wopphil

If there is one thing that our government has shown us, it is that they really have their shit together when it comes to massive control of public money and care.

Kershaw/greinke/ryu is a pretty good 1-2-3 for the playoffs

I think he needs another year at least. I would also like to see what he can do with his type of manager. Oh and I disagree that the Wells trade screwed up the organization, because it really didn't. We gave up a player that Scioscia wasn't going to use correctly for an expensive player that sucked. That expensive player that sucked didn't prevent the Angels from making other moves. I like Dipoto but the move that will haunt the team is underestimating Greinke's asking price when trading for him.

Just how better can he manage this group? They come in and start giving up walks and hits faster than they can warm up another guy that is going to do the same thing.

I'm not rooting for the team to tank, but I'm certainly not distraught when they lose anymore.

Got a 6 pack of this last week, it's fantastic
 

Mean Girls is a good one.
 
I will always watch The Saint when it's on. 

The sad part is that once this heartbreaking season is over, we have to endure six months of something far worse.

The sad part is that once this heartbreaking season is over, we have to endure six months of something far worse.

Agreed.  Make him a huge offer he won't turn down.  Would he really turn down a 12/200 offer?  And is there really that much risk in giving him that sort of a contract (they did, after all, give a much older and clearly in decline Pujols 240 million over two fewer years). 

Isn't it amazing that its always the Angels who acquire the big free agent that, once in the Angels uniform, goes out and sucks.

I'm giving dipoto more time. Sure some of his signings have sucked, but I don't think jesus christ himself could turn the shit smoothie dipoto took over and turn it into wine

Things sound disingenuous when they're brought up in a way that is out of character for the person, in an effort to frame themselves in a better light.  
 
Albert talks about God and his family all the time.  It's who he is.  It's who he's been for the entirety of his career.  It's anything but disingenuous. 

Offer him a $200 million dollar contract THIS off season and I guarantee he won't turn it down and we will never have to worry about him playing elsewhere.

Forget about the Pujols and Hamilton mistakes. They are dead money. Any production we get from them going forward should be viewed as a bonus. Learn from those mistakes by not repeating them. Quit trying to buy a championship team. It doesn't often work.
 
So we have to operate with a $50 million disadvantage for the next 4 years, a $30 million disadvantage for 4 more years after that.
Is this team not capable of competing with an effective $110 million payroll? Tampa and Oakland are contenders with a ~$60M payroll. We still have a large advantage in payroll over those teams. We also have the advantage of having the best young player in the game.
 
Invest in talent acquisition. If you don't have the best scouts then hire them. If you don't have a top presence in the  Dominican then you do whatever it takes to build it. Everybody will remember the awful Wells trade, but the neglect of the DR development is the worst thing that that regime could have done. Did they really believe that they could allow every other team to pull serious talent from that region while ignoring it themselves and not pay for it?  
 
After you've acquired the talent you don't allow it to be squandered by inferior coaching. The development of pitching, especially at the major league level, has been miserable.
Money used on draft and development is well spent. Had they sunk even the (now small looking) $40M they wasted on the GMJ contract into draft and development in 2007 this would be a very different team. It's tougher now with the new rules but still the best path for sustained success.
 
They can turn it around but not if they continue to be stupid.

Am I allowed now? Let's take a look. Obviously all transactions aren't equal in importance, but let's just take a look at Dipoto's and see how they look in total.
 
Key:
A: Great - the deal worked out wonderfully (so far) with the Angels getting tremendous value for money/trade
B: Good - a solid deal, worked out well for the Angels
C: OK - could take it or leave it, not bad but not good either
D: Bad - worked out poorly (so far) for the Angels
F: Terrible - an outright disaster
 
 
TRADES
 
Chatwood for Iannetta: D+
Iannetta's been OK, although poor defensively, and Chatwood has, surprise surprise, finally found himself, with a 3.15 ERA in 15 starts for the Rockies. This trade is looking worse and worse. Iannetta has produced a 2.2 fWAR in his two years as an Angel, while Chatwood has produced 1.8 fWAR in 15 starts this year. Ouch.
 
Mathis for Mills: C+
Inconsequential, really. It may even be that some folks miss Mathis, given the poor defense of Iannetta, but at least it got Mathis out of the lineup.
 
Amarista and Roach for Frieri: C
Looked good last year (B+), but Frieri has collapsed and Amarista and Roach - while not future stars - are looking like serviceable major leaguers.
 
Segura, Pena, Hellweg for Greinke: D
Can't give it an F because Greinke pitched well and it was a solid attempt by Dipoto to make the postseason, but in the end it didn't work out so well and even though Segura has come back down to earth, he's still a very good young player.
 
Santana for Sisk: D
I know, I know - Santana probably wouldn't have pitched this well for the Angels, but the simple fact is that he is pitching this well.
 
Walden for Hanson: D
Yet another Dipoto risk that didn't work out.
 
Morales for Vargas: C+
This is the best kind of trade - one that works out for both parties. It should be a B, but Vargas has been injured and Morales is returning to his pre-injury form. Plus we don't know if Vargas will be back next year.
 
Wells for Sneed & Cayones: B
Its amazing Dipoto got as much money from the Yankees as they did. I'm giving this a B, but it doesn't come close to making up for the original blunder by Reagins.
 
Geltz for De La Rosa: C+
A decent trade, although who knows how it looks in the long-run.
 
Downs for Rasmus: C
I think the Angels could have gotten more if they waited longer, but Rasmus could be better than advertised. We'll have to wait and see.
 
Callaspo for Green: B
A hesitant grade. I think this will look very good in the long-run. We have to remember that Green was a 1st round draft pick, and chosen before Trout in the 2009 draft. He's been reading for a year or two now and, in my opinion, should be the everyday third baseman next year. Jury's out, but this looks good.
 
FREE AGENT SIGNINGS
Albert Pujols: D
I hope Albert turns it around, but so far this hasn't been good, plus we've got eight more years. I think he'll bounce back in 2014 and have his best season as an Angel so far, but that's speculative.
 
CJ Wilson: C+
All things tolled, CJ has been a solid pick-up for the Angels: what I would call a "#2.5" starter, not quite good enough to be a legit #2, but better than most #3s. I suppose his performance has been slightly disappointing in that he's not quite as good as he was in Texas, when he should have been better considering the ballparks.
 
Josh Hamilton: F
What to say? A complete disaster.
 
Joe Blanton: F
Ditto. If he turns out to be good in the pen and/or the Angels can trade him and most of his contract, then the F might turn into a B, but this was a terrible signing.
 
Sean Burnett: C
If he was healthy this would have been a B.
 
Ryan Madson: F
Not much of a loss but this obviously didn't work out at all.
 
EXTENSIONS
Dipoto has done well here, particularly with regards to Jered Weaver, Howie Kendrick, and Erick Aybar. Callaspo was OK, and has turned out well with the Green trade, but the Iannetta extension isn't looking so great.
 
 
OVERALL: D
Jerry Dipoto has not been a good General Manager - actually, he's been poor. Maybe not Reagins bad, but he's a far cry from Bill Stoneman and couldn't shine Billy Beane's shoes. He talks a good talk, but in the end the proof is in the pudding and the pudding sucks.
 
If we added a category for moves not made - players not re-signed or pursued as free agents - then we have to include Hunter, who has been a much better player than Hamilton and for much less money.
 
I personally think Dipoto deserves one more chance - particularly because his biggest mistakes are actually Arte's mistakes. But that shouldn't obfuscate Dipoto's bad moves, and there are plenty of them. I'd like to see what he does this offseason and how the team looks during the first couple months next year. If the Angels are 10 games behind again next year come mid-season, then Jerry has to go.

Albert might come back and be decent for a few seasons. Not 8, and never a dominant force, but maybe he can hit 300 and pop 30 for a couple years. Another in the long line of FA 1B busts. Nobody has made 250 mil at it ...But he listened and prayed.. and then GOD told him to leave STL, so who am I to question that?
GOD led him here. AP told us that, and everyone needs to remember that.
 
God told Hamilton to come here too.
Pretty sure I remember him sitting with his wife and kids, telling me on TV how GOD spoke to him and told him to take Arte's 125 Million offer.
Hamilton is toast. His drug addled mind is fried, and his body has given out.
He might very well be out of baseball before his contract is over, and HE doesn't even care.
But, this being GOD's will, who am I to question it?
 
.
 

He provided the Angels beat writers some exciting tweets about his long toss progress and also had some really good sessions off a flat mound. 

Nice article - its good to hear folks using WAR in a clear manner. That said, I have to take issue with a couple things that I think, in the end, mar your argument.
 
First of all, you say that a replacement player is a "generic 'average' player." Generic, yes, average, no. You clarify later on by saying that "a replacement level player as a player who costs no marginal resources to acquire." Meaning, every major league team has a slew of replacement players waiting in the wings - which is essentially what a AAA veteran is. But if this were an "average" player, then no major league teams would have less than average players at any position, which would in turn drive up what "average" means.
 
A replacement player is below average. If replacement level is -1 to +1 WAR, and a good platoon/marginal regular is 1-2, an average starter is around 2-3.
 
Secondly, I don't think the Nelson-Callaspo comparison is fair because 1) it implies that Callaspo's 2013 performance (0.0 fWAR - exactly replacement level) is his true talent level, when in fact he's averaged 3.2 fWAR over the previous two seasons, and 2.4 over his previous four years of being a major league regular, 1.9 if you include 2013. No matter how you look at it, I think it is safe to say that his true talent level is more in the 2-3 fWAR range, which makes him the definition of a league average starter.
 
Chris Nelson, on the other hand, has accumulated a -1.6 fWAR value in 234 major league games, making him nearly the definition of a replacement player (at best) - and thus "a player who costs no marginal resources to acquire."
 
So Dipoto did NOT swap one replacement level player for another, saving $5M+ in the process. He swapped a league average player for a decent prospect, and replaced the average player with a replacement level player, saving $5M+ and hoping that Callaspo's likely replacement next year - Grant Green - will be roughly equivalent to Callaspo's total production.
 
Don't get me wrong - I loved that trade and look forward to seeing what Green can do. But its easy to undervalue Callaspo, who has been a solid, league average player, which is significantly more valuable than a replacement level player like Chris Nelson, and not so easily replaced.

Was so nice to see a highlight reel catch that didn't come off an angel bat. I still think that Edmunds catch in Kansas City was the best catch of all time. Only one close is Mays off wertz and only because that one was in the series.

I'm glad he doesn't need surgery. I am guessing there isn't a single one on this board that would opt for this surgery if it wasn't needed. I am also glad we have a player that says he will try to come back and play this season if he is healthy regardless of the standings. He truly is a gamer and wants to earn his money through hard work, even if the performance isn't what we would like.

I think ragging on the bad farm system is over played too. Farm system strength is cyclical for teams. Teams with strong farms that finish in playoff positions for several years start to see their farm diminished as players move up or are traded. Having lower draft positions several years running since the team was finishing high, means the likelihood of maintaining farm strength is less. This isn't an Angel thing, this happens all the time. Building up the farm again doesn't happen over night. It's going to take a while.   

I would love to see some mediocrity at this point.

I'm not giving up on him yet. I'm very interested to see what he does this offseason.

Only if it's for Callaspo