The Angels announced this afternoon they’ve optioned outfielder Jo Adell to Triple-A Salt Lake. Utilityman Jose Rojas has been recalled to take his spot on the active roster.
Adell has been considered one of the sport’s most talented young players for some time. Baseball America slotted him among the top two prospects in the Angels’ system every year between 2018 (his first season after being selected 10th overall in the previous draft) and 2021, when he exhausted his prospect eligibility. Heading into last year, BA ranked him the game’s 13th-best prospect. Evaluators raved about his combination of power and speed, but the 23-year-old has yet to establish himself at the major league level.
During the shortened 2020 season, Adell broke into the majors and played 38 games. He hit just .161/.212/.266, and he spent the first half of last year on optional assignment. After beginning the season at the alternate training site, he was sent to Salt Lake. Through the end of July, he hit .289/.342/.592 in 339 plate appearances. That was above-average overall output highlighted by a massive 23 homers in 73 games, but Adell also struck out in 29.2% of his trips to the plate against a subpar 6.5% walk rate.
Upon being recalled to the big leagues in early August, Adell hit .246/.295/.408 in 35 contests. That marked a notable improvement over his 2020 production but was still ten percentage points below the league average, by measure of wRC+. He broke camp with the big league club this year but has gotten off to a disappointing start. Through 66 plate appearances, he’s hitting .231/.242/.431. Adell’s three homers and four doubles have led to a respectable slugging output — particularly in the context of a brutal offensive month leaguewide — but he’s punched out 24 times while drawing just a single walk.
In addition to those worrisome strikeout and walk numbers, Adell has had a rough go defensively. Statcast has pegged him as four outs below average to this point, tied for the second-worst mark among outfielders. The Angels will send him back to Salt Lake for further work on both sides of the ball in hopes that his next promotion to the big leagues can be permanent.
Adell entered this season with one year and 44 days of MLB service time. He has spent about 26 days on the active roster this year, bringing him up to around one year and 70 days altogether. Players are credited with a full year of service upon reaching 172 days on an active roster (or MLB injured list). If Adell is recalled before the last week of June and sticks in the majors from that point forward, he’d still remain on track to reach free agency after the 2026 season, as currently scheduled.
In the interim, the Angels will rely on Brandon Marsh, Mike Trout and Taylor Ward as their primary outfield. That group was the most productive in the majors through the season’s first month, with all three players off to fabulous starts. Rojas joins Jack Mayfield and Tyler Wade as infield/outfield hybrids who can over some depth on the grass.
who’s Jo?
Jo Adell. It’s not spelled with a E. Try looking up something before commenting on it.
Dude it’s just a joke lol
You should workshop it then.
He should probably try just going by his real first name Jordon.
He asked management to “Go easy on me.”
Oh, wait, never mind, wrong Adele.
Now that’s a joke. Dude, you’re getting Adell. May the 4th be with you.
Jo dis guy tho? Jo mama man.
Yeesh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
He’s a baseball player.
No he works at a button factory. He’s gotta wife, a dog, and a family.
That would make him A Family Guy…like Peter Griffen!!
It’s Griffin. It’s not spelled with a E. Try looking up something before commenting on it.
Try taking the stick out of your behind. It makes you much happier when you walk.
I know a good proctologist, Dr Cosmo Kramer, The Assman.
Duuuuuude how far did that pole get stuck up you?
Jo mama
He’s a guy that knows some people that knows some people that robbed someone.
racist!
@ Dark
My name is, My name is, My Name is…
Ha
If it is PC for me to say this, if you have any friends in Salt Lake City, call ’em quick so you can say, “Dude, you’re getting Adell.”.
Surprising.
Looks like they should trade him.
Adell is chasing like crazy. His defensive play in LF is probably the worst in baseball. His outfield jump is the bottom 1% of baseball and routes have been atrocious. He was not that bad in RF last year. He is definitely struggling with reading/seeing the ball in LF..
I am not sure why they recalled Rojas. He wasn’t exactly tearing it up in AAA. I hope they don’t plan to use him as a platoon, but I am assuming he will get some time out there. Rojas doesn’t belong in the OF. They should call up Stefanic. He can’t play defense, but neither can Rojas. At least Stefanic gives a quality at bat every time he is up.
I think Rojas has quality at bats, and the Angels have a better idea of what his MLB floor is than Stefanics. Remember Rojas tore it up in spring training just like Stefanic did
I know Rojas was doing great until the bright lights turned on and then he forgot what hitting was. Much like what happened last year. He hasn’t been hitting in AAA since being sent down. Stefanic has been far more consistent. The only thing is I think the Angels may think Rojas is better in the OF.
They have the outfield set with Marsh, Wade, and Trout. Rojas won’t be playing in the OF.
I think you mean Ward. I hope you;re right about no Rojas in OF, but someone is going to have to play OF on occasions.
That would be the way to go, if they want to sell when his value is at an all time low
Like 4 years ago.
1 bb vs. 24 k’s. yikes.
All I Ask is that He Won’t Go because Rumor Has It that he has a lot of potential and I’d hate to see him Skyfall from grace. Hopefully one day he can achieve Hometown Glory.
Hello. All I Ask is that we keep this Right as Rain. We’re Strangers by Nature Mr. Hayes, but Love is a Game and so is baseball. In fact, it’s My Little Love, my One and Only. It would take Someone Like You to post this and I’ll Be Waiting for more. The Halos won’t trade Adell; He Won’t Go.
Adell isn’t the only one who got messed up in 2020. That was the time he would have properly progressed.
He is just undisciplined. O don’t know about his work ethic, so I can’t comment, but tools do not always equate to success. Repetition, repetition, repetition and constant extra work on skills will help those tools turn into the abilities necessary to succeed in the big leagues. He’s still young, and no excuse about 2020. Others worked hard hard and got their chance in 2021 and did well.
Like that! There is definitely a difference between tools and ability. Ability provides results. Tools only give the potential for results.
His statcast data is good. Better than most Angels. His launch Angel is average, that needs to be increase. And he has little strike zone awareness.
He has better Statcast numbers than Ward. But Ward knows the strike zone. Ward is 28, Adell just turned 23…there is time.
Launch Angels sounds like the new Bash Brothers… Trout, Ohtani and whom??
The Angels only have one hitter with a good launch angle. My guess is you know who that is.
It’s not Taylor Ward. I don’t want to diss Ward, but he’s not hitting the ball hard and his launch angle stinks. He has great plate awareness which may be enough.
Launch angle LMAO, how about the most important thing that most have lost acknowledgement of, x-tra base hits and of course don’t worry about OBP%…. Haha, That will always be prevelent.
I’m glad Adell is going to play everyday. They never gave him a chance. My god, at the beginning of the year, they platooned him with Rojas who stinks.
I’d like to see Marsh play everyday.
Hopefully Rojas will never see any playing time.
Agreed on all fronts.
Although, I do like to root for Rojas as a local kid, we’ve seen what he can do.
Marsh is on the Bench today. Mayfield is in LF.
I really hate Maddon.
There is too much going on in LA. They need to simplify.
1-Leave Adell in AAA the rest of the year. Knowing the Angels, I’m guessing that he goes on a little hot streak, with 4 HRs in 20 games, but still with a 24/5 K/W, and they promote him.
2-Marsh, OTOH, is never going to develop much more than he is today. I’m not saying you have to play him every day, but they need to play him against lefties. It’s entirely possible that he never becomes a good hitter against lefties, but he could become tolerable. Even if his OPS against lefties is .600, for example, his glove and legs might make that “okay”.
3-Don’t platoon a righty in there unless he is a real hitter. Subbing in a .700 OPS to replace the aforementioned .600 OPS, will be counterproductive in the long-run.
He got a chance when they released Upton. But his defense hasnt improved enough and his plate discipline needs a lot of work. He’s gonna be a late bloomer, but he just needs reps and he’ll get more of that in the minors.
They gave him a chance by platooning him with Rojas and playing him some days in LF and some days in RF?
You and I simply disagree.
They are doing everything possible to screw this kid up. I’m glad he’s in AAA where he can play every day in the same spot against both RH and LH pitchers.
They tried to let him face pitchers he’d be stronger against and he was still bad. How is that not giving him a chance?
His defense is atrocious and he’s still k-ing 30% of the time. No matter how many excuses you make for him, he just hasn’t shown that he’s a MLB player (yet).
They benched him for Rojas. They moved him to left, then right, then left, then right. Adell has an 857 OPS against RH 356 against LH. So whoever is evaluating, doesn’t know what they are doing. .
That’s a great way to develop young hitters.
Hey… Marsh is sitting on the Bench
OPS today for Jack Mayfield.
Marsh sitting makes sense. 0 for 13 with 9 Ks the past 3 games and his best friend was just sent down. Give him a day to clear his mind.
Halo, Adell has 14 starts in LF and 2 starts in RF. He’s only played one other game in RF this year besides the two he started. He’s played 127 innings in LF this year and 19 innings in RF. I don’t think 19 innings in RF screwed him up.
Four games in LF, then three games in RF, the. nothing but LF as a part time player.
41 lifetime games in LF. 56 games in RF. Not exactly a great way to get comfortable out there.
He’s over hyped and unproven.
160 games at AA & AAA combined and 200 SO, unimpressive slash for AA/AAA.
TERRIBLE AA/AAA fielding % .97x YIKES!!
Adell is NOT MLB Ready, not even close.
I’m glad he’s in AAA because that’s where hitters who cant make contact and can’t recognize the strike zone should be. AAA or lower.
I hav3 nonissue with Adell being in AAA. I have a huge issue with Rojas playing over him when Ward was on the IL.
And i will have a huge issue if Marsh is platooned.
Also Rojas and Mayfield don’t belong in the Show
He’s just not a big leaguer. True he may have done all he can in AAA, and MLB playing time is what he needs. But the Halos are chasing a pennant. He’s dead weight in that chase. Sucks.
I’d argue he absolutely hasn’t done all he can in AAA. He was still striking out about 30% of the time there.
THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!
Amen!
He flashes talent then flashes basic failure. I still believe he’ll be a solid MLB player but he’s not going to get there playing twice a week.
This is better for him.
Best news of the year.
Lol. This guy isn’t that good.
i get it, he needs regular abs, but rojas is not who i want to see take his spot
My guess is they’ll use Rojas a a true fill in and give the full-time ABs to Marsh.
They are sitting Marsh tonight. So now. Marsh is not a full time player.
Maddon being Maddon.
Is he out of options?
If he was then how was he just optioned?
He was just optioned today … can’t you answer that question without asking it?
Adell is following a long list of over hyped prospects that couldn’t make in the MLB.
Also, I know Maddon is a good manager but he has a track record of having touted prospects not reach their lofty ceilings. I think he does a questionable job at devolving a line up to maximize its effectiveness. Seems like he is more of a numbers guy vs a guy who actually can evaluate what a guy does well, needs to do well and putting them in the position to maximize their value.
Drascoo36 – Agreed. This kid has had enough time to, at the very least, produce something positive and not just ooze potential. Like you said, the list of over hyped prospects is long. I just hope he gets it turned around in Salt Lake.
Drascoo36 that’s funny. Prospects like Rizzo Bryant Baez and Contreras never achieved anything under Maddon?
Friedman and Epstein couldn’t wait to get rid of him.
Eppler wanted Buck. Moreno hired Maddon. Because no baseball person would.
I never said prospects never did anything under Maddon, I said there is a history of prospects under Maddon not living up to their lofty expectations and you used two perfect examples, Bryant and Baez, Bryant was supposed to be the next big thing, the perennial MVP candidate/All-Star regular. Baez was supposed to the same. Rizzo was never a prospect under Maddon.
But lets go a step further, Schwarber never developed into “the best hitter I’ve seen since Babe Ruth”. He never came close to living up to his expectations. Addison Russell? Albert Almora? Crash and burn.
BJ Upton was a fine player but he never lived up to his expectations. nor did Rocco Badeli, nor did Desmond Jennings, nor did Wil Myers, How about Tim Beckham.
These guys were not supposed to be good players, they were supposed to be great players.
Back to the Cubs, the Cubs were supposed to be a machine, multiple World Series winners… The “core” never lived up to their expectations and the players never improved.
Like I said, Maddon is a fine manager, but I feel like a long list of elite prospects failed to reach their potential under him. And yes, MOST prospects never become stars but Addison Russell was ranked top 5, KB top over all, Baez top 5, Schwarber top 20, Soler top 15, Almora top 35, Happ top 30, Rocco number 2, BJ number 2, Jennings top 10…
the Cubs were supposed to be a machine, multiple World Series winners…
====================================
No team is supposed to win multiple WS. When you win, it is usually because a lot of players have unusually good seasons. And they usually get lucky in the playoffs.
In 2016, they won the NLDS by beating the SFG twice in one-run games. They were down 3-1 to the indians, and won by virtue of going 2-0 in the next two one-run games. In the best of circumstances, you have to win your division, win the NLDS in a best of 5, win the NLCS against a very good team, and then win the WS against a very good team. A very good team will be an 8-1 underdog at the start of the season.
Further, their rotation was old. When they won, the rotation was aged 26, 30, 32, 33, and 37.
Lastly, the smartest thing Schilling ever said was that the division winner was going to be the team that gets the highest amount of starts from their regular rotation. That largely true. In 2016, the Cubs got 150 GS from their regular rotation. That seldom repeats itself.
I know that Epstein couldn’t wait to get rid of him.
@drascoo36 There is a lot to unravel in your post. I think much of your post can be addressed by saying baseball is really hard. Hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do in sports. Being a hitter nowadays is much harder than it has ever been. You have starters that only go through a lineup twice, You have high spin rate, You have one inning specialist that throw mid 90s or more. Coming off the steroid era, some may be desynthesized to the reality of how much harder it is.
You believe that the Cubs were destined to win multiple championship. If you win one championship in 5 years, you are fortunate. It is extremely to repeat success or yearly performance in today’s game. Look at the data. Mike Trout is the only consistent 7+ WAR players. There have been plenty of players that have had Trout like season, Betts, Bellinger, Yelich, Bryant, Judge, etc, but none can maintain such numbers. You can go back in history and see that 7.+WAR players were more common, Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Musial, etc. The game was much easier back then, pitchers didn’t throw as hard and they weren’t facing 1 inning specialist. The lack of ability to repeat performance is the reason why you don’t see dynasties post steroid era.
If you believe that the key to a prospect’s success is the manager then you are misinformed. Most prospects will fail and it is not because of the manager. The coaches work with the players more than the manager does.
This post isn’t worth responding to but here I go wasting my time.
This is my OPINION, when you have elite talent, you put it in BEST situation to succeed. I’ll address the Cubs because I’m a Cub fan.
When you have Javy Baez, known for his inability to take walks, you DO NOT bat him 8th. Period. He was never learn going to learn any type of plate discipline batting in front of the pitcher. It goes against conventional thinking but Baez needed to bat in front of Bryant and Rizzo so he could learn from his peers and understand his free swinging approach was taking runs off the board. Once he established himself batting at the bottom of the order, all hope was lost in regards to plate discipline.
In Bryant’s case, anyone who watched him knew his weakness was breaking balls in the dirt. So how do you counter that? By batting Schwarber in front of him of course! No, you put a great base runner in front of him who can take advantage of how pitchers pitched him by being able to swipe a bag and to maximize Bryants effectiveness. People criticized (Cubs fans anyways) Bryants lack of RBI production but how do you drive in runs when Schwarber hits in front of you? He cannot score from first on doubles nor could he score from second on singles to the outfield.
Certainly coaches work the most with players but managers are responsible for knowing their players and putting them in the best situations to succeed. Of the Cubs “core”, the only player that was put in the best situation was Rizzo and that was because KB was such a fantastic base runner. Putting Bryant and Baez in the positions they were in is the reason their development basically stalled.
Sure, one could say that it falls on the player, Baez should have learned more plate discipline, Bryant should have worked to close the hole in his swing but that is as much as a cop out as not admitting Maddon didn’t put them in the best situation to succeed. Also, I never felt Maddon could manage ego. He was “hey man groovy” and I think it was Martinez that was basically the enforcer.
And you are right, hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do but the number one reason top prospect fail is what is going on in their head… if you are not put in the best situation to succeed it effects your confidence. If you are a guy that struggles with spin and your in a situation where you pitcher can just give you a steady diet of junk what happens? You confidence slips, then all the sudden any fastball you see starts to look hitable even when it’s not, and the ball rolls.
This is my opinion and I am just basing from my perspective without looking through rose colored glasses. I don’t dislike the Cubs by any means.
The Cubs had a high on base with decent speed in Dexter Fowler. This was Bryant;s MVP year. Maddon liked Fowler as you can tell he had the Angels trade for him, but that turned out horribly. , Anyway, the Cubs decided to let him walk. Once he left, the Cubs didn’t have someone that could get on base consistently and be a base stealing threat. I wouldn’t blame the manager if he is not given to proper pieces to work with.. That is why I haven’t blamed Maddon for the past few seasons. He lacked pitching. This is the first year I believe he has been given a decent rotation and bullpen. I said that from the beginning though most disagreed with me regarding the rotation. Thus far this year with the proper pieces, Maddon has the team winning.
I don’t believe the 2016 Cubs lineup was an all time great lineup. I see two good players in Bryant and Rizzo. I wouldn’t call them great or HoF type players, I don’t consider Baez a reliable player. He can range from average to good from year to year.. By comparison, I consider the 2017 Astros a vastly superior team talent wise. If the Astros only won once, I don’t think you can guarantee that the Cubs were destined to win multiple WSs.
@drasco36 What are you talking about?
Maddon was on the coaching staff when the Angels made their only World Series. He was the manager of a Rays team that was the 2nd lowest payroll, like $40M payroll, to the World Series. He took a Cubs team that did not win a WS in 108 years. That is 3 different teams with little to no playoff success to the WS. I challenge you to name someone with a more impressive resume.
The cubs won the world series despite maddon. As a fan that watched him for a number of years, I was not at all sad to see him go.
@flaming Right. The Cubs won so much before and after Maddon left too huh? If you’re a Cub fan and you liked when he left then you must not like winning.
I guess reading is hard for you. They won because of the talent on the team, not because of Joe Maddon.
I read everything. fine and there is nothing to suggest that I didn;t. Like most low IQ people you project your own lack of intelligence onto others to make you feel better about yourself. It never changes with people like you. You can look at your name and tell how much you think of yourself. You have nothing insightful to offer and never will.
All teams that win a championship have talent. After 108 years of futility, you would think you would understand that you cannot win on talent alone. They still had Rizzo, Baez, Bryant and could not win anything. The whole team is split up now and most are performing better elsewhere. Asking you for your baseball input would be like asking a homeless guy for financial advise, so I won’t bother. Good bye flamingbagofpoop.
His team success has nothing to do with my comment.
And Maddon hasn’t done much since he lost Dave Martinez as his bench coach has he? and Martinez went on to manage another team to a World Series….
I think there’s some merit to this criticism of Maddon. Moving Adell back and forth from right to left isn’t helping him develop. Nor is the sporadic playing time.
I get it, Maddon is trying to win each game not babysit Jo. But he couldn’t be doing a worse job than giving Adell sporadic playing time and changing his position around.
Changing from RF to LF at the tail end of spring training was a mistake. Some make that transition seamlessly, but that has not been the case for Jo. Also, the base loaded walk was not advisable. At least he admitted he was wrong. I believe Maddon thought Jo’s spring training success would spill over to the regular season, but that didn’t happen.
I love Spring Training and go every year. And every year some guys look great there who then crash in the regular season.
Pitchers are working mostly fastballs in Spring. Guys who can handle them well look good. But when the season rolls around and they break out the good breaking stuff….well that separates guys.
Maddon is trying to show how smart he is by having a different lineup every night. Jack flipping Mayfield in LF? How stupid is that?
Let Marsh play everyday.
All teams have had a different lineup majority of the time. It called short spring, like it or not, everybody’s doing it.
As far as Marsh, his days off are more of slumping and swinging out of the zone like Adell. it’s just a breather, more than a straight out platoon. But yeah, he’ll sit against most lefty’s untill proven otherwise.
Jack Mayfield in LF? Are you freaked kidding me. Yesterday it was Mayfield at 3rd. He is 31 with a lifetime OPS of 69.
Players like him dont exist on good teams. And every game it’s someone like that.
Again, Adell was on the weak side of a platoon with Rojas. Sheer stupidity.
Ironically, Adell and Mayfield have the same lifetime OPS+ of 67… go figure.
One is 31, the other just turned 23.
And the word you are looking for is coincidence, not ironic.
Regardless of age, Adell and Mayfield have hit at the same level over their careers and Mayfield is superior defensively. And yet you call Mayfield unplayable and defend Adell at every turn. It’s important to separate athleticism and upside from performance. I like Adell. He works hard and is getting better. But right now Mayfield gives the Angels a better chance to win.
You’d rather have Rojas or Mayfield playing outfield.
You are not rational.
@Halos And in the meantime, the Angels are in first place. As the manager, his job is to win with the team that he’s given. He has done a really good job of that, but he doesn’t focus on development. It sucks when we as fans have a highly touted prospect that we want to see. I really like Adell and think he has the potential to be great down the road. He would be better suited in an environment where prospects are given time
“ As the manager, his job is to win with the team that he’s given. He has done a really good job of that,”
He has? Maybe this year, so far, but…
I know for a fact, there are several GMs with World Series rings who consider Maddon a joke. I’m not going to use the word they used, but it was more harsh than “joke”. Moreno wanted Maddon, not their GM.
I started checking with my source right after the bases loaded intentional walk.
Maddon is a joke. I thought 2020 and 2021 were about lack of talent, He has the talent this year, and clearly he’s a joke.
Mayfield in LF? Rojas playing instead of Adell?
…but he had some pretty good years with Cubs and Rays, when they weren’t very good before he got there. By no stretch is he the best manager in the league. My point was that he is trying to win games, and not trying to develop youngsters. He will almost always prioritize veterans on the bench, and prioritize versatility. Marsh is having a decent year at the plate so far, but he isn’t a lock by any means. Don’t be surprised if some of these questionable names get more PT when Marsh and Ward slump.
I’m now going to list ever Dodger who has a higher wRC+ against RH pitchers than Adell…. Ready…. I just did.
Why Adell was sitting so Rojas could play is beyond belief.
They should have played him every day while Ward was on the IL. Marsh should play everyday and if Adell is not playing everyday he should be in AAA. Two great examples why Maddon is the dumbest man in the room.
Maddon’s schtick plays with younger players. However, it wears off very quickly and definitely doesn’t work with veteran players. The Angels should have either let Ausmus have another year or gotten Showalter like Eppler wanted. Maddon was just a sentimental pick from the Scioscia glory days
Madden has made some highly illogical moves this year.
I was surprised how little Maddon was respected.
Maybe there are GMs out there that respect him, but when Friedman took over the Dodgers, he wouldn’t even interview Maddon. Epstein doesn’t respect him. Eppler didn’t want him.
I can easily understand why.
I’m glad Adell is playing every day at AAA. But there is NO EXCUSE for him sitting when Ward was on the IL. And now there is no excuse to platoon Marsh, and who started over him yesterday… Mayfield.. A 30+ year old with a lifetime OPS+ of 69. No one in their right mind makes those moves.
Adell is working hard and getting better. Even with two strikes, his ABs are mostly competitive this year. That said, in my opinion, the best version of Adell will be a low OBP, high SO guy with major pop. Despite being phenomenally athletically gifted, he is probably best suited to DH as his defensive acumen is, shall we say, lacking.
If he’s a DH, he’s a AAAA player unless he makes substantial progress.
He kinda sounds like Justin Upton
Jo…A dell….A female dell. Re a drop of golden sun
That’s pretty good
Is it?
If you appreciate corny dad jokes
That BA would be an upgrade in the Padres OF! Red rover, red rover…
We’ve already got one of those in Profar (highly touted prospect who never really reached their potential or had consistency), we don’t need another thanks.
Jo AAAA dell
His fielding alone is atrocious…. not a rumor.
M’s should do the same with Kelenic. Those two were drafted a year apart out of HS, but they are only a few months apart in age, bd’s in April and July of 1999. (Kelenic was one of the few HS athletes that was over 18 his entire Senior year of HS and turned 19 after graduation) They need more time to develop.
Adell for a pair of Calhoun’s, 100lbs of brisket and Cole Winn. Deal gets done!!
My gosh, its been 92 games…92 GAMES. you cant expect him to be an all-star out of the gate. Yes, the strikeout rate is worrysome but he’s only been 3 points lower than a league average hitter in the year of the dead ball, plus defensive metrics have been favorable to him in RF. If he kept his current pace up over 162 game season you’d be looking at 34 doubles and 25 HR which any fan would take.
Just cause he was hyped as a prospect you expect him to be lighting it up, look at Bobby Witt, Julio Rodriguez, go back to Lucas Giolito, Kyle Wright. It takes time to develop, you forget he only just turned 23
All Star? Please find me anyone that is expecting that. How about just playing above replacement level. He has -1.5 fWAR in 338 career PAs, that is impressively awful. If he kept up his current pace for this year, he’d finish around -1.5 for the year as well.
You do understand that if it’s a dead ball, that hurts everyone, so it’s irrelevant for how he compares to the rest of the league, right? Not sure why you mentioned that.
Let him go down to AAA and work on his approach, it’s not like he has shown great BB:K numbers there. Working on his defense wouldn’t hurt either.
Taylor Ward is killing it right now and there is no reason to keep Adell on the bench so better for him to get regular playing time in AAA.
Adell’s development has definitely fallen victim to the no minor league season in 2020. I think we are seeing just how detrimental that has wound up being for several players around the league
Spot on Rsox. Ive coached my two sons in Little League for the past 8 years and the pandemic gap was HUGE. I can only imagine the impact at the highest levels. Some seem to weather the storm, while others didn’t. Jo needs more time and reps.
A trade Adel for Rob Refsnyder is being discussed as we speak.
The Angels need to sign Blake Swihart to replace Adell.
Snyder is going to get away with all sorts of shenanigans if no one is around to Refsnyder.
For this move to be worthwhile they really need to leave Adell down there for most of the year. He’s clearly still not ready for the majors. Not saying Rojas is any kind of answer, but we can only hope he’s a warm body on the roster until a better option is identified.
The fact that Suarez and Adell were both optioned it shows they want to win. We don’t have time to let players figure it out. Put up some numbers and production or next man up. We stay healthy then we can make a run and shock everyone
I’m happy Adell was sent down.
I don’t think they gave him a chance, but that’s OK.
What I really mind was Adell platooning with Rojas. What I really mind is Platooning Marsh and Adell. And what I really mind is Jack Mayfield, one of the worst players in baseball, playing LF today over Marsh.
If may want to win, but the lineup card doesn’t suggest that.
I would argue that Velazquez is one of the worst players in baseball right now..
Velaazquez can play short, which is more than anyone else can say about anyone else on this team.
Does his defense properly balance out his miserable offense, though?
Kellin,
If the Angels had an adequate defensive shortstop who could hit adequately, I would say no.
But they don’t.
Velazquez is also a switch-hitter, has above average speed, & has an excellent attitude – I know that doesn’t win games, but he’s a gamer.
He was really fun to watch in NY, but the Angels could’ve, should’ve, & hopefully will transition to an actual starting SS. They should be looking to trade by the deadline if they continue winning like this. There are a few SS that they would be able to acquire…
What’s the love with Jack Mayfield if he’s not that good? Is it just a Maddon thing? I know he had a mini-hot streak for a minute, but seems that they could replace him fairly easily.
Maddon thinks he’s the smartest person in the room and is much closest to the dumbest than the smartest.
I say closer but otherwise you’re spot on!
I’m not the smartest person in the room. 🙂
The releases of Pujols and Upton sent that same message. Contract status, prospect status, none of that matters to Perry. Put up good numbers or see you later.
It didn’t send the same message.
Pujols would have been a nice platoon with Walsh. And Upton would have been a nice platoon with Marsh, and a nice 4th outfielder.
That sent the message that Maddon couldn’t deal with veterans.
Maybe its just negative value veterans. Trout and Rendon are veterans. I don’t think they will DFA them, but you could be right. We will see.
As stated ad nauseam on the last article, they were doing Adell and the team a disservice by having him in the majors at this point. He has never spent a full year in AAA to play every day and develop. If he is the talented player that the hype suggests, then let him succeed consistently in Salt Lake for a season and work on his defense and plate discipline. Then let’s see where he is next spring.
His big test will be how he handles this move.
Prov. We both talked about this earlier. It makes no sense for Adell to be up here as a weak side of the platoon player, especially since he hits RH much better than LH.
Why this team didn’t just keep him at AAA is beyond me. Why it didn’t keep Justin Upton as a 4th outfielder is also beyond me.
Jack Mayfield is in the outfield today? Adell opened up the season being the weak side of the platoon to Rojas? That’s not as stupid as a bases loaded intentional walk, but it was/is much more destructive.
This the dumbest man in the room, Maddon, believing he’s the smartest man in the room.
I wonder if people realize idiot Madden is now going to platoon Marsh? That’s why Marsh isn’t playing today. It’s because of Wacha’s reverse splits.
Halo – We agree on everything except Upton. On him we can agree to disagree. I hope we don’t see Adell for the rest of this season for his own benefit.
You think Upton is worse than Jack Mayfield? You think any contender is playing Jack Mayfield?
This is Maddon thinking he’s the smartest person in the room.
Halo – Not necessarily. I haven’t seen Mayfield play enough to formulate an educated opinion. More on that later.
But I have seen Upton play a ton and I think dropping him was one the best moves of Minasian’s tenure with us. We also disagree on Pujols, who couldn’t run to save his life from being chased by a knife wielding grandmother. But we agree on the other stuff. What we should have done is acquired a solid OF and SS and problem solved. We still can.
I haven’t seen much of Mayfield this year because I chose not to give my money to MLB for the MLB.TV package for the first time in years. I won’t support them based on a number of reasons including them moving the ASG last year (baseball should be a-political) along with all of the ridiculous rule changes they’ve imposed to try to shorten the game: ghost runners, timers, mound visit limits, 3 batter minimum, universal DH, etc…it’s all ridiculous and watering down a great game that historically uses nuanced strategies to get in the heads of the opponents. So I have game day running and I take a peek to keep up with scores and I watch highlights later.
But what about service time manipulation and stuff?!!!!! (Somewhere Jared Kelenic is crying for Adell, in between his strikeouts)
I’m tired of these “athletes” who haven’t shown the ability to actually play getting ranked as “top prospects”
Isn’t that kinda what a prospect is?
Prospects can usually play baseball tho
Prospects usually get a chance to play to shed off their prospect status.
Adell for Lamet straight up
Nope
Reminds me of the whole Brandon Wood era.
Nah Adell can play. This is the obvious right move for him. Ward should have been given RF to lose, while Marsh seems to have the better mlb eye and D for now. Jo needs to play and work on a bit of discipline at AAA. He has a future, that grand slam was real. He just can’t have 1 walk and 20 strikeouts in 40 Abs even if he is hitting .250. By the way the worst hitter in mlb right, a guy named votto.
Adell’s prospect status was based on his athleticism and upside, not his baseball skill level and production.
Adell was a 1st round draft choice (#10 overall) and a highly rated prospect from early on. In his 5+ years of professional experience, I’m confident he has received coaching, training and guidance comenserate with his pedigree and status. Despite this, and 1300+ minor league PAs plus 300+ MLB PAs, we are to believe his struggles are because he’s in a platoon and has played three games in RF? This feels intellectually dishonest. FWIW, Marsh seems ok even though he is in a platoon and has played LF and CF.
I’m rooting for Adell and he has gotten much better. But the best Angels fans can hope for is a low OBP/high SO DH with big time pop
@Angels & NL West I don’t think he has a future as a DH with the Angels. I liken his ceiling to more of a guy we just let go of, Justin Upton. He is way behind Justin at age 23, but I believe he can get there. I can see him hitting 25-30HRs with 15-20 stolen bases per year. I think it would be a waste of Adell athleticism to put him at DH. Defense can be taught. I believe Adell has the work ethic and drive to get better.; He biggest faults were outfield jumps and routes, this will get better with reps.
Typical Angels producing another bust in their system. No wonder that team has sucked for a decade now.
Kind of wild how awful they have been considering they usually get about 8 to 10 free wins by having Trout on the team
LAA will have to make room for Trey Cabbage at DH-OF/1B someday
Joe Maddon prefers Sun types to employ his seemingly mysterious random platoon system.
Sub-Type players. iPhone Autocorrect…
All “prospects” are just “suspects” until they prove it at the ML level. Adell’s plate discipline needs a lot of work. Too much waving and chasing with a long swing. Until he (if ever?) figures that out he will struggle.
Lewis Brinson II.
Now sign Justin Upton for some veteran presence!
Wil Myers and Blake Snell for Jo Adell and pieces?
Snell for 2(+?) years > Jo for 6
Athleticism and upside aside, Rojas, Mayfield, etc are better baseball players right now than Adell. The game has slowed down for them. They are older, have more minor league ABs and have been tested defensively in, what I assume is, hundreds of more games than Adell. They don’t have Adell’s tools or upside, but their baseball skills and knowledge are advanced compared to Adell’s today.
If the Angels are serious about competing for a playoff spot, and they are, Adells move to SLC was necessary. The Angels have OF options in Rojas, Wade, etc that can provide better, more reliable ABs than Adell without the gaffes on defense – missed first step, circuitous routes, overthrows and throws to the wrong base.
GMs are still assessing their teams they assembled in Spring Training and making internal moves within the 40 man roster in an attempt to shore up deficiencies. In the next month or two, GMs will be looking outside their organizations for help. I’m guessing the Angels will be looking at OF depth. Perry has been pretty bold, he may even make a depth trade in May or early June.
They are not better ball players than Adell. And Mayfield is not better than anyone.
No way on God’s green Earth should either ever take ABs away from Marsh or Adell. Sheer stupidity. Even dumber than back to back sacrifices with the team down by two and the bases loaded intentional walk.
Thru 25 games Adell is among the worst defenders in MLB and his -4 OAA translates to -24 over 162 games. With that in mind, I feel like many AAA players could help the Angels win more than Adell right now… even lowly Jack Mayfield who has the exact same career OPS+ as Adell.
He’s been pretty bad defensively. Let him play in one place, every day.
Bust
He’s the only RH 23 year old hitter in baseball history with a 145 OPS+ against RH pitchers, who is consistently called a bust.
Only Maddon would sit him against RH pitching
Adell’s hefty 145 OPS+ vs RHP comes in 43 PAs with a 18-0 SO to Walk ratio and an unsustainable .409 BABIP. Not sure I would hang my hat on this stat.
Defensively, he’s been terrible.
But he hits the ball hard, And with a light tweak at his launch angle and improved contact, that total numbers are easily surpassable.
But he has hit and from him to be on the bench for Rojas is absurd.
Marsh should have not be platooned. Adell should have been in RF as long as Ward was on the IL.
That’s really obvious.
Time for a change of scenery
Love Jack in LF! Way to go Joe!
The good news is we are in first place. We should be beating both Sox teams though.
Taylor Ward isn’t playing. Once again proving Maddon is the dumbest guy in the room.
It’s great to get his 76 OPS+ in the game. Which is a lot better than his 16 OPS+ this year.
And it’s nice to have Marsh play RF. No sense getting comfortable in one position He last played RF April 7th. Good to screw up your lineup to get Rojas in the game. .
So Madden pinch hits for Marsh and has no one left with back to back LH. Maddon once again shows why he’s the dumbest man in the room.
Down one run in the 9th, Madden’s options were Marsh vs Strahm or Ward vs Robles. Marsh’s OPS+ vs LHP is 14, Ward’s OPS+ vs RHP is 243. I’m not a Madden apologist, but thats a pretty easy decision.
He blew his options. He got lucky. If Ward is on the bench, Walsh might face a RH. Suzuki isn’t playing first.
Let Marsh play everyday. Let Walsh play everyday. Let ward play.
But he doesn’t do that.
Finally, you do realize the only reason we got to the 10th is the umpire blew a call.
An OPS+ diferrence of 229 isnt enough for you? An OPS+ of 14 vs LHP isnt enough for you? Again, I’m not a Maddon apologist, but I’m sure glad you’re not the manager.
Get the game tied. Worry about defense later. Who knows, if you can tie it up in the 9th, maybe you can score 6 in the 10th.
It takes a 26 man roster to navigate a tough series or road trip. It takes a 40 man roster to navigate a 162 game season.
How is one person always so wrong all the time on these forums? You would think someone so opinionated about every little thing would get something right once in while but it just never happens.
WOW! All this time I thought we got to the 10th because the score was tied. Do you think the moon had anything to do with it? Maybe if that Tea Party in 1773 didn’t happen Fenway wouldn’t have been built? LOL.
I’m sure that is as deep as your thought process goes.
Woooohoooo! Walsh in LF, Kurt at 1B!!!!!! Nice Joe!
Strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out. Joe is a genius!
How’d Fregosi get so stupid?
Weak.
Ward!!!!!! Nice moves, Joe!!!!!!
Man this is fun to watch!
Tony! Where’s the Doomers?
Gone!!!!!!!!
Where’d everyone go????? Lol!!!!!!
Zuk! Way to play 1B!
Nice play by that LF!!!!!!
You think Walsh is going to start tomorrow? You think Marsh is going to play tomorrow? Madden platoons them.
If he doesn’t, then is Madden wrong for starting them, or has he been wrong all year for platooning them?
More than one way to skin a cat. You seem to think there’s only one way to win a game. Your way. If that was true, you would be an an MLB Dugout, Obviously, you aren’t. Fact is you need a whole team to win it all. You need players with versatility over the long haul. Madden is fine. Let him manage. Playing by your “book” doesn’t guarantee anything. In fact, I’d venture to say you would be wrong more often than right. GO ANGELS!!!!
Do you think this was a well managed game? The Angels were lucky to win that game. Maddon platoons Walsh and Marsh (I disagree with that) yet removed Marsh against a RH pitcher and then is forced to bat Walsh against a LH pitcher.
Paraphrasing Bobby Valentine, throw out the book and bring in the comic book.
Marsh would have faced LHP Strahm. He has a OPS+ of 14 vs LHP and was 0/3 with 3 SOs on the nite. Further, he is batting .160 with 15 SOs in the past 7 games. Ward, who PH for Marsh, faced a RHP. His OPS+ vs RHP is 243. Down 1 run in the 9th, I believe every manager in MLB would have done the same thing.
Angels win 10-5. You bet the game was well managed. To think any otherwise is myopic.
What’s Maddon doing?????? How can he bench Trout?????? He needs to play every inning of every game!!!!!!! Go find the comic book, Maddon!!!! This game is not well managed.
LOL!
He benched Trout for Mayfield. Resting a player once a week means he misses, 26 games. You really think Trout is only capable of playing 136 games? But I don’t know if Trout is banged up or not.
Trout has not started 5 out of 27 games. The best hitter on the planet. He clearly doesn’t need the rest. But I don’t know if he’s banged up or not and I don’t trust Maddon. You shouldn’t either. Do you think he needs a day off? Of course he doesn’t. But if he’s banged up, Ok then.
Mayfield started as many games this series as Trout, Marsh and Ward. But you don’t have a problem with that. I do. Everyone in their right mind should.
If Duffy was healthy, do you think Maddon would have played Walsh today? Thank goodness Duffy is hurt.
Marsh and Walsh should be played EVERY DAY. And by every day, I mean 150+ games. This platoon crap is B.S.
Do you actually read what you write?
Do you actually use your brain before you write?
It doesn’t seem like it.
“Every inning of every game”. There is no ‘losing’ these threads when there is an honest exchange of ideas, but when you write such hyperbole, I know you are not interested in an honest exchange of ideas.
It’s interesting, because for the most part, we have the same screen name.
Without looking it up, Fregosi played about 158 games every year.
You seem very angry.
Fregosi – It’s been a long time. How have you been? (phi447)
Doing well, Phi. After a couple of weird seasons, it’s nice to see the Angels moving forward. How about you?
Good to hear. Happy to see the team doing well, albeit early in the season.
I’m good. Been busy. Went on the Twitter feed last night and chatted with Weave for a minute. Haven’t been there for over a year. Looks like nothing has changed much with the group. Good to see you on here.
Light that baby up again! Joe Madden sucks, the Angels Suck. Platooning sucks, but hey, the smartest guy in the baseball world is not one of us. Haha