Spirit_of_02

7 minutes ago, gotbeer said:

Just to play devils advocate here.  But is in LA proper really out of the question?  Clippers moved here.  Chargers moved here.  They are dwarfed by their counterparts, but financially it works for them.  

If you build closer to LA, a new stadium, would you still fill it up?  Would you fill it up easier than the 2k fans that attended last season, even though they say that number was much higher?  (sarcasm on that part, but we all know his numbers are way off)  Is there enough that will still buy season tickets from the OC, in addition to maybe the lot that can't buy or afford Doggie season tickets.  Would it be an easier sell on TV rights?  

I would not be surprised if Vegas or Downtown LA or staying in Anaheim was announced as the next place for the Angels.  

I don't think Vegas is on the table. Moving them there would cut the value of the franchise significantly simply based on market potential/population compared to LA/OC. Who knows though, maybe Arte doesn't care so much about the value of the franchise now that he's decided to keep it? 

11 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I think a new stadium in LA county is on the table, but realistically the Angels are already in the best spot possible for them geographically. Anything north of Cypress is already Dodger country and south of San Clemente is a whole lot of nothing until you get into San Diego. Moving north takes them further from the fan base. and moving south doesnt really get them any closer to anything.

I agree. The current stadium location is the ideal spot from a business standpoint and for the vast majority of the fan base. It's just hard to see Arte successfully negotiating a new stadium deal after the events of the last 3 years. Long Beach or Carson has to be on the table and LA county is the place he could take the team that wouldn't significantly decrease the value of the team. It'll be an interesting season on the field and off it.

20 minutes ago, mmc said:

Might just be overthinking it but it stands out to me that Arte didn't say anything about Anaheim in that statement

My fear with any new ownership group was that they would come in and move the team into LA County, as difficult as that would be to do. But I at least thought new ownership would be able hit 'reset' with the City of Anaheim. Arte's relationship with the city seems terrible and I'm almost more worried about the Angels staying in Anaheim/OC long-term with him at the helm. 

25 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

I am pretty sure this isn’t true, based on a conversation I just had. 

If you can share, does this mean that the interested parties are still trading competitive bids or are those parties starting to pull back/out?

Honorable mention for Shea Hillenbrand.

1 hour ago, Lou said:

Talking shit about another organization is incredibly unprofessional. 

What a douchebag.

Agreed. What he said wasn't wrong but probably should've remained unsaid. Doesn't excuse the Angel's mismanagement just comes across as a back-handed shot at Ohtani and Trout.

The Angels were rolling at the time but that walk-off 3 run homer in Oakland against Iglesias stands out. That one hurt. They won the next two against Oakland after that to win the series but I think they then went on to get swept by Texas and then the 14 game losing streak happened. 

Did Perry also call down to the dugout and tell Maddon to walk a run in with the bases loaded?

But how will those rule changes impact climate change?

2 hours ago, SlappyUtilityMIF said:

I would think once it was announced today.... I think it's going to be like blood in the water a little churning to see what's there... Balmer, Samueli's, Cuban... It is going to be someone who already has strong roots in Southern CA. (which may pull Cuban out as he would know the issues with running a business in CA). IT's going to be the experienced ones... (Balmer, Samueli, maybe a Group of Executives/Hollywood types, or a Real Estate guy like Bren. The Irvine Company has land for a new Stadium)... 

Or, like a Balmer/Bren partnership... 

A Balmer/Irvine Co. partnership is interesting. If Irvine is involved the likelihood of keeping the team in OC goes way up. Odds are that that any new ownership group with enough cash to buy the Angels will be smart enough to manage the baseball side of things better than Arte has. Keeping the team here is what I care about most now. 

2 minutes ago, Hubs said:

They won't leave Los Angeles Metro.

Leaving the 2nd largest market in sports even as the second team, will not happen in today's world.

But Long Beach, Carson, etc. all options.

True. The challenge that new ownership will have with moving to LA/LA county will be proximity of the fan base. Granted, that didn't stop the Chargers but the Chargers aren't playing 81 home games/year. There would be so much unknown with the Anaheim/stadium land situation that it's impossible to predict. What's not impossible to predict is that the Angel's fan base is highly concentrated in Orange County and the IE. Any new owner would have to tear off the band-aid of leaving that fan base for Los Angeles and begin the process of establishing a sizable new one in Dodger territory.

I'm completely ignorant when it comes to the details of the Samueli family's finances but would they have the interest or financial ability to buy?

This isn't a major league line up. Outside of Ohtani, it's arguably not a AAA lineup.

1 minute ago, Tank said:

i hope no one shows him that picture of lizzo getting on the plane. he'll be out of the lineup for the rest of the week.

I will also be out for the rest of the week (temporary blindness).

27 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Awesome!

 

On a totally unrelated note, anyone have any experience with taking an 8-month-old to an Angel game?

Make sure to stop by guest relations to get a "my first game" certificate.

10 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Lorenzen looked good. 2 IP, 2 K's no hits or walks. 

Change up looked good.

In other news, Commissioner Rob Manfred submits paperwork to legally change his name to "Chairman Xi"

Will be interesting to see how the trade market develops during the lockout. From my understanding, teams can still talk to each other and discuss deals but can't finalize anything until an agreement is reached. Depending on how the CBA looks, deals that were essentially finalized awaiting the CBA may change depending on what's in the CBA. Arbitration years may change, years of club control may change, etc. Seems like it would be prudent for GM's to hold their cards until they know what's in the new agreement.

17 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

It's almost like...something was preventing them from doing that here. 

If this isn't the most telling aspect of all of this than I don't know what is. Arte Moreno, if it wasn't apparent already, is the common denominator for the organizational dysfunction. I hope Perry can pull a rabbit out of his hat on the trade front because all prior historical evidence says Stroman is out of the cards. I hope I'm wrong.

Didn't he sign his last extension at the end of spring training? What changed?

I know this is a lot of tea leaf reading but if he truly isn't willing to negotiate during this spring training that is a bad sign. If the Angels approach him with a deal around the $400m mark and he refuses it by saying "I dont want to negotiate yet" then I think he is giving you an answer and saying he doesn't want to be here long term. His trade value now is much higher with two years of control left than it will be next offseason and I think you have to explore the idea of trading him sooner rather than later. His market isn't going to improve or decline in the next year, Harper and Machado are his only two "peers" and they've set the market, so there's no reason for him not to sign an extension now if both parties have mutual interest. If his goal is to make it to free agency and go to the highest bidder then the Angels probably won't win that battle anyway and all you'll get is a compensation pick.

The Angels are in a unique position and it would be organizational malpractice not to get as much trade value as you can out of a generational player that you have control of for two more years. Especially if your probable best case scenario is a second wild spot with that player on the roster. 

9 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

last year's walk rate in AAA.  13.5/9.  Definitely a fixer upper.  

Had a very good 2017 between AA and AAA. He fell off a cliff in 2018 but he's 25 and his career numbers in the minors are much closer to his 2017 season. Is he a hard thrower?

12 hours ago, floplag said:

So apparently he wants to get it to the top 5 then use financial power... i guess we have our answer on the next few years casue that aint happening anytime soon barring a Trout trade.
You dont jump from 10-12 to 5 in a couple years without losing a lot of games.  

We got from 30 to 10 by just being mediocre. I guess I'm not really countering your point...