Welcome to Rates and barrels. It's Tuesday, June 25th, Derek and Riper, Enoceris, and Sam Blum joining us today. Welcome to the pod, Sam.

Hello. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks for making some time. Sam, of course, covers the Angels for the Athletic, writes about the league as a whole sometimes as well. Does great job on that. We're going to talk a lot about the Angels today because we have a pretty good sense. They're going to be sellers at the trade

deadline. So that creates a lot of opportunities, creates a lot of fun topics to sort of pick

through. And it's a team that's got a new manager, new for them, not new to baseball in

Ron Washington. And we want to start today just by asking you as someone who's on this beat,

what do you think the impact of Ron Washington has been on this club?

I mean, they're 15 below 500.

So it hasn't been winning a lot of games.

But on a day-to-day basis from a player development perspective, what kinds of differences are you seeing in the Ron Washington era?

Well, you know, I heard somebody say the other day that they like lead the league in like team meetings and, you know, extra work. And that's something, you know, the second day of the sea, they played one game this year in Baltimore. And then the second day of the season in like 40 degree weather, they had a full team workout at, you know, at the ballpark on that, you know, on that off day. That's just kind of the tenor of the season. They're just doing a lot of extra work. I think that it's still up in the air just how much that is helping. I mean, they're a pretty overall sloppy team, make a lot of outs on the bases. That's something that they completely overhauled. I mean, you know, the Angels last year were one of the teams that just didn't really choose to run very much, given who they had kind of on their roster at the time. And the roster makeup has changed a little bit, but not that much. And they're still running, like, so they've changed everything. So they're basically just trying to be one of the fastest teams in the league with not a ton of success thus far. I think what you're seeing is, you know, a team that's maybe trying to change their identity. But overall, like my biggest question with Ron Washington is what's the end game? Because he's on a two-year contract. The GM, Perrymanosian, is on a one-year contract right now. A lot of these players are like you mentioned at the top are probably going to be available at the trade deadline. So, you know, whatever, you know, kind of position that they're in right now or whatever things he may or may not be doing to help the, you know, the organization moving forward, I just don't really know where it's all leading. I think that, you know, part of the narrative that's tried that the angels have, you know, to some extent

successfully sold for this year is that they are this like young up and coming team that's like

akin to what we saw we've seen from the guardians or the Orioles or the Reds even, you know,

kind of before this year. And it's just not the case. Like they're, you know, they just decided to not really spend in free agency and not really assist in their roster construction whatsoever heading into this year. And so, you know, they're kind of left with some young players, many of whom have already kind of had a chance and not really succeeded. I mean, I'm and, and, you know, I think that there are three great players to build around in terms of Zach Netto, Logan Ohopi, and Jose Soriano right now. And I think everybody else, right now, it's, it's very much up in the air exactly where this whole thing is headed. So, um, he's, he's done a good job, but to the extent that it matters, uh, Washa has done, I think, a pretty good job, but to the extent that it matters,

you know, I don't really know. And, you know, there's also been certain things he's done that's rub people the wrong way. Obviously, the Luis Heorme-Bun situation, which is kind of become an infamous part of the season, you know, where they tried to do a squeeze play. and it was just, it was, you know, I think the thought process behind calling for the squeeze really didn't make any sense.

But then also, after the game saying that wasn't, do a squeeze play and it was just it was you know I think the thought process behind calling for

the squeeze really didn't make any sense but then also after the game saying that wasn't my fault

that was the Eurme's fault right under the bus so really just a poorly handled situation and I think

you know that's a that's a concern probably for everybody who's kind of watching this is like you know

what's the line between accountability and just blaming players and and you know the the overall feel

in that clubhouse when those types of things happen I think you know could could possibly jeopardize

where this is all headed so um there's been good and there's been bad but uh I think to the

extent that it matters it's just very much, I don't think it matters that much.

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