DCAngelsFan

He had 20 effin years to "finish his business" You know, I'm glad the last two GM's have made some improvements - but I still think most of the front-office think this is an amusement park, not a baseball team, and I remain unconvinced that Arte will resource the team adequately - not just payroll, but all the entire scouting and development operation and front-office (can't wait for the next "Angels are so cheap ..." article to be published) This was the worst-case, really - we keep Arte, and any serious bidding group is now probably pissed at the time and money invested, so when he changes his mind again, they'll be like "Fool me once ...."

The Angels over the years remind me of the accident chain phenomenon, like in aircraft accidents. They do something stupid, which leads to a chain of subsequent mistakes which lasts for years, so that one mistake reverberates thru time. For example, we trade for Greinke (giving up Segura, etc), then don't bother to resign him 'cuz we thought he owed us a discount, apparently, and in a fit of pique, sign Hamilton instead, losing our 1st pick. Two slots after that pick, Aaron Judge is drafted by the Yankees. Meanwhile, since we lost Greinke, we "replace" him by signing guys like Joe Blanton and Tommy Hanson (because we can sign 2 pitchers for the price of Greinke), and then after that blows up in our face, trade away Trumbo and Kendrick for more (mostly) failed pitchers. When Hamilton crashed and burned, we traded for Joyce to backfill, then let him walk 'cause he was terrible, followed by a merry-go-round of bad left fielders, a trade for Upton then an extension, then his injuries, then poor performance, leading to calling up Adell prematurely and potentially ruining him. In a more perfect universe, we could've resigned Greinke (depriving the Dodgers of his contributions), not signed Hamilton, not be hamstrung by his salary, not signed Blanton, etc, and drafted Judge to be our "future" left fielder, and left Adell in the minors to develop properly.

This thread reminded me of the international signing day announcements the other day, (where our top signing was rated #50 - which, if my math is correct, is the equal of a late-2nd round pick if there were a draft), and remembered how when Arte bought the team I thought "Cool - bet all these South/Central American kids will want to sign with and play for the only team owned by a Latino." I can be so gullible sometimes ...

Exactly - that injury dogged him for awhile - he played but was significantly compromised for a good bit of the season. Seeing his hitting, when healthy, he looked "real" to me - he wasn't just lucky, he had excellent plate discipline, didn't try to force things by chasing bad balls, and has a nice tight, level swing with good bat speed. No slap hitter, but makes good contact and drives the ball. I don't think he's a flash in the pan - your stats seem optimistic at first blush - but then you realize, it's not unrealistic at all - he put up a 137 wRC+ despite the injury. Crazy - thought he had future "Rule 5 draft loss" written all over him - instead, he may put up a "Top 5 offensive season" this year (knock wood)

In that vein, In the soccer community, a frequently asked question is "Why doesn't the US, with its huge population and many fine athletes, produce many world-class soccer players?" Because football, basketball, baseball, hockey, tennis, golf, lacrosse, Ultimate Frisbee ...

Hmm - still have depth/injury concerns but I really don't want to see them pull this off - imo, this would put them into WC contention.

I see on reddit Adell removed "Angels" from his Instagram bio - dunno what it means, but think he at least noticed Perry's comments. He has to be realistic - he doesn't deserve a major league slot yet.

And those investing that kind of money will certainly want confidence that the person running things (as owner) will protect their investment by increasing the value of the club (as well as dividends paid.) This is may be where PSS will fall short - both investors and the other owners will want assurances that the club will be run well, is competitive and without controversy that hurts baseball in general - so, not a McCourt or Loria. PSS doesn't have the sports background and if I have $100m burning a hole in my pocket, I'm calling Lacob to try and get on his team. I expect PSS' bidding group to be a clown car of minority interests, as he tries to check every interest checkbox by including 2 dozen reps from money, celebrities, Hollywood, sports, baseball bobblehead, media (old and new), and DEI categories.

I like that he's got a track record of business-building and especially, building a successful sports franchise. Running a baseball team isn't the same as selling billboards But I can't help but be a little miffed that the Angels are his 3rd choice - at best - and that his connection doesn't sound like it's to the Angels, just that he had a job as a peanut vendor at the stadium. Owners as fans are among the worst owners. But geez, can't he sound even a little enthused? (That said, he sounds miles better than PSS, and if he wins the bidding, his "enthusiasm" will be apparent)

Doesnt change my opinion - I think he's a really smart guy. He actually did a pretty good job beginning to dig us out of the disasterous situation the team wad in, with *nothing* in the minor leagues - and him signing Ohtani certainly revived interest in the team, even if it didn't get us to the playoffs. He made mistakes, and I don't think he did nearly enough to improve the scouting/drafting/development system - arguably, the worst in baseball when he arrived - so, while I thought he was good, wasn't upset to see him go. But happy for him, that he appears to be doing so well.

I can't really get much of a read on his stats last season - they seem kinda contradictory at least in terms of home/away splits. Live arm, at least, and being away from Coors, he should (hopefully) be able to develop his secondary pitches - would like to see some more swing/miss in his game.

At the moment, I think I'd settle for them playing meaningful games in late September - sucks when the season's all-but-over by the ASB. To clarify, "meaningful" in the sense that they're still contending for a playoff spot, not jockeying for a better draft position

If he sold the team 10 years ago, his legacy would've solid. I mean, who doesn't like cheaper beer? He coasted on the players and minor leaguers that were here / in the system when he bought the team, and lucked into Vlad (full credit for signing him in the end, though) But the last 5 seasons his team has finished in 4th place (out of 5) 4 times, and 3rd once - not a single winning season. That's a legacy of failure. His legacy includes trashing a player identification and development system that left this team non-competitive for years - and it wasn't much of a secret how bad it became under his watch. Even now, the lack of international players coming up is a direct result of mistakes made years ago. It'll take time to repair the damage caused. And to the rest of baseball, his legacy is wasting the career of a future Hall-of-Famer, and most of baseball can't wait to "rescue" Ohtani from this team. So, whatever - on net, I think he's been a bad owner - especially the last 10 years - sure, he tries, he's not "cheap" by any stretch, but that may be part of the problem. He's Steinbrenner, v.1. He's (probably) not a bad person - just a bad owner.

Let's try this again ... that lucked into 2 generational players and still couldn't build a winning (that is, a .500 team) - much less a playoff team. If we've won 6 division titles since Trout and Ohtani arrived, perhaps we live in different, parallel universes.

I'm sure Peter Angelos, Dan Snyder, Jefferey Loria and Arte will all make money, lots of money, when they sell - so, sure, smart. Maybe Arte can buy himself a $3B coffin. 'cause his legacy as a team owner will be as an incompetent owner with lots of resources, that lucked into 2 generational players and still couldn't build a winning (that is, a .500 team) - much less a playoff team.

Nice article, even though the subject matter and conclusions kinda suck. It's pretty much what we expected, I think - an under-resourced minor league system that lacked a coherent vision and continuity of staff and philosophy. I've been guessing at it for years, but the results (lack of) have always spoke for itself - that the system wasn't in the first tier, to put it as nicely as I can. Thing is, the Dodgers could lose their GM, or any one of their key development people tomorrow - and I promise you their minor league system wouldn't miss a beat. Because they built a system and a philosophy over the years that transcends whoever is currently occupying some seat. As McCourt stripped the Dodgers to the bone, I thought it was a great opportunity to raid their system - to sweep up as much of their system's key personnel and then try to emulate (ok, "copy) what they had built. But of course, better to put up taunting billboards and make shitty trades and sign shitty deals for over-the-hill "stars" who weren't. Honestly, Arte can't sell this team fast enough. He's had 20 years to figure it out - but he's only managed to prove that being a billionaire doesn't mean you're smart.

Why no mention of Bane's disastrous 2010 draft? Kinda just slid right over that - it kind of leaves the impression that he was a genius who was only let go over a personality clash. Anyway, it's clearly our lack of involvement in international scouting that destroyed our pipeline. Then Baldoquin - that was inexplicable - did Dipo confuse him with someone else? Can anyone explain that move? No one was in on him - I got the idea that 29 other GM's went wtf? Who?! His stats were crap in Cuba, no resume to speak of - he was a nothing there before he became a nothing here. After that - how do we compare on development post-draft?

I don't think his ego is served by "Look at me, look at me, I got the biggest AAV contract in MLB history!" That's not (imo) who he is. Is he comfortable / happy playing for the Angels, and living in Southern California? Going to an already-winning team would feel less rewarding than winning with the team he started with deep into the playoffs. He can get the money from anyone - so, he probably already know what it would take to stay (if anything could). Besides money, what could be done? Is it competitiveness? Is it better snacks in the dugout? I've always been a really big fan of just asking him. What would it take to make you stay? Would you prefer to be traded to a contender? (assuming we won't be a contender) I think that's the big catch - I think he'd stay if we were contending and we offered whatever amount of money he asked for But to be competitive, we need to go all in (Arte has had that opportunity multiple times and passed) - will the new ownership have a say in *this* off-season?

Hmm, I'm probably misremembering, but I have this notion that MLB gave the Guggenheim group some exemptions on payroll limits and maybe some other spiffs when they bought the team to restore the Dodgers to being a contender. I'll just say it'd be in the interests of all of baseball to have Ohtani and Trout be serious contenders next year

A decent depth move/insurance policy to backup Rendon and Walsh both in case either struggles or is re-injured - it'd be nice not to always rely on the "hope" everyone stays healthy and delivers since "hope" or "best case" never works out for us. I like it, and I like the early moves - (not to mention, the more competitive we look, the more attractive we'll be to other FA's) - but there are still miles to go.

Done. I like Vasgersian just fine, but the remote play-by-play often glitched and he'd be 5 seconds behind the play - it was stupid I won't say anything mean about O'Neal so, uh ....

Jeezus, don't let Arte see this ...

I suppose it comes down to the actual language in the contract. But there's a difference between maintaining something and improving it. If I leased a property from someone, and I was supposed to "maintain" it - generally, that would mean "not letting it deteriorate, and keep it in the same condition I got it" - paint it when necessary, replace things as they broke, replace wear items at end-of-life, etc. It doesn't mean I gut it or raze it to the ground, and build a new palace on the spot, or put in a swimming pool and spa. Anaheim had years to bring this up - they may lose simply based on not bringing suit in a timely way (when are they saying he breached? Was he served notice? ) My guess is they're just trying to extort a quick cash settlement by monkey-wrenching the sale by threatening a lawsuit. And it would kind of serve Anaheim right if Arte counter-sued that they're abusing the legal process - I bet discovery in the Anaheim government email system would be all kinds of fun. (* - not a lawyer, just random asshole with an uninformed opinion)

Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays (Mantle wouldn't get injured in my universe) - but yeah, unlikely anyone from that era could compete - or at least be dominant in the same away - against modern athletes. Trout sounds like a homer pick - but could do worse. And he's playing in a league with high-speed cameras to pick apart your every weakness, shifts, specialized pitchers who go to driveline, etc. Ricky Henderson would be a great choice, too - tough to choose. For pitchers, I'd have to pick Clemens - but I'd rather it be someone I liked, and someone who played every day. With the DH, Ohtani would be a mad-tempting pick - he'd be a no-brainer if he keeps this level of performance up for a few years - and what he's doing would put butts in seats in this new franchise like no other.

Nimmo I'd say Turner, but he's going to be very expensive, (like $30m/year expensive - and there's the whole Ohtani extension to consider) - and if we can only have "1", we need to fill the hole in LF more than we need a SS. Rodon would give us a formidable rotation so could see that, too - but again, the rule is only "1" so, still, Nimmo Contreras, same thing