ten ocho recon scout

I'm statting to believe jered weaver is really jeff weaver. Why else would sportscasters keep 'messing up' and calling him that?

then you could just as easilly add a win for that aj homer the other night. Texas barely squeeked by right? And then add another win for that votto walkoff...

zing!

Chuck yeah!

THAT.....was freaking clutch.Thanks Howie (by way of IE)

Weaver is the only one I can even imagine being the guy. But again, I'm not 100 percent sure the pitchers and position guys intermingle all that much. You would think its Pujols.....but Im not sure hes the vocal guy. I wonder if they could bring Percy back in some role. I know he's still local. Bench coach or something along those lines. He has the presence, the tenure, etc. I remember him not being bashful about dealing with Mo back in the day, I would assume he hasnt changed too much.

Yep, I remember Mark. I remember you being one of the most vocal. And that was before the TV deal was announced, when we all mostly thought there was no way in hell we could land a high dollar FA. To be fair, I also didnt think Pujols was even an option. Figured we would never spend 200 mill (lol, wishful thinking now), and that Albert would stay with the Cards.

I do too. But I also think Arte was just as big on the idea. I think Arte is an 'old-school' fan. Sees 30 HR's, 100 RBI and thinks its great (not reading any deeper about splits, walk rates, etc). I think that would also explain GMJ, chasing crawford, etc.

Im not a fan of Butcher (and think its time to go), but to be fair with these new guys, it almost has to be given more time. Case in poit, whatever it is they are doing wrong isnt probably readily noticeable, especially if youre not too familiar with each players particular mechanics. Again, not saying butcher isnt a problem. But with pitchers it takes time to recognize a problem, and time to fix. The reason its looking so bad now is because we have 3 guys that all need a lobotomy.

Oh, The team. Thought you meant a well needed day off for us AJ....(which it is)

Well, obviously Sosh is the boss. But just about every team (sports, work, etc) has people on it that are the natural peer leaders. Looking at the roster right now......I dont see one. Looking at the world series team, I think a big part of the success was having a bunch of guys that grew up together. Then you throw in Percy, Erstad, Disar. The next generation had the remnants of that team, and guys like Lackey come into their own as that role. Now, weve got the younger guys like trout, trumbo, bourjos. Then theres the pitchers (who are almost all new faces). Hamilton isnt going to get in peoples faces. He's new, and he's in no position to right now. Pujols probably sees himself in that role, but I dont know if he's the best communicator. I think Aybar and Callaspo are not the right guys to light a fire in the clubhouse. Howie is just a laid back guy. I know some feel chemistry is overrated, and that winning breeds chemistry. Theres probably some truth to that. But I think everyone reading this knows that if your boss isnt the best to work for (which is starting to look like sosh), and youre not that close with your coworkers, the effort will probably suffer. I think Weaver is the closest thing, but I dont know that pitchers mix with the hitters too much. But I think its a key component. Theyve lost confidence. Theyre not having fun. and theres no one there taking charge and getting people fired up.

yes.....we could be below Houston. Good post. Didnt the angels also draft bumgarner, only to lose him over money? I agree, the international scouting has been very poor. Its like we only look for switch hitting middle infielders from the dominican, nothing else.

Arte is in it to make money, no doubt. That said, he is very dedicated to winning, and very competitive. He just hasnt made the best decisions.

Yeah, Prince was my choice. Mainly because he's younger, and I figured he would be a lot cheaper than he actually signed for. But I think that was all arte. Same as Hamilton. Arte wants a Lakers team. Big names, Hollywood. Arte would love Oaklands success, but would not want a bunch of relatively non-known guys doing it. (Sadly).

In free agency? 3 starting pitchers for 20 million?.... Negative. Bottom line, the pitching staff right now is the result of having a non-existent farm system. No one to call up (Corbin, Skaggs), no one left to trade for an arm. Very few free agent pitchers available that were very good or good/affordable. I said it back when we signed Hamilton, I would have preferred to stay away and get an arm. But so many around here were ecstatic to get Hamilton.....(not saying everyone was, but the majority were). EVERYTHING sucks right now. Trout isnt trout. Pujols' foot sucks. Hamilton hasnt gotten going. Weaver is out. Aybar is out (dont underestimate the effect Aybar being out is). I still believe Vargas will settle in. He wont be a stud, but I think he'll be decent. Once Trumbo starts hitting with more power, Trout gets back to form, and Hamilton wakes up, Vargas will be decent. Him, CJ< and Weaver when he gets back should be decent. Hanson?....not so confidant. But, he does have upside. I have zero faith in Blanton being better. Thats the one move I hold Dipoto to the stakes for. Made no sense when he did it, and its showing now. Its gonna be a long year. But it wont be this bad....

IMO AJ, dipo wasn't the one bwhind pujols or hamilton. I think that was arte, hundred percent. Arte wants to win, badly. And when he sees a name, he opwns the checkbook (wells, pujols, gmj, etc) without worrying about the long term.I still rate dipo based on frieri (steal), iannetta (steal for chatwood), etc. Sure, we got raped by mill for grienke, but there's is a ton of pressure to win now. (And don't look now, but segura is killing it for them :/)

He can stay in nebraska and skype the lineup cards and postgame comments. Everyone wins.

Which guy gets the 'every team gets one' all star appearance?

I want credit for 'blantana'. That was my war and peace moment.

But then he has a good game in may, and the board is just strained. And we all wonder why we had long faces.

agreed.Lack slapped us in the face when he left....but so did hamikton (to texas), and no one is holding it against him around here. (Pujols too). His personal life makes him look like a dbag, but like pimp said, we only heard one side of the story. Sucks about his injurt. Looks like he was having a good game.

and some orlando palmeiro love.

I'm open to any differing opinion. But who would you put in front of them? Detroit maybe.

I'm not saying at all that bourjos should start over trumbo. That said, both trumbo and pujols were 'cold' in this series. I would have personally preferred to sit pujols today with his bum foot and start trumbo at first. That said, it seemed odd that bourjos only got into one game. Did harris and shuck have more at bats?

I go with top 3. Washington first, atlanta probably second. Cinc 3, with us and detroit roughly equal.First time in a decade (IMO) that the NL is back on top.