Los Angeles Angels Need a Narrative-Changing Season, Do Prospect Rankings Matter? Roki Sasaki Update

34 comments

1. Hey friends, Jon here. Just an FYI: some of you guys know I'm in Pasadena, and me and the family are safe from the fire. However, it's utterly devastating and so many have lost their homes overnight. Please keep the firefighters, families, and my Pasadena neighbors in your prayers, thoughts, and support them any way that you can. As recovery efforts begin, we'll keep you posted on ways that we can all help here as Everydayers. Thank you!

2. That “how’d did i get you sick?!” Was funny 😂

3. Kudos to Jon for calling out the Cole narrative! That’s why I watch this show regularly even though I am a fan of another team!! Go guys!👏

4. It’s frustrating when the owner and gm have no clear plan this offseason has been all over the place

5. I do think we have to make an exception to the 99 loss argument as far as signings – the Royals in the 2023-24 offseason. They were 56-106 in 23 and signed some serious pitching. Money of course played a part, and maybe the selling pitch that Witt, Jr. is the cornerstone.

6. 🙏🙏🙏

7. I’ve noticed the Dodgers farm system being RADICALLY overrated since Billy Ashley. All of the “can’t miss” prospects….take LaRoche for example! For every Brandon Wood the Dodgers have 5

8. I feel like to players it's all about we're they play how much and the team has to be good me my self if I played and made it to the MLB I wouldn't care what team or who I would just be happy to play but I feel like it's all about the team and money

9. I hate to say it and it sounds cynical, but I'm not sure anything less than a playoff run in 2025 will change the Angels narrative outside of the fanbase, and even then it could change right back unless they keep that momentum going in subsequent seasons. There are a lot of reasons for this (bad ownership, team branding/marketing, lack of consistency with info coming from the FO, etc) and until those issues get addressed, I have the feeling that the Angels are going to continue being the punching bag of the MLB.

   As you said, it's all about the $$$, and bagging on the Angels while touting super teams like the Dodgers and Yankees gets a lot of clicks and ad revenue. Angels need to focus on rebuilding the team that's off the field just as much as the one on it to push back on that. My biggest question for 2025 is, will any of the moves that were made make a difference when the org needs a rehaul from the top down?

10. Players want to make the most money in their careers, which are not always very long. Whatever the bids were, I would assume that Hyeseong Kim and his agent calculated that he had a much larger financial upside playing for the Dodgers than the Angels. As an Asian player on a World Championship team with a huge following in Asia, IF he performs, his income outside of his contract, could be substantial. Thee Angels had a window of opportunity with Ohtani, but failed to capitalize on it.

11. I read somewhere that the Angels did offer a 28M contract to Kim, but the Dodgers offer is larger if you count the 2 option years. So both the report and Fletcher are correct. What we don't know is how the Angels offer was structured.

12. Your anecdotal attempt to debunk prospect ratings doesn't pass the smell test. Kids coming from HS and College are not robots, so there are always going to be a significant percentage of top 100 prospects that will never be successful professionals. BUT, there is "safety in numbers." Given all the increase in statistical and analytical tools, I would suspect that the rankings are far more predictive than they were 20 years ago…. an interesting thing to research, by the way. ALSO, beware of lesser-known ranking orgs… many of them just read Baseball America or one of the more reputable orgs, which causes "herding error." And, again, again and again, the Angels; habit of drafting for need is sub-optimal in the long run and will always be sub-optimal. You Trade or Sign FA for immediate need…. you draft for long term org improvement.

13. Another great show. Thanks for the Teaser now have to wait until Friday. Jon hopefully you and your family are in a SAFE area. Don’t worry Mike we care about you but we know you’re south of LA. In the IE. thoughts and prayers to those affected

14. 99 losses are 99 loses. Make no excuses. Of course they all want to win but results are proof of who you are. Power rankings show this team is still bad. Change our minds with your play. Talk is cheap bros

15. Just talk to Ohtani as to why you dont sign with the Angels. Come on

16. The prospect talk is just cope lmao, you can't use singular examples of busts for something that everyone knows is high risk. Rankings try to project based on age, tools, and history and will be wrong a lot of times as prospects fail to make adjustments moving through levels. All teams have their own rankings as well so saying that journalists juice up rankings doesn't even make sense because any competent team wouldn't blindly believe them when evaluating trades lmao.

17. I can't believe you guys are asking "He 'll be on a starting rotation, right?" The guy is a monster, can't miss.

18. Hey halo bros, what do we think about potentially trading for a Ramon Urias? Under contract for a couple more years great defense and a solid enough bat

19. The Angels also need a star player to play with to attract FA's. Half a season with Trout if that ain't it and a pitching staff that gets lit up ain't it either

20. Angels need to sign Diego de La Vega!

21. Be safe in Pasadena Jon. I am down in Riverside and it looks scary up there.

22. Wouldn’t you rather see us give bregman what he wants. Trade ward to clear up some payroll and then go all in on vladdy jr next year.

23. Thanks for going into detail on my question! I just wish arte understood that if you spend big bucks to make your team great, you get bigger bucks in return

24. Prayers for everyone being affected by the fires

25. Most of these players are in their 30s when they hit free agency. It takes about 4 years to complete a rebuild in most cases. free agents signees would be on the final years of their careers when the team is able to “build a winner” which is not desirable in most cases

26. You guys are absolutely right about the Angels needing a narrative changing season. However, your mention of Corbin Burnes signing with Arizona misses the mark. Not only did Corbin Burnes have strong personal reasons for signing with Arizona, that team just missed making the playoffs last year and are only a year removed from making it to the World Series.

    The Arizona Diamondbacks are already a competitive team. Currently, the Angels aren't really comparable to the Diamondbacks.

27. Cmon either way, the angels aren't that "cut&dry" option as long as Arte owns the team. GMPM is working the borders of Arte parameters… its possible in a few years joining a winner may define the Angels… STAY CLEAR ARTE

28. I said it last season I’ll say it again one of the places they should spend money is on resources to keep their players healthy.

    Be a trendsetter and invest in a Massage Therapist, for every single player that can work on them I’m game days before and after games. Not the relaxing spa massage, but truly deep therapeutic, they all get their own and they even come on the road with the team. Invest in a clubhouse acupuncturist, And a couple of clubhouse chiropractors. Then invest in a couple of people that watch film and help the players correct bad fundamentals… and then give each player an allowance for personal trainers

    How much could a program like that cost? I can’t imagine it costing more than $1 million a year, may be $2 million. but what if it not only keeps them healthier but also maximizes physical performances even for the guys that don’t always get hurt. It even becomes an incentive for players to either come to the team or stay with the team

29. The Angels Angels. Kind of a redundant name

30. This year’s team is good for 95 losses. 92 losses if they DFA Suarez.

31. I think this years helped our farm system a lot we added 5 players to our top 20 prospects from this years draft. I saw on spotrac, that have about $15.8 million in our bonus pool, then accounting for the 5% tax, we’re able to spend up to $16.7 million. This years July could really be the top off for this angels farm system, not saying we’re not gonna be in the race, but have more building blocks to a team that has nothing to play for…yet. maybe.

32. I don’t understand the take on prospect rankings being bogus. Prospect are graded on their tools, not necessarily their likelihood of being a solid mlber. Every prospect has a different level of boom/bust potential. Cartaya was killing it in A ball as a 19 year old because he was ahead over his years physically. That’s why he fell off so hard in AA. The talent was there, but he was capped out physically. A guy like Jo adell has all the tools you could ask for in a young prospect, which is why he was so highly touted. He still has those tools but he’s unable to read mlb level pitching. Having a strong system is extremely important, because it gives you more chances of having that “boom” player. The angels are forced to rely on a guy like Moore being serviceable because they have nothing else to dream on

33. Be safe and I hope everything works out for and everyone affected by these fires. On to baseball. Farm system is definitely important. Angels farm system is one of the worst. Arte Moreno is pretty similar to Donald Sterling in running an organization. They both don’t know how to win. They both don’t know what the team needs to win.

34. and now we sit here with nothing just memories that ohtani left us