Will Angels ABANDON Their Home Run Obsession for Small Ball & Roster Balance? | FANMAIL FRIDAY!

Will Angels ABANDON Their Home Run Obsession for Small Ball & Roster Balance? | FANMAIL FRIDAY!

We have a new mantra for the Angels in 2026. Less strikeouts, more contact. [Music] You are Locked On Angels, your daily Los Angeles Angels podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Thanks for making Locked on Angels your first listen of the day. It’s fan mail Friday and we’re discussing what you want to discuss like contact over strikeouts. A lot of you are really wanting contact over strikeouts. It’s why that’s the new mantra for 2026. Plus, you want guys that get on base by any means necessary and you wondered what players should the Angels target in order to make that happen. Before we talk about the Angels, we want to thank our sponsor FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet $5 and if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the FanDuel app today. Happy Friday to you and thanks for being here for this episode of Lockdown Angels where it’s your team every day. You’ve got the Fresh Brothers here with you aka the Super Halo Bros. My name is John and that’s my brother Mike and my name is Mike and that’s my brother John. We’re talking Angels baseball with you every Monday through Friday. There’s a lot of news, a lot of happenings around Halo Land. So make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to podcast or even on YouTube. We’d love to have you be part of the conversation. And speaking of being part of the conversation, Mike, it’s one of our favorite episodes to do during the week. It’s a fan mail Friday. So, we’re going to get it started with a voicemail regarding our thoughts on Albert Poolhols and management and if the Angels can solve their hitting problems. Hey, Mike and John, this is Brett from Arizona. Hello. Just wanted to call and say great week of videos so far. Um, I agree with everything you guys have talked about. Pretty spot-on. I do think that hiring Albert would be a good move and as was mentioned today, yes, it would be a flashy, you know, arty move, but I think you outlined why that’s still a good idea. And I I I agree wholeheartedly. Also, it’s funny. We’ve been saying for years the Angels need to um you know, put the ball in play more, right? More contact, move guys over. And it’s funny now that the Yankees have lost, everybody’s saying the same thing, less home runs. Ken Rosenthal wrote about it today. John Boy posted it last night. Alex Rodriguez talked it on the broadcast that home runs are great, but they really do need to put the ball in play more often. So, it’s funny how everybody’s sort of coming to that conclusion. Less strikeouts, uh, more contact. So, it’s going to be an interesting off season. Hopefully, the Angels make the necessary adjustments that they need to. Uh, that’s it, guys. Great job as always. Thank you. Have a great weekend and uh we’ll talk soon. Later. Brett from Arizona. Thank you for your voicemail, my friend. Always great to hear from Brett. Always has some great insight. Mike, we mentioned this on our episode about the Perry Manassian hitting philosophy and you know what that looked like. But here’s the thing that the league has trended more toward power at the expense of strikeouts. And that’s a trend that’s been happening for the last maybe six, seven years. But I got a chart here that I whipped up here. Oh, I got to load that in. But um the fact is is that it’s very clear to see where things are trending in terms of uh Well, why can’t I get this to go? Um I’m on the wrong thing here. So, um yeah. Anyway, uh oh, here we go. Okay, I got a chart here that I’m really excited to share. And anticipation. It’s building. It’s building. There we go. There we go. I had to load a whole bunch of stuff on the StreamYard here, but for those on the audio side, we’ll describe it to you. Mike, here’s a chart of MLB home runs, strikeouts, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. And if you notice from 2014 onward, look at how harsh that graph is. It is a dramatic climb. In fact, in from 2014 to 2019, obviously the juiced ball era of baseball was 2019 where, you know, things were the ball was a little tighter, sewn a little tighter so that when you hit it hard, it went flying further and then they kind of softened up. But things are trending back down somewhat. But Mike, look at all the home runs. And then look at the trends with the strikeouts there in the blue lines as well, right? Yeah, a lot of strikeouts. And what’s interesting about what Brett said and and it’s funny because our everydayers have been saying this as well. Uh maybe we’re the trends setters here, John, because we’re seeing what our fans are seeing and we’re seeing what maybe baseball is seeing. And that’s hey, home runs are are sexy and cool, but it comes a lot along with some things that are not like strikeouts and a lot of swinging and a lot of missing. I noticed just last night watching some of the playoff games, the guys who didn’t have a lot of power had high batting averages and you don’t see high batting averages anymore. And to be able to have that in the lineup with the Angels is is actually a benefit. And we’ve talked at Nazium about Nolan Showell, but even somebody like a Bryce Teodosio who’s a threat to bunt and who’s a threat to move the runners over there. Those are the type of of of bats that you need in a lineup when you have a lot of power. If you have a lot of power, everybody’s doing the same thing. I think you said on this show earlier this summer, it’s just the same player one through nine. And so it’s nine Mike Trouts, right? It’s nine Taylor Wards. Yeah. So why why throw them anything different? Why would you want to approach them any other way? It makes sense why the Angels either had a really great game or had a really terrible game because it’s the same hitter all the way through. And we’re seeing that across the board in baseball. Now, as we’ve talked about on this show, the Angels seem to always be bringing up the bottom of the the trend, right? They’re they’re following the trend. They’re just not doing it really really well. When it was skinny jeans, the Angels had skinny shorts. When it was baggy jeans, the Angels had baggy shorts, right? Like they were always just a bit behind the trend. And it feels like they’re kind of in that mode right now. So for them this off season perhaps they should try to prioritize more contact rather than a lot of power because they’ve got the power and they need to have more hitters in this lineup to make contact move runners over sacrifice flies because you can see that that actually helps teams win and and continue to win and possibly win championships. Yeah, I I pulled the uh the best teams in a bunch of categories who actually made the playoffs here, Mike. So, I got a list here for you. Six playoff teams were the top 10 in MLB in batting average. It was the Blue Jays at the top. Phillies, Brewers, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Padres’s. Eight playoff teams were the top 10 in on base percentage. Blue Jays, Brewers, Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers, Red Sox, Padres’s, and Cubs. Six playoff teams top 10 in home runs. Yankees, Dodgers, Mariners, uh, Cubs, Phillies, and Tigers. four playoff teams in the top 10 in fewest strikeouts. Blue Jays, Padres’s, Brewers, and Cubs. Then, let me tell you the weighted runs created plus. Remember, 100 is league average. Uh playoff teams in the top 10 in weighted runs created plus. Yankees with 119, Dodgers 113, Mariners 113, Blue Jays 112. That’s the top four in the league, by the way. And then the Cubs, Phillies, and Milwaukee. So the conclusion here, Mike, I think is the power didn’t help them. No. No. Because they struck out the most in Major League Baseball. They walked the least. In fact, they were bottom 10 of the league in terms of walk rate. And even with all the home runs, their slugging percentage was still 17th in the league. So no matter what, uh, the Power says, they still weren’t slugging as much as other teams that were not hitting as many home runs. Most of all, their weighted runs created plus was 92. That’s 8% worse than league average. Good for 26th in Major League Baseball. Yeah. And so we I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but we had an everydayer that asked about, you know, solo home runs and runners that were on when we hit home runs. John, this is why you have a lot of solo home runs. This is why the Angels hit a lot of home runs, but they had a lot of solo home runs because you have guys striking out and not getting on base. You have guys not drawing walks. you have guys not making contact and so you’re going to get a lot of solo home runs and it’s it’s great on the stat line after the season is over, right? Back of the baseball card is going to look fantastic. Wow, 30 home runs and 100 plus RBI’s. That’s fantastic, but when did it come? When did it happen? When did it take place? And for the Angels, it was always either when they were really up or when they were really down. Sure, there were anomalies where they hit home runs to take the lead or hit home runs to add to their lead, but truth is they they didn’t have anybody on base and so they hit a lot of solo home runs and those runs are are are not beneficial to a team. Yeah, every run matters, but solo home runs can actually ruin a rally for you because you got you got runners on, you’re making the pitcher have to adjust. He’s now not going from the wind up. He’s throwing from the stretch. The Angels didn’t make anything chaotic on the base paths with their hitting and with their running as Bo Porter said that they would. And so that’s why these these numbers are are very telling and it makes sense why the Angels have had another 90 loss season and didn’t make the playoffs because they’re not doing what good baseball teams do. Yeah. You can’t you can’t take Bryce Teodosio and make him you end the at bat when you need to end the at bat. You swing for the fences, hit it hard. Don’t don’t make him that. And and look, I understand he’s tall. If he added a little bit more muscle, maybe he is that kind of guy, but don’t make him that. Don’t force him into that that box, right? I think that that’s an important key here. You need Teodosio to make contact. Yeah. And the reason why he hasn’t made as much contact as he could be is because he’s trying to swing hard at everything. And I just don’t think that that’s the solution. So, let’s go back to Brett’s thought about the Angels making the necessary adjustments. Mike, what are the necessary adjustments for the Angels? The the first is that they need to have a balance to the roster. Angels clearly need more contact. They clearly need to walk more. They clearly need plate discipline guys. And we’re not just talking about guys that are getting to a 3-2 count. We’re talking about guys that are are working the count. And we’re not talking about Mike Trout who seem to be afraid to swing as the season winded down, right? Or or Taylor Ward watching pitches. We’re talking about guys who know the strike zone and know it well. So there there needs to be a balancing of the roster. They also need current players who are going to adjust it. I mean I don’t think it’s too late for Logan Hoppy and Christian Moore and and even Joe Adell who had a great year. I don’t think it’s too late to adjust. I I think they they have shown to want to adjust. I just think you need to get them good coaching to be able to get them back to where they were last year. Christian Moore obviously this was his first real year. So, I think adjusting the current players need needs to change. I would take a Joe Adele 28 home run season with a higher batting average and the playoffs than a Joe Adele 30 plus home run season with a low batting average and no playoffs. And so, I think that they need to adjust the swing. Go back to use the whole field, Joe. Use the whole field, Logan. That that would be an appropriate approach. And then they need to emphasize contact through coaching. Coaching these guys to crush the ball. It did lead to careerh highs and home runs for Joe Adell and Taylor Ward, but it still didn’t help the team with a winning record, did it? Yeah. No. And and that’s the other thing, Mike, is through the coaching and getting some of these guys to maybe change their approach, Johnny Washington was doing the job that that was asked of him. Yeah. And even though we disagree with it wholeheartedly, and that’s what, you know, was frustrating about this season, the philosophy of the of the organization is very clear. We went over that a couple days ago where the trends show that they’re chasing power, they’re chasing slug, they’re not trying to make contact. Batting average is down, right? So, all of that to say that you need to get some coaches in here that are going to teach the right things. I’m confident that if they get Albert Pulse and even Tory Hunter, I’m still I’d still love to see Tory Hunter be manager. But, uh, either way they go, you got to get a good coaching staff in here that’s going to preach something different than what’s been preached the last 5 years, no matter the hitting coach, and also different from what the front office has been preaching as well. Thanks for making Lockdown Angels your first listen of the day. Coming up, when Ry Marino signed guys like Vlatty Senior and Josh Hamilton and Albert Pools, was that in pursuit of swinging for the fences? We’re going to get into that conversation here on much much more on FanMail Friday. We’ll get into that coming right up. Football season is here and FanDuel has an offer that you don’t want to miss. Right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. Again, put five bucks down. If it hits, you’re going to unlock $300 you can use across the app just on FanDuel. It’s their gift to you for being a winner. And I love FanDuel because you can bet in so many different ways. You can build parlays. You can try player props. You can even follow the live lines while games are unfolding. That’s a lot of fun. Whether you’re a casual fan or you love diving into the stats, FanDuel makes the game day experience so much better. So don’t wait any longer. Visit fanuel.com to download the FanDuel app today and get started. This is the Lockdown Podcast Network where it’s your team every day. Thanks for making Lockdown Angels your first listen of the day. Check us out wherever you listen to podcast. Whether you’re watching or listening, come on over to today’s show on YouTube. Get in the comments section because we’d love to hear from you there and hear some of your responses to the conversation today. And hit us up on social media, Lockdown Angels, Super Halo Bros. You can find us wherever you social your medias. Mike, we’ve got two questions here that kind of fit the same mold. So, we’re going to hear from Daniel first and then we’ll hear from Nick right after that. Here we go. Daniel Sprinson calling from Somerville, Massachusetts. Angel fan since Reggie Jackson came over in 82. And uh I’m in crisis and I need your help, Super Halo Bros. Um how do I I feel like small ball with the Angels, my social days, that’s what we need to get back to. There’s no vision going on. I’m reminded of Pool Host coming to the Angels when they and that other guy from the Rangers when they just started to try to hit home runs and then in 2014 I had to watch the Angels lose to the Royals who were playing our brand of baseball. And uh I don’t understand how Arty Moreno can think as a business owner that what he did at the trade deadline is going to increase the fan base. the lack of vision. Like if he sold off more players and got some draft picks, I would be all excited about this team. And uh so I need help. The only solution I think we have to do is start a GoFundMe page. Super Halo Bros. new ownership of the Angels. So I got 10 bucks in my pocket. I’m ready to put down on that one. But um barring that, I need some help. I’m in crisis and I need your wisdom. Thank you. Long time listener. Love you guys. Daniel from Massachusetts. How is it jarring to you to hear a guy with a Massachusetts Bostonish accent talk about the Angels? Mike, I I I love that he’s in Massachusetts and he still roots for the Angels and I love that he’s asking us for help. Listen, th this team in the offseason, depending on what happens with some of the off the- field stuff, maybe that 10 bucks that he puts for the GoFundMe might actually buy the team because the team’s going to fall apart, right, John? You said you had one more thing and it was from somebody on Instagram. Yeah, Nick Lakus. And every day or he messaged us on Instagram in response to the article I posted on our Substack about uh Perry Manassian’s hitting philosophy for the organization. And Nick said, “I said the other day we should have known the direction the Angels were going with Arty Marino’s first big signing. Vladimir Guerrero senior Angels under Mike Sosa were small ball, pass the baton type of hitters. And when Arti took over, all he cared about was home runs and big moments he could monetize. It’s why I believe Sosa’s coaching started to turn because his style clashed with Marino’s vision. Forget fundamentals. We need Sports Center highlights because it’s marketable.” He then followed by getting guys like Hamilton, Pooh Holes, Renone because they fit that mold. Now we’re stuck with the consequences of those decisions and the downhill slide started all the way back in 2003. 2014 was the last good year because of they had because they had the remnants of social small ball mentality mindset. Once those final bits were gone, we were left with this. Mike, do you think there’s something to the case to be made about, you know, the Angels chasing power highlights and home runs with signings like Puh Holse and Hamilton and even Vlad Senior? Because I I think it’s a bit more nuanced than that. What about you? Yeah, I agree. And to Nick and Daniel’s thoughts, I I want to be I want to be uh I want to answer that question, but I also want to be fair. The Angels had the top batting average in the league the first year that Albert was here. They they hit 274. Yeah. Um now, to Nick’s point, it might be because Sosa, right? So she was a really great manager. They had the fifth best they were fifth best in in 2013, sixth best in 2014 in batting average and third best in weighted runs created plus with 110. It really fell off from 2015 onward. And I think that that’s where Nick’s point comes in where the bits that were from the previous seasons, they really started to not show up anymore. And we were actually living in the results of the drafts that Arty Moreno’s people were in charge of. And we’re really seeing the impact of that. And it started really in 2015. Yeah. And so when it comes to, you know, a big signing like Vlad Senior back in ‘ 04, like to before 04, to me that was that was an addition to what they already had going on. I don’t think there was anything wrong with getting, you know, the biggest free agent out there. Yeah. And also adding him to this roster because they needed a Vlatty senior on that team, right? And Yeah. But why did why did it work, John? It it worked because they had hitters around him. It was a balanced power power. It was very balanced and and that’s that’s the thing that the angels need to pursue. Now, to Daniel’s question and and and how do they get back to that? I think right now the solution is they get somebody that’s trusted to John’s point and what he said on this show the last couple weeks somebody that’s trusted by Arty Moreno like a Tory Hunter or an Albert Puhol because I think these guys are going to bring a different brand of baseball. I think John that Tory Hunter is going to bring the most unique brand even though we’ve been kind of on the pooh train and and perhaps he would be a really good manager and we would be in support of that. But there there were two moments that really kind of indicated that for me. One when he talked about Bryce Teodosio and his defense when he was in Texas and he was on the bench and he was watching the team. But then when they had that meltdown defensively close to the end of the year and the camera caught Tory Hunter, the Minnesota Twins camera caught Tory Hunter shaking his head and just going awful, awful. And I think that that to me tells me that Tori is going to prioritize things that the Angels don’t necessarily prioritize. And so I think he could bring a different brand. But the thing that’s going to have to happen though is they’re going to have to have players to meet the moment. Now, I would argue that they have some of the young players to meet the moment and they’re still they’re still able to learn to meet the moment. I don’t think Yes. I don’t think Logan Hoppy is stuck being one way. I think Logan Hopp is going to do whatever is necessary. Same thing with Neto and Shaowell and I would even say like Joe Adell, Mike Trout’s going to be Mike Trout, but I think that they have players that are moldable and so that’s good news, but it’s not going to it’s not going to be enough, right? They’re going to have to get other players Yeah. to come in and and help fill out this roster in a way that follows the philosophy of the manager. And so to Daniel’s question, I think an Albert or a Tory could be the start of that. I just don’t think that we need to get our our our hopes really high for 2026 because they’re still going to have to field a roster and that roster may not match the philosophy and the strategy of the manager that they hire. And I also think going back to Nick’s point about the kinds of guys that they chased in free agency, I think that the pool hulse move, I think it was a great move at the time, right? You know, the hottest free agent coming off, you know, the World Series, multiple time MVP, like you couldn’t go wrong there. Obviously, and I think the rest of the league learned this too, signing guys at that age to that long of a contract, big risk. But it wasn’t the first and it wasn’t the last either. Yeah. The other the other thing is though I think that it’s nuanced because yeah that team could definitely use a pool hulse on the team and and what failed them that year was their starting pitching even though they had you know CJ Wilson and Jared Weaver and Dan Herren and then they got Zack Grankkey later that didn’t really work out too great but um they they had a better record than the Tigers and the Tigers got to go to the playoffs and not the Angels because of the because of the rules back then. So, what I’m what I’m getting at here is they definitely could could have used a pool hulse on that team because they were still doing everything right. They were balanced like you said, but then going after Josh Hamilton, that’s a flashy move that, you know, was a highlight reel thing in the vein of what Nick’s talking about. Should have brought back Tori or you should have used that Hamilton money for Zack Grankkey, right, to bring him back. And so, that’s where I think the nuance lies. There are moments like with Vlatty Senior and Albert Pools where it’s like that’s a great move to go with this roster and then there’s moments of like Hamilton where and I’ll say this for anybody who who doubts you know Statcast. If they had had Statcast back then you would have seen the falloff of Josh Hamilton before they signed him and went oh that doesn’t look good that’s not great. Um, and so that to me is the flashy move that didn’t work out because yeah, that was another arty signing that wasn’t a great idea. Uh, if you really wanted to keep things going well, you would have brought back Tori at a much cheaper price and maybe even had some money left over for Grankkey. And we all know what Grankie did after the Angels, you know, between the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks and the Astros, right? So, all of that to say, I think it’s a little more nuanced than just, hey, already started signing these big bopper free agents and he was just trying to get on highlight reels. No, I think that there was a point where a Vlatty made sense and a pool hulse make made sense, right? And if Hamilton wasn’t on the decline, like that would have made sense too to go with the kinds of teams they were running out there. The problem, Mike, and this goes back to the first segment is balance among the roster. You can’t have nine Mike Trouts. Not everybody can be Mike Trout. You can’t have nine Taylor Wards. You don’t want everybody to be Taylor Ward, right? So, and and so that’s the issue here. The Angels have to be able to find that balance and they need to get a manager who is going to help them find that and leave Perry Manasian perhaps out of the conversation as well. Guys, you probably heard of Viagra and Seialis and maybe you’ve even tried them. But if you’re looking for something that go beyond the usual pill, it’s time to meet Rouette Golong. This is not just another ED pill. It’s a total game changer for confidence. Golong combines two doctor trusted medications in one dualaction formula. The effects can last up to 36 hours. Confidence all day, all night, and even into the next day. The process is simple. You connect with a board-certified doctor. It’s 100% online, and if prescribed, your treatment treats uh it ships to you discreetly to your front door. So, if you’re ready to level up your confidence in the bedroom, head to rouette.com and use our promo code locked on MLB for 15% off your first order. That’s rugg.com with the promo code locked on MLB. One more voicemail here on a fan mail Friday. We appreciate everybody who’s contributed to the conversation. Let’s hear from an everydayer we haven’t heard from in a while. It’s Brandon out in Virginia. Hey guys, this is Brandon from Virginia. I got a couple quick questions for you guys. I was wondering if you guys think it’d be a good idea if we uh go after Max Muny. If the Dodgers, well, more than likely the Dodgers probably get that left-handed uh third baseman from Japan. Um if they get him and they let go of Muny, do you think it would be a good idea for us to get Maxie or stick with Monata or just go a different route and try to find somebody else? And I’m all on board for and the uh the second one is I’m all on board for Albert Poles being a manager especially if he brings you out here in Molina. Um I don’t think anybody else would be a better fit than to have one of the best hitters of all time help out our hitting struggles that we’ve had this year and arguably one of the best catchers at least of my lifetime help out Logan Oppoy and just bringing back that old school baseball that uh works well for this team. And I was wondering if Arty is going to see it the same way that we see it as in it helping out the team and making the team better or is he just going to see, you know, putting more butts and seats and dollar signs as like, oh, we have Albert Pooh Holes and Yahier Molina and the Angels dugout. Come see us. Uh, want to know what you guys thinks. Thanks, guys. Brandon, thanks for your voicemail, my friend. Excellent questions here regarding Max Muny and you know how Arty would view having a pool and a yachti on this staff and we’ll we’ll talk about that in a second. Mike, let me address the Maxy thing. He’s uh he’s 35. He’ll be 36 in August of next year. He’s got a $10 million team option. So, the Dodgers will have to make a decision on whether they want to keep him or let him walk. Uh 10 million for what Max Muny has done, right? Even if he’s playing playing the bench, like he can play first, he can play second, he can play third, they’re probably going to pick up that option. But go ahead. But even if they even if they get Murakami, you’re probably right. They can pick up that option. However, he’s had a bit of an injury history the last two years, 100 games this year, 73 last year. He’s not a batting average guy, but he does walk a ton. In fact, he walks twice as much as the league average. And then also the last three years, he’s had a 470 slug or better. And remember, I always say a 500 slug is how you should feel about a 300 batting average, and that’s what Muny’s been able to do. I don’t know that the Angels go this direction. I also don’t know that the Dodgers let him go considering he’s how valuable he’s been. And even if he’s uh, you know, going to be up there in age, he’s still been productive. It’s not a move I would want to make though with the Angels because it’s the exact kind of move that they would make going, you know what? Yeah, he’s he’ll be 35 going on 36. That’s okay. But then it’ll all fall apart with the Angels, but if he stays with the Dodgers, he’s going to, you know, have a a near MVP season. Like, you know what I’m saying? Like, if if he signed with if he puts on the Angels uniform, he’s going to fall apart. If he stays with the Dodgers, he’s going to be just fine because that’s the way things go for the Angels. Well, and here’s why it would fall apart for the Angels. It would fall apart for the Angels because they don’t have roster depth. He’d have to play every day and he hasn’t been able to play every day. If he stays with the Dodgers, he doesn’t have to play every day. They’re going to if they get Mirakami, they’re going to be fine. But even if they don’t get Mirkami, he still doesn’t have to play every day. And they can move him around. And they’re not relying on him to be the guy. He is their Taylor Ward, John. And and Taylor Ward on any other team that’s a really good team is just one of the guys, but on the Angels, he’s the guy. If Maxy comes to the Angels, he’s going to have to be the the guy or one of the guys, right? And that’s not who he is. Plus, he’s going to be 36. So, I love the guy. I think he’s a great player. Obviously, he’s a winner and he is clutch and those are the things that we haven’t had on the Angels. 35 36 though, I I just don’t know if he’s coming over. And then a $10 million option whether they sign somebody or not. Like, that’s a that’s a a cheap deal for somebody like a Maxy. Yeah, considering probably in arbitration, Taylor Ward is going to make more than that uh this next season. Mike, uh, this is the second part of Brandon’s question. Um, if if Albert and Yachty ended up in the dugout as, let’s say, manager and bench coach or Yachty or Molina is doing some other situation, right? Would Arty view it as the money grab or would he view it as a way to help the team in response to to Brandon’s question? What do you how do you think that Arty would would look at this? I don’t know if I would say that it would be a money grab. I do think Arty feels like in his world, in his head, he’s trying to help this team. I don’t think that he has is foolish enough to think that this is going to put butts and seats. If you have a manager like Albert Ples and a yacht or Molina, I don’t think the manager makes a big difference. And I don’t think that he thinks that as well. But what I do think this is is him trying to do what he thinks is best to help this team actually win. bringing in a manager and somebody he trusts, somebody he respects, has a long history with, I think he feels like that would be the best move. The problem, the tension, and this is where we’re going to have to see what happens, is Arty might go, “All right, we’ve got Albert. He’s going to manage this team. He won a championship in the Dominican Leagues. This is going to be fant. We got Yatier Molina. He’s going to be great as a bench coach. Okay, let’s go.” 2026 season, right? and and that’s that’s not gonna work. That’s not gonna work at all. We all know that. I just wonder if Arty knows that. But I would say I don’t think it’s a money grab. I do think he feels like this is the best move to help this team get better. It’s just not the only move and that’s been Arty’s history. Yeah. One move and that’s it. He can’t do one move. It’s got to be multiple moves. It’s got to be five or six moves. Manager and coaches and it’s also got to be players and depth. And it’s got to be pitchers and right. It’s got to be in multiple moves. Will he do that? He’s shown us that he’s unwilling to do that. So again, I don’t I don’t hold out hope and I’m not holding my breath. Yeah. Because I just don’t know if he sees it the way that everybody else sees it. The only thing I would push back on is I don’t know that if if he got Puh Hulse and you know, let’s say Molina’s in there as a bonus, right? That that feels like uh the promised land in in my eyes as a Halo fan. I don’t know that those two would put up with not making moves. Yeah. Now, at the end of the day, it is decision, but you know, I I think that they wouldn’t put up with that. And then going back to Brandon’s point about, you know, if if this is for butts in the seats and, you know, Arty’s like, “Hey, look who we got in the dugout. It’s your favorite angel from the last decade.” you know, like and yacht Molina, who he would refer to him as, you know, Benji and Jose’s brother, like discrediting everything Yachti’s done in his career. But even if that was the case, you said it the other day, a broken clock is right twice a day. And you know, a Bob Ross happy accident is certainly possible because yeah, Arty might think that this is a great way to get fans in the seats, but also those would be pretty good moves and and whether it is a Tory Hunter or an Albert Pulse or Yatty or Molina, like it’s still a good move. And so again, he he might be making a a purely RD Marino business decision so that he can, you know, pad his bottom line and all that stuff, but also it would be a good move. And I think that’s the tension that’s there. And so at the end of the day, even if Art views it one way or the other, whether it helps the team or it’s just to get fans in seats, you know what? I think it’s going to work out either way. Now, it’s just a matter of interviewing the guy and announcing that they signed him. Or are we going to end up with somebody that, you know, we’ve been talking about pools and Hunter for the last few weeks and then it’s going to be like you said the other day, Bob Sackamano and and so let’s get on this Angels. I think it’s about time that we get these uh managerial interviews done and and pick out who’s going to lead this team in 2026. Thanks for making this FanDuel edition or fan mail edition of Lock your first listen of the day. Uh now for your next listen, check out Locked On MLB Game Night every game every night until the World Series champion is crowned. And you can find game night on the Locked On MLB YouTube channel or wherever you get your podcast. We got to get FanDuel to like sponsor fan mail Friday specifically. That’s the way I think we should go. All right, thanks for making Lockdown Angels your first listen of the day. Of course, you can find us at Lockdown Angels at Super Halo Bros on social media. Come on over to YouTube, get in the conversation. We want to hear from you as well. Mike, when we come back on Monday, what do we got on deck? Well, if there’s no breaking news, and with this team, you just don’t know. It might be a manager on Monday, maybe this weekend. We’re just not sure. Saturday seems to be the day that Perry likes to talk. So, we’ll see what happens this weekend. But if nothing changes at least this weekend, then we have the roster report cards and we’re starting that on Monday on Locked on Angels. Yeah. So, if you haven’t got into those roster report cards yet, there’s still time before Monday. So, submit your grades. The episode description has the link where to go and you can fill out the Google survey and grade each member of the roster. All right, until Monday, my name is John and that’s my brother Mike and my name is Mike and that’s my brother John. Thanks for being here with us everybody and we’ll see you back here on Monday. Dang. Arizona, Virginia, Massachusetts. We’re taking over. We’re taking over. That’s right.

Are the Los Angeles Angels ready for a hitting revolution in 2026? The Super Halo Bros. new mantra, “less strikeouts, more contact,” signals a potential shift away from the all-or-nothing approach. Hosts Jon and Mike analyze MLB hitting trends and debate how this philosophy could transform the Angels’ lineup. They explore intriguing managerial candidates like Albert Pujols and Torii Hunter, dissecting their potential impact on the team’s future. The brothers also revisit game-changing signings of Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and Josh Hamilton, drawing lessons for the Angels’ next moves. Fan questions spark discussions on potential acquisitions like Max Muncy and the possibility of Yadier Molina joining the coaching staff. Tune in for an in-depth look at how the Angels might reshape their roster and coaching approach for 2026 and beyond!

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0:00 New mantra for Angels in 2026

5:25 Power vs contact: MLB trends and Angels’ struggles

11:38 Coaching changes needed to improve hitting approach

17:15 Analyzing Angels’ past free agent signings

24:47 Max Muncy and potential managerial candidates discussed

30:56 Potential impacts of Pujols/Molina in the Angels dugout