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Dave Saltzer

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Posts posted by Dave Saltzer

    Breaking the Hamilton Impasse

    in LA Angels | MLB Daily

    Posted

    Dave, I think a lot of baseball beat writers don't realize that Arte Moreno seems to take verbal and contractual commitments very seriously. When the whole Teixeira/Boras debacle took place I recall that Arte was most upset by what he described at that time as Boras' verbal commitment to a contract with the Angels and then he signed with the Yankees (and thank God he did!). You also see this reflected in Arte's commitment to the Albert Pujols' contract and his personal involvement with the negotiations including the Personal Services contract for Albert to work for the Angels once his career is over. I think Moreno saw a player commit to a contract and to language in the contract that specifically targets Josh's previous drug dependency and when he broke that commitment Arte took it as a breach of trust and the faith he placed in Josh the player. It could certainly be argued that Arte shouldn't be so emotionally committed to these contracts and negotiations but he has always seemed like an owner who really wants to win and is all-in on the product that he puts on the field. It's a double-edged sword of sorts. Great article as always Dave I enjoyed it!

    I very much agree Ettin. Arte has always struck me as the kind of person who places a lot of value on trust, loyalty, and the meaning of a person's word. That's what I think all of his comments were really about, and the lack of accountability. I've known lots of men who share those values, and generally find them very upstanding people. Add in the fact that Hamilton placed him in a lose/lose situation, which men like that find very bothersome, and Arte has every right to be very upset. I also believe that if Hamilton did what I outlined, Arte would once again accept him back. The baseball side of things may have a plan for bringing Hamilton back physically as a player, but what I outlined was the way to bring him back into the fold entirely.

    Does AW feel too much like a news feed than a forum?

    in LA Angels | MLB Daily

    Posted

    This is NOT a Chucktarship.

    If you want Alden Gonzalez back, just let me know.

    Chuck,

     

    I like having all the news feeds here too. It's one stop shopping. I have an idea: Let's create a forum for all news feeds (and bring back DiGi as well). All the news would go there, and it would be one stop shopping. If someone wants to comment on it, then s/he can create a thread in the main forum relating to it. That way, it will clean up the main forum and still provide those of us with all the news.

    AngelsWin Clash of Clans?

    in LA Angels | MLB Daily

    Posted

    Howdy all,

     

    I fairly recently discovered this game, and have become fairly addicted to it. So, I was wondering, who else on here plays the game? If there's enough interest, should we make an AngelsWin clan for the game?

     

    Just a thought--we need to have some other things to do when the Angels aren't playing.

    Los Angeles Angels GM Jerry Dipoto Speaks at #AWFanFest15

    in LA Angels | MLB Daily

    Posted

    The other player there was Sherman Johnson. Sherman has been seeing a lot of time at 3B later in the games so far, and has been opening some eyes in the organization. 

     

    Regarding Jerry, he is always in his element talking baseball. He is smooth and polished with his answers, yet won't shy away from the tough questions. He is very engaging on an individual or group setting. He knows his facts about every player and person in the organization and has a way of taking facts and making them personal. If people had more questions for him, Jerry would have stayed for another hour to answer them all. He truly loves what he does and he knows what he's talking about. I am very happy to have him as the Angels GM.

    Fangraphs: Why wasn't Kole Calhoun a prospect

    in LA Angels | MLB Daily

    Posted

    Not to pee in anyone's corn flakes, but I remember a few years ago when people here were low on Calhoun - I vaguely remember Dave S saying he preferred Andrew Heid - and I was talking him up.

     

    I've always loved Calhoun. He just has that X-factor which is more psychological than anything else. He's a player who is able to maximize his talent, sort of the antithesis of the Chevy Clarkes of the world.

    I don't recall ever saying Andrew Heid over Kole Calhoun. Not once. I do recall telling people not to over hype Andrew Heid over Kole Calhoun (which would be the opposite). The work ethic and hustle is what has always stood out for Kole. Seeing how I do most of the rankings, I never ranked Andrew Heid over Kole, that supports my position.

     

    There are many reasons why players like Kole are both overlooked and now more valuable than ever to an organization. When I have time, later tonight, I will try to do a better reply.

    Recent Trade Rumor

    in LA Angels | MLB Daily

    Posted

    That's a great deal . . . for the Phillies. Yarbrough has a future at 2B, even with all that is going on right now in a positional battle. He just needs to spend some time at AAA. With all the praise he got from Dipoto and Tim Meade, Yarbrough is definitely in the Angels long-term plans.

     

    As for Alcantara, he has been clocked up at 102 mph. He has closer type stuff.

     

    We'd be giving up way too many cost-controlled years on a quality player for a player who is definitely in the decline of his career. I'd pass.

    Defiant Angel - Alex Johnson Part 1

    in LA Angels | MLB Daily

    Posted

    This article was just updated to include the introduction to the chapter on Alex Johnson. Rob really does a great job capturing the multiple facets to each of these players personalities and lives.

     

    Here's what was added:

     

    ==============================

     

    Crank, swish, smash.
     
    Crank, swish, smash.
     
    Like repetitive rifle shots, the sound of the bat striking the ball reverberates off the nearby building, alerting all within earshot that something serious is going down in the batting cage. Peering into the cage one expects carnage, and that’s precisely what one sees: a black man in white flannels hitting baseballs with staggering verve and force. 
     
    Alex Johnson turns with such violent precision on the ball that it seems to deaden on contact before it smashes into the cage’s nylon netting. Kids along the edge of the cage squirm, not sure if the net will contain the comets screaming their way. 
     
    Johnson’s stoic gaze is unsettling to say the least. It leaves one to wonder if Johnson would rather hug you or kill you. Then there is his nickname,  â€œBlack Bull,” an appropriate moniker for a player who is strong, surly, and defiant. 
     
    The pitching machine—or “Iron Mike,” as it is called—is Johnson’s most frequent companion. Its metal arm slings ball after ball at game speed, serving as a self-sufficient avenue to success in the real batter’s box. Most good hitters spend a fair share of time staring down a pitching machine; Alex Johnson lives 60 feet from one.
     
    Crank, swish, smash.
     
    Crank, swish, smash.
     
    Just when you think that Johnson—or the machine—may need a rest, he does the unthinkable: he creeps up on the machine. Then you fully grasp the strength, timing, agility, and quickness that Johnson displays as he smacks pitch after pitch. Johnson, whose forearms resemble bridge cables, continues to move forward as he hits, until he is almost halfway between the implacable machine and home plate. It’s an awesome display of bat-speed, concentration, reflex, and most of all, defiance. 
     
    The batting cage can’t contain his defiance, which makes him a great batter. Like a Lakota warrior, his existence has been built around warfare. His Louisville Slugger is his war club, his means of survival, and his life’s work; it’s an expression of self, his manhood. Best not mess with a warrior’s weapon, or so goes the legend. Herald Examiner reporter Dick Miller tried once, and Johnson retaliated by putting coffee grinds in the scribe’s typewriter. Who’s to say that warriors don’t have a sense of humor? 
     
    This, of course, is only his exterior. This “hit man” is both physical and cerebral. But no one really knows the real Alex Johnson. How could they? He doesn’t even know himself.
     
    Suddenly something happens so unexpected you need to blink for comprehension. 
     
    Like Sonny Liston singing Christmas carols, it just doesn’t take. During a lull in Johnson’s massacre of baseballs, one of the kids works up the nerve to ask for an autograph. Without smiling, Johnson walks over with the same purpose and conviction he displayed in the cage, takes the boy’s scrap of paper, and writes legibly and deliberately: A-l-e-x J-o-h-n-s-o-n. The script is slightly tilted forward, crisp and legible. Like his hitting, he takes pride in his cursive. And with that, this cold statue to Ted Williams has morphed into a Pied Piper of sorts. More kids emboldened by the first brave lad cluster around and begin to thrust their bits of paper toward Johnson. There is a conviction in their body language that says this is not just a regular player. Sincere love and adoration widens their eyes as if they have some secret connection to this hero that grownups could only dream about. 
     
    As the mob of kids grows, one smallish tyke in front is being crushed by the onslaught. The growing pack is oblivious. The tyke’s air is squeezed from him but he defiantly holds on, extending his paper as far as his small arm can take it. It seems to him his idol’s signature is worth dying for. 
     
    Alex observes the child and as he reaches for his scrap barks with authority, “Move back.” Like obedient toy soldiers, the kids obey. Once assured the child is out of harm’s way, Johnson continues signing, and the gasping boy celebrates by running anywhere to show anyone his prize. For the next half-hour, Johnson signs his autograph for adoring fans. When all are satisfied, he heads back into the cage, into his own private sanctuary, the place “where coaches fear to tread.” He pours a fresh bag of balls into Iron Mike, takes his stance, and attacks.
     
    Crank, swish, smash. 
     
    Crank, swish, smash. …
     
    Crank, swish, smash. 
     
    * * *
     
    The snowstorm was so fierce it shut down Detroit. Downed power lines and ice forced drivers to abandon their cars on the freeways. For the newest Angel, Alex Johnson, it meant he was going to be late for spring training, and as he waited out the storm out in a diner, he wondered if the storm was an omen of the season ahead. Would his first season with the Angels be this bleak?
     
    A few days later, the skies cleared and Johnson resumed his drive to California and his new team. As his car crossed the Michigan line into Indiana, his mind raced back to other teams, other storms. To Philly where it all began, and Gene Mauch, who called him the fastest runner he had ever seen going from second to home. Johnson chuckled to himself recalling when Richie Allen had called him “the baddest of the bad… even badder than myself.” He also remembered Allen telling him that his bad rap was his own doing: calling everyone “dickhead” scared the front-office guys to death.
     
    Allen also liked to talk about the day when a stadium employee’s car broke down on the expressway, and how Johnson jumped in his own car and helped him out. “He came back an hour later,” Richie said in wonderment, “grease up to his elbows. Now, is this man a mental case, or is this a man I want as my friend? Just leave him alone and let him play baseball!”
     
    “That would have been nice,” thought Johnson. In St. Louis, the managers thought they knew more about hitting than he did. Skipper Red Schoendienst tried to change his approach at the plate, and when Johnson refused, they traded him to the Cincinnati Reds in January of 1968. In Cincy, manager Sparky Anderson didn’t seem to care for Johnson, thinking he was lazy. Despite two productive seasons, he was dealt again—this time to the Angels. Maybe Anaheim would be different. 
     
    When the sun rose the next day he was in Utah. The flatness of the terrain reminded him of Detroit and the dusty sandlots he played on as a teen with Willie Horton and Bill Freehan. They both played for the hometown Tigers and had won a championship in 1968. Johnson was still searching for his.
     
    As Johnson neared Las Vegas, thoughts of home rushed to him. He thought of how proud his dad was of him and his brother Ron, who had rushed for 1,000 yards for the New York Giants the previous year, and of how well they got along. As he crossed the California border the desert reminded him of the Roadrunner cartoons he watched as a kid. His dad had kept switching the channel to the baseball “Game of the Week.” Johnson didn’t like that at first, but soon he warmed to his dad’s appreciation of the national pastime. 
     
    He thought of Arkansas, Indianapolis, and Detroit, how his family had struggled at each place with segregation, stares, and disappointments. It was hard for a black man to get started, but Johnson’s dad was tough. He began on the assembly line, then started his own trucking repair business. Johnson used to tell Allen, “That’s where I got my big arms, from shoveling junk around at the shop.”
     
    When he finally arrived in Palm Springs, the Angels were out of town. Injured outfielder Jim Hicks was there, though, and he let Johnson know what lay in store. 
     
    “Jim Hicks didn’t know me, he just knew about me and he assumed the sportswriters wouldn’t like me,” Johnson recalls. “He told me a few things about Anaheim. He told me about different characters, how I was going to relate to them. And, sure enough, it all turned out to be true.” 

    Defiant Angel - Alex Johnson Part 2

    in LA Angels | MLB Daily

    Posted

    I forgot just what a great read this book was the first time around. I really need to go through it again.

    A special thanks to Rob Goldman for allowing Angelswin to publish the entire chapter on Alex Johnson.

    I very much agree. It is a great read, especially for Angels fans who came after much of the history had occurred. While the 2000s have seen the organization achieve its greatest glory, the cast of characters from the early years truly made the team special. Rob Goldman does a great job capturing all of that and has so many details, quotes, etc. to make it all work. It's sad to realize that we are now in the era when we will be losing many of these early players who played such an important role in the formation of the organization.

    How soon before Moncada and Olivera sign?

    in LA Angels | MLB Daily

    Posted

    I really like Olivera and think that he would be a great #2 hitter behind Calhoun and in front of Trout or even in the #5/#6 spot. At $12MM for the next 4-5 years that wouldn't be a bad price to pay if he produces around a 2 WAR mark, which I really do think he could do. He was known for his power and OBP abilities in Cuba and I really feel like he would impact our lineup and would do decently on defense at 2B or even 3B (I actually prefer the latter). If you think that Howie would produce 2.8 WAR (according to Steamer) that would make him worth about $20MM for next season albeit he is starting to age. I commend the Angels for at least looking at this option as I suggested they might in the Angels Primer (Part II).

    I agree. Olivera would make some sense. As much as I would prefer Moncada, we aren't going to get him. Moncada makes a lot of sense for the organization, who can use him at either 3B or 2B.

    Moncada

    in LA Angels | MLB Daily

    Posted

    With two more Cuban defections today, the move by the Obama administration to normalize relations between our countries, etc. Moncada should sign quickly before the market on top Cuban prospects gets more diluted. All of which will push MLB to move towards a world draft. Personally, I would like to see a world draft done at a different time than the American draft and I would like to see it arranged in a way different than the reverse order of winning percentage. For example, it might be interesting if a team's world draft order was based on the reverse order of the amount of money spent on free agents that weren't on a team's roster during the previous season. So, if a team makes a big FA splash, that lowers their draft position on the World Draft.

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