Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Los Angeles Angels | Profile & Projection | 618

Episode Date: March 4, 2023

Use code JOMBOYPRESEASON for 15% off your next purchase at SeatGeek* https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/JOMBOYPRESEASON*max discount $50, expires 3/31/2023The Angels have two of the greatest players to ever play the game on their team. Can the lineup around them contribute enough and can they pitch will enough to support them? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I like reading Trevor Plu's stuff. He's got a lot of good takes. Whoa! Can you believe that happened? Whoops. How did that happen? Fun team. Hello and welcome to Talking Baseball's Team Profile and Projections,

your 18th best team in baseball history. For the 23 season, it's the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Always a hot button topic on talking baseball. 73 and 89 last year. That was third in the ALS. They missed the postseason yet again. And man, they're going to be on the top tip of our tongue

for a lot of reasons this year, mostly that Shoah guy. But they also added and subtracted a good amount. They brought in Tyler Anderson after his breakout season with the Dodgers across town. Three for 39, sure. Reliever Carlos Estevez had a really nice season last year. Brandon Drury, he could say the same, right? Two years, 17 million, they're taking their chance on him.

Brett Phillips brought in for some outfield depth. Baseball is fun. Gio Urchella and Hunter Renfro via trade. Okay, those are ball players, ball players. who they lost. Michael Lorenzen. He went to Detroit. A couple relievers are out.

Matt Duffy is out. Tuki, Toussaint, Jonathan, VR, Archie Bradley. So, I don't know. The some parts in compared to the parts out seem like a plus. We like that. For the Angels, it's just what does it mean? And Trev, what does it mean for that Halo's lineup? You know I like the Angels.

You know I like this lineup. The people in it are hot. They're good at baseball. I think they're going to get the Angels a chance this year. We got Taylor Ward. Do you remember Taylor Ward's season last year? Real nice. They'll be in left field.

Mike Trout and Centerfield show, hey, we know what he does. Anthony Rendon, remember him. This guy is a freaking animal when right. You mentioned Brandon Drury. He's in there. Jared Walsh at first base at catcher. we got Stasi We got O'Hoppy

They'll be split in duties Luis Renifo Most likely be at shortstop They're going to kind of switch things around They also have Gio Orshella David Fletcher Phillips Velasquez

They have options here And I think they're going to mix And match Throughout the year in that infield But some of those Middle of the Order Bats are set And I'm looking

And I'm a liking Jake and BBD And Beavers Why don't you tell us About that pitching staff Oh and before we do that quick BPD ad break to tell you guys even more about Seekek. All of our PPPs, TPPs, our whole preseason package here is brought to you by Seekkeek.

Baseball is back and to celebrate Seekkeeks giving you a special offer. This is just for people who like us. This is a special one. John Boy preseason, 15% off your order. Whether you're a first time buy or not, doesn't matter if it's your first order. Take out your phone, open the Seekek app. add John Boy preseason as the code. Do it right now.

Offer is only available through the end of March. March 31st, that goes away. Code John Boy preseason, all one word. And the Angels pitching always a hot topic. Their rotation, it all starts with Shohei Otani, known for also being a very, very good hitter. He was their best pitcher by a lot last year, one of the best pitchers in baseball last year.

Then it's a bunch of lefties they brought in Tyler Anderson, like we said. Patrick Sandoval, good young arm. Jose Suarez, Reed Detmer's through a no-hitter last year, and some depth guys. They got Tucker Davidson. Chase Silseth, not in my book, Griffin Canning. In the bullpen, they got a couple guys contending to get some saves in there. Jimmy Hergett.

He's been in this office. Carlos Estevez, Ryan Tepera. Aaron Loop has some big ears out of bullpens. Jose Kiata. Oh, we don't like Aaron Loop on this show. We don't. Remember that guys? We don't like Aaron Loop on the show.

Oh, yeah. we do love him. Why is he throwed 98 now? Where did that come from? Aaron Loop. Yeah, that bullpins, it's not flashy. They need some stuff to go right. We love Jimmy Herge. Trevor, the Angels, one of the hottest button topics, and we should nip this in the bud. John Boy, actually, and I'll be a little selfish, taking him away for my wedding for the next week or so. so we're backed up on everything. So the next few TPPs, he's not ducking your halos.

He did not know halos were next. He loves your hailoh. Yeah, he genuinely did not. It was, we were laughing pretty good that they were the next team. When he said he can't make it, I thought about texting halos up first. Yeah. And then I was like, oh, that's tough.

That's tough. But he'll move his schedule if I tell him that. How about this, Trev? They need to prove him wrong. And I actually need them to prove me wrong. because last year I was buying in on the halos because there's always stuff you like with the program here but at the end of the year it always feels like a 90 lost team

so what where do you start? They have the pieces to be a playoff team. I don't think there's any doubt about that. I mean, Angels fans often are in our comments talking about, hey, man, check out what our starting pitching actually did last year. Look at where the numbers ended up and they're right. They had decent numbers at the end of the year. their problem last year was injuries.

I mean, I threw a stat out to you that I read on the internet. According to this article, I think it was in the athletic. They gave the second most to bets in the major leagues last year to people who had under replacement value. That's not what you want. You got to have your boys in the lineup. And like I said, when I was going over this lineup, like there's some names in here.

You can get behind it. So I think health is going to be a big factor here. we need a big bounce back year from Rendon, a healthy Mike Trout, Shoah to continue doing what he's doing. And we'd love to see Taylor Ward continue off the year he put up last year. I mean,

if you're talking about that happening, with the pieces they have kind of mixing a match down there at the bottom, you can buy into it. So, I mean, the things that we always talk about with them is they're in a pretty tough division now with the Mariners doing what they're doing. Obviously, the Astros are the best team in the American League,

probably in the big leagues. it's that type of competition. The balanced schedule, do you think it hurts them? Do you think it helps them? What do you think about that? Thank you, boy. I guess I would lean help. We're coastal elitist.

And the only, again, we have no idea. We've been guessing, and it's become a joke of the program a little bit. But for me, the less you're playing the Houston Astros is a very good thing. And the less you're playing the Seattle Mariners, I believe is a good thing. and we'll see if it matters with the Texas Rangers at all. But, you know, all those organizations have a chance this year. I mean, the Astros and Mariners more than a chance. Those are going to be very high-level baseball team.

So I guess I would lean that way. And, man, you really do have to do some mental gymnastics with this team. Because, okay, Trout and Otani, you don't. argue one guy has an argument for the best baseball player we've ever seen and the other guy has an argument for the best baseball player we've ever seen so uh those guys okay cool i want to go to taylor ward and brandon drury because let's lump them together because they both had really nice last seasons but that's kind of our body of work taylor ward late breakout. Brandon Drury, he's had some crazy stuff go on, including, you know, problems with

his vision and things like that. And it felt like it all came together. Okay, so those guys are in their bucket. Rendon, I don't know, man. I love to see him out there. When he's playing, it's still fun. Jakey Butterknife stat, they were 26 and 20 when Rendon started last year. Do I think that was all him? No, they got off to a nice start and things fizzled. But they, they They gave him a lot of money to be a primo third baseman, and I think he still can't. He's 32. Like, it's not, if Rendon's healthy, it's not over for him, man.

And then what sneaky is one of my favorite transactions this offseason, Hunter Renfro. You know, it's a gun for hire, but this guy has been consistent year in, year out. And that's without mentioning like a Jared Walsh. And Trev, why I liked your depth piece mentioned so much. I haven't mentioned Gio Orshella, who's basically perfect Rendon insurance, had a nice year last year.

It can play a little bit of shortstop. David Fletcher used to be one of the first guys you mentioned with the Halos. He currently isn't penciled into the lineup, at least on fan graphs. And you mentioned Brett Phillips as a depth defensive outfielder as good as you're going to get.

And, you know, if you need them for a week or two, I don't think you lose too much overall. I think offensively you do. With all that being said, I've now mentioned, you know, 13 guys. So depth-wise, I like what they've done. It's just how does the sum all come together? Because I'm not betting on Rendon. I don't even know if I'd bet on Ward or Drury.

If you gave me the option to bet on one of them clicking, I'd say yes. But there's still question marks in this lineup that ended up being you know, 23rd in OPS last year, 26 and on base percentage, and that's with Trout and Otani. So if you took out those guys, everyone else wasn't working. Yeah, I mean, there's depth, there's lack of depth at some important positions.

I think, you know, middle infield defense is going to be something that they're going to have to look at. You know, hopefully Louis can go in there and do it, but they're going to be mixing and matching there. With the outfield debt, we mentioned Brett Phillips, but we didn't mention Joe Adele, Mickey Moniac. These are guys that are players, man. And do they become, you know, trade candidates

or something of that matter during the deadline when they go out and try to supplement this roster during the year? Because I do think they're going to be very competitive. I think they're going to be in it. Barring, you know, health, if these guys are on the field, I think they have enough on this roster to be in contention for the playoffs,

come trade deadline. And then this is we're going to have to make the biggest decision maybe in franchise history, probably in franchise history. Think about that. Let that settle in real quick. I mean, what are we going to do with Shohei?

That's going to be a massive storyline here. And you know what? For Angels fans, I would love if before we put this out, Shohei announced a deal, but I don't think that's going to happen, bro. That's not. You know, so you're going to go into this season with that looming over you.

What do we do at the trade deadline? Because we can't just keep, like, you can't just keep Shohei and let him walk at the end of the year and get nothing for, like you mentioned, one of the greatest players that we've ever seen. So Perry is in a very interesting position. The Angels are in a very interesting position franchise-wise. We had the Artie Moreno stuff going on in the off-season, him talking about selling the team, and then him saying, nah, I'm good, I'm going to keep it. So there's a lot of off-the-field storylines that are also playing out. But on the field, man, like,

look, the entire pitching, all the pitchers are basically set. I mean, there's a few, you know, maybe the sixth man in the rotation. There's a job there up for grabs. The bullpen's pretty much set. They're going to have to mix and match there for like the closer roll,

but they have some guys that can do it. I'm buying into the. angels a little bit. I am. I don't think we can let previous years creep into the following year as much as we kind of want to. You know, mentally we want to remember that, you know, the angels have just, they haven't done well in the Mike Trout era. But you know what? This is a new season, a lot of new additions. Like, we got to remember this is a new season and we got to go play it. So I'm liking the angels. It's a, it's a slippery slope because it's also, I did. this last year and as an organization,

you cannot believe in them. And I think that's where Angels fans would agree with us, whether that's ownership or front office or wherever you want to put it. They have not achieved in the Mike Trout era. So that's where you end up talking in circles a little bit. I do like that you shout out Joe Adele and Moniac, 23 and 24.

I know it hasn't clicked at the big league level, but, you know, one little thing happens and it does, and, you know, their talent, you know, Moniac was a 1-1. Joe Adele was the number, great guy too. Number two prospect in baseball a couple years ago. So that's where any baseball season has the hope and ability to change. It's why baseball is beautiful.

We saw the Orioles, you know, break out last year from a team that looked like they were going to win 60. They won 83. You know, you have a couple things like that happened, and it can change a whole season's outlook. Um, the pitching, Trev. Uh, the Angels, you know, it is a little bit of a baseball like inside joke, right? Angels and pitching.

That, that kind of was the problem. It was good. They were sixth in starting pitcher ERA last year. Shohay Otani is a complete freak show. Um, a pretty unreal. What? Is it a hot boy or freak show? Yes.

Um, Patrick Sandeval deserves some love. He, he's been a, a good lefty in the league for a couple seasons now. Tyler Anderson. Now, that's one where if my friend Jim was here, it's a very interesting talking point because the Dodgers put them in their magic stew, and he came out the other side as a nasty pitcher.

If that translates to the angels, good. there's not a long track history of like, hey, I got the potion from these other guys. I'll just be good everywhere else. It's not really how the sport works. So that's where the skepticism comes in, and rightfully so. I'm not sitting here telling you Tyler Anderson, and even going back to the lineup, that Brandon Drury is going to do it again for a full year. It's really hard.

Treve, you and I know. Players, it's hard to put it together for multiple. seasons like that if you're not the you know the Vladitos or bonds or whoever you are like it's it's a it's a tough game the pluffs excuse me um Jose Suarez debtmers you know their rotation their starting pitching rotation wasn't the prom last year where i think for the past decade or so that's almost where you started um it there is there is blow up potential which is scary. If it's just Shohay and the boys,

Shohay a solid sand of all, and then the rest falls off or doesn't click or injuries, their pitching can become thin quick, and that's where the one season from last year, it's not like you can hit the table and be like, yeah, the Angels starting pitching will be great this year. Well, then the boys better bang, right? Huh.

You're that. I think you mentioned something that, you know, Angels fans always talk about. about and it's the lack of player development, the lack of investment into the minor league system, um, that they always point to that and they talk about Arty's tenure and how he has not done a good job in that. Now it seems to me like that's a pretty easy fix. I mean, it's, it's not a quick fix, but it's an easy fix. You can do it. You spend a little money. You make sure that all your affiliates are, um, up to date with anything you need technology wise. You start to

hire better people in your minor league system and how do you do that? You just pay him a little more people. It's not like a difficult thing. Like this is Jake Storelli could do this type of thing. So they need to start there. And that takes time though.

So you're talking about Tyler Anderson learning from the Dodgers player development side. Can he bring that over? Well, shoot, I hope so. I hope that they have people that can support that and continue to have him thrive because the Dodgers found a way to do it. And one season leading into the next,

I know it's difficult to repeat, but you should be able to at least whatever changes he made, he should be able to take those over to this year. So look, man, we're talking about a very competitive Angels team. I truly do believe that. We saw some potential at the beginning of last year, then things fell off the cliff,

but that had a lot to do with injuries. So let's stay healthy. I would love, I mean, there's nothing. We talk about this shit all the time, man. Like we want to see Mike Trout in the playoffs. We want to see Shoah Otani in the playoffs. Let's do it. Yeah.

Yeah, interested to see some of their pitching depth pieces. Chris Rodriguez, he's got a good heater. He had a pretty good season last year. You know, Griffin Canning was a guy that's done a little bit at the major league level. So, yeah, I guess their depth is a little more interesting to me than I thought it would be. and I wonder how that contributes, especially with your lineup stats from last year. And yeah, man, they have,

Otani will be the number one storyline of this season. So how does that play out? I mean, with a hot start, you know, can the good baseball juices get flown in Anaheim? If they have a bad start, my goodness, the press and everything that comes with that is going to be chaotic. On the offensive side of the young guy, Logan O'Hoppy, they traded for him.

He was the other part of that Brandon Marsh trade. Brandon Marsh, we saw him playing center field in the World Series for the Phil's. Oh, Hopi, friends with our guy, Nikki Cass. He's kind of the young guy outside of those outfielders, we mentioned, that he should be having himself in the mix this year to what level we'll find out. What is the over-under on this team, Beams? 81 and a half. Oh.

Sorry, I had it. It's in my mind. You're hot. You're hot right now. So they're projected to be a 500 team. This is great. Do you believe the angels are an above 500 team? That's the question here.

I want you to go first. I don't want my, I already have mine. I don't want my decision to influence you. Trev, I will give you my reasoning, and they're not always reasons I believe in, but it's kind of where I'm handled. cuffed. The Astros are still dominant.

The Seattle Mariners are still just as good as they were last year, if not better. The Texas Rangers have a chance to be a breakout team this season. Hmm. The Angels made moves that should make them better, but so did everyone outside of the athletics that I got burnt by the Halos last. year. I believed in what they were trying to do with the program, the high-level talent, that I'm taking the under just where they've left me organizationally. I don't really have great reasoning. I feel like I've explained myself throughout this episode

of taking the over. I'm buying in. I mean, I think I can see, I don't, look, I hope they're a playoff team. I could see this team winning 86 games. Is that going to be enough to get into the playoffs? Was it last year? I don't know. I probably should check that out. But I think there are, we're talking about two of the best players in baseball on the same roster, and they've started to supplement the talent around them. We've been asking for that. I think they've done it enough that we might see them knocking on that last wild card door, taking the over.

And it's where you can start spinning this whole Otani equation. and I don't think they're going to trade him because I think the front office is too scared to and I don't know the return they would get and I think they'll be in the mix enough which on the flip side of that would mean okay that means they have to add because you can't keep Otani

at the deadline or not add or if they trade into my over or under it's like wherever you stand on Otani almost has to factor if you think they'll trade Otani it almost has to factor it almost has to to be the under. If you don't, it almost has to be the over, because that would mean that they're

going to add and try to believe in this. So that almost leads to your vote, which ironically, I think they're going to keep them, but I also think they're going to fail. So I just kind of lied. I don't know what to think. In my mind, Shohay's gone. And this is going to spark a massive conversation now that we probably should not be doing it. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Keep O-Tonnie. Try to re-sign him as best you can. I don't know.

That's bad for your baseball business, but that's what all the fans want. I'm taking the over. End show. I think Jimmy's under. That was perfect. That was perfect. Joe, hey, what?

Perry, I'm sorry. Perry. Trev, get in his ear, man. He needs a right-hand man. Hey. Could be you. I have my things with the Angels organization. You understand.

I do. Halo up. Comment. Subscribe. Why are we wrong?