Wisconsin27

Predicting relievers ability to get outs sucks.

Is it me, or does Thaiss get on base every f-ing game? I've honestly wondered if he would be a leadoff candidate (I know!).

Vladdy, if his agent doesn't secure 450+ million guaranteed, he should be fired.

Guys, do you really want S.O. at the price?

OP, I don't think you're getting enough credit for this. Been a fan since '76 and can admit this helped me out. It's undeniably depressing, but will provide all the joy when we do make an impact. Thanks for the work on this.

Arte sells. Simple as that. He's not a baseball mind, but inserts himself. Take a lesson from Stan.

As long as Arte is owner, I honestly don't want to resign Ohtani. The storyline for the top-heavy lineups has been authored by the Angels. It doesn't work. He's 29. Have we not seen this scenario play itself out enough already?

I'm not sold on the idea we will be buyers, tbh.

Might explain Phil's bp decision/debacle tonight.

I'm not sure I understand the question. Looking at our roster, when do you?

We have two of the greatest players who have ever played the game on our team. Think about that. Kids and adults from all over the globe have dawned a mit and bat from the early ages of life and among the final top 20 in all of time, we have two of the best to every do it. Blessed. Is it too much to ask they produce when the moment calls for it? There has been numerous times over the past few weeks (or longer?) where Mike or Shohei have had an opportunity to strongly impact the game's result and they have come up short. If it weren't for the fact that I'm an Angels fan and am always willing to dismiss their struggles, I'd place blame. However, that almost seems sacreligious. Can't do that. Tonight, like many, many others, both players had an opportunity to "come through" and impact the game. Both came up short. I get we as fans we don't like to point the fingers at our future HOF's. But man, it's getting tiresome. I just want to say, "F-, make an impact!" Tonight's game got to me. I get it. Matt didn't step on the plate, Mickey f-d up, etc. But be one of the best players on the planet when the situation calls for it. It's baseball, shit happens. Be the difference. With regards to Shohei in particular, sometimes it feels like we might not sign him because he wants to play for a winner. Hell, I get that. But that line of thinking places the entire burden of the team's success on everyone else. How about making an impact on your team to drive them to success? I know I'm emotional after tonight's debacle. I get we can rightfully place blame on a number of folks....Phil, Matt, Moniak, and others. But how would the game have gone if our stars had performed just a bit better when the situation called for it? Would all of the other shit even happened as it did? Rant over.

I respectfully disagree. I'd argue we haven't seen a gm work within Arte's constraints and manage to fill holes to improve our team. We also haven't witnessed a gm who has "hit" on such a high number of high-end picks as Perry. We also haven't seen those very picks demonstrate the ability to be fast-tracked with success. We also haven't seen the wherewithal of a gm to lay off high-priced stop-gap measures (i.e. this year's SS FA market or bullpen options) in favor of a long-term vision. We also haven't seen a gm raise our floor via shrewd FA signings that fit within the budget and prove useful (see Renfroe, Urshela, Moore, Drury, etc.). You will have to share with me where we've seen those things time and time again. I just can't recall. This team was never going to be a 1st-placed team regardless of who on this earth was anointed gm. Even with the positive moves/additions, it's still got a ways to go. But that gap has diminished and the young players have gotten me excited. And I see the cavalry coming (I.e. young players not too far away who are going to impact the club in a positive way). At long last, I see a true organizational approach with an eye for talent. That's the long and short of my original post. I think Perry has a clue and it's refreshing. No one needs to agree, just my opinion.

We have no answer for the 7th inning.

I've never started a new topic here as I am a "luker" multiple times daily, but tend to not weigh-in much. With that out of the way, I want to simply point out that Perry just "seems different" than what we've had in the role of a GM in past. I admittedly was appreciative of the job Eppler did and have always felt he inherited an extremely difficult hand. The state of the farm, the noose/limitations he was under, lack of depth, etc. With that being said, I'd like to express how pleased I have been with Perry's job to-date. Given the circumstance and current situation (i.e. win now), the foresight and judgement he has displayed is so clearly evident in most every area of the roster. It's almost as if his plan from the day he began is now being played out in front of our eyes....and he has rarely missed on many of the players he identified early on. No one truly knew what he had when with Bachman, Joyce, Neto, Moniak or others. In many cases, we still don't. But to have the foresight to "lower our floor" with inexpensive backfilling the way he has AND to have the cajones to promote and trust his instincts has been remarkable. I remember when he signed Anderson to such a low-market deal wondering what the "catch" was. Now, we are seeing a quality 3-4 starter evolve we will have for another year at a reasonable cost. I was a big Marsh fan, but would make the trade for O'Hoppe over and over again. Neto blows my mind for a rook and I have no idea how he possibly projected that and laid off the FA's when his job was on the line. The Renfroe signing was SO solid. The BP was always a huge question mark and that wasn't lost on Perry. I was critical of the offseason approach (i.e. low-cost spending, practically ignoring the white elephant), but his response has been to rely on his initial moves to address it (Silseth, Bachman, Davidson....and more to come). Undoubtedly, when our season comes to an end without a championship we will be able to "Monday Morning Quarterback" what he should have done differently. But I have to say, I won't be in that crowd. What he has done this year and the results through 30+% of our games have demonstrated to me this is a man with a plan. Hell, he has me so excited to be an Angels fan again that I am actually at piece with Shohei leaving (Note: fan since Nolan signed my ball in '77). In fact, I find myself at times wondering if it might be best for the organization to trust in him to identify the right combination of young talent in a deadline trade to truly put us over the top going into '24!!! Nuts? I know. But man, this guy seems to know talent. I am so jacked about having a young, core group of O'Hoppe, Neto, Moniak, Adelll, Sandy, Detmers, Bachman, Joyce, Paris, and whatever else he might acquire from a Ohtani trade that I am beginning to think the worse thing we can do is let him walk for nothing with this guy in charge. I honestly think if the vets can perform like they can, this team is capable of making a very serious run. I don't envy Perry's position in having to determine it's fate by early July (the trade deadline being so early is a point of contention with me, but that's a whole other topic). But just imagine if Rendon returned and the power came with it, Walsh found his grove, and Mike returned to being "Mike." With our starters coming around and the BP taking shape, we have a roster that can compete in ways we haven't seen in quite awhile. I'm not suggesting we'd win it all, but it "could" make for a really fun ride. My point is, props to Perry. Well done, sir. And thank you for offering this fan something to be excited about for the next handful of years.

With the bp performing better than expected, I am surprised by the dip in our SP as I felt we had a better team than what has been shown. With that said, we will do the most "Angels thing ever" and be just good enough to not trade Ohtani for the haul we could recoup at the deadline. Even if we keep him and somehow make the playoffs, I don't see this team as currently constructed to be good enough to make serious noise if they get in. Thus, we'll likely go into next year minus Ohtani and without the replacements we could have received to bring optimism to the '24-25 season. And I won't totally fault the f.o. because I am sure they feel as though their jobs are on the line. Just an impossible situation to be in given the team's performance to-date.

Welcome to AW! Thanks for sharing a little about your background and I look forward to your posts.

Done

I think his OBP is second on the team?

Thanks! I haven't heard a thing about Jack for a long while and was wondering what happened to him. Wasn't that long ago that he was one of the few young arms we could be excited about. Wild to think he's still only 22.

Really worth it, guys. Support AW!

Especially Howie. I've always felt a strong argument could be made he is the best secondbasemen this organization has ever had. Yet, the crap that was dumped on him during his tenure was unbelievable.

I've shared this before, but if O'Hoppe gets rushed because we "don't have any viable alternatives," I'm going to be pissed. We've seen how that works out. I just hope if he only plays if he's truly ready and has nothing left to prove. I would feel so much better if the MLB club had some decent alternatives, but he showed he's ready before being called up. Don't F with our top prospect's development, please!

I'm just not behind the rush to get O'Hoppe to the bigs. Why not let him grow in the minors for a bit longer? Catching is such a difficult position and it seems like we always push players up before they are truly ready. I would have much preferred we brought in a cheap vet behind Stassi to start the year. We could then let O'Hoppe get some regular time under his belt and advance when he's truly ready. I hope I'm wrong, though!

Agree with War/AJ/PB. I see Barria as an important piece given his success as an inexpensive long-man with no options. To avoid repeating the "depth deficiencies" we experienced in the IF/OF last year, I'd like to see us take a similar approach to the BP by adding at least two more MLB options. We'd be better suited to withstand the inevitable BP injuries.

Tdawg would like a word with you!