Hubs

Ya ok, I had the replay image frozen a second later as Ward slid, and his feet were wide, so I get it. Still wondered if they were doing that.

I freeze-framed it and it looked like his feet were wide straddling the base when he got the ball from the shortstop, but maybe he touched briefly before throwing.

I wonder about the neighborhood play at second. There was no chance the fielder even touched anything close to the bag with the runner coming in hot, on the Drury grounder. Didn't look like an out to me. Are they still giving the neighborhood play in that circumstance or no?

The only "Aces" the Angels have ever had are probably Dean Chance, Nolan Ryan, Frank Tanana, Mark Langston, Chuck Finley, and Jered Weaver....maybe Dan Haren for a year...and Oh And Bartolo for a year or three. Ohtani also for two seasons.

I think he'll be fine, but it may not be until April. Tim Salmon was a notoriously slow starter, if y'all remember. Playing in Miami, his home, was certainly affecting him yesterday. The nerves will be gone by next week. He's young...its what happens.

The first three I like. 10-10 shows they'll be competitive. They play the Orioles x 3, Boston x 6, Marlins x 3, TB x 7 and Cincinnati once in the first 20. They are 0-1, so If they manage to go 4-2 against the Red Sox and win at least 3 against the Rays, then at least once against the other three they'll get to 10-10. Hopefully they can be 11-9 or better, but yesterdays shellacking has me less than confident. Trout and Rendon being healthy and putting up those numbers would be great. For Sandoval's ERA to be 3.25 it means in the next three starts, he'd have to average at least 5.2 per start, and give up less than 4 runs combined. Starters need to average 6.1 over the next 19 to get to a 20 game 6 IP average. The rest, who knows. But the pitching is not gonna be close to what you hope it is. Sadly.

Great play by Rendon.

Didn't need Snell or Montgomery...nah

2 errors in 2 innings gives them a 1450+ pace. Would be the major league record.

Wow does Sandoval look terrible.

What happens to this countdown if the game is postponed due to the Bridge Collapse?

Draft Beer is probably gone at the big A too. LOL there would be a riot.

Buck stops with him on all things Angels related. He hired whomever is in charge, and that person sets the budget.

Except owning the team, renting the stadium, failing to pay for renovations, and choosing the vendors that supply the concessions.

Is anyone getting to the game early?

Every year, I get ripped on for being among the most optimistic fans on this board. This year I'm pessimistic. But the team is doing well. I don't think the lack of Ohtani's distraction is really that big of a deal, in contrast to what Spirit (Geoff) says...but I do think Ron Washington and company, is making a big deal to this young core.

Also, not having a dome for a summer league, when temps can reach 115 in Vegas? C'mon. They're not serious.

Smaller markets like Vegas can handle 2 pro franchises from the big four leagues. That's it. When a third team is placed it almost never works. Four is out of the question. That's why I have doubts that the A's will actually move to Vegas. And to be fair, the WNBA Aces may be popular in Vegas, but going on the gear, which is cool, is not a good measuring stick. The WNBA is not a legit competitor for attention from NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL leagues. The Aviators would ultimately have to move, as there is no way the city supports a AAA team AND a MLB team. It just isn't big enough. As they just built a nice new ballpark, I just don't see the A's moving there. I see the NBA as a more likely third team, as they can just play at the Golden Knights arena.

Just 4 days until this! 6 days until the Shindig!

The qualifying offer loses them a 2nd rounder. It's not like back in the Trout days where a team would lose their first round pick. Of the Angels last 21 second round picks (https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?team_ID=ANA&draft_round=2&draft_type=junreg&query_type=franch_round) there are only a few notable names. Less so when you factor in the competitive balance rounds. Jarrod Washburn (95) -31st overall. Dallas McPherson (01) - 57th overall. Kevin Jepsen (02) - 53rd overall. Tyler Chatwood (08) -- 74th overall Patrick Corbin (09) -- 80th overall Jahmai Jones (15) -- 70th overall Brandon Marsh (16) -- 60th overall Griffin Canning (17) -- 47th overall Kyren Paris (19) -- 55th overall These 9 guys are the only ones to make the majors and none of them have been All-Stars for the Angels. This pick is #45, so it would be higher than all but one of these guys, but its not that high.

Weather looks to be perfect for this weekend, highs in the high 70's, maybe 80, and cooling off at night to the 50's.

In reality Hicks will likely steal 30 DH GS, and 65 OF GS. Rengifo, Drury, Moniak, and Adell are likely to lose the most time. If they replaced Hicks with Bellinger.....

Having backups dedicated to a specific position is basically irrelevant with the taxi squad and guys being a quick call up away. If Neto goes down, Rengifo will likely fill in that day, and Paris or Soto will be up the following day. They need platoon guys that will play in the INF, as that makes more sense. Washington is known to favor static lineups, but as we dont have as good of a squad as Atlanta, I'd say that this is the best case Scenario for Games Played by Position. Trout --> 155 GS 110 in CF/OF, 45 as DH Rendon --> 130 GS at 3rd, 20 as DH Moniak --> 125 GS in OF, 10 as DH Ward --> 125 GS in OF, 10 as DH Adell --> 115 GS in OF, 20 as DH Drury --> 110 GS at 2B, 20 at 1B, 20 at DH Neto --> 140 GS at SS Schanuel --> 135 GS at 1B Rengifo --> 52 GS at 2B, 22 at SS, 32 at 3B, 11 in OF O'Hoppe --> 115 GP as C, 30 as DH Thaiss --> 47 GP as C, 7 as DH Hicks --> CUT

Same goes at 1st, if Schanuel is hurt or just playing in AAA, then Drury is the 1st baseman and what Stefanic is at 2nd? They're not deep.

Rengifo is the backup at 2nd and SS. Drury is the backup at 1st and 3rd, but is also the starter at 2nd. So... they need another backup at 1st and 3rd.