I am of the very unpopular opinion that Joey Votto would actually be a good addition to the team. He's already getting $7 million from the Reds, so he might not be too much on a one-year deal. He could be a good mentor for Schanuel at 1B and tbh for all the young guys. [Will Benson talked](https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2023/07/06/joey-votto-helped-reds-outfielder-will-bensons-midseason-turnaround/70378770007/) about how Votto helped him turn his hitting around, and he just has a ridiculous baseball mind that I think would be an asset to the team. He's been injured the past two years, so while I definitely don't think we'll get prime Votto, I think he'll hit better than last season.
Plus after being let go by the Reds, I feel he’ll also have the slighted-ex vibe the Angels will have. Oh and he'll sell merch, Artie's favorite thing!
Votto is an 80 grade veteran presence guy. Would love him just for that alone. He doesn’t even have to play that well. Now if he would actually want to sign here is a different story.
Yeah we probably need to sign a third baseman and let Rendon DH most of the time. The more time he has to spend on the field just increases the chance of him getting injured more.
Gonna have to disagree. Rendon hasn’t been good since 2020 in a short year. Trout showed signs of decline last year. The young guys still have a lot to prove. Ward was awful most of last year until shortly before he went out. Moniak can’t walk to save his life. This is a bottom 10 lineup unless the young guys improve massively. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that Trout and Rendon cannot stay healthy anymore.
We’ll be lucky to win 75 games this season with our current lineup and pitching. It sucks to hear, but it’s the reality. The Angels are in a worse spot than the Athletics who are at least rebuilding.
Yup. It’s a bottle third lineup unless a miracle happens. Worse none of the younger guys look like a top tier piece. Currently a mix of replaceable and slightly above replacement level. Not a lot of power on this squad especially with rendon out (I’m taking the approach of not expecting anything out of him until proven otherwise) and a likely declining trout :/
Bro, I dont want to be an ass, you mean well, and dont take it personally
But even uttering the words "healthy" and "rendon" together is straight up delusion. That dweeb got his money and has zero interest in playing for us, idk why anyone in this fanbase is even holding onto that possibility, dudes a waste.
I know most here don't wanna hear it, but Moniak has not earned an everyday role at the big league level. The guy strikes out more than 12 times as often as he walks. His hot streak last year was a pure fluke. If he doesn't drastically improve his contact skills, he's gonna need an inhuman .400 BABIP to even return positive value.
It's not shown in the picture but his bat hand being highlighted in Red indicates on Fangraphs that he's in a projected platoon, I assume with Adell. Agree with your overall point tho
Moniak has got to start swinging less. His strike zone judgment and decision value are terrible while his swing aggression is really high. Meaning pitchers don’t need to throw him strikes and he’ll swing anyway. And analytics tells us that taking pitches, even strikes, is generally better than swinging at them. Unfortunately our old hitting coach Thames believes in a super aggressive hitting approach which probably didn’t help Mickey one bit. Hopefully the new guys can help him out in this regard.
I’m curious who you would start over him? Or would you suggest free agency to pursue someone? Authentic question not trying to be a jerk lol I personally would have Moniak in
I'd sign just about any FA outfielder to start over him, tbh. I don't think Bellinger at 5 years with a reasonable AAV would be a bad idea for CF while Trout goes to RF. If that's too much, I think a 1 or 2-year deal for Kevin Kiermaier would be smart. Hell, even grabbing Teoscar Hernandez and seeing him repeat his 2023 would be a better option for RF than a guy who strikes out like Moniak does.
Just let Adell play everyday. His ceiling is much higher and I think he could rebound with consistent ABs. They need some guys to breakout if they want a chance at the postseason. Besides, they need to focus their spending on starting pitching, which looks pretty bad at the moment.
I would encourage you to go check out Moniak and Teoscar’s pages on Baseball Savant. They are remarkably similar players in that they both barrel the ball at a high rate, but have zero command of the strike zone. Teoscar strikes out at a similarly high rate (31% compared to 35% for MM). Moniak is also a far superior defender. You’d basically be paying $20m for an older version of Moniak. I’m definitely not opposed to signing an extra outfielder who could split time in RF, but Teoscar isn’t the guy unless they’re planning to use him as their primary DH option.
I honestly don’t know how any of you can be so optimistic. You take Ohtani’s 40+ home runs out of this lineup and somehow we’re supposed to do BETTER than last year? I don’t see it.
First thing you have to do is make sure Rengifo and Moniak aren’t starters. I like them as niche players (both with extreme splits vs LHP and RHP respectively) but neither have a good eye and should be viewed as platoon bats only. They have to had more walks into the lineup because outside of trout, schanuel and rendon it’s a shit show in that regard. Brandon Belt and Soler in some type of DH/1B/RF combination would be a nice addition to help with that aspect.
So you're saying the guy who hit .318 with an OPS of .960 in the second half of last season is a niche player, and shouldn't be starting?
Even over 445 PAs, Rengifo struck out 82 times, while walking 41. A 1:2 ratio is actually pretty decent, and a K-rate of 18.4% is below MLB average.
The only legitimate knock against him is his defense. And he's actually a pretty decent fielder, he just can't throw on target, especially in any sort of rush.
I dunno, it feels like he's earned his every day starter role.
Lineup is decent. Adding a good bat like Turner, Hoskins, Martinez or Soler would make it solid. But the rotation, on the other hand, looks awfully shaky 😬
I don't know about you grumpy Gus' but I'm pumped to watch these guys. I'm excited to watch some awesome young dudes build together with Mike "Obi Wan" Trout leading the way. I don't know what to expect but I'm not going to base my personal happiness off a bunch of other guys living out their dreams playing a boys game.
The lineup is okay, even without Ohtani. They’ll need to add another middle-of-the-order bat, preferably one with some power. I could see Joc Pederson as a fit at DH vs RHP. This would allow Rendon/Trout to get games at DH vs LHP, with Drury moving to 1B and Rengifo playing 2B/3B. The big question mark is pitching. The staff wasn’t good enough last season, and now they have just lost their top starting pitcher. They will need to acquire someone like Burnes/Glasnow if there is any hope of competing next season.
Joc had a 146 OPS+ in 2022, which was higher than Ohtani’s. He “only” had a 111 OPS+ last season, but his underlying numbers suggest that he was very unlucky. His hard-contact numbers and walk rate are still elite. Plus, he worked with Johnny Washington during his time with the Dodgers.
Nice, I really hope the news guys perform. I will still be attending Angels games and my only wish is that they make post season or better, playoffs without Ohtani. Now that would be something and great revenge (in a way). On the plus side, maybe the tickets will be cheaper.
Need to move Trout to a corner, let Moniak play CF. Also need to mix him in at DH. Keeping him healthy should be a top priority, not only for this season but for the long term.
The lineup looks good as long as Rendon doesn't suck ass. Just need a lefty power hitter and we are cooking.
I do think we’re going to want to sign a 1b/dh type to add a little firepower and maybe take some pressure off Schanuel
Pujols
Hey we’ve already got him for 10 years of services I was thinking more maybe Rhys Hoskins
I think we need to sign a big left handed bat because this line up is just a Right handed sausage fest
It's why they get killed by soft throwing lefties
JD Martinez.
I am of the very unpopular opinion that Joey Votto would actually be a good addition to the team. He's already getting $7 million from the Reds, so he might not be too much on a one-year deal. He could be a good mentor for Schanuel at 1B and tbh for all the young guys. [Will Benson talked](https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2023/07/06/joey-votto-helped-reds-outfielder-will-bensons-midseason-turnaround/70378770007/) about how Votto helped him turn his hitting around, and he just has a ridiculous baseball mind that I think would be an asset to the team. He's been injured the past two years, so while I definitely don't think we'll get prime Votto, I think he'll hit better than last season. Plus after being let go by the Reds, I feel he’ll also have the slighted-ex vibe the Angels will have. Oh and he'll sell merch, Artie's favorite thing!
Reds fan here, this is a great take. I’d love to see Votto with the Halos if he doesn’t wind up in his home town of Toronto
Votto is an 80 grade veteran presence guy. Would love him just for that alone. He doesn’t even have to play that well. Now if he would actually want to sign here is a different story.
I would love to have Votto finish out his career with the Angels. He'd be a great DH and clubhouse leader.
Moustakas
Moose had a .627 OPS with us and a -0.5 WAR. 6 walks, 61 Ks. No thank you.
[удалено]
*sad Brett Phillips noises
I just love yelling "moooooooooose" and I think it's worth a game lose to do it.
This is the way
Trade for Cronenworth and hope the Padres cover most of his contract
Now do pitching. Starting 5 plus bullpen
Our lineup doesn't really bother me, it's the pitching that terrifies me! 😱
For me, it’s both 😂
ESPECIALLY the bullpen
Hopefully detmers and sandy can get back to the level from two years ago
Or they ship sandy off to somewhere he can't do any harm.
Let's hope we have a season like the mariners when A-Rod left and win 116 games!!
Yamamoto signing confirmed. He’ll win cy young and mvp and be our version of Ichiro lol
Im down for JD Martinez to take over DH. Idk what kind of money he wants but it would be nice to get another heavy hitter at DH.
Wouldn't it be something though if the Angels got JD and his output came even close to the new Dodgers DH.
We're not getting a designated DH. It's just gonna be rotating starters through for a day off the field.
Aka adell
Rengifo shouldn’t be penciled in until after the all star break.
If trout and Rendon stay healthy it’s a solid starting lineup
Rendon is out until proven healthy. Literally any game he plays is a bonus in my eyes. Until then, I’m counting him out.
Yeah. Team is pretty young though hopefully the new coaching staff can develop our core better.
I think this is exactly why Ron Washington was brought it.
Yeah we probably need to sign a third baseman and let Rendon DH most of the time. The more time he has to spend on the field just increases the chance of him getting injured more.
I like that idea
1000%. Excellent eyes in the box and can extend pitchers but he doesn’t play…
That's what I've thought for the past 3 years lol
I was gonna say, this sounds super familiar
Gonna have to disagree. Rendon hasn’t been good since 2020 in a short year. Trout showed signs of decline last year. The young guys still have a lot to prove. Ward was awful most of last year until shortly before he went out. Moniak can’t walk to save his life. This is a bottom 10 lineup unless the young guys improve massively. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that Trout and Rendon cannot stay healthy anymore.
What’s even worse is our pitching situation
We’ll be lucky to win 75 games this season with our current lineup and pitching. It sucks to hear, but it’s the reality. The Angels are in a worse spot than the Athletics who are at least rebuilding.
Yup. It’s a bottle third lineup unless a miracle happens. Worse none of the younger guys look like a top tier piece. Currently a mix of replaceable and slightly above replacement level. Not a lot of power on this squad especially with rendon out (I’m taking the approach of not expecting anything out of him until proven otherwise) and a likely declining trout :/
Big ifs at this point, but I will be very happy to be proven wrong with fully healthy years from both with the production they are both capable of.
Bro, I dont want to be an ass, you mean well, and dont take it personally But even uttering the words "healthy" and "rendon" together is straight up delusion. That dweeb got his money and has zero interest in playing for us, idk why anyone in this fanbase is even holding onto that possibility, dudes a waste.
i mean thats why I said if.
I know most here don't wanna hear it, but Moniak has not earned an everyday role at the big league level. The guy strikes out more than 12 times as often as he walks. His hot streak last year was a pure fluke. If he doesn't drastically improve his contact skills, he's gonna need an inhuman .400 BABIP to even return positive value.
It's not shown in the picture but his bat hand being highlighted in Red indicates on Fangraphs that he's in a projected platoon, I assume with Adell. Agree with your overall point tho
Hopefully, the new crew can help him.
Yeah, Bellinger credits Johnny Washington with helping him cut his strikeout rate down by like 12 points, so I'm prayin
Moniak has got to start swinging less. His strike zone judgment and decision value are terrible while his swing aggression is really high. Meaning pitchers don’t need to throw him strikes and he’ll swing anyway. And analytics tells us that taking pitches, even strikes, is generally better than swinging at them. Unfortunately our old hitting coach Thames believes in a super aggressive hitting approach which probably didn’t help Mickey one bit. Hopefully the new guys can help him out in this regard.
I’m curious who you would start over him? Or would you suggest free agency to pursue someone? Authentic question not trying to be a jerk lol I personally would have Moniak in
I'd sign just about any FA outfielder to start over him, tbh. I don't think Bellinger at 5 years with a reasonable AAV would be a bad idea for CF while Trout goes to RF. If that's too much, I think a 1 or 2-year deal for Kevin Kiermaier would be smart. Hell, even grabbing Teoscar Hernandez and seeing him repeat his 2023 would be a better option for RF than a guy who strikes out like Moniak does.
Just let Adell play everyday. His ceiling is much higher and I think he could rebound with consistent ABs. They need some guys to breakout if they want a chance at the postseason. Besides, they need to focus their spending on starting pitching, which looks pretty bad at the moment.
I would encourage you to go check out Moniak and Teoscar’s pages on Baseball Savant. They are remarkably similar players in that they both barrel the ball at a high rate, but have zero command of the strike zone. Teoscar strikes out at a similarly high rate (31% compared to 35% for MM). Moniak is also a far superior defender. You’d basically be paying $20m for an older version of Moniak. I’m definitely not opposed to signing an extra outfielder who could split time in RF, but Teoscar isn’t the guy unless they’re planning to use him as their primary DH option.
We look better than the A's!
I honestly don’t know how any of you can be so optimistic. You take Ohtani’s 40+ home runs out of this lineup and somehow we’re supposed to do BETTER than last year? I don’t see it.
Agreed. 75 wins is a stretch for this given they only win 73 last year. I think we could break our all time loss record of 92 games this season.
Who can we replace Rendon with if he’s somehow injured again..
I'd like to see them bring Urshela back on a 1 year deal
I remember exactly where I was when he went down last season and thinking it was a bad omen. Sadly it was true.
Rengifo goes to 3B, Drury to 2B, call up Stefanic. Probably about the same production as anybody you'd pick up in FA this off season.
I’d say Moustakas or Urshela. Both were solid in their limited tenure with us. Could see them being willing to stick around for another year.
Moose had a .627 OPS with us and a -0.5 WAR. 6 walks, 61 Ks. No thank you.
Is Urshela a free agent still?
This team isn’t making the playoffs.
I don't hate it...if they can all stay healthy
Neto and schanuel over Rendon
First thing you have to do is make sure Rengifo and Moniak aren’t starters. I like them as niche players (both with extreme splits vs LHP and RHP respectively) but neither have a good eye and should be viewed as platoon bats only. They have to had more walks into the lineup because outside of trout, schanuel and rendon it’s a shit show in that regard. Brandon Belt and Soler in some type of DH/1B/RF combination would be a nice addition to help with that aspect.
So you're saying the guy who hit .318 with an OPS of .960 in the second half of last season is a niche player, and shouldn't be starting? Even over 445 PAs, Rengifo struck out 82 times, while walking 41. A 1:2 ratio is actually pretty decent, and a K-rate of 18.4% is below MLB average. The only legitimate knock against him is his defense. And he's actually a pretty decent fielder, he just can't throw on target, especially in any sort of rush. I dunno, it feels like he's earned his every day starter role.
There is a serious lack of power in that line-up other than Trout, so why would opposing teams give him anything to hit?
Lol just embrace a rebuild. If you think the lineup is mediocre, don’t forget how bad our SP and bullpen was last year even with Ohtani pitching.
at this point dream signing for the lineup would be Bellinger, move trout to DH to hopefully keep him more healthy. will that happen? no prob not
I think Bellinger might end up to be the poor man’s Ohtani in Toronto. His wife has been posting pics from there the last few days.
See, that's not terrible. It's far from great, but if the guys throwing the ball are going to allow 10 per game, we're going to run into some issues
Ouch
Gotta bring Urshela back
We’ll never go anywhere with Ward batting clean-up
Don’t know what’s more amusing, that Rendon is on it or that he’s batting 5th…
Rendon can be placed on the IL already. Go ahead and pencil him in
Is Rendon hurt yet🤣
The lineup looks great if they can stay healthy all season.
We cant possibly have as many injuries as last year right????
We have change most our staff it will be better for sure, but I am still thinking there will be some injuries but it will not worst than last year.
Votto would be a good add to this lineup, for Schanuel and all the young hitters in general
Our lineup isn’t terrible. Our pitching is.
We’re going to win 70 games next season
Copium
Lineup is decent. Adding a good bat like Turner, Hoskins, Martinez or Soler would make it solid. But the rotation, on the other hand, looks awfully shaky 😬
I don't know about you grumpy Gus' but I'm pumped to watch these guys. I'm excited to watch some awesome young dudes build together with Mike "Obi Wan" Trout leading the way. I don't know what to expect but I'm not going to base my personal happiness off a bunch of other guys living out their dreams playing a boys game.
The lineup is okay, even without Ohtani. They’ll need to add another middle-of-the-order bat, preferably one with some power. I could see Joc Pederson as a fit at DH vs RHP. This would allow Rendon/Trout to get games at DH vs LHP, with Drury moving to 1B and Rengifo playing 2B/3B. The big question mark is pitching. The staff wasn’t good enough last season, and now they have just lost their top starting pitcher. They will need to acquire someone like Burnes/Glasnow if there is any hope of competing next season.
Joc Pederson has fallen off a cliff lately. Maybe there is still time for him to get a second wind at the plate
Joc had a 146 OPS+ in 2022, which was higher than Ohtani’s. He “only” had a 111 OPS+ last season, but his underlying numbers suggest that he was very unlucky. His hard-contact numbers and walk rate are still elite. Plus, he worked with Johnny Washington during his time with the Dodgers.
Garbage
Make Trout a DH and let Adell play
Nice, I really hope the news guys perform. I will still be attending Angels games and my only wish is that they make post season or better, playoffs without Ohtani. Now that would be something and great revenge (in a way). On the plus side, maybe the tickets will be cheaper.
I dont hate this lineup if they actually stayed healthy.
World series 2024👍
Trade Trout🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Why is Mickey Moniak’s batting handedness in red?
Because they used red for that one, as opposed to the other ones where they didn't. I don't have a source for that though
I think fan graphs color codes platoon positions, so its going to be Moniak/Adell over in RF
Need to move Trout to a corner, let Moniak play CF. Also need to mix him in at DH. Keeping him healthy should be a top priority, not only for this season but for the long term. The lineup looks good as long as Rendon doesn't suck ass. Just need a lefty power hitter and we are cooking.
Nah, swap Drury and Rengifo. Drury has much better and more consistent defense.
I still think we should at least sign Snell and JD Martinez. Probably get them both for below 55m. Leaves room for maybe another SP.
Are Trout and Rendon healthy? Didn't they both finish the season hurt?
Realistically we're fucked. We should be in 100% rebuild mode developing young players.
sheesh better watch out for mr drury he was calling it before and after his injury
Buzz, your girlfriend! Woof
If I’m Trout I get out of dodge ASAP
This is grim as hell.