Jeremiah

National writers don’t hate (team name here). It’s always been about how Trout has never been able to play far into the playoffs against the best teams in MLB in the spotlight of a World Series. Name the sport, and you’ll find HOFers who never were able to win the big prize: Marino, Barkley, Stockton/Malone, Ted Willliams, Junior Griffey, and more. I think we as fans, as well as national media, want to see the best face off against the best. The sports leagues want that too. When teams can’t build winners around generational talent, it’s seen as an organizational failure, fairly or not. At least Ted Williams played in one WS. Trout will likely be the greatest MLB player never to play for a championship.

That’s part of it, certainly, but the CBA will call for the umps to individually meet certain accuracy thresholds according to StatCast in order to stay off probation. If Hernandez is meeting those, then he can’t be demoted, unfortunately. Another factor is that he has shown himself to generally be a PITA, previously losing a discrimination lawsuit against MLB. Yeah, he lost, but he’s perfectly willing to sue MLB, and baseball probably doesn’t want that headache.

This I would agree with. He and CB Buckner need to go. Generally, if we know the names of the officials, it’s likely they messed up pretty badly.

I know I’m increasingly in the minority here, but I disagree on robo-umps. The Ump Show gets a lot of play on SportsCenter and social media (some of that is deserved), but the fact is that calling balls and strikes has steadily improved over the past 15 years. In 2022 they were right 92.8% of the time. Last year it was 92.4%. This year, so far, it’s 92.4%, and will likely get better if it follows the trend. I like the human element of calling a game. I don’t think that’s a necessary change.

Wow, they just completely failed on special teams, which had been a strength all season. They seemed very overmatched here, and that’s more coaching and preparation than personnel. I will always think of Blakey as a Kings legend, but I think it’s time for he and Hiller to step aside. Re-sign Q, get a couple of blue liners who can hit, and FFS, can the team get a goalie?

Perhaps a promo where the fans pick the lineup.

It works for some guys. Al Hrabosky, Kevin Brown, Kenny Rogers, Todd Stottlemeyre, Robb Dibble, all pitched angrily and pretty successfully.

Except for Stephenson, there’s still time to improve. That said, it definitely doesn’t look promising right now. I know BPs can be volatile, but this was specified as an area where the team felt they had really improved.

Same. He probably also works really rough hours, so I get it.

If you have ideas for more interesting threads, post those.

That’s how I see it as well, as do a number of other posters here. The issue I have is the messaging from the team. Don’t tell me before ST that you’re going to “Run the AL West down,” then later say, “We may not have the best personnel,” and that you hope the fans have patience. It makes it seem like there is miscommunication somewhere along the line. Be clear on what the mission is. Say you’re rebuilding. Sell us on the development of these exciting players.

Actually, they’re probably building something similar, and constantly updating it with whatever their proprietary database has collected. Smart teams are doing that anyway, and they guard those databases fiercely. The Cardinals got into trouble a few years ago for hacking into HOU’s database. It sounds like you think it’s all a joke, but science is more and more involved in player development and roster construction every year. People bring up the Phillies as an example of a good organization. Dave Dombrowski may not be a physicist, but his assistant GM has two science degrees, and heads their actual R&D department. The Phillies call their proprietary database “Rocky,” btw. You can bet other orgs have similar FO structures. You can yell at the clouds all you want, but teams need to have a good working knowledge of how to collect, interpret, and communicate this data for the long-term success of their team. Having people on staff with a good grasp of physics is pretty essential now.

It seems like a trade that worked out well for the players involved and both teams. That’s actually kind of a rarity.

Physicists have stiudied baseball since, oh, the 1940’s or earlier. TrackMan, Pitch F/X, StatCast, all of these ways of tracking pitching data were developed using physics. It would make sense for baseball teams to employ people who not only understand and use that data, but can also develop their own proprietary ways of measuring pitcher and batter data. Teams employ baseball scientists. They also consult with actual astrophysicists. The sweet spot on a bat, the way a type of pitch moves, all of that is physics. When the AL and NL were separate entities, the each employed a league physicist in the 90’s. I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the necessity for a knowledge of physics in baseball.

I agree with this. I think it’s long past time to bring in a GM or a PBO who knows how to build a baseball ops department from the foundation up. They also need someone who can work with Arte, and tell him when to just let the baseball people do the baseball things, while Arte and Carpino do the business things. As for Hunter, I’m glad he’s back in the organization. I think he’s best utilized as a voice and mentor in the clubhouse. I think he has a lot wisdom to offer the team’s young core.

Perhaps the best “fine” would be not posting in it, which makes it more visible. Ignoring it allows it to be buried under threads you find more interesting.

I would imagine that the Angels still have a kangaroo court where players are fined for various in-game offenses, such as lead off walks, or being thrown out on the base paths. The fines often go to funding team activities on the road, the batboys/clubhouse staff, or local charities. Teams already have ways of dealing with things like that by making it more of a teachable moment than something so punitive.

I agree that it’s time to rebuild. As IP said in another thread, they’re “rebuilding-ish,” right now. That said, young, cost-controlled SP is essential. I think Detmers is a guy the team should build around. Trading Ward and Anderson should definitely be explored when the deadline comes around, as those are most likely going to be their best trading chips.

Who would you put in that spot?

What did he say that was wrong? I’m always curious as to where the lines are drawn.

I think that’s very likely given that Arte hires inexperienced FO executives. We’ll never know for certain, but I would think the decision to keep Ohtani was Arte, as was a directive to add at the last trade deadline. Arte is a marketing and advertising guy. He wants eyeballs on the screen and people in the seats. That can sometimes be at odds with the necessary growing pains of building a sustainable farm system to feed the MLB team. I think Arte’s sudden about face on selling the team hampered Perry’s managerial search, which lead to the lame-duck Nevin season. It looks like this season is finally one where Perry was more or less in the driver’s seat. It’s probably the first real one fans can grade him on. None of this is to defend Perry, per se. His signings were probably his choices, and what he brought to ownership. I just doubt he’s had much free reign.

Healing from a tear of any kind can be hard to predict. It definitely could be some time before he’s in game shape again.

That sucks. His bat was starting to come around. This team really needs more infield depth.

There’s nothing requiring anyone to engage with this post. He presented a topic. Discussing it is not required of anyone who doesn’t like said topic.