Duren, Duren

You are correct, this is early but establishes a starting point for discussion and crowd sourcing.   I plan to officially update again at approx 60 games, but team Tier placement will be fluid through the next 40 games.

Interesting metric format. But still too early to call these more than a very early sample size of 1/8th of the season. A couple of good or bad series can distort a team's status as much as show an established performance level. Early in a season team's often experiment, trying to find the best everyday lineup and rotation. 
I'd do these maybe quarterly, after each forty games. By then teams have played more evenly road/home and against a wider spectrum of teams. The first twenty are somewhat indicative, but not enough to think things can't change over a longer time frame. 

It never was really.  For that to happen EVERYTHING had to break right, and that never happens. 
I thought they would be close, but Rendon down again, Neto and Schanuel not hitting, and too many journeymen in the daily lineup with no real options coming from a bottom 5 farm.
This could be the worst shape the org has ever been in.
Sidenote; Yes i know Sano is hitting now but hes not keeping 300 thru Aug

Feels like a lame duck hire. Go through the motions for 2 years and act like you give a shit.  Then let the draft build, get free agents and bring in a new skipper.  

I'm mildly disappointed at how Washington is handling things. But we don't know what expectations Perry/Arte had in hiring him. Presiding over a rebuild or hoping that new leadership in the dugout would somehow create better chemistry and get the team in sync. 
So far it seems obvious that there is no magic. The roster is just too problematic. But a rebuild mindset doesn't seem to be in effect either. 
Still, it's really early in the season. This homestand will be a chance to reset somewhat. 
If July last year was a key turning point then indirectly it goes back to prioritizing pleasing/impressing  Ohtani to re-sign more than anything else. Grabbing a handful of discards and declining players hoping that somehow everything would fall into place. And giving up potential future assets. As if Ohtani hadn't likely already made up his mind to leave. 
That entire scenario was embarrassing. Everyone knew the odds were slim at best. Yet Perry (likely at Arte's direction) presided over a situation that will go down in franchise history as one of their biggest blunders. 
 

I'm mildly disappointed at how Washington is handling things. But we don't know what expectations Perry/Arte had in hiring him. Presiding over a rebuild or hoping that new leadership in the dugout would somehow create better chemistry and get the team in sync. 
So far it seems obvious that there is no magic. The roster is just too problematic. But a rebuild mindset doesn't seem to be in effect either. 
Still, it's really early in the season. This homestand will be a chance to reset somewhat. 
If July last year was a key turning point then indirectly it goes back to prioritizing pleasing/impressing  Ohtani to re-sign more than anything else. Grabbing a handful of discards and declining players hoping that somehow everything would fall into place. And giving up potential future assets. As if Ohtani hadn't likely already made up his mind to leave. 
That entire scenario was embarrassing. Everyone knew the odds were slim at best. Yet Perry (likely at Arte's direction) presided over a situation that will go down in franchise history as one of their biggest blunders. 
 

this year was never going to be a success with the record. success for this team for this year was always going to be about the kids improving.
it would be a pretty amazing season for this team to finish .500, but i'd rather see the kids make forward progress as preparation for next year and beyond.

Think of it this way: He hasn't done any more damage. That's one of the things I like about this year - no more albatross contracts, no more prospects given away. The worst of it is probably Stephenson, but even that might prove somewhat useful next year. And guys like Paris and Adams are still around. If the Angels fall deep into a hole, there's no real loss to releasing Hicks and calling Adams up (for example). And it isn't like Adams (and Paris) can't use more seasoning in AAA.
The real damage, of course, was done in July of last year. That was a debacle that will likely haunt us for year's to come (look at Edgar Quero's numbers this year). I know, hindsight and all, but the end result was still devastating.
And we can give Perry and the Angels credit for getting Soriano back.

Perry is in the last year of his deal. I think he would have spent $1bn on free agents if he were allowed to. This is purely speculation, but I think Arte looked at his track record with free agents and last year's trade deadline deals, and said, "Perry, you're cut off". 
To answer your question regarding what they could have done -- they needed to be highly active in the trade and waiver market to find players under team control to fill in on depth. A guy like Oliver Dunn would have been perfect. Raked in AAA but not a top prospect, Phillies couldn't find a roster spot for him, Brewers acquired him for basically free, and he's got 6 years of team control. Left handed hitting 2B/3B with promising plate discipline and power -- there's our Sano spot.
Also, there are some roster decisions which could have been differently. I would have had Andrew Wantz, Davis Daniel, Kyren Paris, and Jordyn Adams in the majors. I would have kept Trey Cabbage and Austin Warren. I would have kept Fletcher and Stassi, who presumably were only traded because Minasian wanted to escape the stain of the contract extensions he gave them. Even Walsh might have been worth one more year as insurance for Schanuel.
Would these guys have sucked? Probably. But Ward and Rengifo sucked for years before they figured it out. If you give these young guys under team control reps now, you're at least starting the clock on hopefully building towards a better future. The Cisnero and Hicks of the world-- they suck just as bad anyways. Total waste of time. 

If 2024 wasn't primarily about taking stock, why didn't Perry spend more? He signed no major free agents - just a bunch of bench guys and relievers. As you say, they've got some trade fodder and the rest of the guys you mention are cheap filler. They're on the team because the Angels don't have enough minor league depth to fill a major league roster.
I agree that it is a "shitty team with ton of journeymen," but there's also some young talent. And again, who do you want to see playing that isn't playing? We can nitpick details, like giving Hicks playing time over Adell, but I'm guessing that will change eventually.
Or to put it another way, if they accept that they need to take stock and rebuild, what else could they have done? Rebuilding a team takes time; signing and developing young players takes years. The fact that the Angels didn't max out their payroll with (more) dubious free agent contracts is a good thing - it means they've accepted the fact that their approach of the last eight years hasn't worked, and they need to try something else.

I always figured this year, and possibly next, would time for rebuilding and seeing what they have in terms of players in the system. I never understood the the vets on one-year deals unless they were there to fill in when the younger players needed a game or two off. Some folks keep saying, “trade value,” but what are you realistically going to get for any of those guys? You may get a lottery ticket or two, but nothing of any consequence from any other org. So that argument makes no sense. I don’t mind if they need to stink for a few seasons if they have a clear plan to rebuild. My biggest issue with the team is just that it seems like this team lacks any clear direction or prospect depth, with no sense that they will set a course and stay with it.

I hear your point, but Neto did just fine last year. He wasn't great, but he held his own. Schanuel it is less clear. He didn't play enough last year to really show that he could handle major league pitching, so I'm more open to the possibility that he's best served in the minors for a couple months. But I think his main problem is a bit of confusion about who he is as a hitter. To me, he is a contact and walks guy, yet there's been all this talk about him putting on muscle and trying to hit for more power. That's a quick route to ruining what is already a great skill set. 

He would need to start actually getting some hits for that to occur. 

This isn't constructed as a taking stock/rebuilding team. 
Drury, Estevez, and Moore might bring back a fringe prospect at the deadline, but there are a shit ton of other veterans taking up playing time who are on expiring contracts and presumably have no trade value.
There is no reason for Hicks, Sano, Garcia, Cisnero, Strickland, Fulmer, or Adrianza to be on a rebuilding team. They aren't good, they don't have any team control, and they don't have any trade value.
Altogether, the Halos probably have minimum 10 guys on this roster who won't be here next year. 
It's not like they are building towards a better future or something. This is just a shitty team with a ton of journeymen hoping to tread water long enough for the front office to keep their jobs. 

I agree with most of this but an argument can be made that Neto and/or Schanuel would be better off developing in the minors to achieve their best possible long-term potential. Neto especially looks completely lost right now at the ML level, especially against breaking balls. Most fans agree that Adell was brought up way too early and it may have significantly impacted his development. That could also be the case here, of course it is hard to ascertain if that is the case or not. On the other hand, Adell is having the best plate appearance of the "future" hitters (0 WAR, 110 OPS+), sans O'Hoppe, and he has the fewest starts (7). Neto has 20 starts (-0.1 WAR, 37 OPS+), O'Hoppe has 17 (0.5 WAR, 134 OPS+), Schanuel 16 (-0.1 WAR, 52 OPS+), and Moniak 12 (-0.7 WAR, 39 OPPS+). I get that part of that is due to the respective positions they play and all but it is still pretty crazy, especially considering that Adell still has a high ceiling.

The AL West sucks because none of the other teams have gotten to play the Angels.

I've lost full confidence in Wash because of this one. I really appreciate the way Wash has emphasized defense, situational hitting, and baserunning, but if you aren't going to play the best players -- get the fuck out.
Hicks was below average against RHP even in his prime. He is fully washed up -- the Yankees paid him ~$30mm to not play for them. Hicks playing against RHP, and hitting leadoff, is flat out fucking ridiculous. 

Anyone that thought this team was a .500 team going into the season had their fan blinders on. 

Very transparent chain of events that have lead to this situation, as I outlined below.
 
 

If Ron Washington does know that, it makes even less sense that Hicks has started over half of the games so far. He has a -0.5 WAR and a robust 27 OPS+. Just DFA him and start Adell 6/7 games, Moniak against all RHP starters and Sano between 3rd, 1st, and DH.

Poor Trout. A great career wasted on a sub-par team in a dysfunctional organization. He will finish his career never having been to the promised land. 

Yeah, it is sort of disheartening. For awhile there it looked like they could go up over .500 and shoot for something like 85 wins on the season. Now I'd be surprised if they won 75. The team is a mess. Trout and Ward have been trending down the last week. I'm sure they'll bounce back, but we might also need to accept the likelihood that this version of Trout isn't a full renaissance. The pitching is a mess. Schanuel and Neto look under-cooked. Etc.
But, while it is disheartening, it isn't surprising. Their strongish start was more surprising. This is more what we should have expected.

Putting all the drama aside, what seems clear is he is an aging guy who can’t stay healthy. That is rather obvious. It happens to over 30 types. 

You have forgotten the wild throw Rengifo made from 3rd in the 1st inning on Saturday?

I had the same thought at the time while watching live, but I can at least appreciate Wash is pushing the young pitchers to get out of trouble and deep into games.