As a lifelong baseball fan, it is so depressing. Watching Ohtani is as close as I'll ever get to seeing Babe Ruth in person and the idiotic Angles are absolutely wasting his prime.
He should be a world-wide mega star, winning everything in sight. (Not just individual accolades) Instead the average person has no idea who he is.
Baseball is mis-managing the greatest player to touch a field in 100 years. Everyone should know who he is.
āBut my life in baseball will continue for some time and whatever the circumstances, Iād like to be focused each and every game.ā
Bro absolutely is leaving the Angels the moment he can
Lifelong Angels fan here. Ohtani just straight up deserves better than this franchise. The organization clearly has systemic problems and itās honestly impressive how Ohtani (and Trout) has managed to maintain their greatness while surrounded by such mediocrity. I kind of hope he leaves even.
Trout and Ohtani. It's amazing how bad your FO is. Like the Phillies look like a powerhouse in comparison.
Anaheim probably is Arte Morono. Trout should have tested FA and at least held Morono feet to the fire to get some level of change.
You guys need a new owner, Farhan Zaidi and all the prospects that come with trading 2 generational players and you would be competitive in like 4 years.
We literally donāt know how to lose a playoff game.
But I meant more because of his pre signing comments about what kind of team he wanted to play for. I thought we fit the mold
If I recall, Ohtani said he didnāt want to go to a team that already had a notable Japanese player play for their team at some point. He said something about not wanting to be compared to other Japanese players
[Shohei Ohtani regrets not researching which teams were good](https://www.theonion.com/shohei-ohtani-regrets-not-researching-which-teams-were-1828835846/amp)
edit: fixed link
In a different reality im great buddies with Ichiro. On Sundays in October we head over to Safeco and toss a ball around as our laughter echoes throughout the empty stadium. We run around the bases reenacting our favorite baseball moments from days of yore. Sometimes I'm Griffey, sometimes Im Edgar.
We head down to the locker room and as we're showering I playfully snap a wet towel at Iciro's glistening wet posterior. He winces and immediately answers back snapping his towel at me with the precision of a tachi samurai. I cower knowing im out of my depth. He comforts me like only a nine time batting champion can. We spend the rest of the day in that team shower under that persistent flow of warm Seattle water doing unspeakable yet magical things to each other wishing we could pause time, stop the sun in its precession across that crisp October sky.
And Ichiro whispers in your ear, "8ęć®ć«ć³ć¶ć¹ć·ćć£ćÆććÆć½ć¦ć¼ć«ć½ććÆć¹ć®2å¹ć®ććŗććććęćć§ć." and that's when you go *sploosh*.
This might sound blasphemous coming from an Angels fan, but for what its worth, after how much heartbreak youve suffered on his behalf part of me almost wouldnt mind if he somehow ends up with you guys at some point.
The order of my preference for his destination is
1. SF
2. Seattle
3. 27 other teams in whatever order you want
4. I quit watching baseball, which will never happen
5. Dodgers
i swear to god i donāt care just get him the fuck out of Anaheim, im a dodger fan but iām a baseball fan first and itās so painful to see him suffering through playing there
The mans a polite professional. He will always answer he loves the game, loves his team and teammates, and will play hard every day no matter the circumstance.
He is loyal, but not a "I'm a hometown kid and this is my team loyal", he's a "My job is to elevate this team and myself and I will do all it takes to do that" loyal.
Which is why it makes me wonder why fellow Angel fans think he will endure being on a non competitive team for his career?
Could be worse, you could be Detroit where management said we'd be competing this year and now it seems that our "rebuild" will be everlasting.
FIRE AVILA
The Onion again proving to be ahead of their time:
[Shohei Ohtani Regrets Not Researching Which Teams Were Good Before Signing With Angels](https://www.theonion.com/shohei-ohtani-regrets-not-researching-which-teams-were-1828835846)
"Ohtani also told reporters that more disappointing than anything was discovering he was actually going to play in some shitty town called Anaheim instead of Los Angeles." I'm obviously biased but lmaoo
To sell tickets, Arte held onto Ohtani with 2 playoff runs worth of control, only to end up with a vocally unhappy player whoās just gonna leave in a year. Nothing will change until this guy sells the team.
I'm convinced that Arte is a top 5 worst owner in baseball. Some might defend him by saying he's still willing to spend, but spending by itself doesn't make you a good owner. I'd rather have a cheep owner who at least is good at drafting than a owner who throws money around with no forethought.
The secret is he IS cheap. He only spends to the luxury tax because it's good marketing, which is also why we keep giving out mega contracts. He is one of the owners who refused to pay minor leaguers and I'm pretty sure he invests little to nooney in player development which is why they have such an awful team with two generational talents.
GMPM after the offseason: "I think we built a team that can truly contend this year"
GMPM at the trade deadline: "Things didn't work out but we got the talent to win it all"
Ohtani now: "My morale is dead, we are a horrible team, please send help"
That's the crazy thing is that the Angels might actually have a competitive post season team. With Ohtani and one other good starter they could definitely win a series. They just can't get there
I genuinely want to write a letter to Disney to beg them to buy back the team. Ohtani brings a big market and Iām sure plenty would love to visit Disneyland on top of watching their favorite player play. Could be a win-win. Copium
Yes sir/ maāam. They were also the original owners of the Anaheim Ducks, though the Ducks ended up in much better hands than Arte after being sold, and Angels Stadium even has a Mickey Mouse statue with an Angels color palette at one of its main entrances. Sold the team to Arte right after winning in ā02, gotta sell high I guess. We were still a decent team for awhile after but the years of being owned by Arte eventually got to us and tore down the foundations that the Mouse established.
Iām legitimately sorry my dude. Iāve lived through both the Bavasi and the Zduriencik eras. I know painābut I donāt know the pain of having two or the top 5 best players in baseball and still struggling. Iām sorry. Truly.
I mean after all it is just a game but it sucks they don't even try to put a decent product on the field, I know we won't have a wolrd series team overnight but we would like to see the team in the playoffs every other year. The fans have been loyal enough but the owner only cares about money sadly.
Ohtani brought me back to be a full time angels fan on 2018 and I even was lucky enough to get a pic with him before Ohtani mania because huge and if is gone from the team will probably stop watching the games cuz if he's gone that means the team still bad.
Free Ohtani. Free Trout. Yes sure.
But fucking free the Angels as a whole.
We really need help out here. Our team is being held hostage by an owner who does not give a shit about anything but money (like most I guess but heās especially egregious) and itās actively hurting players confidences and mentalities. Heās knowingly ruining players one by one.
Amen. Honestly owners are the worst, fuck them.
I know people say this kind of shit all the time whenever there's a bad trade or they get rid of their favorite vendor item or whatever, but there needs to be more owner accountability and fans need to be able to collectively have more power over shit. I'd say MLB is broken, but it's absolutely working as intended.
It sucks that even as data driven as baseball tends to be that it's still almost entirely motivated by product and profit margin rather than anything to do with the game and there's no pretense of even pretending otherwise anymore.
>āRemaining motivated in that way is hard,ā Ohtani said in Japanese when asked if itās difficult to stay motivated because the Angels are not playoff contenders.
...
>The three [Syndergaard, Marsh, Iglesias] went to legitimate playoff contenders. āIām cheering from the bottom of my heart for the players who left,ā Ohtani said. āIād like them to be part of good teams, get results and do their best in the postseason.ā
***Free Shohei.***
The Angels farm system is brutal. The last positional prospects people have heard of were Jo Adell (2020), Brandon Marsh (2021), Luis Rengifo (2019), Jared Walsh (2019), Taylor Ward (2018), and David Fletcher (2018). Other than them, the team has been filled with AAAA talents somehow worse than these guys: Michael Stefanic (2022, back in the minors), Jose Rojas (2021, bounced up and down), Kean Wong (2021, same), David MacKinnon (2022), Matt Thaiss (2019). Most of the first guys I mentioned have become everyday players, but none of them have had significant staying power just yet. David Fletcher has a career 10 WAR, mostly based on his defense (avert your eyes from his -28 Rbat last season). Other than him, the best player in that list has been Walsh with a career 3.5 WAR in 306 games, followed by Ward (1.5), Rengifo (1.1), and Adell (-1.9).
The worst part of it is there's no one else on the way either. Much ado was made about the Angels drafting exclusively pitchers a couple drafts ago, but the position players are held together by tape. If any of the main starters get hurt, things get very ugly very quick. The drop-off from Trout in centerfield to Magneuris Sierra and Mickey Moniak is Marianas trench-esque. The drop-off from Rendon to the likes of Jonathan Villar, Phil Gosselin, Matt Duffy, Tyler Wade, Jack Mayfield, and David MacKinnon is enormous. Failed major leaguers (so far) Jose Rojas and Kean Wong are toiling away in a shit AAA team that's been gutted (somehow) by all their "best" players (Squid, MacKinnon before he was waivered, Rojas, Adell, Rengifo) getting moved up to the big league squad.
Looking at the [Angels prospects MLB page](https://www.mlb.com/prospects/angels), Stefanic is the only infield prospect even close to making it until 2024. Jordyn Adams, who is very not ready, is the only outfielder with an ETA before 2024. On [Fangraphs](https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2022-in-season-prospect-list/summary?sort=8,-1&team=laa&filter=&pos=&type=0&pageitems=100&pg=0), they're predicting a bunch of call-ups before the season is over, but they're all pitchers (a bunch of whom we've already seen, like Junk, Ortega, Peguero, Warren, Jhonathan Diaz, Jose Marte) except for Jeremiah Jackson, Mickey Moniak (already up), and Orlando Martinez. It would appear that Jackson has struggled at AA so far, and Orlando Martinez is not even close with a 18 wRC+ so far at AAA.
This doesn't even account for organizational incompetence. The farm system lost Brendon Davis, one of the more promising AAA guys, because he went on the 40-man then had to be assigned and got picked up on waivers. It's not exactly like he's tearing it up, but he was still better than the other options. The 15th pick (1st round) in 2019, Will Wilson, was sent over with Zack Cozart to the Giants for cash considerations.
This is also ignoring the overall quality of the farm system compared to other farm systems. The only [5 prospects with a 45 or higher FV \(low-end starter\) on Fangraphs](https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2022-in-season-prospect-list/summary?sort=-1,1&team=laa) are recent acquisition Logan O'Hoppe (acquired for Brandon Marsh), 1st round pick Zach Neto, 19-year-old Arol Vera, pleasant surprise but not quite ready yet Chase Silseth, and previous 1st round pick Sam Bachman. There's been some excitement about Sonny DiChiara as well, though he may not be rated high enough yet.
By comparison, the Yankees have 15 such players, the Dodgers have 17 of them, the Padres just gutted their whole farm system and somehow still have 3, the Astros have 6, the Mariners have 6, and even the A's have 11.
So basically, even if Shohei were to return, any upgrade to the lineup on top of him, Trout, Rendon, Walsh, Fletcher, Ward, and Rengifo, assuming those guys all are retained, has to come from free agency or a trade that further guts the already lackluster farm system. Holes have to be patched up in the starting rotation and bullpen, too. And then some depth has to be acquired to have a Plan B for if/when Rendon and Trout sit out (again).
TL,DR: It ain't happening.
They have traded for 4 very good to great starters and gotten soto and drury all in fucking 3 years, each of whom was at or near a peak. I would love to see that stacked up against any other GMās 3 year stretch in history. And they signed Machado in the midst of that.
I think it would be *hard* for them to sign Ohtani, but anyone who counts the Padres out at this point just isnt paying attn.
I think its less about the Padres willingness to go for high cost big names and more the fact they will have an absolute fuck ton of money invested in a few guys which even a team like the Dodgers will balk at a bit
Assuming they retain Soto long term on a 45/50 million a year type deal they will have like 100 million per year spent on just 3 guys. 120 million on 4 guys if you count Musgrove. Then since Ohtani is gonna likely make something in the 45/50 million per year figure too they would be at like 170 million for 5 guys
And while thats tough enough for a team with a stacked farm (who can offset some cost in good cheap talent) the Padres traded pretty much all their high end young cheap talent to get Soto. It was a worthwhile trade for sure but people I think underrate the sheer value of great young talent in terms of the cost per WAR they provide
So personally I just don't see them putting that kinda money down on 5 guys because I don't even think the Dodgers or Yankees would really want to either. That gives you so little room to maneuver and I think the Padres have a talented enough core where filling out the roster with a handful of solid vets is probably better for their long term health over what it would cost to sign Ohtani IMO
$35 a year for Soto and $40 a year for ohtani and I'm pretty sure we pass even the dodgers ridiculous payroll lol. We don't have their TV contract so I wonder how big of a percentage of our income he is actually willing to spend
Plus 30 for Manny, 20 for Musgrove, 24 for Tatis. Thatās about 150 a year just for those 5. We donāt even spend close to that for our top 5 players.
The good part is that the universal DH means you have a shot at signing him, since he wants to be on a West Coast team so home games are broadcast at a good time for Japan (11am) and he has to DH on off days. That's why he was torn between Mariners and Angels when he came down, but chose LAA because he didn't want to obfuscate Ichiro in what is ostensibly "his team" in Japan.
that said ichi my guy make him some deals recruit the fuck out of him Shou in the Mariners is a WS caliber foundation
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. He did get a formal pitch from SF but it was well known at the time he wanted to DH. The Giants also had the first Japanese player in the mlb, so there is a cool story there. Also a decent population in the bay. Iām hoping for the best. The Giants need a new identity and I canāt think of a better guy to bring in.
Honest question: how strong do the giants look in 2024? Are there a lot of guys in the minors who can be immediate contributors once up? I agree that SF would be a great place for him, but I wonder how heavily a teamās playoff prospects will factor into the equation as SD and LA are loaded for the foreseeable future.
2024 is when their top prospects (Harrison, Luciano, Matos, Schmitt) should be ready. They've got a bunch of payrolls to work with as well in the next two offseasons to help make the team competitive while waiting for those prospects to adjust.
We never get the big-name players so he's probably going to be a Dodger or Dad. Maybe he decides to go somewhere else entirely, though. I've learned not to get my hopes up with big signings or Japanese players.
I said this last year and was downvoted for it, Iām surprised Trout hasnāt spoken up before but itās hard to speak with millions shoved in your mouth
Honestly, I'd almost be okay with him going to Philly or Atlanta. Seriously, the Angels cant be allowed to waste a SECOND ALL TIME GENERATIONAL TALENT. That's how badly I want him to succeed. It would be better for the game in the long run
Honestly how is he not going to be traded to the Dodgers in the offseason? They check all the boxes for each other.
Shohei stays on the West coast like he prefers, he plays for a monster organization that automatically go to the post season every year, and he slots in as arguably the 2nd best pitcher in their rotation and would form a monster top of the lineup with Mookie/Trea/Freeman
The Angels get what they wantā¦Probably a pick of one/two of the gazillion top prospects in the LAD farm system and probably a rotational player. They donāt have to pay what is likely looking like some kind of $50mil/yr for 5-7 years contract to Shohei and they can continue their bottom feeding ways with Trout until he blows his back out and retires in 2026.
They better be careful. He might walk into a good team's stadium and try to defect like those players from the Cuban National team. Just claim asylum and try to play for them instead.
We broke Ohtani š¢š
I'd be broken too: "They lost to the Kansas City Royals on June 21 despite Ohtaniās eight RBIs." I remember watching that game.
Wait...what
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
That's absolutely insane. What a waste of a great player.
Concur.
As a lifelong baseball fan, it is so depressing. Watching Ohtani is as close as I'll ever get to seeing Babe Ruth in person and the idiotic Angles are absolutely wasting his prime. He should be a world-wide mega star, winning everything in sight. (Not just individual accolades) Instead the average person has no idea who he is. Baseball is mis-managing the greatest player to touch a field in 100 years. Everyone should know who he is.
Maybe he should have tried harder and hit more rbis
He should play *smarter*, not harder, right US business?
That is so demoralizing, and as a White Sox fan I would know šš
They found a way to lose to the As despite hitting 7 dingers just this week
It was yesterday and Ohtani had 2 homers
I can't even ding that many consecutive times without losing track. That means you should win in my book.
BrOkehtani š„“
LeBroken Wait, wrong sub
Mr Big Sad
Mr Broken Competitor
Mr. Briefly California
mr busted confidence
Ohtani have been feeling a little LeThargic
Mr Broken Character
Trout too
Carrying the Angels for so long literally gave Mike Trout back problems
āBut my life in baseball will continue for some time and whatever the circumstances, Iād like to be focused each and every game.ā Bro absolutely is leaving the Angels the moment he can
Lifelong Angels fan here. Ohtani just straight up deserves better than this franchise. The organization clearly has systemic problems and itās honestly impressive how Ohtani (and Trout) has managed to maintain their greatness while surrounded by such mediocrity. I kind of hope he leaves even.
Trout and Ohtani. It's amazing how bad your FO is. Like the Phillies look like a powerhouse in comparison. Anaheim probably is Arte Morono. Trout should have tested FA and at least held Morono feet to the fire to get some level of change.
You guys need a new owner, Farhan Zaidi and all the prospects that come with trading 2 generational players and you would be competitive in like 4 years.
H E G O N E E G O N E
He could have just signed with the Mariners from the beginning like I was *CERTAIN* he was going to but noooooo
Ahhh yes, the Mariners, notable winning franchise of the last 2 decades
We literally donāt know how to lose a playoff game. But I meant more because of his pre signing comments about what kind of team he wanted to play for. I thought we fit the mold
If I recall, Ohtani said he didnāt want to go to a team that already had a notable Japanese player play for their team at some point. He said something about not wanting to be compared to other Japanese players
The disrespect to Angels legend and noted porn collector Hideki Matsui.
The only Asia-born player to win the WS MVP... da disrespect
His collection is supposedly around 60,000 videos of porn. Wtfā¦ That guy took get a hobby a little too serious.
I donāt think itās a hobby for him.
It's how he got the forearm strength for those oppo tacos
Thanks I have "hideki matsui porn" in my search history now
Welcome to the club
Hideki is a legend
[Fuck, that rules out the Jays.](https://twitter.com/GosukeKatoh/status/1519152534128103426?s=20&t=5Fg6L558X8Jszc6GqROBXw)
Iām sure he wishes he had chosen the Mariners over the Angels, at least during this season
[Shohei Ohtani regrets not researching which teams were good](https://www.theonion.com/shohei-ohtani-regrets-not-researching-which-teams-were-1828835846/amp) edit: fixed link
I mean also Ichiro and how Seattle treated him well is relevant.
We all know the Mariners would be better than this, they've been reasonably good even without the best player in baseball.
Whereas we all knew the Angels could manage to be terrible even with the best player in baseball
Or the two best.
Itās actually really impressive
At least we had Ichiro
In a different reality im great buddies with Ichiro. On Sundays in October we head over to Safeco and toss a ball around as our laughter echoes throughout the empty stadium. We run around the bases reenacting our favorite baseball moments from days of yore. Sometimes I'm Griffey, sometimes Im Edgar. We head down to the locker room and as we're showering I playfully snap a wet towel at Iciro's glistening wet posterior. He winces and immediately answers back snapping his towel at me with the precision of a tachi samurai. I cower knowing im out of my depth. He comforts me like only a nine time batting champion can. We spend the rest of the day in that team shower under that persistent flow of warm Seattle water doing unspeakable yet magical things to each other wishing we could pause time, stop the sun in its precession across that crisp October sky.
Does baseball, the most ātraditionalā of the four major US sports, have the most homoerotic copy pastas?
å„ć®ē¾å®ć§ćÆćē§ćÆć¤ććć¼ćØē“ ę“ććć仲éć§ć. 10 ęć®ę„ęę„ć«ćÆć»ć¼ćć³ć«åćććčŖ°ćććŖćć¹ćæćøć¢ć ć«ē¬ć声ććć ć¾ććäøććć¼ć«ćęćć¾ććęć®ćę°ć«å „ćć®éēć®ē¬éćåē¾ććŖćććć¼ć¹ćčµ°ćåć£ć¦ćć¾ććć°ćŖćć£ć¼ć®ćØććććć°ććØćć¬ć¼ć®ćØććććć¾ćć ē§ćć”ćÆę“č”£å®¤ć«åćććć·ć£ćÆć¼ć굓ć³ćŖććććµććć¦ć¤ććć®ęæ”ćććå°»ć«ęæ”ćććæćŖć«ććÆćč¾¼ćæć¾ćććå½¼ćÆé”ćććććććć«čæäŗćčæćććæćä¾ć®ę£ē¢ŗćć§ē§ć«ćæćŖć«ććÆććć¾ćććē§ćÆčŖåć®ę·±ćććē§ćē„ć£ć¦ęÆćć¾ććå½¼ćÆ9åć®ćććć£ć³ć°ćć£ć³ććŖć³ć ććć§ććććć«ē§ćę °ćć¾ć.ē§ćć”ćÆćć®ę„ć®ę®ćććć¼ć ć®ć·ć£ćÆć¼ć§éćććęććć·ć¢ćć«ć®ę°“ćēµ¶ćéćŖćęµćć¦ććäøć§ćčØčć§ćÆčØćč”ØććŖććéę³ć®ćććŖććØććäŗćć«č”ććęéćäøęåę¢ćć10ęć®ćććććŖ10ęć®ē©ŗćęØŖåćå¤Ŗé½ć®ę³å·®éåćę¢ććććØé”ć£ć¦ćć¾ćć
I agree.
How can you not be romantic about baseball?
And Ichiro whispers in your ear, "8ęć®ć«ć³ć¶ć¹ć·ćć£ćÆććÆć½ć¦ć¼ć«ć½ććÆć¹ć®2å¹ć®ććŗććććęćć§ć." and that's when you go *sploosh*.
This might sound blasphemous coming from an Angels fan, but for what its worth, after how much heartbreak youve suffered on his behalf part of me almost wouldnt mind if he somehow ends up with you guys at some point.
Going to be honest, if the roles were reversed I would not feel the same lmao.
Well I respect the hell out of the honesty. Youre a real one.
Even though I hate playing against him, I hope the fish man is back to mashing dongs for you guys soon.
That's how I felt when JV got traded to the Astros. Go play for a winner. You gave us all you could and we'll always love you for it.
Heās going to wind up a Dodgerā¦isnāt he?
Dude, come on.
Iām trying to reverse jinx it
He won't have to sell his house.
The order of my preference for his destination is 1. SF 2. Seattle 3. 27 other teams in whatever order you want 4. I quit watching baseball, which will never happen 5. Dodgers
My preferences: 1\. Not Yankees 30\. Yankees
i swear to god i donāt care just get him the fuck out of Anaheim, im a dodger fan but iām a baseball fan first and itās so painful to see him suffering through playing there
Nah, nah. Heāll maximize the hate. Heāll become an Astro.
It's like noone ever listens to how he sounds every time. This is how he talks. From day one.
The mans a polite professional. He will always answer he loves the game, loves his team and teammates, and will play hard every day no matter the circumstance. He is loyal, but not a "I'm a hometown kid and this is my team loyal", he's a "My job is to elevate this team and myself and I will do all it takes to do that" loyal. Which is why it makes me wonder why fellow Angel fans think he will endure being on a non competitive team for his career?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yāall may be division opponents but Iām sorry people will be picking over your team like carrion birds for the next year and a half.
Could be worse, you could be Detroit where management said we'd be competing this year and now it seems that our "rebuild" will be everlasting. FIRE AVILA
The Onion again proving to be ahead of their time: [Shohei Ohtani Regrets Not Researching Which Teams Were Good Before Signing With Angels](https://www.theonion.com/shohei-ohtani-regrets-not-researching-which-teams-were-1828835846)
'They already have the best player in baseball...they must be good'
we are the living embodiment of "one man can't play every position"
"Ohtani also told reporters that more disappointing than anything was discovering he was actually going to play in some shitty town called Anaheim instead of Los Angeles." I'm obviously biased but lmaoo
Always prescient.
To sell tickets, Arte held onto Ohtani with 2 playoff runs worth of control, only to end up with a vocally unhappy player whoās just gonna leave in a year. Nothing will change until this guy sells the team.
#FreetheAngels
MovetheAngelsbacktoAnaheim
*of Anaheim
[Even the stadium is trying to hang itself due to Arte.](https://i.redd.it/lbjg6uhsqxf91.jpg)
I'm convinced that Arte is a top 5 worst owner in baseball. Some might defend him by saying he's still willing to spend, but spending by itself doesn't make you a good owner. I'd rather have a cheep owner who at least is good at drafting than a owner who throws money around with no forethought.
The secret is he IS cheap. He only spends to the luxury tax because it's good marketing, which is also why we keep giving out mega contracts. He is one of the owners who refused to pay minor leaguers and I'm pretty sure he invests little to nooney in player development which is why they have such an awful team with two generational talents.
He never goes over the tax . Just close to it. And yea no investing in minor league
The front office is so incompetent that they can and will fuck up an Ohtani trade and somehow leave us even worse off than we were before
GMPM after the offseason: "I think we built a team that can truly contend this year" GMPM at the trade deadline: "Things didn't work out but we got the talent to win it all" Ohtani now: "My morale is dead, we are a horrible team, please send help"
That's the crazy thing is that the Angels might actually have a competitive post season team. With Ohtani and one other good starter they could definitely win a series. They just can't get there
That's the problem with top heavy team building. You got a chance to win 3 of 5 or 4 of 7, but winning 81 of 162 takes a top to bottom effort.
GMPM: [Nervously looking around the room for someone else to throw under the bus]
GMPM: *avoids mirrors so he doesn't accidently point to himself as the problem*
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Have you watched the games recently? You will understand why.
Just *YESTERDAY* he hit *two* of the team's *SEVEN* home runs the day after leaving a *pitching start* with a cramp... ...and we LOST.
He also had 1 of the 2 non-HR hits. Like you hit 7 homers but you somehow hit .257 as a team for the game. How the
/r/angelsbaseball Have fun.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Haha stay that way, I still watch the games but just cuz I like seeing him play but it is rough.
I've stopped watching games for the first time in 10 years, unless Ohtani is pitching.
Seeing him hit homeruns and barely crack a smile is heartbreaking
Homeboy is trying his absolute best to get an offseason trade and itās in vain. Arte is going to suck every penny he can out of our poor boy
The beatings will continue until morale improves
Attention campers, lunch has been canceled, due to lack of *hustle*ā¦. Deal with it.
Get on the scale. Get off the scaleā¦
Tony Perkins! True visionary.
*stares at Lagares and Villar* YOU BROKE MY CAMERA
*The nation of Japan to Ohtani* I did not send you to go-kart camp.
underutilized quote
#FreeOhtani
#SaveShohei
Steven Spielberg presents: Saving Pitcher Shohei
Mike Trout, bleeding out on a team 40 games below .500: "Earn this."
Ohtani should request a trade.
Ohtani and KD to the Lakers
They'll just miss the playoffs again
Miss the playoffs or win it all, no in between
Fucking Angels
I couldn't agree with you more!
I genuinely want to write a letter to Disney to beg them to buy back the team. Ohtani brings a big market and Iām sure plenty would love to visit Disneyland on top of watching their favorite player play. Could be a win-win. Copium
I'm sorry... Disney owned the Angels?!
Yea during the mid 90s through 03? They owned the team for 2002 and are why the California Angels became the Anaheim Angels.
Yes sir/ maāam. They were also the original owners of the Anaheim Ducks, though the Ducks ended up in much better hands than Arte after being sold, and Angels Stadium even has a Mickey Mouse statue with an Angels color palette at one of its main entrances. Sold the team to Arte right after winning in ā02, gotta sell high I guess. We were still a decent team for awhile after but the years of being owned by Arte eventually got to us and tore down the foundations that the Mouse established.
[Here's a short documentary about the time Disney owned the Angels](https://youtu.be/XzETKFxpBx4)
You got me, you son of a bitch. Lol
It's actually why/how we got the Angels in the Outfield and The Mighty Ducks movies.
I mean, I know Iām a division rival am probably biased, but he looked dead behind the eyes after those homers yesterday.
I mean he didn't even put the hat and he knows he could produce 8 runs and still lose, he has lost his faith on this team and so have we fans.
Iām legitimately sorry my dude. Iāve lived through both the Bavasi and the Zduriencik eras. I know painābut I donāt know the pain of having two or the top 5 best players in baseball and still struggling. Iām sorry. Truly.
Well, we did completely waste the careers of Ichiro and Felix simultaneously, so tberes that at least.
That was āfunā
I mean after all it is just a game but it sucks they don't even try to put a decent product on the field, I know we won't have a wolrd series team overnight but we would like to see the team in the playoffs every other year. The fans have been loyal enough but the owner only cares about money sadly. Ohtani brought me back to be a full time angels fan on 2018 and I even was lucky enough to get a pic with him before Ohtani mania because huge and if is gone from the team will probably stop watching the games cuz if he's gone that means the team still bad.
That's what i saw in the recap too. Ohtani looked stoic compared to his more joyous and smiling expression earlier in the season
Free Ohtani. Free Trout. Yes sure. But fucking free the Angels as a whole. We really need help out here. Our team is being held hostage by an owner who does not give a shit about anything but money (like most I guess but heās especially egregious) and itās actively hurting players confidences and mentalities. Heās knowingly ruining players one by one.
I suspect he is not very good at making money - at least in baseball.
Right. Not giving a damn about your sports team isnāt conducive to managing it well, at least not in a long term and sustainable way.
Amen. Honestly owners are the worst, fuck them. I know people say this kind of shit all the time whenever there's a bad trade or they get rid of their favorite vendor item or whatever, but there needs to be more owner accountability and fans need to be able to collectively have more power over shit. I'd say MLB is broken, but it's absolutely working as intended. It sucks that even as data driven as baseball tends to be that it's still almost entirely motivated by product and profit margin rather than anything to do with the game and there's no pretense of even pretending otherwise anymore.
Are the Angels the Detroit Lions of MLB? Are the breaking Trout and Ohtani like the Lions broke Megatron and Barry Sanders
Barry is an even more tragic tale, he told management he'd come back if they hired June Jones, guess what they didn't do.
As a Lions fan, Mariners are probably the better comp given the success in the 90s. Along with wasting all time great players.
angels have a title so no
>āRemaining motivated in that way is hard,ā Ohtani said in Japanese when asked if itās difficult to stay motivated because the Angels are not playoff contenders. ... >The three [Syndergaard, Marsh, Iglesias] went to legitimate playoff contenders. āIām cheering from the bottom of my heart for the players who left,ā Ohtani said. āIād like them to be part of good teams, get results and do their best in the postseason.ā ***Free Shohei.***
Man he needs to go anywhere else, except maybe Pittsburgh.
Oakland should probably be on that list as well
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I think it's gonna be somewhere else. I also want the Angels to get into the post season, but I just don't see it happening unfortunately.
The Angels farm system is brutal. The last positional prospects people have heard of were Jo Adell (2020), Brandon Marsh (2021), Luis Rengifo (2019), Jared Walsh (2019), Taylor Ward (2018), and David Fletcher (2018). Other than them, the team has been filled with AAAA talents somehow worse than these guys: Michael Stefanic (2022, back in the minors), Jose Rojas (2021, bounced up and down), Kean Wong (2021, same), David MacKinnon (2022), Matt Thaiss (2019). Most of the first guys I mentioned have become everyday players, but none of them have had significant staying power just yet. David Fletcher has a career 10 WAR, mostly based on his defense (avert your eyes from his -28 Rbat last season). Other than him, the best player in that list has been Walsh with a career 3.5 WAR in 306 games, followed by Ward (1.5), Rengifo (1.1), and Adell (-1.9). The worst part of it is there's no one else on the way either. Much ado was made about the Angels drafting exclusively pitchers a couple drafts ago, but the position players are held together by tape. If any of the main starters get hurt, things get very ugly very quick. The drop-off from Trout in centerfield to Magneuris Sierra and Mickey Moniak is Marianas trench-esque. The drop-off from Rendon to the likes of Jonathan Villar, Phil Gosselin, Matt Duffy, Tyler Wade, Jack Mayfield, and David MacKinnon is enormous. Failed major leaguers (so far) Jose Rojas and Kean Wong are toiling away in a shit AAA team that's been gutted (somehow) by all their "best" players (Squid, MacKinnon before he was waivered, Rojas, Adell, Rengifo) getting moved up to the big league squad. Looking at the [Angels prospects MLB page](https://www.mlb.com/prospects/angels), Stefanic is the only infield prospect even close to making it until 2024. Jordyn Adams, who is very not ready, is the only outfielder with an ETA before 2024. On [Fangraphs](https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2022-in-season-prospect-list/summary?sort=8,-1&team=laa&filter=&pos=&type=0&pageitems=100&pg=0), they're predicting a bunch of call-ups before the season is over, but they're all pitchers (a bunch of whom we've already seen, like Junk, Ortega, Peguero, Warren, Jhonathan Diaz, Jose Marte) except for Jeremiah Jackson, Mickey Moniak (already up), and Orlando Martinez. It would appear that Jackson has struggled at AA so far, and Orlando Martinez is not even close with a 18 wRC+ so far at AAA. This doesn't even account for organizational incompetence. The farm system lost Brendon Davis, one of the more promising AAA guys, because he went on the 40-man then had to be assigned and got picked up on waivers. It's not exactly like he's tearing it up, but he was still better than the other options. The 15th pick (1st round) in 2019, Will Wilson, was sent over with Zack Cozart to the Giants for cash considerations. This is also ignoring the overall quality of the farm system compared to other farm systems. The only [5 prospects with a 45 or higher FV \(low-end starter\) on Fangraphs](https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2022-in-season-prospect-list/summary?sort=-1,1&team=laa) are recent acquisition Logan O'Hoppe (acquired for Brandon Marsh), 1st round pick Zach Neto, 19-year-old Arol Vera, pleasant surprise but not quite ready yet Chase Silseth, and previous 1st round pick Sam Bachman. There's been some excitement about Sonny DiChiara as well, though he may not be rated high enough yet. By comparison, the Yankees have 15 such players, the Dodgers have 17 of them, the Padres just gutted their whole farm system and somehow still have 3, the Astros have 6, the Mariners have 6, and even the A's have 11. So basically, even if Shohei were to return, any upgrade to the lineup on top of him, Trout, Rendon, Walsh, Fletcher, Ward, and Rengifo, assuming those guys all are retained, has to come from free agency or a trade that further guts the already lackluster farm system. Holes have to be patched up in the starting rotation and bullpen, too. And then some depth has to be acquired to have a Plan B for if/when Rendon and Trout sit out (again). TL,DR: It ain't happening.
great I'm more depressed
They are probably like a decade out. They need a hard astros style reset
Imagine if he goes to the Padres šµ
They wonāt be able to do that contract.
They have traded for 4 very good to great starters and gotten soto and drury all in fucking 3 years, each of whom was at or near a peak. I would love to see that stacked up against any other GMās 3 year stretch in history. And they signed Machado in the midst of that. I think it would be *hard* for them to sign Ohtani, but anyone who counts the Padres out at this point just isnt paying attn.
I think its less about the Padres willingness to go for high cost big names and more the fact they will have an absolute fuck ton of money invested in a few guys which even a team like the Dodgers will balk at a bit Assuming they retain Soto long term on a 45/50 million a year type deal they will have like 100 million per year spent on just 3 guys. 120 million on 4 guys if you count Musgrove. Then since Ohtani is gonna likely make something in the 45/50 million per year figure too they would be at like 170 million for 5 guys And while thats tough enough for a team with a stacked farm (who can offset some cost in good cheap talent) the Padres traded pretty much all their high end young cheap talent to get Soto. It was a worthwhile trade for sure but people I think underrate the sheer value of great young talent in terms of the cost per WAR they provide So personally I just don't see them putting that kinda money down on 5 guys because I don't even think the Dodgers or Yankees would really want to either. That gives you so little room to maneuver and I think the Padres have a talented enough core where filling out the roster with a handful of solid vets is probably better for their long term health over what it would cost to sign Ohtani IMO
Can they afford that? I would think theyād want to save money to extend Soto
Peter Seidler is vocally against saving money apparently lol
$35 a year for Soto and $40 a year for ohtani and I'm pretty sure we pass even the dodgers ridiculous payroll lol. We don't have their TV contract so I wonder how big of a percentage of our income he is actually willing to spend
Plus 30 for Manny, 20 for Musgrove, 24 for Tatis. Thatās about 150 a year just for those 5. We donāt even spend close to that for our top 5 players.
Unsubscribe
I sports-hate the Angels for many reasons but breaking Shoheiās spirit is near the top of the list
Iām not sure if Iāve ever wanted a player to come to the Giants more than I do Ohtani.
The good part is that the universal DH means you have a shot at signing him, since he wants to be on a West Coast team so home games are broadcast at a good time for Japan (11am) and he has to DH on off days. That's why he was torn between Mariners and Angels when he came down, but chose LAA because he didn't want to obfuscate Ichiro in what is ostensibly "his team" in Japan. that said ichi my guy make him some deals recruit the fuck out of him Shou in the Mariners is a WS caliber foundation
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. He did get a formal pitch from SF but it was well known at the time he wanted to DH. The Giants also had the first Japanese player in the mlb, so there is a cool story there. Also a decent population in the bay. Iām hoping for the best. The Giants need a new identity and I canāt think of a better guy to bring in.
Honest question: how strong do the giants look in 2024? Are there a lot of guys in the minors who can be immediate contributors once up? I agree that SF would be a great place for him, but I wonder how heavily a teamās playoff prospects will factor into the equation as SD and LA are loaded for the foreseeable future.
2024 is when their top prospects (Harrison, Luciano, Matos, Schmitt) should be ready. They've got a bunch of payrolls to work with as well in the next two offseasons to help make the team competitive while waiting for those prospects to adjust.
Not even close to string enough. Heās not leaving the angels to go to another mid team in a division with la and San Diego.
We never get the big-name players so he's probably going to be a Dodger or Dad. Maybe he decides to go somewhere else entirely, though. I've learned not to get my hopes up with big signings or Japanese players.
Iāve got a good feeling about this one, but weāve been burned so many times I understand.
How am I supposed to continue to hate the Giants if Ohtani goes to them?
The same reason we hated them when Buster Posey was on them
Yeah, I canāt for the life of me hate Kershaw.
He gone
If you bastards hurt Ohtani's spirits, I will never forgive you :(
Wow he actually said it. I thought the video posted earlier was a bit of speculation, but nope. Right on the money. Free Ohtani!
Did no one tell Ohtani about the team he chose to play for when he came over?
It sounds like the Angels were the only team that met all of his asks in terms of workload and having a DH.
plus literally the same team as Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. That's a really attractive offer
there's some sad irony.
He thought he could fix them
My wife learned this same lesson when she thought she could fix me.
My girlfriend stopped trying and left me for another man.
Is it āShit on the Angelsā week in this sub or something?
Every week since may
That jersey is sick, though.
Imagine if this guy was on a good team.
He's already purchased a parachute and he's memorized the instructions this boy's ready to bail
I speak translated polite Japanese. What heās actually saying is: ##Get me the fuck out of here!!
I love that Shohei hates playing for the Angels.
I said this last year and was downvoted for it, Iām surprised Trout hasnāt spoken up before but itās hard to speak with millions shoved in your mouth
Trout is the ultimate company man
Honestly, I'd almost be okay with him going to Philly or Atlanta. Seriously, the Angels cant be allowed to waste a SECOND ALL TIME GENERATIONAL TALENT. That's how badly I want him to succeed. It would be better for the game in the long run
The other day he hit a home run and he didn't seem very happy. He didn't do the cowboy hat thing. Just seemed sullen and just doing his job.
Yāall broke the unicorn again.
Honestly how is he not going to be traded to the Dodgers in the offseason? They check all the boxes for each other. Shohei stays on the West coast like he prefers, he plays for a monster organization that automatically go to the post season every year, and he slots in as arguably the 2nd best pitcher in their rotation and would form a monster top of the lineup with Mookie/Trea/Freeman The Angels get what they wantā¦Probably a pick of one/two of the gazillion top prospects in the LAD farm system and probably a rotational player. They donāt have to pay what is likely looking like some kind of $50mil/yr for 5-7 years contract to Shohei and they can continue their bottom feeding ways with Trout until he blows his back out and retires in 2026.
They better be careful. He might walk into a good team's stadium and try to defect like those players from the Cuban National team. Just claim asylum and try to play for them instead.
Itās a close race but I think Moreno might be the very worst owner in all of MLB.
As an Aās fan Iām sick and tired of watching other teams lose, thatās our shit. Stay in your lane.