ineedanap

Man, Trout should really hit lead off. Man, Trout should really hit leadoff. But, I like it-especially if the money men actually hit this year.

I agree. The BP is what made this team so great during the previous decade. We have Frieri, Smith, and De La Rosa for the 9th, 8th, 7th respectively. Burnett as a lefty specialist. Blanton has a spot and then we have Kohn and Jepsen who are out of options. So while there isn't a lot of room for guys we could use the upgrade.

Sign him to an extension or two. Then trade him in his early to mid thirties.

Phillies are looking for a salary dump. He less effective, but still effective. They are willing to pay portions of his salary. Any interest as a 7th inning guy?

Attempting a comeback...

For the right deal, I'd trade either. Something that has been missed by a lot of people about the team is how terrible the defense was last year. The problem is if we trade Aybar, we lose offense and depth by replacing him with Romine. It would be difficult to find a suitable replacement at SS on the market, or even with a trade (we need to stock the system, not deplete it). Howie would be easier to trade. But, again there is a drop off in production between Howie and Green-especially defensively. I would do it if we could get someone like Bulter in return. Then I think we take the remaining money to sign a pitcher, and give a bunch of low-risk pitchers invites to spring training for more depth.

Same. I hate cheering for BOS. But, I will if a win for them helps us in the standings.

Not Bryce Harper? I like Trumbo more and more. There are times where it seems he loses confidence in himself, but I like the way he plays the game. I think he should spend some time with Griffen and work on his 1B defense.

I Knew It!

Weaver, Wilson, Richards, Roth, Schugal

AL West Champions!

B. Harris 1-3, 1B

Wells could DH and bat 4th.

I'm just glad they broadcast Mr. Diamond singing"Sweet Caroline". I almost thought they wouldn't, but thankfully I was reminded every inning that it would be broadcast. I never thought I would want to hear Gubi's voice. It was funny that Victor Rojas had to text the announcers that this was this first time this season an Angel starter made it to the 7th inning. Great job Fox National!

Yeah, its pretty maddening. Especially when you consider how good of a hitter he is. He can put the barrel of the bat on some tough pitches. Just can't not swing at that low and away breaking ball. I will say Hamilton is worse, though.

Same pitch, too.

We'll he's a "run producer" with the Angels.

He still is hitting a ton of infield flys. He'll probably hit a bunch of HRs, but I don't think he'll keep up this pace.

Why Harris over Romine?

Exactly. I like trade proposals, and there might be a match elsewhere, but not the D-Backs at this time for Bourjos and Trumbo. Plus, I'd be a little worried about our lineup without Trumbo, although it is debatable about how well he will turn out.

Yeah, but Zito and Lincecum rely more on velocity than Weaver does. Linecum had awesome FB velocity, but once it slowed down it became a very hittable pitch. Zito's best pitch is his curveball, but without that velocity on his fastball, batters can just sit on the fastball and crush it. Weaver is more of a deception/control type of pitcher, so he can get away with throwing a slowball. One interesting thing about Weaver is that, like Matt Cain, although he is a flyball pitcher he doesn't give up a lot of HRs. I think Cameron mentions it in the article and that's one reason he's been so effective. I'll have to re-read the article, but it would be interesting to see if a decline in velocity correlates to giving up more HRs. edit: it seems it did in Weaver's case: "Over his final 15 starts, he allowed 15 home runs, and during that stretch, his fastball went from 88 mph down to 86 mph. Continuing the trend out to last night, he’s now lost three miles-per-hour off his fastball over his last 17 outings, and he’s allowed 1.49 HR/9 over 102 innings during that span.From his MLB debut until July 14th, 2012, he had a career HR/9 of 0.92. His HR rate in his last 17 starts is 61% higher than his career HR rate up to that point."

edit: not surgery. This is the article: "Weaver, who threw three innings in the Angels' 12-6 victory over Team Italy on Wednesday, said that the team's training staff has helped work his pitching shoulder back into shape. Weaver is back to throwing at three-quarters -- his natural arm slot -- after coming over the top for two years. "The last couple years, I've had some tightness in my shoulder," the right-hander said. "The training staff has done a great job in loosening that stuff up. I haven't had this much range of motion in my shoulder in a while. It feels good. It's like almost having to throw from a new arm slot. Sometimes I want to throw like I used to throw, and now it's freed up in there. ... It's nice to feel this good early on. That's for sure."" http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130306&content_id=42367958&notebook_id=42376062&vkey=notebook_ana&c_id=ana

Weaver's issue in his first two starts was his command, not his FB velocity. Had he his usually command so far this season, we would probably not be discussing this. I read an article this offseason where he had some tissue removed from his shoulder and is returning to an old delivery. Perhaps, this has something to do with the loss of velocity and control issues. I'm not worried, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out throughout the season.

As far as prospects are concerned, I usually root for them when they get traded to another team. I like to see them do well on other teams: S-Rod, Amarista, Skaggs, even guys like Chris Resop.

Exactly! Didn't we just sign one of those contracts? $3B?