Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / AWARDS SHOW: Recapping the good, bad & ugly of another lost Angels season
Transcript
- 0:08Speaker 1: Hello, Angel fans, and welcome back to Halo Territory. I'm
- 0:11Speaker 1: Mike DiGiovanna, former LA Times baseball writer and host of
- 0:14Speaker 1: the show, joined by my regular co-host, Mark Trumbo, the
- 0:17Speaker 1: former Angel Slugger, and our regular HT contributor and baseball
- 0:23Speaker 1: writer extraordinaire, Sam Blum of The Athletic. Guys, welcome. How
- 0:28Speaker 1: are you guys doing today? We've got an interesting one today.
- 0:30Speaker 1: We're going to mix it up a little. You guys
- 0:32Speaker 1: fired up?
- 0:33Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
- 0:34Speaker 3: Yes.
- 0:35Speaker 1: All right. For our viewers, it's pretty early on Tuesday morning,
- 0:40Speaker 1: but we're going to get this thing done. So we
- 0:42Speaker 1: figured we'd do a little fun episode here. The Angels
- 0:45Speaker 1: entered their last road trip with a 60-96 record. They're
- 0:48Speaker 1: in last place in the American League West. Still have
- 0:52Speaker 1: to go 3-3 in their final six games to avoid
- 0:55Speaker 1: being the first 100-loss team in franchise history. But we're
- 0:59Speaker 1: going to do a year-end show, a year-end awards show.
- 1:03Speaker 1: Eight categories, a few that are complimentary, a couple that aren't.
- 1:09Speaker 1: We're not going to pretend this season is something that
- 1:11Speaker 1: it wasn't. So without further ado. Mark really wanted that
- 1:20Speaker 1: in there. Let's start with Team MVP. Most valuable player.
- 1:23Speaker 1: Who actually carried this team? The guy who played every day,
- 1:26Speaker 1: who produced when almost nobody else did. The pitcher who
- 1:29Speaker 1: finally looked like the version we've been waiting for. MVP
- 1:32Speaker 1: in a last place club is a little strange of
- 1:36Speaker 1: an award, but are we rewarding volume peak or he
- 1:39Speaker 1: was the only guy who didn't make you change a channel? Sam,
- 1:42Speaker 1: what do you got?
- 1:43Speaker 4: Um, you know, there's a couple of kind of different
- 1:48Speaker 4: routes you can go with this. For me, the anchor
- 1:50Speaker 4: of this whole team was, was starting pitching, uh, for
- 1:53Speaker 4: most of the season, especially, or really, I guess mostly
- 1:55Speaker 4: the last couple of months, but, um, I'm going to
- 1:58Speaker 4: go with three Detmers. I just, I just feel like,
- 2:00Speaker 4: you know, not only did, did he kind of carry
- 2:03Speaker 4: the pitching staff throughout the whole season really? But, you know, he's,
- 2:06Speaker 4: he's just kind of put himself in such an, I think,
- 2:08Speaker 4: positive career trajectory that he's deserving of this award. You know,
- 2:13Speaker 4: he could go with someone like Zach Netto or even
- 2:15Speaker 4: Mike Trout, you know, guys who had solid seasons and, and,
- 2:20Speaker 4: you know, were kind of the backbones of a very
- 2:22Speaker 4: weak offense at times throughout the year. But I just think,
- 2:26Speaker 4: when you look at the strengths of this team and
- 2:28Speaker 4: it was starting pitching and Reed Detmers was kind of
- 2:30Speaker 4: the guy that set the tone. So to me, that
- 2:31Speaker 4: was the most valuable element of this, you know, awful
- 2:35Speaker 4: downtrodden club and you know, good for him. I think
- 2:38Speaker 4: he's got a, you know, a future as a big
- 2:41Speaker 4: league ace, whether it be with the angels or wherever
- 2:42Speaker 4: kind of for the rest of his career, hopefully.
- 2:45Speaker 1: Yeah. Good pick. I am going to go the position player,
- 2:49Speaker 1: Zach Nettle, the shortstop. I even want to make a
- 2:52Speaker 1: vote MVP. I always, I remember the year when Pedro
- 2:55Speaker 1: Martinez was right there. I forget, 99 or something. And
- 2:59Speaker 1: I just find it hard to go with a pitcher
- 3:01Speaker 1: over a guy who plays every day. And Zach Netto,
- 3:03Speaker 1: we know he enters the final week of the season
- 3:06Speaker 1: with 209 strikeouts. That's third most in baseball. And yes,
- 3:10Speaker 1: his focus and effort seemed to waver at times. We
- 3:13Speaker 1: got on him a little bit for pouting early in
- 3:15Speaker 1: the season. But the shortstop also led the team with
- 3:19Speaker 1: 26 homers, 29 doubles. 142 hits, 98 runs, 21 stolen bases.
- 3:27Speaker 1: And the thing for me is he posted, you know,
- 3:29Speaker 1: he missed the last few weeks of last season with
- 3:32Speaker 1: that hand injury. But he's already played a team-high 151
- 3:35Speaker 1: games this season. And his defense, at least according to Fangraphs,
- 3:39Speaker 1: did improve in the second half. Remember, I think he
- 3:41Speaker 1: was leading the major leagues in errors about halfway through.
- 3:45Speaker 1: And he's got nine defensive runs saved, according to Fangraphs.
- 3:49Speaker 1: Still not crazy about him in the leadoff spot. We'll
- 3:51Speaker 1: see how that changes if it changes next year. But
- 3:54Speaker 1: I'm going with Zach Netto. This is where you ask me?
- 3:59Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 4:00Speaker 1: Your turn, Mark.
- 4:02Speaker 5: You did, and you stole one of my arguments. Team MVP.
- 4:11Speaker 5: I think, like you said, on.
- 4:13Speaker 3: A team that's won 60 bowl games, and we'll see
- 4:16Speaker 3: where they finish, who has been the brightest spot?
- 4:21Speaker 5: This might be surprising.
- 4:22Speaker 3: It's going to be a redundant answer for this one,
- 4:24Speaker 3: but I also chose Zach Netto. 151 games played, he posted.
- 4:29Speaker 3: More importantly, I saw improvements in his attitude and his defense.
- 4:35Speaker 3: And I think when you're looking at a young team,
- 4:38Speaker 3: And evaluating what is going on, you want to see improvements.
- 4:43Speaker 3: And he was one guy that absolutely improved. There were
- 4:46Speaker 3: some others, too. But they're going to need him. Analytically,
- 4:51Speaker 3: highest war on the team. That is somewhat by default.
- 4:55Speaker 3: There are some areas to clean up, too. But this
- 4:58Speaker 3: season could have been something very unflattering, I think, if
- 5:02Speaker 3: his attitude had continued for longer than it did. But
- 5:05Speaker 3: he was able to get his act together. And, uh,
- 5:09Speaker 3: another strong showing. And I think that he, when I
- 5:12Speaker 3: was his all around game, he steals, uh, bases, which really,
- 5:17Speaker 3: you know, brings the overall package to a much more
- 5:20Speaker 3: attractive level.
- 5:21Speaker 1: Um, and I think that when.
- 5:23Speaker 3: You look at this and a hundred, like I said earlier,
- 5:25Speaker 3: played the most games he posted, uh, took the field,
- 5:28Speaker 3: even when they were long out of it and they
- 5:31Speaker 3: were out of it ago.
- 5:32Speaker 5: So it's my choice here.
- 5:36Speaker 1: And, uh, I understand you might have a little honorable
- 5:39Speaker 1: mention candidate in this category, Mark.
- 5:42Speaker 5: I was considering.
- 5:43Speaker 3: I stuck to a player, but I've got to say
- 5:46Speaker 3: Molly Jolly probably, as far as organizationally, deserves some praise
- 5:53Speaker 3: for making a change and making a change in the
- 5:57Speaker 3: general manager position. I'm not sure if it was entirely her.
- 6:00Speaker 3: For right now, I'm under the assumption that it was,
- 6:04Speaker 3: and it needed to be done, and the team is
- 6:06Speaker 3: better because of it.
- 6:07Speaker 1: Agreed. Next category, most improved. This is somebody who took
- 6:12Speaker 1: a real step forward. Command, pitch mix, approach, health for
- 6:16Speaker 1: a pitcher, something that clicked that wasn't there before. And
- 6:19Speaker 1: is this jump big enough that it sort of changes
- 6:22Speaker 1: how you look at him next spring? I'll start with
- 6:25Speaker 1: that one. And I'm going with Reed Detmers as most
- 6:27Speaker 1: improved because this guy, I remember in 2024, struggled so
- 6:31Speaker 1: much as a starter. He went four and nine.
- 6:34Speaker 5: I couldn't.
- 6:35Speaker 1: I was surprised when I went back and looked at this.
- 6:37Speaker 1: 4-9 with a 6-7-0 ERA in 17 games that year.
- 6:41Speaker 1: Struggled so bad, they moved him to the bullpen. Had
- 6:44Speaker 1: a great year in 2025 as a reliever. 5-3 with
- 6:48Speaker 1: a 3.96 in 61 games. And to me, he really
- 6:52Speaker 1: carried that mentality back into the rotation this year. He
- 6:55Speaker 1: goes into the last week with a 6-8 record, 3.47
- 6:57Speaker 1: ERA in 31 starts, 204 strikeouts. That hasn't been done
- 6:59Speaker 1: in a while. Only 46 walks in 179 innings, and
- 7:08Speaker 1: he's one of the best pitchers in baseball since the
- 7:10Speaker 1: All-Star break. 3-2, the 2-0-5 ERA in 12 starts since then.
- 7:15Speaker 1: I just think his, and he maintained his stuff, his command,
- 7:19Speaker 1: his velocity. This guy was a horse. I don't think
- 7:23Speaker 1: he missed one start. I don't even know that he
- 7:25Speaker 1: was even pushed back a few days to give him
- 7:27Speaker 1: extra rest. So kudos to Reed for a great bounce
- 7:31Speaker 1: back year. Well, I guess it wasn't. A bounce-back year
- 7:34Speaker 1: from 2024 as a starting pitcher. What do you got, Mark?
- 7:40Speaker 5: I have Ryan Johnson. I wish we had a nickname
- 7:44Speaker 5: for him.
- 7:45Speaker 1: The big train.
- 7:48Speaker 5: Yeah.
- 7:49Speaker 3: I'm sure we'll hear one sooner than later on the broadcast.
- 7:52Speaker 3: But this is a guy that we've chronicled what was
- 7:57Speaker 3: going on with Ryan Johnson, what was going on with
- 8:00Speaker 3: his development.
- 8:01Speaker 1: Why is he.
- 8:01Speaker 5: Pitching in tri-cities?
- 8:04Speaker 1: Where did he go?
- 8:05Speaker 3: First round pick, no time in the minor leagues, pitching
- 8:09Speaker 3: in the major leagues, didn't go well. Made the team
- 8:11Speaker 3: out of spring this year, didn't go well. The velocity
- 8:15Speaker 3: wasn't there and we didn't have too many answers. But
- 8:20Speaker 3: to his credit and to the credit of the Angels,
- 8:23Speaker 3: this guy easily can be penciled in as a starter
- 8:26Speaker 3: next season, at least in my opinion. His last 15 starts,
- 8:29Speaker 3: he's got a 3-9-3 He's given him many outings where
- 8:32Speaker 3: he's gone six innings, six innings or more. So I
- 8:36Speaker 3: think that when I was looking at this category, while
- 8:40Speaker 3: I understand Reed, I think Reed's always had the talent.
- 8:43Speaker 3: He's put it together. I think Johnson just, to me,
- 8:48Speaker 3: stood out the most for someone who's improved and contributed
- 8:52Speaker 3: to the club.
- 8:52Speaker 1: All right. I like it. Sam, what do you got?
- 8:57Speaker 4: I'll go with Walbert Urania, and I think, you know,
- 9:01Speaker 4: one of the reasons for this, I mean, Urania, when
- 9:04Speaker 4: he started the season, I didn't think he should have
- 9:05Speaker 4: even been in the big leagues. And the reason for
- 9:08Speaker 4: that was, I mean, his numbers in minor leagues weren't
- 9:10Speaker 4: particularly like good. I mean, this is a guy that
- 9:13Speaker 4: has essentially exploded on the scene in the span of
- 9:16Speaker 4: one big league season. I think you watch him pitch
- 9:20Speaker 4: and you feel like this guy, everything he's doing is
- 9:22Speaker 4: real and sustainable. He's done it for an entire year
- 9:24Speaker 4: at this point. But if you look back to, you know,
- 9:28Speaker 4: his numbers in double A, triple A, I mean, he's, One,
- 9:30Speaker 4: he's moved up quickly, but he's been around a high fours,
- 9:34Speaker 4: low fives ERA in minor leagues throughout his brief time there.
- 9:38Speaker 4: And so I think it's interesting that he's able to
- 9:40Speaker 4: come to the big leagues and just look so polished,
- 9:42Speaker 4: be someone that essentially is going to give you a
- 9:45Speaker 4: one or zero run, earn run outing every time. He's legit.
- 9:53Speaker 4: One of the reasons why I think you have some
- 9:55Speaker 4: building blocks here, you have two really good ace level
- 9:59Speaker 4: starting pitchers. in your rotation. And I agree with, with
- 10:02Speaker 4: Mark on Ryan Johnson, where there's, you know, there's, there's
- 10:04Speaker 4: some building blocks of potential there. I don't know if
- 10:06Speaker 4: it's the same level, but it's, you know, it's, it's,
- 10:10Speaker 4: it's close to a pretty good rotation right now. So
- 10:12Speaker 4: the angels have someone to work with.
- 10:13Speaker 1: All right. Hey, we're gonna take a quick break for
- 10:16Speaker 1: a word from our sponsors and we come back. We'll
- 10:18Speaker 1: have more. From our Halo Territory year-end awards show.
- 10:26Speaker 4: So, Jay, do you ever find yourself crashing in the afternoon,
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- 10:33Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, definitely.
- 10:34Speaker 2: I found myself on the golf course a lot lately.
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- 10:53Speaker 2: Definitely, you know, gives me a little bit of focus,
- 10:55Speaker 2: that little bit of energy that I'm looking for, and
- 10:58Speaker 2: obviously not having any caffeine in it is always a
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- 11:25Speaker 1: And welcome back to your territory.
- 11:29Speaker 5: Reach into your golf bag, Mike.
- 11:31Speaker 1: You don't want to know what's in my golf bag.
- 11:34Speaker 1: Because it's going to do some damage. All right. Best pitcher.
- 11:39Speaker 1: It's pretty clear there's only two guys in this category.
- 11:42Speaker 1: Although I'll give credit to... ryan johnson he did really
- 11:46Speaker 1: come on in that in the last few months of
- 11:47Speaker 1: the season so this we want to keep it sort
- 11:50Speaker 1: of separate from the most improved conversation and even mvp
- 11:53Speaker 1: who actually gave you the best chance to win on
- 11:55Speaker 1: a given night inning stuff maybe a strong second half
- 11:59Speaker 1: run stuff versus results one arm is electric another actually
- 12:04Speaker 1: threw strikes for four months which one are we valuing
- 12:07Speaker 1: mark trumba we're going to start with you on this.
- 12:09Speaker 3: One I'm going to go with Reid Detmers on this one,
- 12:17Speaker 3: and I don't think I need to explain all that
- 12:20Speaker 3: much further. He was the best pitcher on a team
- 12:24Speaker 3: that has some good pitching, but Reid's numbers, and I'm
- 12:27Speaker 3: sure they're right there in front of you. Well, you
- 12:29Speaker 3: already read them off, so no need.
- 12:31Speaker 5: To expand upon that.
- 12:32Speaker 3: They're a big step forward for Reid, true ace-level stuff.
- 12:36Speaker 3: uh someone that's you can count on if they scored
- 12:39Speaker 3: any runs at all his one loss record would be
- 12:41Speaker 3: significantly better but a big fan of his and he
- 12:45Speaker 3: did a very nice job this.
- 12:46Speaker 1: Year totally concur i am gonna go with walbert araña
- 12:50Speaker 1: so sam's gonna have to break the tie to me
- 12:52Speaker 1: i'm going with stuff here just pure stuff and walbert
- 12:56Speaker 1: actually had a era of 2.74 which is significantly lowered
- 13:02Speaker 1: i think reed had the better second half but Man, Urania,
- 13:05Speaker 1: you're talking about a guy with a 99-mile-an-hour sinking fastball,
- 13:11Speaker 1: touches 101, might have touched 102 this year, with a
- 13:16Speaker 1: devastating changeup and an approving sweeper, and much like Detmers,
- 13:21Speaker 1: this kid's only 22, and he was a horse. He
- 13:23Speaker 1: did not miss a start once he got into the
- 13:27Speaker 1: rotation in mid to late April. Just a real impressive kid,
- 13:31Speaker 1: and I guess the most impressive thing about him is,
- 13:35Speaker 1: Outside of that Stuff Plus graphic in spring training that
- 13:38Speaker 1: somebody discovered, I don't think any of us had really–
- 13:41Speaker 1: we may have heard of him, but he was definitely
- 13:43Speaker 1: not on our radar coming out of spring training. So
- 13:45Speaker 1: kudos to Wobbert on really a breakout year. Sam, break
- 13:49Speaker 1: that tie.
- 13:51Speaker 4: Well, I already picked Reed Demers for the team MVP,
- 13:53Speaker 4: so it would be weird for him to not be
- 13:54Speaker 4: the best pitcher. I do agree with everything you say
- 13:58Speaker 4: about Urania. I mean, I don't think it's like a–
- 14:00Speaker 4: it's a runaway– you know, uh, situation here. And I
- 14:04Speaker 4: think Urania probably will win this superlative of this award.
- 14:08Speaker 4: He was picked as the best, uh, the Nick Adenhart
- 14:10Speaker 4: award by, you know, by the team as the best pitcher. Um,
- 14:14Speaker 4: so like I said, it could go either way. I'll
- 14:16Speaker 4: pick Detmers just cause I, you know, I felt like
- 14:18Speaker 4: from start to end, he was their guy and, uh, he,
- 14:21Speaker 4: he did that job, you know, in a way that
- 14:23Speaker 4: I think very few starting pitchers have for the angels
- 14:27Speaker 4: in the last decade. Um, and yeah, I think that
- 14:30Speaker 4: that's why I'll probably go with him.
- 14:32Speaker 1: All right, next category, Unsung Hero, Surprise Player. And I
- 14:36Speaker 1: got to give credit to Mark Trumbo. He wrote the
- 14:39Speaker 1: captions for these categories, and I like him. So this
- 14:41Speaker 1: is not a headliner, maybe a part-timer, a guy who
- 14:45Speaker 1: was called up, the guy who just put the ball
- 14:47Speaker 1: in play on a team that struck out like it
- 14:49Speaker 1: was a hobby, who quietly made you say, wait, he's
- 14:52Speaker 1: actually a big leaguer? Granted, this is a low bar.
- 14:55Speaker 1: Somebody has to get credit for not being a black
- 14:57Speaker 1: hole in this lineup. I'm going to start, and I'm
- 15:00Speaker 1: going to go with the Wade Meckler, 26-year-old outfielder. What
- 15:07Speaker 1: a debut, an Angels debut, May 22nd. In one inning,
- 15:11Speaker 1: he starts in the top half with a sliding catch
- 15:15Speaker 1: while crashing into the wall in foul territory for an out.
- 15:18Speaker 1: Then he hits a three-run homer off Jacob deGrom, a
- 15:21Speaker 1: two-time Cy Young Award winner in the bottom of the
- 15:25Speaker 1: first half. To me, he just never stopped impressing me.
- 15:28Speaker 1: The guy, and it was the final week of the season.
- 15:31Speaker 1: He's got a team high 289 average right now. His
- 15:34Speaker 1: 365 on base is second on the team to Mike
- 15:38Speaker 1: Trout's 381. And what impressed me the most is probably
- 15:42Speaker 1: just the quality of his at-bats. Almost always high. Rarely
- 15:47Speaker 1: gave away an at-bat. And I love his instincts. I
- 15:51Speaker 1: love his grit. He reminds me of a little bit
- 15:54Speaker 1: of David Eckstein and Darren Erstad. Tough guys to live
- 15:57Speaker 1: up to, but I think, and you could tell the
- 16:00Speaker 1: way the fans really took to this guy. I really
- 16:02Speaker 1: like him, and I think he's got a shot to
- 16:05Speaker 1: be the team's leadoff hitter next season, especially if they can,
- 16:09Speaker 1: you know, acquire some guys who will make that possible,
- 16:12Speaker 1: move Zach Netto down. Just real impressed with Wade. Great
- 16:15Speaker 1: job for the Esperanza High School product. Who wants to
- 16:19Speaker 1: go next?
- 16:25Speaker 4: I mean, the obvious answer is Wade Meckler. I mean,
- 16:28Speaker 4: that's not like a shock or anything. I'll pick somebody
- 16:30Speaker 4: else just for the sake of it. But, you know, just,
- 16:32Speaker 4: you know, register my vote as Wade Meckler. I'll go
- 16:35Speaker 4: with Donovan Walton.
- 16:37Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, I like it.
- 16:38Speaker 4: The reason for that is, I mean, they should have
- 16:41Speaker 4: kept him on the team. I mean, he has since
- 16:43Speaker 4: gone to the A's and done exactly what he was
- 16:45Speaker 4: doing with the Angels. which is just get on base
- 16:48Speaker 4: and kind of be a solid piece of a lineup
- 16:51Speaker 4: that doesn't necessarily strike out, that they could use probably
- 16:55Speaker 4: a little bit more of as they go down the
- 16:58Speaker 4: stretch of a season where they just kind of need
- 16:59Speaker 4: some depth and they need some players that don't strike
- 17:03Speaker 4: out every time they come to the plate. So I'll
- 17:05Speaker 4: give it to Donovan Walton because I felt like if
- 17:08Speaker 4: he had been here, that's what he would have gotten.
- 17:10Speaker 4: We saw it over the course of about a month
- 17:12Speaker 4: and a half or so. And good for him. I mean,
- 17:15Speaker 4: you know, it's not easy just to kind of like
- 17:16Speaker 4: have a career year at age 32 out of nowhere.
- 17:18Speaker 4: And especially when you're, you know, a journeyman minor league
- 17:21Speaker 4: contract guy and, you know, he's got 1.5 war and
- 17:23Speaker 4: that's a pretty good year for, for Donovan.
- 17:26Speaker 1: That's amazing. What do you got Mark?
- 17:29Speaker 5: I went with Walbert Urania on this one. I had
- 17:31Speaker 5: to get him in there somewhere.
- 17:32Speaker 3: Mainly just because I coming into this year, who was
- 17:37Speaker 3: Walbert Urania? Truthfully, I, you had, you know, maybe you
- 17:42Speaker 3: saw the name written a couple of times, but looked
- 17:45Speaker 3: at the minor league numbers, you know, took one glance
- 17:48Speaker 3: and said, I don't know, man, a lot of walks,
- 17:50Speaker 3: a lot of walks, uh, hard to predict that that's
- 17:53Speaker 3: going to translate, but, uh, it has, and it has
- 17:55Speaker 3: in a really big way. And, uh, I, Wade Meckler
- 18:00Speaker 3: obviously fits this like a glove, um, as well. And
- 18:04Speaker 3: a huge fan, uh, for anyone that's watched regularly, you know,
- 18:07Speaker 3: his abats, he, the, I guess you can split it.
- 18:11Speaker 3: I mean, both of them get it, but I think
- 18:14Speaker 3: about way too consistent, hard contact. And you can clearly see,
- 18:17Speaker 3: at least to me, he's not trying to lift the ball.
- 18:20Speaker 3: And I think that's what maybe is most attractive about
- 18:23Speaker 3: a team that has had a real problem trying to
- 18:27Speaker 3: do that. And for those that might care, they're back
- 18:31Speaker 3: in the lead in strikeouts on the offensive side. They
- 18:34Speaker 3: lost that for a second, but, They reclaimed the title
- 18:37Speaker 3: lowest OPS and lowest slugging, too.
- 18:39Speaker 5: So I know you like those stats, Mike.
- 18:42Speaker 1: I love them. All right. Health availability. On this roster,
- 18:48Speaker 1: staying on the field is an achievement. Who showed up
- 18:50Speaker 1: enough that you could actually plan around him? We spent
- 18:53Speaker 1: years talking about what certain guys would look like if
- 18:56Speaker 1: they were healthy. This year, a couple of them were.
- 18:59Speaker 1: Does that change the grade, or are we still grading
- 19:01Speaker 1: on a curve? Mark, we'll start with you on this one.
- 19:06Speaker 1: I truthfully forgot this.
- 19:11Speaker 3: Health and availability has to be the center fielder, Mike Trout.
- 19:16Speaker 3: This is going to be totally winging it, but I'm
- 19:19Speaker 3: assuming your answers might be the same. Yeah, I'm going
- 19:22Speaker 3: with Trout too.
- 19:22Speaker 1: It is kind of obvious. After four injury-marred seasons and
- 19:24Speaker 1: a 2025 season in which he was relegated to DH
- 19:26Speaker 1: for 106 out of 130 games. Trout has started 109
- 19:39Speaker 1: of 137, uh, games in center field in 2026. He, uh,
- 19:44Speaker 1: wasn't exactly the Mike Trout three-time, uh, MVP winner of old, uh,
- 19:50Speaker 1: and he certainly was not a gold glover in center
- 19:53Speaker 1: field in fact this was surprising he ranked 14th among
- 19:56Speaker 1: 17 qualifying center fielders with a minus eight defensive runs
- 20:01Speaker 1: saved and 16th with minus five outs above average according
- 20:06Speaker 1: to fangraphs but he had a respectable season at the
- 20:08Speaker 1: plate hitting 241 with an 800 OPS. That second figure
- 20:14Speaker 1: boosted greatly by his 102 walks, third most in Major
- 20:18Speaker 1: League Baseball. 21 homers, 25 doubles, 53 RBIs. You definitely
- 20:25Speaker 1: want some more RBIs in that three-hole, scored 82 runs.
- 20:29Speaker 1: The weird thing is, if you told me before the
- 20:31Speaker 1: season that Mike Trout was going to start 120 games
- 20:34Speaker 1: in center field and play the whole season, you know,
- 20:39Speaker 1: minus one short, uh, injury list. And I would have
- 20:42Speaker 1: thought the angels would be in much better shape than
- 20:44Speaker 1: they are. So kind of a shame that they actually
- 20:47Speaker 1: got Mike trial for a whole year and, and they're
- 20:49Speaker 1: still going to finish with a hundred losses or close
- 20:52Speaker 1: to Sam.
- 20:54Speaker 4: I'm going to switch it up a little bit. I'm
- 20:56Speaker 4: going to go with Yohan Moncada.
- 20:57Speaker 1: And the reason.
- 21:03Speaker 4: I mean, yeah, it's probably Trout or Neto. I mean,
- 21:05Speaker 4: Neto was very reliable. You guys talked about that at
- 21:08Speaker 4: the very top. I mean, he was essentially... I think
- 21:10Speaker 4: he missed one series where he... I forgot exactly what happened,
- 21:14Speaker 4: but Trout was available. I don't really think Trout should
- 21:17Speaker 4: kind of be married to the center field role. you know,
- 21:20Speaker 4: as you kind of alluded to, it wasn't a very
- 21:21Speaker 4: strong defensive center fielder. When you watch him, the eye
- 21:23Speaker 4: test will tell you something similar that probably, you know,
- 21:27Speaker 4: isn't necessarily the best primary position for him at the moment.
- 21:31Speaker 4: But if it helps him stay on the field, helps
- 21:33Speaker 4: him stay motivated and healthy, I mean, you know, that's
- 21:36Speaker 4: a valuable thing to have. I mean, we look up
- 21:39Speaker 4: and down the Angels lineup, you know, he's got four
- 21:40Speaker 4: war and there's, you know, only Netto that's even really
- 21:43Speaker 4: in that same range. So I'd probably go with, you know,
- 21:47Speaker 4: Trout or Netto. It's not a shocking pick. but it's, uh,
- 21:50Speaker 4: you know, kind of a split, split the baby there.
- 21:53Speaker 1: Yeah. It's going to be interesting how they handle this
- 21:55Speaker 1: situation moving forward. I remember, was it four? It's gotta
- 21:57Speaker 1: be at least four or five years when I think
- 21:59Speaker 1: Joe Maddon was there and they, the first day of
- 22:02Speaker 1: spring training, they said, we're moving trout to the corners
- 22:05Speaker 1: and he had trout. Yeah. He did not respond, respond
- 22:08Speaker 1: well to that. And of course he hardly played the
- 22:11Speaker 1: outfield over the next few years. And yeah, he's definitely
- 22:14Speaker 1: not the center fielder he once was. What do you
- 22:16Speaker 1: do with this guy? Uh, Do you pursue a center
- 22:20Speaker 1: fielder who Mike Trout looks at and says, okay, this
- 22:23Speaker 1: guy has to play center field. He's so much better
- 22:25Speaker 1: than me. All right, we're going to go right from
- 22:27Speaker 1: that category to three. I think you're going to like
- 22:30Speaker 1: these categories. Biggest disappointment, the player who is supposed to
- 22:35Speaker 1: be a long-term answer to position, disappointing compared to expectation
- 22:40Speaker 1: or disappointing because the team desperately needed him not to
- 22:43Speaker 1: be this bad. I'm going to lead off in this category.
- 22:46Speaker 1: I'm going with Josh Lowe. And I know it was
- 22:51Speaker 1: a rough start to the season. His mother did pass away,
- 22:53Speaker 1: and I want to acknowledge that. But the Angels traded
- 22:57Speaker 1: a pretty good reliever in Brock Burke to get this
- 22:59Speaker 1: guy from Tampa Bay in hopes he would reprice his
- 23:03Speaker 1: 2023 season. With the Rays, he hit. 292 with an.
- 23:07Speaker 1: 835 OPS, 20 homers, and 83 RBIs that year. But
- 23:11Speaker 1: he got off to such a bad start with the
- 23:13Speaker 1: Angels that he was demoted to AAA Salt Lake in
- 23:16Speaker 1: late May, At that time, he was hitting 184 with
- 23:19Speaker 1: a 546 OPS, 5 homers, and 14 RBIs in 45 games.
- 23:24Speaker 1: He did return in late June, and he played better.
- 23:28Speaker 1: Right now, he's got a 209 mark, 637 OPS, 12 homers,
- 23:32Speaker 1: 29 RBIs, 98 strikeouts in 109 games, all of which
- 23:38Speaker 1: will probably get him non-tendered over the winter. I will
- 23:40Speaker 1: say this about Josh. He plays a decent outfield, got
- 23:43Speaker 1: a good arm. And he battles in the box probably
- 23:46Speaker 1: as well as anybody, probably as well as Wade Meckler.
- 23:50Speaker 1: I don't know the answer to this, but if I
- 23:52Speaker 1: had to guess, he probably leads the team in at-bats
- 23:54Speaker 1: of 10 pitches or more. Just had a knack for
- 23:57Speaker 1: fighting off tough pitches. Sometimes that led to a good result. But, man,
- 24:01Speaker 1: he could have been a real answer in one of those,
- 24:03Speaker 1: at least in the left field spot going into the season.
- 24:06Speaker 1: Now it's just a big question mark. Mark, what do
- 24:10Speaker 1: you got on this one?
- 24:12Speaker 3: Well, he's not with the club any longer, but I
- 24:15Speaker 3: got Round Rock, DH, catcher, third baseman, Logan Ohapi. Again,
- 24:23Speaker 3: a topic or a category that is not flattering, but
- 24:27Speaker 3: a full minus one war at the catcher position is
- 24:32Speaker 3: hard to.
- 24:33Speaker 1: Do, in fact.
- 24:34Speaker 3: And this year was certainly not the year he was
- 24:37Speaker 3: hoping for. I still contend that his off-season hitting routine
- 24:43Speaker 3: And the advice he took, it didn't work for him.
- 24:46Speaker 3: And not to say it won't work for some, but
- 24:49Speaker 3: he really leaned into a swing path that gave very
- 24:53Speaker 3: limited time for the barrel to be in the zone.
- 24:56Speaker 3: It zapped his power. I believe he had four home
- 24:58Speaker 3: runs on the year. And for a guy that is
- 25:01Speaker 3: counted on for the big power bat, you know, it
- 25:04Speaker 3: really wasn't there. A lot of frustration, too. In addition,
- 25:09Speaker 3: we've seen how the pitchers have been throwing since he
- 25:13Speaker 3: hasn't been around. And I think that the bigger factor
- 25:17Speaker 3: probably is the change in pitching.
- 25:18Speaker 5: Coach, coaches.
- 25:21Speaker 3: And I, you know, with Mike Maddox, he probably does
- 25:24Speaker 3: deserve credit. Absolutely does in some cases, but it's really
- 25:28Speaker 3: hard to define. What's easier to define is the fact
- 25:31Speaker 3: that they've hit the ground running, taken off since he's
- 25:34Speaker 3: not been there. An article of Fletch just wrote to,
- 25:36Speaker 3: I think highlighted that even more better communication going on.
- 25:40Speaker 3: And when I was saw some of the stuff about,
- 25:43Speaker 3: and this is piggybacking with the catching and who's calling
- 25:46Speaker 3: the pitches, but they weren't using their best pitches as
- 25:49Speaker 3: often as possible.
- 25:51Speaker 5: And that is just.
- 25:52Speaker 3: Ridiculous as that is the model every team is using.
- 25:56Speaker 3: Literally the blueprint, the Dodgers have been using for years,
- 25:59Speaker 3: throw your best pitches most often. And for whatever reason,
- 26:02Speaker 3: the Angels were not doing that, trying to throw maybe
- 26:05Speaker 3: four pitches when the guy's fourth pitch was lousy. and
- 26:09Speaker 3: mix it in at a quarter of the time or something. But, um,
- 26:13Speaker 3: Logan Ohapi, I think this year was one where he
- 26:15Speaker 3: really could have vaulted forward, been that team captain, team leader,
- 26:19Speaker 3: you know, big mural on the outside of the stadium. And, um,
- 26:23Speaker 3: you know, I hope that, uh, the Rangers are a
- 26:26Speaker 3: better fit for him as a young guy still has
- 26:28Speaker 3: a lot of, uh, career left, but, uh, he was
- 26:31Speaker 3: disappointing this year.
- 26:32Speaker 1: All right, Sam, who's your biggest disappointment?
- 26:36Speaker 4: Oh, well, I probably, I probably could have said, uh,
- 26:38Speaker 4: either of those two, but I'll go with Yusei Kikuchi.
- 26:42Speaker 4: You know, he won highly paid starting pitcher, you know,
- 26:47Speaker 4: just lacked, I mean, the ZRA is up above five
- 26:49Speaker 4: at this point. That was hurt. You know, wasn't good
- 26:53Speaker 4: enough or healthy enough to trade him. Probably not, hasn't
- 26:56Speaker 4: been good enough down the stretch, maybe to trade him
- 26:59Speaker 4: in this off season. I mean, he kind of needed
- 27:00Speaker 4: him to come back and be really good in order
- 27:02Speaker 4: to have much value there. So, you know, I mean,
- 27:06Speaker 4: maybe it goes to a little bit of what Mark
- 27:07Speaker 4: was just saying with, pitching coaches and not, you know,
- 27:10Speaker 4: it seemed like everybody kind of has gotten better since
- 27:12Speaker 4: that this change has been made. And so, and Kikuchi's
- 27:15Speaker 4: only had some of, somewhat of a runway on that
- 27:17Speaker 4: front to begin with, but yeah, it's just not been that,
- 27:20Speaker 4: that good of a year for him coming off of
- 27:22Speaker 4: an all-star season. And I, I just don't know what
- 27:24Speaker 4: value he brings to the angels next year outside of
- 27:27Speaker 4: potentially being a trade chip. And I don't know if
- 27:29Speaker 4: that's really something that will garner much at this point now,
- 27:33Speaker 4: even at a relatively, you know, modest 13 million a
- 27:36Speaker 4: year in a, in a contract year next year.
- 27:39Speaker 1: And next category, what were they thinking? This is an acquisition, usage, role,
- 27:44Speaker 1: and early season plan that fell apart in six weeks.
- 27:46Speaker 1: The move that looked fine on paper in March and
- 27:49Speaker 1: looked like a punchline by May. Every year there's a
- 27:52Speaker 1: name in this category. This one didn't even last until
- 27:54Speaker 1: the All-Star break. Sam, we'll let you start on this one.
- 27:58Speaker 4: It's the easiest answer I've ever given, and that is
- 28:00Speaker 4: Alec Manoa.
- 28:01Speaker 1: I mean, it's not....
- 28:04Speaker 4: I mean, there are a couple of signings this offseason,
- 28:07Speaker 4: especially at the bullpen that were just like head scratches.
- 28:09Speaker 4: But Alec Manoa, I think it's an embarrassing decision to
- 28:14Speaker 4: have given him a big league contract. And it's not
- 28:17Speaker 4: a disrespect to Alec. I understand the name. I understand
- 28:20Speaker 4: he's got pride as a big leaguer, has accomplished a
- 28:23Speaker 4: lot in his big league career. But, you know, there
- 28:26Speaker 4: were just so many signs here that he was not
- 28:28Speaker 4: of that caliber anymore. And to give him guaranteed money,
- 28:32Speaker 4: I mean, he... Came in spring training and was really bad.
- 28:36Speaker 4: You know, still got a spot on the big league roster.
- 28:38Speaker 4: I'm not sure if that was just a point of
- 28:39Speaker 4: pride for Perry or what, but, you know, looked really
- 28:42Speaker 4: bad on the big league roster. Then got sent out
- 28:44Speaker 4: to AAA and was just, you know, I think he's
- 28:46Speaker 4: ERA was up above like 23 over a span of
- 28:49Speaker 4: almost like a month or so. And they had to
- 28:51Speaker 4: just cut him. I mean, you know, so you get
- 28:53Speaker 4: to a point where this is just like someone who's
- 28:55Speaker 4: not even capable of pitching in the minor leagues at
- 28:57Speaker 4: this point, probably wouldn't get much of a contract in
- 29:00Speaker 4: Indy ball. to get a big league contract this year
- 29:02Speaker 4: was just like, what were you thinking? I mean, that's
- 29:04Speaker 4: the only real justification. And again, it's not a disrespect
- 29:07Speaker 4: to Alec or his career. I, you know, he's accomplished
- 29:10Speaker 4: quite a bit, but the signing itself wasn't, wasn't based in,
- 29:13Speaker 4: in any sort of sound reasoning, in my opinion.
- 29:16Speaker 1: Yeah. Mark, who do you got in this category?
- 29:19Speaker 5: Where do you want to start?
- 29:20Speaker 3: I think that what was Harry, Harry thinking was the,
- 29:24Speaker 3: the alternate title.
- 29:26Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 29:27Speaker 3: When we say they, I'm going to, Part of my answer, well,
- 29:32Speaker 3: when they DFA'd Wade Meckler on January 28th, that can
- 29:36Speaker 3: be explained better. What I'm going to go with for
- 29:39Speaker 3: my answer is signing someone you knew that was injured
- 29:42Speaker 3: in Johan Moncada to a $ 5 million contract. He played
- 29:46Speaker 3: for you last year. No team has his medical history
- 29:51Speaker 3: as in-depth as you do, seeing as how he was
- 29:54Speaker 3: your player. And $ 5 million is nothing to sneeze at.
- 29:58Speaker 3: I mean, that's a lot of money. to a guy
- 30:00Speaker 3: that you knew was banged up and he played like it. Um,
- 30:04Speaker 3: there was really nothing great about it. Season, uh, I
- 30:07Speaker 3: guess unofficially came to an end with the Francis Romero
- 30:10Speaker 3: tweet the other day. And, um, this is a head scratcher. I, I,
- 30:18Speaker 3: there were plenty of, uh, infielders out there and you
- 30:21Speaker 3: signed a guy that was, uh, most likely going to
- 30:24Speaker 3: be on the shelf for a decent amount of time.
- 30:27Speaker 5: And you give him $ 5 million. I don't understand it.
- 30:29Speaker 5: What do you think, Mike?
- 30:31Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm going with Yohan Munkat on this one too. Yeah.
- 30:33Speaker 1: And I think his season came to an end right
- 30:35Speaker 1: after another third baseman, Anthony Rendon season came to an end.
- 30:41Speaker 1: A real head scratcher for factual purposes. It was a
- 30:45Speaker 1: $ 4 million contract, but still that's a pretty good chunk
- 30:48Speaker 1: of change to give to a guy who you know
- 30:50Speaker 1: is probably, he had a chronic knee injury last year.
- 30:52Speaker 1: He only played 85 games for the Angels, as Mark notes.
- 30:58Speaker 1: I mean, you know this guy better than ever. You
- 31:00Speaker 1: also know his mental makeup, his attitude, his efforts, which
- 31:08Speaker 1: to us, you know, maybe he was hurt. Maybe we
- 31:11Speaker 1: weren't putting enough emphasis on that early in the season.
- 31:16Speaker 1: And to me, he probably took up a position in
- 31:19Speaker 1: a roster spot For a guy, maybe you could have
- 31:22Speaker 1: brought Denzer Guzman up earlier in the year and given
- 31:24Speaker 1: him a longer look. Maybe there's another prospect in your
- 31:26Speaker 1: system you could have given a better look at. But
- 31:30Speaker 1: the numbers, Mankata hit 189 with a 605 OPS, three homers,
- 31:36Speaker 1: and 10 RBIs in 41 games. He rarely ran hard
- 31:41Speaker 1: to first base, so I think that set a bad
- 31:44Speaker 1: example for a veteran. Went on the injured list in
- 31:49Speaker 1: late May. And much like Anthony Rendon, we never heard
- 31:52Speaker 1: from him again outside of that really timely and key
- 31:57Speaker 1: tweet from Francis. So thank you for that. And I
- 31:59Speaker 1: would start with a little dishonorable mention in this category.
- 32:04Speaker 1: This might open up a whole other can of worms.
- 32:06Speaker 1: But what was Perry thinking when he hired Kurt Suzuki
- 32:10Speaker 1: as his manager? To me, we've talked about it on
- 32:12Speaker 1: this show before. A one-year contract has just set him
- 32:15Speaker 1: up for failure. Probably the biggest no-win situation a manager
- 32:20Speaker 1: has ever walked into. It's clear to us, at least
- 32:25Speaker 1: it's clear to me, that he probably wasn't ready for
- 32:28Speaker 1: this job. Maybe they couldn't find anybody else to take
- 32:30Speaker 1: a one-year contract and they were stuck on that. I
- 32:32Speaker 1: don't know, but that seemed like a bit of a
- 32:34Speaker 1: head-scratcher for me. If anyone wants to elaborate on that,
- 32:37Speaker 1: feel free. If not, we'll go on to our last category. Anyone?
- 32:41Speaker 5: It'll make a great social clip, if nothing else.
- 32:46Speaker 1: Okay, the last category, most frustrating. This is not the
- 32:50Speaker 1: worst player, the one who flashed just enough that you
- 32:52Speaker 1: kept waiting for it to click, and then it didn't
- 32:54Speaker 1: for weeks at a time. Power without contact, contact without damage,
- 32:59Speaker 1: stuff without command, the almost. Some nights, that's the whole offense.
- 33:04Speaker 1: If we had to put a face on it, who's yours? Sam,
- 33:06Speaker 1: who do you got?
- 33:07Speaker 4: I would say Christian Moore, and it's not because he
- 33:11Speaker 4: was so disappointing at the big league level of cause
- 33:13Speaker 4: he hasn't played that much of the big league level.
- 33:15Speaker 4: But I mean, I think it's more like, you know,
- 33:17Speaker 4: I think that you're kind of, you were kind of
- 33:19Speaker 4: hoping this year, especially in a year where the team's
- 33:21Speaker 4: pretty bad and there's a lot of, maybe a lot
- 33:23Speaker 4: of opportunities just to kind of like see what, what
- 33:26Speaker 4: players can do, what they're made of. And like, you know,
- 33:28Speaker 4: I don't think you go into next year with like
- 33:30Speaker 4: a lot of confidence that this guy's going to be
- 33:33Speaker 4: like in your lineup or an everyday player for you.
- 33:36Speaker 4: And I think if that is your perspective on it, then,
- 33:39Speaker 4: you know, that's another issue because he just hasn't proven
- 33:42Speaker 4: that that's something he's earned yet. So I would probably
- 33:44Speaker 4: go with, with more. I think you could also maybe
- 33:46Speaker 4: say like Peraza just started at the year really strong,
- 33:49Speaker 4: but has kind of fall fallen back into like a
- 33:52Speaker 4: non tender player most likely. And you know, those are
- 33:55Speaker 4: the Josh Lowe, similar, similar. You alluded to all that earlier.
- 33:58Speaker 4: So I'll just go with Christian Moore. I just don't
- 34:00Speaker 4: think like right now he's someone that you're penciling in
- 34:03Speaker 4: as an everyday player. And that would probably have been
- 34:05Speaker 4: the goal for him this year is to, play well
- 34:08Speaker 4: enough to feel like you have that sewn up in 2027.
- 34:11Speaker 4: All right.
- 34:11Speaker 1: I'm going to go next and then we'll let Mark
- 34:14Speaker 1: close us out. Uh, I gave really strong consideration in
- 34:17Speaker 1: this category to Jose Siri, uh, Because he'd show flashes
- 34:22Speaker 1: of brilliance on both sides of the ball at times.
- 34:26Speaker 1: I think as of a couple weeks ago, he actually
- 34:28Speaker 1: had the longest distance covered to catch a fly ball.
- 34:32Speaker 1: Who knows if he went from the center field to
- 34:33Speaker 1: the left field line. It was like 130 feet or something.
- 34:37Speaker 1: I was stunned to see that. But he's often the
- 34:40Speaker 1: clueless in the field. He's dropped routine fly balls. He
- 34:43Speaker 1: doesn't throw to the right base all the time. And
- 34:46Speaker 1: some of his at-bats just look incredibly empty. But I
- 34:51Speaker 1: got to go with Logan Ohapi on this one. Most frustrating.
- 34:54Speaker 1: Mainly because he showed such potential in 23 and 24.
- 35:00Speaker 1: He looked like a real up-and-coming catcher. And I looked
- 35:03Speaker 1: up some of these numbers. First of all, we know
- 35:05Speaker 1: his struggles at the plate, well-documented. Behind the plate, For
- 35:12Speaker 1: catchers with over 500 innings this year, he has minus
- 35:16Speaker 1: 17 defensive runs saved, according to Fangraphs. That ranked dead
- 35:21Speaker 1: last among 39 major league catchers who caught 500 innings
- 35:24Speaker 1: or more. And, you know, he's really struggled at the plate.
- 35:28Speaker 1: No longer with us. Really liked the kid. Hope he,
- 35:31Speaker 1: you know, figures it out. But, wow, that would be
- 35:33Speaker 1: my most frustrating player. And we'll go to Mark for
- 35:36Speaker 1: the final thought. Going to go past and present. Past
- 35:43Speaker 1: player this season, big Jorge Soler. Most frustrating for quite
- 35:48Speaker 1: a while. He did take big swings. Came up empty
- 35:52Speaker 1: a lot.
- 35:54Speaker 5: Didn't hustle.
- 35:56Speaker 3: Kind of a guy that didn't fit the mold of
- 36:00Speaker 3: the brand that the Angels are going for at all.
- 36:03Speaker 5: Making a lot of money, too.
- 36:05Speaker 3: He was a guy that I'm not quite sure what
- 36:07Speaker 3: the vision was. I think the Angels might have just
- 36:09Speaker 3: taken him off the Braves' hands. Somewhat of a salary dump. Because, yeah,
- 36:17Speaker 3: I mean, he started off good. He'd have big spring trainings.
- 36:21Speaker 3: And then early in the season, bopped a couple. But
- 36:24Speaker 3: that low and away slider and his bat didn't. That
- 36:29Speaker 3: wasn't a great matchup. The current player is frustrating. Jose Hayes, Siri. Uh,
- 36:36Speaker 3: I watch him and he doesn't have a lot in
- 36:38Speaker 3: common with the players that I respect the most. Uh,
- 36:42Speaker 3: that jump cash the other day where he muffed it. Um,
- 36:46Speaker 3: he does a lot of things that I just don't
- 36:49Speaker 3: understand why the need, um, probably cause I have no
- 36:52Speaker 3: drip and, uh, I'm boring and, uh, it's just, I
- 36:57Speaker 3: don't have a big chain and everything else, but, uh,
- 37:00Speaker 3: I look at a guy that really would not be
- 37:03Speaker 3: a great fit for Mike Socha's ball clubs that I
- 37:06Speaker 3: came up on. And by a great fit, he wouldn't
- 37:09Speaker 3: have been a fit at all. I don't think he
- 37:10Speaker 3: would have ever been brought in. Or if he did,
- 37:14Speaker 3: he would have got to clean that S up. Kind
- 37:17Speaker 3: of like you probably got a few of those too, Mike.
- 37:19Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
- 37:21Speaker 3: You know, I guess it's just not discouraged and nobody's
- 37:25Speaker 3: pulled him to the side. He's 30 on the, you know,
- 37:29Speaker 3: he's an adult man. So what are you really going
- 37:31Speaker 3: to tell a guy that's that old? Somebody must enjoy
- 37:36Speaker 3: watching him do these things. Makes for some jokes, LOLs
- 37:40Speaker 3: on the broadcast. But the only person that's LOLing is
- 37:45Speaker 3: me usually at some of these things he does. He's
- 37:49Speaker 3: very athletic, and he has a lot of promise. I
- 37:52Speaker 3: go back to the scouting report Caleb Joseph gave. He
- 37:55Speaker 3: said he's raw. And I said, look at the guy's age.
- 37:57Speaker 1: He's 30-something, right? Yeah.
- 38:00Speaker 5: If not 30, close to it. You can't be a
- 38:02Speaker 5: project at that age.
- 38:04Speaker 1: But he is.
- 38:05Speaker 3: Still looks like he has potential. But this is what
- 38:11Speaker 3: he does. And if you like it, you like it.
- 38:13Speaker 3: If you're like me, maybe it frustrates you. But I
- 38:18Speaker 3: think that we did the best we could tackling these categories.
- 38:22Speaker 3: I think the real hope was that maybe the fans
- 38:25Speaker 3: in the comments section can Maybe we'll list them cohesively,
- 38:30Speaker 3: and you guys can give your opinions. If you agree, disagree,
- 38:33Speaker 3: want to tell us to fly a kite, that's fine, too.
- 38:37Speaker 3: Uncle Tico is a big fan of Mike's and wanted
- 38:41Speaker 3: to give him recognition, too. He seems to be a
- 38:43Speaker 3: constant troll in the comments, so that's all I got, Mike.
- 38:47Speaker 5: Mark has no patience for your comments.
- 38:50Speaker 1: We thought we were negative. How about Trump drop a kite?
- 38:55Speaker 1: How about Trump dropping a no drip on our listeners?
- 38:58Speaker 1: How cool is that 40-year-old guy, huh? Pretty cool, huh, Sam?
- 39:03Speaker 4: More drip than he realizes.
- 39:04Speaker 1: All right, that's going to put a wrap on our first,
- 39:14Speaker 1: who knows, maybe to be our annual year-end awards show.
- 39:18Speaker 1: Sam Blum of The Athletic, thanks as always for joining.
- 39:20Speaker 1: Mark Trumbo, always a pleasure. Thanks for watching. Thanks for
- 39:25Speaker 1: listening in. Please like and subscribe, and we will see
- 39:28Speaker 1: you next time on Halo Territory.