Angels right-handers Shohei Ohtani and Griffin Canning have been steadily progressing in their rehab from elbow injuries: 2018 Tommy John surgery for Ohtani and “chronic changes” to the UCL as well as acute joint irritation for Canning. Updates on both players throughout MLB’s shutdown have been generally positive, and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic continues that trend, tweeting that both righties have thrown a trio of live batting practice sessions at this point. Each has built up his arm to a workload of roughly 55 pitches. They’ll remain at that level for the time being, although if the 30 owners and the Players Association can come to an agreement on a deal to resume play in 2020, it stands to reason that each would further build up over the course of a rebooted “spring” training session in mid-to-late June. Spring Training 2.0 will reportedly be about three weeks in length. The Angels figure to be cautious with both right-handers, so it seems unlikely they’ll come out of the gate firing 100-plus pitches with regularity anyhow.
A bit more on the Halos…
- The Angels are allowing workouts at Angel Stadium and at Tempe Diablo Stadium, their Arizona-based Spring Training facility, Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times reports. Players are permitted to work out in group of four, although they’re limited two players, plus an instructor, per area (e.g. batting cage, weight room). David Fletcher, Tommy La Stella, Albert Pujols, Ohtani and Canning are among the names who’ve been working out at Angel Stadium to date. GM Billy Eppler explains to DiGiovanna that the team is providing staggered 90-minute blocks for workouts with 30 minutes between them to allow sanitizing and cleaning of the equipment.
- Angels owner Arte Moreno has asked the city of Anaheim for an additional 30 days to sufficiently detail his plans for the development project at the site surrounding Angel Stadium, per the L.A. Times’ Bill Shaikin. A plan was expected to be delivered by May 30, but the process has been slowed as consulting firms that play key roles have transitioned to work-from-home settings and virtual correspondence amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreno still has until Sept. 30 to make a final decision on the development plan. Back in December, Moreno and the city of Anaheim reached an agreement that would keep the Halos in Anaheim for another 30 years — a deal that included the $325MM purchase of the land surrounding Angel Stadium.
Angels and their injuries are the single biggest beneficiaries of a shortened season, even if they probably still dont have a shot at the division.
Agreed. I’m a Rangers fan. However Ohtani being fully recovered is good for all of baseball. Really looking forward to watching him play again.
You’re right in that this time off is so valuable for the Angels. If they could just get another pitcher or two they could be dangerous.
I wonder if Ohtani has regained his 100 mph fastball and his devastating splitter?
(huge angel homer) Im still pissed Arte stiffed the minor leaguers and the rumors are that he is one of the most antagonistic at driving a hard collective bargaining process on the owners front. He’s one of the richer owners in the game and was a working class dude (he didnt found the company that made him his wealth). Be better.
Also, ya, the short season is great for the Halos pitchers.
i have lost any respect i had for him.
Sorry, but the fact he didn’t found the company which created his wealth is a weird thing to get hung up on. Moreno worked his way up in the outdoor advertising business, and was hired to head Outdoor Systems, took the company private, shepherded a merger with the outdoor business of 3M (got that through DoJ review and approval), then sold the company to Infinity for ridiculous.money, all in the span of a couple of years.
But make no mistake, he wasn’t born on 3B like some of his fellow owners. He got to where he is today because of this country and his hard work. While I am disappointed in some of the decisions he has made in the past year, I will always give him credit for the success he has achieved in his lifetime.
that’s exactly what i had been saying all along. however, what he has done with his money recently spells cheapness. it’s not how you make money. it’s how you spend money that makes you(him) reveal his true character. as chinese say ‘you earn like a dog but spend like a royal.’
Hard for me to believe that players think there may be a season … given the posture of their union. I’ve never seen a bigger disconnect between employer and employees.
players are not exactly employees. they are contractors with some employees aspects added.
Sorry players but you are wrong on this one. With no fans in the stands there is a big revenue void. Players need to take a cut. Meanwhile fans are facing depression like unemployment and Civil unrest like never before. You think they care about your millions you are only going to make. Never has the MLB Players association been so blind. Whocares if you sit out? Only the press and sports talk guys who need you for their job.
unless you have seen the books of teams you don’t know anything to make that statement. of course, nobody outside the inner circle have seen books. so, let’s wait and see before you make those statements solely based on how you feel.
Exactly. There’s a huge difference between showing the players the revenue drop and just expecting them to believe it.
I am amazed how many people think here that zero fans doesn’t result in a major drop in revenue. People paying $12-$400+ a ticket, buying $8-$15 beers, $8 hot dogs, $6 bags of peanuts, $30 shirts, $180 jerseys, $30 hats, etc. And you think all that times tens of thousands of fans times 81 home dates a year isn’t significant revenue.
Ya’ll are nuts.
Of course the lost revenue hurts—less IS less, after all—but hardly the road to a franchise becoming destitute. The Rays drew an average of 16,000 or fewer per game each of the last five seasons, all the while playing excellent ball and being in contention.
The estimates of the Rays franchise is that it is worth over $1B, and grew by 4% in the prior year. That is considering the dearth of hot dogs, beers, souvenirs, etc. sold during those seasons—the value of the franchise still increased. That revenue to the team is nice to have, but hardly cuts into the bottom line if it is reduced or eliminated. It is a relative drop in the bucket compared to the revenue from local broadcasting and (especially) postseason games.
The teams could weather this storm and live to talk about it next season. This isn’t a moment of crisis for MLB franchises, it is a moment of inconvenience. While all the franchises would prefer to have 25,000-40,000 each game, the bottom line is that these teams can afford to play to empty houses if they have to. Making the players share in this loss is petty, cutting the minor leaguers free to save $1M at most is unconscionable.
so true!
16k x $75 x 81 is still close to $100 million.
With no fans there is only media money coming in and that simply isnt enough to pay all the players salaries.
Plus franchise valuations dont mean a thing for liquidity. The teams cant pay their players’ salaries with franchise valuations.
Its always easier to spend someone else’s money, the reality is not all of these owners have the cash on hand to pay 150mil in salaries
@Supplanter
A point I’ve made all along is that we’re all encouraged to have some rainy day money. Whether it’s Joe Schmoe (probably sic) or JP Morgan.
Furthermore ownership will still be able to borrow short or longer term against their (billion plus) asset at an all time low interest rate if they’re too far removed from the liquidity lesson.
I really don’t know where you’ve got a 150 million from for a half season – given the salary tax – either.
Similarly just because you’ve always taken a profit and seen the value of your investment skyrocket (two billion for the Mets?!) doesn’t mean you are entitled to that profit ad infinitum. That – even in the glorified MLB cartel that controls the game – defies capitalism.
Don’t need books to see them playing in front of zero fans. Some estimates are they lose 640k per game without the income of gate revenue.
First of all—the players *did* agree to a “pay cut”, in that they were not going to get paid during the delay in the season. What the owners have been proposing since is well beyond what both sides agreed to previously.
Secondly, the owners are posturing as if this season could ruin them financially. Oakland and other teams have basically canceled the MiLB season and won’t pay any of their players for the balance of the 2020 season. Keep in mind, you could work part time at Target for the $13/hr starting wage and make as much money as most of the minor leaguers. We aren’t talking about a catastrophic payroll outlay for the MiLB players.
This is all kabuki for the CBA to be negotiated next year. Both sides are afraid to make a concession which will hurt them in the CBA negotiations next year.
But keep this in mind: Teams like the Marlins and Rays, with poor per-game attendance totals, still see their franchise valuations go up every year. And as long as Congress allows MLB the anti-trust exemption that the owners in NFL, NBA, et al don’t have, then they will never negotiate in good faith.
The players aren’t perfect, but they really aren’t driving this situation.
Can the minor league players draw unemployment? It will probably pay better than what they would make from playing, with the extra $600/wk.
By the rules of most states they would have to be released (fired). I suppose they could request a release but that could negatively impact their chance of playing again. Most guys who would benefit in the short term wouldn’t be guaranteed a spot next year and then at minimum lose a year of development. Risky proposition
The value of franchises is obviously based on the past playing without virus issues. Noone is paying anywhere near the former franchise values now. Many teams will lose money with no fans. That’s why the players can demand all they want but there just isn’t any money.
@bigrickdeeman There is too much which is wrong in what you wrote to cover it all in the time I have available. Let’s just say that any entity interested in buying a pro sports franchise (MLB, NFL, NBA, etc) will certainly look at past results, but anyone who knows anything about investments —what is what such a purchase is—knows that past results do not guarantee future results.
However, the second maxim for this investment is “scarcity equals value”, and with only 30 teams in MLB, if ANY of them went on the market, the line of investors would form on the right. There were 3 well-funded investment groups lining up to buy the Marlins—The Marlins!—and the winning bid was over $1B. A franchise with an indifferent fan base and a recent history of losing—as well as poor attendance—drew a winning bid of $1.2B.
Clearly, any such investment is based on future value, not on past successes or failures. The secret sauce here is that the owners share revenue. That means big, successful teams like the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox make money, and losing teams like the Pirates, Marlins, and Royals make money (the Royals also sold for $1B last year). It is a matter of degree, of course, but the owner gets to be part of a secret society and make money at the same time.
So don’t even start with the “the cupboard is bare” nonsense. The cupboard is very full, and will continue to be so. Any of these owners could borrow against their franchise and pay their minor leaguers, withstand the potential losses of 2020, and still be rich in 2021. The fact is that none of them has done this—even after we have seen story after story of small business owners who spent their retirement money and borrowed against their businesses to keep their employees on the payroll in the early stages of COVID-19, without the certainty of future prosperity each MLB owners has. The World Champion Nationals last week decided to reduce the stipend they were paying their MiLB players from $400/wk to $300/wk. Imagine trying to feed, house and clothe more than just yourself on $400/wk, much less $300/wk. The Lerner family is worth over $4B, but even more to the point, they purchased the Nationals 14 years ago for $450M, and the value of the franchise has QUADRUPLED.
If any franchise in MLB when on the market today, any investor would pay a premium to buy it—the mess going on right now matters zero.
The Giants needed guys to establish trade value and capitalize at the deadline this season. Who knows what’s going to happen with that. I guess not having to pay aging players as much who are on the severe decline would be a bonus of a shortened season.
The season being shortened or cancelled would be huge for the Giants. Everyone else loses a year of surplus value from their rosters. The Giants on the other hand, the only player they lose a year of surplus value from that stings at all is Mike Yastrzemski and they don’t have to pay their aging, declining vets.
A short season really helps the Angel’s. If they go with a 6 man rotation also… that would really help the starters stay healthy.
Astros have to lean hard on verlander and greinke… that could cause some problems.
You figure the new schedule will have very few off days, so teams might want a 6 man rotation especially with shortened spring training and heat of the summer. Pitchers will be on a very short leash.
Glad to see those 2 progressing.
I just wonder if Canning should have just bit the bullet and had TJ surgery?
Diagnosis of chronic changes to the UCL?
Every Angel pitcher and pitchers in general who have gone alternate routes with UCL issues seem to have wasted time and wound up in the end to need surgery anyway.
Can anyone say Garret Richards?
I can hit Angel stadium with a rock and I am an Angel Honk
No tear, no surgery is what I read. Pitching is bad for your arm. He’s done enough of it to damage his elbow.
No surgeon advised surgery. Canning didn’t have surgery because the surgeon advised against it.
Answers don’t come any easier than that.
Maybe so but the answer will be how long and if he lasts.
I have had multiple orthopedic surgeries and I will tell you surgeons in general do not advise surgery even if required if your life is not in danger but thanks for the input that the surgeon advised against it as I did not hear that.
Chronic :(of an illness) persisting for a long time or constantly recurring.
As I said thanks for that input but as a patient I think I would want to fix the problem but that’s why we all chat on this cool site.
It worked for Bartolo Colon Stem cell
Yep, pitchers “will be on a very short leash”….if there’s a season, expect 8 pitching changes per inning….that’ll really improve pace of play…..
Actually they would need to change the new rule they just added for that to happen.
If Ohtani and Canning can be part of a 6 man rotation, the Angels may have a shot at the expanded playoffs.
Ohtani, Canning, Heaney, Terhan, Andriese and Bundy are at least major league average given the Angels infield defense and Castro’s pitch framing. If the starters can give you 5+ innings, an underrated bullpen can do the rest. And Sandoval, Barria, Pena and Suarez provide depth for the starters.
The lineup 1-9 will score runs. And admittedly, they will need to do so at a healthy clip.
I would start Barria over Andriese. The Angels will need a long reliever in the pen. Barria struggled badly in that role last season. Had better success as a starter. Sandoval needs to get more consistent throwing strikes with his secondary pitches. Pena won’t be ready until end of July beginning of August. I would flip Tehran and Heaney in your rotation.
I’m a big Barria fan. I agree that he is best used as a fulltime starter and would love to see him in that role. For some reason, I don’t think the Angels are as high on him as we are.
Brad Asmus couldn’t manage a pitching staff, when he had 4 Cy Young award winners in Detroit. Is there any surprise that he couldn’t manage the Angels. Two years ago Barria led the Angels in wins. I have more confidence in Maddon knowing what he is doing this year.
Oh my God are they hyping this guy again. Ohtani has been a goat from day one. Don’t gobble up this overblown hype. He’s an avg player so please don’t be a follower, don’t be someone who is easily tricked
and you don’t know anything!
I don’t know him…… I do know knowbody
@Iknowmorebaeball I didn’t realize MLBTR had parody accounts, too.
Good one Geo!