:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62395850/1057462512.jpg.0.jpg)
Ugh. Nothing rewards 4 days away from work like coming back to the office and having 5 days worth of backlog. And then I get overwhelmed with Cyber Monday ads. Like, really? PETCO??? I seriously need to win the lotto.
To win the lotto, one has to play. The same can be said of the MLB off season. The Angels as they stand have already proven that they cannot win. and they are less than what they were when the season ended. If Billy Eppler wants to win, he has to play.
But do not confuse stealth with inactivity. It’s long been the LAA way. Don’t be surprised when you are surprised to see something significant happen out of the blue. Because being surprised about Arte and his GM’s is the least surprising thing about the Angels. Also, be happy when you see something happen elsewhere that would have been a very bad thing had it happened in Anaheim. For example, not spending $23 million for a one-year 3B rental is actually a win for this franchise.
It’s not even December, but things are happening. I’m sure they are happening in Anaheim, too, but we fans are forced to sit on our thumbs and wait our turn to know about any of it. It’s not like we have a working press that is badgering the LAA management and staff for book reports.
Instead of those reports, you get to enjoy some Halo-News-Vacuum--HaloLinks:
A Little Bit Of Angels News
Let’s be real. Jabari Blash jokes resonate. We have no idea why he remains on the 40-man. But our pitching staff the past couple of years has been little more than broken china. Maybe those guys regain form and become stud MLB pitchers, but that ain’t happening in 2019 (well, maybe Garrett Richards). It’s time to cut ties and start over. Fast. Alex Meyer is a great story, but his next chapter will happen elsewhere...........
Yesterday it was Dino Ebel going to the Dodgers. Today it’s Eric Hinske going to the Diamondbacks. Mike Scioscia’s staff is taking over the NL West..........
Garret Richards and his wife Alexis shared their newborn child Riggs with Mike Trout, and Mike wife Jessica is looking on like, ‘no pressure, Mike, but...”..........
The Angels are hosting a job fair on Monday. I wonder if they need a new social media daily news blogger?..........
Gubi is trying hard to catch up with me on Christmas decorations. He has a noticeable advantage. His home seems to require TWO staircases to get to the upstairs room. Mine requires only one. That means he can double down on his garland..........
Everywhere In Baseball
Playoff shares (ie. free money money money money that players get to divvy up for being in the post-season) were announced. The full share for the WS winner was down a bit from 2017, to $416,838 per Red Sox player....Notice, though, how the Dodgers got a playoff pay raise for losing to the Red Sox, versus when they lost to the Astros.....And it’s the players who choose how many shares are created for each franchise, with the larger number of share creating lower per-share values. Good on the Cubs..........
A big something to think about. All of the advanced information being created and projected by MLB Front Offices won’t help those MLB players who, like humans everywhere, might suffer from learning disabilities. How should MLB react to this?..........
You want some serious bad news? FiveThirtyEight did some deep digging into team payrolls over the last 15 years and have found something disturbing. “No club that has committed more than 20 percent of its payroll to one player has won the World Series since 2003.”.....That means that when you are in the $170 million range, as the Angels are, any one player making $34 million or more pretty much craters your chances to be a champ in the current era. Mike trout will be at $33.24 million next year, and it is our fondest wish to sign him up for a lifetime contract, and be the team that gets to pay him even more...........
If you are up with the times, you know that On Base Percentage is a much better stat to follow than simply following Batting Average. Ba has its’ “Mendoza Line” for futility. Who would be that same measure for OBP?..........
Jay Jaffe has been tweaking JAWS to deal with bullpen contributors. In this context, he looks at Mariano Rivera and sees Rivera as the dominant reliever of all time. As should be expected. But there at the end is his forecast for vote tallies. Jaffe has no expectation for Rivera to get a unanimous vote. He is thinking that Rivera merely has an outside chance of making the top 10 voting share recipients of all time..........And, what with the clogged ballot these days, makes sense. We are already seeing lobbying against a unanimous vote for the sake of ballot gaming, saving guys for a later day..........
I realize that Kyler Murray would be an Oakland A and punish us 17 times a year, but even with that one would have to be a fool not to be excited about having another Bo Jackson in our world. And you can be following his story from BEFORE he hits MLB, as he is smack in the middle of the raging college football season right now..........
Hot Stove
Parker Bridwell was claimed by the Yankees. To make room, the Yanks DFA’d Ronald Torreyes. Something tells me that we got the best out of Bridwell’s career, though I wish him luck. The Yankees are hoping for a lot more, because Bridwell is out of minor league options....On the Torreyes side, he was once a bright spot for MFY infield depth. He needs a new hitting coach......
The Braves inked a pair of well-known vets to one-year deals (kinda becoming a thing, no?) Both Josh Donaldson at $23 million.....and Brian McCann at $2 million..........
Take Lonnie Chisenhall off your wish lists. He signed with the Pirates.............
CJ Cron has found a new home in Minnesota, as the Twins claimed him. Cron steps into the 1B shoes of retired Joe Mauer. Knowing baseball fans, that is not going to end well.........
Jerry Dipoto is trying to dump Robinson Cano and his $120 million remaining (Billy Eppler only has $87 million remaining on Albert Pujols). He ain’t gonna get to do it for free, so the REAL trade value is how much does Dipoto have to carry back in exchange for what prospects he receives? But I like how this news must be hitting Mariners fans, and right before the franchise holiday season promotional window for season ticket subscriptions.........
The Phillies are not going to wait on Bryce Harper and/or Manny Machado in order to start spending money. That means that any Harper/Machado money would be additive..........
Here you go, Billy-Eppler-wannabe’s. Trade Kole Calhoun for what you can get, save the salary, and use that salary to help with signing Michael Brantley..........
The Duffle Bag
Stats podcast for the masses. Needs some tweaking..........As if the garbage actually broadcast on First Take is not bad enough..........I have this same bucket list. I hope for a better grasp of geography (also, what, no museums or legendary MiLB parks or lost MLB ballpark sites???)..........Kenley Jansen is recovering from heart surgery just fine, which is great news for he and his family............steelgolf gives us Vernon Wells putting up for sale his Texas cathedral...castle...mansion....dwelling. Just browse those pictures, think of the a/c bill in that Texas heat, and wonder no more about where all that money went which had Arte wasted on him............
Congrats to NASA for a successful InSight landing on Mars..........(Also, we here in SoCal might get another gorgeous Falcon9 launch out of Vandenberg...currently set for Wednesday at 10:31:47 AM PST.)..........