HaloBronco

I didn’t think the broadcast was bad. I’m not down on Sutton at all. He needs to get a few games under his belt. 
 

On Ward yes, completely agree we need him on team. They need to figure how to work that out. 

If Sinclair soon to rebranded as Bally Sports offers consumers the option to purchase and stream directly from them, sign me up.  

It's way overdue at this point.  

5 hours ago, PattyD22 said:

That 1985 Cardinals team was amazing, and I specifically referenced them in my post for a reason.  They had Coleman, Jack Clark, Andy Van Slyke, Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, Tommie Herr, Terry Pendleton, etc.

Aside from Jack Clark’s team leading 22 HR’s, the nearest player was Van Slyke who had 13.  Tommie Herr led the team with 110 RBI’s but only had 8 HR’s.  Herzog had them play small ball, and they won 101 games and Damn near won the World Series but lost in 7 games.  As a baseball fan, that team was pretty amazing to watch.

I'm with you on this. Loved that style of Baseball the cardinal teams played under Herzog and would love to see baseball played like that today.

That's why I appreciate Fletcher so much he brings back some of that style that's been lost in todays game.

Pretty sad that it's unique to see a player like him in todays game.  

12 hours ago, Justin said:

If I had to choose between "no bullpen," "no offense," and "no starting pitching," I would choose the first one every time. It's the easiest one to address during the season. And, as many have noted, there is always the possibility of the bullpen outperforming expectations. 

This^ . Couldn't have said it any better. completely agree

You could cancel Frontier for TV and just keep their internet (Great internet as long as it's fios and not DSL). You could then sign up for AT&T tv (Formally Direct tv Now). 

AT&T TV is the only streaming service I'm aware of that carries FSW soon to be rebranded as Bally's sports West.

Cost I believe is $85.00 a month. 

Or yes get MLB TV and watch it on demand (Tape delayed), not ideal.  

Not great options, I know. I'm in the same boat. 

Loved hearing Sutton on todays broadcast. 

Really stocked to have Daron Sutton back with the Halos it would only be better if he could do the Radio PBP whenever he wasn't on the TV PBP. 

10 hours ago, floplag said:

The mental aspect of it, the games played between pitcher and batter, runner on base, the defensive dynamics... a great throw from RF to 3B, catcher keeping runners honest, stretching hits, great baserunning, diving catches, SS in the hole, 2B up the middle, 3B bare handing a roller... and the list goes on.
As  im writing this i realize much of this really doesnt exist so much anymore which may explain my waning interest over the last few years.  I follow the angels, not so much baseball itself anymore.  The game has dulled itself down since the moneyball evolution.  Weve become much like the NFL where out of 60 minutes less than 10 is actually play, the rest is huddles and such by turning the game into walks, OBP, devaluing hitting, and taking pitches.. and all that before the near death of the running game.
I like what weve been doing this ST, i like the Maddon approach so far, lets see if hes allowed to keep it going during the season. 

THIS ^ plus I must add the delayed double steal. 

just to be a jackass I'll add the infield fly rule - LOL! 

22 minutes ago, ScottT said:

Who is pumped for Bally's Sports?

Two weeks!!!

Who has it (I assume only Spectrum and AT&T TV)? 

I have YouTube TV, so unfortunately I won't be able to watch it. 

I'll be catching the games on MLB TV, complements of T Mobile. 

Naming Bundy the opening day starter was the right choice, wonder how Maddon lines up the rest of the rotation...... 

Outstanding! Really happy with both these guys coming on board. What a Great Day for Halo Nation!

Really hope Sutton does some Radio Play by Play when he's not doing Television Play by Play. 

I think it would be great to have a pitcher in the starting rotation that threw it. 

It would be great way to mess up the opposing teams  batters by throwing their timing off. 

Also whatever happend to the screwball?  

Here is what I'd like to see,

- Universal DH

- Get rid of the Black out rule for MLB TV

- Expanded playoffs, keep the list short though (Wild card best of 3). Want to make sure the marathon of regular season matters but still keep it interesting for teams in late July & August. 

- Geographic Realignment

Something along the lines like this: More games in our own time zone, more Geographic rivalries, less travel. 

East

• Baltimore Orioles
• Boston Red Sox
• Miami Marlins
• New York Mets
• New York Yankees
• Philadelphia Phillies
• Pittsburgh Pirates
• Tampa Bay Rays
• Toronto Blue Jays
• Washington Nationals

Central

• Atlanta Braves
• Chicago Cubs
• Chicago White Sox
• Cincinnati Reds
• Cleveland Indians
• Detroit Tigers
• Kansas City Royals
• Milwaukee Brewers
• Minnesota Twins
• St. Louis Cardinals

West

• Arizona Diamondbacks
• Colorado Rockies
• Houston Astros
• Los Angeles Angels
• Los Angeles Dodgers
• Oakland Athletics
• San Diego Padres
• San Francisco Giants
• Seattle Mariners
• Texas Rangers

I'm going with yes, they make the playoffs like I always do this time of year. We're way overdue for some breaks......... 

On 2/8/2021 at 8:25 AM, T.G. said:

I’m waiting to see who they sign to do play by play for TV

No doubt that could be a deal breaker if they pick the wrong guy. 

On 2/7/2021 at 9:49 AM, tdawg87 said:

Negative predictions:

• Canning will be the annual TJ surgery, probably after 2 starts.
• Heaney will miss 15 starts.
• Bundy will regress and miss 8-10 starts.
• Walsh will regress significantly and Pujols will play more games.
• Fowler does really well the first month and a half before a hammy injury takes him out for a month. He comes back and can't put it together.

Positive predictions:

• Ohtani bounces back and pitches 80 innings and puts up a 125 OPS+
• Cobb is our best pitcher, putting up a 110 ERA+ over 160 innings.
• Quintana leads the team in innings with 175 and an ERA around 4.20
• Trout and Rendon will finish 1 and 2 in WAR. 
• Raisel Iglesias has a career year, saving 40+ games with an ERA in the low 2s.
• Barria picks up where he left off last year, pitching 15-20 starts with an ERA just below 4.
• Sandoval impresses and makes a dozen starts or so with an ERA around 4.
• Detmers comes up in September and makes 5 starts. He'll only pitch 20 innings but pretty much guarantee a spot in the 2022 rotation.
• Upton rebounds and hits 25 homers with an OPS around .780.
• Pujols retires early.
• Angels win the weak division with 89 wins.

OK, Guess I'll go with the positive predictions 

1 hour ago, Taylor said:

So they keep the two things that suck and lose the one that doesn't. Thanks, Obama!

LOL! Love it!!

Agree with on this.  

6 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

Its worse than I thought, at least among qualifiers.

Median HR - SB for qualifiers, going back every ten years:

2019: 25 - 5

2009: 18 - 7

1999: 21 - 9

1989: 12 - 8 

1979: 14.5 - 9

1969: 14 - 6

1959: 14 - 5.5

1949: 11 - 4

1939: 11 - 5

1929: 7 - 8

1919: 2 - 15

1909: 2 - 23

 

Notice the inversion - it is a reversal from the dead ball era. HRs have been relatively stable until the 90s when they exploded. Then they lessened a bit in the early 2010s, but still remained above historical norms. And now it is totally out of hand.

I haven't checked the numbers on SB, but I think players are generally more athletic now, so a lot of guys steal a few bases. But we don't really see 70+ SB guys anymore, unfortunately. I think Jacoby Ellsbury was the last one, and befor him Jose Reyes. Or to put it another way:

Last 50/60 SB season: 2017 - Dee Gordon 60, Billy Hamilton 59

Last 70 SB season: 2009 - Jacoby Ellsbury 70

Last 80/90 SB season: 1988 - Rickey Henderson 93, Vince Coleman 81

Last 100 SB season: 1987 - Vince Coleman 109

Loved the way those St. Louis Cardinals teams from the 80's played ball. Great style of baseball to watch Stolen bases, runners in motion, delayed double steals, hit and run, a lot of doubles (Vince Coleman, Willie Mcgee, Ozzie Smith, Terry Pendleton, Tommy Herr, etc) of course excellent pitching. That was true baseball, todays game at times seems like softball an over reliance of waiting around for the homerun.   

On 2/6/2021 at 11:39 AM, Angelsjunky said:

There's been a lot of head-scratching at Perry Minasian's moves this offseason as he has eschewed multi-year deals and added minimal if any premier talent (depending upon how you consider Raisel Iglesias).

Now while I don't like the Cobb trade (as the Angels could have found similar talent on the free agent market without giving up Jahmai Jones), I am starting to see a bigger picture that could explain his thinking. I'm not saying that I have definitive proof that this is what Minasian has in mind, but kind of like the hypothetical Planet X, there's lots of secondary evidence that supports my theory, even if the plan (or planet) hasn't been directly seen.

After acquiring Jose Quintana and Alex Cobb, the Angels now have, along with Dylan Bundy and Andrew Heaney, four veteran starters who will be free agents after 2021. So too will be their new closer, Raisel Iglesias, as well as their two position player acquisitions, Dexter Fowler and Kurt Suzuki.

Now consider the farm system. It has a lot of projectable, but largely unproven, talent. Of especial interest to the near future, the team has two very good outfielders in Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh who should be ready sometime this season, and two starters in Reid Detmers and Chris Rodriguez, who also have a chance of major league readiness; if not in 2021, then as possible starters in 2022. 

After those four, they have several starters who could either be #4-5 starters or solid relievers in Hector Yan, Aaron Hernandez, Oliver Ortega, Pack Naughton, etc, as well as a third stud outfielder in Jordyn Adams who could be ready sometime in 2022. The bulk of the rest of the talent is very inexperienced, but with some upside.

In other words, Minasian has inherited a very interesting farm system, but also a very inexperienced one.

Back to the central thesis (of which the farm system will support in a moment): What can we say about Perry's offseason moves? Well, one thing we can say that he's done is raise the floor on the team's performance. He hasn't turned what looked like an 85-win team a couple months ago into a 90 or 95 win team, but he has increased its likelihood that it will reach 85 wins (plus or minus), and perhaps slightly upped the chances of 90.

But of relevance to my thesis, he's done it without adding future payroll considerations. As mentioned, Iglesias, Quintana, Cobb, Fowler, and Suzuki are only paid through 2021, joining Pujols, Bundy, and Heaney, and followed by Upton after 2022.

So what is my thesis? Minasian is trying to both improve the team, but without adding long-term commitments. Why? Because he wants to take a year to assess the internal talent, so he can make choices that will positively impact the long-term health and strength of the organization. And he's doing so in a way that may actually add talent via trades. To illustrate, let me offer two possibilities for the 2021 season, from the perspective of where we might be at in July:

One, more has gone right than wrong and the Angels are in contention. They keep their players, and maybe use excess minor league talent to improve the team for the stretch run.

Two, the Angels are falling out of contention, or out all together. All of a sudden they have four veteran starters and a reliever that could bring in significant minor league talent. They can move aside veterans to give young players like Adell, Marsh, Detmers, etc, a shot.

Meaning, Perry has made his various acquisitions with an eye for both minimizing long-term investments and/or, if the team is not in contention, possibly trading them.

By July we should have the answers to some very important questions for the future: Can Shohei Ohtani be a pitcher, or should the Angels start thinking about him converting to hitting only? How close are Detmers and Rodriguez to being major leaguers? How good is Griffin Canning? Was Dylan Bundy's breakout in 2020 real? Who are Jaime Barria and Patrick Sandoval, really? Are either of Luis Rengifo or Franklin Barreto good enough to be regulars? Are Adell and/or Marsh ready for the Show?

I get the frustration of yet another year of waiting. But given that this is Perry's first year, and the question marks surrounding the Angels farm system and many of their major leaguers, I think it is necessary and that it should pay huge dividends in 2022 and beyond. And who knows, with a weakened AL West, he might have done just enough for the Angels to at least be borderline contenders and, if not, they'll have some trade chips come late July.

Great write up, love it. 

Very logical guess at what Perry is doing.

Hopefully this exactly what his plan is.  

LOL! Thanks. 

At this point it doesn't seem like we are getting any big arms, I hope I'm wrong.

Might as will bring Richards back home (maybe he stays healthy for a change).  

Watch, since all these pitchers are coming off the board our Halos will hold off on pitching for this year again and sign another Bat. 

I'll go with Marsh better all around skills. 

Adell is a one dimensional player (Swing and miss bat with great power, low contact rate, horrible defensively). 

We need pitching now!!! Trade him while we can still get something for him. He's another overhyped prospect.  

He shown tremendous power but with a low contact rate, seems like one of those power hitters that either hits a home run or strikes out. 

In the outfield he's a liability, he's lousy not even average. 

Not a fan of these one-dimensional type players.   

If we can make this trade, I say say Run and don't walk and make that trade.

We have more than enough bats, we desperately need better pitching.  

Wasn't that impressed with Adell, hopefully he didn't ruin his trade value with his lousy subpar perfomance last season.