gurn67

No matter how he plays in the future, he will always be beloved and treated respectfully by the Angels' fans. That isn't always the case when you go elsewhere. Especially a place like Philly, or New York. They'll turn on him real quick if his career path keeps trending the way it has injury wise. I can't imagine him EVER being booed in Anaheim because of his play.

Maybe he and Wander will be team mates in Japan.

Seriously dude, just walk away. He must have absolutely no self control when it comes to violence.

I made the Griffey comparison after he went to the Reds a few days ago. I think 100-120 games a year from now on and an OPS in the .800-850 range will be the norm form now on. He couldn't hit a decent fastball this year. He couldn't catch up to anything over 95 miles an hour. In an age where it seems like 90% of the guys can hit 95, that's a problem.

I became an Angels' fan during the 1978 season when I was 10 years old. This is only the second time during that period that I have honestly felt they should blow it up and start all over. 1992 was the other season. Of course, they should have started that process the last week of July. It's a complete mess from top to bottom. There's no quick fixes.

Reverse American League standings since August 1

Angels 8-22

Royals 10-21

White Sox 10-20

Oakland 12-18

Yankees 13-18

Best records

Mariners 21-8

Orioles 20-10

Rays 18-10

2 minutes ago, Jason said:

That reality was about a month ago. 

The writing was on the wall that this club just doesn't have what it takes at all after the 4 game sweep at home by the Mariners.

On the bright side. Renigfo continues his amazing 2nd half of the season.

46 games

.313 BA

.578 SLG

.950+ OPS

10 HR's

27 RBI's (batting a lot of leadoff too)

3 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

2003 Tigers

And yet in the WS 3 years later, Halis should only be so lucky.

The 1999 Angels went through a 17-45 stretch from late June through early September, and won it all 3 years later. So, miracles do happen. That's why we all still follow this seemingly hapless franchise. Right?

3 hours ago, totdprods said:

I imagine it would come down to something like the Yankees or Phillies. The Dodgers and Padres would probably be interested, but if Arte is around, zero friggin' chance he lets that happen. Orioles, Red Sox, Mets, and Rays would be on the next-tier of likeliness, for different reasons. Red Sox for East Coast + Storied Franchise + Money, Orioles for relative proximity to Philly and young, cheap core, Mets for money, and Rays, weirdly, because they've shown flashes of a willingness to have an expensive player at their core. Add to it they're consistently winning and possible loss of Franco, they may want someone to center their world around.  

I do not think a Trout trade is likely, a Trout trade would be easy, or a Trout trade would bring back a haul. I also do not think Trout requesting a trade is likely. 
I do however think that in the unlikely event Trout does ask for a trade, the above teams would be suitors and I do think given the magnitude of Trout's reputation, the teams/quietly the league would find a way to ensure it happens. 

Angels eat a big chunk of money, but still save money. Probably take back a big contract that isn't horrible but still poor value. Probably take back some fringey prospects or Jo Adell-type busted prospects who are being squeezed, a la Christian Pache. Might be good for Trout to get a change of scenery. Might be good for the Angels to get out from being under the constant pressure of 'winning now for Trout'. 

I don't think the Phillies are that dumb to take on the contract of a guy who is going to be a .800-.850 OPS guys for around 100 games per season at best. They hired the guy that Arte should have hired when he had the chance. The Yankees, on the other hand, are dumb enough. They've proven that they have no issue throwing money at over the hill veterans for decades now hoping they magically find the fountain of youth.

This team can't even put together a good month, and all of us saps keep thinking every year that this is going to be THE YEAR they make the post season. lol

In the last 32 months of Angels' baseball, they have had one month where they played .600 baseball. They used to do it all the time. 18-12, 17-11, 16-10. Just playing 6 games over .500 for a month will get it done. You would think with the players they have had on the roster that they could put things together for at least ONE month each season.

However, the only time they managed to do that since August 2017, Maddon got fired a month later. lol

Is it wrong of me to laugh when the inevitable happens? It's one thing when they were losing to good teams, but this is ridiculous.

2 minutes ago, Farmbuildingfan said:

Two game winning streak got them stoked.

A lot of people there probably to see Ohtani. Of course, the A's are pitching him like it's the last weekend of the season and their magic number for elimination is 1. 

Another thing that Ohtani is going to lead the American League in is walks if he continues playing. He's up by 10 over J.P. Crawford.

3 minutes ago, fan_since79 said:

I deleted my Anderson post, as he escaped that mess and has a no-hitter going.

 

Me too. I had an Anderson post ready to go, but I didn't post it in case he somehow got out of the inning. lol

Gotta give Anderson credit there. It looked like a total implosion was imminent.

If I could exchange all of the players in the A's organization with the players in the Angels' organization I would in a second. Beane will have the A's back in the post season before Arte does (if ever).

I figured I would do an update since it's been a little over a month. One of the worst stretches in club history. The Angels have gone 10-22 since then. Worst ERA in the majors since that span. Complete lack of clutch hitting. I can only focus on comparing where they are in OPS today versus where they were after the double header sweep in Detroit. They have gained slightly at one spot (2B) They have held in 3 spots, 2 of which because of Ohtani. They have dropped in 14 of the 18. Catchers and the entire outfield being the biggest culprits.

Amazingly, they are still 7th overall in MLB in OPS. Ohtani obviously is a lot of that. However, it shows that they actually have guys who have proven they can produce, they just all pretty much stopped 5 weeks ago except for Ohtani and Rengifo and maybe a couple others. At some point, these guys have to start producing again. Right?

First number is where they were after the double header sweep on July 27th. Second number is where they are today after their pathetic showing against the worst (2nd worst now?) team in MLB last night.

By position:

C 12th to 19th

1B 25th to 28th

2B 12th to 11th (Rengifo & Drury)

3B 18th to 23rd

SS 11th to 15th (Neto's injury)

LF 9th to 16th (Ward's injury)

CF 3rd to 10th (Trout's injury and Moniak going ice cold around that time)

RF 4th to 11th

DH 1st to 1st (of course)

Positions in the batting order

1. 15th to 15th

2. 1st to 1st (Ohtani)

3. 3rd to 6th

4. 14th to 18th

5. 18th to 23rd

6. 6th to 7th

7. 13th to 18th

8. 12th to 20th (Biggest drop here. Bottom of the order has looked like it did last season for the past 5 weeks)

9. 6th to 9th

Weird that lineup beat the Angels' pitchers like a pinata last night. 

Renfroe 0 for 3 so far today with runners on base and 0 for 2 with RISP. He must think he's still playing for the Angels.

The good thing is, other than Ohtani, it's one of the worst free agent classes I can remember. When, Ohtani leaves, Arte will not be able to blow his money on any more overpriced over the hill veteran players. Of course, that didn't stop him from trading for Wells, so who knows? Without Ohtani, this is a 70-75 win team at best. Following the example of teams like the Orioles, Astros, Braves, etc...the best thing to do would be to tank for a few years and undergo a full rebuild. I think most real fans would be on board for that at this point. Of course, that's not going to happen without new ownership.

36 minutes ago, Hubs said:

I haven't forgtten. It's one reason why Minasian is gonna go after the season. People yell at me when I bring up Bullpen Matrix, but after reading Maddon's book....Maddon has always seemed honest. The same bullpen problems plague Nevin that plagued Maddon. Everyone wants Wise's head, but no one believes that Tam and Minasian are having major input on in game pitching decisions. 

Analytics do work, if they're used properly. They are not being used properly with the Angels. It's a fundamental system flaw. 

Perry and Phil are both gone. As is Tam, Montgomery, and a few other coaches. Maybe even Carpino as well... (retire). and if Arte sells, I wouldn't be surprised. 

Someone like Theo Epstein is going to be brought in to right the ship. Look at what Dombrowski did in Philly.... It's what they need.

Epstein would be a dream come true. Especially if he was made Club President with absolute authority over the organization. Then, he could rebuild this organization from the ground up. Something it desperately needs. I'm long past the idea that they are "just a player or two away". Something that I seriously doubt Arte would agree with. So, I'm sure nothing like that will ever happen unless there is a change in the majority owner.

19 minutes ago, eligrba4ever said:

Cleveland is only 5 games out of the division lead. Great division. Those ex-Angels can still dream of October.

The last time we could dream of watching the Angels in October was in late September 2015 when they were 2 games back with 5 to go. Of course, they went 2-3 though. That included blowing a 5-3 lead at home to the A's who had the worst record in the American League that year.

Speaking of the Indians, did anybody else notice that our old buddy Kole hit a 3 run game winning home run yesterday? He's also got an OPS  of .811 and has driven in 15 runs in 20 games since being called up on August 5.

I'm not a fan of either guy, but I don't see how Velazquez is any better than Fletcher. They're paying Fletcher a million dollars a month, they might as well get some use out of him. 

50 would be a pretty big historical milestone for him. First Japanese born player to hit 50 and first Angels' player to hit 50. 

Of course, he hasn't hit a home run since he left the first game of that double header. He's hit some absolute rockets, but he didn't get them up in the air.

No leads are going to be safe this month.