TroutBaseball

No one in the AL East is trading until the day before the deadline because the division is so close.

Please NO on Ethier!

I think Wilson, Santiago and Shoemaker are the first choice trade options in an effort to keep everyone with the highest ceilings. Rucinski and Tropeano are next. Heaney only in the case of a major move.

Cron isn't attractive to anyone who hasn't already paid money for Trumbo. He'd be awesome in Japan.

Gomez from Milwaukee is the most appealing name out there to me. Maybe AJ Pollock from the Dbacks.

I was kind of wondering when Josh's injury bug would bite. Didn't expect it to be this soon.

Start tracking his stats since Hamilton got called up. Even with Hamilton's two HR game, I think Joyce has been better.

The Effectively Wild Podcast discussed a new Baseball Prospectus metric on catcher game calling. At the end Sam Miller asked for a comparison of Mathis and Napoli the year before Napoli was traded.

Mathis saved 58 runs

Napoli saved -33 runs

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=26493

To be fair to MLB, I might cancel cable and go straight to All Access. But this doesn't impact other fans, it impacts Cox cable and Fox Sports West.

Dumb argument is dumb.

Gordon's OBP is not all that hot.  Sell high!

Buttercup

Lombard Street

Huston Fuentes

Crazy Street

Mr. No Extension

Others?

3 is actually the first halo logo designed hat with the updated logo, Don Baylor era.

Here are two more versions

Maybe you are trained in design and that's why it bothers you so much. I have never noticed/cared.

Now I've educated you and you'll start to notice. (Mwah ha ha)

I LOVE the Angels logo. I LOVE that the Angels have red caps. (the designer, Todd Radom is great). But there is a serious problem with the two of them.  A red logo on a red cap, from a design perspective, does not work.  There is no differentiation between them.

I very quickly mocked up these variations to show what I'm talking about.  Look at them and answer one question, where does the logo "pop" the most?  Where does it "pop" the least? #1 is the current design.

I love the red cap so I tried to include two options (#3 and #4) where the bill is split from the rest of the cap so that at least part of the cap is still red.

I think the teams' primary logo should be the current one. But on red caps and red shirts they should use white lettering.  What do you think?  Keep the status quo or introduce a new cap?

edit to add these two versions:

Last year the team put their hands over their heads to form a halo shape.  Could it be that the finger wag is actually a more discreet way to make the same shape?

T-Mobile subscribers can get the premium content on the MLB At Bat app for free.  I had to uninstall the app and reinstall to get it to work.

http://www.t-mobile.com/mlb.html?cmpid=WTR_AF_SLCKDLSFRM_V0482JUXBJ1591&AID=11841362&PID=1225267&SID=3902815e228d40b38a429b34fe8a42c1

I mean hes kinda right.  Arte and everyone knew about his drug history.  They should have put a clause in there saying his contract can be terminated if he does drugs again, and if they couldnt get that clause, dont sign him.  If anyone should take some accountability here, its the Angels.

They are accountable.  They are paying out most of his contract AND had to find a place for him to play that was to his own liking.  ALL the consequences fall on the Angels.

I watched most of the press conference. I personally like Josh and want the best for him but this ticked me off.

When asked what he thought of Moreno's comment that he lacked accountability (re: contract to stay sober) Hamilton said:

"I have no clue what he's talking about. ...He knew what the deal was when he signed me." And then he hid behind the Joint Drug Agreement.

Not cool Josh. No apology, no deference to holding up his end of the deal.  The Angels are paying out all the money and he's not really losing a cent out of his pocket (because of tax issues).

Easily the most regrettable thing he has said since "not a baseball town"

I offer into evidence Exhibit A

As far as I can tell Daily "Fantasy Baseball" is gambling.  Regardless of any loopholes they've used to get around the gambling laws, like pornography, I know it when I see it.  This is gambling.

Whether or not you have any moral prohibitions against gambling, MLB has a hard line on it. So how the heck does MLB have an official gambling partner in Draft Kings?  How is FanDuel able to pay MLB players like CC Sabathia to endorse their game?  With the amount of money on the line (and growing), the temptation to throw the fix in on individual performance exists just as it might for the outcome of a game.

I strongly believe that Pete Rose's lifetime ban should be enforced.  If anything could ever destroy the credibility of the sport, it's gambling.  But MLB has almost no credibility with Rose as long as it is endorsing Daily Fantasy Baseball. 

Welcome back Pete and Shoeless Joe, your sins are no more.

Pete is in the HOF. He's just not honored by the HOF. He can receive that honor as soon as Shoeless Joe Jackson receives the same deference.

In a sort of butterfly effect this may end up creating a path for the A's to move to San Jose.

Did it start with Cron calling for the replay? I saw Trout do it later on that double.

This is a graphic I made to celebrate his accomplishment.  Before the season began I actually predicted he would hit his 100th HR tonight. He's the youngest to reach 100 HR and 100 SB 

AND 

the youngest to reach 101 HR and 101 SB. Thanks to Jeff Fletcher for finding that stat.

^ is he trolling us now?