iiisenordingdong

Wow, much improved Blanton there, I was expecting no less than 3 home runs that inning. 

Dang, he has been practicing with Blanton!

With Trout having an spring for the record books, is it time to talk 10 year $600 Million?

With Trout struggling in spring games so far this year, is it time to trade or release him? The numbers don't lie, he is striking out 100% of the time. Is there a chance he can break out of this slump or is his career over?

As far as a trade, I heard the twins have a couple of extra cases of Gatorade... But they aren't willing to budge on the CRV so the deal might not go through. And with it being orange Flavor, Scioscia has stated that the lemon-lime is hydrating nicely this spring so far. 

"Executives for Fox say they will make decisions based on what is best for the Angels and fans"

What is best for the fans?!? Paying $50 a month for 200 cable channels I don't watch just to watch the Angels is the best for the fans? 

Give me a break, they could care less about the fans. 

Great Articles!

Maybe a dingo ate his baby.

20+, good or bad. There's no other options.

I suppose we could take a page from the hit movie "Blind Side"  and drive around poor neighborhoods and look for a big guy walking in the rain throwing a rock or something (credit SNL)

I think its a good plan. The incentive for him is the possibility for him to get another huge contract in his late 20's, and i would rather pay for most of his 20's than his 30's like Pujols. but then again Pujols is really probably 39 right now. 

Also, did you guys see the video of Puig getting arrested? Who wears pink shorts like that?!? C'mon!

This. Also, Puig and Cespedes were insanely undervalued. Both should have gone for $100 million plus in hindsight.

Which is why prices are skyrocketing on Cuban Players. I don't thing Puig has proved all that much anyway, he had a couple really good weeks that skewed his whole year's stats. Cespedes wasn't great last year either. 

While this may be true, they bring the added benefit that (depending on their ages), they can be exempt from the counting against international signing budgets... So they are a source of players than can still be exploited with $$$.

 

Diaz got popped for trying to pretend he was older... http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/mlb-punishes-cuban-shortstop-aledmys-diaz-for-false-age/

hmm. I am not that familiar with how international signing budgets work. Would their salaries go against the cap?

Is Anaheim really that hard of a park to hit in? Maybe it is since I can't blame Hatcher anymore. However, maybe Arte IS cursed.

I decided to look up who was the last starting position player acquired by the Angels during the off-season whose OPS actually went up during his first season here. I'm only considering guys who were a starting player for another team who were signed or traded for to be in the starting lineup here. I'm not considering guys who won a job in spring training, or due to injury. It's a really ugly list and all of these guys were acquired during Arte's ownership.

 

Year / Player / Drop in OPS

 

2013 Hamilton -.191

2012 Pujols -.047

2012 Ianetta -.055

2011 Wells -.187

2010 Matsui -.056

2009 Abreu -.018

2008 Hunter -027

2007 Matthews Jr. -.124

2005 Cabrera -.111

2005 Hillenbrand -.091

2005 Finley -.170

2004 Guillen -.079

2004 Guerrero -.023

 

Granted, Vladdy won the MVP, but the year before he missed pretty much June and July with a back injury and still had a higher OPS.

 

The last guy who actually increased his OPS during his first season here?

 

2002 Fullmer +.117 ...and we all know what happened that year.

I would be interested in seeing the same list for new players 1997 - 2002, that might show if it is the park.

I think the Cuban players are all hype right now, yes there is going to be some talent, but with the premium prices teams are going to pay it doesn't seem worth the risk. 

Joe Blanton has made 248 starts in his career across 1567 innings. Richards, Skaggs, and Santiago have made a combined 69 starts and have totaled about 400 combined innings. Even comparing them is absurd. If the point is to show that these guys are question marks well no shit. We all know that. But using their stats to compare is silly.

From a pure statistical standpoint, 30 is an adequate sample size. I view it as innings pitched/6 to to calculate length of a start. I don't think the stats themselves prove anything, just a conversation starter.

Holy sample size Batman

Skaggs is the only one I see without an adequate sample size.

Further:

SO/BB

GS: 1.85

TS: 2.04

HS: 1.93

JB: 2.64

I can see how some people aren't that excited about it, but you have to admit it will be fun to watch every at bat at 499 (unfortunately I would not be surprised if there are a lot of them). And I must confess that I root for the Cardinals in the NL so i have been a Pujols fan for years, but still think the his current contract was a stupid idea. 

I am new to the site, but is there a way to set this up as a game? We could have members guess the game/at bat in which he hits 500, only one person per game/at bat combo (i.e. the first person to post May 13th/3rd at bat is in, the second person to post that combo is invalid), locks before the season starts.

Thoughts?

If he hits 'em on his Angels pace, it looks like late May. IF he can hit 'em on his Cardinals pace, early May. 

With all the talk about the Angels lack of a rotation and no big off season moves, I really haven't heard much about the fact that Pujols is only 8 HR's away from 500!

When do you all think he will hit 500?

_{I guess it is pretty hard for some of you since there are no walkthroughs and cheat codes to make sure your season will be a winner.}

Mike Trout is like having a cheat code.

Look at the 2012 Red Sux: 69-93. In Spring 2013 no one had them winning the World Series. Anything can happen, that's why they play the games.

Is he signing an autograph for Tommy Lasorda in that photo?