Troutstanding

You can't have it both ways. If you trade off all anything with value AND trade our young pitching for young hitting... then what have you done? You've done deals for the sake of doing deals... and now? In June? There's nothing to DO now. Now is the time for patience. 

Because he gave the "don't score a run sign" which I have to admit is a bold strategy.

Meryn f'in trant > Albert freakin pujols

how about something like this:
 
2B Johnny G ®
CF Mike Trout ®
LF Kole Calhoun (L)
1B Albert Pujols ®
DH David Freese ®
LF Matt Joyce (L)
C Perez/Iannetta ®
3B Kubitza (L)
SS Aybar (S)

The current losing streak and the attitude on the board compels me to bring this board back to life:
 
Houston is 34-25
Angels       28-29
 
Games left 105
With Angels 5.5 games behind their elimination number is 100
 
So if Houston plays .500 ball the rest of the way, The Angels would have to go 56-45  that would be a staggering 53%.  To reach the 90 plateau, they would have to win 62 out of their last 10-5.  That would be 59%  
 
 
For the Wild Card:
Tampa Bay is currently in the 2 spot for the WC.  
They are 31-27
Angels at 28-19 are 2.5 games behind.  Therefore the elimination number for playoffs stands at 103.
 
SEASON MUST BE OVER! 
Yes, we should blow up the team and fire everyone.

Yeah if only Trout could just figure it out at the plate... That's probably the Angels biggest hole in the line up, well, besides Pujols, of course. Trout just strikes out too much to be any use. What good is he if he's only on pace for 9.6 WAR and a 159 OPS+?
Speaking of his OPS+ it's really slipping... Year by year from 168 to 179 to 167 to 159. I mean jeez. That line drive he hit in last nights game wasn't even in the gap. What's he thinking? When he hits sharp line drives they shouldn't be right at the outfielder... His aim is way off.

I thought the Knothole was kind of a cool name but I understand Shocktop thought it would be good marketing. 

I also am a fan of your move to ban hardcore guy, Chuck. Thank you. 

Pujols actually killed it in April 2014, and was just average after that.

Not everybody believes your best hitter should bat third. 

I don't know about you but this homestand doesn't feel like "the most important of the year" to me. I'm not sure under what extreme circumstances could the third homestand of the year be the most important. 

A while back before a decision was made on Hamilton's relapse when everyone was talking about his wife being on that reality show I had done a google search wondering if she was actually still participating in it.  Turns out she quit a while back because everything needed to remain private while the league was deliberating, but Josh had never wanted her to join it to begin with.  It was speculated this played a part in his relapse, but who really knows?  Both of them clearly have their issues.  I wouldn't doubt if it was mutual.  Josh hasn't exactly been a saint.  At the end of the day, it is their business though.  We all get this information because their lives are plastered everywhere.  I didn't like Josh much before he was an Angel because he always seemed to be full of excuses and rarely in control.  I guess I looked down on him, which is easy to do when the guy makes tons of money and you only know what you read.  I was hoping that he would be suspended because as an Angels fan I feel he is toxic to the team. I still do not want him coming back to the Angels, but I do feel for him that he is going through all of this.  I have really tried to stay out of any Hamilton related articles and threads.  I have enough problems and enough people I love that have their own problems to be spending my time with this.  It sucks I even know so much about Hamilton's personal life at this point.  I hope the best for everyone in that family, particularly their children.  But right now I just want to think about baseball.  

If Josh Hamilton had hit one more home run, Cabrera wouldn't have achieved the Triple Crown. Tell me, what does one Josh Hamilton home run have to do with the value difference between 2012 Trout and Cabrera?

Ahhh -- the world where producing runs is limited to three or four spots in the order...    Sorry you can't grasp how Ianetta impacts the lineup.
 
Last time I checked Ianetta had almost as good an OBP as did Trout, his being at the bottom of the order means he's in line to be on base for Calhoun -- maybe that's one of the reasons the Angels 1 and 2 hitters drove in more runs than any other top two in MLB.   Also sorry that you don't realize that Calhoun's OBP in the first inning last year was .415, or that it was .440 when leading off a game... far and away the best figure in any inning.  So, the one time he's always hitting when he doesn't have someone on base, he's getting on base -- imagine that....
 
Lastly the only person to bring Aybar into the conversation was you, Dopey.   But, since you mentioned him and Matt Joyce, Joyce's career OBP leading off an inning is .312. (.315 as a leadoff hitter)  Aybar's is .325 (.316 as a leadoff hitter)   So what were you saying about stupid?
 
Chris Ianetta's ability to get on base and how he helps turn the lineup over to the top of the batting order is being severely underestimated by the Mensa chapter of AW.com.
 
 
 
 

Perhaps Scioscia's reasoning regarding Aybar then Cron then Iannetta is this:
Aybar is a decent enough hitter to be batting sixth. 
Cron has good power but low OBP. It wouldn't be shocking for an inning to end (or go big) after a Cron at bat. 
This means that Iannetta will likely lead off a decent amount of innings. If he does lead off and draws a walk, Rutledge can move him over to second, then Calhoun and more importantly Trout will have the chance to bring him in. 
Just my thoughts. 

Because Scioscia won't bat his catcher in the top of the line up so it's nice to have his OBP as close to Trout as can be. 

Dear Pete Rose,
 
Your first three season's you hit .286/.348/.386 - 105 OPS+
Trouts first three seasons he hit .311/.403/.561 - 172 OPS+
 
At his current pace Trout will exceed your career total of 160 HRs over 24 years in only his 5th full season.  Yes, you were very good at limiting your K's as a player and then you bet on baseball and got stuck with the mother of all golden sombreros.
Grats.

Initially, I was really excited by the hiring, both in his resume and what he was saying.  And then he seemed to do a total 180 when he signed Pujols and Hamilton.  But, finally, in the past 2 seasons, I think we are getting to see what he can do when he is given some autonomy.  Makes you wonder what could have been if he'd been given the reins from the start.  I'm not a fan of all of his moves, but find myself liking a lot more then I'm disliking.  
 
But ask me again in July... 

/Ignore

/Ignore

Yea we certainly loved it when he changed the line up all the time, we never once complained about it.

I have not read any threads lately. I just did not think it would be worth it. I am just going to say that I believe in the resolve of this team and I believe their character will be revealed. I believe they will win foday. They have come too far and fought too hard to fail now.
Let's do this. Go Angels!

Oh and no matter what happens, thiis has indeed been a great season.

The bullpen is à facade? Lol. Calling this org a complété failure is such bullshit. It has been à tough two games. The Angels bats are just as frustrated as the fans. Sometimes this is how sports go. The series isnt over yet. Stop always bitching and moaning, which has been par for this site for years.
Get behind thé team and stop waiting for something to vent about. Lets go Halos

The atmosphere wasn't electric, and that's mostly because the Angels offense was bad. The crowd was really not the issue. I went to 30 games this year, and tonight's game was in the top 3 for crowd participation, volume etc. it would have been way over the top if the offense wasn't popping up and striking out every inning. Not to mention the defensive plays from the Royals...