DCAngelsFan

Wish I felt as strongly about wanting some team to win as I do wanting some teams to lose ...

NL team, I suppose - though it'd hurt my heart a bit to see Marsh win a ring, while Mike and Shohei are like "godammit ..."

Definitely not Houston or the Yankees (Yankees are tough to root for - they have some great fans, and they have a lot of asshats)

19 hours ago, Docwaukee said:

I went there like 30 years ago and I still dream of the frites.  Little carts off the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.  I've tried for years to replicate my memory of them and have never come close.  

Cut into 1/4" fries, then rinse thoroughly and soak overnight in cold water, then drain/dry and par cook at 325* in vegetable oil, drain and cool for 10 minutes in the fridge, add (some) beef tallow to the oil and increase heat to 375*  then fry in batches, to desired color, toss in a bowl with lots of good quality sea salt or kosher salt immediately so salt dissolves into the oil and coats the fries.

(*I have a little fryer - when the potatoes hit the oil, the temp drops so I have to overheat the oil a bit - desired end temps are 300 for the first fry, 350 for the second)

Duck fat instead of beef tallow is also delish.

And gotta make your own mayo (if that's your jam) 

(and if you're ever in Portland, ME, try Duckfat's fries:)

1 hour ago, CaliAngel said:

In N Out is so good. 

People bitch and moan about the fries but I love them. They're real fries. That's what you get with real fries. 

And that pink lemonade...squeeze some fresh lemons in there...good gawd...

Just came back from Belgium - I'm gonna keep a diplomatic silence on "fries"

But say what you will, I wish we had an In N Out near me - there's a lot to be said for simple and fresh everything 

On 10/7/2022 at 1:41 PM, HeavenlyHalos said:

I just want him gone already. Hopefully, the next ownership will actually invest in the entire franchise and not just on overrated hitters.

 I visit here pretty much once a day, looking for one thing - and it's not an explanation from Arte - that's stupid.  

I come here looking to see if anyone's bought the team yet.  

Not much else to look forward to right now.  

12 hours ago, Jason said:

I think all of us have a rather negative impression on this season. I'm glad Ohtani isn't happy with the way the things turned out. This is just spun to make it look like Ohtani doesn't want to be here as the sports media doesn't want him to stay with the Angels. 

Well, it's not that they don't want him to stay with the Angels, exactly; most every one of these stories barely hide the raging hard-on the commentator have on getting Ohtani on "their" favorite team, and the only way that happens next season is a trade. 

We're going to have to listen to it every single damn day next season, about, how we're "wasting his prime" and boy, wouldn't he look great in pinstripes and have that short porch in RF?    

Just like Trout, until he signed.  

I've by no means watched Adell very much this season, but it feels like what @Blarg is saying, that he's not getting himself out early on bad pitches as often, and is getting more pitchers per AB (too lazy to prove that with stats, tho)

But I still see too many awkward swings with a big, looping upper-cut which have little chance of making contact.

He does need a full offseason of diligent work on mechanics of his swing to get more consistent contact - or maybe he needs a hypnotist.

Whatever he needs, hoping he fixes things isn't a solution to us competing - "hope" isn't a plan.

If we don't get a 800-ish LF'er next season, we're just not serious - thinking Nimmo, Benintindi (but will settle for Judge )

I call that "A good start"

Now do the next 5 years.

Angels have been blessed getting Ohtani - he can't be traded or allowed to depart as a FA - we just can't 

11 hours ago, Slegnaac said:

O'Neal has been trying way too hard all season.

Sadly, no one seems to have provided any guidance to help him improve.  I can only imagine that they must be saving a considerable amount of money with O'Neal, compared to someone like Victor Rojas.

He's been Peter Principled - play-by-play obviously isn't his thing, and like you said, sometimes tries waaay too hard not realizing how grating it is after awhile.  Needs to go back to the studio or something.  

Reminds me of a training video I just watched - someone obviously told the presenter to "emote more", but all the head bobs and twitches and flailing arms made it look like she had Tourette's - the longer it went on, the harder it was to take.  

2 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Hopeful Arte Moreno countdown:

16 games

Not liking the idea of Patrick Soon-Shiong as owner, don’t need an impulsive owner after having one for too long.

If Ballmer isn’t interested, then if Joe Lacob can bring $6-$7 million of additional investors with him, he can have the team.   He’s a winner and a former So Cal guy.

Based on this, I have to think MLB will pressure Arte to not do a majority deal with Shiong by telling him they won't vote to approve.   At least I hope so, I really don't like this description of him - he sounds potentially worse than Arte (I dunno how he made his money with his cancer drug - if he didn't build his business from the ground up and learn the value of long-term planning and patience, if he just hit a lottery with his invention, then no thanks)

It'll probably be a group with some primary money guys , some baseball figure (hopefully not Pujols  but more likely an exec like Epstein), some wealthy people with ties to the area, (which could also be the money guys), and various / assorted rich celebrities, like some movie producer, and some members from underrepresented communities.   

edit:  Ohtani may bring some Japanese money to the table - but imo, that interest would be based on signing him to an extension

Funny - I think I'll be more enthusiastic this "hot-stove season" about a possible new owner instead of possible new players.  

Arte might've waited too long, though - rising interest rates (and an impending recession, and increased taxes on the wealthy) are going to be a headwind on any deal, especially any financed deal (which this would assuredly be.)

Not gonna weep for billionaires, mind - just may slow the process down a bit since it's entirely possible the value of the team drops below what he thought (and I have to think Ohtani is a significant impact on that valuation - he's a short-term asset, to be sure - but his value to a purchaser is still measured in the millions - and uncertainty over trading/extending or him walking away will have an effect.)

As mentioned, I don't think he did this out of the blue - likely, some potential buyers were talked to a long time before the announcement, so this may happen quicker than we think - I'm hoping a deal is reached before the New Year - unlikely, but I can hope.  

9 hours ago, jsnpritchett said:

Not "news" to anyone here, really, but a nice, detailed write-up about Sandoval, Detmers, and Suarez. 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/09/angels-pitchers-breakouts-reid-detmers-patrick-sandoval.html

 

Nice - but I'd suggest skipping the first 4 or 5 paragraphs - again, not "news", but it doesn't make the stank any less pungent ... 

16 hours ago, Warfarin said:

Yeah.  I think he's probably an 850-ish OPS type player - solid eye, draws walks, etc.  Not a star, but a very solid player, which is really all a team with Trout, Ohtani, and (maybe?) Rendon needs.

Getting both Ward and Walsh back healthy would go a long way towards helping improve this offense.  I think the teams needs another solid OF (preferably a LHH), and another solid bench player (or two), but it's not too hard to see how this offense can improve with some better help and some fairly small scale moves.

I'm not as optimistic about Walsh recovering - but if we can get 2021 Walsh back, that'd help quite a bit.  But If we think this is his ceiling, we need a plan "b" here 

We're short an outfielder, to be sure - Nimmo or Benintendi would fit nicely - mostly, need to find guys who don't make so many outs - like you said about Ward, we need guys with solid OBP skills to surround Trout, Ohtani, and (knock wood), Rendon.  

I'd hoped that by next year, we'd have a really solid and exciting OF of Marsh, Adell and Trout ...

1 hour ago, Angelsjunky said:

I still think Ward is capable of hitting something like .280/.850 with a 140 wRC+. He was just too good for a long enough period of time for it to be a total fluke.

I'm inclined to agree -  I was as skeptical as anyone about him, but his hitting looked legit and sustainable.  

No crystal ball, but the team completely tanked when we lost his production.  and I think our season would've looked much different had he not been injured.  

1 hour ago, Tank said:

pilkington is a funny word. it sounds like the name of a british town.

Kudos to Hoornstra, I guess.  I could stop reading after a couple of paragraphs, while he had to stay awake to the end.

Guy flies to the DR to pick up trash (instead of sending $10 to have a local do it?)  

Is "performative nonsense" too harsh?  Betcha he makes a decent living with this ..

8 hours ago, cals said:

The more I think about it, it seems like a weird move to announce the team is for sale before locking him up.  At this point he IS this team.  

And yes, Mike Trout is a future HOF’er with I assume (hope) are a few great years ahead. But Shohei is the only player in the history of the sport to do what he is doing.  I have to assume he’s worth more to the franchise than anything they pay him.

Without him, to a buyer, the Angels are a low-level, big market team with an aging superstar and a history of general failure that requires a lot of work to turn around.  They may still be the same with him, but with an asset that’s going to make a lot of money for the team.

At this point, Ohtani is worth more than his on-the-field performance - he creates excitement and puts butts in seats.  And like you say, this is baseball history playing out right in front of us. 

I think he sets the terms - but I'd consider putting an opt-out clause after a couple of years on the table, with the intent of signaling to him "give this new ownership a chance to get competitive - after two years, if you don't like where the team's headed, you can opt out.  

We really have to understand his concerns and desires - does he want the most cash, does he want a shot at the World Series, does he want to wear a different uniform - without knowing, we can't even guess what it'll take.

The main thing here is ownership and management groups have to be formed quickly, a winner selected, and the sale completed (assuming Arte doesn't slow-roll the thing.)

 Only a new owner can sell Ohtani they'll do whatever it takes to get this team into WS contention and soon.

19 hours ago, Tank said:

if i'm selling my house, i'm going to fix it up so i can get more money from any buyers that stop by to take a look. 

Definitely - the value of this franchise will be much different with Ohtani signed to a long-term deal vs. having traded him or leaving him unsigned.

Bottom-line, Arte will make a *lot* more money if he resigns Ohtani and sells before having too pay him out of his pocket, (or pay him for long.)

27 minutes ago, gotbeer said:

Everything makes sense for a sale now.  The land deal is dead.  So he has to make a decision on funding a new stadium and buying the land.  Or moving the team, funding a new stadium, getting land.  The Ohtani headache is coming up next season.  And while still in the distance.  His TV deal expires in 9ish years.  All of which will decrease his piece of the pie.  And if family doesn't have interest, getting the biggest piece of pie is in his best interest.  

It's also a signal that even Arte doesn't see a way out of this mess, that there's no chance this team can be fixed doing things "his way".  His legacy is a succession of bad, under-achieving teams, an organization that only makes the news for the wrong reasons, and the fans have turned on him - his legacy is dead, and it's time to just walk away with an incredible amount of money and go buy an island or something.  

As for the future, anything is achievable given enough time and money.  We can only hope the team is bought by a group who won't spend x billion dollars on a losing team they have no plan to fix. 

I'd hope any such purchasers' plan is to dramatically increase payroll to immediately get into contention, and then approach the best execs, scouts, trainers, coaches, development directors, etc in the league and offer them double what they make now and at least try to build a productive development org .  The cost of that will be high, but not really that high when compared to a $3B purchase.  

1 hour ago, TroutField said:

Sounds like it wasn’t as serious as it looked. They are saying bone bruise 

His reaction looked really bad - I thought for sure it was torn cartilage or ACL - that's good news (hopefully).  

I'm going to say O'Hoppe, not because I've seen or evaluated him, but because everyone else says so, and nearly as importantly, because we *need* him to be good - we need a good/great catcher going forward.

I just saw mlb pumping their updated top 100 prospects - O'Hoppe was the only Angel on there - https://www.mlb.com/prospects/top100/

The depressing part is the Dodgers have "7". in the top 100.  

A quick look says only Houston, Atlanta, Mariners, and White Sox and Angels have only a single prospect - that's the thing about averages, this isn't Lake Woebegone - someone has to be "below-average", and this *is* the Angels we're talking about ...

On 8/8/2022 at 12:03 AM, ten ocho recon scout said:

Solid group of guys (bunched up base hits that score runs), or one or two stars (ohtani/trout) that give you a big hit a few times a week, but everyone else around them sucks (out after out after out until.you get to the solo home run)

Sounds like our 2002 lineup - clusters of hits, with no superstars, but most everyone sporting a near-.800 OPS - the lineup wore pitchers out, because a rally could start anywhere - no top-heavy lineup, just a bunch of grinders who got on base, and wore pitchers out.  

It's been sort of emblematic of the Arte tenure - a couple / three stars, and some assortment of scrubs.  (I know, I exaggerate.)  

But I suspect we've become enamored of the 3-outcome kind of player in scouting, and what we need are guys with strike zone judgement and good bat-to-ball skills - OBP is still a thing.  

I have this scene imprinted on my memory, being outside my house, on a perfect summer evening, and in the twilight, hearing Vin's voice narrating a Dodgers game from radios up and down the street. 

Elysian Fields, indeed.

It's not fair to call him "the best" - that implies there were others like him.  He was unique, a storyteller, an Irish poet, and you didn't even have to be a Dodger fan to enjoy him.  

RIP, Vin, thanks for the memories.

Supposedly Jadiel Sanchez is the other - if true, this seems much better ... 

5 minutes ago, Hubs said:

The Jays have Kirk and Jansen as well as Moreno, so...Kirk has been a surprise, but he's only 23. Jansen is 27. They don't really need O'hoppe and will likely trade one of the other three in the offseason.

I want Biggio back from the Jays. He's struggled and needs a change in scenery, just like Marsh, but he doesn't strike out like Marsh.

 

You're right, they do have a lot of catching depth, I didn't realize.

I was just trying to figure out the Marsh trade - I don't understand it - he has some use as a CF and who knows, maybe gets right with the hitting?  Cost-controlled at that - it's not like we have a conga line of outfield prospects waiting to take his place...

I dunno - I'm sure Perry has a plan 

I read that we're deep in discussions with Toronto over Syndergaard - sure this os far fetched, but I saw Gabriel Moreno mentioned earlier - that's a pretty steep price for a couple months of Syndergaard - maybe the O'Hoppe deal was to package and get Moreno back?