DCAngelsFan

So..  After all the belly aching about missing out on this guy and how his contract was totally worth it, Cinci's return on thier 64 million ends up being -0.5 fWAR or -1.8 bWAR.  

Driveline posted this.  Not sure this counts as him showing off, this is what driveline, does... they post videos of guys putting up obscene data stuff.  The numbers to me are meaningless, the fact he's going to the best baseball "school" on the planet is what's important here imo.  The Angels have failed him development wise.  His going outside the organization is great to see.

I felt like Garrett Richards should have had a better career.  

Casey was not the same player after that concussion.

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.

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.

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.

The cap was $100 million less when Arte took over. In comparison to the other teams he did spend that extra $25 million. 

If the Angels had committed $25 million to the scouting and minor league development with technology and coaching over the last 8 years they would have been in better shape than if it went into the roster. $3 million more a year to the minor leagues as opposed to $25 million in player contracts each year would have had better results. 
It was never about how much the Angels spent. It has been about spending on free agents instead of developing talent. An extra $160 million would have made little difference the last 8 years because the team was a mess from the instructional league on up.
 

Penny wise, pound foolish -- the Arte years.

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.

The thing is, this is the last year the Angels have where they can stay under the luxury tax anyway. I mean if they truly intend to start winning ball games and lock up Ohtani, it might take an additional 50 million, pushing the Angels up towards 270 for luxury tax purposes. Then let's say they do end up locking up Sandoval and Detmers, guaranteed you're pushing 300 million at that point. Now granted, you'll be able to subtract 20 million or so once Stassi, Tepera and Loup are off the books, but still, the Angels will be over by quite a bit, without much hope of doing back under to reset their penalties any time soon. 
So either they go over this year, or they go over next year, either way, it's a concept they'll need to become familiar with. And let's say they lose Ohtani, ok, you're still looking at 230-ish yearly. 

That's my feeling too.  I think Ward is legit.  Not what we saw the first 2 months, but I could see him legitimately being a 900 OPS hitter.  Fantastic eye, power, etc.  
I would be amenable to trading Rengifo for the right deal, but I would keep Ward.

It's funny how many different ways there are to say that the Angels suck.

they have 24 days off including the ASB.  
I think it's realistic to hope for about 25 starts each from the top five.  So you've 37 more starts to make up for.  
There is easy justification for one more SP.   Even if all 6 guys make every one of their starts, you're looking at 27 apiece.  
They can probably cover it with their current depth but having another legit starter would bring a lot of value to the team.  Not as much as adding a good SS, but probably more than adding a mediocre SS.  


 

https://www.insider.com/mlb-used-two-balls-again-this-year-and-evidence-points-to-a-third-2022-12
Feels like this should be a bigger story, to be honest. 

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.  
 

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.  
 

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.  
 

Scoccia sounds more like bad back than laid back

@Jeff Fletcher, Thank you. The timing for all of this is perfect and this last piece gives me hope.
I truly appreciate your contributions to this site and your patience with us when we throw questions at you. You continue to go above and beyond and I feel fortunate that you’ve chosen to interact with us.

Best article/series on the Angels I’ve seen in a long time.  Thank you @Jeff Fletcher 

The irony here is that the Angels were essentially the minor leagues for DIpoto as a GM. Evidently he learned the lessons he needed--did "drills" and didn't worry about winning--and then moved on to the "majors" (the Mariners org). Not saying that's a great GM, but he seems like a very different one for the Mariners than he was for the Angels -- certainly better, and presumably learned from his errors.
The timing of this excellent (if depressing) series is interesting...there's some dirty laundry being aired, and presumably that's only because a sale is going to happen at some point relatively soon. Sort of like we're in Moreno's lame duck session. 
Oh, and great reporting, @Jeff Fletcher. 

You’re a great writer Jeff, and this is probably the best thing you’ve written on the subject of the Angels. Great work. Hopefully your colleagues see this and know where the bar is set.

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.