The December 18, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news includes the team claiming a youngish righty reliever, a strong turnout at the club’s annual children’s holiday party, and more…
The Story: Angels claim RHP A.J. Achter off waivers
MWAH Says: We’ve finally hit the part of the holiday season where there can be days without any sort of team news, so expect these posts to continue to be somewhat sporadic. Every once in a while a real thing happens, though, like claiming Achter. The 27-year-old was a bit part of Minnesota’s bullpen the last two seasons, but probably struck out too many players for their liking. Or something. He’s been consistently solid at every level of the minors, which seems to point to more promise than the typical waiver claim. He tops out at about 90 mph, so he should fit in just fine with the Angels ‘pen.
The Story: Angels holiday party not as festive as usual
MWAH Says: You know you’re scraping the barrel when you have to use a children’s holiday party as a framing device for a disappointing offseason. The event seemed to have a strong turnout nevertheless, which is always good. One kid asked if Mike Scioscia was Homer Simpson—an expert-level troll.
The Story: Commissioner Rob Manfred not a fan of opt-out clauses
MWAH Says: He claims to Ken Rosenthal that he doesn’t “get” them, but really he’s just doing his job as a mouthpiece for the cohort of owners who don’t have the means to throw around money like the Cubs, Red Sox, or Diamondbacks just did. The number of complaining teams is shrinking as revenues go up—Arizona was one of the small-market clubs very recently—but so long as the A’s and Rays clutch their pocketbooks like pearls Manfred will probably have to say things that make him sound dense, like how he’s confused by player opt-outs but seemingly fine with team ones.
The Story: Baseball owners and their predictable needs
MWAH Says: Meg Rowley continues to dominate in her first month-plus at Baseball Prospectus, this time laying out a continuum of owner types. As has been made evident several times this week, Arte Moreno fits the Profit Seeker mold. He wants a competitor, but not if it means he might be in the red, even briefly.
The Story: MLB seeks safer method for Cubans to reach U.S.
MWAH Says: As relations between the U.S. and Cuba have begun to normalize over the last 18 months, a record number of baseball players (~125) have taken the still very dangerous step of defecting from the island and establishing residency in surrounding non-U.S. countries.
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