Dave Saltzer

If you knew all that happened to get that interview, you'd understand. We are very lucky to have such a great relationship with the IE 66ers that we could get that interview. I hope everyone has listened to it, because Sean is going to be a fixture in our rotation. Go and see him while you can out there.

Why don't you go and giv us some scouting reports on Weaver and Jake? I will be in Orem,so I'd appreciate it.

More than that Chuck, I'm hearing his velocity is up a tick or two since he first came into the organization.

Thanks Tom. My bet is he has 1-3 more starts left I the Cal League, so I'd recommend all Angels fans see him before the show.

Okay folks, here's a chance to go see Weaver pitch, possibly get an autograph from Newcomb, and enjoy some good food and beer. There's no Angels home game, so, it's time to make the trip out there. I am up in Orem, so I can't go check it out. But, we should get an AngelsWin.com presence out there to give a good scouting report. The best seats in the house are only $12, so who's going to go?

There's no way I'd trade Newcomb for Carlos Gomez. Yes, he's signed to a friendly deal. But, the steep drop in speed, the drop in power, especially lately, has me worried.

ANGELS ACQUIRE INFIELDER CONOR GILLASPIE FROM WHITE SOX ANAHEIM, CA – The Angels Friday acquired INF Conor Gillaspie (gil-ESPY) from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for cash considerations. In a corresponding move, the Club designated LHP Adam Wilk for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. Gillaspie is expected to join the team over the weekend. Today’s announcements were made by General Manager Bill Stoneman. Gillaspie, 28, has spent the 2015 campaign with the White Sox batting .237 (41/173) with 10 runs scored, 11 doubles, one triple, three home runs and 15 RBI in 58 games (52 starts – 50 as 3B). The 6’-1”, 195-pound infielder is a career .258 (281/1089) hitter across six Major League seasons (293 games). He has a batted .286 (545/1906) in 517 minor league games. Gillaspie made his Major League debut as a pinch runner Sept. 9, 2008 with the San Francisco Giants. The Omaha, NE native was originally selected as a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds (37th overall) out of Wichita State University by the Giants in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. He was acquired by the White Sox on February 22, 2013 in exchange for pitcher Jeff Soptic.

Scotty, That's just not true anymore. Under Flores, yes, they went year by year and level by level with almost every player. But, since the new regime took over, they have been more aggressive with players than ever. They've had many skip an entire level. They've had several make mid-year jumps. They have tried to give players a lot more challenges than they did in the past. You are painting a very false picture through very broad and unrefined strokes.

It's not an unreasonable deal, but there's no way I'd do it. I've seen Newcomb, and frankly believe he's a #1-2 pitcher, #3 at worst. We need young, cost-controlled arms to support our already existing contracts over the next 5+ years. For the money, we can buy more for the offense than we can for pitching, so, I'd much rather have Newcomb. I don't even think I'd do Chuck's proposal involving Ellis and Rhoades, but I'd be more open to it. There's very little chance that we can sign Upton long-term here (would anyone really advise him to avoid the money he might make in a free agent bidding war?), so, giving up 6 years of Newcomb would be more hurtful to us long-term.

Check the box scores at www.ie66ers.com, find his last game and count forward 5 days. He pitched 5 scoreless innings, struck out 8 and only gave up 3 hits and 2 walks yesterday (Sunday), so he should start either Friday or Saturday (I think they have an off day and don't know if they will push him back a game or skip someone in the rotation). They usually announce the scheduled starters on their website.

I'm betting 2-4 more starts in the Cal League for Newcomb. If you haven't gone out to see him pitch out there, you might want to go soon, so you can see him before he comes to Anaheim. From what I saw, he was throughing 92-94 with at least 3 that touched 96. He was working inside a LOT to batters and getting batters to chase high, inside heat, especially lefties. He was doing this against the 1st place team in the Cal League. Pretty fearless on the mound. His breaking stuff was very low in the zone and nasty. Thanks for another great update!

Blaming VP of marketing for lower attendance with the product the team is putting out on the field is like blaming teachers for the low performance on tests that have no consequence for them. If the team were winning, it would be a different story.

I feel really badly for this man. He answered a questions honestly, had it taken out of context in some ways, by a reporter who wanted to make his own point (rather than what the subject of the interview said), and suffered the consequences. I feel badly for the fans who will never get an honest answer to any question again. People on here wonder why Scioscia and other stick with their canned answers. Well, there you go. Personally, when I do interviews, I do not like to ask "ambush" questions, and I don't try to make the story about me or my agenda. My only agenda is to bring you, the fans, more insights into the organization. When reporters come in trying to "make" a story like this, I find it offensive. Why burn people who are taking the time to help you understand things and answering your questions? If only the world were fair and the reporter would have consequences as well. I guess that's a subject for the G-d forum . . . Good luck in your new job hunt Robert. I feel for you and your family.

I would be willing to trade anyone for the right deal. Acting otherwise is penny wise and dollar foolish. But, I don't see why you're so ready to trade Alcantara so easily. There's a lot more to his arm than you appear to believe.

Picking pitchers that low, they aren't going to have the money to sign away a high ceiling HS kid. And, since they went bat heavy, they went with more experienced pitchers to round out their teams so that they can develop their bats until they catch up to the pitching in the system. Remember, it takes 25 guys to maybe develop 1 Major League player. You want to have the best possible team around the guys you are developing to make that one or two who will make it that much better. I'm not upset with this.

This. Plus, I'd like to add one more thing. Almost all of these scouting reports are identical, which leads me to believe that they are all based on very few people actually making them. The Angels have said that they have been following and aware of him for over a year. My bet is that their internal reports are much more extensive than those that all the pundits have and are sharing.

I'd still like to see us sign him, but, the guy from Baseball America just gave a very different report on him. Again, just one person's opinion and even he says scouts are mixed on Martinez.

Seems like he was a 2-way sports player, a walk-on backup QB as well as an outfielder. Here's an article I found on him. LSU's Jared Foster refused to let his worst season be his last, and that's been big for the No. 2-ranked Tigers Every once in a while before practice would get revved up back in January, LSU senior Jared Foster would go out to third base and field ground balls with Conner Hale. Just a whim really. And when Tigers coach Paul Mainieri would see the athletic and personable Lake Charles native at the hot corner, his nose would wrinkle a little and he'd gently chide Foster -- at that point a very good full-time outfielder -- and shoo him away. "He didn't like me fooling around out there at third base," Foster said with a smile. "He'd look at me and say 'No, no -- get out to the outfield.'" Funny how things change. Now when No. 2-ranked LSU squares off with Georgia in a three-game SEC series, Foster is entrenched on the infield as the starting second baseman. The Tigers (32-6, 10-5 SEC) and Bulldogs (20-18, 6-9) get things rolling at 6 p.m. Friday at Foley Field. When Mainieri went looking for a more solid defensive option at third base two weeks into the season, he shifted Hale there from first base. A second domino was Mainieri wanting to get both Foster and Jake Fraley -- who were sharing the left field job -- into the lineup together because both were swinging the bat well. Paul Mainieri, Tulane vs. LSU 2015 LSU coach Paul Mainieri mixed and matched players on the infield early in the season, with Jared Foster moving in as the starter at second base. David Grunfield, NOLA.com | Times-Picayune The ripple effect led to Mainieri approaching Foster at the team hotel in Houston on the first weekend of March and nonchalantly mentioned that the coaches wanted to work him out at second base, a spot he played at Barbe for one of the best programs in the state. To remove any embellishment, Mainieri had actually sent Foster to third base for some practice time when he was considering different options. But the second-base idea caught Foster a bit off guard but wasn't a total surprise because he has seen his coach of four years pulls levers and push buttons successfully quite often. This has the making of another success story. Foster has been nothing close to a stopgap. Instead, the most athletic LSU position player has adapted to his new role quickly, with an occasional glitch here and there. In 30 games as the starter at second, Foster has committed only four errors and he went from, March 17 until Wednesday between miscues. Lately he has blossomed from being content to making routine plays to adding a few highlight-reel clips, and most importantly, he has found a comfort zone with shortstop Alex Bregman on middle-of-the-infield double plays. Former Tiger Mason Katz went through a similar transformation. After spending most of his prep career at Jesuit as a catcher and second baseman, Katz moved to the outfield at LSU. But a broken knuckle forced Mainieri to give Katz a shot at first base, and while he was undersized, Katz worked to become a very good defensive hand there. Late in his senior season when JaCoby Jones got hurt, Katz played a handful of games at second base -- which is where is playing in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system. mason_katz Alabama SECT Mark Almond.JPG Former LSU standout Mason Katz played both all three outfield positions, as well as a season at first base and some spout duty at second base in his four-year career. Mark Almond | AL.com "It's tough to make that transition from the outfield back to the infield unless you're willing to work really hard at it, and it looks like that's how Jared has approached it," Katz said this week. "It also helps that he's one of those freak athletes that can play just about anywhere on the field if you give him a chance." Given that chance, Foster has made the most of it. "It feels good; it feels like home," Foster said. It also feels a world different from an abysmal junior season when Foster began the season with such high promise and finished with a .115 batting average and a ton of uncertainty. After two seasons in the program when he went between starting and playing a key role off the bench after the Tigers' outfield talent upgraded, Foster came into last season as anointed starter in right field and the cleanup hitter. As Mainieri often does, he talked Foster up to motivate him, preaching the chorus of how he believed big things were in store. That didn't happen, at least not until this season. Foster staggered out of the gate, going 3-for-23 in his first six games with only one extra-base hit and three RBIs. By the third weekend of the season, Foster was out of the lineup and buried on a bench that wasn't overly deep. Things never got better. Foster started only two SEC games, ended the season with only two multi-RBI games and had a scant seven hits in 61 at-bats when the year ended. "It was like a dungeon drop," Foster said. "Not a lot of hope. It was one of the most frustrating things I've even been part of. It was pretty rough." "I tried to be a player that I wasn't. I tried to create power and you've just got to let it come. I think I felt like I had to step up and prove a point but instead I fell into a rut and couldn't fight my way out of it." Which totally rearranged some hopes and plans. Going into his third season, Foster figured a solid year would be a launching pad to the Major League Baseball Draft -- just like every other junior college baseball player in the country thinks. From all indications, there was plenty of reason for Foster to harbor that optimism. "Last year he went into the season as a guy that was on everybody's radar and guys wanted to get out and see him," said LSU hitting coach Andy Cannizaro, who a year ago was a high-level scout with the New York Yankees. "He is a guy with great tools. He's a great athlete on the field. He does a lot of things that pro scouts and evaluators look for. He's as tooled up as a college baseball player as you're going to find in the country." But also one whose nosedive was impossible to ignore. Before the draft, Mainieri spoke to friends in MLB who said their teams were still interested in Foster but the dismal season had damaged his chances. Mainieri worked on setting up free-agent tryouts if the worst happened. And it did. Oh, Foster's phone rang a few times with hollow promises that he was still on this team's radar or that team's list of next guys under consideration. But the phone never rang with an offer. "When it got to Round 35, I turned it off and went out to find something to take my mind off of it," said Foster, who is usually tough to catch without a smile on his face. "It was tough for teams to pull trigger because I was hitting .115 and I understood that. It humbled me and I needed that really. It happened for a reason. It gave me motivation to come back this year and I've found my groove." There were still a few roadblocks to get past first, though. After briefly weighing the option of simply walking away -- "I was just going to get my degree and start my career in the real world" - Foster picked himself up, dusted off and looked for the next avenue. That came with an emotional talk with his parents who convinced him there was no reason to give up because he still had athletic ability, as well as some tough love from Barbe coach Glenn Cecchini. "I called him and told him 'I don't know whether I want to stay here or go to another school and get more at-bats,'" Foster said. "He let me finish and then he told me 'Look, it's tough, but you can't just let it go. You need to step up and you have the talent to do it.' He reminded me that everybody still believed me and that he thought I was one of the best athletes in Barbe history and it was time to go put it all together." A different opportunity arose when Foster connected with LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and decided to rejoin the Tigers' football program, which is what drew him to LSU in the first place in 2011. Before he got a chance to show what he could do as a backup QB, though, a nagging foot injury that had bothered Foster since high school flared up and he needed surgery to remove a floating piece of bone, a procedure that involved removing some tendon and the surgeon inserting a screw. That ended his football plans and also knocked Foster out of fall baseball practice. He spent nearly two months in a cast and had to work fervently to get his leg back to full strength for the start of pre-season practice in January. Something else happened when practice began as well. Foster started having fun again. The pressure he felt prior to his junior season fell away and with all three starting outfield spots spoken for, Foster knew he was likely going to have to battle for a spot as the fourth outfielder. "I've been here long enough to know that you might not even be in the picture for half the season and then all of a sudden you're starting and making a huge impact," he said. "Last year wasn't me. I don't even know who I was. I wasn't having fun anymore. After games, I didn't even want to talk to anybody. I would be up here working out or hitting the cages until midnight trying to find it and get back to where I wanted to be." That pressure -- whether it was real, manufactured -- behind him, Foster started turning heads in pre-season practice. His swing was back and he had enhanced what was already a nice power stroke. Fraley was the returning starter in left, but Mainieri kept dropping hints that Foster was pushing for playing time. That came to fruition quickly, as Foster started the season opener against Kansas and was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Two more two-hit games followed and when he smacked a two-run double against Southeastern Louisiana on Feb. 26 in the eighth game of the season, Foster surpassed his hit total from 2014. "I didn't really completely relax at first, but once I got past my seventh hit, it was like 'Yes! I got it! Now, let's keep it rolling,'" he said. While Foster has slumped here and there like all hitters do, the roll has continued most of the season. He heads into the weekend hitting .289 with eight doubles, is tied for the team-lead with eight home runs and has driven in 25 runs. Mix in the emerging confidence and effectiveness at second base, and the turnaround has been as dramatic as the collapse with a whole lot of this season left to go. "Versatility is going to be one of his bigger assets to pro scouts. He's proving that he can play second base and they know he can play all three outfield spots. He's got a plus-arm, he's a plus-runner, and the fact that he is doing all of this after struggling like he did last year says a lot about what kind of makeup he has. He's a guy who has continued to work hard and with a great attitude and now he's making the most of it. As a scout, you're dying to find a guy like Jared -- a senior with great tools, great makeup, a strong work ethic. He's really creating more of an opportunity for himself to play pro baseball." Maybe as importantly as anything else to Foster, he is finishing what he started and for a team that could get LSU back to familiar territory in June. Foster was on the 2013 College World Series team and was vital to the Tigers winning the SEC Tournament that May. There's no way to get his junior season back, but Foster has found a way to reclaim what was missing. "I love playing again," he said. "I never thought I wouldn't love to be out here but last year was a test for me. "Now I can't wait to put my uniform on every day because I know I'm going to come out here and enjoy the game." Added Mainieri, "When a kid like Jared has been through trials and tribulations and been knocked down and he gets get back up doesn't mope or feel sorry for himself and has come back fighting and working hard to succeed, I tell you, I just love those kinds of stories." -------------------------

In the 5th round, the Angels drafted Jared Foster + College Player at LSU Statistics Transactions Compare Stats: Biography Data Positions: IF Proper Name: Jared Kent Foster Born: November 2, 1992 (22.219) Place Lake Charles, Louisiana Height/Weight: 6-0 / 185 Bats/Throws: Right-Right High School: Barbe (Lake Charles,LA) College: Louisiana State University Drafted: Not drafted TBC Player ID: 167812 Update this Profile <div '="" style="width: 435px; display: inline; float: left; padding-left: 6px; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170);"> Career Activity Scouting Scores speed contact patience batting power 57 61 29 49 57 *as of 2014 season. Download all Scouting Score Batting Statistics Year Team Lg Level # Org Pos Age Diff G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO HBP IBB SH SF GDP AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO secA Babip K/BB AB/HR TB PA 2012 LSU SEC NCAA 17 fr 19 45 110 21 24 5 0 1 13 4 3 10 24 5 3 0 2 .218 .312 .291 603 .073 .173 .271 2.40 110.0 32 128 2013 LSU SEC NCAA 17 so 20 42 64 19 23 2 0 2 12 3 0 4 8 4 0 1 3 .359 .425 .484 909 .125 .234 .382 2.00 32.0 31 73 2014 LSU SEC NCAA 17 21 43 61 8 7 4 0 0 8 1 0 6 11 0 4 0 0 .115 .194 .180 374 .066 .180 .140 1.83 -- 11 71 2015 LSU SEC NCAA - 22 52 201 36 57 12 2 9 34 9 0 14 33 3 4 0 4 .284 .339 .498 837 .214 .328 .302 2.36 22.3 100 222 NCAA (4 seasons) 182 436 84 111 23 2 12 67 17 3 34 76 12 0 11 1 9 .255 .325 .399 724 .144 .255 .284 2.24 36.3 174 494 Pitching Statistics Year Team Lg Level Unif# Org Age Diff W L ERA G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO WP BK HB WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 K/BB 2012 LSU SEC NCAA 32 fr 19 0 0 0.00 3 0 0 0 0 2.1 1 0 0 0 2 2 1 1.29 3.86 0.00 7.71 7.71 1.00 MLB: Average per 162 Games 0 0 0.00 68 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 31 0 0 1 1 0 0 4 1.29 3.86 0.00 7.71 7.71 1.00 NCAA (1 seasons) 0 0 0.00 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 1.50 4.50 0.00 9.00 9.00 1.00 Year Team Lg Level Unif# Org Age Diff W L ERA G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO WP BK HB WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 K/BB Other Batting Statistics Year Team Name League G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO HBP IBB SH SF GDP AVG OBP SLG OPS TB 2013 HP-Thomasville Toms CoastalPlain 9 20 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 7 0 0 2 0 0 .050 .136 .050 186 1 2013 Battle Creek Bombers Northwoods 16 59 13 22 3 0 2 10 6 1 8 13 6 0 0 2 1 .373 .435 .525 960 31 2014 Battle Creek Bombers Northwoods 10 34 2 7 0 0 0 4 3 1 3 8 2 0 0 1 0 .206 .263 .206 469 7

More on Sanger--the pundits on MLB were talking about his high OB%, which is .491 this year and .462 for his college career. That should make some drool.

Meet our 4th Round pick Brendon Sanger | Rank: 160 School: Florida AtlanticYear: JuniorPosition: OFAge: 21 DOB: 9/11/1993Bats: L Throws: RHeight: 6'1" Weight: 180 lb.Previously Drafted: Never VIDEO Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 40 | Run: 50 | Arm: 50 | Field: 50 | Overall: 45In three years at Florida Atlantic, Sanger has done nothing but hit, leading the team in batting average three years in a row. His ability to swing the bat should help him in a year where college bats are hard to come by. Sanger saved the best for his junior year, hitting .377 during the regular season and earning Conference USA Player of the Year honors in the process. While he doesn't have the most traditional setup at the plate, he has good timing and a knack for getting the barrel to the ball. He works counts well and has more walks than strikeouts in his college career. He's a little bit of a tweener defensively, without the power for right field or the speed to play center. Even if Sanger profiles more as a fourth outfielder than anything else, his ability at the plate will likely get him off the board in the top five rounds.

Meet our 3rd round pick. Grayson Long | Rank: 153 School: Texas A&MYear: JuniorPosition: RHPAge: 21 DOB: 5/27/1994Bats: R Throws: RHeight: 6'5" Weight: 215 lb.Previously Drafted: 2012, 39th (1181) - SEA VIDEO Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45The first time he was eligible for the Draft, Long faltered as a high school senior in 2012 and dropped from a potential third-round choice to the point where he wasn't signable and lasted 39 rounds. He has fared much better in his second chance this spring, following lackluster freshman and sophomore years with an undefeated regular season as a junior. Long's fastball faded a little bit toward the end of the spring, but he's capable of pitching at 89-91 mph and reaching 93. His heater appears quicker because he unleashes it with an easy delivery, and its riding life helps it play up further. He does a nice job of maintaining his arm speed on his changeup, giving him a second solid pitch. Long's low-80s slider can rate as average, though it gets slurvy at times. He's built for durability but his lack of a true plus offering limits his ceiling to a back-of-the-rotation role. He'll need to refine his control and command to be effective as a starter in pro ball.

We are about 5 picks away from picking our 3rd rounder, so no more than 10 minutes. Tune in if you want.

He's played 2B and outfield, and most, including the Angels see him as an outfielder.

I like this pick, and hope we have enough money to sign him away from his college commitment. Good blend of plus speed and power.