is promising. Just after hearing so much about him, he often looked overmatched. I'm not down on him - any expectation that he'd be ready for the bigs at that age was a bit unrealistic. That said, he needs to improve, and his risk went up since last year.

That comparison ... you know, I didn't blurt out "oh, come *on*" - no way I've seen Marsh enough to go *there* - but it's a nice thought, and doesn't seem crazy, at least. Adams seems like an amazing athlete - and the fact he can actually put the bat on the ball - so far - makes me really want to see what he can do (we've drafted a lot of those super-athletic guys who just couldn't hit) - I'd like to give him another year to be more sure of what he's going to do - but that's always the case - don't want to hang on to some flash in the pan one season too long ... I kind of wish I hadn't seen Adell - I know he was way too young, but the game looks too fast for him - I remember seeing young Mike Trout in 2011 in Baltimore, and he was barely 20 years old, and after watching him awhile, I turned to my daughter and said "See that kid? A lot of people think he might someday be one of the best players to ever play the game" - he didn't do a lot that night - but you could just see something about him that made those Mantle comparisons seem not insane, that made me feel I could say that out loud. Anyway, I want to keep both, but at the moment, between Adell and Marsh? I feel safer keeping Marsh - I feel like Adell has the higher risk of flaming out - thankfully, not the guy paid to make that decision.

Vladdy, no doubt - I was appalled we weren't in on him, (and appalled we got him on a fluke) - which might've made it better - I'd given up on the idea we'd get him, then out of the clear blue! After that, Ohtani then Vaughn or perhaps Hunter? Maybe Carew lands in there somewhere, but honestly, I don't recall anything more than "cool." I couldn't get excited over Pujols - as "big" as it seemed, and as happy as I thought I was supposed to be, it felt like a big mistake - kinda like this:

Off the see the Great Dodger in the Sky - and going out in a year the Dodgers won the World Series seems altogether fitting. RIP, Tommy.

The old "Everyone else was doing it, why you picking on me?" defense. You're right - he should patent the formulation and sell it online. I'm sure this is more about wringing a settlement out of the Angels to avoid the cost of litigation than actually going to trial.

Absolutely - while I didn't mention "motivation", I only discussed "money" as his sole motivator - that was deliberate. I was thinking that, unlike many NPB players like Ohtani who came here for the challenge of playing at the highest level, the only reason he wanted to come here was to make more money. There were suggestions his work ethic might be a little suspect - not a good trait as he ages. As a GM, that attitude isn't going to tempt me to take much of a chance on him. He's got talent, but this isn't the year, and he's not the guy I'd risk a lot of money on.

Not to mention, any MLB team would've had a posting fee surcharge on top of it - a $40m deal would add $7.7m on top, (payable "up-front", I believe.) And look at it front his perspective - he's going to have to move to an entirely different country, where he doesn't speak the language, leave his home, his friends, his life. I think he'd need a substantial improvement in compensation to make that move. It would need to be - as he was demanding - a better-than-Kikuchi-like deal - 4/$56 - to make that move. Maybe in a different year, he gets that offer. But maybe using Kikuchi as a comp wasn't the best strategy - Kikuchi has little chance to make good on his contract now.

Pretty certain they intend to sign Lindor to a long-term extension.

Yeah, some of this - I'd have to think that after so many seasons, I'd probably find that the whole grind of a season would get old, and I'd rather retire and enjoy the rest of my life. Have seen too many people die before they could enjoy the fruits of what they'd saved. But it wouldn't be "Option B" either - no effin way I leave $450m on the table. But that's just me - seems most guys who get to that level never want to give it up - and there may be a lesson in that. Imagine if Pujols had the following option - retire before this season and get $40m or stay and collect $30m - what do you think he'd choose? I think he'd stay ...

Isn't that pretty much the precise definition of being a "fan?" We have no control over any of it, and it doesn't actually affect our lives. Sooo ... "Shut 'er down, Chuck - it's all meaningless..."

Good call ...

What a weird proposition - Minasian has been *allowed* to bring on experienced, talented baseball people? Implying that Eppler could only hire inexperienced, untalented soccer people? I feel like the intern who wrote that looked up those names on wikipedia, not realizing they're pretty much at every game already. "Hey, I know, let's suggest bringing back Gene Autry! The fans seem to like him ...." I say "intern", because I have this unfortunate notion that Gammons' keyboard is encrusted in a nightmarish slurry of dribbled applesauce, Ensure, and saltine cracker crumbs, and that his computer isn't even connected to the Internet anymore (www.gammonthoughts.gov.www/gammonthoughts.com)

Yeah, more of a "business" decision than a baseball one at this point. Starting pitching isn't gonna come cheaply, either in salary or prospects. But it's probably a good economic climate to pick up some depth pieces, if the Angels have the ability to spend on them.

Eww. I need to gargle with Lysol, and a long, hot shower of hand sanitizer after seeing that last one.

I'm kind of amazed at all the movement in his 2019 swing - I mean, it's like a Rube Goldberg machine of useless movements. I'm equally amazed he was able to clean it up so much in one (shortened) year - those tics and twitches probably had been there a long time (I mean, I'm guessing) Speaks well of his ability to adapt. I do have to wonder, though - while I don't see any scouting videos of him at Georgia, I don't see any mention of this. Seems like our minor league development people let him develop all those tics - definitely a question mark there... Anyway, am glad he got it sorted - easy to think he's a flash in the pan - but he *looks* like a good hitter. We'll see once the league has a chance to catch up to him - but I'm optimistic.

Which of the reaction gifs say "I agree with this take, but hate it so much?" Arte's comments (that anecdote about how analytics ruined player development is kinda weird), and tellingly, the list of candidates who *didn't* advance to the final round tells me we're not gonna like what happens - he's obviously looking for someone who'll accept the GM job with lots of limits on budget and control, things that top-tier candidates probably wouldn't accept. Sounded like he thinks GM's need someone looking over their shoulder by someone who's smarter than they are - "him." We definitely need to improve player scouting and development - but sounds like he's going to sacrifice analytics to do it - no expansion of the operations staff or budget.

Besides, I don't think anyone (well, most of us) think Carpino is the problem, per se - more the problem is, we have a head of business operations, but no one of equal stature in charge of *baseball* operations, in addition to a "General Manager". We probably need to add a bunch of titles beyond that but I'd be happy for starters with a "baseball" guy running the baseball side of things, and a GM who doesn't report to the "business" guy.

Yup, we could've signed those two for what we signed Kaleb Cowart for alone.

I'd have to amend this - he was let go shortly after one of the *worst* draft performances ever (2010)