RePLAY

This post was a fail. Vargas was our most consistent starter before the blood clot

eek!
 
 
 
Im not an Apple guy, but i'd take the iphone 5/5s over the iphone4 just for the 4g alone.  Going back to 3g feels like im going back to dial up. lol

MT, you're way off base.
 
Going into 2012, all of the experts had the Angels rotation in the top 3 going into the season. You're going to blame Dipoto and Santana sucking ass, Haren falling apart, C.J. Wilson's poor second half?
 
Going into this season, the Angels had three solid pitchers with what was thought to be an explosive offense (again, the experts/pundits all agreed). Blanton and Hanson were here to give us innings, with insurance in Garrett Richards if any of those failed. Not his fault Weaver missed a big chunk of time, as did Vargas AND Blanton turning into a pile of shit... Hanson was a wildcard, but a good gamble, but even he hit the DL twice, as well as missing time when his brother died. Back to Blanton. He was ten times worse than he's ever been at any time during his career. All we needed him to be was career average. That means we're getting 6-7 innings with 3-4 runs a game given up. With the offense that was assembled and with the spectacular defense in the outfield, Blanton was a decent gamble.
 
We tried at Greinke, but the Dodgers had big pocket books. It was a solid effort trading for him to help the Angels chances down the stretch last season, with a good chance of signing him in the offseason. Greinke even said that it was a tough choice he had to make, but the Dodgers were simply offering a heck of a lot more. 
 
I just don't get the Dipoto hate on here. You all need to look at the entire picture instead of cherry picking and posting half-ass opinions. 

Arte and Dipoto gave Sosh an extremely competitive team to lead on the field. He has failed miserably this year. Sosh will be gone first, regardless of his contract. Team needs a new energy in the clubhouse, and that is something Arte or Dipoto can't do themselves.

But thats my point. You are comparing expectations over reality. Everyone's expectations is that last year's rotation was one of the best. The reality after the season was that it was pretty bad. So do you blame last years results on the GM? Absolutely not.

Exactly...if a GM makes moves that make you the favorites 2 years in a row..I dont think the GM is to blame. You did what u needed to do on paper..time for your coach and players to make it work.

Sorry, but Dipoto isn't to blame for most of the shittiness the Angels have displayed on the field and you're right. We ALL were STOKED on Dipoto last offseason and this offseason. Injuries and some players not working out are not on him at all. 
 
Dipoto will not be fired BTW. 

Remember when we all loved every Dipoto deal (except for Blanton). Oh hindsight..u win again.

I had no problem with Shuck going from 1st to 3rd.
It was Ianetta either being held up or stopping at 3rd on his own....that's where the idiotic baserunning took place.  

Vernon Wells trade never made any sense on any level.
 
Just saying.

Yah cuz Pujols looked 45 his last year at STL...and Hamilton looked like a Rookie last year right. Maybe we should give Scioscia a cy young contender like Rodney to work with. Or lets give scioscia a THIRD ace like Greinke. Poor scioscia...GMs always give him scrubs to work with.

He is saying "We assembled an "amazing" pitching staff last year. Look how that turned out. There is only so much the man can do".

lol firing scioscia is a knee jerk reaction?!

He is saying "We assembled an "amazing" pitching staff last year. Look how that turned out. There is only so much the man can do".

He is saying "We assembled an "amazing" pitching staff last year. Look how that turned out. There is only so much the man can do".

No Sir.  I didn't miss anything.  And I'll say it again.  How did we do the past 3 years?  Its quite simple.  We have no time to "let it play our for itself".  Scioscia even with the best 5 starting pitchers in the league couldn't get us in the playoffs...yet a team like OAKLAND CAN?  AGAIN. OAKLAND.  We can't always get the best players in the world in every position (and other teams cant either), but a Manager can sure make it happen.  Why can other teams with a bunch of nobody's do it?  If you don't think 3 years is long enough to "let it play out", I don't know what is....cuz any other manager would have been fired by now.
 
 

I agree. The only knock you could put on Dipoto is signing Blanton over a Lohse and not putting together a good BP last season. Outside of those two things, I've been very impressed with him.
 
Regarding last year's bullpen, I think Dipoto believed Downs, Walden and two veteran guys like Hawkins and Izzy would be good enough. Same thing this year, though he tried to put together a solid BP for cheap getting Madson, Burnett to go along with Downs, Frieri and what we all witnessed in a rejuvenated Kevin Jepsen. Can't fault him too much on both of these, but I can see how the blame can partly go in his direction. 
 
But seriously, landing top free agents and a blockbuster deal to get Grienke for the playoff push. Solid! Everyone was singing his praises for most of these moves.

Im a moderator in the Tech Forum, and I've stopped my Apple trolling since i've become a moderator.  To be honest,  Im also a bit surprised about this thread coming from a mod.

someone hold a sign..."im just cheering, pls don't kick me out"

the awesome power of MS PAINT.

Scioscia started to lose it in 2008, the squeeze attempt in the 2008 ALDS is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen in baseball.  The Mathis infatuation was nuts as well, and his bullpen management skills got worse and his lineup tinkering.  His loyalty to veteran players probably cost us a playoff spot last year, playing Abreu/Wells over Trumbo was ludicrous and cost us wins.  His bullpen management was terrible last year as well, I remember one game he brought in Scott Downs (who was on fire as the time) and he threw 4 pitches, and Scioscia did not bring him back out for the next inning.  Takashitty came in, game over.  He's done plenty of things like this in the last few years.  Last night his bullpen management cost us as well.  Why not bring in Jerome Williams for the 6th inning, or at least bring him in when Lowe was in trouble?  Why bring in a scrub nobody's ever heard of?  Also, why pull Downs on Tuesday when he was cruising and had gotten 2 straight outs, yet leave in an erratic Jepsen?  Scioscia has lost the fire he once had as well.  He didn't used to be so stoic, he used to have a lot more energy and not just sit in that same damn spot every game with that bored look on his face.  Scioscia is a guy who has gotten too comfortable and complacent, he gave us some great years but it's time to move on.  It's unacceptable for a team on this level to miss the playoffs for 3 straight years and it's time the manager is held accountable.

someone hold a sign..."im just cheering, pls don't kick me out"

time to call balls and strikes electronically....
 
tradition can suck it.

time to call balls and strikes electronically....
 
tradition can suck it.

we lost by 1 in both games, on the road against a top team.  I'll take it...for now.