Hubs

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.

If he's getting his info solely from Boras, it seems like he's trying to push the Angels to grab one of his top 3 free agents, if not two.

No one here would turn down Bellinger or Snell or Montgomery if the dollars make sense.

My other thought is just go back to two divisions in each league, East and West. That way the division winners get a bye, and it means something to win the division. Then you have four wildcards, which is 12 teams in the playoffs. 

If its Portland/Nashville

AL West

Angels, A's, M's, D'Backs, White Sox, Royals, Twins, Rangers

NL West

Dodgers, Giants, Timbers (Portland), Padres, Cubs, Cardinals, Brewers, Rockies

AL East

Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Blue Jays, Rays, Tigers, Indians, Astros

NL East

Mets, Phillies, Nationals, Pirates, Marlins, Braves, Nationals, Sounds (Nashville).

If its SLC / Nashville

AL West

Angels, A's, M's, Bees, White Sox, Royals, Twins, Rangers

NL West

Dodgers, Giants, Rockies, D'Backs Padres, Cubs, Cardinals, Brewers

AL East

Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Blue Jays, Rays, Tigers, Indians, Astros

NL East

Mets, Phillies, Nationals, Pirates, Marlins, Braves, Nationals, Sounds (Nashville).

You're never moving Atlanta or the Padres to the AL.

Here's my lineup with Portland and Nashville

AL WEST Angels, Las Vegas or Oakland, Seattle, Arizona.

NL WEST Dodgers, SF, Portland, San Diego

AL MIDWEST Cleveland, Chicago White Sox, Detroit, Minnesota 

NL MIDWEST Cincinnati, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee, St. Louis

AL SOUTH Texas, Tampa, Nashville, Kansas City

NL SOUTH Houston, Miami, Atlanta, Colorado

AL EAST New York, Boston, Toronto, Baltimore

NL EAST New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington

IF it's SLC and Nashville

AL WEST Angels, Las Vegas or Oakland, Seattle, SLC

NL WEST Dodgers, SF, San Diego, Arizona

AL MIDWEST Cleveland, Chicago White Sox, Detroit, Minnesota 

NL MIDWEST Cincinnati, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee, St. Louis

AL SOUTH Texas, Tampa, Nashville, Kansas City

NL SOUTH Houston, Miami, Atlanta, Colorado

AL EAST New York, Boston, Toronto, Baltimore

NL EAST New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington

11 hours ago, BTH said:

I think it was because Houston had just been sold, so they were able to get Jim Crane to agree to switch leagues as part of the deal.

If you move Arizona or Colorado to the AL, you not only have to move them but you then have to move someone else from the NL Central to the NL West. And it’d be hard to get an NL Central team to switch from that travel to West Coast travel. Plus the time differences. Any west coast games would start at 9 pm central time.

Yeah, but they supposedly wanted to move to the AL. I just think one Texas team in each league makes more sense than two in the AL West.

6 hours ago, HeavenlyHalos said:

One thing I was reading regarding expansion is that MLB then might have four divisions in each league of 4 teams. If they want to add one in the East (Nashville seems most likely) and one in the West (Portland or Utah) I wonder what the new AL would look like? Maybe they introduce an AL South with Texas, Nashville, Houston, and Tampa? Will Tampa even have a team at this point or will they relocate? The AL West could become the Angels, Seattle, Portland/Utah, and wherever the A's land with one team in the Central going to the NL? Perhaps the Royals move from the Central to the South and Nashville is in the NL? It will be real interesting to see what happens after the dust settles on expansion and whatever the hell A's become. 

I like 4 divisions of 4, but they need to switch a few teams in leagues so that each team has an opposite league "rival" team and that they have divisions that make sense geographically. Tampa should not be with four teams in the AL East who play within an hour and half flight of one another.

The reason a rival team is important is 

The A's moving to Las Vegas messes up the plan for a rival team, as the natural rival for Las Vegas wouldn't be SF, it would be Arizona. And I had Arizona switching leagues to the AL West.

My big gripe is that Houston shouldn't have been the team to move to the AL in 2013, it should've been Arizona or Colorado. The Angels and A's have three hour flights plus to THREE division rivals (SEA, TEX And HOU) whereas the longest flight the Dodgers have in Division is Colorado (2 hours) and it is 1 hour to Arizona. SF has 2x two hour flights to SD and AZ and one 2 hour flight to Colorado.

But moving Houston to NL West somehow didn't make sense to MLB.

21 hours ago, Angels 1961 said:

Plesac could end up in mix as long man, Pomeranz I think ends up on opening day roster.

There is zero chance Pomeranz ends up on the opening day roster.

18 hours ago, Taylor said:

Wait, that can't be right. Otherwise you might as well donate one cent.

I'm and idoit.

When you see +15000, or what not, it's as others have said, based on a 100 bet. I like to use that number and divide by 100, giving you the equivalent of 150 to 1 odds.

For example, I was checking this out the other day, Jauan Jennings before the Super Bowl +500000 to win SB MVP, but his odds dropped to +1500 mid game. Meaning he was 5000 to 1 odds before hand and mid game he had dropped to 15 to 1.

21 hours ago, Kotchman said:

Expansion is the likely path for Nashville.  While Anaheim does offer a significantly higher local tv market , Nashville is growing.

The Titans are outperforming the Chargers and way behind the Rams. We’re basically the Chargers.

The right stadium deal and taxes could potentially close the gap more the Socal people care to admit. We wouldn’t be the first pro team to bail on Southern California. 

In So Cal, It hasn't happened since 1995, and that was Pro Football, which is a very very different experience having only one game per week and a national TV broadcast rights deal that is split equally among all 32 teams regardless of market size.

The thought of a major market baseball or basketball team with a stadium deal until 2038 would move to market that is 1/11 of the size is laughable. The only reason the A's have proposed a move from a metro area of similar size (15M in NorCal) to one of smaller size (and similar to Nashville) is that their stadium and draw is the worst in the league with the possible exception of Tampa. 

Nashville and Salt Lake or Portland are likely the 31st and 32nd teams. Tampa if they built a stadium in actual Tampa is a better market than these three, or possibly move to Orlando.

6 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

Yeah, I'm not crazy about saves in general, but looking at blown saves for middle relievers has always struck me as stupid.  They're not going to stay in the game long enough to actually GET a save, so why should they be charged for blowing one?

I think blowing the lead is blowing the save, so its valuable to know when that happens and how much to a certain guy.

The stat that literally makes zero sense is pitcher wins, especially for relievers. 

19 hours ago, Kotchman said:

The Angels next big move is to Nashville 

There is zero chance, I mean zero, that this would ever happen. The Angels are not leaving SoCal. The valuation of a team in Nashville would probably be somewhere between 1.5-2 Billion. The Angels in Orange County are worth 2.5-3. And In LA or Long Beach, probably more than that.

2 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

I’ll take it.

OK, It's yours

Who wants my Saturday second Ticket for the game at CLE?

@Blarg @Angel Oracle?

I changed my plans and am coming in super late on Thursday night so I don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn to get to LAX in time to make the Friday game. 

Rendon needs a course on talking to the media.

"My top priorities are of course my family and my faith, this is just a job. But this job is the best job in the world and I am lucky that God has blessed me to be able to do it at a high level so that I can provide for my family and use my platform to spread the word of God."

"Of Course, I am a bit tired of being injured, of course, and of course I want to win for my family and my Angels family.  I am absolutely psyched to be here working with Wash and the guys and hopefully, it's in God's plan for me to stay injury free this year and be the player I used to be."

It's a little preachy but its essentially saying the same things as he said, but with a more positive outlook.

On 2/9/2024 at 10:04 AM, Angel Oracle said:

Change of plans

I will be driving out there Friday, arriving before dinner time, and then going to Saturday’s game and the Saturday night get together.

Put me down for one for the Saturday night get together.

Did you get a ticket for Saturday day game?

52 minutes ago, Chuck said:

As of right now the team doesn't have a good enough backup SS/3B so I say sign Urshela. He should be cheap and maybe he gets back to his old self when he was driving the ball? 

Worst case scenario, he's a great backup defensively who makes good contact... unlike the Andrew Velasquez's of the world that we've been trotting out there when a MIF goes down with an injury.

They also don't have a backup 1st baseman other than Thaiss. I'm pro-Urshela on a cheap deal, but they really need a lefty thumper in the middle of the lineup, so unless they get that, I can't even be optimistic with this teams offense.

1 hour ago, BTH said:

Pretty sure you’re not allowed to revoke a DFA

Right ok, looked it up

Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB).^[2] A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days,^[a] return the player to the 40-man roster, place the player on waivers, trade the player, release the player, or "send outright" the player from the 40-man roster into Minor League Baseball.^[3

^{They dont have revocable waivers anymore, so if they put him on waivers he's gone or assigned to AAA if he accepts the assignment.}  

They have a week to trade him or put him through waivers, but can't they just revoke the DFA on the 14th to put Quijada on the 60 Day IL, and then do the same with him? 

4 minutes ago, BTH said:

That’s not until 2/14, when they open camp.

The Dodgers date is tomorrow because they open camp early.

Also, you can only put a player on the 60-day IL when you’re adding someone else to the 40-man.

I thought it was Feb 8 for everyone. And I'm pretty sure you can put a player on the 60-day IL whenever you want. 

Just now, Erstad Grit said:

I get that,

My point is going into the season this year contrasted with going into the season last year, we are looking much stronger in the pen. 

Agreed. I like Quijada as a 2nd lefty so I wish he was back sooner. He was pretty good in 2022. 

Herget by contrast was all smoke a mirrors in 2022, and he showed it in 2023. Shocked that they kept him over Livan Soto and Ingram.

1 minute ago, Erstad Grit said:

Yes but wasn't he slated to be our closer? 

At first, Quijada and Estevez alternated closing, but he was out by like Mid-April. I would expect them to put both Quijada and Warren on the 60-Day IL tomorrow, which is the first day they are eligible for such.. I do not expect these two to be back until the All-Star Break.

Both had TJ in early May, and well, it's a 15 month recovery on average. 

47 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Thinking now of finally getting out there, at least for Thursday the 7th and leave Saturday the 9th.

 

Saturday night is the shindig at Four Peaks. You will want to come to that.

1 hour ago, Erstad Grit said:

The way I think of it is last year Herget and Quijada were our core pen guys and this year they may not even make the 26 man roster. 

Quijada was out after the first few weeks with TJ. He pitched in 10 games. 

11 minutes ago, Chuck said:

Let's turn this into a extended blog article @Hubs, where you take the best single-seasons by the Angels and use WAR to see how they go up against their division rivals best single-season players teams. That would be a fun article! We can do one at a time i.e. Angels vs. A's, Angels vs. Mariners, etc. 

Then if the Angels come out on top vs. the AL West best teams over the years, we can go head to head against some of the best (Yankees, Red Sox, etc.)

Challenge Accepted.