15 Years

[Angelsjunky]

That's how many years the Angels went without making the playoffs, from 1987 through 2001. Remember that, folks? There were a few close calls - 1995, of course, and the Angels were decent in 1997-98. But that's a decade and a half of impotence.

 

Just putting these last four years in context.

 

(Its hard to believe that its been that long - since 2009 - that the Angels have been in the playoffs).

[Adam]

We suck again!

[Halononymous]

What about 1961 to 1978? That was 18 years of futility.

[AngelArcher]

I've been a fan since the early 90s and every spring I would have a little hope of them making the playoffs, but never any full on expectations. That's the different and that's where all the frustration, anger, resentment, embarrassment comes into play.

[rageous]

But Hamilton is about to go on a tear right?

[Fontana Halo]

A lot of those years, there was no expectation to go to the playoffs. The franchise wouldn't break the bank to bring in star players, and outside of Salmon and Anderson they'd trade away guys that looked like they were going to become stars. There was a revolving door of managers who were nobodies that couldn't get a job anywhere else. Winning 85 games was considered overachieving. Expecting those teams to make the playoffs is the equivalent of expecting to meet a super model on an internet dating website. It was a nice thought but it was far from reality.

 

Based on spending, structure, and accomplishments of the players on the roster, there is no way you can even compare then and now.

[rageous]

Watching young players come up succeed/fail is much more enjoyable than watching overpaid over the hill players like Pujols, Blanton, and Hamilton play every day.

[Mudville]

I think sour grapes is prevailing here. The 90's teams were collosal dissapointments because we knew they were one pitcher or one bat from a playoff berth but the Autries were done spending. Although the money spent now appears to be directed to the wrong players the fact is the past sucess put them out of the solid draft picks the Angels used to get being a perenial bottom tier team. 

 

The 90's won't happen again with a bunch of young guys that are true MLB talent until the Angels have several Mariners quality bad seasons to pump prime the minors with top draft picks.

 

Is that what you guys really want? A total crash and burn for 5 more years to restock the farm? If you think the team is underperforming now just imagine this being the norm.

[yk9001]

Is that what you guys really want?

 

Yes.  I hate watching overpaid players whose best years were elsewhere.

[rageous]

I think sour grapes is prevailing here. The 90's teams were collosal dissapointments because we knew they were one pitcher or one bat from a playoff berth but the Autries were done spending. Although the money spent now appears to be directed to the wrong players the fact is the past sucess put them out of the solid draft picks the Angels used to get being a perenial bottom tier team. 

 

The 90's won't happen again with a bunch of young guys that are true MLB talent until the Angels have several Mariners quality bad seasons to pump prime the minors with top draft picks.

 

Is that what you guys really want? A total crash and burn for 5 more years to restock the farm? If you think the team is underperforming now just imagine this being the norm.

As compared to having one of the worst record in the history of the team through the first quarter of the season with one of the highest payrolls in the league?

[austin724]

Nobody knows what the next few years are going to bring. This season may be their 2001 type season and we all know what happened next!

[Mudville]

Quater season is worse than five years of the same as what we see now only with more no names like Shuck in the lineup, effectively burning Trout's best years. It can be arranged, 

[Mudville]

Trout's best years are now.

 

Yes.  I hate watching overpaid players whose best years were elsewhere.

[AZMike]

As compared to having one of the worst record in the history of the team through the first quarter of the season with one of the highest payrolls in the league?

...with absolutely zero flexiblity to make any sort of moves whatsoever. No farm system. No payroll headroom without going into luxury tax h#ll. 

 

We're stuck with this team for the next five years but unliike a rebuild situation we have very little upside. And we will be paying $100M a year in immovable albatross contracts in the meantime. 

[Angel Oracle]

Funny, the Cardinals have always had a solid farm, despite almost always being at least in contention for the post-season.

It's called having good scouts, something this org never seemed to get, to the point of even employing Squiggy as a scout.

It's also called not ignoring foreign scouting.

[Erstad Grit]

I'd take the 95 team over this any day. 

[fan_since79]

I'd take the 95 team over this any day. 

Yeah, that team was a barrel of laughs.

 

[Mudville]

The Cardinals were plenty active in free agency and had Pujols for 12 years at his peak but yes, their draft picks have had better success at the MLB level than the Angels picks. They have nothing on their roster that says a foriegn presence other than Yadiar Molina and Fernando Salas in the bullpen.

 

 

BTW the Cardinals passed on Trout with their 15th pick in the draft to take high school pitcher Shelby Miller that is kicking ass in the majors as well.

 

Funny, the Cardinals have always had a solid farm, despite almost always being at least in contention for the post-season.
It's called having good scouts, something this org never seemed to get, to the point of even employing Squiggy as a scout.
It's also called not ignoring foreign scouting.

[Mudville]

I liked the uniforms.

 

I'd take the 95 team over this any day. 

[rageous]

Quater season is worse than five years of the same as what we see now only with more no names like Shuck in the lineup, effectively burning Trout's best years. It can be arranged, 

We are going on 4th straight seasons of no playoffs.

[AZMike]

We are going on 4th straight seasons of no playoffs.

Yep. Had the team prioritized accumulating prospects and young talent during the 2010-2012 years instead of dealing them away in crapshoot trades to "win now" we would have finished not much worse in all those years, but would have something like $100M in payroll headroom to lock up good homegrown players (including the players we might have drafted with top picks lost to free agent compensation). We would have at least as much talent on the field today -- most of our best players are the young homegrown talent anyway -- and would have far far more in the pipeline for the next 4 years.

[Tank]

i thought this thread was going to be about joe blanton's contract extension.

 

carry on.

[70runner]

i thought this thread was going to be about joe blanton's contract extension.

 

carry on.

 

or Scioscia's

[Angelsjunky]

Is that what you guys really want? A total crash and burn for 5 more years to restock the farm? If you think the team is underperforming now just imagine this being the norm.

 

I don't think it has to be crash and burn IF the Angels took a more sustainable approach like the Braves or Cardinals, who have minor dips but manage to contend most years.

 

...with absolutely zero flexiblity to make any sort of moves whatsoever. No farm system. No payroll headroom without going into luxury tax h#ll. 

 

We're stuck with this team for the next five years but unliike a rebuild situation we have very little upside. And we will be paying $100M a year in immovable albatross contracts in the meantime. 

 

This is my concern. There aren't a lot of sellable parts other than the parts you'd want to keep to build the next contender (e.g. Trout, Trumbo, Bourjos). No one would take Pujols or Hamilton. I suppose Kendrick and Aybar have value but there's no one to replace them with, at least not until Stamets, Lindsey and Yarbrough are ready - and none of those guys look all that great.

 

Funny, the Cardinals have always had a solid farm, despite almost always being at least in contention for the post-season.

It's called having good scouts, something this org never seemed to get, to the point of even employing Squiggy as a scout.

It's also called not ignoring foreign scouting.

 

Exactly. Or look at the Braves. This is where I really worry about the organizational ethos. It seems that Arte Moreno is closer to Peter Angelos than Ted Turner/Time Warner/James Malone, unfortunately - the meddling owner who doesn't know baseball all that well and actually inhibits the team's success with poor decisions.

 

All that said, I'm more optimistic than some. 38 games doesn't make or break an organization. While this year has been disappointing, not only is it not over, its also just one year. Even though I'm concerned about the near future of this club, I also like what I've heard Dipoto say as a whole. I think he wants to build an organization more similar to the Braves or Cardinals, but it remains to be seen whether Arte will let him AND if he has the smarts for it. At the least it should be interesting to see how it all unfolds.

[AngelsFaninGA]

The Cardinals were plenty active in free agency and had Pujols for 12 years at his peak but yes, their draft picks have had better success at the MLB level than the Angels picks. They have nothing on their roster that says a foriegn presence other than Yadiar Molina and Fernando Salas in the bullpen.

 

 

BTW the Cardinals passed on Trout with their 15th pick in the draft to take high school pitcher Shelby Miller that is kicking ass in the majors as well.

 

Actually Oscar Taveras and Carlos Martinez were both international free-agent signees.