Terry Smith defends his buddy Scioscia, but admits he could be fired

[Angel Oracle]

Carlota is saying something that seems to be the case far too often here: players declining after arriving here. This seems to be the case going back to even the late 2000s.

That plus scouting are two huge areas that need to start being addressed sometime in 2013.

[shellback]

as long as attedance stays high what the hell should arte care? its about money. and as long as the team meets economic projections, i doubt much will change.

[Sully151]

Well to be fair, K-rod wasn't so great when he left. Neither were Figgins or Lackey.

[Troll Daddy]

The grass isn't always greener on the other side.

[Terri Worthington]

You've hit the nail on the head Shelback. The problem is at the top and filters down to the lowest level. Signing big names puts butts in the seats and that equates $$$. It's a business at the end of the day. I don't think Arte is the owner he portrays to be.

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

Figures it would be the "new" guy to speak the truth and say this is unacceptable.

I like Langston. I hope he doesn't lose his job for telling the truth. Terry has been lying to save his for years.

Solid agreement with the Juice bar here. Langston is refreshing. We need more of this honesty. I like seeing that Langston is a bit more honest and passionate about the position of the team. I've never liked the idea of the Angels controlling what the announcers say (no lifetime, I don't have any corporate memos dictating such) but its nice to see victor take a rip every now and then at the team too.

[Jikkle]

Terry said this on Angel Talk: "This team has some shortcomings right now, and I don't think it's the manager."  He blamed "injuries and lack of production in some areas."

 

Langston said "darts will start to fly" on Scioscia and Butcher even though he believes it's not Scioscia's fault, he said it's the fault of the players not performing.  He was talking about how managers tend to get fired for underperforming teams.

 

Terry did add if we keep losing "something will happen, whether it's the manager, or the pitching coach, or trades, or the general manager."  Langston agreed, saying the way the team is playing is unacceptable.

 

I never agreed with the whole blame everything on the players argument.

 

To me it's up to the coaches to coach these guys up and get them to perform at a high level and maximize their talents by teaching them and identifying and finding solutions to problems. 

 

If it was completely up to the players to perform than why have coaches in the first place?  Save your money and just have a manager or a player/manager and let them do their thing since it's up to them anyways right?

 

And I completely agree with Carlota in that why is it once these guys put on an Angel uniform they underperform?  How many guys have we brought in that actually did better than expected?

 

Yes it's not all Scioscia and magically firing him and the staff isn't going to fix everything but he's part of the problem not helping it and since you can't fire the players you should at least fix the problems you are able too.

[Jay]

Sorry but I can't blame Josh Hamilton's hitting struggles on the batting coach.  Hamilton is supposed to know how to hit by the time he gets to this level.  Shouldn't matter which uniform he's wearing, or which park he's playing in.  He's a professional hitter and should know how to hit.

[robblin17]

What? Outside of April last year, Pujols has been Pujols. In fact, this year he's a bright spot. Granted he's injured, but he's hitting the ball well. Hamilton is streaky, and has been hitting better as of late, but needs to get better of course. But to say it was evaluated incorrectly is short sighted IMO.

 

 

Talk about a short sighted response. Pujols contract is going to be fine for the first 4, hopefully 5 years (even though he is seemingly breaking down more and more each year). It is years 6-10 where this could be a disaster. I know this is what it was going to take to sign him so hopefully we see a championship in these first 4-5 years. Not looking like we will be even close to competing for one of those. 

 

I would hope Pujols would be Pujols in the second year of his contract. My god. 

[Glen]

Winning puts more butts in seats than does signing big names, over the long term.  If this team is out of it after the ASB attendance will drop.  If they're winning, people will show up.  

[tdawg87]

If you listen to fans long enough, we will not have a serviceable team, they would fire everybody. Fans are reactionary, the organization can't afford to be reactionary - they need to be strategic, and take a longer term view.

Yes, I am sure any personell decisions are based entirely on what the fans are saying.

[jshep]

Yes, I am sure any personell decisions are based entirely on what the fans are saying.

 

If they are(which of course they aren't), god help us all.

[Angel Oracle]

What players have come here in the past 5 years, who performed at or better than their previous numbers for at least 2 years here?

 

It's got to be a small %.

[T.G.]

Terry Smith does a great job... there's no way I would show the same amount of patience that he has with some of the callers. 

[Jay]

What players have come here in the past 5 years, who performed at or better than their previous numbers for at least 2 years here?

 

It's got to be a small %.

 

That could say as much about our GM as the coaching staff.

[robblin17]

That could say as much about our GM as the coaching staff.

 

How? The GM provides the players. It is up to the coaching staff to decided what to do with them. Scioscia has been provided more than competent players to work with.

[tj_]

How? The GM provides the players. It is up to the coaching staff to decided what to do with them. Scioscia has been provided more than competent players to work with. 

 

The pitching staff looks pretty incompetent to me.

[robblin17]

The pitching staff looks pretty incompetent to me.

 

Yeah, Wilson looked this bad when he pitched with the Rangers, hell same could even be said about Vargas. Blanton just sucks, but even he was not this bad.

[Jim]

Sorry but I can't blame Josh Hamilton's hitting struggles on the batting coach.  Hamilton is supposed to know how to hit by the time he gets to this level.  Shouldn't matter which uniform he's wearing, or which park he's playing in.  He's a professional hitter and should know how to hit.

I agree, it's not the batting coach. Josh knows how to hit. It's all about him pressing along with his normal streakyness. He'll come around. And when he does, it will be fun to watch.

[Carlota Gonzalez]

Talk about a short sighted response. Pujols contract is going to be fine for the first 4, hopefully 5 years (even though he is seemingly breaking down more and more each year). It is years 6-10 where this could be a disaster. I know this is what it was going to take to sign him so hopefully we see a championship in these first 4-5 years. Not looking like we will be even close to competing for one of those. 

 

I would hope Pujols would be Pujols in the second year of his contract. My god. 

Excuse me?? Do you have a problem with reading comprehension? I said OUTSIDE OF APRIL, PUJOLS WAS PUJOLS. He batted over .300 and had x amount of RBIS and HRs (Im sure someone has exact numbers). regardless, those numbers were PUJOLS numbers. THAT WAS IN HIS FIRST YEAR. And this year, his 2nd year, so far, outside of his sluggish running abilities, he has been hitting very well, sqauring up the ball, getting on base and ultimately doing what he should be. Hes been a bright spot, or at least he hasnt been the problem.

 

His contract is long, yes and I think we are all resigned to the fact that the last few years of it are going to be tough. but that has nothing to do with rigt now, and right now, hes doing his job.

[Jim]

Winning puts more butts in seats than does signing big names, over the long term.  If this team is out of it after the ASB attendance will drop.  If they're winning, people will show up.  

You should have put “FACT” in bold letters after that statement. Hell, throw in a couple of these”!” also.

[fan_since79]

I agree, it's not the batting coach. Josh knows how to hit. It's all about him pressing along with his normal streakyness. He'll come around. And when he does, it will be fun to watch.

He's got to stop swinging at that first pitch breaking ball and grounding into double plays to kill a rally.

 

Just stop it, Josh!!!

[ispy45]

Excuse me?? Do you have a problem with reading comprehension? I said OUTSIDE OF APRIL, PUJOLS WAS PUJOLS. He batted over .300 and had x amount of RBIS and HRs (Im sure someone has exact numbers). regardless, those numbers were PUJOLS numbers. THAT WAS IN HIS FIRST YEAR. And this year, his 2nd year, so far, outside of his sluggish running abilities, he has been hitting very well, sqauring up the ball, getting on base and ultimately doing what he should be. Hes been a bright spot, or at least he hasnt been the problem.

 

His contract is long, yes and I think we are all resigned to the fact that the last few years of it are going to be tough. but that has nothing to do with rigt now, and right now, hes doing his job.

Agreed, 1-8 years from now is irrelevant to the 2013 season.

[Jim]

How? The GM provides the players. It is up to the coaching staff to decided what to do with them. Scioscia has been provided more than competent players to work with.

If they were competent, they wouldn't be doing poorly. Hence, would be playing up to expectations, no?

[robblin17]

Excuse me?? Do you have a problem with reading comprehension? I said OUTSIDE OF APRIL, PUJOLS WAS PUJOLS. He batted over .300 and had x amount of RBIS and HRs (Im sure someone has exact numbers). regardless, those numbers were PUJOLS numbers. THAT WAS IN HIS FIRST YEAR. And this year, his 2nd year, so far, outside of his sluggish running abilities, he has been hitting very well, sqauring up the ball, getting on base and ultimately doing what he should be. Hes been a bright spot, or at least he hasnt been the problem.

 

His contract is long, yes and I think we are all resigned to the fact that the last few years of it are going to be tough. but that has nothing to do with rigt now, and right now, hes doing his job.

 

Ummm...I think we are saying the exact same thing, bud. Pujols has been fine, I am not arguing he has not been. Pujols looks like he will not be fine in years 6-10. That has to go into consideration when evaluating the player long term. I would hope he would not be having as many injury problems this early on in the contract too. That cannot be thrown under the rug.