Fake Chow

Or maybe he likes playing baseball, and being around his current teammates.  Many times players build stronger legacies when they play for one team in their career.  That would be a good sign for the Angels.

Maybe Shohei is playing because he loves the game and he feels that he has a responsibility to the fans and to fulfill the obligation he made when he signed his contract for this season to continue. He's not an ordinary modern player. Most would have already stopped.

Also, "baseball operations" involves much more than the construction of the major league roster or 40 man roster.
The quality of the major league roster and 40 man roster should be the end result of all baseball operations related decisions including scouting, drafting, player development, trades, etc.

Even if not a complete major league roster rebuild, the bigger picture would be the need to rebuild the baseball operations side of the Angels organization from the bottom up.  Significantly more than just talking about the current roster.  The same ole losing each year is just a symptom.  Victor referred to this in the podcast.
An example (although not exactly what Victor was referring to) would be a trip down memory lane to the Autry years.  Our beloved Halos had a few winning seasons scattered here and there, but mostly disappointment/losing.  Gene liked shiney objects (Reggie, etc) similar to Arte and put an arguably similarlly half hearted focus on the farm, organizational depth, lack of an "Angels way" from bottom to top, etc.  The relatively weak depth of quality young players put the Angels at a disadvantage when injuries occurred and for trade opportunities.  Later, Jackie took the reigns when Gene became less able.  Jackie later sold the team to Disney.  Disney hired some baseball people to run the baseball operations side of the business as Disney knew nothing about baseball.  Disney stayed out of the baseball operations related decisions.  Then a handful of years go by, 2002 WS happens, the baseball organization is healthy from bottom to top, and our Halos have the most consistently winning years in Angels baseball history.  This was the result of baseball people running baseball operations and ownership staying out of the way (including Moreno for the first few years after buying the team from Disney).  Unfortunately, the more Moreno's fingerprints were on baseball operations related decisions that should have continued to be solely delegated to the baseball people, the sicker the organization became from bottom to top which has resulted in what us fans have seen in recent years (consistent losing).
Another example of good that can come from rebuilding "baseball operations" side of an organization even if the major league roster did not have a complete teardown/rebuild would be when the current Dodgers ownership group bought the Dodgers from Frank McCourt.  I believe Arte could rebuild the Angels baseball organization in a similar way (even if not having a complete rebuild of the major league roster)...  if Arte wanted to...  This would require an increased focus on bottom to top organizational health rather than predominantly focusing on shiney marketing possibilities for the major league club.  The irony is that this bigger picture thinking would likely result in the best chance of rebuilding a "consistently" winning major league team once again.
This is the way I hope Arte will build around the current core of major league players.
 
 

Every player should have some level of of self imposed obligation to balance their own needs vs. that of the game/team.  And I'm not saying he should roll over and take some fan being inappropriate but it goes well beyond that.  He doesn't have to be some great ambassador but he does need to recognize and acknowledge that how he acts and what he does impacts his teammates and how people perceive the game of baseball.  If he wants to think that accepting  $245 million doesn't come with anyone other responsibilities than to play baseball then he's a moron or an asshole or both.  
His actions match the hearsay.  If he doesn't give a crap as to how's he's perceived that's fine but it's not on me or any other fan or any of his teammates or the owner that he made a deal with to try and understand where's he's coming from and give him the benefit of the doubt.  It's on him to take a step back and find some perspective as to how this opportunity was available to him in the first place.  And maybe it's because he's too stupid to realize it, but I doubt it.  Which makes purposeful and calculated.  And the fact that he would do that is unfortunate and I can certainly understand how that doesn't sit well with people at all.  
He might disagree, but he owes it to the game to be better.  

Rendon could flat-out confirm what these reports say, and some of you would still be like, "We just need a little more information."

Victor’s rant at 29:30 is what everyone needs to listen to. Dude gets it. 

Uhhh can you read?  You accused someone of Monday morning quarterbacking, when injury risk was one of the major factors as to why some of us felt he shouldn’t be signed and traded instead.  Pay attention.  Monday Morning quarterbacking is when you don’t take a stance until AFTER it happens, then you wanna criticize.  Learn to read kid. 

It’s not hindsight when you call out the scenario beforehand.  

Missed opportunity naming your G.O.A.T.'s Trout and Ohtani. HA!

Missed opportunity naming your G.O.A.T.'s Trout and Ohtani. HA!

Ha, look at the who’s who of winners who liked your post.  Let the dude vent, Blarg.

At some point, when will we acknowledge....
Dipoto - Bloated payroll, empty farm system, failed to build a winner.
Eppler - Bloated payroll, empty farm system, failed to build a winner.
Minasian - Bloated payroll, empty farm system, failed to build a winner.
The hard truth is, the Angels have tell avenues for contention...
1. Outspend everyone in free agency.
2. Enter the difficult period of a rebuild where they sell off anything of value in return for prospects, lower payroll to be reallocated much later on to extend homegrown players, shop the bargain bin in FA to fill out rosters until the trade deadline when you can flip them for more prospects, draft at the top of the first round because of your piss poor record, spend big on teenage lotto tickets in international free agency and return to contention in 2028 with a sustainable model of success, which is a combination of a strong farm, and the ability to spend big. 

Thanks, Dave Ramsey.

Here are mine so far:
1.  Estevez
2. Moniak
3. Neto

I know for a fact blockbuster deal is off the table

Heyman would be proud of your insightfulness.

I definitely understand not liking the name change, even after all this time. However, attributing the Angels shortcomings to the name change is just dumb and speaks volumes about the average Angel fan. 

I’m still confused.  Can you explain it to me at a pre-k level?

Only one man knows for sure

i think of it like this, if i left my wife because we had a relationship that wasn't working anymore, then i got a couple different girlfriends over the years and it never worked out with them either. what would it say about my exwife if she took me back? what would it say about me if i just went back to where i was unhappy? and also maybe the problem isn't with my wife or all those exgf's. maybe it's me.