About: Why the Lions?

Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP)

Thursday, August 24, 2023

Angels have wasted years of Shohei Ohtani

 


The worst case scenario just occurred for the Los Angeles Angels, Shohei Ohtani, fans of the team and owner Arte Moreno in 2023.

After the Angels completed a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday, Ohtani left the first game early after initially feeling "arm fatigue".  The news later reported that his UCL was torn, ending his pitching season for 2023. To make matters worse, Mike Trout also returned to the injured list after coming back from his own injury. 

It was already a damaging season for fans of the Angels who've been there long before 2018 or even 2002 when Moreno announced he had "unfinished business" and decided to go against his initial decision to sell the team.  

Most fans who care about winning already turned off and felt the pain before even playing a game.

It's been documented how Moreno is one of the most hands-on owners in MLB, controlling baseball operations. This includes signing Albert Pujols, Anthony Rendon, Josh Hamilton and even trading for Vernon Wells to name a few expensive mistakes.  

Those were all choices Moreno made, not his general manager. If only Ohtani was aware of this idea of the owner having dictator powers when he signed with the team six years ago. 

Historically, Moreno has only triggered the luxury tax twice in his tenure as owner with this trade deadline being his most recent. 

All those albatross contracts of the past, including the final years of Pujols, came back to bite the early years of Ohtani. 

As the article by Alden Gonzalez showed, Moreno wasn't willing to give up on Ohtani or send him packing because he's seen as a cash cow. His presence alone sells tickets, merchandise and likely media rights with the Japanese who come to see him.

At the deadline, Moreno didn't allow his General Manager Perry Minasian to sell and he was likely ordered to go for it all in 2023. 

Their low-tier farm system was gutted even further when they added Lucas Giolito, Randal Grichuk, C.J. Cron and Reynaldo Lopez before the trade deadline passed. 

A false hope winning streak against weak opponents in the Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates and a struggling New York Yankees team had them buying in thinking they could make a run at a playoff spot since they had a winning record.

Since August 1 and through August 23, the Angels are 5-16 in the month and started it with a seven game losing streak. As of the morning of August 24, they're 11.5 games behind the closest playoff team in the Seattle Mariners, who swept them in a four game series in Anaheim. 

It's a complete waste of time for Ohtani, who has already won an MVP award, but never finished with a team winning record. 

Ohtani has accomplished plenty of records and making past Babe Ruth references on both pitching and hitting, but at the end of the day, it's become a meme known as Tungsten Arm O'Doyle

All thanks to one random tweet, the perception of the Angels is Ohtani playing well, but the team still loses games no matter what. 

Most recently, he hit a grand slam in a game while the team turned a triple play, but the Angels still lost in extra innings and became the second team in history to do so with those two in-game accomplishments. 

There was even a historic seven HR game for the Angels and Ohtani hit two of them, yet the team still lost. 

Moreno's problems go beyond the current roster and free agent signings as the farm system treatment has been viewed as one of the worst. Sources confirm these reports how the Angels as an organization have not invested in their minor league players in giving them some of the most awful conditions for an athlete.

As a result, many players feel the apathy or don't feel the proper care is there during their developmental process. Spending on free agents looks good on the surface, but it doesn't excuse the poor infrastructure. 

Phil Nevin is Ohtani's fourth manager in six years. Billy Eppler, the GM credited for bringing in Ohtani is currently with the New York Mets. Even the recently fired Joe Maddon had nothing but bad things to say on his departure. 

Previously, they handled Josh Hamilton poorly when a drug relapse happened. There's even concerns with what the team did leading to the death of Tyler Skaggs.

When the World Baseball Classic was ongoing for 2023, it was a reminder of what it could be like to see MVPs  Trout and Ohtani play postseason baseball in North America. But the issue is remembering they're on the Angels and can't play for USA and Japan all year long. 

It only setup for an epic conclusion when Ohtani struck out Trout for the final pitch of the tournament bringing Japan back on top of the world. 

There is no hope for this organization as long as Moreno is the owner in charge. As our colleague Jim Allen stated, Moreno is an addict who can't be trusted. 

Part of the tragedy is the decision Ohtani made when he was posted to MLB. 

Several teams were willing to let him hit, yet somehow he ends up with the Angels, an organization who failed to build a team around him for six years.

Ohtani's UCL tear is more injury to insult than the other way around. 

We will gladly eat our words, but the team hasn't done anything, rendering most of these accomplishments as almost meaningless. 

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Sunday, August 20, 2023

2023 Lions season on thin ice

 


The Saitama Seibu Lions don't have the worst record in baseball, but it's not looking good for a team that was hoping to be in a postseason race.

Thought August 20, they sit in the fifth place of the Pacific League, 6.5 games behind the 3rd place Softbank Hawks and two games behind the Rakuten Eagles for fourth place.

This week, the team went 3-3 combined against both the Eagles and Hawks, which is short of any goal they had to be taken seriously. On Friday August 18, Shuta Ishikawa threw a no-hitter against the Lions.

What is there to observe in the final 36 games? 

Can Mark Payton earn a contract for next year?

With other players fizzling out, the Lions called up Mark Payton right before July ended and he's done well for August. It would be an extreme backdoor way to do it, but the opportunity is open for Payton to play in 2024 if he continues to hit well as a top 3 hitter in the lineup. 

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What happens to the bullpen long-term?

Tatsushi Masuda started poorly,  it he has a strong July to put the team in the hunt. However, it's possible his arm is already cooked for the final month and manager Kazuo Matsui tried playing Minato Aoyama to close a game against the Eagles, which resulted in a scary save.

Katsunori Hirai is a free agent and the setup role will be vacant.  Shunsuke Sato will look to fill that hole, but the mix of relievers should be alright.  It's a matter of finding a closer from within that is a worry. 

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Lack of offensive pop leaves holes

It's easy to just say Hotaka Yamakawa became awful with the news breaking out, but the team can't have a now 40-year-old Takeya Nakamura carrying the offense. 

No one else has even 20 HR potential on this squad and while it would be nice if Kento Watanabe can be the future, it's uncertain if he'll be the slugger that the team ones hoped for.

Only thing the Lions can do is give young players playing time at the ichi-gun, which has happened from Takuya Hiruma to Manaya Nishikawa. 

The catcher position has been a tradeoff for offense vs defense

Many knew the obvious elephant in the room whe Tomoya Mori left in free agency. Yuto Koga has won the starting catcher role for his defense alone and for those who believe in calling a good game. 

Only problem is his lack of offense, but Takeru Furuichi has also earned the backup role. Both players are still under 25 years old and need time to grow.

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It's time to look at the draft

The Summer Koshien tournament is still ongoing and several prospects are available from the obvious Rintaro Sasaki out of Hanamaki Higashi High School making waves. 

If the Lions can draft a bat who can help sooner than later, this could be the end of Kona Takahashi in the Lions uniform after the 2024 season. The window with this improved rotation would close.

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