ThisismineScios

There’s a few reasons I find Rosenthal’s report hard to believe. Something like that could’ve only come from Perry, Arte, or Boras. The Angels clearly don’t tolerate leaks from others, hence everything always being a surprise. It doesn’t benefit Perry to leak it at all. It greatly benefits Boras if he’s try to get Arte to agree to something or “prove” something. And why would Heyman, Olney, Murray, and Nightengale all suggest there is dialogue happening if Arte has been a flat no all offseason? Why would Snell/Boras leak to several guys that Snell wants to play in Anaheim? I think it’s more likely their offers are being rejected, and so that leak in addition to Houston is pursuing in addition to “He pitched today, the Giants and Astros watched and he looked good” is an effort to scare Arte because Anaheim is probably his first choice. Why didnt Feinsand and Heyman say the Angels were there? They got their info from Boras most likely. Rosenthal’s leak fits in with something Boras would want to share more than just sources reporting from someone in the Angels. One other point, Arte flat refused to even consider Snell or JDM, but when Perry called about Stephenson he said “Heck yeah give that reliever 3/33!!”

Now this is just bad faith. But it’s cool.

I'd encourage anyone on Twitter to look at @BTH 's post about the players selected in the range the lost draft pick would be. The draft is always a crap shoot, and beyond the Top 10-12 guys, I think you get into a range where the outcomes are so wildly random. I barely recognized any names on that list going back to 2014.

Obviously the whole thing is hypothetical. I have no idea what is going on now, and can't rightfully blame Arte. I am imagining a scenario where that happens. And I am basing this hypothetical on real proven stories of Arte's impatience. The Rengifo/Ward/Joc/Stripling trade veto was real. As was the Beltre ordeal. These are not apocryphal, and I think he is capable of something like this considering Beltre's agent was Boras.

With Snell posting eyes Sunday, Olney and other small timers saying he wants to go to the Angels or that they believed it would be, and the lack of suitors out there (Yanks seem to be a pretty firm no), it seems very odd that a deal hasn't gotten done. And I just have this sinking feeling that it's all going to come down to Arte, and that we will hear soon that Arte refused to give ___ or ____. And he won't ever have to answer for it, and Snell will wind up on the Mariners on a discount deal beating us 4 times a year. The guy loves Orange County and has been here all offseason for crying out loud. With a baby on the way. He has clearly leaked that he wants to play here. He fell right into their laps -- nobody else is in position to sign him. And they're still going to mess this up? Only an Arte-led team could manage to botch this so badly.

My mistake I meant as starters.

I feel like we're seeing a lot of Hicks and Sano, and not a lot of Adell and Moniak. Hicks is clearly earning himself more opportunities With Adell, what do they do? Give him DH at bats? He's doing fairly well, but he is clearly behind Trout, Ward, and Hicks right now. Not sure what they do there and how much trade value he has if they add 1 more guy or keep 2 of the current guys like Sano and another IF

I really still wouldn’t mind Lorenzen or Clevinger. They are both better than Anderson and it allows Silseth to have time to develop.

The thing I like right now is for once, there isn't a hurry to rush either guy. I have seen a few people penciling Dana into the 2025 rotation. Why? For crying out loud, can we have a good pitching prospect on a normal trajectory for once? Same for Rada. "He could lead off in 2025 or 2026 at the latest." No. Just let these guys develop, Rada some power and Dana some pitching skill/throwing skill. Rada is on track to be a stud, but our outfield is filled with guys (including 4th OF types) for several years. I didn't like Eppler, but the thing that stuck with me is how he talked about prospects. He always said you don't have to wonder when they're ready--they knock on the door and they knock loudly (then Covid happened and he had to choose between a year off for Adell or pull him up early). Let Rada, Dana, Kent, Mederos, Urena, Bachman and Joyce develop and tell us when they're ready.

Agree. We really think Arte said, “Ok you have $30 million. That’s all.” And Perry said cool, all $30 on the bullpen and we’re going to spend 1/3 of our entire budget on Robert Stephenson. Don’t believe that.

It's more likely that Snell and Montgomery not signing prevents Clevinger, Lorenzen, and the scraps like Cueto from signing because there aren't suitors (that missed out on the big 2) and the price hasn't been set.

Hard to tell if Feinsand know the Angels really want to come away with one of those guys, or if this is like Rosenthal saying that they have money and they should be spending. Montgomery, Kike/Andrus (6th INF) make a lot of sense. I don't think they sign a JDM because that takes away all of Adell/Trout/Rendon's DH ABs. I say more likely a hitter like Belt or Longoria (good against LHP) that can play in the field on occasion.

Mickey Moniak batting leadoff is not a good idea. I really hope he changes his mind on that one.

That's why I'd love for them to sign Bellinger, lost draft pick aside. He's an elite defender and leaned into contact last year. The power is still there, and with another minor progression he could be close to the guy of 2019. But even if he doesn't, he's still a 4 WAR player batting LH. Beefs up the entire lineup, and necessitates a trade for a starting pitcher (Ward or Moniak).

Blum can’t decide who he is. He writes good interest pieces, especially on people. But he has a real obsession with Arte and Rendon. Mentions it at every turn. Rhett and Fletcher take it for what it is, and let the actions speak for themselves. It’s like Blum is desperate to be aggregated with an Arte or Rendon quote. He was also obsessed with the minor league housing story, and even though the Angels were among several organizations who didn’t provide it.

Chicago signed Dom Smith and Peralta today. Busch also playing 1B. Ricketts seems like he’s content with the payroll. I don’t see them signing Bellinger. Angels have to be the favorite now.

I’m mostly interested in the human element of this. Not as a hopeful Angels fan. Boras clearly floats ridiculous numbers out there but has an internal number with his guys. He knows what he’s doing, even though I think he happens to have an unusual group of “elite” guys. It’s not like the last 2-3 years.

When do guys start missing out on paychecks? Like when does $25 million in 2024 actually mean $24.98 or whatever? Snell’s lady is pregnant. Bellinger’s wife is posting about real estate (according to my sister). These Boras guys can’t be stoked about possibly losing some $ and not knowing where to move to. It’s also clear they won’t get their original asking price.

I believe they will be better, truly. I would just love for Detmers - Sandoval - Canning to be 3-5, not 1-3.

The bullpen was a major need, but WITH Ohtani our rotation was 24th by WAR, FIP, and ERA-. With Ohtani, with him. Obviously replacing him is impossible, but he had 23 starts (12 quality) and 44 HR. I'm not sure where this idea that our current 5-man rotation will just pick up that slack came from. Even if they all improve, that doesn't close the gap by a longshot. As for the lineup, we are saying 125 games from Trout, Rendon, and O'Hoppe will close that gap? What about the DH spot in our lineup on Opening Day? Again, this is all stemming from the idea that we spend $30 million+ on the bullpen and nothing much at all on anything else. As though it was the only need. It would be incredibly odd and strange to approach it that way. Not to fix or even prioritize the bullpen, but to have the idea that it was the only thing worth spending money on.

I have a really hard time with this. Maybe Arte doesn't care about anything at all anymore, but this is a new level of laughingstock if they do. And it makes Perry look like the worst GM in the league. On the other hand, if he did all this with the bullpen because of the slow developing market, pouncing when everyone was waiting, AND then came in and got some upgrades, it's very shrewd. And I don't think he's that incompetent. Final factor for me is that I just cannot, cannot imagine a graphic of "Detmers named Opening Day Starter." They can't possibly.

Absolutely this. This whole nonsense about "leaving it open" is how you wind up with Drury batting 4th and Rendon 5th. If you don't man that spot with a really good hitter, you're exactly right: you're giving ABs to guys that don't raise the floor of your lineup at all. Plus, there really aren't that many days off to go around. Are Trout, Rendon, and O'Hoppe sitting out once a week every week? Adell getting consistent DH at bats without having earned them? Squeezing Aaron bloody Hicks in there just because? Drury at DH, Rengifo at 2B? None of those moves do anything except get your guys rest. They definitely don't maximize the opportunity to have a guy that mashes but can't move in the field. I really hope they don't settle for using it as a rest slot. Especially because Trout is significantly worse when DH-ing and Rendon has literally 10 at bats not playing the field.

I think Clevinger and Lorenzen are better than our 4-5. I think it also allows you to trade Anderson, Suarez, or possibly package Sandoval + Rengifo/Ward + a rookie for....something?

The last two years, one thing that has stood out to me as just awful is the baserunning. Two embarrassing moments stand out -- Ward getting tagged out after rounding 1st, with Mashore standing 4 feet away from him and not telling him that Altuve was on the base. And Adell's baserunning debacle against the Blue Jays where he couldn't score from second on a double off the wall because he went back to the base. There are countless other times where guys just seemed lost on the bases. Then think about our fielding gaffes -- throwing to the wrong base, errors, etc. The bullpen will be better just by virtue of having a real life experienced manager there. And pitch tipping. I firmly believe Ohtani, Syndergaard, Detmers, and several relievers had issues with it. And the staff didn't catch it. So yes, a quality staff will make a difference.

I honestly forgot Montgomery hasn't signed yet. What a weird offseason this is.