disarcina

I think Baltimore is a real possibility here -- and Ohtani would be a definite two month rental there -- but he could lead them to the promised land of a long run in the playoffs perhaps even a championship- which would give all those young Baltimore players who will be staying put in Baltimore - real playoff experience. Baltimore - as Second Base points out - has the group of potential minor league. prospects who could be with the Angels for about four to five years under club control

normally your comment would be a correct assessment of the situation -- however, Ohtani is the most unique talent to come along - perhaps in MLB. history - certainly in the modern era. There are two markets for Ohtani - and the value on each changes daily as we get closer to August 1 deadline. Halos probably now realize (finally) they have ZERO chance of signing him long term -- and need to deal him to get something of value for the greatest player in the game. Some teams might be willing to over-pay for a two month rental of Ohtani for the stretch run and playoffs giving them a real chance to sell out their stadium the rest of the season and load up on merchandise sales of Ohtani gear - jerseys, hats, shirts, bobble - heads etc. - he also could be the difference between making the playoffs with a shot at winning the World Series - even if there is no way the team can sign him long term. (Houston , Atlanta, maybe Cincinnati, perhaps SF Giants. -others). Then there's the big boys would want Ohtani not just for the two months but for the extra time in close proximity to him to convince him to sign and stay long term (NY Yankees, LA DODGERS, maybe NY Mets. Seattle (probably lack the resources). If this comes down to the deadline wire -- the Angels front office will have to make the choice whether to pull the trigger on getting perhaps.ONE really good top prospect and perhaps another good prospect -maybe even a MLB guy (pitcher) under club control for. four more years or so for Ohtani or lose him forever with a draft pick compensation. The Halos should insist on a draft pick as part of any player deal. IMO the best chance for a team to over-pay for Ohtani is the NY Yankees who would be interested in signing him long term and feel - right now today - that they are behind the LA Dodgers on Ohtani's list -- Yankees would be given and stretch run and playoff experience time to convince Ohtani otherwise. As for the Dodgers - they can probably sit back and wait knowing they are the front-runners for Ohtani right now for 2024 and would engage only if a bidding war breaks out with the Yankees and their efforts to neutralize the Dodgers' advantage. That's how I see it. I just cannot see the ANGELS doing nothing and losing Ohtani to free agency. The front office would be hounded and second-guessed forever if that were to happen.

that consortium of investors that have the ownership interest in the LA Rams (if I have this right) were the ones I thought would win the bidding war to buy the team from Arte and also be able. to pass muster. with MLB owner's vetting committee. I think your assessment regarding sale is a good hunch and may actually assist in the. Ohtani signing process - because this team's value. will vary quite a bit with that variable : Team value WITH Ohtanj/ Team Value without Ohtani . Ohtani is just unreal. What player in MLB history led the league /majors in Home runs and also had the lowest batting average against him as a starting pitcher. Unbelievable!

Angels franchise going nowhere fast. Ohtani needs to be dealt at deadline because he's not signing long term here. But Halos probably won't do that. Arte's proposed sale of the club - now off the table - was the best bet for the Angels to move on to be a big market contending club -- Arte as a sole owner (with some investors) just can't compete with the. conglomerate ownership interests like the Dodgers and.other teams. Not necessarily a knock on Arte - although he's. certainly made some mis-steps (Josh Hamilton being one example) but he just does not provide the economic wherewith all to compete with the better capitalized ownerships -- meanwhile - from an owner's standpoint, the Angels are a great franchise - the fan base seems to show up at the 30,000 per game attendance range, win , lose or draw. Weather is. nice, particularly this time of year - so evenings at the ballpark are pleasant. it's a great entertainment option and a winning team would be nice, but not really all that necessary to make a profit. The. team can and. has drifted under this scenario for years. Right now the Angels have, perhaps, the best player to ever play the game (two way Ohtani) and a legitimate. HOF'er (Trout) who seems to have hit his mid-career point a bit prematurely with all the injuries he's sustained. We have these great players and still can't move the needle. We're in free fall heading into the. All Star Game. There's no playoffs in our future this season.. The switch out of Madden for NEVIN which. never made. much sense to me - seems to me , anyway, to make less sense now. Oh well. When all is said and done, 30,000 will show up at the ballpark. Fun time had by all. Oh well.

Moustakas signed that one year deal with. Milwaukee after KC did not re-sign him. He never played for San Diego. Drifted to Cincinnati and then wound up Colorado this year. Moustakas played his high school ball in S. California (Camarillo) so it's sort of a homecoming - I thought Nevin missed a perfect opportunity to pinch hit Moustakas for Rengifo in the 9th inning today.

sounds like Halos will have some infielders/. corners to trade. for. some pen depth help at. deadline time,. Moustakas not a bad pick up -- what's his contract,? seems like only yesterday her left KC and signed a pret ty good. sized contract with San Diego? Things did not go. well for him there and. he wound up in Colorado via Cincinnati and perhaps a stop in Milwaukee -- these guys move around so much hard to. keep track. is Moose in the line. up today. -- game just started.

I am now absolutely starting to believe that the Angels won't trade Ohtani at the deadline despite the conventional wisdom they should do so if there's no way they can sign him long term (I think the chances of Ohtani staying in Anaheim are slim and none that he's already made that decision). Normally a rental player's value goes down with each passing day to the trade deadline. But Ohtani isn't just any. player. A team who signs him for two months is pretty much guaranteed sold out crowds the rest of the way, an increase in concessions and merchandise revenue on a level perhaps not seen with a player before -- and that also holds true for the Angels - the team that has. him now. few players can achieve that -- one I can think of for the. Dodgers was Eric Gagne , their former all star closer (yeah, yeah. start the steroid comments now) who miraculously was able to keep Dodger fans in the stands past the sixth, seventh inning -- a nearly impossible feat. I remember reading in the LA Times. during that time, that Gagne's closing games increased concession sales considerably because fans were not hitting the exits in the. 7th.

Jeff. Fletcher is closer to the day to day situation and.aspect of all this than any of us - he claims "Ohtani is different type. of F/A" in that it's more about where he wants to play (and the conditions -i.e. will he be allowed to be in the rotation every fifth/ sixth day AND DH even in the games where he's the starting pitcher?' Teams trying to limit the dual role (why would they given Ohtani's performance/ numbers - but some front office(s) may take a different. position) would probably be off Ohtani's list fairly quickly. Having said all this -- over the years and years of F/A in MLB and in all sports -- it's often heard. : "Money isn't the main consideration......" until it is and usually the highest bidder gets the. prize. Surprise , Surprise. I see Ohtani in Dodger Blue -- sole proprietor Arte - even with a few financial partners, simply cannot compete with the Dodgers conglomerate ownership -- ALSO - the Dodgers have made moves the past year plus to seemingly clear some salary space for a significant F/A signing for 2024. Letting Trea Turner (a great player) get away was one indication. I'm not NOT rooting for the Dodgers to ink Ohtani long term -- I am just being realistic. Although , if folks here keep suggesting I want Ohtani to sign with the. Dogs, I may start rooting for that to happen. LOL !

well, I grew asa kid being a Dodgers/ Vin Scully fan (but also Angels/ Dick Enberg - well, mainly Gene Autry) but got off the bus when O'Malley. sold the club and was pretty much Angels at that point. A lot of it had to do with Anaheim Stadium being a more family friendly venue for my then Little League aged kids. I have not been to Dodger Stadium in some 25 years or more - went to a lot of games there 'back in the day' --but I digress. My take on Ohtani and ending up in Dodger Blue is not something I am rooting for -- but given the factual scenario my analysis says it's almost inevitable. I. think most folks trying to. forecast Ohtani's landing spot are pointing to Los Angeles/ Chavez Ravine. Not too many other teams can put up the offer it will take to sign him. Ohtani - already. an international sensation - will only soar in Hollywood. So much. so, his considerable contract take may pale in comparison to all the outside merchandising / advertising revenue he pulls in. The guy is on top of the baseball world and has not reached his potential complete upside yet. He's going to go down as the best ever to play the game. Angels / Arte can't afford to sign him long term -- the Dodgers have the financial resources. - it's that simple.

under-valuing the draft pick -- a decent argument. My take is that a team in the running to sign him long term but still behind the LA DODGERS as his top landing spot, might be willing to seriously over pay to have a two month rental for the stretch run plus a two month lobbying campaign to sign him as a F/A. I think the Angels need to entertain offers. And if the offers are as underwhelming as suggested. above (and that's clearly been the history) then you don't pull the trigger and keep him to the end - fully realizing he's signing somewhere else (up the. freeway) next year.

right. completely different MLB world. back then, NO Free Agency - teams owned the players for their entire career. Ruth got traded so the BoSox owner could finance a Broadway Play. No wonder BoSox fans were ticked.

do you let t he greatest player of all time leave without getting more than a draft pick compensation? IMO, that's the. question but I can see it's not a very. popular topic here. I just don't see how. you let the greatest player off all time without getting off value (more than a draft. pick) in return. The Angels could get a few top prospects and a MLB ready player who would be under club control for five years as a few teams over-pay for a two month rental of. Ohtani and the chance to. convince him to sign as a F/A with that team. I guess were I differ from the AW majority here - is I don't see any way that Ohtani extends his stay in Anaheim beyond this season. Oh well. That's OK.

YES -- Halos really have no real choice here. -- cannot risk losing Ohtani (best MLB player of all time) leave for draft pick compensation. NO - Arte keeps his word but risks being the guy who not only let Ohtani get away, but get away for virtually nothing in return.

and the first wild card team gets home team advantage all through the first playoff (wild card). round. and that's what? best two out of three (which is far better than the one game 'season' set up it replaces). Wild card teams 2 and 3 are on the road for the first (best of three) as I understand it.

I think the Halos have a shot to make the playoffs - might be a short run there - but think the AL West has a good shot to get one or both of the Wild Card spots. QUESTION THROUGH TRADE DEADLINE DATE : Does Ohtani get moved for prospects--? Some team (Yankees most likely, but Dodgers as well) will certainly over-pay for having Ohtani on their roster for the stretch run/ playoffs WITH also a possible advantage to sign him long term. This news just in -Ohtani is not. re-upping/ extending his time in Anaheim. The choice is - get something more than draft pick compensation for perhaps the best player to play the game -- or let him walk for virtually nothing - just that draft pick.

Happy Birthday to. Terry Smith - I enjoy his broadcast of. the games. hey - just a query -- I was told by another Halos fan that our radio broadcast team this year is continuing the 'pandemic' period practice of broadcasting the away games from the studio (or maybe at Angels Stadium) in Anaheim watching a TV monitor/ feed -- rather than going out on the road with the team -- at least for the games back in the midwest and east -- is this what's happening? anyone know for sure. The issue came up in the context of "the owner who. won't let his radio side broadcast team travel to the away games, isn't going. to open his wallet up for what it takes to keep Ohtani"

Goldschmidt staying right where he is. Cards likely. will be sellers at deadline time - they just got swept at home by. the. SF Giants today when the Cards pen snatched defeat from the jaw of victory once again -- but Goldy and Arenado not going anywhere. The rest of the team perhaps -- they've got a surplus of. OF'ers and an extra good feeling MIF. But not the one thing everyone wants -- pitching.

realistically, does the. Angels front office have much of a choice other than to move Ohtani before the trade deadline. Force. the Dodgers and the Yankees to bid against each other and vastly over - pay for a rental in order to have the. upper hand and proximity to him to sign him long term -- plus he would be a heck of a rental for the stretch run. Not sure what other clubs might be in the bidding for the "Rental phase competition -- some club knowing there's no way they can compete with the big buck$ teams to sign him long term but feel 'it's now or never' for their playoff chances and are willing to part with a top pitching prospect or two to have Ohtani for two months plus the post season.

Seriously - will the Halos front office really have much of a choice here. they could take the pick of the Yankees farm system to give the Yankees a chance to extend Ohtani and 'steal'. him away from the Dodgers,

another frustrating 'mother' of a loss in Cleveland. GEEZ. why do I sense that Anaheim is getting smaller and smaller in the view from Ohtani's rear view mirror as he heads North on the I-5 with a destination 30 miles and $600 million up the freeway ?

thanks - its a great documentary. worth watching several times. Rob Goldman featured throughout and really does a great job.

Perhaps old news - but I just saw it on NetFlix - get documentary -- our pal (formerly. Pinetar here - Rob Goldman - author of "when they were Angels' and also a book about. Nolan Ryan is in the documentary quite. a bit - talking about his. days as an Angels bat boy and about watching Nolan Ryan Anyway, it's a great documentary about one of. MLB's greatest pitchers of all time, It talks about Ryan's Texas roots -- and the documentary made me more understanding why it's OK for Nolan Ryan to be wearing a. Texas cap in the HOF -- even if his best seasons and best stats. were during his Angels years -- although. - as the documentary points out -- Ryan had some great stats from age 35 to almost 44. and pitched as well during those years than almost any time of his. career. I. really enjoyed the documentary --everybody here probably watched it long ago.

Gary Sanchez - pass on. this guy. -- he's a DH -- his 'defense' ability as a catcher is limited. He's really. a DH and third string emergency catcher for teams that can utilize a spot on their 26 man roster for that. purpose.

your comments -- all true -- having been to several VGK games I would call what you characterize as 'distractions' during the game. - as 'the full Vegas Entertainment treatment' and really makes the Golden Knights game an entertainment venue for the whole family unlike any other in the NHL -- the VGK have been a huge success in Las Vegas. As for baseball -- step back one second -- remember the Oakland bar is very low for the A's -- if the Las Vegas A's (Aces?) -- draw 17,500 to 20,000 per game they're ahead of where they were in Oakland. Also - I think the 'opposing team' fan attraction to the game you mention for the NHL above will translate to baseball. Fans planning a trip to Vegas will schedule around when their team is in town.

MLB may make the Aviators move per MLB rules re MLB teams and AAA team locations,. Perhaps with traffic Summerlin may be an 'hour' away from Vegas -- but you can get from Summelin to Vegas and vice versa in about 30 minutes - perhaps less. If the Aviators do move -- it would be a shame if that relatively new (very nice). AAA ballpark in Summerlin is not used for baseball on a regular basis. I guess some youth teams in the area, college, community college, high school, etc. could benefit -- I believe that ballpark was built and owned by the. City of Summerlin. the VGK. practice arena is right across the street.