ettin

He was out of options and the Angels future is Adell in RF. Could they have kept him in a 4th OF role? Maybe. Guys like Michael, without options remaining, get dropped all the time League-wide. He has tools, for sure, and I hope he makes the best of them in Chicago, but the timing and roster composition did not work in his favor in 2020.

Wait... is this what they mean by going up the win curve?

I am not concerned about Walsh, yet. A lot of players start off their MLB careers in a strong fashion (Yermin Mercedes is a good example this year), but then hit prolonged slumps (sophomore slump!) because other teams now have a file on them and understand what pitches they swing at more often and which ones they don't. Additionally, they develop better defensive shifts and suddenly the hot player is not so hot. It will be up to Jared to make adjustments which I think he is perfectly capable of doing, but that takes time. Perhaps he doesn't and the Angels end up having to replace him in the lineup, who knows. I just don't think it is at some critical stage of development failure yet. EDIT: What Chuck said above.

If you look at the financials there is no reason the Angels cannot extend Ohtani if they want to. If they back load it more they could do it now, probably, although I think it is more likely once Upton comes off the books (it also gives the front office more time to see if Shohei holds up health-wise in 2022). So, yeah, basically a clickbait article by Olney.

I don't know, I'd rather roll the dice with Taco Bell than Chipotle: https://www.foodpoisonjournal.com/foodborne-illness-outbreaks/chipotle-hit-with-25-million-food-safety-fine-for-norovirus-clostridium-perfringens-outbreaks/

You bring him back, you will potentially win more games (in a losing season effort). Keep him on the IL and you will potentially lose more games (in a losing season effort). As much as the team would normally bring him back as soon as possible, why risk it in a losing season? Better to be really vigilant about his health and if he stays on some extra time, it might hurt ticket sales, but has no material impact on the season.

Beyond what @totdprods said, you have to consider that the supposed, hypothetical Marlins trade for Meyer would have involved Marsh and his call up was, in part, likely a showcase of his abilities at the Major League level, which, despite his poor numbers, was solid, in terms of defense, and I think everyone sees that with a little more Major League at-bat's, his plate discipline will flourish further and more of those balls in play will fall into the gaps or even over the fence. I like Marsh a lot, I hope he doesn't go anywhere, but if he does, a high-quality starter should be the return, obviously. To more directly answer your question, Marsh has 5-tool capability on the baseball field, he will be a solid Major Leaguer once he irons out his "newness".

It was a Freudian slip for 'Claude'.

I'll speak for myself, but definitely think that other members of the posse would agree, that this list was much harder to build and categorize than in recent years. Legitimately this system is going to rise pretty quickly in national rankings, presuming the Angels don't make a bunch of near-term trades. There are clearly old (Marsh, Vera, et al) and new (Quero, Daniel, et al) on the list and a lot of prospects who were borderline to even make the list, in the past, who have suddenly taken a big step forward (and the shortened season last year probably adds to that perception). From my perspective it was much harder to rank these guys, this time around, which made me happy.

Luckily @tdawg87 loves the rotation's back-end.

He is a marked improvement over Sutton, which, respectfully, wasn't a tough bar to set. For me is acceptable right now, but the Angels should perform a more competent search over the next two season for more of a Victor Rojas type (or just convince Rojas to come back!). I know some of you don't care for Mota, but I'd like to see him get a shot. Both he and Gubi do have a lot of excellent baseball experiences and angles about the game that I find interesting (Gubi obviously knows his stuff in regard to pitching). There are good solutions and the Angels should use Rich while they look around. Either he will prove himself out further and stay or the Angels find a better option.

Also, a good reminder that so many around the League praise Nelson Cruz for his solid seasons the last three years and forget that, he too, was busted for PED use years ago, recovered, and signed a multi-year deal, showing that it pays to take the risk of using. I like that the Angels have not had an instance of PED use (but we do have drug use, RIP Tyler), but it sure pisses me off that a lot of competitors out there seem to turn a goddamn blind eye to their players using and creating marginal edges on their rosters that push them up the win curve, while teams like the Angels suffer for it.... "Why can't the Angels build a winner around Mike Trout?", blah blah blah blah. Of course I would be remiss in not saying the Angels do not have their own issues like the aforementioned Skaggs, hiring sexual predators, etc., but this is so annoying, especially because Laureano has been so dominant against us.

Well.... 1) The Angels are out of contention, basically, so experimenting with players at different defensive positions helps improve versatility while marginally helping to lose games. 2) Maddon could very well be telling the truth, to keep certain bats in the lineup (again the versatility thing). 3) This could be a prelude to opening up LF to one of our other outfielders (Trout, Adell, Marsh, et al, even moving Walsh out there in lieu of Upton) for next season. Swapping a mixture of Walsh, Upton, Trout, Adell, and Marsh between 1B, DH, and the outfield is doable and defensively it will improve the team by limiting Upton's time in the OF.

* NO CONTEXT * He had a .374 OBP last year * NO CONTEXT *

I didn't, he is my HERO!

You know how to talk dirty to me! Where is @tdawg87's bunk?

I'm not the one that used "dong" in his initial reference!

Hip-Op, hey, ho, hey ho, hey, ho!

Does he play the pirate character, "One-eyed Willy"?

I "refuse" to believe you.

By definition the past never ends until it is forgotten?

Well I think that is the point about "return". Normally "return" is tied directly to "investment". Personally, I think if any Major League team took the time and money to invest in their Minor League players and then evaluate what works and does not work, they would find that making modest investments in proper housing, nutrition, life coaching, language lessons, etc., could help their investments yield better returns as a whole? This is a multi-billion dollar enterprise and I have to think investment metrics would prove out that keeping any individual player's focus completely on baseball would help yield generally higher quality Major League assets, which could save teams a lot of money in free agency, etc. Just a thought, I could be wrong, but I feel pretty confident that most MLB teams have not emphasized or invested properly in their Minor League systems and/or have performed the legwork to know what works and doesn't work in creating better ball players, beyond the physics-related aspects of player performance.

Not picking on your whole thought process here, I agree with it, but apparently every Angels Minor Leaguer would disagree with the above, currently.

Heaven forbid we should have two quality catchers.

Well a backup C who can play good defense and hit from the left-side would be one step. Acquiring a good defensive SS is another critical one. Focusing on defense in Spring Training, making it a priority is another. Beyond swapping out players at certain positions (trades or the like), there is not much else that comes to mind. Staying healthy would help tremendously as well.