Pancake Bear

1 hour ago, Taylor said:

@Pancake Bear?

Worked out well for us last time. 

This feels awfully familiar. 

So, we're presuming that the Red Sox medical staff is so bad that when signing him they didn't notice a freaking UCL tear? Seems incredibly unlikely. 

"Roger Lodge has been sacked"

"Arte Moreno has completed a silent sale of the Angels"

2 hours ago, Chuck said:

 

TIL 43% = no way. Seems closer to 50-50 to me than it does to 0....

Lodge is such an ass kissing dolt. 

17 minutes ago, Chuck said:

What do you think? I still say it's not going to happen, but like I've always said, I hope I'm wrong. The Angels have needed a clear ace this offseason as the #1 target IMO. Especially after losing Ohtani. 

 

The price has clearly gone down if Bellinger is any indication. If Arte refuses now, he has no interest in winning. 

Weren't Sandoval, Detmers, Anderson, and Suarez supposed to be in the rotation last season? We've basically been going heavy on lefties for a while now. 

Bellinger would've been a good add to the lineup, but with five outfielders, it wasn't an obvious fit. At this point, JD or Chapman would add depth, and neither should be prohibitive in terms of cost. 

As far as pitching, I'd be okay with Snell, since his deal probably looks similar to Belli (higher aav, but likely a one year deal with player options) but I'd prefer Montgomery slightly. I'd be fine with Lorenzen since he should be cheap and I really think our biggest need is another rotation arm. 

I doubt we spend enough to bring in Martinez and Snell/Montgomery, but the cost has clearly gone down and it would improve the team quite a bit. Even Lorenzen and Kike would be useful depth that we kinda need, and if we won't even spend on that level, I don't know what the hell we're doing. 

1 hour ago, Angels 1961 said:

They have Sano plus 3 others on minor league deals. Backup MI Soto, Stefanic and Martin. Urshela wanted to go where he will get playing time.no could make team play Dh and 1B that frees up Drury.no need for Urshela.

With Schanuel, Drury, Rengifo, Neto, and Rendon, isn't obvious room for a starter. Even if you assume Rendon is likely to be injured (which, counter to popular opinion, is not in fact a certainty), middle infield is pretty full. One of those five at the moment is either sitting or slotting in at DH every day. Considering how solidly Drury and Rengifo performed last season, unless you're bringing in someone clearly better, there isn't really room for more than a part-timer, and guys like Urshela, Anderson, and others like that may have felt that there wasn't a clear enough path to an everyday player spot here, odd as that sounds. 

I'm curious to see if we actually do start running more. Maddon wanted to do that, but I don't remember it really happening. Someone who remembers better can correct me on that if I'm wrong. Clearly that's what Washington wants, though, since that seems to be the key factor in moving Schanuel from leadoff to batting second. 

On 2/20/2024 at 6:10 AM, ShotimeDynasty said:

Did you miss the improved K-BB ratio in his most recent AAA stint? That’s a skills improvement 

Really hope so. We need one or both of Adell/Moniak to break out. Moniak was good last season, but there's reason for concern with his BABIP. Adell has the raw tools, but just hasn't been able to hit consistently enough to be a big leaguer. If he can hit, he'll play even if he sucks in the field because we have DH open. 

1 hour ago, Dtwncbad said:

Just show me where he said playing baseball and having a family is “too much.”  He didn’t.  You have a wonderful imagination.

Lot of people doing this. Just shows most people don't actually know how to read. 

5 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

Imagine being paid $35M a year and doing a good job of it isn't a top priority.

Is your contention that he isn't trying or doesn't care? Lot of people are saying that and it feels like people seeing what they want to see. I see zero evidence that he doesn't care or isn't trying. If anything I see the opposite. 

Dylan Hernandez is Sam Blum's hero. 

1 minute ago, Taylor said:

Lmao at 2020. Rendon's only good season with the Angels was when the season was 60 games long.

I know this might be hard for you to understand, but Rendon was always that guy and he was one of the best 3B over the last decade prior to coming to Anaheim. Literally nothing changed for him aside from him getting injured constantly. Nothing. But sure, go off with your superficial narrative. It's par for the course for you. 

1 minute ago, Duren, Duren said:

How about some respect, leadership and extra effort for the owner and organization that signed you to a contract that will make future descendents enormously wealthy?

Rather than grumbling and deflecting away from those responsibilities. 

Everyone on earth prioritizes their families above their jobs. But how many pro athletes actually have to repeatedly demean their job? It's not likely they are mutually exclusive. 

I think that signing that bloated contract was seen by him as reaching the end of his objectives. He had already won a World Series with personal honors.  No higher plateau to aim for.  'Been there, done that.' 

Actually having to fulfill expectations for all that money then felt like a burden. Maybe not immediately but incrementally. Especially with the string of injuries. And maybe with disillusionment about other players and team dynamics. 

He has this season however to change some of the narrative. Without Ohtani, presumably healthy, a new manager and lowered expectations there's a chance for him to actually excel at his job.

Yeah, he'd better not get injured because if he does, he doesn't care about the game. 

He'd better help guys be better (oh wait, O'Hoppe said he already does that). 

Nah, he should just lie so Duran respects him more. 

1 hour ago, Angelsfan1984 said:

He can prioritize and teach his kids by showing them what it means to fulfill a commitment and persevere through adversity…  especially when he’s paid hundreds of millions of dollars to do so. 

So, your contention is he isn't trying? Was that true in 2020 when he had an MVP caliber season? Or when he won a WS? He didn't care then either. 

The fans who bitch about this are really stupid people. 

Dude has literally always been this way. It didn't matter when he was one of the best 3B in the game and winning a WS. It doesn't matter that he's helping guys like O'Hoppe out with his swing (probably others, too). People suddenly care because (1) he's injured, (2) not performing well, (3) not lying about baseball being a job. Apparently people would rather he pretend to love the game. Rendon isn't the childish one, the fans upset about this are. Pathetic. 

1 hour ago, Chuck said:

and to me, it would make the team substantially better. 

But I don't know man, the baseball people in the front office wouldn't trade Ohtani because they thought they had a chance to make the postseason and liked their chances at retaining the superstar, yet most of the players knew all along he was gone. 

The disconnected from the people down on the ground and those in the front office is mind boggling.

Thought it was Arte that said we weren't trading him and Minasian wanted to move him? Did I hear incorrectly?

Would be interesting to see how many people ended up signing if someone started an "Arte sell the team" petition. Not that it would change Arte's mind even if the number was super high, but I'd be curious. The Athletic had I think around 2,000 responses on their poll and they reported about 90% of that wanted him to sell, but I suspect a lot more want him to and didn't vote on the poll (like me). 

I'm not sure I would trade Rengifo straight up for Bieber and there is zero chance I would trade Ward even value. 

4 hours ago, BTH said:

Eppler was definitely guilty, but so are pretty much all teams.

Most likely, MLB is trying to set an example out of him.

Rosenthal agrees: 

"Why did commissioner Rob Manfred punish former Mets general manager Billy Eppler for improper injured-list placements when it’s believed that virtually every team has committed similar infractions?

Simple answer: The commissioner wanted to set an example, and Eppler made for an easy target.

Manfred did not anger any owner by placing Eppler on the ineligible list through the end of the 2024 World Series. Eppler, already subjugated to a lesser role under David Stearns, resigned on Oct. 5 after the league began its investigation, and is currently not employed by any club."

Basically, Manfred wanted teams to stop doing it and Eppler is a convenient patsy because nobody cared if he's suspended since he's not running any team at this point.

Sucks to be him. 

To paraphrase Scott Boras Jon Heyman, it depends if Arte wakes up one of these mornings and deciding he feels like trying to win. Sure, this could be an over .500 team if everyone stays healthy, but when has that ever happened? The kids all take a step forward and the vets get back to their former glory and this team could make some noise. But that's all beyond unlikely. So, unless Moreno just plans to rebuild - which is possible - he needs to at least take a shot. 

Regardless, though, I think we need another infielder and at least a decent SP type like Lorenzen. Outfield is tough to improve without moving on from Adell.