Out in Tempe, optimism is once again blooming like desert cactus around the Los Angeles Angels spring camp. A healthy and determined Mike Trout insists he still has plenty left in the tank—and he’s backing it up by lobbying to return to center field while posting an eye-popping 29.9 ft/sec sprint speed in early workouts. New arrival Jeimer Candelario is flashing the kind of power and glove that made him an attractive offseason pickup, while young shortstop Zach Neto looks poised to take another step toward stardom. Presiding over the whole operation is first-time manager Kurt Suzuki, now tasked with turning a roster full of question marks into something resembling a contender. The big question hanging over camp: is this the year the Angels finally climb out of the AL West basement—or will the season once again resemble Trout and the Trash Pandas (of Anaheim), a one-superstar show surrounded by spare parts and hopefuls?

*** Now chatting in #AngelsPreseason ***

NoTroutAboutIt: morning fellas

clocked 29.9 sprint speed today

center field is back on the menu

*** NetOutcome has entered the chat ***

NetOutcome: THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT

trout in center

me at short

angels renaissance starts now

*** CandyManCandelario has entered the chat ***

CandyManCandelario: hit three balls off the wall in bp today

feeling good

might even play third base competently

*** SuzukiOnDuty has entered the chat ***

SuzukiOnDuty: alright guys

first year managing

vibes are strong

fundamentals are… developing

*** pr0FF3ss0r_F4rnsw0rth has entered the chat ***

pr0FF3ss0r_F4rnsw0rth: trout running 29.9 at age 34 is terrifying

the rest of the roster looks like a yard sale behind him

NoTroutAboutIt: rude

*** WORDUPTHOME has entered the chat ***

WORDUPTHOME: HEY GUYS THIS IS JI

JIM THOME

DON’T COUNT OUT A CLUB WITH A LEGEND IN THE OUTFIELD

OLD JIMBO LOVES A COMEBACK STORY

*** ShoheiCanYouSee has entered the chat ***

ShoheiCanYouSee: hello from across town

how is the rebuild going

NoTroutAboutIt: don’t start

NetOutcome: hey we’re not rebuilding

we’re… retooling

CandyManCandelario: we’re… improvising

SuzukiOnDuty: we’re… optimistic

pr0FF3ss0r_F4rnsw0rth: you’re trout and the trash pandas

NoTroutAboutIt: that’s not fair

CandyManCandelario: slightly fair

NetOutcome: extremely rude but maybe a little fair

*** rob_manfred.exe has entered the chat ***

rob_manfred.exe: reminder that every franchise provides value to the ecosystem 🙂

some win championships 🙂

some provide inspirational underdog narratives 🙂

NoTroutAboutIt: i swear if we’re the narrative again

*** MLB_NewsBot has entered the chat ***

MLB_NewsBot: Spring Training Report:

Trout sprint speed 29.9 ft/s

Neto showing breakout potential

Candelario swinging well

Angels projected to finish “somewhere between hopeful and confused”

SuzukiOnDuty: hey that’s progress

*** NoTroutAboutIt has left to run wind sprints out of spite ***

*** NetOutcome has left to field 200 ground balls ***

*** CandyManCandelario has left to hit doubles off the bullpen cart ***

*** pr0FF3ss0r_F4rnsw0rth has left to bet the over on chaos ***

*** WORDUPTHOME has left to shout “BELIEVE IN THE HALO” into the sunset ***

*** rob_manfred.exe has left to market “ANGELS: THE REBOOT” ***