BritAngel

The fact that it’s June 2021 says everything about this topic.  
 
btw, I feel like it’s Groundhog Day and this is same post (with names changed) each of the past several years.  

This team has a losing mindset and it’s pretty obvious. Watch Joe’s pressers. Every bad game, a starter had good stuff. Hitters that are struggling are making good contact or have good looking foul balls. There’s always an excuse. They don’t have leaders on this team. None. You can talk to me about the quiet laid back personality types of Mike, Rendon, Shohei, and Upton. But there is no drive or expectation to win. There isn’t a winning culture where somebody gets in Stassi’s face and says he was selfish for swinging at ball 4 to win the game. Nobody is pushing Rendon to sprint down the line for once. Nobody tells Ward he has to advance the runner as the lead off guy. Maddon’s job is to BUILD a culture because they haven’t had one in 6 years. Instead he wants a relaxed easy going team that learns to win organically. There’s no accountability on this team. Our staff is awful, bullpen is horrible, but would you even know it if you didn’t watch? There’s no urgency to win and no rhetoric about it coming from the team. When was the last time you heard from Perry? Arte? You build a winning culture by everyone being on board. But the bus isn’t even here yet. It’s awful and they are going to go into 2022, once again, with tons of articles about wasting Trout’s prime—and now Ohtani’s. The failure of management to build this culture is evident every single game. Maddon and Arte are perfectly fine promoting players and selling them, even in 6 run losses. Did you see Ohtani? Wow Griffin in left! Bundy had a good swing! That was seriously the press conference today after the travesty of a baseball game we played. You can talk all you want about staying positive. They have a loser mentality right now and it requires some toughness and accountability to break that. But it won’t happen. So again we punt. 

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I really hope the Angels don't make any trades for players who aren't controllable past this season--so for me, that would eliminate people like Ian Kennedy, Mychal Givens, etc.  The Angels are likely going to have to completely overhaul the bullpen heading into 2022, so if they can make a trade this season to kickstart that process, I'm all for it.  But acquiring a non-controllable, marginal upgrade to the current 'pen, even if it just means giving up a marginal prospect, doesn't seem worth it to me.

This is also a reminder of how important it is to let guys develop.  Not saying Ward is suddenly an everyday guy but there's a big difference between guys who are 23 and what they do once they reach 25/26/27.  Not everyone hits the ground running at 21.  Matt Thaiss is 26.  Luis Rengifo is 24.  
None of those guys are likely to be stars but it goes back to how important it is to have a good or at least decent farm system where you have club controlled guys who can add value to your team.  
Taylor Ward is a perfect example of why being patient is so important with younger players and why you don't just trade them for a year or two of mediocre major league help.  

If we crawl back into the race, a deal for Story and Gray/Marquez *could* have some legs as a deadline blockbuster to put us back into it. We match up pretty well with Colorado actually. They always need pitching and we have some minor league volume we can offer up - but not too much - as well as young SS/OF. A lot of our depthy AAA/MLB guys like Barria, Suarez, Thaiss, Rengifo could draw attention to fill out a deal too. 

Pitching and defense takes a team into contention.

yah.  I was right about the one guy I was bearish on and have been getting my ass kicked on other like quintana.  I also thought Canning would start turning a corner and throwing more meaningful strikes ie improve his command and I'm really hoping that happens because I think his ceiling is still pretty high because of the quality of all four of his pitches.  He's just got to start throwing the ball where it needs to go more often.  And I was wholly wrong about Cobb.  And Jose Iglesias. 
I was touting Walsh since 2017. 
I was meh on Fletch until he got called up.   I still like him but I really hate if he's gonna be some contact guy.  He needs to walk 80 times a year and I think he's got that in him.  
I still think Taylor Ward is gonna have some good seasons for someone. 
I've had a man crush on Rodriguez since the draft. 
I didn't like the Jordyn Adams pick all that much.   Wished we got Gorman.  
Love me some Kyren Paris. 
Bearish on Jackson
Like Marsh but kinda think people need to slow their roll on him.  
Still like Adell but for two years from now.  
LIke Thaiss more than most.  Especially at C.   
I don't mind Heaney and think we should sign him to a three year deal.  Yah, I said that.  I think he's consistently inconsistent and sometimes that works.  
Thought our pen was gonna suck this year and would be our Achilles heel.  
Loved Nonie Williams for awhile.  
Had higher hope for Cole Duensing
Gave up on Brennon Lund but now think he can be a 4th/5th OFer 
Still like Aaron Hernandez, William Holmes and think people should remember the names Connor Van Scoyoc and Daniel Nunan from the 2018 draft.  
Hated the Will Wilson pick and hated even more that we gave up our first round pick to get rid of money.  Wanted Arte to eat his fucking brussel sprouts on that one.  
Like Rivera and Daniel
Really like our top three picks from 2020.  Especially Detmers and Blakely.  Calabrese some but not as much.  
There.  I'm on record and it's pretty much a mixed bag.  
And while I'm on a stream of consciousness red shoe diaries confession/rant, 
I'd tell Joe to stay in his lane with his f'n balloon animals and salmon croquettes and otherwise be a pretty boring on field manager and follow a very specific line
I'd tell Arte to piss off unless I need his money.  
For the rest of this year I'd put Ward in CF till Trout gets back and sit Rojas 
I'd only use Rodriguez out of the pen if it's in 3-4 inning stints and I'm getting him stretched out in the minors first.  And it's on a schedule.  Not as needed.  
I like Gosselin.  He's playing almost every day.  
And here's a news flash.  Just because Theo Eppstein said he made baseball boring, stop trying to force the game back to 1970 when we know that shit doesn't win as many games.  For now, stick with what gets you wins and let the establishment change things.  
You want to get really creative for the rest of the year?  Put Barria, Sandoval and Suarez in the rotation and tandem them with guys like Heaney and Bundy.  Yeah, that one's a little out there, but the point is to get the young guys consistent work.   Take care of the guys who you know are going to be here next year and let the others who probably want to fight for their next contract do so from the spot that might not be as comfortable for them because F them.  They're gone in a few months.  Bundy can follow Sandoval, or Barria or Suarez and force himself to get ready on short notice.  
And I'm not calling up Adell or Marsh yet.  They're not ready.  
And next year?
Here's a good one for y'all.  Since our SP is likely gonna be mediocre at best anyway, I'm sinking my entire budget into a kick ass bullpen.  Because you know there's gonna be a budget and you know that adding three to four guys at 1/8m is gonna be full on pull and pray.  So f it.  Lock down innings 6-9.  Bullpen arms aren't predictable you say?  What about 1yr deals for crappy starters?  How has that pool of hog shit treated us the last few years?  Predictability is all relative.  
And most all, someone needs to hire people that are better at their job.  And a lot of them.  Collect smart people.  No team has failed because they have too many smart people.  They fail because one person thinks they're smarter than everyone else.  No matter how much you think you know, others can help.  
So there you go.  The musings of a madman.  

 

Mike Scioscia was too inflexible to manage a winner in this era. Brad Ausmus was too much of a stat-geek to lead men. Joe Maddon is too player-centric to satisfactorily make game winning decisions. 
I think at some point you just need to call a duck, a duck. Jerry Dipoto gave Mike Scioscia shit teams to manage and pissed away the farm. Billy Eppler gave his managers shit teams to manage in the name of rebuilding the farm. Perry Minasian has given Joe Maddon a shit team to manage, and we aren't even sure what his excuse is. 

Joe was the bench coach for MS the first five years of his career, so he caught early Mike who was still getting his managing sea legs.  Then it was off to Tampa for 9 years mostly under Andrew Friedman.  The reason I mention his history is because everyone assumes that MS was a primary influence on Joe and we always compare the two. 
But I think the primary influence on Joe was Andrew. 
Andrew was the smartest guy in the room.  Still is the smartest guy in the room.  I think, if anything, Joe wants to prove he's more like Andrew Friedman than Mike Scioscia.  
Joe's method for handling the pitching staff is based entirely around not letting starters face guys the third time through.  This was actually a pretty common thing that Andrew brought to the table quite a bit but he's actually evolved.  
We have the lowest number of batters faced in baseball vs. 3rd and 4th time through the order.  That's it.  That's what he's doing right now.  And he thinks it's gonna work.  
My biggest issue is that as much as Joe is known for creating harmony etc., he's very poor at individualizing his approach for certain guys and putting each player in their wheelhouse for success.  He doesn't pay enough attention to the specific talent level and nuances that can make each one successful.  He takes an approach and tries to fit the players into that approach as opposed to the other way around.  In other words, he doesn't care who you are, you should do it his way because he's Joe Maddon and knows what works.  At least that's what I see and maybe I'm wrong.
The entire pitching staff is on eggshells with this approach.  50-80 pitches from your starters and then 6 innings of pen work.  Not only is it not working now, but it's gonna absolutely decimate the pen later in the season.  
So the answer is yes.  He's having a major undue influence on the game outcomes right now because he thinks he's smarter than the game.  How long will he ride this philosophy before he realizes that it's not working.  We have the highest k rate and walk rate among our starters because they're afraid to allow a base runner.  Maybe some of that is defense as well but it all ties together.    

This all goes back to a pathetically weak farm system and lack of pitcher development by the Organization.  RPs are built from within the bottom up.  An occasional outside piece can work out and be added.  But trying to build a whole relief staff from outside is a receipt for disaster -- especially doing so year after year.  The Angels won't have a consistent RP staff until they can be competent with their farm system in drafting (& signing int'l Ps) and developing those pitchers.  

Seriously, it all starts with the starting rotation.  The better they are, the better the relievers will be because they're being used less.

What to get his eyes tested, had mine done in half an hour 😨

Pass the doobie EG
that must be some serious shit you're smokin there...
 

Pass the doobie EG
that must be some serious shit you're smokin there...
 

Pass the doobie EG
that must be some serious shit you're smokin there...
 

Maddon isn’t the main issue. Yeah he’s made some mistakes, but all managers do. The guy is well respected around the league and has hadwinners in Tampa and Chicago. You can’t put a lot of blame on the manager when the owner/gm keep dumpster diving for fucking starting and relief pitching. 
 
you could have god managing us right now and as long as The likes of Cobb, Quintana, Blanton, Teheran, Harvey, etc...are being trotted out there; we are going to continue to be a .500 or sub .500 ball club. 

Beyond Trout and Ohtani, Walsh has to be one of the reasons to like the Angels. Two-way player in college and in the minors, a little in the majors too. 36th round pick, figured something out with his swing upon working with Maddon. Not someone that anyone expected to be stud, but now we're starting to think he could legitimately be a .900 OPS 30 HR, good defensive 1B. 
I always pictured Thaiss developing into a solid starting 1B, but Walsh has not only passed him, but has probably entrenched himself as the Angels starting 1B for the next half decade at least. Thaiss still has a future in the majors, just not with the Angels. Even when Rendon went down, they wouldn't promote Thaiss to play 3B, so his chances with the Angels may have come and gone already.
Walsh couldn't have come at a better time though. This offense is a TON better when we have two power hitting lefties batting before and after Trout/Rendon. Walsh really changes the dynamics of the offense. 

Fully agreed with you on how he changes the dynamics of the lineup. Having four very legit offensive threats in a row in our lineup is huge. And the fact that it’s 50/50 L/R makes it that much better. Walsh stepping up this year takes us from being a good offense to a great offense.

Bundy and the pen came up big.
Ohtani continues to destroy the baseball.
Rojas suddenly has 5 doubles.
Good win to break the losing streak.
Now, time to get healthy!

Canning is a busted flush

Absolutely embarrassing baseball tonight
Up against a rookie pitcher on debut and we don't look like getting on base.
Defense has also looked bad and team looks totally devoid of confidence.
Wave goodbye to .500 not be seeing that for a while judging by this display.

He was sitting curve, and he got the exact pitch he was looking for and did exactly what he wanted to do with it. 
It's a tactic that many great hitters employ. Some are "read and react" hitters, Vlad Guerrero Sr. comes to mind. Others, like Trout have such insane quick twitch ability that they'll sit breaking ball and react fastball. 
Most major league hitters do not sit fastball unless a pitcher is missing bad or is 3-0. They're always looking for off-speed stuff, and 99% of them got to the big leagues because of their ability to punish mistake pitches, meaning bad location. 
Simply put, Upton got the exact pitch he was expecting and the pitcher put it in a mistake spot, and Upton punished it. 

Statues don't pull muscles.

I really hope Maddon is not going with a straight platoon at 1B with Walsh/Pujols. 
Walsh hit .324 against southpaws with a .471 slugging .pct last season.