Hubs

2 minutes ago, CaliAngel said:

Not to harp, but this is what I see.

Clearly on the bag when he caught the ball.

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.

Just now, CaliAngel said:

I just watched the replay, not sure what you saw. His foot was clearly on the 2nd base, before the shortstop even threw him the ball.

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.

On 3/27/2024 at 8:09 PM, Swordsman78 said:

Time to get on record as to your definition of a successful start.  List your Top 10 metrics for success.

Here's mine:

• 10-10
• Rendon still available and hitting .270 with 2 HR
• Trout hitting .300 with 4 dingers
• Sandoval 3-1   era 3.25 
• Starters ave. 6 IP per game
• Wash tossed at least once.
• Attendance ave. 30,900
• 3rd place or better and less than 4 games out.
• (2) or less blown saves
• 20 stolen bases*

 

*adjusted down

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?

23 minutes ago, James said:

Wait until you see the concessions this year. 

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. 

10 minutes ago, Blarg said:

You do realize that Moreno has nothing to do with concessions at Spring Training, right? 

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.

2 hours ago, Jeremiah said:

I still have doubts that this will work. Fisher would be moving his MLB team from the nation’s number 10 media market to the 40th, making it easily the smallest market in baseball. That’s hard to sell for 81 home dates, and the broadcast deal will reflect that market size. He’s not magically going to start spending $150M/year on a roster after acquiring all of the new debt. He’d have to sell out the stadium for 30 years to pay off the bonds. Not going to happen. Plus, in Vegas he’d be the 4th or 5th option for fan interest and dollars. In order, it goes: Golden Knights, Rebels/Raiders, Aces, Aviators. The Knights set the standard for how a new team here should do. The locals won’t accept a pro team that’s a loser. It’s why the Raiders have had such a meh reception here (they rank 31st in attendance). The A’s would slot somewhere around where the Aces and Aviators do. It’s not a good look for MLB. The move makes no sense.

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!

14 hours ago, Second Base said:

There are a couple ways to look at this. 

First, Snell rejected a qualifying offer, so it'll cost the Angels a draft pick. Not exactly the best idea for a team that fully always to finally be entering the early stages of a rebuild (cost cutting). So signing him to a one year deal would be piss poor logic. Then again, if the Angels actually reenter into a competitive window in the next 2-3 seasons, signing Snell to a long-term deal makes good business sense. 

Second, waiting this long into Spring Training, I think it sends the message he really doesn't care about signing with the Angels. So as far as the clubhouse goes, everything they're saying about building culture is clearly just words of you sign him at this point. 

Third, maybe he had no aversion to the Angels and that it's just Arte being cheap when it comes to pitchers. If they sign Snell, does it finally signal that Arte has admitted his mistakes? 

--------

For me, Snell is the most ridiculous pitcher I've ever seen. His whiff rate on multiple pitches is over 50% which is really unheard of in modern baseball. And his walk rate is high, but that seems to be on purpose. He doesn't give in. And that's part of what makes him great. I just don't trust the guy at all. 

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. 

6 minutes ago, Hubs said:

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

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.....

9 minutes ago, totdprods said:

I agree on this. I think they need a true SS serving as our last bench guy. Internally the only guy who really fits the bill is Soto or Adrianza. I’d rather Soto get regular work on the farm, and not really sold on Adrianza even if he’s sporadically playing, or as a guy covering if Neto misses a few weeks.

Wouldn’t be surprised if the Urshela, Anderson, and Rosario moves, all coming in so cheaply, start to make other FA vet SS come off the board or retire since the money is coming in way low. FWIW, someone like Andrus, Ahmed, or Crawford for a couple mil doesn’t seem like too bad of a depth move. Easy to cut bait by summer if a youngster is more deserving. A real tenured SS coupled with Washington and Goins could make our infield defense real solid working with guys like Neto, Rengifo, even Paris. 

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

1 minute ago, BTH said:

But what if Neto or Rengifo get hurt? Then who is the backup?

Soto, Adrianza? Not great…

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.

2 minutes ago, BTH said:

Kind of?

But with no DH, he’s gonna get more ABs somewhere than a traditional backup. And he’s also the backup at 2B or 3B if Drury/Rendon go down.

So I think they need a 6th infielder, preferably someone who could play SS.

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.