DCAngelsFan

* Mark Teixeira has entered the chat * We traded for him largely because we thought we could re-sign him - we were wrong, of course - but that's not Doc's point - point is, we thought we could. Arguably, that same thought was behind the Greinke acquisition - that it would give us that leg up to sign him long-term.

A double? I have this image of him hitting it over the scoreboard, but running out of gas by the time he reached second base and needed a breather ...

He can get money anywhere. I agree, I think he wants to (continue to) make his mark, and he wants to win. I think he could still elect to stay out of reasons of comfort and loyalty - but not if the team is going nowhere. Only way (imo) he resigns is to convince him that not only will the Angels win with him, but no more promises, that it actually happens next year. The team has to make huge strides to make that happen, and that probably means one of two things: 1. Some budget-blasting absurd moves on the part of Arte, like signing Judge, Turner, and Musgrove 2. Some combination of better health, luck, and improvement in young players gets us deep into contention next season Blowing past the CBT - I think many of us said that if Arte were ever going to go all in, it was each of the last two off-season. He didn't then, so why would he do it now? And he might've waited too long as it is Second option - it could - I mean, if Trout and Rendon each had healthy years with 140+ games, and nothing else bad happened, and many of the youngsters made strides and ... Who am I kidding, this is the Angels we're talking about, where health outcomes are always the worst-case. The most logical thing is to trade him for some elite guaranteed future All-Star prospects - but it'd be a PR disaster. And has been said, no one will pay what he's worth. Who'd ever guess that having the most mesmerizing players in baseball on the team could be so depressing - we can keep Ohtani for another meaningless season and a half, then he leaves, or we trade him to another team and hope we can compete someday, while an aging Trout watches less-than-replacement-level scrubs who couldn't carry his jockstrap lift the World Series trophy year after year.

Translation: Yes, with surgery next April, which makes him miss a year. Awesome - past tense already. This is the Angels I remember - an occasional glimpse of hope, followed by freak injuries and, sometimes, worse. Ohtani needs to get out before he catches leprosy and his arms fall off

I remember a study awhile back that said the most important thing in the post season for a starting pitcher is their strike-out rates. Syndergaards strike-out rates are below-average and everything about him puts him at maybe slightly above league average. He's a depth piece, a #3, (at best, and that's a stretch), for a playoff run - but most teams wouldn't want him even starting in the post-season. I'd look for someone in that 45-50 FV range, in say, A+ or AA ball, (not "near-ML-ready") and depending on what's available, slightly prefer a position player - C, MIF, or OF. it would probably have to be from a team awash in those mid-level prospects like the Rays, Dodgers, Brewers, or Guardians, and we'd probably have to pick up at least half of his salary. Not sure a 45+ is on the table, but that's what I'd hope for.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31870740/some-players-say-los-angeles-angels-failing-treatment-minor-league-level-gm-vows-address-it https://angelsnation.com/angels-news-arte-moreno-one-of-four-mlb-owners-opposed-to-luxury-tax-increase/2022/03/04/ https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2893068-report-angels-aggressively-furloughing-employees-compared-to-other-mlb-teams https://theathletic.com/3378699/2022/06/23/minor-league-pay-extended-spring/ There's a pattern here, of being cheap with minor leaguers as compared to other teams. And what do you know, our production of major leaguers from our minor league system is also terrible compared to other teams. Where's there's smoke and such. To paraphrase Stalin "Quantity has a quality all its own" - spend more, you'll probably improve the wretched badness that's been our minor league system for years. Spend better, great idea. But it's obvious this team is cheap with its minor league system compared to other teams.

I think the club could probably invest, say, an additional 2 or 3 Hamil-tons* a year in improving the scouting and development system - improving scouting, coaching, facilities, nutrition, housing, physical training, etc - both US and international - and likely yield some positive results in the coming years - heck, if only in karma points. And Arte needs all the good karma points he can gather - the "cheaper beer" thing ran out long ago ... * Hamil-ton - the cost of one Josh Hamilton homerun hit for the Angels, roughly $4m.

The comments I've found on Porter seem a bit odd - from upper-half first-round-talent to 3rd rounder - nothing that suggests he's particularly high risk - except for being a high-school pitcher, which has a huge fail rate - a lack of enthusiasm I find odd. Clearly, he'll need to be over slot - maybe we had an under-slot deal with Neto to save for someone like Porter? Joyce is Nuke Laloosh out there - but if his mental makeup is good and he's coachable, he could make a nasty reliever.

What's weird is I have less hope for this franchise than a few years ago when our farm was barren, and it looked like we'd never win again. At least it was understandable. Why a team with so many apparently good players find so many ways to lose is kinda unfathomable - it's like the Black Hole of Calcutta - bring in Soto, he'd hit .180 and go on the DL with chronic depression, bring in Judge, he'd tear an ACL *and* a UCL on his first swing. The only people with less interest in baseball are the Angels players. At least if they sucked and tried, like those balls-out Korean teams, they'd be entertaining.

I have tickets for the game tomorrow and you have no idea how much I want an apocalyptic rainout - the kind that involves an ark and the team bus washed into the inner harbor - and it never, ever gets re-scheduled. I'd just eat the tickets if I wasn't taking someone. My angels cap will remain safely in the closet tomorrow - come to think of it, I'm thinking "Viking Funeral"

Exactly.

This reminds of the metaphor I made probably 10 years ago on the order of "The Angels have a Ferrari with no engine, transmission, and bad brakes, and Arte is spending his money on shiny new rims" I trace it back to the 2010 draft - that was the draft that was supposed to provide us with an infusion of talent that would carry the team for years. Instead, it was a smoking crater, and so many bad financial decisions later resulted to try to backfill what became an absolutely shockingly barren system (didn't Law say something like it was the worst he'd ever seen?) It's boring to even say it again - have said it for years - whatever the Angels spend on international and amateur scouting, drafting, and development - whether it's a lot or a little - is yielding crap results.

That's what came to mind, an employee in a comic book store...

I might be projecting, but the past two nights made me think he's going to leave (unless something drastic happens.) He's pouring his heart and soul into games, on a sub-.500 team, and no kid ever dreams of watching the playoffs year after year, with never a hope of playing in them.

His injuries seem legit - not shirking or whatever. But I recall the year after the Nats drafted him - they were pretty pissed off at him at all his missing time, and there was some intimation that he was a hypochondriac Anyway, he's now not only a metaphorical bust, he's a literal one.

We always knew Ward would come back to earth, but ever since his injury, he's been pretty bad - an OPS of .547 since May 26th - we're 3-18 in that span.

I was making dinner and turned the game on so I could hear it. I heard Freeman walk, then steal 2nd, and thought uh-oh, that's a bad sign. Just about the time I heard Turner hit the single, we're down 3-0 already and 2 more on-based, I thought to myself "Why do I give a shit about these guys? Why am I doing this to myself?" I quickly changed it to netflix, and ate my dinner in peace. I checked in around the 7th, heard "no hitter" - and immediately turned it off again. The question remains - why do I even give a shit what these guys do?

Awesome! The band is back together! Looking forward to ... Goddammit!

Yeah, papaya on its own is one of things where the first couple of bites are ok, but by the 5th, it starts to become revolting. And the seeds remind me of fish eggs or something worse I do like the green papaya thai salad, tho

I think it's often been observed that managers are fired because you can't fire the whole team - it's just an expression of frustration, really, a reactionary move to change *something*. I think Joe's moves probably cost us some games - but injuries and bullpen meltdowns and inexplicably bad slumps from star players probably aren't things he can control. Firing Joe out of frustration - or to "send a message" - seems pointless and probably counter-productive. However - if I were Perry, I'd have some private conversations with the key players on the team - if they all say "Joe's the problem", well, then he goes. I really doubt that's the case - but I think at this point, you have to ask.

I remember when Buck Showalter replaced Juan Samuel as the Orioles manager. His debut was against the Angels - and they were swept - by a team that finished 30 games under .500. There's often that dead-cat bounce when you hire (or fire) a manager.

Being the one who uses the porta potty after you

Well, this is f***in typical - since I bought tickets for a game in Baltimore, they haven't won a game since. Gotta say, they do find thrilling ways to lose games, so I bet the Angels are really popular with other teams and their fans lately. Popular in the same way the skinny blonde kid is popular in prison ....

Fill it with warm spit, and you've got a deal ... We can throw in our team medical staff if necessary ...

The scene outside the Orange County courthouse as the lawyers catch wind of this ... http://media.al.com/alphotos/photo/2014/03/-c5d67a1591eb03d2.jpg At least someone will get something out of this debacle ...