wopphil

What did Scioscia do wrong last night?  His team took a lead into the 9th inning.  He put in his "best" reliever to save the game.  His "best" reliever choked, again.  How is that his fault?  Maybe Jerry should have given him some better pen arms. 

What did Scioscia do wrong last night?  His team took a lead into the 9th inning.  He put in his "best" reliever to save the game.  His "best" reliever choked, again.  How is that his fault?  Maybe Jerry should have given him some better pen arms. 

I am honestly not sure they care.  I know they are competitors and want to win, but they are getting paid a shit ton of money regardless. 

If this guy turns out to be anything like Dane de la Rosa - a serviceable arm under club control for 6 years - i'd say it is a good trade.
 
Remember, we are talking about just 2 months of Scott Downs.  Nobody is going to give you an elite prospect for that.

If this guy turns out to be anything like Dane de la Rosa - a serviceable arm under club control for 6 years - i'd say it is a good trade.
 
Remember, we are talking about just 2 months of Scott Downs.  Nobody is going to give you an elite prospect for that.

I can't speak for all of them, obviously.  But here is a thread on the STL board on the same topic:
http://interact.stltoday.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=966320&sid=3ba435df83c1fd927a4ba515e7cc5462
 
I think there was also a 10 year deal after the 5 year deal was rejected..  I think 210 million was the number.
 
There's a lot who are still bitter over the whole thing, but its died down a lot.    In the long run, he will always beloved in St. Louis, by most of us.  And he still does so much good and positive things for the community. 
 
I come around and follow the Angels so I can keep up with him, and wish him the best.    When he was a Cardinal, he was the best player of our generation.    I hope you guys get to see some of that too.  
 
He had a spectacular 11 years in STL, no denying it.   The Cards did dodge a bullet by not overpaying for his later years.   I think most Cards fans see that now.    
 
The Cards build their organization in the farm system, first and foremost.    They get a piece here and there from outside when there is a need (Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran).    They keep core players who came up when its reasonable and benefical (Molina, Wainwright).      They are a mid-market team, so keeping Albert for 10 years at his price would not have worked to our advantage.    The FO gets a lot of respect from the fans, because they (usually) make good moves.     They look like geniuses to the fanbase right now by letting Albert walk, but how would they have looked if he accepted it?   Who knows.

A Victim? His past 3 or 4 starts hes been almost Joe Blanton awful

Remember when people used to admire this gifted athlete? People were actually rooting for him to break Aaron's home run record.
Boy, what a fall.

The Marlins wouldn't even laugh before hanging up the phone on Art...err, Jerry. 

It is hard for me to find fault with Scioscia.  Take yesterday's game for example - could any manager on earth have obtained a different outcome?  So many games have been lost by 3 or more runs, due to such things as terrible starting pitching and the complete absence of Pujols/Hamilton.  How is any of that Scioscia's fault?  Scioscia didn't construct this team. 
 
Perhaps a better way of looking at things is like this: What moves has Scioscia made that you guys take issue with?  What, specifically, can you point to that he has done wrong?  I would agree that his bullpen management has been bad in a few of the games this year, but I am sure that is the case with all 30 managers in MLB.  Would moving Hamilton down in the lineup earlier in the year really changed where we are in the standings?  Would Conger's .744 OPS really have won more games than Ianetta's .702 OPS?  With how poorly Williams has pitched the last month, can any of you reasonably say that if he had replaced Blanton in the rotation, this team would be better off? 
 
You guys want a scape goat just because you think it will vindicate your dissatisfaction with this team.  But it won't.  Organizational success is cyclical, and we are now paying the price for some very bad free agents signings and some short-sighted trades, none of which are Scioscia's fault.  If Jerry does his job, in time the team will be good again.   

It is hard for me to find fault with Scioscia.  Take yesterday's game for example - could any manager on earth have obtained a different outcome?  So many games have been lost by 3 or more runs, due to such things as terrible starting pitching and the complete absence of Pujols/Hamilton.  How is any of that Scioscia's fault?  Scioscia didn't construct this team. 
 
Perhaps a better way of looking at things is like this: What moves has Scioscia made that you guys take issue with?  What, specifically, can you point to that he has done wrong?  I would agree that his bullpen management has been bad in a few of the games this year, but I am sure that is the case with all 30 managers in MLB.  Would moving Hamilton down in the lineup earlier in the year really changed where we are in the standings?  Would Conger's .744 OPS really have won more games than Ianetta's .702 OPS?  With how poorly Williams has pitched the last month, can any of you reasonably say that if he had replaced Blanton in the rotation, this team would be better off? 
 
You guys want a scape goat just because you think it will vindicate your dissatisfaction with this team.  But it won't.  Organizational success is cyclical, and we are now paying the price for some very bad free agents signings and some short-sighted trades, none of which are Scioscia's fault.  If Jerry does his job, in time the team will be good again.   

They have made more than a couple. They have been building  for 3+ years. Check out the kid Lake they started in CF last night.
The Redsox dumped their albatross contracts, fired a couple of managers, and they are back.
Some orgs recognize their mistakes, bite the bullets to rectify them, and move on.
The Angels are stuck in the same pattern that brought them GMJ and Vernon Wells.
The Cubs will be relevant again before the Angels are.

Why?
 
General managers and fans alike suffer from the same myopia when comparing players.  Pitchers' stats have been improving steadily over the past few years -- and at the rate things are going -- 2013 is on track to have the lowest ERA in decades...currently, the MLB average is 3.91.
 
So when analyzing whether or not Joe Blanton was a wise choice, you have to take into account his 4.99 ERA as a Dodger last season and realize this isn't the steroid era of ten years ago.  Context matters, especially when last year's NL ERA was 3.76.

It is hard for me to find fault with Scioscia.  Take yesterday's game for example - could any manager on earth have obtained a different outcome?  So many games have been lost by 3 or more runs, due to such things as terrible starting pitching and the complete absence of Pujols/Hamilton.  How is any of that Scioscia's fault?  Scioscia didn't construct this team. 
 
Perhaps a better way of looking at things is like this: What moves has Scioscia made that you guys take issue with?  What, specifically, can you point to that he has done wrong?  I would agree that his bullpen management has been bad in a few of the games this year, but I am sure that is the case with all 30 managers in MLB.  Would moving Hamilton down in the lineup earlier in the year really changed where we are in the standings?  Would Conger's .744 OPS really have won more games than Ianetta's .702 OPS?  With how poorly Williams has pitched the last month, can any of you reasonably say that if he had replaced Blanton in the rotation, this team would be better off? 
 
You guys want a scape goat just because you think it will vindicate your dissatisfaction with this team.  But it won't.  Organizational success is cyclical, and we are now paying the price for some very bad free agents signings and some short-sighted trades, none of which are Scioscia's fault.  If Jerry does his job, in time the team will be good again.   

It is hard for me to find fault with Scioscia.  Take yesterday's game for example - could any manager on earth have obtained a different outcome?  So many games have been lost by 3 or more runs, due to such things as terrible starting pitching and the complete absence of Pujols/Hamilton.  How is any of that Scioscia's fault?  Scioscia didn't construct this team. 
 
Perhaps a better way of looking at things is like this: What moves has Scioscia made that you guys take issue with?  What, specifically, can you point to that he has done wrong?  I would agree that his bullpen management has been bad in a few of the games this year, but I am sure that is the case with all 30 managers in MLB.  Would moving Hamilton down in the lineup earlier in the year really changed where we are in the standings?  Would Conger's .744 OPS really have won more games than Ianetta's .702 OPS?  With how poorly Williams has pitched the last month, can any of you reasonably say that if he had replaced Blanton in the rotation, this team would be better off? 
 
You guys want a scape goat just because you think it will vindicate your dissatisfaction with this team.  But it won't.  Organizational success is cyclical, and we are now paying the price for some very bad free agents signings and some short-sighted trades, none of which are Scioscia's fault.  If Jerry does his job, in time the team will be good again.   

It is hard for me to find fault with Scioscia.  Take yesterday's game for example - could any manager on earth have obtained a different outcome?  So many games have been lost by 3 or more runs, due to such things as terrible starting pitching and the complete absence of Pujols/Hamilton.  How is any of that Scioscia's fault?  Scioscia didn't construct this team. 
 
Perhaps a better way of looking at things is like this: What moves has Scioscia made that you guys take issue with?  What, specifically, can you point to that he has done wrong?  I would agree that his bullpen management has been bad in a few of the games this year, but I am sure that is the case with all 30 managers in MLB.  Would moving Hamilton down in the lineup earlier in the year really changed where we are in the standings?  Would Conger's .744 OPS really have won more games than Ianetta's .702 OPS?  With how poorly Williams has pitched the last month, can any of you reasonably say that if he had replaced Blanton in the rotation, this team would be better off? 
 
You guys want a scape goat just because you think it will vindicate your dissatisfaction with this team.  But it won't.  Organizational success is cyclical, and we are now paying the price for some very bad free agents signings and some short-sighted trades, none of which are Scioscia's fault.  If Jerry does his job, in time the team will be good again.   

This is partially why I believe there is no chance of us making the playoffs. Too many good teams ahead of us. Even if we play .625 ball from here on out, plenty of other teams will play close to that and are too far ahead for us to catch.

This is partially why I believe there is no chance of us making the playoffs. Too many good teams ahead of us. Even if we play .625 ball from here on out, plenty of other teams will play close to that and are too far ahead for us to catch.

I hope that I hit Powerball, too. Probably about as likely.

Hope in one hand and shit in the other and see which fills up first. 

This is partially why I believe there is no chance of us making the playoffs. Too many good teams ahead of us. Even if we play .625 ball from here on out, plenty of other teams will play close to that and are too far ahead for us to catch.

Thankfully we have a strong farm that will provide an influx of cheap talent to fill the holes and balance things out over the coming years.

Thankfully we have a strong farm that will provide an influx of cheap talent to fill the holes and balance things out over the coming years.

Thankfully we have a strong farm that will provide an influx of cheap talent to fill the holes and balance things out over the coming years.

That is fine in dandy in an utopian world.
 
What would a rational person do?
 
A:  accept a $170 million right now?
 
B: play for minimum wage next year, play for arbritration salary in 2015, 2016, and 2017.  All the while hope you don't suffer a career ending injury thus leaving you with nothing, and wait for a bigger salary after 2017?
 
NO RATIONAL PERSON WOULD TURN THAT DOWN UNLESS THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE.  And Trout is playing too well to be miserable.  Yes, it is about winning.  And yes many people turn down money in order to play for a winner.  However, those people who turn down money are not turning down a guaranteed $170 million.