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Chuck

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  1. Chuck
    By Taylor Blake Ward, AngelsWin.com Columnist
    Angels third-round pick, Alberto Rios, chats with Taylor Blake Ward about what he learned while riding the bench his first two years at Stanford before becoming Pac-12 Player of the Year and a top draft prospect.
    Rios spent his first two years at Stanford as a bullpen catcher who received eight total plate appearances as a pinch-hitter, reaching base once. His junior season, the Cardinal put him in their starting lineup and all he did was hit, and hit, and hit, to a point of outperforming his first-round teammate Tommy Troy and earn him Pac-12 Player of the Year honors. Rios sets up with a rhythmic hand load and great balance as he turns and extends. He has a compact cut from the right side with some quick explosion and a great ability to find the barrel letting his natural strength drive the ball to all fields. He has solid zone coverage and pitch recognition, which aids to his hitability where he rarely chases and has shown the ability to hit higher velocity and adjust to off-speed. With his solid pitch recognition, Rios is a disciplined hitter with zone awareness and should be able to keep his swing-and-miss in check consistently aiding to his hit tool which projects above-average. There is some thud in his compact six-foot, 203-pound frame and his natural strength with average-or-above bat speed has allowed him to frequently tap into his power which plays to all fields and easy projection to see 15-20 home runs annually. There is plenty of faith in Rios' ability to hit, but that same faith is not shared in the other facets of his game. Rios is a below-average runner who is more of a grinding baserunner and though he has some active feet in the outfield, his limited speed and fringy arm make him a below-average fielder in left field where he spent the majority of his time with Stanford in 2023. The Angels opted to take him away from the outfield and selected him as a third baseman -- where he played as a prep -- where his feet may play a bit better but still with a below-average projection (the Angels worked him out at second base during a private workout). Rios has spent some time catching and has some raw receiving skills that make him a fascinating development project behind the dish, though the Angels will hold out until at least Instructional League before putting him there, if they do. Rios has shown a strong arm in glimpses, but it is mostly graded as fringy or below while his throwing mechanics would need attention to stick at catcher with the modern game leaning to more base stealing. If Rios can catch, his profile could have a meteoric rise as an above-average hitting catcher, but the likelihood is that the Angels will need to focus one defensive home whether it be third base, second base, left field, or catching (likely in that order) to capitalize on a special bat that could play as an everyday regular.
    Tim McIlvaine on Alberto Rios: “It’s a neat story with him. He was recruited by (Stanford). Got there and just really couldn’t get into the lineup. For him – he kept working hard, kept working at it. Something seemed to click for him in the fall and he really started swinging it well. Once they put him in there this spring, they couldn’t get him out of the lineup, and he ended up being Pac-12 Player of the Year. We followed him pretty closely. We have a guy that lives in Northern California, Scott Richardson, he’s around there a lot. He started calling me a little early on in the spring and was like, ‘Hey this guy, he didn’t really play, but he’s really good. He’s really swinging it well.' So, we kind of kept tabs on it and he didn’t stop and just got better seemingly every game this spring, so we ended up watching him a lot."
    Alberto Rios 2023 NCAA Division-1 statistics: 293 PA, .384/.485/.707, 69 R, 18 HR, 73 RBI, 5 SB, 13.0 BB%, 14.3 K%
    Check out our interview with Alberto Rios below. 
  2. Chuck
    By Scott Allen, AngelsWin.com Columnist
    My family and I are blessed to live in an area with the ideal climate, extremely fertile soil, and plentiful clean, fresh water.  And we can be divided into two distinct groups, the men and their orchard, and the women and their garden.  For us men, the best time to plant is a tree is ten years ago.  The second best time is today.  These trees require a great deal of time and nurturing, but the end result is that after a few years, we have a plentiful, sustainable yield.  But I do envy my wife and daughter.  They plant seeds, some of which sprout in only a few days.  And the crop their work yields is diverse, abundant and more immediate.  And at the end of the growing season, they harvest the seeds in preparation for next year.
    Most major league teams operate like an orchard.  Invest now, and yield large, sustainable dividends later.  It makes sense.  All the best players in the world were brought up in this system.  The best teams with the best players have been "orcharding" for years.  And then there's Perry Minasian and the Angels.  They're gardening. They don't plant an apple seed expecting the tree to mature and bear fruit any time soon.  Perry and the Angels are sprouting corn and beans and seeing the fruits of their labor immediately while the rest of the baseball world sits and waits for their trees to mature. 
    Chase Silseth, Zach Neto, Ben Joyce, Sam Bachman, Nolan Schanuel, Kelvin Cacares, Victor Mederos. Corn and beans.  Most of the players these guys were drafted alongside, are still toiling in A Ball.  Yet here they are, in Anaheim, looking to carve out their space and be part of a winner. Most didn't appear in any top prospect lists, but that's by design.  A tomato plant doesn't appear in any lists of the greatest looking apple trees.  
    So when assessing the relative strength or weakness of the Angels farm system, we should stop viewing these prospects by industry standards, and instead look at that which could immediately produce a crop.  The Top 10 prospects in the system for the most part are in a position to impact the Angels in 2024, or shortly thereafter.  Here are some names to look out for in late 2024 or 2025, that you won't find among the Angels top prospects. 
    Joe Redfield - A tall, athletic, left handed outfielder from Sam Houston that comes with plate discipline and a quiet, sturdy foundation to which he hits from.  He has a whole field approach, but has the requisite tools to turn on pitches and post some decent exit velocities.  Yes, he'll need to quiet his hands and strengthen his legs, but there's a platform for something more here. 
    Camden Minacci - Likely the best closer in college baseball last season, coming out of Wake Forest, which is the premier collegiate pitching factory for the last five or so years.  He's a standard rock and fire reliever who sits in the mid-90's and get's his breaking ball over for strikes.  He needs to add either more tunneling or movement to his fastball in order to make it more effective at the highest levels, but all the pieces are there for a major league reliever.  He's a small adjustment away from the show. 
    Now, let's dig into this year's crop of top-10 prospects the way we at AngelsWin.com see them ranked as of today. We'll provide an update article by mid-season where you may see guys like Juan Flores, Cam Minacci, Victor Mederos, Walbert Urena, Randy DeJesus, Joel Hurtado, Logan Britt, Anthony Scull and perhaps Joe Redfield leapfrog others currently in our top-10 should they have productive 2024 campaigns down on the farm. 
    1. Nelson Rada – OF – AA Rocket City - Age 18 Season
    Height/Weight: 5'8″, 160 | Bat/Throw: L/L | International Signing | ETA: 2025


    Nelson Rada would carry significantly more hype as a prospect if he weren’t part of the Angels minor league system, and that’s simply the truth of the matter.  The Angels are known for being extremely aggressive in their prospect placement and that minimizes the wow factor of Rada’s quick progression.  However, it is up to the prospect himself to perform at the aggressive placement level, and Rada did just that last season.  As a 17 year old (for those keeping score at home, a high school junior), Nelson was one of the top performers in A Ball, combining an advanced approach at the plate, enough pop to keep outfielders honest, easily plus speed on the base paths and fringe plus defense in centerfield.  
    The Angels have decided to move him to AA Rocket City for his age 18 season, but I wouldn’t necessarily read too much into this.  The organization will typically have their top offensive prospects skip a Tri-City (Advanced A Ball) assignment because of the cold weather and unfavorable hitting conditions.  Still, the bottom line is the Angels have this high school senior playing in AA that already outperformed the competition in the lower levels, and he isn’t garnering much national attention at all.  That’s unfortunate because baseball is missing out on getting excited over a kid that has a unique set of skills.  Generally speaking, the prospects/young players that are in his class are Esteury Ruiz, Victor Scott II, and Enrique Bradfield Jr., all generally top 100 prospects in their own right, all expected to compete for a stolen base crown at the top level and provide elite level defense. 
    If Nelson reaches his potential, the Angels could have a generational leadoff hitter like Kenny Loftin on their hands.  If he never progresses further, the Angels still likely have a major leaguer on their hands, just more of a fourth outfielder type.  That’s a huge range of outcomes.  The most likely result is a light hitting outfielder that gets on base and runs enough to hold onto a starting role, and that could manifest by Rada’s 20th birthday.  Even if Rada “merely” develops into a Chone Figgins type of spark plug, that’s still a three-win player on average, which may not make him an all-star, but could make him valuable to a major league organization for a very long time. 
     
    2. Caden Dana – RHP – AA Rocket City - Age 20 Season
     Height/Weight: 6’5″, 220 | Bat/Throw: L/R | 11th Round (2022)| ETA: 2025


    Don’t let the late round selection fool you, Caden Dana was one of the best prep pitchers in the nation following his senior year.  Bosco Prep, where Dana is from, in New Jersey is the East Coast equivalent of a Harvard Westlake or Bishop Gorman out West.  It’s a private school where players are recruited from a very young age and typically go on to play after high school. Dana had a strong college commitment to Kentucky and wasn’t expected to sign unless he was selected in the first couple rounds.  As day three of the draft came around and Dana was undrafted, the Angels came calling, offering him a record setting deal outside of the first ten rounds of the draft, which was on par with an early second round selection.  Not only that, the Angels mentioned that they’d like to draft his older brother Casey as well, which seemed to seal the deal for the Dana family. 
    Since being drafted, Caden has continued to open eyes in and out of the organization and is beginning to garner some fringe Top 100 consideration.  
    Already solidly built for an 18 year old, since signing his contract Dana’s frame has continued to fill out in muscle.  With that physique and his long blonde flowing locks, Dana is getting lazy comps to Noah Syndergaard.  Dana’s fastball, which comfortably sat 92 mph in high school has steadily climbed and is now frequently 94-95.  The slider, which was fringe average before now flashes solidly fringe plus.  While his change piece and curve lack consistency in command, he’s usually able to keep them in the strike zone, though I’m skeptical either pitch will ever be more than average.  Still, having three average or better offerings is the starter kit for a successful major league starting pitcher.  As much as anything else, it seems to be Dana’s delivery and disposition that have helped set him apart.  His motion was clean looking two or three years ago and has remained so as a professional.  And Caden’s demeanor runs in pretty stark contrast to many young pitchers, or even current starters on the Angels pitching staff.  By watching his mannerisms, you’d be hard-pressed to find the difference between him throwing a perfect game or getting shelled. 
    Dana cruised comfortably through the lower levels in his first full season as a professional and now finds himself in AA.  While Dana may flash his potential, there seems to be little reason for the Angels to challenge him beyond that level this season, but stranger things have occurred.  If Dana reaches his ceiling, he could be one of the best starters in baseball, not only offering clean mechanics and great extension toward the plate, but a solid arsenal and plus command.  At minimum, Dana appears to have two offerings that could grade out as plus if he assumed a relief role.  While I understand that’s a pretty wide range of outcomes, the likely outcome here is that of a solid mid or backend starting pitcher.  It’s likely that his fastball and slider will both be good pitches with good command of both.  It’s also likely that Dana lacks an effective third pitch which limits his ceiling.  However, he should be able to compensate for this by working deeper into games and logging high inning totals. 
     
    3. Sam Bachman – RHP – LA Angels - Age 24 Season
     Height/Weight: 6’1″, 235 | Bat/Throw: R/R | 1st Round (2021)| ETA: 2023


    There was a lot of uncertainty heading into the 2021 MLB Draft. For starters, there wasn’t a lot to go off of, as there was no 2020 collegiate season and the 2021 collegiate season had been heavily limited by the COVID scare.  Teams drafted players based off of information that was nearly two years dated.  It’s understandable the Angels chose not to go that route, instead drafting Sam Bachman from Miami of Ohio.  Bachman lacked a track record due to injuries and COVID, but the information the Angels did have was more recent than anything else on the board.  It was known that despite playing in a weak conference and having an unconventional short-armed delivery, Bachman had high velocity readings, elite movement on all his pitches and two pitches that were graded “plus” if not “plus-plus.”  
    Was there risk involved?  Absolutely.  Many experts believed Bachman would not remain a starter as a professional, and he’d had a variety of knee problems which can derail a pitcher’s career. Still there were several details that pointed toward a potential career as a starter.  To begin, Bachman had low mileage, and had never experienced a serious arm injury, which is the most common among pitchers.  Second, despite the short-armed delivery, he seemed to only tire in the sixth frame or later in games.  And third, once receiving professional instruction, Bachman quickly developed a changeup that was fringing on “plus.”  
    So in summation, the Angels had drafted a collegiate starter with three “plus” pitches with the ninth overall pick of the draft.  Not bad.  Unfortunately for the Angels and Bachman, that’s about as rosy as the outlook would get.  Sam would suffer a variety of ailments across the next two seasons, and when he was healthy, Bachman’s once triple digit velocity seemed to fluctuate between outings where he’d top out at 93 mph or in better appearances 97.  Still, he eventually made his way to the Angels last season, and in relief, one could plainly see the potential, mixed in between lots of walks. 
    The plan going forward is for Bachman to return to a starting role, but he’ll need to get healthy first, and even then, there’s a great deal of skepticism he could remain healthy and cover many innings on a yearly basis.  Still, we’re living in an era where tons of relievers are making a successful transition into a starting role.  While the success of Jose Soriano, Andrew Wantz, Garrett Crochet, Reynaldo Lopez and others remains to be seen, you can comfortably place Sam Bachman into that class of pitchers based on stuff. 
    If Bachman reaches his ceiling, you’re looking at a low innings, but highly effective starting pitcher.  At minimum, you’re looking at an oft-injured reliever.  The most likely outcome here is that Bachman finds a routine and lifestyle that keeps him on the field more often that has previously been the case, but he likely isn’t going to be a starting pitcher.  
     
    4. Kyren Paris – IF – AA Rocket City - Age 22 Season
    Height/Weight: 6’0″, 180 | Bat/Throw: R/R | 2nd Round (2019) | ETA: 2023

     
    Kyren Paris is a high probability major leaguer (technically, he already made his debut), with the chance to become an impact player.  But his path to get there will be an uphill one given some deficits within his skill set.  First, the positives.  Paris was an ultra-young and athletic second round selection by the Angels in 2019.  Most of the players in his draft class are a year older, and the COVID shutdown caused most of those prep prospects to lose a year and not log a single competitive at bat until age 20 or 21.  Paris however, is still only now entering his age 22 season.  So he’s got time on his side.  Kyren also does three things particularly well that make him an asset.  He gets on base, as evidenced by his career .379 OBP in the minors.  He’s fast, he stole 44 bags last season and was only caught five times.  And third, Paris is a strong defender at second base and profiles solidly at both shortstop and even third base if necessary.  He’s even logged a few innings in centerfield. 
    Given all that, it’s pretty much a guarantee that Kyren Paris will be a major leaguer in some capacity. But ultimately it will be Paris’ bat which will dictate his career path.  When he was first developed, there was physical maturing that needed to take place.  Coming back from the COVID shutdown, we saw a more athletic, muscular Kyren Paris emerge, but still, he only hit .267 in the low minors. In his first taste of AA as a 20 year old, Paris hit .359 in a 14 game stint.  Small sample size, but enough to offer a potential glimpse into a high average future.  This last season was really the first time we’d be able to get a long sustained look at Kyren Paris versus advanced pitching.  And the results were mixed.  .255 batting average, and a decent amount of pop with 23 doubles and 14 home runs.  What really stood out was the OBP, which was .393. All of this was enough for the Angels to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft and give him a September cup of coffee with the big league squad, where he hit .100 over sporadic at bats, but flashed excellent speed and defense. 
    So now the question becomes, is Paris a finished product and this is who he will be going forward?  Or will his bat continue to progress further to the point where he can become an impact bat?
    Rather than sending him to the hitters paradise in AAA Salt Lake, the Angels have opted for a repeat in the Southern League (AA) for Paris, and this seems justifiable on the surface.  For starters, last year the Southern League was experimenting with pre-tacked balls, which caused offensive numbers in the league to nose-dive amidst greater velocity, break and command of all pitches.  The pre-tacked balls were used in April, May and June of last season before switching back over to standard balls used in the major leagues.  Kyren Paris’ stateline in each of those months?  In April, he hit .222/.357.  May, he hit .244/.375 and in June he hit .227/.330.  For July and August, when facing normal balls?  Paris hit .306/.446 in July and .284/.432 in August.
    While his power showed more in the first half versus the sticky baseball, it was evident that Paris, like the rest of the league, struggled offensively.  Against normal balls, Kyren Paris was one of the best hitters in the league.
    All of this seems to point toward a future where Kyren Paris isn’t yet a finished product and could still very much be a force at the plate.  At minimum, we’re looking at a utility infielder that can be used as a pinch runner and defensive replacement.  If he and the Angels hit the lottery, we could be looking at a perennial all-star that could be a gold glover at the keystone and hit for average and power.  It seems evident based on his post tacky-baseball performance last seasons that Paris is likely going to hit for a high enough batting average and enough pop that he could emerge as a major league regular.  With health and consistent playing time, it seems possible that Paris should develop into an infielder that gets on base 35% of the time and could hit double digit home runs and swipe 20+ bases.
     
    5. Dario Laverde – C – (A) Inland Empire - Age 19 Season
    Height/Weight: 5’10″, 160 | Bat/Throw: L/R | International Signing | ETA: 2026

     
    There’s still a lot that’s unknown about Dario Laverde, but from what we do know, everything seems to be pointing in the “up” direction.  The Angels signed him for 350k when he was 16, and considering the Angels relative lack of international presence, that’s actually a lot of money to invest in a prospect.  He was originally an athletic outfielder but he’s since taken to catching.  While he’s understandably raw behind the plate, he has the athleticism and tools to someday become a good defensive catcher at the big league level.  While the height and weight reading are likely inaccurate by now, it’s pretty clear that he’s young and needs to add more strength to his frame.  But if and when he does, he could eventually develop average in game power, which for a catcher is pretty solid.  He’s done nothing but hit and get on base at every level so far slashing .306/.419/.455 in the Arizona Complex League with 28 walks to 31 strikeouts stateside, with his first full-season coming this year at Inland Empire. We should get a decent glimpse into Laverde's game this year and could report back with more information. So far he's looked a lot like former Angels farmhand, Edgar Quero. 
    But as of right now, Laverde could develop into a good hitting, good fielding catcher at the major league level.  But it’s a very long road before he gets there, so fans should remain patient.  Consider Dario Laverde one of those names we log away for later, that way when he emerges over the next couple season, we’ll all be able to say we saw this coming. Another catcher to keep an eye on this season is Juan Flores, currently splitting time at C/DH with Laverde with the Inland Empire 66ers.
     
    6. Jack Kochanowicz – RHP – AA Rocket City - Age 23 Season
     Height/Weight: 6’7″, 228 | Bat/Throw: L/R | 3rd Round (2019)| ETA: 2024


    Kochanowicz has one of the more interesting career arcs of any Angels prospect so far, and is likely also the most underrated prospect in the system, and has been for some time.  When the Angels drafted him in the third round in 2019, it wasn’t expected that they would be able to sign him.  He had a strong commitment to collegiate powerhouse Vanderbilt at the time, and was all projection.  Those guys tend to require first round selections in order to forego college.  The Angels offered him significantly above slot and in a surprising turn of events, he actually signed, leaving the Angels with a first round talent at a reduced price.  Before the draft, Kochanowicz had a typical big bodied profile.  Low-90’s fastball, good extension, some inconsistency hitting his spots.  Shortly after the draft at Fall instructs, Kochanowicz’ stock began to rise as he was reportedly hitting 97 on the radar gun and was repeating his delivery with ease.  
    The 2020 minor league season being canceled definitely hurt some prospects more than others and it seems that Kochanowicz was one that was particularly affected by it as it robbed him of a full year of valuable instruction that he needed.  By the time 2021 rolled around, Kochanowicz had to be built back up and there were definitely some bumps in the road.  His previously stellar command had begun to elude him, and his fastball and slider simply weren’t moving enough for him to generate the type of results he was hoping for.  
    So the Angels and Kochanowicz ended up lowering his arm slot in an attempt to fix this issue.  And while it did to an extent, the fastball and slider both improved, it seemed that Jack’s curveball was no longer the same weapon it once was with an over-the-top delivery and there seemed to be no development of a change up.  Jack’s fastball started to develop some late cut or fade depending on the grip and started becoming “heavy” which means it was a pitch that batters had a hard time barrelling.
    In 2022, we saw a return trip back to A Ball and some appearances in the Arizona Fall League in more of a relief capacity, and while the overall numbers weren’t great, he definitely took a step forward in terms of pitch quality and location.  Kochanowicz started shifting more toward the profile of a pitch-to-contact pitcher with strikeout potential and in 2023, it started to come together for him. A five start stint in the pitcher friendly Northwest League yielded an ERA of 1.52, but upon being promoted to AA Rocket City, Kochanowicz had trouble finding success with an ERA over six, despite further reducing his walk rate. 
    So with Jack Kochanowicz, we’ve reached the point in 2024 where something has to give.  On the one hand, here we have a starter that can now reach back and fire 99 mph, with a long frame and great extension toward the plate and fringe plus command of two better than average pitches in his fastball and slider and the potential for two more pitches being fringe average.  Really, all the makings of a potential all-star.  On the other hand, we have results, and they simply haven’t been there for Kochanowicz and at the end of the day, this is a results driven business.  So what gives?
    2024 is going to be the proverbial “show me” season for Kochanowicz.  Either he starts producing the necessary results in AA and makes his way up to the show, or perhaps his career will need to go in a different direction with a possible move to the bullpen in hopes of generating the necessary success he should be having.  He’s another prospect with a tremendously wide range of results, on the one hand being a potential inning eating consistent mid-rotation starter in the big leagues, and on the other hand, the potential being that he’s topped out in AA.  As always, the likeliest result is somewhere in the middle, being that of a swing starter in the major leagues. 
     
    7. Ben Joyce – RHP – AA Rocket City - Age 23 Season
     Height/Weight: 6’5″, 225 | Bat/Throw: R/R | 3rd Round (2022)| ETA: 2023


    Ben Joyce is one of my favorite prospects simply because of the simplicity of him and his success in his big leagues.  The beauty of his career arc is found in its simplicity.  Either he figures out where the ball is going and he succeeds in the majors, or he doesn’t.  It’s that straightforward.  
    Joyce is a big, physical specimen and is the hardest thrower on the planet.  Notice I didn’t say hardest pitcher.  Pitching is a more nuanced game than throwing, it’s chess versus checkers.  Ben Joyce is capable of being a dominant pitcher in the late innings at the major league level.  He has the tools and the mentality to do it.  Now he just needs to get there.
    And I’m not just talking about finding the strike zone, though that’s the most important.  I’m talking about commanding his pitches in the strike zone itself, like painting the corners, elevating or tunneling it knee high, pitch sequencing, etc…  Because if he develops even average command, his 80-grade 102-105 mph fastball and exploding slider will not be touched and he will be a dominant force as long as he’s healthy. 
    And that in and of itself lends to Joyce really not fitting any mold of the other prospects on this list because there is no middle ground.  There’s no world in which he develops command and isn’t successful and there’s no world in which he doesn’t develop as a pitcher and is successful in the majors.  
    And the likelihood of that development and subsequent success is anyone’s guess.  Clearly the Angels think it’s possible.  Despite Joyce reaching the majors last season, he’s back in AA this season for further refinement.  He isn’t in AAA simply because organizationally it’s been determined that Salt Lake isn’t the best developmental environment.  Some experts don’t see it happening unless Joyce sacrifices some of that speed and starts living in the 90’s where he’d be able to spot his pitches better.  Some experts don’t see it happening at all.  Some experts see him being capable of the necessary development while still living that triple digit life. 
    I’m curious, what do you think?
     
    8. Barrett Kent – RHP – AA Rocket City - Age 20 Season
     Height/Weight: 6’4″, 215 | Bat/Throw: R/R | 8th Round (2023)| ETA: 2026


    Sometimes, there are simply prospects that can stump us, no matter how we view them.  Barrett Kent comes across as a bit of an enigma because there are so many different directions he can go and a lack of understanding on my part as to why he was only an 8th round selection in the 2023 draft.  Bid bodied pitcher, clean mechanics, solid arsenal, clean injury history, success on the showcase circuit, coming from a big-time baseball state (TX), far better than average athleticism (just before the draft there was still discussion about him being a two-way player).  I just don’t get it.  Guys like that are usually off the board before the third round.  It wasn’t as if he was some sort of hidden secret coming into the draft the way Trout was years ago.  So whatever the case is, the Angels managed to draft Kent in the 8th round, and I think we’re all very glad for it.  But that’s not the only source of confusion here. 
    Kent’s fastball sits 93-94 with some arm-side fade to it.  It’s a decent foundational pitch.  And while he’s still young, 19, he appears to have a pretty mature physique, so I’m not entirely certain there is physical projection here.  Maybe he’s done getting stronger and that’s what his fastball is, and if so, that’s fine, he can definitely work with that.  But maybe he’s going to fill out the same way Caden Dana has, or he becomes just a physical freak like Paul Skenes of the Pirates and he starts touching triple digits.  And if that’s the case, is he bound for the pen?  Does his fastball retain it’s shape or does it straighten out?  There’s some uncertainty in who exactly he is as a pitcher.  
    What we do know is that as of right now, Kent has at least three average offerings with potentially plus command of all of them.  If he doesn’t develop any further, that’s the starter kit for a major league starting pitcher, and he’s only 19 years old. So is he someone that simply developed quickly in high school and is pretty much ready to deploy as a professional, or is he still going to develop and all of these average offerings he currently has will eventually be plus offerings?  Because if that’s the case, he’s an ace in waiting. 
    If you aren’t sure what his ceiling is, you aren’t alone.  But we know that his current floor is probably that of a major league swing starter.  So Barrett Kent’s ranking could change a lot in the next year as more information comes in.  For what it’s worth, at the time of writing this, in his first start of the season in A-Ball, Kent went 5 innings with no walks and 8 strikeouts. 
     
    9. Denzer Guzman – SS – (A) Inland Empire - Age 19 Season
    Height/Weight: 5’10″, 160 | Bat/Throw: L/R | International Signing | ETA: 2026

     
    For the most part, fans and critics alike have to admit that the Angels affinity for aggressive promotions hasn’t hampered the organization or prospects at all.  It’s been a net positive, from Zach Neto, to Nolan Schanuel, to Caden Dana. But as with any outside the norm movement or philosophy, there will be drawbacks.  Sometimes, players won't be ready for their aggressive promotion, as has been the case for Denzer Guzman and the Angels. 
    Guzman was the Angels big international signing of the 2021 period, inking for a bonus over 2 million dollars. That’s a lot of money to spend on a 16 year old ballplayer.  But at the time, it was projected that his hit tool and power both had a chance to be plus, and he’d have the ability to stick at shortstop.  That still may be the case, but we haven’t seen that player emerge yet as Guzman floundered in his first full-season at Class A Inland Empire.  Yes, he was one of the younger players in the league at age 19, but not so young that this was an egregious mistake.  Yet Guzman was overmatched, particularly to begin the season.  But if there’s a ray of hope here, it would be that Guzman clearly made the adjustments and was catching up to everyone else in the second half of the season.  
    Coming into his age 20 season, I think there was a clear case for optimism, particularly if they allowed him the opportunity to repeat Inland Empire.  But this is not the Angels MO.  They’ve yet again promoted Guzman, this time to Advanced A Tri-Cities.  It will likely be his first time playing in the cold, and will be a developmental level that’s unlike anything he’s ever seen.  If Guzman makes the adjustments, it would be a huge boon for his stock.  
    At this point, we could say that if Guzman hits the lottery, and maxes out on all the potential he carries, we’re looking at a solid hitting, solid defending shortstop with power.  Those are immensely valuable on the open market, as evidenced by the contracts we’ve seen guys like Carlos Correa get.  The downside to Guzman would be that he never quite makes good on the potential the Angels thought he had at age 16, that he’s periodically flashed, and that Guzman is a depth piece.  The likeliest outcome is that some adjustments are made but Guzman develops into more of a utility player that we see bounce around the upper minors with some cups of coffee in the majors. 
     
    10. Cole Fontenelle – 3B/LF – AA Rocket City - Age 19 Season
    Height/Weight: 6’3″, 205 | Bat/Throw: S/R | 7th Round (2023) | ETA: 2025

     
    If there’s a candidate for “where did this guy come from?” on the Angels farm, it would certainly be Cole Fontenelle.  He may have been more affected by the COVID shutdown than anyone.  Or at the very least, he’s got one heck of a background story. 
    While Fontenelle was highly regarded in high school and almost certainly would’ve been drafted, the shutdown and subsequent shortening of the draft left his name uncalled in 2020 which resulted in him honoring his commitment to nearby University of Washington.  
    While at Washington, Cole got sporadic at best playing time and couldn’t find his rhythm.  During that Summer, he went to the Northwoods League, which is one of a couple collegiate leagues that offer West Coast players an alternative to the Cape Cod League on the East Coast.  Fontenelle flashed all the tools that generated buzz after his junior year of high school.  Rather than return to Washington, where because of COVID rules, he would’ve been buried on the depth chart behind fifth year seniors, Fontenelle went the JC route.  
    The only alternative would’ve been entering the transfer portal and losing a season of eligibility.  While at McLennen Junior College, he must’ve caught the eye of larger program scouts because he only spent a year there before transferring to Texas Christian University. However, before arriving on campus at TCU, Cole made yet another stop in one of the West Coast’s acclaimed Summer Leagues and this time played in Alaska, where he did a little bit of everything, putting up very solid numbers along the way. 
    So here we are at Cole’s junior year of college.  Four years prior, teams were talking about drafting him.  Yet here he was, after two years of college, one year where he rode the bench, and another at a program so small we don’t have any official numbers that reflect his performance.  Things didn’t go according to plan, at least not yet.  Things actually couldn’t have gone any better while playing for the Horned Frogs.  In Fontenelle’s junior season with TCU, he not only made it to the College World Series, he hit .352 with a .473 OBP, with 14 HR and 20 SB while playing the corner infield and outfield spots.  He was one of the best players on one of the best teams in the country.  He would enter the draft portal after his junior year and his name was called in the 7th Round by the Angels. 
    What he did prior to signing made for an interesting story, but it is what he’s done since signing that has opened eyes in the organization.  As it turns out, Fontenelle doesn’t appear to simply be a depth piece.  He’s a legitimately solid hitter who has more power than expected, is faster than expected, shows greater pitch discernment than expected and has the tools to be a better defender than expected.  The major league staff was so impressed by the work Cole showed, that they carried him with the major league team for the entirety of Spring Training so they could get a better look at him.  The Angels feel confident enough in what they saw that Cole was assigned to AA Rocket City, and is expected to potentially impact the big league roster later this season or next year. 
    If everything clicks, Fontanelle could be a Kole Calhoun type of corner infielder and outfielder that doesn’t have one standout tool, but tends to do a little bit of everything right.  Think of a switch-hitting JD Davis.  If not, at the very least the Angels appear to have a pretty solid depth piece to fill out their upper minors roster.  It’ll be interesting to see what comes of this journey. 
    Angels Guide to FV Explanation
    40 - The “AAAA” player, one that spends his career bouncing between the minors and majors.  A Livan Soto or Adam Kolarek type.
    45 - A low-end major league starter or typical backup in the major leagues.  A Jake Marisnick or Jose Suarez type.
    50 - An average major leaguer, either as a starter or reserve.  As of right now, a Luis Rengifo or Luis Gacia type.
    55 - A starter in the major leagues.  A Brandon Drury or Griffin Canning type. 
    60 - A good starter in the majors that should carve out at least a few years at the top level.  A Taylor Ward or Reid Detmers type.  
    65 - A major league all-star that could have a long career and make hundreds of millions.  A George Springer or Logan Webb type. 
    70 - An MVP caliber player.  Potential future Hall of Famer with longevity.  A Christian Yelich or a Corbin Burnes type.  
    75 - An actual MVP and future Hall of Famer.  A Mookie Betts or Gerrit Cole type. 
    80 - GOAT conversation.  Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout type. 
    Make sure to check out our feature (below) by Taylor Blake Ward on the Angels prospects who have graduated from our past prospect lists, as well as some of the top Angels farmhands from spring camp.. 
     
     
  3. Chuck
    By Jonathan Northrop, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer
    Part One: The Cycle of Ages - Angels Baseball version
    After the dead-cat bounce of the post-Golden Era (2014-15), the Angels dipped below .500 in 2016 and have stayed there since, with a .465 Win% from 2016-23, which equates with a 75-87 record. In other words, for the last eight seasons, the Angels have been, on average, a 75-win team.
    Without going back into it again in too much depth, the Angels are long overdue for a rebuild, or at least, a shift in the organizational approach of the last decade plus. One could argue that they should have rebuilt way back in 2010-11 but Arte wouldn't accept that the Golden Age was over. What commenced was a serious of blunders that proved disastrous to the franchise for the last 15 years. They had another window in 2015-2016 and didn't take it, for a variety of reasons: they had a promising core of young starters, all of whom went under the knife. Next, they had the Trout Window, and then the Ohtani Window. 
    So we have, ala the Greek/Indian ages, four distinct periods of 21st Century Angels Baseball:
    2002-09: Golden Age - no comment needed. If you're a Millenial or older, you remember. If you're a Zennial, no, it isn't fake news - the Angels really were one of the half dozen best franchises in baseball for the first decade of the new millenium.
    2010-15: Silver Age - At the time it was frustrating, but they won 85+ games in four out of six seasons, and we saw the arrival of the Promised One. Oh, and We Got Pujols; we'll extend Greinke; Hamilton is just so talented, isn't he? 
    2016-20: Bronze Age - Things started looking grim, but we got a smart GM in Eppler. Right? 
    2020-23: Iron (or Dark) Age - This era, despite the gloriousness of Ohtani, was embodied by Trout's injuries and Rendon's suckitude. It was probably the most dismal three-year span since, I don't know, the early 90s. If you want a Darkest Hour of the Dark Age, it is probably either the losing streak in 2022 or the trade deadline last year and what followed. Or possibly Ohtani signing with the Dodgers. But it's over, right?
    Now the ancients had a few different versions of the cycle of ages. One is that the Dark Age eventually led to a new Golden Age. Yeah, right. Another is that the cycles goes back in reverse, and a new "ascending" Bronze Age follows the Dark Age, and then up to Silver and eventually Golden. Seems more plausible - or at least possible. A third is, well, Ragnarok: the Dark Age ends in cataclysm and the world ends.
    Let's hope that the trade deadline, team collapse, and departure of Ohtani is that Ragnarok and that we'll get to start seeing the ascent again. I mean, how much worse can it get?
    Anyhow, the various factors mentioned above kept the Angels brass from doing what long needed doing: taking stock and pushing the reset button. Of course there wasn't much to take stock of, but at least they could have held off on spending more money on mediocre free agents in a lame attempt to kinda compete each year.
    So now Ohtani's gone and the Angels had one of their quietest offseasons in the last couple decades: No big splashes, no long contracts at all, just a handful of gap-fills and somewhat random free agent signings. It was a bit confusing at first, because Minasian's early offseason emphasis on building a stronger bullpen implied that he was going to go big on free agency. But nothing significant manifested -- no new starting position players or pitchers, just a handful of bench and bullpen guys. 
    Barring a last minute Snellsplash, it looks like the Angels are truly--and finally--taking a beat, taking stock, and maybe eventually replenishing the farm a bit (barring contention come trade deadline). And I say, hallelujah! It is long overdue.
    Consider the above as being a summation of my offseason thoughts, with the disclaimer that I've only paid passing attention the last few months and haven't really followed the Cactus League. On to part two...
    Part Two: 2024 - the Year of Stock-Taking 
    Here's the new part, or at least new to me. "Taking stock" implies seeing how good the young guys are. But I think that is somewhat secondary to the Minasian Plan. We know that in 2025 and beyond, the under-25s of Detmers, Silseth, O'Hoppe, Neto and Schanuel will be around - there isn't really a likely scenario in which they don't form the nucleus of whatever this iteration of the Angels morphs into. But what Minasian will really be looking at, aside from whether (and to what degree) Trout and Rendon can salvage their careers, is how the not-so-young guys will do. Meaning, the 25-30 group that includes Sandoval, Canning, Ward, Rengifo, Adell, and Moniak.
    Really, it is all of the above and more - but I wanted to highlight that middle group, because those are the guys who are "on the clock" in one form or fashion. Sandoval and Canning have shown promise but struggled at various points in their career; Ward is coming off a major injury and it remains to be who the real Taylor Ward is; Rengifo is deciding whether he's going to be a quality regular or a bench guy; and Adell and Moniak are fighting for a starting gig, and at least for Adell, whether or not he's an Angel long-term.
    So in summary, we have several groups that bear watching:
    The young pups (under 25): Detmers, Silseth, O'Hoppe, Neto, Schanuel, also Joyce, Bachman, and Soriano (who is 25, but belongs with this group). 
    The mid guys (age 25-30): Sandoval, Canning, Ward, Rengifo, Adell, Moniak, and Suarez.
    The old guys (over 30s): Trout and Rendon.
    The mercs (possible trade fodder): Anderson, Drury, most of the bullpen, especially Estevez, Moore, and Stephenson.
    The last group, the "mercs," are solid players but are ultimately expendable, and the type of guys you dangle in July if you're out of the playoff hunt. Meaning, they only "stock-taking" is whether any of them have value - either for an unlikely postseason hunt in the second half or, more likely, as trade fodder.
    The young guys are here to stay and are the nucleus for the next half decade plus, along with Old Man Trout. The middle guys are the ones whose place on the Angels are most in question - thus my relating the term "taking stock" most especially to them. Minasian will be looking at who is worth keeping and who joins the trade fodder, in the likelihood that the Angels are sellers in July.
    Not sure what to say about the Decrepit Duo that hasn't already been said. The hope is obviously that both have a renaissance of some kind - that Trout returns at least to 2022 form but with better health, and Rendon is at least a solid on-base hitter. I'm guessing that of the two, he team's hopes is 95% on Trout, and anything Rendon produces is viewed as a pleasant surprise.
    All of the above are under the eye of "taking stock" but, I think, the mid guys most especially. So even if the Angels struggle and don't ever really contend, it should be interesting to see how this year pans out.
  4. Chuck
    On this episode of the AngelsWin Podcast, the guys welcome the television voice of the Angels, Wayne Randazzo!  They discuss Wayne’s first season with the team, what he’s looking forward to in 2024, the differences between the Mets and Angels’ fanbases and much more. 
    Geoff and Chuck wrap up the show with a recap of the AngelsWin 2024 Spring Training Fanfest in Tempe and Chuck’s thoughts about how the team looked.  
    Grab a seat, grab and drink and enjoy Episode 31!  
    If you missed our first interview with Wayne Randazzo last April, you can check that out here: 
     
    Don't miss an episode by following us on YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, iHeart Radio and Amazon Music.
    You can also watch or listen to the audio portion of all of our podcasts on our website here: https://www.angelswin.com/podcast/
  5. Chuck
    By Jonathan Northrop, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer
    As with the hitters, the Angels pitching staff has a good amount of variability, although perhaps a bit less, with almost every starter having a floor of a #4-5 and either #3 or, in one or two cases, #2 upside. I'll look at the bullpen in a third instalment.
    A note on "worst-case scenarios:" For pitchers, even durable ones, there's always the lingering phantom of a blowout and/or Tommy John surgery. Rather than repeat myself for every pitcher, I'll only mention that if there is a significant injury concern beyond the norm. In other words, worst-case scenarios don't include the "absolute worst" of TJS, but are rather more focused on performance only.
    SP REID DETMERS
    Best:  We finally come to a place in which Reid Detmers is not simply the "staff ace" by default (that is, there's no one else), but he's actually a legit #2ish starter. In this scenario, he irons out the kinks of the last few years and puts together a full season like one of his hot-streaks: a sub 3.50 ERA, 180+ IP, and ~4 WAR. 
    Worst: More uneven performance like the last two years, which is still pretty good, but more Heaney-esque than Finley-esque.
    My Prediction: If there's any player that I feel relatively confident flat-out predicting that they hit their best-case scenario--or close to it--in 2024, it is Detmers. I don't think he'll reach his peak level yet, but I do think that he'll be more consistent and have more good starts than bad, so an ERA around 3.50, and more innings (170ish). Meaning, if he doesn't reach his best-case scenario, he'll be close.
    SP PATRICK SANDOVAL
    Best: He defies the warning signs and bounces back to 2022 level, with an ERA around 3.00 and even manages to reduce his pitch count and bit and surpasses 150 IP.
    Worst: The warning signs explode into a total poop-show. Sandoval struggles to throw strikes and his ERA creeps up to the mid-4.00 range.
    My Prediction: I'm worried - not hugely so (yet), but something just seems off. The good news is that while his velocity was down early last year, it trended up all season and his last start was not only the highest of the year, but one of the highest of his career. But in order to even take a step back to his 2022 level (3.7 WAR in 148 IP), he has to curb the walks. last year he walked 4.6 batters per 9 IP - up a full walk from the last two seasons - and his K-rate went down more than a full strikeout. So my prediction is...I don't know. Let's see how he looks after five starts.
    SP TYLER ANDERSON
    Best: Even in the best of possible worlds--or at least those that have a real chance of happening--it is hard to imagine Anderson re-capturing his 2022 performance (2.57 ERA, 4.0 WAR). But if you look at his FIP that year (3.30) and split the difference with his career rare (4.29), then you get around 3.80...which is about the performance level for ERA that I think a best-case Anderson is capable of. 
    Worst: A continuation of last year. 
    My Prediction: Not a lot of variance with Anderson. Split the difference between 2022 and 2023 and you have a decent #4 pitcher with an ERA in the low 4.00s and a solid number of innings. Anderson may even end up under-appreciated for much of the season, but eventually we'll learn to enjoy the fact that he's consistently putting up solid innings. Not sexy, but steady.
    SP GRIFFIN CANNING
    Best: Canning finally makes good on his potential and becomes a good (and consistent) #3 starter, even fringy #2, and embodies the leadership role that Ron Washington envisions for him. 
    Worst: Aside from a revisit to the injuries of the last couple years, the worst-case scenario for Canning is that he doesn't progress further. Last year he produced a 4.32 ERA and 1.8 WAR in 127 IP, which means he's already a 2-3 WAR starter - which is either a good #4 or fringe #3. The FIP was almost exactly the same as his ERA (4.29), so it is possible that this is who he is. In other words, while much has been made of his comeback last year, it was really only to the solid level of 2019-20, which is as a solid #4. So the worst-case scenario is that is who Canning is, which isn't so bad but not what we hoped for.
    My Prediction: I think we'll see a consolidation of 2023's performance, but with slight overall improvement and more innings: an ERA in the 3.70-4.20 range, 150+ IP, 3+ WAR. In other words, he'll establish himself as a bonafide #3.
    SP CHASE SILSETH
    Best: We'll call this the "Angels fan scenario," because it is an outlook that only Angels fans seem to see for young Mr. Silseth. In this scenario, he makes good on the flashes of promise we've seen over the last couple years and becomes a true #2 starter - right there with Detmers (and perhaps a resurgent Sandoval and/or best-case scenario Canning) for best pitcher on the staff. 
    Worst: More erratic performance, and is eventually relegated to a relief role. Or another alternative, it just takes a few years for him to find his best form - but it it won't be 2024.
    My Prediction: Silseth has the widest variance, at least over the pitchers above him. As I implied in the "Best" section, there seems to be a wide gap between Angels fans and analysts as to his upside; I can't think of an outlet that sees the potential that some of us see in him. Whether that is because of fan bias or knowledge is hard to say; probably some of both. Regardless, I think Silseth will become a good starter, but not the ace some envision - but a #2-3 pitcher who has some flashes of brilliance, but isn't consistent enough to be a true ace. In 2024, I think the inconsistency will still be a major factor, but the trajectory will be positive.
    SP ZACH PLESAC
    Best: Plesac picks up where he left off in 2019-20, four years ago, and becomes a solid mid-rotation starter.
    Worst: 2021-23 proves to be his true level; in other words, a back-end starter. There's also the lingering attitude concerns, so he's probably either going to do well or be released.
    My Prediction: Who knows? We probably need to see a few starts, but if he does well enough, I'm guessing he ends up as AAA depth but ends up with 10+ major league starts and/or in the bullpen.
    SP/RP JOSE SUAREZ
    Best: The time off brings things together for Suarez, and we see far more of the better version than the worse. He becomes a solid #3-4 starter or a very good middle reliever.
    Worst: Prone to bad spells, Suarez is relegated to the bullpen and becomes an innings-eating long reliever utilized in low-leverage situations.
    My Prediction:  I personally like the idea of taking the idea of the "worst"--that of a long reliever/swingman--but with the hopes that he pitches well in that capacity, and can be relied upon in a variety of situations. He could be a very useful pitcher if used correctly, but I'm not sure that is as a regular starter. As things stand, he's probably third on the list of potential #5 starters, behind Silseth and Plesac. I imagine he'll pitch in a variety of situations, from spot starts to long relief. By season's end, we could be looking back at him as one of the quiet stalwarts on the pitching staff.
    OTHERS
    Davis Daniel making good on his potential probably means a solid #4 starter, which is more valuable than it sounds, but the not-so-young prospect (27 in June) has had a slow road: a delayed professional debut due to injury, a lost 2020 due to covid, solid development in 2021-22, then most of 2023 lost to injury. At this point, I'm only hoping for a serviceable relief pitcher and/or AAA depth. Kenny Rosenberg is the quintessential minor league "depth starter" - not the worst guy to start in a pinch, but a dime-a-dozen in AAA. Victor Mederos probably has the most upside of likely AAA starters, but needs more seasoning and is less likely to receive a major league gig than some of the others. Brett Kerry and Mason Erla (and several others) look like minor league depth for the foreseeable future. A brief note on Caden Dana. While I think it very unlikely that he factors into the major league rotation this year, he's on the cusp of being a legitimately good pitching prospect and perhaps on the fast-track for the major leagues. His minor league debut was very impressive, but I'd like to see more before getting too excited. 
  6. Chuck
    By Jonathan Northrop, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer
    Perhaps what defines the 2024 Angels, to me at least, is the wide range of variance between best and worst-case scenarios, that is such scenarios that exist within the realm of possibility. Meaning, nearly every player--with only a couple exceptions (e.g. Brandon Drury) has a huge range of reasonably possible outcomes.
    In what follows, I will look at the hitters and suggest what I see as their ceilings and floors, and where I think they'll end up in 2024 and beyond. Please note, this isn't an actual series of projections - it is more a ramble, with a bit of prediction thrown in for each player as to where I think they'll end up. I did a set of stat predictions a couple months ago which I deliberating didn't look back on, but these are more general.
    C LOGAN O'HOPPE
    Best: Becomes a bonafide first tier star catcher - not Adley Rutschman and maybe not Will Smith, but not far behind. In this best-case scenario, an off year is 3 WAR and only due to missing time; a typical year is more like 4-5 WAR, and he has one or two seasons above the 5 WAR mark. He easily becomes the all-time Angels WAR catcher leader, and before reaching free agency.
    Worst: Aside from the injury-bug, the worry would be that he doesn't really iron out his defensive kinks and struggles to make contact. Still, worst-case is the strong side of a platoon, but more of a 2 WAR in 100 games type than a 4 WAR in 120 games type.
    My prediction: The variance for Logan isn't huge, but there's still a range of outcomes, but none of them bad - more "solid to very good." I see more of a second tier catcher being the most likely scenario - a quality regular to borderline star type (3-4 WAR) who is a good captain of the team, sort of like Jason Varitek. Meaning, he won't be confused for Rutschman (let alone Gary Carter), but he'll have some years in the top five WAR for catchers, but mostly more in the #5-10 range.
    1B NOLAN SCHANUEL
    Best: If he makes enough good contact to regularly hit .300, with his plate discipline he could put up gaudy OBPs. And if he develops even average power, he's a "3-4-5" threat and a star hitter. Sort of like Nick Johnson, if he had been able to stay healthy.
    Worst: With that downward swing, there's a chance he never develops any power at all and becomes a Doug Mientkiewicz type - a nice guy to have on your roster, but more of a platoon guy or fringe starter.
    My Prediction: I think he'll probably be more of a .280ish hitter than .300ish, but still have seasons above the .400 OBP mark. I'm more dubious about the power - his downward swing leads to a lot of ground balls, no matter how strong he gets. Still, he's too big and strong not to hit a few out of the park, but I see a peak season being something like .290/.420/.450, which is plenty good enough for me. 
    2B BRANDON DRURY
    Best: More of the same.
    Worst: More of the same, but getting older, and the defense gets shakier. 
    My Prediction: Drury is probably the guy with the least variance of any hitter likely to see substantial playing time: What you see (or what we've seen) is what you get. I think the only questions are how much playing time he gets and where he plays, which depends largely on Rengifo and Rendon. So my prediction is "more of the same," but not sure how much of it. He's a useful guy to have around, but he'd be really useful if he could back-up Rendon (he played 67 games at 3B in 2022).
    SS ZACH NETO
    Best: I like the Dustin Pedroia comp, with a significantly lower batting average but playing Gold Glove defense - so similar overall value. This is pretty optimistic, though, but I could see it happen. 
    Worst: Has trouble getting away from the injury bug, and becomes known as an undisciplined hitter, but still a solid starting shortstop. But rather than the 5 WAR stud of the best-case scenario, he's more of a 2-3 WAR guy.
    My prediction: Zach Neto is a ballplayer - I just love the energy he brings to the team, sort of the anti-Rendon. I do think he'll be prone to occasional injuries and never be quite the hitter Pedroia was, but he'll have some really good seasons, with a good probability of reaching his best-case scenario, at least in his peak. But it might take a few ups and downs to get there. I think 2024 will be a continuation and gradual improvement from 2023, so something like .250/.330/.420. 
    3B ANTHONY RENDON
    Best: He makes baseball a top priority, avoids the injury bug and has a bit of a career renaissance, playing about 350 games over the last three years of his contract and putting up 10+ WAR. Yeah, right.
    Worst: More of the last three years. Arte releases him sometime in 2025.
    My Prediction: I can't imagine how it can possibly continue to be as bad as it has been the last few years, but I would be surprised if Rendon ever plays 130 games again, and maybe not even 120. Part of the problem is that he's a momentum hitter and is never healthy enough to get into a groove. If he manages to play 110-120 games, he'll put up better numbers (maybe .270/.380/.450), but he's never going to be a star again. And that is a pretty big "if." I honestly don't know what to predict, as I could see a continuation of the last few years, or a scenario where the youthful energy of some of the guys above him on this list rubs off and he has a nice next couple years as the Roger Dorn of the Angels. 
    LF TAYLOR WARD
    Best: He's not only back, but he finds the star hitter form that we've seen for parts of the last two years, and is an elite hitter for the next few years, maybe something like .290/.370/.550 with 30 HR. 
    Worst: He's never the same - either neurological, psychological, or just an inability to stay healthy. Ends up as a 4OF/DH type.
    My Prediction: Ward has one of the widest range of possibilities on a team with a lot of players with a wide range of possibilities. For whatever reason, I remain bullish on Ward: I think he's going to have several really good years in the 140 wRC+, 4-5 WAR range, and be the team's second best hitter, at least in 2024. But I've been over-optimistic before. 
    CF MIKE TROUT
    Best: Let's play a game of imagination and time travel to the end of Trout's contract in 2030 and do a career retrospective. It turns out that Trout just had some terribly bad luck for a few years in 2021-23 (they were all different injuries, right?!), but then righted the ship in 2024 and had a career renaissance. Maybe not quite vintage Trout, but he had several years around 7 WAR, with one truly special one in the 8-9 WAR range, winning his 4th MVP award. He started trending down in 2027 or so at age 35, but it was gradual and he finished his career with 127 WAR, just edging Stan Musial out of the top 10. You might say that I'm a dreamer...but I'm not the only one...
    Worst: Ken Griffey III. He'll still hit, but the injury-prone label is real, and the hitting--while flashing towards Ye Olde Days at times--is inconsistent and not what it was. It will be hard to watch for the next seven seasons, as Trout just squeaks above the 100 WAR mark for his career, which would be under 30 WAR in his last eleven seasons after 70 WAR in his first eight.
    My Prediction: I'm going to be bullish again, as I think Trout could do something similar to 2022 (it was just a year ago, afterall); with a bit of better health (130ish games), he could reach the 7 WAR mark. The next few years will be a bit of a comeback for him, just not the Trout of 2012-19. He'll probably miss chunks of time over the rest of his career, but have good spells and just pass Mickey Mantle (112.3) on the fWAR chart.
    OF MICKEY MONIAK
    Best: He learns to take a pitch and builds on 2023, but with more walks. Not a star, but a good overall player who is known for dangerous spells when he's hitting everything.
    Worst: No plate discipline and 2023's good parts turn out to be a fluke. Minor league depth or an erratic 4th outfielder.
    My Prediction: Remember Jeff Francoeur? That's the type of career I think Moniak might have, with minor cosmetic differences. He probably has no place starting for a contender, but will find gigs on various teams over the next decade. I do think he loses a starting job to the next guy on this list, sometime before the ASB and, if Trout, Ward, and Adell are healthy, could be shipped off in July.
    OF JO ADELL
    Best: Basically what we thought his upside would be a couple years ago. Adell kind of reminds me of Dave Winfield, but with more power and significantly less contact ability. Maybe it is the tall, athletic build. But the best-case scenario might be Winfield in 1982 (.280/.331/.560 with 37 HR), but maybe even more HR and a bit lower average. 
    Worst: More of the same and the Angels swap him for a rondon in July to some team thinking they can do better (which, knowing the Angels, they probably will).
    My Prediction: Is it foolish to think that this could finally be the year? He probably won't be the star we hoped for, but he could make enough contact and develop enough discipline to leverage that power. In other words, as much as my mental faculties say that Adell is a bust, my gut still sees a good ball player. I still think he'll hit 40 HR at some point in his career; probably not this year because he's unlikely to get enough plate appearances--and I think needs several years of building success to get there--but I could see something like 110-120 games, .250/.330/.500 with 25+ HR, with even better numbers in 2025.
    IF LUIS RENGIFO
    Best: Take Rengifo's second half numbers last year (.318/.374/.587 in 47 games) and extend them over a full season, but reduce them a bit for likelihood that he's just a slow starter and he's simply unlikely to be that good for a full season. But it foretells the future. In this scenario, everything comes together and Rengifo hits .290/.350/.500 with solid 2B defense. Can we dream?
    Worst:  Basically more of the same - which isn't so bad, but the problem is the defense - which is ok, I guess. But he never quite gets out of the fringe starter/UT role.
    My Prediction: I'm a fan and think he'll find another level in 2024. Maybe not my best-case scenario, but if you imagine that he'll continue his arc of improvement from 2022 to 2023 to 2024, he could hit .270/.340/.450 or better. Now if he could only polish up that defense a bit...
    Pitchers to come...
  7. Chuck
    Sponsored Article
    The history of the Los Angeles Angels is punctuated by moments of brilliance that have defined the team's journey in Major League Baseball. Each landmark achievement, from game-winning home runs to perfect games, contributes to the team's narrative, offering fans a repository of memories that underscore the team's impact on the sport.
    Nolan Ryan's No-Hitters (1972-1979)
    During his tenure with the Angels, Nolan Ryan etched his name into the annals of baseball history by throwing four no-hitters, a feat that underscores his dominance on the mound. Each performance showcased Ryan's exceptional pitching skills, contributing to his legendary status in the sport. These no-hitters remain a towering achievement within the team's lore, reflecting the extraordinary capabilities of one of baseball's greatest pitchers.
    2002 World Series Championship
    The year 2002 stands out as a pinnacle of achievement for the Angels, culminating in the capture of their first and only World Series title. The victory was a testament to the team's resilience, skill, and determination. The "Rally Monkey" emerged as a symbol of this triumph, embodying the spirit and enthusiasm that propelled the Angels to victory. This championship moment is cherished by the team and its supporters, representing a high point in the franchise's history.
    Honoring Nick Adenhart (2009)
    In 2009, the Angels demonstrated profound unity and respect by honoring Nick Adenhart, a promising pitcher whose life was tragically cut short. The team's decision to wear his number throughout the season was a powerful gesture of commemoration and solidarity, illustrating the deep bonds within the baseball community and the respect for Adenhart's talent and potential.
    Mike Trout's MVP Awards

    Mike Trout has solidified his position as a franchise icon through his exceptional play, earning multiple MVP awards. His achievements highlight his unparalleled talent and contribution to the game, making him one of the most impactful players of his generation. Trout's accolades reflect his significance to the Angels and his influential role in the broader context of baseball.
    Vladimir Guerrero's MVP Season (2004)
    In 2004, Vladimir Guerrero's remarkable performance earned him the MVP award, spotlighting his contribution to the Angels' success. Guerrero's talent and dedication were instrumental in his standout season, further establishing his legacy in Major League Baseball and within the Angels' storied history.
    Albert Pujols' 500th & 600th Home Runs (2014), (2017)
    Albert Pujols' achievement of reaching the 500 home run milestone in 2014 is a testament to his enduring excellence and power as a hitter. This milestone not only cemented Pujols' legacy in MLB but also underscored his significant impact during his time with the Angels.
    Jered Weaver's No-Hitter (2012)
    Jered Weaver's no-hitter against the Minnesota Twins in 2012 is a highlight of the pitcher's career and a standout moment for the Angels. This performance exemplifies the high level of pitching talent that has been a part of the team's history, showcasing Weaver's skill and precision on the mound.
    The All-Star Game at Angel Stadium (2010)
    Hosting the MLB All-Star Game in 2010 brought national attention to Angel Stadium and the city of Anaheim. This event was a celebration of the sport, featuring top talent from across Major League Baseball and highlighting the Angels' role as a key player in the baseball community.
    Shohei Ohtani's Historic Season
    Shohei Ohtani's historic performance as both a pitcher and hitter has introduced a new era of versatility to the game, bringing heightened excitement and recognition to the Angels. Ohtani's unique abilities have not only made history but have also redefined what is possible in baseball, underscoring his significant impact on the team and the sport.
    Fan Engagement
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    Conclusion
    This journey through the Los Angeles Angels' most memorable moments reflects the profound impact these achievements have had on the franchise's history. Each milestone, from legendary performances to heartfelt tributes, underscores the legacy and enduring spirit of the Angels, celebrating the players and moments that have defined their journey through baseball history.
    For more, check out AngelsWin.com's full feature Top-50 Greatest Moments in Angels Baseball feature on our blog. 
  8. Chuck
    ANAHEIM – RHP/DH Shohei Ohtani today was named the 2023 American League Most Valuable Player
    in an announcement made by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). It marks the second
    A.L. MVP award for Ohtani, who joins Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera as the only foreign-born players to
    win multiple MVP Awards. Ohtani was also the 2016 Most Valuable Player in Nippon Professional Baseball’s
    Pacific League.
    Ohtani earned all 30 first place votes for a total of 420 points in the balloting process, 156 points
    ahead of second place finisher Corey Seager of the Texas Rangers (264 points). Ohtani, who also won the
    2021 A.L. MVP Award in unanimous fashion, is the 20th unanimous BBWAA MVP Award winner and the first
    to do so multiple times. The Angels are the first team to have three unanimous MVP Awards (Mike Trout was
    a unanimous winner in 2014).
    As a hitter, Ohtani led the American League in home runs (44), on-base percentage (.412), slugging
    percentage (.654), OPS (1.066), extra-base hits (78) and total bases (325) in 2023. He became the second
    player in Angels history to lead the league in home runs, joining Troy Glaus (led A.L. with 47 HR in 2000), and
    was the only player in the Majors with 5+ triples and 35+ home runs. Ohtani also ranked among A.L. leaders
    in intentional walks (21; 2nd), triples (8; 3rd), batting average (.304; 4th), runs (102; T-4th), and walks (91;
    5th).
    As a pitcher, he led the A.L. (min. 130 IP) with a .184 (85/463) opponent batting average and finished
    the year with a 10-5 record, a 3.14 ERA (132 IP – 46 ER) and 167 strikeouts across 23 starts. Ohtani allowed
    one-or-fewer earned runs in 13 of 23 starts, pitched his first career shutout on July 27 at Detroit and finished
    the year with an active streak of 20.2 consecutive innings pitched without allowing an earned run.
    For a third consecutive season, Ohtani was selected to the All-Star Game as both a pitcher and position
    player and was the American League’s leading vote-getter in Phase 1 of fan voting. He joined David Ortiz
    (2011-13) as the only players to receive three straight All-Star fan elections at designated hitter.
    The 29-year-old captures the Angels seventh MVP award in franchise history, following Don Baylor
    (1979), Vladimir Guerrero (2004), Mike Trout (2014, 2016 & 2019) and Ohtani’s first award in 2021. The
    Angels are the first team to win five MVP awards in a 10-year span since San Francisco won five straight with
    Jeff Kent (2000) and Barry Bonds (2001-04) and the first A.L. team since the Yankees won eight from 1954-
    63 with Yogi Berra (1954-55), Mickey Mantle (1956-57, ’62), Roger Maris (1960-61) and Elston Howard
    (1963).
  9. Chuck
    Taylor Blake Ward caught up with two young starting pitchers for the Inland Empire 66ers on the eve of game one of the Low-A California League Playoffs. 
    Angels pitching prospect and most recent 2023 eighth-round pick, Barrett Kent, sits down to chat about the draft process and his up-and-down spring that turned into a successful professional debut and then Angels pitching prospect Walbert Urena shares what he believes turned his 2023 season around while utilizing his sinker more effectively and reining in his mechanics, while also sharing a note about touching 102 miles-per-hour.
    Check out our interviews below. Enjoy! 
     
  10. Chuck
    (Capri Ortiz - Photo by Jerry Espinoza)
    By Taylor Blake Ward, AngelsWin.com Columnist
    Last year, I started this article with a caveat that is necessary when talking about the Dominican Summer League and Arizona Complex League (which will be referred to as DSL and ACL for simplicity throughout the article). The age variance between leagues can alter the performance of any given player significantly, as ages can vary from 16-years-old to 22-years-old in the DSL and 17-years-old to 24-years-old in the ACL. Comparing the performances from a player who may be the age of a high school sophomore or junior to that of one who would be the same age as someone with a four-year college degree and baseball pedigree at a top-notch program leaves plenty of room for error in the on-paper outlook. Most of these kids or young men have yet to grow into their bodies and power may be at minimal production. Some pitchers may have matured into low-to-mid 90's fastballs and explosive breaking balls while others hardly top out in the mid 80's with no current secondary offering to speak of. Control and command for pitchers is sparse and raw, so on-base percentages are inflated due to a high number of walks. It is always fun to look at on paper performance, but each player will come with his own variance where age and experience will play a vital part in how to look at each individual performance and must be taken with a grain of salt.
    If you're going to put emphasis on statistics and performance, there are some isolation performance points you'll need to focus on to see indicators for future success through development and advancement, with one consistent for both hitters and pitchers that tend to carry into development upwards of the mid-minors. For hitters, contact rate and strikeout percentages are large future indicators of ability to hit. While you never want to throw away walk rates, it's already been mentioned those will be inflated because of young pitchers inability to work around the strike zone with consistency. That is where you would want to key in on pitchers is ability to throw strikes as an isolation point of how they'll fare in the future. Strike-throwing ability (i.e., BB%, BB/9) does come as a raw base for being able to do the same at the next level without getting into athletic markers for future command. Control is a fine thing to see on paper and will come prior to command, which is needed for advancement through development into any future Major League role(s).
    Before diving in, there is one last note I want to make as we will touch on the record books. The Dominican Summer League (DSL) has been in existence since 1985, with the Angels having an affiliate since 1992 taking a year away in 1997 with a shared affiliate in 1993 (Dodgers), 1996 (Rays), and 1998 (White Sox). Public statistics and records only date back to 2006, which leaves us with only 17 years of basic statistical data, and 13 seasons without. Up until 2019, the DSL had a 72-game schedule, with 2021 being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a truncated season. In 2022, a scheduling change took place where the DSL season was shortened to 56 games with clubs getting every Wednesday and Sunday off. The reason I mention this is that within my own personal record book I file away in a tab in my notebook (statistics garnered from Baseball-Reference), you will see some players in this article mentioned as being noted within the single-season records but notably off the top. You can only project so much on performance, but with players in 2022 and 2023 getting 16 less games scheduled, it's noteworthy to say a player tapped into the top 10 single season records with an idea they would have reached further up the list with those extra 16 games. You don't run into the same problem with the Arizona Complex League as a 56-game schedule has been consistent throughout its' existence starting in 1988, with the Angels participating in the league from 1989-1996 and 2001 to present and public records held throughout all of league history.
    With all the caveats and notes out of the way, let's dive into some of the top performers and prospects from the Angels Rookie Ball affiliates, starting with those who spent their summer in Boca Chica with the DSL affiliate:
    After missing most of his pro debut in 2022 with a broken hamate, Kevyn Castillo had arguably the best offensive season in Angels DSL history. The Venezuelan outfielder's slash line of .371/.478/.548 has never been seen before at the affiliate, with his batting average and on-base percentage being the highest among players with over 100 plate appearances, and his slugging percentage trailing only Luis Torres in 2022 (.571) -- and of course, the highest OPS in affiliate history under the same measures. Excluding doubles and home runs, Castillo ranked in the top 10 of nearly every affiliate single-season record, with 44 runs scored (tied-10th), 69 hits (10th), seven triples (tied-fifth), 35 RBI (tied-10th), 23 stolen bases (tied-ninth), 40 walks (ninth), and 102 total bases (tied-sixth). Castillo collected a hit in 42 of the 55 games he played, while reaching base safely in 50, while his 171 wRC+ was fourth across the DSL among qualified hitters. Castillo, signed for $10,000 during the 2022 international signing period, flashes four tools with power being the lesser of the group. He's an above-average runner or better with the ability to handle all three outfield positions with a fine arm for the corners (he had four assists on the season).
    The Angels priority international signee for 2023 was Felix Morrobel, a shortstop from the Dominican Republic who signed for $900,000. In the 17-year-old's pro debut was solid with a .286/.322/.335 slash line with 11 stolen bases and 21 runs scored, which helped earn him a DSL All-Star nod. Despite a highly-aggressive approach, Morrobel limited his swing-and-miss at a near uncanny clip, with four of his 13 strikeouts on the season coming in his first 20 plate appearances and then just nine over his next 150 plate appearances, giving him the third lowest strikeout percentage (7.6%) of the 299 qualified hitters in the DSL in 2023. A switch-hitter, Morrobel's ability to manipulate the barrel was evident over the summer, while his power production (0 HR, .344 SLG, .050 ISO) was notably minimal (0 HR, .344 SLG, .050 ISO) and only seen to the gaps as the Angels await his physical maturation where his power projection remains below-average as a hit-over-power offensive type. Morrobel's primary carrying tool is his defense at shortstop where he is a highly athletic defender with quick feet and good internal clock to slow the pace of the game, with an above-average arm giving more confidence to his future outlook as an eventual Major Leaguer as the bat continues to progress.
    Though it didn't come with the external fanfare of the Morrobel signing, the Angels were internally very excited over the signing of Juan Flores. Signing for $280,000, Flores was renowned as one of the best amateur defensive catchers in Venezuela and in the 2023 international signing class. That defense was on full display during his pro debut this summer as a 17-year-old, both on paper and the eye test, as he threw out 26-of-49 would be base stealers (53%) with just four passed balls in over 300 innings of work behind the plate. Already advanced defensively, Flores showed all the traits of long-term catching prowess with quiet receiving and framing with lateral mobility and a plus (or plus-plus pending evaluator) arm. His hitting is less rudimentary than thought while going into pro ball as he had a fine approach at the plate with some upper body overswing tendencies leading to groundballs, but also some over-the-fence power where his six home runs were fifth all-time for a single-season at the affiliate. Though his on-base percentage was partially inflated by being hit-by-pitches 15 times which ranked second on affiliate history -- trailing only Leonardo Rivas in 2015 (17) -- everything else in his offensive performance stayed in check with a .236/.352/.388 slash line and 102 wRC+. There is no question about Flores' defense while the bat will dictate what his future role would/could be, whether a high-level filler, backup, or even everyday regular at the Major League level. Between Morrobel and Flores, mixed in with Nelson Rada and Capri Ortiz, the Angels have a solid defensive foundation up the middle in the low levels of the minors.
    Oswaldo Patino was a lesser-touted signing in the 2023 international class who put pen to paper for $65,000 as a smaller Venezuelan infielder, but his pro debut carried some excitement, particularly as one of the youngest in the league at 16-years-old. A contact-first hitter, Patino kept his swing-and-miss in check while his discipline and walk rates were off the charts at 25%. Among players in the DSL with 80-or-more plate appearances, his walk rates ranked 14th across the league among 1000+ players, while his on-base percentage (.513) ranked second (You can do the math if you want but it's the 99.9th percentile in both categories). Though I mentioned Kevyn Castillo as having the highest single-season OBP in affiliate history, that was among players with over 200, or 150, or 100 plate appearances -- or in simpler terms: qualified hitters -- but looking at Patino's on-base percentage in a smaller dosage of plate appearances (80 total PA), it is the highest OBP mark in affiliate history outside of two players who shared a combined 13 plate appearances, giving credence to the record books albeit in smaller sample than qualification. There isn't much ceiling to Patino who is a contact-first second base only infielder, but always worth monitoring when video game numbers are put up.
    Receiving the fourth largest bonus from the Angels in the 2023 international class, Edwardo Espinal has his season and pro debut delayed until mid-July after breaking his thumb during extended spring. The 17-year-old signed for around $250,000 out of the Dominican Republic as a toolsy outfielder with upside in the bat. With only 22 games played over the summer, it was his final 11 that were attentive and had the Angels happy about his future as he slashed .290/.372/.368 in the final half of his truncated season.
    One of the biggest risers in the Angels farm system is Adrian Acosta, a right-handed pitcher who signed late in the 2022 signing period for $10,000 out of the Dominican Republic and saw a velocity jump in 2023 that made his sophomore pro season one of the best in affiliate history. In his 10 starts over the summer, he never allowed more than two runs while striking out five-or-more in each outing excluding his first. Acosta was named a starter in the DSL All-Star game where he went two innings and earned the victory. His 1.17 ERA led the entire DSL and was second best for a single-season in affiliate history among those who through over 40 innings (46.1 IP), trailing only Emilker Guzman who had a 1.02 ERA in 2017 (44 IP), while his 64 strikeouts were 19th all-time in a single-season for the affiliate and comes with the caveat that all above him had a 72-game season to work with. The 18-year-old saw a velocity spike over the summer with improved command that raised his prospect status, parking his fastball 92-95 and touching 96 on occasion. He compliments the fastball with a low-to-mid 80's slider that has enough current shape and feel to receive average or better future grades. With the fastball command progressing well and his on-mound athleticism, the Angels will continue giving Acosta the chance to start through the early stages of his pro career, though his changeup is well below-average offering (very firm and rudimentary) and will be a focus of development to keep him from a relief outlook.
    Ubaldo Soto was the Angels top pitching signee from the recent international class, signing for $250,000 out of the Dominican Republic and spending most of the summer as a 16-year-old pitcher in pro ball. Up until the week he turned 17, Soto got four games of extended relief work, going three innings each time out, which included two saves before transitioning to a traditional rotation role in early July. Over the season, Soto performed remarkably well, posting a 1.64 ERA over 44 innings with a 4-1 record. On this next note, I must include that the nature of a complete game and/or shutout in the DSL has some caveats as pitching all innings (or outs) of a shorter scheduled or weather shortened game can be called a "complete game/shutout" in the statistics and does not need to be a complete seven-or-nine inning effort. On that note, Soto threw two (shortened) shutouts over the summer, making him the first to have multiple shutouts or complete games since Daniel Hurtado and Eswarlin Jimenez in 2011 and fifth in affiliate history to have multiple in a season. His two shutouts were the 12th and 13th in affiliate history since record-keeping became public in 2006. Soto, a tall and loose right-hander, has all the projection traits of a starter at the next level with three pitches he mixes well in an upper 80's-to-low 90's fastball that touches 92, and feel for a curveball and changeup with advanced feel for working near the zone.
    Though Soto was initially the top bonus pitcher for the Angels 2023 international class, Francis Texido was signed for the same dollar figure at $250,000 two months later after leaving Cuba in September. Texido -- the leader in ERA (0.69) for Cuba's U-18 club (source: Francys Romero, MLB) -- went from being one of the top amateur arms in Cuba to the workhorse of the Angels DSL affiliate, getting the opening day nod and never looked back posting a 2.31 ERA in 50.2 innings with 61 strikeouts, 12 walks, and 0.947 WHIP. The 18-year-old collected six wins on the season, which was tied for 10th most in a single-season for the affiliate, while his 61 strikeouts were 20th most (as noted with Acosta, all players above Texido had the luxury of a 72-game season). Tall and loose, the left-handed pitcher has a low 90's fastball with significant sink that creates weak groundball contact, while he also incorporates a curve, slider and changeup which show enough current merit and advanced command to believe in a four-pitch starter mix through development.
    Among the youngest pitchers in professional baseball over the season, Davidxon Lara went from a relatively unknown amateur who signed for $50,000 out of Venezuela, to a pitcher of note in the Angels low minors. The undersized right-hander is a good on-mound athlete with advanced command and feel for the zone. Through his first six games, Lara faced 118 batters and walked just one which included a stretch of 101 batters faced without permitting a walk. Though he would walk four of the final 43 batters he faced (*sarcastically gasps*), Lara showed an advanced ability to mix his pitches and work around the zone, spending all but his final three starts over the summer as a 16-year-old. Lara operates mostly in the upper 80's and low 90's and touched 93 over the summer, with decent feel for a mid-70's curveball and mid 80's changeup. His size (5'10/165) may limit his ceiling, but Lara has the current traits of a future starter with plenty of youth to bank on.
    Other DSL Notables:
    Signed on the older side of the international amateur market, right-handed pitcher Anel Cabrera signed with the Angels in April as a 20-year-old and spent the summer in the DSL where his 1.25 ERA was second lowest across the entire league (trailing only Adrian Acosta, 1.17; min. 40 IP). The low ERA mark was third best in affiliate history among those with 40-or-more innings pitched... After spending two seasons as the DSL Yankees closer, Ruben Castillo was released by the pinstripes in May and quickly signed with the Angels three weeks later as a 21-year-old minor league free agent. Castillo served as the DSL Angels closer with a 39.0 K% and nine saves, which is tied for the most in affiliate single-season history with Jorge Tavarez (2016)... The DSL Angels finished their season going 37-18, holding the sixth best record in the 50-team league and earning a wildcard spot in the DSL Playoffs. As a team, they had; the third most stolen bases (121), 10th highest batting average (.257), 2nd lowest ERA (3.25), 3rd lowest H/9 (6.9), 4th lowest WHIP (1.311), 10th highest K/9 (9.7), and 10th highest K/BB (2.00). (*NOTE*: At the release of this article the DSL Angels are in the middle of a best-of-three opening playoff series with the DSL Phillies, splitting the first two games. This note will be updated upon completion of the series and/or DSL playoffs.)
    After spending the first part of this article down in Boca Chica, let's head north for the rest of the article to Tempe and the Arizona Complex League where a pair of players jumped into prospect status while others have started to create a name for themselves in the low minors.
    Signed as a defense-first shortstop from the Dominican Republic for $150,000, Capri Ortiz changed the script this summer in Arizona and has become of the biggest risers in the Angels system. Splitting his pro debut in halves, Ortiz struggled to start in the DSL in 2022, having a .522 OPS in his first 26 games, but turned the corner and posted a .793 OPS in his final 26 games. He carried that late success into instructional league where he became a player of note for the organization and then had a loud presence based on his speed and defense this summer in the ACL. His on-paper performance leaves a bit to be desired in a .273/.374/.345 slash line with a near 30% strikeout rate but the Angels liked his aggression in the box and on the basepaths and ability to adjust to switch-hitting which he started near the midway point of the season, with some promising signs in his ability to hit from both sides. Listed at six-foot and 150-pounds, there is significant weight and strength that needs to be added to the frame to tap into any form of power as Ortiz's game is more suited for slapping the ball through the infield or flaring a ball to the outfield while maintaining his line drive swing. When he puts the ball in play though, he can cause havoc. Posting the occasional sub-4 home-to-first time, Ortiz is more in the 4.0 to 4.1 range which grades above plus but under plus-plus, but his ability to utilize that speed only enhances the tool. Ortiz stole 30 bases over the summer which set a new affiliate record surpassing Aneury Almonte's 28 in 2002, and ranked 16th all-time in league history for a single season while being the most in the league since Monte Harrison stole 32 bases in 2014. Of note, Ortiz's 39 runs scored were the most for a single season at the affiliate since Rolando Gomez (48) and Randal Grichuk (47) in 2009. Along with 18-year-old's speed is the ability to handle a premium defensive position with ease as his quick feet allow him to cover plenty of ground at shortstop, while his internal clock allows him to slow the pace of the game and let his quick release and average arm do the rest. Ortiz may never grow into offensive impact and be more suitable as a bench player by the time he nears the Majors, but his speed and defense give merit to his future role at the upper levels while the bat will dictate whether or not be becomes an everyday player.
    When doing my post-season rounds last October to accumulate information for prospect rankings, one name jumped out as one I had never heard previously mentioned as a "prospect" but a standout performance in the DSL (which was noted in this article last year) and during instructional league left me curious about someone who "could be the next Edgar Quero". Though the results of Quero haven't been matched quite yet, Dario Laverde has put his name on the map for Angels prospects and has put up similar performance markers with similar tools to a young Quero to make sense of the comparison. The left-handed hitting catcher who signed for $350,000 out of Venezuela had a .306/.419/.455 slash line with 28 walks and 31 strikeouts on the year as an 18-year-old, while his 123 wRC+ was in the 74th percentile across the league. Laverde started catching around a year prior to signing as a professional, converting from the outfield, and has plenty of raw traits behind the plate that have to be refined before trusting him as a long-term backstop. His arm can grade out as average or better, but his transfer and footwork may need an overhaul to allow his arm to play. An outstanding athlete, Laverde has solid lateral movement and blocking skills, so there is a foundation and building blocks to keep him behind the plate. For as raw as his defense is, his offensive skillset is far more polished than most in his age range. Laverde is a disciplined hitter with a focus on seeing pitches and driving pitches in his hot zone to the gaps. There isn't much power in his five-foot-10 frame, but enough to believe his contactability will translate into the occasional over-the-fence pop. Though it may be hard to project Laverde into what Quero became (Top-100 prospect who warranted a Lucas Giolito return), Laverde has the tools to dream on a platoon catcher with offensive upside and he will become the Angels top catching prospect upon Logan O'Hoppe's prospect graduation.

    (Dario Laverde - Photo by Jerry Espinoza)
    Signed for $235,000, Anthony Scull was part of a duo from Cuba who signed with the Angels on September 6, 2021, joining Jorge Marcheco. Both got a quick trip to Boca Chica where Scull was able to play 10 games with some lackluster performance and was initially assigned back to the DSL to start 2022, but after one plate appearance was sent back stateside to Arizona where he performed well in a limited 13-game sample. Scull repeated his offensive success in 2023, slashing .300/.377/.453 with seven doubles, five triples, and three home runs. Scull started the season with a 12-game hitting streak and collected a hit in 24 of his first 27 games while batting .363 and having an OPS that hovered around 1.000 throughout. His bat cooled off for the latter half of his season hitting .206 in his final 21 games with a 33.3 K% (13.7 K% in first 27 games). The 19-year-old outfielder is more a sum of all parts kind of player as opposed to having a real standout or carrying tool, not dissimilar to fellow Angels Cuban farmhand Orlando Martinez. The son of former Cuban baseball star and Olympian, Antonio, the younger Scull has a swing reminiscent to his father with a closed stance, short load, and present bat speed that make him a line-to-line hitter with focus on the bat being his ability to utilize the barrel and occasionally tap into some gap power, while his defense may be limited to a corner outfield position as he's only a fringe athlete. There's a lot to like about the overall package Scull provides and players of his caliber sometimes turn into platoon-type players at the upper levels and into the Majors, though his status as a prospect remains limited.
    After turning heads in his pro debut in the Dominican, Luis Torres carried his near unmatched DSL year into video game type numbers to start his sophomore pro season in Arizona, slashing .583/.659/.889 in his first 10 games which included four doubles, two triples, and a home run. He earned a quick promotion to Low-A Inland Empire where he had a three-hit game in his full season debut and three more hits in the two games following but quickly cooled off against elder and more polished talent collecting just five hits in his next 15 games and was sent back to Arizona. Some inconsistencies came in his second stint with the ACL affiliate as he hit .250 with a .719 OPS and 29.1 K% in his final 19 games with Tempe. For the bulk and completion of his season, his 150 wRC+ was seventh best across the league among hitters with 100+ plate appearances. The inconsistencies haven't deterred Torres' status as a low-level follow (as opposed to a solidified prospect), but the 19-year-old Dominican still may have finally seen his free and loose swing be exposed to some holes while he began to chase at more pitches out of the zone with both approach and swing refinements needed. Signed for $10,000 in February 2022, Torres has a large physique that allows him to tap into hard contact and over-the-fence power from the right side. Though he's limited to first base only defensively, Torres has enough feel for hitting and the power production to continue monitoring how he can cut down his chase rates and overswing tendencies to potentially grow into a prospect with a likely trip to full season ball next season.
    Cristian Garcia has spent the last three summers between the DSL and ACL with steady performance based mostly on plate discipline. Garcia, a 19-year-old corner infielder, has progressively walked his way through Rookie Ball (pun intended) with his 2023 campaign seeing 37 free passes, which rank fourth in Angels AZL/ACL affiliate history and the most since 1993. There isn't much in terms of prospect status when it comes to Garcia, as he's a fringy athlete with a below-average hit tool, but players of his caliber tend to make waves for their on-base percentage in the low minors and grow into monitoring status as they progress through development in hopes that more repetition can turn particular offensive tool into a fringe/average skill. On the season, Garcia slashed .266/.418/.413.
    Drafted by the Angels in the fourth-round of the 2019 MLB Draft, Erik Rivera is one of just seven remaining players drafted and signed by the Angels in that class. Rivera was drafted as a two-way player with upside as a power hitting outfielder from the left side and power southpaw on the mound. Following the draft, the Angels sent him out strictly as a designated hitter and it was evident his future would be on the mound which would wait until the following season which would not occur due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his first pro pitching outing, Rivera tossed over three scoreless with Low-A Inland Empire, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out six, but saw his velocity dip quickly in his final outing. It's been a long road for Rivera since that point as a tear in his UCL required Tommy John surgery followed by some unspecified complications which caused him to miss the rest of the 2021 season, all of the 2022 season, and most of the 2023 season. Rivera returned to the mound on the second day of August this summer for the first time in over two years but showed similar tools to what made him such an alluring pitching prospect prior to surgery. He came out sitting 92-93 while touching 96 over the summer, while still flashing a plus changeup and signs of a breaking ball. Control dogged Rivera through his five brief outings in Arizona, as he walked 13 of the 37 batters, he faced but when he was near the zone, he was unhittable allowing just three hits to those same 37, striking out 11. Though he's an elder statesman for a low-level arm at 22-years-old, Rivera being healthy and green on the mound is a boon for the Angels pitching depth, particularly with so few left-handed pitching prospects. He'll need to show more command and control to return to his prospect status from prior years, but the raw package remains near the same as when he was a highly touted youngster after the draft.
    A standout from extended spring, Keythel Key is a relatively unknown pitching project who has garnered some attention as a low-level arm with tools that could carry him into more than organization filler status. Most of Key's success comes in flashes as opposed to frequency, which was evident in his summer in the ACL where he had performed on par with most of the league average, posting a 4.53 ERA, while walking 32 and striking out 40 over 43.2 innings. Key is a tall and lean 19-year-old with good on-mound athleticism who operates mostly in the low 90's with some mids in the bag, with a slider that flashes average. There's a lot of raw tools -- particularly in fastball command and ability to consistently snap his breaking ball -- but enough to like about Key and his athletic markers and projection to continue monitoring him.
    Of the Angels 19 draft picks in 2023, 13 started their pro career in Tempe. Nolan Schanuel (1st round), Alberto Rios (3rd round), Joe Redfield (4th round), Cole Fontenelle (7th round), Caleb Ketchup (15th round), and Mac McCroskey (20th round) all got less than a handful of games each before shipping out to affiliates, with Schanuel being the clear standout not only as a first-rounder but as a Major Leaguer only 21 games into his pro career. Seven of the 13 found less temporary residence in Arizona and spent the full start of their pro careers in Tempe. John Wimmer (11th round), an athletic shortstop with spark plug offensive upside from Rock Hill High School (SC), struggled against elder pitching in nine games, striking out in half of his plate appearances with a .432 OPS. Rio Foster (16th round), an athletic and physical high-ceiling outfielder from Florence-Darlington Tech (SC), struggled in a brief eight games as his active swing brought swing-and-miss with it, striking out 10 times in 25 plate appearances with a .414 OPS. Opposite his draft mates, Raudi Rodriguez (19th round) hit pro ball in stride over a brief 12 games, slashing .368/.415/.447, despite being viewed as the rawer product and free swinger of the previously mentioned pair. In recent years under Perry Minasian's regime, the Angels have pivoted savings from the second day of the draft to go well over slot with an early teen pick, but altered that course this year (in a way) and had their big bonus player come in the eighth-round in Barrett Kent, a tall and projectable right-handed pitcher from Pottsboro High School (TX) with a low-to-mid 90's fastball and trio of off-speed offerings that could grade out as average. Kent pitched well in his brief pro debut, allowing six baserunners without permitting a run while recording 14 outs over two stints, striking out five. Chase Gockel (9th round), a right-handed pitching grad student from Quincy University with a mid-90's fastball, struggled to find the zone in four brief outings walking 12 of the 23 batters he faced. Riley Bauman (13th round), a right-handed pitcher from Abilene Christian who returned from Tommy John late this spring showing a mid-90's sinker, got a quick taste of post-surgery action in pro ball allowing five runs in four innings of work. 
    The Angels transitioned catcher Straton Podaras, infielder Christian Sepulveda, and outfielder Darwin Moreno to the mound progressively through the summer, with all sitting around 89-91 and topping around 93. This wasn't dissimilar to what they did with Logan Britt and Mario Zabala. Both Britt and Zabala were draft prospects as prep outfielders in 2020 but their star dwindled during their collegiate careers. Britt faced three batters in college (Abilene Christian) before the Angels took him as a pitcher in the 17th-round in 2023. Zabala was a two-year starter at Florida International but was limited to pinch-running duties his junior season with just 15 batters faced on the mound with minimal success, but the Angels consider both as pitchers at this point and will continue their development as such. I have no report on Britt or Zabala as pitchers currently.
    Other ACL Notables: 
    The Angels hit the NDFA/UDFA (whichever/whatever you want to call it) market quick and heavily after the draft signing some of the more notable non-drafted draft prospects with the headliners being catcher Caleb Bartolero (Troy), shortstop Andy Blake (Columbia), and outfielder Landon Wallace (West Virginia). Bartolero and Blake played well, albeit in six game stints each, in Arizona while Wallace went hitless in his first four games, he turned the corner quickly over his final six games going 8-for-14 (.571). Infielder Will McGillis (South Carolina) was not among the notable UDFA's but took advantage of his collegiate experience as a 24-year-old sporting a .378/.525/.644 slash line in 59 plate appearances, collecting hits in 12 of the 15 games he played and reaching base safely in 14. His 191 wRC+ was second highest across the league among hitters with 50-or-more plate appearances...
    For the third consecutive season, Alex Martinez has held court in the Angels ACL bullpen, as his 1.17 ERA in 2023 was third lowest across the league (min. 20 IP). The undersized right-hander who is fastball dominant has now spent the last three summers in Arizona with a combined 0.92 ERA, 14.1 K/9, and 37.2 K%...
    18-year-old outfielder Ramon Ramirez was an offensive staple to the DSL Angels in 2022 and garnered attention as more than just a low-level organization filler though not quite into prospect status. After collecting one hit in his first six games with sparse playing time, the left-handed hitter got back into a hitting groove over his last 12 games hitting .313 with five extra-base hits and a .965 OPS...
    Randy de Jesus was a touted amateur outfielder from the Dominican Republic when the Angels signed him for $1.2 million in 2022, but his first taste of stateside ball left some questions about the consistency his bat will offer. Scouts still like the foundation de Jesus provides but there is a lot of fine tuning before tapping into even part of the finished product which still may be a power-only offensive base with too much swing-and-miss to get to any ceiling. Splitting his seasons into quarters, his final three-quarters showed glimpses of success with a .282/.343/.366 slash line and much lower 23.0 K% compared to the 29.6 K% in his first 12 games... Three players who suffered season-ending leg or knee injuries in 2022 returned to action in 2023 in the likes of infielders Edgar Alfonso and Luis Rodriguez, and outfielder Natanael Santana. Alfonso, 19, is a light-hitting speedster from Cuba who didn't showcase his plus to plus-plus speed on the basepaths frequently during the season but walked a bit and hit .247 over 35 games. Rodriguez, 18, was a big-bonus baby out of Venezuela on the international market (though his actual bonus has differing reports and has not been confirmed to this writer) who showed impressive tools at instructional league in 2022 and got his first taste of pro ball in 2023 in Arizona performing around league average with a .791 OPS and two home runs. Santana, 22, became a name to follow in 2021 after showcasing impressive power and speed tools from an impressive physique but was sidelined in 2022 with a knee injury. The raw offensive product is still in play for Santana as he struck out in nearly 35% of his plate appearances but still showcased the same tools as before. It's unlikely he'll be able to hit enough to hit his immense ceiling, and may be forever stuck in the low minors, but remains an interesting follow.
  11. Chuck
    By Tres Hefter, AngelsWin.com Columnist

    In honor of the draft, the commencement of the Arizona League, and reaching the halfway point of the MLB season, we’re doubling up today – featuring ten hitters and ten pitchers who have performed well over the last two weeks. This is also in part to the hot hitting on the farm, as eight Angels farmhands posted an OPS over 1.000, with four prospects from the Arizona team opening their seasons with big production at the plate. 
     
    --Position Players—
    1) David MacKinnon – 1B, Rocket City, AA:
    It’s probably time to start taking David MacKinnon seriously as a legitimate prospect. The first baseman, 26 years old and a 32nd round pick, continued to dominate at the plate over the last two weeks, hitting .381, which is basically what he’s hit now over his last 100 plate appearances (.389 since June 11th) to go along with his typically advanced plate discipline (6 BB to 8 K in that time). This is nothing new for MacKinnon though. What’s more encouraging however is the uptick in power. After hitting 9 extra-base hits in his first 24 games, MacKinnon has added 15 more in the 24 games since, giving him a .541 SLG on the year, a significant increase over his prior career full-season best of .392, and one in line with what you’d want to see from a player who is exclusively playing a power-first position in 1B. It’s difficult to see how MacKinnon’s career can progress with the Angels as he has Matt Thaiss, Jose Rojas, and Jared Walsh (of course, another late-round 1B who slugged his way to the majors) ahead of him on the depth chart. Thaiss and Rojas’ positional versatility clears this path slightly, but it’s still hard to see MacKinnon getting a chance with the Angels. Bearing a remarkable offensive similarity to Tampa’s Yandy Diaz, MacKinnon seems the type of player a low-payroll team thin at organizational depth at 1B could take a chance on and could be one of the names we see moved in a deal for a rental or lesser name – or as depth allowing the Angels to move Rojas or Thaiss in similar fashion. Detroit, Colorado, Texas, Pittsburgh, and Tampa all seem like teams that could have interest in this type of player and could have pieces that match up with Halo needs.
    2021 (RCT AA): .335/.412/.541/.953 with 17 doubles, 7 HR, 30 RBI, 22 BB, 35 K in 48 G/211 PA
     2) Brendon Davis – 2B/3B/SS/LF, Tri-City, A+:
    Named the High-A West Player of the Week for the second time this season and leading the league in HRs, Davis is almost single-handedly holding up the offense for the Dust Devils, so you may need to excuse his subpar June, in which he posted a .698 OPS after opening the year with an .841 OPS in May. The former 5th round pick of the Dodgers in the 2015 draft returned to May form over the last two weeks – and then some – as he slashed .356/.404/.822/1.226 since June 28th, boosted by five doubles, two triples, four home runs, 16 hits, and two stolen bases in two attempts for good measure. Perhaps Davis’ struggles in June came because of his newfound versatility in the field. After playing the first 31 games of the season at the hot corner, Davis has started at SS eight times, 2B six times, LF twice, and 3B nine times. He’s still suffering from some swing and miss issues – 14 in his last 11 games – but the offensive potential the Dodgers once dreamed on, and that the Rangers dreamed on when they acquired him for Darvish, is showing itself now more than ever in Davis’ best pro season to date. 23 years old, Davis will likely finish the season at Rocket City and could be in the MLB bench mix as soon as 2022 if his performance continues to match his one-time prospect shine. Much like MacKinnon, Davis could be the type of lotto-ticket the Angels could use in deals for rentals.
    2021 (TRI A+): .256/.315/.507/.821 with 15 doubles, 3 triples, 12 HR, 31 RBI, 17 BB, 71 K, 6 for 8 SB in 57 G/251 PA
     3) Luis Aviles – 2B/3B/SS/LF, Rocket City, AA:
    Signed by Billy Eppler as a minor league free agent prior to the 2020 season, Aviles finally got onto the field for the Angels in late June after coronavirus eliminated the 2020 season and injuries robbed Aviles of playing time in almost all of May and June. Once a prospect in the Brewers system who drew occasional hype for strong defense and a minor league All-Star appearance in 2019, Aviles made this list mostly because of his play in one series against Tampa’s AA affiliate, the Montgomery Biscuits. Aviles homered six times in four games, also clubbed two doubles, and drove in 11. It’s far too soon to tell if this was a precursor to any sort of offensive breakout for Aviles or just a ridiculous series as he only has 17 games on the season, but nonetheless, it’s production the Angels will welcome from the 26-year old. Aviles’ strong play earned him the AA-South Player of the Week honors.
    2021 (SLC AAA/RCT AA): .273/.358/.636/.995 with 2 doubles, 6 HR, 15 RBI, 6 BB, 17 K, 3 SB in 17 G/69 PA
     4) Edwin Yon – DH/RF, Inland Empire, A:
    One of the most interesting prospects in the Angels system is Edwin Yon, a towering outfielder (listed at 6’5”) plucked in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft from Cincinnati. Yon is about as raw as a prospect could be. Originally debuting with the Reds’ Dominican summer team at the age of 16, Yon owns 302 K in 800 career plate appearances – and despite his projectable power, only a career .363 SLG to show for it, never topping more than 4 HR in any short-season ball. That’s changed in the last two weeks though, as Yon homered four times in 10 games, hitting .303/.439/.788/1.227 in that time. Ten hits in ten games and seven walks against 14 strikeouts also provide some encouraging hints of improved contact and discipline. At 22 years old, Yon is at the age where raw, tenured power-first prospects can start to put things together, and if he does, look out. A Jabari Blash-like career as a free-swinging, HR mashing career minor leaguer/foreign league superstar is still probably the best case scenario for Yon, but nonetheless he’s another name worth watching as the summer continues on.
    2021 (IE A): .238/.342/.556/.898 with 3 doubles, one triple, 5 HR, 11 RBI, 9 BB, 36 K in 18 G/73 PA
     5) Arol Vera – SS/2B, Arizona, Rk.: 
    Arol Vera, signed in the 2019 international period, has finally made his pro debut, and it’s been as good as advertised for a talent often mentioned as one of the Angels Top 10 prospects. Splitting time up the middle at SS and 2B, the Venezuelan switch-hitter has hit in every single game so far, slashing .421/.477/.632/1.109 in his first 9 games and 44 plate appearances, with four doubles and two triples peppered in.
    2021 (ACL Rk.): .421/.477/.632/1.109 with 4 doubles, 2 triples, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 11 K in 9 G/44 PA
     6) Edgar Quero – C/DH, Arizona, Rk.: 
    One of the more exciting signings of recent international period is that of 18-year-old switch-hitting Cuban catcher Edgar Quero, whose Arizona debut will only inflate that excitement. While Quero has only seven pro games to his career so far, he’s made an impression in them, whacking two doubles, two homers, and hitting .364/.440/.727/1.167. Quero is arguably a bat-first catcher but has enough skill behind the plate to be the Angels’ most complete catching prospect since Bengie Molina. He nabbed two of seven baserunners in his three games behind the plate so far and could find himself on Angels Top 30 prospect lists as soon as midseason 2021.
    2021 (ACL Rk.): .364/.440/.727/1.167 with 2 doubles, 2 HR, 8 RBI, BB, 5 K, 1 SB in 7 G/25 PA
     7) Michael Stefanic – 2B/3B, Salt Lake City, AAA: 
    Much like David MacKinnon or perhaps a better comp, David Fletcher, Michael Stefanic just continues to hit. Settling in at Salt Lake between 2B and 3B over the last two weeks, Stefanic’s June was fairly under the radar but still productive, and July has yielded strong numbers at the plate once again, as he slashed .316/.395/.579/.974 in ten games, adding 12 hits, a double, and three HR to his 2021 campaign, giving him a career high mark of 7 HR. Also like MacKinnon, Stefanic finds himself somewhat buried on a depth chart that includes Jack Mayfield, Kean Wong, and Luis Rengifo all ahead of him, and could similarly find himself mentioned in trade talks for lower-impact names or rentals. However, should Mayfield and Wong wind up lost to waivers over the course of the 2021 season, Stefanic figures to be first-in-line for their MLB roles come 2022. 
    2021 (SLC AAA/RCT AA): .313/.396/.460/.856 with 10 doubles, 7 HR, 30 RBI, 24 BB, 44 K in 54 G/240 PA
    😎 Braxton Martinez – 3B/1B, Inland Empire, A: 
    The numbers that Braxton Martinez, as a 27-year-old in Low-A, are starting to become comical. Over the last two weeks, Martinez has hit .447 (17 hits in 38 AB) with an OBP of .560 (11 walks to 4 strikeouts), which is almost becoming typical production now, as he owns a batting average of .370 and an OBP of .496 over his last month. Martinez also touts power, with 22 doubles and 8 HR on the season already, with 7 of those doubles coming in the last two weeks. After playing 1B/DH exclusively in his first 37 games, Martinez is now playing primarily 3B. What comes next is anyone’s guess.
    2021 (IE A): .344/.460/.611/1.071 with 22 doubles, one triple, 8 HR, 35 RBI, 38 BB, 29 K in 51 G/224 PA
     9) Adrian Placencia – 2B/SS, Arizona, Rk.: 
    One of three mid-infielders with Top 30 talent at Arizona, Adrian Placencia made his pro debut for the Angels in the last two weeks, and like Vera, has done nothing but impress in his first look. Often mirroring Vera in the field – playing primarily 2B to Vera’s SS and vice versa – Placencia has also produced at the plate. In 8 games Placencia has peppered a double, a triple, two homers, and four singles across 40 PA, but more importantly, drawn nine walks against five strikeouts. Should it continue, this advanced plate recognition could set Placencia apart from Vera and Blakely as the trio progress in their careers and give the Angels a trio of dynamic infielders with differing skill sets to work with.
    2021 (ACL Rk.): .258/.425/.548/.973 with one double, one triple, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 9 BB, 5 K in 8 G/40 PA
     10) Werner Blakely – 3B/2B/SS, Arizona, Rk.: 
    The 4th round selection of the 2020 draft made his pro debut in Arizona, and much like with Vera and Placencia, saw immediate success. While Blakely, who might have the most power out of the three, produced only a double and a HR in his first two weeks, he also drew 8 BB (though against 13 K) and roped 8 singles in 9 games, while stealing three bases in three attempts. Blakely has the most star potential of the trio, having a shot at being a real four-or-five tool player, especially if his defense manifests, while the power, speed, discipline, and contact skills are already on display in Arizona so far.
    2021 (ACL Rk.): .303/.439/.424/.863 with one double, one HR, 8 BB, 13 K, 3 SB in 3 attempts in 9 G/41 PA 
     
    Honorable mentions, position players:
    Alexander Ramirez (CF/DH, ACL Rk.): .256/.356/.462/.817 with 2B, 2 3B, HR, 6 RBI, 6 BB, 18 K in 9 G/45 PA – mixed start to the season for one of the Angels’ most interesting prospects
    Francisco Del Valle (RF/LF, Tri A+): .318/.412/.477/.889 with 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 5 HBP in 12 G/51 PA – still has a shot at being a solid 4th/5th OF type
    Elijah Greene (LF/CF, IE A/RCT AA): .571/.679/.762/1.440 with 4 2B, 7 BB, 2 K in 8 G/28 PA – unreal discipline earns a promotion past A+ straight to AA
    Brandon Marsh (CF/DH, ACL Rk./SLC AAA): .429/.515/.857/1.372 with 2 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 5 BB, 8 K, 1 SB in 7 G/33 PA – small sample kept him from placing, but strong production in return from injury
    Matt Thaiss (C/DH/1B, SLC AAA): .341/.473/.477/.950 with 3 2B, HR, 9 RBI, 8 BB, 9 K, 3 HBP in 12 G/55 PA – will he see the MLB again soon? Deadline could make it so.
    Izzy Wilson (RF/LF, RCT AA): .243/.349/.541/.889 with 2 2B, 3 HR, 6 BB, 19 K, 4 SB in 11 G/43 PA – since June 1st, an OPS of exactly 1.000 over 121 PA
    Carlos Herrera (3B/2B, TRI A+): .478/.520/.870/.1390 with 3 2B, 2 HR in 6 G/25 PA –BA of .324/OPS of .819 in last 109 PA
    Spencer Griffin (OF, TRI A+): .391/.440/.522/.962 with HR, 2 BB, 5 K, 2 SB in 8 G/25 PA – athletic depth OF with a shot at 4thOF 
    Jose Reyes (LF/RF, IE A): .297/.350/.486/.836 with 2 2B, 3B, HR, 10 RBI, 3 BB, 11 K 
    Gavin Cecchini (SS/2B, RCT AA/SLC AAA): .324/.385/.441/.826 with 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 4 BB, 7 K – former 1st rounder promoted to AAA
    D’Shawn Knowles (CF, IE A): .239/.321/.478/.799 with 4 2B, 2 3B, HR, 11 RBI, 6 BB, 12 K, 3 SB – now 16 for 16 in SB attempts
  12. Chuck
    By Taylor Blake Ward, AngelsWin.com Columnist
    Taylor Blake Ward sits down with 2023 Angels first-round pick, Nolan Schanuel, to chat about his pro debut, first night in front of a large crowd, and how seeing an eye doctor before his junior season aided to not only his performance and draft stock, but also his confidence in carrying his hit tool to wood bats. 
    Schanuel signed with the Angels for slot value, $5,253,000, which is a new record bonus for any Angels draftee by $583,000 (Reid Detmers, 2020).
    Scouting Report
    Schanuel was the best performer across Division-1 baseball in 2023, barely missing out on the slash line Triple Crown, leading the nation in on-base percentage, falling just .002 short of the batting title, and .047 short of the slugging title which went to a player at the high-elevation Brigham Young. Regardless of falling short of a fun title, Schanuel put up video game numbers slashing .447/.615/.868 with 71 walks to 14 strikeouts and 19 home runs to boot, leading to plenty of first-round chatter and the eventual 11th overall selection by the Angels.
    Schanuel's offensive operation begins with an unorthodox setup with a high hand load and exaggerated leg kick (though not to point of Zach Neto, Josh Donaldson, Bo Bichette, etc.). It's a load you'd likely see more overseas in Asia, but Schanuel does a fine job of keeping his body and swing in sync throughout the process putting him in a good hitting position at separation. As he comes out of his load, Schanuel has a balanced uphill swing from the left side with some explosion to the ball. He has shown good barrel control with above-average bat speed, giving him an above-average or plus future hit tool and with the present physical maturation to his six-foot-four, 220-pound frame with natural strength average-or-better power projection. Schanuel is a highly disciplined hitter who has an excellent eye for the zone, who rarely chases out of the zone and can punish pitches in the zone, with an approach that helped carry him into first-round status. There were questions about Schanuel's actual hit tool -- particularly with a wood bat -- after hitting just .200 in 125 at bats in the Cape Cod League in 2022 and coming from a mid-major conference with limited velocity. However, Schanuel had a realization that something was off and had an eye doctor appointment that led to an Astigmatism diagnosis and a corrective contact placed in his right eye in January of 2023. Schanuel noted his vision went to four-dimensional status from that point and he felt like a new hitter which should give more confidence in his long-term ability to hit. He also has a short track record against some major programs, albeit coming from midweek games and lesser on-mound prospects.
    An average runner, Schanuel has enough speed to keep catchers honest but likely will never be a double-digit base stealer. The Angels will hold Schanuel to first base at least until instructional league where he could see time in the corner outfield. Schanuel is a good defender at the bag and has some athleticism that could lead to corner versatility, with personal comments about hoping to be a utility man at the next level with time at third and second base, though the Angels did not express those similar feelings initially. With so much promise on the bat, Schanuel is a high-floor type collegiate with outstanding performances under his belt and hopes that everything will translate to become a middle-of-the-order hitter in the future.
    Tim McIlvaine on Nolan Schanuel: "Nolan did a lot of things that we really liked and that we sought out to look for. He's got power. He can hit. He knows the zone. He's very patient. He doesn't get himself out. He rarely ever strikes out. Took a lot of walks this year, had a lot of extra-base hits, and can hit the ball over the wall. He's a good player. He's a really good baseball mind when you sit down and talk to him. He understands hitting. He understands his swing. He understands what he's trying to do at the plate and what makes him successful. There's a lot of pieces that go into it but first and foremost we liked his bat. We think he's going to be a pretty good hitter for us... This guy is wired right. I think he's a really good competitor. He really wants to win. He's made himself better and he's going to make us better. He really makes you like him."
    Nolan Schanuel 2023 NCAA Division-1 statistics: 289 PA, .447/.615/.868, 70 R, 19 HR, 64 RBI, 14 SB, 24.6 BB%, 4.8 K%
    Check out our exclusive interview conducted by Taylor Blake Ward with the Angels first round draft pick Nolan Schanuel. 
  13. Chuck
    By David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer
    I love the MLB draft. It’s unlike just about every other major league sport’s draft in that the results of the draft won’t be known for 3-5 years, or more.
    A good example of this is Mickey Moniak who was drafted 1-1 (1st round, 1st overall pick in the round) in 2016. He is just now starting to reach his potential in the Major Leagues, 7 years after he was drafted out of high school by the Phillies.
    Because of the long timeline for a draft to be deemed either a success or failure, every team’s general manager and scouts will always say that they will take the Best Player Available (BPA). The only problem with this response is that the word “best” is a highly subjective word. Is a player who can reach the majors and posts slightly lower numbers “better” or “worse” than a player who may take 6 years to reach the Majors and posts slightly higher numbers? Or, what if drafting one player prevents you from drafting other players who can also make the Major Leagues in later rounds? Should the Angels only focus on the individual player or drafting the best players who make the whole organization better?
    With so much emphasis on the word “best”, and 30 Major League teams all trying to find the next Mike Trout or Clayton Kershaw, trying to predict who a team will pick is nearly impossible, especially the deeper one goes into the draft. Additionally, with the pool system for money to sign players there are many interesting strategies for teams to employ to get the most talent using the limited funds that they are allowed to use in the draft.
    Two notes: First, our own Taylor Blake Ward wrote a great article on the potential 1st round picks that the Angels may be able to draft. Please read it here, as I will refer to some of the players when talking about how to find the BPA. Second, any draft that develops just 1 player who has at least a 5-year career as a regular is considered a success. Anything beyond that is gravy, so, that creates a further set of strategies for teams to employ to find the BPA.
    One of the biggest challenges for a team to find the BPA is where in the draft they select. The Pirates, who have the 1st overall pick have the most money to spend in the draft. While the Angels pick 11th in the 1st round, they lost their 2nd round pick when they signed Tyler Anderson in the offseason and the money associated with the pick.
    Invariably, prior to a draft, a general consensus will form around who the top picks are. Most of them are fairly sure bets to make the Major Leagues, even if it takes years for them to get there like Moniak. As Taylor Blake Ward notes, there is a general consensus on 5 players this year who are expected to be drafted before the Angels get to pick, so, the Angels will have to dig deeper to find their BPA.
    Players taken out of high school will take longer to develop than those taken out of college and are far more likely to never make the Major Leagues, so the player’s timeline can affect whether a team will see him as the BPA or not. Teams do want to layer their talent so that they will have waves of talent in development to provide fresh talent to the Major League team and create more financial and trade opportunities for them. So, a team that’s top heavy (with lots of talent in the upper Minor Leagues) may be more focused on high school players than a team that’s bottom heavy (with most of its talent in the lower Minor Leagues).
    Where a team is relative to its competition can also affect who it sees as the BPA. For example, a team just starting to rebuild is more likely (but not necessarily guaranteed) to draft a younger high school player than a college player. Teams that are in a win-now mode are generally more likely to take a “sure” college player (high floor/low risk player) over a high school player with a greater potential but is less likely of making the Major Leagues (high risk/high reward type).
    While every GM and scout will say that they will draft the BPA, meaning the “best” player regardless of position, that’s not exactly true. Prospects are tradable, and pitchers and players who play more defensively challenging positions are more likely to be drafted before those who play less challenging positions. That’s because in terms of future impact in the Major Leagues or for trades, those elite positions carry more value than players at other positions.
    Looking at this year’s draft, Nolan Schanuel posted some of the best offensive numbers in all of college baseball. However, scouts have generally ranked him lower than many other players expected to be taken in the 1st round because he is defensively limited to 1st base or a corner outfield at best. Far more shortstops, pitchers, catchers, and centerfielders are likely to be taken ahead of him because they are considered more “valuable” for their defensive skills.
    Risk and risk tolerance also affects who is the BPA. As noted earlier, some players are high risk/high reward and others are high floor/low risk types. Some teams are more risk averse and others are not. Teams that are more risk averse are far less likely to take a high school player than a college player. While there is some evidence that drafting an elite high school player is more likely to result in finding the next Mike Trout (who was drafted out of high school), it’s far more likely that a high school player, even one who is generally considered to be one of the elite players in the draft, will never make an impact in the Major Leagues.
    Money can affect who is the BPA. While draftees can’t have “agents” they can have an “advisor”. Players may not want to play for a certain team for a variety of reasons. A high school player may really want to go to college. A player may not want to play in a certain location or may believe that other teams may develop their talents better.
    Since every team is essentially capped by the slotting system in the draft, how much money a player will want to sign becomes a big factor as money spent on one player reduces the money available for every other player that the team drafts. High school players have plenty of leverage because they can always go to college and go through the draft again if their financial demands aren’t met.
    Already we are hearing grumblings about this with the Pirates and Dylan Crews. While Crews is a college player, rumors are that he does not want to play for the Pirates unless they pay him an amount over what he is slotted to get in the draft. Consequently, the Pirates may move past him and may draft Paul Skenes or Wyatt Langford even though scouts see Crews as the top talent this year simply over money.
    While baseball teams generally do not draft for “need” like in basketball and football (such as drafting a forward or a wide receiver), teams do look at their overall system to see how they can best layer talent out over time. For example, a team with a lot of pitching talent and little catching talent may want to draft a catcher to pair with the pitchers and develop them all together as a wave of talent. Or, a team loaded with outfield talent may look for other positions so as to not block players in the Minors. 
    Again, looking at the Pirates, they drafted Henry Davis, a catcher, last year, and he just reached the Major Leagues. It may make more sense for them to draft Skenes, the top pitcher this year, to pair him with Davis. That would give them an incredible pair for 4 or 5 years. That may make Skenes the BPA in their eyes even if almost every analyst sees Crews as the greater talent with less risk than a pitcher.
    Finally, organizations know what they are better at developing in terms of talent than other organizations. Hurston Waldrep has an electric arm, but somehow lost his control this year. He is a good example of a high risk/high reward type player from college (as compared to Rhett Lowder who is still a great pitcher, but still seen as more of a high floor/low risk type pitcher). A team that is more confident in its ability to help Waldrep rediscover his form may view him as the BPA when they pick while other teams may move onto hitters in the draft because they do not see a clear path to fixing his command and control.
    Finally, the program where the player developed and success with wooden bats (as opposed to the metal bats used in college) also affects how a team will view him. Looking at the Angels, our GM appears to place a lot of emphasis on success in the Cape Cod League, which uses wooden bats. While the Cape Cod League is just a summer league, with fewer games, the use of wooden bats replicates more of what can be expected from the player in the future, especially when trying to project future success.
    With all of these factors, trying to figure out who is the BPA is very difficult. Scouts will study every aspect of a player, from mental fortitude to physical skills and work ethic. As a former teacher, I know how deep scouts can go, as I’ve had several scouts ask me very specifically about former students that they were deeply considering in the draft.  They specifically asked about the player’s mental and academic abilities, resilience, mental fortitude, maturity, etc. And, of course, teams will try to get a sense of how much it will take to sign a player (asking about how seriously the student wanted to go to college). With the slotting system essentially creating a cap on how much a team can spend, and with a much shorter draft than in the past, money is a huge factor for teams to consider.
    So, at this point, I will fully admit that I do not know what the Angels will do in the 2023 draft. No one really knows, even the Angels to a certain extent, as 10 teams will get to pick ahead of them, and that will affect who is available when they pick. Plus, the Angels  they won’t pick again until the 3rd round, which means that they will be watching to see who may fall to them on Monday.
    But I do have some thoughts on what they can do to find their BPA.
    With the 11th overall pick, I think that the Angels should focus on the college arms and bats. Whether Ohtani resigns with the Angels or not, there is a window for the Angels to challenge for the American League West and/or a Wild Card spot over the next few years. Drafting a high school player with our top pick does not make as much sense given our overall window with Trout and to keep the fanbase happy.
    This year’s draft is considered rather deep in talent. There are more than enough really good college players, especially when we pick, that we don’t have to take on more risk with a high school player to get the same level of impact. If we were drafting much lower in the draft, like when we took Trout, it would be different because most of the top college talent would have already been picked by other teams. But with the 11th overall pick, we should focus on more certainty with our top pick. Later in the draft, in subsequent rounds, we can take more risky players. Plus, seeing how Perry Minasian likes to challenge players in our Minor Leagues and isn’t afraid to move them up levels quickly (the Angels had the first player from the 2021 and 2022 drafts reach the Majors), a college player seems more likely.
    Pitching is ALWAYS in demand and premium. Just look at this season when we traded some of our pitchers for Escobar and Moustakas. By drafting all pitchers two years ago, we had the prospect capital to make trades (which is something that we haven’t had for a while). And, thanks to our 2021 draft, we’ve had arms to bring up to bolster our bullpen as it floundered. If two players are ranked equally by scouts in terms of their impact in the Majors, and one is a pitcher, I would take the pitcher over the hitter, especially in early rounds, as he will always be more in demand and have more prospect capital for trades. 
    If Dollander or Lowder are available, I would absolutely hope the Angels pounce on either of them. Either could move through our system quickly and could become fixtures in our rotation. I haven’t seen enough of Waldrep’s video from last year to see what changed this year, but his high walk rate is a concern. If scouts believe that it is an easy fix (which there are mixed beliefs), I would consider him, especially if he would take a below slot deal to free up more money to use later in the draft. If not, I would move onto one of the college bats.
    When it comes to bats, there are many intriguing options. Again, though, I do not want to risk our pick on a high school bat such as Arjun Nimmala because I am a bit more risk averse. And I want a player who is more likely to impact our window and get us back to the playoffs in the next few years rather than waiting 4-5 years for one of the high school players to develop, even if the high school players could become a slightly better talent down the road.
    Knowing that Matt Shaw was the Cape Cod MVP last summer, I think that makes him a likely target for the Angels. While I don’t see him as a future shortstop in the Major Leagues, he could become a very good double-play partner with Zach Neto at second base. Having a strong defensive middle infield, that could work in tandem, would give the Angels a big boost both offensively and defensively.
    Another player who started off slowly and then finished strong was Brayden Taylor. We have had nothing but problems at 3rd base and very little in our system to fill the hole. Taylor could be another fast mover would allow us to move Rendon to 1st base long-term. Seeing how that could improve the parent club a lot more overall, that may make him the BPA over other players in the draft who play other positions.
    Strategically, there is an interesting option for the Angels to explore: Nolan Schanuel. As noted before, he isn’t ranked as highly as players who did not hit as well as him because he is most likely a 1st baseman or a corner outfielder. Assuming that Adell finally has figured things out (the homerun robbing catch that he did against the Dodgers was a big improvement compared to his 4-base error years ago) Schanuel would most likely stick at 1st base.
    While 1st base has been an unfortunate challenge to fill this year (I truly hope that Walsh bounces and rediscovers his talents), drafting Schanuel is not drafting for need at the position. Instead, we would draft him for his insane plate discipline (71 BBs vs. 14 Ks) and power potential (19 HRs this year) and for the potential to get him at a below slot deal.
    Some analysts have knocked Schanuel for not playing in the most elite D1 program. However, Minassian has shown with Neto that he isn’t afraid to take a player from a perceived weaker system if the skills are there, especially elite plate discipline skills. Schanuel has an unorthodox swing, much like Neto, but if works for him, we could sure use an elite Middle of the Order (MOTO) lefthanded bat in our lineup. Schanuel could start in AA this year and could be ready by the middle of next year giving the Angels a quick return on their investment.
    What makes Schanuel especially appealing is that because he is perceived as a lower defensive talent, he might be a player who is more likely to take a lower financial deal, coming in under slot, which would allow us to spend more money later in the draft.
    Every year, there are always high school players who will want to be drafted in the 1st round to get the large signing bonus to forego college. Not all of them will be taken. Freeing up money to lure a high talent high school player who fell in the draft would create more opportunities for the Angels to layer talent for the future as well as the present. This may make Schanuel the BPA for us, even if other players may have more defensive talent or potentially more offensive upside.
    Last year, Minasian employed this exact strategy to spread our limited draft pool money around and get a lot more talent into our organization. Not only did the Angels get Neto, who was not expected to be available when the Angels picked him, they got him at a below slot deal because he came from a lesser program and his unorthodox swing was a concern for other teams.
    By freeing up more money with an under slot deal with Neto, the Angels were able to draft Ben Joyce in the 3rd round, Jake Madden in the 4th round, and Caden Dana in the 11th round all for over slot deals (with Dana setting a record signing bonus for the 11th round pick in the draft pool era). All of them are making an impact in our system and likely to produce at the Major League level. So, not only was Neto the BPA when we picked him because he made it to the Majors quickly and provided excellent defense at shortstop, he also allowed us to spread our resources and get far more talent than we could have if we had spent all of our 1st round money on someone else.
    This wouldn’t be the first time that Minasian employed a similar strategy. In 2021, we had several under slot deals to free up money to sign Chase Silseth Mason Albright for over slot deals (with Albright setting a record bonus that was then broken by Dana in 2022). It’s pretty clear that Minassian takes a holistic approach to the draft and is willing to employ strategies and financial concerns to determine who is the BPA. So, if Schanuel, Shaw, or Taylor will take below slot deals, that may make one of them the “BPA” even if other players may individually be ranked higher by many analysts.
    Using a holistic approach to the draft, the BPA should make the overall organization the best it can be. That’s why the Angels fans shouldn’t get too caught up in where commentators rank players in terms of the draft. Instead, we should see how each player fits into our overall system and makes the organization stronger. A lower ranked player by analysts may still be the BPA for us if we can draft him and several other premium talents who fell due to signability issues in later rounds. Unlike Major League organizations, analysts can look at players in isolation without considering any of the other factors that GMs must consider. While the Angels should pass on a premium talent, especially a pitcher, when comparing almost identical talents, we absolutely should consider other factors when making our 1st pick.
    No matter who the Angels pick over the next few days, I will absolutely root for their success. I’m not going to get too caught up in the rankings to say one player is the BPA compared to another. Instead, I’m looking forward to seeing how it all works out overall and hope that whomever we choose will get us back to playoffs ASAP!
  14. Chuck

    Mike Trout and the High Heat

    By Chuck,


    Blog
    By @Docwaukee, AngelsWin.com Contributor
    There is a lot of anecdotal info and observation in regard to Mike Trout's ability to handle high fastball.   There always has been.  It's been his 'kryptonite' for years.  Yet until recently, he was still putting up hall of fame numbers.  Why now, all of a sudden, is he struggling, and does it have to do with attacking him up in the zone?  How's he performing on pitches up in the zone?  How's he performing on pitches up and out of the zone?  Is he swinging at each of them more than he used to?  
    I think our eyes are telling us that they are, not very good, even worse, and yes.  But do our eyes deceive us? 
    First off, I would like to add that Trout has always had a bit of a complicated setup.  Leg kick.  Hands high.  Lots of timing mechanism to get things in the right place.  But once he does, that swing is a thing of beauty.  Over the years though, we seen have have these streaks where he's working on getting that front foot down on time.  Something he's been quoted on several times.   The swing hasn't changed as of yet.  A little video from 2019 to 2021 to now shows pretty much the exact same setup and trigger points. 
    I've always felt like his approach was sort of the reverse of many in that he made a point to be on breaking balls and off speed while adjusting to the fastball - if you will.  I'm not sure if that has changed. 
    One thing we know for sure is that he's swinging more in general (44.7% of the time in 2023 compared to his career avg of 38.8%) and that's been happening since he returned from injury last year.  Another thing we know is that he's swinging more at balls in the zone (68.2% in 2023 vs. 56.4% career) and he's still  among the top in the league in terms of offering at pitches out of the zone - right in line with his career.  But all of the above is for all pitches.  Not just fastballs.  
    So let's see if a deeper dive can yield any info in that regard.
    First off, lets look at how they're attacking him with fastballs.  A comparison of 2023 to 2019 is in order I think considering 2019 was Mike's most recent MVP season.  
    In 2023, they're throwing fastballs at him 49.6% of the time.  In 2019, they attacked him with fastballs 42.8% of the time.  But where?

    Side by side it 2023 vs. 2019.  
    Up out of the zone 2023: 35.4%
    Up out of the zone 2019: 33.0%
    Up and in the zone 2023: 22.8%
    Up and in the zone 2019: 22.8%
    So pretty damn close here.  
    Is he swinging at them the same amount?  
    Balls up in the zone 2023: 7.8%
    Balls up in the zone 2019: 5.4%
    Balls up out of the zone 2023: 1.5%
    Balls up out of the zone 2019: 0.9%
    Alright, we might be getting somewhere here.  
    And how about the results?
    Balls up in the zone wOBA 2023: 
       
    Balls up in the zone wOBA 2019:

    Not all that compelling...
    How about out of the zone?
    Up and out of zone wOBA 2023: 0.0 but that's 8 results
    Up and out of zone wOBA 2019: 0.0 on 11 results.  
    So he really doesn't make that many outs on fastballs up in the zone in general because he doesn't really offer at that pitch all that much.  Yes he's on pace to do so a few more times this year but by seasons end we're talking like maybe 8 more outs.  Which is still not great but really on 10-12 points of batting average.  
    So he's swinging more.  But why? 
    Is it because he's in more two strike counts in general?  Nope.  Almost the exact same amount.  
    Are they attacking him with fastballs up more with two strikes?  9.8% of the time in 2023 vs. 8.2% in 2019.  It averages out to about 30 more results from pitches up in the zone for 2023 than in 2019.   
    None of the above screams that he would be tanking to the tune of an ops 175 points below his career avg.  And a few things I'd like to leave people with as they contemplate his demise.
    His avg exit velo is higher than the 2019 season.  His hard hit rate is higher than his career avg.  His chase rate is at about his career avg.  His swing and miss rate is higher than his avg but down from last year.  And for all you stat nerds, his xwOBA for contact is .490.  Still elite but off his .513 career avg.  
    His xba is .269 compared to his actual of .252.  His xSLG is .508 compared to his actual of .467. 
    Personally, I just think he's swinging too much.  Yes, there are some signs of decline there, but there's some bad luck too.  Why swing more when your swinging strike rate has gone up?  He used to leave certain strikes alone.  You can't tell me that pitchers have become better at commanding the ball than they did before. 
    Albert Pujols called and he wants his late career approach back.  Let him have it.
  15. Chuck
    Arte Moreno answering questions from Geoff Stoddart, AngelsWin.com's Director of Social Media.    TEMPE, AZ - In what was the first ever interview with Arte Moreno from a fan-run website/Blog, the owner of the Los Angeles Angels spoke for just under an hour to a crowd of 125 AngelsWin.com members on Saturday, March 10th, 2012.   The AngelsWin.com staff of writers and contributors put together several questions and presented them to Arte at the Fiesta Resorts Conference Center in what was AngelsWin.com's sixth annual Spring Fanfest. Arte answered questions for about 40 minutes from AngelsWin.com's MC of the night, Geoff Stoddart, AngelsWin.com's director of social media. Arte Moreno at the conclusion of our interview with him elected to ask if those in attendance would like to ask him any questions while the owner stood on stage in front of the podium and mic.   Of course the Angels fans got their money's worth and fired off a bunch of additional questions to the Angels owner, some really good ones in fact. There were some funny moments too, especially the exchange that Arte and Mike Sword (PercySquint) had that you have to see.   Before Arte Moreno fielded questions from the crowd, he showed just how classy and respectful he is toward those close to him both personally and in business, as he asked those who joined him at AngelsWin.com's event to introduce themselves, including the prospects, players in attendance who were sitting at a table in front of the podium. Arte called up to the stage his lovely wife Carole, President John Carpino and his lovely wife, Tim Mead VP of Communications and Jenny Price Sr. Director of Special Events. And as mentioned, the players who were in attendance who were invited to eat dinner with the AngelsWin.com group.   The night was incredible, the time Arte Moreno gave to AngelsWin.com and Angels fans in attendance was amazing. The best owner in professional sports took several pictures with fans and shook the hands of many before he departed some hour and thirty minutes after he arrived. Angels beat writer Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register who was in attendance -- along with OCR writers Ellen Bell and Jenelyn Russo -- told Chuck Richter that Arte gave AngelsWin.com more time on Saturday than he's ever given him.   I can speak for everyone at AngelsWin.com when I say, Thank You, Arte!   Look for more on the AngelsWin.com Blog from Tim Mead's speech and Q & A on Sunday morning and from Brian Waller who captured the entire weekend's events from AngelsWin.com's 2012 Spring Fanfest. But for now, it's all about Arte and what he shared on that memorable night on March 10th. Click on the video below to watch in HD and share this with every Angels fan you know. You won't get this much of the Angels owner anywhere else on the net or in print.   For those of you who are hearing impaired, or would prefer to read over watching an HD video that could take a bit to load on your PC or handheld device, below is the text transcript of our night with the Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno.    Enjoy!    
    Geoff: My name is Geoff Stoddart. Most of you know me as Spiritof2002. So I would like to start off by introducing the founder of Angelswin.com Chuck Richter.    Chuck Richter: Thank you all for coming and Arte, thank you for being able to come and be a part of this. Arte, I can speak for the entire group here that what you have put on the field over the years, giving us winning teams, that is something that we really appreciate from a fans standpoint. (Applause).  What’s interesting is that Geoff and I were talking earlier and we realized that I put together Angeslwin.com in 2003, the same year you (Arte) purchased the Angels. So I think that’s a good omen.  I can just speak again for all of us that Albert Pujols, CJ Wilson, Jered Weaver, the guys that you put on the field for us going into 2012 is just amazing and we’re still buzzing even now. You can even see that in the sold out crowds, the fans in the stands for these spring training games - that they’re buzzing as well.  Thank you for showing up tonight and we really, really appreciate the product that you put on the field. (Applause)   At this time I would like to bring up Geoff Stoddart as we put together a list of questions from our staff of writers that we would like to ask you tonight and if you can do your best to answer them that would be great.    Geoff: As Chuck mentioned, the writers of Angelswin.com put together a list of about 437 questions. I guess I’ll start with number one.   When you were young, did you play baseball, and if so what was the position that you played?   Arte: I did play baseball all the way through high school and I was a second basemen and later I was a first basemen.  Not good enough anywhere to get passed high school.   Geoff: Who were your favorite players as a kid?   Arte: I like Roberto Clemente a lot. Playing second base, I like Bobby Richardson a lot. But I was one of those fans that liked players from every team so I didn’t have a special player I liked to watch, but by position.    Geoff: When you were thinking about buying a major league baseball team, were you interested initially only in the Angels or were there other teams you were looking to pursue to purchase?   Arte: I started in the minor leagues like a lot of the players did. I started with A team with a bunch of my buddies, my drinking buddies, we bought a Pioneer League short A team and moved it to Salt Lake. That was in 85 I think and had it til 93. Then 95/96 I was one of the original owners of the Diamondbacks so I was a minority partner with the Diamondbacks. In 01 we beat the Yankees in the World Series.  I won 3 championships in the minors and then won with the Diamondbacks. Then in 03, or 02/03, I tried to buy the Diamondbacks first and there were a couple of other teams for sale. There was 4 or 5 teams available.   Geoff:  What drew you to the Angels?   Arte: A couple things. I grew up in Arizona and used to go to Southern California all the time. Not only to the beach and whatever but to catch a ball game. My wife just walked in the back. But anyways, I came from the advertising business and really like the size of my market and we can get into all kinds of argument about the name change and whatever but really the metropolitan. New York is #1 metropolitan area, Los Angeles metro area second largest and really felt that with some kind of development marketing that we could start attracting bigger crowds, generate more revenues therefore being able to put a better product on the field. Not being in a situation where you’re always open to that perfect job in the minor league system but also there was an opportunity to develop the minor league system and being able to invest in free agents.    Geoff: Speaking of free agents, this offseason you got the top hitter, you got the top pitcher on the market along with a new catcher and relief pitcher. This compares to the 2004 season when you got Vladimir, Bartolo Colon, Escobar, how would you compare those two offseasons?   Arte:  A lot of times you want short answer to a long situation. Obviously 02 won a championship, 03 by all star break my wife and I purchased the team in late May, we were out of the race. In our system we lacked outfielders and starting pitching. Originally what we went for we felt that they could make a deal on Guillen even though had a question with temperament, he was a hard hitter and drove in a lot of runs, home runs, and a big arm.  They felt we could make a deal on Escobar, Stoneman was very familiar with Escobar making him from a reliever to a starter. So we started right there. Colon was on the market and looked like he was going to sign with the White Sox at the time but we offered him an extra year which really didn’t work out for us but he did win a Cy Young.  Really on the 25th hour is when Guerrero came up. The McCourts were getting prepared to buy the Dodgers but they hadn’t closed. His brother played for the Dodgers and they could not make that deal baseball was not going to conclude it. So they called Stoneman, Stoneman said if you match the contract the Dodgers are offering we could do that. So for us at the time, we added 2 very good outfielders, 2 starting pitchers that really put us in a position to compete again and made the playoffs in 04. The last 2 years we obviously didn’t make the playoffs. Last year won 86 games, had 25 blown save. Bill Plunkett is here from the Register and can back up my numbers. We made the decision to make changes in the front office, just felt that we weren’t doing a good enough job in our system to let the players coming up weren’t as prepared as we needed to be to compete at a championship level.  When Jerry came in we sat down with the baseball people and talked about our needs. We felt we need a 4 or 5 pitcher, some kind of power bat, but really believe or not focused on third base. Just left a lot of players on base last year and then something in the bullpen. We didn’t feel like we were getting the production at catching. That is what we would call the short list, those 4 positions. The baseball people looked at the menu of catchers and felt we could make a deal with Colorado. So we sent our young pitcher up there for Chris Iannetta. At the same time we were going through hitter available, infielders, outfielders, and pitching. With Albert, Jerry (Dipoto) had a meeting early on with his agent. Felt that it was just the agent shopping around who had interest. But later found out there were more connections that that. The other positive thing, this family had been in Anaheim for the all star game and enjoyed the weather, environment, etc. Mike and our baseball people over a period of time and our fans built a very good reputation in the baseball world about being a good place to play. The American league could potentially extend his career by not day in and day out situations especially as he gets older can transfer and playing DH more often. So I guess sort of kicking the tires. They were kicking our tires, we were kicking their tires but I guess at the 25th hour I probably felt he was going back to the Cardinals. The homegrown Cardinal been there 11 years, the family is a native of Kansas City, he was moved there by his aunt when he was 16. So we ended up just trying to stay in the game at that time.   The same time Jerry had dinner with Mike and Carpino, the agent (Bob Garber) and Wilson up in LA. So we just tried to keep our name in the ring there. As we moved along, kept looking at relievers and saying where we could spend the money and where we would get the best return. My wife and I at the winter meetings were going on, I was talking to the agent and I asked if I could talk to the player which was Albert. So I put my wife and myself to talk about 5 minutes but we ended up talking 30 to 40 minutes and really had a great conversation. His wife was at a Quinciera so she was on the phone. We really felt he was going to make a decision quickly so we positioned our self.  Now I know this is a long answer to a short question.    Also knew that CJ was flying in that night so we knew we were going to have to games going because we had the agent there for Albert and CJ was personally coming in. I started talking to Carpino and Jerry about our position when they happen to be in I think they were in two different towers.    Everybody was sort of running back and forth. When we made the deal with Albert, I made the deal with Albert but at the end of the day you have to dot all the I’s and cross the T’s.  Anytime you have a MVP type player the whole bag of goodies that come. I like to use the excuse like my wife, instead of just getting the wife you also get three families. But we made the deal with Albert started working on all the details with Albert and that night around 2 or 3 in the morning we made the deal with CJ. Both players had better offers from other teams and we felt that our package of where they were going to play, and I think CJ got a little bit of a wind that we already made the deal with Albert he was very anxious to come home.  Ironically Haren and CJ played with each other in college. Apparently Weaver and CJ are all from Southern California. Anytime you get local kids, I think that always help with the fan base.    Geoff: What was it like seeing over 4 thousand fans show up to the press signing conference of CJ and Albert.   Arte: Pretty wild. John told me that early on that people were coming at 6 in the morning and it’s going to be wild out there. It looked more like a Championship celebration. It was a fun day for us and players really enjoyed it. Weaver, Haren and some of the other players showed up, Bobby Grich and some of the coaches showed up.    Geoff: One of the things we like to do on the board a lot is talk to each other about potential trades. Are you like a lot of us fans as the trade deadline nears where you’re away from the other members of the front office and coaching staff. Do you ever put deals together in your mind or thoughts of people you would like to get a how you would go about making those deals happen?   Arte: Are we talking about baseball or something else? I think it was 03 in Chicago at the All Star celebration. The Angels won the championship the year before so Mike Scioscia and his coaches were there for the American league. I think Garrett won the MVP that year. I was out on the field and I think Dusty Baker was on the other side because of the Giants. We were out there talking to Mike saying “Now this is the team I would really like”, really looking at the All Star club. I think when you’re a baseball fan, you always play fantasy baseball and look at the players and who you pitch and how you pitch, when you pull them, when you put them in, what are they throwing. I always tell people we always already know what happened yesterday, if you could tell me what is going to happen tomorrow we would be in really good shape.    Geoff: As you are going through some of these in your mind, do you ever make suggestions to the folks you have running your front office?   Arte: Yeah, I think that’s one of the benefits as owner. From my philosophy it has always been let baseball people make baseball decisions. It didn’t look this way this year, but we do have a budget. This is our ninth season so we’ve had 8 real good years of building the organization so we could compete at the highest level and we were going up pretty good but started plateauing at little bit. We felt on the financial side we needed to make an adjustment in the team. So a lot of times you can look at it as a straight expense and say he’s just spending money or what we are trying to do is position ourselves to go to the next level or the next “x” period of time. People a lot of times get mad at me because I’m always a 3, 5, 7 years in advance from an economic model and looking at players and contracts and mostly anybody else that’s on a sound bite. For us to be highly competitive over a long period of time we have to make investments and decision that are going to reflect on the organization long term.    Geoff: The last 2 years from a marketing stand point have been big opportunities for the team.  There was the All Star game two years ago and last year was the 50th anniversary season. What were the hardest parts for you personally about having those two marketing year events then things on the field where the team didn’t produce as you hoped?   Arte:  I was Mr. lobbyist every time we had an owner meeting trying to get baseball people to commit to bringing the All Star game to Southern California because they just felt it’s important to showcase not only the Angels but Southern California fans, little league, pony league, high school teams, the big universities of Long Beach State and Fullerton. You just have a lot of really good baseball programs and just really felt we should try to showcase the fans, the weather. I always say we do play baseball on the West Coast. We have drawn over 3 million nine years in a row and on our way for a 10th straight year. That was really important. I guess from the negative side we didn’t really realize how much major league came in and it was their show and we got to put some things in but they really controlled the tickets and a lot of the marketing stuff. So we really didn’t get as many of our fans in the park as I would have liked.  But because we had a lot of season ticket holders, a lot of them got the opportunity for them and their families to go.     If I’m ever going to blame somebody I’m always going to say “we”, if anything good happens I always say “me”.  Anyways, the 50th anniversary one of the things we did when we came in was trying to do is put all the little pieces together to show that the Angels have it this year.  We started planning before the games, Autry and his ownership, some of the teams, some of the players, some of the divisions, to really show some of the young generations that the Angels do have this long history of 50 years.  I think our people did a very good job of identifying players, every night we had an alum player throw out the first pitch and they went out and signed.  Really tried to integrate a little bit of our past with what our future is, and that was really positive. The negative is when you make an investment on the team and you really believe you put the pieces together and we as a team don’t perform at the level that the fans expect, that’s disappointing. You get invested not only buying tickets but you also emotionally get invested in the ownership of the team when they don’t perform.  Especially we had a really good team but lost a lot of games right late in the game and some of those things were caused by some inefficiencies and hopefully we corrected those. I’ll tell you in October.   Geoff:  Between buying the team, changing the name, landing Pujols, landing Wilson, have you accomplished all of your goals in making the Angels the number one team in Southern California.
    Arte: Umm..no.  I think it’s really hard when you do that. I think when you win the world series you want to win 2, when you win 2 you want to win 4. But I think it’s a building process. We had the president of the Hall of Fame with me at the game today and stuff we were talking about and spent 3 days there in Cooperstown. If you look at baseball and look at the history, the modern day history, Tim Mead and Plunkett are looking at me at what am I going to come up with.  The way I view modern day baseball is 1900 on. So this is 2012 so we are somewhere in that 112 years into modern day baseball. When you’re looking at a 8 or 9 year period, you’re only looking at a little blip on a long scale. The question is can we take that little blip and open it up so it goes up here and we stay there.  So the real objective for me to obviously I want to win but to be successful, we need to be able to produce at a very high level over a very long period of time.  So when anybody ever comes to our house they know they got to play. Those are the kind of things to me I’m really interested obviously in the younger generations of kids getting the opportunity to come to the ball park as see some of the best players. Get to see first, major league baseball, get to see their players and have part of that experience with their family, or mom, or their dad, brother, etc.  That is very important for us. You go to the marketing stuff or the branding stuff and some of the stuff we try to do and be more consistent with that whole thing we work on 12 months a year.   Geoff:  At the press conference with Albert and CJ, you announced the major of Anaheim as one of the VP’s in attendance.  Does this signify a solid relationship between the Angels and the city and will you look to renew the lease in 2016.   Arte: You’re not paying me enough. I happen to like this mayor. We had a nice relationship; we had lunch 3 or 4 weeks ago. He and his wife are coming in next week. We have a lot of our sponsors coming in for a sponsors weekend.  He and his wife are coming out and we are having a BBQ and get to see what we do here and meet the players and people.  Is that a good political answer?   Geoff:  Where do you go to read information and stories about the Angels?   Arte: I really look at a mix of information. Pretty much scan 4 or 5 newspapers. Tim and his people put the clips together and anything they believe is readable I get. Usually it’s 9 or 10 or 11 in the morning. Out here in Spring Training I’m getting them at 8 in the morning. Really all the staff gets clips from all the articles written good or bad. I happen to be on the band board which is baseball media and look at MLB.com, ESPN.com, I like other sports. The reason I delayed from being here at 6, because my alma mater was playing the PAC 12 Championship. Just got beat by 2 points. All my friends kept saying “have a beer”, I can’t talk normally when you give me a couple beers. I get real honest. I read blogs but a lot of times the same people are going through the same things and you don’t get a mix of information.  A lot of the times you aren’t getting information you should be getting. I should probably have my own tweet or whatever, can you imagine?   Geoff:  One of the things we have done on Angelswin.com is put together a list of the top 50 moments in Angels history. Every year after the season we tend to go through and talk about what happened in the past season and try to identify something that happened that deserved to go onto that list and what item to pull off. One of the big debates we are having on the board is December 8th, and whether or not the signing of CJ and Albert deserves to make the top 50 moment in Angels history.   Arte: I guess I met my wife in Kansas City and their motto is the “Show Me State”.  Maybe we’ll talk about it in October. Over a period you can be very optimistic when you make your investment or your signing, but you have to get production.  There has to be production that is going to help the team, not so much individual stats as much as performance of the whole team. For me I probably would wait and say in October “should that be in the top 50?”   Geoff: Can you tell us what you told Albert when you talked to him on the phone that convinced him to come join the Angels and make them his home.   Arte: I don’t know if it was one thing, I think it was a mix of things. I think when we first started talking of what we had to offer.  He has 4 children, young children 16 and under. I think his youngest boy is 2. To really uproot a family and the wife was born and raised in Kansas City and move them west. Went through our team and how long Mike and his coaches have been here, our commitment to our system minor league, major league, went position by position to show the depth of our organization,  our pitching, our infield, the outfielders, top to bottom, Bourjos and Trout and some of the young players coming through. Talked a lot about the environment weather wise and what kind of field we have. Out of the 30 teams, there are 2 teams that still play of turf, Toronto and Tampa.  Weather is very important because ironically we play our first three games then we go open in Minnesota. So we go from home for 3 days then send us to Minneapolis for 3 days for the first week in April. Then go from there to New York and open New York up. So coming home to the weather is always relaxing and the fans that we’ve drawn much like St Louis in drawing 3 million a year and consistently brought fans in to watch.  There’s no debt on the team and economically we are stable enough to make investments into the team in what we are doing.   Geoff: Two more questions. As you look at the youngsters on the team, what excites you most?   Arte:  You look at a bunch of young players. To me it’s energy, excitement, opportunity. We get a lot of people walking up and saying “Did you really love Moneyball?” Well I said, my partner used to own some McDonalds and used to say “Great for selling, not so good to eat”.  Moneyball to me was the fact that it was probably really good to watch as a movie, but not so great as far as looking at talent evaluation and the measurement of what I call heart, in Español is Corazon. Love for the game and how someone plays. A lot of times you can look at statistical analysis on a computer and got the speed and power and whatever, but really are they gonna want to show up and play every day.  We were trying to design the way we run our games, where people may only come to that game one time, they may be visiting or only saved up enough money to come to one game is like going to a Broadway play. We have to perform from the time you drive into the parking lot and walk into the gates and go to your seat and those players, you know you’ve invested this money to come and you have to give them the best possible product you can. A lot of those things you cannot measure on statistical analysis.   Geoff: Last question is kind of open ended. Is there anything else you would like to say to the Angels fans here tonight?    Arte: I thank you very much. I can tell you are very passionate or you wouldn’t be here. Love the opportunity from me now that we can communicate with each other and speak your mind and talk about your likes and your dislikes and your dreams and wishes and expectations are. I think that media has given us the flexibility for that communication. It’s not always perfect obviously but we don’t always hear everything exactly that you would want to hear it but we are not going to get better unless we get the information. For us to be able to communicate back with you properly… did you hear that Bill (Plunkett)…  Just recently a lot of times I get interviewed and I feel like someone makes a decision of what I’m saying and told him to write something  I said a certain way from what I said so I’m not a real happy camper about that one right now.  Bill got to see that about a week ago. But anyway, I think that is a real important thing because we have such great fans and I really shouldn’t do this but I’m gonna say 4 or 5 of you, 4 or 5 of you, have individual questions you would like to ask me.  If I can answer it, I will do it.   Greg Pero:  First of all, thank you and your lovely wife for being here tonight.  Recently the players association and major league baseball made an agreement of changing the playoff format and addition to that one of the conditions of the new ownership of the Houston Astros move into the AL West, just wondering what your take is on the new playoff format and the addition of the Astros to the AL West?   Arte: I think if you’re a real traditionalist and they keep adding games, sometimes you dilute it. Sometime you’re in a situation where you do have a division that has 3 really good teams because they miss by half a game. I think we found out last year that on the last day of the year two teams lost and two teams won to go to the playoffs and the Cardinals obviously ended up winning the NL wild card with the Cardinals and Tampa ending up on the last day. I think with the sudden death one game playoff as long as it’s not extended too long, you get that sudden death feeling of watching the game and knowing that at the end of the game they’re moving on, that’s A. And D, usually to win that game you have to throw one of your better pitchers or your best pitcher because there is no tomorrow.  A lot of times the wild card team, especially with TV and delaying the start of the playoffs that you get a wild card team that has no arm pitchers and all of a sudden they are in. So if you burn out a pitcher or a bullpen trying to get to the playoffs, a lot of times the team they are playing is not seeing number one. Probably the other thing that you asked me which I probably can’t remember very well…   Greg: Houston going to the AL.   Arte: I was being sarcastic. This is a very, very political business we are in. I really believe that we should be in a situation where within reason you should be able to get in your car and drive and see your competition. Like for a lot of you might be able to drive here and catch a game and/or spend a few days and I think when you’re talking a couple time zones away affect us from a fans standpoint, television standpoint, there are just a lot of things. But I’ve tried to be polite about the situation.   Carlota Komp: I work for Lotus Broadcasting. Yesterday we booted the Yankees and now we are the official Angels broadcast partners. They know I’m a huge fan so they were showing me the contract and running around my office like “We’re Angels now”. The greatest gift I’ve ever gave myself quitting smoking, what is the greatest give you have ever given yourself?   Arte: (Arte turns to his wife). Does anyone have any questions for the players?    Question from Unknown Guest: How much influence did it have being a Latino owner in landing Albert?   Arte: I think objectively there should be 29 or 30 other teams that would love to have a player like Albert. I think as you’re going through the process of what your needs are and who do you have signed and who’s already in that position, I think you go through that process. But you would like to think that you’re looking at objectivity of what that player is going to mean to the team instead of just saying the owner likes this guy and we should sign him. I think anytime that happens I have the old plumber theory.  All you need to do is get a plumber and “it” goes downhill and I feel that way about management. You let them make the decision you have someone to blame.  I was being sarcastic.   Dave Snyder:  On behalf of all of our fans, certainly the people of AngelsWin.com, thank you for what you’ve done for our team.    Eric Moses:  I was just wondering if you could be a little candid with us on what you said to Albert about this whole marketing situation that didn’t sit well with him.    Arte: (Waives John Carpino to the podium)   John Carpino: You know, it’s pretty simple. What we did when we were trying to lay out our marketing campaign, we did what you guys do. We literally googled Albert Pujols nicknames and that was one of them. We put it on there and we handled it internally primarily with Albert. It was done more of a marketing campaign as it relates to “no you’re the man, no you’re the man”, not any disrespect to Stan Musial or anything else like that.  I believe the fans got it, I believe everybody else got it, I believe the media took it to a different level. That’s basically the short story and the long story all in one.  The process is an interesting one.  Arte and I both became pseudo creative directors played around creative for weeks. We go through the whole office like what ideas you have. We did it on the Sports Lodge on Roger Loge the show in the morning on campaign ideas.  We rolled them all out, we stick them on the walls, and see what looks good and what doesn’t look good and we try to narrow it down narrow it down. We’ve had some from my daughter saying OMG to everything.  We just kind of go through the process to keep everyone involved creatively that ideas come from everyone. Try to do a mass appeal, try to not only market to you and make you feel proud of the team, but try to activate passive fans and go OK let’s go to a game, let’s go to 2 games, let’s go to 4 games and then build it from there.  The process is pretty simple but it’s time consuming.  We take our time; we believe it’s real important.  That whole El Hombre thing I think got spun out of control so can say we handled it internally.    Arte:  Albert understood and we sat down and talked to him. He’s fine about stuff. 
    Arte: Love the hat (as Percy stands up). I’m a Vietnam Vet you know; usually we were shooting at them.    (PercySquint slowly sits back down).    PercySquint: I will side with my friend over here and thanking you for your commitment to winning. My question to is that most successful corporations and businesses have a mission statement. What is the Angels mission statement?    Arte: That’s a good one. I would always say you want everyone to have a lot of fun, but at the end of the day you really have a lot of fun when you’re winning. When you put so emphasis on winning all the time that covers everything else up. When Tim said “would you do this?” (referring to the Angelswin dinner), and I said yeah I would love to go see it. You guys are so involved and to me the fans are having a good time and they like the product and they see that we are really working hard to make sure that you’re taken care of and that we’re trying to win. I know not everybody agrees with everything when you do it and how you do it but as a whole we receive high marks from the fans and we try to listen and I appreciate that, thank you.
    I see one more hand back there. I used to always sit in the back of the class never wanting them to call on me but usually the toughest questions come from back of the class.    Cory Hinkel:  My name is Cory from Thousand Oaks California and my question to you Arte is: What’s your personal favorite moment?   Arte: I have lot of them, we had 86 of them last year. I think there’s a bunch of them, 04 making the playoffs, 05 we had a great team knocking the Yankees out then went to Chicago on short rest. Flew all night and won the first game, the second game was you know the (Eddings call), but anyways whatever it was that was a fine year. Really felt we were a few games away.  Thinking every good team you’re gonna go in and play somebody like New York or Boston. In 09 we had a very very good team and swept Boston. I really felt that we turned the corner and went to New York and gave one away minimum. Didn’t play well in the first one, the second one, and still ended up in 6 games. You get real close in getting to the Championship and really felt we were getting to the place from an organization that we were going to compete at a high level. Texas was going pretty hard from the behind and I don’t think we were prepared. Like I said, there were so many of those things that I enjoy and sometimes it’s really nice to walk around the park and everybody is polite and sometimes they tell me what they don’t like.  
    Thank you very much. 
    Here is the video of the interview.
     
  16. Chuck
    By @WicketMaiden, AngelsWin.com Contributor
    Cricket is not new to the United States. Indeed, it is a little known fact that the first ever international cricket fixture in the world was played in New York between the USA and Canada in 1844. There was so much interest created at the time that it is believed over $100,000 was wagered on the outcome of the game. An incredible amount of money by 1844 standards, but sadly for those backing the home side, Canada won by 23 runs in a low scoring affair.
    While the game had a good hold in the US in the 19th century, it was around the time of the US civil war that baseball became more prevalent as, unlike cricket, it could be played almost anywhere and didn’t require specially prepared pitches (something quite hard to provide for a marching army). This began a long and slow decline of cricket in the US which was checked for a while by The Philadelphians at the turn of the 20th Century. The Gentlemen of Philadelphia had a fine cricket team in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s, beating the Australian and Ireland national teams and also touring England three times with some genuine success.
    In their final tour, in 1908, one of their bowlers (Bart King - USA’s greatest ever cricketer) topped the English first class charts for bowling averages with a record shattering average that wasn’t bettered for fifty years. Such was the interest in keeping Bart in England to play County Cricket (and hopefully Test cricket for England later on), he was offered a marriage to a rich English heiress that came with an annual income of £7000 per year, an astronomical sum to an insurance clerk like King, but alas for English cricket he returned to the US and never toured here again.
    Bart King was so good that had he been Australian or English he would still be lauded today as one of the best bowlers that ever played the game, and he is widely regarded as being the world’s first genuine swing bowler - a skill that plays an enormous role in cricket today. A truly wonderful legacy, and proof positive of the confluence between cricket and baseball because Bart played both and used his knowledge of pitching curveballs to inform his swing bowling in cricket. Bart changed cricket forever.
    All very nice and all very old, but what is the attraction of cricket today to an American baseball fan? Well, whatever you like about baseball, cricket has it too.
    You like dingers? In cricket it's called a six and scores six runs. In an IPL T20 match you'll typically see around 14 or 15 of those, per game. Want to see your favourite player hit more dingers? No problem, if a batsman hits a 6 in cricket he stays out there to face the next ball. The world record is six sixes from a six ball over (an ‘over’ is a set of 6 balls). Imagine that - Trout hits a pitcher for a HR, then stays there for another, then another, then another… you get the picture.
    Like the running game and great defence? In cricket we catch the ball with our hands, (only the catcher (wicket-keeper) wears gloves), and we get batters out by throwing the ball directly at the stumps (strike-zone), often hitting the equivalent of strikes and getting people out from 100 feet away. In a game which slightly favours the batsman scoring runs, the catches and outs (wickets) in cricket tend to be more spectacular because of their rarity: there are only a maximum of 10 outs per team per game, so they are big events within the context of a match.
    You into pitching and like a fastball up and in to keep the batters on their toes? In cricket you're allowed to hit the batsman as many times as you like, and you can even aim at his head once or twice every six balls too. It's a big part of the game and is why the batsmen wear so much padding, (it still bloody hurts when the ball hits you though).
    Do you like players that are two-way talents? - Cricket is chock-full of them, with two or three on every team who are genuinely good with both bat and ball. Even those players who are in the team just for their bowling skills still have to go out there and try to bat for a while - which can be really good fun when they get it right and hit a few sixes at the end of an innings.
    Enjoy the battle between pitching plans and batting adjustments? This is at the very heart of cricket, and with the variations of pace, line, length and delivery type available to the bowlers, and the different stances, positions and shots in the batsmen’s armoury, bowling plans and batsmen’s adjustments are aplenty. Match-ups are key, as in baseball, but in cricket it’s not one spell of bowling and then you’re done for the game, in cricket the captain can chop and change the bowlers every over if he so chooses, and can bring people back whenever he wants to until they’ve bowled their allotted overs for the match.
    Get annoyed by over-managing from the dug-out? No problem, once the cricketers enter the field of play it’s all on them. The captain chooses the bowlers and sets the field, but the bowlers themselves choose what type of delivery they will bowl, ball by ball (with some input from senior players and the captain). The coaching staff are in the pavilion watching and have to wait for a session or innings to end before they can influence the team’s thinking and strategy.
    Or maybe, it’s the stats that really make a sport come alive for you and if that’s the case, yes, cricket has that covered too. Batting averages, bowling averages, spin, turn, speed, distance, trajectory of the ball into the crowd, and the old favourite the scorecard, which records the outcome of every ball in detail. Cricket loves stats.
    Add to that, excellent umpiring, a brilliant and efficient review system, knowledgeable and passionate fans, and matches that often build to a crescendo with all results still possible right up until the very final ball of the match - in this year’s IPL final, CSK won by hitting a 6 and a 4 off the final two balls of the match, (that’s like hitting a ground-rule double and a HR in the bottom of the 9th with two-outs and two strikes in an 0-2 count off consecutive pitches). It was a brilliant end to a fantastic match in a wonderful competition.
    In short, baseball and cricket are a sporting brotherhood. Two of the finest games the world has to offer and I encourage anyone who loves either one of them to watch the other, because the chances are you’ll soon come to love that one too. There is no better time to get into cricket as an American than now: Major League Cricket begins this year in Texas in July, it’s your first T20 competition and I can’t wait to see how well it does over there. I'm sure it will be a great success.
    https://www.majorleaguecricket.com/about/
  17. Chuck
    By Jonathan Northrop, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer
    Clayton Kershaw actually inspired me to write this, not Trout. If you haven't noticed, Kershaw is off to a great start, with a 1.89 ERA through 6 starts, including 1.2 fWAR and a 9.71 K to 1.18 BB rate in 38 IP. Kershaw may be a bit under-appreciated these days, as he hasn't been among the very best pitchers since his peak in 2011-16, after which he dropped a level from best pitcher in the world to merely top 10 or so. But even then, since 2017 he's had a 2.68 ERA and averaged 4.9 WAR per 200 IP...not quite his 2011-16 level (2.06 ERA, 6.8 fWAR per 200 IP) but still among the better pitchers. What I find particularly impressive about "latter day Kershaw" is that he seems to overpower batters less, while still knowing how to keep the runs down...meaning, he's gotten smarter.
    Meaning, Kershaw is under-appreciated if you over-emphasize WAR. He's not dominating in the same way he used to on pure stuff and peripherals, but he's still putting up stellar ERAs.
    As far as career fWAR is concerned, with 74.5 he's now tied with Warren Spahn in just about exactly half the innings at 27th all-time. He's almost certainly going to pass Robin Roberts and Kevin Brown to finish the year at 25th, behind Justin Verlander. If he has another decent year next year, he'll be in the top 20, though will be hard-pressed to reach the top 10 (95.7 fWAR).
    OK, Trout update. He's been pretty good this year, but clearly not peak level. He's at 1.5 fWAR through 29 games, good for 9th in the majors. But he hasn't really gotten hot with the bat yet, so expect a spike at some point and with a chance at finishing 1st for the first time since 2019.
    Trout passed Joe DiMaggio earlier in the year and is at 83.6 for his career, 34th all-time. He's going to pass a bunch of guys this year:
    25. Cap Anson 91.2
    26. Al Kaline 88.9
    27. Albert Pujols 88.8
    28. Wade Boggs 88.3
    29. Roger Connor 86.2
    30. George Brett 84.6
    31. George Davis 84.6
    32. Chipper Jones 84.6
    33. Adrian Beltre 83.8
    34. Mike Trout 83.6
    35. Joe DiMaggio 82.6
    As you can see, Trout needs 5.3 WAR to pass Albert Pujols, which he should do--barring injury--sometime in the second half. He has a chance at becoming the 26th hitter in major league history to reach 90 WAR by year's end.
    More on this, including updates along the way in the thread below:
  18. Chuck
    By Taylor Blake Ward, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer
    Spring Training is done, and the real thing all starts now – or technically, earlier before the weekend. Taking a look back at the spring though, we focused on more than a handful of Angels prospects and how different perspectives can come out of spring from a performance standpoint and the trained eye of experts. We asked three different people from three different fields about their opinions of specific players during the spring.
    We asked our experts – who consist of an Angels Front Office Executive, a former player who was in Angels camp regularly, and a prospect analyst – about their opinions on some of the Angels top prospects through the spring, as well as some non-Major League standouts from the World Baseball Classic and Angels camp in general.
    Our experts were asked to give their opinions anonymously for two reasons. One is that their opinion and work is for their primary employers, and not for this affiliate, and discretion is asked of their employers. Secondly, we do not want their opinions to dictate the opinion of the reader based on who they are and their merit.
    With that, let’s jump into this.
     
    LOGAN O'HOPPE:
    Executive: “Excited for what he brings to the table on both sides of the ball. The aptitude is advanced for his age. He’s gonna turn 23 this year and obviously bringing in a rookie catcher when you’re plans are absolutely to contend, you know, it’s not the easiest thing in the world this day in age but we think he has the capability and aptitude and all the ingredients on the mental side to handle it. We’re excited for the future with him and excited to see what he can do.”
    Former Player: “Wow. For me, ‘leader’ would be the one word you can already describe him as. There’s a presence about him. Just the way he walks around the field and his communication and relationship with his pitching staff is amazing for a kid. Also, I love how quiet he is behind the plate. His hands are great. Sets targets. Judging from his swing I think there’s a lot of upside in his offense too. I’m always defense first as far as catcher and as far as you handle your staff and I know for a fact Shohei Ohtani loves throwing to him and for me that’s good enough. When you hear that, that’s good.”
    Prospect Analyst: "Impressive behind the dish. Impressive leadership skills as well. All around looked really, really good."
     
    JO ADELL AND MICKEY MONIAK:
    Executive: “Jo worked really hard this off-season. He spent a lot of time in Tempe over the winter and honing his game defensively. We saw market improvement this spring. I think offensively – progress – maybe not quite to the extent we saw defensively but certainly progress and obviously the tools are obvious. Mickey, same thing. In terms of the at bat quality, he improved in Spring Training. A few subtle things swing-wise that he was working on seemed to translate into games. I think just sending him down to get regular at bats, and obviously we had a full outfield when we’re healthy and really happy with where we’re at at the big league level. Just sending him down to get the opportunity for everyday at bats and continue to develop and I think there’s still more left in the tank there.”
    Former Player: “Mickey – we’ll start with him first. First of all, great kid. He wants to learn and I finally saw a confident hitter there and the ball was jumping off his bat. Better coverage of the plate. Exceptional speed I think and good defender too so he could be a really, really good player. I saw him in a high school game when he played against one of my kids (I was coaching) and they were both first round picks. I was impressed then and I am even more now than I was last year. I like what I saw last year, but even more now because I think he’s figured it out with getting his hands through the baseball. Now Jo – I’ve been pulling for Jo since day one. And the power, I mean his body right now is unreal. Strong as can be. I just feel that he needs to just get on a roll where he doesn’t have to answer questions about ‘why is this? Why is that?’ And there were some signs he’s gotten way better defensively and we know all the other skillsets he has, but just letting his hands get through the baseball and not trying to overthink things at the plate. Because he’s got incredible athleticism and he’s got good baseball instincts that I think he still has a chance. I’m not giving up on him because I think he’s still there. He’s still young but I think it’s there where he could be a star.”
    Prospect Analyst: "Adell is learning. Ability is there. He needs to keep his emotions in check though. Moniak – Give him a chance at the Major League level at some point and see what he can do. Super impressive this spring but something he's done in the past."
     
    JORDYN ADAMS:
    Executive: “Jordyn obviously ended Spring Training with the Major League team. Went to Los Angeles to partake in the Freeway Series and that should probably speak for itself in terms of the trend for him. For him, came in physically certainly more developed. I think the mental side of things too. I know our group was pleased with the development there as well. Had a nice camp. Had nice at bats on the Major League side and felt like – obviously brought him to LA, not necessarily a reward but to some extent showed us that maybe he’s not that far away. I’ll be excited to see what he can do, and he’ll be in Triple-A. Brief stint in Double-A last year, but he’ll start in Triple-A and you’re only one step away there.”
    Former Player: “Love him. When I talked to Torii Hunter the first thing I said was, ‘Dude, I like this kid.’ I like the way he’s at the plate right now. His hands. They can pitch him inside and he’s able to go inside out on it. He also has tremendous power too. From the kid I saw last year to this year, man, you’re talking about gigantic strides, I mean, gigantic. That I went from, ‘I hope he turns into a pretty good player’ to thinking, ‘alright, this kid could turn into a really, really, really good player.’ I can see it in his eyes. I can see it in his demeanor. He believes in himself now, which is tough in this game. I’ve seen a lot of great players, even when I was in the game, that you could have all the skills in the world but if you don’t have the confidence you’re not going to be around this game long. But now I’m seeing a kid that has some high upside.”
    Prospect Analyst: "Very impressive. Took big steps forward this spring on all sides of the game. He's quick, played well defensively at all three outfield spots. I think you're seeing the bat come around and you'll see an uptick in power, especially in Salt Lake."
     
    JEREMIAH JACKSON:
    Executive: “J.J., kind of like Mickey. I don’t know if it’s noticeable to the untrained eye but knowing the player as well there was some subtle adjustments this year to last year. Offensively, similar in terms of thought there were better at bats. Played some outfield, played some infield in Major League camp. Certainly someone that has all the physical tools. I think his momentum is like Jordyn, similar in the second half last year. Just excited to see continued development. That was something certainly we saw from Jeremiah in 2021, and Jordyn as well. Both those guys, I think the arrow is up.”
    Former Player: “Again, watching the game last night and watching a number of Spring Training games down there with him – the smile I see on my face when I see the player he is now from where he was last year and the year before – yeah. The glove plays. The baserunning skills play. He hit a home run to right-center field way out. Granted, the baseball does carry for the most part in Arizona, but when he hit that it was cold and the baseball wasn’t carrying. To hit a home run the opposite way like that – granted, it’s a walkoff in a Spring Training game so I guess it doesn’t matter to most people, but for me when you see a young person do that – because that Spring Training game is a regular season game for these kids because they’re trying to prove something. He’s got a chance of helping us out for a number of years.”
    Prospect Analyst: "Another one that was really impressive. He got a lot of opportunities this spring. I don't know where he plays, and I think the Angels are still trying to figure that out too. I think he ends up being a 20-home run, 30 percent strikeout guy."
     
    KYREN PARIS:
    Executive: “Really, really good Major League camp. Slowed the game down. Thought it was really impressive for a kid his age. His at bats – he’s always controlled the strike zone but showed a good eye at the plate, so that wasn’t all that surprising I guess. Just defensively, made several nice plays on balls in the air, several nice plays on balls on the ground. Having the range either direction. I thought that was the most impressive thing from him this spring was the ability to slow the game down. Sometimes with a lot of young players who get into that environment and the game kind of speeds up on them, and that was the exact opposite for Kyren. He was wired the right way. Physically, he’s developing really well. The ball is coming off hot. I think it’s sneaky power for when you look at him, maybe not the most imposing guy, but certainly there are tools there, no question. Just very young. Another guy who went to Double-A and had some success, so arrow up for him as well. I think what he showed – the slow heartbeat in Spring Training was impressive.”
    Former Player: “Again, Glove is outstanding. He hit the ball hard every at bat. At one point he was leading the team in RBI and everything else down there in Spring Training. I was trying to pick out guys who really could help this team, especially in the infield where we do have depth at the Major League level, but guys who are playing in-and-out of their normal playing position per se, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the not-too-distant future because I think he does everything really well. Barrels up the baseball exceptionally well at the plate. I know I’m sounding like I’m loving all these kids but I really am. I haven’t been able to say that in years, but these kids are all legit. I think Paris has a chance to be really special.”
    Prospect Analyst: "Sky is the limit at the moment with him. It's a beautiful swing. Defensively very good. He has the makings of being a very good second baseman in the future. That's probably the only negative is that he's probably a second baseman."
     
    ZACH NETO:
    Executive: “(Laughs) His Major League camp was – came in late to games, got some starts towards the end, he was kind of as advertised in terms of at bat quality. Certainly, made good decisions. Showed the ability to drive the ball to all fields. Showed some athleticism on the bases. He came in stronger, especially in the lower half, and I think it showed in his batted ball quality as well. The impact he’s displaying in games, and showed the same thing on the backfields. When he was sent down I saw him in a couple backfield games and it was impressive how he was able to get to velocity (with power). Defensively too, instinctually made a couple of really nice plays. Showed arm strength from deep in the hole. Showed the arm for short certainly. Really excited for his potential and think we got a good one there.”
    Former Player: “Okay, that’s my top dog right there (laughs). Exit velocity over 100 miles per hour every at bat. Unbelievable arm at shortstop. Great range. The one thing I love about him and just talking to him – he feels he already belongs, which doesn’t happen often. It’s not just a fake bravado. This kid believes he belongs here right now, and I believe he’s almost there right now that quickly. I know the whole thing about wanting to see kids get – especially hitters – get at bats in the minors, and a number of at bats per se, but he’s knocking on stardom right now. Real close. Real, real close. Love his arm, love his attitude, love his confidence. And boy, he makes the approach at the plate where he has that high leg kick, put him against two strikes and it’s a different swing and different path and still the ball is jumping off the bat so well. He’s legit. He’s totally legit.”
    Prospect Analyst: "Neto was impressive. He's gonna stick at shortstop defensively. He's gonna hit well. I like the two-strike approach as well, which is nice to see. The only thing that might lack is power in my opinion but if everything else pans out and he's a 10-home run guy it's not a horrible thing."
     
    CHASE SILSETH:
    Executive: “I think the biggest thing with Chase is the development of his slider. He calls it a cutter. It’s arguably his best pitch in my mind. Was a consistent plus pitch, swing-and-miss offering. It acts more like a slider with sharp tilt in the upper 80’s. He calls it a cutter. I remember C.C. Sabathia would call his sweeper a cutter so it just kind of how guys do that as a cue for themselves to make sure they’re throwing it the right way but that was the most encouraging thing with him. Something consistent that’s harder versus his two-plane curveball and the split where at times the command can waver. So that was, to me, the most encouraging thing for him. He’ll go to Triple-A. There was some debate about that but I think a new environment for him. He spent the year last year at Double-A when he wasn’t in the big leagues so certainly still high on him.”
    Former Player: “I always say, I call him a miniature version of Alek Manoah from the Jays. I know that’s pretty tough to make any comparison because I know that guy is already one of the best pitchers in the game and still a young kid himself, but Chase has that stuff. Great attitude, fearless, tough as nails. I went through the same process myself – he’ll have a lot of games where he’ll go seven innings and no runs and then other games where it gets by him too quick. Once he figures out how to slow down the process when you give up a couple hits or a couple flares or something goes against you, he’s a top of the rotation guy. He throws that hard. The splitter, the sweeper-slider is gonna work and play. Same thing with his curveball. His upside is right there, and I think he’s gonna be a help this year.”
    Prospect Analyst: "He needs to work on command which I'm assuming he'll do in Salt Lake this year. He probably shouldn't be up this year but if he is he's not a bad option for the Angels. He needs a fourth pitch – something that is hard and isn't straight. Just a better fastball."
     
    BEN JOYCE:
    Executive: “As good an arm as there is maybe in the world. He’s now throwing a sweeper and harder slider, almost like a cutter. Just refining those secondary pitches. We saw in Major League games too the fastball command can get away from him a little bit. But man, when he’s right, it’s obviously closer stuff. A guy who has thrown strikes adequately enough in the past. Just refining the secondary stuff, I think – even one of those two pitches, whenever that happens, I think you could certainly see him the big leagues soon after.”
    Former Player: “(Laughs) Oh man. He’s one of those kids you can’t help but just go ‘wow.’ When you’re throwing 104, he’s wild enough where no one is going to be comfortable in the batter’s box and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It reminds me of (Andre Munoz) in Seattle, that kind of stuff. His slider and his cutter – or sweeper and his cutter, that’s the terminology now – he can throw those for strikes and there’s enough movement. If I’m a right-handed batter, I don’t think I’ll ever get close to being comfortable in the batter’s box. He’s got that kind of movement and when you throw that hard with movement like that – and his body, and I kind of joked around and told some people he kind of reminds me of just a little smaller version of Noah Syndergaard. His body has a chance to be strong for a long period of time and that role he would be in. I would not be surprised if he’s pitching in some big moments this year that quickly even though he has very limited professional innings, but with an arm like that you ride him because he’s that good. He can dominate out of the bullpen.”
    Prospect Analyst: "They'll see him up this year at some point. Took huge steps forward, especially from where he was at Rocket City last year. The hard slider/cutter – whatever you want to call that – is really good. When he's on, it's unhittable. When he's slightly off, it's unhittable. When he's bad, he's bad."
     
    RANDOM WBC PROSPECT/PLAYER WHO STOOD OUT:
    Executive: “Roki Sasaki (laughs). I mean, the arm, the age. Kind of what he did last year – it’s top of the rotation stuff. I know he’s several years away but certainly one to monitor.”
    Former Player: “The one kid I really liked was Joey Meseses. Munetaka Murakami from Japan, not that he’s hidden because everyone knows all about him after he broke Sadaharo Oh’s single-season home run record. Especially when you saw him struggle, I mean, he struggled, and he had that big game-winning double that scored Ohtani and other runner to win that game against Mexico. Then he homered against Team USA. That kid, I can’t wait for him to come over to the states as some point, so he’d be my guy right now but it’s not like he’s a hidden jewel. I think a lot of people know enough about him and I’m pretty impressed. Same thing with the pitcher, Roki Sasaki. Pitching against Team USA bringing it, touching 100 with that splitter too.”
    Prospect Analyst: "I think the easy answer is Roki Sasaki. That's unbelievable. I want to see him at the Major League level really soon. Beside him, any name from Team Japan. That is a fun team. Also, it was the first time I got to see him play live is Tetsuto Yamada. I think he's really impressive."
     
    ANGELS PROSPECT WHO STOOD OUT:
    Executive: “I don’t know if Sam Bachman is too easy but kind of just where he ended last year and where he is now. Upper 90’s with two plus secondary pitches. For him he’s right where we want him to be. Coming off last year and seeing the stuff back to where we saw in college, that’s as much as any that stuck out in terms of bouncing back so to speak. Edgar Quero’s bat is for real. He’s gonna get pushed to Double-A. (Our staff) wants to challenge guys and we certainly feel he’s up for it. 20-years-old in that league is not easy so we’ll see there. I think we had several guys who had shown more velocity – Landon Marceaux has shown more velocity. Coleman Crow, same thing. Just improvements there. Intrigued to see what those guys do.”
    Former Player: “Two guys. Sam Bachman, I finally got a chance to see him. Again, we know a lot about him but finally seeing him pitch. I’d heard we might see him last year but obviously some injuries slowed him down. He’s a hidden jewel that we might see coming at some point. But Osmy Gregorio, the kid, my God, he can fly. His throw across the diamond with the broken bat, he didn’t even flinch. The barrel of the broken bat went flying by him and he threw the ball to first like 83 miles per hour. Off balance throw. And the way he runs and good enough approach at the plate. I like that kid a lot – I mean, a ton. Watching him run, I haven’t seen – especially with the game now where you might see the stolen base become a legit threat – that kid, I like a lot, a ton. Just seeing him walking around the field at Angel Stadium the last couple of days, I’m like, ‘Yeah, he’s not overwhelmed.’ You could tell he likes his big moments so Gregorio would be my guy out of nowhere. Even seeing him in Spring Training and then seeing him on the big stage going against the Dodgers. I know it’s a Spring Training game but still, that speed plays. He went from first-to-third in 7.4 seconds. That’s unreal. Also, Victor Mederos is going to be a beast on the mound. He’s going to be real good. Watched his bullpens. He has some serious upside.”
    Prospect Analyst: "Mickey Moniak was a standout for sure. Very impressive but again, he's done it in the past. Osmy Gregorio, actually. I've seen him in the minors before. Someone to keep an eye on. All the tools are there. Interested as to why he hasn't gotten an opportunity in other places before. Just someone I'll keep an eye on."
  19. Chuck
    By Jonathan Northrop, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer
    There's a strange feeling of ambivalence about the 2023 season: That the Angels, and a variety of players, could either bring us yet more mediocrity-induced heartache, or finally return to legitimacy. While I could probably write similar segments for almost every player on the team, there are two players that best exemplify this for me, as well as the team as a whole.
    Mike Trout in his Early 30s: Accepting Inevitable Decline or a Return to Greatness?
    On one hand, Trout hasn't had a full season since 2019 and hasn't played more than 140 games since 2016, with the past six seasons ranging between 36 and 140 games, a total of 596 of 870 games played (68.5%). Furthermore, there are worrying signs in 2023: he had his lowest BB% since 2012, his lowest fullish season BA of his career, and it is clear he no longer steals bases. Furthermore, his 6.0 WAR in 119 games prorates to the lowest total of his career. So on one hand, it looks like Trout is in decline - no longer the dynamic player of his early career, or the best bat in the game like he was in the middle portion. Still very good, but maybe no longer one of the very best players in the game, at least when you take into account his games played.
    On the other hand, Trout absolutely killed the ball for the first quarter of last year and his overall numbers were reduced by the two worst slumps of his career, perhaps at least partially due to a team-wide psychological malaise brought on by the losing streak. Meaning, it seems like his offensive skills are still intact, that if he can just avoid epic slumps and revert to garden variety ones, his offensive numbers could return to peak levels. Last year, despite the reduced walks and BA, he still managed a 176 wRC+, which is slightly above his career average of 172.
    So the ambivalence is this: A combination of concerns about his health and specific aspects of his profile on one hand, and the feeling that it is possible that he puts together a nice string over the next few years that could be at or close to his best with the bat. I wouldn't be surprised to see Trout struggle with injury and hit .270/.360/.580 in 110-120 games, or be healthy and have his best year with the bat, hitting something like .300/.430/.650 in 140+ games, maybe even finally reaching 50 HR. 
    Jo Adell: More of the Same or an Impending Breakout?
    I've been all but ready to give up on him for the last year or more, as he seems to have made no progress since the 2020 debacle, or at least no more than from "Woodsian horrible to just really bad." On the other hand, I have this sneaking suspicion that now that the pressure is off, and with his focus of the offseason that has transformed him into looking like an Asgardian baseball player, he finally blossoms and forces his way into the lineup, or at least makes good of the inevitable chance he'll get at some point this season. Either way, I think he's going to utterly destroy AAA pitching this year and, hopefully, take a big step forward when he gets his chance in the majors. But I'm still ambivalent: I also see a very possible scenario where he doesn't really catch on for another couple years, and then with another team. 
    The good news is that with the acquisition of Hunter Renfroe, the Angels don't need Adell to breakout like they did in 2022 (or at least one of him or Brandon Marsh). He can focus on his plate approach and defense in AAA and wait for his chance. 
    The Team Overall: More Mediocrity or Will Things Finally Come Together?
    Over the last few years--half decade plus, really--the Angels have left fans and non-fans alike scratching their heads; the former in agonized frustration, the latter in bemusement. The confusion comes from the related questions: How can a team with the talents of Trout and Ohtani continue to be this bad? How have the Angels front office managed to not build a quality team around them, with their payroll and big market resources?
    As fans with a ground-level perspective, we can list all the things that have gone wrong season to season. But from one angle, they're all excuses. Good quality franchises with smart front offices somehow manage to find a way to win. Someone the Angels always find a way not to win, with their seventh consecutive season below .500 and eighth without even a wildcard berth.
    So on one hand, the question for the jaded fan going into the 2023 season: How will they manage to screw things up this year? What will go wrong? It is quite understandable to feel that way; truly, I can't help but wonder myself. On the other hand, the talent is there, and GM Perry Minasian checked off the most important boxes on his offseason priority list: he plugged the biggest holes on the team, namely the bottom half of the lineup. The team isn't perfect, and certain areas of the team are still thin enough to be concerned, but certainly they're in a lot better shape now than they were in October.
    While I can't see this club repeating last year's disaster and feel fairly confident that they'll--at least--have their first winning record since 2015, the ambivalence comes from the split feeling that we'll either weather through another mediocre season of 80-85 wins with numerous injuries, or things will finally come together and the team will win 90+ games and charge into the postseason. 
  20. Chuck
    THE 2023 ANGELS TOP 30 PROSPECTS
    By the AngelsWin.com Prospect Posse
    Another year in the books, and more disappointment for Angels fans. But there’s always the farm system and the future it foretells, right? This year that glimmer of hope may be growing somewhat brighter.
    The top of this list has some legitimate talent, with two or three players appearing on top 100 lists, and several more contenders for the top 100 by the end of 2023. Furthermore, the top 30 is filled out with a nice group of upside prospects, as well as some interesting depth pieces that could help the Angels major league team as soon as 2023.
    One further note on the farm as a whole, and its overall trajectory over the last few years. In 2015, Billy Eppler inherited a farm system devoid of talent. Gradually he added talent, a lot of it high upside but volatile. Over the last few years, we’ve seen a lot of that talent not pan out the way we hoped, yet there’s still been some positive developments, and with a continued, steady stream of incoming talent during the Perry Minasian years.
    To further this point, here’s a take from our own Scott Allen:
    Scott Allen's Take:
    The Angels have recently got a lot of help from what I like to call, "post-hype prospects." These are the players that were once viewed as darlings of a developing system, but for one reason or another, have not cracked the major league egg yet.
    Patrick Sandoval, Jose Suarez, Jaime Barria, Jared Walsh and Luis Rengifo all took an additional year or two to develop, beyond their time being featured on these lists. And they all have become quality major leaguers. 
    In 2023, we could be in store for more of these unexpected breakouts. Matt Thaiss may emerge as a key depth piece for the Angels. He could see considerable time playing 1B, backing up Jared Walsh who has some uncertainty of his own. Thaiss could also see time at 3B to spell Rendon and most notably, catcher, where as a backup he's got a pretty potent bat, comparatively.  
    Chris Rodriguez also falls into this category. If healthy, he can be a very good major league pitcher, regardless of role. I hope the organization gives him a chance to start because he might truly be something special there, the sort that starts playoff games. If not, he's already shown he can carve up major league hitters in relief.
    Mickey Moniak wasn't our prospect, but he too is a post-hype player that can find success with the Angels. Getting him out of Philly might have been the best thing for his career, as we saw flashes of potential after the deadline. Either he projects as a very skilled 4th outfielder, or maybe it all comes together in time.
    Jo Adell's own prospect status is a thing of the past. We don't know the Angels off-season plans, but it would not surprise many if he spent some more time in AAA before finally figuring it out at the big league level. He certainly has more than enough potential. 
    Griffin Canning is finally healthy, and while he's served a lot of time in the Angels rotation, his spot is no longer guaranteed. He's flashed his potential on several occasions, and comes with the pedigree of being a former early draft pick and top 100 prospect. 
    Lastly, I think we shouldn't forget about Jose Soriano. He's got an arsenal similar to Chris Rodriguez, and after multiple surgeries and a tour through Pittsburgh's system rehabbing after being selected in the Rule 5 Draft, Soriano is finally back healthy. A move to the bullpen has already taken place, and given that the Angels bullpen could use all the help it can get, giving Jose Soriano a chance to make good on his potential seems like a good idea. He could be a game changer, if he performs up to his ability. 
    Format: In parentheses, I’ve included the player’s position, 2023 season age, and likely destination to start the year. The ranking range is the range in which our Prospect Posse ranked the player.
    Without further ado, here are your AngelsWin.com Top 30 Prospects for 2023…
    1. LOGAN O’HOPPE (C, 23, MLB)

    2022 Rank: In Phillies organization
    Ranking Range: Unanimous #1
    2022 Stats: 104 games, .283/.416/.544, 26 HR (AA - Phillies/Angels); 5 games, .286/.375/.286 (MLB)
    It was painful to see Brandon Marsh go (and then improve somewhat with the Phillies and make it to the World Series), but O’Hoppe’s AA performance softened the blow; aside from his excellent overall numbers, he hit .306/.473/.674 in 29 games as a Trash Panda. Our consensus #1 pick, O’Hoppe has a good chance of not only starting the year in a platoon with Max Stassi but winning the starting job outright by season’s end. He’s really the full package: plate discipline, power, and solid to plus catching skills. Even better, coaches rave about his mental make-up and pitchers love him. One thing to note about O'Hoppe: If you count him as homegrown, he's probably the best catching prospect in Angels history.
    Full interview with Logan O'Hoppe
    2. ZACH NETO (SS, 22, AA)
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    2022 Rank: Amateur/Prep
    Ranking Range: 2-3
    2022 Stats: 37 games, .299/.377/.476, 5 HR  (A+/AA)
    The Angels’ 2022 1st round pick (13th overall) didn’t miss a beat in 37 minor league games, most (30) in AA Rocket City. Neto projects to hit for average, steal bases, maybe walk a bit, and with a bit of pop – plus solid or better defense at SS.  As Neto says, he plays with “swag” and brings it on both sides of his game.There is some concern that his unconventional approach at the plate will yield little power, but some scouts remark on his surprising pop. That did not appear to be the case last year, as he hit 4 HRs in 30 AA games last season. With less than 2 strikes, Neto uses a high leg kick to help whip up power. But, with 2 strikes, he takes a smaller stride and a faster approach to the ball. Defensively, Neto is a true SS, but could end up on 2B depending on what the Angels do this offseason. Either way, he should at least become a quality regular major leaguer,  and maybe even more than that!
    Full Interview with Zach Neto
    3. CHASE SILSETH (SP, 23, AAA/MLB)

    2022 Rank: 22 (+19)
    Ranking Range: 2-4
    2022 Stats: 15 GS, 83 IP, 2.28 ERA, 27 BB, 110 SO (AA); 28.2 IP 6.59 ERA, 12 BB, 24 SO (MLB)
    Silseth started the year as the 11th round pick from the 2021 all-pitcher draft, and thus the 11th pitcher chosen by the Angels in that draft, and ended it as the top ranked pitching prospect in the organization, at least according to us. Silseth utterly dominated AA hitters, earning him multiple  call-ups throughout the year. His first start on May 13th was extremely impressive, and we all had a collective "Where did this guy come from?" moment: He gave up only 1 hit in 6 IP, and flashed potent stuff, including a fastball that hit 97-98. But things got rockier from there, and then he was up and down for the rest of the year, only down from August onward, where he continued to dominate AA. He throws very hard, but also very straight, and his secondary pitches still need work. Silseth is likely to start the year in the minors, but will definitely see major league starts in 2023, and may end up in the rotation by the second half. Silseth has the stuff to be a #1 or #2, and with more movement on his pitches, will be one.
    Full Interview with Chase Silseth
    4. EDGAR QUERO (C, 20, A+)

    2022 Rank: 10 (+6)
    Ranking Range: 2-5
    Stats: 111 games, .312/.435/.530, 17 HR, 12 SB, 73 BB, 91 SO (A)
    Look at those numbers and remember that this is a 19-year old kid in A ball. He posted those numbers while 2 years younger than the rest of the league! Quero got us noticing him last year, when he showed pop and a great plate approach in Rookie ball, though merely held his own in a short 10-game A level call-up. Not only did Quero improve, he exploded and dominated A level pitching. The Angels played it safe and kept him there all year; with O’Hoppe in the mix, they won’t be rushing Quero, who should replace Max Stassi as O’Hoppe’s backup in 2025 or so. After so many years of not having any catching prospects, the Angels are now in the enviable position of having 2 top tiered catching prospects, who can dominate on both sides of the ball. It is very easy to see Quero as a top 100 prospect, especially if he continues to build on his 2022 season.
    Full Interview with Edgar Quero
    5. KY BUSH (SP, 23, AAA)

    2022 Rank: 6 (+1)
    Ranking Range: 4-7
    Stats: 21 GS, 103 IP, 29 BB, 101 Ks, 3.67 ERA (AA)
    An impressive first full season, Bush has earned a place on the 2023 major league depth chart. Scouting reports vary on Bush, but most agree that he could be a solid mid-rotation starter if not better.  Bush has a four-pitch mix with an over-the-top delivery. His fastball sits at 94 mph and touches 96 mph with late riding action. Bush's secondary pitches are an above-average slider, a slow curveball and changeup that's a work in progress. The changeup development and fastball command will really determine whether Bush is a solid middle of the rotation starter that you can count on or backend guy. Ky Bush tired a bit in the second half, but finished strong. With improved development and workload, the dominance he showed in the first half should continue.
    Full Interview with Ky Bush
    6. KYREN PARIS (SS, 21, AA)

    2022 Rank: 3 (-3)
    Ranking Range: 4-6
    Stats: 105 games, .241/.363/.417, 12 HR, 33 SB (Rk/A+/AA)
    If there’s one prospect for whom the national and AngelsWin perception differs the most, it is Kyren Paris. As you can see, none of our eight authors ranked him lower than #6, while most publications don’t even have him in the top 10. Paris started very slowly in A+ ball, before eventually heating up, earning a late season call-up to AA Rocket City, where he crushed the ball, hitting .359/.510/.641 in 14 games. Paris has game changing speed, a good approach at the plate and some pop in his bat. He’ll start 2023 back in Rocket City and is one to keep an eye on. Defensively, Paris could stick at SS, as he has good range, a decent arm, and sets himself up well to be in position to make the plays. However, many of the people we talk to feel like he could be a starting 2B with good range, again, depending on whatever moves the Angels make.
    Full Interview with Kyren Paris
    7. WERNER BLAKELY (3B, 21, A+)

    2022 Rank: 23 (+16)
    Ranking Range: 6-11
    Stats: 55 games, .295/.447/.470, 5 HR, 24 SB (A)
    Blakely was considered very raw, young, and toolsy when the Angels drafted him in the 4th round of 2020, a notion that his first professional season in Rookie ball illustrated quite well, as he hit .192/.339/.284 in 44 games. But he exploded in 2022; most impressively, he walked 45 times in 55 games, displaying impressive speed and a bit of pop. After splitting 2021 between 2B, SS, and 3B, the Angels moved him to 3B this year, which is likely his future position. Blakely has the potential to add more power as he fills out. Settling into one defensive position, along with getting more regular reps, should help. Blakely has been limited in previous seasons by some freak injuries (broken hamate bone, broken arm). As he gets more experience, he will move up on prospect lists.
    Full Interview with Werner Blakely
    8. DENZER GUZMAN (SS, 19, A)

    2022 Rank: 7 (-1)
    Ranking Range: 7-11
    Stats: .278/.346/.402 in 234 PA (Rookie/A).
    The Angels’ top international signing from 2021, with a $2 million dollar signing bonus,  came stateside this year, and held his own in Rookie ball (.287/.341/.422). His numbers were relatively modest, but for his age are quite good, and he has a plethora of skills and a lot of development potential as a future big leaguer. Still very much a work-in-progress, with a wide range of possible outcomes. However, in his limited time, Guzman has done enough to leapfrog over several other shortstop prospects, and he should stick at that position for now. With the ability to hit the ball to all fields, Guzman should develop more power as he matures.
    Update: After a brief stint with Inland Empire and solid play at instructional league in 2022, Guzman returns to Inland Empire for his first full season where his arm and glove have already impressed, and his bat is beginning to turn heads as well. - @taylorblakeward
    Full Interview with Denzer Guzman
    9. SAM BACHMAN (SP, 23, AA)

    2022 Rank: 2 (-7)
    Ranking Range: 7-16
    Stats: 12 GS, 43.2 IP, 3.92 ERA, 25 BB, 30 SO (AA)
    It was a disappointing year for 2021’s first round pick, and more than a little concerning: Bachman continued to struggle with injuries, and when healthy looked very different from the flamethrower the Angels had drafted a year before; his fastball had trouble leaving the low 90s. For context, consider that the major league average is now close to 94 mph. Meaning, Bachman—who was clocked at over 100 mph in college—didn’t even pitch at average velocity in 2022. His future is contingent on whether that velocity returns, and even if it does we should probably accept that he’s almost certainly destined for the bullpen. If he can stay healthy and his velocity comes back, he could be an elite closer; if not, he might not have much of a major league career. There is still a shot that he sticks in the rotation, and for now, the Angels are planning to stick with him there. But, his fastest path to the majors, and possibly his best outcome, could be in the pen.
    Full Interview Sam Bachman
    10. NELSON RADA (CF, 17, Rookie)

    2022 Rank: 18 (+8)
    Ranking Range: 8-13
    Stats: 50 games, .311/.446/.439, 27 SB (DOSL Rookie).
    We’re told to take low minor league numbers with a grain of salt, the more so with those from the Dominican league. But it is hard not to be impressed with that line from Rada, especially considering that he was 16-years old. And, it’s hard not to notice all the praise that Rada is getting from the people we talk to, both inside and outside of the organization. The most impressive element is not even mentioned above: He walked and struck out 26 times in 50 games, implying, at least, the potential for a strong plate approach which, coupled with impressive athletic tools, particularly his power,  gives Rada a very high ceiling. Hopefully we’ll see him state-side in 2023, but it is still way too early to know just how good this kid can become. If we do see him stateside, he will be one of the youngest players in whatever league he’s in, so, that will have to factor into whatever production he makes in 2023.
    Update: Nelson Rada was the Angels top international signing in 2022, signing for $1.8 million, and immediately showcased his skillset in the Dominican Summer League hitting .311 with an .885 OPS. The Angels are now challenging the young outfielder with an aggressive assignment to Low-A for his first full season where he looks to be a consistent hitter despite being one of the youngest players in professional baseball. - @taylorblakeward
    Full Interview with Nelson Rada
    11. ADRIAN PLACENCIA (IF, 20, A+)

    2022 Rank: 12 (+1)
    Ranking Range: 8-14
    Stats: 104 games, .254/.387/.427, 13 HR, 21 SB (A)
    Prospects junkies will remember the ACL Rookie team at the beginning of last year, with a talented group of position players all starting strongly. Most tailed off, including Placencia, but he’s also one of the few who had a noticeably better 2022 season. Placencia is a bit of an anomaly, because on one hand he’s supposed to be a spray hitter who will hit for average, on the other evidently he struggles with heat, and has somehow managed to walk a fair amount. But improvement over last year is always a good sign.
    12. BEN JOYCE (RP, 22, AA)

    2022 Rank: Amateur/Prep
    Ranking Range: 10-14
    Stats: 13 IP, 2.08 ERA, 4 BB, 20 SO (AA).
    After watching Joyce’s debut in 2022, who looked more polished than advertised, it is hard imagining how he slipped to the 3rd round. The guy has one of the fastest pitches in professional baseball having been clocked at 105 and, if he can maintain the surprising control he displayed, is going to be in Anaheim sometime in 2023 and an elite reliever within a couple years.
    Full Interview with Ben Joyce
    13. JAKE MADDEN (SP, 21, A+/AA)

    2022 Rank: Amateur/Prep
    Ranking Range: 8 – Not Ranked
    Stats: NA
    The Angels’ 3rd pick and 4th rounder last year didn’t play a professional game, so there’s not a lot to go on. Scouting reports speak of high upside, though, with a three-pitch arsenal and plenty of velocity, though he’ll need work on his location. Lots of upside, and already has Tommy John surgery on his resume.
    14. JEREMIAH JACKSON (IF, 23, AA)

    2022 Rank: 5 (-9)
    Ranking Range: 13-19
    Stats: 87 games, .215/.308/.404, 14 HR (AA)
    When you look at Jackson’s trajectory over the last few years, there’s glimmers of Brandon Wood: A surprising breakout season in the low minors, followed by declined performance at higher levels, with a big drop off last year. He also seems somewhat injury prone, playing only 138 games over the last two seasons. His prospect status is falling, though he still has upside to dream on, but he needs to both stay healthy and make better contact.
    15. CADEN DANA (SP, 19, A)

    2022 Rank: Amateur/Prep
    Ranking Range: 12 – Not Ranked
    Stats: 6.48 ERA, 8.1 IP, 1 BB, 8 SO (Rookie/A)
    A rare pitcher drafted by the Angels out of high school, Dana was picked on Day 3 of the draft along with his brother, Casey. Where Casey is a college outfielder likely to max out as minor league depth, Caden shows a lot of promise. He’s pretty much the classic pitching prospect, with a strong frame, a good curveball, projectable fastball hitting 95, and a work-in-progress changeup. His size allows him to throw downhill and induce a lot of ground-balls. Lots of upside here who, especially if he adds a notch and a bit of movement to that fastball and works on his changeup, could jump to the top of the Angels pitching prospects.
    Update: (April 12th, 2023) "The projectable right-hander with a power breaking ball and mid 90's fastball returns to Inland Empire for his first full season where he looks to stay consistent following his first start where he missed bats at a premium with eight strikeouts over five innings, which included a look at his new changeup." - @taylorblakeward
    Full Interview with Caden Dana
    (2023)
    16. COLEMAN CROW (SP, 22, AAA)

    2022 Rank: 17 (+1)
    Ranking Range: 15 – Not Ranked
    Stats: 23 GS, 128 IP, 4.85 ERA, 35 BB and 128 SO (AA)
    Crow put up solid numbers in his first full season in AA. Right now he projects as a #5 starter or long reliever, unless he can add a bit more velocity. He gives the Angels another solid depth option, at the least. One of our writers compared him to Scot Shields - similar smaller body, similar fastball velocity that can play up into the mid-90s if needed. With an elite slider, he has a solid floor of at least a plus middle reliever.
    17. JORDYN ADAMS (CF, 23, AA)

    2022 Rank: 9 (-8)
    Ranking Range: 15 – Not Ranked
    Stats: 120 games, .238/.317/.332, 4 HR, 33 SB (A+/AA)
    Oh, how the mighty have fallen. A few years ago, first-round pick Jordyn Adams was mentioned in the same breath as top prospects Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh, with some even liking his upside more. With his blazing speed (he earns a rare true 80 grade) and defense, he has a major league future, although whether his hitting develops enough to be more than a Jarrod Dyson remains to be seen. While his statistics have stagnated, the word in the organization is that he’s coming along, though it is hard not to have an “I’ll believe it when I see it” attitude. Adams is a good example of how we should temper our expectations with prospects, but also not take a “star or bust” perspective. Regardless of whether he learns to hit, he’s going to provide major league value at some point.
    Full Interview with Jordyn Adams
    18. LANDON MARCEAUX (SP, 23, AA)

    2022 Rank: 21 (+3)
    Ranking Range: 14 – 25
    Stats: 18 GS, 90.2 IP, 2.98 ERA, 16 BB, 73 SO (A+/AA)
    Like Crow a couple ranks higher, Marceaux isn’t a “sexy” pitching prospect, but one who projects as either a back-end starter or middle reliever. Note his control: he gave up only 16 walks in 90 innings. With above average breaking pitches but a below average fastball, Marceaux’s upside is limited, but his floor is high enough to foretell a major league career. Rare for a pitchability type, Marceaux has shown an ability to keep the ball in the park and, coupled with a great ability hit his spots, he's another guy with a very good chance at a solid major league career.
    19. RANDY DEJESUS (OF, 18, Rookie)

    2022 Rank: Unranked (+12)
    Ranking Range: 16-27
    Stats: 210 PA, .272/.362/.467, 7 HR (DOSL)
    DeJesus was the second of two international outfield prospects signed by the Angels last year, along with Rada. He’s a bit like Alexander Ramirez was a few years ago: a high upside bat to dream on, but lots of volatility. One to watch.
    20. DAVID CALABRESE (OF, 20, A+)

    2022 Rank: Unranked (+11)
    Ranking Range: 17-26
    Stats: 112 games, .250/.326/.387, 7 HR, 26 SB (A)
    Bear with me on this comp: Chad Curtis. After a disappointing debut in 2021 in which he hit .201/.303/.306 in Rookie ball, Calabrese had a solid season for the Inland Empire, showing a bit of everything. He probably projects as a fourth outfielder, but Calabrese has some sneaky skills, including above average plate discipline and excellent speed. Perhaps most importantly, he improved throughout year: His OPS improved each month, from .579 in May to 1.045 in September. With no power but plenty of speed, and a knack for taking a few few walks, hints of Brett Butler?
    21. LIVAN SOTO (SS, 23, AAA/MLB)

    2022 Rank: Unranked (+10)
    Ranking Range: 15-26
    Stats: 119 games, .281/.379/.362, 6 HR, 18 SB (AA); 18 games, .400/.414/.582 (MLB)
    Soto’s solid performance in AA earned a late season call-up to the Angels, which he took advantage of, hitting the over the off the ball. While clearly it is a small sample size, there’s enough here to project a solid career as a utility player or fringe starter, albeit one with excellent defense. His upside is that of a Maicer Izturis, which means he could be a very important part of improving the Angels' bench depth--strong defensive shortstops with above average plate discipline have value.
    22. AROL VERA (IF, 20, A)

    2022 Rank: 4 (-18)
    Ranking Range: 19-27
    Stats: 120 games, 4 HR, 19 SB, .207/.291/.281 (A)
    Vera was one of the more disappointing prospects this year, his ranking dropping from #4 last year to #22. Clearly he was over-matched in full season A ball, and is likely to repeat it. With excellent bat speed and tons of tools, Vera is a good candidate for a rebound, but as with a lot of Angels hitting prospects, he'll need to make better contact.
    23. WALBERT URENA (SP, 19, A)

    2022 Rank: Not in organization - International Signing
    Ranking Range: 16 – Not Ranked
    Stats: 10 GS, 37.1 IP, 32 BB, 45 SO (Rookie)
    A brief glance at his stats shows a complete lack of control (almost 1 walk per inning pitched), but also a fair number of strikeouts. Urena is very raw, but an 18-year old who can reach triple digits is one to dream on.
    24. JOSE SORIANO (SP, 24, A+)

    2022 Rank: In the Pirates Organization
    Ranking Range: 17-29th
    Stats: 7 GS, 13 IP, 2.08 ERA, 4 BB, 17 (Rookie/A)
    Remember this guy? Soriano was in the Angels organization as far back as 2016, when he was an international signing. He was lost in the Rule V draft to the Pirates but then went down with injury. The Angels reclaimed him, and he’s back. Sort of a sleeper pick at this point, but has a solid chance of a major league career, probably in the bullpen. The operative phrase is, "If healthy." The good news is, his fastball still touches upper 90's to go along with a good slider and workable changeup. 
    25. MASON ERLA (SP, 25, AAA)

    2022 Rank: 29 (+4)
    Ranking Range: 10 – Not Ranked
    Stats: 16 GS, 4.28 ERA, 82 IP, 19 BB, 64 SO (AA)
    Erla is in a similar category with Crow and Marceaux: Limited upside, but high floor and probably a major league career of some kind. Erla’s career was delayed by a fifth year in college and the lost 2020 season, so he’s a bit older for a prospect, but he might have a bit more upside than those other two, with a mid-90s fastball and a plus changeup.
    26. ALEXANDER RAMIREZ (OF, 20, A)

    2022 Rank: 8 (-18)
    Ranking Range: 18 – Not Ranked
    Stats: 118 games, .230/.290/.352, 8 HR, 21 SB (A)
    While not quite as bad as Vera in his first full professional season, Ramirez was similarly disappointing. It is hard not to dream on the offensive upside, but a good reminder that high volatility prospects don’t work out more often than they do. Like Vera, Ramirez is young enough not to give up on, but also like Vera, we were probably too bullish on him last year.
    27. ERIC TORRES (RP, 23, AAA)

    2022 Rank: Amateur/Prep
    Ranking Range: 23 – Not Ranked
    Stats: 51 IP, 1.59 ERA, 23 BB, 81 SO (AA)
    Torres had a breakout season in 2022, and has a chance of reaching the major league bullpen in 2023. As a lefty who can generate outs, Torres likely has a major league career ahead of him. Torres fastball works in the low 90's but can touch 95 mph. Hitters have a tough time picking up his heater which generates whiffs up in the zone. The southpaw reliever has a good slider to go along with his heater.
    Full Interview with Eric Torres
    28. DAVIS DANIEL (SP, 26, AAA/MLB)

    2022 Rank: 11 (-17)
    Ranking Range: 22 - Not Ranked
    Stats: 102.1 IP, 4.49 ERA, 32 BB, 83 SO (AAA)
    After being drafted by the Angels in the 7th round of the 2019 draft, Daniel missed the rest of the year with injury, then lost 2020 to the lack of a minor league season. He was considered a bit of a sleeper prospect in 2021 - not unlike Erla now - and didn't disappoint, rising quickly from A+ to AAA. But his performance this past year was rather lackluster, although certainly impacted by pitching in Salt Lake. He enters 2023 as AAA rotation depth, and should get his chance at some point this year. Could be a useful long reliever.
    29. VICTOR MEDEROS (SP, 22, A+)

    2022 Rank: Amateur/Prep
    Ranking Range: 25 - Not Ranked
    Stats: 16 IP, 5.63 ERA, 9 BB, 15 SO (A+)
    We didn't get a good look at Mederos, but a fastball that touches 99 and projectible secondary pitches shows upside, but he'll never get there if he doesn't improve his control. If he does, he'll rise quickly.
    30. MICHAEL STEFANIC (IF, 26, AAA/MLB)

    2022 Rank: 15
    Ranking Range: 25 - Not Ranked
    Stats: .197/.279/.230 in 69 PA (MLB); .310/.417/.417 in 360 PA (AAA)
    Stefanic was a bit of a "forum darling" for a bit there, but after not doing anything with his cup o' coffee, and showing very limited defensive skills, has dimmed a bit in the collective Angelswin mind. That said, he continued to hit in AAA and shows impressive contact ability and plate discipline (49 walks and 23 Ks in AAA last year), and could be a useful bench player at some point. I see a bit of Orlando Palmeiro with the bat.
    SOME ODDS & ENDS….
    Biggest risers: Silseth (+19), Blakely (+16), DeJesus (+12), Calabrese (+11), Soto (+10), Rada (+8), Quero (+6). Biggest fallers: Daniel (-17), Vera (-18), Ramirez (-18), Kochanowicz (-17), Stefanic (-16), Junk (-15), Albright (-12), Jackson (-9), Adams (-8), Bachman (-7).
    What Happened To…William Holmes, Erik Rivera?
    Also Receiving Votes (31-45ish range): Ryan Costeiu, Luke Murphy, Janson Junk, Sonny DiChiara, Jack Kochanowicz, Robinson Pina, Mason Albright, Kolten Ingram, Dario Laverde, Orlando Martinez, Kevin Maitan
    Traded: Alejandro Hidalgo, Adam Seminaris
    Dominican League and Arizona Complex League prospect guide
    Checking in on Jo Adell, Mickey Moniak, Zach Neto, Jordyn Adams, Ben Joyce, Chase Silseth, Sam Bachman & others after their 2023 Spring Camp. 
    Additional Prospect Interviews
    Below are some interviews of guys who are just outside of our top-30 prospects list
    Kolton Ingram, LHP 
    Sonny DiChiara, 1B
    Ryan Aguilar, 1B/OF
    Preston Palmeiro, INF/OF
    Luke Murphy, RHP
    Jack Kochanowicz, RHP
    Mason Albright, RHP
    Matt Coutney, 1B
     
    Thank you for reading. Special thanks to the AngelsWin.com posse who contributed to this piece, which includes: @Chuckster70, @Angelsjunky, @Docwaukee, @Inside Pitch, @Second Base, @Dave Saltzer, @rafibomb and @taylorblakeward for his guidance. 
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