Insane

[Halos of Anaheim]

Sam Miller ********@SamMillerBP 4m

Pujols, Weaver, Wilson, Hamilton are making $60 million this year, but $98 million in 2016

[Tyler]

Putting that LA in front of the Angels sure as hell paid off.

[bloodbrother]

That's depressing

[Halos of Anaheim]

I can't believe were stuck with this team for 5 more years.

[Angel Oracle]

At least 3 years for sure, lovely isn't it?

[Ohtaniland]

Can we re-visit the "Thank you Arte" and the "Thank you Jerry" threads from the previous forum.

[Chuck]

Thank you Arte and Jerry. You both tried to put the best team you could on the field.

For that, I'm grateful.

The blame is on the manager & players, not either of these guys.

[AngelsAndRamsFan]

5 and 10 year contracts that are back loaded for players that are over 30-years-old suck!!   

[Docwaukee]

Thank you Arte and Jerry. You both tried to put the best team you could on the field.

For that, I'm grateful.

The blame is on the manager & players, not either of these guys.

yep. 

[Lifetime]

Thank you Arte and Jerry. You both tried to put the best team you could on the field.

For that, I'm grateful.

The blame is on the manager & players, not either of these guys.

I don't think you can obsolve Jerry in this Chuck. 

[jshep]

I don't think you can obsolve Jerry in this Chuck. 

 

Or Arte

[Docwaukee]

5 and 10 year contracts that are back loaded for players that are over 30-years-old suck!!   

yes.  very much so.  yet they are supposed to ok for the first 2/3rds or even half and then suck at the end.  Those guys are supposed to produce at a level similar to perhaps slightly below their most recent two to three previous. 

 

You guys don't think Arte know that the last 3-4 years of Albert's contract is gonna be a disaster? Or the last 1-2 of the Wilson and Hamilton contracts?  Of course he does.  Those guys were supposed to give us a 4-5 year window to rebuild the farm while still winning.  Their decline wasn't supposed to happen this soon. 

[Docwaukee]

No one is absolving anyone.  Or at least I'm not.  If the team is still not performing because the farm hasn't been rebuilt in 4 years, then I'll be calling for a change in management.  But right now, it's on the players and coaches for not performing. 

[Lifetime]

To that point doc, some of the players are a direct result of choices Dipoto made. I certainly think the biggest burden is on the players to get the job done. 

[Chuck]

yep.

Nobody here, not even the baseball experts or media predicted this mess to open the season. Pujols' foot injury, Weaver's DL stint, Hamilton's swing and miss act or even Trout's slow start.

The team that was assembled was good enough to make the playoffs and from that point forward, who knows.

The blame is on the players and a manager that cannot right a sinking ship of talented players.

[Docwaukee]

To that point doc, some of the players are a direct result of choices Dipoto made. I certainly think the biggest burden is on the players to get the job done. 

yep.  He certainly has made some bad decisions.  The Blanton signing is a head scratcher for sure.  He didn't fix the pen to the level it needed to be but damn there has been some bad baseball.  I also give JD some grace because of what he was left with. 

[Lifetime]

The pitching would still have been the weak link again though Chuck. The offense should be a lot better, the pitching should be slightly better. 

[Docwaukee]

Nobody here, not even the baseball experts or media predicted this mess to open the season. Pujols' foot injury, Weaver's DL stint, Hamilton's swing and miss act or even Trout's slow start.

The team that was assembled was good enough to make the playoffs and from that point forward, who knows.

The blame is on the players and a manager that cannot right a sinking ship of talented players.

They weren't as good as some thought and they had some pretty good sized holes going into the season, but they have lost almost every close or potentially winnable game.  Today was a great example.  It ended up not being winnable yet not getting that runner at home was huge.  Bringing in Barry Enright was awful.  Grounding out to the pitcher with a man on 3b was poor.  Bad freakin baseball. 

[Chuck]

The pitching would still have been the weak link again though Chuck. The offense should be a lot better, the pitching should be slightly better.

The pitching has been a lot worse than expected and Weaver giving us just one start hasn't helped.

The plan that was drawn out by Dipoto was a good one. The players just aren't executing.

[Lifetime]

The point is Chuck, even if the pitching had pitched to their norms, it still would have been a weak group overall. He didn't do a very good job shoring up the pitching. 

[AZMike]

The point is Chuck, even if the pitching had pitched to their norms, it still would have been a weak group overall. He didn't do a very good job shoring up the pitching. 

Agreed. In the best case scenario, I couldn't see this team getting past the ALDS round in the playoffs with a three-man rotation of:

 

Weaver (I fear he's going the way of Dan Haren w/ reduced velocity and nagging back injury issues)

Wilson (nibbler extraordinaire, not a great postseason recrod)

???

 

Where ??? is whoever is pitching best between Blanton, Hanson, Vargas, Richards and Williams.

 

 

The team didn't have sufficient pieces to trade for a pitcher without sacrificing a major league position player. 

 

Also, playing games of using west coast park factor to help a staff consisting almost entirely of flyball pitchers might work to get regular season wins, but would backfire in a playoff series with say 3 out of 5 starts in Arlington or Yankee Stadium.

[70runner]

Weavs, I love him, but that 85mph fastball he was using BEFORE he went on DL was scary.  He has enough grit to get by with that, but probably not dominate too many teams.  Trout will be fine as soon as he drops about 20-30lbs, hopefully before he kills himself in the outfield.  Isn't mentioned much, but the Aybar DL was both an offensive and defensive setback.  Now the PB hammy, one of the few (only?) bright spots, damn. 

 

With Hamilton and the woeful pitching, its a dark picture that seemed bright going in. 

[Lifetime]

Weaver's velocity will be fine. 

 

Trout needs to lose 20-30 lbs? 

[vlad27]

Weaver's velocity will be fine.

Trout needs to lose 20-30 lbs?

20-30 pounds - that's a bit over dramatic

[Homebrewer]

The only way for Arte to untangle this mess, is to turn the team over to Dipoto.

Allow him to find his own manager and coaching staff, and build the future without interference.