joeybaseball

I can't believe we haven't had a large turnover of scouts since the incident that took us out.

I've been a longtime faithful fan of the team. Have seen the good and the bad. I heard YEARS ago now that we had this problem with a major scout or something in Latin America, doing some underhanded shenanegins that blew away our international presence. Okay. How long ago was that now? When can we get back to it? Whats the holdup? The money for development? Thats hard to believe that 29 other teams can fund their efforts in Latin America, and we cannot. Or is it we are not to be trusted any longer in Latin America? Okay accept for signing ONE guy, Baldoquin last year, but nothing before or since. And what about an Asian presence? Why is it we can plan on never being mentioned as a suitor for anyone coming out of Japan,or even Korea? We watch assets ready to be picked up from overseas, we have needs, but we are strangely silent.That obviously can't be about money, can it, since a lot of these players end up being real bargains. The FO has been consistantly silent in that area for.... well, ever. Whenever the question is posed to our player development or FO in interviews I've seen, its always a "not a real answer" answer. Is it Moreno? Really? Not interested, not a believer in the value? Is he blind? Is anyone in the FO brave enough to stand up and say something? Okay maybe they already have, and got negative feedback. But I don't know that. So some scouting official blew it, what, 10 years ago? and we still can't recover? Its blowing me away, and I honestly haven't heard a solid answer. If its Arte, somebody say so,and I'll just shut up and be ticked about that. Unbelievable.

The names I recognized, already listed, that I thought I'd never hear again- Julio Gotay (really?) Al Oliver Art Kusyner My own selections: Morris Nettles Orlando Ramirez Lou Clinton

I think its great Chuck, lots of good info and a great resource that we can all use. I only have one problem: I'm a little color blind and can't tell the diff with the 2 colors on the bar graphs you've chosen. Any chance to change one color to blue or yellow, or just one color be lighter than the other? Thanks Chuck- joeybaseball

You're right, Stills is right handed.

I don't know if our right fielder is really this Kole Calhoun guy. To me he looks kinda like he plays guitar with Crosby and Nash...

"The only thing I've been told is that the Angels have had trouble in the past finding accurate, reputable scouting sources for Cuba. Whatever happened in the Dominican Republic a few years, back, they burnt a lot of bridges out of necessity. Now I don't think this applies when Cuban prospects are stateside for showcases, but I imagine it at least plays a small part when they have poor international relations." I've seen this reference to the Dominican Republic problem the team had some time ago, but nothing specific. If the Angels are being shut out of signing these guys- and only if- in this case, 2 Cuban players who are showcasing themselves at spring training sites- wow. We have to be interested. Did the Angels do something illegal, or immoral, or diss Latino food, or what exactly? Even slightly more exact will probably suffice. Probably will never know; very frustrating.

Here are the Angels seen as having the poorest farm system, and especially little in the way of starting pitchers to back up the major league roster, and I keep wondering- why aren't they going after some of these guys coming out of Cuba? What do they have to lose? Right now MLB.com is reporting that Cuban shortstop Aledmys Diaz and fellow Cuban Odrisamer Despaigne (a right-handed pitcher) continue to make their way around Florida for various showcases, tweets Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. (They had previously appeared in Arizona for teams that hold their springs there.) The pair is expected to appear in front of the Yankees today, says Sanchez. Other teams participating in talks with Diaz include the Giants, Blue Jays, Yankees, Braves, Phillies, and Mariners, Strauss reports in a follow-up piece. We're said to be short of young talented guys and here's not just a shortstop, but a pitcher that are ready to sign, with other teams pursuing them, with 7 teams after them- they must have some value. I don't know if these particular guys are any good or not, the point is, aren't any of them worth the Angels' time? This topic may have already been beaten to death, I'm' sorry if it has been, but it seems we have had little interest in these guys from outside of the draft conversation (Cuba, Japan, etc) and I'm just curious why.

Lou Clinton, 1965. Was not fun to watch him as an Angel. 249 plate appearances, -0.7 war

Nice one. You get 1000 points, but everything's made up and the points don't matter.

Everytime i see him now, and look at those stats, I start seeing the new Dave Kingman.

Spring, 1961. My family moved to LA from NY in1959. Dad was originally a Yankee fan until the Angels were formed (he hated the Dodgers for moving out of NY, so I learned to hate 'em too.) I was 10 years old when I sat with him that first season and watched games on TV from the Old Wrigley Field in LA (gone now). Ted Klu, Bob Cerv, Belinsky, what a gang. A die hard fan, I listened to Buddy Blatner, Don Wells, then later Enberg and Drysdale (they were amazing together) announce games on the radio, win or lose, through the 60's and 70's, they fielded lots of mediocre teams then. Still a die hard fan, its in my blood, can't seem to shake it no matter how bad things get- and as you know, they've been worse for this team in the past- but still fun.

Dipoto has done some nice things (Frieri) some okay things when we needed it (Ianetta) and some bad things (the big 3 signings, tho they were probably Artie's choice). He knows how to make a good trade (the Haren thing has proven to be great for the DBacks since he made that deal while with them). If Artie lets him make the deals he wants, I think the team would look a lot different, and IMHO he'd look at least like an okay GM.

Impossible scenario, but just for giggles- Would you just rather take your chances with Hamilton? Vernon Wells has, what, 2 years left on the contract? He'd prob revert back to the Wells we know and- well,that we know. Hamilton's contract ties us up for 5 more years. What would you do if that trade were possible for you to make?

Being sellers has never been the Angels' way. I can't remember a time when we made multiple trades- or even one trade- and got a few promising minor leaguers. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. It never has been this teams MO, and with the way that Artie has operated, he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to change that thinking.

Anybody have an espn insider account that can access the main article on ESPN?

for what its worth- or not: Buster Olney ESPN: Vernon Wells is said by a teammate to be excited about the possibility of a trade to the Yankees. 'Strong chance' it happens, source said. 14 minutes ago

Thanks guys for all your help, you found me a good solution-

It would take alot to be a better #5 than Downing. Best #1- off the top of my head maybe Jose Cardenal...

tomsred, thanks for the offer, I'm just curious about some numbers and who wore them for the angels, see if there's a correlation to a power hitter wearing #7 (like Mantle did) or like a slap hitter or fast guy being #1. I'll check out some of the other sites that others have shared here. Thanks again

So anyone know a site where you can find the uniform numbers of Angels listed, like in numerical order, with the corresponding players who wore them through the years? I was thinking about who was the first Angel to wear #1 (Joe Koppe). Then I started thinking about who else wore #1, and the rest of the #'s. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.