stormngt

why does it matter? why is it necessary as fans to point directly at any one person as the one who made a mistake. They've all made mistakes and we've debated them to death already. Like I said, there's no perfect science to this game. Mistakes happen, players fail, judgment errors are made, etc. It's inherent is the game and every organization has to deal with them. Sometimes it's worse than others.

it's a cyclical thing. When an organization goes through a long period of success as the Angels have, they are sure to also go through periods of struggle when the organization is thin with lower level talent. It becomes more difficult to maintain competitiveness without going out into the FA market to fill gaps. If those FA's fail to produce as expected/needed, then winning becomes a struggle. It is going to take a while to build the system back up. They did a good job in the draft this year and that's a start. This team needs to try to stay competitive in the process. They have big contracts and some very talent young players and some holes to fill but they cannot go into fire sale mode, abandon the goal of competing every year, and go through a major rebuild process, losing a tremendous gain in fan base that has accumulated over the past few years. They need to do everything they can to stay competitive now and rebuild the farm over the next few years at the same time. It's going to cost more money and at some point we'll probably lose some of our young talent in order to fill needs. But a massive overhaul just ain't gonna happen.

Again, it's not Moreno's and Dipoto's fault that:
 
1. Blanton was dogshit for the first two months of the season. He was 10 times worse than his career averages.
2. Weaver got hurt and lost 3-4 MPH off his fastball.
3. Pujols had an injury that sapped his power and ability to run and hit until recently.
4. Hamilton swinging at pitches well out of the strikezone while not hammering mistakes over the fence.
5. The club's defense turned from one of the bests to one of the worst in the league.
6. Our offense sucking with RISP.
7. The lack of action on the bases while our own catchers can't throw out a runner to save their lives.
8. Madson's rehab went south and is MIA. Frieri is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when closing games out.
9. Scioscia has made some of the worst in game decisions I have seen since he has been manager of the team.
10. Aybar, Bourjos, Burnett and others have hit the DL during a time where items 1-9 was present. 
 
Write this season off guys. This team this season is cursed. Just enjoy the team you root for with expectations of a loss, but viewing interest in Trout, Bourjos and some others on the team that they will make something awesome happen before your eyes.

Let's see:
 
Dallas MacPhearson:  did not do better when leaving the Angels
Casey Kotchman:  Did not do better
Brandon Wood:  enough said
Sean Rodriguez:  enough said
Napoli: did well for the Angels and is doing well after.
Rodney: was not a young player and did do better for the Rays.  However, he is back to sucking this year.
 
I guess you can say O'Day, however, O'Day pitched well for the Angels.  It was a huge mistake losing him!
 
Waldan:  Walden was an All Star as a Rookie, so please don't say he is doing better for the Angels.
 
Now, how about the young Angels the coaches are currently screwing up!
 
Trout, Bourjos, Trumbo.....yes, the front office is really screwing those guys up.  Trout would be the greatest player ever if he wasn't on the Angels.  Bourjos and Trumbo would both be in the Hall of Fame.
 
Can we now conclude that the original post was one of the most illogical post of all time?

The world is going to end in 2012.  It is a common known fact.  Just look at the proof!

Yea, why didn't Scioscia draft better.

Brandon here's what got me thinking about this question. We had a decent team last year. We had a better record than the Tigers and swept them in Anaheim in September. We blew a bunch of games earlier in the season where everyone was blaming Scioscia (the horrible game in Texas to name one). Well, if we blame Scioscia for defeats, we have to give him credits for the positive trends, right? My thought process was that Scioscia lets a couple of games go early in the season to figure out who he can rely on later in the year. Is that realistic? 

Will this new manager of whom you speak find Weaver's old fast ball, dissolve JV's blood clots, heal Madson and Burnett and make Hanson and Blanton quality starting pitchers?  Pitching is this team's problem. 

Trading Trumbo for Cliff Lee is the example of going from 75 to 80 wins while adding another $20+ million to the payrol. Just plain dumb.
I thought the whole idea was cram your lineup with plenty of cheap club control studs and yet here is another move backwards step promoted by guys with a fantasy league team.
We are stuck with Pujols and Hamilton and whatever the provide for offense but stripping away another big part of a faltering offense for a pitcher to lose 3-1 just makes little sense. In fact it makes no sense other than making moves to say you are working on a problem by drilling holes in the bottom of the ship so it sinks evenly from all sides.

While I like Trumbo and believe his bat is legit, I don't think you can dismiss any scenario off-hand.  I wouldn't dangle him but if there is a team desperate for a bat that is willing to offer a king's ransom--i.e. one that goes a long way in restocking the farm--I think you have to take a look at it.

Maybe you're right but I don't see why we couldn't simply explain it to him up front? "Hey Jason we're gonna trade you for a prospect or two but we'd love to resign you in the offseason?"
 
In the end it's the front office having some sort of conversation with Vargas about what he would like.

Guess it depends on where we are.
 
But lets assume we did trade him....   Since he started the year with us, there wouldn't be any loss of picks if we signed him in the offseason.   So why not trade him, get some talent, then sign him in the off-season?
 
Angels need to be as creative as possible to get talent into the system.  If they can find a way to work the current CBA, they should.

"your ideas are idiotic"
 
That would be less offensive and have the same meaning.....just a suggestion.

But even with his offense we aren't making the playoffs. Does it matter whether we finish 3rd in our division or 5th in the division? In order to improve this team we are going to have to upgrade our assets. The only way to do that is to give up something of value. Howie has a lot of it.

Pujols has been doing well over the last couple weeks.   He's hitting .314/.373/.569 in June.  He's walking more and striking out less.  His first out today was hit very well... to dead CF.  Mariano Rivera has made many look foolish.  The hits the Angels got weren't exactly struck well.  Those guys could have easily looked somewhat foolish.
 
This team isn't going anywhere without Pujols or Hamilton.   They could make a run if one performs well.   If both turn it around, they should make it interesting.  Calling for them to be benched is absurd. Well, Pujols, anyway. He has a 118 OPS+ and 1.2 WAR.  Let's see how it plays out.  Last year, it got better.  Hamilton is a different case.  He is only a year removed from being a very good player, though.  You've gotta give it more time.  
 
Also... even if you think the Angels overpaid for either of these guys... I don't think anyone predicted both to decline this much, this quickly.  Free agents are normally overpaid... it is simply a matter of supply and demand.  I don't remember much outrage over the signings when they happened.  There were a lot of happy Halo Honks.
 
 
Now, there are countless calls for Scioscia to be fired, Dipoto to be fired, and Arte to publicly to admit he is an idiot (or something like that).  I still maintain that they have had some bad luck, the organization isn't incompetent, and you need to have some patience. I don't think Scioscia has changed much as a manager over the last 15 years.  I think Jerry Dipoto is the best GM the Angels have had in recent memory. I think Arte Moreno wants to win a World Series. There are some holes there, but this team isn't where they are in the 2013 standings because any of the three are incompetent... or even below average. 

Another very poor argument.  There is a difference in paying respect for a great player on the verge of retirement AND cheering for that player to help defeat your team.

I watch because I'm a fan. Regardless of the Angels' current struggles, it's still a great game and always a welcome distraction.

I watch because I love baseball and my Angels. Good baseball is obviously more fun but I still love the game. 
 
Oh and any team with Trout is a must watch. 

Did the Angels play the Braves last year? No, that's why!

But our Angels were 457-353 under Tony Reagins with 3 playoff appearances.

boom.Remember when trout made the same catch last year, same batter, same park, same spot. And some people on here were saying bourjos wouldn't have caught that.
Good times.

Or maybe it just proves he hits better in month of May?
 
Maybe it proves he hits better with the Angels 8+ games behind?
 
I can name a lot of correlating variables!

1st inning: Trout is hitting .217/.277/.417/.694.
2nd inning: Trout is hitting .111/.111/.333/.444.
9th inning: Trout is hitting .235/.381/.294/.675.
Extra innings: Trout is hitting .125/.222/.125/.347
 
All other innings: Trout is hitting: .361/.494/.663/1.157
 
Conclusion: Trout should only bat from the 3rd-8th innings.
 
I can play the correlation game as well.

Its time to really focus on the real problem with the team.
 
If Pujols was just 80% of what he was in St Louis, if Hamilton was just 70% of what he was in Texas, and if CJ was just 70% of what he was in Texas than we would be in the hunt.  Fact is there are three key players not performing.  And I don't think anyone would have guessed there under performance would be this dramatic.  And yes, as much as I hated the Blanton signing, I never thought he would be this bad!

To me, they will always be the California Angels