AngelsFanSince86

Good lord..   Hello, it's 2015, look beyond the ERA as it's not predictive and it doesn't really tell you how he's done based on the things he has control over.
 
His FIP is 2.58, the league average is 4.19.  He's struck out 22.5% of the batters he faced which is 20% above the league average.  He's walked 6.3% of the batters he faced which is a good third lower than the league average.   His GB rate of 49% is above the league average, his strike rate is 67%, his HR/9 is 0.4...  All of those numbers are above average and bode well.
 
Yeah, his ERA is 4.62. mostly due to the park, mediocre defense, and a BABIP of .388 (league average is .339).   

My opinion:
1) It's early. This team isn't as good or lucky as last year's team (when it comes to guys playing over their heads). But the team isn't as bad or unlucky as it has been so far this year. .500 or a few games above would be nice and reasonable.
2) I actually think 85 wins is a nice accomplishment when you look at the talent on the team. Go through Fangraphs position power rankings heading into the year. We had Trout, Calhoun and Aybar as good or better players and many positions were terrible.
3) I think Dipoto has done a good job since the Hamilton signing of making the organization better. He hasn't had much in terms of tradeable assets and or budget to improve the team. He didn't inherent a farm system ripe with talent. He hasn't destroyed anyone in a trade but he's incrementally improved the organizational strength while getting younger and cutting costs since the Hamilton signing.
3) I think Dipoto did see the end coming for some of the older guys like Weaver and Wilson and that's why he's gone about stocking up on young pitching depth. You had to give Weaver every chance to start this season and get back on track. Same with Ianetta. But we now have back up plans for both. It's now deciding how much longer of a rope we give these guys.
4) Mike Trout is a God. He covers up for a lot of sins. Look at teams that are aging, expensive and lack talent on 80% of the roster. You get teams like the Knicks, Raiders and the Lakers of the last 3 years. It takes years to get young, cheap and talented. Those teams are bottom feeders and unwatchable. At least the Angels are average. The Angels it also seems have realized their mistakes and are attempting to build the farm and young MLB depth.

Good luck finding a marquee FA willing to sign a short term deal.    As far as trades go, the Angels have traded for four SPs, a catcher and a 3B, all but Santiago were 24 or younger.   Pretty Sure Skaggs, Santago, Tropeano and Heaney are intended to help Mike Trout win games as are Perez and Kubitza.  
 
Don't look now but the team is doing exactly what you want them to to.   

they were born 5 Dominican months apart

It's not a good sign when fans of the team think that Josh Hamilton's situation is more compelling. The Josh saga is your guys novella.

Right.  Once every 3 or 4 games when its actually close enough they have to decide whether to leave the pitcher in or pinch hit for him.  Meanwhile, multiple times every game the pitcher is an easy out and turns a rally into a dud.   Wow, so much strategy...

The Angels don’t appear to be giving him a chance at the comeback he has made before.

He has been here for two seasons and part of a third. He has sucked for the entirety of it. I am left to wonder if the author has even seen him play since his last season at Texas.

His mural has been scraped off the façade of Angel Stadium to start this season. His jerseys and merchandise have been removed from the Angels Team Store. His nameplate was never installed above the stalls he used to have in the back corner of the clubhouse.

He went into hiding in Texas, with basically no contact with the team that was paying him $25M per season, apparently to watch HBO in the comfort of his living room. Or the living room of whoever he was ostensibly crashing with.

Hamilton has been de facto cut from the team for months, but unloading him has yet to become official. Too bad he was gone before we ever got see all of his greatness. He has power, speed, 6-foot-4 size, engaging charisma and the story.

We got the chance to see his greatness. It ended right before he put on our uniform.

This looks more like a pride move by an owner and an organization who act like they've been hoodwinked and betrayed by a slugger who made no secret about his drug and alcohol addiction and then stumbled in his recovery.

But whatever commitment he should have had had to his teammates and team management is irrelevant, since he apparently gets a pass for basically ignoring the organization through this whole process. Drug addiction apparently clears the deck and excuses anything that happens after that.

The trust, which Moreno and his wife Carole started to build while closing the deal in Texas with Hamilton, was damaged. Moreno made that clear in his recent “accountability”-laden speeches, and team president John Carpino and General Manager Jerry Dipoto echoed the zero-tolerance stance on substance abuse in their comments.

What is missing from this is what Hamilton told team ownership about his ability to perform and his state of mind before the club agreed to sign him.

The Angels players, feeling more sympathy for a player they knew as a good-hearted teammate, have supported Hamilton’s continued recovery.

Given the rumors that I have heard about his demeanor in the clubhouse, "good hearted" isn't the first term that comes to mind.

To expect Hamilton to be permanently cured from drug temptations is hopeful and perhaps a little naive. Addiction is a disease that requires lifelong recovery, with hiccups, sometimes, along the way.

To expect a team to continue to pay $25M per season for a player who does not produce, does not communicate with them and appears to be totally unmotivated to play baseball is beyond naive.

So, it’s perplexing that the Angels management seems so unforgiving now, so intolerant now, choosing to unload him anywhere, even to an AL West divisional rival, to rid of him.

Then your and idoit.

Hamilton is trying to recover in earnest, rehabbing his surgically repaired shoulder and restore sobriety in Houston under the supervision of an accountability coach. He has been preparing himself for baseball, working out, muscling up to 250 pounds, hitting in a cage.

He fired his accountability coach. If he was that earnest about returning and anxious to prove himself, he would have allowed the team to evaluate his progress and he would have agreed to work out in a place of their choosing so that they could make an informed decision about when he was ready to return. He couldn't be bothered with accountability, and because of that he is on his way out of town.

He has been dealing also with filing for divorce from his wife, Katie, with whom he has four daughters.

I almost forgot: Having personal problems also justifies complete irresponsibility. How thoughtless of me. I'm becoming just like Arte Moreno.

His life in chaos, he seeks the game that provides him routine.

He hasn't been seeking it very hard. If anything, he has done everything possible to avoid it, despite the fact that the season is underway and his (now former) teammates are hoping to contend for post-season play.

Moreover, the club could be ultimately be hurt by facing his powerful, avenging-Angel bat and really pay in the box score and the standings when it faces him again.

You apparently haven't seen him in the batter's box over the past two seasons. Throw him outside curveballs and he won't be avenging anything. He might kill a few gnats.

It’s unfortunate that the Angels couldn’t give Hamilton, the player who has proved worthy of second chances, a second chance.

It's unfortunate that some people can't count past two (because Hamilton is well beyond a second chance). It is also unfortunate that some of the same people see addiction as an eternal excuse that absolves a person of any personal responsibility for the rest of his life.

Flashback.
 

Cain popped up as the Great Cornholio

It's important to note that at age 32, Iannetta still wants to be a better ballplayer and wants to put in the work to that end.
 
Read into that what you will.

"What were Josh Hamilton's BAC each day the week of the Super Bowl, Alex?"

A while back before a decision was made on Hamilton's relapse when everyone was talking about his wife being on that reality show I had done a google search wondering if she was actually still participating in it.  Turns out she quit a while back because everything needed to remain private while the league was deliberating, but Josh had never wanted her to join it to begin with.  It was speculated this played a part in his relapse, but who really knows?  Both of them clearly have their issues.  I wouldn't doubt if it was mutual.  Josh hasn't exactly been a saint.  At the end of the day, it is their business though.  We all get this information because their lives are plastered everywhere.  I didn't like Josh much before he was an Angel because he always seemed to be full of excuses and rarely in control.  I guess I looked down on him, which is easy to do when the guy makes tons of money and you only know what you read.  I was hoping that he would be suspended because as an Angels fan I feel he is toxic to the team. I still do not want him coming back to the Angels, but I do feel for him that he is going through all of this.  I have really tried to stay out of any Hamilton related articles and threads.  I have enough problems and enough people I love that have their own problems to be spending my time with this.  It sucks I even know so much about Hamilton's personal life at this point.  I hope the best for everyone in that family, particularly their children.  But right now I just want to think about baseball.  

Billions, eh?

The kids are biggest victims in all of this, they didn't ask to be born into a screwed up family

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.

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

I love the sky is falling crowd. Went 0-3 to start the season against the M's last season. Finished with the best record in baseball.
 
Chill....

Terrible strike zone. Cost Weave two runs

Safeco ranked 12th last season for home runs. Anaheim 23rd. ESPN ballpark factors 2014

They're gonna win it all. Enjoy this season.

Something nobody has said, ever, until now:
 
Is it Monday yet?

The only teams that wouldn't be strongly effected by losing their best offensive player are teams that already have crappy offenses.  Even if you subtract 100 runs straight up from the Angels total last year they still rank 10th.  Ianetta's OBP was tied for tops amongst Catchers with Lucroy.  Aybar is always solid for a SS and is consistently a top 10 producer at the position.  Freese was stepping it up towards the end of the season and hopefully that carries over.  Joyce/Cowgill should easily replace any production they got from LF last year. Cron looks great this spring and is pretty much a guarantee to demolish the production we got from the DH spot last year.   I think its safe to say this is one of the more well rounded offenses in the league. 
 
 
Edit:  Angels LF production in 162 games and 610 PA last year: .234/.293/.336 with 66 RBI, 71 R, 12 HR.
 
Matt Joyce's production in 140 games and 493 PA last year:  .254/.349/.383 with 52 RBI, 51 R, 9 HR
 
And that is while being part of a lineup that ranked 27th in runs scored last year.  He will certainly have more opportunities to hit guys in and be hit in himself.  

KC beat us because our whole offense slumped.  That happens to even well rounded offenses.  KC won because they played the best baseball they played all year.  If thats how they played all year then they would have won their division and over 90 games.  The first two games neither offense stepped up much.  The games went into extras tied 1-1 and 2-2.  The Angels would have won at least one of those if it weren't for incredibly lucky plays they made on defense, specifically Aoki throwing out his glove and making the best play of his life.  
 
That 9th hitter you are talking about, Mike Moustakas, is a career .236/.290/.379 guy and last year hit .212/.271/.361...what about that is impressive?  And what about that says he came through during the regular season when others didn't?  Must be their 14th ranked offense last year.  Every single one of our guys that played at least 100 games last year hit over .250/.320/.380 and that is while playing half their games in a pitchers park.  Not trying to gang up on you here, but your logic is very flawed.

The only teams that wouldn't be strongly effected by losing their best offensive player are teams that already have crappy offenses.  Even if you subtract 100 runs straight up from the Angels total last year they still rank 10th.  Ianetta's OBP was tied for tops amongst Catchers with Lucroy.  Aybar is always solid for a SS and is consistently a top 10 producer at the position.  Freese was stepping it up towards the end of the season and hopefully that carries over.  Joyce/Cowgill should easily replace any production they got from LF last year. Cron looks great this spring and is pretty much a guarantee to demolish the production we got from the DH spot last year.   I think its safe to say this is one of the more well rounded offenses in the league. 
 
 
Edit:  Angels LF production in 162 games and 610 PA last year: .234/.293/.336 with 66 RBI, 71 R, 12 HR.
 
Matt Joyce's production in 140 games and 493 PA last year:  .254/.349/.383 with 52 RBI, 51 R, 9 HR
 
And that is while being part of a lineup that ranked 27th in runs scored last year.  He will certainly have more opportunities to hit guys in and be hit in himself.  

KC beat us because our whole offense slumped.  That happens to even well rounded offenses.  KC won because they played the best baseball they played all year.  If thats how they played all year then they would have won their division and over 90 games.  The first two games neither offense stepped up much.  The games went into extras tied 1-1 and 2-2.  The Angels would have won at least one of those if it weren't for incredibly lucky plays they made on defense, specifically Aoki throwing out his glove and making the best play of his life.  
 
That 9th hitter you are talking about, Mike Moustakas, is a career .236/.290/.379 guy and last year hit .212/.271/.361...what about that is impressive?  And what about that says he came through during the regular season when others didn't?  Must be their 14th ranked offense last year.  Every single one of our guys that played at least 100 games last year hit over .250/.320/.380 and that is while playing half their games in a pitchers park.  Not trying to gang up on you here, but your logic is very flawed.