ADHB

If you ask Trout for input into personnel decisions, what you'd really be doing is asking his agent for that input.  Trout doesn't seem like the kind of guy who follows the business side of things, or has any interest in how a front office runs a team as long as they're trying to improve the team.  Sure, he could tell you to go after every guy he knows is an impact player, but that's no different than what the average fan would suggest.  It's not like he'd be analyzing stats and coming up with a game plan for who to fit in under the budget.
 
"Hey Mike, do you think we should go after Machado?"
"Yeah that dude is awesome."
Very useful.

If you ask Trout for input into personnel decisions, what you'd really be doing is asking his agent for that input.  Trout doesn't seem like the kind of guy who follows the business side of things, or has any interest in how a front office runs a team as long as they're trying to improve the team.  Sure, he could tell you to go after every guy he knows is an impact player, but that's no different than what the average fan would suggest.  It's not like he'd be analyzing stats and coming up with a game plan for who to fit in under the budget.
 
"Hey Mike, do you think we should go after Machado?"
"Yeah that dude is awesome."
Very useful.

You don't ask him for his input, but you do sit down with him and explain what the short and long term plans are for the team.  Keep him informed and let him know that the team is serious in it's pursuit of being a playoff team.

If you ask Trout for input into personnel decisions, what you'd really be doing is asking his agent for that input.  Trout doesn't seem like the kind of guy who follows the business side of things, or has any interest in how a front office runs a team as long as they're trying to improve the team.  Sure, he could tell you to go after every guy he knows is an impact player, but that's no different than what the average fan would suggest.  It's not like he'd be analyzing stats and coming up with a game plan for who to fit in under the budget.
 
"Hey Mike, do you think we should go after Machado?"
"Yeah that dude is awesome."
Very useful.

Mike would probably be concerned that the FO is looking to him for opinions on how they can improve the team. He goes out there to play. It's the FO's job to get players to help the team win.

I don't think Trout has ever tweeted anything himself that was longer than one word, other than "Fly Eagles Fly" or if the next team we play has 2 words in it.

This is exactly it. He rarely calls the pitch type. He's often dead wrong on location.
And listen to his play by play. He really cant call a play as he sees it. He has to go over it in his mind, from memory. Or he describes it as the replay is being quickly shown.
In the meantime, the crowd has gone crazy and you are left wondering for 3-5 seconds what happened, until he recounts it. But the excitement is anti climatic, at that point, as the crowd noise doesnt reinforce the play.
Rojas is pretty good, really. He's not a vanilla as I stated earlier. But there is getting to be a lot of dead air on the TV broadcasts during play. With the small crowds now in Anaheim, it's magnified. 

While we’re on the topic of scouting reports, anyone have anything on Mayky Perez? Looks like a somewhat recent convert to relief pitcher at Burlington. Dude has pitched 33 innings, and has struck out 48 while only giving up 11 hits. And 4 of those hits were in his last 2 outings, which were multiple inning outings. So before that he had given up 7 hits all season...

milb.com scoreboard should have the probables.

Ward is a completely different situation than Cowart.  Cowart never hit well in the minors anywhere except Salt Lake (maybe low A briefly).  It was a strange thing because he was struggling so much in AA that they demoted him to San Bernardino, and he still struggled. Then they bumped him up to AAA out of the blue, and he magically started performing.  They attributed it to some sort of swing change, etc. but in reality it was likely the environment.
Ward, on the other hand, destroyed AA pitching this season before being moved up (and didn't perform that badly last season in his first taste of it while still catching).  That level has a much higher concentration of high end prospects compared to AAA, and he had no issue with it.  Cowart tried AA a few different times, and he was terrible.
So offensively I'd expect Ward to hold his own at the major league level, and maybe even thrive.  The defense is what's likely holding him back for now.

Ward is a completely different situation than Cowart.  Cowart never hit well in the minors anywhere except Salt Lake (maybe low A briefly).  It was a strange thing because he was struggling so much in AA that they demoted him to San Bernardino, and he still struggled. Then they bumped him up to AAA out of the blue, and he magically started performing.  They attributed it to some sort of swing change, etc. but in reality it was likely the environment.
Ward, on the other hand, destroyed AA pitching this season before being moved up (and didn't perform that badly last season in his first taste of it while still catching).  That level has a much higher concentration of high end prospects compared to AAA, and he had no issue with it.  Cowart tried AA a few different times, and he was terrible.
So offensively I'd expect Ward to hold his own at the major league level, and maybe even thrive.  The defense is what's likely holding him back for now.

Ward is a completely different situation than Cowart.  Cowart never hit well in the minors anywhere except Salt Lake (maybe low A briefly).  It was a strange thing because he was struggling so much in AA that they demoted him to San Bernardino, and he still struggled. Then they bumped him up to AAA out of the blue, and he magically started performing.  They attributed it to some sort of swing change, etc. but in reality it was likely the environment.
Ward, on the other hand, destroyed AA pitching this season before being moved up (and didn't perform that badly last season in his first taste of it while still catching).  That level has a much higher concentration of high end prospects compared to AAA, and he had no issue with it.  Cowart tried AA a few different times, and he was terrible.
So offensively I'd expect Ward to hold his own at the major league level, and maybe even thrive.  The defense is what's likely holding him back for now.

Ward is a completely different situation than Cowart.  Cowart never hit well in the minors anywhere except Salt Lake (maybe low A briefly).  It was a strange thing because he was struggling so much in AA that they demoted him to San Bernardino, and he still struggled. Then they bumped him up to AAA out of the blue, and he magically started performing.  They attributed it to some sort of swing change, etc. but in reality it was likely the environment.
Ward, on the other hand, destroyed AA pitching this season before being moved up (and didn't perform that badly last season in his first taste of it while still catching).  That level has a much higher concentration of high end prospects compared to AAA, and he had no issue with it.  Cowart tried AA a few different times, and he was terrible.
So offensively I'd expect Ward to hold his own at the major league level, and maybe even thrive.  The defense is what's likely holding him back for now.

I think it's just that most realize that EY would have been much more useful than Chris Young, once it was clear Chris could no longer hit major league pitching or field with any sort of consistency.  EY could've been a much better defensive replacement while being a factor as a pinch runner.   And I don't think it would be possible for him to have hit any worse than Chris.
In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't going to save the season or anything.  But it would have probably made a difference in a handful of games.  Personally I think it was because they thought Chris got off to a slow start because of the spring training injury, and just hung on way too long waiting for him to snap back to form, or at least what they thought he was capable of.

Went to the game in IE tonight.  Not a bad stadium at all.  Great place to see a game.  Went a little late in the season, as most of the top prospects there have been moved up.  But Sandoval pitched very well.  5.1 IP with only 1 hit allowed.  4 BB's, but he wasn't really wild or anything.  He was around the zone for the most part.
Picked a bad day to see Marsh.  He had a rough game... 3 weak groundouts, a K on a ball in the dirt, and botched a play in center.

Was there last night.  The stadium itself is insulated from the shit area around it.  If you've ever been to a spring training game, it's very similar.  My friend made a great comment though.  After a 66er player hit a home run out of the stadium in right field, he said "a crystal meth tweaker probably got that ball."
There really isn't much outside of Marsh in the lineup, and he's been in a little slump lately.  Maybe watch for Connor Justus.  He looked like a failed prospect, but he seems to have completely turned a corner the last month or so.  Power numbers are way up along with his average.  He's a little older, so nothing exciting, but it's something.  Brendon Sanger is another player who I believe was recently demoted from AA.  He was viewed as having some potential at one point.  Looks like he is a little too good for A ball, but can't take the next step.

Went to the game in IE tonight.  Not a bad stadium at all.  Great place to see a game.  Went a little late in the season, as most of the top prospects there have been moved up.  But Sandoval pitched very well.  5.1 IP with only 1 hit allowed.  4 BB's, but he wasn't really wild or anything.  He was around the zone for the most part.
Picked a bad day to see Marsh.  He had a rough game... 3 weak groundouts, a K on a ball in the dirt, and botched a play in center.

Red Sox, Yankees, and Dodgers... in increasing order.
That's one reason I'll never be able to root against Houston unless they're playing the Angels.  They were like a gift from god last year taking out all 3 of those teams in one postseason.  It's like the holy trifecta.