ThisismineScios

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.

Just don't see how or why they "rotate" the DH. Even if you sit Rendon, Trout, and O'Hoppe once a week (which is a lot), that's still 3-4 games worth of ABs. Why would they think it's better to have Ward, Adell, Drury, and Rengifo fill that spot than 5 days of a Soler/JD type? Just weird. Plus those guys would have real value at the deadline.

Did the idea that they will add players come from him? I just feel this has been such a strange offseason for the team, and for Moreno considering what he's stated.

While I have you, sir.... This has certainly been a strange offseason. It's not just that Perry felt the bullpen had holes, it's almost like he felt the bullpen had the *only* holes. Do you think the FO is fairly confident in this Ohtani-less lineup and rotation, enough to only add small depth pieces from this point forward? It's a huge gap in spending from '23 - '24 to simply believe that as well.

I think they've botched Bachman, Adell, Canning and Suarez. They brought all of those guys up too early, in part due to pressure to win with Trout/Ohtani/Rendon in the lineup. Bachman is injury prone, but in reality he should have spent last year starting once a week in AA or AAA. Adell was brought up in '20 well before he was ready because Eppler needed something. Canning was fast-tracked despite having major injury questions. Suarez was brought up years too early. He came up at age 21 and gave up 23 HR in 81 IP (!!!). 2020 he had a solid 3 point percentage...oh shoot that was his ERA. It took him years to settle in, but who knows if his trajectory would have changed if 2021 was his first year. They continue to aggressively promote, but there's really only one reason I think the low ranking is a big deal: The lack of pitching talent. The system is extremely dry when it comes to pitching prospects. And this is where you really can have success, having young pitchers under control for 6 years. Free agent pitchers are incredibly unreliable. Other than that, they have C, SS, CF, and 1B pretty well covered for the next 5-6 years. Finding position players isn't as difficult, and even if it is you are more likely to hit on something in FA at OF or 2B than a SP.

Was looking at the cap situation. Because as @Chuck pointed out, there are so many 1 year deals. They have about $40 million in expiring contracts after this year. Only real commitments in 2025 are Rendon, Trout, Anderson and Stephenson. So they are keeping their cap sheet pretty clean. I seriously doubt Arte was driving the "Sign 7 relievers for $30 million" train if he truly wants to stick around for years. Relievers have got to be the least profitable players on the team. I am looking for anything.

Yeah he wasn’t at Washington’s presser. Or Ohtani’s Team MVP on field ceremony. Has made zero statements or appearances. As was said here or on Twitter, nothing about Anaheim or Tempe Diablo. It’s possible the new Orioles owners approached Arte first and balked at the price. A fair amount of smoke here and an absent owner we haven’t seen or heard from in months. Perry hired all his own coaching staff, except Hurdle. Add that to the really odd offseason of spending $30 mil on the bullpen and nothing else. When Arte missed Cole he went straight to Rendon. A lot of things aren’t adding up—the whole offseason has been very un-Arte like.