The Angels have already gotten a head start on some notable offseason business, both regarding the roster and its clubhouse leadership. In recent days, the Halos both avoided arbitration with the reigning AL MVP and finalized their managerial situation heading into 2023.
Over the weekend, the club and two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani agreed to a $30MM salary for next season. The one-year pact avoided the possibility of what would’ve been the most fascinating arbitration case ever, with no clear precedent for a player of Ohtani’s talents. The sides won’t need to go anywhere near a hearing room, though, with the two-time All-Star instead agreeing to the largest salary for an arbitration-eligible player in big league history.
While the Halos are surely relieved to have Ohtani’s case settled, there are still plenty of questions about his long-term future in Orange County. The 2023 campaign is the final year in which he’s under club control, and Los Angeles heads into the winter coming off another disappointing season. General manager Perry Minasian met with reporters this afternoon (links via Sam Blum of the Athletic and Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register), and while he didn’t offer any specifics about Ohtani’s situation, he unsurprisingly indicated he’d be thrilled to keep him beyond next season. “I think it’s Step 1,” Minasian said of avoiding arbitration. “Hopefully there are more steps down the road. … I’d love to have him here for a long time.”
That’s obviously not a firm declaration about Ohtani’s future, but it stands to reason Minasian and his staff will look to engage his reps at CAA at some point over the winter. They’ll surely receive calls from other teams inquiring about his availability in trade as well. The Halos obviously would’ve received ample interest in Ohtani at this past deadline, but owner Arte Moreno reportedly quashed any potential for a deal early in the process. Not long thereafter, Moreno announced he was looking into the possibility of selling the franchise.
Minasian told reporters he wasn’t aware of the status of the sales process, little surprise since he’s not involved in that decision. Asked whether it’d impact the club’s budget, the front office leader largely demurred. Minasian noted that ownership “still wants to put a good team on the field” and “is really competitive” but didn’t reveal any specifics about the franchise’s 2023 payroll outlook. The Halos opened the 2022 season with a player payroll north of $188MM, a franchise record figure, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. They already have roughly $133MM committed to next year’s books, in the estimation of Roster Resource. That’s before accounting for an arbitration class that includes Luis Rengifo, Jared Walsh and Super Two qualifiers Taylor Ward and Patrick Sandoval.
Working in the Halos favor, however, is that Minasian and his group aren’t faced with the losses of too many key contributors. Aside from Kurt Suzuki, who has already announced his retirement, the Halos stand to see Michael Lorenzen, Matt Duffy and Archie Bradley hit the open market. Lorenzen is the only member of that group who was relatively effective this year. Signed to a $6.75MM free agent deal, he pitched to a 4.24 ERA across 18 starts. Minasian suggested they could look to retain him via free agency, although he also noted the team wasn’t firmly committed to redeploying a six-man rotation again next season. The Halos have run with a six-man staff in recent years, in part to reduce the workload Ohtani has to shoulder on the mound. “I wouldn’t rule it out,” the GM said of a five-man rotation. “But if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. There’s a balance there. Is the risk worth the reward?”
Minasian also addressed the coaching staff, noting that the club is still evaluating whether to make changes in that area. Phil Nevin will be back as skipper after signing a one-year deal yesterday, but it’s to be determined whether his staff will remain in place. Asked about the short term of Nevin’s first permanent managerial contract, Minasian said the club will “(see) where it goes next year and (go) from there, but my hope and my expectation is that this is a long-term thing.” Of course, the long-term future of the organization will be determined in large part by the direction any incoming ownership group plans to take. Jon Heyman of the New York Post suggests the franchise sale price could run as high as $2.5 billion, although the identities of the groups currently in talks with Moreno and his staff haven’t been publicly reported.
So funny to see Orange County and Los Angeles in the same sentence. Can’t be both.
That’s Arte. He came from marketing. That’s his deal…
Like the New York Giants and and Jets playing in New Jersey, the Irving Cowboys, etc.
Only Dodgers fans are stuck on this.
Arlington Cowboys now. Not even the same County anymore.
You mean The Angels Dodgers fans?
They really hate it when you point out that in spanish “Los Angeles = The Angels” and it comes before the Dodgers in thier team name.
The L.A. Angels have been here more than 100 years people..
it worked. it helped get us the 2nd biggest TV deal in mlb
He still thinks Pujols is going to do that personal services contract for the Angels.
Based on Puljols performance on the field in addition to walking out in his sick wife, I wouldn’t want him around my team moving forward. But being that I’m paying him away, I’d have him working in the mens room holding a mop and bucket swabbing up piss during every home game.
The Cardinals will trade so many prospects and back up starters to the Angels for Ohtani —— and the Angels won’t be able to refuse the deal in 2023.
17 – If Ohtani goes anywhere, it will be to a west coast team that is in contention. That would be LA or SD. I think the Giants will make a huge push for him. But after the $30m arb deal, the Angels won’t trade him this winter. They are gonna role the dice to see of they can get him to sign long term before he hits the market. But based on Ohtani’s comments that he wants to win, the Angels will have to show him they are serious through action, not just words.
Oh my , what a bunch of empty platitudes and evasive non-answers. I guess that’s typical GM speak for when you have nothing to say. This dude does not impress me.
Dear Arte and Minasian: your old buddy Jerry Dipoto might be calling you about the availability of Señor Ohtani…please listen and engage with him over various trade proposals. It could really be a Win-Win situation for all involved!
Mariners have 0 prospects after the trade deadline
They have bucketloads. They might even put one on the playoff roster: OF Cade Marlowe
u literally named their 22ns beat prospect. they dont have the prospects anymore to get Ohtani
Everyone there knows they are on borrowed time. Anyone in the front office or coaching ranks with actual talent will look to jump elsewhere.
When you’re picking in the top 10 for the third straight year despite having Trout, Ohtani, and a top 10 payroll you suck from the top down.
When you have both the longest playoff drought and a horribly rated farm system you suck from the top down.
At least all of Arte’s buddies who have run the team from day one have kept all their jobs.
These guys are all gone once the sale goes through. Which can’t happen soon enough.
I get your points, but their biggest problem is keeping their stars healthy on the field. Trout, Fletcher, Walsh, Ward, and of course Rendon all missed significant time. Fletch, Walsh, and Rendon are 3/4 of their infield.
You’re paying about $70M a year for Trout and Rendon alone: there should be dedicated staffs following these guys on and off season to ensure their health.
We’ve seen what these guys can do when they play together; April and September are perfect examples. Now the health and training staff needs to pull their heads out of their asses and keep these guys on the field year round.
Yeah, the health and training staff are to blame. They are keeping these guys off the field.
If only these $30 million/year stars weren’t handcuffed by the directives of their team doctor overlords.
Next time we can blame the grounds crew for their poor field upkeep. Think of all the ligaments saved if the grass wasn’t so dang slick or the infield dirt was raked counter clockwise.
“Yeah, the health and training staff are to blame. They are keeping these guys off the field.”
Obviously there’s culpability to go around, But so I understand your point, are you saying the training staff has no blame in the rash of injuries the Angels have experienced (especially in the last 5 years)?
And btw, I play golf with one of the groundskeepers at Angels stadium and they do get blamed for more than you know. The players (and sometimes coaches) will get down on their hands and knees examining the baseline angles and infield/outfield lips.
So we are expanding the injury blame beyond rendon and trout to include everyone in the past five years? My point was countering your point. I specifically mention your assertion that the staff is to blame to the $30 million/year stars.
“… there should be dedicated staffs following these guys on and off season to ensure their health.”
The point above. You want teams to to provide dedicated groups of health professionals to police players in their personal lives?
I’m not talking about a medical staff following your every move. I played college ball and we had skilled trainers tell us exactly what we should eat and what we could intake from sources like GNC. We had dedicated, personally scripted offseason programs for our own body structures and positions. The staff took it personally if you got injured. There’s the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society (PBATS) to educate every professional team on how to properly take care of their players. It’s big business.
So, however we want to sugarcoat it, the Angels training staff has not been successful at keeping their players on the field. Bottom line.
And I want to make it clear that the players have a lot of responsibility as well. Especially if you’re playing basketball or get thrown off a jet ski.
But in cases like Anthony Rendon: he had season ending surgery last year to repair his right hip and this season had (basically) season ending surgery to repair his wrist. These do not appear to be fluke injuries and are probably not related. This player clearly needs exercises / agility / strength training to support his core muscles and bone structure.
Maybe he’s just fragile, okay maybe, but whatever the case, the Angels are paying him $35M a year and a necessary course of action needs to be taken to keep him on the field.
Injuries are going to happen. Ours have been excessive, yes, but when a team is so too heavy 1 or 2 injuries leads to a Squid, Wade, Mayfield infield that points to a massive lack of depth.
The Angels should have never gone into the year without a shortstop. That was a pretty big unforced error.
I agree. And the problem was that it wasn’t 1 or 2 injuries – it was 6 of your opening day starting lineup. Trout, Fletcher, Walsh, Ward, Stassi, and Rendon all had significant injuries this season.
Having Matt Duffy as your opening day 2B (and hitting cleanup!) was a recipe for failure at the get-go.
For a while, almost half of our line-up was batting under .200. Pure lack of depth. Fletcher goes down and the best we have is a sub-.200 replacement.
they need a yoga instructor. i said this 10 years.
Nothing says we would like to see you here long term like a 1 year deal. I think even Nevin knows he won’t be here opening day if the sale happens by the Winter Meetings.
That Rendon contract was mind blowing at the time it was signed, and it looks even worse than I ever imagined now. There is no common sense in this franchise. Zero
The Vernon Wells and Josh Hamilton transactions didn’t clue you in already?
I know it’s all hindsight, but Pujols, Wells, Hamilton and Rendon look/are/were bad. That’s a lot of misses.
kellin,
Correct you are. Although, I remember when Arte signed Hamilton and there wasn’t a Halo fan alive who wasn’t ecstatic. Rendon too. We are all pulling hard for him to come back big next year.
There were lots of fans who were not ecstatic about Hamilton. There were huge question marks in his game, He had an OK second half and a lot of swing and miss in his game. Even though he played in a hitters park, his second half OBP 323.
However, since 3rd base was such a hole, I don’t know anyone who wasn’t happy with the Rendon signing.
Haha We just know different Halo fans then. A lot of teams wanted those guys. Hamilton was a sad case. Rendon on the other hand, still has plenty left in the tank. You can’t be a legit Halo fan and not pull for Rendon.
(Trumbo) I was not one of those people. I thought the Hamilton signing was going to be bad. but it was worse than I thought. I remember watching MLB network and they were mapping out the HRs Hamilton had in Arlington, and how at least half of them wouldn’t be HRs in Anaheim.
(astick) We all knew the Pujols contract would be bad in late years. I just think its funny how he managed to get almost back to his normal self this last season.
I hear what you are saying. I don’t know how Pujols got locked in all of a sudden. I was shocked at how well Ortiz did his last season as well.
That Rendon contract was all Scott Boras. When the Angels were pursuing his other client, Gerritt Cole, he knew the Angels weren’t going to get Cole so he convinced Arte to pivot to give that insane amount of money to Rendon.
It’s these types of deals that has led the Angel fan base to applaud the sale of the team.
Actually, when that Anthony Rendon contract happened, there were many who declared the Angels winners during the off-season.
The Angels need a bullpen, catching and IF defense. Not the most expensive areas to fix traditionally.
The SP staff isn’t so bad this year but it can always upgrade
You don’t blame the doctor when you get sick so don’t blame the medical staff and trainers for all the injuries. It’s up to the players to stay in shape and have healthy playing practices. NFL doesn’t have the injuries MLB has.
Well I agree it is ultimately up to the players to stay in shape as their health is their livelihood. Are you joking tho about the NFLs injuries??? The NFL has numerous players getting hurt every single game and all week in between. And the two really aren’t comparable. NFL injuries have many stemming from an isolated event whereas MLB players are more heavy on the lingering injury variety. It’s kind of like comparing a sprint to a marathon, regardless both are constantly pushing limits of their bodies and some injuries are inevitable.
Yeah I don’t think you play fantasy football. Ha. The NFL injury board is bloated every week. Running backs are basically extras on The Walking Dead.
That Rendon contract was an overpay, but there was almost no one who thought that he would fall off the face of the planet after his last season in Washington. Sometimes bad signings end up being bad luck.
I will definitely agree with Wells. The length of Pujols’ deal was clearly going to make in albatross towards the end, but Hamilton and Rendon had great seasons then cashed in. It’s some bad luck there too.
It’s inexcusable to not be able to build a legit contender around two generational talents that aren’t being overpaid. They even held onto chips too long. What could Adell have gotten them at one point? What could he get them now? Oof.
These generational talents have played together exactly ZERO years.
The Angels “ifs” are not very. Will there offensive five remain relatively healthy? Will they add bullpen help? Can they stay away from devastating starting rotation injuries?
Those are not close to being long shot question marks.
That isn’t even close to true. Trout and Ohtani played together.
The rest of the statements don’t make sense to me.
What year was that Marlin? Last year? Trout played 119 games, 2018, Ohtani pitched 50 innings, and many fans don’t think he should have won ROY.
As far as my other comment. Did the extra there instead of their throw you?
Trout playing that many games and both being amazing talents is the point. They have two transcendent players and can’t win.
They’ve both been hurt off and on, but you did they never played a year together, that’s not true, they both were elite this year on a sub-500 team.
Also, they need some serious help on player development. Too many tools in the minors that come up empty.
Adell is such a disappointment. They could have gotten a great arm for him if so inclined
They are both amazing talents, but Ohtani has only been superb player for two years and those two years Trout has averaged 78 games a season.
It’s upsetting that these two players are not playing today, but they are not exactly playing together.
Player development.
1) They don’t pick in the top ten. So they don’t get to draft the obvious talent.
2) They are terrible at recruiting foreign talent. Ironic because the greatest foreign talent ever might be Ohtani.
I fully agree. They get some players with loud tools, but have missed on other high picks.
Speaking of foreign talent, what ever became of the Baldoquin guy? He was advertised as the short stop of the future and poof, he’s gone.
(prov) Apparently the Angels cut him loose and he signed a MiLB contract with St Louis.
As an East Coast outsider, I’m wondering — what’s the local estimate of the likelihood that Minasian is still at the helm if the franchise is sold?
probability of zero for him to stay. why would a new owner keep the gm hired by arte?
Why? Possibly because he knows the organization and previously served under Anthopoulos in Toronto as a scout for the Blue Jays and then as his assistant GM in Atlanta when the Braves won the division three years in a row. Additionally, he’s under contract for another two years.
I don’t think I’d put the probability at zero.
What are the odds of the Angels winning this year? I put the odds pretty high.
I assume/hope a full evaluation will take place first but from the outside I mostly like what he’s done. Team ERA was 5th in the AL this year, we now have a good SP staff, the bullpen was so much better, the farm system is still bad but for the first time in years has 3-4 guys who look like impact MLBers, and he freed up a lot of money at the deadline. He seems to have a plan. He didn’t do well on the offense and depth in 2022 so we’ll have to evaluate how he fixes that. I’m open-minded to see his 2023.
And what exactly has Minasian done to help that ERA?
I agree and think he has done a great job so far. I really like his drafts and NDFA . look how many are doing well as high as AA. With his development people in place there has been improvement to many prospects in the system. In 23 they will have many more options from the minors. I think this applies to all positions. The biggest improvement came in starting pitching. Think back when he was hired. He had some parts in place Ohtani, Sandoval, Suares, Detmers was here but the development of the non-Ohtani parts came under his watch. The depth starters are light years better. They will be getting more pitching depth as Griffin Canning and Chris Rodriguez could be productive players. Going into next year, they in much better shape, due to this depth closer to the majors.
I think Neto was a great pick, but he botch Bauchman, and that was obvious bust.
And Adell tore it up at AA. Maybe he’s had great drafts and maybe he hasn’t Time will tell, but he’s done next to nothing helping the current roster.
I’m willing to him a pass, but I don’t have the confidence that many seem to have.
We don’t even have an inkling of a clue Fink. Maybe he gets an obligatory “year” to see how he does with new directives. Man I want this sale wrapped up already. I still think the sale gets initiated very soon.
It’s always possible that the new owners could be worse, but I’m too optimistic to think they will be. Getting Arte out of the owner’s chair would seem to be the best possible thing for the Angels’ future, if the stories of his hands-on management are true.
Fink, yeah I truly temper my expectations with the Halos these days…I take solace in watching Trout and Shohei and hopefully Rendon next season.
TJ – I hope you’re right about a sale happening soon. My only hesitation in believing it will is Moreno’s history of pulling the plug on deals suddenly and his careful wording of “exploring a sale’ instead of saying “the team is for sale”. He always gives himself wiggle room to change direction.
On the side of hope, there are at least a few stories of serious bidders including Beane (et al), Lacob (et al), and Soon-Shiong. For 2023 to matter, the sale needs to be done before Spring Training starts in my mind. Otherwise it will be business as usual which will include pretending to target good pitching, fail, then signing a declining has-been position player for a huge contract and adding pitching rebounders on one year deals. That’s been Moreno’s modus operandi for years.
Prov, I feel like Moreno was “persuaded” or perhaps even slightly “pressured” to sell the team and wash his hands of it. He has had a lot of heat on him (for lack of a better term) for a few years now. Let’s hope we start sailing in the right direction.
Anybody else think $30 million was a wild amount? They probably could have gone to arbitration and offered 20 million and got this done. Not that I’m not happy for Ohtani but a raise like this has never and probably will never happen again.
$20 mil will not do. what if he went for $50 mil and gets it?
If they want a chance sign him long term they needed to show him respect to pay him his worth. He has been a bargain to date.
Good will. Remember Mike Trout signed a $1 million contract for the 2014 season, which was a new MLB record for a pre-arbitration deal at the time.
Prior to signing his huge mult-year deal, Mike had stated that he felt the Angels were willing to invest in him and he, in turn, would return that loyalty.
I think the Angels are using the same playbook on Shohei.
They are truly fools if they believe that Ohtani will follow that lead……odds are he will never be manipulated into thinking that a big money investment in him will quell his playoff and WS title fever, especially being a year in year out MVP candidate for a team that most likely won’t compete for quite some time in their division…….
110% dirk. Goodwill indeed.
The other owners/GMs can’t like it, sets a bad precedent. They certainly could’ve gotten away with a lower amount as arbitration is generally based off the previous season’s salary
I highly doubt they could have gotten away with less. He was better this year than last year and last year Ohtani won MVP
Yes, the Angels paid way too much. Never in the history of arbitration has a player went from 5 million to 30 million, regardless of what ohtani would have filed for, 20 million would have been a stretch if it went to arbitration.
With that said, owners across the league should be infuriated with the angels right now because of this agreed upon salary… it’s going to tip the scales in future arbitration cases. I also believe either there was a likely handshake agreement at the time Ohtani signed his rookie deal with ownership or Moreno knows he’s going to sell and wants his financial outlook as clear as possible so he just said “f” it and immediately agreed with Ohtanis agent.
And he wasn’t awarded 5 million in arbitration. I think you’re crazy. A guy who wins MVP, and follows that up with a better year was going to make a fortune. He would have broken the arbitration record…easily.
I’m a little late to the party so no one will ever see this, but as part of the arbitration process, among other things, don’t they try to compare similar players/salaries. If so, Ohtani really isn’t a comp for anyone else in the past 100 years so he probably won’t impact arb awards in the future.
Diddlez, probably, yes…They probably figure just keep the man happy. Especially if his days with the team might be numbered..
Minasian; “But if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
It is broken and it needs fixing. Please fix it.
He was talking about the starting rotation.
And he was correct.
I know. I was using that statement for the rest of the team.. Like the analysis on MLB Central last week, we can’t keep thinking we are just a tweak away. We have no decent depth anywhere. I hope that’s addressed this winter in a meaningful way, not with former mediocre players looking for a bounce back season and hope we get lucky.
The Angels have no depth, which is why I want Myers. Even league average production from a depth piece is pretty good.
Rengifo should be a depth piece.
Minasian did not do a good job last year bringing in Depth pieces.
The Angels shouldn’t get their hopes up regarding Ohtani’s long-term future with the franchise.
According to MLB.com, after his final game Ohtani complained about the absence of any postseason experience since joining Arte’s dumpster fire in 2018.
Quote: “I feel like I had a good season this year, probably better than last year, overall. But I would like to be in the playoffs and this is supposed to be the starting line. Unfortunately that’s not the case this year, but hopefully it is next year.”
Sounds very much as if Ohtani intends to sign a mega contract with a contender in free agency. And the Angels won’t be contenders any time soon.
waldfee – “And the Angels won’t be contenders any time soon”
That is a common jab used by non-Angels fans on every article. Don’t be typical.
Prov. Clueless and classless people often come on threads of other teams and make ignorant disparaging comments.
1) The Angels big five is as good as anyone’s. Trout, Ohtani, Rendon, Ward and Walsh.
2) The Angels top four rotation starters are better than many playoff teams.
Anytime soon? As soon as the Angels remain relatively healthy, they’ll complete.
Since the All Star break, the Angels big four…
Ohtani ERA 2.28
Sandoval 2.53
Suarez 2.81
Detmers 3.36
It’s why Nevin being 2 games under 500 after the All-Star break is not acceptable. Nevin is not a good manager.
.
Shouldn’t be news to any Angels fan…Ohtani’s 1 year deal was simply the best business decision by current ownership to max the offers he will receive to sell the team…..the idea is too create the illusion that Ohtani could be convinced by new owners to stay via the promise to pour $$$ millions into added payroll of better players to surround him with and end the current playoff drout……….doubt that Ohtani will not explore free agency and sign a mega contract with a team……any team….that has a playoff pedigree and offers the best chances to win a WS title sooner than later…….and that simply isn’t the Angels by any stretch.
I’m neutral on Minasian. Huge mistakes year one, obvious but lesser mistakes year two. Looks like he squandered the Angels best pick this century, and he has yet to bring anyone in to help this team. But neutral because two years is not enough time to judge a GM.
That said, anyone read what Maddon said about Minasian and Trout? That’s unacceptable.
I haven’t read what Maddon said about Perry and Mike. What did he say or where can I find it?
si.com/mlb/2022/10/06/joe-maddon-angels-gm-perry-m…
If he’s telling the truth, why is it unacceptable? He doesn’t work for the Angels anymore. And if the GM called down to the dugout to give him orders in the middle of a game and Maddon thought that crossed a line, he had every right to tell his boss . . . and his boss had every right to fire him. Sounds like Joe thought he had more power than he had.
Because the GM does not call the clubhouse and tell the manager who to play. You discuss it prior to the game. It’s completely unacceptable.
The way you posed the question, I thought you were saying that what Joe said was unacceptable. I think Joe was right; but as the S.I. article says, his concept of managerial authority didn’t jibe with the intrusive concept of authority that’s increasingly held by the new breed of GMs. At the end of the day, Minasian had the power, not Joe — that’s why Nevin’s the manager now.
It was rumored for years that Billy Beane used to dictate in-game strategy to Art Howe. I don’t know if it was true though.
Minasian has the power to fire, he does not have the authority to tell the manager who to play.
Minasian was out of line. I think we agree on that.
If Maddon’s account is accurate, Minasian doesn’t agree with Joe or with us.
And Minasian is wrong. If you can correctly criticize the owner for being too hand you can criticize the GM.
You don’t do that. You don’t call the dugout during the game. Micromanaging a manger is a bad idea… always.
Once the game starts, all decisions belong to the manager. Meet before a game to talk strategies and what-ifs. But at first pitch, the GM needs to trust the guy who gets paid to manage the game.
Angels should be in on Brandon Drury this winter. They need a player Capable of playing all over that can be productive doing so. Given the status of the team being for sale i wouldn’t expect the Angels to be major players in free agency so probably minor league invites and one year deals on the shopping list this winter
Drury is a good choice because he can play first base and outfield and bats RH.
I like that option.
Hope they change the name back to Anaheim angels with the new owners
I doubt this team will be in Anaheim once the stadium contact expires.
Since the original deal has been thrown out, it wouldn’t surprise me if the new owner got the stadium extension thrown out as well.
Why do you think that the new owners would think it was bad deal for them?
Tim, because other So Cal cities want the Angels more than Anaheim. Anaheim doesn’t even seem to care anymore.
From everything I’ve heard about Minasian, he’s a dynamic and well respected baseball GM. It’s hard to assess how good any GM is when the owner is Arte Moreno, but my sense is he “has what it takes” to be the GM for a winning organization. But he may not be given a chance to stay on if new ownership just wants to make wholesale changes to get rid of as much of the Moreno stank as possible.
I’m not trying to jinx things by assuming Moreno will sell. I’m knocking on wood and hoping/praying we will soon be rid of the sketchy little nerd. But, I’ll believe it when I see it.
SealBeach, yeah that sums it up pretty well actually.
i don’t know whether arte told min@sian to stop spending when he was looking for a ss or he thought the defensive ss was good to start. but either way it was stupid to sign a ss that could hit.
You don’t go into the year with those middle infield options…. Period.
I don’t know how anyone is high in Minasian. He hasn’t done anything. He hasn’t improved the pitching staff, hasn’t helped the everyday nine, squandered the highest Angel draft this century on a Relief Pitcher, if we are lucky,
Give him a pass? Fine. Bu have confidence he knows what he’s doing is absurd.
From someone who thinks he has done a good job, I have to disagree strongly with the, “He hasn’t done anything”.
I think the starting pitching was better than a lot of fans thought going into 22, But the younger ones did develop well. there are a few good starters at AAA next year as well as Canning and Rodriguez returning. The bullpen he has done great. The exception being the Bradly, Tepera and Loup signings. I liked them all at the time. He traded for Iglesias then traded him away. I do like who he got for him over who he gave up. This is one of the areas that hurt the team this year. the rest of the bullpen was way better. I think they need a good closer next year, but he has improved the makeup. I think Herget is great because he such a different look between high velo guys Loup also looks different if he can bounce back.
He has not done much for the everyday 9, But he has improved the depth in the minors and has seen the development and improvements from Rengifo and Soto.
I think his last draft was his best work, but he thinks he will be starter, some think he will need to move to the pen. This is not the same as wasting a pick in my mind. What makes you so sure that he won’t start after such a short time.. what are your thoughts about Joyce as a 3rd rounder that has been used as a reliever? Neto? Silseth in the 11th round? What about the rest of the drafted players? Look at the AA roster and how many are already this high from his drafts and most are doing very well.
I have to stop you about the bullpen doing great. Have you seen the playoff pens? This is the guy who thought Meyers and Buttrey were setup men.
He hasn’t added to the rotation, the bullpen is a mess, and he hasn’t helped the starting nine or added depth.
I don’t know how that is remotely debatable.
Fair enough not great and that is probably the biggest problem going forward. They need a good closer. That would go a long way to winning some of those close games. The one thing I am not so sure about is the hiring of Nevin. Maybe he can learn. I think he is part of the reason they lost so many close games.
Anyway, I respect what you are saying, But I guess I have a little more confidence in him than you. I hope we will see soon, but new ownership could refresh.