405z06

If we do manage to sneak in and, even more amazingly, win the first series, Scioscia's job will be secure for 40 more years.

FYP

it always tough to be versusing a team that has your number, difficult to set the tone

Actually it's the opposite. If the team doesn't win it would because of the Hamilton debacle forcing an inadequate lineup that couldn't improve itself because the GM quit right during period when trades are made. If the team wins Scioscia will get his third MOY.

 

I don't think Scioscia will opt out and here's why:

First of all, no team is gonna come close to paying him $6M/yr. The only person in the world who thinks that highly of him is Arte.

Secondly, he will have nowhere near the hammer anywhere else that he has w/ the Angels. Those days are over except in Anaheim, and a hiring GM for another club is not gonna give Mike that authority.

If Mike wants to go do a 5 year rebuild in Philly, then maybe that is an option.

He ain't going to the Dodgers. The Dodgers front office might be the most SABR-oriented in the game. Anyone think Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi have any interest in bringing in a "Old-school" dinosaur to manage their $270M payroll? LOL

The Angels are stuck with Scioscia for better or worse.

They tried to give him the starting CF job out of spring training last year, and he completely and utterly choked. Everyone notices the athleticism and natural gifts, but this is ain't a track meet, and the nuances of what make a good baseball player, well, I don't think Peter has it. It probably wouldn't take much to get him off the roster in a trade, I would bet. He will be arb eligible after this year, I think, so he could be a non-tender target this offseason if he isn't traded before.

The player that everyone in STL loves is Grichuk. I personally don't get that one either, as I see him a pretty darn good 4th OF, but not an everyday player. But many disagree, and if Heyward keeps sucking, Grichuk is going to see plenty of playing time this summer, particularly vs lefties,  so we may find out.

In terms of Waino, I think the Cards will cruise to the division or a WC this year even w/o him, but it's in the playoffs where you really miss an Ace/Horse like that.

I watch a lot of Cardinal games, and I have just come to the conclusion that Peter just isn't a good baseball player. He alright with the glove and has great speed (that doesn't translate to steals, btw), but is just clueless at the plate. He'll be the 5th OF/ late inning defensive sub once again when Grichuk gets back. Whatever problem the Angels may be having right now, having Bourjos back wouldn't solve any of them.  

Adult autograph groupies are among the creepiest people on the planet

Not only will Arte almost be assuredly be paying a huge chunk of Hamilton's contract to make him go away, but this will be - in effect - a huge pay raise for Josh, playing in Texas instead of Cali re:  zero state income taxes in TX. What is the highest bracket in CA? 13%

13% of $85M is > than $11M 

lol

Will Myers wasn't called up by the Rays until June 18th in  2013, only played in 88 games, and still won the ROY walking away.

Ryan Howard won it in 2005 with 88 games played

It is unreasonable to say a player must play in enough games to qualify for Rookie of the Year 

there is no such rule, is there?

There are limits that if you exceed x IP and x AB's then you are no longer considered a rookie, but there is no rule  saying that a player must play in enough game to win ROY award.

Last I checked, Angels fans weren't supposed to pay attention to Cameron, as he is a huge M's homer who hates the Angels like Sterling hates the colored folk. Maybe Chuck has had a beer with Cameron and can fill us in.

While Angels fans are waxing nostalgic over the awesomeness of Bourjesus, he is on the verge of losing his starting to gig to a hot-hitting Jon Jay.

Cards fans haven't seen a hitter this consistently over-matched since, well, Pete Kozma. But the point is that he looks really, really bad.

Speaking of hot streaks, I'll take vintage Pujols from August, 2010:

 

.379/.453/.777

11 home runs

23 RBI

29 runs scored

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=pujolal01&t=b&year=2010&share=3.81#1503-1528-sum:batting_gamelogs

Try March/April 2006

14 HR

32 RBI

27 R

all in 25 games

 

 Besides OBP and homerun totals, Young is equal to or better than Berkman in every way. 

So aside from getting on base and hitting for power, Young was just as good as Berkman? lol

This is going to be short and sweet.

 

Moreno is a business man. The signings of Pujols, Wilson, and Hamilton were important for getting attention (Hamilton specifically took airtime away from the Dodgers) and keeping the Angels interesting with star power while the farm system gets rebuilt.

 

Tanaka, if posted, is the only player that has that same potential by drawing in fans and media (the Ichiro effect) alike to increase revenue.

This is all horse crap. Winning draws fans.

I may be mistaken, but didn't attendance and ratings both go down in Pujols' 1st year here? He was pretty much considered the best player in the game, AND Trout came up and played like GOD as a rookie, but the ratings and attendance didn't move much. Because they didn't win.

Arte needs to stop worrying about "star power" and other nonsense and get out way and let baseball people make baseball decisions.

Maybe Tanaka will be all that y'all think he will. Or maybe he will be like Tomokazu Ohka or Shigetoshi Hasegawa. Do you really think there is an "Iwakuma effect"  in Seattle? I doubt it. And he is one of the best pitchers in the league.

I like it. Trade Howie to NY for anonymous minor league guys. Then trade said minor league guys to Tampa for Price. I can't believe Dipoto hasn't figured out how easy this is.

not surprised by this -- but I probably would have tendered Williams, made a decent (but lower) offer..........

 

and then, there's always the chance that some rotation starved team would pick him up and we'd get a draft pick.

 

In almost counter-intuitive sense, the Angels did Williams a favor and rewarded his loyalty by non-tendering him -- by doing this, the chances of Williams being picked up as a F/A by another team increase considerably as they won't have to forfeit a draft pick........and some team with rotation (fourth/fifth, even sixth) spot needs will sign Williams now.

There is so much wrong with this that I don't even know where to start

Maybe the Rays really are a smart organization. If so, then they will realize that it's silly to think you'll win the AL East with James Loney's bat at your primary power position.

 

Contrary to popular belief the Angels aren't the only team that sees a small window and feels desperate to win before it slams shut.

If the Rays were thinking short-term window stuff, they would just keep Price for the next 2 years since they already control him. Thinking that somehow the Rays get better by trading Price and acquiring Trumbo doesn't compute.

Tampa seems like the type of org that would want stay away from a Trumbo-type player. I can't see them getting giddy over the 30 HR power and completely overlooking the career .299 OBP. This isn't Ruben Amaro Jr.

I've said from the beginning that the Angels have no shot of landing Price, and I will stand with that despite the report in the OP.

The problem the Angels have at the moment, is that even if everything break right next year (Pujols is Cardinal-era Pujols, Trout is still Trout, Hamilton is Ranger-era hamilton), they still don't have the pitching to do much with it. It would be one helluva fun offense to watch, though.

Well with all due respect Eric when you bat 9th in the order you don't have a lot of opportunities for RISP, so this is misleading.

I'm torn because I think clutch is BS by and large, but in terms of this comment above, Eric Maddow-Micheal-Moore wasn't giving counting/cumulative stats, he was giving percentages. It MAY be misleading because of small-sample-size (not sure of sample) but that would apply to all listed, not just Pete.

we all know that Pujols has never used PED's and that his age is correct as listed. We're good.

Didn't see this anywhere yet, sorry if a dupe. This is a depressing read to start a Sunday morning:

Cardinals, Angels, and Trying to Get Better

On the surface, the trade that sent Peter Bourjos and Randal Grichuk to the Cardinals and David Freese and Fernando Salas to the Angels looks like two teams trying to turn areas of depth into players that can fill holes in areas of weakness. At the trade’s most basic level, that is certainly the case but it also reflects the serious differences between the two organizations and how they have approached the last several seasons.

Full story link: http://www.gammonsdaily.com/cardinals-angels-and-trying-to-get-better/

Seems like are really good pick-up, but am i the only one that think $5m/yr is bit much for a 7th/8th inning guy, especially considering the "budgetary constraints" this off-season?

I'm sure they talked about that, don't you think? someone balked at the idea.