Halos Heaven: All Posts by Rahul Setty

Rahul Setty previews the 2020 Angels on SB Nation Radio

2020-02-24T21:26:37-08:00

I’m ready. Are you? | Photo by Masterpress/Getty Images

I join host John Michaels to discuss all things LAA.

SB Nation Radio graciously offered to have me on their show Monday night, and I happily obliged.

Here is 11 minutes of audio of my conversation with host John Michaels, previewing the season to come for the LA Angels.

Felix Peña is back in action

2020-02-06T06:11:13-08:00

Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images

Good news! Angels pitcher Felix Peña is cleared to throw, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.

The Angels pitching news I’m sure you all wanted…Félix Peña (torn ACL) apparently has been cleared to throw off a mound, according to his IG story.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) February 5, 2020

Peña, acquired off waivers from the Cubs two winters ago, has shown flashes of brilliance in his outings with a wicked offspeed offering that stifles opposing batters. His ERA/FIP marks have both been about league-average while not being wild on the mound (24.8 K% and an 8.4 BB%).

Despite having torn his ACL in the first week of August, Peña still finished with the team’s second-highest innings mark, with 96 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched.

Here’s to a healthy recovery.

In lieu of the usual

2020-01-31T04:00:00-08:00

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Sometimes we must take a step back before we can move forward.

Yesterday afternoon, I volunteered to write up these Friday baseball links but after a last-minute work event and subsequent spaghetti-induced laundry extravaganza, I now sit here in front of my laptop at 1:15 in the morning, weary and wrought with how little sleep I will attain for the following working day. I could feasibly write up these links, but this article is better used as a proverbial moment of silence before what comes in the days to follow.

For over three years now, I have had the pleasure to write for a site that has allowed me to interact with hundreds of passionate, knowledgeable Angels fans and reach the eyes of hundreds of thousands. Brought on by Josh Mayhood who graciously brought me aboard in September 2016 (I was just a bright-eyed seventeen-year old when I wrote my first fanpost), I focused on writing analytical articles that would allow others to glean insight from the meticulous research I’d done in addition to quickly having become part of the community. Somewhere along the line, that morphed into trade analysis, news blurbs, prospect projects, copyediting, and whatever else I felt the site needed to thrive.

As most of you I’m sure know by now, the same site that has brought me so much joy can no longer thrive. Due to SB Nation’s corporate positioning in response to AB5, daily links, gamethreads, and possibly even postgames will no longer be covered due to the stipulation of 35 posts maximum by a single individual. I wish I could see a way forward, but HH as we know it will have no choice but to drastically change, with the community falling by the wayside.

I am so incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to write for SB Nation and Vox Media for the past 40 months, and while I will still continue to write here through the end of March, I wish Halos Heaven nothing but continued success.

That being said, things will certainly be different moving forward, and we hope you’ll join us for what’s to come: a burgeoning, vibrant community of Angels fans supplanted by a talented masthead producing quality insight and passionate commentary.

Lakers legend Kobe Bryant passes away in helicopter crash

2020-01-26T12:54:06-08:00

Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

Kobe Bryant, longtime superstar for the Los Angeles Lakers, has passed away this morning in a helicopter crash outside LA, per numerous sources.

Kobe Bryant is among those dead in a helicopter crash outside Los Angeles, a source confirms to ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 26, 2020

There are conflicting sources circulating regarding the death of his daughters, who may or may not have been in the helicopter.

Bryant won 5 NBA championships spanning his illustrious NBA career.

Friday Links!

2020-01-10T07:00:00-08:00

Photo by John Cordes/Sporting News via Getty Images via Getty Images

Congrats! You’ve made it to the last day of the workweek. Have some lovely baseball links on this blessed day.

Our team’s best defender has a new contract!

Over at FanGraphs, Craig Edwards explores the linearity of the cost of a win in free agency and comes to the conclusion that below-average players are getting discounted heavily.

The Rays and Cardinals made a trade with six moving pieces yesterday, with top pitching prospect Matt Liberatore headed to the Cards while 1b/DH Jose Martinez and OF Randy Arozarena off to Tampa Bay. The trade is notable as Martinez is a good bat but sputtered in 2019, while Liberatore has potential to slot in at the front of a rotation. If the Rays wanted a good bat, couldn’t they have simply kept Tommy Pham?

Ken Rosenthal has some hot stove notes ($), though it’s about what you’d expect. No shockers.

The Astros trade for formerly Rays RP Austin Pruitt, an acceptable reliever with a monstrous spin rate on offspeed pitches. More player development incoming...

A certain upstart had its first tweet yesterday..... ;)

Let’s play a “fun” trivia game: can you name all the 2019 Angels starters with more than 100 innings pitched? I bet you can’t name them all!

Angels acquire starting pitcher Dylan Bundy from Orioles

2019-12-04T13:43:55-08:00

Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images

Oh hey, TRADE ALERT

Billy Eppler makes his first trade or free agent signing of the offseason, acquiring Orioles starting pitcher Dylan Bundy.

#Angels have acquired RHP Dylan Bundy from the #Orioles, sources tell The Athletic. Triple A RHP Isaac Mattson in deal, heading to Baltimore.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 4, 2019

Bundy, a former 4th overall pick by the Orioles, pitched 161 innings last year with a 9.02 K/9, 3.23 BB/9, and a 4.79 ERA (4.73 FIP). He has averaged 30 starts and 2.1 fWAR over the prior three seasons.

Despite not living up to the prospect hype (and in part due to undergoing Tommy John surgery long ago), Bundy represents a solid back-end starter controllable for two seasons.

MLB Trade Rumors estimates he will receive $5.7 million in arbitration.

Right-hander Dylan Bundy is headed to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for RHP Isaac Mattson, RHP Zach Peek, RHP Kyle Bradish and RHP Kyle Brnovich, sources tell ESPN. @Ken_Rosenthal had Bundy going from Baltimore to Los Angeles.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 4, 2019

The Angels send four minor leaguers to Baltimore, including near MLB-ready relief piece Isaac Mattson, who broke out in 2019 in a big way.

Mattson is the least interesting guy in this deal to me and the most reported. I have really liked Bradish back to his college days. Peek a recent pick from Winthrop who had day one run at points. Brnovich out shadowed by George Kirby but excellent college numbers https://t.co/E30hM6NUCj
— jeff ellis (@jeffMLBdraft) December 4, 2019

I think this deal suits both teams, as the Angels needed both pitching volume and quality (Bundy improves both) and the Orioles, who could use a few interesting fliers in the farm system.

Angels buy stadium and will stay in Anaheim through 2050

2019-12-04T10:17:22-08:00

Photo by Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images

Surprise, surprise.

After years of speculation of the Angels moving to a different city within Southern California, the Angels finally hammered out a deal to stay.

The #Angels and the city of Anaheim have reached agreement on a new deal that keeps the team in town through 2050. The Angels will buy the stadium and surrounding parking lots for $325 million.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) December 4, 2019

Per an LA Times report, the Angels and the city of Anaheim have agreed to keep the Angels in town for 30 additional years. As part of the deal, the Angels will reportedly buy the stadium and its surrounding parking lots for $325 million.

Update: An OC Register article by Alicia Robinson presents more details, including that the Angels are deliberating whether to renovate the stadium or construct a new one:

Any deal was expected to hinge on the sale or lease and development of property around the stadium, and the land still likely will be developed with apartments and condos, restaurants, hotels and entertainment businesses – but the city now will make money from increases in property and sales taxes rather than getting a direct cut of stadium or development revenue. [...]

The council is expected to vote on the land sale portion of the deal at a special meeting Dec. 20, with a development agreement and community benefit provisions to follow in the spring. The purchaser, SRB Management LLC (which includes Moreno and other undisclosed partners), would need city approval of development plans for the property – those are expected to emerge in the next few years.

Angels officials are still considering whether to renovate the stadium or build a new one, team spokeswoman Marie Garvey said. They’ve hired HKS Architects – which designed Minneapolis’ recently opened NFL stadium and is working on a new ballpark for the Texas Rangers – to explore their options.

MLB trade rumors: Angels have shown “real interest” in Zack Wheeler

2019-12-04T09:10:08-08:00

Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images

The longtime Met has been nothing short of stellar the past two seasons.

Ken Rosenthal has a tidbit for you: the Angels have shown “real interest” in Zach Wheeler.

Still alive for Wheeler, per sources: #Phillies, #Reds, #WhiteSox. Possible other teams remain in mix; #Angels also have shown real interest. Phillies’ push first reported by @Buster_ESPN.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 4, 2019

For what it’s worth, similar things were said last winter when the Angels did not land either of Patrick Corbin (who signed to a 6-year, $140 million deal with the Nationals), or Yasmani Grandal (who signed to a 1-year, $18.25 million deal with the Brewers). The club proceeded to allocate $28 million in guaranteed dollars to Matt Harvey, Trevor Cahill, and Cody Allen.

While Wheeler does not possess the pedigree of other free agent starters on the market, he has been quite good of late (4+ fWAR and 29+ starts in each of the last two seasons). The 6’4” ~~lefty~~ righty averaged 97 mph on his heater in 2019 and has logged just 749 innings in the majors, with 464 of those coming after his Tommy John surgery in March 2015.

Better pitch location in two strikes can likely take Wheeler from very good to great. With a relatively fresh arm, a major-league club could very well be getting an ace.

The Angels’ payroll picture heading into 2020

2019-11-08T09:09:31-08:00

Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

With a lot of holes to fill this offseason, you’re probably asking yourself: how much do the Angels have to spend in free agency? This post is to figure out just that.

Projecting payroll and average annual value (AAV) is important as the two are both functions of population size and density, team quality, team enthusiasm, unemployment, consumer wages, and consumer confidence, among other factors.

While the AAV is used for luxury tax calculations, and teams receive fines and penalties for exceeding the luxury tax threshold (which is $208 million this year), the actual figure is incredibly important as it represents how much money is spent on the roster each year.

As for this year’s data, Jeff Fletcher, a team beat writer with the Orange County Register, maintains an updated spreadsheet which has the team’s AAV for luxury tax purposes at $118,945,000 before considering an MLBTR-estimated $21.7 million outlay in arbitration-eligible players.

By adjusting that figure for how much players will actually make (recall that AAV is simply the average amount per year that a player makes, and frontloading or backloading the contract makes the actual amount vary from the AAV) by adding in players on the 40-man roster ($2.25M) and estimated player benefits ($14.5M), we arrive at an actual payroll that would clock in at $157,395,000 if no changes are made to the roster.

While accurately predicting the exact year-end payroll of a given year is a crapshoot, the best we can do is evaluate past year-end payrolls and revise payroll accordingly based on the changes that have occurred.

Cot’s Contracts is a tremendous help here, as they have the past five years of the team’s actual baseball payroll data; they have luxury tax calculations on their site, too.

Angels owner Arte Moreno has alluded to a payroll increase for the team this season. While a rather vague and noncommittal response, the statement—and a perhaps predictable managerial change—is acknowledgment that Moreno would like the team to be better than it was last year.

To be conservative in each of the staff’s general manager scenarios over the next several weeks, we will be using +10% in payroll from the prior season, which brings us to an approximate total payroll of $191.5 million, and MLB player salaries of $175 million. This means the organization would have $34.35 million to spend this winter.

[Note: I am aware that the hiring of Maddon may indicate drastically increased spending, a deviation from the Angels’ norms. However, it does not make sense to explicitly forecast such an increase when management has a history of misleading their own fan base in recent years with their competitive intentions.]

Welcome to winter!

World Series Game 7 Thread: Nationals @ Astros

2019-10-30T17:00:00-07:00

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

For all the marbles.

Max Scherzer @ Zach Greinke

Let’s do this.