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)
t
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. 

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)
t
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. 

By Jonathan Northrop, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer
With the upcoming Winter Meetings, there's lots of speculation as to what Minasian and the Angels might do, and with it a great deal of uncertainty. For one, Minasian has already plugged significant roster performance leakage with the acquisitions of Tyler Anderson (starting depth), Gio Urshela (bench depth), and Hunter Renfroe (starting outfielder). But holes remain, or at least questions: the bullpen lacks firepower, the starting middle infielders, and the sixth starter.
Those questions have in-house answers: The Angels have David Fletcher and Luis Rengifo, both of whom have strengths and weaknesses. Fletcher is a Gold Glove caliber second baseman and a plus shortstop, but with a weak bat. Rengifo seemed to have a legit breakthrough with the bat last year, but is probably average plus at second base and average minus at shortstop, so doubles with Fletcher as a guy who is best utilized at second base. Gio Urshela is stretched at either position, but could fill in in a pinch, and is more likely to rotate as a super utility player who provides insurance for Rendon and Walsh, and ends up accruing regular playing time at multiple positions (or so Minasian says). Livan Soto and Andrew Velazquez will duke it out for the final bench spot, though one or both will likely end up in AAA to start the season. But the point being, the Angels have adequate coverage of the middle infield, but have room for improvement - especially with a starting shortstop, which would move Rengifo and Fletcher into a 2B/UT platoon.
The Angels have a ton of starting pitchers in the high minors who should become major leaguers of some kind: Chase Silseth, Ky Bush, Davis Daniel, Coleman Crow, Mason Erla, eventually Sam Bachman, etc. Plus they have Griffin Canning and Chris Rodriguez set to return. They also have some relief pitchers in Ben Joyce, Eric Torres, and Luke Murphy who--along with some of the starters--could bolster the bullpen at some point. Meaning, as with the middle infield, they should have adequate coverage of the back-end of the rotation and bullpen, but could still improve - especially the bullpen.
Two other minor questions exist: Who will back-up or platoon with Max Stassi, and who will be the fourth outfielder? Right now the answer to the former is probably Matt Thaiss, but Logan O'Hoppe could also sneak into a platoon role with a strong spring, though the Angels might want to give him regular playing time in Salt Lake until either Stassi flops or gets hurt. As for the latter, right now Mickey Moniak seems the likely option, though the Angels might want to send him to AAA with Jo Adell and sign a veteran outfielder. At the least, we're likely to see some kind of minor league veteran signed as insurance, in case Moniak can't hit and Adell continues to struggle with his various issues.
All that said, what are the possible paths forward? No one seems to have a good handle on whether--or to what degree--the impending sale influences Minasian's offseason plans. He says it doesn't, but...how can that be the case? Presumably he's mostly correct: the Angels have already built up their 2023 payroll to close to 2022's levels. But what is unclear is whether they think improving the teams odds of competing in 2023 by, say, signing one of the big shortstop free agents will hurt or help the Angels organization's sale appeal. Would a new owner rather have a better team that has a payroll above the luxury tax, or a worse team that has a lower payroll? And would such a signing impact their ability to offer Shohei Ohtani a competitive contract?
Anyhow, I see three basic paths forward for the remainder of the offseason, all with two factors in mind: The impending sale (which, again, we don't know how it impacts the offseason except to say, "probably to some degree, but not hugely so") and Minasian's rebuilding of the farm, which implies that he won't empty it out in trades.
Bolster the roster, but don't break the bank (or trade away the farm). This is pretty much what we've seen so far this offseason. It would mean that there will be no further major moves beyond possible trades, but likely no huge trades due to prospect cost. The modus operandi--as illustrated by his three acquisitions--is: raise the floor of the major league team's performance without either spending a mint or trading away top prospects. Plug the wholes, and trust the talent on the team to be competitive in 2023. Go all in on the Ohtani-Rendon-Trout Window. Rendon is signed for four more years, Trout isn't getting younger and hasn't played in 150 games since Trump's first year in office, and Ohtani may be gone after this year. This could mean going after one of the big shortstops or possibly more significant trades (and thus prospect cost), and trying to win in 2023. Thread the needle. This is a hybrid of the above two: Don't break the bank or trade top prospects, but bolster with a few more minor to moderate signings and be aggressive on the trade market, with a willingness to spend some prospect value. This may end up looking like #1 above if Perry can't pull off any trades, but with at least the attempt to make something happen. This also might see him try to package one of, say, Rengifo or Jose Suarez with prospects to upgrade the rotation, bullpen, or middle infield. Which path will Perry take? Well again, signs point towards the first or possibly third - but the Winter Meetings haven't happened yet, so we don't know if Perry won't get "big splashy" (2) or try to be ultra-savvy (3). My guess is that his intention is #3, but wouldn't be totally surprised to see #2, with #1 as the default in case #3 doesn't work out or he doesn't want to (or can't) spend on a big free agent.

By Taylor Blake Ward, AngelsWin.com
When taking a look at performances from the Dominican Summer League and Arizona Complex League, there is an obvious caveat about the variance in play. Pending the league, the ages can vary from 16-years-old to 21-year-olds in the Dominican and 18-years-olds fresh out of high school or out of country to 24-years-olds who have spent the last four or five years at some of the premier college programs in the nation. Most kids haven't grown into their bodies so power could be at a minimum. Some pitchers throw in the high 90's with explosive breaking pitches, while others hardly top the mid 80's with hardly any sign of a secondary offering. Hardly any pitcher has a strong feel for the strike zone, so on-base percentages are highly inflated due to the high number of walks. Performance numbers can be fun, but only when taken with a serious grain of salt.
Quickly hitting on some performance indicators, we already talked about the inflation of walks and high on-base percentages. Offensively, you should be looking at contact rate and low strikeout-percentages for future indicators of offensive success from a solely performance-based merit. For pitchers, you're looking at strike-throwing ability (i.e., BB%, BB/9) as even with low walk numbers will come the raw package of hindered command. Control is a fine thing to see on paper and is usually something you will see prior to command in and out of the zone once coming stateside.
With that out of the way, let's dive into some of the Angels minor leaguers who put together strong seasons in northeast Boca Chica or southwest Tempe, whether performance based or by scouting merit.
Tapping into the record books, the Angels Dominican Summer League affiliate has been in existence since 1992, with three years as a shared affiliate and one year without play. Records only permit us to date statistics back to 2006, but five different players for the Angels this year broke into the top-10 of affiliate records with one appearing seven times while tying a record. Luis Torres saw one of the greatest seasons for the DSL Angels with his 156 wRC+ being only second to Alexi Amarista's 158 wRC+ in 2007. Among DSL Angels single-season records, Torres scored the ninth most runs (48), had the ninth most hits (68; most since Johan Sala hit 76 in 2016) had the fifth most runs batted in (40), had the fifth most total bases (113; the most since Eduardo Soto had 117 in 2008), hit the third most home runs (8; trailing only Luis Jimenez (11 - 2007) and Raddy Sierra (9 - 2007))
Let's walk away from the statistical confusion and admire Torres the player who signed for $10,000 in February 2022. Already well developed physically at six-foot-three and 210 pounds with his arms filled out well, there is some present strength and power from the right side in Torres' offensive profile. He has a free and loose swing that will open up to allow him to get to his power on pitches away. He did a fine job of controlling the zone and sparsely chasing which led to low strikeout totals. There is the natural tendency of young players to over swing which leads to hitting the top of the ball and high groundball totals, which was a very natural defect to Torres' game and is one of the first focuses of development once stateside. There's feel for hitting and his ability to get to his power is a positive trait where he turned on the ball well and put together some regular triple-digit exit velocities. Defensively, there's a lot of unknown as Torres was an outfielder as an amateur but immediately moved to first base with very limited playing time in the corner outfield.
The big international splash over the winter, Nelson Rada showed exactly why he signed for such a high dollar ($1.85 million) in January. Spending the entire season as a 16-year-old, Rada was one week shy of being the youngest player in professional baseball this year, with 10 others being born between August 24-31, 2005 (yikes, we are getting old). Going back to the record books, Rada posted a 148 wRC+, which was fourth best in DSL Angels history; he scored the sixth most runs (48) in a single-season (the most since Pedro Toribio scored 50 runs in 2011), and stole the third-most bases at 27, tied with Raul Linares and trailing only Ayendy Perez (41 - 2013) and Pedro Toribio (32 - 2011). Rada reached base in 44 of 50 games he played, all in center field. It's clear the Angels see Rada playing a premium position in center field where he is a plus defender who is quick and direct to the ball and comes equipped with an above-average arm and outstanding athleticism. More instinctual than an actual burner, Rada clearly knew what he was doing on the basepaths and has double-digit steal potential with only average to better speed. At the plate, Rada keeps things fairly simple from the left side looking for pitches in his zone to drive to the gaps. There is some over-the-fence power that could turn into average power when he fills into his compact frame. Despite his youth, Rada has already shown good control of the zone and has a strong idea of what he’s doing at the plate with a focus on getting on base with a balanced approach that leans more to aggression.
The other big bonus baby over the spring came in Randy de Jesus, an outfielder who signed for $1.2 million. More physically driven than Rada, de Jesus put up his expected power numbers while lessening the concern of how much swing-and-miss would be included in his offensive profile. His 13 doubles were tied for the ninth most in a single-season for the affiliate, while his seven home runs were fourth most as well as his 43 runs batted in being fourth most in a single-season and the most since Samir Mendez hit 44 in 2011. More intangible based, de Jesus is a smart player who is a fair athlete and makes smart plays in the field and base paths. Not always getting to his separation and finding some grooves in his timing, de Jesus was still able to tap into his big-bodied natural strength and will have to work on getting to the ball quicker once coming stateside to tap into his above-average potential. Going 2-for-2 with a three-run home run, de Jesus was named the MVP of the Dominican Summer League All-Star game.
On the pitching side, DSL Angels rotation was headlined by Sadiel Baro, a lean 17-year-old left-hander who signed for $125,000 out of Cuba. Baro worked his fastball up to 92 over the summer while flashing a swing-and-miss curve and changeup that allowed him to work against hitters on both sides of the plate. Baro was a workhorse, having the most innings pitched (53.0) since Jose Soriano (57.0) in 2016, with the third most strikeouts (60) since 2014. Manuel Cazorla, a 17-year-old left-hander from Venezuela, showed good feel for locating his fastball in the bottom part of the zone while flashing an average curveball and the ability to pitch inside. Nixon Encarnacion was the big-arm splash for the Angels over the winter due to his strong arm from the right side. Encarnacion works 91-95 with positive signs towards his secondary offerings, while his athleticism gives hope of above-average command down the road.
Other notables: Outfielder Ramon Ramirez posted a 142 wRC+ while hitting the seventh most doubles (14) and eighth most runs batted in (37) in the affiliate’s history. Capri Ortiz is a 17-year-old defense-first shortstop who saw a tail of two seasons at the plate, having a .542 OPS with five extra-base hits in his first 26 games, while having a .793 OPS with nine extra-base hits in his final 26 games. Dario Laverde and Jonathan Linares, both 17-year-old catchers, matched each other in basic offensive and defensive statistics despite differing profiles, both posting a 124 wRC+ while throwing out 41% of runners. Laverde is an athletic backstop with a better chance at sticking behind the plate while Linares is a switch-hitter with more offensive upside to his game. Marco Vega is a soft-tossing right-hander from Panama who will work in the mid-to-high 80’s but has a great feel for the zone and a better feel for his changeup than most at his age.
After focusing on much of Boca Chica, let’s take a trip north to Tempe where the Angels Arizona Complex League club fell two run short of a wildcard berth in their final game of the season with the tying run at the plate.
Perhaps one of the biggest risers on prospect charts in the Angels system this year was Jorge Marcheco, a 20-year-old (turned 20 on August 6) Cuban right-hander who signed last September for $350,000. After throwing a statistical no-hitter and near perfect game in three games with the DSL affiliate in 2021 (retired 27 of 28 batters with 20 strikeouts, only one to reach base was via a hit by pitch), Marcheco didn’t see the same dominance in Arizona (though who would expect that?) but still put together a solid showing for the year while encroaching on some affiliate records. In his 50.2 innings, Marcheco struck out 76 batters, the sixth most in affiliate history and most since 2009. Marcheco works mostly 89-93 with his fastball while incorporating a swing-and-miss curve and changeup/splitter that he can manipulate. There’s a limited ceiling to his game but he has backend of the rotation kind of stuff with present command indicators he could reach that ceiling.
No one made as loud a presence at the start of the Angels development season as Walbert Urena, an 18-year-old Dominican right-hander. Hitting 100 in his stateside debut, Urena was a surprising unknown in prospect circles who despite being a six-figure signing in March 2021 ($140K). The triple digits didn’t come as common over the full season but there was plenty of arm strength and velo to dream on as he worked mostly off of his fastball that ranged 95-97. His secondaries have some progressive signs though are identifiable out of the arm, with his changeup being the better of the pair and his slider being inconsistent and rarely flashing more than average. He struggled to find the strike zone and lagged in fastball command but a solid athlete there are hopes he can work around the zone with that heat. Undersized at six-foot, it’s likely he will be a premium velo reliever type.
Caden Dana received the highest bonus ever among players taken after the 10th round in the bonus pool era at $1.4975M and the initial returns show that record bonus was well earned. Though he got limited time after the draft, the New Jersey prep arm had back-to-back scoreless outings – both two innings each – to kick off his pro career and ended his summer in a do-or-die game where he allowed one run over two and two/third innings. It’s too small a sample to really rely on any of his performance numbers, but the reports indicate he was able to hold what he showed during his prep season and showcase summer going into his senior year. Working mostly with a two-pitch mix, Dana will work in the low 90’s mostly but has been upwards of 95-96. The fastball is his primary weapon currently as he shows enough command of it to play with it around the zone and elevate in late counts, though it is hittable due to its minimal movement. Dana also has a high-spin curveball that he has struggled to locate but the pitch at raw is an above-average offering and will only improve with command. A project in every sense, Dana is a big-bodied kid at six-foot-four with athleticism and physicality whose strength and arm speed should be able to keep him as a starter through development. There’s a high ceiling to be tapped into but it won’t be an overnight miracle and he could be set for a lengthy development.
It's rare for a 19-year-old rookie ball reliever to garner much attention, but Sandi Charle’s on mound improvement have made him an intriguing arm in the lower tiers of the Angels system. Tall and lean like an NBA shooting guard, Charle has long limbs and comes at you with size and aggression but has shown much better body control which aided to his strike-throwing improvements. His breaking ball has good velo and shape and can be a swing-and-miss pitch as it plays off of his low 90’s fastball with deception. He’s a relief only type but one to monitor.
After three years at Texas-Rio Grande Valley and a brief stint in Indy Ball, Christian Sepulveda signed with the Angels in April. Splitting time between Arizona and High-A Tri-City, Sepulveda was an elder statesman who performed well in Arizona posting a 146 wRC+ with five home runs, among the most total over the last half decade. Spending most of his time at shortstop as an amateur, Sepulveda played the corner infield for the year. He’s organization depth but put together a notable performance in 2022.
Signing the same day as his island counterpart Marcheco, Anthony Scull came to the Angels for $235,000 in September of 2021 and has turned a few heads in the process. The son of former Cuban baseball star and Olympian, Antonio, Scull has a swing reminiscent of his father with a closed stance, short load, and good bat speed. His season was limited to 13 games after initially starting the year in Boca Chica, and when in Arizona he displayed his offensive prowess hitting .306 with an .807 OPS. Focus will fall on the bat as he’s not as strong an athlete as other outfielders in the system, but a corner platoon bat could be in his ceiling. At just 18-years-old, the Angels have plenty of time with Scull.
The top international signee from 2021 who came to the Angels for $2 million, Denzer Guzman kept his head above water through the course of the Arizona Complex season while his performance was moderately better than league average, but age relevancy and physical based numbers indicate it was better than the on-paper product. Guzman, 18, was able to hit for a 109 wRC+ with 11 doubles and three home runs in 192 plate appearances which is fine for a blossoming prospect younger than the core of the league. He’s still growing into his frame and more power can be expected though it is likely he’ll have below-average power. His feel for hitting and finding the barrel though will keep interest in seeing him as a potential everyday player, and in particular, his defensive traits. Playing at the premium position of shortstop where he played solely in the CPX, Guzman makes smart decisions in the field and had the quick feet to make regular and challenging plays at the position, supported by a strong arm. Prior to the Angels drafting Zach Neto, Guzman was the prospect seen as the most likely to stay at shortstop long term. Following the complex league season, he earned a promotion to Low-A Inland Empire where he’s expected to begin in 2023.
After spending his debut pro season as a leadoff man in the Dominican, Jorge Ruiz picked up where he left off as the consistent leadoff man in Arizona where he outperformed himself upon coming stateside with a 122 wRC+ while making smarter decisions at the plate. A contact-focused hitter from the left-side, the 18-year-old outfielder was more aggressive at the plate which allowed him to stay in hitter’s counts and cut down his strikeout rate and SwSt% (14.1%) while adding some more intent to his swing despite still being an upper-body heavy and armsy swinger who has slap tendencies. There is limited to minimal over-the-fence power projection and he’s more set for the gaps and being a 20/30-grade power guy with instinctual baserunning due to his fringe-average speed. A solid athlete, Ruiz is a capable defender in center field and has some depth hopes.
Other Notables: Originally assigned to Low-A Inland Empire, Jenrry Gonzalez was sent back to Arizona where he shined allowing two runs in 20.1 innings with five walks and 32 strikeouts. He’s a low velocity southpaw (87-89) with a decent breaking ball who is finesse-over-stuff. Not dissimilar to Gonzalez is Luis Viloria who is a strike-throwing machine but lacks a true secondary and operates in the mid 80’s. Similar to Gonzalez and Viloria but from the right side is Luis Nunez who has a high 80’s to low 90’s fastball with natural cutting action and a sweepy slider that allows him to work away from right-handers. Nunez allowed three runs in 27.1 innings. Though rehab is usually not notable, it is in the case of Jose Soriano who was once one of the Angels top prospects. Soriano, who was taken by Pittsburgh first overall in the Rule-5 Draft and returned over the winter, has struggled with health his entire career, but when healthy offers an explosive two-pitch mix from an athletic delivery. It was no different in his rehab appearances in Arizona where he sat 96-99 early in outings but fell to 93-96 after an inning. Soriano also has a 2700 RPM slider that has been a swing-and-miss weapon for him throughout his career. One last note on the pitching was Kenyon Yovan transitioning from the plate to the mound (again). A former draft prospect as a pitcher, the Angels signed Yovan (cousin of Keynan Middleton) as a first baseman who hadn’t pitched during his senior year at Oregon. Upon his return to the mound, Yovan has worked 93-96 with a workable breaking ball, and he has dominated since returning to the mound. Matt Coutney, the Angels 10th round selection in 2022, got his post-draft work done in Arizona where his pro debut which included a home run kept the intrigue while the following eight games were lackluster but too small a sample to lean on anything. Coutney is a power bat who is set for first base and maybe some short corner outfield time. Johan Macias had a loud offensive season, batting .322 with an .833 OPS that included 11 extra-base hits in 49 games. The top undrafted player for Arizona was Mason Holt from UL-Monroe who had just 16 games by the end of the season but justice in those games with a .296/.377/.389 slash and six stolen bases, while playing some solid defense in the outfield.

By Taylor Blake Ward, AngelsWin.com Feature Writer
The clock is now down to days before the first name in the 2022 MLB Draft is called. I’ve been gathering information from around the industry to put together my final in-detail mock draft for 2022, and will have a names only one coming just prior to the draft itself on Sunday at 4pm PT.
You can read my first and only other mock for the year, Mock Draft 1.0, from HomePlateView.com from July 1, here
As noted throughout, the top pick will dictate much of the first third of the draft. No one knows what Baltimore is doing with the first pick and won’t up until the name is called. As always, enjoy...
 
1. Baltimore Orioles - Druw Jones, OF, Wesleyan HS (GA)
The entire top of the draft hinges on Baltimore's selection and as record will stand, no one will know what direction Mike Elias and staff are going until just minutes before the selection or potentially even when the selection is made. There are still five names attached to this pick between Jones, Jackson Holliday, Termarr Johnson, Brooks Lee, and Kevin Parada. Everything will come down to price and value that permits them to execute the best use of their bonus surplus and set them up for their second, third, and ongoing picks through the course of the first two days of the draft. Jones is viewed, although not by consensus, as the top player in this draft and may have enough of a gap between the potential "money-saving picks" of Johnson, Lee, and Parada to still merit the top selection and allow Baltimore to swing a talent to their second and third picks at 33 and 42. I believe that if Jones is not the selection, it will be at a reduced deal with Lee, or a very slightly reduced deal with Holliday, with a target on one of the upper-tier arms that suffered injuries over the spring with their next pick.
2. Arizona Diamondbacks - Jackson Holliday, SS, Stillwater HS (OK)
Much less held to secrecy, Arizona's hopeful scenario is that Baltimore passes on Jones, and he is available for them. They don't view Holliday as a consolation prize though as he is seen as their second priority to Jones.
3. Texas Rangers - Elijah Green, OF, IMG Academy (FL)
Similar to Arizona, Texas will have hopes that Baltimore passes on Jones and Holliday with the chance one is at hand here, with Holliday being the more likely scenario. If not, it seems this pick is down to Kevin Parada and Elijah Green, who had a strong showing during a workout at Globe Life Field.
4. Pittsburgh Pirates - Brooks Lee, SS, Cal Poly
It seems this pick is down to a trio if the top three go accordingly, with Lee, Johnson, and Cam Collier in the mix. Lee and Collier continue to gain traction here with Johnson staggering just behind though I wouldn't rule him out. An underslot deal with Cole Young has started to gain some headwind.
5. Washington Nationals - Kevin Parada, C, Georgia Tech
Once again, pending the outcome of the first pick, the third selection may dictate what happens here between Parada and Jacob Berry based upon who Texas takes and whether or not Parada is available.
6. Miami Marlins - Termarr Johnson, 2B, Mays HS (GA)
This pick seems less likely determined by the top pick as it does by the fourth. Though college bats come up more often here and this would be the apparent floor for Parada, I still think Johnson is near the top of their board. If Pittsburgh does swing for Collier instead of Lee and neither are underslot options for the first pick, I believe Lee lands here. If Texas gets one of Jones or Holliday and Washington opts for Green or Berry over Parada, I believe this is his final outcome (I give these scenarios as alternates since the top of the draft has so many potential outcomes that intertwine together). In this scenario, neither Lee or Parada are available and that would lead to Johnson. I mentioned in my previous mock that Berry could have his ceiling here, though I see Johnson and others above him here. Another option gaining steam over the last week, though I’m not biting on the smoke, is that Miami may go down the board a bit and underslot one of the upside prep arms like Dylan Lesko.
7. Chicago Cubs - Cam Collier, 3B, Chipola JC (FL)
Collier and Johnson have both been long attached to Chicago, with Collier being the preference so it could be a dream scenario for Chicago to get one of their favored bats. There's always a strong chance someone does something unique in the first handful-or-so picks with underslot deals for teams who have supplemental picks, but it seems the seven mentioned here and before are going to be the first seven picks of the draft. If Collier or Johnson is gone, I could see this being the final landing spot for Lee to fill out to top seven. College bats like
8. Minnesota Twins - Jacob Berry, 1B/OF, Louisiana State
Returning quickly to the alternate scenarios, the perceived top seven talents are going in the top seven picks of this mock. By Sunday afternoon, there is just as strong a chance one of them falls out of the first seven selections as there is they all land within that range. There's no guarantee, but I would bet that someone mentioned above this will be available over the next two picks and ripe for the taking. That could leave Minnesota (and Kansas City right after this) in a holding pattern awaiting a potential faller. Back to this mock reality (fun oxymoron that I had to include), I've heard Minnesota on college bats. Berry and Gavin Cross lead the charge.
9. Kansas City Royals - Justin Crawford, OF, Bishop Gorman HS (NV)
After trading the 35th selection in the draft, Kansas City's bonus pool fell by just over $2.2M and went from the fourth largest to their ninth. It likely won't do too much altering with their first selection but it does hinder the chance of landing one of the priority picks in they do fall far enough -- Green in particular. This is the first legitimate underslot bet I've been hearing for some time and actually believe may be a reality between Brock Porter, Brandon Barriera, and Justin Crawford, though I'm hesitant to go Crawford for the diminished bonus and a strong potential suitor with a large bonus pool in the teens (see below). It's also the first place I've heard any pitcher's name tossed in and feel they'll be the first to pull the plug.
10. Colorado Rockies - Gavin Cross, OF, Virginia Tech
I've been told for weeks by multiple industry sources that this is the floor for Berry. When one person says it, it's a poor rumor, but when multiple people say it, it has merit. There's a chance he falls here, but if he's gone, I believe it will be Cross or Porter.
11. New York Mets - Brock Porter, RHP, Orchard St Mary's HS (MI)
With two picks in the teens separated by only two picks between, the Mets have cast a wide net on potential suitors. Crawford has been attached here for a long time and I believe if they like him enough, they could swing him to either pick with their large bonus pool. The Mets have played the draft backwards in the past by taking two underslot deals early and landing their bigger fish with a later pick (i.e., 2019: Brett Baty, Josh Wolf, Matt Allan), though that was without the excess of two high picks and leads me to believe they'll play this draft more straightforward. Pending their confidence in what the Tigers and Angels will do, I see them going upside with their first pick and top of their board with the second. Jett Williams is a name of interest for either pick.
12. Detroit Tigers - Connor Prielipp, LHP, Alabama
Up until the last week, I believed this would be the floor for Jace Jung with very slight risk the Mets would take him ahead of this. Detroit was full hands-on deck for Jung late in the season and I still wouldn't rule it out. But, I have it on good authority, almost to guarantee, that Detroit has pivoted heavily towards Prielipp who impressed during scouted bullpens and at the MLB Draft Combine, and he is set to be the first college arm off the board.
13. Los Angeles Angels - Brandon Barriera, LHP, American Heritage HS (FL)
As this is an Angels Community Fansite & blog, there will be more reader emphasis on the Angels selection due to its paramount readership. As a caveat, it doesn't alter anything to the entirety of the mock and will go according to the information given. I have brash confidence that the Angels will take a pitcher here. Few pitchers, if any, will be selected ahead of them which gives the Angels their most desired arm and surplus to pick from. To my understanding, they have narrowed down who they believe is the top college and prep arm to Gabriel Hughes and Brandon Barriera and will be selecting between the two. The debate of who lingers behind them tends to fall to Justin Campbell on the college side and Robby Snelling on the prep, while Cade Horton and Lesko may be enticing. Kumar Rocker has had rumors in this range, though I'm leery on the Angels being among that group based on some internal comments. It will be noted here as opposed to later: whoever takes Rocker will plausibly have a gameplan of getting him to the big leagues as a reliever by September while in the hunt for the playoffs or impending a roster spot in the postseason. Postscript: belief is that the Angels will not take twenty pitchers with twenty picks.
14. New York Mets - Daniel Susac, C, Arizona
Once again going to the Mets and their creativity, this pick and the one they hold ahead of this have so much variance that plenty can alter between the two and it's a crapshoot as to trying to access what they will do. I do believe that if Crawford is available the Mets would try and swing him here as opposed to at 11 due to how the Tigers and Angels picks are being conceived, and they would target a college bat with their first pick. Instead, with him unavailable, I see them going to the top of their board with my idea being that it is a college bat and Susac being the frontrunner. One name that continues to come up around the teen picks and even prior is Lesko who was seen as the top arm in this class before having Tommy John surgery this spring. Again, there's no dead set feeling here but I could see the 11 and 14 picks being swapped multiple ways with too many players involved to feel any bit of confidence about New York.
15. San Diego Padres - Jett Williams, SS, Rockwall-Heath HS (TX)
Speaking of Lesko, everyone and their mother will believe he's a perfect fit for A.J. Preller and the Padres. I have it on good faith that San Diego is taking a hitter here, but I too am wary of Lesko being available and not being the pick. Of the hitters I've heard mentioned here, Crawford gains the most traction with Jett Williams and Cole Young right behind, with Williams getting the slight nod.
16. Cleveland Guardians - Jace Jung, 2B, Texas Tech
Cleveland shied away from their standard draft model last year with Gavin Williams, only slightly, where they focus on youth for the
class and upside. With that, I could see Crawford, Barriera, or Williams going here and gives me pause on them taking Cole Young. A late rumor I heard as of writing this mock is that Cleveland has hopes of a particular falling talent getting to them in Jung who has rumors of falling down towards the 21st pick, while also having suitors from 8-14, though I don't believe the Mets would take him with either of their picks. Drew Gilbert and Chase DeLauter also seem to be candidates. With Lesko still on the board, I'm once again wary of Cleveland passing.
17. Philadelphia Phillies - Gabriel Hughes, RHP, Gonzaga
Another late rumor I heard while writing this mock is how deep Philadelphia ran in to see Gabriel Hughes during the late stages of the season. I've heard mixed reports on Philadelphia and while keeping things honest, don't have a strong feel for the direction they will go. My belief is that they'll take an arm here and though I'm somewhat confident in the general demographic they'll target I'm much less confident in who that will be. Plenty of teams in this range are interested in Lesko and he could even work his way into the top ten.
18. Cincinnati Reds - Dylan Lesko, RHP, Buford HS (GA)
It might be a pipedream, but I don't think it's out of the realm for Cincinnati to get who they see as the top arm in the class. If Lesko is taken earlier and the Angels go with Hughes, I think this would be Barriera's floor. Zach Neto is also mentioned here, as well as into the late top ten.
19. Oakland Athletics - Chase DeLauter, OF, James Madison
College bat here with some options between DeLauter, Beavers, Drew Gilbert, and Jacob Melton; among others including previously selected.
20. Atlanta Braves - Cade Horton, RHP, Oklahoma
College arms are the talk with Atlanta, and they should have a reserve to pick from. Hughes -- who is believed to not make it past this pick with confidence -- and Campbell are the most common names that come up here. Running back to the trade with Kansas City, I'm curious to see what Atlanta does with the extra $2.2M+ in allotted bonus pool funds. I'm not certain it will alter this pick as much as it will their next, but with the rumors of Horton's bonus demands, it would make sense that they could be getting some extra bank for someone like him, and he seems to be solidly in their mix.
* I said it in my last mock, and I think it bears repeating: Expectation is that there will be a run of college bats that could start upwards of 19 and end somewhere around the start of the supplemental round. During that stretch, there will be players who are not college hitters taken. Mock drafts are an inexact science and are based on information granted by industry sources. At some point, you're going to be wrong while doing a mock, and I'd put big money on this run of college bats being quite different from the real outcome. After that grain-of-salt public service announcement, let's move on. *
21. Seattle Mariners - Zach Neto, SS, Campbell
Another team with a broad mix of potential candidates, I'm hearing college for Seattle with no set direction on bats or arms. My best bet is Seattle sits and hopes for someone to fall, potentially Young who is still available. I believe this is the floor for Neto or Jung who could be the falling talent Seattle could be looking at. Gilbert is in play and is one of the top candidates for each of the next three picks. Other hitters here are the same as Oakland while the pitchers here are Hughes, Horton, or Connor Hjerpe.
22. St. Louis Cardinals - Peyton Graham, SS, Oklahoma
Sticking to my guns from the last mock. This is the first spot I've heard Graham's name attached and I was told to not be surprised by how high he goes. I also could see St. Louis taking a falling talent.
23. Toronto Blue Jays - Drew Gilbert, OF, Tennessee
A lot of the same. Plenty of college bats in the mix, with Gilbert being the preferred.
24. Boston Red Sox - Sterlin Thompson, OF, Florida
I'm going to stick with college bats here, and any of the ones ahead fit. Among this group is Jordan Beck, though I am leery to Colorado trying to swing Beck towards their supplement picks, as they do have some interest in him with their 10th overall selection.
25. New York Yankees - Brock Jones, OF, Stanford
The Yankees have been keeping up with the Jones', Brock and Spencer. It's the first landing spot I've heard for either but there seems to be real smoke that could be a fire on either here. There is some noise to the Yankees looking at Mikey Romero of Southern California for their second-round pick.
26. Chicago White Sox - Connor Hjerpe, LHP, Oregon State
Hjerpe is more likely destined for one of the picks ahead of this where I mentioned that it won't strictly be college bats. His range is from 18 onwards. If Chicago went with a bat, I could see it being Melton or Toman.
27. Milwaukee Brewers - Justin Campbell, RHP, Oklahoma State
We've reached the throwing darts portion of the mock. I've heard pitching with Milwaukee, and they'll have plenty to choose from.
28. Houston Astros - Jacob Melton, OF, Oregon State
Sticking and probably ending with the run of college bats. No real connection here, just going with the gut.
29. Tampa Bay Rays - Jacob Miller, RHP, Liberty Union HS (OH)
If you go back to my pick for the Braves, this is my secondary landing spot for Horton due to the same reasons mentioned: lots of bonus pool. There are so many directions the Rays can go, and it seems like every year they do something off the charts. Miller is the kind of arm they've shown interest in in the past, but I don't have any real connections for them either.
30. San Francisco Giants - Dylan Beavers, OF, California
San Francisco is another broad range team with their first selection, and it seems natural as we're at the end of the natural first round. They have been linked to high upside preps and solidified college hitters. I could see them taking one of the previously mentioned bats if one were to fall, or go directly to upside arms and take Snelling, Jackson Ferris, or even swing big on Rocker.
 
SUPPLEMENTAL ROUND A
31. Colorado Rockies – Jordan Beck, OF, Tennessee
32. Cincinnati Reds – Robby Snelling, LHP, McQueen HS (NV)
33. Baltimore Orioles – Carson Whisenhunt, LHP, East Carolina
34. Arizona Diamondbacks – Thomas Harrington, RHP, Campbell
35. Atlanta Braves – Tucker Toman, 3B, Hammond HS (SC)
36. Pittsburgh Pirates – Cole Young, SS, North Alleghany HS (PA)
37. Cleveland Guardians – Blake Tidwell, RHP, Tennessee
38. Colorado Rockies – Kumar Rocker, RHP, Tri-City (Independent League)
39. San Diego Padres - Henry Bolte, OF, Palo Alto HS (CA)
Supplemental Notes: Colorado has some interest in Beck with their 10th pick and have the bonus pool to swing him down though I believe he'll go ahead of this. Toman, Snelling, and Young are all likely to go earlier in the first round, but someone will swing some tend talents to the supplement and second round; Young is the most interesting at Pittsburgh has a rumored under slot deal early in the draft. Rocker will go somewhere in the first round though no one seems to know where; my best bet is he files in between the college hitters.

By Rob Goldman, AngelsWin.com Contributor
Of all of Nolan Ryan's achievements, few garnered more attention than the 20-second skirmish between Ryan and veteran third baseman Robin Ventura in 1993. The fight has come to symbolize his Texas toughness, and it made Ryan a symbol of middle-age defiance.
Much has been made about the "Ventura Fight" but most don't realize its roots started three years earlier in Florida.
In the 1990s, Chicago's Craig Grebeck was one of baseball's smallest everyday players. Just 5'7", he compensated for his lack of stature with the attitude of Goliath.
During a spring training game against the Rangers in 1990, Grebeck hit a home run on the first pitch and pumped his fists triumphantly as he jogged around the bases. Sitting on the Rangers bench, Ryan stared at the Lilliputian and made a mental note.
A few months later the Rangers were at Comiskey Park. Ryan was on the mound, and Grebeck hit a home run off him. As he had in Florida, Grebeck whooped it up rounding the bases. When Ryan got back to the bench, he asked pitching coach Tom House, "Who is that boy?"
House told him Grebeck's name.
"How old is he?" asked Ryan next. “He looks like he's about 12."
"He's pretty young," said House.
"Well, I'm gonna put some age on the little squirt. He's swinging like he isn't afraid of me."
"Sure enough," recalls House, "next time up [in the teams' next meeting], plunk! Nolan hits him right in the friggin' back. Grebeck was 0-for the rest of the year off him."
Thus began three seasons of constant strife between the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox.
"It didn't help," says House, "that Chicago hitting coach Walt Hriniak taught his hitters to cover the outside third of the plate. He even had his hitters dive toward the plate in order to cover the outside corner.
"That was encroaching on Ryan's turf. His fastball spent so much time on the outside half it could have taken up residence there. 'Half the plate's yours, half is mine,' was Ryan's thinking. ‘you don't know what half I want. But if you're going to take away half of the plate that I want, you're gonna pay.'
"He hit a bunch of White Sox. They had a philosophy that didn't quite fit in with Nolan's philosophy, and we had three or four fights with them, because Nolan would pitch into hitters that were diving."
Robin Ventura disagrees. It wasn't batting stances that caused the friction, he says, but a good old-fashioned bean-ball war.
"Hriniak didn't have anything to do with it," Ventura claims. "At the time in baseball the zone was low and away, and that was where pitchers were getting you out. We weren't the only team doing it. It was the kind of pitch that was getting called, so you just had to be able to go out and get it."
In any case, altercations between the two teams accelerated:
-August 17, 1990: Ryan hit Grebeck again in his first at-bat on the first pitch. Three innings later the Sox retaliated by hitting Rangers third baseman Steve Buechele.
-September 6, 1991: Ryan hit Ventura in the back at Arlington.
-August 2, 1993: Two days before the Ventura fight, Roger Pavlik of the Rangers hit Ron Karkovice. Chicago retaliated by hitting Dean Palmer twice and Mario Diaz once.
"We had a lot of going back and forth that season," says Ventura. "Guys were getting hit regularly, and it was just one of those things where something was going to eventually happen."
The night before the fight, on August 3, the White Sox manhandled the Rangers 11–6. Ryan was slated to start the following day against Alex Fernandez.
In the first inning, Ventura tagged Ryan for an RBI single. In the Rangers' half of the second, Fernandez hit Rangers leadoff batter Juan Gonzalez on a 2-2 pitch. When Ventura came up again in the third frame, Ryan's first pitch plunked him on the back.
"If you look at the replays, the ball wasn't really that far inside," says House. "It was just barely off the plate and it went off Ventura's back. Robin was starting toward first base when he abruptly turns and charges the mound instead. And the closer he got to Nolan, the bigger he looked. If you watch it in stop action, you can see Ryan's eyes were like a deer's in a headlight.
"So everybody was surprised by what Nolan did next: Bam! Bam! Bam! Three punches right on Ventura's noggin!"
Robin Ventura had hit Ryan hard in the first inning, and [Ryan] was trying to keep him off the plate.
"Ventura charged to the mound but he didn't do a good job, and Nolan Ryan grabbed him and hit him pretty good. I was trying to hold [Ventura] off, but they were two big guys. I tried to cover myself because I have a scar on my face, and so I just grabbed [Ventura] from the back but that didn't do much."
Rangers shortstop Jeff Huson watched it unfold from the bench.
"All I could think about when it was happening was, What's Robin thinking?" Huson recalls. "You don't charge the highest authority -- that's just the way it is. I was shocked when he went out there. I remember Nolan saying that early in his career Dave Winfield had charged the mound and he didn't do anything about it, and later he vowed that if anybody ever charged the mound again he was going to take the offensive."
To this day, Ventura maintains it was no big deal and that his reaction was pure instinct.
"Everybody on both teams knew [Ryan] was hitting guys, and the mentality on our club was when he hits us, we're gonna hit one of them. So whoever got hit, I'm sure he would have went. He had hit Grebeck on purpose and he had hit me on purpose. It was going to happen no matter what. It just happened that Ryan was well known. Had it been anyone else, it would have all been forgotten.
"Nobody said 'you had to go, charge the mound,' and we didn't talk about it beforehand. There was so much friction going on between us that eventually whoever got hit was probably going to charge anyway."
Ryan's recollection of the incident echoes House's.
"There was a buildup between the Rangers and the White Sox, and what Tom said was accurate about them diving into the ball," he said. "But Grebeck, their little center fielder, had had a lot of success off me and he was diving into the fastball, so I hit him one time. Not with the intent of hitting him -- I was trying to get him off the plate and back him off, and I hit him.
"Earlier in the year I had a fight with Chicago over them hitting one of our guys, but certainly there hadn't been any issues between Robin Ventura and myself. In that particular game, his first time up I left a fastball out over the plate and Ventura hit a line drive to left field, so I felt like I had to get him off the plate. Next time I came in on him and hit him right behind the shoulder blade, but it wasn't on purpose."
Regarding the rumored bounty supposedly put on him by the Sox, Ryan says, "I heard there was some kind of a vendetta, but do I know that for a
fact or not? I don't know that for certain. As far as I know, Robin just reacted."
When Ventura charged toward the mound, he slowed down just enough to run into a Ryan headlock. Nolan got in four quick right hands on the top of Ventura's head. His fifth and final punch got Ventura square in the face.
Both benches emptied, and the main combatants disappeared under the surge of humanity. Ventura eventually emerged unscathed, but Ryan remained trapped beneath the pile and was nearly unconscious when help came from an unexpected quarter.
"All I remember is that I couldn't breathe," says Ryan. "I thought I was going to black out and die, when all of a sudden I see two big arms tossing bodies off of me. It was [Chicago's] Bo Jackson. He had come to my rescue, and I’m awful glad he did, because I was about to pass out. I called him that night and thanked him."
As two of the game’s biggest stars, Jackson and Ryan were natural rivals. Their friendly feud began in 1989, when Bo was with the Royals. "I had 3-2 on him," recalls Ryan. "I knew if I threw him a curve he'd probably chase it, but instead I threw him a fastball up to see if I could get it by him. As soon as it left my hand I knew I was in trouble, 'cause I knew it was gonna be down. When he hit it, I had to turn to see where it went because I knew he really got it. It turns out he hit it two-thirds up the way in straight-away center field in old Arlington Stadium."
"I was watching Bo as he went around," adds House, "and boy, it was impressive. Two superstars in the moment, and as Bo is jogging around first base, Nolan makes eye contact and Bo makes a gesture like, I gotcha! and Nolan gives him a look like, What the hell is he talking about? "Well, the next time Bo's up, first pitch is a curveball, and Bo was like spaghetti-legged. Nolan struck him out six more times after that. I think he faced Bo 20 times, and struck him out 12 times."
The day after Jackson’s tape-measure home run, when Ryan came out for stretching at 4:30, nobody was on the field.
"I'm thinking, I may have the time wrong, when all of a sudden I hear way off in the distance, ‘Hey, Nolan!’" he recalled. "I look out and the whole team is sitting in the bleachers where the ball landed, and they’re waving at me. They were making sure I wasn't going to forget it."
In a 1990 home game against Kansas City, Jackson led off the second inning with a one-hopper back to the mound that caught Ryan square in the mouth.
"Nolan was more embarrassed than hurt," recalls trainer Bill Ziegler. "He was bleeding like a stuck pig. So in between innings the Rangers team
doctor, Dr. Mycoskie, stitched him up. He pitched the rest of the game with black stitches coming out of his lip and blood all over the place."
Kansas City’s George Brett later said, "Nolan’s scary under normal conditions, but facing him when he was all bloody was another level of intimidation altogether."
The Jackson-Ryan rivalry was rooted in mutual respect, so it wasn’t so surprising that Bo came to his rescue on August 4.
Ruth Ryan was awfully glad he did.
"After Ventura rushed the mound, everyone in the park, including my kids, went wild," recalls Ruth, who was seated in the family section. "When Nolan didn't come out of the pile, I got concerned. With his bad back, sore ribs, and other ailments, he could easily have suffered a career-ending injury."
When Nolan finally did emerge, he was visibly winded and his jersey was unbuttoned. Otherwise, he seemed to be intact. But a few moments later there was more pushing and shoving and the fight resumed. This time, Ryan and Ventura remained on the fringes, but some other players really got into it. Rangers coach Mickey Hatcher had a bloody gash above his eye, and Chicago manager Gene Lamont was taking on all comers. Several White Sox players taunted Ryan and he considered rejoining the fray, but the umpires restrained him.
When it was finally over, Ryan remained in the game and Ventura and Lamont were ejected.
Of all people, Craig Grebeck, whose gesture somewhat precipitated the tension three years earlier, came off the bench to pinch-run for Ventura. Ryan promptly picked him off first.
In a show of stubborn focus, Ryan pitched four more innings. When he left at the end of the seventh, he had struck out five and given up three hits, with one earned run.
Texas won the game 5–2, but the score was really irrelevant.
"It was a split-second thing," Ryan told reporters after the game about his brawl with Ventura. "All you can do is react. you don't have time to figure out your options."
Lamont believed his player getting hit wasn't an accident, and admitted his getting tossed was an act of protest after Ryan was allowed to remain in the game.
"I think our guys felt Nolan hit guys on purpose and that was probably part of the reason Robin charged the mound, and they didn't like it," says Lamont. "I'm also positive there wasn't a vendetta. If there was one, it was without me knowing about it, and if that was the case our players would have been out there a lot quicker than they were."
Leaving the park, Ryan figured he'd heard the end of it, but at the postgame dinner at a nearby restaurant, Reid Ryan and his friends couldn't stop rehashing the action. Brother Reese had videotaped the game, and when the family returned home, he entertained all comers by replaying the brawl over and over.
When Reese asked his dad, who was in the kitchen sorting the mail, if he wanted to view the fight, he responded with a firm no.
He was in a distinct minority. Broadcast networks were showing the fight continuously, and the late-night talk shows picked it up. The next morning the melee was front-page news.
"Remember the Alamo!" George W. Bush proclaimed in the Dallas Daily News. "I saw Nolan square away like a bull and thought, This guy [Ventura] has lost his senses. It was a fantastic moment for the Rangers and elevated [Ryan’s] legend."
Chicago's Jack McDowell insisted Ryan was culpable and was pleased that Ventura charged him. "Ryan had been throwing at batters forever, and no one ever had the guts to do anything about it," the Sox pitcher complained. "Someone had to do it. [Ryan] pulled that stuff wherever he goes."
Fans across America were polarized. Ryan was their perpetual good guy in the white hat, and some didn't know what to make of their hero throwing punches in the middle of the infield.
Arguments raged at dinner tables across America about whether Ryan did the right thing. The Dallas Morning News said it was bad for baseball. Fight Gives Game a Big Black Eye, argued its headline.
When ESPN's Peter Gammons insisted that Ryan hit Ventura on purpose, the pitcher had heard enough.
"If Robin had stopped before he got to the mound, I wouldn't have attacked him," Ryan explained to ESPN. "But when he came out and grabbed me, I had to react to the situation."
Ryan thought the incident would eventually fade, but as time has passed interest in that dustup has never subsided. The Ventura fight has become a part of American folklore, an integral part of Ryan's legacy. Photographs of the fight are as common as postage stamps, clips of it are shown every season, and the clip has been viewed more than million times on YouTube.
For almost two decades the two key combatants never crossed paths. Closure finally came in 2012, when Ventura was named manager of the White Sox. Early that season, Ryan and Ventura discreetly met in the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington tunnel. Ryan congratulated Robin on getting
the manager's job; Ventura gave Ryan kudos for his recent successes in Texas.
"I have nothing but respect for Robin and wished him the best," said Ryan.
A man of his word, as team president Ryan issued a standing order that footage from the fight -- previously shown before Rangers games -- not be played on the scoreboard.
Ventura, who was suspended two games over the incident, harbors no grudges.
"I don't sit around thinking, Oh, my gosh, I should have done different, or whatever. I do get tired of talking about it, though. Mostly it’s press from Texas saying we want to talk to you about it."
Ventura has always been known for his class and affability, and is highly respected in baseball circles. Here's hoping people remember him for something other than being the guy who got in a brawl with Nolan Ryan.
-- Excerpted by permission from Nolan Ryan: The Making of a Pitcher by Rob Goldman. Copyright (c) 2014 by Rob Goldman. Published by Triumph Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Available for purchase from the publisher, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes.

Our old friend Rob Goldman who brought us Once they were Angels, Always an Angel (Tim Salmon biography) and Nolan Ryan - The making of a pitcher and so many historical articles years ago, is back with a video production - Facing Nolan Ryan. Available in theatres on May 24th and at some point on streaming platforms as well. 
You can check your local theatres to see where it will be playing here: https://www.fathomevents.com/events/Facing-Nolan-
Check out the trailer. It looks awesome!! 

by AngelsWin Prospect Posse 
Introduction
Ranking the Angels prospects over the last two seasons has been tricky, largely due to the lost minor league season in 2020; we still don’t know how that will affect prospects in the long-term.
Another factor that has defined the Angels farm recently is that the talent is largely pooled at the lower levels – especially with the graduation of players like Jo Adell, Brandon Marsh, Chris Rodriguez and now, Reid Detmers. Only Detmers has retained his rookie status entering the 2022 season.
What was true last year is still mostly true: While it is not a strong farm system, there is still plenty of upside at the lower levels, with a deeper field of high-floor arms from the 2021 draft, including Sam Bachman, Ky Bush, Landon Marceaux, Chase Silseth, Luke Murphy, and Mason Erla.
Most analysts quite understandably rate the Angels farm system in the bottom third, but there’s a lot of volatility at play. A year from now, the Angels farm could drop further, or it could jump a tier. In other words, 2022 is an important year to assess the actual talent level of the Angels organization, and whether or not that talent will actually start percolating upward more, or trickle away. 
The top 30 is almost evenly split between 16 pitchers and 14 position players. The former tend to be more prep-heavy high-floor types, while the latter is more high risk/reward. Three players on this list—Detmers, Warren, and Ortega—are already on the major league pitching staff, while a couple others—Daniel and Junk—are AAA depth and could see major league time this year. Of the position players, Stefanic and Davis are the only players who could conceivably get major league playing time this year.
As you can see, the list is headlined by two pitching prospects, both with high floors who should be fixtures in the major league pitching staff for years to come. After those two, however, the questions become larger, with a host of mostly very young position players that could be anything from busts to good or better major leaguers, as well as an assortment of arms, mostly brought in through the “Year of the Pitcher” 2021 Amateur Draft.
Each entry includes a Ranking Range, which gives you a sense of how the nine members of the Angelswin Prospect Posse varied. We also included Other Rankings to compare ours to: Baseball America (BA), MLB.com (MLB), and Fangraphs (FG).
On to the list…
 
1. REID DETMERS (LHP, 22, MLB)

Ranking Range: Unanimous #1
Other Rankings: BA 1, MLB 1, FG 1
2021 Stats: AA/AAA: 3.19 ERA in 62 IP, 19 BB, 108 SO; Majors: 7.40 ERA in 20.2 IP, 11 BB and 19 SO.
Our consensus #1 pick is a bit of a no-brainer, combining good upside with a very high floor. Detmers dominated the high minors last year resulting in gaudy peripherals, though struggled in his first cup o’ coffee with the major league club. The Angels liked what they saw in Spring Training, so he’s penciled into the Angels’ rotation to start the year. While he’s going to give up some home runs, his arsenal still speaks of a solid mid-rotation starter or better. We could have our next Chuck Finley: an organizational workhorse whose baseline is that of a mid-rotation starter but could have a year or two better than that.
2. SAM BACHMAN (RHP, 22, AA/IL)

Ranking Range: Unanimous #2
Other Rankings: BA 2, MLB 2, FG 2
2021 Stats: A+: 4.40 ERA in 14.1 IP, 4 BB and 15 SO.
The 2021 first-round draft pick held his own in his first exposure to professional hitters, though it was in very limited time. Bachman could rise quickly, although the Angels will be watching his pitch count. The big question is whether he, due to a somewhat violent delivery, can handle the workload of a starter, or if the Angels will have to eventually transition him to the bullpen where he could be an elite closer. Either way, his stuff is probably the best in the Angels system other than Ohtani—including a fastball that has reached 102 –and his upside is higher than Detmers, although with much more risk. There’s an outside chance he could reach the major league team sometime in the second half, although more likely they’ll protect him and he’ll make his major league debut midseason in 2023. If he stays healthy, he’s going to be very good. Note: As if on cue, Bachman begins the season on the Injured List with back spasms.
3. KYREN PARIS (SS/2B, 20, A+)

Ranking Range: 3-4
Other Rankings: BA 3, MLB 4, FG 10
2021 Stats: Rookie/A/A+: .267/.388/.459 in 47 games, 4 HR, 22 SB
Depending upon who you ask, Paris could either be an above average hitting major league shortstop or a fringe bench guy with limited defensive abilities. On paper, though, it is hard not to like what Paris offers: He sprays line-drives and has plenty of speed to turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples, and may even develop average home run power. The jury is out on his future position: most project him as a second baseman, but he’s young enough that he could stick at short. He hit an impressive .274/.434/.491 in 29 games in low-A Inland Empire, but missed a lot of time due to injury and struggled to adjust in A+ ball. All things told, though, he’s a 20-year-old who could end the season in AA and, in a best-case-scenario, could get his first taste of the majors as soon as the end of 2023.
4. AROL VERA (SS/2B, 19, A)

Ranking Range: 3-7
Other Rankings: BA 7, MLB 3, FG 3
2021 Stats: Rookie/A: .304/.370/.401 in 57 games, 0 HR, 11 SB
The $2 million international signing from 2019 finally made his professional debut, hitting well in the ACL. It remains to be seen whether he can develop the power or plate discipline to become an everyday player in the majors, but the talent is there. If you were to imagine an ideal future for the Angels, it would feature Vera at SS and Paris at 2B, but as with Paris, Vera still has a wide range of outcomes.  
5. JEREMIAH JACKSON (IF, 22, AA)

Ranking Range: 3-6
Other Rankings: BA 5, MLB 8, FG 9
2021 Stats: Rookie/A: .277/.358/.548, 10 HR, 13 SB in 51 games
While he lost a lot of time to injury, Jackson proved in 2021 that the power he displayed in 2019 is legit. His walk rate increased a small amount, but he continued to strikeout at a very high rate. How his plate discipline develops may determine whether he becomes a major league starter. Right now, he looks like a Javier Baez-type with the bat, but he doesn’t have Baez’s defensive skills to fly in the majors, and is probably most likely destined for a platoon role. But there’s significant up-side here: If he develops better plate discipline and refines his defense, he could be one of those rarest of jewels: a power-hitting shortstop in the majors.
6. KY BUSH (LHP, 22, A+)


Ranking Range: 4-10
Other Rankings: BA 6, MLB 5, FG 5
2021 Stats: A+: 4.50 ERA, 5 BB, 20 SO in 12 IP.
The Angels 2nd round pick in the 2021 amateur draft, Bush struggled with command in college, but has enough to his arsenal to give him a chance at a major league rotation spot. Look for 2022 to be a year of refinement, but he could also have a Daniel-esque season and rise quickly if things come together. His likely future is as a good reliever or back-end starter, but he’s got a very good chance of being a major leaguer.
7.  DENZER GUZMAN (SS, 18, R)

Ranking Range: 5-12
Other Rankings: BA 9, MLB 6, FG 4
2021 Stats: DR Rookie: .213/.311/.362, 3 HR, 11 SB in 44 games.
The Angels’ top international signing early last year, Guzman has a promising hit tool, although it remains to be seen whether he sticks at short. At 18, he’s got a long road ahead of him, but look for his hitting skills to start manifesting in the stat line this year, probably stateside in the ACL.
8. ALEXANDER RAMIREZ (OF, 19, A)

Ranking Range: 5-12
Other Rankings: BA 10, MLB 12, FG 22
2021 Stats: Rookie/A: .206/.323/.367, 5 HR, 4 SB in 54 games
There’s a good argument that, with the graduation of Adell and Marsh, Ramirez is the highest upside bat in the Angels farm system. But he’s very raw at this point, with excellent bat speed and power, but strikes out a ton. His stat line is deceptive, as he hit quite well in 35 Rookie ball games (.276/.396/.512) before being completely overmatched in 19 A-ball games (.083/.185/.111). One could imagine a future anywhere from Manny Ramirez to Jabari Blash.
9. JORDYN ADAMS (CF, 22, A+)

Ranking Range: 9-15
Other Rankings: BA 4, MLB 7, FG 6
2021 Stats: A+ .217/.290/.311, 5 HR, 18 SB in 71 games.
Of all the players on this list, none are as in the hot-seat as Adams. Two years ago, he was sometimes mentioned in the same breath as Adell and–some even claiming his upside was higher. Certainly, the athleticism is there: he’s probably the fastest player in the organization, is a strong defensive center fielder with elite potential, and has a bit of pop to his bat. But at this point, he’s still a raw talent who has not only shown little improvement in three minor league seasons, but took a step back last year, with almost no signs of a refined plate approach; or to put it another way, he ended 2019 in A+ and is starting 2022 in A+. At 22, it is too soon to give up on Adams, but he’s going to require patience. At this point he probably projects as a toolsy fourth outfielder, which would be a disappointment because the talent is there to be so much more. 
10. EDGAR QUERO (C, 19, A)

Ranking Range: 7-20
Other Rankings: BA 27, MLB 9, FG 12
2021 Stats: Rookie/A: .240/.405/.463, 5 HR, 2 SB in 39 games
Quero was one of the biggest surprises in the Angels minor league system last year, and gives the organization an actual catching prospect to dream on. But at this point, it is just that: a dream. The potential is there, both offensively and defensively, to be a major league regular, but it is really too soon to predict what he might become. Most scouts seem to indicate his offensive potential is more tied to his hit tool than power.
11. DAVIS DANIEL (RHP, 25, AAA)
Ranking Range: 10-20
Other Rankings: BA 13, MLB 13, FG 13
2021 Stats: A+/AA/AAA: 4.08 ERA, 34 BB, 154 SO in 114.2 IP
After missing the 2019 season due to injury, Daniel jumped two levels in his professional debut. He dominated A+ (2.31 ERA in 46.2 IP) and AA (2.68 ERA in 47 IP) but was bombed in AAA, giving up 7 home runs in 21 innings (10.29 ERA). At the very least, Daniel could be an above average middle reliever, but could conceivably get major league starts this year and still has a chance for a spot in the Angels rotation.
12. ADRIAN PLACENCIA (2B, 19, A)
Ranking Range: 16-Honorable Mention
Other Rankings: BA 17, MLB 10, FG 8
2021 Stats: Rookie: .175/.326/.343, 5 HR, 3 SB in 175 PA.
A strange stat-line for Placencia: He put up a passable OBP despite hitting .175, due to 28 walks in 43 games. Placencia started strong, with a .903 OPS through his first 18 games, but then struggled afterwards. All we can really say at this point is that he’s a work-in-progress with good offensive potential.
13. BRENDON DAVIS (IF, OF, 24, AAA)
Ranking Range: 10-Honorable Mention
Other Rankings: BA 33, MLB 22, FG 29
2021 Stats: A+/AA/AA: .290/.362/.561, 30 HR, 16 SB in 545 PA
On one hand, Davis is another middle infielder with power but a ton of swing-and-miss. On the other, he dominated three levels, and his AAA performance (.333/.409/.641 in 31 games) was his best. At the very least, this was a great waiver pick-up by the Angels, and if Davis is capable of playing adequately at multiple positions—he played a bit of SS, 2B, 3B, and LF last year—he could be a useful player going forward.
14. JACK KOCHANOWICZ (RHP, 21, A)
Ranking Range: 8-27
Other Rankings: BA 25, MLB 16, FG 26
2021 Stats: A: 6.91 ERA, 35 BB and 73 SO in 83.1 IP
An ugly first professional season for Kochanowicz, who have up a ton of hits (102), and it wasn’t like he improved as the season progressed: he was hit hard all year long. On the other hand, it was his first year in live games--after being drafted in 2019, he didn’t play and then lost 2020 to the pandemic--and at this point in his development, the stats are secondaery.. Kochanowicz is another wait-and-see prospect: we just don’t know how he’ll develop, although there’s room for optimism, with his big frame and projectible stuff, and reportedly good mental make-up. He’s a solid break-out candidate for 2022.
15. MICHAEL STEFANIC (IF, 26, AAA)
Ranking Range: 9 – Honorable Mention
Other Rankings: BA 22, MLB 27, FG NR
2021 Stats: AA/AAA: .336/.408/.493, 17 HR, 6 SB in 554 PA
Stefanic has quietly ascended the minor league ladder, from being an undrafted and unsigned player in 2018 to dominating two levels of the minors last year, and impressing in Spring Training this year. He’s going to hit for average in the majors and has a bit of pop; he lacks speed and there are concerns about his defense, but none other than Joe Maddon declared that his defense has “been actually better than I was told.” Stefanic is the type of player it is fun to root for, and he’ll almost certainly get his chance in the majors sometime this year. 
16. JANSON JUNK (RHP, 26, AAA)
Ranking Range: 8 – Not Ranked
Other Rankings: BA 18, MLB 11, FG 7
2021 Stats: Majors: 3.86 ERA, 2 BB, 10 SO in 16.1 IP; AA: 2.81 ERA, 27 BB, 97 SO in 93 IP
With a name like this, Junk is just destined for a major league career. Brought over from the Yankees in the Andrew Heaney deal, Junk pitched very well in AA and earned a call-up, holding his own in 16.2 IP. As the season starts, he’s first in line in AAA to get a call-up if the Angels have need for a starter. He’s generally seen as either a back-end starter or middle reliever, but he’s got one of the highest floors among Angels pitching prospects.
 
17. COLEMAN CROW (RHP, 21, AA)
Ranking Range: 15-30
Other Rankings: BA 28, MLB 23, FG NR
2021 Stats: A: 4.19 ERA, 29 BB, 62 SO in 62.1 IP.
After Crow was drafted in the 28th round in 2019 out of high school, and given a fifth-round bonus to convince him to opt out of his college commitment, he didn’t pitch in 2019 and lost 2020 to the pandemic, and thus is a bit of a sleeper prospect. Perhaps most noteworthy is his AZFL performance: in 17 IP he walked 2 and struck out 20, with a 1.59 ERA. By season’s end, he’s a good bet to be knocking at the door of our top 10.
18. NELSON RADA (16, OF, R)
Ranking Range: 11 – Not Ranked
Other Rankings: BA NR, MLB 20, FG NR
2021 Stats: NA
Consider this: Venezuelan center fielder Nelson Rada was born in 2005. He also wears braces and thinks he could be Ken Griffey Jr. As with his fellow 2021-22 international signee Randy DeJesus, he’s really only one to dream on at this point, and we should probably learn our lesson from Trent Deveaux and D’Shawn Knowles. 
19. MASON ALBRIGHT (LHP, 19, A)
Ranking Range: 13 – Not Ranked
Other Rankings: BA 29, MLB 14, FG 14
2021 Stats: Rookie: 0.00 ERA, 2 BB, 8 SO in 8 IP
Another high school pitcher bought out of his commitment to enter the Angels farm system with the largest bonus ever given to a player outside of the first 10 rounds.
20. AUSTIN WARREN (RHP, 26, MLB)
Ranking Range: 9 – Not Ranked
Other Rankings: BA 11, MLB 17, FG 21
2021 Stats: Majors: 1.77 ERA, 5 BB, 20 SO in 20.1 IP
Warren was surprisingly good in his major league call-up last year, earning him a spot in 2022’s bullpen. But it is probably worth reminding ourselves that his minor league career, while solid, isn’t quite as good as his MLB debut would imply. 
21. LANDON MARCEAUX (RHP, 22, A+)
Ranking Range: 9 – Not Ranked
Other Rankings: BA 9, MLB 15, FG 25
2021 Stats: Rookie: 14.73 ERA, 0 BB, 6 SO in 3.2 IP
Marceaux pitched batting practice for a few innings last year, but still features as a high floor college arm that should rise relatively quickly. His best quality is his command, which takes his rather pedestrian stuff up a notch. Perhaps more than any other 2021 draftee, he exemplifies the Angels strategy of filling out the minors with usable arms. In another year or two, he’ll be a very nice depth piece for the major league club.
22. CHASE SILSETH (RHP, 22, AA)
Ranking Range: 16-30
Other Rankings: BA 12, MLB 18, FG 28
2021 Stats: Rookie/AA: 10.13 ERA, 1 BB, 7 SO in 5.1 IP
Take Marceaux, and rinse and repeat: at least as far as the 2021 draft strategy. But Silseth has better stuff and is thus more of a higher upside, lower floor variation on the theme. His main concern is durability, which may imply that a move to the bullpen is in his future. But he could be a quick riser.
23. WERNER BLAKELY (IF, 20, A)
Ranking Range: 14 – Not Ranked
Other Rankings: BA 23, MLB 24, FG 20
2021 Stats: Rookie: .182/.339/.284, 3 HR, 15 SB in 186 PA
Not a promising professional debut for Blakely. But consider that he went 1-for-50 to end the season, and was hitting .241/.382/.380 through 32 games played at the end of August. His walk rate is encouraging, and he’s got enough tools that there’s a path before him towards a major league job, probably as a utility in fielder, but he’s quite raw at this point.
24. ALEJANDRO HIDALGO (RHP, 19, A)
Ranking Range: 16 – Not Ranked
Other Rankings: BA 34, MLB 19, FG 11
2021 Stats: Rookie: 4.67 ERA, 9 BB, 31 SO in 27 IP
Signed out of Venezuela in July of 2019, Hidalgo fits in nicely with the other second tier Angels pitching prospects: He’s got a good chance of reaching the majors, but with limited upside.
25. LUKE MURPHY (RHP, 22, AA)
Ranking Range: 18 - 29
Other Rankings: BA 20, MLB 29, FG 36
2021 Stats: A+: 3.00 ERA, 1 BB, 15 SO in 9 IP
Another example of the Angels’ Year of the Pitcher, in terms of the amateur draft. In case you’re counting, he’s the fifth guy on this list – after Bachman, Bush, Marceaux, and Silseth. With a strong fastball-slider combo, Murphy could ascend quickly and be ready for the major league bullpen sometime within the next year or two.
26. OLIVER ORTEGA (RHP, 25, MLB)
Ranking Range: 14 – Honorable Mention
Other Rankings: BA 21, MLB NR, FG 34
2021 Stats: Majors: 4.82 ERA, 2 BB, 4 SO in 9.1 IP; AA/AAA: 5.48 ERA, 18 BB, 61 SO in 42.2 IP
It seems that Ortega has been hanging around the last third of this list for years upon years. He finally reached the majors in 2021, and is set to join the bullpen this year. He has very dominant stuff, but also a penchant for walks and inconsistency all around. Meaning, he’s the type of pitcher who, if used properly and with a bit of improvement in his control, could be a positive contributor to the major league bullpen.
27. ROBINSON PINA (RHP, 23, AA)
Ranking Range: 19 – Not Ranked
Other Rankings: BA NR, MLB NR, FG 34
2021 Stats: A/A+/AA: 4.44 ERA, 56 BB, 140 SO in 95.1 IP
It is hard not to take notice of those 140 SO in 95.1 IP last year, but also hard to ignore the 56 walks. Pina had quite a wild ride in 2021, starting the year by struggling in five starts in A+ Tri-City (7.20 ERA in 15 IP), then was demoted to A-level Inland Empire where he dominated in four starts (1.19 ERA in 22.2 IP), then pitched well back in Tri-City (3.40 ERA in 42.1 IP), before being promoted to AA Rocket City, where he got shelled in four starts (9.39 ERA in 15.1 IP).
28. ADAM SEMINARIS (LHP, 23, A+)
Ranking Range: 17 – Not Ranked
Other Rankings: BA NR, MLB NR, FG 18
2021 Stats: A/A+ 4.86 ERA, 26 BB and 112 SO in 83.1 IP
The Angels’ 5th round pick from the 2020 draft out of Long Beach, Seminaris may be one of the pitchers on this list most likely to eventually reach the majors, although probably as a middle reliever. A lefty with mediocre stuff, Seminaris is athletic and with a plus change-up. His performance improved throughout last year, with a 2.84 ERA in his four A+ starts.
29. MASON ERLA (RHP, 24, AA)
Ranking Range: 17 – Not Ranked
Other Rankings: BA 24, MLB 25, FG 27
2021 Stats: Rookie/A+ 1.23 ERA, 0 BB and 11 SO in 7.1 IP.
A late round pick in 2021, yet another highish floor pitcher that the Angels filled the draft with. His stuff is quite good, with a fastball in the 94-97 range but a violent delivery that make him an injury risk. But he’s the type of player who could be in Anaheim within the next year or two, and be a strong bullpen piece.
30. D’SHAWN KNOWLES (OF/IF, 21, A)
Ranking Range: 22 – Not Ranked
Other Rankings: BA 14, MLB 30, FG NR
2021 Stats: A: .227/.280/.355, 5 HR, 31 SB in 393 PA
There are two silver linings to Knowles’ disappointing year: One, he dominated the base-paths, getting caught in just one out of 32 attempts; two, he played eight games at shortstop, somewhat adequately (although committed 3 errors). After a surprisingly good debut in 2018, Knowles’ prospect status has fallen each year. Yet he still has the skill-set to become a 4th outfielder, and the Angels might be considering a multi-positional future for him.
HONORABLE MENTIONS IN BRIEF
Other prospects that received a top 30 vote from at least one of our nine members include:
For pitchers, Jose Marte saw a few innings last year for the Angels and contended for a bullpen job out of spring, and is part of the AAA “extended bullpen.” Elvis Peguero – see Jose Marte. Hector Yan’s stock has fallen with reduced velocity; if he can get it back, he has a future as an Ortega-esque reliever. Stiward Aquino has been around forever (well, since 2017 in Rookie ball), but hasn’t really advanced due to an assortment of injuries. Ah, William Holmes, formerly English – wherefore art thou? Erik Rivera tantalized in his first pro start last year in A ball, but then promptly got injured – but don’t sleep on him as a promising pitcher. Fernando Guanare is very young, but he dominated the DSL last year, walking only 1 batter while striking out 49 in 46 IP – definitely keep your eye(s) on him.
For position players, the Angels hope that David MacKinnon could be a solid OBP bench piece – he’s another older minor league hand who has transformed from non-prospect to fringy. Some like Orlando Martinez’s bat; he’s a high floor, low ceiling bench type, but good defensively in the outfield who could play all three spots. Livan Soto has settled in as a bench prospect but could be useful on a major league bench for his defensive skills.The speedy David Calabrese disappointed in his first taste of professional ball, so his prospect stock dropped, but he’s still worth keeping an eye on. Natanael Santana, another toolsy outfielder, is raw but very athletic and just missed the cut. Randy DeJesus is the Knowles to Rada’s Deveaux in terms of being major international outfield signees this past offseason; the 17-year old is a big guy with a potentially big bat.  
Last but not least, we’ll have an especially honorable mention for Kevin Maitan, if only for Scotty’s sake; we haven’t forgotten you, Kevin, for better or worse.

SHOHEI OHTANI NAMED 2021 AMERICAN LEAGUE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
First unanimous A.L. MVP since Mike Trout in 2014
ANAHEIM – Angels RHP/DH Shohei Ohtani today was named the 2021 American League Most Valuable Player in an announcement made by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). It marks the first career A.L. MVP award for Ohtani, who previously won the 2016 Most Valuable Player Award in Nippon Professional Baseball’s Pacific League.
Ohtani garnered all 30 first place votes for a total of 420 points in the balloting process, 151 points ahead of second place finisher Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays (269 points). Ohtani becomes just the 19th unanimous winner of a BBWAA MVP Award (11th in A.L. history) and the first since Bryce Harper won N.L. MVP honors in 2015. He becomes the second Japanese-born player to receive MVP honors in the Major Leagues, joining Ichiro Suzuki (2001). Additionally, he is just the third starting pitcher to win A.L. MVP in the last 50 years, following Roger Clemens (1986) and Justin Verlander (2011).
The 27-year-old captures the Angels sixth MVP award in franchise history, following Don Baylor (1979), Vladimir Guerrero (2004) and Mike Trout (2014, 2016 & 2019). The Angels are the first team to win four MVP awards in an eight-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 Texas Rangers with Juan González (1996, 1998), Iván Rodríguez (1999) and Alex Rodriguez (2003).
As a hitter, Ohtani ranked in the Top 10 in the American League in triples (8; 1st), extra-base hits (80; 2nd), slugging (.592; 2nd), OPS (.965; 2nd), home runs (46; 3rd), walks (96; 3rd), total bases (318; T4th), stolen bases (26; 5th), OBP (.372; 5th) and runs scored (103; 8th). On the mound, he went 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA (130.1 IP – 46 ER) and 156 strikeouts in 23 starts, while holding opponents to a .207 average (98/473). He led the Majors with a 9.1 bWAR and became the first player in MLB history to record 10+ HR as a hitter and 100+ strikeouts as a pitcher in the same season.
This summer, Ohtani became the first MLB player to ever be selected to the All-Star Game as both a pitcher and position player and started the game as both the A.L. starting pitcher and designated hitter. Additionally, he was named the American League Player of the Month for both June and July, becoming the first player to win consecutive A.L. Player of the Month Awards since Josh Hamilton (April/May 2012).
THE HITTER - Ranked in Top 10 in the American League in triples (8; 1st), extra-base hits (80; 2 nd), slugging (.592; 2nd), OPS (.965; 2nd), home runs (46; 3rd), walks (96; 3rd), total bases (318; T4 th), stolen bases (26; 5 th), OBP (.372; 5 th) and runs scored (103; 8th). One of two players in American League history with 45+ HR and 25+ SB in a season, joining Jose Canseco (1998). One of six players in American League history with 45+ HR and 8+ triples in a season, joining Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx and Jim Rice. Led the Majors with 25 home runs with a 110+ MPH exit velocity. Established new single-season home run record for a Japanese-born player (previously 31 by Hideki Matsui in 2004)
THE PITCHER - Opponents batted .087 (11/127) against his splitter; lowest batting average for any pitch in the Majors (min. 110 PA)  Allowed two-or-fewer runs in 17 of 23 starts…Took seven no-decisions in starts with 5+ IP and two-or-fewer runs allowed. Led American League with a .818 winning percentage, ranked third with a .207 opponent batting average, was fifth with 10.77 strikeouts per nine innings and ranked 10th with a 28.9% swing and miss rate (min. 125 IP). Was one of four A.L. starting pitchers to reach 100+ MPH with at least 11 pitches this season. Went 6-0 with a 1.95 ERA (78.1 IP – 17 ER) and 93 strikeouts in 13 home starts
TWO-WAY - Made 14 pitching starts while also holding at least a share of the Major League home run lead o First pitcher to make multiple pitching starts in a season while leading Majors in home runs since Babe Ruth (1919).  First player in MLB history to record 10+ HR as a hitter and 100+ strikeouts as a pitcher in the same season. First player in MLB history with 20+ stolen bases and 10+ pitching appearances in the same season. Batted for himself in 20 of 23 pitching starts; first pitcher ever to hit for himself 3+ times in games where a DH is available
ALL-STAR - First MLB player to ever be selected to the All-Star Game as both a pitcher and position player. Started the All-Star Game as both the A.L. starting pitcher and starting DH o Earned the win for the A.L. after working a perfect 1st inning. Competed in the Home Run Derby and totaled 28 home runs, including six 500+ ft. HR (most in the Statcast era)
AWARDS - American League Most Valuable Player. Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award. Silver Slugger Award. Players Choice Awards: Player of the Year & A.L. Outstanding Player. Sporting News MLB Player of the Year, Baseball America MLB Player of the Year & Baseball Digest MLB Player of the Year. Two-time American League Player of the Month – June & July. Two-time American League Player of the Week – June 14 – June 20 & June 28 - July 4. ESPY Award – Best MLB Player. TIME Magazine 100 Most Influential People in the World. Angels Most Valuable Player & Nick Adenhart Award

Statements from Mike Trout, Joe Maddon and Perry Minasian:
Angels OF Mike Trout – “Shohei’s season was nothing short of electric. At times, I felt like I was back in Little League. To watch a player throw eight innings, hit a home run, steal a base and then go play right field was incredible. What impresses me the most about him though, is the way he carries himself both on and off the field. With so much on his plate daily, he still manages to do it with a smile. Congratulations Shohei!”
Angels Manager Joe Maddon – “Shohei came to the States to play among the best on both sides of the ball and he accomplished that mission on the highest level. Knowing him, this award is going to serve as motivation to exceed his previous accomplishments. I cannot wait to watch how his game helps push us to our goal of playing in the last game of the season and winning it. Congratulations to Shohei and his entire family on this special honor.”
Angels General Manager Perry Minasian – “Shohei had an outstanding season and his talent speaks for itself. It was a privilege watching him on the field on a daily basis, as well as seeing his commitment to improving his craft. He is a great teammate, works incredibly hard on every aspect of the game and this award is very well deserved.”

By AngelsWin.com's Chuck Richter, David Saltzer
When the Angels signed Shohei Ohtani in December, 2017, they knew that they were getting a special player. How special, though, remained to be seen. They knew he had a power arm and a power bat, but no one in a century had combined both in a full season of baseball. 
This year, Ohtani is having an unprecedented year. Fans are literally seeing history made every night, whether it’s through his hitting or his pitching. Sometimes it’s with both.
But the power of Ohtani extends far beyond the field. Not only does he have a massive American following, he has the power to draw fans from all over the world.
One of those fans is gal from Japan that we had the privilege of talking to. She goes by the handle Pikichin on Twitter. She was traveling throughout Africa at the time when she decided to come to see Ohtani play in the states.
When she first came to see Ohtani, she had heard about his successes, but “I was just rooting for him and didn't have the passion to call myself a fan.”
All that changed on July 26, the first time she saw Ohtani play. “I was waiting for him to appear at the front of the bullpen, so the first time I saw him was about 3 meters away. I knew he was a great player, so I left it at that. I was amazed at his height, style, small face, and long legs. I was also surprised to see the cheers from the local fans when he appeared in the bullpen.”
During the game, Ohtani pitched 7 strong innings, striking out 5, and only allowing 5 hits and one earned run. More importantly, he went 1 for 4 at the plate, hitting a homerun. And that got Pikichin hooked! “I was able to see him hit a home run, and I became more and more of a fan when I saw him being cheered on by not only the Angels fans, but also by the fans of the opposing team.”
So she stayed for another game. And another. Ultimately staying for 19 games, including a doubleheader.
Throughout her time watching Ohtani, Pikichin brought a sign to every game. It’s been featured during broadcasts and on the Jumbotrons in multiple stadiums and fans have asked her what it means. Since the Olympics were held in Japan, and Ohtani wasn’t on the Japanese National Team, her sign reads “Ohtani san, I'll give you a gold medal.” She wrote that because she said “he had done much better than winning a gold medal at the Olympics in MLB.”
The response from the fans to her signs has been tremendous. Fans will tell her "Cool! I love it!!” And, because she was often on the Jumbotron everyday, she was often greeted by fans saying “I know you!”
Her instant celebrity status led to her meeting many people and becoming friends with many more. She ended up going to games with fans that she met, staying in hotels with them, and visiting other tourist destinations in the various cities she visited.
While Ohtani can dominate on the mound, Pikichin loves watching him hit. “The home run, which is easy for anyone to understand, attracts not only me but also many Japanese who are not so familiar with baseball.”
Her highlights include seeing Ohtani hit four home runs, numbers 36-39. “Hitting a home run is of course a difficult thing to do, but in Ohtani san's case, he hit the ball as if it was a normal hit, and it became a home run, which was impressive.” Pikichin believes that Ohtani will end up with 48 homeruns for the season.
There are many small things that Ohtani does that Pikichin loves. For example, she loves how he hands his batting gloves to the ball boy rather than drop them on the ground like other players. She enjoys seeing him being respectful and talking with other players when on base.
What Pikichin loves most is how Ohtani has been cheered and celebrated by fans across America. When he’s warming up in the bullpen, fans cheer. And, when Ohtani hits a home run, “the whole stadium cheers in unison, friend or foe, and it makes me very happy and excited to see that one Japanese person has excited many Americans.”
Pikichin believes that Ohtani has one more power that is needed now more than anything. She believes that Ohtani provides hope for the world during Covid. “In Japan, people are wondering, ‘How many people are infected today?’ ‘It's increasing again...’ However, since Ohtani san’s success, we have been hearing things like, "He hit his 40th home run today!! ‘How many more can he hit!?’ The more Ohtani san plays, the more people smile under their face masks.”
Because of her time following the Angels and Ohtani, Pikichin became familiar with other Angels greats, such as Mike Trout. As she put it, “Japanese baseball fans know very little about players on teams that don't have Japanese players, so thanks to Ohtani san, Trout became known to them. After that, Japanese fans who learned about Trout's success. And said, "If Trout had been here, Angels might have won..." at games where the Angels lost!”
What Pikichin would like to see most with Ohtani is a showdown with Yu Darvish—a classic battle of two Japanese stars.
For the season, Pikichin wishes that Ohtani wins the MVP Award. And “I want him to stay injury free and continue to be active in the MLB, and continue to give hope to Japan, a country that has so much dark news.”
If there is any baseball player who can provide hope to Japan and the world, it’s Ohtani, “the pride of Japan.”
For our full interview with Pikichin conducted by our own founder & executive editor, please read below.
AngelsWin.com: When did you become a baseball fan, and a fan of Shohei Ohtani? Was it in Japan or after he signed with the Angels and you watched him play in the states?
Pikichin: It was when I saw him play in the US. I had heard about his successes, but I was just rooting for him and didn't have the passion to call myself a fan.
AngelsWin.com: Was it a particular game or play that stood out for you by Ohtani that really made you a big fan of us?
Pikichin: The first game I watched was on July 26, the day Ohtani san was pitching. I was waiting for him to appear at the front of the bullpen, so the first time I saw him was about 3 meters away. I knew he was a great player, so I left it at that. I was amazed at his height, style, small face, and long legs. I was also surprised to see the cheers from the local fans when he appeared in the bullpen. After that, I was able to see Ohtani san a pitcher and hitter, in person, I was able to see him hit a home run, and I became more and more of a fan when I saw him being cheered on by not only the Angels fans, but also by the fans of the opposing team.
AngelsWin.com: So, when did you decide it was time to go see Shohei Ohtani in the states? 
Pikichin: It was June of 2021. I was in Africa at the time, but I saw the news of Ohtani san’s home run on my timeline on SNS every day, and I decided to go to the U.S. because I wanted to see a Japanese person active in the world with my own eyes.
Due to the time difference, the game was played early in the morning Japan time, so I was impressed by the fact that many people said that their routine was to wake up in the morning and check for Ohtani san’s home run.
Once I returned to Japan, I would have to go through a two-week self quarantine, and it would be difficult to go overseas again, so I decided to stop by the U.S. before going back to Japan.
Also, if I was going to go there, I wanted to bring a sign to show my support, so I talked with my friends and followers and decided to bring a sign that said, "Ohtani san, I'll give you a gold medal.”  At the time, the Tokyo Olympics were being held in Japan, and the Japanese baseball team defeated the U.S. to win the gold medal. Although he was not a member of the Japanese national team, I wanted to give him a gold medal because he had done much better than winning a gold medal at the Olympics in MLB.
AngelsWin.com: How much planning went into the trip?
Pikichin: I took a one-way ticket from Kenya and planned to return in about two weeks. I bought a flight ticket to go back on August 2nd just after the home game ended, but I couldn't get the format for the PCR inspection required to enter Japan because it was Sunday.
I was going to stay a few days longer and return home, but a friend in Japan gave me money for a flight ticket to Dallas to support Ohtani san, so I decided to stay longer and go to Dallas. After that, I went back to LA and went to Dodger Stadium, then back to Angel Stadium, and ended up staying there for a month.
AngelsWin.com: How many games did you attend, and which stadiums did you see Ohtani play in?
Pikichin: I watched 19 games.
7/26-8/1 6 games @Angel Stadium
8/2-8/4 3 games @Globe Life Field
8/5-8/7 3 games @Doger Stadium
8/10-15 7 games @Angel Stadium *10th is a double header
I took a picture in front of the stadium every day. There are pictures in the tree of this tweet.
AngelsWin.com: What was your favorite city and thing to do outside of watching Ohtani at the baseball park when you were in the states? 
Pikichin: I did sight-seeing in each city. In Anaheim, I visited Disneyland and Adventure World. In LA, I went to Universal Studios Hollywood, the museum in downtown, Little Tokyo, The Little Bookstore, Huntington Beach, and Santa Monica.
In Dallas, I dressed up as a cowgirl at the Stockyards and rode the Longhorn Cow.
I've been to many places, but my favorite is Universal Studios. I went there with a girl who was a fan of Ohtani, whom I met at the ballpark and became friends with. It was much bigger than the Universal Studios in Japan, and there were many attractions that were very powerful, and I couldn't ride all of them, so I would like to go back again.
AngelsWin.com: What was your most memorable game or moment by Ohtani that you witnessed live during your time in the states?
Pikichin: I was able to see four home runs, No. 36-39. Hitting a home run is of course a difficult thing to do, but in Ohtani san's case, he hit the ball as if it was a normal hit, and it became a home run, which was impressive.
When Ohtani-san batted, not only the Angels fans but also the fans of the opposing team cheered loudly, calling him MVP, and the whole stadium cheered for him; he is the pride of the Japanese people.
AngelsWin.com: Were you able to meet any Angels fans and Ohtani fans from Japan? If so, tell us a little bit about those encounters. 
Pikichin: When I'm watching the game by myself, fans around me call out to me. What does that sign say? When I explained that it said, "Ohtani san, I'll give you a gold medal.” Many fans complimented me, saying, "Cool! I love it!!” Also, since I was on the big monitors every day, I was often greeted with "I know you!”
All the fans were kind to me, giving me foul balls and balls that the players threw to me in the inning.
I was also approached by a woman who was a fan of Ohtani san at the ballpark, and we had dinner together after the game, and she took me to where I was staying, and we became good friends. When we went to Dodger Stadium to watch the game, we stayed in the same hotel room and also went to Universal Studios together.
I also made friends with other local fans and watched the game with them on different days.
The staff at the ballpark was also very kind. When I went to the customer center, they asked me about the medal I had around my neck and when I told them I was going to Dallas tomorrow to cheer for the team, they took me to the back room and gave me a giveaway sweatshirt from Ohtani san’s Rookie of the Year campaign!
AngelsWin.com: What part of Ohtani’s game excites you the most? His hitting, pitching or base running?
Pikichin: Hitting. The home run, which is easy for anyone to understand, attracts not only me but also many Japanese who are not so familiar with baseball.
When Ohtani san hits a home run, the whole stadium cheers in unison, friend or foe, and it makes me very happy and excited to see that one Japanese person has excited many Americans.
AngelsWin.com: Does Ohtani have a big following in Japan from baseball and non-baseball fans alike?
Pikichin: Every day, there are reports on Japanese TV news that "Ohtani has hit a home run No. XX" and many sports programs feature him. Even Japanese people who are not baseball fans think that Ohtani is an amazing player. In fact, many of my followers were Japanese who were not interested in baseball, but I received replies from them saying, "Thanks to Pikichin, I know he is a great player," "I want to support him," and "I want to actually see him at the stadium.
AngelsWin.com: What are the fans of his in Japan saying about his 2021 MVP season?
Pikichin: This is the only "HOPE" for the Covid-19.
In Japan, people are wondering, "How many people are infected today?" "It's increasing again..." However, since Ohtani san’s success, we have been hearing things like, "He hit his 40th home run today!! "How many more can he hit!?” The more Ohtani san plays, the more people smile under their face masks.
AngelsWin.com: How many home runs do you think Ohtani will hit this season?
Pikichin: 48 home runs!
The Japanese media is featuring  50 of them.
AngelsWin.com: Your favorite story that you heard of Ohtani from someone in Japan or in the United States that isn’t public knowledge?
Pikichin: I heard a rumor that Ohtani san wanted to live in a house within walking distance to the stadium, but he gave up because the people around him were very much against it. I thought that's how much he loves baseball.
I didn't hear any other stories about Ohtani san that hadn't been made public. I think his mysteriousness is one of the reasons for his popularity.
I'm sure it's public knowledge, but here are some of my favorite episodes of Ohtani san that I saw at the ballpark. Many players drop their bats and elbow guards on the ground after getting a hit, but Ohtani san hands them to the ball boy. Ohtani san is polite enough to hand the bat to the ball boy with the handle facing the ball boy.
If there is small trash on the ground, he picks it up and puts it in his pocket.
He was happily chatting with Guerrero Jr. at first base as they battled for MVP.
The day after the game was off, both Ohtani san and Ippei san had their hair cut, and I think they are really close to each other that they go out and go to the hair salon together even on their days off!
AngelsWin.com: What do those who you talk to in Japan say about the Angels as a team in general? Do people realize that when Mike Trout is healthy the Angels will essentially have two of the best players in baseball on the same team in the entire world?
Pikichin: "The Angels have Ohtani, so why are they weak?" they said. In Japanese sports news, after reporting on Ohtani san's success, they report that “Also the Angels lost the game”, so I often hear the word "Nao-e" on SNS. “Also the Angels lost the game." In Japanese, this is “Nao enzerusu ha siai ni yabureta”, the first three letters of which are Nao-e. This word is said to have originated from the phrase "Nao-ma" used to describe Ichiro.
Japanese baseball fans know very little about players on teams that don't have Japanese players, so thanks to Ohtani san, Trout became known to them. After that, Japanese fans who learned about Trout's success. And said, "If Trout had been here, Angels might have won..." at games where the Angels lost!
AngelsWin.com: Do you record the games Ohtani plays in while in Japan and watch them at a decent hour when you’re available, or do you watch them all live?
Pikichin: If I'm awake, I watch the game live on a pay-per-view service that I'm subscribing to. When the game is at about 4:00 in the morning, I am asleep and watch the highlights that the service has put together.
AngelsWin.com: Between Japanese professional baseball and Major League Baseball in the United States, what are some things that are quite different from your perspective? Both from the players and their talent, game play on the field and the atmosphere in the stands as a spectator?
Pikichin: What surprised me the most was the number of couples and families in the audience. In Japan, many of the spectators at professional baseball games are men. Many people come after work, so there are a lot of men in suits, but I didn't see any men wearing suits in the MLB. Also, in Japan, the first base side is for the home team and the third base side is for the away team, but in the MLB, there is no such rule, so it was refreshing to see the people sitting next to me cheering for the enemy team.
The way of cheering is also different. In Japanese professional baseball, people use musical instruments to cheer, so we can't hear the sound of the game, but in MLB, people cheer with their voices and applause, so we can hear the sound of hitting and see the game with a sense of realism.
Also, the distance between us and the players is much closer in MLB. Angel Stadium, in particular, is very close to the field and there are no steps, so the fan service of the players is wonderful.
In MLB, I think there are many ways to entertain the audience. There are many ways to entertain the audience, such as having a camera come to our seats and show us the game on a big monitor, singing "Take me to baseball" together, and everyone shouting along to Queen's squirrel.
At Globe life field in Dallas, there are also events where mysterious three characters race and kids run to get the bases, which is fun and exciting for both kids and adults.
AngelsWin.com: Tell us a little bit about yourself outside of your interest in Ohtani. What does Pikichin do for work, for fun and in your spare time?
Pikichin: I was working in Rwanda in Africa last year. I loved Africa so much that I finally realized my dream of working in Africa, but I had to go back to Japan because of COVID-19, and my company decided not to do overseas business, so I resigned at the end of last year and am now unemployed. I had to leave Japan because of COVID-19 and my company decided not to do overseas business. Few months later, I had been traveling around Africa to look for a job because it was boring to stay at home all the time with covid-19 in Japan.
I was planning to go back to Japan after traveling to Morocco, Egypt, Rwanda, and Kenya, but I decided to go to America to see Ohtani san hit a home run.
My hobbies are traveling, SNS, and photography. The month I spent cheering for Ohtani was the best time for me to travel and take videos and photos of him and upload them to SNS. Normally, I was an African influencer posting information about Africa, but for the past month, I became an Ohtani san influencer and posted information about the charm of Ohtani san. 
AngelsWin.com: Any big plans to visit again? What are some MLB stadiums that you hope to see Ohtani play in and states/cities that you hope to visit and go sightseeing in?
Pikichin: I'd like to come back to the U.S. to manage an Angels Fan and Angels' official Japanese Twitter account, as I'm grateful for the real-time updates on Ohtani san's activities and what's going on at the ballpark. There are many Ohtani fans of all ages and demographics in Japan, and many of them are not good at English, so it would be great if I could make a career out of sending out information about him. 
In terms of pure game watching, I would like to see a showdown with Darvish, who is as popular as Ohtani san in Japan. I would also like to watch a game at the Field of Dreams corn field stadium. It was covered on a TV show in Japan, and there was an interview with a man who looked for a home run ball that went into a corn field. I would like to find a home run ball in a corn field too. 
Actually, I haven't traveled much in the U.S., so I would like to visit New York.
AngelsWin.com: If you could hope for one thing for Shohei Ohtani this season (2021) and beyond this season, what would it be?
Pikichin: I want him to win the MVP award this season.
After that, I want him to stay injury free and continue to be active in the MLB, and continue to give hope to Japan, a country that has so much dark news.

AngelsWin.com's Top-50 Greatest Moments in Angels Baseball
When the word went out that AngelsWin.com was compiling a list of the 50 greatest moments in Angels history, my first thought, sadly enough, was to the tumultuous moments in our team’s history: I thought of how the Angels have always been second-class citizens living in the shadow of Chavez Ravine; or how we have spent most of our history grasping at greatness, yet coming up empty. I did not immediately think about the World Series win in 2002. But that’s the price I have paid for being a fan of this team, an experience I would not trade for anything.
But I quickly reminded myself that we have also had moments that rival those of any team in MLB history. Imagine compiling an All-Star team made up of past and present Angels. Heck, I would line them up against anyone. We would be able to choose a rotation from a pool of guys like Dean Chance, Clyde Wright, Chuck Finley and John Lackey. And who could forget about Nolan Ryan and Frank Tanana, a duo known as much for its dominance as it was for the inability of the rest of that staff to get wins? “Tanana and Ryan, and two days of cryin’,” anyone? And what about our offense? It seems almost unfair to only choose a starting nine: Albie Pearson, Don Baylor, Alex Johnson, Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson, Wally Joyner, Tim Salmon, Garret Anderson and Vlad Guerrero. I know I didn’t pick by position, but what would be the fun in that? The bottom line is that there was much to think about in comprising a list of 50 great moments and it’s because of all the great players we have been lucky to watch.
I must confess, I have had a peek at the final list and I have gotten chills just thinking about some of these incredible moments. And while some of the Angels baseball aficionados may not find this list filled with too many surprises, the point of this feature is to ultimately wipe the cobwebs from our memories and begin thinking about baseball again. Obviously, many of us were not around for all of these moments, but we have read about them so much that we sometimes imagine them in a manner that suggests we were in the front row!
The name of our team dates back as far as 1892, but this team as we have come to know and love them came into being when it was suggested to Gene Autry that he buy this new franchise.
For the next 50 days, AngelsWin.com will count down the top-50 moments in Angels history, with No. 1 being revealed on Sunday, March 30 — the eve of opening day. We hope the list brings back great memories, inspires debate and generally reminds Angels fans we have, in fact, had quite a lot to cheer about over the years.
In 1960, Autry purchased the franchise known as the Los Angeles Angels and in 1961 the team took the field for the first time. It seems only fitting that our list start there.
#50 - Dec. 6, 1960: Gene Autry awarded the AL expansion franchise to be known as the Los Angeles Angels

Looking back, it seems simple enough. Gene Autry was a big baseball fan. He had made plenty of money in show business; he was, after all, known as the “Singin’ Cowboy.”
A friend suggested Autry buy the team after Walter O’Malley, the shrewd businessman and owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers (and owner of the Los Angeles Angels moniker), resisted attempts to purchase the franchise by famed baseball promoter and entrepreneur, Bill Veeck.
Autry proved to be a more suitable owner for a team that would play its first few years under O’Malley’s watchful eye. And when he had enough of being bled dry in rental fees for playing in O’Malley’s stadium (Autry had to purchase the name “Los Angeles Angels” from O’Malley for a reported $300,000), Autry looked to greener pastures, finally settling in Anaheim.
In 1966, the Angels began play at the “Big A” as the California Angels and they led the American League that year in attendance. Things were finally looking up. But the Angels would spend Gene Autry’s long tenure as owner mired in mediocrity and stunning disappointment. The Angels front office often unloaded young and talented players for overpriced veterans in an attempt to finally win one for the aging “cowboy.” He would never live to see his dream of a World Series Championship.
Gene Autry passed away in 1998 and is forever immortalized by way of a bronze statue inside the gates of Angels Stadium.
#49 - Aug. 18, 2009: Nine Times .300

In the top of the fifth inning of their Aug. 18 game at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Angels catcher Mike Napoli smashed a line drive single into center field off Indians starter Fausto Carmona. It was Napoli’s second hit of the game, lifting his batting average to .302.
And though Napoli popped up and struck out in his final two at-bats of the Angels 5-4 victory, his average at the game’s conclusion was .300. While it’s always noteworthy when a batter (especially a career .256 hitter) eclipses the magical .300 mark, this particular moment was altogether monumental. Napoli was just one of nine Angels hitters who finished that game with a batting average of .300 or better.
Chone Figgins: .308
Bobby Abreu: .310
Juan Rivera: .310
Vladimir Guerrero: .313
Kendry Morales: .303
Torii Hunter: .307
Maicer Izturis: .300
Mike Napoli: .300
Erick Aybar: .313

It would last only those final four innings and the time leading up to the next day’s game — Angels manager Mike Scioscia inserted .275 hitting Howie Kendrick for .300 hitting Izturis and Napoli flew out to left field after walking twice, dropping his average back to .299 — but it was historic, however fleeting as it may have been.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it marked the first time since 1934 that any Major League team at least 100 games into its season finished a game with every player in its starting lineup hitting .300 or better. Mickey Cochrane’s Tigers accomplished the feat Sept. 9, 1934, against Boston — which was all the more impressive considering pitcher Lynwood “Schoolboy” Rowe and his .301 average was batting ninth. The Tigers lineup that day included four Hall of Famers (Cochrane, Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer, Goose Goslin) and two All-Stars (Rowe, Gee Walker).
The Angels hitting heroics helped rookie starter Trevor Bell win his first Major League game — one that he and Angels fans won’t soon forget.
#48 - Chuck Finley becomes all-time Angels leader in Wins

“Fin to Win!” And he did. More than any other pitcher in Angels franchise history.
It was Tuesday evening, July 29,1997, when Chuck Finley took the mound in Cleveland to face an Indian lineup that included Manny Ramirez, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Matt Williams. In the bottom of the second inning, Finley gave up two runs on three hits — the only runs or hits he would surrender on the night en route to a 7-2 complete game victory. Jack Howell homered twice to pace the Halos.
In front of 42,975 at Jacobs Field, Finley upped his record to 10-6 on the season, but more importantly, he had just notched victory No. 139, surpassing Nolan Ryan as the team leader in career wins.
A five-time All-Star, Finley ended his Angels career with 165 wins — a record that still stands (and should for several more seasons — John Lackey is the team’s active leader with 79 victories.)
Chuck Finley Trivia – Finley is the only Major League pitcher to strike out 4 batters in one inning more than once, accomplishing the feat 3 times (twice as an Angel)
Anaheim Angels    IP   H  R  ER  BB  SO
Finley, W (10-6)      9    3   2   2     2    9
#47 – June 6, 2000: The Rally Monkey debuts

Picture it: An average Tuesday night game at Edison Field of Anaheim.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ANA/ANA200006060.shtml
In the midst of another mediocre season, the Angels were trailing, ironically enough, the San Francisco Giants, 0-3, in the sixth inning of an interleague game. The Anaheim crowd was its typical lethargic self when suddenly a clip from the film “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” popped onto the Jumbotron. It was very simple footage of a monkey jumping up and down on a stool with the words “Rally Monkey” superimposed underneath it.
The Angels scored a run that inning, on a hardly-riveting Mo Vaughn groundout to score Darin Erstad, but it was a run nonetheless. The monkey returned in the seventh inning and the Angels scored twice, cutting the Giants lead to 4-3. In the eighth, Tim Salmon tied the game with a solo home run.
The Giants regained the lead in the ninth, however, on a Marvin Benard double, but the Rally Monkey’s work was not done.
Giants closer Robb Nen replaced Felix Rodriguez for the bottom of the ninth and gave up a one-out single to Adam Kennedy and walked pinch hitter Scott Spiezio. The Rally Monkey appeared again. Erstad singled to right to score Kennedy and tie the game. And following a Kevin Stocker fielder’s choice, Vaughn singled home Erstad with the game winner. Angels 6, Giants 5.
The next night, the Angels blew a 9-4 lead in the seventh and eighth innings and entered the bottom of the eighth tied with the same Giants, 9-9. A fan seated above the video control booth began yelling at the top of his lungs, “RALLY MONKEY!” Shortly thereafter, Dean Fraulino and Jaysen Humes, working in the booth, flashed the video of the monkey. The crowd, and the Angels, responded.
Bengie Molina singled with one out and after a Kennedy lineout, Edgard Clemente singled. The Rally Monkey again coaxed the fans to their feet and Erstad singled to left to score Molina with the eventual game winner. Angels 10, Giants 9.
The video proved very popular with fans and the Angels decided to film their own videos of the monkey. The Rally Monkey was now portrayed by “Katie,” a white-haired Capuchin monkey, and the song “Jump Around” by hip-hop group House of Pain and a voice over were added: “Believe In the Power of the Rally Monkey.”
Rules were implemented dictating how the monkey was to be used: The Angels must be tied or trailing by three runs or fewer in the seventh inning or later, and the Halos must have put at least one runner on base.
While the Angels fans and the Rally Monkey became fast friends during the 2000 and 2001 seasons, the mascot wouldn’t became a national phenomenon until the historic 2002 World Series season.
The power of the Rally Monkey reached its peak during Game 6 of the World Series, against those same Giants and their closer Nen. Angels 6, Giants 5. But that’s another story, isn’t it?
Since then, the Rally Monkey has become a sports mascot icon, appearing in ESPN SportsCenter commercials and mentioned in the monologues of late night hosts Jay Leno and David Letterman.
She also became a staple of the Angels fan experience. Fans bring their stuffed animal monkeys to the game and the monkey video features — now a bit more slickly-produced — are still being shown regularly, with the monkey being superimposed into scenes of popular movies such as “Star Wars,” “The Ring” and “Jurassic Park.”
#46 – April 27-28, June 9, 2002: Eckstein is thrice grand

“Yes! No way! YES!”
Three reactions to three grand slams. More specifically, three grand slams hit over a six-week span of the 2002 season by diminutive shortstop David Eckstein, the first two coming in consecutive games.
Ultimately, these home runs would be justifiably overshadowed by some slightly bigger wallops by Eckstein’s teammates later in the season, but if 2002 is remembered as a magical season for the Angels, this is where the magic started.
Starting the season 6-14 on the heels of a 2001 campaign that saw the Angels finish 41 games out of first place, Anaheim seemed anything but magical as 2002 began. A 10-6 win at Seattle on April 24, snapped a four-game losing streak and the Angels headed home with at least a small puff of wind in their sails.
Back home again, Kevin Appier and three relievers combined on a 9-hit shutout over Toronto to provide a little more momentum. What happened the next two days, however, is the stuff people tell their grandkids about.
In the second game of the Toronto series, the Angels went to the bottom of the fifth inning tied, 4-4. RBI-hits by Troy Glaus and Brad Fullmer, and a run-scoring groundout by Bengie Molina gave the Angels a three-run lead. And following a walk to Scott Spiezio, Eckstein put the game away.
On a 1-2 pitch from Scott Cassidy, Eckstein snuck one just over the short wall in left field, near the foul pole, for a grand slam and an 11-4 lead. It was the Angels biggest inning of the season to that point, Eckstein’s first home run and only the fifth of his career.
A day later, things went from surprising to just plain silly. A back-and-forth game saw the Angels and Blue Jays tied, 4-4, in the 14th inning. Toronto finally broke the deadlock with a run in the top of the inning, however, and the Angels run of bad luck appeared to have returned. But Glaus led off with a single and Salmon doubled him to third. A one-out intentional walk to Molina loaded the bases, but Kennedy struck out, leaving it up to Eckstein.
The 5-foot 6-inch shortstop took a 1-1 offering from Pedro Borbon Jr. to nearly the same exact spot in left field for a second grand slam in as many days, this one a walkoff shot that gave the Angels their first three-game winning streak of the season and, finally, some serious swagger. Two days later, they’d defeat the Indians, 21-2, in Cleveland and not look back in winning 21 of 24 games following their 6-14 start.
With the Angels magic in full swing now, it was only fitting that Eckstein had one more trick up his sleeve. On June 9, in the second inning of an interleague game against the Cincinnati Reds, Eckstein again came to the plate with the bases loaded. No sooner than you could think, “He couldn’t possibly do it again, could he?” he did it again.
“I don’t know if one time is better than another for a home run,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said, “… but (Eckstein) has hit them at three times which have been incredible and have won three games for us.”
Eckstein became only the second Angel ever to hit three grand slams in one season. Joe Rudi did it in both 1978 and 1979. Of course, Rudi hit 179 home runs in his career. Eckstein has 30.
That thing they say about big things coming in small packages — in 2002, David Eckstein proved it.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ANA/ANA200204270.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ANA/ANA200204280.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ANA/ANA200206090.shtml
#45 - Sept. 21, 1982: Downing and Lynn crash and catch

There have been many outstanding catches made over the years in Major League baseball. Willie Mays’ over-the-shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series. Ozzie Smith’s barehanded diving stop. Jim Edmonds’ outstretched layout in Kansas City. Each among the best.
Another great catch in Angels history came down the stretch of the 1982 American League West pennant chase. Four days earlier, the Angels title hopes were looking grim, as a three-game losing streak dropped them two games behind the Kansas City Royals with 15 games remaining in the season.
But the Angels won the next two games of their series in Toronto and returned home to begin a critical three game series against the Royals, with the two teams now tied atop the division with identical 84-65 records.
The Angels took the opener, 3-2, behind Geoff Zahn’s eight strong innings and Reggie Jackson’s seventh inning RBI double.
Game two was another pitchers’ duel, this time between Ken Forsch and the Royals’ Dennis Leonard. In the fourth inning of a scoreless tie, Amos Otis drove a ball to the left center field gap, sending Angels left fielder Brian Downing and center fielder Fred Lynn on a collision course at the wall. The two fielders reached the fence at the exact same time, both leaping for the ball with no regard for their own welfare or each other. The impact was so powerful that the fence gave way, with Downing landing on the warning track and Lynn tumbling through the opening the collision had created.
For a moment, it was unclear which, if either, of the players had caught the ball. Then Lynn emerged displaying the ball. The umpires conferred and ruled Otis out, reasoning that in effect the outcome was the same as if Lynn had made the catch and fallen into the stands since he caught the ball with the fence giving way.
The Angels took a 1-0 lead in the fifth, but Kansas City scratched across a tying run in the eighth.
In the bottom of the ninth, however, Bobby Grich and Bob Boone singled with one out off Royals closer Dan Quisenberry. Daryl Sconiers, who’d begun his sophomore season 0-for-8, slapped a 3-2 pitch into center field to score pinch runner Gary Pettis, giving the Angels a 2-1 victory and a two-game division lead they would not relinquish en route to their second division title.
If not for Lynn’s remarkable catch, it might have been an entirely different story.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL198209210.shtml
#44 – Angels become first AL franchise with four 30-home run hitters

Going…going…going…gone!
Over the past few seasons, the Angels have entered Spring Training with seemingly just one concern — a general lack of home run power throughout the lineup. Some fans, specifically those who jumped on the 2002 bandwagon, may forget that just eight short years ago the Angels, in manager Mike Scioscia’s first season with the club, fielded an historic group of sluggers.
In 2000, Angels third baseman Troy Glaus led the American League with 47 home runs. Glaus became only the third Angel ever to lead the league (Grich, 1981; Jackson, 1982) and at the time set the record for most home runs by an AL third baseman (tied by Alex Rodriguez in 2005 and surpassed by Rodriguez last season.)
To complement Glaus, the Angels had not one, not two, but three others who hit more than 30 home runs, becoming the first team in the American Leagues’ history to have four players hit 30 or more round trippers.
Mo Vaughn clubbed 36, Garret Anderson walloped 35 and Tim Salmon rounded the bases 34 times. (And if that wasn’t enough power for you, Darin Erstad added 25 homers from the leadoff spot, just for good measure.)
The 2000 club’s power fit hand in glove with the newly born Rally Monkey, as a significant chunk of the Angels’ 82 victories were of the come-from-behind variety, due in large part to the team’s power surge.
While the 2000 Angels fell short of the postseason, the team did inject hope into a suffering fan base, a hope that would be realized just two years later when the Angels won the World Series.
#43 – July 6, 1983: Lynn simply grand in the All-Star Game

For the first 40 years of the Los Angeles/California/Anaheim Angels history, the 1982 season was arguably the franchise’s best – albeit one with a real stinker of an ending.
Preceding the collapse in Milwaukee, however, was a fine campaign. The Angels won their second division title with a 93-69 record; Reggie Jackson led the league in home runs with 39; and Fred Lynn, acquired the year before, but sidelined by injuries, had his best season with the Angels, batting .299/.374/.517 with 21 home runs and 86 RBI.
Though the Angels blew a 2-0 lead in the ALCS against the Brewers, Lynn was still named series MVP after batting .611 (11-for-18) in the five games.
On the heels of the 1982 season, 1983 was a season of great promise for the Angels. It was not to be, however, as the team slumped badly to a 70-92 record and a fifth-place finish in the division.
One bright spot was Lynn. The USC graduate, who had longed to play for a team in Southern California after beginning his career in Boston, was voted to start the All-Star Game in Chicago. Old Comiskey Park played host to the 50th anniversary of the mid-summer classic. The nod represented Lynn’s ninth consecutive All-Star game appearance.
In the third inning, with the National League trailing 3-1, San Francisco ace Atlee Hammaker elected to load the bases by intentionally walking Milwaukee’s Robin Yount, taking his chances instead with Lynn, who hadn’t seen the batter in front of him intentionally walked since becoming a professional. Big mistake.
Lynn took a 2-2 slider from the lefty and deposited it into the right field bleachers for the first grand slam in 54 All-Star Games. (And to this day the only such home run.)
The American League scored seven runs in the inning and cruised to a 13-3 victory, snapping an 11-game losing streak for the junior circuit.
“I hadn’t won a single All-Star Game in eight years up until that point,” Lynn would later say. “That grand slam put us up 7-1, and I knew we wouldn’t blow that lead. I didn’t care that they walked Robin to get to me. I wanted to win.”
It was Lynn’s final All-Star appearance. He finished with four home runs and 10 RBI in 20 career All-Star at-bats. At the time, only Hall of Famers Stan Musial and Ted Williams had more home runs and RBI, respectively. Musial finished with five homers and 10 RBI in 63 at-bats, Williams with four homers and 12 RBI in 46 at-bats.
#42 – GA steals the All-Star show

If the Angels were to retroactively come up with a slogan for the 2003 season, it might have been “Come bask in the afterglow of 2002.”
As April rolled around, and pennants were hoisted up gold painted flagpoles, Angels fans were still drunk on World Series emotion. Only trouble was the players seemed to be, as well.
The team sleepwalked through April, May and June and arrived at July with a perfectly mediocre 40-40 record. But with fans flocking to Edison Field in record numbers (attendance would surpass 3 million for the first time ever in 2003), most of them wearing something bearing the words “2002 World Champions,” it was difficult to be too disappointed.
Heading into the All-Star break, however, the team finally seemed to recapture a little bit of the 2002 magic of which it was constantly reminded on the scoreboard in right field. They won nine of their first 12 games in July, including five straight before the break. Sure, they were still 8.5 games out of first, but it was better than the 12.5 deficit they faced when the month began.
And for two amazing days at Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field, it was like October all over again. The Angels had three players selected to the American League squad: Garret Anderson, Troy Glaus and Brendan Donnelly, the latter of whom was in the midst of one of the best relief seasons in franchise history. He hit the break with a 0.38 ERA, having given up only two runs in 48 innings pitched.
On top of that, as American League champions the previous season, Mike Scioscia was the A.L. manager, bringing his entire coaching staff along with him. The Angels presence in Chicago was already assured, but this contingent seemed determined to be seen and heard.
The most improbable of events actually occurred first; in hindsight a harbinger of things to come. Garret Anderson, who hit 22 home runs in the first half of the season, beat out former teammate Jim Edmonds in the semifinals and then 23-year-old phenom Albert Pujols in the finals to win the Home Run Derby.
“I don’t look at myself as a home run hitter, but I know I’m capable of hitting the ball out of the park,” Anderson said. “It’s just another platform to go out and show America what I can do.”
The GA show wasn’t done, either. The next night, with the American League trailing, 5-1, in the sixth inning, Anderson smoked a two-run homer to right-center on Woody Williams’ first pitch to pull the A.L. within two runs.
Donnelly pitched a perfect top of the eighth to hold the N.L. lead at 6-4. In the bottom half, Anderson’s one-out double off the Dodgers Eric Gagne, his third hit of the night in four at-bats, started a three-run rally that was capped by Hank Blalock’s game-winning two-run home run.
The A.L. won, 7-6, Donnelly was the winning pitcher, Scioscia the winning manager and Anderson named the game’s MVP, his second trophy in as many nights.
It was an outstanding night and the perfect denouement to the championship season. But, of course, all good things must come to an end, and those two nights in Chicago were indeed the end of the afterglow. The Angels lost their first five games after the break and finished the season 77-85, in third place, 19 games behind the A’s.
For a couple of days, however, the defending champs looked every bit the part.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ALS/ALS200307150.shtml
#41 - June 2, 2004: Guerrero's monster night

If 2004 was the “Year of Vlad,” then June 2 was Independence Day, Christmas morning and New Years Eve all rolled into one. Vladimir Guerrero won the 2004 American League MVP in large part due to his monstrous performances down the stretch, but there was no better day for Bad Vlad than the one he gave the Angels against the Boston Red Sox in early June.
With Red Sox ace and future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez on the mound, runs would certainly seem to be at a premium. Unfortunately for Pete and the Sox, no one told Vladdy, who torched Boston, driving in nine runs, a Angels franchise record at the time, to lead the Angels to a 10-7 victory.
Guerrero got started early, hitting a two-run homer to left field in the first.
With the score knotted, 2-2, in the bottom of the third, Guerrero stepped to the plate with two men on and laced a double into left, scoring both Chone Figgins and David Eckstein.
Down, 7-4, in the fourth inning, Guerrero came up with the bases loaded and lined a ball sharply to Red Sox right fielder Kevin Millar. Bengie Molina scored on the sacrifice fly. It was Boston 7, Guerrero 5.
With the Angels still trailing in the bottom of the sixth inning by the same 7-5 score, Guerrero once again entered the batter’s box, this time with two men on, and ripped a Mike Timlin offering just over the green wall in left center field. Guerrero’s three-run shot and second home run of the game gave the Angels an 8-7 lead. Guerrero had driven in all eight Angels runs.
An inning later, after an Eckstein hit-and-run double into right center field scored Bengie Molina from first base – one of the game’s other miraculous events – Figgins singled, setting the table for Guerrero to drive in his team-record ninth RBI of the game. Guerrero delivered with a sharp single just out of the reach of Boston shortstop Pokie Reese to push Eckstein home for the fourth time in the game.
As a fan in attendance at the Big A that night, I can honestly say it was the single greatest performance I’d ever seen on a baseball field. I was glad to share the moment with my father from the right field terrace section.
A little later in the list, we’ll feature the man who broke Guerrero’s record.
Stay tuned.
#40 - Aug. 18, 2000: Erstad is 'incredible'

Few who are familiar with recent Angels history would be surprised that the man at the center of the team’s most memorable comeback of the 2000 season was Darin Erstad. Even though his teammates were hitting home runs at a record pace, there was never any question about who was that season’s MVP.
And no game better illustrated the magic of that year than this shocker in the Bronx.
Early on, it was like so many Angels/Yankees games of the past, with the Angels scoring one run and the Yankees answering with two. And two more. And two more. After the sixth inning, New York led, 8-3, and Roger Clemens found his groove, retiring the Angels in order in the seventh and eighth.
And though he’d already thrown 119 pitches, Clemens came out for the ninth. Singles by Troy Glaus and Bengie Molina sent him to the showers, however, and reliever Jeff Nelson was summoned to quell this minor uprising. Nelson retired Adam Kennedy on a flyout, but walked Kevin Stocker to load the bases, convincing Joe Torre to go to his bullpen ace, Mariano Rivera. And when Erstad hit into a fielder’s choice at third, the Angels gained a run, but were now down to their last out against the game’s premier closer.
But then the Angels grabbed a bit of that Yankee Stadium “mystique and aura” for themselves when Orlando Palmeiro laced a double into right field to score Stocker and cut the Yankees lead to 8-5. Two pitches later, Mo Vaughn launched an 0-1 Rivera cutter into the upper deck in right field, tying the game and bringing the Angels all the way back from an 8-3 ninth inning deficit.
“Until the game is over, you keep battling,” Erstad said. “How many times are you going to see that kind of comeback in your career, against one of the best pitchers ever and one of the best closers in the game? That’s why we play until the last out.”
The Yankees didn’t quit, either, and appeared poised to snatch back the victory in the bottom of the tenth when pinch runner Luis Polonia reached third with two outs and Derek Jeter was intentionally walked in favor of Jorge Posada. Posada smashed a drive into the left-center gap that had walk-off written all over it. Somehow, Erstad, motoring from over near the left field line, managed to get close enough to make a full-extension dive on the ball already past him, reaching out and hauling it in before crashing violently onto the outfield grass.
“I thought it split the gap when he hit it,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “All I can say is incredible.”
Many Yankees had already spilled out of the dugout to celebrate, most then lingering in amazement that they had not just won the game.
“I thought the game was over,” Clemens said. “That was one of the top three catches I’ve seen in my years in the game.”
Instead the Angels players were the ones celebrating, greeting Erstad in foul territory and mobbing him in the dugout.
“They wouldn’t leave me alone, and I’m like, ‘I’ve got to go hit, leave me alone,'” Erstad said.
Due up second in the eleventh, the Erstad Show was primed for an encore. After Stocker’s failed bunt attempt, Erstad lofted a Mike Stanton offering high into right field and just over the fence to give the Angels a 9-8 lead. The Yankees went 1-2-3 in the bottom half and the Angels won a game they twice seemed sure to lose.
“Posada smoked that ball,” Erstad said of his catch in the tenth. “It was just one of those things. You just react and let your ability take over.”
Whether it was ability, luck, grit or some combination of all three, Erstad’s 2000 season is arguably the greatest offensive (and defensive) performance in franchise history. He batted .355 with 240 hits (No. 13 all-time), 121 runs scored, 39 doubles, six triples, 25 home runs, 28 stolen bases and an unprecedented 100 RBI, all from the leadoff spot, the first player ever to reach the century mark from the top of the order.
He was eighth in the A.L. MVP voting and won a Silver Slugger award.
In a word, Erstad in 2000 was incredible.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA200008180.shtml
#39 - Nov. 8, 2005: Bartolo Colon awarded Cy Young

Despite the dynamic runs of Nolan Ryan and Frank Tanana in the ’70s and the marvelous Angels careers of guys like Mike Witt, Chuck Finley, Mark Langston and Jim Abbott in the ’80s and ’90s, it had been 41 years since Dean Chance took home the Angels franchise’s only Cy Young award in 1964.
The Angels had quite possibly their busiest off-season before the 2004 campaign, signing four of the most highly touted free agents, including Jose Guillen and Kelvim Escobar, and top prizes, Vladimir Guerrero and Bartolo Colon.
Guerrero did not disappoint in 2004, taking home the American League MVP award. A year later, after earning a league best 21 victories against just 8 losses, Colon became the second Angel to win a Cy Young award, easily beating out Yankee closer, Mariano Rivera and Twins ace, Johan Santana.
Without the statistical dominance of Cy Young winners past – Colon was eighth in the A.L. with a 3.48 ERA, tenth in complete games, seventh in innings pitched and eighth in strikeouts – it was Colon’s consistency and ability to win that propelled him to the A.L.’s top honor for pitchers in 2005.
While a bad back and shoulder limited Colon to just 8 innings in the 2005 ALDS, and kept him out of the ALCS altogether, his 2005 regular season will go down as one of the greatest in Angels history.
#38 - Quartet of Hall of Fame moments

Sept. 17, 1984: Reggie hits No. 500
Aug. 4, 1985: Carew collects No. 3,000
June 18, 1986: Sutton wins No. 300
June 3, 2017: Pujols clubs No. 600
For three consecutive seasons, one each year, Angels fans were treated to a player reaching a Hall of Fame milestone while wearing an Angels uniform. More impressively, each accomplished the feat at Anaheim Stadium.
First up was Reggie Jackson. The self-proclaimed “straw that stirs the drink” arrived in Anaheim two years earlier, signing as a free agent and bringing with him 425 home runs in 14 previous seasons.
Jackson immediately delivered to his billing, whopping 39 home runs in 1982 and helping the Angels clinch their second division title. Jackson slumped badly in 1983, batting .194 and hitting only 14 home runs. But he was now just 22 home runs shy of 500.
In the waning days of the 1984 season, with the Angels in a pennant chase with the Twins and Royals, Jackson’s pursuit of No. 500 gave the season some additional drama. In the seventh inning of a foggy Monday night game against the Royals, with the Angels trailing, 7-0, Jackson connected, driving Bud Black’s first pitch deep over the right field fence. (It was one of only three hits Black would allow the Angels on the night.)
“My first thought was, ‘That’s it,’ ” Jackson told reporters after the game. “My second was, I wish we could be winning. I wished it could’ve been a seven-run homer to tie the score.”
The home run came 17 years to the day that Jackson hit his first homer, as a member of the Kansas City Athletics against the Angels at Anaheim Stadium in 1967.
Jackson would hit 123 of his 563 career homers for the Angels, none more memorable than this one.
The following August, Rod Carew was also chasing baseball immortality. A seven-time batting champion in 12 seasons with the Twins, Carew came to the Angels in 1979 with 2,085 hits.
Though he was never a great run producer for the Angels as he had been with the Twins, Carew could still bat .300 in his sleep and his .339 average in 1983 was a team record that held up for 17 years.
As the 1985 season, and his career, wound down, Carew landed himself in the exclusive 3,000-hit club. With his patented slap swing, Carew lined No. 3,000 to left field off Minnesota Twins lefty Frank Viola. Most Angels fans can vividly recall the image of Carew reaching up to secure his helmet as he trotted to first base under a bright Sunday afternoon sky.
“He threw me a tough pitch (a slider down and away),” Carew said. “If I hadn’t stayed with that pitch and taken it, I would have been called out on a third strike. Fortunately, I was able to get the bat on the ball and place it in left field.”
Carew retired following the 1985 season with 3,053 hits. His .314 average with the Angels is second only to Vladimir Guerrero’s .327.
And finally, Don Sutton, in the midst of his 21st Major League season, was closing in on his own place in baseball history.
Acquired during the Angels ultimately fruitless stretch run in 1985, Sutton came to Anaheim having already won 293 games. He won two more in 1985 and entered the 1986 season five shy of the milestone.
On a Wednesday night against the visiting Texas Rangers, sitting on 299 victories, Sutton pitched like a man half his age. Through six innings, he’d allowed only one hit and carried a three-hitter (one run) into the ninth.
More than 37,000 fans climbed to their feet as Sutton took the mound for the ninth inning. He quickly retired Scott Fletcher and Oddibe McDowell on flyouts. In a fitting finale, Sutton struck out Gary Ward to end it. Sutton had pitched a complete game, three-hitter to win his 300th game.
“It’s remarkable how time after time it’s been proven how special people do special things,” manager Gene Mauch said. “I imagine that Don is proud that No. 300 was this kind of game rather than just another win.”
Sutton won 15 games in 1986 and 11 in 1987 before finishing his career back with the Dodgers in 1988, retiring with 324 victories.
Carew was inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1991, his first year of eligibility. Jackson was enshrined in 1993, also his first eligible year, and Sutton in 1998. And though none of these players went in representing the Angels, their milestone moments will forever be part of Angels lore.
Lastly Albert Pujols became the first member of the 600-club to earn his membership via grand slam. It was the sixth granny of a record-setting seven hit on June 3rd, 2017, setting a Major League record for grand slams hit in one day. 
The connection granted Pujols entry into one of Major League Baseball's most exclusive clubs, as he became only the ninth player to ever hit 600 home runs, joining:
Barry Bonds (762)
Hank Aaron (755)
Babe Ruth (714)
Alexander Rodriguez (696)
Willie Mays (660)
Ken Griffey Jr. (630)
Jim Thome (612)
Sammy Sosa (609)
Pujols is the first player to reach the historic benchmark since Thome, who did it for the Twins on Aug. 15, 2011. At 37 years and 139 days, Pujols is the fourth-youngest player to hit 600 homers. He and Sosa, a fellow Dominican, are the only players born outside the United States to accomplish the feat.
#37 - April 11, 1961: Big Klu leads Angels to first victory

It was a great story. Gene Autry had purchased an expansion baseball franchise, naming it the Los Angeles Angels. Then the reality set in.
The Angels would have to field a team and then go out and compete. Without free agency, the odds were against any team in that era being able to start from scratch and compete. This is not the part of the story where the young scrappy team goes on to win itself a championship in its inaugural season – again, a great story, but not part of the reality.
Not only were the Angels expected to compete in the tough American League, where the mighty Yankees and the M and M boys, Maris and Mantle, were perennial favorites for the Word Series crown, but their first game would be against the Baltimore Orioles, a team that would contend every year until finally winning it all in 1966.
The Angels were led by big Teddy Kluszewski, a .298 career hitter and 4-time All-Star who once cut off the sleeves of his uniform to alleviate the restrictions on his large biceps as he took rips with the bat. But Kluszewski, who had 3 times hit more than 40 homers and 8 times batted at least .300, was at the end of his career and had been so plagued by injuries that he was left unprotected in the expansion draft. The Angels made Big Klu their first baseman.
Kluszewski was true to form in the curtain lifter of what would turn out to be is final season. In the first inning of the Angels inaugural game at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, Kluszewski came to the plate with two outs and a young Albie Pearson on first. The big lefthander hit a homer down the right field line, quickly giving the Angels their first ever lead. But Klu wasn’t done. In the second inning, he came to the plate again, this time with two men on, and hit a blast to deep right field that put the Angels up 6-0. Bob Cerv would later add a solo homer and the Angels went on to an easy 7-2 victory.
Kluszewski finished the game 2-for-4 with two home runs and 5 RBI. He would finish the season batting .243 with 15 homeruns. The 1961 Angels won 70 games, the most ever by an expansion team in its first year.
#36 - 1993: Salmon named Rookie of the Year

A year after putting some hurtin’ on Pacific Coast League pitchers, hitting .347 with 29 home runs, 105 RBI and a ridiculous 1.141 OPS for the Edmonton Trappers, the Kingfish headed upstream to Anaheim and won a unanimous vote for the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1993 .
Salmon, a notorious slow starter who holds the unique distinction of having the most home runs of any player never selected to an All-Star team, was no different during his rookie campaign as he started the ’93 season in the shadow of rookie sensation J.T. Snow, who got off to a tremendous start. The second half was always much kinder to Salmon, as it seemed that his bat heated up with the weather and, boy, did he put a pounding on the Texas Rangers.
Salmon, not Snow, wound up winning the award, representing a first for the California Angels. He batted .283 with 31 home runs and 95 RBI, along with 35 doubles, 93 runs scored and a slugging percentage of .536. He was also tied in A.L. outfield assists with 12. Snow started the 1994 season in the minors after struggling badly in the second half of Salmon’s ROY campaign.
Salmon quickly became a favorite of the Angels organization and a household name among the team’s fans thereafter. Timmy played a crucial role in the Angels’ playoff and World Series run in 2002, hitting two key home runs in Game 2 of the World Series against the San Francisco Giants, a moment in Angels history that fans will never forget.
The King Fish was hampered by injuries late in his career and was forced to retire in 2006. Salmon played his final game on Oct. 1, 2006, against the Oakland Athletics. He is the Angels’ all-time leader in home runs (299), runs scored (983), walks (965) and slugging percentage (.499). He finished his career second in franchise history with 1,012 RBI, behind only Garret Anderson.
Until 2012 when Mike Trout won the rookie of the year award, Tim Salmon held the honor of winning this prestigious award since the birth of the organization.
All of that said when Angels fans remember King Fish, it won’t be just the stats, the big home runs or all of his accolades, no, they will recall the type of man that Tim Salmon the person was both on and off the field. Tim Salmon was the quintessential gentleman of the game of Baseball.
Salmon played his entire career with the Angels and one day the organization will retire #15, Even today, Tim Salmon is regarded as many fans’ all-time favorite player.
Career Highlights, Awards, and Accolades:
* Named 1992 Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America
* Named 1992 Minor League Player of the Year by The Sporting News
* Named 1993 AL Rookie of the Year by Baseball Writers of America
* Named 1993 AL Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News
* Named 2002 AL Comeback Player of the Year by The Sporting News
* Named outfielder on The Sporting News AL All-Star Team in 1995 and 1997
* Named outfielder on The Sporting News AL Silver Slugger Team in 1995
* Member of the World Series Champion Anaheim Angels in 2002
* Hit 30 or more home runs in five seasons
* Compiled a lifetime .883 OPS
#35 - July 15, 1973: Ryan throws second, most-dominant no-hitter

Nolan Ryan pitched far more than one man’s fair share of dominant games while wearing an Angels uniform, including all of those games with 10 or more strikeouts, six one-hitters and, of course, four no-hitters – none, perhaps, more dominating than this game in Detroit.
Two months to the day after tossing his first no-no in Kansas City, Ryan again seemed up to the task from the get-go. He struck out seven of the first 10 Tigers he faced, including fanning the side in the second inning.
A Vada Pinson sacrifice fly in the third inning gave the Angels an early 1-0 lead, but it would be all Ryan would have to work with for most of the game. On this day, it was plenty.
Ryan fanned the side in the fourth and added two more strikeouts in the fifth. In the seventh, he struck out the side again.
In the top of the eighth, the Angels erupted for five runs and the drama over who would win the game was mostly gone. But by this point, the focus had shifted to the zero in the Tigers’ hit column and the 16 in their strikeout column.
Detroit went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, the middle out coming on Ryan’s strikeout of shortstop Ed Brinkman. It was Ryan’s 17th strikeout of the game, the highest total of any of his no-hitters and one short of Bob Feller’s American League record at the time.
After retiring Mickey Stanley on a groundout and Gates Brown on a soft liner to start the ninth, Ryan needed only to get 15-year veteran first baseman Norm Cash to seal the deal. Having struck out in each of his previous three plate appearances, Cash strode up to home plate carrying not his bat, but rather a table leg he’d grabbed from the Tigers clubhouse.

The umpire immediately ordered Cash to return with a regulation bat, an order to which he begrudgingly complied, telling the umpire it wasn’t as if it mattered anyway.

With his regular bat, Cash hit a harmless pop up to Angels shortstop Rudy Meoli and Ryan completed the second no-hitter of his career.
“This was definitely a bigger thrill than the first one,” Ryan said after the game. “I had better stuff today and I knew what a no-hitter meant. I was a little more nervous, but I probably had as good as stuff today as I’ve had all year.”
Ryan thoroughly tamed the Tigers in 1973, finishing the season 4-0 with a 1.15 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 39 innings.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/DET197307150.shtml
# 34 - April 19, 1966, Official Opening of Anaheim Stadium

When the Los Angeles Angels were born in 1961, home was a more transient notion than a place for them to call their own.
They spent their inaugural season at tiny Wrigley Field, a former minor league ballpark ill suited for Major League play with its 345-foot power alleys and paltry 20,457 seating capacity. The next year, the Angels moved into newly constructed Dodger Stadium, or Chavez Ravine as the American Leaguers called it, where they appeared as sub lessees who got to use the field while the “real” tenants were away.
The Angels needed their own home.
In the ensuing years, Angels owner Gene Autry was courted by many southland cities, including a strong wooing from Long Beach, but eventually settled on Anaheim, which offered a 160-acre parcel near the intersection of three freeways. Ground was broken Aug. 31, 1964, on the $24 million facility, and 19 months later it was ready for the Angels to move in.
The new stadium featured 43,204 seats and outfield dimensions derived from a scientific study intended to insure offensive balance. But the real calling card was the $1 million “Big A” scoreboard in left field. At 230 feet, it was the tallest structure in Orange County at the time and featured a state-of-the-art video display that could not only show fans the score and lineups, but also lead cheers and highlight statistical milestones.
The Angels hosted the San Francisco Giants for a pre-season exhibition at their new stadium on April 9, 1966, during which Willie Mays hit the “unofficial” first home run in Anaheim Stadium history.
Ten days later, the stadium officially opened Major League play, with Tommy John and the White Sox facing off against Marcelino Lopez and the Angels. Outfielder Rick Reichardt connected for a solo home run, the stadium’s first, in the second inning, giving the Angels a lead they’d hold until the sixth. But the Sox tied it on a Tommie Agee solo homer in the sixth and took the lead with two in the eighth to hand the Angels a 3-1 defeat in their home opener. Jim Fregosi’s first inning double was the stadium’s first hit.
The Angels notched their first Anaheim home victory the next night, defeating the White Sox, 4-3, in 11 innings.
The new location and facility were both a hit with fans. The Angels drew only 566,727 fans during the 1965 season at Chavez Ravine, but nearly tripled that figure to 1.4 million their first year in Anaheim.
Since that first season, the venue has hosted the 1967, 1989 and 2010 MLB All-Star Game and the 2006 World Baseball Classic. It has also witnessed Hall of Fame achievements such as Don Sutton’s 300th victory, Rod Carew’s and George Brett’s 3,000th hits, and Reggie Jackson’s 500th home run. While tenants in Anaheim/Edison Field/Angel Stadium, the Angels have won eight division titles and one World Series Championship.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL196604190.shtml
#33 - April 11, 1990: Langston and Witt combine on no-no

The 1989-90 Major League baseball offseason began with a bang for the California Angels and their fans. On Dec. 1, 1989, the team signed free agent lefthander Mark Langston to a five year, $16 million contract, outbidding the Yankees and Dodgers. It briefly made Langston the highest paid player in baseball.
The signing gave the Angels a formidable rotation, with Langston joining Chuck Finley, Jim Abbott, Kirk McCaskill and Bert Blyleven – and pushed Mike Witt, at that time the franchise’s second-winningest pitcher, to the bullpen. Though he’d won 109 games in nine seasons with the Angels, Witt slumped to 9-15 with a 4.54 ERA in 1989.
As February neared, however, hopeful exuberance from fans turned to frustration as rumors of another work stoppage became reality. The players, concerned that the owners were talking about a salary cap, threatened a strike. The owners, concerned about a strike, instead locked out the players, putting spring training on indefinite hold.
After 32 days, the second longest work stoppage in MLB history, an agreement was reached on March 19 and an abbreviated spring training was begun. Opening Day was pushed back one week to April 9, but starting pitchers did not work as many innings as they would have during a normal spring. For their first regular season starts, most were placed on a strict pitch count.
Langston made his Angels debut in the season’s third game, a Wednesday night tilt at home against the Seattle Mariners, his former team.
Langston walked two Mariners in the first inning, but helped himself out by inducing a double play ball between them. He issued another walk in the third, but another double play erased that threat. The Mariners went down in order in the fourth and Langston worked around a fourth walk in the fifth to hold Seattle scoreless and, as most of the 25,632 fans in attendance were starting to realize, hitless, as well.
Mariners starter Erik Hanson, meanwhile, was pitching his own shutout against the Angels, but running up a high pitch count by working in and out of jams. After five innings, Hanson had already thrown 89 pitches and his night was done.
Langston retired the Mariners in order in both the sixth and seventh and walked off the mound locked up in a scoreless tie, already over his pitch count at 99 pitches thrown. There was as much question as to whether he’d come out for the eighth as to if he’d even win a game in which he’d thrown seven hitless innings.
The Angels offense, finally, answered one of those questions, literally pushing across one run on Dante Bichette’s bases loaded walk to score Johnny Ray. The inning ended with the Angels leading, 1-0.
Much to the disappointment of the fans at Anaheim Stadium, Langston’s night was finished. He was replaced by none other than the man he’d relegated to the bullpen, Witt, the last Angel to throw a no-hitter. (1984 perfect game against Texas.)
The big righty, who would soon be traded to the Yankees for outfielder Dave Winfield, was on his game, retiring Edgar Martinez and Greg Briley on groundouts and striking out Dave Valle. The Angels went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth and Witt, not closer Bryan Harvey, took the mound for the ninth.
The crowd, which had booed his appearance the previous inning, this time rose to its feet and cheered every strike. Pinch hitter Scott Bradley and Harold Reynolds each grounded out to second, bringing Ken Griffey Jr. to the plate as Seattle’s last chance to break up the no-hit bid. On a 2-2 pitch, Griffey swung and missed, completing the Angels eighth no-hitter and first involving more than one pitcher.
It was quite a debut for Langston (7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 K), though 1990 would go on to be arguably his worst season in an Angels uniform (10-17, 4.40 ERA). And a tidy ending to a solid Angels career for Witt, who would make nine more relief appearances before heading to New York on May 11.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL199004110.shtml
#32 - May 17, 1989: Rookie Jim Abbott bests Roger Clemens

No Angels draft pick arrived with more notoriety and instantaneous fan support than Jim Abbott. Even before the team made the lefthander its first-round pick (No. 8 overall) in the June 1988 amateur draft, Abbott was already known outside of strictly baseball circles. And when he led the 1988 U.S. Olympic team to the gold medal at the Summer Games in Seoul, Korea, he became a household name.
His exploits on the baseball field, of course, lent to Abbott’s celebrity, but not as much as the fact he accomplished all of them without a right hand. Born with a genetic defect, Abbott overcame his disability and became an inspiration to thousands of children and adults living with disabilities around the world.
Following the 1988 draft and Olympics, Abbott arrived at Angels spring training in Palm Springs, Calif., having never thrown a pitch as a professional. There was some question entering camp as to where Abbott, 26-8 in three years at the University of Michigan, would begin the season: in the minor leagues or in the Angels rotation?
When the Angels broke camp, they took Abbott with them to Anaheim, making him the 15th player to make his professional debut in the Major Leagues. Abbott lost his first start, 7-0, April 8 at home to future teammate Mark Langston and the Seattle Mariners. He earned his first victory April 24 at home against the Baltimore Orioles.
Heading into his May 17 match up in Anaheim with two-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, Abbott had experienced mixed results, entering with a 2-3 record and 4.50 ERA. Had the Angels misjudged the lefty’s preparedness for big league hitters? Did he need more seasoning in the minor leagues?
Abbott answered both questions with a resounding “No.”
The Red Sox went down in order in the first and Clemens retired Angels leadoff hitter Claudell Washington on a strikeout to start the Angels half. But then Johnny Ray and Devon White singled and Wally Joyner drew a two-out walk to load the bases for Chili Davis, who doubled down the left field line to clear the bases. Catcher Lance Parrish followed with a blast to deep left field, giving Abbott and the Angels a 5-0 first inning lead.
Clemens began the third inning by issuing a walk to Brian Downing and single to Joyner before being pulled for reliever Dennis Lamp. The outing was the shortest of Clemens’ career to that point.
Abbott, on the other hand, was dominant. He got into a two-on, one-out jam in the fourth, but Jim Rice lined into a double play to end the inning. Only two Red Sox reached base the rest of the game.
As Abbott came out to pitch the ninth inning, the Anaheim Stadium crowd of 31,230 stunned fans rose to its feet to cheer the rookie on. Not only had the mighty Roger Clemens been rudely dispatched in the third inning, but also the kid for whom everybody liked so much to cheer was three outs from his first complete game and shutout.
The inning began with a Wade Boggs come backer that Abbott was unable to field cleanly for an infield hit. The crowd briefly stirred, wondering if the miscue would throw off Abbott’s concentration. Their fears were soon quelled, however, as Abbott used his cut fastball to induce Marty Barrett into a 5-4-3 double play.
And when Ellis Burks grounded out to third, the crowd erupted. Abbott (9 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K) had the shutout, Clemens lost for the first time at Anaheim Stadium and the Angels improved to 26-13 on the year. With the shutout, the Angels’ ninth of the season, Abbott lowered his ERA almost a full run to 3.56.
For Abbott, it was the best game of a rookie season that saw him post a 12-12 record with a 3.92 ERA, good for fifth in A.L. Rookie of the Year voting. The 21-year-old had proven he belonged in the big leagues and would soon cement his status as a fan favorite with his infectious smile, selfless personality, inspirational attitude and, oh yeah, some pretty darn good pitching in subsequent seasons with the Angels.
But for this fan, the night Abbott beat Clemens will always be one of the greatest moments in Angels history.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL198905170.shtml
#31 - 1986: The Birth of Wally World

When Wallace Keith “Wally” Joyner started the season in 1986, he had some big shoes to fill. Those shoes belonged to future Hall of Famer Rod Carew, who retired at the conclusion of the 1985 season. Wearing uniform No. 21, no one knew how the baby-faced 23-year-old lefty would do.
On April 9, Joyner hit his first home run off Seattle’s Mark Langston in just his second game as a Major Leaguer. Angels fans immediately embraced the rookie. Chants of “WAL-LY! WAL-LY! WAL-LY!” broke out during every one of his at-bats. Anaheim Stadium soon became known as “Wally World” to the fans and media.
For six weeks, Joyner ruled the American League, slugging 16 home runs by May 26. Joyner also had a knack for timely hitting to go with his surprising power. He played spectacular defense and had a wholesome, infectious smile.
Joyner became a national sensation, as he reached 20 home runs by the All-Star break. He became the first rookie ever voted as a starter in the All-Star Game. Joyner batted third for the American League in 1986 and tied the Mets’ Darryl Strawberry for the most home runs in the All-Star Home Run Derby.
Joyner finished up 1986 with a .290/.348/.457 line on the year with 22 home runs and 100 RBI. A staph infection, suffered in early August, sapped his strength for the rest of the season. The illness required Joyner to be hospitalized after Game 3 of the American League Championship Series and he missed the rest of the series. In one of the more controversial Rookie of the Year votes, Joyner finished second to Jose Canseco.
In 1987, Joyner had his best year, posting a .285/.366/.528 line with 34 home runs and 117 RBI. He became the ninth player in Major League history to have back-to-back 100 RBI seasons at the start of his career.
Following the 1992 season, Joyner signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals. He played for four years with the Royals before they traded him to the San Diego Padres. After four years in San Diego, he was traded to the Atlanta Braves. Finally, in 2001, he returned to the Angels, where he retired on June 16, 2001.
As an Angel, Joyner ranks ninth in RBI, 10th in doubles, 11th in at-bats, 12th in hits, batting average and home runs, and 13th in slugging percentage and runs scored. Defensively, amongst all Angels first basemen, he ranks first in total chances, put outs, assists and double plays, and had a career .994 fielding percentage.
Anaheim Stadium has had many names over the years, but none have been as fun as the time when it was called “Wally World” and echoed with chants of “WAL-LY! WAL-LY! WAL-LY!”
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL198905170.shtml
#30 - 2014: Jered Weaver Becomes the First Angel Pitcher to Lead the AL in Wins over Multiple Years

When you talk about pitching records and the Angels organization, it’s difficult to not automatically assume that Nolan Ryan will hold whatever record it is you’re talking about. While Ryan’s career span an amazing 27 years, it was during his tenure with the Angels that Ryan put up many of his Star Wars like numbers.
So if one was to ask, “Who is the only Angel pitcher to lead the American League in wins in multiple years, it’s a safe bet that many fans would quickly spit out “Nolan Ryan” as their response.
Those many fans would be incorrect.
On Saturday, September 20, 2014, in from of a Big A crowd of 35,890, Weaver threw 102 pitches over 7 innings, recorded 7 strikeouts and allowed just 3 earned runs. This outing provided Weaver with his 18th and final win of the year. That 18th win was enough to secure him his share of a three-way tie for most wins by an American League pitcher in 2014. (An honor he shared with Corey Kluber and Max Scherzer.)
Having also won his share of the most wins by an American League pitcher title in 2012 (an honor he shared with David Price), Weaver became the first Angel pitcher to win the title in multiple years. Prior to that, only two other Halo pitchers had secured the Most AL Wins title: Dean Chance in 1964 with 20 wins and Bartolo Colón in 2005 with 21 wins.
In 2017, Weaver’s 11-year career with the Angels came to an end when, as a free agent, he signed with the San Diego Padres. Over those 11 years, Weaver notched some impressive achievements …
• 3 time All-Star (2010, 2011 and 2012)
• Starting pitcher for the American League All-Star Team in 2011
• MLB strikeout leader in 2010 (233 strikeouts)
• A no-hitter against the Minnesota Twins on May 2, 2012
• 150–93 Record
• 3.55 ERA
• 1,598 Strikeouts
A local Southern California kid, born and raised in Simi Valley, CA, Weaver also attended Cal State Long Beach. During his college career, Weaver won the 2004 Golden Spikes Award (given to the top amateur baseball player in the country), the 2004 Dick Howser Trophy (given to the national collegiate baseball player of the year) and the 2014 Roger Clemens Award (given to college baseball’s top pitcher).
Soured by the lofty bonus demands of his agent, Scott Boras, many teams passed on Weaver early in the first round of the 2004 MLB Draft and the Angels were able to secure him with the 12th overall pick.
The negotiations between Weaver and the Angels lasted for almost a year, when the two sides finally got the deal done in May of 2005. Weaver made his Major League debut one year later on May 27, 2006, pitching seven shutout innings against the Baltimore Orioles and securing his first Major League win in the process.
Weaver’s tenure with the Angels ended on February 19, 2017, when he signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the San Diego Padres. However, there is no doubt he has secured his place in team’s rich history, and in the hearts and minds of the Angel fans who watched him play for 11 outstanding years.
We all will miss your passion for the game while wearing an Angels uniform, Jered. Thank you for all the memories.
#29 - Oct. 1-27, 2002: K-Rod dominates like no other rookie

Darin Erstad settled under a deep fly ball to center field and closed his glove around the last out of the 2002 World Series. Pandemonium ensued. The Angels were Champions of baseball. Tim Salmon paraded around the stadium with gene Autry’s famous Stetson and Troy Glaus hoisted the MVP trophy. But none of that would have been possible had it not been for a young pitching phenom from Venezuela.
Francisco Rodriguez, nicknamed K-Rod that same October for striking out more than a batter an inning, was a mid-September call-up to an Angels bullpen riddled with injuries. Rodriguez gave the Angels a glimpse of what he would soon do on the world stage. In fewer than 6 innings of regular season play, Rodriguez gave up 2 hits and struck out 13.
The Angels faced the New York Yankees in the ALDS. In Game 2 in New York, Rodriguez earned his first career win as a Major League pitcher. While he was also credited with the blown save, he’d pitched two effective innings for a much needed victory that tied the short series at one game a piece. The Angels would win the next two games and take the series. “Franky” officially became K-Rod. In 3.2 innings, Rodriguez struck out seven, and in the crucial third game, he got the win by holding a powerful Yankees line-up down while the Angels recovered from an early five run deficit.
After the Angels blew through the Minnesota Twins in the ALCS, they would meet the San Francisco Giants, led by Barry Bonds, in the World Series. In almost nine innings of work, Rodriguez was downright electric; he fanned 13 and walked one. In a crucial Game 2, Rodriguez pitched three scoreless innings and struck out four. The Giants batters were simply over matched by K-Rod’s fastball-slider combo and the Angels would win that seesaw battle, 11-10. It was the Angels first World Series game victory, and Rodriguez was credited with the win.
Rodriguez piled up 28 strikeouts in just more than 18 innings of playoff work; he was the youngest pitcher in 32 years to pitch in a World Series game and at 20 years old was the youngest ever to win one.
The young Venezuelan entered the playoffs as nondescript Francisco Rodriguez and emerged from them a bona-fide star known as K-Rod, who later set the single-season record for most saves with 62 in 2008. A record that has yet to be broken. 
#28 - July 12, 2019: The Angels Honor Tyler Skaggs with a No-Hitter

If Hollywood hired a writer to write the perfect script for a baseball movie, it couldn’t have done better than what actually happened at Angel Stadium on Friday, July 12, 2019.
To set the stage, the Angels were struggling all season long through July 1st, barely holding onto a .500 record. While on the road in Texas, the Angels awoke to the tragic news that their friend, their teammate, their pitcher, Tyler Skaggs had died of an accidental drug overdose in his hotel room.
The Angels and Rangers cancelled their game that night, while the team dealt with its grief. The whole team was visibly shaken. Mike Trout tweeted out ““Words cannot express the deep sadness we feel right now. Our thoughts and prayers are with Carli and their families. Remembering him as a great teammate, friend, and person who will forever remain in our hearts… we love you, 45.”
Overnight, a memorial, built by fans with flowers, hats, letters, pictures, and posters appeared on the pitching mound in front of Angels Stadium. Everyday, the memorial grew while the Angels finished up their road trip leading up to the All-Star Break. At the All-Star Game, both Mike Trout and Tommy La Stella wore #45 jerseys to honor their teammate.
On Friday, July 12th, the Angels opened a homestand with the Mariners. They honored Tyler by having his mother, Debbie throw out the opening pitch. Standing beside her stood Carli, Tyler’s wife, his brother Garret, and stepfather Dan. A visibly emotional Andrew Heaney and Mike Trout carried out a framed Skaggs #45 jersey while every Angels player wore a #45 Skaggs jersey to honor their friend.
With the ceremonial 1st pitch, Debbie threw a perfect strike to Andrew Heaney to open the game. Afterwards, she wrote Tyler’s initials on the mound. And then, it was if a guardian angel came down to make this a truly memorial game.
Taylor Cole opened the game with a 1-2-3 inning. And then, in the bottom of the first, the Angels offense exploded. They scored 7 runs on 7 hits in the first. Mike Trout drove in 4; two on a homerun and 2 more on a double. The blast travelled 454 feet which was Skaggs’ number forwards and backwards.
After Cole pitched two hitless innings, Felix Peña came on in the third and pitched the rest of the way. The combination of these two, was hardly the predictable duo to pitch what happened that night. Cole, had bounced up and down from AAA all season, and Peña rarely had the stamina or control to pitch deep into games.
Throughout the emotional crowd, no one wanted to say anything about the magic that was happening before them. In the 6th inning, rookie Matt Thaiss made a spectacular play at 3B, a position he was learning at the Major League level, to record the out.
In the 9th, with the crowd on its feet, the Angels made two more spectacular plays to save the no-hitter. The first, against Dee Gordon, was a little nubber that Gordon nearly beat out at first. The second was a smash hit to Luis Rengifo at 2B that for a moment seemed to get away from him, but he recovered to record the out.
After the game, the emotions just poured out on the field. The team came together around the mound and one by one took their jerseys off laid them down on the mound, with Skaggs’ name and #45 pointed up to the sky.
The symbolism was not lost on the Angels. They knew that they had a guardian angel looking out for them that night, and it showed in many ways. The Angels scored 7 runs in the first, and 13 runs total. Tyler Skaggs was born on 7/13. The combined no hitter was the first combined no hitter in California since 7/13/91—the day that Tyler was born. The Angels collected 13 hits that night. The next day, July 13th, Tyler would have turned 28. The no-hitter that night was the Angels’ 11th no-hitter in franchise history. In high school, Skaggs wore #11.
The Angels sent jerseys and balls from the no-hitter to the Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown. Someday they will be on display, and fans can see and learn of the magic of this game.
Dee Gordon, the Mariners player best summed up this game when he said “If you don’t believe in God, you might want to start.” If you were there that night, you know he was right.
You can watch highlights of this game below.
#27 - 1979: Baylor wins A.L. MVP

At some point during the 1979 Angels season, a new statistic was born. Though the abbreviation RBI has traditionally stood for “runs batted in,” Angels cleanup hitter Don Baylor redefined it to mean “runs Baylored in.”
The outfielder/DH, acquired as a free agent prior to the 1977 season, was so adept at producing in the clutch during the Angels first division championship season that radio play-by-play man Dick Enberg coined the new phrase. And he used it a lot.
Baylor batted .296 with 36 home runs and a still franchise best 139 RBI, netting him 20 of a possible 28 first place votes for the American League MVP award. For good measure, Baylor also scored 120 runs, which like his RBI total also led the league.
Baylor got off to blazing start, driving in a then league record 28 runs in April, and never cooled off. On April 21, he belted a grand slam during the Angels 13-1 victory over the Athletics. On May 15, Baylor beat the Brewers with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the ninth to break a 1-1 tie.
On August 8, Baylor was already sitting at 98 RBI and hit the century mark in style, connecting in the third inning off the Athletics’ Matt Keough for a two-run shot for Nos. 99 and 100. Baylor went 4-for-5 with that home run, a double and later added an RBI-single for RBI No. 101.
But the man they called Groove was hardly satisfied with that. On Aug. 25, Baylor had one of the best single days in Angels history against Toronto, as the Angels blistered the Blue Jays, 24-2. Baylor belted two home runs and drove in a career-high eight runs.
It was simply one of those seasons where everything fell into place.
“Everyday I went to the park, I knew I’d get two or three hits and some RBI,” Baylor recalled. “In mid-December, I started jogging 2 1/2 to 3 miles a day, so I’d be in the best shape ever. In 1978 I hit 34 home runs and 99 RBI, and I was really longing for that 100th. After April, I had (nearly) 30, and I knew I was on a roll.”
In addition to leading the league in RBI and runs scored, Baylor also led (or tied for the lead) the Angels in home runs, triples (5), doubles (33) and stolen bases (22). He played in all 162 games and, perhaps most amazingly, struck out only 51 times in 628 at-bats.
For the Angels in 1979, Baylor was without question their MVP: Most Valuable Producer.
#26 - 1964: Dean Chance wins Cy Young Award

Of all the compliments one could pay to Dean Chance’s incredible 1964 season and subsequent awarding of the Cy Young Award, perhaps the highest praise is this: he beat Sandy Koufax.
The Dodgers Hall of Fame lefthander, during arguably the most dominant four-season stretch in Major League history, took home three Cy Young Awards. Chance’s brilliance in 1964, however, prevented Koufax from winning four. (Only one winner was named for all of MLB prior to the 1967 season.) And he did so pitching half his games from the same Chavez Ravine mound as Koufax.
Wilmer Dean Chance came to the Angels in the 1960 expansion draft after spending two seasons in the Baltimore Orioles organization, and made his major league debut late in the 1961 season. Following a strong rookie season in 1962 (14-10, 2.96 ERA), Chance had a sophomore slump, slipping to 13-18 in 1963, despite a respectable 3.19 ERA.
At the All-Star break in 1964, Chance was again a victim of awful run support and sported a mediocre 5-5 record. His 2.19 ERA, however, was good enough to earn him the All-Star Game start, during which he pitched three scoreless innings.
The honor seemed to inspire Chance and the 23 year old took matters into his own hands in the second half. He won nine straight games from July 11 through Aug. 18 – six of them shutouts, and four of those by a 1-0 score. During the streak, Chance allowed only seven earned runs in 79 innings (0.80 ERA).
His brilliance was perhaps best illustrated by his complete and utter dominance of the New York Yankees.
Chance pitched five games against the Bronx Bombers, posting a 4-0 record. But here’s where things just get silly: In 50 innings of work against New York, Chance allowed one run. And it came on a solo home run by Mickey Mantle, who called Chance the toughest pitcher he ever faced.
When all was said and done, Chance was 20-9 with a 1.65 ERA, the 70th lowest ERA in Major League history and No. 7 all-time in the modern era. He threw 11 shutouts, five of them by a 1-0 score. (He also lost four games, 1-0.)
Of the 278 1/3 innings Chance pitched in 1964, opponents crossed the plate in only 35 of them. The other 243 1/3 were scoreless.
In 47 years of franchise history, the Angels have had many pitchers carry the label of staff ace – some even legitimately deserving. But only one can claim a season as the best pitcher in all of baseball. That man is Dean Chance in 1964.
#25 - May 4, 2007: Scioscia passes Rigney

It was a seemingly meaningless early season game for the Angels, who did as they had done so often under manager Mike Scioscia – won in front of their home fans at Angel Stadium.
In game No. 30 of the 2007 season, the Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-1, to improve to 17-13 and maintain their one game lead in the American League West. Most of the 44,126 in attendance that night stayed for the fireworks show, which had become and remain a Friday night tradition at the Big A. But on this night, the brightly lit sky and deafening explosions were more fitting than arbitrary as the Angels, their fans and their field general celebrated a great feat: Mike Scioscia had become the winningest manager in franchise history, passing the team’s first skipper, Bill Rigney, with his 626th regular season victory.
Rigney managed the team for its first 1,333 games, spanning nearly the entire decade of the ’60s (1961-1969) and compiling a 625-707 (.469) record during his tenure. While his steadying influence was a good match for the freewheeling Angels teams of his decade, the best Rigney could manage was the surprising third place finish of 1962. They never got higher than fifth in his subsequent seasons.
On the other bookend of Angels history stands Scioscia, manager for the entire decade of the ’00s. During the first 1,296 games of Scioscia’s reign, the Angels have posted a 1490-12643 (.541) record, including five of the top-5 regular season victory totals in franchise history. The former all-star catcher has guided the Angels to six division titles, one wild card and, of course, the only World Championship in franchise history.
Victory No. 626 said in the midst of the greatest era in Angels history needs no further explanation than this: Mike Scioscia is the best to ever manage the Angels.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ALA/ALA200705040.shtml
Mike Scioscia's career totals as manager of the Angels.

#24 - May 5, 1962: Bo Belinsky tosses first no-hitter in Angels history

“This crowd about to explode. Ball one, strike one the count. Can he do it? … There’s two men away … Belinsky now looks out toward center field … turns, walks back on the hill … and the 1-1 pitch … is swung on, it’s popped up into shallow left field … into foul territory goes Torres … it’s going to be a no-hitter … IT’S A NO-HITTER FOR BELINSKY! (Radio partner exclaims “Whooo hoooo!”) Belinsky a no-hitter! How about that one? Belinsky, in his fourth Major League start, has startled 15,000 fans here tonight. His teammates mob him. And I have (pause) seen my third no-hitter.”
It’s hard to blame announcer Buddy Blattner for getting so wrapped up in the excitement of Belinsky’s no-hitter that he felt compelled to drop in that personal detail at the end of his call. After all, nobody expected the former pool hustler from Trenton, N.J., to pitch a no-hitter in his fourth major league start. Not even Belinsky himself.
“If I’d known I was gonna pitch a no-hitter today, I would have gotten a haircut,” he said after the game.
And that, in a nutshell, was Bo Belinsky in 1962 – always conscious of his image, even when his on-field successes were actually keeping up with his off-field ones. No starting pitcher likely got more mileage out of 28 career victories than Robert “Bo” Belinsky.
“Bo had more fun off the field than he did on the field,” said former big league first baseman Mike Hegan. For an amazing couple of months of the Angels second season, however, Belinksy meant good times whatever he was doing.
Freed from minor league purgatory in the Orioles organization the previous November when the Angels selected him in the Rule 5 draft, Belinsky immediately felt right at home in Los Angeles, where both the baseball and society writers ate up his antics. Despite having spent five years in the minor leagues with the Pirates and Orioles, Belinsky held out for an additional $2,000 on his rookie contract.
And then an amazing thing happened: Belinsky actually appeared to be worth it. He won his first start, April 18, 3-2 over the Kansas City Athletics. Then he beat the Indians, 6-2, on April 25 at home, and again on May 1, 8-6, at Cleveland.
Back at Chavez Ravine and starting on three-day’s rest, Belinsky found himself flirting with something other than a Hollywood starlet.
He struck out the first two Orioles during a 1-2-3 first, but a walk and hit batter put him in a jam in the second. Belinsky escaped, however, thanks to a groundout and another strikeout. In the fourth, the Orioles loaded the bases with one out following two walks and an error by third baseman Felix Torres. But Belinsky struck out Dave Nicholson and Ron Hansen flew out to deep center field to end the inning.
Meanwhile, the Angels pushed across single runs in the first and second, but were held to only three hits of their own for the next six innings. Didn’t matter. Belinsky got stronger and retired 12 of 13 Orioles heading into the ninth.
Jackie Brandt struck out to start the inning, Belinsky’s ninth and final strikeout of the game. Then Gus Triandos grounded out to Joe Koppe at short, setting up the final showdown with Nicholson, who’d struck out twice. Nicholson popped out to Torres in foul territory and Belinsky made history, throwing not only the first no-hitter in Angels history, but the first at newly-built Dodger Stadium.
Belinsky won his next start to begin his career 5-0, and on June 21 the 25-year-old lefty was 7-2 with a remarkable 2.90 ERA.
Unfortunately, Belinsky’s story doesn’t stop there, though, as the promising rookie’s drinking and carousing finally started to catch up with him. He lost 9 of his final 12 starts and finished what once seemed like a dream season a mediocre 10-11.
1963 got worse as he slumped to 2-9, making just 13 big league starts and seeing his ERA swell to 5.75. 1964 was better (9-8, 2.86), but an August hotel room fight with Los Angeles Times writer Braven Dyer was the last straw for the Angels, who suspended Belinsky for the remainder of the season and shipped him off to Philadelphia for Rudy May and Costen Shockley later that winter.
Belinsky’s star burned bright and fast in Los Angeles, but for an expansion team with no previous sense of identity, for a couple of years he was the face of the franchise. And though his pitching didn’t always match, Belinsky made sure that face looked good.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAA/LAA196205050.shtml
#23 - Oct. 1, 1970: Alex Johnson wins Angels first batting title

Alex Johnson knew exactly what he needed to do to wrestle the batting title away from Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski when the California Angels took the field against the Chicago White Sox at Anaheim Stadium for the final game of the 1970 season.
A 2-for-3 night for the Angels’ moody outfielder and Johnson would edge Yaz by mere percentage points to become the franchise’s first batting champion.
A difficult task became improbable when Johnson grounded out in his first plate appearance.
But a single to right in the third inning set the stage for Johnson when he stepped up to the plate in the fifth.
“I didn’t feel any pressure,” he’d later claim. “I knew I had a big job to do.”
One of the game’s greatest hitters, Tony Gwynn often quipped that it’s the infield singles and Texas-leaguers that determine the batting title. It certainly rang true for Johnson, who chopped a high bouncer to White Sox third baseman, Bill Melton. Despite a nifty backhanded stop, Melton was unable to throw a hustling Johnson out at first. When manager Lefty Phillips sent in Jay Johnstone to pinch run, Johnson and the Angels had their first batting title.
Ironic that it was a hustle play that earned him his “biggest achievement.” Johnson, along with being a great hitter, was viewed by many fans as a lazy player. Some say he refused to jog between innings, oftentimes barely making it to the dugout before the next half inning would begin.
Johnson finished the 1970 season with a batting average of .3289 to edge Yastrzemski, who hit .3286.
“Winning the batting title is the biggest achievement of my life,” Johnson said after the game.
But there would be no more great achievements for Johnson in an Angels uniform. The very next year was a tumultuous one, as it seemed that Johnson’s baggage had finally caught up with him. A lack of hustle, discontentment and a heavy temper ultimately wore thin with his teammates, the organization and beat writers. After a series of suspensions in 1971, the Angels traded him in the off-season to the Cleveland Indians, where Johnson would only hit .239 in 1972.
In fact, Johnson would never approach .300 again, finishing his career with unspectacular stints in Texas, New York (AL) and Detroit.
For the Angels and their fans though, he will always be remembered as the man toting the “silver bat” signifying his great achievement in 1970. Johnson remains the only Angels hitter to win the batting title.
#22 - June 10, 1997: Jim Edmonds makes "The Catch"

Jim Edmonds’ catch in Kansas City won’t be remembered because it contributed to a division championship or turned the momentum of a postseason series. It did neither. It won’t even be remembered because it helped win a game – which it incidentally did; the Angels defeated the Royals, 6-2, that night.
No, “The Catch” will be remembered quite simply because it was an unforgettable display of physical prowess that might never be duplicated.
In the fifth inning of a 1-1 tie at Kauffman Stadium, David Howard came to the plate with two on and two outs. Howard lined a Jason Dickson fastball to straightaway center field on a frozen rope. Edmonds, who always played a shallow center, turned, put his head down and charged back to where his instincts told him the ball might land.
As the ball sailed over his head, Edmonds threw his body in the air and blindly reached out his gloved hand as far as he could and, as Angels television broadcaster Steve Physioc called it …
“A long run for Jim Edmonds … OH, HE MADE A CATCH! UNBELIEVABLE!”
Edmonds wound up on the edge of the warning track, rolling onto his back with his legs in the air, left hand reaching up to display the ball.
“I looked up and saw it come over the bill of my cap and thought I might as well lay out for this one, the game’s on the line here,” said Edmonds, who doubled home the go-ahead run in the ensuing inning. “I heard (Tim) Salmon screaming and I saw Luis (Alicea) throw his glove up in the air and (Gary) DiSarcina had a blank look on his face.
“I’m thinking, ‘Man, I got the ball in my hand. Is there something else I’ve got to do?’ I had to sit there for a second and think about it.”
What everybody else thought about it was they’d never seen anything like it.
“That was one of the greatest plays ever,” veteran umpire Dave Phillips told the Kansas City Star. “That made Willie Mays’ play look routine.”
“It’s one of the greatest catches I’ve ever seen, and 95 percent of the guys in here will tell you that,” Howard said. “People don’t just dive on their face with their back to the infield as they’re heading into the wall.”
“The angle of the ball directly over his head, diving away from home plate … tells you what a great player this guy is,” Angels manager Terry Collins said. “He’s a brilliant outfielder.”
The play helped Edmonds net the first of two Gold Glove Awards he’d win for the Angels. He won six more playing for the St. Louis Cardinals.
USA Today in 2002 ranked the catch as the third-most amazing play of all-time, behind Mays’ 1954 World Series grab and Ozzie Smith’s barehanded magic in 1978.
#21 - November 12, 2018: Two-Way Sensation Shohei Ohtani Named 2018 AL Rookie of the Year Award

On November 12th, 2018 the Angels RHP/DH Shohei Ohtani was named the 2018 Jackie Robinson American League Rookie of the Year in an announcement made by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
The 24-year-old was the third player in Angels’ history to earn the honor, joining Tim Salmon (1993) and Mike Trout (2012). He also became the fourth Japanese-born player to win a Rookie of the Year Award in the Major Leagues, joining Hideo Nomo (1995), Kazuhiro Sasaki (2000) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001).
Ohtani finished with 137 points in the balloting process, including 25 of 30 first place votes. He finished 48 points ahead of second place finisher Miguel Andujar of the New York Yankees (89 points).
"What Shohei did both on the mound and at the plate this season was just amazing to watch,” Salmon said. “He wasn't just good, but great. He made the transition from pitching to hitting look seamless and we all know how difficult it is to be successful at just one aspect of the game. Congratulations to Shohei and we can't wait to see what the future holds in his career."
“I want to pass along my congratulations to Shohei for this special honor,” Trout said. “It’s great to see all of his hard work and effort recognized with this very prestigious award.  All of us enjoyed playing along-side and watching Shohei excel as a two-way player and make history along the way.  I have no doubt the best is yet to come!”
The Ōshū, Japan native finished his rookie season in the Majors with a .285 (93/326) batting average with 59 runs scored, 21 doubles, two triples, 22 home runs, 61 RBI and 10 stolen bases. He led all A.L. rookies (min. 300 PA) in OPS (.925), on-base percentage (.361), and slugging percentage (.564) and posted the best rates of at-bats per home run (14.82) and RBI (5.34).
Additionally, in his 10 starts as a pitcher, he went 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA (51.2 IP – 19 ER) and his 63 strikeouts were the most by any pitcher in Angels history through his first 10 career starts. He allowed three-or-fewer runs in nine of 10 starts and held opponents to a .036 (2/55) batting average against his splitter.
Ohtani was named the American League Rookie of the Month in April and September and also received A.L.Rookie of the Week honors twice. He is the first player in Major League history to hit 15+ HR and compile 50+ pitching strikeouts in a season and joined Babe Ruth (1918 & 1919) as the only players since 1900 with 10+ HR and 4+ wins as a pitcher in a single campaign.
This season, he was the only player in the Majors to have multiple games of two home runs and a stolen base. Additionally, on Sept. 5 at Texas, Ohtani became the second rookie in A.L. history to record four hits, four runs, two HR and a stolen base in a single game, joining Craig Wilson who did so for the White Sox on Sept. 14, 1988 at Detroit.
Ohtani signed with the Angels as an international free agent on Dec. 9, 2017 following five seasons with the Nippon-Ham Fighters of the Japanese Pacific League.
The Rookie of the Year Award has been presented annually since 1947 and subsequently had its name changed to the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award in 1987, 40 years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier.
SHOHEI OHTANI’S ROOKIE SEASON Angels RHP/DH 
Shohei Ohtani compiled a historic first season in the Major Leagues. Below is a look at some of his accomplishments, as well as where he ranked among A.L. rookie batters and pitchers. 
Named 2018 American League Rookie of the Year by the BBWAA, Baseball America and Baseball Digest.  Became first player in Major League history to hit 15+ HR and compile 50+ pitching strikeouts in a season.  Joined Babe Ruth (1918 & 1919) as the only players since 1900 with 10+ HR and 4+ wins as a pitcher in a single campaign…Ruth is also the only other player to hit 15+ home runs and pitch 50+ innings in a season. Established new home run record for a Japanese-born rookie (previous was 18 by Kenji Johjima in 2006).  Only player in Majors to have multiple games of two HRs and a stolen base in 2018.  Is the first player since Jimmy Ryan of the 1888 Chicago White Stockings to record 15+ home runs, 10+ stolen bases and three pitching appearances in a single season.  Named American League Rookie of the Month for April and September.  On Sept. 5 at Rangers, became second rookie in A.L. history to record four hits, four runs, two HR and a stolen base in a single game, joining Craig Wilson who did so for White Sox on Sept. 14, 1988 at Tigers. Was twice named A.L. Player of the Week, becoming the first Angels player to win the award twice in one season since Tim Salmon in 2000. o April 2-8: Pitched seven shutout innings with one hit allowed and 12 strikeouts in his start and also slashed .462/.500/1.154 with four runs scored, six hits, three home runs and seven RBI as a hitter. o Sept. 3-9: Batted .474 (9/19) with eight runs, one double, one triple, 10 RBI, two SB and a 1.828 OPS.  Became first player to start games as a pitcher and non-pitcher at any point within the first 10 games of a season since 1920, when Bullet Joe Bush (Red Sox) and Clarence Mitchell (Dodgers) started as pitchers and outfielders. Ohtani led all American League Rookies with a combined 3.8 WAR (Fangraphs) ADDITIONAL PITCHING NOTES 
Set Angels record with 63 strikeouts through first 10 career starts.  Opponents batted .036 (2/55) against his splitter.  Allowed three-or-fewer runs in nine of 10 starts  Became third pitcher all-time with 11+ SO in two of first six career games pitched, joining Brooklyn’s Karl Spooner (1954) & Cubs’ Kerry Wood (1998).  Carried perfect game into 7th inning on Apr. 8 vs. OAK; had stretch of 27 consecutive batters retired between starts on Apr. 1 & Apr. 8.  Had average fastball velocity of 96.7 MPH…Topped 98 MPH with 110 of 396 fastballs, including seven pitches at 100+ MPH. #20 - May 15, 1973: Nolan Ryan throws his first no-hitter

When Nolan Ryan stepped on the mount at Royals Stadium on May 15, 1973, none of the 12,205 in attendance could have had any clue they were about to witness history. Ryan, after all, was coming off a terrible start in which he gave up five runs to the White Sox, failing to get out of the first inning (0.1 IP, 4 H, 5 ER).
His next start, however, could not have been any different. On this night, Ryan was special, recording the first of his seven career no-hitters.
Before he threw his first pitch, Ryan’s teammates had already staked him to a 2-0 lead. He then started off his night by striking out the side in the bottom of the first. Ryan would strike out at least one Royals hitter per inning, save for the fifth, fanning a dozen altogether.
Ryan, who despite his strikeout dominance, was always capable of painting himself into a corner with bases on balls, avoided trouble all night, spreading his three walks out over the first, third and eighth innings. In fact, Ryan was so overpowering that third baseman Al Gallagher, left fielder Vada Pinson and shortstop Rudy Meoli fielded only two balls between the three of them, both by Meoli.
With the Angels leading, 3-0, Ryan faced the top of the Kansas City order in the ninth. Shortstop Freddie Patek fouled out to first and right fielder Steve Hovley struck out. That brought outfielder Amos Otis to the plate. Angels announcer Don Drysdale made the call:
“The one strike pitch, high fly ball, this could do it. Barry going back, to the warning track, to the wall, MAKES THE CATCH! … Nolan Ryan has pitched his first no-hitter of his career!”
Telling that Drysdale specifically called it Ryan’s first, as if it was inevitable there would be others – which of course, there would be.
“From the sixth inning on, I was given a lot of space in the dugout.” Ryan said after the game, “The Angels believed in the old saying: Don’t bother a pitcher who’s got the no-hitter going. Don’t even talk to him.”
Ryan became the first Angels right-hander to throw a no-hitter and it was the first no-hitter thrown at Royals Stadium, which had only opened the previous month.
“I never honestly felt I was the type of pitcher to pitch a no-hitter,” Ryan said. “My curveball isn’t overpowering and after you’ve gone through the lineup once or twice, the hitters can get on the fastball better. A lot of that is timing. I don’t have the type of fastball that really moves. A lot of guys have that explosive type of fastball that really moves. Also, I jam the hitters a lot so the really strong guys can bloop it over the infield for singles.”
One wonders if you’d have told him then he’d throw six more, would he have believed it?
Nolan Ryan no-hitter trivia: Angels second baseman Sandy Alomar made the first out of this game. 18 years later, his son Roberto Alomar struck out to end Ryan’s seventh no-hitter.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA197305150.shtml
#19 - 2012: Trout’s Rookie Season for the Ages

Of all the superlatives that can be lavished upon Mike Trout’s rookie season, perhaps the simplest and most appropriate is “unprecedented,” because no rookie in Major League history reached the statistical heights Trout achieved. For that matter, no second-, third- or even 20th-year player did so, either.
And he did it all as a 20-year-old.
.326/.399/.594, 129 runs, 27 2B, 8 3B, 30 HR, 83 RBI, 49 SB
Trout led the American League in runs scored and stolen bases and finished second in batting average, despite starting the year at AAA Salt Lake and missing the first 20 Major League games. As for “unprecedented,” no player in Major League Baseball’s 141 years had ever surpassed 125 runs, 30 home runs and 45 stolen bases in the same season. Not one. Furthermore, he became the youngest player in history to record a 30 HR-30 SB season and the first rookie to combine 30 HR and 40 SB. Only two rookies scored more runs: Joe DiMaggio (132 in 1936) and Ted Williams (131 in 1939).
He was named an American League All-Star, American League Rookie of the Year, won a Silver Slugger and finished second in the American League MVP balloting to Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera.
And, oh, all of those gravity-defying catches…
After making his celebrated, but far-from-polished big league debut as a 19-year-old in 2011 (batting just .220 and coming within a couple plate appearances of qualifying as a rookie), Trout was no sure bet to make the Angels 2012 roster out of spring training, especially not with an outfield/DH picture crowded by big contracts (Albert Pujols, Torii Hunter, Vernon Wells), big emergences (Mark Trumbo, Peter Bourjos) and big question marks (Kendrys Morales). When Trout missed almost all of the spring with an energy-sapping illness, his fate was sealed — he would start the season in the minors.
While the “Millville Meteor” was batting .403/.467/.623 for the Bees, the Angels were woefully matching the franchise’s worst start (6-14) and falling nine games behind the Rangers for the division lead. In the midst of a five-game losing streak, the Angels recalled Trout on April 28 with the team in Cleveland. He went 0-4 from the leadoff spot, but the Angels won, 2-1.
With Trout setting the table, the Angels fortunes quickly turned. The team went 18-11 in May and climbed back to .500 for the first time since the season’s fourth game. Trout batted .324/.385/.556, but continued to fly under the radar of a baseball world that seemed preoccupied by Nationals rookie Bryce Harper. He was even better in June, posting a .372/.419/.531 line and helping the Angels to a 17-9 record in the month to pull within 4.5 games of the division-leading Rangers.
It was what he did on June 27 in Baltimore, however, that finally made the baseball world truly sit up and take notice. With his family and friends watching at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Trout made an unbelievable leaping catch in center field to rob shortstop J.J. Hardy of a first-inning home run. The catch was replayed for weeks and when people started to look at what he was doing with his bat and on the bases, as well, the youngster was not only a lock for the All-Star game, but suddenly in the discussion for AL MVP.
In July, Trout moved from “discussion” to “front runner,” posting an astounding .392/.455/.804 line. Comparisons to baseball’s immortals — DiMaggio, Williams, Mays, Mantle, even Ruth — became commonplace as statistical projections started to paint a picture of accomplishments matched only by the greatest of all-time — or no one in some cases.
Though he “slumped” to .287/.383/.500 from Aug. 1 on, and the Angels were ultimately unable to keep up with the Rangers and surprise division-winning Athletics, Trout made three more remarkable HR-robbing catches and sold more merchandise in the Angels team store than Pujols and all of his teammates combined.
At 10.7, he led the Major Leagues in Wins Above Replacement (WAR), a “new-age” unit of measure that combines all conceivable statistical information — offense, defense and baserunning — into the number of victories a player is worth over a league-average alternative. Only three players in history posted a higher WAR before the age of 25: Ruth (11.6 in 1920), Gehrig (11.5 in 1927) and Mantle (11.1 in 1957 and 11.0 in 1956). His season ranks 20th all-time and every player ahead of Trout (Ruth, Hornsby, Yastrzemski, Bonds*, Gehrig, Ripken, Wagner, Cobb, Mantle, Mays, Morgan, Musial and Williams) is in the Hall of Fame.
For Angels fans, it was a rookie campaign for the ages, only the franchise’s second ROY (Salmon, 1993) and left just one question: What will he do for an encore?
#18 - Sept. 30, 1984: Witt produces perfection

On the final day of the 1984 season, the Angels found themselves playing out the string, division also-rans to the Kansas City Royals. They would wrap the season in Arlington, facing the last place Rangers in front of a small crowd of 8,375.
Angels starting pitcher Mike Witt came into the game with a record of 14-11 after going 7-14 the previous season. Even before this game, 1984 had been a breakout season for the lanky right-hander as he’d doubled his win total from each of the previous three seasons and already enjoyed a 16-strikeout performance against the Seattle Mariners on July 23.
Witt, who made his Angels debut at 20 in 1981, had a great curveball and fastball, and was able to change speeds effectively with both. From 1984-1987, Witt led the Angels in victories, starts, complete games, strikeouts and innings pitched. In his best season, 1986, Witt won 18 games with a 2.84 ERA, finishing third to Roger Clemens and Teddy Higuera in A.L. Cy Young voting.
Unlikely as it seemed at the time, his last start of 1984 would prove to be the gem of Witt’s career.
Witt and Texas knuckleballer Charlie Hough were locked up in a scoreless pitcher’s duel through six innings. Hough had allowed the Angels just three hits, but Witt was quite a bit better. He was perfect, retiring all 18 batters he faced.
In the seventh, the Angels broke the deadlock with an unearned run scored on Reggie Jackson’s fielder’s choice. Witt retired the Rangers again in order in the seventh and eighth and took the mound for the ninth having fanned nine batters. The sparse crowd at Arlington Stadium rose to its feet and cheered as Witt went to work.
A first pitch strike to Tom Dunbar put his nerves at ease.
“When I walked out there for the ninth,” Witt said, “I was as nervous as I was in my first big league game. But once I threw that first strike, I got right back into it.”
Two more pitches and Dunbar was quickly strikeout No. 10, but more importantly out No. 25. Pinch hitter Bobby Jones hit a routine grounder to Rob Wilfong at second for No. 26. And on a 1-1 pitch to pinch hitter Marv Foley, Witt got another easy grounder to Wilfong, who tossed it to Bobby Grich at first for the final out – and baseball immortality for Witt.
“It probably won’t be until tomorrow and the next day, and every day this winter, that I’ll be saying to myself, “Hey, I did that,” Witt said after the game. “I mean, to get 27 straight batters out is unbelievable. For me to be able to say it is unbelievable.”
Witt’s perfecto is the only such game pitched on the final day of the regular season and only the second no-hitter with that distinction. (Four Oakland A’s – Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad and Rollie Fingers – combined to no-hit the Angels on Sept. 28, 1975.)
The game took just one hour and 49 minutes to complete and Witt needed only 94 pitches to finish it, 70 of them strikes.
Witt was an All-Star in 1986 and 1987 and had the Angels within one strike of the World Series in 1986. He combined with Mark Langston on April 11, 1990, to throw the most recent no-hitter in Angels history, becoming the only pitcher to participate in a collective no-hitter while also throwing his own.
Witt ranks third all-time in Angels victories (109), fifth in games (314) and third in innings (1,965.1) and strikeouts (1,283).
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TEX/TEX198409300.shtml
#17 -Sept. 27, 1973: Ryan strikes out 383 to pass Koufax

Heading into his final start of the 1973 season, Nolan Ryan had already accomplished more than most pitchers these days can claim in two or three seasons.
38 starts. 25 complete games. Four shutouts. 20 victories. 22 games with 10 or more strikeouts. Heck, he even recorded a save, pitching the final two innings a day after the shortest start of his career (0.1 inning) to secure an Angels 6-5 victory on May 12.
And, oh yeah, he also tossed two no-hitters, on May 15 and July 15.
With all of that already under his belt, it seems almost absurd that Ryan saved his best for last. You see, while he was ringing up all of those strikeouts, they were adding up to something potentially very special.
During his first five September starts (all complete game victories), Ryan struck out 53 batters, giving him 367 strikeouts for the year – 15 shy of Sandy Koufax’s Major League record 382 in 1965.
Nursing a torn calf muscle, Ryan took the Anaheim Stadium mound in front of just 9,100 fans looking to make history one more time in 1973. When the Twins immediately jumped out to a 3-0 first inning lead, it didn’t seem likely he’d stick around long enough to collect the requisite strikeouts – though he did fan the side in the inning.
The Angels answered with three in the bottom of the first and Ryan had new life. Through five innings, he had 11 strikeouts and the Angels led, 4-3. In the sixth, the Twins pushed across the tying run, which would prove fortuitous for Ryan later in the night.
In the seventh, he again struck out the side, giving him 14 strikeouts, one shy of tying Koufax. But he’d also walked six batters, allowed seven hits and was piling up a lot of pitches on an aching leg. In the eighth, Ryan struck out Steve Brye to end the inning, tying Koufax with No. 382.
After nine innings, the game remained tied, 4-4, with Ryan stalled at 15 punchouts. And when he pitched a scoreless 10th, sandwiching a fly ball between two groundouts, fans wondered if he had enough left for one more inning.
With reliever Steve Barber warming in the bullpen, the Angels went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning. Announcer Dick Enberg made the call.
“The crowd is standing in anticipation, watching the bullpen gate,” Enberg said, pausing in his own anticipation. “And here he comes!”
Ryan jumped ahead of Brye, 1-2, but the center fielder grounded out to short. Ryan’s body language couldn’t disguise his fatigue or his frustration.
“Ryan now is like the heavyweight fighter with a knockout punch that has gone so many rounds that he has his opponent staggering and staggering but doesn’t have enough left to deliver that one blow that will knock him to the canvas and put him away,” Enberg said. “He’s getting the two strikes on hitters, but can’t get the third.”
Next up was Rod Carew, who struck out only 55 times in 1973, though three of them came earlier in this game. Carew drew a walk, Ryan’s seventh of the game, bringing manager Bobby Winkles to the mound. The crowd bristled, but Enberg was unfazed.
“He is going to let Nolan Ryan pitch as long as he wants,” Enberg said.
During Tony Oliva’s at-bat, Carew broke for second, drawing a throw – and a gasp from the crowd, which did not him to be thrown out, thus robbing Ryan of an opportunity for the 16th strikeout. Carew was safe. Oliva, however, flew out to center field, bringing up light hitting Rich Reese, who’d pinch run for Harmon Killebrew in the ninth.
“You can feel through the crowd a vibration saying, ‘Maybe this is the guy,’ ” Enberg said.
Reese swung and missed at Ryan’s first two pitches, another two-strike opportunity for the right-hander. On Ryan’s 0-2 pitch…
“Swung on and missed! Nolan Ryan is the Major League strikeout king of all time! He walks off the mound, his teammates come over to greet him one by one, the fans stand cheering.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have seen one of the finest young men to ever wear a baseball uniform record one of the most incredible records in Major League history. Three hundred and eighty-three for Nolan Ryan!
“Fans are shaking hands with each other as if they’re all part of this great night, as if to say, ‘Yes, we saw it. We saw it all.’ ”
With their ace now the strikeout king, the Angels rewarded Ryan with the victory when pinch hitter Richie Scheinblum doubled home Tommy McCraw with the game-winner in the bottom of the 11th.
Ryan finished 1973 with a 21-16 record, 2.87 ERA and finished second in Cy Young Award voting to Jim Palmer. But it was the last pitch he threw that season that remains his most memorable.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL197309270.shtml
#16 - Nov 18th, 2021: Shohei Ohtani Unanimously Named 2021 AL MVP

Shohei Ohtani’s 2021 season was one of the most eye-popping and extraordinary achievements in MLB history.
 
Period.
 
He became the Angels’ fourth MVP award winner (joining Don Baylor 1979, Vladimir Guerrero 2004, and Mike Trout 2014, 2016, 2019) and the 19th unanimous MVP in MLB history (and the first unanimous AL MVP since teammate Mike Trout accomplished the honor in 2014).
 
Hyperbole does not exist when describing his exploits on the diamond in 2021.  He was among baseball’s elite with a bat.  He was also among baseballs best when he toed the rubber on the mound.  Shohei’s toolset is unprecedented.  In the 2021 season he became the first player in MLB history to record 10+ HR as a hitter and 100+ strikeouts as a pitcher in the same season.  And he crushed those numbers, amassing 46 HR and 156 Strikeouts.  That’s right – no player in the game’s history has ever been a close second.
 
With injury and a pandemic truncating his first three years in the show, Shohei wouldn’t be denied in 2021 as he unveiled the entire package in videogame fashion. The records and “firsts” piled up at a staggering rate. 
 
He did everything. Shohei exposed the game’s best “five-tool” players as significantly lacking tools.  Yes, he could run, hit for average, hit for power, play exceptional defense... but he could also pitch.... brilliantly... with a 100+mph fastball / splitter combo the likes of which the game has never seen (all due respect to George Herman Ruth).
 
He was the first player ever voted to the All Star Game as a hitter and as the starting pitcher.  That season MLB fans and Angel fans alike had a front row seat to witness his greatness as he seemingly grabbed record-breaking headlines every night.  By the All Star break that year many of his peers had already conceded his greatness as peerless – and there was a groundswell of sentiment that no one could ever reasonably be considered for MVP if Shohei could routinely come close to his 2021 performance.  Tough to argue that point.
 
With the best player on the planet (Mike Trout) lauding his accomplishments with the highest praise, you know you’re witnessing something special:
 
 “Shohei’s season was nothing short of electric. At times, I felt like I was back in Little League. To watch a player throw eight innings, hit a home run, steal a base and then go play right field was incredible.”
 
All he did as a hitter was become the first player in MLB history to amass 45+ HR, 25+ SB, and 5+ triples in a season – which is a testament to his ultra-elite combination of speed and power.  And he led all of baseball with a 9.1 bWAR – nearly two better than second place finisher (Marcus Semien 7.3). He bested all of baseball with 25 homeruns with a 110+ MPH exit velocity.  But it didn’t stop there – he raised his game when his team needed him. Shohei led the American League with a .479 OBP, .686 SLG and 1.165 OPS with runners in scoring position. Suffice it to say – Shohei raked in 2021.  
 
To put his season as a hitter into historical perspective: Shohei became just the sixth player in American League history with 45+ HR and 8+ triples in a season, joining Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx and Jim Rice.  And the 46 HR from the 27-year-old also established international primacy as he established the new single season HR record by a Japanese-born player (eclipsing the 31 HR total from countryman Hideki Matsui in 2004).
 
His exploits with the bat alone could have easily garnered him the 2021 MVP... but that’s only half of his game...

#15 - Oct. 11, 2009: Vlad Finishes Some Business

It was a moment almost exactly 23 years in the making and the principle players couldn’t have been dreamed up any better:
Angels and Red Sox. Fenway Park and October. Vladimir Guerrero and Jonathan Papelbon.
So much history between the two teams, almost all of it favoring Boston. Recently it was the ALDS sweeps in 2004 and 2007 and the gut-wrenching walk-off hits in those series and again in 2008. All of those, of course, were merely aftershocks to the debacle that was the 1986 ALCS, specifically Game 5 on Oct. 12, 1986.
Anybody with more than a passing interest in Angels baseball understands that what happened in the ninth inning of Game 3 of the 2009 ALDS wasn’t just a clutch hit off a dominant closer. It was the hit many fans had wanted to see for more than two decades — dare I say it was the hit they needed to see.
Though the Angels had already jumped out to a commanding 2-0 series lead on the strength of dominant pitching performances by John Lackey and Jered Weaver in Games 1 and 2 in Anaheim, no Angels fan took a series victory for granted. How could they after all that had happened in the past?
And when the Red Sox, back home in their comfy bandbox, roughed up Scott Kazmir and took a 5-2 lead into the eighth inning of Game 3, Angels fans were already fast forwarding to Game 5 and Josh Beckett.
Red Sox reliever Billy Wagner, however, allowed the Angels to mount a threat in the eighth, forcing Boston manager Terry Francona to summon Papelbon for a four-out save. In 26 postseason innings, the Red Sox closer had not allowed a single run. But with runners on second and third, Juan Rivera drove Papelbon’s first pitch to right field, drawing the Angels to within one, 5-4.
All hope seemed to die moments later, however, when pinch runner Reggie Willits was picked off first base to end the inning and the Red Sox added an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning.
Papelbon made quick work of Maicer Izturis and pinch hitter Gary Matthews Jr. to start the ninth and Game 4 seemed assured. But Erick Aybar, 2008 ALDS goat, lined an 0-2 Papelbon offering into center field to keep the Angels alive. Chone Figgins, in the midst of a horrible series (0-12) worked a seven-pitch walk.
When Bobby Abreu slapped a 1-2 pitch over left fielder Jason Bay’s head, the Fenway crowd grew so quiet the sound of the ball slamming into the Green Monster echoed throughout the stadium. Aybar scored, the Angels trailed, 6-5, and Game 1 hero Torii Hunter was due up.
Francona elected to walk Hunter and load the bases for Guerrero. The face of the Angels franchise for much of the most successful period in team history was no longer the same “Super Vlad,” injuries and age sapping much of his power and presence. A likely free agent at season’s end, there was every indication this might be Guerrero’s last hurrah with the Angels.
To nobody’s surprise, Guerrero swung at Papelbon’s first pitch, a knee-high 95 mph fastball, and served into into center field, where it dropped in front of a fast-charging Jacoby Ellsbury. Figgins and Abreu scored, giving the Angels a 7-6 lead, and Guerrero stood safe at first base with the biggest hit of his postseason career.
Papelbon walked off the Fenway Park mound to a chorus of boos.
A few minutes later, Brian Fuentes retired Boston in order in the bottom of the ninth and the Angels completed an unbelievable series sweep of the Red Sox.
Though they would succumb to the eventual World Champion Yankees, 4-2, in the ALCS (though not before providing two more memorable victories), there was undoubtedly a sense that the Angels had indeed completed some “unfinished business,” thanks in huge part to the ninth inning heroics the man who may one day become the first player enshrined in the Hall of Fame as an Angel.

#14 - Oct. 2, 2004: Angels rally for A.L. West crown

It would come down to this: the best two out of three takes the division.
The Angels, 2002 World Champions and 2003 underachievers, along with their new owner and an unprecedented number of fans, would converge on Oakland in a tie with the A’s atop the division and three games to play. No tie-breakers, no one-game playoffs; just the simple math. Win twice or go home.
Despite their World Series title two seasons earlier, the Angels still had some unfinished business, having not won an American League West championship in 18 years. (The 2002 team entered the postseason as a wild card.) Arte Moreno, who acquired the team 17 months earlier, promised a winner, spent $145 million buying players to help build one and appeared on the verge of delivering the goods.
But the games were going to be played in Oakland and the Angels would have to go through the A’s “Big Three” starting pitchers – Mark Mulder, Barry Zito and Tim Hudson – to get there. The series’ Friday night opener turned out to be a laugher, with the Angels roughing up Mulder with four in the second and little Alfredo Amezaga delivering the knockout punch to Joe Blanton with a grand slam in the sixth. The Angels rode seven shutout innings from Bartolo Colon to an eventual 10-0 victory, and were now in the driver’s seat needing only to win one of the following two games.
Hours before the first pitch of Saturday’s matinee, Moreno proudly sifted about the lower sections of McAfee Coliseum, wearing a big smile and happily chatting up any Angels fan who approached him – and there were a lot of them. An Angels victory would represent a coronation of sorts for the man who talked a big game and seemed poised to back up his lofty aspirations with results.
With the stadium filled with more red than the blood typically spilled at a Raiders game, Zito and Kelvim Escobar locked horns in a tightly contested duel. Escobar would be the first to blink, giving up one-out singles to Mark Kotsay and Eric Byrnes ahead of Eric Chavez’s double to score both of them and give Oakland a 2-0 lead.
Zito, meanwhile, was dealing. Through five innings, the Angels had managed only a hit and walk off the 2002 Cy Young Award winner. In the sixth, however, the Angels’ would-be MVP evened the score. With two outs and Chone Figgins at first, Vlad Guerrero took the first pitch from Zito and crushed it over the tall fence in center field, bringing a subdued Angels fan contingent back to life.
But the A’s answered quickly in the bottom half of the inning. Catcher Damian Miller doubled home Jermaine Dye with the go-ahead run, sending Escobar to the showers. Brendan Donnelly struck out Bobby Crosby for the second out, but frequent thorn in the Angels’ side, Marco Scutaro, singled to score Miller and give the A’s a 4-2 lead. And when Zito retired the Angels in order in the top of the seventh, it looked like the series would become a winner-takes-all affair on Sunday.
Donnelly did his part, getting the A’s 1-2-3 in the seventh. Zito, who’d allowed just three hits in seven innings, however, told manager Ken Macha his legs felt tight and suggested he go to the bullpen. The Angels, apparently sensing a reprieve, wasted no time in making that decision a bad one.
With Jim Mecir now pitching, Bengie Molina led off with a groundball single to left and Josh Paul pinch ran. Curtis Pride, pinch hitting for Amezaga, struck out looking, but Figgins singled to center, moving Paul to second. Macha summoned lefty Ricardo Rincon to face Darin Erstad.
Rincon would warm up for several minutes in order to deliver one actual pitch – a fat one right in Erstad’s wheelhouse that he drove deep into right field about a foot from the top of the wall for a double to drive in Paul and Figgins and again tie the score. Rincon would issue an intentional walk to Guerrero before being relieved by A’s closer Octavio Dotel.
“I asked (pitching coach) Curt (Young) if he was confident in the bullpen right now and he said yes,” Zito said. “In retrospect, it was the wrong call. But my legs were tightening up for the last couple of innings. I have to trust myself. I’m going to pitch as long as I can.”
After Troy Glaus flew out to right for the second out, Garret Anderson rolled Dotel’s 1-1 offering through the infield, just out of the reach of a diving Scutaro, and Erstad slid across home plate ahead of the throw from Dye to give the Angels their first lead of the game, 5-4. Erstad was greeted by the entire Angels roster outside the dugout as Angels fans reached a fever pitch.
“I knew our guys weren’t going to melt,” manager Mike Scioscia. “We have a lot of very, very talented players.”
Francisco Rodriguez pitched a scoreless eighth and Troy Percival came on in the ninth to close it, inducing three straight fly balls to Jeff DaVanon in left field, the last giving the Angels their first division title since 1986.
“What we did to be at this point, nobody expected it,” Figgins said. “It’s motivation. We were down four or five games, but we still had to play in our division. When you still have to play in your division and it’s coming down to the home stretch, you get a little more energy.”
Angels fans who made the trip north lingered long after the game, congregating behind the visitor’s dugout and celebrating while the players, coaches and Moreno showered each other in champagne in the clubhouse. The Angels were once again the kings of the West and Moreno was bestowed a crown of beer and champagne for helping them get there.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK200410020.shtml
#13 - Oct. 26, 2002: All the way back

Angels fans everywhere in despair. After the 16-4 pounding the Halos took in Game 5 of the 2002 fall classic, the series shifted back to Anaheim for the possible final game of the season.
But the team that had made a habit of coming back late all season long had yet another one up their collective sleeves. And while a home run by a certain red-bearded first baseman figures largely in this particular game, it would have all been for naught without more heroics in the eighth inning. (We’ll get to the aforementioned home run soon enough.)
The top half seemed to be played in a haze. Emotions high. Thunderstix booming. Hope restored. Fans again allowing themselves to believe.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia brought in rookie Brendon Donnelly to replace uber-rookie Francisco Rodriguez. Donnelly promptly walked leadoff hitter Benito Santiago after putting him in a 1-2 hole. When J.T. Snow drove the first pitch he saw to center, for a second, for one brief moment, memories of Game 5 came flooding back. But Darin Erstad settled under the routine fly ball and there was one out.
Five more to go.
Donnelly next faced Reggie Sanders, firing in a first pitch fastball that Saunders couldn’t lay off for strike one. A foul ball made it 0-2. Next pitch: strike three, swinging.
Four more to go.
Next up, David Bell. Two quick foul balls signaled that Bell was dialed in. Two pitches out of the zone evened the count and Donnelly stared Bell down, sweat dripping from his cap. Strike three, swinging.
Three outs remained. Time for the Angels new mascot, the Rally Monkey, to go back to work.
Erstad would lead off the eighth for the Halos. Tim Worrell, who’d made quick work of David Eckstein to end the seventh, remained on the mound.
First pitch: Ball one. Second pitch: Erstad out in front, foul. Next pitch: Crack! Over the right field wall on a frozen rope. 45,000 fans at once erupted. 5-4, Giants.
Tim Salmon, Mr. Angel, came to the plate. On a 1-0 pitch, he lined it into center field and the tying run was 270 feet from home. Rally time.
Chone Figgins came in to pinch run for Salmon. Everybody in the stadium knew he was going – but on which pitch?
As it turned out, he wouldn’t get the chance. After smoking a foul ball into the stands, Garret Anderson blooped a Worrell pitch down the left field line. With Figgins tearing around second base and heading for third, Barry Bonds in left juggled the ball twice, allowing Anderson to hustle into the second.
Giants manager Dusty Baker motioned to the bullpen for closer Robb Nen for what would turn out to be the three-time All-Star’s final appearance. He’d face third baseman Troy Glaus.
Nen’s first three pitches were nowhere near the strike zone, though Glaus helped him out by swinging at and missing the second one. On a 2-1 count, Glaus hammered a poorly placed offering toward the left center field gap. Bonds, galloping back to the warning track, stretched his glove over his head in a vain attempt to catch the ball, but he’d have needed another 10 feet of reach to snare it.
Figgins and Anderson scored, and the Angels led, 6-5, Glaus pumping his fist as he retreated to second with the double. The Angels saved their best comeback of the season for last. Nen then retired the side without additional damage, but with Troy Percival warmed up and ready for the ninth, the damage was already done. There would be a Game 7 and momentum was back with the Angels.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ANA/ANA200210260.shtml
#12 - Oct. 5, 1979: "Yes We Can" one more time

Yes they had. It took 19 mostly frustrating, often painful, at times utterly heartbreaking years, but the California Angels were finally playing in October.
Unfortunately, the Baltimore Orioles weren’t the sentimental type and felt no guilt in dropping the Angels into an 0-2 ALCS deficit that to that point in MLB history had never been overcome. (The Angels would play an unfortunate role in changing this three years later.) Following 6-3 and 9-8 defeats in Baltimore (each in its own way gut wrenching), the Angels returned home to a down, but not out fan base, for which “Yes We Can” had become more than a chant. The sentiments were palpable, exemplified by the sheer audacity of the word “we.”
Fan use of “we” when talking about their favorite sports team is an acceptable misnomer, but rarely means anything literal. For the 1979 Angels and their fans, at times it did indeed seem to be a group effort. This night would define the “we” of that season.
The Angels got a gutsy five innings from Frank Tanana and four outstanding innings of relief from Don Aase, but reached the bottom of the ninth inning, three outs from elimination, trailing Dennis Martinez, 3-2.
Don Baylor, whose solo home run in the fourth briefly gave the Angels a 2-1 lead, flew out to left field for the first out. But Rod Carew drove a ball into the left center field gap for a double. The crowd of 43,199, again picked up the refrain: “Yes we can! Yes we can!”
Orioles manager Earl Weaver summoned reliever Don Stanhouse, despite the fact he’d thrown 33 pitches and nearly lost the game the day before in Baltimore. Brian Downing worked an eight-pitch walk and Angels fans raised the decibel level another notch, prompting broadcaster Dick Enberg to observe that he’d never heard Anaheim Stadium any louder.
Bobby Grich lined a Stanhouse offering that center fielder Al Bumbry broke in on late and mishandled, allowing it to drop to the grass. Carew hustled around third and beat Bumbry’s throw home to tie the score, Downing advancing to second. Bumbry would later admit the crowd noise prevented him from hearing the crack of the bat, contributing to his miscue.
“Yes we can! Yes we can!”
Then, on the second pitch he saw from Stanhouse, outfielder Larry Harlow slapped a line drive to Bumbry’s left and Downing charged home with the winning run, making a wide turn at the backstop and continuing right into the dugout to celebrate with his teammates. The Angels staved off elimination, winning their first ever playoff game, 4-3.
Angels fans lingered in the afterglow long after the game and continued to chant “Yes we can!” as they exited the stadium.
It hardly mattered that 20 hours later it was all over, Scott McGregor pitching a six-hit shutout to send the Orioles to the World Series. For the Angels and, more importantly their long-suffering fans, that one victory might as well have been the whole World Series. For one more incredible night, yes, they did.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL197910050.shtml
#11 - Aug. 12, 1974: Ryan fans 19

Nolan Ryan started his career with the Mets and was mostly a relief pitcher and spot starter, never quite able to crack the Mets’ outstanding rotation for good during his four seasons in Queens. Ryan was a young flame-thrower, but he had control issues and it appeared that he would languish in the Mets bullpen despite flashes of brilliance in the 1969 postseason.
At the conclusion of the 1971 season, Ryan, who never felt comfortable in New York, expressed a desire to be traded. The Mets needed a third baseman and felt Angels veteran shortstop Jim Fregosi could make the switch. They offered Ryan, along with catcher Frank Estrada, pitcher Don Rose and outfielder Leroy Stanton. The Angels wisely accepted. Some would argue it was the best trade the Angels franchise ever made.
By the time the 1974 campaign rolled around, Ryan was on his way to becoming one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball history. The season prior, Ryan threw two no-hitters, fanning 12 and 17, respectively. And while critics point to his paltry winning percentage as a reason why he should not be cast in the same breath as Sandy Koufax and his ilk, Ryan was dominating hitters while mired on bad teams.
On June 14, 1974, Ryan fanned 19 Red Sox in 13 innings (also walking 10 and earning no decision for his effort.) On Aug. 20, he did it again, striking out 19 Tigers, this time through 11 innings of a four-hitter he’d go on to lose, 1-0.
But it was two starts prior to that one that Ryan produced one of the most dominating performances, not only of his career, but in American League history.
On Aug. 12, five weeks before he would stifle the Minnesota Twins for his third no-hitter, Ryan struck out 19 Red Sox in a nine-inning game (walking only two), breaking an American League record held for 36 years by Bob Feller, who fanned 18 Detroit Tigers on Oct. 2, 1938. And this time, the Angels would actually make Ryan a 4-2 winner.
Ryan would strike out the side three times and fanned five of the final six batters he faced, a fly ball to right field by Rick Burleson to end the game preventing Ryan from breaking the Major League record he then shared with former Mets teammate Tom Seaver (April 22, 1970, vs. San Diego) and lefty Steve Carlton (Sept. 15, 1969, vs. New York).
Three players have since struck out 20 batters in a nine-inning game*: Seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens (twice), Kerry Wood and five-time Cy Young winner Randy Johnson.
(* Johnson’s 20 strikeouts came in the first nine innings of a game that would eventually be won by the Diamondbacks in 11. MLB has recognized Johnson’s effort as equaling the record.)
Despite his numerous feats of dominance, Ryan was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999 having never been awarded a Cy Young. But then maybe some day baseball will recognize Ryan by naming a strikeout award after him.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL197408120.shtml
#10 - Aug 21, 2007: GA has a night to remember

Garret Anderson’s may be one of the quietest careers in the history of baseball considering all that he has accomplished with so little fanfare. He is one of only 92 MLB players to date to have at least 2,500 hits in their career and his 522 doubles rank him No. 38 all time. His three-run double in Game 7 of the 2002 World Series was the difference in a 4-1 Angels victory. He even has Home Run Derby and All-Star Game MVP trophies to his name.
Yet for all these accolades, Anderson has never received the widespread recognition one might think he would garner. Garret has never been seen as a player who has sought out public attention in any manner. He has always presented a very professional, guarded demeanor when talking to the press or to fans. Even among his own team’s fan base, players such as Tim Salmon, Darin Erstad and later Vladimir Guerrero frequently overshadowed Anderson. On Aug. 21, 2007, however, for one night at least, he made the entire baseball world take notice; and he did it against baseball’s flagship franchise, no less — the New York Yankees.
Taking the mound that night for the Yankees was a possible Hall of Famer in Mike Mussina. The Big A was sold out, as was customary for any game the Yankees were in town. The Angels were in a tight division race against the Mariners while the Yankees were fighting for the Wild Card spot. Little did anyone know at the beginning of the game, one that would feature Alex Rodriguez hitting two home runs, that all the attention would end up being focused on Garret Anderson. His night started with a trademark two-run double in first against Mussina. In the second inning, he added another run-scoring double. Most players would consider it a great night with those two hits. Garret’s night was just beginning, however.
In the third inning, with Mussina chased from the game, Anderson faced reliever Edwar Ramirez. His rampage on Yankees pitching continued as he launched a three-run shot into the right field seats — three at-bats, six RBI.
Leading off the fifth inning, he relented briefly in the form of a ground out to second, but the offensive onslaught culminated in the sixth when he faced reliever Sean Henn with the bases loaded and sent an 0-1 offering into former bullpen in right field for his sixth career grand slam. With that hit, Anderson tied the American League mark with 10 RBI in one night and bested teammate Guerrero’s previous team-high of nine.
The fans in Anaheim urged their normally reserved player out for his first curtain call. Anyone watching the game knew, however, that this was more than a mere sign of appreciation for a good night’s work. This was a chance for a fan base and a player to acknowledge what their decade-plus long relationship meant to each other.
Amazingly enough, Anderson had a chance in the eighth inning to tie or even break the all-time record of 12 RBI in one game. With runners on first and third, he hit a ball up the middle that found the glove of shortstop Luis Vizcaino, who was cheating toward second.
Still, Anderson now owned at least a share of history; he is on an elite list of players with double-digit RBI games: Mark Whiten, Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra, Fred Lynn, and perhaps Garret’s greatest antithesis when it comes to seeking and accepting adoration, Reggie Jackson. But for one night, the quiet superstar made so much noise everybody had to take notice.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ALA/ALA200708210.shtml

#9 - 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019: Mike Trout's MVPs

Starting with the day Mike Trout was drafted to all of his accolades in the minors to his dominance of MLB, Angels fans knew it was only a matter of time until he was the AL MVP. In 2012 his first full season he put on a dynamic display of power, speed, and athleticism leading the league in stolen bases, runs, OPS+ and making catches in center field that no human should ever be capable of. In 2013 he did more of the same, leading the league in walks and for the second year in a row, in runs scored, stepping up his OPS to .988 and OPS+ to 179. Both years he finished second in MVP voting to Miguel Cabrera, who might be a statue in the field but offensively he was mashing the ball including the first triple crown in decades. If you are a believer in WAR and sabermetrics, Mike Trout deserved the MVP both years but if you believe in the old school stats they favored Miguel Cabrera and it didn’t help that the Angels failed to make the playoffs both years.
In 2014 it was a different story. After hitting a single in his first at-bat of the 2012 All Star Game and a double in his first at-bat of the 2013 All Star Game, he hit a triple in his first at-bat of the 2014 All Star Game and ended up adding a double and a walk to go 2-3 with a run scored, two RBI and his first MVP, the all-star variety. He wasn’t finished though leading the league in RBI and for the third straight year runs scored and WAR, slugging the Angels to the best record in baseball and his first playoff series. The conversation was no longer about WAR vs old school, there was no doubt he would be the MVP and on November 13th 2014 it was announced that he was unanimously selected as the AL MVP, the sixth player ever to win both the ASG and league MVP in the same season and the fifth-youngest player ever to win the MVP.
His first at-bat of the 2015 All Star Game was a home run to right field that few players in baseball could hit, finishing off the first at-bat of the ASG cycle. He was the fourth player ever to lead off the ASG with a home run and he finished the game 1-3 with an RBI and two runs scored and became the first player ever to win back to back All Star Game MVPs. Unfortunately the rest of 2015 ended with a familiar story, there was another catch and even though he lead the league in slugging, OPS and once again, WAR, the Angels missed the playoffs and Josh Donaldson had an equally impressive season playing for a playoff bound team, leaving Trout the MVP runner-up for the third time in four seasons.
Some baseball writers and pundits would tell you that there is such a thing as “Trout Fatigue.” That he is so consistently good, and makes it look so easy, that baseball fans and experts take him for granted. I believe it to be true so to claim another MVP award on a team that quite frankly stunk would be a huge accomplishment. As the 2016 season wound down the usual conversation was going on, stop me if you have heard this before… Trout lead the league in WAR, runs, OPS+, OBP, second in OPS, and the list goes on, but he was on a team that was not ever close to the playoff race, and the young Mookie Betts of the hated Chowds seemed to be the favorite to win the award, he had an excellent season and he played for one of the best teams in baseball. Also in the conversation was Jose Altuve, a lovable short guy (seriously, who doesn’t love a short guy) that played for a team that just missed the playoffs and lead the league in average and hits while playing excellent defense. Fortunately, the Trout Fatigue was overcome and once again Mike Trout was rightfully recognized as the best player in the AL with his second MVP award.
In 2019 Mike Trout became just the 11th player to win three Most Valuable Player Awards, beating out Houston’s Alex Bregman and Oakland’s Marcus Semien for the 2019 American League MVP Award. Trout, who previously received the honor in 2014 and '16, is now tied for the second-most MVP Awards in history, trailing only Barry Bonds' seven. Trout received 17 first-place votes, compared to 13 for Bregman, beating him out by a 20-point margin, 355 to 335. The center fielder has finished in the top two in AL MVP balloting in seven of the last eight years, with his worst finish coming when he came in fourth in 2017.
Trout called the 2019 season his best offensively, which saw him hit a career-high 45 homers while leading MLB in on-base percentage and leading the AL in slugging percentage (second in MLB behind Christian Yelich). Trout, 28, hit .291/.438/.645 with 104 RBIs, 110 runs and 11 stolen bases in 134 games.
As Angels fans, it really is great to be able to watch the best player in baseball do his thing day in and day out.
#8 - Aug. 29, 1986: Schofield leads a grand comeback

It is the biggest ninth inning comeback in Angels history, and shortstop Dick Schofield not only sparked it – he also ended it with one explosive swing of the bat.
With the Angels holding onto a 4.5 game lead over Texas for the division title, the Rangers had already applied some pressure with a 5-2 victory in Chicago earlier that Friday night.
The Angels, meanwhile, were getting trounced by the visiting Detroit Tigers, trailing 8-1 after five uninspiring innings. Heading into the bottom of the ninth, Detroit’s lead stood at 12-5 and it appeared the Angels division bump would soon shrink to 3.5 games.
The rally started innocently enough, with Schofield beating out an infield single to short off Tigers reliever Randy O’Neal, who was beginning his third inning of work. After Rick Burleson lined out, Wally Joyner drew a walk. When Brian Downing singled to load the bases, Detroit closer Guillermo “Willie” Hernandez, the 1984 MVP and Cy Young winner, began to warm in the bullpen – just in case.
Jack Howell doubled to right field, scoring Schofield and Joyner, and Tigers manager Sparky Anderson had seen enough. He called on Hernandez, even though Detroit still led 12-7.
Hernandez, however, would prove no more effective, promptly giving up consecutive RBI singles to George Hendrick and Bobby Grich, pulling the Angels within three runs. But when Gary Pettis grounded into a fielder’s choice at second, California was down to its final out. Up stepped Ruppert Jones, pinch hitting for Jerry Narron. Jones worked a walk from Hernandez, loading the bases for the man who started the rally: Schofield.
Incredibly, the Angels typically light-hitting shortstop – he of the 56 home runs in 1,368 career games – lofted a Hernandez splitter straight down the left field line; a ball that kept carrying … carrying … carrying … and GONE! Dave Collins’ just watched it sail into the stands.
It was a grand slam – a walk-off grand slam, in fact, capping an eight-run ninth that ignited frenzy among those fans from the original 32,992 in attendance that actually remained.
The Angels would maintain their 4.5 game lead on the Rangers, who got no closer than five the rest of the season. It was the signature victory of the Angels’ 1986 division championship season and one that fans, even 22 years later, still recall fondly any time the team rallies in the ninth.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL198608290.shtml

#7 - Oct. 20, 2002: Salmon blasts give Angels first WS victory

The scene: Edison Field, Game 2 of the 2002 World Series, Angels down 0-1 in the series to the San Francisco Giants.
After 7 1/2 seesaw innings, the Angels and Giants stood deadlocked, 9-9. Until Salmon broke it with a sledgehammer, crushing his second home run of the game to put the Angels ahead for good.
Typical of Salmon, despite his own heroism his was not the home run he was gushing about afterward. Salmon was still marveling at the one hit by Barry Bonds in the ninth that sailed some 485 feet into the sea of red in right field.
“That was the farthest ball I’ve ever seen hit in this ballpark, for sure,” Salmon said. But the Angels’ always-humble right fielder trumped that mammoth shot with the drive that counted the most, a two-out, two-run shot that proved the difference in the Angels 11-10 victory and knotted the series at one game apiece.
“We knew there was going to be a hero in the dugout,” Salmon said, “and tonight it was me.”
Until 2002, no active player in the majors had gone longer than Salmon – 1,388 games – without reaching the postseason. But that wasn’t a well-known fact because Bonds had been the center of attention, especially since it was his first World Series, too.
But Salmon put the spotlight squarely on himself on this night by helping the Halos to their first-ever World Series win.
“I think I made the most of my opportunities. It was awesome,” Salmon said. “The way the game went back-and-forth was unbelievable.”
Salmon ended up going 4-for-4 with a walk, while driving in four runs and scoring three. He capped his performance with a drive into the Anaheim bullpen in left field that left Bonds hanging over the top of the fence. A joyous sight indeed!
Earlier in the game, Salmon’s first two-run homer gave the Angels a 7-4 lead in the second inning. They led, 5-0, after the first inning before the Giants rallied with some fireworks of their own.
But as Salmon circled the bases and fireworks exploded overhead after connecting on a 93 mph fastball, ultimately it was the Giants’ Felix Rodriguez angrily tugging on his cap.
After Troy Percival gave up the ninth inning two-out blast to Bonds, the crowd of 44,584 roared as Benito Santiago popped out harmlessly to Adam Kennedy at second to end it.
“It was too much Salmon,” Bonds said after the game. “It’s phenomenal. He did everything any player could do in one game except steal home.”
Salmon will no doubt be remembered for many highlights and accomplishments as an Angel: 1993 AL Rookie of the Year, the sliding catches in right field, the force that he was with the lumber, the Texas Ranger beat downs or his last game played, retiring an Angel for life and the ceremonial send off from the fans in Anaheim.
But for me, this game, with all that was riding upon it, was the highlight of Salmon’s career and clearly one of the “Greatest Moments in Angels Baseball.”
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ANA/ANA200210200.shtml

#6 - Oct. 5, 2002: Angels beat Yanks, win first postseason series

Fresh off of a Game 3 come-from-behind win, one in which the Anaheim Angels erased a 6-1 deficit against the New York Yankees in the 2002 American League Division Series to take a 2-1 series lead, the Angels entered Game 4 looking to close out the Bronx Bombers at home for the franchise’s first ever postseason series win.
Once again, the Angels had their opponents on the ropes, facing elimination. It had become, of course, a familiar site for Angels fans. The team had already played six such games in their history.
In 1982, the then California Angels were up two games to none on the Milwaukee Brewers in the best-of-five ALCS. With three chances to beat the Brew Crew and advance to the World Series, the Angels failed – losing all three games.
In 1986, the Angels again found themselves on the cusp of reaching their first World Series. But up three games to one on the Boston Red Sox and just one strike away, closer Donnie Moore gave up a two-out, two-strike, two-run homerun to Dave Henderson, relinquishing a 5-4 lead in Game 5 of the ALCS.
Boston went on to win the game, as well as Games 6 and 7 in Fenway Park.
With such a short, yet heart-wrenching postseason history, many of the 45,067 in attendance on Oct. 5, 2002, were waiting to see how the Angels would let this opportunity slip through their fingers.
With the Angels down, 2-1, entering the bottom of the fifth inning, tension was high. David Wells was 8-1 in his postseason career and was pitching well for the Yankees on this afternoon.
Then, something amazing happened. The Angels put together one of the greatest offensive innings in Major League postseason history.
Shawn Wooten led off the fifth with a homerun to left-center field to tie the game, 2-2. Then, after a Bengie Molina fly-out, Benji Gil recorded the first of five consecutive Angels’ singles with a shot into centerfield.
After a Troy Glaus fly ball out, the Angels connected for four more hits in a row, including Wooten’s and Gil’s second hits of the inning.
When it was all said and done, the Angels had plated eight runs on a record-tying 10 hits in the inning.
Anaheim Angels – Bottom of 5th
David Wells pitching for New York
S Wooten homered to left center
B Molina flied out to right
B Gil singled to center
D Eckstein singled to right, B Gil to third
D Erstad singled to shallow center, B Gil scored, D Eckstein to second
T Salmon singled to left center, D Eckstein scored, D Erstad to third
G Anderson singled to right center, D Erstad scored, T Salmon to third
T Glaus flied out to shallow right
S Spiezio singled to left, T Salmon scored, G Anderson to second
R Mendoza relieved D Wells
S Wooten singled to right center, G Anderson scored, S Spiezio to third
B Molina doubled to deep left, S Spiezio and S Wooten scored
O Hernandez relieved R Mendoza
B Gil singled to center, B Molina to third
D Eckstein flied out to center
8 Runs, 10 Hits, 0 Errors
With a 9-2 lead, the Angels needed only 12 outs to erase the franchise’s playoff demons.
New York scratched across single runs in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings to close the deficit to 9-5, but when Nick Johnson lifted a weak pop-up to deep shortstop, and David Eckstein promptly squeezed it for the game’s final out, jubilation ensued.
The Angels had beaten the mighty Yankees three games to one for their first playoff series win in the franchise’s history.
“It’s been a long time coming for myself and this organization, a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” said Salmon in the clubhouse. “To finally come through and do it, it’s just special.
“Nobody gave us a chance against the Yankees. Maybe we caught them on a bad week, I don’t know. You can’t say enough about how our club’s playing,”
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ANA/ANA200210050.shtml
#5 - Sept. 25, 1979: Angels win first ever division title

“The Angels one out away from their first championship ever. Porter at the plate, he waits. The pitch from Frank … swing and a ground ball hit to Carew. He bobbles it, recovers, throws to Tanana … IN TIME! The 19-year wait is over, they’ve done it: The Angels are the champions of the West!”
In light of all the recent success the Angels have enjoyed this decade – a World Championship and division titles in five of six seasons – it’s sometimes easy to forget just how difficult a struggle it was for the franchise to win its first.
But, oh, did they ever struggle; not only through losing seasons – and there were plenty of those, 13 of the first 17 to be exact – but also debilitating injuries and clubhouse unrest. The Angels even suffered the tragedy of not one, but two players’ deaths during their first two heartbreaking decades. In 18 previous seasons, they’d gone through eight managers, four general managers and played in three different home parks.
But finally, in 1979, with a rallying cry of “Yes We Can!” the Angels buried their demons (well, some of them anyway) and on Sept. 25, behind a dominant complete game by Frank Tanana, they won the American League West in front of 40,631 jubilant fans at Anaheim Stadium.
And true to fashion for this franchise, it still didn’t come easily: Nolan Ryan, Rod Carew and Willie Aikens each missed significant time with injuries and Tanana was limited to 17 starts. But manager Jim Fregosi, hired in the middle of the 1978 season, days after retiring as a player, held it all together.
“We’ve been ready for it for an awfully long time around here and I’m just thrilled to death to be part of it,” said Fregosi, who spent 13 of the team’s first 19 seasons in an Angels uniform. “These players have been absolutely fantastic all season. They’ve gone out under really some tough situations, some tough conditions, they’ve battled all year long and I just couldn’t be prouder of them.”
Great offensive seasons from Don Baylor, later named the AL MVP, Bobby Grich, Dan Ford and Brian Downing, along with a solid season from Ryan and the emergence of Dave Frost carried the Angels to the title, which was a watershed moment for the Angels franchise despite the fact the team would go on to lose the ALCS, 3-1, to the Orioles.
“The biggest thing we had to overcome was that we had never won a division,” Fregosi said. “No matter how good the talent was, there seemed to be a black cloud hanging over the team – injuries, people getting hurt. Overcoming that was special to me. Once a team has won, the team knows it could do it.”
It would be another 23 years before the Angels would win it all, but in 1979 they took that first, all-important step.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CAL/1979.shtml
#4 - Oct. 27, 2002: "Garret Anderson clears the bases!"

After an incredibly emotional come-from-behind victory of historic proportions in Game 6 of the 2002 World Series – one which saw the Anaheim Angels force a deciding Game 7 at Edison Field – the home team had every ounce of momentum on its side.
The Angels entered the bottom of the third inning tied, 1-1, with the San Francisco Giants. Though the scoreboard said it was clearly not make or break time, the guts of 44, 598 fans in the stadium and millions more watching on television said otherwise. Every pitch delivered in the World Series seems to hold the collective fate of everyone with a rooting interest.
David Eckstein led off the third with a single to left field off of Giants starter Livan Hernandez, who won Game 7 of the 1997 World Series for the Florida Marlins. Darin Erstad followed with a single of his own to left in front of Tim Salmon, who was hit by a Hernandez off-speed pitch, loading the bases for team MVP Garret Anderson.
Anderson, who finished fourth in American League MVP voting in 2002, had a remarkable season, finishing with a .306 batting average, 29 home runs and 123 RBI. But his World Series performance had been a modest one entering his second at-bat of Game 7.
The stage had been set for Anderson, who needed to just put the ball in play to give his team a lead. He did two better, driving a Hernandez high fastball down the right field line and into the corner. Eckstein, Erstad and Salmon all scored on the double, giving the Angels a 4-1 lead.
Anderson had cleared the bases! Arguably the greatest Angel, GA had collected his greatest moment.
The Angels would not score another run in the 2002 season. But three rookie pitchers and their outstanding closer made sure they didn’t need to.
#3 - Oct. 13, 2002: "He has homered THREE times!"

Chances are had you asked a diehard Angels fan if he or she would have been satisfied with a nondescript 5-2 victory prior to Game 5 of the 2002 ALCS, the answer would have been “Absolutely!” After waiting 41 years to see an American League pennant flying over Anaheim Stadium, few fans were going to be picky about how it got there.
The Angels, however – especially second baseman Adam Kennedy – had a special treat in store for their long-suffering faithful. Kennedy, who hit just seven homers during the 2002 regular season, launched three round trippers over the right field wall, the third igniting a 10-run seventh inning that carried the Halos into their first World Series with a 13-5 victory over the Twins.
Kennedy’s first home run, leading off the third inning off Joe Mays, shaved the Twins 2-0 lead in half. When he connected again in the fifth, following Scott Spiezio’s leadoff shot, Kennedy briefly gave the Angels a 3-2 lead.
The Twins retook the lead with three in the top of the seventh and with Johan Santana on the mound the Angels appeared to have perhaps blown an opportunity to end the series at home.
But Spiezio and Bengie Molina led off the bottom half with singles and rather than sending up right handed Benji Gil to pinch hit for Kennedy, manager Mike Scioscia allowed the lefty swinger to bat. On Santana’s first pitch, Kennedy squared around to bunt – a textbook Scioscia move – but fouled off his attempt.
With 44,835 fans expecting another bunt attempt, Kennedy got the green light to swing away and fouled it off. After taking a ball, Kennedy lofted Santana’s 1-2 offering, a hanging curveball, deep over the tall wall in right center field for his third home run of the game, a three-run shot to give the Angels a 6-5 lead.
Kennedy became only the fifth player in Major League history to homer three times in a playoff game, joining Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and George Brett, and former Pirate Bob Robertson in the very exclusive club.
“I don’t care if I have another one,” Kennedy said. “This is it right here, the biggest game of my life. Everybody dreams of this. I was in the right spot today.”
For good measure, Kennedy’s teammates proceeded to thoroughly pile on the Twins beleaguered bullpen, scoring seven more runs off three relievers who followed Santana, Kennedy adding a single later in the inning.
Kennedy finished the game 4-for-4 with three runs and five RBI, earning him series MVP honors – some fine hardware for his trophy case, but nothing compared to being remembered as the man whose bat sent the Angels to their first World Series. That is simply unforgettable.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ANA/ANA200210130.shtml
#2 - Oct. 26, 2002: The swing that changed a franchise

It was just one swing out of hundreds of thousands in the Angels’ 47-year history, but it produced three of the biggest runs and, in one instant, shifted an entire franchise’s momentum. With one swing, hopeless became hopeful.
When Scott Spiezio coaxed that ball over the short wall in right field, just far enough to elude the reach of Giants right fielder Reggie Sanders, there was an immediate sense that it would prove the most important hit in Angels history. Around 24 hours later, it was no longer just a sense – it was truth.
Game 6 of the 2002 World Series was do or die for the Anaheim Angels, who were facing elimination, down three games to two against the San Francisco Giants.
Entering the bottom of the seventh inning, with the Giants leading 5-0, the Angels appeared prepped for their casket. The team had shown little life offensively, thoroughly stifled by starter Russ Ortiz, and the Giants’ greatest strength, their bullpen, rested and ready.
Garret Anderson led off the seventh inning with routine groundball to second base. The Angels had just eight outs remaining to prevent a very disappointing end to their season.
The next batter, Troy Glaus, finally gave the Angels and their fans something to cheer about when he singled to left field on Ortiz’s next pitch. And when Brad Fullmer followed with a single of his own, the Angels had the beginnings of a rally.
What happened next proved to be one of the most second-guessed managerial decisions in World Series history – and that’s putting it mildly.
With two on and one out, Giants’ manager Dusty Baker made his way out to the mound. The trip was no doubt to talk strategy, and since it was late into an elimination game it made sense that the manager would forgo sending the pitching coach on such a critical mound visit. After all, Ortiz had dominated the Angels for 6.1 innings and had not yet thrown 100 pitches. Surely Baker would allow him to work through a little bit of trouble in the seventh, especially with a five-run lead.
But Baker had other thoughts. To everyone’s surprise, he raised his right hand toward the bullpen. He was bringing in right-handed fireballer Felix Rodriguez to face previously anonymous Angels first baseman Scott Spiezio.
Baker had pulled his starting pitcher, though he’d not given up a run while scattering just four hits and walking two. What’s more, with Ortiz already a step away from the pitching rubber and on his way to the dugout, Baker reached back, symbolically grabbing his pitcher’s right arm to stop him. A curious Ortiz accepted a gift – the “game ball,” which he no doubt deserved, but that the ball was given to him on the mound for millions to see was what created controversy. It no doubt stuck in the craw of the Angels and their fans.
Spiezio would have his hands full. Rodriguez was one of the best relievers in baseball, as evidenced by the .163 average he allowed to opposing batters during the 2002 postseason. Spiezio, however, was working on a special October of his own, one that saw him tie the postseason record for RBI with 19.
After a first pitch ball, Spiezio fouled off three consecutive Rodriguez fastballs perfectly placed on the outside corner. Rodriguez evened the count at 2-2 when he missed with his fifth pitch. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Spiezio put a great swing on a fastball, fouling it straight back, prompting a rare prophetic statement from FOX announcer Tim McCarver, who cautioned, “If you make a mistake away, it’s a single. If you make a mistake in, it’s 5-3.”
After Rodriguez’ next pitch went wide, making the count full, he did, indeed, miss in. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Spiezio took a low and in fastball high and deep into the right field corner. Sanders drifted back methodically, tracking the towering fly ball. When it left the bat, it appeared Spiezio just missed it, but the ball continued to carry, taking Sanders all the way to the warning track; then over it and to the wall. He reached up and over the short wall, but to no avail. The ball had disappeared into a mob of suddenly reinvigorated Angels fans.
Spiezio, who stopped his trot at first base to watch the fate of his hit – to wish and to pray – showed little emotion as he restarted his jog around the bases, a subtle fist shake sufficing.
The fans were another story. Edison Field exploded with roars and cheers, which could no doubt be heard miles away. The Angels – a team of grinders, who had come back time and time again throughout the regular and post-seasons – had trimmed the Giants’ once seemingly insurmountable lead to 5-3. And though its not the kind of thing that shows up on the scoreboard, had stolen away from the Giants every last bit of momentum.
From hopeless to hopeful; and following the Angels’ half of the eighth and the Giants’ futile ninth, from hopeful to absolutely sure the Angels would now win the series.
But then, it was only one swing, right?
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ANA/ANA200210260.shtml
#1 - Oct. 27, 2002: Champions of baseball | Top-50 Greatest Moments in Angels Baseball

By now, most Angels fans can recite Rory Markas’ call verbatim:
“Here’s the pitch to Lofton. Fly ball, center field. Erstad says he’s got it. Erstaaaaaad MAKES THE CATCH! The Anaheim Angels are the champions of baseball!”
When the Angels’ unofficial team captain settled under and clasped his glove around that most precious of final outs, it was the culmination of many things: an incredible World Series comeback; a riveting postseason run; an unprecedented 99 win regular season; the antidote for heartbreaking collapses in 1995, 1986 and 1982; a delivery on the promise of 1979; and the realization of a dream first dared to be dreamt in 1961.
The textbook version is simply that the Angels reached the pinnacle of their sport 42 seasons after their pursuit began. But to the fans, players, coaches and front office people who followed the Angels for any significant amount of time, of course the emotions run immensely deeper.
For me, it actually required a season or two of separation before I could truly appreciate the significance. Don’t get me wrong; I was as elated as anybody when the confetti and streamers came raining down upon us following Erstad’s catch.
But maybe I’d already spent all the emotion I could spare the day before, when I witnessed the birth of my first child and the rebirth of the Angels World Series hopes all within a span of about six hours. Or perhaps it was because even before the first pitch, the Game 7 victory truly seemed like a foregone conclusion following the previous night’s drama; and when was ANYTHING positive for the Angels a given during their first 41 seasons?
And that’s what struck me after the World Series championship had really sunk in – it happened, and it could happen again. Previously, I honestly wasn’t sure it ever would. Now, I believe it will again.
And while I think the moment when I first knew they were actually going to play in the World Series will always rank as the most emotional high in my years of being an Angels fan, in retrospect I’m so glad they went ahead and won it all while they were there. I mean all the greatest stories have a happy ending, don’t they?
Champions of baseball … yeah, that’ll do.
Here’s how other contributors to our Top-50 Greatest Moments list feel about No. 1:
Adam Dodge – AngelsWin.com Senior Writer
It is hard to describe exactly what I felt when Erstad squeezed Kenny Lofton’s fly ball for the final out. I was relatively calm from the first pitch of the game until the Angels had finally won. After the complete swing in emotion I felt watching Game 6, I was too exhausted to work up any emotion for Game 7.
For the entire postseason, I had either been in attendance or at my favorite watering hole to celebrate every moment with other fans. I needed a break. So, I watched the entirety of Game 7 alone; poetic in a sense because growing up none of my friends or family members felt the same way about the game of baseball, and there was certainly no one that loved the Angels as much as I did. It wasn’t my intention to watch the game alone. I just didn’t feel like sharing that moment with anyone else.
Had I been there or watched the game with friends I doubt I’d have noticed – I was focused on each pitch, nothing else existed but the game. When the final out was made, I felt accomplished. Not that I had anything to do with the victory, but that my fanship had finally paid off. The years of suffering through bad teams and monumental collapses proved worth it. I felt like a champion.
Geoff Stoddart – AngelsWin.com Director of Social Media
Surreal is the only word that comes to mind when I think back on the final out of the 2002 World Series. I had been at Game 6 the night before and it such an emotional roller coaster. Leaving the ballpark that night, I truly felt there was no way the Giants could come back and win Game 7. I felt that way right up until Game 7 actually started.
The Giants get on the board first in the top of the 2nd. The Angels knotted it up in the bottom of the 2nd. The Angels put three more on the board in the bottom of the 3rd and then for six innings we bite our nails.
When Erstad caught the final out, I screamed. I jumped around the room. But somehow, it didn’t seem real. Could this really be the team I had watched and cheered for my entire life? The team I watched during the 80’s & 90’s with only 7,000 in attendance in, what was then, a football stadium? Crazy. Unreal. Surreal.
Robert Cunningham – AngelsWin.com Senior Writer
I was forced to work that week but I was listening on the radio in the backroom at work.
For me hearing that final call was the ultimate culmination of years watching Angels baseball. It immediately made me think of my parents, particularly my mom, who were not there to see it. For just a brief instance it felt like we were all there together again basking in something that was hidden from us in the past and not promised to us in the future, but present in one short moment in time.
It is something I’ve really come to savor and appreciate, more, over the years and one that I know all Angels fans understand and empathize with.
Chuck Richter – AngelsWin.com Founder and Executive Editor
When Kenny Lofton drove that ball to right-center field, my heart leapt with both uncertainty and joy, thinking it could either be ’86 all over again or the burying of what seemed to be the franchise’s October curse.
When Darin Erstad pulled it down, I picked up my best friend’s 16-year-old son and spun him around like a baton, as I have never in my life experienced such combined joy and adrenaline from what was essentially a routine outfield put-out: tears of joy, ear to ear smiles about my living room and a moment in my life’s history that words cannot describe.
To me, this was the Greatest Moment in Angels baseball. Buried were the thoughts of any curse. Born anew was a World Series Championship for fans to claim, who throughout the years have expressed love and passion for the club. And on this grand night, destiny paid back some respect to Angels fans around the world.
Editor’s note: I’d like to thank all of the writers who contributed to this monumental project the past 50 days. It was quite an undertaking while simultaneously working full time, managing a Little League team and looking after a family of six, but was it ever worth it!
Here’s to the memories and debates we hope our list inspired and to the making of many more outstanding top-50 worthy moments in the seasons to come.
Thanks for reading!

By Geoff Stoddart, Director of Social Media
Before there was Facebook.  Before there was Twitter.  Before there was SnapChat or Instagram, there was AngelsWin.com.
In February of 2014, Charles Richter launched the website as a way for Angels fans around the country and around the world to stay connected to the team they loved and discuss topics that impacted them.
What started out as a simple message board & blog grew into a news and reporting outlet, also being rewarded with a Major League Baseball media credential by the Angels.  Correspondence from AngelsWin have participated in such team events and press conferences as the introduction for Albert Pujols, the contract extension for Mike Trout and the welcome Shohei Ohtani, to name just a few.  Over the years, the site has been recognized by Forbes, Fox Sports, ESPN, MLB Network, Japan Times, Washington Post, MLB Trade Rumors, local media outlets in the Orange County Register and LA Times and Angels Broadcast crews over the air for their reporting and insights.
The site has also hosted many fan events, including Spring and Summer Fanfests where they’ve had such guests as Arte Moreno, Tim Salmon, Don Baylor, Kole Calhoun, ex-GM Jerry Dipoto, Victor Rojas, Jose Mota, Terry Smith, Rex Hudler, Steve Physioc and Tim Mead.
As AngelsWin looks to the future, they will continue to provide the news, the stats, information and fan events.  But at its core, AngelsWin will always continue to be an online community forum that launched the site and as a result has forged many lifelong friendships & memories.
AngelsWin.com: The internet home for Angels fans – where fans can cheer, argue, laugh, complain and discuss the team they love.
So a toast to 15 great years and another toast to 15 more.  Go Angels!

By Jonathan Northrop, AngelsWin.com Columnist
#26: WAR per 162 games
I’m saving my favorite one for the penultimate entry: WAR per 162 games played. This stat, which for some reason isn’t used by any of the statistical sites, measures quality: that is, how good a player is per 162 games played, measured by WAR. The formula is simple: Career WAR divided by 162 games. With the MLB and MLBPA officially put in place a 60-game regular season with the standard 10-team playoff, the Yankees (+450) and Dodgers (+375) both saw their odds drop in the latest World Series odds on SBD. A shorter season means increased volatility.

Meaning, according to this metric, only Ruth has been a better per-game player. Considering the evolution of the game--especially the fact that Ruth only played seven other teams--this is as good as any  evidence that Trout has been, pound-for-pound—and thus far—arguably the greatest player in baseball history. Now of course he will go down as he declines, but he almost certainly will remain in the top 10.
Among active players, he blows the competition away (although the above chart helps us re-appreciate just how good some of his contemporaries have been).
#27: Summary
This last entry is a summation of all that came for – meaning, the total picture that all of these stats paint:
5th all-time in CF JAWS with 69.2 (Willies Mays is 1st with 114.9). 31st all-time in all position players JAWS with 69.2 (Babe Ruth is 1st with 123.5). 3rd all-time in WAR7 (best seven years by WAR) for CFs with 65.6 (Mays is 1st with 73.5). 1st all-time in WAR through age 27 with 73.4. 3rd all-time in WAR through age 28 with 73.4, without playing any games in his age 2 season yet (Cobb is 1st with 78.6). 47th all-time WAR for position players with 73.4; all players ahead of him have played at least 474 more games. Has 2 of 54 (3.7%) 10+ WAR seasons since 1901. Has 2 of 13 (15.4%) 10 WAR seasons since 1970. One of only nine players with seven or more 8 WAR seasons (along with Ruth, Mays, Bonds, Wagner, Hornsby, Gehrig, Williams, and Collins). One of only ten players with five or more 9 WAR seasons (along with Ruth, Hornsby, Bonds, Mays, Wagner, Williams, Rodriguez, Collins, and Cobb). One of only ten players with two or more 10 WAR seasons (along with Ruth, Hornsby, Bonds, Mays, Williams, Cobb, Mantle, Wagner, and Gehrig). One of only seven players to reach all three benchmarks above (along with Wagner, Ruth, Hornsby, Williams, Mays, and Bonds). Of the above listed retired players (all but Trout), Mantle has the lowest career WAR with 112.3, #14 all-time.  1st in WAR from 2012-19 with 72.7 (Posey is second with 47.1, or 25.6 lower) 8th best career high eight-year span with 72.7 WAR (2012-19); Babe Ruth’s 1920-27 is highest, with 89.7. 4th best among active players with a .305 career Batting Average, behind Miguel Cabrera (.315), Jose Altuve (.315), and Joey Votto (.307). 5th most HR through age 27 with 285 (Alex Rodriguez is 1st with 345). One of seven players to hit 30+ HR six or more times through age 27. 23rd all-time with 752 RBI through age 27. 10th all-time with 903 Runs Scored through age 27. 10th all-time with an 84.713 SB%. 4th all-time with 803 walks through age 27 (Mantle is 1st with 892). One of only eleven players with 4 or more 100-walk seasons through age 27. 21st all-time with a career .419 OBP. 9th all-time with a career .581 SLG, 6th from 1970-present. One of only seven players with a career OPS (OBP + SLG) of 1.000 or higher, with exactly 1.000. 5th all-time with a career OPS+ (Adjusted OPS) with 176. 1st in WPA (Win Probability Added) through age 27 with 44.17, from 1974 to the present. He holds the top five Angels position player seasons by WAR, seven of the top eight, and all eight of his seasons are within the top 13. Very similar, or slightly better, career statistics to Mickey Mantle. 2nd highest WAR per 162 games with 9.92 (Ruth is 1st with 10.90).  Wrapping Up
What you’re seeing above is the statistical evidence that Mike Trout, thus far, has been one of the very best players in baseball history. Assuming a typical decline pattern, he’s going to finish in the top 10 in WAR; he’s already halfway to benig in the top 5.
Among his historical comps--that is, players who have performed at a similarly high level as consistently as Trout has--we mostly have players who played before World War 2. We have several players from a century ago: Honus Wagner, Eddie Collins, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig. We have mid-century greats like Ted Williams, Willie Mays, and Mickey Matle. And we have only two recent players in Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez. No other players are in the same league as Trout's performance thus far, and he will likely end up with better careers than some of them. 
We all know he’s great, but it is easy to forget just how great. Chances are we’ll never see another Angels player this good in our lifetimes, so let’s appreciate every moment of Mike Trout baseball while we can.
The Complete Mike Trout 27-for-27 Series:
View our running TROUTstanding fan discussion thread (Est: 2018) here! 

APRIL 5, 2002 GAME 4 - ANGELS AT RANGERS   By Joe Haakenson, AngelsWin.com Contributor   ARLINGTON, Tex. -- Scott Schoeneweis did Friday what Jarrod Washburn, Kevin Appier and Aaron Sele could not in the Angels' first three games of the season -- pitch into the sixth inning.   In fact, Schoeneweis went a few steps further, going into the ninth inning and leading the Angels to a 3-1 victory over the dangerous Texas Rangers Friday afternoon before Vice President Dick Cheney and a sellout crowd of 49,617 at The Ballpark in Arlington.   While his fellow starters needed around 100 pitches to get through five, Schoeneweis walked off the mound with one out in the ninth having made 99 pitches. He gave up one run and five hits, struck out six and walked only one.   The Rangers' murderers' row of Alex Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, Rafael Palmeiro and Ivan Rodriguez combined to go 2 for 12 with four strikeouts against Schoeneweis. Alex Rodriguez struck out three times himself, including taking a called third strike in the ninth inning that caused him to slam his bat to the ground.   ''I don't know what happened to us,'' Rodriguez said. ''He took it to us. Our thing is, I think we were too aggressive.''   Schoeneweis kept the Rangers off balance by changing speeds and throwing fewer sinkers, his primary pitch.   ''We mixed it up,'' catcher Bengie Molina said. ''They all know he throws a sinker, but we mixed in a fastball and changeup. We got 'em by surprise. Last year he didn't have a changeup.''   Schoeneweis entered the ninth inning and gave up a leadoff double to Gabe Kapler. He struck out Alex Rodriguez looking on a slider and was taken out of the game. Al Levine came in and retired Gonzalez on a groundout and Palmeiro on a flyout to earn his first save.   ''I've learned once (Scioscia) steps out of the dugout, there's no discussion,'' Schoeneweis said of coming out of the game. ''It was for the best.''   ''That was a great performance,'' Scioscia said. ''You have to understand that's a very powerful offense, there's not much leeway. He made great pitches all day, he changed speeds well, and we played good defense behind him.''   For a while, though, Schoeneweis' performance appeared as though it might not be good enough. Rangers starter Ismael Valdes, who went 9-13 for the Angels last season, shut out the Angels on two singles through six innings.   When Valdes took the mound to start the seventh, the Angels had not even moved a baserunner as far as second base.   ''Ismael pitched a terrific ballgame,'' Scioscia said. ''One thing about today's game is he didn't use his breaking ball as much. But his fastball command was as good as I've seen it.''   The Angels finally got to him when Tim Salmon led off the seventh inning with a double to left. One out later, Troy Glaus homered to left on a 1-2 pitch to give the Angels the lead for good. Molina added an RBI single in the ninth off reliever Colby Lewis.   ''He's absolutely getting better,'' Scioscia said of Glaus. ''He understands the big picture of a guy in the middle of the lineup and what he has to bring. He's done a great job in RBI situations this year.''   The Rangers' only run came home in the second inning after Gonzalez singled, went to third on a double by Palmeiro and scored on Carl Everett's sacrifice fly. After that, no Ranger reached second base until Kapler's double in the ninth.   Schoeneweis believes adding the changeup was the difference.   ''I think there was a little bit of uncertainty, a little bit of surprise,'' Schoeneweis said. ''Hitters will look for a certain pitch in a certain area at a certain speed. That's not how I want to get hitters out.   ''That's a tough lineup. When you've got Carl Everett hitting seventh, that's a pretty good indication.''   NOTEBOOK   ARLINGTON, Tex. -- Already playing short-handed because of the suspension to Scott Spiezio and the injury to Troy Percival, the Angels suffered another blow Friday when first baseman Benji Gil had to leave the game in the first inning with a sprained left ankle.   After the game, the Angels placed Gil and Percival on the 15-day disabled list.   Percival, bothered by a strained intercostal muscle on his right side for the past three weeks, last pitched on April 2 and will be eligible to return on April 18.   Al Levine and Ben Weber are most likely to get the call to pitch the ninth in a save situation.   Percival and Scioscia insist they aren't worried that the injury will become a long-term ordeal, and they say they don't expect the right-hander to end up on the disabled list. He'll be re-evaluated on Monday.   The injury has lingered for weeks, as Percival said he first hurt himself March 14 in a spring training game against the Rockies. He pitched six more times during the spring, and then again on Tuesday, when he pitched the ninth and got a save.   After Percival hurt himself initially, the Angels thought he could pitch through it. But when treatment didn't fix the problem, the tests were ordered. After the MRI revealed the strain, Percival said he wasn't surprised.   ''It's consistent with what I thought it was,'' he said. ''But it's too early in the year to go out there and try to pitch through it. I'll take three or four days and get back to 100 percent. If this was September, I could go out and pitch.''   Conscious of the injury, Percival said he threw at about 90 percent in last Tuesday's game against the Indians, throwing his fastball at 92-94 mph, below his typical 95-98 mph. He gave up a leadoff homer to Russell Branyan before getting the final three outs.   Scioscia and the Angels seemed relieved with the diagnosis.   ''It could have been a lot worse,'' Scioscia said. ''When you hear the word 'MRI' you think the worst, it's almost like a curse. But this is something that's fixable, and fixable on a short-term basis.''   Gil, who is eligible to return April 21, hurt his ankle in a play at first base against the Rangers.   Gil fielded a slow grounder hit by Rusty Greer leading off the bottom of the first. Gil was too far from the bag, so he tagged Greer, who slid into Gil's ankle.   Gil remained in the game as Gabe Kapler flied out to center for the second out. But with a 1-2 count on Alex Rodriguez, Gil limped off the field.   ''It swelled up like a balloon,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ''We're going to give him some time.''   Gil was taken to a nearby hospital for X-rays, which were negative.   Utility player Clay Bellinger and right-handed reliever Brendan Donnelly have been called up from Triple-A Salt Lake and will join the team Saturday.   Donnelly was 0-1 with a 4.80 ERA in 12 spring games, while Bellinger, who played with the Yankees the previous three seasons, hit .261 this spring.   *   The Angels had hoped left-handed reliever Dennis Cook (bruised ribs) would be ready to come off the disabled list by Saturday, but he is not ready.   Cook will throw off the mound Saturday, and if he comes out of it OK he could be activated early next week when the team returns to Anaheim.   *   Rangers pitcher Ismael Valdes gave up two runs and five hits in eight innings against his former teammates. But like so many games in his past, he got the loss when the offense didn't support him.   ''I was nervous,'' Valdes said. ''I was pitching in the first opening day game of my career against my former teammates. But it was a great game for me. My control was good. My off-speed pitches were working well today. I'm just trying to keep our team in the game and get the victory. I can't control the offense.''

By Chuck Richter, AngelsWin.com Founder
Over the past 16 seasons, starting in 2004, we’ve watched 2,592 games together since the launch of the website Angels”WIN”.com. Over that time, the Angels have compiled 1389 Wins vs. just 1203 losses, boasting a .536 winning percentage. 
While the past few years haven’t been so kind to us, on AngelsWin we have much to reflect on and be excited for in the future as fans. Since ’04 we have witnessed greatness in the form of player achievements, been blessed with two different MVP’s, acquired the first two-way player since Babe Ruth, signed a World Series champion & generational player, we FINALLY beat Boston in the playoffs, been to the postseason seven times and boy does the future look bright in Trout, Ohtani, Rendon & Adell…oh my! 
Be that as it may, it’s not all about the W/L. Over the past 16 seasons, we’ve gotten to share some of the finest sports moments together on our community forum. We have had the opportunity to celebrate the victories on & off the field, both in season, postseason and during the offseason. We’ve also witnessed tragedies and experienced loss together. Essentially, this is what binds and merges the words “Angels” & “Win” together. 
A wise man once said to look at the long view in life because yesterday, today and tomorrow could all unfold quite differently. After winning the World Series in 2002, only to follow that up with a disappointing season in ’03, I felt it was time to build a home for Angels fans that could experience the pure joy of ’02 but go through the difficulty of a season like 2003 together. So the construction of AngelsWin began shortly after the disastrous ’03 campaign ended and we launched in February of 2004.
Reflecting back on the past 16 seasons together at AngelsWin.com, I’m pleased that our website & online community has exceeded my expectations. The friendships, the memories, the events, the good and the bad both on & off the field … we’ve been able to experience it all together. Like friends.  Like family.  #AngelsFamily
That in the end is the ultimate WIN.
So here’s to another decade and a half of winning, Angels fans. 

If you haven't registered for an account at AngelsWin.com and joined the community discussions yet, what are you waiting for? Sign up today here!

By Robert Cunningham, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer
Once again the Primer Series discussion turns to Eppler's core belief in up-the-middle-defense, of which the keystone is a major component part.
When you think about Eppler's statement prior to the 2019 season, regarding young players with upside stepping up, you have to believe that second base is a position that could potentially be filled internally for the 2020 season, not only for real production purposes but also to relieve potential payroll expenditures at the keystone.
To emphasize this point, below is a list of 2B candidates sorted over the last three seasons using FanGraphs 'Def' statistic, sorted on a rate basis per game (Def/G) with a minimum of 50 Games played at the keystone:
2017-2019 Top 35 Second Basemen Sorted by FanGraphs 'Def' on a Per Game Rate Basis Minimum 50 G's Played

Perhaps, rather unshockingly, the Angels have two players, Fletcher and Rengifo, ranked in the Top 20 defensive players at the keystone (and three former Angels; Kinsler, Beckham, and Espinosa, ranked in the Top 15).
Leading the entire list is the sure-footed David Fletcher who, on a 155-games played basis, would average nearly 2.8 Wins Above Replacement if he played full-time. Well behind him, but a defensive force in his own right, is newcomer Luis Rengifo ranked 18th at the position.
If you firmly believe, as Eppler appears to do, that defense is critical at the keystone then there is no one even close to Fletcher, defensively at the position, over the last three seasons if you believe the sample size is sufficient (it may not be so take it with a grain of salt but it passes the eye test). He dwarfs even the gifted Ian Kinsler by quite a margin, making him an easy choice to man 2B in 2020, particularly since he has a near-League average wRC+ of 96 over that same time period which is slightly higher than League average. His elite glove and instincts combined with his excellent contact ability make him a prime choice for Eppler to place his faith in next season.
Rengifo, who is defensively talented as well, has put up good numbers against RHP (wRC+ of 98) but was far worse against lefties (wRC+ of 62) in 2019, unlike David who is more consistent offensively against both sides of the mound. Luis is young and can certainly improve but it is clear who the preferred choice is here, right now.
One name not on the list, but very well could be if he played the position, is Zack Cozart. He represents a real unknown heading into this off-season as the Angels are on the hook for his 2020 $12.7M salary. Cozart is discussed further in the Third Base article of this series but he too is an option at the keystone if the Angels don't play him at 3B. He is also a trade candidate if Eppler can wrangle together a bad contract swap or a partial or full salary dump for prospects deal.
Another potential choice that has not garnered any Major League playing time yet is young promising prospect Jahmai Jones who was recently added to the 40-man roster. If Jones is not traded he will probably act as quality depth at 2B and all of the outfield positions, in all probability, but is an unlikely choice to start the 2020 season in the Majors.
The Angels could certainly sign a free agent or trade for a keystone player, as the market is saturated with average-to-mediocre 2B candidates, but that seems inefficient and an unnecessary expenditure of payroll resources with such a talented defender like Fletcher in the fold. It would only make some level of sense if the Angels had an exciting opportunity to trade David for another position of need but that seems unlikely at this moment in time.
If the Angels go the trade route, there are probably only a small handful of targets that make any reasonable sense such as Kolten Wong, Ozzie Albies, Jed Lowrie, or much more remotely, Javier Baez, all of whom may cost more than the Angels are willing to part with in terms of players and prospects. On the free agent side, aging offensive stalwarts such as Brian Dozier, Jason Kipnis, Jonathan Schoop, and Jedd Gyorko, who recently had his option bought out, could be had at probably very reasonable prices but have offensive and defensive warts to one degree or another.
This time the choice for Eppler seems pretty clear.
Likely Outcome: Angels start David Fletcher at 2B to start the 2020 season and probably for the foreseeable future.
Author's Choice: This decision might be the easiest one for Eppler to make this off-season. Expecting 2.5-3 WAR (or possibly more) out of your keystone position is nice and Fletcher has a high probability of delivering that, hitting lead-off or toward the back-of-the-order on a regular basis.
If the Angels did run into a scenario where another team offered up a strong starting pitcher or position player in exchange for Fletcher, the Angels could run Cozart or Rengifo out at 2B and move David in trade but that would have to improve the team more than Fletcher leaving would hurt them.
Conclusion: Billy has to manage payroll, player, and prospect resources carefully and this is one position where he has a pretty clear-cut choice to fill at the League minimum, thus David Fletcher, barring a trade, is our likely starting second baseman for 2020 with Luis Rengifo, Jahmai Jones, or, more remotely, Zack Cozart, as the backup choices.

Welcome to this year’s version of the AngelsWin Top 30 Prospects. As with last year, it is a group effort: the following is a composite list of several AngelsWin.com members and writers, with eight participants this year. The method is simple: the list is an average of eight lists. The benefit of taking such an approach is that not only do we tend to even each other’s biases out a bit, but we also get a range of approaches: from relying mostly on stats, reading other scouting reports, and eye-witness scouting.
Unlike last year, I’m going to include the age the player will be for the 2020 season, meaning how old they are on July 1, 2020.
A note on Ranking Trends: it is simply the different rankings by the eight participants. Most such lists don’t include the “raw wiring,” but as with last year I thought it would be interesting for people see because the range of numbers say a lot about the prospect. Prospects with a relatively narrow range tend to be more predictable, while those with a wider range may also have a wider range of outcomes and greater volatility.
Finally, a big thanks to Scotty Allen (aka "Second Base") for providing the insightful Best Known For quotes.
On to the list…
1. JO ADELL OF (age 21)

Stats: .289/.359/.475, 10 HR in 76 games in A+/AA/AAA.
Ranking Trends: Consensus #1.
ETA: 2020.
Comments: The second year in a row as the consensus #1 Angels prospect, Adell is now considered one of the top five prospects in all of baseball – despite missing the first couple months of the year with a rather freakish double whammy hamstring/ankle injury. MLB Pipeline currently has him at #5, while Baseball America has him at #2. Adell’s stat line above is somewhat diminished by a relatively poor showing in AAA at the end of the year (.264/.321/.355 in 27 games), but his performance in AA (.308/.390/.553, 8 HR and 173 wRC+ in 43 games) is more indicative of his talent level. Adell is a tremendous athlete with prodigious power and great make-up; if there’s one knock on his game its that he doesn’t make as much contact as you’d like, and has only average plate discipline; but both should improve as he matures. He’s the real deal, the best Angels prospect since Mike Trout, and will make his debut in Anaheim sometime in 2020.
Best Known For: Blend of power, speed, and athleticism at such a young age.
2. BRANDON MARSH OF (age 22)

Stats: .286/.367/.407, 7 HR and 19 SB in 101 Rookie/AA games.
Ranking Trends: Consensus #2.
ETA: 2020.
Comments: Somewhat overshadowed by his friend and team-mate Adell, Brandon Marsh is an excellent prospect in his own right. That stat line is marred by a 1-21 streak in Rookie ball rehabbing an injury; he hit .300/.383/.428 in AA. He has not yet hit for power, but he’ll hit his share of extra base hits and should at least develop average HR power in the majors, possibly more. Despite having less impressive raw tools, in some ways Marsh is a more well-rounded prospect than Adell, with better contact and plate discipline, and at this point is a superior defender. Like his soon-to-be AAA Salt Lake team-mate, he’ll probably make his major league debut sometime in 2020, if he gets the opportunity.
Best Known For: Well-rounded game.  Beard, and tantalizing power-speed potential. 
3. JORDYN ADAMS OF (age 20)

Stats: .257/.351/.369, 8 HR and 16 SB 109 R/A/A+ games.
Ranking Trends: Seven #3s, one #4.
ETA: 2023.
Comments: Considering that Adams was a two-sport player and more committed to football than baseball a year and a half ago, the fact that he held his own in single A as a 19-year old is room for optimism. There’s a lot to like in his performance: not only is he flashing Adell-esque tools (and he’s even faster), but his 56 walks in 109 games is very heartening. Perhaps most importantly, Adams seemed to improve as the year went on: after a slow start, he hit .287/.369/.414 from May 10 on, and .325/.406/.504 from July 13 on. Expect for a breakthrough year in A+ Rancho Cucamonga this year. While Adams is still raw, he’s learning quickly and is on the fast track.
Best Known For: One of the top prep football players in the nation coming out of high school.  Also, “The Dunk”. Also, the highest upside prospect in the system. 
4. CHRIS RODRIGUEZ RHP (21)

Stats: 0.00 ERA, 3 GS, 9.1 IP, 4 walks, 13 strikeouts.
Ranking Trends: Four #4s, three #5s, one #9.
ETA: 2021.
Comments: Chris Rodriguez’s high ranking might come as a surprise due to the fact that he’s only pitched 9.1 innings in the last two years, all within 2019. But the stuff is real: Aside from possibly Jack Kochanowicz, he has the highest ceiling in the minor leagues. The question is whether he can stay healthy, and that is a big question. If he does, his ascendency to the majors will be fast and furious.
Best Known For: Mid-90’s fastball, and mid/front of the rotation upside. 
5. PATRICK SANDOVAL LHP (23)

Stats: 5.03 ERA, 39.1 IP, 19 walks, 42 strikeouts in the majors.
Ranking Trends: 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7.
ETA: 2019.
Comments: When Sandoval came over to the Angels in July of 2018, from the Astros for Martin Maldonado, the general view was that he was a classic high-floor but low-ceiling starter, the type of guy you don’t mind having as your 5th starter but not much more. In his nine starts in the majors, he showed flashes of something more, a bonafide mid-rotation starter, if everything comes together.
Best Known For: His fastball climbing 4-5 mph in the last two years since the Astros traded him. 
6. JEREMIAH JACKSON SS (20)

Stats: .266/.333/.605, 23 HR in 65 games in Orem (high Rookie ball).
Ranking Trends: 5, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9.
ETA: 2023.
Comments: I think the key phrase would be “cautiously excited.” 23 HR in 65 games for a 19-year old is impressive, but its all accompanied by 96 strikeouts and a mediocre .266 BA. He walked 24 times, which is a decent rate; given his swing and miss, developing plate discipline may be the key to Jackson becoming a star.
Best Known For: Breaking the Pioneer League HR record as a 19 year old. 
7. JOSE SORIANO RHP (21)

Stats: 2.51 ERA, 82.1 IP, 51 walks, 92 strikeouts in Rookie and A ball (Burlington).
Ranking Trends: 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 23.
ETA: 2021.
Comments: Soriano and Rodriguez are often mentioned in the same breath. While on one level it is a ceiling/floor comparison, Soriano’s ceiling isn’t that much lower, and his floor seems quite a bit higher. If his control develops, he could be in Anaheim rather quickly.
Best Known For: Mid to upper 90’s fastball and wipeout slider. 
8. JAHMAI JONES 2B (22)

Stats: .234/.308/.324, 5 HR and 9 SB in 130 games in AAA Salt Lake.
Ranking Trends: 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9
ETA: 2021
Comments: Jones not only had a very bad year statistically speaking, it was also his second year in a row of declining performance: his OPS slipped from .794 in 2017 (A/A+), .717 in 2018 (A+/AA) to .631 in 2019 (AA). That said, he did improve later in the year, both hitting well in the Arizona Fall League (.302/.377/.509 in 61 PA), but also towards the end of the regular year, hitting .306/.385/.414 from July 5th on, or 51 games. So while he didn’t make that jump into elite prospect status that we might have hoped for after 2017, he’s still a good prospect. Depending what the Angels do with Andrelton Simmons and Tommy La Stella after 2020, don’t be surprised if the 2021 infield includes Fletcher, Rengifo, and Jones.
Best Known For: Power-speed potential as a middle infielder, and the younger brother of NFL Wide Receiver T.J. Jones. 
9. KYREN PARIS SS (18)

Stats: .300/.462/.400 in 13 PA in Rookie ball (AZL).
Ranking Trends: 6, 9, 9, 10, 10, 10, 13, 14.
ETA: 2024
Comments: While it is rather early to be too excited about Paris, the upside is real: this is a talented young baseball player who just turned 18 a couple weeks ago from this writing, on November 11. He’s a toolsy shortstop, a good defender for his age, and really only lacks power – although that could develop. Before the draft last year, when he went 55th overall (2nd round), websites and analysts had him anywhere from #34 (Fangraphs), #48 (Keith Law), #70 (Baseball America), and #75 (MLB Pipeline). There’s a lot of volatility at this point; a couple years from now he could be another Livan Soto—a defense-first middle infielder who profiles as a major league bench player—or he could be an elite prospect, if the bat develops as hoped. Stay tuned.
Best Known For: Delivering one of the better post-draft interviews with Victor and Gubi.  A very well spoken young man. 
10. WILL WILSON 2B/SS (21)

Stats: .275/.329/.439 in 46 games in Rookie ball.
Ranking Trends: 7, 8, 8, 8, 9, 10, 10, 29.
ETA: 2022
Comments: At this point it is difficult to say whether the tepid view on Wilson is warranted in that, on one hand, he seems like another unexciting college draft pick with limited upside in the tradition of Matt Thaiss and CJ Cron; on the other, not only is he rather young for a college player, but the scouting reports on his bat are promising. At the least, he deserves a chance to prove himself before calling him an over-draft. Wilson could be better than expected, so let’s see how he hits with a full season of experience: he could move fast.
Best Known For: The Angels first round draft pick from this last draft.  Bat first middle infielder. 
11. JACK KOCHANOWICZ RHP (19)
Stats: Did not play professional baseball.
Ranking Trends: 10, 10, 11, 11, 11, 12, 15, 17.
ETA: 2024.
Comments: Upside, upside, upside. At 6’6” and 220 lbs, Kochanowicz can bring the heat. In my mind, he is the pitching equivalent of Kyren Paris: a couple years from now he could be #1 on this list, or another cautionary tale about getting too excited too soon. But the stuff is real, and he’s very young. He’ll be one of the most exciting prospects to watch in 2020.
Best Known For: Hitting upper-90’s at Fall Instructs.  One scout said that he believed Kochanowicz would go top five in the draft three years from now had he decided to go to college instead. 
12. AARON HERNANDEZ RHP (23)
Stats: 4.46 ERA, 72.2 IP, 46 walks, 81 strikeouts in A+ ball (Inland Empire).
Ranking Trends: 11, 11, 12, 13, 13, 15, 15, 20.
ETA: 2021.
Comments: Hernandez simply needs more minor league innings, and should be in Anaheim before you know it. He’s got the upside to be a mid-rotation starter, but may settle in a bit below that, or as a reliever. But he seems to have a rather high floor for a pitching prospect and, one way or another, should be part of the major league team within the next year or two.
Best Known For: Other than sharing a name with an unfortunate soul mid-90’s fastball with movement and a strong finish to the 2019 season. 
13. HECTOR YAN LHP (21)
Stats: 3.72 ERA in 109 IP, 52 walks, and 148 strikeouts in A ball (Burlington).
Ranking Trends: 11, 12, 13, 13, 14, 16, 16, 16.
ETA: 2022.
Comments: Take a look at those strikeouts and walks, and you see why Yan is ranked where he is. 12.2 Ks per 9 innings is no joke, but neither are 4.3 walks. We can hope that Yan can remain a starter, but his path to the majors may be as a relief pitcher. Either way, he’s one of a handful of pitching prospects in the organization with legitimate upside.
Best Known For: Recently being added to the Angels 40 man roster from A Ball.  Sidearmer with mid-90’s fastball. 
14. D’SHAWN KNOWLES OF (19)
Stats: .241/.310/.387 in 64 games in Rookie ball (Orem).
Ranking Trends: 12, 12, 13, 16, 16, 18, 21, 28.
ETA: 2023
Comments: Remember when D’Shawn was an after-thought to Trent Deveaux? He had a surprising 2018, but fell back to earth in 2019 – a rather disappointing follow-up. He doesn’t seem to have Deveaux’s elite athleticism, but may also have that “it factor” to become more than the sum of his parts. At 19 years old and with Adell, Marsh, and Hermosillo ahead of him, he’s got plenty of time.
Best Known For: Being the “other” top international signing from the Bahamas two years ago. 
15. MICHAEL HERMOSILLO OF (25)
Stats: .243/.330/.466 in 64 games in A+/AAA; .139/.304/.222 in 18 major league games.
Ranking Trends: 11, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 22, 28.
ETA: 2019.
Comments: Hermosillo seems like the type of player that could become a fan favorite, the Brock Holt of the Angels. Or at least that’s his upside. He’s got the tools to be a terrific 4th outfielder, and could even be a starter on some teams. But he’s got to make more contact first, and may be destined for another organization to get regular playing time.
Best Known For: Prep exploits on the gridiron and overall athleticism. 
16. KEVIN MAITAN IF (20)
Stats: .214/.278/.323 in 123 games in A Burlington.
Ranking Trends: 11, 12, 18, 18, 20, 20, 20, 26.
ETA: 2023.
Comments: If you didn’t know about the hype from a few years ago, Maitan would be an intriguing prospect – and he is. But it is hard not to get around the ridiculous comparisons that were thrown around, like Miguel Cabrera and Chipper Jones. Imagine being a 16-year old and hearing that. The hitting tools are there to be a major leaguer, and it is important to remember that he’s still quite young for his level – according to Baseball-Reference the league differential last year was -2.2. So while he isn’t the Promised One that the Braves originally thought he was, he still has a lot of time to actualize the good potential he does possess.
Best Known For: Being one of the more hyped international signings in recent memory.  Big time power.
17. STIWARD AQUINO RHP (21)
Stats: 6.87 ERA in 36.2 IP, 16 walks and 49 strikeouts in Rookie ball.
Ranking Trends: 8, 14, 16, 17, 19, 22, 25, 27.
ETA: 2023.
Comments: Another live arm with a wide range of possible outcomes, which is well-reflected in the ranking trends. Aquino’s numbers don’t look impressive, but he flashed good potential at times. His game log displays erratic performance, so hopefully with more innings he’ll settle down. Another pitcher whose future might be in the bullpen.
Best Known For: A great name and a mid-90’s fastball. 
18. ALEXANDER RAMIREZ OF (17)
Stats: .234/.328/.429 in 39 games in the Dominican League (Foreign Rookie).
Ranking Trends: 15, 15, 15, 17, 17, 19, 28, NR.
ETA: 2025.
Comments: There’s not a lot to go on at this point, but there’s a reason Billy Eppler gave the young Dominican a $1 million signing bonus upon turning 16 years old. He should be coming States-side in 2020, so look for him in the AZL. He is very young, just 17 in August, and has a ton of young outfielders ahead of him, but is at least worth having in the back of your mind as a high-ceiling prospect to look forward to.
Best Known For: Angels top international signee from last year.  Power and speed are more advanced than originally anticipated. 
19. KYLE BRADISH RHP (23)
Stats: 4.28 ERA in 101 IP, 53 walks and 120 strikeouts in A+ Inland Empire.
Ranking Trends: 12, 15, 21, 21, 21, 23, 24, 25.
ETA: 2021.
Comments: Bradish may forever be paired with Aaron Hernandez, as he was drafted right after him. Like Hernandez, he’s a college pitcher who projects as a major league starter, but is considered to have a lower ceiling. Clearly he has to work on his control, but after a solid first professional season, he’s establishing a solid floor to build from.
Best Known For: Advanced college arm that will climb the minor league ladder quickly. 
20. JARED WALSH OF/1B/RHP (26)
Stats: .325/.423/.686, 36 HR in 98 AAA games (Salt Lake); .203/.276/.329 in 31 major league games. Pitching: 4.15 ERA, 13 IP, 5 walks and 9 strikeouts in AAA; 1.80 ERA, 5 IP, 6 walks, 5 strikeouts in the majors.
Ranking Trends: 12, 18, 19, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27.
ETA: 2019
Comments: It is hard not to like Walsh. Not only did he absolutely kill AAA pitching, but he is also trying to make it as a two-way player in the majors. Unlike Taylor Ward, this gives him a flexibility that might give him a longer leash as a useful—even ideal-- “26th man” on the major league roster next year.
Best Known For: Being the Angels “other” two-way player. 
21. TRENT DEVEAUX OF (20)
Stats: .238/.320/.422 in 60 games in Rookie ball (AZL, Orem).
Ranking Trends: 13, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 29, NR.
ETA: 2023.
Comments: After a disappointing season in 2018 (.199/.309/.247 in 44 AZL games), Deveaux adjusted well to States-side professional baseball, showing flashes of the potential that led the Angels to sign him. There’s a lot to like here, but he simply needs time to develop. He’s probably got both a higher ceiling and lower floor than his fellow Bahamanian, D’Shawn Knowles. He’s a good candidate for a breakout season in 2020, which should be his first full season in A ball.
Best Known For: Being the Angels top international signee from two years ago.  Bahamian with 80-grade speed. 
22. OLIVER ORTEGA RHP (23)
Stats: 4.14 ERA in 111 IP, 57 walks and 135 strikeouts in A+/AA ball.
Ranking Trends: 14, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 26, NR.
ETA: 2021.
Comments: Ortega seemed to come out of nowhere and reminds us that players do indeed rise up from the Dominican League through the minor leagues. He’s on the verge of the major league radar.
Best Known For: Bursting onto the scene at the end of last year and beginning of this year with mid-90’s fastball. 
23. AROL VERA SS (17)
Stats: Did not play.
Ranking Trends: 14, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, NR, NR.
ETA: 2025.
Comments: A top international signing, the word on Vera is that he’s a tall (6’2”), lean, and promising switch-hitting shortstop with a strong hit-tool. He’s a long way away, but fits in a similar category with Alexander Ramirez.
Best Known For: Angels most expensive international signee since Roberto Baldoquin (not counting Kevin Maitan).  Great power projection from both sides of the plate. 
24. WILLIAM HOLMES OF/RHP (19)
Stats: .326/.431/.488 in 11 Rookie games; 5.18 ERA, 24.1 IP, 20 walks, 38 strikeouts.
Ranking Trends: 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 26, NR.
ETA: 2023.
Comments: The third two-player in the Angels system, along with Ohtani and Walsh. Holmes is the player formerly known as William English. There’s a lot to like here, with a nice showing with the bat and some promise on the mound.
Best Known For: Being the rare draftee from Detroit, also happens to be a two-way player with scattered intriguing skills on both sides of the ball. 
25. LUIZ GOHARA LHP (23)
Stats: Did not play (injuries).
Ranking Trends: 16, 17, 19, 22, 24, 28, 29 NR.
ETA: 2018.
Comments: Released by the Braves, the Angels signed the Brazilian Gohara as a free agent in August. He’s pretty much the definition of a potential “clean peanut,” which also makes him really difficult to assess. Before the 2018 season, Baseball America ranked as the #23 prospect in all of baseball—that was after dominating A+ and AA, and getting a solid taste of AAA, even five starts in the majors at the age of 20 years old. But then his troubles began, and he didn’t perform well in the minors and eventually missed all of 2019 with a shoulder injury. While it is easly to get excited about his upside, the Braves released him for a reason. We can hope that they made a terrible mistake, but don’t count on it. Gohara goes into the 2020 season as perhaps the biggest in-house wildcard that could make a surprise impact on the major league pitching staff.
Best Known For: Being one of the top prospects in all of baseball only a little over a year ago.  Used to have upper-90’s heat before shoulder injury. Currently rehabbing from surgery.  One of the very rare Brazilian baseball players. 
26. ROBINSON PINA RHP (21)
Stats: 3.83 ERA, 108 IP, 61 walks, 146 strikeouts in A ball (Burlington).
Ranking Trends: 13, 20, 20, 25, 27, 27, 30, NR.
ETA: 2023.
Comments: Given his performance in 2019, it is almost surprising that Pina isn’t ranked higher. But if he continues this level of play in A+ and above, he could leapfrog several pitching prospects by year’s end. Definitely one to watch, with major league potential.
Best Known For: Tall and lanky.  Herky-jerky motion.  Misses lots of bats. Reports indicate low-90’s fastball .  
27. LUIS MADERO RHP (23)
Stats: 5.03 ERA, 105.2 IP, 31 walks, 98 strikeouts in A+/AA.
Ranking Trends: 10, 20, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR.
ETA: 2022
Comments: Madero was a bit of a darling among Angelswin prospects hounds after his breakout 2018 campaign (3.49 ERA, 27 walks and 95 strikeouts in 105.2 IP in A/A+). While his ERA rose substantially, his peripherals held steady and perhaps we’re being a bit too bearish on him. He isn’t far from being on the major league depth chart.
Best Known For: Mid-90’s fastball.  Added to the Angels 40-man ahead of last year’s Rule 5 Draft. 
28. LIVAN SOTO SS/2B (20)
Stats: .220/.304/.256 in 311 PA in A/Rookie ball.
Ranking Trends: 14, 24, 30, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR.
ETA: 2024.
Comments: The second of the “stolen” Braves prospects, Soto had a disappointing follow-up to his promising first year in the Angels farm system. Right now he projects as a very weak-hitting but solid fielding middle infielder, but he’s also got some physical development ahead of him. 2020 should give us a better sense of his ultimate potential.
Best Known For: Being the “other” prospect the Braves lost that the Angels signed.  Defensive wizard. Weighs about as much as a women’s olympic gymnast. 
29. ADRIAN RONDON IF (21)
Stats: .266/.317/.378 in 69 games in Rookie/A ball.
Ranking Trends: 25, 25, 26, 27, 30, NR, NR, NR.
ETA: 2023.
Comments: We’ve got a Rondon! Eppler seems to like former highly regarded international prospects; while never quite as lauded as Maitan, Rondon’s story is similar: the Tampa Rays gave him a $3 million signing bonus in 2015, but he struggled in the minor leagues. He held his own last year, but nothing exciting – so far. There’ still untapped potential and relative youth on his side.
Best Known For: One of the more hyped international signees in recent memory.  Angels traded practically nothing for him. Great bat speed, recently moved to 3B.
30. GARRETT STALLINGS RHP (22)
Stats: Did not play.
Ranking Trends: 22, 25, 29, 29, 29, NR, NR, NR.
ETA: 2022.
Comments: The Angels’ 5th round pick in 2019, Stallings is a bit of a sleeper pick who could reach the majors relatively quickly. He probably projects as a back-end starter, but is one to keep an eye on.
Best Known For: Brilliant performance in the heavily scouted Cape Cod League.  Could climb the minor league ladder very quickly. 
 
Other Ranked Players: Jeremy Beasley, Jose Bonilla, Denny Brady, Sadrac Franco, Jake Jewell, Orlando Martinez, Isaac Mattson, Leonardo Rivas, Jose Rojas, Andrew Wantz, Austin Warren.

By Jason Sinner, AngelsWin.com Columnist (aka @Dochalo)
Here's who unlikely will spend on players outside of some 1 and maybe 2-yr deals. We won't really go into much detail here for the following teams.
BAL, DET, KC, TB, TOR, ARZ, MIA, COL, PIT, SF.  
Here's who might spend some money but likely on deals in the 1-3yr range.  Not on any big names.  

BOS - likely to shed some payroll.  can't see them being big FA players
OAK - don't have much money but might surprise with a key player or two on shorter deals.  Nothing big.  Could make a couple trades.  
CLE - Payroll is manageable now.  If they trade Lindor, they could make a small deal or two.  
SEA - don't see them going big on any particular player.  a couple of small deals and of course some trades
CHC - payroll already at 183m.  Don't see them doing much other than some complementary pieces.  Cap number is already above 200m.  
HOU - I debated on where to put them but I really think they'll stay fairly conservative this year.  They'll add some pieces but they're already at 220m for 2020.   
NYM - At 180m  in salary and 203m in AAV.  don't see them going big.  
Teams that could spend just because of who they are:

LAD - always a threat to go at a big time player.  They've avoided long term contracts in the recent past and already have a good team with a great farm.  At 175m for 2020.  They're gonna do some stuff.  I definitely see them as a player for the SP market.  Maybe Cole but more likely in that next tier down.  
NYY - same as the Dodgers.  2020 payroll at 204m.  AAV at 215.  again, they could always spend but I think they end up being a little more conservative.  
Teams that could spend and go after a longer term contract on a couple key players but won't go huge:
ARZ - they were a pretty good team in 2019.  payroll at 109m.  Made some substantial trades at the deadline and could move Ray for more cheap talent.  Wouldn't surprise me if they went after a slightly more expensive player or two.  
ATL - I don't think they'll go big but their current payroll sits at about 90m so they definitely could.  Lots of prospect capital here as well.  I think they'll definitely be in on SP in the tier after Cole.  Could surprise and even make a run at Cole but I doubt it.  
CIN - smaller market team who could also be in the secondary market and spend some but likely not huge.  At 122m already for 2020.
MIL - similar to CIN.  They're likely still trying to hold on to their window.  At about 97m right now so they've definitely got some room.  
STL - at 163m in payroll and 176m in AAV.  They won't be afraid to add the right players but I don't see them in the top of the market.  
The big spenders:

TEX - I could see them shelling out some dough this winter on both SP and Rendon.  Personally I think that would be a mistake as they got some non sustainable performances to make them seem better than they really can be long term.  Pence, Choo, Lynn, Minor, Santana.  There are rumors of them going after Rendon which I could see happening but I think there's a fair amount of fools gold with this team.  
MIN - they are losing 4 of their SP from their rotation and had a 100 win season.  Payroll is at 80m.  Plus they they a very good farm.  I think they'll be very active this winter.  I don't see them going after Cole, but anyone in the tier below is someone they'll target.  Plus, I could see them in on big trade or two.  
CWS - a good lineup and better than most people think with some key additions.  Payroll is at about 60m.  They'll definitely be in on Cole and probably Rendon as well.  They may very well whiff on everyone they go after, but they'll be looking to make some big splashes (plural).  Plus, they still have a good farm system.  
WSH - just won the series.  They have spent in the past and payroll of 120m gives them plenty of room to work.  
PHI - disappointing year and payroll at 171m with AAV at 191m.  They were all in last year and need pitching.  They'll spend but this could be a team that's in a bad way by the end of 2020.  
LAA - money to spend. Need starting pitching. No brainer! 
View the full article

By Robert Cunningham, Angelswin.com Senior Writer
As the Angels enter the 2019-2020 off-season, Billy Eppler is faced with the daunting task of taking Moreno's proposed increase in team payroll and creating a contending club out of the available resource pool. Currently, the Angels 40-man roster stands at 40 players as of November 28th, 2019.
In order to begin the discussion about available finances, the author has examined the Angels 40-man roster and assuming the Angels retain the current set of 40 players and use MLBTradeRumors.com's estimated arbitration salaries, 2020 Club Payroll will be approximately $162M and Actual Club Payroll (Average Annual Value (AAV) payroll) will be approximately $151M as seen below:

A couple of notes regarding the table above:
Injured List $$ indicates a nominal number for MLB players that spend time on the Injured List and is an educated guess based on information provided by the Orange County Register's Jeff Fletcher. Payouts refers to any and all money expended on players no longer on the 40-man roster. In this case the $1M number was Kole Calhoun's option year buyout. Subtract Non-Roster is simply the 14 players not on the 26-man roster making League-minimum salaries that do not count toward the total payroll numbers. In this case 14 x $600K = $8.4M Benefits refers to Player Benefit Costs and is an educated guess (also based on information provided by Jeff Fletcher) on how much every team pays toward that fund. Below is the relevant excerpt of the Collective Bargaining Agreement that shows how it is applied to the payroll calculation:
To be clear this estimate is exactly that, an educated guess. The only difference between '2020 Club Payroll' and 'Actual Club Payroll' is that in the latter you are accounting for the multi-year guaranteed contracts (average annual value of them) and how close that places the team to the Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) threshold for that season (in this case $208M for 2020).
So Eppler starts the season with approximately $147M in 2020 Club Payroll and $136M in Actual Club Payroll (AAV) and when you adjust for Player Benefits, non-roster players, Injury List (IL) payout estimates and Calhoun's $1M option buyout, the Angels start the season at $162M (2020 Club Payroll) and $151M (Actual Club Payroll).
This means that, based on Moreno's own words about raising 2020 Club Payroll, the team probably has at least $25M+ to spend in free agency and trade and likely that number is closer $30M-$40, if not more. Fortunately, because of this, the Halos have more options this off-season in terms of money and resources (both MLB-ready players, farm prospects, and International Signing money) to address their needs and create better depth across the roster.
If the Angels really are courting Gerrit Cole (and they should be), he will likely get the Angels close to their spending limit all by himself on a back loaded contract. In order to make other moves, Eppler will have to get creative in the trade market as well as executing savvy low-level free agent signings to fill in the rest of the roster. This may require Moreno to get awfully close to, or even exceed, the Luxury Tax threshold of $208M, although the team will likely stay under that number, barring a truly unexpected all-in over the next two seasons (a precise window they can escape by the way once Pujols contract expires after 2021).
Expectations are high for Eppler to create a winner in his current, last year as General Manager so Angelswin.com members and fans should expect at least one large free agent signing with perhaps 1-3 lower-level pickups. In addition to that it will not be surprising to see 1-3 trades executed to bring in additional pitching and positional needs.
All of this will be covered further as we dive deeper into the 2020 Angelswin.com Primer Series!

By Robert Cunningham, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer
So I almost didn't write the series this year.
A lot of things happened, one of which the company I worked for, Vector-Launch, unfortunately shut down in mid-August due to the loss of our primary financial backer, Sequoia. This was a real loss to me because that was the best damn job I ever had and likely will ever have the remainder of my career.
It is rare that you find a position where you enjoy the work so much that you don't even feel like it is work, you have a supervisor that respects and mentors you, and you have fantastic relationships with virtually all of your coworkers to the point that they become family and you even hang out with them outside of work. Vector was all of that and it is a damn shame that it had to go.
There are parallels to that situation with the 2019 Angels. The Halos, at the start of the season seemed locked in. Our new manager, Brad Ausmus, was at the helm and seemed to have a good grasp of how to manage the team and appeared to have the respect of the players. Most importantly the team seemed to gel well and the clubhouse atmosphere seemed loose and fun. However, as we are all aware, injuries, ineffectiveness, and a lack of leadership at the top ravaged the 2019 Angels team.
Players like Matt Harvey and Cody Allen, larger ticket players Eppler signed on one-year deals in the off-season, failed to produce and were eventually cut. The Angels tragically lost Tyler Skaggs mid-season to a deadly concoction of opioids and alcohol. Justin Upton, Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Luis Rengifo, and Tommy La Stella all hit the Injury List (IL) at various points in the season creating a discontinuity in the field and lineup that was reflected in the Angels very poor win-loss record at the end of the year. These losses certainly added up to a recipe for disaster in Anaheim that seems, on the surface, difficult to overcome in 2020 and proved fatal to Brad Ausmus' tenure. Like Vector-Launch, they had to close it down.
So, once again, it will be up to Billy Eppler in what could be his last year as General Manager, and the front office staff to set a path for success this off-season if the Angels will have a real chance at post-season play.
One very bright point is the signing of future Hall of Fame candidate Mike Trout to a career-long extension at the beginning of the 2019 season. The Angels now have the premier player in baseball locked up and can rest easy knowing that he is the centerpiece to build the remainder of the team around as they look to contend in 2020 and beyond.
Some of these pieces are already here. Despite Justin Upton's poor offensive performance in 2019, he is still signed for three more seasons making him a likely complimentary piece in left field for next year. Andrelton Simmons will be entering his final year of control and, barring a trade, will man shortstop again in 2020 with the possibility of an extension contract in his future. Kole Calhoun turned out to be a luxury the Angels couldn't afford in an off-season where they need a lot of starting pitching but fortunately, the Angels have Brian Goodwin to fill their right field need to start the season.
Other complimentary players like Zack Cozart (if healthy), David Fletcher, Luis Rengifo, Matt Thaiss, Taylor Ward, Jared Walsh, and Tommy La Stella should help fill one or more holes in the infield not called shortstop. Catcher may turn out to be a patchwork again manned by some combination of Max Stassi (who probably won't be ready to start the season), Anthony Bemboom, Kevan Smith, and perhaps one or more other, yet-to-be-acquired, backstops.
Shohei Ohtani should be ready to pitch again, along with Andrew Heaney, giving the Angels a decent base to create a rotation with the likes of Griffin Canning, Jaime Barria, Patrick Sandoval, Jose Suarez, Dillon Peters, and possibly others like Felix Pena filling up the back-end of the starting five. However, it should be clearly noted that the free agent starting pitching market has some very attractive players that the Angels will almost certainly target to create a strong rotation for 2020.
Our relief corps will probably contain names like Ty Buttrey, Hansel Robles, Noe Ramirez, Cam Bedrosian, Luke Bard, Justin Anderson, Keynan Middleton, Jake Jewell, and Taylor Cole among potential others. In fact this group may be enough to rely upon for the 2020 season, making it one potential area that the Angels need not worry about this off-season in terms of expending resources.
The rebuilding process in the Angels Minor League system has actually been underway for some time now. Eppler has been steadily building it up and there are some notable names that have joined or are on the verge of joining Trout in Anaheim.
Potential stars like Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh, along with contributing pieces like Luis Madero are making strides to join the big league club in 2020 or after. Adell in particular appears to be the closest to the Majors and is likely, based on Calhoun's option being declined, a call-up in the May/June time frame. Other potential contributors like Luis Pena (bullpen), Jahmai Jones (2B/OF), and Chris Rodriguez could accelerate fast if they have a productive start in 2020.
The unexpected replacement of Ausmus with Joe Maddon and Moreno's recent comments that there will be an increase in payroll this off-season clearly points to a sea change and acceleration to push the Angels into a window of contention that many fans have been awaiting for a long time.
Based on the groundwork laid to date, owner comments, and a largely new, but experienced, coaching staff, it seems highly probable that there will be at least one or more significant free agent signings and/or complimentary trades to help position the Angels to fight for a playoff spot in 2020. The Astros and A's still pose a significant threat in the Division but an improved Angels squad will make for a much more interesting race in the A.L. West.
In terms of team needs, clearly the Angels need to add at least one top-of-the-rotation starter and likely an additional mid-tier type to create solid depth. Adding a high-quality defensive catcher, to compliment one of Stassi (likely), Smith (maybe), or Bemboom (unlikely), would be a nice add to receive all of those pitches from the revamped rotation. The infield will need to be reinforced, likely at the corners with third base a long-term strategic concern for Eppler. Right field will be open to competition with Jo Adell in the mix (and the future of the position) but likely only after the Angels retain the extra year of team control on him (thus the projected May/June call-up). Adding another reliever or two to the mix, even if they are waiver claims or Rule 5 picks, will add depth.
The question will ultimately be how high will Moreno let Eppler spend? Is it a modest increase or something much more significant that would take us into Luxury Tax territory for the next two years? Will a poor free agent market in the 2020-2021 off-season drive spending now? What moves can be made in free agency and trade to strengthen the team? Can the team supplement from the Minors in key areas throughout the season to create the missing depth that recent Angels squads have lacked?
All that and more in what is sure to be an active Angels off-season in the subsequent installments of the 2020 Angelswin.com Primer Series!

By Jason Sinner, AngelsWin.com Columnist (aka @Dochalo)
Here's who unlikely will spend on players outside of some 1 and maybe 2-yr deals. We won't really go into much detail here for the following teams.
BAL, DET, KC, TB, TOR, ARZ, MIA, COL, PIT, SF.  
Here's who might spend some money but likely on deals in the 1-3yr range.  Not on any big names.  

BOS - likely to shed some payroll.  can't see them being big FA players
OAK - don't have much money but might surprise with a key player or two on shorter deals.  Nothing big.  Could make a couple trades.  
CLE - Payroll is manageable now.  If they trade Lindor, they could make a small deal or two.  
SEA - don't see them going big on any particular player.  a couple of small deals and of course some trades
CHC - payroll already at 183m.  Don't see them doing much other than some complementary pieces.  Cap number is already above 200m.  
HOU - I debated on where to put them but I really think they'll stay fairly conservative this year.  They'll add some pieces but they're already at 220m for 2020.   
NYM - At 180m  in salary and 203m in AAV.  don't see them going big.  
Teams that could spend just because of who they are:

LAD - always a threat to go at a big time player.  They've avoided long term contracts in the recent past and already have a good team with a great farm.  At 175m for 2020.  They're gonna do some stuff.  I definitely see them as a player for the SP market.  Maybe Cole but more likely in that next tier down.  
NYY - same as the Dodgers.  2020 payroll at 204m.  AAV at 215.  again, they could always spend but I think they end up being a little more conservative.  
Teams that could spend and go after a longer term contract on a couple key players but won't go huge:
ARZ - they were a pretty good team in 2019.  payroll at 109m.  Made some substantial trades at the deadline and could move Ray for more cheap talent.  Wouldn't surprise me if they went after a slightly more expensive player or two.  
ATL - I don't think they'll go big but their current payroll sits at about 90m so they definitely could.  Lots of prospect capital here as well.  I think they'll definitely be in on SP in the tier after Cole.  Could surprise and even make a run at Cole but I doubt it.  
CIN - smaller market team who could also be in the secondary market and spend some but likely not huge.  At 122m already for 2020.
MIL - similar to CIN.  They're likely still trying to hold on to their window.  At about 97m right now so they've definitely got some room.  
STL - at 163m in payroll and 176m in AAV.  They won't be afraid to add the right players but I don't see them in the top of the market.  
The big spenders:

TEX - I could see them shelling out some dough this winter on both SP and Rendon.  Personally I think that would be a mistake as they got some non sustainable performances to make them seem better than they really can be long term.  Pence, Choo, Lynn, Minor, Santana.  There are rumors of them going after Rendon which I could see happening but I think there's a fair amount of fools gold with this team.  
MIN - they are losing 4 of their SP from their rotation and had a 100 win season.  Payroll is at 80m.  Plus they they a very good farm.  I think they'll be very active this winter.  I don't see them going after Cole, but anyone in the tier below is someone they'll target.  Plus, I could see them in on big trade or two.  
CWS - a good lineup and better than most people think with some key additions.  Payroll is at about 60m.  They'll definitely be in on Cole and probably Rendon as well.  They may very well whiff on everyone they go after, but they'll be looking to make some big splashes (plural).  Plus, they still have a good farm system.  
WSH - just won the series.  They have spent in the past and payroll of 120m gives them plenty of room to work.  
PHI - disappointing year and payroll at 171m with AAV at 191m.  They were all in last year and need pitching.  They'll spend but this could be a team that's in a bad way by the end of 2020.  
LAA - money to spend. Need starting pitching. No brainer! 
View the full article

By @Brent Maguire, AngelsWin.com Staff Writer
Mike Trout missed 39 games in the middle of this season due to a torn ligament in his thumb from sliding into 2nd base. At the time of the injury, it presumably knocked him out of the American League MVP picture, which seemed fair given the precedent set by previous MVP winners. Fangraphs very own Craig Edwards examined this exact precedent earlier this week and, based on his data, Trout would end up receiving the 2nd lowest amount of plate appearances for any MVP winner in baseball history(in a non-strike shortened season). Given the vast amount of data available now and, quite frankly, the integrity of the writers, the Trout MVP case isn’t as far fetched as some may believe.
Right now, Mike Trout has the 4th highest fWAR(Fangraphs Wins Above Replacement) among all position players(5.1 fWAR) and ranks 3rd in the American League behind Aaron Judge and Jose Altuve, who both have 5.9 fWAR, respectively. WAR is not the be all end all stat but it does a good job of combining every element of a player’s game and Trout has somehow racked up 5.1 fWAR in just 70 games. For those curious, that would put him on pace for 11.8 WAR over a full 162 game season, which would rank as the 12th most valuable season in Major League Baseball history, and rank only behind some dudes named Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby and Honus Wagner. Mike Trout has already has a historic start to his career, putting up 7.9 fWAR in his first 5 full big league seasons and 9+ WAR in 4 of those 5 seasons, but his 2017 season has been on a completely different level.
If you’re not a WAR believer(cue chorus from ” War” by Edwin Starr), then let’s just break down the individual elements of Trout’s game. Offensively, Trout has been absolutely smashing baseballs and getting on base at will in his 70 games. His current slash line is .347/.468/.710, which essentially looks like an average Babe Ruth season(.342/.474/.690). If he qualified, Trout’s batting average would rank 3rd in baseball and he’d boast the highest on base percentage and slugging percentage in both leagues. Trout is walking a career high 17.7% of the time and is striking out in a career low 19% of his plate appearances. He’s on pace to hit 38 home runs, which would be the 2nd highest total in any season despite the fact that he missed a quarter of a season. Trout’s current 208 wRC+(108% better than the league average hitter) is far and away the best in baseball and well above his career 171 wRC+. If Trout maintains a 200+ wRC+, it’d be only the 5th time that has happened in this century and the other 4 instances were accomplished by Barry Bonds from 2001-2004.
Defensively, Trout has more or less been slightly below average in center field this season based on the metrics. He’s currently at -1 defensive runs saved(DRS) and -2.3 UZR(Ultimate Zone Rating). Statcast has essentially backed up this claim as Trout has had zero 5 or 4 star catches but has caught a vast majority of his 1-3 star opportunities. This isn’t necessarily a knock on Trout either: performing as the league’s best hitter while playing near average defense in center field is uber valuable. On the bases, Trout has continued to run the bases with the best of them as he is on pace to swipe 20+ bags again and will end up with 3+ Baserunning Runs(BsR) despite missing 39 games. All around, Trout has been an absolute monster yet again.
While it seems more likely that Trout doesn’t win MVP this year, there is a real case that he will be competing for a top 2 or 3 spot again in the race. If Jose Altuve hits .350+ with 7+ WAR on the best team in the American League, it’s going to be hard for the writers to pass that up. Aaron Judge is struggling since the break but he’s still on pace to hit 45+ home runs and post a 7+ win season while manning right field for the New York Yankees. Chris Sale is having a season of historic measures and may represent Trout’s biggest rival for the award as the terrifying lefty has already hit 7 fWAR and has a 2.57 ERA along with his sub 2 FIP. As of now, there’s a pretty clear top 4 and it looks like Trout will squarely be in the mix of things.
Mike Trout might be one of the select few players in baseball who can miss 1/4th of a season and still be in the conversation for being the league’s most valuable player. Clayton Kershaw threw 149 innings of historic baseball last season and finished 5th in the Cy Young voting so we don’t have to look back too far to see how writers will penalize players who miss time. Kershaw’s 237 ERA+ and 15.64 strikeout-walk ratio were legendary numbers but they still weren’t enough to get him a top 3 finish. The writers could penalize Trout the same way but if this pace keeps up, it’s going to be impossible for the writers to ignore him. If the Angels somehow sneak into the playoffs, that will likely boost his case even further for the writers.
Whatever ends up happening with the MVP voting, enjoy Mike Trout. The fact that we can even have this discussion speaks volumes to the incredible talent that Trout is. If he doesn’t win MVP, he’s still likely had a legendary season that was hurt by a fluke injury. If he does end up in fact win the award, then this is going to be a season that is talked about for a very long time. Long live Mike Trout.


 
View the full article