Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / American League West Preview: Are Angels a last-place club? Will Mariners reach World Series?

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American League West Preview: Are Angels a last-place club? Will Mariners reach World Series? · Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: Well, hey, Angel fans, welcome back to Halo Territory. We
0:12
Speaker 1: are part of the Foul Territory Network. My name is
0:16
Speaker 1: Mike D. Gievanna, former RelA Times Baseball writer and host
0:19
Speaker 1: of the show. Joined by my regular co host Mark Trumbo,
0:22
Speaker 1: the former Angel slugger, and welcome back Sam Bloma, the Athletic.
0:27
Speaker 1: After a lengthy stint in Tokyo for the World Baseball Classic,
0:31
Speaker 1: How you doing, Sam? How was that trip? That must
0:33
Speaker 1: have been pretty cool?
0:34
Speaker 2: It was very cool. Yeah, and it was you know,
0:36
Speaker 2: I I've just learned I'm not as played as most
0:39
Speaker 2: of the Japanese society. But other than that, it was
0:42
Speaker 2: really lovely.
0:43
Speaker 1: As most Angel fans who know you are probably thinking shocker. Yep, Well,
0:50
Speaker 1: we got a good show free lined up today. We're
0:52
Speaker 1: gonna do a little American League West preview, and I
0:56
Speaker 1: swear there was if you're watching on YouTube, there was
0:58
Speaker 1: no premeditated plan for us all to where black. If
1:01
Speaker 1: that's to reflect the somber mood of how we think
1:04
Speaker 1: the Angels are going to do this year, but had Yeah,
1:07
Speaker 1: let's get right into it. We'll start with the code
1:12
Speaker 1: of Predictions, and they picked the Mariners to pretty much
1:15
Speaker 1: run away with this division. The Astros second, Rangers third,
1:20
Speaker 1: Sacramento fourth, and the Angels with a sixty five win
1:26
Speaker 1: projection to finish dead last. I think I'll start. I
1:34
Speaker 1: think the division is gonna be a little more bunched up.
1:36
Speaker 1: You know, they have the Mariners winning by ten games.
1:38
Speaker 1: I don't think they're going to run away with the division.
1:41
Speaker 1: I don't think the Angels are going to be sixty
1:43
Speaker 1: five win bad. And my sleeper pick not to win
1:46
Speaker 1: the division, but to make a significant move is the A's.
1:50
Speaker 1: The Athletics have a dynamic lineup, a lot of great
1:54
Speaker 1: young players, a lot of great young sluggers, and they
1:56
Speaker 1: don't have an ace. They don't have a clear cut closer.
2:00
Speaker 1: But I think their pitching just seems good enough to
2:02
Speaker 1: me to keep them in games, and that offense might
2:07
Speaker 1: make a lot of noise this year, so I think
2:09
Speaker 1: I might push them for a little bit of a
2:11
Speaker 1: wildcard contender. What do you guys think? Mark, Let's start
2:15
Speaker 1: with you just on the division.
2:18
Speaker 3: It sounds like you're maybe listening to some of the
2:21
Speaker 3: things I've said about that ball club sleeper. I'm not
2:24
Speaker 3: sure I've referenced him at least a few times. They
2:28
Speaker 3: are very talented. They have a dynamic offense, very you know,
2:36
Speaker 3: a guy like Nick Kurtz. Spring training was ho hum,
2:39
Speaker 3: but an absolute monster. If he even comes close to
2:43
Speaker 3: repeating what he did last year, he's an absolute force.
2:47
Speaker 3: We got Sevarino as their ace and springs was brought in,
2:53
Speaker 3: but beyond that, they are a little thin. And the
2:56
Speaker 3: Mariners do look like the clear favorite. I think that
2:59
Speaker 3: they are the most well rounded. Obviously have a lot
3:02
Speaker 3: of pitching. They have some bullpen concerns we can talk about.
3:06
Speaker 3: And I'm not high on Houston at all. Every year
3:10
Speaker 3: I say to myself, at least I don't really see it,
3:13
Speaker 3: don't see it happening. Then they kind of like cockroaches,
3:16
Speaker 3: just keep hanging around. Not in a bad way, but
3:19
Speaker 3: they find a way. It's a it's a it's a compliment,
3:22
Speaker 3: but this might be the year that, you know, some
3:25
Speaker 3: of those guys are getting older. Their farm system is
3:30
Speaker 3: not good, not even close to good. I think it's
3:33
Speaker 3: even below.
3:35
Speaker 2: Someone else's.
3:36
Speaker 3: But you know, they just don't have any It doesn't
3:39
Speaker 3: look like they have any kind of impact arms bats
3:42
Speaker 3: at least to help this season. And Altuvey declining to
3:47
Speaker 3: some degree still getting it done as defense didn't look
3:50
Speaker 3: good as sprint speed's way down and I can keep rambling,
3:55
Speaker 3: but we'll let Sam give some thoughts.
3:57
Speaker 2: To I agree with Pokoda in the sense that I
4:00
Speaker 2: think the Mariners are at least at ten games better
4:02
Speaker 2: than the others in this division. That's it's just because
4:07
Speaker 2: it's not even that they're significantly better than then, uh
4:12
Speaker 2: then last year. It's just that I don't think that
4:14
Speaker 2: any of these, you know, I mean, the team that
4:15
Speaker 2: probably took the biggest step forward would be the A's
4:18
Speaker 2: in my opinion, mostly because they just over the last
4:20
Speaker 2: almost like one hundred games last year, they were really
4:22
Speaker 2: quite good. The issue is their their bullpen just collapsed
4:25
Speaker 2: in the first half of the season, and by the
4:27
Speaker 2: time it even got to the All Star break, it was,
4:30
Speaker 2: you know, it was a lost cause. I think the
4:31
Speaker 2: Angels are significantly worse than everybody else, and I think,
4:36
Speaker 2: you know, can can the A's make a move for
4:38
Speaker 2: the playoffs? I certainly think it's possible. The Rangers, I
4:41
Speaker 2: know they made some serious changes in the offseason, but
4:44
Speaker 2: I mean, ultimately, like it, something just kind of seems
4:48
Speaker 2: broken there and I don't know how much enough change
4:50
Speaker 2: was made or you know, it was interesting kind of
4:54
Speaker 2: hearing Corey Seeger's comments about him and Marcus Simeon's relationship
4:58
Speaker 2: and that just it didn't sound like it was really
5:00
Speaker 2: good spots and maybe maybe, you know, making that trade
5:03
Speaker 2: and bringing in Brandon Demo, there's a there's a culture
5:06
Speaker 2: shift that or at least I don't say culture shift,
5:08
Speaker 2: maybe more of a team dynamic shift that away from
5:11
Speaker 2: whatever issue was kind of plaguing them in the past.
5:13
Speaker 2: So that's not to call Marcus Simeon the issue by
5:16
Speaker 2: any means, but just you know, whatever situation was playing
5:20
Speaker 2: out there. So I'll be curious to see how the
5:21
Speaker 2: division goes. I don't I just I think that the
5:24
Speaker 2: Mariners are significantly better and I think the Angels are
5:25
Speaker 2: significantly worse, and whatever happens in between will be, you know,
5:29
Speaker 2: whatever happens.
5:32
Speaker 1: Okay, let's break this division down team by team, and
5:35
Speaker 1: we might as well start with the Angels and our
5:37
Speaker 1: resident experts, Sam Blum sixty five wins, as we talked
5:43
Speaker 1: about before, equates the ninety seven losses. I think we
5:47
Speaker 1: all agree they're probably going to finish the last place again.
5:50
Speaker 1: But is there any hope of any you know, better
5:53
Speaker 1: of a finish for this team. Where do you see
5:57
Speaker 1: them finishing in?
5:58
Speaker 4: What kind of win total?
6:00
Speaker 3: I hope for it.
6:00
Speaker 2: But that's kind of always the thing, right, I always
6:02
Speaker 2: say that, just there's always a hope. I'd probably take
6:06
Speaker 2: the under on the sixty five my just my own opinion,
6:09
Speaker 2: but I didn't know. I mean, listen, like, they're there,
6:12
Speaker 2: what are they like? Look at Ryan Johnson. I take that.
6:14
Speaker 2: That's my kind of example for why I'm just not
6:16
Speaker 2: I'm not saying he didn't be good or bad. It's
6:18
Speaker 2: it's this guy goes from being an immediate leverage reliever
6:21
Speaker 2: in Major League Baseball to send to Hya, like after
6:26
Speaker 2: pitching the seventh inning with the lead that night in
6:29
Speaker 2: the major leagues. Then he sits out half the season
6:31
Speaker 2: in Hya after throwing a complete game for some reason
6:34
Speaker 2: down there. Uh, and now he's just back in the
6:36
Speaker 2: big leagues again, Like what kind of development processes that?
6:38
Speaker 2: I mean, you know? And now meanwhile, they brought in
6:41
Speaker 2: Alec Manoa and he's hurt or pitching poorly or whatever
6:45
Speaker 2: it is, it doesn't really matter, and grays and Rodriguez
6:47
Speaker 2: has a dead arm and isn't pitching, and there's just
6:50
Speaker 2: the pitching I think is gonna be a huge problem.
6:52
Speaker 2: I mean, their bullpen, Robert Stevenson's out. I don't know
6:55
Speaker 2: how this pitching really holds up, especially once you get
6:58
Speaker 2: into the season when guys start mixing in and out performing,
7:00
Speaker 2: not performing, getting hurt. I mean, your depth is already
7:03
Speaker 2: almost at in zero and so I just unless you're
7:06
Speaker 2: going to bring in like a George Classen or Ryan
7:08
Speaker 2: Johnson and these guys become like you know, Ace level
7:11
Speaker 2: all stars, you're looking at a really really long season.
7:14
Speaker 2: So to me, their pitching is the reason and their
7:16
Speaker 2: their lineup two is going to be the reason why.
7:18
Speaker 2: I think that would take the under on sixty five.
7:20
Speaker 3: Wow, Mark, what do you get? It's awfully low. I
7:25
Speaker 3: think they'll do better than that. I think part of
7:27
Speaker 3: it's going to be how some of these other teams
7:32
Speaker 3: that they play the most times actually fair. Like you said,
7:36
Speaker 3: I think Oakland's on the rise. I think that they
7:38
Speaker 3: have always been, especially when I was there a very
7:42
Speaker 3: tough matchup for the Angels in particular, I think sometimes
7:47
Speaker 3: they play well against teams that are surprising. Dodgers, for example,
7:50
Speaker 3: was cute anomaly last year. I don't know what to
7:53
Speaker 3: make of that, but it seems, you know, that was
7:56
Speaker 3: probably the best of times, and then there were they
7:59
Speaker 3: seem to really not play well against ports like you know,
8:02
Speaker 3: teams that were similar to them. They lay lost consistently
8:08
Speaker 3: in those games. I think, let's say Houston declines and
8:13
Speaker 3: the Angels take a few more off of them, get
8:16
Speaker 3: a few more off of the Rangers, who are really
8:20
Speaker 3: not that great, not deep at all either. Their farm
8:23
Speaker 3: system is not good. So maybe the Angels can scrap
8:26
Speaker 3: together seventy four wins best case. You know, the depth
8:33
Speaker 3: is going to be an issue. I can't really say
8:35
Speaker 3: what Johnson's development is or isn't. It's anything but consistent.
8:42
Speaker 3: If he did add a third pitch or a second well,
8:45
Speaker 3: it would be a third pitch that he was lacking
8:47
Speaker 3: to get left handers out. Maybe our guy bt H,
8:51
Speaker 3: who has been less than impressed with some of our
8:55
Speaker 3: baseball acumen, can explain his new pitch and the horizontal
8:59
Speaker 3: and vertical drop and why it's going to be effective
9:02
Speaker 3: against left unimpressed with our takes, not not giving him
9:08
Speaker 3: anything he doesn't already know, and to be quite honest,
9:12
Speaker 3: his knowledge of sabermetrics, I'm saying him, it could be
9:16
Speaker 3: a lady. Yeah, well, you know we know who Banks
9:20
Speaker 3: is now, So bt H, why don't you uh come out.
9:24
Speaker 1: You need to show yourself, show yourself, throw down a gauntlet. Uh.
9:28
Speaker 1: I'm gonna agree with Sam. I think pitching depth and
9:31
Speaker 1: the rotation and the bullpen is the great separator for
9:34
Speaker 1: the Angels. Unfortunately. I think their lineup, if they can
9:38
Speaker 1: maintain some modicum of health, could actually be better than
9:42
Speaker 1: last year. They cut down the strikeouts, maybe a little
9:45
Speaker 1: better approach on the new hitting coach, Brady Anderson. You know,
9:49
Speaker 1: Joe Adell took a huge step last year. O'happy has
9:52
Speaker 1: looked good at the plate in spring training. I think
9:55
Speaker 1: Zach Netto and Shanuell are both developing and improving, So
9:59
Speaker 1: I think off there is a little more potential there
10:02
Speaker 1: than we like to than most people think. But yeah,
10:06
Speaker 1: Grayson Rodriguez looks like he's gonna possibly start on the
10:09
Speaker 1: il Alec Manoa doesn't look like they're getting much from him.
10:13
Speaker 1: You got two kids at the back of the rotation
10:15
Speaker 1: and not much behind them depth wise, and the bullpen
10:18
Speaker 1: is a huge issue for me. I mean You're going
10:21
Speaker 1: into a season with maybe Kirby Gates being your closer,
10:23
Speaker 1: and you know he's had some great years in the past,
10:26
Speaker 1: but those are pretty firmly in the past, so very
10:29
Speaker 1: little bullpen depth. They're gonna need some, really, you know,
10:33
Speaker 1: some step up performances from guys, especially in the bullpen
10:36
Speaker 1: and the rotation to uh, you know, contend for not
10:40
Speaker 1: finishing last place. We're gonna take a little break to
10:43
Speaker 1: hear from our sponsors, and when we come back, we
10:45
Speaker 1: will break down the other four teams in the American
10:48
Speaker 1: League West.
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11:51
Speaker 1: Oh, welcome back to Helo Territory. Join by Mark Trumbo
11:54
Speaker 1: and Sam Blum. I guess we'll take these teams in
11:56
Speaker 1: alphabetical order. Start from the Houston Astros. First of all,
12:02
Speaker 1: he got one of the best pitchers in baseball and
12:04
Speaker 1: Hunter Brown. The guys have stood over two hundred strikeouts
12:08
Speaker 1: last year, regularly throws one hundred miles an hour. They
12:12
Speaker 1: added some pitching depth in this Japanese pitcher to Tosoya
12:17
Speaker 1: Maya and Mike Burrow. Is a pretty good pickup the Pirates.
12:22
Speaker 1: It's gonna make up. Did I butcher that one?
12:24
Speaker 2: Sam? What do you got?
12:27
Speaker 1: Close enough? Sorry, that's too but you know they lose
12:32
Speaker 1: Framber Valdez to the Tigers. You know that's a tough
12:36
Speaker 1: that's a tough replacement there, but they do have a
12:39
Speaker 1: little more pitching depth. Jeremy Paange, You're gonna open the
12:43
Speaker 1: season on the injured list, Josh Hater going to open
12:46
Speaker 1: the season on the injured list, and uh your Alvarez
12:52
Speaker 1: coming off one of his worst years and according to
12:55
Speaker 1: Jeff Passon said, he looked quote sluggish in spring training.
12:59
Speaker 1: Not a good sign for the Astros. Mark thinks they're
13:02
Speaker 1: due for a fall. What elaborate a little more on
13:05
Speaker 1: why you feel that way?
13:08
Speaker 3: They're aging their core, Their team is on the older side.
13:14
Speaker 3: Korea as well is in decline. There's no other way
13:18
Speaker 3: around it. Interesting story the other day about him near death.
13:22
Speaker 3: Maybe I don't know what to make of that, but
13:25
Speaker 3: and they have no doubt injury prone players. Alvarez playing
13:29
Speaker 3: the outfield, I don't, you know. He he's done a
13:33
Speaker 3: decent job when he when he's had you know, I
13:36
Speaker 3: don't know if that's even in the plans. I would
13:38
Speaker 3: assume not. But their outfield as a whole is not
13:42
Speaker 3: the same outfield as the past. Kyle Tucker is no
13:45
Speaker 3: longer out there, and some of these you know, guys
13:49
Speaker 3: at the bottom of their order doesn't look like it's
13:51
Speaker 3: going to be all that explosive. Some unproven players and
13:57
Speaker 3: the relying on bouncebacks and teams that are relying on
14:01
Speaker 3: bounce back performances are not teams that I have a
14:05
Speaker 3: lot of hope in. So they've done a lot of
14:10
Speaker 3: good things for a long time. How they've done it
14:14
Speaker 3: is up. You know, I could do a full topic
14:16
Speaker 3: on that, but you know, I think that they are
14:19
Speaker 3: kind of trending towards having to whether it's a rebuild
14:24
Speaker 3: of some degree, but they're still pegged at least some
14:28
Speaker 3: of the predictions to have you know, eighty five plus wins.
14:31
Speaker 3: I think they'll be under that if I well, I'm
14:33
Speaker 3: not going to say the B word, but I would
14:35
Speaker 3: say that they might be might be under that this season.
14:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, I totally agree. I think there's a chance they
14:41
Speaker 2: take it like a huge step back. You know, they're
14:44
Speaker 2: they're one of They're like a team that I think
14:45
Speaker 2: has a kind of a wide, you know, spectrum of
14:49
Speaker 2: possibilities for how their season plays out. But to me,
14:51
Speaker 2: I mean, I just they're like you, like Mark said,
14:55
Speaker 2: this is just the aging. You know, there's this is
14:57
Speaker 2: an older team with at least their best players are
15:00
Speaker 2: I mean, you know that that's their core, that's still
15:02
Speaker 2: who's going to be in their lineup every day as
15:04
Speaker 2: seeming they're healthy, so to the level that they're able
15:06
Speaker 2: to perform. I mean, you know, it's it's interesting. I
15:09
Speaker 2: didn't know that Jeff Passing characterized your you're Don Alvarez
15:12
Speaker 2: is uh, you know spring like that. The thing is interesting,
15:15
Speaker 2: you know, because this is this is kind of their
15:17
Speaker 2: their superstar player. So I mean, this is the kind
15:20
Speaker 2: of their one guy I think that's in their lineup
15:22
Speaker 2: that you know, can can take over a game myself.
15:26
Speaker 2: So I mean, if they're if this rotation, which is
15:29
Speaker 2: kind of relying on some guys that you know, been
15:32
Speaker 2: in and out, it's you know, they have an elite
15:35
Speaker 2: back end closer, but ultimately, I don't think it's the
15:37
Speaker 2: same bullpen that they had when they were you know,
15:39
Speaker 2: winning World Series and competing at the highest level. So yeah,
15:43
Speaker 2: I think that there's a chance that they're the fourth
15:45
Speaker 2: place team, you know, the Angels really step up maybe
15:48
Speaker 2: the fifth, but I don't I look at the I
15:50
Speaker 2: look at them as maybe you know, as as fourth
15:52
Speaker 2: like and pretty clearly at least based on the way
15:54
Speaker 2: I look at the rosters preseason.
15:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, ALBAA is also coming off a year where you
15:59
Speaker 1: only played forty eight games because of hand injuries and
16:02
Speaker 1: ankle injuries, So a lot to prove there. Let's turn
16:05
Speaker 1: our attention to the Sacramento soon to be Las Vegas
16:09
Speaker 1: A's and we talked about their lineup. If you're watching
16:12
Speaker 1: it on YouTube, here's the projected lineup, rotation, and bullpen.
16:17
Speaker 1: Look at that offense. I still don't understand why Nick
16:19
Speaker 1: Kurtz is batting leadoff, but I guess a show Hey
16:22
Speaker 1: Atani can bat leadoff, so can Nick Kurtz. Look at
16:27
Speaker 1: the names in this lineup. I know a lot of
16:29
Speaker 1: them are still young, but Jacob Wilson, say Langeleres, Brent Rooker,
16:33
Speaker 1: Tyler Soderstrom, Lawrence Butler. They just signed Sodastrom to a
16:37
Speaker 1: was it seven year, eighty six million dollar deal? He's
16:40
Speaker 1: one of the best young hitters in baseball. And they
16:45
Speaker 1: also have a Max Muncie who look at the spring
16:48
Speaker 1: this guy has had. I wrote the numbers on I
16:51
Speaker 1: still can't believe three to ninety one in this spring
16:54
Speaker 1: with a one point three zero seven ops, five homers,
16:57
Speaker 1: twelve RBIs in nineteen games, so he's probably gonna take
17:00
Speaker 1: over at third base. So they're adding, you know, maybe
17:03
Speaker 1: another decent hitter to an already good lineup.
17:05
Speaker 4: Now.
17:05
Speaker 1: Pitching wise, we talked about it. That's an issue. I
17:09
Speaker 1: think several Reno is great at the top. Depth wise,
17:12
Speaker 1: I don't think they have the horses to stick with
17:15
Speaker 1: Seattle and the bullpen. They don't really have a clear
17:18
Speaker 1: cut closer after trading Mason Miller away last year. That's
17:22
Speaker 1: a big loss. But I don't know, there's something about
17:24
Speaker 1: this team. They've got a year playing Sacramento under their belt,
17:30
Speaker 1: have a pretty good feel for it. Maybe they'll get
17:31
Speaker 1: a little better home field advantage there. And to me,
17:34
Speaker 1: if Nick Kurtz, if he takes one step forward and
17:37
Speaker 1: starts to hit left handers well, which you really struggled
17:41
Speaker 1: with last season, you're looking at a potential MVP candidate.
17:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would, you know, he absolutely can win MVP.
17:50
Speaker 2: I mean, this guy's what he did, you know, I
17:53
Speaker 2: think from the kind of middle of June on last
17:56
Speaker 2: year was probably at an MVP caliber pace. H I.
18:02
Speaker 2: The thing with the A's is that they're pitching. I mean,
18:04
Speaker 2: I like to think it's good enough but I mean, ultimately,
18:07
Speaker 2: if you playing that ballpark, your pitching is gonna struggle
18:09
Speaker 2: to some extent. Regardless, I think, you know, the A's
18:12
Speaker 2: really need Luis Everarino to figure out how to pitch
18:14
Speaker 2: in that ballpark, because, like you said, he's their guy,
18:16
Speaker 2: and if he can only throw on the road, and
18:18
Speaker 2: he was really good on the road last year, that's
18:20
Speaker 2: kind of an issue for them, And especially if he's
18:22
Speaker 2: going out and talking about it every day and kind
18:24
Speaker 2: of making it, you know, making it more making an
18:26
Speaker 2: issue as well. I yeah, I mean, I to me,
18:30
Speaker 2: the A's are I'd probably put him second in the division.
18:33
Speaker 2: I think they'll they'll, they'll, they'll be in the mix.
18:37
Speaker 2: Just with the lineup, you know, Brent Rooker, Uh, Butler,
18:41
Speaker 2: I mean, this is a this is a good team.
18:43
Speaker 2: This is a team that will hit. And yeah, I like,
18:46
Speaker 2: I like where they're going.
18:49
Speaker 3: I think they're good for the game. I think they
18:51
Speaker 3: have They're exciting, and you know, it's pretty interesting with
18:56
Speaker 3: all of the other things surrounding that ball club that
18:58
Speaker 3: they've been able to generate. You know, it's a lot
19:04
Speaker 3: of positive stories too, because quite you know, with the
19:07
Speaker 3: stadium and everything else, and the transition from Oakland. None
19:11
Speaker 3: of that. The owner is not well liked at all
19:16
Speaker 3: appears and I can understand why. But I will say
19:20
Speaker 3: they lost Mason Miller, but they did get pretty good
19:24
Speaker 3: player in return they got. They got a big package.
19:27
Speaker 3: But Leo Devrees is a consensus top five to fifteen
19:31
Speaker 3: overall prospect, elite tools, bat glove, and he's probably going
19:36
Speaker 3: to make an impact this year in the infield. Looks
19:40
Speaker 3: like he can really hit, so that that is what
19:43
Speaker 3: you look for when you are trading a guy with
19:46
Speaker 3: peak value. Not all teams are into that, but those
19:51
Speaker 3: that are, they're looking to get big packages. The Rangers
19:54
Speaker 3: got some nice returns. I think one guy I really
19:57
Speaker 3: liked him when I was looking at the draft last year,
20:00
Speaker 3: Jamie Arnold. He was a guy that fell a little bit.
20:04
Speaker 3: But even you know, one outing in spring training, I
20:08
Speaker 3: don't know how aggressive they'll push him. He looks nasty,
20:10
Speaker 3: he's got a crossbody delivery, very deceptive. You know, a
20:15
Speaker 3: guy that the Angels chose to not select, as did
20:20
Speaker 3: a number of other teams. He was picked eleventh, so
20:23
Speaker 3: that's you know, gotta go out. And then they got
20:25
Speaker 3: a guy named Gage Jump, a left hander a little
20:27
Speaker 3: more compact build. He throws gas. He's a starting pitcher.
20:31
Speaker 3: He's got nasty breaking stuff, all the stuff the advanced
20:35
Speaker 3: metrics guys salivate over a lot of swing and miss.
20:39
Speaker 3: And he's also a guy that can be a twenty
20:42
Speaker 3: twenty six jolt to them. So to have two left
20:46
Speaker 3: handed starting pitchers to possibly insert if they're into it
20:50
Speaker 3: or if they're in the race is a nice thing
20:53
Speaker 3: to have. Nice weapons.
20:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, they also added a former n NOW batting champion
20:58
Speaker 1: and Jeff McNeil their new second baseman, and I think
21:01
Speaker 1: they play pretty good defense. We'll forget Denzel Clerk's catching
21:05
Speaker 1: center field last year, so you know, no, I love
21:09
Speaker 1: the A's there a sexy pick. We're gonna take one
21:12
Speaker 1: more break to hear from our sponsors and we'll be
21:14
Speaker 1: right back to talk about the Mariners and the Rangers.
21:18
Speaker 5: This is it Kratz opening weekend of the season. And
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22:20
Speaker 1: All right, welcome back to Halo Territory with Mark Trumbo
22:23
Speaker 1: and Sam Blum, and we're going to dive into the
22:24
Speaker 1: Seattle Mariners. He consensus pick to win the division on
22:30
Speaker 1: the cusp of the World Series. They're still looking for
22:32
Speaker 1: that first World Series birth, and a lot of people
22:35
Speaker 1: think they're gonna break that door down this year. One
22:38
Speaker 1: of the best rotations in baseball with Logan Gilbert, George Kirby,
22:43
Speaker 1: Bryce Miller, Brian Wu. But a lot of I think Gilbert, Kirby,
22:48
Speaker 1: and Miller all spent pretty big chunks of last season
22:50
Speaker 1: on the injured list. That's a concern. I question whether
22:54
Speaker 1: cal Raley's gonna be able to keep up his MVP
22:58
Speaker 1: runner up pace last year. I love Brendan Donovan. I
23:03
Speaker 1: think he's going to beat lead off for them, a
23:05
Speaker 1: great move solid hitter. I think he's hitting four twenty
23:09
Speaker 1: nine with one thousand and sixty two ops the spring.
23:13
Speaker 1: So those are just some of my concerns. What do
23:17
Speaker 1: you guys think? Are these they got them? Pakoda's got
23:19
Speaker 1: him in a ninety four win team running away with
23:22
Speaker 1: the division. Are we in agreement on that?
23:26
Speaker 2: Well? I think, like you just said, you know, even
23:28
Speaker 2: with some of the issues to the rotation last year,
23:29
Speaker 2: they were still within, you know, one win of getting
23:33
Speaker 2: to the World Series. This is it's just a very
23:35
Speaker 2: deep roster they have. I mean, they have pitching that
23:37
Speaker 2: goes beyond the that starting rotation. I mean, I do
23:40
Speaker 2: agree with you that cal Raley's probably not going to
23:42
Speaker 2: sixty home runs. I mean, that's that is the kind
23:45
Speaker 2: of pace that's just you know, you see almost a
23:47
Speaker 2: nominalist type seasons like that. I don't is Josh Naylor
23:49
Speaker 2: going to steal thirty something bases again? Right? Like he
23:52
Speaker 2: came in and that that was and that was a
23:54
Speaker 2: key part of you know, the way they operated. So
23:56
Speaker 2: you know, I think there's there's probably certain areas you
23:58
Speaker 2: might see regression, but then there's this is you know,
24:01
Speaker 2: this is a great roster. I mean they added reddon Donovan,
24:03
Speaker 2: like you mentioned, their their their lineup. I think coming
24:06
Speaker 2: into last year was the question. I mean, they didn't
24:08
Speaker 2: The whole idea was they didn't make any meaningful changes.
24:11
Speaker 2: They were kind of running it back with the team
24:12
Speaker 2: that hadn't proven to be capable of making a World
24:15
Speaker 2: Series run. I think that, you know, they haven't necessarily
24:17
Speaker 2: gotten there yet, but I think they proved themselves capable
24:20
Speaker 2: of doing it. And uh, you know, they made the
24:23
Speaker 2: additions this offseason, and they made them at the deadline,
24:25
Speaker 2: you know, over the last few years. I mean, that's
24:27
Speaker 2: how they've really built is later in the season, and
24:29
Speaker 2: so I expect that if this team is in the
24:31
Speaker 2: mix in August, you'll probably see that again. But they're
24:35
Speaker 2: already kind of built forward. As far as I'm as
24:37
Speaker 2: far as I'm concerned, Mark.
24:38
Speaker 1: And the Mariners as good as everyone seems to think
24:40
Speaker 1: they are.
24:42
Speaker 3: They got a good club. There's no two ways around it.
24:44
Speaker 3: I think their offense is good, not great, but it
24:50
Speaker 3: could be great. I think Kyler ally really came into
24:54
Speaker 3: his own. I've heard from enough people that know what
24:56
Speaker 3: they're talking about that he is the real deal. So
25:00
Speaker 3: not a fluke. That ridiculous story out of the WBC.
25:07
Speaker 3: I think that was easily avoidable. I don't know who
25:10
Speaker 3: is at fault there. I didn't do any good for anyone.
25:13
Speaker 3: I guess Randy issued an apology yesterday, but yeah, you know,
25:17
Speaker 3: I would tell both of them that let's move on
25:19
Speaker 3: from that. On Munoster Closer is nasty. I mean, when
25:25
Speaker 3: he comes in, that game is over almost every time.
25:28
Speaker 3: Beyond that, their bullpen has some issues and they really
25:32
Speaker 3: rely heavily on their high leverage arms, so they you know, really,
25:38
Speaker 3: what they're going to need is their starting pitchers to
25:40
Speaker 3: go what they're capable of, which is with that kind
25:43
Speaker 3: of stuff, you know, five six, seven innings, the short
25:47
Speaker 3: starts will be I will predict their potential big hiccup
25:52
Speaker 3: if those guys you know, are going for punch out
25:54
Speaker 3: after punch out and the pitch counts get high. But
25:58
Speaker 3: I don't see any team that's really close to them
26:00
Speaker 3: this division, and they have the best ranked farm system
26:03
Speaker 3: of the Al West teams considered eighth. I think it's
26:08
Speaker 3: you know, aggregate, but cold Emerson is their top prospect.
26:11
Speaker 3: He's got a very quiet approach at the plate plus
26:16
Speaker 3: plus hit till a lot of people ranked his hit
26:18
Speaker 3: too the highest in the minor leagues when asked. Not
26:21
Speaker 3: a ton of power, and the defense looks pretty good,
26:24
Speaker 3: but he should be an impact player this year. Kate
26:27
Speaker 3: Anderson third overall pick twenty twenty five draft mentioned Jamie Arnold.
26:32
Speaker 3: Kate Anderson is another left handed starting pitcher that can
26:34
Speaker 3: make an impact this year. They may not want to
26:37
Speaker 3: rush from that quick, but he seems more than capable
26:40
Speaker 3: of getting big league hitters out most likely solid three
26:44
Speaker 3: pitch mix, swing and miss stuff just really polished. He's
26:49
Speaker 3: the type of guy that the Angels, you know, if
26:51
Speaker 3: you're looking for a plug and play, he seemed like
26:53
Speaker 3: the closest thing. But he commanded a lot of money,
26:57
Speaker 3: so the Mariners chose to pay and they got him.
27:01
Speaker 3: If he makes a big impact, and Arnold two, it's
27:05
Speaker 3: going to kind of sting. I'm not saying that Bremner
27:07
Speaker 3: won't won't as well, but left handed starting pitchers are
27:10
Speaker 3: generally highly coveted, and maybe these guys will show us why.
27:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, and one thing we can always count on if
27:16
Speaker 1: the Mariners are knocking on the door at the trade deadline,
27:19
Speaker 1: Jerry Depoto probably one of, if not the most aggressive
27:22
Speaker 1: general managers, as Mark Trumbo knows all too well. Were
27:26
Speaker 1: those both trade deadline deals? By the way, Mark, I can't.
27:28
Speaker 3: Remember, no, No, those were out was like a Christmas special,
27:35
Speaker 3: not white.
27:36
Speaker 5: And then.
27:38
Speaker 3: The other one I can't even remember. We had the
27:41
Speaker 3: first phone conversation. You know, you get called when you
27:44
Speaker 3: get traded if you want a little anecdote, and I
27:47
Speaker 3: understood the first time the package was pretty pretty big,
27:51
Speaker 3: and you know, I from a logical standpoint, I said sure.
27:54
Speaker 3: The second time, I wasn't his thrilled because I just
27:56
Speaker 3: kind of figured a way to fit in on a
27:59
Speaker 3: new club and immediately having to do it again. So
28:02
Speaker 3: that one was brief, but I did take the call
28:05
Speaker 3: and say, okay, Jerry, appreciate it.
28:07
Speaker 1: Then we'll see, you know. Turning toward the Texas Rangers,
28:12
Speaker 1: who seemed to be picked in the middle of the pack,
28:15
Speaker 1: here's their projected line of rotation Bullpen if you're watching
28:19
Speaker 1: on YouTube, and boy, one thing that really jumps out
28:24
Speaker 1: of me is those three names at the top of
28:26
Speaker 1: the rotation, Jacob de Gram, Nathaniovaldi, and Mackenzie Gore. They
28:32
Speaker 1: traded five prospects to the Nats to get Gore. That's
28:35
Speaker 1: a pretty big haul. He's been a little inconsistent. I
28:38
Speaker 1: think his career era is four point one point nine.
28:43
Speaker 1: He had one hundred eighty dragouts or more in each
28:47
Speaker 1: of the last two seasons, but he also walked sixty
28:49
Speaker 1: or more in each of those two seasons, So a
28:52
Speaker 1: little up and down for him. But if those guys
28:55
Speaker 1: stay healthy, you know they can match up with any
28:58
Speaker 1: three rotation wise, I do question the rotation after that.
29:02
Speaker 1: It does seem to fall off a bit. There is
29:04
Speaker 1: some encouragement. The offense was not very good last year.
29:07
Speaker 1: I think they were in the twenty fifth or twenty
29:10
Speaker 1: six an average on base percentage, but they are hitting.
29:15
Speaker 1: I think they're averaging six runs a game this spring.
29:18
Speaker 1: Brandon Nemo another Mets acquisition at the top of that lineup.
29:23
Speaker 1: He might add some spark. I think Wyatt Langford, I
29:28
Speaker 1: think is pretty still a pretty good up and young,
29:31
Speaker 1: young up and coming player, and I think they're expecting
29:33
Speaker 1: a bounce back year for Jake Berger. My concern with
29:36
Speaker 1: them their DH is projected to be Jock Peterson, who's
29:40
Speaker 1: hitting one seventy one with a four to eighty one
29:43
Speaker 1: OPS and thirty five spring at bats. So the lineup
29:46
Speaker 1: does tend to drop off a little bit, but hard
29:49
Speaker 1: to argue with that rotation. Not sure about their bullpen.
29:53
Speaker 1: Chris Martin's back there, Robert Garcia their potential closer. Don't
29:57
Speaker 1: know a lot about him. Maybe third fourth place is
30:02
Speaker 1: the right pick for the Rangers. I think they'll be
30:05
Speaker 1: a little better than they've been, but I don't see
30:08
Speaker 1: them contending for any kind of division or playoff berth.
30:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I don't think it really Yeah, No,
30:15
Speaker 2: I don't think they're much better like than they were
30:17
Speaker 2: last year. I mean, this is you know, they haven't
30:19
Speaker 2: been they they fell off after they won the World Series.
30:22
Speaker 2: I mean, I think, like you said, their their lineup
30:24
Speaker 2: looks a lot like last year's lineup, and last year's
30:27
Speaker 2: lineup was in the like you mentioned, in the bottom
30:29
Speaker 2: five in almost every meaningful category. And Jack Peterson that
30:34
Speaker 2: was just a bad contract. I mean, like he was
30:36
Speaker 2: bad last year, like you just mentioned, He's had a
30:38
Speaker 2: bad spring. I don't know how many guys get real
30:42
Speaker 2: bounce bags kind of where he where he's at in
30:44
Speaker 2: his career. So I mean, that's that's an issue. You know,
30:48
Speaker 2: health's been an issue. It's just it's I mean, I
30:51
Speaker 2: know they they you know, they made some moves right
30:54
Speaker 2: they I think they non tendered a Doulas Garcia is
30:56
Speaker 2: such a key part and kind of the heart of
30:58
Speaker 2: their lineup there for about four five seasons. But you know,
31:02
Speaker 2: so there's maybe some addition by subtraction and that type
31:05
Speaker 2: of on that front, and you change the dynamics of
31:07
Speaker 2: the lineup a little bit. But to me, you know,
31:10
Speaker 2: they look a lot like last year, and last year
31:12
Speaker 2: wasn't very good. So I won't project them to be.
31:14
Speaker 2: I mean, I think they may be a little better
31:15
Speaker 2: than the Astros, but to me, that's kind of that
31:18
Speaker 2: third and fourth spot. Those those teams will be you know,
31:21
Speaker 2: buying for that and you know after after. I think
31:25
Speaker 2: the A's are more the clear cut second best team.
31:30
Speaker 3: I think they are not a well rounded club. They
31:36
Speaker 3: have some very good players. De Graham's health has always
31:40
Speaker 3: a question mark. You know, he's incredible, but you blank
31:45
Speaker 3: and he's on the shelf again. You have all these
31:48
Speaker 3: really good the Gore trade, admittedly, I need to look
31:51
Speaker 3: at it a little bit more. That's giving up a
31:54
Speaker 3: heck of a lot. He's got obviously really good stuff.
31:58
Speaker 3: But I like guys that throws likes, and if I'm
32:01
Speaker 3: going to give up a haul, I don't want guys
32:04
Speaker 3: with walk issues. That's just a personal preference. Uh, you know,
32:08
Speaker 3: the swing and miss stuff. Everywhere you look, it's you know,
32:11
Speaker 3: the guys hitting one hundred hundred plus. I do wonder
32:14
Speaker 3: if these radar guns might have been uh, you know,
32:17
Speaker 3: those batteries are getting charged a little more. But well,
32:21
Speaker 3: it's it's a huge story. I think Major League Baseball
32:24
Speaker 3: is probably playing a part in that. I think fans
32:26
Speaker 3: get excited when you know guys are Seth Fernandez the
32:30
Speaker 3: one hundred and two the other night got a big
32:33
Speaker 3: reaction from the Tiger's prospect has made a lot of waves.
32:38
Speaker 3: H Clark. So, but like with Jock Peterson, I got it.
32:44
Speaker 3: You know, he is declining. I think his fitness has
32:46
Speaker 3: been questionable as well, and that's something I always have
32:50
Speaker 3: a hard time with pro athletes in my opinion, should
32:53
Speaker 3: do what they can to uh look, the part not
32:56
Speaker 3: everyone has to look like a you know Adonis is culture,
33:00
Speaker 3: but uh, you know you got come in shape. Don't
33:04
Speaker 3: don't let that be a storyline. And they're they're hitting
33:08
Speaker 3: last year was lousy, No, nothing short of lousy. U
33:11
Speaker 3: extremely low ps. They changed hitting coaches, Brett Boone came in,
33:16
Speaker 3: it didn't seem to get any better. That's a tall
33:19
Speaker 3: task too, and the clubhouse chemistry almost assuredly was an issue.
33:23
Speaker 3: As Sam said earlier, with that kind of awkward answer
33:28
Speaker 3: that Seeger gave, he gave an answer, but it almost
33:31
Speaker 3: certainly means that there was some friction there. Why I
33:34
Speaker 3: don't know, but those guys are making a fortune, and
33:36
Speaker 3: if you've got you know, players with huge contracts and
33:41
Speaker 3: a difference of opinion that is not good for business.
33:43
Speaker 3: So hopefully Skipped Shoemaker can get them in order. But
33:46
Speaker 3: I don't see what direction the franchise is really going
33:48
Speaker 3: unless I'm missing something. A very lousy farm system as well,
33:52
Speaker 3: after you know, uh, trading away a lot of guys,
33:55
Speaker 3: So I think they're hoping for the best, but I
33:58
Speaker 3: wouldn't be surprised if they had, you know, a poor showing.
34:02
Speaker 1: All right, that's going to close the show for today.
34:05
Speaker 1: Angels open the regular season at Houston play the Astros
34:09
Speaker 1: on Thursday, and then the next week they'll have their
34:12
Speaker 1: home opener. So we'll see you later this week on
34:15
Speaker 1: Halo Tour Territory, Sam Blum, Mark Trumbo, thanks for joining
34:19
Speaker 1: us as always. That'll do it for Halo Territory.
34:27
Speaker 2: M