Spirit_of_02

Honorable mention for Shea Hillenbrand.

Honorable mention for Shea Hillenbrand.

Patrick pitched great.  USA pitching being weak doesn’t take anything away from what Patrick did tonight.  Hope he carries it into the season for the Angels!
But the USA pitching was suspect before the tournament started.  And then losing Nestor and Kershaw hurt badly.

Yeah Sandy's slider was looking great.

https://theathletic.com/4301265/2023/03/13/angels-prospect-ben-joyce/
Excerpts:
"That’s exactly what happened on Sunday afternoon. Joyce threw a 2-0 fastball that whizzed just behind White Sox catcher Seby Zavala’s helmet. He ducked. Then peered toward his dugout with an exasperated expression. The base of his bat on the ground. Right hand on his hip. A look of disbelief on his face. Even the fans in the front row — protected by netting — flinched as the ball went in their direction.
Zavala didn’t even pretend to offer at the next pitch. He stood with his bat on his shoulders and watched a strike go past him.
The White Sox catcher appeared perplexed and a little frustrated. Just how Joyce likes it.
“I think sometimes it almost helps me,” Joyce said. “You can kind of tell after that. The guys don’t really want to be in the box.”
...
"Joyce’s college pitching coach, Frank Anderson, told The Athletic that he was concerned last year that the team that drafted him would rush him to the majors late last season, taking advantage of his tools at the risk of his development. But he’s watched Joyce throughout the spring — including with a group of Tennessee players and coaches that gathered to see his appearance against Team USA. He now believes Joyce is ready for the big leagues.
Anderson said he believes Joyce could someday be a starter. He’s still developing new off-speed pitches. But having four pitches could make him more viable as a starter. For now, the Angels know they have a potentially elite reliever.
“His stuff obviously speaks for itself. Two different breaking balls,” said Angels pitching coach Matt Wise. “One of them was up to 93 miles per hour the other day. That’s obviously pretty easy to see. But he’s slowed it down for himself a little bit in the games.”

They aren’t signing him either way, so he may as well put up 12-13 war this year.

I've been an Arte fan over the years. 
But a few things stand out here that don't give me the warm and fuzzies..
When he says he had several offers that were huge. But decided not to sell. Just because. The whole thing is weird... and seems stupid, honestly. Not just to back out. But essentially indecisive and short sighted... like a lot of the moves over recent years.
Piggyback that with "we aren't trading Ohtani". Seems sort of the same problem... not going with the smart move. Almost like a hoarder, who keeps stuff for sentiment, when everyone around is pointing out reality.
When me mentions people telling their grandkids they saw Ohtani play. Yeah, sure I guess. Plenty of Mariner fans saw Jr and Arod play together. I doubt that replaces winning... and this goes back to his priorities. He doesn't understand this isn't a circus show.... as cool as Ohtani is, winning is FAR more important. We've all seen Trout dominate baseball for a decade.... personally I'd trade Trout for the 2000s teams any day. Trouts been amazing, but this losing stretch isn't any less because you get to see an historic player. 
Lastly, it's kind of silly to mention the beer prices.... yes, we all love beer, Arte. And the cliche "beer and hot dogs taste better at the ballpark" line. Again.... I could go to a bar and catch the game on TV for better prices... I want to go to the game and be entertained... and that means watching a good team, not one or two guys who are amazing bat 4 times over 3 hours.
 
And most important, along the beer part. You buy a round of beers for 18 bucks and  tip 2? What a cheap ass. 

It is weird because Moreno used to talk to the media once a year, and then he stopped. But I think a large number of owners never talk to the media at all, so in that sense it’s not weird. 
My policy is I continually ask to talk to Arte and if he doesn’t want to that’s his choice. It’s easy for me to say it’s bad business for him to not talk but we all know it could go either way, so it’s his choice. I am more interested in what he does than what he says anyway. 
 
It’s not like we’re going to get all the answers we want even if he does talk. He’ll give us his spin on things (just like he’s done with Verducci and Heyman) and on other things he’ll just refuse to answer. We’re not going to strap him in a chair and shock him until he tells us what we want to know. 

I thought the article was really well done.  
Lot's to digest here if we're going to deconstruct each and every word he said.  And we will.  I will
He didn't really say anything that was off brand by any stretch.  In fact, this was just more confirmation of the type of owner he is.  He wanted Trea Turner and apparently Minasian convinced him otherwise.  Gotta give some credit to Perry here as he seems to be the only GM so far who's been able to get Arte to do things the non Arte way.  
But really it's the same stuff.  Arte loves baseball.  He wants to win.  He wants the fans to have a great experience.  He wants to be profitable.  He's gonna spend money.  All those things are great and should add up to a franchise that's kicking ass.  It's all the things we would expect to hear from any new owner had he sold the team.  
The one thing that's continually absent from Arte's vocabulary is the importance of player development and the words farm system.  Maybe I'm reaching but if I'm an owner and we're talking about how to make and keep a franchise successful, that would be one of my primary talking points.  
He made a non-specific comment about how if he were going to keep the team that they 'have to do better'.  I don't know what that means but hopefully it means all the things that we've talking about like having a proper infrastructure, focus on the farm and development, not meddling or knee-jerking decisions due to emotion, and so on and so forth.  
There's a semblance of that with giving Perry more control and more money.  But that could be short lived if the team isn't in contention come July.  And all he'll be thinking about is how they should have signed Trea Turner.  
If they don't make the playoffs, they lose ohtani and perry probably gets fired.  And we're starting all over again.  I really want to see what Minasian can do with a few seasons of similar control.  

He has a fair point, though.  It is weird that Moreno hasn't talked to any local/beat reporters in years. 

What makes you think they’ll trade him in that scenario?
I just can’t see Arte signing off on an Ohtani trade.
Arte’s quote in the NY Post about Babe Ruth made it sound like he doesn’t want to trade Ohtani under any circumstances.

Anything is possible but I doubt it.
I would say if that happens that would be a very bad thing for the Angels.

Exactly. Ambiguity is a weapon to generate clicks. It's not at all surprising.

👀

Eliminate the blow-up innings, and we are looking at Cole Hamels II.

Sandoval showed flashes of what kind of pitcher he can be several times last year.  The swing and miss rate of his off speed pitches was near the top of MLB last year.
The problem with Sandoval is he has tendency to have that "blow up inning" where his pitch count gets driven up because he loses command of his fastball, and has to rely too much on his secondary pitches.
If he can limit those blow up innings, IMO he has the potential to be a #2 or #3 starter.  I really like him, and I'm hoping he takes a big step forward this year.

“We’re in the entertainment business. We want fans to be able to come to the ballpark and have a great experience.”
and this is still one of his primary narratives.  
You know what I'd love to have heard Arte talk about?  His take on drafting/intl signings and development.  Scouting and how to build the team for sustained success.  

I would love for him to stay with the Angels but I’m tired of reading and hearing how he is going to leave the Angels. Well there is nothing we can do either he stays or he goes and it’s all his decision, but no one knows but him.

Dude -- the INO palm trees on the sleeve would be pretty awesome.

Well, since it's Arte, I'm thinking something like:
 

 
or
 

One of the worst officiated games I've ever seen, with all the calls/non-calls going in the Chiefs favor. Not saying it's rigged, just really poorly officiated. 

He doesn't even really explain how a new owner increased the chances of signing Ohtani, its Heyman so not surprised. It isn't an issue of Moreno being unwilling to spend the money, that's for sure. So he is making a statement with no factual evidence outside of hey, Lacob signed Steph but Arte signed Trout so.......

No idea. Hopefully Arte will answer some questions in spring training this year.