ThisismineScios

He's more than a throw in. He's come on a lot lately and hits LHP very well.

There is no question the White Sox could have got a Top-100 prospect for Giolito/Lopez if they waits. Props to Perry. Similar to signing Anderson (stay with me). His salary looks awful now, but someone would have given him $18 million later in free agency. Perry knows how to beat the market. Trading a Silseth, Bachman, Dana, Madden, or Albright would have hurt a lot more. Bush is the one you feel ok about because the last two years he's looked like a future 4/5. Leading with the headline that the Angels traded their #2 and #3 is really misleading. They have a lot more guys in the system now that have more future value than both Quero and Bush, considering O'Hoppe and Thaiss. And they're not done.

I believe he had already decided to go Estevez-Barria and wasn't going to deviate. Estevez only threw 15 pitches. Easily could have gone back out. And you know what? He should have. A good manager has a feel for the situation. Nevin is trying to so hard to prove he's on top of everything (workload, matchups, subs, etc.) that he overlooked the fact that they HAD to win this game. Sometimes, you have to ask your guys to do a little bit extra to keep the season alive. He has had a very basic script all year, and he stuck to it tonight. And arguably, it cost the Angels the season and Ohtani.

Yeah you pansies. So what if he was a terrible 3B coach. So what if he'd never proven anything. So what if he said he's fine with mistakes. So what if they've made more mental mistakes than any other team. So what if they're among the worst defensive teams in the league. Smart people know that good defense, smart base running, bunting, strategy, and bullpen management are vastly overrated. Only emotional little girls care about stuff like that.

And all the pitchers continue to make awful pitch sequencing/location decisions. Barria floated a breaker in the middle of the zone to a guy that was 3-3 and on a team that swings at the first pitch the most in the league. Seriously, does Wise even know that? Webb tonight was really really awful. It’s been an issue all year. How Matt Wise still has a job on a team in desperate need of success is just ludicrous. Sandoval, Barria, Ohtani!, Suarez, Loup, and Anderson have all Had major regressions. Big ones. Why is there no pressure on the pitching coach?

The weird thing about drafting/scouting is that it's not an exact science, and talent/upside is king. You "don't" draft a reliever early because of what you might be missing out on. But what if you knew you were drafting Devin Williams? That's what I've been mulling over with Bachman, and to a certain extent C-Rod. Yes, a starter that can throw 90 pitches with great stuff is way more valuable. But what if Bachman turns out to be a 40 pitch monster in the pen? 1.50 ERA and 11-13 K/9? Obviously I'm not saying he's there, but at a certain point don't you stop trying over and over again to make a guy something he may not be? I think C-Rod needs to focus on being a great RP. My understanding is that stretching him out didn't cause any setbacks or anything with his recovery, but I think he'd be a killer set up guy/high leverage guy. My point is this: if we knew Schanuel was going to be an All-Star like 2-3 years and always being in the conversation to make it, would we be upset about it? I get that we don't know that but I don't get the gripe with not taking a more "premium" position. We have a ton of young MIF, and several young OFs. We don't have much at the corner IF in the system that stands out. We don't even have any good young catchers or good hitting/poor fielding OF that could shift. I think it's fine to recognize a hole, see the sure bat/eye, and say let's plug one hole (easy as it may seem to fill) and then worry about the others.

Him and Stassi really kind of make me sad. Jared is a great guy and I really hope he can figure it out. They need his fire.

I actually love this idea. He'd get a ton of FBs in front of Ohtani, and he's not going to watch the first one down the middle and foul the second one off every single time like Ward does. I actually think the reason they're batting Ward leadoff is he is working counts, walking, and is absolutely atrocious with RISP. In one of my fits of rage a few weeks ago I looked it up on Fangraphs. He is essentially either the 2nd or 3rd worst batter with RISP in the majors depending on how you define a regular. I think he's criminally miscast batting leadoff. The idea is probably to let him see fastballs, but he's been a good run producer. I'd love to have him batting behind Drury and in front of Ward or O'Hoppe (sad face). In a perfect world, with a better Renfroe and a good 1B, he bats 8th in front of Neto and they turn over the lineup.

Yeah, I think Rendon is fine at #5 if you have a good producer following Trout and Ohtani. He can still work a count and put the ball in play nearly every time. I prefer Ohtani-Trout-Drury-Rendon since Trout isn't really walking as much anymore. Ward has been slightly above average for the last 35-40 games or so. He's lost his power, and that's a mystery. But he's floating around 10% BB and 14% K in that span. I like that lower in the lineup, not leading off. Not sure how you justify saying "at best" for Moniak. He's getting his first regular run. He's got a ton of swing and miss right now and very little BB, but he's got 1.7 WAR, 10 HR, and 28 RBI in 38 games. He plays great defense in all 3 OF spots. If he played the last 71 games like that, it'd be a 5 WAR season (Steamer). I doubt he does, but that's All-Star level production with where he's at right now. You can talk to me about the lefty-lefty part, but Nevin has given him a total of 13 ABs against lefties.

If you put aside the storylines about the Angels not making the playoffs (which is a big deal I know), is the following team in a much, much worse situation than the Dodgers? Moniak Trout Ohtani Rendon Drury Ward O'Hoppe Adell/FA/Cabbage/Adams? Neto Ohtani Sandoval Detmers Anderson Canning FA/Barria/Silseth/Bachman This could be their lineup for the next 2 years. I don't see how that lineup isn't appealing to Ohtani as a short-term contender. And if he's going to look at our health problems, then why not look at other Judge and Stanton's health? Dodgers SPs? San Diego's or the Cubs record? The only situation I think is truly, truly appealing is going to LA and slotting between Mookie and Freeman, and leading the rotation with Kershaw, Miller, Buehler, and Gonsolin. But I like our roster at full strength (not farm, just roster) just as much as the Dodgers.

I think he said “pressing” after the Cleveland comeback. He’s probably trying to will this team to a win streak. But he just looks bad. Pitchers clearly throwing him only FBs upper mid. Which means no BB because he’s getting almost all strikes.

This really concerns me. These are fast balls in the zone. 14 of 16 pitches today. He just doesn’t look the same.

No.

I keep wondering about why everyone is so hyperbolic about these games. Guess what? Everyone loses to everyone. Nobody finished perfect against another team in their division, and rarely against other teams in the league. Guess what? Last year, the Astros went 1-5 against the A's in July! OMG!! They must stink!!! No, actually baseball is weird sometimes. And the Phillies lost 3/4 to the Marlins and 2/3 to the Rockies in April last year. OMG season over!! They also went 11-14 and lost 5 straight twice in September. Why do we do this every year? For crying out loud, we were in first, firing on all cylinders, and rolling teams in mid-May last year. Then we had a freakish, unbelievable 14-game losing streak. The important thing is to figure it out early. The worst thing that happened to us last year was we got rolling into May, and the FO thought Velazquez, Wade, and all the other spare parts was good enough because it worked for 7 weeks. I am actually glad the Angels are struggling and have to resolve some major issues--bullpen, 4th/5th starter, Drury/Lamb/Rengifo/catcher--in late April. Think about when Ward gets going? When Drury is at least average? When they fine tune the pen? When Stassi returns (Lord willing)? Walsh instead of Lamb/Rengifo? Suarez or Silseth/Erla/Bachman/Crow earns that 5th/6th spot? That stuff hasn't happened yet...and we're at .500. Just like the Dodgers, Astros, Guardians, Phillies, and Padres. Struggle in April so you don't rely on Suarez, Lamb, Loup, Herget, Rengifo, et al in June when teams really start to separate. For goodness sake the Pirates are in 1st place.

I think the reason they are playing Rengifo in the OF is to show his versatility more than utilize his versatility. A team seeing a guy that hits LHP well, has good speed, and can play multiple positions dreams of a playoff roster. The Angels don't NEED him to play in the OF. They want other teams to notice. I think he's a major trade candidate so long as he keeps hitting lefties well. Remember, a lot of teams make trades not for overall stats but for platoon/playoff scenarios.

I think they are "Service Time Manipulating" their top guy. They could have called him up.

For the love of everything, just let this dude be a reliever. His body isn’t made for starting. Just let him throw 100 pitches a week and take what you can get. He’s already has two setbacks in ramping up. Better to have a great reliever than dream of a starter.

Everyone knew coming in the bullpen was not good. Moore and Wantz and Estevez should be the start, not the end. Also, why are we wasting a pitching spot on Davidson if they haven’t even decided if he’s going to pitch on Wednesday? Give him bullpen chances and see how he does. Otherwise he’s taking up another relievers spot. Just really bad roster management if they’re going to start Canning. Which they pretty need to or option him to AAA.

Really though we can’t just assume all these guys are going to comprise a good bullpen going forward. Nobody has good stuff, besides Estevez (slightly above average). Problem is Tepera and Loup, arguably the two worst, are expensive. Can’t option them and can’t trade them. Joyce obviously isn’t ready. Herget is no longer fooling anyone. What do they do? This is now 3 bullpen losses. That’s really bad.

You don't roster 4 guys that can play SS (1 well, 2 average, 1 in a pinch) to then use your final roster spot on a guy JUST to play SS defense. You also don't keep him to be your 5th OF/Utility guy when Walsh, Fletcher, and Urshela can all play a competent OF. It's a waste of a spot. Fletcher should be this year what Velazquez was last year. Walsh, Urshela, Drury, Rengifo, Fletcher, Rendon Thaiss - Stassi (my guess) Trout, Renfroe, Ward, Phillips (speed and D is what you need) If you're going to keep an extra guy, keep O'Hoppe or Lamb. Thaiss can also play 1B and bats L.

I would think him, Joyce, Marte, Silseth, and Canning all start in AAA?

I think I am more excited for this season than any of the last 5. All of the moves they made raise the sea level. And we are seeing clear progression from Sandoval and Detmers. The weakest spot in their lineup right now is either Fletcher/Rengifo or Stassi/O'Hoppe. The former are at worst solid hitters, the latter have power and average hitting upside with really good defense. I am a little uneasy about Davidson as the #6 guy. I don't like 5 lefties in the rotation, and I think putting Davidson in Barria's role and having Canning be the #6 is more useful. Barria has very average stuff and can't start. Davidson could easily slot in the rotation when needed. Barrias flames out after 2 times through like clockwork.

Yuck. If you need late game defense, put Fletcher at SS. Simple as that. Velazquez has no offensive value and his defensive value is matched by Fletcher. You can shuffle guys around as needed--Urshela can play 1B/3B/SS, Drury 2B/SS/1B/OF, Walsh 1B/OF, Fletcher SS/2B/OF, Rengifo 2B/SS/3B/OF. You don't need Velazquez at all.

I don't think so. He has yet to pitch on even 1 day's rest very much. You can't give a bullpen slot to a guy that needs 2 days rest. I think they start him, C-Rod, Canning, and possibly Silseth in AAA is likely. Bush and Bachman have been pretty absent lately.

I don’t feel they’ll sign another bullpen guy soon. If I were the FO I’d want to see how Rodriguez looks before signing someone. Interesting that they are already talking about a swing guy for #6 when Canning and CRod are seemingly good options.