Angels release Ryan Madson

[Tyler]

That's good enough.

 

Get him Chuck!

[Blarg]

That's good enough.

 

Get him Chuck!

 

Hah, good luck with that. Strad is the manager for Team Stradling at the AW Softball Tournament. That means he is untouchable as Scioscia with a ten year contract.

[Stradling]

Stradling once sent me a PM calling me fat.

In all fairness you are pretty phat.

[Mark68]

LT is right folks. 3.5M is pennies in the baseball world.

 

This is basically a non-event. Most of you guys are just looking for something to complain about.

On Angelswin? You don't say!

[Link]

Take a look at the free agent class of relief pitchers last year.

 

Rafael Soriano: $28M, 46.1IP, 2.91 ERA

Jonathan Broxton (DL): $21M, 27IP, 4.33 ERA

Jeremy Affeldt (DL): $18M, 33.1IP, 3.51 ERA

Mike Adams (DL): $12M, 25IP, 3.96 ERA (shoulder surgery)

Kyuji Fujikawa (DL); $9M, 12IP, 5.25 ERA (TJ surgery)

Sean Burnett (DL): $8M, 9.2IP, 0.93 ERA (elbow surgery)

 

So 5 out of the 6 top paid free agent relief pitchers are currently on the DL. None of those 5 have come close to earning their contracts falling short by either effectiveness or innings pitched. Soriano has pitched well but at $14M per season he's no bargain for his production. His K/9 is way down to 6.8 which doesn't bode well for next year either.

 

Good luck trying to buy a pen. The teams with the best pens built them from the farm or supplemented them by picking up "projects" and getting big production from them. Sometimes both. The sack of shit we have impersonating a pitching coach could try for 30 years without having the success of a Maddux, Young, Hickey, Price, Duncan etc. Tampa quickly saw that they had a lemon and let him go after one season. We're stuck with him for 7 years now. It might be hard to find a more apt name for a pitching coach than "Butcher". Why does a team that aspires to be the best have to settle for someone's "good buddy" with no track record (and now a terrible 8 year track record)?

 

Would any of the arms that Dipoto traded really be helping this pen right now? Pena (5.19 BB/9 in AA), Hellweg (13BB, 3k's in 10.2 IP with the Brewers) or Roach (5.24 K/9 in AA)? I doubt it. Would Chatwood be anything other than the erratic walk/hit machine he was with the Angels? He had almost as many walks (71) as strikeouts (74) with us. A strikeout rate of 4.69 K/9? Someone taught him how to pitch.

 

This problem wasn't created in a short time (and certainly not in the less than 2 years of the Dipoto GM) and it won't be fixed in a short time. Drafting almost exclusively pitchers in a pitching heavy draft seems smart and a good start. Bringing in pitching coaches with a long track record of success handling young pitching should be the next step. It's not as easy or quick as opening the checkbook and purchasing one or two decrepit old arms on the free agent market.

 

 

This sums it up and really should be getting more attention/discussion.  Dipoto hasn't failed, there just wasn't an out-of-house option that was reasonable.  Would we be any better off with any of the other massive failures on that list?  They're all being paid a ton of money, have performed poorly, and are all injured (with the exception of soriano who came at a HUGE price tag).  Honestly, Dipoto avoided a lot of extra damage by signing the relatively cheap Burnett and taking a flyer on Madsen.

 

It hurts right now, having a bad bullpen and having Madsen and Burnett both injured.  But if you look at that list, Affeldt, Adams, and Broxton all cost more than Burnett and Madsen combined and have all underperformed AND been injured, and Fujikawa is only a few million off.  

[mancini79]

******** Please stop with the Lifetime comments **********

[Mark68]

This sums it up and really should be getting more attention/discussion.  Dipoto hasn't failed, there just wasn't an out-of-house option that was reasonable.  Would we be any better off with any of the other massive failures on that list?  They're all being paid a ton of money, have performed poorly, and are all injured (with the exception of soriano who came at a HUGE price tag).  Honestly, Dipoto avoided a lot of extra damage by signing the relatively cheap Burnett and taking a flyer on Madsen.

 

It hurts right now, having a bad bullpen and having Madsen and Burnett both injured.  But if you look at that list, Affeldt, Adams, and Broxton all cost more than Burnett and Madsen combined and have all underperformed AND been injured, and Fujikawa is only a few million off.  

And if you are thinking about internal options...well then...I am sad for you.

 

Our in-house options have been so money lately, especially. In fact, they've been more like outhouse options.