Bertz

For sure. I mean he averaged 97.7 in his cup of coffee at Iowa last year so there's a lot of velo missing. The question is just how much of this can be blamed on the fact that from his arm's perspective it's essentially early April vs. anything permanent.

Wiggins' fastball got as high as 97.4 and as low as 92.8. Feels like he was pretty clearly battling his mechanics and that probably impacted both the command and the velo. The run environment at Iowa is brutal on your best days, much less when you're trying to work your way back through rust like this. I'd send him to Knoxville for 3-4 starts.

I thought he looked great that inning up through the "triple", but then whether due frustration/mechanics/being terrified of Acuna he completely lost the zone

He is all over the place so mechanics are just as likely an explanation as any I guess

Not loving Wiggins's velo

I am super curious how he's valued. If he was 23 instead of 25 he's a top 10 prospect in the sport. With his age he is and should be discounted, but how far we talking? Fringe top 100 guy? 10th in an average farm system? Less? More? I feel like I have a pretty decent read on what a Mo-led deal for Detmers or Soriano looks like: Mo, a nice second piece like Alcantara or Kepley, and a 3rd piece that's boom/bust and further away from the majors (think like Mule or Lovich). But Ayers? I'm not even positive if he'd be the first or second guy in the deal.

They really need help against LHP (87 wRC+ as a team). Raley and Young have good overall numbers but huge platoon splits, and yeah Emerson's just generally not ready. And for whatever questions there are still about Shaw's bat I think he's looking like at minimum a lefty masher. I'd think the M's would want to go as far as getting Shaw AND another trade for a guy like Lane Thomas.

Not Cubs related but further evidence the Angels are willing to play ball

I really like Longenhagen but it's striking to read his stuff because he's very critical on the specifics and then you look at the overall grade and it's like the 8th best prospect in baseball. Huge departure from every other outlet. Reminds me of this PFT as Werner Herzog

LFG! With Rosenthal mentioning names that specific it's not an accident. Hancock has not been on my radar but him for Shaw feels like it'd be pretty close to an even split. And it's pretty out there that the M's are looking to trade an arm for a bat with all six guys healthy and Anderson coming up fast The Angels looking at catching is great too. Moving one of Mo or Ayers is one of the more logical ways to get where we wanna go.

Triantos' star has dimmed but he's still a legit prospect. Probably tracking towards more of a bench role than a starters role, but at the same time he's just 23 so don't say that with too much certainty. The big question is why now? Is this about swapping him and Alcantara? Is there an injury? A trade?

There was an article last year where they talked about the team wanting to call guys up and just let them hang out and get comfortable even if they mostly ride the pine. The dogshit performance of last year's bench kind of scuttled that but I think we're seeing some this year. Triantos could be up for a reason but it could just be vibes.

Why are they for sure going to be worse next year?

Good for him! Given the way Alcantara's been used James is probably a bit better of a roster fit in Shaw's absence. Choosing to assume this is not because of a secret injury.

Is this a "if you're not first you're last sort of thing" where winning 90-something games a year somehow sucks actually?

They literally developed the 24 year old MVP candidate you're proposing trading?

Robbie Ray is the clear "one of these things is not like the others" on this list. Though I do sort of wonder if you could get him at least back to 2025 form by dropping the sinker and just focusing on the 4 seamer. I like seeing Soriano and Detmers on there too. I know Sharma's as much an analyst as he is a journalist but I think if the Angels weren't playing ball in conversations with those guys Sahadev would have gotten that feedback and they'd have been ommitted from the article in the same way Logan Webb was.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7459011/2026/07/23/mlb-prospects-ranking-top-70-kade-anderson-jesus-made/ KLaw's mid-season update. Hartshorn #38 and Rojas #62

Also I'll plant my flag that I'm not especially worried about Cabrera. His problem has mostly been dongs and he would not be the first guy to come here and struggle his first half season due to a dong problem. And the velo drop from early in the season, the thing that had me most legitimately nervous, got resolved during his first IL trip with the blister (whether or not that was the cause who knows).

Also worth noting Cabrera got stronger as last year went on. His post June 1st numbers, which has always in good faith been brought up as a period where stats matter more, were a 3.23 ERA / 3.43 xFIP. In line with guys like Max Fried, Ranger Suarez, Jacob deGrom, etc.

Like Wiggins I think no matter how high you are on him the short term hope for MLB contribution has to top out in relief

I'm hoping for a controllable starter, but unfortunately the ones who have the right combo of oomf and control I want are Brown, Detmers and Webb. and those orgs can't be counted on to act rationally. If we have to settle on a rental SP I'm okay being a little more prospective. I think buying a little low on Gausman would be smart, I think buying a lot low on Peralta would be smart. I think buying low on Bieber is risky but might be smart? I know people would screech at another 92 MPH lefty but Foster Griffin isn't slowing down at all? I don't get too attached to specific relievers, but Luke Weaver feels like the goldilocks solution. I probably would ultimately say no but at the moment I'm more amenable to a Miller or a Hader than I'd typically be, especially if we settle for a rental SP. I'd love for the team to try and get creative in addition to shopping for name brands. The Tigers have this guy Drew Anderson who quietly has been a weapon in long relief after coming back over from the KBO. The Orioles have this rando named Rico Garcia who is literally leading the league in in-zone contact rate. Add someone who the nerds in the pitch lab are gaga over even if it takes us civilians some research to figure out what his deal is. My ideal deadline is probably Detmers, Weaver, and a really tough right on right reliever like Jonathan Loaisiga. But mainly I just need quality innings and some 2027 shopping done early.

Jose Escobar on base 5x, ho hum

Anecdotally it feels like he has "one bad inning" disease, so I'm really hopeful that at some point things are going to click and he'll just take off. Honestly for the rest of this year I'm looking at him building innings and seeing the 5th/6th more often as much as I'm looking at rate performance.

The farm's a lot deeper than it was a year ago. I think that package for Gausman is probably light but Caple's a grade higher than either guy we gave up for Soroka and Bateman's very comparable to Franklin.