Hubs

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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. 
 

Rengifo erasure is real

It's not that I "don't like anyone."  It's just that I don't think a move like signing Urshela will make one bit of difference to the ultimate outcome of this season.  I fully understand the "raise the floor" theory/strategy--but it's so uninteresting and just generates mediocrity.  I am beyond frustrated with this franchise and when I see the same ol' names who didn't help the team in the past being trotted out here and elsewhere, it just makes me want to scream.

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.

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

Challenge Accepted.

The Mariners would have Griffey in his prime, A-Rod and Ichiro. They'd also have a lot of other random seasons like Bret Boone's 2001 37 Hr season at 2nd Base. Their rotation would be good with Randy Johnsons 1995 at the top, followed by Felix Hernandez 2010, and then you drop into Jamie Moyer, Mike Moore and Mark Langston next. Pretty good lineup but rotation not that great. 
The O's actually with Cal Ripken (91) and Brooks Robinson (68) playing next to one another with Bobby Grich (73) at 2nd with Eddie Murray (83) as the 1B? With plus Frank Robinson (66) in RF, with Paul Blair in CF, and Rafael Palmiero in LF? But their rotation probably falters after Palmer and Mike Mussina.
Our top 5 Pitching Seasons (by bWAR) are actually Dean Chance (64), Mark Langston (93), Frank Tanana (77), Nolan Ryan (77) and Chuck Finley (90). Then you have some repeats before getting to Jim Abbott (91) and Jered Weaver (11), John Lackey (07) and Shohei Ohtani (22).
For the position side it's literally Mike Trout (12, 16, 18, 15, and 13) before you come to Darin Erstad's (2000), Jim Fregosi (64) and Andrelton Simmons (17) are next before you get to another Mike Trout (19), Then its Troy Glaus's 2000, and Chone Figgins (2009). Since we can't do repeats, Tim Salmon in RF (95), DeCinces' 82, Kendrick's 14 and Grich's 79 are all great seasons before you get to Ohtani's (23) and Vlad's 2005 -- not 2004, and Brian Downing (79) and Jim Edmonds' 1995.
So you stick Mike's best year is 12 where he played LF, then Erstad in CF, Salmon in RF with Fregosi at SS, Troy Glaus at 3rd and Grich at 2nd? At 1st, it's actually a longer scroll down before you get to Pujols' 12 or Rod Carew's 82. Downing is your Catcher with his 79 season. 
I'm trying to fit guys where they actually played in the year that is the best, so no Erstad at 1st and Vlad at DH. Ohtani's 23 as a DH is likely ahead of Vlad. Crazy that the one HoF from this team doesn't make the starting lineup. But he would be on the bench with Figgins, Simmons, Kendrick, and Edmonds.
This was fun. 
https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ANA/leaders_bat_50_season.shtml
https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ANA/leaders_pitch_50_season.shtml

Challenge Accepted.

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.)

The Mariners would have Griffey in his prime, A-Rod and Ichiro. They'd also have a lot of other random seasons like Bret Boone's 2001 37 Hr season at 2nd Base. Their rotation would be good with Randy Johnsons 1995 at the top, followed by Felix Hernandez 2010, and then you drop into Jamie Moyer, Mike Moore and Mark Langston next. Pretty good lineup but rotation not that great. 
The O's actually with Cal Ripken (91) and Brooks Robinson (68) playing next to one another with Bobby Grich (73) at 2nd with Eddie Murray (83) as the 1B? With plus Frank Robinson (66) in RF, with Paul Blair in CF, and Rafael Palmiero in LF? But their rotation probably falters after Palmer and Mike Mussina.
Our top 5 Pitching Seasons (by bWAR) are actually Dean Chance (64), Mark Langston (93), Frank Tanana (77), Nolan Ryan (77) and Chuck Finley (90). Then you have some repeats before getting to Jim Abbott (91) and Jered Weaver (11), John Lackey (07) and Shohei Ohtani (22).
For the position side it's literally Mike Trout (12, 16, 18, 15, and 13) before you come to Darin Erstad's (2000), Jim Fregosi (64) and Andrelton Simmons (17) are next before you get to another Mike Trout (19), Then its Troy Glaus's 2000, and Chone Figgins (2009). Since we can't do repeats, Tim Salmon in RF (95), DeCinces' 82, Kendrick's 14 and Grich's 79 are all great seasons before you get to Ohtani's (23) and Vlad's 2005 -- not 2004, and Brian Downing (79) and Jim Edmonds' 1995.
So you stick Mike's best year is 12 where he played LF, then Erstad in CF, Salmon in RF with Fregosi at SS, Troy Glaus at 3rd and Grich at 2nd? At 1st, it's actually a longer scroll down before you get to Pujols' 12 or Rod Carew's 82. Downing is your Catcher with his 79 season. 
I'm trying to fit guys where they actually played in the year that is the best, so no Erstad at 1st and Vlad at DH. Ohtani's 23 as a DH is likely ahead of Vlad. Crazy that the one HoF from this team doesn't make the starting lineup. But he would be on the bench with Figgins, Simmons, Kendrick, and Edmonds.
This was fun. 
https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ANA/leaders_bat_50_season.shtml
https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ANA/leaders_pitch_50_season.shtml

I would think the Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs and surprisingly Reds and A's would be the front runners... but the Angels are right there. 
The Red Sox would also field a very dominant rotation, and that would be challenging.
I mean, Pedro's 2000 with a 11.7 WAR and then Roger Clemens 1990 at 10.4...Curt Schilling's 2004...Great 1-2-3 With Eckersley closing?

I would think the Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs and surprisingly Reds and A's would be the front runners... but the Angels are right there. 
The Red Sox would also field a very dominant rotation, and that would be challenging.
I mean, Pedro's 2000 with a 11.7 WAR and then Roger Clemens 1990 at 10.4...Curt Schilling's 2004...Great 1-2-3 With Eckersley closing?

Yes, they do.

I don’t have any beer/field spring training pictures on my phone but I do have a hotdog/field picture lol

I picked the top option because unless he rebounds or rather can stay healthy, they won't be contending.
Now as to the chances of making the postseason. Last season the top 6 fWAR totals in the AL, the lowest was 42 (Rays and M's), but the Rangers made it with 41.9 and the Orioles with 40.1..  So basically they Angels would need to be around 41.0 fWAR to be within reach -- they are currently projected for 33.4.  If Trout were to get to 7 fWAR, he'd be exceeding their projection of 4.4 by 2.6 fWAR meaning the rest of the team would need to see about 6.5 fWAR in internal improvement to reach 42 or at least 4.5 fWAR to be projecting near 40 fWAR at the deadline...
If you believe O'Hoppe will beat his projection by both improving defensively and greater playing time, are praying that Rendon can stay off the DL, and that Drury simply repeats his numbers from last year then it's not crazy to think those three could make for 2.0 to 2.5 fWAR better than they're being projected for. 
When push comes to shove; RF, DH, and the pitching are the wild cards.  fWAR thinks the DH possibilities suck (1.0 fWAR). They have zero faith in Adell/Moniak/Hicks in RF (0.4 fWAR).  So, add a SP capable of 2 fWAR to push Silseth to AAA, hope for improvements from the four returning SPs, even moderate improves of 0.25-0.50 fWAR and for the pen to see improvement by virtue of fewer arsonists and it's not impossible although improbable.
Whip out your pixie dust ladies and gentlemen! Rengifo needs to start off playing well for once, they need try to get 1.5 fWAR more than they're being projected for out of RF, and they need to stay healthy (lol) for them to have any sort of shot.
 

Chiefs in a rout.  
 
Now tell me how Purdy is related to Piodeportes.  

The first 4th down try in the second half I get. It was 24-10, no reason to think the 49ers were able to score, they'd just been held to a field goal and you were still rolling...
The second 4th down try I dont understand at all. That made zero sense. Down 27-24, you take the points and tie the game back up. Wasn't a chip shot field goal at 48 yards, but it should've been made. And they were on the 30, so it's not like the field position would've been better if they didn't make the field goal.
I will say that the 49ers scoring on the next drive to take a 10 point lead felt demoralizing. They then switched to a soft prevent defense to keep the Lions burning clock on their TD drive. They'd have been much more aggressive defensively with a 7 point lead. There was only 3:02 left when they took a 10 point lead.... People saying they'd have tied it back up if they'd only kicked one of the field goals are missing the defensive switch that took place here. Scoring twice in 3 minutes is not unheard of, but its highly improbable after being shut out for nearly 27 minutes at that point.
 

You bleed Angels Red first. And if Purdy's dad had pitched for the Angels, especially in 2002, you'd have been rooting for him. Unless he was playing the Seahawks.
I'm gonna get a Angels Jersey T with Purdy and #13. LOL
 
NO POLITICS!

@mmc Love the comment. Keep being you dude.
And for the record, the Rams left when I was 15, and I was already a 49ers fan, but to expect a city to support you after you left and then came back, is a joke. The Rams left an entire generation of LA fans to find another favorite team. 
 

I know you all have your favorite NFL teams and some of you ( @Chuck ) hate the 49ers, but I just wanted to shine a light on this to maybe persuade you all to supporting the 49ers in the Superbowl. Brock Purdy is pretty known for being Mr. Irrelevant of the 2022 Draft, and now leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl this year after a disastrous UCL injury in the NFC championship game against the Eagles in 2022. UCL injuries are very rare in the NFL, unlike in Baseball.
His Dad, Shawn, was an Angels draft pick, played for the Angels minor leagues for a few years and unfortunately also had UCL issues, which derailed his career as TJ wasn't as common in the 1990's as it is today. They rehabbed it instead and he never made it to the majors. 
Shawn Purdy was the 16th round pick of the Angels in 1991 out of the University of Miami. That draft was quite bad as only 9 of the Angels picks even made the majors and the best pick was current Yankee manager Aaron Boone, who did not sign. The best Angels pick who did sign was Orlando Palmiero in the 33rd round. He and fellow 2002 Angel Jorge Fábregas were from this draft.  (Fabregas was traded midseason for Alex Ochoa, also a 91 draft pick by the Orioles). Our first round pick was Eduardo Perez. Benji Gil (Rangers) and Aaron Sele (Red Sox) were also in the first round of this draft. Shawn Green was drafted the pick before.
But back to Shawn Purdy, Brock's Dad. His Baseball-Reference page shows a typical almost made it story. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=purdy-001sha
Shawn had pretty decent numbers as a starting pitcher in four years in the Angels minor league system, pitching with Troy Percival at a couple of spots and being on the same minor league team with Garrett Anderson and Palmiero and Fabregas in 1992.
He moved on to the Giants in 1995, after an elbow injury in 1994 with the Angels. Continuing the transition to relief with the Giants, he lasted three years with them before finishing his minor league career with the Braves in 1999 after a second injury to his elbow. He made it to AA with the Angels, then AAA with the Giants and Braves so in reality he wasn't that far from being a major league pitcher. He had a 1.83 ERA in the pen for Richmond in AAA his final year before his injury. 
https://www.the-sun.com/sport/9323625/shawn-purdy-baseball-brock-purdy-san-francisco-49ers/
Some of the quotes by his ex-teammates are funny. Anyway, a little better injury luck, maybe a bit better performance, and a bit of a better development staff for the Angels and this guy may have been in our pen for 2002. 
As a 49ers fan, what Brock Purdy is doing is incredible. And it's neat that his dad played in the minor leagues for my favorite Baseball team.
Other football players, including Brock's upcoming SB opponent, Patrick Mahomes, have had their parents play baseball. Patrick's father Pat had an 11 year major league career. 
I know we've mentioned it here in the past, but it's neat and I'm still over the moon after the comeback yesterday.