Dreams

Time for Tarpy to leave Oakland.
Sacramento beckons.   They support the NBA Queens team well.
Just build a 40k capacity stadium near the Sacramento River.

All raising the cap does is putting top tier free agents further out of reach for most markets, including the Angels and raises the second tier up a notch. It doesn't improve the game. 

The absolution of sins is a delicate privilege that can only be earned. In sports, the proof of concept is often delightfully petty. Take, for example, the Houston Astros.
The Astros are a good baseball team again. In the court of public opinion, they are still paying for their cardinal sin of 2017: winning a World Series while cheating. According to one survey based on geotagged tweets after the latest World Series matchup was set, a majority of fans in 47 of 50 states were pulling for Atlanta to win. Even among the baseball industry folks I exchange texts with every year prior to Game 1, there was a common tug-of-war between the heart and the mind when picking a winner. Few people’s hearts are with the Astros. Still.
In Houston, they are grasping at absolution where they can. In a national audio interview Monday, a retired pitcher argued the Astros’ sins should be forgiven. “It’s over and done with,” the pitcher said. “And any suggestion that what happened that year has something to do with what the Astros are doing this year, I just think is ridiculous.”
Absolution cannot come from just anyone. This was Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine, who is so closely identified with the Atlanta franchise (he spent 17 of his 22 seasons there), a Houston radio station identified him as “Braves legend Tom Glavine.” Only a specific regional deity will suffice.
Unfortunately, Glavine’s argument for absolution invited more questions than answers. Here’s more from his interview with Zach Gelb: “Everybody in baseball is trying to cheat, don’t kid yourself. Everybody’s trying to find an advantage, find an edge. Now, what the Astros did at the time crossed the line, and there’s no question about that. But I feel like there’s a lot of people casting stones who maybe shouldn’t be casting stones. … They crossed the line, they suffered the consequences for it. And look, to their credit, here they are again. … A lot of those guys paid a pretty heavy price.”
The question I’m interested in today, as the Astros slog forward through a mire of moral ambiguity: How heavy must one’s guilt feel to find relief in the thought that all of Major League Baseball is one big game of rogues?
The idea that no one has to apologize when everyone is cheating is dangerous. It allows the individual beneficiaries of the Astros’ “Operation Codebreaker” to surreptitiously maintain their swagger as champions – puffed up, not deflated by, the boos and the jeers from hostile crowds.
In social psychology, the refusal of individuals to accept blame for their part in group behavior has a name: diffusion of responsibility. In North American professional sports, fans reject diffusion. We root for the name on the back of the jersey as much as the name on the front. Even industry folks were quick to distinguish their rooting interests this week; some who chose the Astros told me their pick was based on their fondness for Manager Dusty Baker.
What, then, to make of the persistence of Houston shortstop Carlos Correa?
It was Correa who dubiously criticized Cody Bellinger’s reading comprehension skill in an interview last year. The Dodgers’ first baseman/outfielder correctly asserted that the Astros had cheated for three years. Correa refuted this, claiming the Astros only cheated during their championship season of 2017.
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MLB faces a lot of moral battlegrounds: the incursion of gambling, the “Tomahawk Chop,” the location of the 2021 All-Star Game, its handling of the Trevor Bauer situation. Now, four years removed from the Dodgers’ lost championship, booing the Astros is the least touchy of them all. The stakes are relatively low.
Despite Glavine’s assertion that “a lot of those guys paid a pretty heavy price,” the court of public opinion remains the harshest jury a player will face in this matter. None of the 2017 Astros were disciplined directly by MLB.
Don’t let the diffusion of responsibility fool you. If baseball is indeed one big game of rogues, that should invite more reprehension, not less. The responsibility of bending the moral arc toward justice has been placed squarely on our vocal cords.
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ANAHEIM — On the first day of the offseason, Perry Minasian said the Angels are about to undergo a thorough review of everything they did in a disappointing 2021, from the way players performed to the way they were coached to the reasons they ended up injured.
The Angels general manager said on Monday it starts with a look in the mirror, though.
Asked if he has been analyzing his own decisions, Minasian said: “Every minute of every day.”
Minasian is less than 11 months into his first run as a major league general manager, and he’s got a 77-85 record to show for it, despite having the likely American League MVP – Shohei Ohtani – on his roster.
Obviously, plenty of other things went wrong, some unforeseeable and some the results of Minasian’s decisions.
“This is my first year doing this, and I am not perfect by any stretch,” Minasian said. “I do not have all the answers. I like listening to other people’s opinions. And I like people’s criticism, to be honest with you. I’m trying to be as good as I can be too.”
The main criticism, of course, is that the Angels didn’t have enough pitching. Their 4.69 ERA ranked 22nd in the majors.
“We understand that the mound is a place where we’d like to significantly improve,” Minasian said. “Not just improve, but significantly improve.”
Minasian said Ohtani, Patrick Sandoval and José Suarez have earned the right to be in the 2022 rotation, but otherwise they are open to who will fill the two or three other holes, as well as the depth spots they’ll need to get through the season.
Manager Joe Maddon – and every Angels fan – has already said the Angels need premium starters.
“Would you like to add frontline starters? Absolutely,” Minasian said. “I’d love to add three, four frontline starters, that would be outstanding. Realistically, that’s really difficult to do.”
How about two?
“Two is difficult too. One is difficult. I think if you asked all 30 teams, every single person in my position would say ‘Yeah, I’d love to find a frontline starter, whether that’s trade or free agency.’ That’s something that’s easier said than done.”
The first question is how much money the Angels will have to spend, and Minasian said he and owner Arte Moreno haven’t yet agreed on the budget. The Angels also don’t yet know what the luxury tax threshold will be because a new collective bargaining agreement is coming in 2022.
In 2021, though, the Angels spent about $180 million on their major league payroll. They currently have five players signed for about $109 million in 2022, with a relatively small arbitration class that is led by catcher Max Stassi and reliever Mike Mayers. All of the Angels’ arbitration-eligible players will likely make less than $10 million total. Figuring another $15 million or so for all the pre-arbitration players, and the Angels could have around $50 million to spend on new players.
The first question they’ll have to address in free agency is whether to extend a qualifying offer to closer Raisel Iglesias, who made just over $9 million in 2021. The deadline for that decision is five days after the World Series. The qualifying offer figure is typically around $19 million. Liam Hendriks, the top closer on last year’s free agent market, signed a three-year contract worth $18 million per year.
Most of the Angels’ money figures to go toward the pitching staff, but they also seemingly need a shortstop. This winter’s free agent shortstop crop is particularly loaded, led by the Dodgers’ Corey Seager, the Houston’s Carlos Correa, the New York Mets’ Javy Baez and Colorado’s Trevor Story. Minasian also suggested they could stick to an internal option at shortstop.
“(Luis) Rengifo played a really solid shortstop in September, which was really encouraging,” Minasian said. “I think (David) Fletcher has the ability to slide over if we wanted him to. As good as he is at second, he’s very confident he could play a high-level shortstop too.”
Minasian said such internal solutions will be critical around the field, and even on the mound, because the Angels need more than a few acquisitions to become contenders.
“We can go out and make a free agent splash with one guy and ‘win the offseason’ to a certain extent, but there needs to be a lot of internal improvement too,” Minasian said.
Which of course also means the players the Angels already have need to stay on the field. The Angels were crushed by injuries in 2021. Three-time AL MVP Mike Trout and third baseman Anthony Rendon were injured for most of the year, but the Angels had dozens of injuries to significant players all season.
Minasian said looking at the causes of those injuries will be “a significant part of the review.”
“We’ll go through each individual injury,” Minasian said. “What was done the past offseason, who they worked with, what they did in-season, time in the weight room, time in the trainer’s room,” Minasian said. “What their recovery was like. What their routine is. It’s going through each individual player. And it’s not only the guys that were hurt, but the guys that were healthy, and why did they stay healthy? Is there some type of adjustment we can make as an organization to keep guys on the field?”
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Minasian said right-hander Chris Rodriguez is the only one of the players who finished the season on the injured list who is questionable to be ready for spring training. Rodriguez, who had a strained lat, “could be out for an extended period,” Minasian said, adding that there was no specific setback, but “rehab-wise, it just wasn’t feeling great.” …
The Angels have not yet made decisions on the status of the coaches for next season, Minasian. That will be determined during this week’s reviews. …
Minasian said the Angels have been working on changing their policies with regard to their minor leaguers, but they have “nothing to announce today.”
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I think people get waaaaay too upset about the Angels failures from November to February. You really don’t become a good team by what you do in the winter. You become a good team by the way you develop your own players (minors and majors) during the season. 
 
The guys you acquire are a small piece of the puzzle and they’re probably going to balance each other out by some being good and some being bad. 
 
So you need to lift the floor that those guys sit on by having a lot of young guys from your system providing value. So you’ve always got an 85-win base and if your acquisitions work better one year it goes to 95.
There’s no way you can count on acquisitions lifting you enough if you have a 75-win base. 

The Angels’ five-city, 10-game road trip might be as close as the Angels come to experiencing the grind of the postseason in 2021.
That’s how Manager Joe Maddon looks at it, at least. Monday’s loss to the Yankees ― one of the three teams separating them from the second American League wild card berth ― left them 9 ½ games out of playoff position with 42 games left in the regular season. Their odds of reaching the playoffs are less than 0.1 percent, according to Baseball Reference.
The Angels’ young core is getting somewhat of a playoff preview by playing games in New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Williamsport and Baltimore before they fly home next Thursday.
“When you get more active in a playoff situation, this kind of stuff happens,” Maddon said. “The schedule becomes hectic. It’s good to become used to hectic scheduling, different start times, playing when you’re not necessarily feeling 100 percent and still playing. These are the little things that can help you grow a little bit. That’s how I’m thinking through this thing. I want more of this. I want more of these uncomfortable, inconvenient moments that occur when you get in the playoffs.”
UPTON MOVES UP
After batting no higher than fifth in his last three starts, left fielder Justin Upton batted third against the Yankees. He responded well to the promotion, hitting a home run against Gerrit Cole in his first at-bat.
It was Upton’s third home run on the road this season, and his first in any park since July 28. He is batting .297 (22-for-74) with five home runs in 21 career games against the Yankees.
“Upton is one of the few guys who’s had success against Cole and I liked his at-bats (Sunday),” Maddon said. “He was not expanding the strike zone, and he was seeing pitches well.”
Maddon said that Upton will continue to alternate with Juan Lagares in the Angels’ outfield rotation, with rookies Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh continuing to gain experience in Mike Trout’s absence.
ON TROUT
The only player in the clubhouse to have participated in a postseason series with the Angels is Trout. He’s with the team on this road trip while he continues to work back from a nagging calf injury.
The 30-year-old outfielder still hasn’t been cleared to resume baseball activities since the last time he joined the team on a road trip, July in Minnesota. Asked if he’ll return before the season ends, Maddon said, “I want to believe so.”
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The Angels announced their starting rotation for the three-game series in Detroit. Dylan Bundy will oppose Casey Mize on Tuesday. Shohei Ohtani will oppose Tarik Skubal on Wednesday. And Patrick Sandoval will oppose Matt Manning on Thursday.
UP NEXT
Angels RHP Dylan Bundy (2-9, 6.17 ERA) at Detroit (RHP Casey Mize, 6-6, 3.66 ERA), 4:10 p.m. Tuesday, Bally Sports West, 830 AM
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Jose Marte finished the game for the RCTP tonight.  A scoreless inning with two k's.  Throwing 99mph with movement.  Big guy who's listed at 180 lbs but if he's 180 then I'm 130.  I'm not 130.  He's probably 220+.  If he's suddenly found the ability to throw strike after being converted to a reliever then he's gonna be in our pen next year for sure.  Oh and the slider was pretty good.  

that would be considered a tremendous draft.  Personally I wouldn't expect that out of any draft.  Expect 1-2 decent to good major leaguers.  hope for a 3rd.  Incredible if you get a 4th.  1 starter and 2 good relievers would be absolutely great.  

So I thought I'd give you a short basic rundown of what's happened in the minors so far. 
AAA: Marsh has mostly been hurt but is back now and tearing it up. Adell leads the league in HR's but doesn't really walk much. Matt Thaiss played catcher in college and is now back at catcher, which is cool because he can really hit for a catcher. Jaime Barria is pitching well. There's also this kid, Michael Stefanic that might be David Fletcher's clone. 
AA: Reid Detmers is our best pitching prospect and he strikes EVERYONE out, or gives up a HR. Chris Rodriguez has been doing well getting stretched back out into a starter. There's also a pitcher named Davis Daniel, he looks pretty good. 
A+: Jordyn Adams had mostly been hurt, and they've got some no name guys throwing the ball well. 
A: Kyren Paris and Jeremiah Jackson are really good, and hurt. Jack Kochanowicz sucked at first but now looks pretty good. They have a kid named Jose Salvador that throws hard. 
Rookie: The Angels probably have the best rookie league team in all MLB, and they're almost all doing really good. Arol Vera, Alexander Ramirez, Werner Blakely, Edgar Quero, Alejandro Hidalgo and David Calabrese are all good prospects. 
The two guys from the Bahamas are Trent Deveaux and D'Shawn Knowles. Trent is still stuck in rookie ball. He's fast and plays good defense but really struggles with the bat. Knowles does a lot of little things good, but nothing spectacular. 
Finally, our two way prospects Erik Rivera and William Holmes have been mostly injured, along with Kevin Maitan. 
And that should catch you up. Maybe left out a couple dick jokes or whatever, but that's pretty much it. 

If Rocker signs at slot and Bachman under, we’ll have our answer on the pick. 

Longest home run in Angel Stadium history was 484 feet.  That was pretty close at 470 feet.

Gosselin is a pleasant surprise.

One more week before I consider reviving any sort of prospect hotlist, but if I were to do one now it would include the following from the first week, in no order...
 
Position Players:
Kyren Paris: .300/.417/.500/.917 with two triples, 3 BB, 9 K, and 6 for 6 in SB attempts - absolute menace on the bases so far Luis Rengifo: .267/.421/.533/.954 with a double, a home run, 4 BB to 2 K, and 3 SB - power, speed, discipline combo we all dream on Orlando Martinez: .240/.259/.680/.939 with two doubles, three HR, 9 RBI - a 3-HR game will do you good Caleb Scires: .250/.375/.600/.975 with a double and two HR, 4 BB to 8 K - two lead-off HR will do you good too Michael Stefanic: .346/.393/.423/.816 with 7 H, two doubles - my dark horse candidate for David Fletcher 2.0
  Honorable mentions: Brennon Lund: .267/.353/.733/1.086 with a double, two homers, and a couple walks. Had a scorching '19 in AAA after starting slow. Jo Adell: .235/.316/.529/.845 - will he or won't he? power, speed, strikeouts, ugly swings, hard contact. Brendon Davis (2 doubles, 1 HR) and Braxton Martinez (1.055 OPS, but a 27 year old in Low A): intriguing performances from total wild cards Pitchers:
Jose Salvador: 1 G, 4.1 IP, 2.08 ERA, 1 H, 1 BB, 12 K - the pitching equivalent of a 3-HR game is striking out 75% of the hitters you face. Brent Killam: 1 G, 3.2 IP, 2.45 ERA, 1 H, 3 BB, 10 K - another exciting debut for a new Halo farmhand, lefty drafted in 11th Rd. in 2019 Jack Dashwood: 1 G, 3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 5 K - same for our 12th Rd. from 2019, a 6'6" lefty Cristopher Molina: 2 G, 5.1 IP, 5 H, 1.69 ERA, 2 BB, 10 K - one of the better '19 prospect performances picking up where he left off Erik Rivera: 1 G, 3.1 IP, 2 H, BB, 5 K - excellent pro pitching debut for the purported two-way prospect. 
  Honorable mentions: Andrew Blake: 1 G, 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K - converted to rotation after wild '19 Orem debut (8.72 ERA, 18 BB 32 K in 21.2 IP) Austin Warren: 2 G, 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 5 K - could wind up in MLB pen by end of year  

OOOh Smokes! If Detmer's is really hitting as high as 97, and his able to maintain a velocity in the 93-95 range this opens up his Ceiling more! I could say that at the Moment, we are looking at a 2/3 but back when he was drafted, their were reports of a cutter, If he can develop that Cutter in a solid pitch, along with the increase velocity, your looking a Lester typt of ceiling!
 
Also another guy to keep an eye on, that i would say has gone under the radar is Michael Stefanic! he can really hit! upto .400, doesn't strike-out alot, can take his walks but lack power, he could be one of those good fringe starter or a Ut guy. 
 
Also anyone got reports on these new guys we've signed? 

We are now alone in 1st place with the best record in the AL. 

He's quitting his job because it doesn't make him happy. 
I like that.