stormngt

If you put Trout leadoff and have Aybar batting ninth, after the first inning we have essentially the same lineup.

Yeah because everyone on this board totally saw this coming. And by everyone I mean no one, because he was projected as a #4 starter at best when he was traded and no one batted any eye about losing Corbin when the trade happened. Can't wait for the threads about how we should have kept Chatwood after he has a good start. 

yes, it is. In light of the causation argument, it's more than enough difference to argue against causation. Not to mention the other factors that have been brought up here several times.

really, so who are the other teams that showed interest and had quality pitching to send in return?

If mike trout is as precious and diva-like in his behaviour in regards to playing left field as some of you seem to insist then that's not a personality I'd like in the team regardless of his ability.

I passed out.

This is perfectly said. 

I would wish those guys that think any singular loss is the season changing game would move on to something else rather than declare the season over in April, May, June..., just call it a done deal, give up like you say you are and go do something else.

His ERA after tonight is 2.70.  We have that good of a bullpen that we can send guys with this low of an ERA down?

Move Josh to CF, Trout to LF, and trade Bourjos for David Price.

I have been an Angel fan since 1972.  I followed their games on the radio when they were 20 games out.  I enjoyed seeing if they can day to day and rarely cared about the standings.  And yes, the current generation of Angel fans are very spoiled.

And those players where their position effects their hitting obviously are weak mentality.  I refuse to believe Trout is weak mentally.
 
Also, does anyone actually have a quote where Trout says not playing CF effects his hitting?  Of course he is more comfortable there defensively, but does he believe it effects his hitting?

It is a game of inches.

Move Josh to CF, Trout to LF, and trade Bourjos for David Price.

what kind of pitching?  another Blanton?  If he could net us a Vargas type pitcher I am all for the trade.
 
However, outside of this board I haven't heard anything to suggest that real general managers would trade pitching for Bourjos.
 
It is funny, The guys who want a Astros reject (schuck) to play over bourjos believes a GM would trade quality pitching for bourjos.

Any rotation without Enright and Winless Joe would be an improvement.

Which is why by no later than after his 3rd full season, and assuming he continues on like this, Trout needs to be given a long contract deal.
And make sure that if he isn't given one after this season, that they don't again give him a low salary under $1 million.

I really liked the article and make some sense with a new precedent being sent.  However, I have to wonder if this is just a pendulum being swung back and forth.  Yes we can pin point examples where trading top prospects have backfired for an organization.  The Wells, Haren, and Grienke trades are just examples for Angel fans.  However, outside of the Wells trade the other two made sense at the time.  However, it is not just us who got burned.  Some would argue that Texas rise to power can be taken directly from their trade of Teixera to the Braves where the Rangers got All Stars Elvis Andrus and Neftali Perez in addition to starter Matt Harrison.
 
However, it wasn't long ago where Angel fans were complaining that they never made trades and over - valued their prospects.  Please remember in 2004 when the Angels desperately needed an Ace starting pitcher in the playoffs and had the opportunity to trade for Randy Johnson.  However, we could not part with Dallas MacPhearson and Kotchman.  In hindsight, how many on here regret making such a move?  Dallas was a bust and Kotch nevermore than an average 1b.
 
Or how about the often talked about trade for Miguel Cabrera?  We couldn't make that move because  couldn't part with Santana, (who we gave away to KC this year) Adenhart (who is deceased), Brandon Wood, Howie Kendrick and the great Jeff Mathis.
 
Then there is the possible trade for Doc Halliday.  You remember that one don't you guys?  It was supposed to be a done deal except the Jays wanted both Aybar and Wood.  And we couldn't possibly  do that.  We know how good Wood turned out to be just a year later.  
 
Yes, there are a lot of examples where a team may have made a mistake making a trade by giving up prospects who turn into great players.  But there are also trades that were not made because the team can't part with a prospect who don't pan out (Wood, Macphearson, Kotchman).  
 
Hindsight is great, and unfortunately we don't have hindsight when the decisions are actually made.  Yes, a precedent might be set because Segura is killing it this year.  However, if a prospect such as Profor (the can't miss non-tradeable from Texas) ends up being a bust the pendulum might swing back.

Because I am the minority here and I still think Scioscia is a pretty good manager and any replacement we get would do not better.
 
Second, Moreno has gone through great lengths to capture the Los Angeles fan base away from the Dogs.  That would completely blow up in his face if Scioscia were to leave the Angels and win a WS with the Dogs.

I know that a delicate balance is difficult to achieve.
But it seems that this org has never settled on ONE long term strategy for the farm system.
One period, it's acquiring players for prospects to get over the top, and then the farm is trashed.
Another period, it's keeping every key prospect and thus missing out on that one or two acquisitions that could potentially put you over the top. 
 
Rarely has this org ever had a middle ground that combines a solid farm system with the ability to make a trade or two to get to that next level. 

can't be worse than Blanton.

Nice job AJ. 
 
One of the things I tend to disagree with is the notion that JD is looking at the short term and not planning for the future. 
 
I think he knows very well the importance of the farm system as the core of building a sustainable winner.  I think he also knows the current state of the farm as one of the worst in baseball and I think he underestimated how good Segura might be and that's why he felt him somewhat expendable. 
 
The pujols signing was a franchise related move.  One that had Arte's fingerprints all over it.  One that made it so they could lure a 50mil/yr TV contract.  4 of those years could be allocated to tv money.  The other six were supposed to be fairly productive.  Productive during Josh Hamilton's halo years.  Productive during Wilson's and Weavers contract.  Productive enough during the Kendrick and Aybar contracts and during the time where their young, club controlled and cheap players were producing before they got expensive. 
 
All of the recent free agent signings were a bridge.  A bridge to rebuild the minor league system.  To keep the team competitive while that happened. 
 
Look at the timing of everything but the Pujols contract.  Replacements needed at one to two positions and one or two pitching spots per year until the end of 2017.  In theory, it shouldn't have been a tough task to do so with a team that is fairly competitive - on paper.  By that time there should be a new crop of young players ready to go. 
 
It's a good plan - in theory.
 
The problem is that everything that could possibly go wrong has in the first quarter of the first year of that plan.
Last year started the ball rolling.  The pitching fell apart and left a ton of holes to fill.  Yes, there have been some missteps.
The blanton deal.  Underestimating the talent of Jean Segura (so far).  But the other moves were reasonable and have not worked because good players have not performed as expected.
 
Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols are not Vernon Wells.  At least at the time they were signed they weren't.  Yes, they are overpaid but their basement performance should at least be solid to very good.  That is why I can't totally blame the franchise for making those moves.  They were well aware of what the last couple of years of the Hamilton contract was gonna be like, and similarly aware of what the last 3-4 years of the pujols deal would be.  But by that time they were supposed to have 3-5 playoff appearances and the farm would be rebuilt. 
 
Fast forward to reality however, and nothing has worked.  The two things that couldn't happen have.  Their high priced players haven't performed even in the early parts of their contracts, and their lack of depth has been exposed
Hamilton and Pujols are hitting like the halo version of wells.
They lost their #1 starter to injury.
Key components to the pen have been injured.
Key components to the everyday lineup have been injured
The questionable moves have been worse than anticipated
And the rest of the team has been lulled into a somewhat apathetic state that has spiraled into bad baseball that has included poor defense, bad baserunning, and being very untimely on both the pitching and hitting aspects of the game.
 
The good news?
Although the w/l record isn't pretty to look at, this is not the nuclear winter that many have assumed.  I agree with your followup post about where we can go from here
 
Everyone needs to ask themselves what they want as a fan of this team.
 
There is no doubt that we can agree on the fact that Hamilton and Pujols are here for the duration and that we also need a better farm system.  So what happens for the next 5 years while that occurs. 
 
Do they sell off all the spare parts in hopes that they can hasten the revamp of farm system by a year or two? Best case scenario is that we start seeing some of those young players 3 years from now and the major league club is brutal until then.  Worst case scenario?  You sustain a high payroll club losing major league club that loses 100 games yet the farm system takes much longer to develop than expected and you sustain those losing seasons for quite some time.
 
Or
 
Keep what you have and add to it in the offseason.  Sign a Garza type.  Re-sign Vargas.  Ditch Blanton.  Bring back Madsen and Downs and pray that Pujols and Hamilton get their act together to actually complement the rest of the club as they were supposed to.  Worst case scenario is you still field a losing team and you are a couple year behind the above in rebuilding the farm system, but at least in that time you have some chance of winning. 
 
The hope of the current club having a much better season next year with some decent additions is a much more palatable scenario than knowing this team is going to lose for the next five years while Mike Trout, Jered Weaver, Albert Pujols, and Josh Hamilton are still on the club.
 
Here is a what if.
 
What if we sell off all the parts and all four of those guys have great seasons next year yet we miss the playoffs because the remainder of the scrubs perform as expected?  Then what?
 
For that very reason, this club will not enter rebuild mode while Hamilton, Weaver and Wilson are still under contract. 

Remember last season we hated on Sosh for all his diff line ups
Now we want him to try new stuff out lol

Lmao, just last year everybody was complaining about Scioscia changing up the lineup 3-4 times a week. Hypocrites.

Superfan syndrome aside.  There has been a lot of hypocrisy from fans who called for Stoneman's head season after season for not pulling the trigger are now positive it can only be Sosh's fault that strategy hasn't worked.
 
Doesn't mean they are true fans, lesser fans, worse fans, they were just wrong.