30-26 (and what it might mean)

[Angelsjunky]

That's the Angels record since June 3rd, before which they were 21-38, which I believe is their season low win%.

OK, make the joke: AJ's curse! Well, it doesn't really matter how well the next 47 games go...they aren't making the postseason. Even "just" still 8.5 GB, even if the Astros and Mariners play .500 ball the rest of the way (which is unlikely for either, let alone both), but the Angels would have to go something like 33-14 to have a chance. Ain't gonna happen. So what am I cursing? My eldritch powers don't extend to next year, so let me have my say.

But...I point this out, because it is somewhat promising for next year. The Angels lost Trout and Rendon early on, and most of the young guys really struggled, leading to that terrible first 59 games. But fast forward a couple months and Neto and Schanuel are playing really well, Adell and Moniak much better. Joyce is looking like a bonafide closer, even if some of those blazers get yanked out of the yard. The pitching staff looks Frankensteinian, but the sum total is that they're winning a bit more ballgames than they're losing, despite everything.

There's also exciting developments on the farm. Klassen and Aldeghiri both look like future starters, maybe as soon as the second half of next year. Moore...well, we couldn't have asked for more so far. And don't sleep on David Mershon - maybe not a future regular, but he just has that major league vibe and signing him with the last pick was a bit of a coup. Several other draftees to keep an eye on going forward, not to mention some guys in the very low minors.

In my mind, Perry's last month earns him another year or two. I know, I've about-turned on this. I hope Arte sees it, because I think Minasian is slowly pushing things in the right direction. I know, we wanted something for Anderson, Rengifo and Ward, but we now know that he wasn't being offered much, and I'm guessing teams knew Rengifo was hurt. Despite all that, we got two future potential starters and a few more guys who could help out in some way.

Anyhow, I'm feeling a lot more positive about the future, not just long-term but nearish. I still think it is better to set our sights on 2026 or possibly even 2027 for contention, but I'm thinking that 2025 might, at least, get the Angels over .500 for the first time in a decade.

p.s. I'm not giving up on Trout. While I don't expect much, hope and expectation rarely align - especially when it comes to the GAOAT (Greatest Angel of All Time). My personal ideology veers a bit towards the woo, so I tend to think that even baseball organizations are interconnected on some deeper, subtler level. You can call it fate, Jung's collective unconscious, or Rupert Sheldrake's morphic fields, but my mystical spider-sense tells me something has shifted with this org...and I think Christian Moore is the archetype of this shift. It isn't all roses going forward, but I think the Darkest Hour is over and we're on the up and up. Who knows, maybe this translates to Trout. We don't need 140 games, but 120 would be grand.

 

 

[Angelsjunky]

"Here we go again."

~Internet jerkoff with no spirit

[Make Angels Great Again]

I’m with you AJ. Shit is looking bright, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel 

[tdawg87]

It's not about this year, it's about the future. 

Give these guys a decent rotation and who knows?

[Chuck]

2 minutes ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

I’m with you AJ. Shit is looking bright, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel 

I'm digging it. Watching all the games now. 

[Blarg]

They are fucking up the 2025 draft. 

[tomsred]

Good post Angelsjunkey.  The team also had a horrible schedule at the beginning of the year in addition to being pretty raw on experience.  I'm feeling somewhat encouraged as well, they are fun to watch when they have played like they have the last couple of months.  I think we are getting just what we hoped we would from this coaching staff.  

[Angel Oracle]

40 minutes ago, Blarg said:

They are fucking up the 2025 draft. 

Or they get lucky like the Reds and Indians did?

[AngelsLakersFan]

I think the lineup is proving that it might be a strength going forward. As always the question is the starting staff. At the current moment I'm not sure who is around right now that can be a part of an above average staff in the future. There are potential pieces but no one I am yet willing to bet on, and we need probably 4 guys.

[Slegnaac]

I am hoping they can go at least 21 - 26 over the last 47 games.

[Angels in 2030]

It’s a weird team currently.  In a good way. I’m not sure if they are past the bottom and heading solidly upwards…or just a momentary blip up.  Hopefully the organization and Perry has found something and heading toward better times and LT growth.  

[arch stanton]

3 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Or they get lucky like the Reds and Indians did?

Who are these Indians you speak of?

[Inside Pitch]

3 hours ago, arch stanton said:

Who are these Indians you speak of?

Looked at you avatar, read it in Clint's voice.  Very good post.

[T.G.]

Is it too late to purchase season tickets?

[Angels 1961]

I said at start of season it will be fun to watch young players grow. Now with draft of Moore he could be another piece to this puzzle. I would like to see Adell and Moniak finish last 6 weeks strong. Off season should be interesting. 

[eaterfan]

They play at an 86.7 win pace (not that great) for 2 months against the softest schedule in baseball over that period and everyone gets excited about next year's team. It's like when we signed Pujols and he got off to a terrible start. People were posting that if you didn't count his horrible April, he was just like the old Pujols. The next year it's, if you didn't count his worst two months... The team continually chased the Pujols window instead of building for a future with Trout. I hope this team doesn't take a small sample of mediocre play to set back the talent pool in 3-4 years to be more competitive next season.

[Stradling]

59 minutes ago, eaterfan said:

They play at an 86.7 win pace (not that great) for 2 months against the softest schedule in baseball over that period and everyone gets excited about next year's team. It's like when we signed Pujols and he got off to a terrible start. People were posting that if you didn't count his horrible April, he was just like the old Pujols. The next year it's, if you didn't count his worst two months... The team continually chased the Pujols window instead of building for a future with Trout. I hope this team doesn't take a small sample of mediocre play to set back the talent pool in 3-4 years to be more competitive next season.

You should look at their month of June schedule before posting this. The entire month was spent playing teams that are at or above .500 with the exception of Detroit. July was very soft with only playing one quality team (Seattle) where we beat them 6 out of 7 games. 

[m0nkey]

March 2025, me thinking the Angels can make the playoffs

[totdprods]

Yes and no.

I firmly believe we’re on track, but the fact is there are still too many holes in both the lineup and the pitching staff and not enough depth. I’ve said it a million times, but good teams need good depth.

We need to be in a position where we have guys who have played well enough to earn starting roles - even MLB bench roles or bullpen spots - should be ‘stuck’ in AA/AAA. 

Obviously that’s a little extreme…even the best teams aren’t THAT deep, but we’re still too far from that. That said, I cannot help but be encouraged this summer by Perry’s early-round drafting, his trade returns, and the steps forward I’m seeing on the farm from fringier prospects and international prospects into going from flops/filler to at least potential for a couple sleeper prospects. It’s too soon to say if this is a true advancement in development and scouting or just a couple months of decent production, but it’s been worthy enough to ginning up some optimism and perhaps a shot at Perry sticking around for 2025.

Before I get too excited, we need to see at least a couple of guys like Mederos, Rosenberg, Daniel, Bachman, Kochanowicz to at least show they can stick a half-dozen starts and maintain a 4.50 ERA/5 IP per start, or any 2-3 relievers come up and show they can keep an ERA under 4 and WHIP under 1.3 for more than 20 IP. We need to see guys like Adams, Stefanic, Kavadas, Lugo, Flint, eventually Scull, Redfield get MLB time and produce league average results over 100+ PA so they don’t need to revolve doors for Hiura/Goodrum/Adrianza/Tucker types, or give a struggling Drury dozens of games more leash than needed. We don’t need these guys to be stars, we just need our minor league depth, the 30th-40th guys on the roster to be league average.

One more draft, one more deadline, one more year of our current farm working like it has this summer…we may be in this kind of shape (or at least on the way to it) this time next year.

Edited August 9 by totdprods

[Chuck]

12 hours ago, Blarg said:

They are fucking up the 2025 draft. 

Weren't the Guardians like 13th and because of the lottery they got the first pick in the draft? I think even if they finish strong they'll get the 8th or 9th pick in the draft at worst. 

[Chuck]

13 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

That's the Angels record since June 3rd, before which they were 21-38, which I believe is their season low win%.

OK, make the joke: AJ's curse! Well, it doesn't really matter how well the next 47 games go...they aren't making the postseason. Even "just" still 8.5 GB, even if the Astros and Mariners play .500 ball the rest of the way (which is unlikely for either, let alone both), but the Angels would have to go something like 33-14 to have a chance. Ain't gonna happen. So what am I cursing? My eldritch powers don't extend to next year, so let me have my say.

But...I point this out, because it is somewhat promising for next year. The Angels lost Trout and Rendon early on, and most of the young guys really struggled, leading to that terrible first 59 games. But fast forward a couple months and Neto and Schanuel are playing really well, Adell and Moniak much better. Joyce is looking like a bonafide closer, even if some of those blazers get yanked out of the yard. The pitching staff looks Frankensteinian, but the sum total is that they're winning a bit more ballgames than they're losing, despite everything.

There's also exciting developments on the farm. Klassen and Aldeghiri both look like future starters, maybe as soon as the second half of next year. Moore...well, we couldn't have asked for more so far. And don't sleep on David Mershon - maybe not a future regular, but he just has that major league vibe and signing him with the last pick was a bit of a coup. Several other draftees to keep an eye on going forward, not to mention some guys in the very low minors.

In my mind, Perry's last month earns him another year or two. I know, I've about-turned on this. I hope Arte sees it, because I think Minasian is slowly pushing things in the right direction. I know, we wanted something for Anderson, Rengifo and Ward, but we now know that he wasn't being offered much, and I'm guessing teams knew Rengifo was hurt. Despite all that, we got two future potential starters and a few more guys who could help out in some way.

Anyhow, I'm feeling a lot more positive about the future, not just long-term but nearish. I still think it is better to set our sights on 2026 or possibly even 2027 for contention, but I'm thinking that 2025 might, at least, get the Angels over .500 for the first time in a decade.

p.s. I'm not giving up on Trout. While I don't expect much, hope and expectation rarely align - especially when it comes to the GAOAT (Greatest Angel of All Time). My personal ideology veers a bit towards the woo, so I tend to think that even baseball organizations are interconnected on some deeper, subtler level. You can call it fate, Jung's collective unconscious, or Rupert Sheldrake's morphic fields, but my mystical spider-sense tells me something has shifted with this org...and I think Christian Moore is the archetype of this shift. It isn't all roses going forward, but I think the Darkest Hour is over and we're on the up and up. Who knows, maybe this translates to Trout. We don't need 140 games, but 120 would be grand.

 

 

31-26 now after their W last night. 

[Inside Pitch]

3 hours ago, eaterfan said:

They play at an 86.7 win pace (not that great) for 2 months against the softest schedule in baseball over that period and everyone gets excited about next year's team. 

They had the hardest schedule in baseball until they had the softest .. on the season they have played 6th hardest schedule in MLB.  So while I understand not wanting to get overly excited, some are really trying to downplay what amounts to real improvement at the very least from the younger players.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/rpi/_/sort/sos

[Duren, Duren]

Good optimistic look forward. 

One third of the starting lineup are already established young stars in the making. At catcher and shortstop, two of the most important defensive positions. And at first base. 

The outfield with Trout and Adell should be a good source of power at least. Even expecting Trout to put up numbers somewhat below previous expectations. Adell is likely going to be a 20/20 guy this year and has become a solid fielder. How they decide who plays where and if DH enters the equation is yet to be determined. 

Anderson hopefully puts in another good year in his expiration season. Soriano should be ready to take another step towards consistency next  season. The rest of the current rotation is still really questionable going forward. We've seen some good but not good enough to be confident. 

The bullpen already overall has been a respectable surprise. Even without Estevez (who gave up a run, threw a wild pitch, made an error last night but still got the save). Joyce looks to be the undisputed closer next year. Crouse and Strickland should be reliable. Some other arms like Contreras, Fullmer,  Marte ought to be in the dependable mix as well. 

So I think the nucleus could be good enough to build around. Obviously many on the current roster will be around again. Ward is a question mark and how he finishes this season will give a clue about next year. Rendon if healthy will be playing or at DH. Lowered expectations as always, but you never know. Sandoval and Canning have been enigmas in recent years. By necessity one or both will be back again, expectations again for finally turning the corner. 

The big factor going forward are promotions and trades. That's where the weak links in the lineup need to come from. 

As the late great hockey coach Toe Blake once said, predictions are for Gypsies.

[Taylor]

1 hour ago, Chuck said:

Weren't the Guardians like 13th and because of the lottery they got the first pick in the draft? I think even if they finish strong they'll get the 8th or 9th pick in the draft at worst. 

Could you ever see the Angels getting that kind of good luck?

[Chuck]