Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / ANGELS MAILBAG: What three moves would you make if you were the Halos' GM?
Transcript
- 0:07Speaker 1: Well, hey Angel fans, and welcome to Halo Territrea.
- 0:10Speaker 2: Mike D.
- 0:10Speaker 1: Gievanna, former La Times baseball writer and host of the show,
- 0:14Speaker 1: joined by my regular co host Mark Trumbo, the former
- 0:16Speaker 1: Angel slugger, and we are going to crack open the
- 0:20Speaker 1: mail bag today. It's been too long. There's been a
- 0:23Speaker 1: big demand for it, so we're gonna do it today.
- 0:25Speaker 1: But first, I had a few thoughts about Monday's ten
- 0:29Speaker 1: inning loss to the Houston Astros. You know, I thought
- 0:33Speaker 1: that game was actually lost on Sunday when the Angels
- 0:36Speaker 1: used Chase Silseth, one of their two best relievers, in
- 0:39Speaker 1: the eighth inning of a game they were leading by
- 0:41Speaker 1: seven runs. Had he not pitched, they would have had
- 0:44Speaker 1: Silseth and Bachmann available to pitch the eighth the ninth
- 0:48Speaker 1: inning on Monday night. Instead, they go with Kirby Yates
- 0:52Speaker 1: in the ninth two. Why does Kurtzuzuki, the manager, keep saying, quote,
- 0:57Speaker 1: we signed Kirby Yates to be our closer, and we're
- 1:00Speaker 1: gonna give him a chance to close. He said it
- 1:02Speaker 1: again after Yates blew another save Monday night. As far
- 1:06Speaker 1: as I recall, the Angels are expecting Ben Joyce to
- 1:09Speaker 1: be their closer going into the season.
- 1:10Speaker 2: He of course is hurt, but.
- 1:12Speaker 1: At this point Yeats is at best your third best
- 1:15Speaker 1: option in that bullpen behind Silseth and Sam Bachman. He
- 1:19Speaker 1: should not be closing games three. I'm not sure why
- 1:23Speaker 1: Logan Hoppy was given the error on that tenth inning
- 1:26Speaker 1: top of the tenth inning play where Josel Twuovay tagged
- 1:30Speaker 1: and scored on a pop up the shallow center field
- 1:33Speaker 1: that second basement Nick Madgill caught. You know, we've gotten
- 1:37Speaker 1: on o'happy a lot this year for his offense and defense.
- 1:41Speaker 1: But Madrigal's throw home was online, but it took a
- 1:44Speaker 1: really wicket in between hop and bounced fast o'hopy. I
- 1:48Speaker 1: think that would have been an extremely difficult pick for
- 1:50Speaker 1: any catcher, so it seemed unfair that he got the air.
- 1:54Speaker 1: Fourth and last, the Angels are a bad baseball team,
- 1:58Speaker 1: so they need to do all the little things right
- 2:00Speaker 1: to win most games. They did not. Monday Night Astros
- 2:04Speaker 1: Bryce Matthews leads off the top of the tenth with
- 2:06Speaker 1: a bunt that is clearly going fouled on the third
- 2:09Speaker 1: base line. Denzer Guzen picks it up before it rolls foul.
- 2:13Speaker 1: He's got no play at first Astros have runners on
- 2:16Speaker 1: first and third, no outs. I know Guzman doesn't have
- 2:20Speaker 1: a lot of experience at third base, but I think
- 2:22Speaker 1: he's played there enough to know that you need to
- 2:24Speaker 1: let that ball roll foul. Finally, look at the replay
- 2:29Speaker 1: of Mike Trout getting thrown out of the plate in
- 2:31Speaker 1: the bottom of the tenth. He was trying to score
- 2:34Speaker 1: on Jose Series' leadoff single the left field. He literally
- 2:38Speaker 1: dives over the bat of Siri on his way to
- 2:41Speaker 1: the plate, and that bat, in my mind, should have
- 2:44Speaker 1: been cleared by on deck hitter Joe Adell.
- 2:47Speaker 2: It was not.
- 2:48Speaker 1: Now, I'm not saying Trout scores on that play if
- 2:50Speaker 1: the bat's not there, but if it wasn't, I think
- 2:53Speaker 1: at least takes one obstacle out of the way of
- 2:57Speaker 1: Trout as he's trying to score. As far as Gump
- 3:01Speaker 1: would say, is all I have to say about that.
- 3:03Speaker 1: Mark Trumbo and he thoughts about Monday Night, you just.
- 3:08Speaker 3: Gave Sleeper Angels a whole bunch of content. I'll tell
- 3:11Speaker 3: you that much I thought that there was. I won't
- 3:15Speaker 3: go point by point, but I will say what stood out.
- 3:19Speaker 3: I oh, happy he took the criticism. It seems like
- 3:23Speaker 3: he put a ton on himself. I know others pointed
- 3:26Speaker 3: it out that was not on him. That was not
- 3:29Speaker 3: a good throw. Nick Madrigal was back pedaling on that ball,
- 3:33Speaker 3: and I think the real, the real credit goes to
- 3:34Speaker 3: Jose Al tu Bay. I'm assuming he made that read
- 3:37Speaker 3: on his own. Why it was a good play. It
- 3:41Speaker 3: appeared reckless. Yes, he could have very well been out.
- 3:43Speaker 3: That game would have been tied going another into the
- 3:47Speaker 3: bottom half.
- 3:47Speaker 2: Of the inning. Who was coming up to hit was
- 3:50Speaker 2: the ninth ninth hitter.
- 3:51Speaker 3: We've calling Price the catcher, very light hitting catcher at
- 3:54Speaker 3: that So you're going to rely on somebody who's somewhat
- 3:57Speaker 3: of an automatic out to come up with aig to
- 4:00Speaker 3: out hit for you, or you can make someone make
- 4:03Speaker 3: a play, put pressure on him. There's nobody in the
- 4:06Speaker 3: league that is more likely to do something like that
- 4:08Speaker 3: than Jose Al Tuove played winter ball with him in
- 4:11Speaker 3: twenty ten.
- 4:11Speaker 2: I've known him a long time.
- 4:13Speaker 3: That screams him. I think he made a decision. It
- 4:16Speaker 3: may have been somewhat to do with Madrigal's arm, which
- 4:19Speaker 3: isn't bad. There was a lot on that throw it
- 4:22Speaker 3: just you're either going to want to long hop the
- 4:25Speaker 3: catcher or you're going to get it there in the air.
- 4:28Speaker 3: The ball bounce in the grass a very awkward spot,
- 4:32Speaker 3: and the catcher doesn't have the luxury of creating a
- 4:34Speaker 3: hop like an infielder on a relay. He's got to
- 4:36Speaker 3: do the best he can. And I don't even even
- 4:39Speaker 3: the best defensive catcher, I doubt they make that play
- 4:42Speaker 3: half the time. I think it's even less than that.
- 4:44Speaker 3: And it's very lucky. If you do and apply to tag,
- 4:48Speaker 3: people are like, oh, the Astros catcher, you know, a
- 4:51Speaker 3: totally different angle, much better online throw, better hop. And
- 4:57Speaker 3: as far as Adele, I think he was coaching play.
- 5:00Speaker 3: That would be my big criticism. If he weren't doing that.
- 5:02Speaker 3: He was sometimes I think the umpire should be getting
- 5:05Speaker 3: that bad out of the way, but it's a it's
- 5:08Speaker 3: a tough play. I don't I don't fault third base
- 5:11Speaker 3: coach Keith Johnson for the send either. I think the
- 5:14Speaker 3: outfield arm rates I looked it up rates his average
- 5:17Speaker 3: fringe average A very good athlete's Matthews out there.
- 5:24Speaker 2: I can't remember who the left fielder.
- 5:27Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, very you know maybe one of the best
- 5:30Speaker 3: throws he's made in a long time, and that's what
- 5:31Speaker 3: it took to win the game. I I Kirby Yates,
- 5:37Speaker 3: the stuff is just really tough. Kurt is right, and
- 5:40Speaker 3: he has been very effective against right handed hitters, actually
- 5:43Speaker 3: quite dominant. I was very surprised. Now left handers, it's
- 5:46Speaker 3: a totally different story. Ops over one thousand and teams
- 5:50Speaker 3: are going to do what they can to get as
- 5:51Speaker 3: many lefties up against him. If they haven't unloaded their
- 5:54Speaker 3: bench already. It's going to be very tough if you
- 5:57Speaker 3: can't find a little more of strategy to combat left
- 6:01Speaker 3: handed bats, because right now it's very lopsided. And again
- 6:04Speaker 3: another that's where I think the Angels, you know you
- 6:06Speaker 3: want to point to anything in extra Indians, I think
- 6:08Speaker 3: they needed to secure that in regulation and they were
- 6:11Speaker 3: unable to.
- 6:12Speaker 1: All Right, onto the mail bag from Riley Breckinridge of
- 6:17Speaker 1: Orange already fires Perry and gives you the keys as GM,
- 6:22Speaker 1: what are your first three roster moves if you're trying
- 6:24Speaker 1: to build this organization and anything other than what it's
- 6:27Speaker 1: been for a decade plus, I'm gonna let you start
- 6:30Speaker 1: Mark now.
- 6:31Speaker 3: Hot Tomaly is meant for a scribe. That's you, good
- 6:36Speaker 3: friend Riot for context Riley drummer in the band Thrice
- 6:40Speaker 3: and on Baseball Podcast, this question was not meant to
- 6:44Speaker 3: be easy, and that's why it is.
- 6:46Speaker 1: It is not easy, and I'll only I mean, I
- 6:49Speaker 1: have to kind of go with the roster as it
- 6:51Speaker 1: is currently constituted with guys on the you know, guys
- 6:54Speaker 1: are hurt, there's all sortain. The roster is a breathing organism,
- 6:57Speaker 1: living breathing thing, and right now.
- 6:59Speaker 2: It is question is not meant to shuffle rolls either. Okay.
- 7:03Speaker 1: I first would try everything in my power to trade
- 7:06Speaker 1: Mike Trout. I think the Angels owe it to him.
- 7:09Speaker 1: If that means eating sixty five percent of the remaining
- 7:14Speaker 1: money on that contract and getting two decent prospects in return,
- 7:17Speaker 1: that's the first thing I would do. I would get
- 7:19Speaker 1: his buy in, you know, and just frame it as
- 7:23Speaker 1: it should be. You know, we're not going anywhere over
- 7:25Speaker 1: the next year or two. We want Mike Trout to
- 7:28Speaker 1: play in October. We're doing this for him. Maybe you
- 7:31Speaker 1: get a young, controllable big leaguer and a pretty decent prospect.
- 7:35Speaker 1: I know the Hall is not going to be like
- 7:37Speaker 1: Juan Soto and some of those other deals that have
- 7:39Speaker 1: been made. But I think you have to at least try. Second,
- 7:43Speaker 1: I would trade Jose Siriano for you know, whatever, you
- 7:47Speaker 1: not whatever you could get for him, but if you
- 7:48Speaker 1: can get once again one or two decent prospects, I
- 7:52Speaker 1: would do that.
- 7:53Speaker 2: To me.
- 7:54Speaker 1: I look at like Urania and even read Detmer's as
- 7:57Speaker 1: guys who are on the rise. Still, I think right
- 7:59Speaker 1: now what we saw in April is the best you're
- 8:01Speaker 1: gonna get out of Hosey Soreano. You're talking about a
- 8:04Speaker 1: two time Tommy John guy. I'm not sure his value
- 8:08Speaker 1: is going to get any higher, and I'm not sure
- 8:09Speaker 1: you're gonna get much more out of him. Third, I would, uh,
- 8:13Speaker 1: and I hate to say this, but I would. I
- 8:15Speaker 1: would option Logan Hoppy to triple A, just to clear
- 8:18Speaker 1: his head, try to get him on track. I see
- 8:21Speaker 1: your eyes, what you want both moves. You know I'm
- 8:25Speaker 1: the GM. I would uh, you know, try to get
- 8:28Speaker 1: his bat going to against some you know, lesser pitching,
- 8:32Speaker 1: build some confidence and just you know, put a pin
- 8:35Speaker 1: in that pressure balloon that he seems to feel, and
- 8:38Speaker 1: you could feel it in his comments last night. I mean,
- 8:41Speaker 1: his frustration level has got to be off the charts,
- 8:43Speaker 1: So that would be what I would do. Those are
- 8:45Speaker 1: my three moves. Thank goodness, Riley, you only wanted three.
- 8:49Speaker 2: What do you got? Mark? Good answer?
- 8:52Speaker 3: I not gonna Mine would be moving the most attractive
- 8:59Speaker 3: pieces and moving them for the best hall that you
- 9:02Speaker 3: can get, and that would be Jose Soriano.
- 9:06Speaker 2: Could see him, you know, looking.
- 9:08Speaker 3: Quite nice in a Braves uniform, for example, Joe Adele.
- 9:12Speaker 3: And the shortstop would be the guys that I would offer. Now,
- 9:18Speaker 3: you don't want to get fleeced so rightfully, So with
- 9:23Speaker 3: a guy like Zach you can ask for a haul.
- 9:26Speaker 3: You know, it should be a sky high price and
- 9:28Speaker 3: maybe somebody comes and is willing to meet it. The
- 9:31Speaker 3: player I think people really want and teams would salivate
- 9:35Speaker 3: over the most would probably be Redebtner's right now, probably
- 9:40Speaker 3: going to be my answer to another question.
- 9:41Speaker 2: So I believe that.
- 9:42Speaker 3: But and you know what, when I said it the
- 9:47Speaker 3: other day, we only get one take at this. So
- 9:48Speaker 3: I said rebuild. People took issue with no team is
- 9:51Speaker 3: going to come out and say rebuild. You're probably correct
- 9:54Speaker 3: about that. Whatever other adjective you want to use, going
- 9:58Speaker 3: you know, retool, restructuring, rebranding, whatever, I get it. No
- 10:03Speaker 3: team might say the word rebuild, but there's no evidence
- 10:07Speaker 3: that this team. People have also said it's quite obvious
- 10:10Speaker 3: they're doing it. I'm not so sure about that. You
- 10:13Speaker 3: can say, yes, their payroll is less, but unless I
- 10:17Speaker 3: see the minor league system greatly improved through trading major
- 10:22Speaker 3: league assets, I don't see a rebuild. So that's where
- 10:25Speaker 3: I stand.
- 10:26Speaker 1: All right, We're going to take a quick break for
- 10:28Speaker 1: a word from our sponsors, and we'll be right back
- 10:31Speaker 1: with more Angels.
- 10:32Speaker 2: Mailbag.
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- 11:35Speaker 1: Welcome back to Hallo Territory with Mike Di Giovanno, Mark
- 11:37Speaker 1: TRUMBOE and we're doing an Angel's mail bag today from
- 11:41Speaker 1: Mary Panasian of Montebello. Mary, and I see what you
- 11:44Speaker 1: did there, and that was pretty pretty pretty slick with
- 11:48Speaker 1: all the buzz around potential trades, would you rather the
- 11:51Speaker 1: Angels sew anyone and everyone and finally lean into a
- 11:55Speaker 1: proper rebuild this year? The White Sox and Rockies are
- 11:58Speaker 1: clearly headed in the right direction. Why our halos are
- 12:01Speaker 1: circling the drinin I'll go ahead and start on this one.
- 12:04Speaker 1: I would not sell everyone, because I think the angel
- 12:08Speaker 1: still have some young pieces that you will want to
- 12:11Speaker 1: have on your team moving forward. They're guys like Reed
- 12:15Speaker 1: det Meer's, Wilbert Urania, Sam Bachman. These are the types
- 12:20Speaker 1: of guys you want to get back in trades for
- 12:22Speaker 1: major league talent. So I would not trade everyone, But honestly,
- 12:27Speaker 1: I look at the roster. I don't see anyone else
- 12:30Speaker 1: on that roster right now, including Netto, including Joe Adell,
- 12:35Speaker 1: certainly including Mike Trout. As I've said that I would
- 12:38Speaker 1: not be listening on in terms of trades.
- 12:42Speaker 2: I agree.
- 12:44Speaker 3: I guess the first question kind of handled or answered that.
- 12:47Speaker 3: You know, the name that never comes up in these
- 12:49Speaker 3: talks is first Basemen Nolan SChannel Shnowell. Sorry, I did
- 12:54Speaker 3: what the Dodgers pronounce it, Shaan A Well, you get
- 12:58Speaker 3: pounced by you know, certain someone if you so Seanwell,
- 13:02Speaker 3: I I it's not necessarily a criticism, but his name
- 13:06Speaker 3: almost never gets mentioned in trade talks, and I kind
- 13:09Speaker 3: of wonder, you know, if he's a big piece and
- 13:13Speaker 3: YadA YadA, you know, some teams.
- 13:14Speaker 2: Might have interest.
- 13:15Speaker 1: But anyway, yeah, I think it's just I've said on
- 13:19Speaker 1: the show many times, this ceiling for me is just
- 13:21Speaker 1: too low for a team looking to trade for an
- 13:23Speaker 1: impact guy. I like him as a player. I think
- 13:26Speaker 1: he has more upside than he's shown. Like I said,
- 13:30Speaker 1: maybe not a number eight hitter, but certainly you know,
- 13:33Speaker 1: a six seven hitter on a decent team. I think
- 13:36Speaker 1: Sean Sean Well would be a good fit from Barry
- 13:40Speaker 1: in you Kaipa, if you could bring back one former
- 13:43Speaker 1: Angel to the current clubhouse for leadership and mentorship, who
- 13:47Speaker 1: would it be? And why I'm gonna let you start
- 13:50Speaker 1: on this one Mark this is I have to admit,
- 13:52Speaker 1: this is a tough question.
- 13:55Speaker 3: It is tough, and it's made tougher because of the
- 13:57Speaker 3: fact that he's sometimes there. But Torrian is the name
- 14:00Speaker 3: that came to mind, and foremost he's there some of
- 14:04Speaker 3: the time, but I think it's closer to rarely than not.
- 14:09Speaker 3: And he has contributed for sure. He just exemplified to
- 14:13Speaker 3: me what a big league leader is and was, and
- 14:18Speaker 3: they haven't had anything close to him since in my opinion,
- 14:23Speaker 3: and after losses, I mean, he took it hard, he
- 14:26Speaker 3: was pissed and set the tone. He also knew how
- 14:29Speaker 3: to celebrate the you know, the right way, and you
- 14:34Speaker 3: just really looked at him as somebody who had it together.
- 14:36Speaker 3: This is a guy that knows how to compete, knows
- 14:38Speaker 3: how to win, and you want to follow his leadership,
- 14:41Speaker 3: and that's what we did, or that's what I tried
- 14:44Speaker 3: to do.
- 14:46Speaker 2: I think that it's sorely missed.
- 14:48Speaker 1: I wished I would have had, you know, a picture
- 14:51Speaker 1: and a physician player to answer this question. When if
- 14:54Speaker 1: I did, I would have picked Troy Percival and Darren Erstad.
- 14:59Speaker 1: Troy person was about his tough nosed ballplayer and the
- 15:04Speaker 1: fact that he was a closer. You know, he's obviously
- 15:07Speaker 1: not involved in the in the bulk of the game,
- 15:09Speaker 1: but he set the tone for that pitching staff when
- 15:12Speaker 1: he was there. He set the attitude. There was no
- 15:15Speaker 1: messing around.
- 15:16Speaker 2: You know.
- 15:16Speaker 1: He took losses as hard as anybody. But since I
- 15:20Speaker 1: wouldn't pick a pitcher for that role, I gotta go
- 15:22Speaker 1: with Ersty. Darren was not the world's most vocal leader,
- 15:27Speaker 1: but I don't think there's a better guy to set
- 15:29Speaker 1: an example, whether you're a veteran, a rookie, you know,
- 15:33Speaker 1: an arbitration eligible guy for playing the game the right way,
- 15:37Speaker 1: for being accountable, for playing hard nose, for going all out.
- 15:41Speaker 1: Then Darren Urstad, he was once again those teams in
- 15:44Speaker 1: the World Series, team, the teams throughout the late nineties
- 15:48Speaker 1: after he came up. He was the personality of that team.
- 15:53Speaker 1: The way he look at the way he ran the bases,
- 15:54Speaker 1: look at the way he played defense. He was a
- 15:56Speaker 1: gold glover at first base in center field. I don't
- 15:58Speaker 1: think that's ever been done. And he just he didn't
- 16:02Speaker 1: put up with any crap. You know, if a guy
- 16:04Speaker 1: needed to be talked to on the team, he was
- 16:06Speaker 1: talked to. That team had a lot of good leaders,
- 16:08Speaker 1: you know, Gary DiSarcina, Chili Davis comes to mind, But
- 16:14Speaker 1: to me it would be ersty from Roddy ho and Irvine,
- 16:18Speaker 1: Mike and Mark. Why do you think the Angels are
- 16:20Speaker 1: just now preaching using the whole field? Gooby and Wayne
- 16:23Speaker 1: are all about it on the broadcast too. Did somebody
- 16:27Speaker 1: finally wake up with the epiphany that using one third
- 16:29Speaker 1: or less of the available outfield it's not the greatest strategy.
- 16:33Speaker 3: What do you think, Mark, Roddy Well, I think that
- 16:39Speaker 3: it seemed like the game the no hitter that was
- 16:41Speaker 3: broken up and laugh and Grissom had some comments on
- 16:45Speaker 3: it that seemed to be the start of it for me,
- 16:47Speaker 3: and he spoke up in the team meeting I guess
- 16:50Speaker 3: maybe the scouting report the next day, and they had
- 16:53Speaker 3: him talk a little bit about why he thought that that.
- 16:56Speaker 2: Was a valuable tool.
- 16:57Speaker 3: I truthfully, it's a little bit surprising that it seems
- 17:02Speaker 3: to be something that's only now embraced, as they've played
- 17:06Speaker 3: plenty of other teams that do a very good job
- 17:08Speaker 3: of it. I remember some of their earlier games too,
- 17:11Speaker 3: the Cubs. They are now struggling, but they singled the
- 17:14Speaker 3: Angels to death. It was lousy weather in Chicago and
- 17:17Speaker 3: they were taking their hits. I think that's one thing
- 17:20Speaker 3: that the Angels, and I know that Perry has talked
- 17:24Speaker 3: about there's more than one way to get ops numbers
- 17:27Speaker 3: up to where they are, but part of that is
- 17:30Speaker 3: heading for a higher batting average. And I believe you
- 17:34Speaker 3: cannot be a dead pole hitter and reasonably expect to
- 17:37Speaker 3: hit for the same average that you might be able
- 17:40Speaker 3: to if use the whole field. I don't know if
- 17:43Speaker 3: some guys are just stumbling into it and realizing, hey,
- 17:45Speaker 3: it's pretty cool there are some hits over there. It
- 17:47Speaker 3: sounds like lunacy, but maybe that is something that at
- 17:53Speaker 3: least in the minor league system they have just haven't experienced,
- 17:56Speaker 3: and they've just been taught to lift in the air,
- 17:58Speaker 3: lift in the air, poll in the air, pulling the air.
- 18:00Speaker 3: I think it's pounded into your head enough. Maybe you
- 18:02Speaker 3: don't think it's anything else, is something that you should
- 18:07Speaker 3: be looking to do, but they they fortunately, you know,
- 18:09Speaker 3: better light than ever.
- 18:10Speaker 1: I think, Yeah, the old phrase necessity is the mother invention,
- 18:14Speaker 1: mother of invention comes to mind for me here. I
- 18:16Speaker 1: think there was a change in personnel. You had Wade
- 18:19Speaker 1: Meckler coming up. You had Donovan Walton come up to
- 18:21Speaker 1: really more contact, get on base kind of guy, kinds
- 18:25Speaker 1: of guys. Now, Nick Madrigal's playing a little more. He's
- 18:28Speaker 1: a feisty hitter in the box. Solera, one of the
- 18:32Speaker 1: biggest free swingers on the team is no. You know,
- 18:34Speaker 1: he's hurt. Looks like he's gonna be down for a month,
- 18:37Speaker 1: if not more so. I think they sort of saw
- 18:40Speaker 1: the light in that. Hey uh, you know they had
- 18:42Speaker 1: a couple that that sweep over the Rangers in Anaheim.
- 18:45Speaker 1: They they they moved, you know, they kept the train
- 18:48Speaker 1: moving with a lot of those rallies. And I think,
- 18:51Speaker 1: you know, I remember asking Kurt after that game if
- 18:54Speaker 1: you can actually put more pressure on teams when you
- 18:57Speaker 1: single and double him to death, and with a few
- 18:59Speaker 1: walks mixed in there, because you're putting pressure on the pitcher,
- 19:02Speaker 1: pitcher storing out of the stretch, guy on third base,
- 19:05Speaker 1: catcher feels more pressure to block balls in the third.
- 19:07Speaker 1: You just put that constant pressure on teams instead of,
- 19:10Speaker 1: you know, going for home runs all the time. I
- 19:13Speaker 1: think they I think it was more triggered by a
- 19:15Speaker 1: personnel change than necessary and then necessarily saying, oh, you know,
- 19:19Speaker 1: a light bulb going off over their head from Leon
- 19:22Speaker 1: Black and Stanton Mark. He played with some incredible talent
- 19:25Speaker 1: in Anaheim. Who's the most underrated current Angel on the
- 19:29Speaker 1: roster right now and why should fans be excited about them?
- 19:33Speaker 1: I like this question.
- 19:36Speaker 3: Read debtmers, and I think that it is he underrated.
- 19:41Speaker 3: I think around the league. I don't think he's a
- 19:43Speaker 3: household name. I think recently he's pitched extraordinarily. I know
- 19:48Speaker 3: one of the commenters and on the YouTube side said
- 19:51Speaker 3: that the Angel fan base may not give him enough
- 19:54Speaker 3: credit or let I mean, I've always been a huge
- 19:56Speaker 3: fan of his, and I said earlier, I think I'm
- 19:59Speaker 3: certain that many teams would love to have him, and
- 20:03Speaker 3: possibly kind of a bi low thing like he's you know,
- 20:06Speaker 3: not quite sure. I believe Clayton Kershaw told Gooby, does
- 20:09Speaker 3: this guy have any clue how good he is? I
- 20:13Speaker 3: got that wrong, Sorry, but I believe that is what
- 20:15Speaker 3: was said. And that's a guy Clayton Kershof future Hall
- 20:17Speaker 3: of Famers saying, Hey, I mean, this guy's he's got
- 20:20Speaker 3: the goods, he's got all the pitches. It's a matter
- 20:23Speaker 3: of kind of putting it together. But recently it seems
- 20:25Speaker 3: to you know, he's out there. He's doing quite well.
- 20:28Speaker 3: He's far more aggressive. Looks like the kind of the
- 20:30Speaker 3: bullpen version we saw last year, going right at guys.
- 20:33Speaker 3: And I think a lot of teams would love to
- 20:36Speaker 3: have him, I'd say, and last time I will say.
- 20:38Speaker 2: That, but around the league a little bit underrated in
- 20:41Speaker 2: my opinion.
- 20:42Speaker 1: All right, we'll take one more break for a word
- 20:44Speaker 1: from our sponsors. We'll be right back with more Angels Mailbag.
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- 21:50Speaker 1: Hey, welcome back to Hello Territory with Mike D. Giovanna
- 21:52Speaker 1: and Mark Trumbo. We got the Angels mail bag from
- 21:55Speaker 1: Patmyas and Rancho Cucamonga and this one's for me. Honest
- 21:59Speaker 1: take on zach Netto's development. Is he a future face
- 22:02Speaker 1: of the franchise and how does his ceiling compare to
- 22:06Speaker 1: some of the great shortstops you've seen? Well, my goodness, Pat,
- 22:10Speaker 1: I been in this business for forty five years, so
- 22:13Speaker 1: I've seen a lot of great shortstops. There's been some
- 22:16Speaker 1: offensive just studs like a Rod Cory Seeger, and then
- 22:22Speaker 1: you have some all around guys, clutch guys like Derek Jeter,
- 22:26Speaker 1: Barry Larkin Hall of Famer, and then I look at
- 22:28Speaker 1: the defensive whizzes like Ozzie Smith, Omar Vasquell Andrelton Simmons.
- 22:35Speaker 1: So I don't think his ceiling offensively or defensively is
- 22:38Speaker 1: anywhere near those guys. And I don't think, you know,
- 22:42Speaker 1: he's in a class like Bobby Wood Junior and maybe
- 22:44Speaker 1: Gunner Henderson or even Francisco Lindor when he's healthy and
- 22:47Speaker 1: playing well today. If I were to I looked at
- 22:51Speaker 1: some comps, I think he has the potential. You know,
- 22:55Speaker 1: Zack is a twenty twenty five homer guy a year,
- 22:59Speaker 1: which is great. He's got to cut down his strikeouts.
- 23:02Speaker 1: For me, I think he's leading the American League with
- 23:04Speaker 1: eighty nine right now. He has to get more consistently
- 23:08Speaker 1: consistent defensively, and I think approach has to be more
- 23:14Speaker 1: consistent as well. We've seen him kind of go in
- 23:16Speaker 1: and out mentally in certain situations. But I look at
- 23:21Speaker 1: a guy like Jimmy Rollins seven forty three career ops,
- 23:25Speaker 1: I think that's attainable for zach Netto in his prime,
- 23:29Speaker 1: a twenty to twenty homer eighty RBI guy. I think
- 23:32Speaker 1: that's definitely within reach. And then maybe a guy like
- 23:36Speaker 1: Troy Tulowitzki, who granted, I think benefited from Colorado's atmosphere
- 23:40Speaker 1: for a while. He had an eight fifty six career
- 23:42Speaker 1: ops and in his prime he was a twenty five homer.
- 23:46Speaker 2: Ninety RBI guy.
- 23:47Speaker 1: So maybe, you know, certainly not Hall of Fame caliber,
- 23:52Speaker 1: maybe not top three, four five in the game, but
- 23:55Speaker 1: I think he still has the potential to be one
- 23:58Speaker 1: of the top five short stops. From Raoul Ignacio mark,
- 24:04Speaker 1: who would you like to see the Angels bring up
- 24:06Speaker 1: from the minor leagues to bolster a shaky bullpen.
- 24:11Speaker 3: I think that there's not an easy answer, because Sammy
- 24:16Speaker 3: and Terror Junior was my answer, and he's now up
- 24:19Speaker 3: in the big leagues. If there was somebody else, if
- 24:21Speaker 3: they needed it right now, a power arm to come
- 24:25Speaker 3: in and they were making a playoff push George Glassen
- 24:28Speaker 3: would be my answer, but as that's not exactly what
- 24:31Speaker 3: is called for despite the fact they are struggling with
- 24:36Speaker 3: the bullpen, I don't Sammy and Terror.
- 24:38Speaker 2: What would be the answer that I would give? And
- 24:40Speaker 2: he's already up.
- 24:40Speaker 1: So yeah, from D Soloway and Coasta Mesa, Mike, great
- 24:44Speaker 1: job and the interviews lately, well thanks D. There's an
- 24:48Speaker 1: art to ask the athletes questions. How do you approach
- 24:50Speaker 1: trying to get thoughtful responses? And is there any advice
- 24:52Speaker 1: for dealing with players slash managers who might blow a
- 24:56Speaker 1: gasket if they don't like the topic. If I were
- 25:00Speaker 1: like giving this advice to a young journalist, my advice
- 25:03Speaker 1: would be one, don't beat timid. If you show any
- 25:06Speaker 1: signs of fear or hesitation, they're gonna just They're gonna
- 25:09Speaker 1: each you up.
- 25:11Speaker 2: Just be confident.
- 25:12Speaker 1: Uh, then be direct, you know, I don't beat around
- 25:15Speaker 1: the bush. I hate questions that start with the word obviously,
- 25:18Speaker 1: And I've said this to many young writers. I still
- 25:20Speaker 1: hear it every day out of the park. It tries
- 25:22Speaker 1: me nuts. Obviously, logan, you're not trying to miss that ball.
- 25:26Speaker 1: So what happened? You know, just say, Logan, it look
- 25:29Speaker 1: like a really tough hop. What happened on that play?
- 25:32Speaker 1: Did you feel like you had a chance to make
- 25:34Speaker 1: the play? Very simple, very direct, That's how I would
- 25:37Speaker 1: approach it. Uh and and just in general, you know,
- 25:40Speaker 1: try to have more of a conversation, a conversation with
- 25:43Speaker 1: these guys and to turn it into a Q and ah.
- 25:47Speaker 1: Here's one from Halo Honk Roger. I'm not sure what
- 25:51Speaker 1: we're going forward that handle. Fans are loving Wade Meckler's
- 25:54Speaker 1: energy and grit so far. What do you see as
- 25:56Speaker 1: his long term role in this team? And is he
- 25:58Speaker 1: a spark plug we can build the wrong What do
- 26:01Speaker 1: you think Mark?
- 26:03Speaker 3: So far, so good. I think he's brought much needed
- 26:06Speaker 3: energy to the team. He's played a nice left field
- 26:09Speaker 3: that he and his ad bats have been very competitive.
- 26:12Speaker 3: He hasn't looked overmatched at all. The statistics are still
- 26:16Speaker 3: holding up quite nicely. And you know, the attitude as
- 26:19Speaker 3: much as anything. He's just we've not gonna beat the
- 26:23Speaker 3: horse to death. But very gritty ballplayer, very serious ballplayer,
- 26:27Speaker 3: kind the kind of guy I really like watching. He
- 26:29Speaker 3: looks like someone that's taking very professional at bats and
- 26:33Speaker 3: if I were, you know, managing a team, I'd be
- 26:36Speaker 3: quite happy with what I see out of him.
- 26:39Speaker 1: From tarts Off twenty twenty six. Mike, you've covered the
- 26:42Speaker 1: team for decades. What's the biggest difference between the Angels
- 26:44Speaker 1: squad and the competitive teams from the Trout Simmons pool
- 26:48Speaker 1: Holes Sarah. I'm gonna guess this is a really young fan,
- 26:52Speaker 1: maybe because those Trout Simmons pool Holes era teams weren't
- 26:55Speaker 1: always competitive going into the late two thousand teams or whatever,
- 26:59Speaker 1: whatever the heck you call decade, So I'll sort of
- 27:01Speaker 1: go back to the first decade of this century. Guy,
- 27:05Speaker 1: That makes me feel old, But I'm not. This team
- 27:09Speaker 1: when I compare to the team that won five division
- 27:12Speaker 1: titles from four to nine, that won the World Season
- 27:15Speaker 1: O two, just lacks an identity in general. You know,
- 27:18Speaker 1: those teams just they were Mike's Sosia clearly Mike's Sosia teams.
- 27:22Speaker 1: They played fearlessly, They've played aggressively on offense, on defense,
- 27:27Speaker 1: pitched aggressively, and they just had that kind of identity.
- 27:33Speaker 1: This team does not have the pitching depth. A little
- 27:35Speaker 1: better in the rotation this year, but not enough. Definitely
- 27:39Speaker 1: not in the bullpen. Think of those great well, the
- 27:42Speaker 1: two team had one of the best deepest bullpens in
- 27:45Speaker 1: recent baseball history, and most of those teams throughout that
- 27:50Speaker 1: you know, run from four and oh nine had just
- 27:52Speaker 1: really deep, versatile and effective bullpens. And they're not as
- 27:58Speaker 1: sound fundamentally.
- 27:59Speaker 2: As I mean.
- 28:00Speaker 1: There's really no other way of putting it. And Monday
- 28:02Speaker 1: Nights game was another good example. All these little things
- 28:06Speaker 1: they add up. I don't know if it's coaching, if
- 28:10Speaker 1: it's a system thing, if it's a development thing, but
- 28:13Speaker 1: a lot of the guys they've brought up just don't
- 28:14Speaker 1: seem ready for the big leagues. So that's how I'd
- 28:17Speaker 1: answer that from mister Flusac. Is there a reason the
- 28:22Speaker 1: Angels can't go to a four man rotation when there
- 28:24Speaker 1: is an off day? I did the math, and if
- 28:27Speaker 1: they did that, they would only need a fifth starter
- 28:29Speaker 1: three more times before the All Star Break. Do managers
- 28:31Speaker 1: feel that sometimes they need five days rest? I got
- 28:34Speaker 1: a simple answer for that one. Yeah, extra rest for
- 28:37Speaker 1: a starter. Look at the Dodgers, They've had a six
- 28:39Speaker 1: man rotation now for years. I think most teams prefer
- 28:45Speaker 1: to give pictures an extra day rest.
- 28:47Speaker 2: What do you think mark four man rotation? That's old school? Huh?
- 28:53Speaker 2: Do you go to Jim Pilo for that one?
- 28:56Speaker 3: I Walbert Urana, Jose Sano two times, Tommy John Grayson
- 29:01Speaker 3: Rodriguez as a screen forum and.
- 29:04Speaker 2: Rotation, No, not at all.
- 29:07Speaker 3: You have to look I got to look out for him.
- 29:10Speaker 3: So while the question was thoughtful, I'm going to have
- 29:14Speaker 3: to say, I don't think this is a strategy for
- 29:16Speaker 3: this club.
- 29:17Speaker 2: Correct. I agree? A question for me.
- 29:19Speaker 1: If Mike's Sosha became a legendary manner manager for the Angels,
- 29:23Speaker 1: then why didn't the Dodgers ever give Sosia a shot
- 29:25Speaker 1: at being the Dodgers manager? From what I recall, after
- 29:29Speaker 1: Tommy la A Lasorda retired, it was like a rotating
- 29:31Speaker 1: door for the Dodger managers, hiring a new one every
- 29:35Speaker 1: two to three years. And he's right. I went back
- 29:38Speaker 1: and looked. Kevin Malone was hired as a Dodgers GM,
- 29:43Speaker 1: and I believe it was ninety eight, and then he
- 29:44Speaker 1: hired Davey Johnson to be their manager. And at that time,
- 29:49Speaker 1: Mike's social was he was on the Dodgers' staff. I
- 29:52Speaker 1: believe under a big league staff and then he went
- 29:55Speaker 1: to manage Triple A Albuquerque, and I went back and
- 29:58Speaker 1: found a quote from Mickey Hatcher, of all people, who
- 30:01Speaker 1: was also on that staff, and he said, we felt
- 30:05Speaker 1: that Kevin Malone and his group of people didn't want
- 30:08Speaker 1: to have any Dodger people involved because they wanted it
- 30:10Speaker 1: to be their organization and their system, which is normal
- 30:13Speaker 1: in any situation. But I felt, as a coach and
- 30:16Speaker 1: a former player in that system that we were getting
- 30:19Speaker 1: pushed out. When Mike was managing in Triple A, it
- 30:22Speaker 1: was controlled. They were trying to control everything Mike did.
- 30:26Speaker 1: So this was probably the best move for Mike, this
- 30:28Speaker 1: being him taking the Angels job in two thousand. We
- 30:31Speaker 1: used to joke with Mike Soshio all the time that
- 30:34Speaker 1: he was a bit of a control freak. Former columnist TJ.
- 30:37Speaker 1: Simers would get under his skin with that question all
- 30:40Speaker 1: the time. But I think there is some truth to it.
- 30:43Speaker 1: Mike's Soshia wanted to control of things from the top
- 30:46Speaker 1: to the bottom of the organization because he knew what
- 30:48Speaker 1: the hell he was doing and it worked for a
- 30:51Speaker 1: long long time, So I don't blame him. And that's
- 30:56Speaker 1: all I got for that one, And the last question
- 30:59Speaker 1: bounced ball one oh one. Is it even remotely possible
- 31:02Speaker 1: for the Angels to bring back Mike Sooshia in some
- 31:05Speaker 1: capacity consultant, GM, manager, president or vice president?
- 31:11Speaker 2: What do you think?
- 31:11Speaker 3: Mark in theory, Sure, I think it is. I don't
- 31:18Speaker 3: one thing. It seems I don't know how. This is
- 31:23Speaker 3: a tougher question because it seems like there could be
- 31:28Speaker 3: no interest on either side. If asked, maybe he'd be
- 31:32Speaker 3: more than willing to come and help out. But it's
- 31:34Speaker 3: a tough deal because he's had so much success. I
- 31:37Speaker 3: think a lot of well, any manager, especially a younger manager,
- 31:42Speaker 3: would feel quite intimidated by that.
- 31:44Speaker 2: But then, well they're not having any success.
- 31:47Speaker 3: But Bruce Bocci is helping out up in San Francisco,
- 31:51Speaker 3: where you know another general manager, and well, I guess
- 31:54Speaker 3: Buster Posey is shouldering a lot of the criticism there, but.
- 31:58Speaker 2: There's somebody else that's getting some as well. Well.
- 32:02Speaker 3: I think so it should be a great presence. He'd
- 32:03Speaker 3: be a great addition anywhere, maybe working with catchers. One
- 32:07Speaker 3: thing I wanted to say about Logan, he has improved.
- 32:11Speaker 3: He gives some a video interview.
- 32:14Speaker 2: That was you know, you feel honestly you feel bad.
- 32:18Speaker 3: He's really really wearing it, obviously, but he has improved
- 32:20Speaker 3: his new catching stance.
- 32:22Speaker 2: I've seen better blocking.
- 32:23Speaker 3: I think it'd be remiss not to mention that he
- 32:26Speaker 3: looks He looks better in that regard, at least to me.
- 32:29Speaker 3: I worry about his exposed hand, but I think there's
- 32:31Speaker 3: just trade offs to try and and he is trying everything.
- 32:34Speaker 3: It's not as if he's not trying. That's that would
- 32:36Speaker 3: probably be a bigger issue if there was no adjustments
- 32:40Speaker 3: or discernible adjustments being made. So, getting off on a
- 32:44Speaker 3: little bit of a tangent, I don't think the current
- 32:47Speaker 3: general manager probably wants Mike Sosha involved. The formula right
- 32:52Speaker 3: now is the polar opposite of what they used to employ,
- 32:56Speaker 3: so there's no compatibility there, and I think it would
- 33:00Speaker 3: take some of the you know, maybe stealing a bit
- 33:02Speaker 3: of his thunder. So for that reason, I don't think so.
- 33:06Speaker 1: Yeah, I totally agree on the Perry Venasian factor. I
- 33:09Speaker 1: think as long as he's a GM, there's no way
- 33:11Speaker 1: Mike Sosha comes back. I think it'd be great if
- 33:14Speaker 1: he did in some capacity. I think Jeff Fletcher figured
- 33:17Speaker 1: this out. Mike's Soosha and myself were the longest tenured
- 33:22Speaker 1: manager and beat writer to be together. It was like
- 33:25Speaker 1: eighteen years or whatever it was, whatever, we were there,
- 33:28Speaker 1: and as you can guess, you know, there were times
- 33:30Speaker 1: where we butted ahead. When you spend that much time
- 33:33Speaker 1: together with one manager and one writer, that's naturally going
- 33:35Speaker 1: to happen. But I really respect the heck out of
- 33:38Speaker 1: Mike's Sosha. I think at the end of his career
- 33:42Speaker 1: things were just spiraling downward.
- 33:43Speaker 2: They started running through gms.
- 33:45Speaker 1: There was a lot of philosophical difference, differences with guys
- 33:48Speaker 1: like Jerry Depoto. He butted heads with a lot of
- 33:50Speaker 1: guys and they did seem to be a need for
- 33:53Speaker 1: change at that time. But man, when you look back what.
- 33:56Speaker 2: He was doing work.
- 33:57Speaker 1: It's an old school style of baseball that is not
- 34:00Speaker 1: played that much today. But as much as I would
- 34:04Speaker 1: love to see it, I just don't see that happening.
- 34:07Speaker 3: And that one thing I know you want to end.
- 34:09Speaker 3: But there was a sack bun. The Angels are attempting
- 34:13Speaker 3: to bunt a bit more, but it is rough, it's stabby,
- 34:18Speaker 3: and I'm curious what is going on with that. I
- 34:23Speaker 3: understand why they're I guess, trying to do it, but
- 34:25Speaker 3: it looks like a lot more practice might be needed.
- 34:27Speaker 2: I don't know if you've noticed, but it doesn't.
- 34:29Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I think that goes back to the fundamentals
- 34:32Speaker 1: we talked about earlier. You know, that's another one of
- 34:34Speaker 1: those little little things that can become a big thing
- 34:36Speaker 1: when you don't get the job done. All right, we're
- 34:39Speaker 1: going to close on that note. Thanks for tuning in
- 34:42Speaker 1: and listening. Please like and subscribe, and we'll see you
- 34:47Speaker 1: next time on Halo Territory.