HeavenlyHalos

He’s still prone to boneheaded base running blunders but at this rate, you have to play him. Every day.

Dude finally looks like his head is slowing the game down to where his talent can take over.  Its almost criminal that Hicks has been playing over him.

I guess I am amused with the idea that Adell would even have to be good to get playing time on this roster.  You just play him.  And even if he hit .225 over the next 600 at bats this year you still play him every day next year too.  Let’s be honest.  This team has REGULARLY been pretty comfortable starting crappy players almost every day for a couple of years.  The Angels can pencil in a bunch of .200 hitters all over the diamond, but Adell has to mash to play?

I wish they would just give Adell 600 PAs this year and next. We're gonna suck. Give the guy with talent an opportunity. 
 
 

lmao at Lakers fans blaming the refs as if they have helped them all freaking season with that crazy FT disparity. Always a good day when Lebron loses. Better day when he retires. 

lmao at Lakers fans blaming the refs as if they have helped them all freaking season with that crazy FT disparity. Always a good day when Lebron loses. Better day when he retires. 

When Trout slumps he does it in a big way. 

Trout sucks right now

Plus, Hicks is terrible.

Plus, Hicks is terrible.

Let him play everyday. Nobody wants to see Hicks.

While that's technically true, does it really make a lot of sense from an overall franchise strategy standpoint to once again not answer the question of whether he can make it? If you run him out there every day for the foreseeable future, that can help answer questions about roster needs in '25 and beyond.  Playing him a couple times a week and giving Hicks substantial playing time doesn't answer any of those questions--and it doesn't even help the team be better this year. 

I certainly hope it's not a 5-10 year rebuild. I was mocked and called a troll when I suggested it. But seriously, where's the plan, where's the direction? This looks more like a .400 team than a solid, rebuilding club. It could easily take five years and NEW OWNERSHIP to turn this thing around.

The Stephenson deal might be damage. He's the 10th highest paid reliever in the league with a career 4.64 ERA. Kind of an insane deal to give a guy with 38IP of good baseball in 2023, but I will try to be optimistic about him. 
Playing a shit ton of journeymen who won't be here next year is also conceivably.... damaging. As I mentioned, there's probably at least 10 roster spots for 2025 that are open simply just based on expiring contracts. By not prioritizing youth, team control, and development for those spots, we aren't making any progress on those 10 spots. That's kind of a ridiculous amount of roster spots to have in question like that.
I'm also not sure how Soriano comes up. Perry initially lost Soriano in the minor league rule 5 draft. I'm stoked we got him back, but kind of a odd story to bring up. If you want to talk about young and controllable pitchers Perry DFA'd, Hoby Milner, Austin Warren, Oliver Ortega, and Packy Naughton would probably all make today's Angels' top 8 relievers. Milner had a 1.82 ERA in 62 IP for the Brewers last year. I mean, holy shit. Even Packy Naughton is going through elbow surgery recovery, but he had a 3.36 FIP and 3.26 SIERA in 30+ IP with the Cardinals in 2022. Those are really, really solid numbers. Fixing the Soriano rule 5 mistake was great, but unfortunately Perry actually has done some damage to the bullpen by prioritizing 1 year shitty journeymen over developing the guys he inherited in house. 
I think I'm becoming the de-facto president of the Minasian hate party on here so I'd like to refrain from continuing to post too much more on the topic, but things really are getting worse as long as he continues to be here. 

I agree with most of this but an argument can be made that Neto and/or Schanuel would be better off developing in the minors to achieve their best possible long-term potential. Neto especially looks completely lost right now at the ML level, especially against breaking balls. Most fans agree that Adell was brought up way too early and it may have significantly impacted his development. That could also be the case here, of course it is hard to ascertain if that is the case or not. On the other hand, Adell is having the best plate appearance of the "future" hitters (0 WAR, 110 OPS+), sans O'Hoppe, and he has the fewest starts (7). Neto has 20 starts (-0.1 WAR, 37 OPS+), O'Hoppe has 17 (0.5 WAR, 134 OPS+), Schanuel 16 (-0.1 WAR, 52 OPS+), and Moniak 12 (-0.7 WAR, 39 OPPS+). I get that part of that is due to the respective positions they play and all but it is still pretty crazy, especially considering that Adell still has a high ceiling.

If Ron Washington does know that, it makes even less sense that Hicks has started over half of the games so far. He has a -0.5 WAR and a robust 27 OPS+. Just DFA him and start Adell 6/7 games, Moniak against all RHP starters and Sano between 3rd, 1st, and DH.

To be fair, from the reports I recall, Arte forced them to be buyers at the deadline and the other two didn't break the bank. With that said, giving up our second for Thor made zero freaking sense at the time.
In all, I don't really know how to judge Perry as he hasn't been given the same amount to play with financially compared to his three predecessors. This off-season he mostly gets a pass from me because I think the plans changed drastically after Ohtani left, and Arte decided to go into a rebuild and penny pinch. I hope attendance suffers a ton and Arte changes his mind (again) and sells the team. It really sucks having him as an owner when they are in such a large marketplace. Contrast that with the Clippers who have one of the richest owners in sports that is driven to win - he has failed to do so so far but he clearly invests in the franchise. 

I agree with most of this but an argument can be made that Neto and/or Schanuel would be better off developing in the minors to achieve their best possible long-term potential. Neto especially looks completely lost right now at the ML level, especially against breaking balls. Most fans agree that Adell was brought up way too early and it may have significantly impacted his development. That could also be the case here, of course it is hard to ascertain if that is the case or not. On the other hand, Adell is having the best plate appearance of the "future" hitters (0 WAR, 110 OPS+), sans O'Hoppe, and he has the fewest starts (7). Neto has 20 starts (-0.1 WAR, 37 OPS+), O'Hoppe has 17 (0.5 WAR, 134 OPS+), Schanuel 16 (-0.1 WAR, 52 OPS+), and Moniak 12 (-0.7 WAR, 39 OPPS+). I get that part of that is due to the respective positions they play and all but it is still pretty crazy, especially considering that Adell still has a high ceiling.

I agree with most of this but an argument can be made that Neto and/or Schanuel would be better off developing in the minors to achieve their best possible long-term potential. Neto especially looks completely lost right now at the ML level, especially against breaking balls. Most fans agree that Adell was brought up way too early and it may have significantly impacted his development. That could also be the case here, of course it is hard to ascertain if that is the case or not. On the other hand, Adell is having the best plate appearance of the "future" hitters (0 WAR, 110 OPS+), sans O'Hoppe, and he has the fewest starts (7). Neto has 20 starts (-0.1 WAR, 37 OPS+), O'Hoppe has 17 (0.5 WAR, 134 OPS+), Schanuel 16 (-0.1 WAR, 52 OPS+), and Moniak 12 (-0.7 WAR, 39 OPPS+). I get that part of that is due to the respective positions they play and all but it is still pretty crazy, especially considering that Adell still has a high ceiling.

I agree with most of this but an argument can be made that Neto and/or Schanuel would be better off developing in the minors to achieve their best possible long-term potential. Neto especially looks completely lost right now at the ML level, especially against breaking balls. Most fans agree that Adell was brought up way too early and it may have significantly impacted his development. That could also be the case here, of course it is hard to ascertain if that is the case or not. On the other hand, Adell is having the best plate appearance of the "future" hitters (0 WAR, 110 OPS+), sans O'Hoppe, and he has the fewest starts (7). Neto has 20 starts (-0.1 WAR, 37 OPS+), O'Hoppe has 17 (0.5 WAR, 134 OPS+), Schanuel 16 (-0.1 WAR, 52 OPS+), and Moniak 12 (-0.7 WAR, 39 OPPS+). I get that part of that is due to the respective positions they play and all but it is still pretty crazy, especially considering that Adell still has a high ceiling.

I hear your point, but Neto did just fine last year. He wasn't great, but he held his own. Schanuel it is less clear. He didn't play enough last year to really show that he could handle major league pitching, so I'm more open to the possibility that he's best served in the minors for a couple months. But I think his main problem is a bit of confusion about who he is as a hitter. To me, he is a contact and walks guy, yet there's been all this talk about him putting on muscle and trying to hit for more power. That's a quick route to ruining what is already a great skill set. 

I agree with most of this but an argument can be made that Neto and/or Schanuel would be better off developing in the minors to achieve their best possible long-term potential. Neto especially looks completely lost right now at the ML level, especially against breaking balls. Most fans agree that Adell was brought up way too early and it may have significantly impacted his development. That could also be the case here, of course it is hard to ascertain if that is the case or not. On the other hand, Adell is having the best plate appearance of the "future" hitters (0 WAR, 110 OPS+), sans O'Hoppe, and he has the fewest starts (7). Neto has 20 starts (-0.1 WAR, 37 OPS+), O'Hoppe has 17 (0.5 WAR, 134 OPS+), Schanuel 16 (-0.1 WAR, 52 OPS+), and Moniak 12 (-0.7 WAR, 39 OPPS+). I get that part of that is due to the respective positions they play and all but it is still pretty crazy, especially considering that Adell still has a high ceiling.

I agree with most of this but an argument can be made that Neto and/or Schanuel would be better off developing in the minors to achieve their best possible long-term potential. Neto especially looks completely lost right now at the ML level, especially against breaking balls. Most fans agree that Adell was brought up way too early and it may have significantly impacted his development. That could also be the case here, of course it is hard to ascertain if that is the case or not. On the other hand, Adell is having the best plate appearance of the "future" hitters (0 WAR, 110 OPS+), sans O'Hoppe, and he has the fewest starts (7). Neto has 20 starts (-0.1 WAR, 37 OPS+), O'Hoppe has 17 (0.5 WAR, 134 OPS+), Schanuel 16 (-0.1 WAR, 52 OPS+), and Moniak 12 (-0.7 WAR, 39 OPPS+). I get that part of that is due to the respective positions they play and all but it is still pretty crazy, especially considering that Adell still has a high ceiling.

Point taken, but I was commenting on what is best for the Angels franchise, not Perry's future employment.

I've lost full confidence in Wash because of this one. I really appreciate the way Wash has emphasized defense, situational hitting, and baserunning, but if you aren't going to play the best players -- get the fuck out.
Hicks was below average against RHP even in his prime. He is fully washed up -- the Yankees paid him ~$30mm to not play for them. Hicks playing against RHP, and hitting leadoff, is flat out fucking ridiculous.