Halofan

I think Baker has a better shot to succeed then Mulder,,. I was kind of hoping we signed Baker or Hammels... I had no idea that Baker would sign a minor league deal... Man JD is about as worthless as fly's on a Hogs ass... We need to get rid of him if we ever want the Angels in the playoffs again.

I think the OP is pretty much spot on . When will the FO realize Pitching wins games. The rotation may be slightly better but it is still filled with too many question marks. We have no depth and if Skaggs . Santiago or Richards have trouble we are in trouble. It makes little sense to me why you pay out big bucks to the offensive side then deplete the pitching staff. I understand the argument of only so many dollars to go around, But it is kind of like building only half a house. If Hamilton and Pujols get back on track our pitching is still going to struggle to keep us in games. We threw all that money at them for what we never completed the other half of the house to compete. If the front office don't figure out pitching wins games. Trout is doomed to move on to look for success with a club that has it figured out. At this point I will not be buying any season tickets... Lord , How I miss the Cowboy at least he had a little knowledge of the game.

ROFL.... You guys crack me up for weeks all I have read is how bad we needed Tanaka, Now that he signed with the Skanks it is like he totally sucks. I don't think we were ever in it to be honest. And had we signed him most here would be rejoicing. Though I'm positive many would be complaining about the price. I don't see how we can complain about the money the Skanks spent on Tanaka . Not with the contracts we gave Pujols and Hamilton. I'm just glad it is over now we need to move to pick up another starter and or some pitching depth.

We have a habit of signing diamonds that turn into pumpkins. Maybe by signing pumpkins they will turn into diamonds, Like they do for Oakland.

The truest thing he hit on and I hope the Angel's brass heard is... PITCHING, PITCHING PITCHING...

For that price we better grab Garza. I don't see us signing Tanaka I don't even see where we have talked to him. The deadline is only a couple days away and if the Angels signed Tanaka it would be a total blindside at this point. I honestly don't think we were ever in it at this point... If we get Garza at 4 / 50 I would be happy.

Should Jack Morris have been voted into the H.O.F.? After 15 years on the ballet He will now have to wait 3 years for the expansion vote to see if he can get in ... MLB.com had a interesting interview and article on him this morning that showed what a class act he is. He had 254 career wins falling short of the 300 win mark that is normally a lock to make the H.O.F. . In his 18 year career he won the World Series with Toronto , Detroit and Minnesota. Posting a career playoff record of 7-4 with a 3.80 era over 13 post season starts. And a 4-2 mark with a 2.96 era in 7 World Series starts. I myself was never a big Morris fan until the end of his career. In "91" I watched Morris pitch one of the best games I ever saw on the big stage. When he threw 10 innings of scoreless ball to out duel John Smoltz in game 7 of the World Series. He pitched 3 games in that series only giving up 3 runs over those 3 games. The man was a true bulldog of a pitcher and lived for the big game. Yes he fell short of the 300 win mark but in this era we may never see a pitcher with 300 wins again. In fact 254 wins is going to be a mark that may not be reached again. All I can say is Morris must of rubbed some writers wrong because many feel he should be in the H.O.F... When asked about his chances to get in on the expansion era ballot in 3 years . Morris's reply was simply.. " I hope I live that long"

While I love my Angels I just don't get as excited about the season as I use to since the strikes. I'm already dreading the loss of football and looking forward to next season. I have not attended a game since the strikes but do watch the Angels when I can on T.V.. If I can't watch them I will pull up the game cast and follow them that way. I won't pay for the direct ticket for baseball games but do pay for Sunday ticket for football. I have never gotten over the Baseball strikes and must admit that Football took over as my favorite sports avenue once the strikes happened. When the season starts I will follow the Angels and get into baseball for the season but not like I use to in the past.

I use to be big into card collecting still have boxes of the stuff setting around I need to go through. I'm a big Salmon fan and have his rookie cards... I have one of his signed balls he signed Tim Salmon "ROY93" ... Have a signed Nolan Ryan ball and Steve Carlton among others. Got my Tim Salmon bobble head ... lol... I think one of my prized pieces is not of a Angel player... But a painted picture 5x7 of Mickey Mantle standing on the dug out steps with a bat over his shoulder, Placed on a wooden plaque... He autographed it right across the front and it has been authenticated..

Oh Lord there goes the grammar police again... On a sports forum? get a life buddy... But if you must know that's that Cali education speaking at you....

I could of waited a few more days and made it in 2014... Excuse me just cutting up with chuckyyy seeing we go back a long ways...

The man moved to Washington several years ago and jumped on the Seahawk bandwagon.. Now he is on facebook calling the Ram's a bunch of pussies... LOL... I grew up watching the Rams in Southern California... I will always be a Rams fan even though I live in Georgia and they moved to St Louis. Next thing you know chuckyyy will be sharing box seats with Angelina (An old L.A. Times poster who was a avid mariners fan and use to hate the Angels) at all Mariner games and wearing a King Felix jersey...lol... Enjoy your time in the sun chuckyyy even after this season your still be wanting something the Rams have..A SUPER BOWL RING..

Maybe if he has anything left he can help out of the bullpen ... Or get a start here and there due to injuries... As long as it is a minor league contract with incentives it may be worth the risk....

I'm so glad that I missed those years on the Angel forum no telling what I would of said... And while I usually agree with chuckyyy I doubt George Washington would walk away from a average of 25 million a year deal.

I would prefer Tanaka the guy seems to be a work horse that can eat innings. He is only 25 and might still get even better ... Having 3 strong pitchers in Weaver , Wilson and Tanaka would be awesome. And is really what we need with Santiago , Skaggs and Richards having limited experience. There is no promise that all three of these young guys are going to do well this season. I would be happy with Garza but his price is not going to be cheap and he is a injury risk. I would rather spend the money to get a healthy pitcher with a higher ceiling who we could lock up for several years. I hope we go all out for Tanaka but even then it is no promise we sign him.

Sankei Sports out of Japan reports that the Rakuten Golden Eagles have announced that they will post Masahiro Tanaka. Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times translated the tweet from Sankei Sports and says it came straight from Rakuten president Yozo Tachibana's mouth. Although Tanaka has long professed his desire to leave Japan and try things out in the majors, Rakuten has expressed a hesitancy to let him leave. Ultimately, though, they've decided to grant him his wish and accept a $20 million posting fee. Although most, if not all, MLB clubs figure to be willing to make the posting fee, only a select few will be willing to pay the likely $100+ million it will take to get him under contract. The Yankees, Cubs, Angels and Diamondbacks are expected to be among the most aggressive bidders.

According to Nikkan Sports and Sanspo, the Rakuten Golden Eagles are expected to post Masahiro Tanaka. That's now three reports stating that he will be posted and just one stating that he won't, so it sounds like we can count on Tanaka moving to the states next season. Rakuten is expected to officially inform Tanaka of their decision on Wednesday. The bidding war for the 25-year-old right-hander will be fierce

Thank you I have not been in California since I left in 86 ... I thought at one time they were talking about changing the name to Edison field... Here in Georgia most of what we hear about are the Atlanta Braves. This is the first Angel forum I have been a part of since the Old L.A, Times board shut down. We alway called it the Big A...

Wow so sorry glen's chuckyyy's must of gave me the wrong's link's? I thought this was the Angel's baseball's forum's . It must be that California's education's that I have. I did not realize's that I was on the spelling bee's forum's or the punctuation's forum's. I have been posting my love of Angel's baseball's with guys like Pablo , AngelJunky (Tony Delnoce) , Big Del , Halo (Scott Thurman) , chuckyyy, carl-g ,Mark Hennemeth and so many more for 15 years or better. Maybe you should police those Angel's contract's as well as you play grammar cop's on this board. All I care about is Angel's baseball is this the site for that or this Webster's site where the grammar police hang out? Sorry glen's if I offended you's's's's's's's's...

I love these Angel forums as I have been a part of them forever it seems. It took me a while to make it to this one, As I enjoyed our old one so much it was hard to change. But living in Georgia these forums provide a great source of info to keep up with my beloved Angels. And I understand the optimism that surrounds every preseason. But sadly reality starts to set in about June or July for a lot of us Angel fans. Is this another preseason where we are putting more faith in hope and wishes or is this a preseason we are dealing with reality? It seems we are wishing for a lot this preseason out of our Angels. Good bounce back seasons for Pujols and Hamilton , Trout to continue on what looks like an amazing career. Freese to give us a good bat at third and not let us down to much on defense.( I hope for this one a lot,) I don't remember us having a power bat at third since Troy Glaus , Granted Freese don't have the power of Glaus but he has the potential to bring a lot more to the offense then Callaspo did. I don't know why we waited so long to make a change at third. We are hoping for a rookie to step up and play a solid right field for us and provide some offense also, And for Ibanez a 41 year old D.H. to have enough left in the tank to kill the ball like he always has at the Big A. Yeah I know it is now called Edison field or some commercial B.S. name now, but it will always be the Big A to me. It seems like we are placing a whole lot of hope in our pitching staff this season. The reality is our pitching staff is still very questionable at best. Granted Weaver and Wilson are very solid at the top of our rotation. After that the waters get very murky at best can we truly count on Santiago and Skaggs and Richard's ? I know many of us here are hoping for the best, But the reality is that the sample size is so small. That in reality we don't really know what to expect or wish for. And can these guys hold up over the course of the long season? And Lord forbid a injury happen to Weaver or Wilson. We definitely need to find a capable 6th starter / long reliever to give these guys a break over the course of the season. And I'm not even going to touch on the bull pen as we need some help there also. So at this point we seem to be having a lot of hopes and wishes but I am hoping that reality don't set in about June or July. In closing I want to wish all of you a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND THE BEST OF NEW YEARS, While I am new to this board I have been a member of these Angel forums ever since we started on the old L.A. Times board. I am also a life long Angel fan , I still hold onto the Tim Salmon bobble head that a member of the old L.A. Times board sent me from Tim Salmon bobble head night. And I hold onto the 2002 Championship hat another member sent me when we won it all. I'll never forget the times we had on the old boards . Like the night Tim Mead found out about our web site and invited us all to a game at the cost of the Angels. While I as unable to attend due to living in Georgia. Many of the posters from the old board did attend and Tim Mead put them up in a sky box at the Big A and stayed with them during the game. We had some awesome times on the old boards. I hope to enjoy some very good times here as well... Here is hoping for a great season for our Angels, May it be more of a reality then a lot of hope and wishes,

I'd rather taking a chance on bringing Charlie Hough out of retirement then losing a moment of time on Mulder or Tomko.

I'm just excited about going into the new season and not having to watch Callaspo play third base for us... I don't understand why we didn't get rid of him long ago.

Famous Quote: " Never been much of a stat guy they build your hopes up in Jan, and Feb. then leave you setting at home in October." Author: Beerman.... In his best Bob Costas impression...

I'd be kind of nervous but signing a guy that has SUK for a name. If the guy does suck in MLB that would be kind of like ignoring a billboard.

I have serious doubts as to rather he will come this season. Not only does he have no choice if he is not posted. Japanese players just have a lot more respect and honor for the game and their team then most American players do. Yes he would make a lot more coming to the Majors. But it will still be here next year and if pushed I think he will honor Rakuten. Rakuten wants to benefit from the chance to win back to back Championships. As I am sure that and being the highest paid player in that leagues history would also be a little motive for Tanaka to stay another year. Yes Tanaka will make 100 million or better coming over this season. But honor is a very big issue in Japan and that is going to weigh in a lot more over there then it will over here. I think it's time we start looking at our other options before they are all gone.