mota_madness

Have you seen the 2nd baseman and shortstops around baseball? Not only are these guys both top 10 at their position(Howie top 5 this year), they have very team friendly deals. 
 
Howie has a .819 OPS and, maybe more importantly with this team, a .915 with RISP. He's been great this year. 
 
Aybar has sucked but he put together a few solid years in a row and he could easily turn it around. He was the best hitting shortstop in baseball after the ASB last year. 

We are going on 3 seasons now of underperformance.  How many is enough?  3? 5? 10?  Maybe Sosh has lost it, maybe he hasn't, but the product on the field for the last few seasons now has made it clear that a new voice is needed.  I have nothing against Sosh and appreciate all that he's done for the organization, but the constant defensive miscues, base running blunders, and bullpen mismanagement has gotten old and I think a lot of that can be attributed to management.  It's a lack of focus and discipline, which is wholly in the manager's control.
 
I think you at least need to give Dipoto a chance to get a guy in here that he views as a fit to manage the team.  It does not seem that Sosh's strengths and the composition of this roster is a match.  It would seem to me that both the organization and Sosh might benefit from a mutual parting of ways.

So what about last season?  Or the season before?  What does Scioscia do to warrant keeping around?  Any support I've seen for keep Sosh the past few seasons is in the abstract--no one can seem to point to anything on the field.  Based on the logic that the manager doesn't play, the players do, what manager would ever get fired?   

GB brought up a good point. This coaching staff assisting Scioscia is not exactly one eliciting great respect. And for sure it's not the one that was here from 2000-2005 intact each season.

Look at some of the other MLB coaching staffs. Good God Look at the Dbacks
Gibson, Baylor, Nagy. Sax, Matt Williams, Allan Trammel...
2 of those "assistants" once managed, and all of them were stars. REAL ballplayers. All Star Teams.
 
Chili Davis in OAK...that guy could actually hit!
You going to listen the Jim Eppard or Mike Butcher or Piccilo ( or whatever his obscure no-name is)?
Seroiusly. Scioscia has assembled the Chester Milktoasts of coaching staffs.
Who are these guys and what ML player is going to take them seriously??

I think you will see the support staff get reassigned first before you get Scioscia fired/reassigned.  Like it or not, Scioscia's support staff is mainly minor league coaches.  I don't know the answer to this, but do minor league coaches get the same respect as a major league player/coach?  How much will Pujols listen to Eppard as opposed to McGwire?  How much can Piccollo, a career minor leaguer (I think), relate to someone who make millions?  
 
Arte has spent millions to put the best possible team together.  And when it comes to maintenance of those players, he's letting a minor league team oversee it.

People will come to see the new manager.  Also, Scioscia isn't turning this pile of crap around, what is to say someone else doesn't?

He can't opt out until the end of next season.  That is too long to wait.  Not to mention you need to do something to get fans to the park.  Who the hell would want to go watch these losers?

It really doesn't feel that big to me. It's one game. We still suck.

Kole Calhoun & Matt Long up.. Pujols to DL. Keep Jerome Williams in the rotation, move Hanson to long relief (since Blanton is pitching better).
 
Trade Hanson, Blanton and maybe even C.J. Wilson at the deadline. Extend Vargas. 
 
That's my plan if I were manager & the GM. But I don't think Scioscia has the balls. I do believe in Dipoto, so I have faith.
 
Anyhow, Pujols is not doing himself or this team any good by trotting his lame ass out there every day. He's hurt and he should take some time to heal up and reflect on his performance this season while out. 
 
Meanwhile these two guys can provide some punch at 1B and LF. Shuck isn't bad, but he doesn't have any pop and his defense isn't that great.
 
Triple-A stats:
 
Matt Long: .304/.422/.507
 
Kole Calhoun: .379/.455/.561

How important to the team is he? HK is my favorite player and I know he gets a lot of flak here for grounding into double plays. I still think he's one of the best players on the team and one of the best second basemen in the majors.
 
Do you think the team will be better with or without him?
 
P. S. I was on my Blackberry watching Gameday when he came up in yesterday's game with men on first and second in the 8th and GIDP. Doesn't change my opinion of him.

I don't know if Billy Beane still uses the moneyball approach but it sure seems like it.  Oakland third in .OBP in AL @ .333.  Arte and Dip need to see... Pulling in non homegrown stars ain't what it's cracked up to be...
 
Payroll:
 
Los Angeles Angels $127,896,250
 
Oakland Athletics $60,372,500
 
Who is putting the better product out there every night?

Iannetta has always had a really good eye at the plate.
 
He's the perfect example of a hitter who can have a bad BA and be a productive hitter. 

Contrary to what many people believe players have some control over how often they walk. It's largely not that pitchers throw more strikes to certain guys and pitch around other players. Ianetta is patient and allows pitchers to walk him.

Bengie Molina?

no sure, but I imagine it as heavy russian accent. 

Angels are 8-1 in their last nine games. You are all whiny bitches.

Be at .500 by the All Star Break. That's about 40 games away. If they can't at least go 25-15 from here on out..(which would leave them at 43-42) then they aren't going to make a run.
 
I don't want us trading any more prospects wherever we are by the All Star break.

We're hitting. ..30 runs is it in last three games?  

Continuously throwing out a guy who is dead last in several important categories is putting the team in a huge position to lose. You can also say that if we have a better pitcher, that some of those games are winnable. It doesn't matter if the offense scores if Blanton lets up 4-6 runs every single time out.

Once Blanton is out of the rotation, this team could possibly develop some momentum. Throwing him out there is a guaranteed loss.

Why are you choosing his last 10 games? If you go by all of May (or better yet the last day of April, the day he took over CF from Bourjos), he's hitting over .370, has 7 homers, OPS over 1.250
 
Second time today somebody has made a Trout porn thread and failed to come through.

The funniest thing I've read in months.  Give it a look gents. - http://www.baseballnation.com/2013/5/9/4314164/scouting-reports-hunter-pence-derek-jeter

Pray? This team needs an exorcism