Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / Calling All Angels! A "meh" off-season so far, closer is a question, Cody Bellinger in CF?

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Calling All Angels! A "meh" off-season so far, closer is a question, Cody Bellinger in CF? · Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast

0:07
Speaker 1: Well, greetings Angel fans, and welcome to the debut episode
0:11
Speaker 1: of Halo Territory, the newest member of the Foul Territory Network,
0:17
Speaker 1: where we'll be talking all things Angels. We'll try to
0:21
Speaker 1: keep you informed, hopefully keep you entertained, and hopefully no
0:25
Speaker 1: subject will be off limits. My name is Mike di Giovanna.
0:28
Speaker 1: I'll be hosting the show along with Mark Trumbo, former
0:32
Speaker 1: Angel slugger.
0:32
Speaker 2: Mark.
0:33
Speaker 3: Welcome to the show. Thank you, Mike. I'm excited for this.
0:37
Speaker 3: I think that we have quite a few great topics
0:42
Speaker 3: to cover, and I think the Angel fans will really
0:45
Speaker 3: enjoy it all right.
0:46
Speaker 1: For those who don't remember me, I'm now a semi
0:49
Speaker 1: retired sportswriter. Spent forty one years at the Los Angeles Times,
0:54
Speaker 1: thirty of those covering Major League Baseball, twenty of them
0:57
Speaker 1: as an Angel's beat writer, and for the last ten
1:01
Speaker 1: years of my career, I went back and forth between
1:03
Speaker 1: the Angels and Dodgers. Mark needs no introduction, but for
1:07
Speaker 1: those who don't remember, he played ten years in the
1:10
Speaker 1: Big leagues hit I believe two hundred eighteen home runs
1:13
Speaker 1: and a fair number of those with the Angels. That
1:17
Speaker 1: went a long way so glad to have Mark aboard,
1:21
Speaker 1: and today we're going to talk about is.
1:24
Speaker 2: Let's be frank.
1:25
Speaker 1: It's been a pretty uninspiring winner so far for the Angels.
1:29
Speaker 1: They've made five moves that will impact the big league roster.
1:33
Speaker 1: Four of them involved pitchers. Biggest move as they traded
1:36
Speaker 1: for Grayson Rodriguez, a young pitcher from the Baltimore Orioles,
1:41
Speaker 1: for slugger Taylor Ward. They also signed Alec Manoa, a
1:46
Speaker 1: former All Star coming off injuries. They signed Jordan Romano
1:51
Speaker 1: and a veteran left hander, Drew Pomerance, and they acquired
1:55
Speaker 1: an infielder from the Boston organization, Vaughan Grissom. I've heard
2:00
Speaker 1: these moves in some places be described as lottery tickets,
2:04
Speaker 1: in that they're cheap and they could pay off big,
2:08
Speaker 1: and in other places they've been described as reclamation projects.
2:12
Speaker 1: I do think most of them tend toward the ladder,
2:15
Speaker 1: but I will say, in Grayson Rodriguez's case, this could
2:18
Speaker 1: be a lottery ticket. Mark, you played with Grayson briefly
2:22
Speaker 1: in the Oils organization. What are the Angels getting and
2:26
Speaker 1: what is the challenge is going to be for this
2:28
Speaker 1: kid coming off a pretty major injury.
2:32
Speaker 2: Well.
2:33
Speaker 3: To be honest, when I saw the news of the deal,
2:37
Speaker 3: I know Taylor was a guy off the rumored to
2:41
Speaker 3: possibly be on the move at some point for the
2:43
Speaker 3: last few years, and I think some other teams made
2:48
Speaker 3: sense along the way. The timing, you know, could have
2:51
Speaker 3: made sense at any point. But I think the Angels
2:54
Speaker 3: did very well, and I was frankly quite surprised that
2:57
Speaker 3: they landed a guy like Grayson Rodriguez, who I was
3:01
Speaker 3: there when he got drafted and I remember probably watching
3:05
Speaker 3: his first outing and especially his first big league camp.
3:08
Speaker 3: A tremendous arm went healthy. His fastball is top tier,
3:14
Speaker 3: it's kind of plays from an upshoot delivery. It's going
3:17
Speaker 3: to be in the mid nineties, if not close to
3:20
Speaker 3: one hundred, and it's a premium offering. I mean, there's
3:24
Speaker 3: no two ways about it. He's a frontline starter. One
3:27
Speaker 3: two went healthy, and he's got a really nice split
3:32
Speaker 3: finger to compliment it. I think the question mark is
3:34
Speaker 3: going to be his slider, or it has been, but
3:37
Speaker 3: I think that's where you pair him with a guy
3:40
Speaker 3: like Mike Maddox, with a tremendous amount of experience working
3:44
Speaker 3: with all types of pitchers.
3:45
Speaker 2: But some really good ones.
3:47
Speaker 3: And you know, hopefully he can take a look at
3:49
Speaker 3: it and you know, see something that you know may
3:51
Speaker 3: make sense. Maybe it's simplifying the pitch, or maybe it's
3:55
Speaker 3: you know, something outside the box too. But I think
3:57
Speaker 3: the biggest thing for Grayson is going to be staying healthy.
4:00
Speaker 3: And you know, he does have a fair amount of
4:03
Speaker 3: injuries that for a young player is not great. But
4:07
Speaker 3: he doesn't have a lot of wear and tear on
4:08
Speaker 3: the arm either, which I think is you know, a
4:10
Speaker 3: huge upside And if this pans out, you know, it
4:13
Speaker 3: could end up looking like a steal for the Angels.
4:16
Speaker 2: Yeah.
4:16
Speaker 1: The obvious subside here is he's still young. He's in
4:20
Speaker 1: his twenties and four years of club control, and as
4:25
Speaker 1: we know, you know, developing good young pitching has been
4:28
Speaker 1: a struggle for this Angels organization for a few years.
4:32
Speaker 1: Taylor Ward, on an expiring contract, had a great year
4:35
Speaker 1: last year, but he was hitting free agency. How important
4:40
Speaker 1: was the four years of control aspect in this deal
4:43
Speaker 1: and could this kid be their ace eventually?
4:50
Speaker 3: From what I've seen, and I've seen quite a few,
4:52
Speaker 3: you know, pictures over the years, he does have the stuff,
4:55
Speaker 3: He's got the look and he's got the demeanor too.
4:58
Speaker 3: I think that's a big deal too. I saw a
5:00
Speaker 3: guy that wasn't afraid whatsoever. He wanted to go out
5:04
Speaker 3: there and battle each and every you know time he
5:07
Speaker 3: took the ball. True competitor, also quiet, you know, which
5:12
Speaker 3: is at times which you know you want a young
5:15
Speaker 3: player listen more than you speak. But he's going to
5:18
Speaker 3: mature into a guy that you know is going to
5:20
Speaker 3: be counted upon. And as far as the contract and
5:24
Speaker 3: years of control, it's all upside. I mean, he's extremely
5:28
Speaker 3: affordable right now, he's got four years under team control,
5:32
Speaker 3: and then you know, hopefully blossoms into a premier starting pitcher.
5:36
Speaker 3: And there's a hard decision down the road there as
5:39
Speaker 3: far as Ward, you know, you're going to have to
5:42
Speaker 3: make up a lot of the power production that he
5:44
Speaker 3: provided somewhere, and we can get into kind of where
5:50
Speaker 3: that might be, but I'm not sure it's going to
5:53
Speaker 3: come from the existing guys on the field necessarily.
5:56
Speaker 2: So that'll be.
5:58
Speaker 3: Interesting for a team that relied heavily on the home
6:00
Speaker 3: run last year to you know, score runs.
6:03
Speaker 2: But I think that.
6:06
Speaker 3: Frankly, that I'd rather have a premier starting pitcher, which
6:11
Speaker 3: is what you know, likely we can get in Grayson
6:13
Speaker 3: Rodriguez and fill an outfield need elsewhere.
6:17
Speaker 1: Let's talk about a couple of the reclamation projects. Alec
6:21
Speaker 1: Manau was an All star a few years ago with
6:23
Speaker 1: the Blue Jays coming off Tommy John surgery. You know,
6:27
Speaker 1: at his peak, he I think he went sixteen and
6:29
Speaker 1: seven and two twenty four ERA and thirty one starts
6:32
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two, one hundred and eighty strikeouts and
6:36
Speaker 1: one hundred ninety six innings. Those are pretty good numbers,
6:39
Speaker 1: but it's been a while. What do you think of
6:43
Speaker 1: this signing and where do you see this guy fitting
6:46
Speaker 1: in the rotation? Assuming he has a pretty healthy bounce back.
6:52
Speaker 3: I think this would be a high upside candidate. Obviously
6:56
Speaker 3: there is some risk here too. I think when healthy,
7:00
Speaker 3: he is an Indians eater, obviously, has a big personality,
7:07
Speaker 3: seems like a very tough competitor, but he's got some
7:11
Speaker 3: issues as well that.
7:13
Speaker 2: It's going to be up to him.
7:14
Speaker 3: I think, if we want to call it what it is,
7:16
Speaker 3: it looks like some maturity things at times, and being
7:19
Speaker 3: a professional that includes, you know, coming into camp in
7:23
Speaker 3: good shape. I don't think you can gloss over that
7:27
Speaker 3: it's a big deal for a starting pitcher. I think
7:29
Speaker 3: playing here in Anaheim, it's it's a little bit sneaky.
7:33
Speaker 3: It's a hot place to play. The summers are some
7:37
Speaker 3: sun you know, unrelenting at times, and it's in my mind,
7:42
Speaker 3: very important to be in good physical shape to be
7:45
Speaker 3: able to go out there, especially on day games and whatnot.
7:48
Speaker 3: But if he's healthy, I see him. You know, the
7:50
Speaker 3: strakeouts are nice, but to me, he's more of a
7:53
Speaker 3: ground ball pitcher. And we turned I believe the most
7:56
Speaker 3: double play is in the game last year, and if
7:59
Speaker 3: you can have another that induces that kind of contact,
8:02
Speaker 3: that's great. But again, you know he's coming off Tommy John.
8:07
Speaker 3: He did return to play last year briefly, but for
8:12
Speaker 3: whatever reason, the Blue Jays decided to move on, and
8:15
Speaker 3: then I believe the Braves claimed him and they also
8:18
Speaker 3: moved on if I'm not mistaken, But you know, we
8:21
Speaker 3: got another guy that former All Star to slott it.
8:25
Speaker 2: I think he's making.
8:26
Speaker 3: Two million bucks or maybe a little under, So it's
8:29
Speaker 3: a lot of upside there too if it goes well.
8:32
Speaker 1: A lot of questions in this bullpen right now. The
8:34
Speaker 1: Angels lost Kenley Jansen to the Tigers. He was a
8:38
Speaker 1: pretty good signing last year. I have to admit I
8:41
Speaker 1: was very impressed with how Canley pitched. But they don't
8:44
Speaker 1: have a closer right now, and we just don't know
8:47
Speaker 1: about Ben Joyce. When the guy's healthy, he's throwing one
8:50
Speaker 1: hundred and five, one hundred and four. Great, he's your closer.
8:54
Speaker 1: But this team does not have a clear cut closer
8:58
Speaker 1: in my mind right now. And they did add at
9:01
Speaker 1: least to the bullpen with Jordan Romano as a former
9:05
Speaker 1: closer with the Blue Jays, but I don't think anyone's
9:08
Speaker 1: going to expect.
9:09
Speaker 2: Him to close.
9:10
Speaker 1: Drew Pomerantz a really nice bounce back year. A veteran lefty.
9:15
Speaker 1: He's thirty seven, but when you look at the year
9:18
Speaker 1: he had last year in Chicago with the Cubs, I
9:22
Speaker 1: mean you can almost kind of bank on him. Not
9:25
Speaker 1: so much a reclamation project in my mind. But Jordan
9:29
Speaker 1: Romano interesting guy, you know, an All Star closer with
9:32
Speaker 1: the Blue Jays just a few years ago. Really rough
9:35
Speaker 1: year of the Phillies last year. There were some elbow issues,
9:38
Speaker 1: there was a nerve issue with his finger. I just
9:41
Speaker 1: I don't know how much of that, you know, if
9:44
Speaker 1: he's healthy, how much better a pitcher he is. But
9:47
Speaker 1: I don't know when he was with the Blue Jays.
9:48
Speaker 1: I never even when he was closing and having good years,
9:52
Speaker 1: he never struck me as that kind of dominant closer
9:56
Speaker 1: you could rely on. What's your thoughts on these two guys?
10:01
Speaker 3: Well, Palm Rance, I really like I think that I
10:04
Speaker 3: was a bit surprised that he chose to play here. Frankly,
10:11
Speaker 3: he's at the point in his career. He's had a
10:14
Speaker 3: great career, and I know personally he got me out
10:18
Speaker 3: a lot more than I got half I faced and
10:20
Speaker 3: quite a bit at least, and you tend to remember
10:22
Speaker 3: those things.
10:23
Speaker 2: But I also know him a little bit off the field.
10:25
Speaker 3: He's a very nice guy, and he's at the point
10:28
Speaker 3: where he could choose to play anywhere, and oftentimes guys
10:32
Speaker 3: like that will want to play for a team that
10:34
Speaker 3: is likely to contend, which I you know, For being honest,
10:38
Speaker 3: I'm not sure that we're there. I'm not sure that
10:40
Speaker 3: we're all that close, to be honest, but things could align,
10:46
Speaker 3: and you know, a lot of things could be very
10:48
Speaker 3: surprising this year, so you can't rule anything out. But
10:51
Speaker 3: I think it's a guy adding like a guy like
10:54
Speaker 3: Drew is going to be nothing but good. I think
10:57
Speaker 3: he's incredibly reliable. He can get both right handers and
11:01
Speaker 3: left handers out, and it seems like his stuff is
11:03
Speaker 3: as good as ever.
11:04
Speaker 2: He's got a tremendous curveball which very tough to hit,
11:08
Speaker 2: let's say.
11:09
Speaker 3: And then Romano, I I don't know about his health,
11:14
Speaker 3: and it seems like he's he fits into the mold of.
11:21
Speaker 2: Kind of a coin flip.
11:22
Speaker 3: I think when even when healthy, he was kind of
11:24
Speaker 3: one of those closers that would like maybe he wouldn't
11:28
Speaker 3: like to, but he made it interesting quite a bit.
11:30
Speaker 3: Some traffic on the bases, and as you know, a
11:34
Speaker 3: teammate and a defender, sometimes that can really wear on
11:36
Speaker 3: you a little bit. Sometimes you do like the clean
11:39
Speaker 3: ninth inning, and I think that's what Kenlee Jansen did
11:42
Speaker 3: an excellent job of. When he came into the game,
11:45
Speaker 3: you know, it was usually over and he brought a
11:48
Speaker 3: lot of veteran leadership and I think he did a
11:50
Speaker 3: tremendous job. And I think I was hopeful, I say ay,
11:57
Speaker 3: but I think the Angels fans were that he would
12:00
Speaker 3: consider coming back. It seemed like things went very well
12:04
Speaker 3: playing for the Angels, but for whatever reason, I think
12:08
Speaker 3: he's gonna play for the Tigers next year.
12:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, who do you see closing right now? If Ben
12:13
Speaker 1: Joyce camp, if he's not ready, certainly at the start
12:16
Speaker 1: of the season, you Ryan Zephyr John and guys like
12:20
Speaker 1: that moving back to the rotation.
12:23
Speaker 2: So yeah, I.
12:25
Speaker 3: Would actually say Kirby Yates makes sense for me. I
12:30
Speaker 3: know last year wasn't his best, but being reunited with
12:35
Speaker 3: Mike Maddox, who they were together in Texas and he
12:39
Speaker 3: had some very nice seasons there and his split finger
12:44
Speaker 3: was somewhat missing in action for what I understand last year,
12:48
Speaker 3: and that's his bread and butter for the most part.
12:50
Speaker 3: So it's one of those things where the field, you know,
12:53
Speaker 3: maybe just lost the feel to some degree and a
12:56
Speaker 3: little bit of confidence in it. But those things can
12:59
Speaker 3: change quite quickly too. And that would be my pick
13:02
Speaker 3: on paper, you know, as somebody on the outside. There
13:07
Speaker 3: could be somebody else that they have in mind internally though,
13:10
Speaker 3: so I don't know.
13:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, full disclosure.
13:12
Speaker 1: We forgot to mention him at the start of the
13:14
Speaker 1: show when we talked about additions another veteran guy when
13:18
Speaker 1: his split is right. I mean, he's really tough, but
13:21
Speaker 1: he was never right with the Dodgers last year. Really
13:24
Speaker 1: good dude, It'll be really interested once again. Another reclamation project,
13:31
Speaker 1: but a veteran arm who is not that far removed
13:33
Speaker 1: from some pretty good years with the Padres.
13:37
Speaker 3: Very true all these guys, although Vermano I think is
13:40
Speaker 3: a little bit younger, but age is not necessarily on
13:44
Speaker 3: everyone's side, and I think that when you're dealing with
13:48
Speaker 3: guys that are in their mid to late thirties, it's
13:52
Speaker 3: not you never want to overuse a reliever, but with
13:55
Speaker 3: guys like that, you really have to be careful because
14:00
Speaker 3: you know, a thirty seven thirty eight year old body,
14:02
Speaker 3: it doesn't recover as quickly. You know, injuries probably have
14:07
Speaker 3: played a point if they've gotten to the point where
14:10
Speaker 3: they are but still playing a thirty seven thirty eight
14:12
Speaker 3: years old or older, and you know, those guys generally
14:15
Speaker 3: know themselves better and might advocate more, you know, for
14:19
Speaker 3: a day off when needed. So you're gonna need to
14:21
Speaker 3: find ways to pick up the slack and have some
14:24
Speaker 3: of those swing guys, maybe Zephyr John and others show
14:28
Speaker 3: multiple innings to make sure that you know health is maintained.
14:33
Speaker 1: Let's talk a little bit about some of the guys
14:35
Speaker 1: still out there who I'm sure some angel fans would
14:39
Speaker 1: love to see, and frankly I would too. I mean,
14:42
Speaker 1: the Angels did clear some payroll room when they, you know,
14:48
Speaker 1: renegotiating Anthony Rendon's contract, cleared some of his money off
14:53
Speaker 1: the books, deferring his salary for a couple of years,
14:56
Speaker 1: So they appear to have the financial resources to make
14:59
Speaker 1: a decent move. To me, the guy who fits perfectly,
15:03
Speaker 1: I'm not saying this is going to happen. I would
15:05
Speaker 1: suspect it probably won't is Cody Bellinger. I mean, first
15:09
Speaker 1: of all, the Angels are a desperate need of left
15:12
Speaker 1: handed hitting, especially in the middle of the lineup rank
15:16
Speaker 1: Right now, the only decent left handed hitter is Nolan
15:18
Speaker 1: shan Well, the first baseman. And while I'd probably rather
15:22
Speaker 1: have no other guy up there at the plate, if
15:25
Speaker 1: you need to get a runner in from third base
15:26
Speaker 1: with Nuneer one.
15:28
Speaker 2: Out, he's the guy.
15:29
Speaker 1: But I don't think he's ever going to hit more
15:31
Speaker 1: than fifteen or twenty homers in the big leagues, so
15:33
Speaker 1: he solves that, and there's a huge void in center
15:36
Speaker 1: fields right now. I don't think you're going to want
15:39
Speaker 1: to put Joe Adell back in center. I know they
15:41
Speaker 1: don't want to play Mike Trout there too much. So
15:44
Speaker 1: if you could get a guy like Bellinger defensively, would
15:48
Speaker 1: really show up the outfield defense and allow you to
15:51
Speaker 1: keep Adell and Trout and if need be, Jorges Solaire
15:55
Speaker 1: on the corners. How big of a move would that
15:58
Speaker 1: be if they could somehow get into.
15:59
Speaker 3: The bit, Obviously it would be great. This is one
16:07
Speaker 3: of these times where it makes almost too much sense
16:12
Speaker 3: unless you're the one having to cut the check. Yes,
16:15
Speaker 3: you know, as a fan, we have a need, we
16:20
Speaker 3: have multiple needs. Like you highlighted, his defense has always
16:25
Speaker 3: rated extremely highly, incredibly athletic guy, and he is that
16:31
Speaker 3: left handed power hitting back that is highly coveted and
16:36
Speaker 3: and for a team that you know, quite frankly is
16:39
Speaker 3: in desperate need of some left handed pop, he solves
16:42
Speaker 3: that need. But you know he's coming off another strong year.
16:47
Speaker 3: He's still young. He never seems to age, to be honest,
16:51
Speaker 3: He's always somewhere around twenty six or twenty seven.
16:53
Speaker 2: I could be a little older, but I don't know.
16:57
Speaker 2: I don't know.
16:57
Speaker 3: If he has interest in playing here. I don't know
17:02
Speaker 3: him personally, so I can't answer that. But I do
17:05
Speaker 3: know one thing that can sway people's decisions, and you know,
17:08
Speaker 3: it's the same thing that always does. So I think
17:11
Speaker 3: if we're going to want to get a guy like that,
17:13
Speaker 3: we're gonna have to really pay for him. Maybe overpay,
17:15
Speaker 3: but sometimes that's what you have to do if you
17:17
Speaker 3: want to land the guy.
17:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, a great clubhouse guy, proven winner. I
17:24
Speaker 1: do know the Yankees have reportedly made a few offers.
17:27
Speaker 1: The Cubs are in the mix, the Mets are in
17:29
Speaker 1: the mix. So he's got some big market teams out
17:33
Speaker 1: of one that'll have you know, we'll have some great options.
17:37
Speaker 1: Not sure what it's going to take to sign Cody
17:40
Speaker 1: at this phase, but you know, you're looking at the
17:43
Speaker 1: nine figure commitment. Who else out there, especially maybe among pitchers,
17:49
Speaker 1: do you think the Angels should pursue right now, Mark,
17:52
Speaker 1: or is there maybe an Alex Bregman or Suarez type
17:55
Speaker 1: of third base who would be on your wish list
17:58
Speaker 1: right now?
18:00
Speaker 2: Well, I can tell you.
18:03
Speaker 3: Who I thought made a ton of sense and a
18:07
Speaker 3: little bit unfortunate was Michael King. I think he is
18:11
Speaker 3: a tremendous starting pitcher, ground ball machine, and compared to
18:16
Speaker 3: some of these other guys, maybe like Framberg or Soar
18:18
Speaker 3: as more affordable for whatever reason. And you know, he
18:26
Speaker 3: already came to an agreement in December, a couple of
18:28
Speaker 3: weeks ago, so he's off the board. And so you
18:31
Speaker 3: get into other guys, and you know, Bellinger, Kyle Tucker,
18:37
Speaker 3: guys like that. You know, these are one A players
18:40
Speaker 3: that are going to command a ton of money.
18:43
Speaker 2: But beyond that, you.
18:45
Speaker 3: Know, it starts to look a little bit like slim pickings.
18:48
Speaker 3: A guy like Chris Bassett could make some sense if
18:51
Speaker 3: you're looking for more starting pitching depth on the relief side.
18:54
Speaker 3: Evan Phillips coming off injury, but you know, when healthy,
19:00
Speaker 3: an all star caliber arm, a tremendous teammate as well.
19:03
Speaker 3: I know, you know from playing in Baltimore, and he
19:07
Speaker 3: really blossomed with the Dodgers, and we'll see what happens there.
19:11
Speaker 3: But centerfield is a big question mark. I think the
19:15
Speaker 3: glove of Tiodosio.
19:17
Speaker 2: Uh, you know, how can you not like it?
19:20
Speaker 3: Guys, Range is as much as I've seen, maybe too
19:24
Speaker 3: much so at times, but I think he's working on
19:27
Speaker 3: that with some of the guys, but that is, you know,
19:31
Speaker 3: it's a work in products, let's say. And you know
19:35
Speaker 3: in this day and age, the premium defender automatic out
19:40
Speaker 3: at the plate, you just don't see too many of them,
19:42
Speaker 3: whereas you know maybe decades past, you maybe out of
19:46
Speaker 3: the shortstop position would be all right with that catcher
19:49
Speaker 3: center field not as much, but especially now, you just
19:53
Speaker 3: can't have somebody who you know isn't bringing a lot
19:55
Speaker 3: to the table in that regard.
19:58
Speaker 1: You know, it wasn't that long ago where the Angels
20:01
Speaker 1: were always in the mix for big time free agents.
20:04
Speaker 1: I mean they signed Albert Poolholz and CJ. Wilson in
20:08
Speaker 1: one day back in twenty twelve, you know, over three
20:11
Speaker 1: hundred million in commitments, Josh Hamilton a year later, Anthony
20:18
Speaker 1: Rendon in two thousand, you know, before twenty twenty. And
20:23
Speaker 1: certainly you can't blame Ardy Moreno for being gun shy
20:27
Speaker 1: about dipping his toes into those waters. After this Rendon contract,
20:31
Speaker 1: seven years, two hundred and forty five million will go
20:35
Speaker 1: down as one of the worst contracts in big League history,
20:39
Speaker 1: So you really can't blame him along those fronts. But
20:41
Speaker 1: you know, they were in on Garrett Cole that year
20:43
Speaker 1: as well. Lately, you just don't hear the Angels mentioned
20:48
Speaker 1: even it with some of these big time free agents.
20:50
Speaker 1: Now you were a free agent, you're about a decade
20:53
Speaker 1: removed from free agency, but I know you keep up
20:56
Speaker 1: with the game, you keep up with the current players. Like,
20:59
Speaker 1: what is the perception of the Angels organization right now
21:04
Speaker 1: in the eyes of you know, free agents and you
21:08
Speaker 1: know what could be going through their heads when they
21:11
Speaker 1: look at this organization, this team, and when they have
21:14
Speaker 1: that decision to make You know, is that going to
21:16
Speaker 1: help or hurt the Angels.
21:20
Speaker 3: Well, if we're being honest, which is I think what
21:23
Speaker 3: we're aiming to be on this show, it's not the
21:26
Speaker 3: most desirable destination currently. There's no other way to put it.
21:31
Speaker 3: It seems like, you know, the biggest thing, in my
21:33
Speaker 3: opinion is a former player, is what are the chances
21:41
Speaker 3: that you're in for a potentially very long season if
21:45
Speaker 3: things don't go well as far as the winning and
21:48
Speaker 3: losing goes, Because that can really wear on guys. And
21:52
Speaker 3: you know, once Junior rolls around and the team's you know,
21:54
Speaker 3: potentially already out of it, you know, it just is
21:59
Speaker 3: not not a great thing, and then you're going to
22:01
Speaker 3: possibly be dealing with trade talks and other things, so
22:06
Speaker 3: that's not ideal. It seems like hopefully the they're able
22:10
Speaker 3: to dial in the issues in the facilities. I know
22:15
Speaker 3: there were at least one one issue raised as far
22:18
Speaker 3: as the air conditioning, but I'm sure that's rectified by now.
22:22
Speaker 3: But you know, I think that there's some things that
22:24
Speaker 3: they could do to make it a lot more attractive
22:27
Speaker 3: living in southern California. People love it, you know. I've
22:31
Speaker 3: yet to meet a guy that doesn't want to live
22:33
Speaker 3: near the beach, and the commute is usually quite reasonable,
22:36
Speaker 3: and things like that matter as well. So I think
22:39
Speaker 3: sometimes it's very easy just to think, you know, years
22:42
Speaker 3: and dollars, but free agency is a lot more than that,
22:45
Speaker 3: and you know, to echo your point, some of these deals,
22:50
Speaker 3: especially the Rendoan one, it was a stinker. It didn't
22:53
Speaker 3: work at all. He didn't zero all stars, very little production,
22:59
Speaker 3: and it's very unfortunately they paid a fortune for a
23:03
Speaker 3: guy that provided next to nothing. I think he'll be
23:06
Speaker 3: known more for some of the unfortunate incidents with the
23:10
Speaker 3: cast and you know, getting in there with a fan
23:13
Speaker 3: in Oakland than anything he did on the field, So
23:16
Speaker 3: I don't want to be too critical of him, but
23:19
Speaker 3: you know, he didn't provide hardly anything to the team.
23:22
Speaker 1: Do you think I mean, we're talking about a team
23:24
Speaker 1: that has had ten losing records in a row, coming
23:28
Speaker 1: off a couple of ninety loss seasons, having made the
23:31
Speaker 1: playoffs since twenty fourteen. Is it just those factors that
23:36
Speaker 1: are weighing in the minds and eyes of these potential
23:39
Speaker 1: free agents? So is there something else about maybe how
23:42
Speaker 1: this team has been run over the last ten years ownership?
23:47
Speaker 1: I mean I wrote a story in twenty twenty two
23:50
Speaker 1: just looking at the lost decade, you know, the last
23:53
Speaker 1: ten years at that time, and you know, I think
23:56
Speaker 1: the term I used then was that they're in baseball purgatory.
24:00
Speaker 1: You know, they've sort of they've had these opportunities to
24:04
Speaker 1: sort of rebuild. The owner has refused to rebuild. To me,
24:08
Speaker 1: the year that really stands out is twenty twenty two,
24:11
Speaker 1: when Showhy was a full year and a half away
24:14
Speaker 1: from free agency. They could have got a boatload of prospects,
24:18
Speaker 1: maybe some you know, young major leaguers in a trade
24:21
Speaker 1: like that. I heard the name Jackson Merrill kicked around
24:24
Speaker 1: then you look what the Washington Nationals got for Juan
24:27
Speaker 1: Soto a couple of years ago. I mean, that's a
24:30
Speaker 1: deal they might have even been able to make in
24:32
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three before Show Hey ended up signing with
24:36
Speaker 1: the Dodgers. Is there something beside, you know, just the
24:40
Speaker 1: losing and the perennial losing that has sort of held
24:43
Speaker 1: them back. I think that's probably the biggest thing. I think,
24:50
Speaker 1: you know, I think.
24:53
Speaker 3: There's just an uncertainty, like you said, about where are
24:56
Speaker 3: they look, what is the direction of this franchise, know,
25:00
Speaker 3: bringing to a guy like Ron Washington. I was there
25:04
Speaker 3: for the introductory press conference. I remember a lot of
25:08
Speaker 3: energy in the room, some bold predictions that didn't quite
25:13
Speaker 3: get there, run down the West and whatnot, you know,
25:18
Speaker 3: last place. So it's not necessarily any one person's fault,
25:23
Speaker 3: but I do know that it didn't really work, and
25:27
Speaker 3: from what.
25:28
Speaker 2: I hear some of the tactics used.
25:31
Speaker 3: I remember they banned the cell phones, and as a
25:34
Speaker 3: former player, on the surface, I found that to be
25:36
Speaker 3: very juvenile. I know that there were daily classroom type
25:41
Speaker 3: settings that a veteran player really wants no part of.
25:46
Speaker 3: You don't want to listen to thirty minutes of talks
25:48
Speaker 3: on base running. That's a spring training thing. I know,
25:52
Speaker 3: with a younger team, maybe it seems imperative to for
25:57
Speaker 3: the teaching, but at some point, these are grown men
26:01
Speaker 3: at this and they're going to have to, you know,
26:04
Speaker 3: go out there and get the job done. But they
26:06
Speaker 3: want to be treated as such too. And one of
26:08
Speaker 3: the big problems I think is, you know, you're rushing
26:11
Speaker 3: some of these guys to the big leagues, cutting out
26:13
Speaker 3: quite a bit of the development that used to take place,
26:17
Speaker 3: and so you're at kind of a conundrum where they're
26:20
Speaker 3: they're still in need of some of the basics.
26:23
Speaker 2: Maybe it's sliding, maybe.
26:24
Speaker 3: It's you know, just simple core fundamentals that have been
26:28
Speaker 3: overlooked because of the haste to bring them up. And
26:32
Speaker 3: most of these guys have held their own for being honest,
26:34
Speaker 3: but there's nothing that can make up for the sheer
26:38
Speaker 3: amount of reps that guys quite you know, they used
26:42
Speaker 3: to get. At least when I was coming up, I
26:44
Speaker 3: was told you had to master the level. That was
26:46
Speaker 3: what we were told. What that means not exactly sure,
26:50
Speaker 3: but I do know what it equates to a lot
26:53
Speaker 3: of playing time, a lot of at bats and a
26:54
Speaker 3: lot of experience and you cut, but you get used
26:57
Speaker 3: to it and you see all types of situations. So
27:00
Speaker 3: when you get to the big leagues, it's not your
27:01
Speaker 3: first time being exposed to some plays that quite frankly,
27:06
Speaker 3: don't happen very often, but for these guys, maybe it
27:09
Speaker 3: is the first time and sometimes you'll learn the hard
27:11
Speaker 3: way like that.
27:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, these are going to be some topics we'll explore
27:16
Speaker 1: later in the show. Certainly player development a big issue
27:19
Speaker 1: with the Angels. So that we'll wrap up this debut episode.
27:25
Speaker 1: Please like and subscribe and join us. Later in the week,
27:29
Speaker 1: we'll be talking to Sam Blum, the outstanding writer for
27:32
Speaker 1: The Athletic, about the Tyler Skaggs trials, so that should
27:36
Speaker 1: be very interesting. Until then, we'll see you next time
27:39
Speaker 1: on Halo Territory.