The February 3, 2016 edition of Los Angeles Angels news includes a closer look at the team’s overloaded but underwhelming starting rotation, an early glimpse of the team’s 2016 ZiPS projections, and more…
The Story: Eight is enough? A look at the Angels’ rotation candidates
MWAH Says: Jeff Fletcher breaks down each contender for the Opening Day rotation, concluding that while the club has several arms to offer, there are a bunch of question marks in there too. I say quantity over quality when it comes to starting pitching. If you have two elite guys and one or both get hurt, you’re screwed. If you have a bunch of high-floor guys, a couple injuries shouldn’t bring down the ship.
The Story: Angels 2016 ZiPS projections for position players are teased
MWAH Says: Dan Szymborski has tweeted out the WAR projections and top comps for Angels position players, leaving it to us to deduce whose projection belongs to whom. The top comp, Mickey Mantle, is easy to figure out. The rest are notably less so. Eleven players projected to produce at least 1.0 WAR ain’t bad, though there’s no guarantee they’re all still on the club. The full projections should be released on FanGraphs later this week.
The Story: The BP 101: The ones who just missed the list
MWAH Says: No Angels prospects to be found here either. So not only did they miss the Top 101 completely, they also missed the Top 111. Good, good.
The Story: Player’s View: Which current players are future managers?
MWAH Says: David Laurila asked a bunch of players and coaches during the 2015 season who they thought might make a great manager someday. Both Jeff Mathis and Jose Molina are brought up, which is kinda hilarious.
The Story: Nats blame offseason woes on continuing TV dispute
MWAH Says: Ted Lerner is literally the richest person in the state of Maryland. For him to say that his insistence on deferring an absurd amount of money for any free-agent contract, and thus not signing anyone, was due to not getting fair fees from MASN is almost more absurd than Arte Moreno blaming the luxury tax for not spending. Crying poor doesn’t work when your net worth is $4.9 billion.
The Story: MLB bans Cuban team from Dominican academies during Caribbean Series
MWAH Says: Kind of a weird way for the commissioner’s office to show they want to foster a more open relationship with Cuba. The four other teams were allowed to practice at one of MLB’s facilities with no issue, and MLB gave no reasoning as to why only the Cuban team was barred. Good job, good effort, Manfred.
The Story: Dodgers add Raul Ibanez, Greg Maddux as special assistants to the GM
MWAH Says: Which of the team’s six GM’s are they assisting? Who the hell knows at this point. Ibanez reportedly got an open offer to coach in the Angels organization when he left in 2014, but I guess the Dodgers’ super front-office team was more enticing.
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