19HALO71

Phew!!
 
Was worried that Weaver would get the ball in game 1.
 
Go Halos!!!

Someone is trying to impress the new guys with his thread. So far only Kruhlz would have been impressed and he was banned already.

Lol. F#&k Trout. We should trade him.

Hard to blame the guy that carried the team for a few bad weeks when others made  a season of it.  Cant seriously blame Trout for any of this teams failures in recent years

Don't bother, dude. Many on AW think they are Bob Woodward. 
 
You already explained yourself. And if they didn't understand then they could have simply asked you to clarify instead dumping their sh!tty pent up emotions onto you. 

Actually if you are going to report on an event you should be fair and not misquote the question because the answer is also suspect. I really don't see Tim Mead asking any of those questions in that kind of language.

Notti, I agree he's made the team better than last year's.

Changing the name on the office door is some next level shit.

The Angels have not invested half as much money as the Yankees have in scouting and analytics. He came from a better run organization with more tools at his disposal and is putting that together here. The Simmons trade was going to be a Yankees move had Eppler not taken the Angels position. Eppler moved fast and the Yankees took a step down and traded for Starling Castro. You say he sounds arrogant and yet you pontificate all off season about your superior master plan with absolutely no industry experience or access to any of the Angels data.
You can't figure Eppler out because he is working on a level you are not familiar with. Hell, none of us fans are used to a GM that can start the off season with a hard cap and improve the quality of the team without increasing spending. Usually the previous GM's just bought their way out of trouble.
I'm looking forward to what else Eppler can do. So far he has been impressive.

We have the best player on the planet and the best defensive SS in the game. Things are moving in the right direction. Just have to get out from under a few bad contracts and we're off and running.
 
 
Go Halos!!!

We have the best player on the planet and the best defensive SS in the game. Things are moving in the right direction. Just have to get out from under a few bad contracts and we're off and running.
 
 
Go Halos!!!

I live in Atlanta, you all are going to love Simmons for the next five years. We have two of the best players in the game, in my opinion both the best at their positions and both entering their prime. This may not be our year but the future looks bright.

Sorry, Tdawg, it's not a contrarian stance just to play devils advocate like you think. I really believe the Angels are at the crossroads where the foolish contracts to non superstars has run it's course. They simply crunched the numbers on some of these guys and said it is not worth the money, years and another first round draft pick pissed away on a guy that is just better. Not amazingly better but just better.
 
That's not the $20-25 million a year definition of smart move, a guy that could help the team. They reached the cliffs edge and didn't like the view. I applaud them for not jumping off one more time. And next off season, the don't have to jump off that cliff for the best guy in the free agent pool since he is not going to be that impact player either.
 
I get you've all invested a lot of time picking the best solution to left field but what the Angels seem to have come to the conclusion is playing Global Thermal Nuclear Warfare is not the winning strategy. Putting money in front of e very problem is not the solution. They've been down that road and decided it was time to find another way. You know, like all of the smart GMs have been doing to try and build a contender without killing their future.
 
As I've said in other threads, this plan could change in a heartbeat should the numbers all move towards the Angels favor instead of just enriching an agent. They could just pick up one of the bi names as the weeks work their ways to Spring Training. For all the hand wringing you guys are doing and some being pathetic assholes, only one of the big name outfielders has ink a contract. It appears the Angels are doing no less or more than other ball clubs in moving towards an offer. Most have what you've seen is trades and a few average guys getting an average payday.
 
Arte is not cheap and he is not stupid but he has made some disastrous decisions on player personnel, primarily who he had put in the GM role which led to unfortunate acquisitions that weren't based on best scenario outcomes. New group, new plan, you may not like or appreciate it because it isn't the first game of the season, the roster isn't locked in and no one has seen all of these new guys play together.
 
Give it a chance.

Sorry about the edit 19HALO71, I meant to quote and I hit edit. Sorry.

I don't really see how what he is doing is petty or some sort of panic move.  
 
The guy wants to keep the money he has in his pocket.  He produces a product, his customers give him money for it, and he wants to keep it.  
 
I mentioned this in another thread, but I think it's pretty clear that Arte is a line in the sand guy.  He'll take things to a certain point and then stop, and when he decides to stop, that is it.  
 
There is a pattern here and it's call being short-sighted.  This has lead to a disconnect between what he thinks the fans want and what they really do.  Or maybe it's a disconnect between what he wants and what the fans really do.  Either way, it has led him to believe that we care about who is on the team as much as how well they do.  
 
He's had his Angel fandom transfused.  He wasn't born a Halo fan like so many of us. So while he has a passion for winning, it's rooted in the fact that his fandom started with his ownership and not the other way around.  
 
He's certainly a baseball fan and I get that.  It's why he thinks we would love Pujols in spite of whether the team wins.  
 
so the thing he is misunderstanding is the culture of being a true fan.  we want to win first and foremost.  we love the guys that grew up Angels.  Drafted as such.  Toiled in Arkansas and Orem and Salt Lake.  We loved Vlad and Torii, but they will never be Salmon or GA to us.  And he is taking that connection away from us as if it's not that important.  As if he can transfuse these guys into our system as his love for the Angels have been transfused into him.  But it doesn't work that way and he's just not getting it.  
 
We don't want Justin Upton or David Murphy or Jason Heyward or Ben Zobrist because we really like those guys as individuals.  We want them for Kole Calhoun and Garrett Richards and Mike Trout.  But most of all, we want them so we can win.  The name on the jersey is irrelevant.  
 
Even with the fact that he has spent his money and is well-intentioned yet made poor decisions, we, as fans have stuck with the team.  Showed up and spent our money in support.  We didn't have to do that, but we did regardless of what he has done.  All three million of us.  And that is where our entitlement comes from.  We have endured his misguided efforts as well intentioned as they may have been, so we feel that he still owes us. And frankly, he kinda does.  
 
So you ask if the lesson has been learned?  Well, if the lesson is to not give out big free agent contracts then yes.  But that is not the lesson.  The true lesson is whether he has come to truly understand the mentality of a fanatic and to that, the answer is no.  

I don't believe this for a minute, why?
 
This is not how the Angels work. For as long as I can remember they were very quiet in their dealings. Suddenly they are linked to everyone? and then Arte is denying all reports in public comments? I wouldnt be surprised if they are very much in the mix and this is a negotiation tactic. At leaset I hope so....
 
Go Halos!!!

Anyone else want to ride the tail of the comet? Plenty of room.
 
Go Halos!!!

Silver lining is the WS odds may go to 30-1 or higher. In 2002 the odds were 60-1 to start the season and got as high as 75-1.
It's a good time to place a bet. Luckily I place a $200 bet to win in 2002. Haven't place a bet since then ... maybe this coming season is a good time.

You guys aren't going anywhere and you know it. You'll be here for every game next season griping and grumbling about the team.
Arte will get his 3M plus thru the turnstiles and families will be rooting and enjoying the game. Will see the beach balls bouncing around, the wave, and those darn flickering lights. A lot of smiles all around in buttercup fashion.
I will be there with my family hope to see you there.

I actually think it is December 16th not the first day of the season.

i'm hoping tickets on stub hub are under $1 again this coming year.
 
still may not be enough to make me want to watch this team next year, however.
 
i hope they find a way to win.

Finally!!
 
Now sign Cespedes and get to work on the rest of the team.
 
Go Halos!!!

Yet you are a baseball fan and here you are talking about baseball on a forum when baseball isn't even being played.  Not dogging you because I love baseball and here I am too and I give my share of money to the business.  But the business makes tons of money because so many people enjoy it.  If the players aren't getting paid then it is just money in the pockets of the owners.  I pay to watch people play baseball.  I'd rather that cash be in the pockets of the people I go to watch rather than the owners who never touch the field.  It just so happens that the most valuable players are also the most entertaining and those guys get rightfully paid the most.  You can guarantee the price of a game goes up on days guys like Price pitch.  People choose those games over others.  The owners make more money on those days.  Teams and owners can do what they want with their money so at least the players are getting paid.  Wouldn't it be nice if owners of huge businesses like GE paid their engineers in the millions?  You know, the people who actually design the appliances we use. At least in entertainment, the people that really make things happen get their fair share of the business.  I'm glad the Angels didn't pony up that kind of money, but to act like its "wrong" is just, well, wrong.  It might be dumb, but its not wrong.  
 
I understand what you are trying to say.  Its crazy that our society values this kind of stuff to the degree these guys are getting so much money.  But we are all part of the "problem" if you can call it that.  We all enjoy being entertained.  Everyone participates in some sort of entertainment whether it be TV, movies, sports, books, etc (even an author, Stephen King, is worth hundreds of millions).  I think to have a problem with them making so much money and to actually have a leg to stand on with that argument you would have to be someone who lives frugally as you possibly can while donating all of your extra time, money, and available resources to helping other in need.  Because that is really the only argument I can see against this:  You think first world countries value entertainment too much when they should be worried about other problems in the world and possibly in their own country.  You can talk about education, but its not like our taxes are paying these players salaries.  We choose to spend our hard earned money on entertainment because entertainment increases the quality of our life.  If gives us something extra to enjoy.  Experiences and good memories are hard to put a price on.  So in the end the only way I can see someone truly having a valid problem is if they do not value entertainment because they find it to be a waste of time.  

In the overall scheme of things, that's true. But for every bust there's a Trumbo or a Napoli (lol) or a Kole Calhoun.

I remember some turd named Mike Trout.