Angelsjunky

Strange going into the season with more confidence in the bullpen than any other part of the team. Looks pretty solid.

Every team needs mandatory sotos, but they're pretty easy to acquire with a few rondons.

The Los Angeles Relievers of Anaheim

I don't want to be the douche that says "this isn't fantasy baseball," but...it isn't fantasy baseball. In this context, it means that players have to want to come to your team - you can't just take them in the draft or buy them as you wish (out-bidding others). Sure, Arte could probably sit Snell down and make him an offer he can't refuse, but if I'm Snell I'd rather play for a healthier franchise with a smarter owner, so that offer would have to be truly absurd. And then we're just back where we've been for the last decade: burdened by huge contracts with no sign of getting out. Maybe people don't want to hear this, but the Angels aren't a desireable team to play for right now. They're not the worst, but there are probably a dozen teams that most players would rather play for, and half a dozen or more that all would prefer.

So you think my option 1 is correct, that there are still big moves incoming? Again, it could be. But there isn't a lot out there beyond Snell and Bellinger.

By Jonathon Northrop, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer So its February 5th and pitchers and catchers report in less than two weeks. Let's take stock of Perry's moves and where the Angels might go from here. Perry's made no major acquisitions - no starting pitchers, no positions players, only bench and bullpen guys. The team as it stands looks to be something like this (with likely 26-man roster in bold and potential first call-ups in parentheses): C - O'Hoppe, Thaiss (Mejia, Wallach) IF - Schanuel, Drury, Neto, Rendon, Rengifo, Sano (White, Stefanic, Soto, Lopez, Martin) OF - Trout, Ward, Moniak, Adell, Hicks (Dozier, Calhoun) SP - Detmers, Sandoval, Canning, Anderson, Silseth (Plesac, Rosenberg, Bachman, Daniel, Mederos) RP - Estevez, Stephenson, Moore, Soriano, Cimber, Garcia, Joyce, Ciserno (Suarez, Quijada, Warren, Wantz, Herget, Caceres) We can quibble with my choices for the 26-man -- maybe Sano doesn't make the cut and they insert White, or maybe Plesac starts the year in the rotation instead of Silseth, or Dozier as a starting OF with Moniak as 4OF, or the bullpen is slightly different. We enter spring training with some interesting roster battles. But including the guys in parentheses, I think I've included all the players who are candidates to start the year on the big league club. So again, there are no big splashes, just some solid bench and bullpen acquisitions. Given that, it seems we're seeing one of two scenarios: 1) He went "secondary" first and is still going to sign a couple bigger free agents (e.g. Snell, Bellinger, etc) to try to at least give the appearance of contention. 2) What you see is what you get, aside from another possible small clean peanutty move or three. He plugged some holes, but is really just going the budget route for 2024, presumably with the idea being that realistically they can't compete and it is better to think long-term, or at least beyond "win now," regardless of the cost. The first really seems unlikely at this point. I only really mention it because his moves so far kind of look like the type of secondary moves you make in addition to a couple big ones, and we all know Arte doesn't like to throw in the towel of playoff aspirations. But not only are we late in the game, but it is just hard to imagine the Angels getting some big names because they'd really have to get several to justify it as a win-now strategy. Meaning, not Snell or Bellinger but both...and I don't see that happening. And frankly, I'm not sure how much these guys want to wear Angels uniforms. Either way, Perry seems to realize that no matter who they acquire, the biggest factor for 2024 success is the players they already have staying healthy and playing better. They could sign Bellinger and/or Snell and others and still go nowhere if Trout/Rendon/Ward can't stay healthy, or if the young guys don't develop. So in a way, 2024 looks like a "taking stock" year. We've heard that before, but it hasn't really happened. With Trout and Ohtani, they've always at least "kind of" gone for it. But it looks like they want to answer two big questions before determining the plan for 2025 and beyond: How good are the young guys? Can Trout and Rendon reverse the downward spiral? A best-case reasonable scenario and the Angels are pretty good, maybe winning 85 games and staying competitive into the second half but not reaching the playoffs. I suppose there's a tiny thread-the-needle possibility that they're good enough in July to make some moves at the deadline. But... But if they show overall improvement to the 82-87 win range, this would enable Perry to augment for 2025 and make a run at it. But if it turns out that lots of young guys disappoint and Trout and Rendon continue to struggle with injury and decline, we might see an actual full-out rebuild, and some kind of fire-sale in July (e.g. Rengifo, Ward, Anderson, Stephenson, Moore, etc). I know, the Arte Factor. Maybe he'll jump ship and sell after 2024, if the franchise doesn't turn the corner. It won't be as sexy a purchase for potential buyers without Ohtani and with Trout entering his age 33 season, but it also won't be as burdened with long-term contracts. After 2024, Rendon will only have two years left and Trout the only long-term big contract. The team will still have a core of young talent, even if it isn't awe-inspiring. Not taking on any big contracts this year only furthers this. And regardless of the dubious Angels tradition, they're still an LA team and potential buyers will look to 2002-09 as a case of what the Angels could be, if run well. Discussion on the forum View the full article

Gross

I'm really disappointed in this thread. It could have at least had some irony, if not full-blown inappropriateness. Toby's slipping. Must be listening to too much NPR, like Taylor.

Emphasis on 2024 only. Meaning, picking the first doesn't mean the Angels won't compete in 2025; picking the second doesn't mean Trout doesn't bounce back in 2025. I'm guessing most pick the second, but I'm actually picking the first - at least for 2024. More than anything, I want to see some semblance of the old Trout back, and feel that if he doesn't bounce back this year, he never will. Maybe it is because I don't have much expectations for contention this year and can another two or three years. I just feel like seeing Trout back would be immensely enjoyable.

I truly love this guy.

The Angels are partying like it's 2018. Bring back J-Up and Andrelton Simmons. Eppler, too.

I don't think signing Aaron Hicks all but confirms anything. (That said, don't think they're going after Bellinger)

Not sure what you mean by "undue pressure." He's a young player getting his sea legs as an everyday regular, playing on a team unlikely to be in the playoff hunt. He's also playing a position that the Angels have been historically weak on, with no real standout stars except for the stray good season here and there. Sure, there's pressure from being a well-regarded prospect, but I don't see it as "undue."

I basically agree, though see Jan 6 as more of a "low IQ riot" (Max Blumenthal) than an actual deliberate overthrow of the government. I mean, wouldn't gun nuts bring guns to an actual insurrection? But yeah, MAGA cultism is just a variant of religious fundamentalism: Trump is the living Messiah that will liberate the people from the Great Evils of communist trannies and immigrants. Anti-MAGA cultism is almost as bad: Trump as some kind of unique evil, so let's trust the CIA, FBI, Big Pharma, etc, and embrace censorship - everything not spouted by MSM is "disinformation," and for the love of god, don't do your own research because it is anti-science. It is really weird how the mainstream left has shifted on civil liberties and embraced trust in big institutions with a long history of nefarious actions. IMO, we're being played - left and right. We're being told to fear and hate our neighbor just because they have different cultural values then us, but working class lefties and righties have more in common with each other than they do with the rich sell-out pundits on TV that spin propaganda to keep us in fear and hating each other.

Sure, maybe a bit, but it is very much overblown and spun by the MSNBC propaganda machine. I see him as a megalomaniacal narcissist, but don't fully buy the "far-right dictatorship" that many leftists fear. I think that's more likely from folks like DeSantis or Haley, or theocrats like Pence, and Trump mainly just wants to win and enrich his friends and family, as well as pave the way for a "Trump Dynasty" (e.g. Jr being president).

MSNBC? Random Trump quotes?

I know at least two people--lefties--who voted for Haley. Considering Haley's warmongering views, to me it is kind of nuts and speaks more of Trump Derangement Syndrome than anything else. Maddow on the brain. I know people who think if he's elected, he'll never leave office. I personally wrote in "ceasefire" on the Democratic ballot, then re-registered as undeclared. Right now my plan is to either vote for Jill Stein again (like 2016), Claudia De La Cruz, or not vote at all. I had hopes for RFK but his stance on Israel's genocide of Palestinians has soured him on me.

You just described pretty much all of allopathic medicine, especially pharmaceuticals.

Marx