I've come to a conclusion

[Stradling]

It's deeper than that. I blame Pujols for the Hamilton signing. If in 2012 Albert would've played like the dominant Albert Pujols that we saw in St Louis we wouldn't have needed to sign Hamilton. Dipoto would've gone after another front line pitcher instead. What was learned in 2012 was that Albert needed another slugger to hide between because his skill level was declining at a rapid pace. The Hamilton signing was designed to mask Albert's failure to be the player we thought we were getting. It all blew up in a hurry. It cost us Morales and Trumbo to make space for the two supers.

Of course you blame Albert, you spun your wheel and it came up "BLAME ALBERT". Next time you spin I am sure it will come up, "BLAME ARTE". If it doesn't then it will be, "SOSH'S FAULT".

[Mark68]

In game management has been a problem for a while. That's on Scioscia.

 

But if the players were performing up to their previous standards, those mistakes wouldn't be as magnified as they are now.

 

However, we have to acknowledge the two very big elephants in the room.

 

One of those elephants was signed to a quarter of a billion dollars and is steadily declining.

 

The other elephant is now the property of the Texas Rangers.

 

We shouldn't have signed either elephant. Arte Moreno is not the Ringling Brothers.

[BleedRed]

It's the lack of fundamentals that gets me... base running mistakes, mindless hacking, brainfarts at SS..lousy defense at C and. LF...Sosh is responsible for not correcting these........not Di Poto

[eligrba]

Of course you blame Albert, you spun your wheel and it came up "BLAME ALBERT". Next time you spin I am sure it will come up, "BLAME ARTE". If it doesn't then it will be, "SOSH'S FAULT".

 

Because sometimes your responses are condescending and make you come across as a poopy-head (see quote above).  Your welcome on the forum lesson.  Glad I could help.

[Stradling]

Ok BR, show me a manager that can make Iannetta or Joyce good defensively. As far as base running mistakes, yes, we have had a lot of them and we always have. It started with Vladdy, continued with Hunter and Aybar and now we have Albert.

[Stradling]

Because sometimes your responses are condescending and make you come across as a poopy-head (see quote above). Your welcome on the forum lesson. Glad I could help.

Yes I am condescending to people that are super duper repetitive and the only "value" they add to this forum is telling us how shitty Albert, Arte, and Scioscia are. I also am condescending to people who speak in absolutes.

[eligrba]

Yes I am condescending to people that are super duper repetitive and the only "value" they add to this forum is telling us how shitty Albert, Arte, and Scioscia are. I also am condescending to people who speak in absolutes.

 

Having a tough day?  Need a hug? How about a Snickers?

[HeavenlyHalos]

This is your team. Ianetta never has been good. He was decent at best. Freese, just an October heroics guy who really isn't much of a player either. Aybar has been somewhat dependable over the years but always prone to some really dumb shit. Pujols, the worst contract in baseball. Guy's body is showing the signs of a dude who carried teams on his back for too many years. Obviously the Hamilton situation left us with a big hole. But even he was suffering from body failure too. No knock on Johnny G, but we traded Kendrick - a key offensive and defensive component. Irregardless of what we got for him, that was a real loss. For all the dps how hit into, he had many a clutch hits. He also was magic defensively. Sadly, Weaver has lost it. But the pitching isn't getting rocked. If our offense was any good, we'd probably be right on the Astros heels.

 

I agree with most of your post, but wanted to point out your use of that word after chastising someone for incorrectly using "payed" in your previous post.

[Jobu]

Yes I am condescending to people that are super duper repetitive and the only "value" they add to this forum is telling us how shitty Albert, Arte, and Scioscia are. I also am condescending to people who speak in absolutes.

It hasn't occurred to you that by following Claude around pointing out his repetitive posts, you are yourself becoming repetitive?

[Ohtaniland]

Of course you blame Albert, you spun your wheel and it came up "BLAME ALBERT". Next time you spin I am sure it will come up, "BLAME ARTE". If it doesn't then it will be, "SOSH'S FAULT".[/quote

Strad, my opinions are based on what I've observed on the field. I share my opinions openly and freely but I do expect a certain level of respect in doing so. It's a message board so I don't expect every post to be sweet. I just find it concerning that you attack people for not being a superfan. I'm an Angels fan but I have concerns about the teams performance and overall make up. We don't always agree but I don't make it personal with you or any other poster here. I think you take it too far with your policing the board. You need to chill out and let people say what they feel. If you want people to leave the board because they don't agree with you just say it.

I will just say it.... Albert is the biggest disappointment in terms of what he was suppose to bring to the team. Arte and Jerry have made some huge boneheaded decisions in regards to Pujols and Hamilton. The Angels are chasing the Astros. What in the hell do want to say?

[HeavenlyHalos]

I'll ask you this, if he didn't condone it this year, who do you play when Aybar runs us out of an inning? Or tonight when Trout got doubled up off of first? Do you just go with Featherston at SS and Cowgill in center when you bench the guys making the mistakes? It isn't reckless base running, it is aggressive base running. Oh and KC did this to us, they just have a team that can do it. We all hated the steal attempt tonight, but if we had a player like Jarrod Dyson on the bench or Old School Figgins we would have loved it.

 

Obviously you don't bench Trout or Aybar for lesser alternatives, but my biggest issue with Scioscia is that he doesn't adjust to his current roster. It's one of the reasons NFL coaches get fired all the time; they think their way is the perfect system, and don't adjust to their current QB's strengths/weaknesses. Yes, Dipoto hasn't assembled a roster of good baserunners, but I blame Scioscia for not adjusting his offensive philosophy to try and mask one of the current team's biggest weaknesses, and it has been this way for several seasons.

 

With that said, the lineup outside of 3 players is all massively failing so far, which I cannot put on Scioscia. But the one thing I absolutely blame him for is the team's baserunning mistakes and his overall philosophy of aggressive baserunning despite not having the roster to do so for many years. Your last statement is absolutely true, but we don't have that type of player on our roster, and yet, the manager still likes to treat some of the players like they have that particular asset. 

[eaterfan]

Are we sure the Angels haven't adjusted their style? I'm pretty sure they are stealing far fewer bases than they were in 2002-2006. I think they are doing fewer hit and runs and bunting less too.

[Angel Dog and Beer]

Seriously, we are a Trout hamstring pull away from having a very crappy offense. Could you imagine?

[WallyWorld]

Seriously, we are a Trout hamstring pull away from having a very crappy offense. Could you imagine?

 

we have a very crappy offense. Take Trout away and it's undoubtedly the worst offense in baseball.

[HeavenlyHalos]

Are we sure the Angels haven't adjusted their style? I'm pretty sure they are stealing far fewer bases than they were in 2002-2006. I think they are doing fewer hit and runs and bunting less too.

 

That is most likely true, but I think the better measure would be the outs that occur on bases.

 

First is 2012: http://www.baseball-...ing_batting::21

 

First in 2013: http://www.baseball-...g-batting.shtml

 

Second last year: http://www.baseball-...g-batting.shtml

 

Tied for second this season: http://www.baseball-...g-batting.shtml

 

I don't know how anyone could view that as not an issue with this team's coaching philosophy. We have the worst third base coach I have ever seen.

[HeavenlyHalos]

Players not named Trout have 4 stolen bases compared to 8 caught stealing. Even with Trout (6 SB - 0 CS), we have the 6th worst SB% in the majors.

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

I agree with most of your post, but wanted to point out your use of that word after chastising someone for incorrectly using "payed" in your previous post.

There's nothing wrong with the word or how I used it.

[Chimi]

I agree that this is not a Mike Scioscia team.  It's been like this for years.  Angels used to manufacture a lot or runs when they were successful.  They weren't relying on the long ball like this team is.  When you look at it, 4 of the last 8 runs this team has scored have been from solo HRs.

 

When you look at the 2008 and 2009 teams, they didn't rely on hitting HRs.  Of those two years, only one guy hit over 30 HRs and that was Kendrys in 2009.  They didn't have superstars on the team outside of a declining Vlad. They were made up of guys like Torii Hunter, Aybar, Kendrick, Figgins, Izturis, Abreu, Juan Rivera, and Jeff Mathis.  Which of those guys screams at you great offense?  But they were the type of guys that Mike Scioscia wants on his teams.   Guys who can get on base and go first to third on singles.  I remember when the Angels we're looked at by other teams as being a great first to third team.  A team that could steal bases once they got one.  A team that could advance runners and get sac flies when needed.

 

This current team (and the teams of the past few years) have gotten away from this style of play.  And unfortunately, that style of play is what Scioscia wants to do.  If the Angels as an organization no longer want to do that and want to do what the Yankees did and out slug teams, then Scioscia isn't there guy.  And this is coming from a huge Scioscia fan.  I like Scioscia's philosophy and how he wants to play the game.  

 

It's funny ... last year during the ALDS, when the Angels were playing the Royals, it was fun to watch the Royals play because they reminded me so much of what the Angels used to be.

[Hollyw00d]

Last year we only had one player hit 30 home runs too

[Stradling]

Of course you blame Albert, you spun your wheel and it came up "BLAME ALBERT". Next time you spin I am sure it will come up, "BLAME ARTE". If it doesn't then it will be, "SOSH'S FAULT".[/quote

Strad, my opinions are based on what I've observed on the field. I share my opinions openly and freely but I do expect a certain level of respect in doing so. It's a message board so I don't expect every post to be sweet. I just find it concerning that you attack people for not being a superfan. I'm an Angels fan but I have concerns about the teams performance and overall make up. We don't always agree but I don't make it personal with you or any other poster here. I think you take it too far with your policing the board. You need to chill out and let people say what they feel. If you want people to leave the board because they don't agree with you just say it.

I will just say it.... Albert is the biggest disappointment in terms of what he was suppose to bring to the team. Arte and Jerry have made some huge boneheaded decisions in regards to Pujols and Hamilton. The Angels are chasing the Astros. What in the hell do want to say?

You don't base your opinions based on what you see on the field. Most of your opinions are based on how you feel about a player or front office person. You don't judge Arte based on what you see on the field. You don't base your opinion of the the name change based on what you see on the field. You didn't base your opinon of Josh based on what you saw on the field, you based that off of something entirely differently, and you know that is the truth. Albert has been a huge disappointment, but even with that being said, you still beat that horse EVERY SINGLE DAY. Hell last night he had two hits and you were complaining that I coddled him because I didn't care that he didn't take out the second baseman. I respect you like few others on here for your charitable work, I think that is amazing. I will leave you and your opinions alone because as someone pointed out I am becoming you.

[Ohtaniland]

I agree that this is not a Mike Scioscia team. It's been like this for years. Angels used to manufacture a lot or runs when they were successful. They weren't relying on the long ball like this team is. When you look at it, 4 of the last 8 runs this team has scored have been from solo HRs.

When you look at the 2008 and 2009 teams, they didn't rely on hitting HRs. Of those two years, only one guy hit over 30 HRs and that was Kendrys in 2009. They didn't have superstars on the team outside of a declining Vlad. They were made up of guys like Torii Hunter, Aybar, Kendrick, Figgins, Izturis, Abreu, Juan Rivera, and Jeff Mathis. Which of those guys screams at you great offense? But they were the type of guys that Mike Scioscia wants on his teams. Guys who can get on base and go first to third on singles. I remember when the Angels we're looked at by other teams as being a great first to third team. A team that could steal bases once they got one. A team that could advance runners and get sac flies when needed.

This current team (and the teams of the past few years) have gotten away from this style of play. And unfortunately, that style of play is what Scioscia wants to do. If the Angels as an organization no longer want to do that and want to do what the Yankees did and out slug teams, then Scioscia isn't there guy. And this is coming from a huge Scioscia fan. I like Scioscia's philosophy and how he wants to play the game.

It's funny ... last year during the ALDS, when the Angels were playing the Royals, it was fun to watch the Royals play because they reminded me so much of what the Angels used to be.

Great points. Additionally we don't have a hitters ballpark that supports the long ball batting cage mentality.

[HeavenlyHalos]

There's nothing wrong with the word or how I used it.

 

 

Despite what American Dad says, it is certainly a word. It's definition is.....: regardless.

 

[ten ocho recon scout]

In game management has been a problem for a while. That's on Scioscia.

But if the players were performing up to their previous standards, those mistakes wouldn't be as magnified as they are now.

However, we have to acknowledge the two very big elephants in the room.

One of those elephants was signed to a quarter of a billion dollars and is steadily declining.

The other elephant is now the property of the Texas Rangers.

We shouldn't have signed either elephant. Arte Moreno is not the Ringling Brothers.

arte likes his elephants. Remember escobar?..

[stormngt]

Agree with a lot that you say. The team is poorly constructed. However despite our high payroll there is little manuevering. They planned on getting contribution from Josh. That blew up in their face. They planned on repeat offensive performance from Ianetta and Aybar. It's still early but the team was poorly constructed.

Of course it was an emotional response, but it is also how I see the team right now. Do I think these two (Dipoto and Sosh) can co-exist, sure, if they get Sosh the kind of players he is comfortable with that compliments his style of play. He has exactly five of his type of players on the team, Trout, Kole, Johnny G, Aybar and Cowgill, the rest can't run, can't take an extra base and for the most part can't play defense. Where they took care of Sosh is by giving him a good back end of the bullpen. This team, is poorly constructed, plain and simple. We have a large budget, but we have a bench of less than stellar players. Now that wouldn't matter much if the starters were doing their job, but in reality they aren't. How many of our every day players are performing how anyone thought they would? I count possibly four, Trout, Kole, Johnny G (exceeding expectations) and Freese (but only because we didn't have high expectations). If you follow me on twitter you know I ALWAYS lean towards personal accountability of the players. Even if this team starts to perform, and I think it will be much better than this we still have a team of one dimensional players. We have a total of two guys on the roster that can hit for power and go first to third regularly. I am not saying this season is over, I am just saying that we are limited and EVERY player must do his part, or this will continue to be a brutal team to watch. This isn't Scioscia's fault but if I had to keep one or the other I would keep Dipoto.

[beatlesrule]

Well if anyone goes, it will be Dipoto.  We should all know by now that Arte is in love with Scioscia.  It's odd too because Scioscia has never won him a World Series or even gotten him there.  It's a strange alliance and dedication that Arte has with Scioscia.