QuinlansMinion

Im not really that pissed. But this year I will have to consider whether or not I want to sit in the sweltering heat to catch an Angels game, especially if the product is not worth the price of admission.

Who goes to an Angels game in 2016?

I dont think its smart to put any hope at all into a pitcher that is just coming off Tommy John surgery. Btw how awesome would it be if Weaver only starts hom games. He could probably post a 3.00 ERA for the whole season if that happened. We all know Mike Scioscia doesnt pay attention to numbers though.

Im not. Because at the end of the day we just end up getting screwed because now we have no Left Fielder, no money to spend, and next years free agent class sucks. Now if Arte got screwed like Donald Sterling did and had to sell his team because of some ignorant comments he made or something, that would be great.

Haha thats a funny way to justify it. So this was Arte's thinking at the time "Ill sign Josh but im fully aware he could relapse at any moment. If that happens, ill simply trade him to any team he chooses, and ill pay most of his contract." For a "businessman," thats a pretty stupid line of thinking. Why even take the risk if you know youre just going to get fed up and ship him off for free if he relapses, losing millions in the process? Unless of course, he wasnt aware Josh could relapse, which would explain why he signed him in the first place.

I get it but Cam isnt the only NFL quarterback who celebrates. Rodgers has been doing that stupid belt thing for years.

Pretty sure hating Cam Newton is borderline racism. Cam celebrates and everyone hates him. Rodgers celebrates and gets a commercial campaign out of it.

It sucks there isnt any video footage of Vlad hitting the ball off the ground and out of the park. Probably the best feat any baseball player has accomplished.

Exactly right. If were going all in on this whole defense thing, why put crappy defenders at 3rd and 2nd?

Nothing. I would be happy that we are serious about winning. This would be a pretty deep lineup Escobar Calhoun Trout Upton/Cespedes Pujols Cron Simmons Perez Crappy 2nd basemen Combined that with an above average rotation, a decent pen with a solid set up and closer. You might have something there.

Trout isnt Ian Desmond. And that was a horrible analogy.

Keep in mind I firmly believe that one really good impact bat this offseason would have made the Angels a serious contender. We have yet to see what Trout can do with lineup protection. Cespedes or Upton could have really done great things for our lineup. Can you imagine if Trout and Donaldson switched places? It wouldnt even be fair.

I guess hes satisfied with losing then?

Oh well. Its partially Trouts fault for signing an extension too soon. He could have just hit the open market the second he becomes a free agent, and still gotten an insane deal while also going to a team that gives him the best chance of winning. What incentive do the Angels (Arte) have to build a winner now? Trout is locked in for a few more years. Guaranteed profits for Arte which gives him the flexibility to not spend another dime and cheap out on everything he knows how. Trout has no leverage to try and force Arte's hand at building a winner. Hes going to be Arte's cash cow for a while and when the day comes that his contract is close to expiring, maybe then Arte will get serious about building a contender.

Ethier had a great year last year. Highly doubt CJ is enough to get him. But it would be very interesting to see what Ethier could do batting in front of Trout.

Reminds me of the garbage Laker years when Kobe dominated on bad teams and still drew sell out crowds to watch him play.

Guess if I was him I would have asked for a player option whenever he becomes eligible for free agency. Opt outs seem to be the cool trend in MLB these days.

In a way im kinda wishing Mike Trout wouldnt have signed that extension. Not because I dont want him to spend his entire career as an Angel, but because it might give Arte and his goons some incentive to actually improve the team and go all in for a championship. Id be very surprised if Trout isnt upset with this Angels front office. Unfortunately for him, hes stuck here for 5 years raking in millions of dollars in revenue for Arte. If I were him, id have waited on that extension, see what kind of moves Arte does to improve the team. and make it clear that I would leave if nothing is done.

Cron needs to become a poor mans Cespedes offensively, .275 with 20 hr's and a .750 OPS. Pujols at the very least needs to match his OPS from last year, assuming of course hes terrible with RISP again. Trout needs to put up Ruthian numbers of course. Calhoun needs to stay healthy and provide protection for Trout, but im assuming Scioscia will inexplicably bat him in front of Trout once again. Whoever plays left field needs to not hit like Jeff Mathis. Escobar needs to have a smooth transition from NL to AL, and needs to provide his top notch on base skills he had last year. Our abysmal 2nd basemen need to not make costly errors late in games, as well as not hit like Mathis. Richards needs to continue his path to becoming a solid #2 starter at worst if not an ace. Santiago needs to pitch like he did in the 1st half last year. Heaney needs to continue to improve. Guys with question marks will have to prove they are still effective (Wilson, Weaver, Shoemaker, Skaggs). Smith and Street need to stay healthy all season and continue their usual dominance. Someone needs to step in and become a reliable 7th inning guy (Salas, Bedrosian, Morin, or someone else). Outs on the basepaths need to be minimal. We cant lose games due to poor managing, especially uncalled for hit and runs that dont get executed. If all of this happens, we might contend for the division. But you are right, there is zero room for error. As we saw last year, Trout had one bad month but still finished with dominant numbers, and the team couldnt even claim a wild card spot.

Youre right. What was I thinking. One playoff appearance in 6 years is good enough for me /atleastwerenotthemariners

He tore it up in September. So you must think his wrist healed overnight even though he was playing every day. He had a slump, it happens. It helps when your team isnt dependent on one guy to carry your offense every single night.

Haha. Oh yeah weve made the playoffs once in the last 6 years. Thanks for correcting me. Remind me again how that series went?

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You just pointed out we won 13 games less than we did the year before. And the team has gotten worse while the division got better. Yet here you are asking about our doom and gloom. Do you see any progression here?

Im used to this team not making the playoffs so I dont really care anymore anyways. Were going to struggle to score runs every single night and many games will be blown due to poor managing, our bad bullpen, and costly errors by terrible defenders at critical infield positions. Angels baseball, take me out to a ball game /roger lodge voice