4 Straight, 8 of 9, and 12 of 15

[stormngt]

2 hours ago, gurn67 said:

Arte has never spent a dime on hiring a General Manager. He's probably spent more on Managers than any other owner during his tenure. Scioscia's contract is still the highest contract ever given to Manager by double the 2nd highest. He paid a ton of money to Maddon too. However, he has always hired first time General Managers who would take whatever piddly amount they were offered to get a chance that they may never get offered again. Just another example of the strange and ineffective way that he spends his money. There have been many proven championship building GM's that have been available during his ownership. Those guys can also bring in the top available front office people as well. However, he chooses to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on "superstar" free agents, or trading for big contracts, after their peak. Also, he spends near the bottom on GM's., scouting and player development. I'll guarantee you that the teams that invest more in their front office, scouting and development win much more consistently than those who blow money on free agents. I'm pretty sure he spent over $800,000,000 on Pujols, Hamilton, Rendon, Wells & Upton. How did those moves work out?

Good points 

[Swordsman78]

6 hours ago, Hubs said:

Isn’t losing this many games against subpar teams as bad as losing 12 in a row last year… (ultimately 14, but two were under Nevin). 
 

I don’t think firing the manager is going to solve all the problems but I’d be shocked if Nevin was back next year with anything short of a Braves 22 / Phillies 22 / Nationals 19 style second half.  

Also, I’d actually doubt Minasian was back. Despite his two good drafts and some good but some bad free agents. 
 

I know a lot of you want Arte to be gone but I don’t see that happening this year. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see a complete overhaul of the management and the front office if they slump again this season. 
 

And as far as injuries and bad luck go, it happens, they have to have depth to deal with it and they have had 10 plus years of terrible player development. Yes Minasian gets some credit for having acquired and promoted some good pieces but the team has struggled in developing them. And  some take longer than others like Thaiss, and Adell (hopefully).

 

This team has a lot of talent but isn’t executing the way it needs to as evidenced by poor bullpen performances and a lack of hitting with RISP. Nevin has too quick of a hook sometimes and too much patience others which leads me to believe it’s being called down from the front office, like Maddon claimed. 
 

I have tickets for four more games in various cities in the second half so I hope they turn it around, but if they don’t, well i doubt anyone is back. And Arte will still try to bring back Shohei, but it will be a difficult sell.

Both Perry and Phil will be back. 
 

The culprit was a slew of unfortunate injuries, not management.   
 

Don't be "that guy."   

[Torridd]

I don't want to make excuses but it's not surprising because of the brutal schedule and injuries. It will be great if they can win tonight and take the ASG break.

[Torridd]

5 hours ago, Turd Ferguson said:

New season, same story. Definition of insanity. Tear the thing down and start over, starting with an Ohtani trade. Might be painful for a few years but can't be any worse than the last 15.

Why do some want this? A teardown? OK, who stays? Just the kids? I don't want to see the team play like an expansion team. Praying you won't lose and knowing you're going to lose is two different things. And we're not guaranteed to come out like the Astros if that's done. 

[Swordsman78]

3 minutes ago, Torridd said:

I don't want to make excuses but it's not surprising because of the brutal schedule and injuries. It will be great if they can win tonight and take the ASG break.

The other injuries are a fact, not an excuse. 
 

Angel pitching is already sketchy, now have to trot out the "B teams" for the position players 

someone already pointed out the casualties.  Complete starting infield is out.

catcher

shortstop

3rd base

1St base

CF

Set up guy

No team in baseball is going to survive that.

[Palomar]

Funny the difference a few weeks makes.  You are never going to win unless the infield defense improves. 

[Swordsman78]

5 minutes ago, Palomar said:

Funny the difference a few weeks makes.  You are never going to win unless the infield defense improves. 

IMO infield defense improves with continuity of personnel.

Incredible  how the '70's Dodgers with Lopes, Cey, Garvey, and Russel managed to stay relatively healthy and produce at a high level for so many years. 
 

Maybe players were just "tougher" back then, or the Players Union was weaker.   

[Stradling]

15 hours ago, Swordsman78 said:

IMO infield defense improves with continuity of personnel.

Incredible  how the '70's Dodgers with Lopes, Cey, Garvey, and Russel managed to stay relatively healthy and produce at a high level for so many years. 
 

Maybe players were just "tougher" back then, or the Players Union was weaker.   

Or the competition is stronger now with it being an international game and players are bigger and stronger and more susceptible to muscle pull type injuries. 

[Jason]

33 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Or the competition is stronger now with it being an international game and players are bigger and stronger and more susceptible to muscle pull type injuries. 

Yep. Same goes for football 

[Hubs]

16 hours ago, Swordsman78 said:

Both Perry and Phil will be back. 
 

The culprit was a slew of unfortunate injuries, not management.   
 

Don't be "that guy."   

I don’t think either will honestly. But I guess we’ll see 

[Stradling]

Nevin won’t be back. Perry will but Nevin has almost no chance of being retained. 

[Dtwncbad]

If nobody believes in the competency of Moreno, Carpino, and Minasian, then what good would it do to “tear it down” or “rebuild” and start over?

Just to build a different team that can’t get to the postseason?

That sounds fun.

 

[Swordsman78]

6 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

If nobody believes in the competency of Moreno, Carpino, and Minasian, then what good would it do to “tear it down” or “rebuild” and start over?

Just to build a different team that can’t get to the postseason?

That sounds fun.

 

There is a continual and irrational blood lust from the twitter mob types.  It's ridiculous at best, pathetic at worst.

Any team that signs Ohtani is going to have to commit to operating  over the luxury tax thresh hold in order to compete for a championship.  Maybe Arte will be on board?  A healthy 2024 roster which includes Ohtani would be a playoff contender, just like it was this year.

On the other hand, not getting Ohtani and investing in 2-3 stellar pitchers would be workable as well.

 

[Chico]

It's unfortunate the Angels are falling on such hardships and aren't deep enough to overcome their injuries. The Rangers and Astros are stumbling too at this point and the division seems ripe for the taking for the first time since the Astros became the AL West invasive species. 

[Swordsman78]

4 minutes ago, Chico said:

It's unfortunate the Angels are falling on such hardships and aren't deep enough to overcome their injuries. The Rangers and Astros are stumbling too at this point and the division seems ripe for the taking for the first time since the Astros became the AL West invasive species. 

No team is deep enough to overcome this quantity of injuries.