IowaAngels27

Who wants to be the one to slap him?  Voted Trout SEVENTH in the MVP race behind Donaldson, Cano, Beltre and Pedroia.  Also the only one who had Davis winning.

Interesting article. Thoughts?

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/24227144/interest-is-huge-in-trumbo-but-the-angels-are-trying-not-to-trade-him

Actually you need to read more carefully. Padres are not a good team. A good team would trade away pitching prospects for a proven power hitter because they want to win. A bad team would not trade pitching prospects for a proven power hitter because they will still lose, the proven power hitter will become expensive quickly, and inexpensive pitching is not something bad teams trade away. Bam roasted.  

Considering the Padres only had two less wins than the Angels, does that make us a bad team?  Why don't the Angels follow this philosophy if they only win 78 games a year?  Obviously joking, but the Padres could use the power and have what we can use in excess pitching.  Seems like a decent trade on both sides.

Why would the Padres want Trumbo? It's not like they are one power hitter away from anything. Ideal fit to trade Trumbo is a good team with excess pitching needing power, a good team with a deep farm, or bad team with a high salaried player we like. 

Sounds like you contradicted yourself there turbo.  The Padres have excess pitching with prospects and need power, considering they were 21st in the league with 146 home runs.  Always check your stats before you post something.

They have the pitching that can help us out immediately, in guys like Andrew Cashner and Cory Luebke.  I feel like we can get one of those guys and than add on maybe another young pitcher in Max Fried or Matthew Wisler and maybe even a near ready catcher in Austin Meadows.  The number one priority is saving money for Trouty, and I feel that Cashner and Luebke aren't too expensive and we even can get some depth in our farm system.  Any thoughts or other options?

I hate the Tigers.  Torii is one of my favorites but the rest of that team and the fans are a bunch of assholes.

I completely agree. But Torii deserves a ring. As for the rest of them, not so much.

Let's cheer the Tigers on in the postseason and get the classiest, nicest, and most fun loving guy in baseball, Mr. Torii Hunter a World Series ring! Nothing but a class act and he deserves Angels fans' support. 

8.5 out with 10 games left? Why the hell not win out and make the playoffs! Crazy things happen around this time.

In this upcoming off season what would be a list of things that Arte and Jerry need to address.  I want to know what people think is the most important.  I'll start. This is by importance.

1. Release Joe Blanton

2. Fire Mike Butcher

3. Trade Kendrick and Bourjos for Starting Pitching

4. Resign Jason Vargas

5. Start talking with Trout and his agent about contract extension.

Still have a couple of years on this, but needs to start this year.

Just to name a few

He faked it and told Mike S to go f himself. Mike wants to trade him to the Phillies for Ryan Howard and Cliff Lee

Thanks for the update Charlie Manuel

I know he left the game with hamstring tightness. Any other information on him?

To sum up the AL West and the Angels season -- look at the W/L stats vs. the doormat Houston Astros.

 

Texas season record vs. Astros: 11-2 (2-1 Home; 9-1 Road at Houston) 6 Home games left vs. Houston at Arlington.

 

Oakland season record vs. Astros: 11-1 (3-0 Home; 8-1 Road at Hou.) 7 Home games left vs. Houston at Raiders Park.

 

LA Angels of ANA. rec vs. Astros: 6-7 (2-5 Home; 4-2 Road at Hou.) 3 Home, 3 Road games left vs. Houston,

 

 

That FOUR GAME SWEEP by the Astros at ANAHEIM was perhaps the lowest point of a lot of low points this season.

 

If the Halos perform to the level of the A's or Texas against Houston -- Angels are at least then at .500 for the season.

 

Houston beat Texas at Houston Opening Night -- one win against them since and almost got no hit today. 

You seem to have forgotten the other team that's ahead of us.

It's one thing to cheat, but when cheating helps cost the Angels the AL Pennant, that's when I get upset.  I realize A Rod wasn't the only contributing factor but here are some stats.  Remember, the Angels lost the series 4-2.

Alex Rodriguez 2009 ALCS Stats-

BA- .429 9 for 21

RBI- 6

HR- 3, Including a game saving home run in Game 2 off Brian Fuentes, Yankees eventually won in 13 innings

And in Game 6, A Roid went 2-2 and was walked 3 times.  

Sorry, but had to vent.  In 2009, I thought we had the best team in the world, and after hearing about the bio genesis, I thought about him tearing through the playoffs in 2009 and knocking us out, costing us the pennant.  And also, that team had Melky Cabrera and Andy Pettitte.  Makes me sick.  Let's dominate on National TV tonight!

Anyone suspicious?

Suspicious of you not appreciating the best hitter in the game.

I'd say the only change would be Conger catching and Cowart at 3B.

But the question is, where do we put him? 

Is anyone else wondering why the heck Hawpe was up for so long?

I think a lot of us wondered why he was up in the first place!

As terrible as this season has been, besides Trout, the only other bright spot has been Weav lately.  He is a gamer and it seems he's back to dominating most line ups.  I'm glad he is pitching on a Nationally televised game against our hated rivals. Hopefully he show's Garza what an elite pitcher can do!

minor league records have zero correlation with how strong the prospects in a system are.

You're right, winning games must mean that there are no strong prospects.  Because Byron Buxton hasn't helped the Cedar Rapids Kernels and Fort Meyers Miracle win games this year in the Twins system?  You should work in baseball.

I realize this isn't the minor league forum, but I thought I'd update everyone on how the teams in the Angels farm system are doing.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, since we are supposed to have the worst farm system!

AAA- Salt Lake sits in FIRST place at 58-46, 1 game up in a tough division in the PCL.

AA-   Arkansas sits in FIRST place at 51-49, 2 games up in the Texas League North Division.

High A- Inland Empire sits in SECOND place at 55-48, 5 games back in the California League South.

A-         Burlington sits in seventh of eight at 38-57, 21.5 games back in the Mid West League, but really with out any of our top prospects.

Just thought I'd show this and show some appreciation for all the minor league coaches.  They've proved a lot of people wrong.  The future doesn't look too bad.

Per Eric Kay, Kole Calhoun has homered in each of his first three at bats tonight.  I think the Angels will be calling soon.

Great news...Hoping for things to go well.

Yea, the current lineup...how's that working out?  11 games back

 

Trout should be hitting 3rd.  Put guys who can get on base ahead of him, very few on this team.  PB (when he comes back) and HK perhaps.  Move the Albert Pujols down the lineup to where an old, slow guy belongs, 6th or so.

 

None of this will happen of course while Scioscia is at the helm of this sinking ship.

I thought about hitting him third.  But like you said who is going to get on consistently?  How much do you think the Twins want for Byron Buxton?

Let me explain my ideas a little better.  Regarding the idea that if Weaver is on 4 days rest than everyone else would be too.  That is correct and I didn't mean that.  I would utilize the off days and only pitch Blanton or Hanson if it is absolutely necessary.  But Weaver, CJ, Jason and Jerome are our 4 best starting pitchers.  And let me explain my lineup reasoning.

1. Trout- No brainer here, Best average on the team and possibly the fastest guy in baseball.

2. Aybar- I put him here because of his new found patient approach at the plate.  The reason Torii was a successful 2 hitter was that he saw a lot of pitches and that will allow Mike to have more of an opportunity to steal bases and get into scoring position.

3. Kendrick- Second best average on the team, why not put him here? He has been solid at the plate and if Trout can get to second a single scores him every time.

4. Hamilton- At this point he is hitting the ball for power more consistently than Trumbo.  Josh would do just fine if he was hitting 4th or 5th.  This will also give him a chance to see more pitches with the 3 in front him.  Anything is better than watching Albert's quick at bats in the on deck circle.

5. Trumbo- Can hit the ball a mile.  Needs to hit here or 4th.

6. Pujols- Wasn't sure where to put him.  But this seemed to be the only logical place.

7. Callaspo- He has been hitting pretty well as of late and could potentially hit higher if he continues to produce.

8. Conger/Iannetta- Both are good for the occasional home run, and Hank for a base hit. Most catchers bat here.

9- Bourjos/Shuck- Speed with the both of these.  Could steal bases with Trout being a patient hitter

Hope this helps clear anything up

After 93 games of the 2013 season our Angels sit at 44-49 and 11 games back.  To the great fans of Angels baseball and diehard fans who post on these forums, we know this is just plain BAD.  However, I thought I would give my thoughts about the rest of July and the opportunity that lies in front of us.

Through the rest of July we play 13 games, and 10 of them are against the A's and Rangers.  The reason to be excited about this is that if we are going to get back into the division race what better to do it than just beat the teams ahead of us head to head?  The first series looks good for us, as we have favorable pitching match ups in 2 of the 3 games. Weaver has made the A's look like they're a pee wee team as of late (I believe he has a sub 1 ERA against them since '11).  And Wilson has been great lately.  And we might not have the favorable pitching match up on Sunday, but this could be Bartolo Colon's last appearance of the year after the Bio genesis suspensions are handed out.  The A's will be tough to beat, but I believe that they are still not as good as Texas.

My thoughts about playing Texas for the first time in 3 months are the same as any Halo fan, I'm EXCITED.  I HATE THE TEXAS RANGERS!  I am tired of playing little brother to them and tired of getting beat by them.  And I hope the players feel the same way. To me, there is nothing better than beating Ron Washington's crew. I don't need any statistics because about this series because it really doesn't matter.  The Rangers play hard every night and we will have to one up their intensity.

Finally, I will provide, what I think, are the 5 keys to turning the season around and eventually making a run.

1. Get Mike Trout as many At Bats as possible- Bat the man first! We all saw what he did in the All Star Game and all of last year.  When he gets on base to start a game, there will usually be a run to follow and the pressure is immediately put on the other team.

2. Pitch Weaver on 4 days rest ASAP- I realize this can't happen now, but I would hope by the middle of August.  The whole season relies on how Weav pitches.  If he can continue to pitch well we will be in good shape and be in line to win games every 5 days.  The problem is that I'd rather see him every 4.  We need our Ace to step up and come through for us.

3. Get Healthy- This is a no brainer, but it's been a huge problem. Get Peter back in the line up, Burnett and Madson in the bull pen and Jason back in the rotation.  Tommy Hanson and Joe Blanton can get butt splinters for the rest of the season.  Jerome will get back to form, I promise you that.  The man had too much heart to accept anything but excellence.

4. Win divisional games- As I mentioned in my paragraphs above, the easiest way to gain ground is to win the head to head match ups.  We have 20 games with the A's and Rangers left in the season.  And we have to take care the Mariners and Astros.  No more getting swept by these teams.  We should win every series against these two teams.

5. EXPECT TO WIN- Players, coaches, executives and fans should expect to win every time the team takes the field.  Let's go back to the attitude we had in December when we signed Josh, and have that kind of confidence when we talk about our team.    

Lastly, I would like to share what I think the line up and rotation should be once healthy.

1. Trout                                                                       

2. Aybar                                                                      

3. Kendrick                                                                  

4. Hamilton

5. Trumbo

6. Pujols

7. Callaspo

8. Conger/Iannetta

9. Bourjos/Shuck

1. Weaver

2. Wilson

3. Vargas

4. Williams

I hope many of you agree with my opinions and thoughts, as well as disagreed with some to so I can learn some new information.  I love this team and spend too much time watching, reading and listening about them to ever give up.  I hope everyone is excited for a second half because I sure am! Take care guys and gals. Go Angels!