OT: Los Angeles Angels Talk

[ADHB]

Planning on going to the Saturday night game against the Rangers. Wife wants to be in the shade and away from people. Which section should I look for tickets? Looking to spend less than $30/seat.

400's or 500's on the third base side. So like 412-415, or whatever 500's sections are above them.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Literally the same exact shit for almost 10 years now, I don't get excited for anything involving this team and I won't until Arte goes.

I ain't holding my breath that we'll use Pujols' $30 mil that ceases to exists after this year is going to high end pitching, starter and bullpen. I'd like it, but I ain't holding my breath.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Back on 7/14/2021 the Angels had a .506 percent record and I projected the Angels were on pace for 792 runs scored along with 831 runs against. With three games left into the season, the Angels have a 0.472 winning percentage, 710 runs scored scored, and 794 runs against. Our hitting cooled off far more than our pitching improved. Guess that's what happens when you lose Rendon and Upton with their bats during the season.

I hope we can keep the runs scored stat under 800 b/c that will be the first time in three seasons.

Angels
Year	GM	PCT	Run Scored	Runs Allowed	Diff
2016	Eppler	0.457	717	727	-10
2017	Eppler	0.494	710	709	1
2018	Eppler	0.494	721	722	-1
2019	Eppler	0.444	769	868	-99
2020	Eppler	0.433	294	321	-27
	Projected	on 162 games	794	867	-73
.
2021	Minasian	0.472	710	794	-84	9/30/2021, 3 games left

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

We need lots of pitching help this off-season.

 

[All Mighty]

Definitely a bit risky, but at least it's only 1 year.

 

[SoCal Dreaming]

Theyre gonna have to improve the team or Ohtani walks out.

 

[BiolaRunner]

Definitely a bit risky, but at least it's only 1 year.

Risk worth taking. Angels need pitching badly.

 

[George Binks]

Love it, now keep adding more pitching

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Ohtani to Minasian: "Get good or I'm leaving"

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Definitely a bit risky, but at least it's only 1 year.

Signing Thor is a huge risk, but also comes with huge reward. He's recovering from Tommy John surgery (TJS) he had two seasons ago. Last year, he had complications on his recovery. Noah turned 29 years old this past August. Remember, Ohtani needed two seasons to recoup from Tommy John surgery. Ohtani's third season from TJS was last season. This is the big gamble GM Minisian is taking.

I would have rather found a more stable pitcher and on a longer term. I don't see this as the Angels top move. IMO, it's more of a secondary move done now to beat out the market and then go looking for more pitching.

On a baseball blog I follow, they projected the Angels had about $45 mil cap space available. With Thor's $21 mil, that bring the cap to $24 mil. What's missing here is that the Angels qualified closer Raisel Iglesias to a tune of $18 mil, which essentially wipes out the budget. The Angels could still negotiate with Raisel to get a lower cap hit by offering a multi-year contract.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Theyre gonna have to improve the team or Ohtani walks out.

Ohtani to Minasian: "Get good or I'm leaving"

The Angels were a middle of the pack offense this year, which is weird considering who they have as positional players + Ohtani. The big name positional players the Angels boast are Trout, Rendon, and, to a far lesser extent, Upton. There are 162 games in a season. Last season, Trout played 36 games, Rendon played 58 games, and Upton played in 89 games.

Season Record

Angels
Year	GM	PCT	Run Scored	Runs Allowed	Diff
2016	Eppler	0.457	717	727	-10
2017	Eppler	0.494	710	709	1
2018	Eppler	0.494	721	722	-1
2019	Eppler	0.444	769	868	-99
2020	Eppler	0.433	294	321	-27
	Projected	on 162 games	794	867	-73
.
2021	Minasian	0.472	723	804	-81

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Trout had 18 RBIs and 23 runs last year in an injury played year. Trout's last season in a normal 162 game schedule was in 2019, where he had 104 RBIs and 110 runs. The RBI differential between 2019 and 2021 for Trout is 86 RBIs. If Trout was healthy last year, then our run differential would actually be a positive differential. Now, add in Rendon's production. In 2019, Rendon had 126 RBIs and 118 runs. For 2021, Rendon had 34 RBIs and 24 runs. Just having those two players healthy for a majority of the season last year would have significantly put the Angels in the positive differential as well as potentially a lot more wins.

There's a lot of weight being placed on 2020 first round lefty pitcher Reid Detmers, as he was on a fast track through the Angels farm system. The Angels have an ace in Ohtani, solid starters in Sandoval and Suarez. If they keep Raisel with Mayers, then the bullpen remains solid. Adding Thor to the starting lineup gives the Angels five constant starters and rotate a 6th pitcher.

LAA needs more pitching, though. They can trade for a young pitcher or young closer.

The Angels get more cap relief in 2023, when Justin Uptons' $28 mil comes off the books. Things are looking brighter on paper, but that health thing matters. That's essentially the difference with the Ducks this year and previous years - a healthy blue line + youth growth.

 

[McDonald19]

Nice to see Arte actually opening his wallet up to improve the starting pitching.

 

[McDonald19]

On a baseball blog I follow, they projected the Angels had about $45 mil cap space available. With Thor's $21 mil, that bring the cap to $24 mil. What's missing here is that the Angels qualified closer Raisel Iglesias to a tune of $18 mil, which essentially wipes out the budget. The Angels could still negotiate with Raisel to get a lower cap hit by offering a multi-year contract.

By cap space, you mean Arte’s budget? He could just increase it to add another pitcher? If he is serious about trying to win a World Series with Ohtani and Trout.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

By cap space, you mean Arte’s budget? He could just increase it to add another pitcher? If he is serious about trying to win a World Series with Ohtani and Trout.

Sadly, I think we've all said that for the past decade with Arte. I thought Arte landing that $2 billion FSW contract for 20 years would have given him some cash to go over the cap and pay the luxury tax. We've been bamboozled, I tellz ya!

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Nice to see Arte actually opening his wallet up to improve the starting pitching.

He hasn't really opened up his cash for any pitcher. Pujols' contract ended. That's $30 mil back into the coffers. We're taking a gamble on Thor b/c we don't know if we still got recovering TJ Thor or star Thor.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

I’m still unsure how we can even know what the budget is given we don’t know the parameters of the next CBA. Quite frankly, I’m shocked guys are signing at all when we’ve almost certainly got a work stoppage coming in a couple weeks

 

[KaseMeOutside]

Sign one more guy and you might have a rotation

Ohtani
Syndergaard
Sandoval

That's 3 competent starters problem is 2 are not dependable. Gotta find a solid mid tier guy

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Sign one more guy and you might have a rotation

Ohtani
Syndergaard
Sandoval

That's 3 competent starters problem is 2 are not dependable. Gotta find a solid mid tier guy

I agree with you that the Angels needs another starter that's solid. But with your list being that short, which includes Thor, feels as though the Angels need 2 more starters. We still need to improve our bullpen as well.

Known Talent:

Ohtani = Ace pitcher
Sandoval = 3/4 pitcher
Suarez = 3/4 pitcher​

Unknown Talent:

Thor = Ace pitcher or out for the season​

Developing Talent:

Detmers (age 21) = tore through AA and AAA to get 5 games in the Big Show last year
Junk (age 25) = low BB%, but his fastball gets rocked often for HRs​

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I’m still unsure how we can even know what the budget is given we don’t know the parameters of the next CBA. Quite frankly, I’m shocked guys are signing at all when we’ve almost certainly got a work stoppage coming in a couple weeks

This is true.

Everyone is projecting things as if it will be status quo and that's where the projected $45 mil comes from. (Source: Crashing the Pearly Gates) There isn't a spending cap, but there is a luxury tax payroll cap that begins at $210 mil payroll where the tax is 20%. This past season, the Angels' payroll was $205 mil. That was before Thor was signed for $21 mil and does not include closer Raisel's QO at $18 mil b/c Raisel has not made a decision about it.

Here's an SI article covering talks about possible new CBS salary items: link The proposed luxury tax proposal for the new CBA is to create an extra tier and increase the penalty. The new tier starts at $180 mil with a 25% luxury tax hit. Also, there would be a minimum payroll of $100 mil and if teams don't meet that threshold, then they will be penalized with something. If the luxury tax goes down by $30 mil, then that will affect many team's budgets, which will affect many FA salaries if you're not a superstar. Getting signed before the new CBA could be beneficial for non-superstars to secure as much as they can now or potentially lose millions.

Last year, there were three teams that went over the $210 mil luxury tax threshold and five teams below the $100 mil. Also last year, there were 8 teams that were over the $180 mil threshold. I dunno if the new CBA will make sense as more teams will probably cut payroll to be under $180 mil. I'd rather just bump the luxury tax percentage from 20% to 25%, but keep the luxury tax threshold at $210 and raise the minimum payroll to $100 mil.

 

[Fighter]

I don't know if Thor will be healthy or not, be a starter or not, but at least the Angels are finally trying to fix the pitching, which as been a joke for way too many years.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

So the Angels' top two pitching targets (allegedly) were picked off by teams whose GMs are... Jerry DiPoto (Robbie Ray) and Billy Eppler (Max Scherzer). That should tell you all you need to know about who's REALLY in charge here.

Lmao f*** you Arte; SELL THE TEAM. To the AM830 Halo Honk brigade, spare me his "he wants to win worse than anyone else" bullshit for the rest of eternity.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

So the Angels' top two pitching targets (allegedly) were picked off by teams whose GMs are... Jerry DiPoto (Robbie Ray) and Billy Eppler (Max Scherzer). That should tell you all you need to know about who's REALLY in charge here.

Lmao f*** you Arte; SELL THE TEAM. To the AM830 Halo Honk brigade, spare me his "he wants to win worse than anyone else" bullshit for the rest of eternity.

Ohtani be like 'Why we not sign Scherzer or Robby Ray ?". Ohtani will eventually want out.

Arte doesn't even care about winning a WS championship anymore. He just wants them to be competitive enough to sell more tickets and raise prices.

 

[bsu]

Dodgers lost Scherzer and Seager in 1 day. Damn.

 

[AngelDuck]

So the Angels' top two pitching targets (allegedly) were picked off by teams whose GMs are... Jerry DiPoto (Robbie Ray) and Billy Eppler (Max Scherzer). That should tell you all you need to know about who's REALLY in charge here.

Lmao f*** you Arte; SELL THE TEAM. To the AM830 Halo Honk brigade, spare me his "he wants to win worse than anyone else" bullshit for the rest of eternity.

I was the biggest die hard Angels fan growing up(even moreso than Ducks back then), and still am, but I barely even follow the team anymore. I watch like 1 game a week maybe and even that it’s just a few innings at a time

It’s legitimately sad what it’s become

 

[Hockey Duckie]

So the Angels' top two pitching targets (allegedly) were picked off by teams whose GMs are... Jerry DiPoto (Robbie Ray) and Billy Eppler (Max Scherzer). That should tell you all you need to know about who's REALLY in charge here.

Lmao f*** you Arte; SELL THE TEAM. To the AM830 Halo Honk brigade, spare me his "he wants to win worse than anyone else" bullshit for the rest of eternity.

You didn't have to wait 7 years to figure out who's really in charge. Dipoto was having conflicts with Arte during his tenure and Dipoto put the organization on blast when he quit during the season. I still remember how Dipoto traded for Greinke with hopes of re-signing him to avoid losing a 1st round pick, but Arte chose to go with yet another slugger in Hamilton. That was such a waste of assets to acquire Greinke along with losing a 1st round pick for signing FA Hamilton. It was then that fans should have noticed it wasn't a GM move to lose those assets for nothing and chase another slugger when you had no pitching depth or talent on the horizon.

When Eppler came on board, he was essentially Arte's yes man.

At least with Minisian, he's putting up some kind of fight. Not a great one, but some kinda of fight. Minisian needs to re-sign Raisel to solidify the bullpen than not re-sign Raisel b/c of Loup, which is a lateral move and doesn't improve the needle.

 

[All Mighty]

Damn, I always liked Mota.