The Angels have some interest in utilityman Enrique Hernandez, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. The Halos are the first team publicly linked to Hernandez this winter, which is perhaps unsurprising since he is coming off double hernia surgery in November and a pair of underwhelming seasons at the plate.
Hernandez’s defensive versatility has always been more of a calling card than his bat, though he produced roughly league-average (99 wRC+) offense over his first six seasons and then hit .250/.337/.449 for a 109 wRC+ over 585 plate appearances for the Red Sox in 2021. That was the first season of a two-year, $14MM deal for Hernandez with the Sox, and things seemed to be going swimmingly until an injury-plagued 2022 campaign.
Since Opening Day 2022, Hernandez has hit only .230/.290/.349 over 910 PA with the Red Sox and Dodgers. Boston retained the veteran on another contract extension for the 2023 season, but more struggles led the Sox to swap Hernandez to the Dodgers prior to the trade deadline. The move back to his old haunt at Dodger Stadium seemed to somewhat revitalize Hernandez, as he batted .262/.308/.423 over 185 in L.A. as opposed to his .222/.279/.320 slash line in 323 PA with the Red Sox prior to the deal.
It undoubtedly also helped that the Dodgers deployed Hernandez in his former super-utility role, rather than the regular shortstop duty Hernandez had to take on in Boston due to Trevor Story’s long stint on the injured list. While Hernandez had chipped in at shortstop several times during his career, playing the position on a regular basis exposed his glovework, and public defensive metrics weren’t impressed by the results.
With the Angels, Rosenthal writes that Hernandez would be viewed largely as a third base backup option to Anthony Rendon. Since Shohei Ohtani is gone and the designated hitter spot is now open, the Halos can rotate several veterans into DH duty for partial rest days, and Rendon is a natural candidate given his bevvy of injuries over the last few seasons.
It might not be a perfect platoon fit since Hernandez and Rendon are both right-handed hitters, and Hernandez has also played only 252 career innings at third base (with underwhelming defensive numbers). However, Hernandez would likely be bounced all over the diamond in Anaheim, and Luis Rengifo is also on hand to see some time at the hot corner whenever Rendon is at DH or getting a full day off.
The Angels have mostly been focused on pitching additions this winter, and have yet to do anything really meaningful with their position player group despite a lot of interest in various names still on the free agent market. Hernandez’s versatility could give L.A. depth at multiple positions, as his past experience as a center fielder would help address what seems to be a need for the Halos. Infield depth is also an item on the to-do list, since Gio Urshela, Eduardo Escobar, and Mike Moustakas are all free agents and David Fletcher was traded to the Braves.
Better than Demons being interested
LB
MLB Trade RUMORS
On a cold January morning it’s the only baseball to speak of…
True that. But otherwise I can’t think of another reason you’d want Kiki on your team. Being below average both defensively and offensively at multiple positions is a bit overrated in my book. I know the Saber nerds who mainly watch spreadsheets, will say he’s a good defender, but to my eye, I’ll pass on all fronts.
Statgeek stuff was hardly why he was a valuable piece to LAD, but I digress as analytics is the inflexible law and I’ll just move along.
mlb – Besides the fact he’s an above average outfielder, in 99 PA’s since 2019 he has slashed .348/.384/.696/1.080 in the postseason.
So yeah that’s a good reason why a contender would want him, but not sure why the Angels would other than he’s massively popular in LA. When I went to a series at The Big A last year there were many fans with Kike gear showing him love.
“but to my eye, I’ll pass on all fronts.” Would that be the same eye that has never scouted or signed a Major League Baseball player?
You amateurs crack me up. As they say……stay in your lane.
Amateurs to stay in their lane in the comments section for an MLB fan site? Might as well shut down comments with that condensing viewpoint.
* condescending
Amateurs can comment all they want…..but to act like they are somehow qualified to pass judgement on whether or not a MLB player that was signed by a professional scout, worked his way through the minor leagues to make it to the top rung of the profession truly belongs or not is beyond ridiculous. Maybe just serve up the opinion that I don’t think we should sign him.
We know enough to know what this team has done hasn’t worked.
So why trust this move?
Sorry buddy. We can write anything we want. Move to Russia or California if you don’t like free speech.
Oh jeez dude
WH
“Move to Russia or California if you don’t like free speech.”
Th3 dumbest taeks always come from the most ignorant people – funny that
Someone telling you to shut up is not an infringement on your free speech
Filhok, we agree. We’ve seen examples recently of shutting down free speech and telling people to shut up, is simply a mindless, harmless, intimidation tactic.
People need to handle that.
Apparently you’re one of those types who prefer to have people know you’re an idiot instead of keeping both your mouth shut and fingers off the keyboard thereby leaving some room for doubt.
Also, you’re mom invited me to move in with her so Russia and/or California are out..
Hey JAD, if someone thinks I’m an idiot, then they’ll are the idiot.
I’ve shown I know what I’m talking about time and time again. When you’ve spent 100,000+ watching, reading and listening about baseball you pick something’s up.
Some of these people are only an amateur in the since that they don’t get paid.
I’ve been paid to act and sing, but I don’t consider myself a professional actor or singer.
I’ve been asked on radio shows to talk baseball. So who freaken cares what you chose to label people?
I think I feel worse for Angels fans with every article. At this point, Kike is a guy you fill out your roster with, not prioritize in January. Similar players can be found all year round.
It’s as if MLBTR is just laughing at the Angels now. What’s next… a Bartolo Colon rumor?
I didn’t realize that when Minasian said we would compete this year he meant in a dumpster diving competition. I’m not buying tickets to see this crappola.
Did you think you guys would lose Ohtani and the team was going to get better?
No, I thought the Angels would have a more than 12-month plan for the franchise and know they would not be able to re-sign Ohtani and trade him for important assets. Even at the trade deadline this past year Tampa Bay offered the Angels four players that included their stud third base prospect, who is ranked #6 on the MLB prospect list– and they still said no. Right now they could sign Snell and Ryu and trade for a third front line starter using any combination of Ward, Sandoval, Moniak, Adell, Estevez and prospects. Detmers and Silseth are your 4 and 5. Sign two relievers. Go get Bellinger and Duvall and you’ve remade your team and make the playoffs. Is this really rocket science or a lack of commitment from Moreno?
If it was that easy to make the playoffs the Angels wouldn’t have such a hard time doing so.
That is a strange take. How do the Dodgers do it every year? Yankees most years? Braves? Astros? This braintrust has maintained a bottom five farm system for the last decade and it currently ranks last. Yet the Dodgers who draft last year after year are at the top– that has nothing to do with budget and everything to do with competence in assessing talent and developing that talent. The Dodgers always have a 5-8 year strategy in addition to the coming season. The Angels are once again dumpster diving and telling us how competitive we will be. They refused to trade Ohtani for an army of prospects– claiming he would be an Angel for life, but we got nothing for him and lost him to our rival. Adding league average players at every position is that easy to figure out, yes. An outfield of Trout, Bellinger and Duvall and Moniak as the 4th guy would be elite. A platoon at first of Schanuel and Justin Turner, Drury at second, Neto at short, Chapman at third, O’Hoppe behind the plate, Rendon at DH would be a strong offense. A rotation of Snell, Ryu (trade for a third starter from your surplus of Ward, Adell, Sandoval, Suarez, etc, and close it out with Silseth and Detmers and you have a solid rotation that you can build on each year through the draft and with strategic signings. The team outlined here is good, competitive and has a very good chance at the playoffs– where the team makes more money and makes even more drawing fans out to see a good product instead of fans not showing up by the All-Star break. I have spent thousands on tickets through the years, but i’m not going if they don’t add some serious talent– and I’m not alone. Praying they do.
The Angels have so many problems I wouldn’t even know where to start. I don’t see anything they could do this offseason that would turn them into a contender. Probably should trade Trout but fans like yourself think they can contend.
@Carliafong- The Angels NEVER said To anyone that Ohtani would be an Angel for life. They didn’t have a clue what Ohtani’s agent going to ask for once he became a FA. Mainly because his agent didn’t want to negotiate during the season. So they gambled hoping maybe a home town discount. I don’t get your comment “The Dodgers who draft last year after year at the top” means. I think The Angels are waiting on what happens with the Bally situation before they proceed the rest of the winter.
Never mind about the drafting comment. I read it again and get what you’re saying.
Oh man I would love for the Halos to get Snell and Ryu!!
Yeah Joel that is pretty accurate. They are pretty hopeless and most all Halo fans know it. Arte is always messing things up but their GM is also a ruddy faced lush and I think he sucks bad. Worse than Eppler, Dipoto, Reagins, Stoneman…Just a real garbage GM.
Carllafong, Right on! I like your thinking. I might disagree about a player or two (Bellinger), but I like how you round out the lineup. But! Since Arte has owned the club, he has fired Scouts and Scouting Directors, which has made our minor league teams so bereft of top-flight prospects we are the laughingstock of MLB. He was the last owner to agree on the basic living standards of minor leaguers, basic living standards! He is just an old man living on his billions and does not care about you or me and all long-suffering Angel fans everywhere.
I think the best move for the Angels is Arte Moreno is to sell the team start all over a new owner would be the best thing for Angel fans rebuild the farm system looks like Bally sports West filed bankruptcy, so no major cable company going to carry angels.games Why would they there’s no attraction no interest I believe Arte will put the team up for sale this spring training
From your mouth to God’s ears. I’ll take a lost season and start fresh with new ownership committed to building an organization that is sustainable– even if that takes a few years.
Your just wrong. Minasian said repeatedly that he had no intention of trading Ohtani because they planned on him remaining an Angel. Minasian said he wouldn’t even entertain offers for Ohtani because if he ever traded him his son would never speak to him again– these are quotes. These are facts. What are you talking about? Two seasons ago when every pundit in baseball said the Angels should trade Ohtani in order to set the franchise up for the future and to receive a return greater than Juan Soto’s return– the Angels said Ohtani wasn’t going anywhere. They said the same thing with one-year left on his deal. And then again at this last trading deadline when Tampa Bay offered us four prospects that included the #6 MLB prospect, who is a stud third baseman. The Angels have maintained their serious desire to keep Ohtani no matter what. And in the end they did not even make the man offer while three other teams did. Nor did the Angels even bother to offer an explanation to the fans. They just wished Ohtani well and said we would be competitive without him. With less than six weeks until Spring Training we haven’t signed or traded for anyone who is a starter on the field. All depth, dumpster dive pieces. How can you defend this bologna?
@Homer WROOOOOOOOOOOOG!!!!!
You can aways stop banging your head against the wall and be a Dodger fan.
I got the best and worst of both worlds. I am both.
It’s not that easy. The problem with the Angel’s franchise is that they are rotten at the core. Arte is cheap and will only spend money on flashy things that potentially get the fan’s attention. What he doesn’t do is make baseball savvy moves like hire a competent baseball operations department, invest in international scouting, and bring in top tier coaching staffs. The culture needs to be about winning baseball and nothing else, arte is a franchise cancer.
I discussed this option with my analyst, but opted to be medicated instead.
**I am a fan of both
carllafong , The Angels never said Ohtani would be an Angel for life. Arte wanted to keep him as long as possible without giving up the big money to a new contract. The media kept saying that Ohtani wanted to see if the Angels would start winning before he would extend a contract. At the start of last year’s spring training his agent held a press conference where indicated they wanted to talk about extending the contract. He also indicated that he wanted to be finished by opening day. At the end of spring training Arte was asked about any offers they had made, and he said they have not made any yet. I think he wanted to get as much revenue back from and also boost the chances of making the playoffs.
This is a very dishonest take, or maybe you’re just misunderstanding what they were saying? But your version of events is not grounded in anything that is easily documented and what we witnessed happen in front of our eyes. The results speak for themselves. The whole point of what Minasian said over and over again about the Angels having no interest in entertaining offers was in fact to keep Ohtani long term– right? The Angels knew Ohtani would require an 8-10 year contract, right? That’s the rest of his career, right? That’s what he signed with the Dodgers, right? That contract length was predicted for two years, right? I’m not sure why you are splitting hairs and saying the Angels didn’t literally say Ohtani would be an Angel for life? Minasian said, and I quote, “We plan on Shohei being an Angel for a long, long time.” That was the Angels saying Ohtani was going to be an Angel for the rest of his career. Minasian then said, “If I traded Shohei my son would never forgive me.” I’m not sure why you are twisting yourself into knots to rewrite history? The Angels literally refused to take offers from other teams and cited their desire to keep him. Minasian also said, and I quote, “We have no interest in taking offers for Shohei. We plan on Shohei being an Angel for a long time.” Again, this mantra was repeated as late as the most recent trade deadline when the Angels were offered four prospects by Tampa Bay. The Angels said all of this and more over and over and over for the last two seasons. It was discussed almost daily on the MLB Network, and debated as to how the Angels could risk getting nothing because the pundits all thought he was leaving. They thought he was leaving because Ohtani’s agents said they did not want an extension. I’m not sure where you’re getting that Ohtani’s agents talked about being interested in a contract extension… they didn’t. The Agents said just the opposite. They made it very clear to the Angels that they were going to free agency and didn’t want to discuss contracts during the season. They did this fr two full years. Pundits took that as a clear sign Ohtani wanted to leave and said so weekly. It has been widely reported that the Angels did not offer an extension to Ohtani at any time– and there lies the deception and mishandling of this transformative player. You can hypothesize what you think happened, but the quotes I provided are direct quotes. If the Angels didn’t plan to re-sign Ohtani why didn’t they trade him? You can’t have it both ways protecting the team. If they planned on him continuing as an Angel that obviously meant an 8-10 year contract such as the one he signed with the Dodgers, why didn’t they trade him and get something? Why didn’t they offer an extension? Why didn’t they trade him? They had three options and did none of them. It’s outrageous and baseball malpractice. It’s the team’s responsibility to manage the team– they didn’t. They took the $50M additional revenue Ohtani generated from Asia alone instead of prospects for the future. That’s $300M Ohtani made Moreno in six years. This is simple math. Moreno took the money and us fans are taking the pipe as a result.
CF, If you weren’t a serious Halo fan I wouldn’t even have read all that. But you are, and I did. And I agree. Anyone that wants to know the history of Shohei’s “extension” or “trade” that never was, should read your post.
So what did you think……….that he was going to resign Ohtani along with Blake Snell and Cody Bellinger?
I was hoping they would do something about this awful pen.
In my book, you’re not a super-utility player if you play every defensive position at a subpar level. Can’t hit, can’t defend, but he can play all 8 positions!
they have rengifo, that has the same problem. They need be looking into urshela. Also wouldn’t have been a problem if they had fletcher off the bench to play third and short
Rexhudler86, Did Atlanta cut ties with Fletcher?
He’s still on the team, they took him off the 40 man roster. Just to free up a roster spot.
Strangely, It only posted the 1st sentence. Just wanted to add that Washington seems to be best at fixing players like Rengifo, who seems to have his biggest problem with footwork.
Tim Stewart. You are correct Washington is good at fixing players like Rengifo.. I think Think the hiring of Washington is the a solid move and will fix the mind set of the Angels. Signing Ohtani for that type of money coming off two elbow surgeries is a big gamble. I’m sure they took out a massive insurance policy. Maybe thats why they’re derring that salary in case his elbow blows up. Who knows.
@Tim Stewart hopefully he can, I think most of his problem is he needs to stay at one position. It’s looking like drury might spend sometime at first/dh. They still need someone that can play third and ss for insurance. Hoping rengifo stays at 2nd
cman – He’s a very good OF’er and he’s got the best hair and shoe styles in MLB! Who else would have purple hair and lime green shoes while wearing a red jersey?
This would be a typical Minasian pick up. I have no idea what he is doing, or if he is being hamstrung by Arte as far as payroll is concerned. Minasian claims to be able to sign any FA with no payroll restrictions but he continues to shop at the Dollar Store. He hasn’t signed anyone who and could be considered an improvement over what was already on the roster. He seems to like old players who, if they had a prime, are way past it. The Angels still have a lot of payroll space. Even showing interest in Kiki is ridiculous, just another guy who doesn’t move the needle.
Looking misty-eyed, Perry said, “you had me at ‘a pair of underwhelming seasons at the plate’…”
Perry likes buying DeLorean’s and Minasian buys Pintos, Pacers, Vegas and Gremlins.
Pacer….haha your showing your age. FYI, I remember the Pacer as well.
@Fenway.. Yep…. I’m old. I’m officially a senior citizen.
My buddy and I snuck his dad’s Pinto station wagon out of the garage one night and drove it down to the Wedge in Newport and got it stuck in the sand…back when you could drive right onto the sand at the Wedge.
Prov,I got tossed around like a rag doll last time I was at the Wedge. Then walked over to the jetty to try and catch crabs to no avail. Love it there though.
The Wedge is great. I body surf but I have never had the courage to enter the water there. Shore breakers are neck breakers!
Yeah that’s what I was doing with my friend. Just getting slammed into the shore. In hindsight it wasn’t one of my more brilliant decisions.
At this point, the only major signings the Angels need to be making are in their rotation. Other than that, this team hit 231 HR in 2023 with Trout and Rendon missing significant time. Losing Ohtani still has them close to 200 HR. The Angels need as much bench depth as they can find and so signings like this are exactly what they should be doing. All this team has needed going back to 2018 is good starting pitching.
Bullpen. What good is anything with this bullpen?
Ahh
The taeks here are predictably bad
Anything resembling nuance is above the intellectual capability of the masses.
Starting with “overrated” and “underrated”
I think you should put aside the humility and just say what you think.
DO
“think you should put aside the humility and just say what you think.”
Interesting that you direct this at me and not the “he sux!” crowd
Nuance? I don’t know what wing of the Moreno family you belong to, but I am not paying money to see Kiki and Jo Adell strike out 40% of time. Not that knowing when Suarez and Sandoval and Anderson are pitching it’s like seeing Ryan, Tannana and Weaver. Nuance? They haven’t signed or traded for one legitimate player after not making an offer to their franchise player that they refused to trade. Our horrible rotation lost it’s only legit starter and you’re talking nuance with less than six weeks until Spring Training opens?
Carl
“I am not paying money to see Kiki and Jo Adell strike out 40%”
That’s 100% your choice
And has nothing to do with nuance
Better to be a losing player with two of the greatest players of all time – Ohtani and Trout – than to be a losing team without those players. The Angels are not built to be competitive anytime soon, If the Angels sign Snell and J.D. Martinez they will probably be almost as good in 2024 as they were in 2023. Arte is not going to do a tear down and rebuild in 2024.
There is a lot more “TALENT” there than most people think. There are others reasons they were losing. They were really bad at somethings like bullpen management and others. Keep in mind Fangraph did the player projections for 24 and even with the titanic loss of Ohtani statistically the team with no additions is about a 500 team.
@Tim Stewart-
I agree. And they have a lot better Manager in Washington than we had the last 2 seasons in Phil Nevin. A guy like Washington can make a big difference in attitude and the chemistry of the clubhouse. We will see. It’s still a ways before opening day. A lot can happen.
Correct. People that don’t follow the Angels assume they had no other talent besides Trout and Ohtani, and have no shot at contending. Truth of the matter is the team is better than what most people think.
Last season, they were over .500 and battling 2nd place with Houston (overtaking them on occasion) up until they had a barrage of injuries wiping out just about their entire roster. I think that every one of their projected starters (with Renfroe as the exception) landed on the DL and missed a significant time of the season (or was lost for the season)… even the backups and replacements they traded for ended up injured.
Their bullpen was a mess. And it has been bad for years. I lost track of how many games they blew just in the first month of the season – it was ridiculous. Their rotation took a step back after a promising 2022 and now with the loss of Ohtani, they desperately need a frontline starter. As it’s mostly comprised of no. 4 and 5 starters.
Manny that’s incorrect. With Snell and J.D. the Angels would definitely be better in 2024 than 2023.
1st thing, Ohtani isn’t even pitching in 24. Couple that with health and a better manager, with most likely a better Pen (w/ 1 more Solid RP), and it’s easy to see them much better.
Solid post Manny!!
Terrible Trumbo, agreeing with a guy that probably follows the Angels, as much as I follow the Pirates. No bueno!
J.D. and Snell in 2023, were just as good as one Ohtani for a team. A little less hitting, and a little better pitching. If you disagree, not using a 6th SP guarantees making up the difference.
Plug, I didn’t really digest the JD and Snell part. They would be better of course. But they still need significantly more. I follow the Halo’s close of course, and adding a few guys like JD and Snell is really a starting point for them. Orange mentioned in an above post that they are better than most people think. Orange knows the Halo’s for sure, but I can’t agree with him there. I feel like they are as good as their records have reflected at the end of each year. If they could somehow sneak a WC spot, anything could happen, but look what happened in 2002? They were serious underdogs and faught and clawed their way to the trophy from the WC spot because they were a scrappy and solid team. They were better than anyone expected. They don’t have that rock solid foundation anymore. I could go on forever about them they drive me nuts.
***fought not faught.
Considering what IKF got Kiki may have found his TOR.
Not sure he’s a good fit on the field for them, but this moribund organization could use his passion. They just need a new owner with a plan.
This would be a much better story if the Angels were interested in Enrico Pallazzo.
youtu.be/GZIqA0VZHmc?si=l9wLGfRVSSP9GWMJ
The Angels are the most underrated team in all of sports. You can ask anyone.
Justin Turner is the better option. Is payroll an issue? Sell the team for real, Arte.
Yes. I’d rather they sign Justin Turner or Mike Moustakas as a 3B/DH platoon with Rendon.
Rendon getting looks at DH. Man, what a torpedo of a contract.
Rendon wont even make it to that point he will be hurt after the first week
Rendon is 34, coming off another surgery, and says absolutely nothing to even hint that he’s motivated to play, let alone be productive. Yet management insists he will be comeback player of the year. This is a bad dream.
Rendon will be on the IL to open the season when he bends over to tie his shoes in spring training.
As long as he doesn’t become an Angel Hernandez
@UncommonSense
92% accurate. What’s wrong with that percentage when it comes to building a skyscraper or food safety? Nothing wrong with that…
/s
Cool.
A bit of a step down from Ohtani but not bad. Guy’s still going to give the Angels 13 HRs, according to BR, so that’s only 31 short of what Ohtani put up last year. He’ll make that up with he extra SFs. Ohtani wasn’t great at SFs with only 3 last year. Kike is projected to hit 5 SFs this year.
The team needs to consider Rendon the sunk cost he is and be prepared for somebody else to play third.
Hernández is not that guy.
I’ve been saying they need to bite the bullet and make Rendon a DH and bench player, or let him go entirely. Sign Chapman to a 5-year deal and solidify the left side. He was 7.5 WAR player and is a difference maker– a grinder we need.
Adding Chapman would be like replacing a turd with a turd sandwich. He is also on the wrong side of his career.
Chapman cant hit lmao
He was a 4.5 WAR player. His defense is a difference maker. He played hurt the entire season and still put up a 4.5 WAR. He hit. .240 with 17 HR and either he or Arenado are the two best defensive third basemen by far. What are you talking about? He’s Doug DeCinces but better on defense. Rendon hit .236 with 2 homers and can’t stay on the field. Chapman plays every game. Chapman is a huge difference maker on the defensive side of the ball.
I have a feeling the Angels slow off season and the Diamond bankruptcy are related.
In fact, none of the Diamond teams have been active.
Hopefully that gets resolved after the hearing next week.
Moreno paid $175M for the team that is now worth $3B. He’s made money on this franchise each and every year. He’s listed as the wealthiest man in the state of Arizona and he’s 77. If he’s not willing to spend money now, when? It’s pathetic. Meanwhile the Dodgers have it all figured out and spend and spend and spend– and still make money.
There’s a huge difference between equity and cash flow. Businesses operate on the latter.
The Dodgers have no issues with their TV contract, owners that are far richer, and deferring about a billion dollars and counting.
My friend, he’s the wealthiest man in the state of Arizona. The reason he did not trade Ohtani was in fact due to the huge cash flow he received each year from Asia in addition to what was generated domestically. Equity is accessed and leveraged– as the Dodgers are doing to field a superior team. The stadium development deal alone stands to earn Moreno another two billion dollars. The franchise has been profitable and had tremendous cash flow through fan support, advertising and TV/Radio deals. There is no shortage of cash for this multi billionaire. The tax paid to go over the threshold is actually nominal and would be offset by additional playoff revenues the team would make. Moreno complained to the commissioner about the spending of other teams, namely the Mets. He refuses to pay for our broadcasters to travel with the team. He cut our scouting staff down to nothing. He does not invest in Latin America. Our minor leaguers are treated very poorly as has been documented. This franchise has poor training facilities and one of the worst, is not the worst spring training facility. Nothing is first rate and the product on the field reflects that lack of commitment.
For sure JJ, I can see a steaming service picking the Angels shortly thereafter. It’s going to happen eventually, why not start now.
No one wants to play for the Angels now unless they have no other contract. What a disaster.
Why would any star free agent with options select this clusterf— of a franchise. My biggest fear is that this is the state of our franchise until Moreno sells. My 80-year old mother is upset because she truly doesn’t think she’ll live to see this thing turn around. Fans are aging out!
Most players don’t care where they play. They only care about the money. And there aren’t many better locations than OC.
This is not hindsight, because myself and other were suggesting this.
If the Angels traded Ohtani and Trout during the 2022 deadline, they would have made the Orioles and Dodgers farm systems look like a high school try out.
They would have had the greatest farm in MLB history, as they would have got back 5-7 blue chip prospects, and another 5-7 big league potential players.
Oh well haha
Nobody is worth that much money.
As an Angels fan they are seriously embarrassing
Seriously. Spring training hasn’t started and I can’t see paying to go to a game and we don’t even know if the games will be available to watch on TV? Moreno doesn’t even send our broadcasters on the road to call the games because he feels it’s a waste of money. How do you expect that mentality to win?
Totally agree.
There could be lot of changes before the end, but this is the most depressing Angels offseason since??
The market is cold, I believe interested means the angels called the agent. It just seems like everyone is just waiting it out besides the dodgers.
And yet Kiki’s postseason statistics are better than Error in Judgement. Huh.
really felt bad for angel fan when arte pulled the team back from imminent sale. his ego has left the team a shambles.
Arte bought the defending World Series champions with a great farm system, really good front office, and a good scouting department.
He’s turned that into a decade of suck, the worst spring training facility, and a horrible farm system.
Every single key person he’s replaced has been worse than the one he inherited.
As an Angels fan for decades, this shyt show keeps getting worse. Been hoping for a new owner for a while. It looks like we’ll be fighting with the A’s again for last place.
I’m actually happy that Shohei left to be with a team that will make the playoffs.
Not gonna lie, i thought it said they were interested in Angel Hernandez. Hopefully the league is interested in him and hopefully his retirement ASAP.
Angel Hernandez is as good at his job as Arte’s friends are at running the Angels.
Lol!
The Rendon signing looked good at the time. I mean what team wouldn’t want someone coming off a 6.8 WAR, All Star nod with MVP votes.? The 3b FA class that year was Rendon, Donaldson and Moustakas. Not one person on here would have wanted the other two over him.
Rendón was never a guy you should give that contract to. You’re not just buying talent, you’re buying a player. I know he’s had injury issues but that kind of contract has to go to warriors and leaders. Not saying he’s a bad guy but just neither of those. This is one reason why the Angels suck – Arte buys past offensive numbers and the thought process seems to stop there.
If I remember correctly they signed him right after being outbid for Gerrit Cole. Imagine if they would have won the Cole sweepstakes and not signed Rendon. They’d be on a completely different trajectory today.
Surprised Atkins isnt interested. He loves his poor hitting utility men.
Next rumor: Alex Cora requests trade to Angels.
Please No! I would rather see Washington come out of retirement and be player/manager.
Seriously to fill out the infield either bring Gio or Moustakas back.
This has been a sh!tty off-season . Just sell the team.
Everyone is interested in players until the dirtbag Dodgers swoop in and buy them.
Kike is greater than the sum of his parts and if deployed properly is valuable. The Dodgers did just that when they got him back. And before he left for the Red Sox. Kike left because he wanted to be a full-time starter. Good for him. But he’s not and was exposed in that role. Having been exposed and coming back to the Dodgers, he seems to also understand that now. He’s also a great teammate. If the Dodgers had room for him, I’d take him back in a. second. Oh, and he is good defensively and can even play back-up center. What he is not is a full-time shortstop.
Anyone else read the title as Angel Hernandez and ignore the post until, let’s say a few hours later, when they realized oops?
He’s the worst.
Angels aren’t a serious organization right now. It’s frustrating.
I hope there’s a thousand Angel Hernandez hate messages in this thread.
Hopefully the Angels could somehow sign Snell, another arm for the back end of the bullpen to compliment Estevez, and get another established batter for depth. If they did that I could see them being a contender next year. Houston is finally starting to look vulnerable. Seattle will probably regress. Texas may not be as good as they were last year. The Angels could potentially be more exiting in the way they play with the new coaching staff. I miss the 2002 type team that would hit and run. They would put a lot of pressure on the opponents and were known to drive up the opponents pitch count. That and their shutdown bullpen allowed them to rally and come back a lot. This current team has something to prove and they don’t have the pressure this year. They could go back to having fun. Trout, Ward, O’Hoppe, Neto, and Rendon just have to stay healthy. Their numbers would surely improve exponentially. With another bat to rotate through the DH and a five man rotation they could easily have a much better team than people expect. They definitely need a top of the rotation arm, and some more bullpen depth if they want any chance at the playoffs. If they sign a guy like Hernandez or Bellinger. It could definitely provide some depth. It also would help fill seats because they probably would be playing with an edge, especially Bellinger since the Dodgers discarded him for a bag of peanuts. Imagine if the Angels got further in the playoffs than the Dodgers with their All Star cast (on paper)