OK, Apologists, let's hear it

[jshep]

Yet Santana is pitching like we knew he was capable of and Blanton is too.

 

And we also knew Santana was perfectly capable of pitching like Blanton is now.

 

Not defending the Blanton contract, but Santana was one of the worst starters in the game last year and was going to be paid pretty handsomely.

[bloodbrother]

This team sucks.  I think Arte needs to clean house.

 

Yep

 

And I hope Blanton is DFA shortly and Richards given an everyday spot in the rotation.

[Chuck]

I blame Dipoto for the awful decision to sign Joe Blanton.  I blame Joe Blanton for sucking well beyond the level we expected him to suck. 

 

That's about the only thing I'll criticize Dipoto for.

 

Blame your FACKING 3rd and 4th hitters in the lineup and high priced flops this season, not Dipoto.

 

WE WERE ALL JACKED UP TO GET PUJOLS AND HAMILTON. Anyone who wants to say otherwise is a liar. 

 

Blanton isn't the only reason the club is 10 games back and sucking ass.

 

Injuries.

Pujols & Hamilton sucking

Trout not the Trout of 2012

Bad Defense

Poor baserunning, including poor execution of stealing bases (blame Scioscia & the players here).

Nobody stepping up to be the leader in the clubhouse (this includes Scioscia who I believe the players don't respond to anymore)

Blanton

[xboom28x]

Anyone who is questioning letting Santana walk is having selective memory issues.  

 

Now the Blanton signing is a different thing.  

 

Disagree. Santana had a habit of coming back after a down year. He had done it 3 times previously.

[Taylor]

Yep, LT, I was making a play on words; using the wrong homograph, just like the poster did.  Sorry you didn't get it.

 

Who you calling a homo?

[Tyler]

Blanton has what around 1/3 of our season losses? He is the problem.

[Stradling]

So you give an inconsistent pitcher $15 million a year?

[Earnest Borgnine of 9]

Blanton has what around 1/3 of our season losses? He is the problem.

Not really the criteria I would use to evaluate a pitcher.  Some get more run support than others.  Also, oddly, he has pitched against a lot of very good pitchers from other teams for some reason (schedule, etc). 

[xboom28x]

So you give an inconsistent pitcher $15 million a year?

 

For the one season yes. He was due to bounce back, plus, if the offense was as poor as it is now, Santana could have fetched you something at the deadline better than the crap in a can we got in return for him.

[Scott34]

7.5M a year, but yeah.

[Angels]

Dipoto built a team that looked really good on paper. Every relevant projection system loved this team, too.

 

How is it his fault that this team is playing so poorly? Could anyone have predicted this team would play so poorly? Could you?

 

Dipoto got the pieces, it's up to the coaches and manager to get the most (or at least what was EXPECTED) from his players. That hasn't happened. At least Scioscia and Butcher have to go. 

[Taylor]

Blanton was a terrible signing, but that doesn't mean we should have kept Santana. That was the right move.

[Earnest Borgnine of 9]

Dipoto built a team that looked really good on paper. Every relevant projection system loved this team, too.

 

How is it his fault that this team is playing so poorly? Could anyone have predicted this team would play so poorly? Could you?

 

Dipoto got the pieces, it's up to the coaches and manager to get the most (or at least what was EXPECTED) from his players. That hasn't happened. At least Scioscia and Butcher have to go. 

It's simple: when a trade works out for you, it was a good trade.  When it doesn't...

[jshep]

For the one season yes. He was due to bounce back, plus, if the offense was as poor as it is now, Santana could have fetched you something at the deadline better than the crap in a can we got in return for him.

 

Or you know, he could have very possibly been one of the worst starters in the majors again and been worthless.

 

Which would have been followed by 11 million threads about "WHY DID DIPOTO BRING BACK SANTANA???!?!??!?!?!?"

[Angel Oracle]

Yep, for Santana we got a guy undergoing TJ surgery before the season even started.

It figures.

[OregonLAA]

Blanton sucks. But who else should we have signed? Seriously.

[Docwaukee]

signing Blanton - bad decision

 

keeping Santana - also a bad decision. 

[bloodbrother]

I was fine with letting Ervin and Haren go. Both players did NOT deserve their options getting picked up, not after the seasons they had. I wish they would have tried for Anibal Sanchez though, especially when they missed out on Greinke(or moved on as the rumors said). I was excited about the Hamilton signing but it was still weird to see them spend that kind of coin on a bat rather than an arm

 

The Blanton signing was crap from the get-go and a majority of us hated it. Bad enough they signed him but for 2 years? No clue what Dipoto was thinking here and I just hope the team moves on from this soon. This is almost as bad as watching Jeff Weaver pitch in an Halos uni

 

The offense is fine going forward but there is a lot of work that needs to be done with this pitching. I don't see this being fixed in one offseason. The farm is barren with little to NO close to big league ready pitching talent. They need a few good drafts and to hit on some electric arms(starters and relievers), look to sign a solid starter in the offseason....can't go for the top tier arms considreing all the money they have locked up to Weav, CJ, Hamilton and Pujols, so it will have to be bargain basement arms yet again

[OCAngels]

Can the team needing time to "gel" better really be that big of an issue?  Enough to contribute to this many losses?  Maybe Haren had a point, but it has to be more of a contributing factor vs the main reason.  Staff turnover can't stifle winning this much, can it?

[Tyler]

Not really the criteria I would use to evaluate a pitcher.  Some get more run support than others.  Also, oddly, he has pitched against a lot of very good pitchers from other teams for some reas

Not really the criteria I would use to evaluate a pitcher.  Some get more run support than others.  Also, oddly, he has pitched against a lot of very good pitchers from other teams for some reason (schedule, etc).

Everyone is aware of his peripherals.

[Scott34]

The. Offense. Is. Not. The. Main. Problem.

[robblin17]

None of this is Scioscia's fault. That is crazy talk!

[xboom28x]

Or you know, he could have very possibly been one of the worst starters in the majors again and been worthless.

 

Which would have been followed by 11 million threads about "WHY DID DIPOTO BRING BACK SANTANA???!?!??!?!?!?"

 

If Santana was terrible year after year I would agree. But his MO was to bounce back after a bad season. He had done it too many times for it not to be a strong possibility

[austin724]

I didn't like Santana and I don't like Blanton. We should have gone out and got a young front line pitcher who was relatively cheap that has a lot of upside.

[Earnest Borgnine of 9]

ame="Earnest Borgnine of 9" post="81864" timestamp="1368505984"]Not really the criteria I would use to evaluate a pitcher.  Some get more run support than others.  Also, oddly, he has pitched against a lot of very good pitchers from other teams for some reas

Everyone is aware of his peripherals.

Um, OK.  Thanks.