Coachbulldog

Had that one all the way!

I'm lousy at predictions but here goes: Aaron Judge signs back with the Yankees Carlos Rodon signs with the Cardinals Dansby Swanson returns to the Braves Trea Turner signs with the Phillies

Thanks! Nice to see so many folks still around from when I was much more active here.

Peter Angelos would never have spent the money to sign Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, or C.J. Wilson!

It has been a while for sure!

Maybe, but the Phillies BP is not good and a loss isn't guaranteed.

I'm sure Pujols still wants to play but I don't see any MLB team that would want to add him.

I browsed through this thread but didn't read every post but many of the suggestions for trades and free agent signings are realistic and I hope the Angels are aggressive in getting something done. My thought on this is Cole going to the Yankees weakens the Astros, the team the Angels have to overtake to win the West and the door is open to improve the club to make a run for the post season in 2020.

The process of the Angels' ownership trying to get the taxpayers to spend millions on a new stadium begins.

Exciting news for the Angels!

And MLB would once again be faced with accusations of collusion.

I don't have any memory of Santiago but, now that you say the name, the Indians player is Vic Davalillo.

I recognize 6 of 8. Left to Right: ????, Roberto Clemente, Tony Oliva, Cookie Rojas, Juan Marchiell, Zoilo Versalles, ????, Chico Cardenas. Great photo!

For several seasons in the early 1980's, the Royals and Joe Brinkman's crew had issues. After one game, Joe Brinkman told Royals' manager Dick Howser "You couldn't manage a cat house on an army base." UPI, June 25, 1984

It has been a while since I visited, but it was nice to drop by and see Vernon Wells and Gary Matthews Jr. are still being mentioned here at Angelswin!

Perfect thread to mention my favorite baseball book, Ball Four by Jim Bouton. The backstory to the book is a power pitcher, who can no longer throw his fastball, trying to reinvent himself as a knuckleball pitcher.

I can speak to this since I am from Gossage's generation....Goose, shut up! Angry old men who berate and belittle the current generation are irritating. You sound like the players from the early 20th century who bemoaned the game of the 1920s because of the growth of the home run or those in mid-century who criticized integration. The game today is as much fun to watch and be a fan of as it always has been and there is nothing wrong with players showing emotion and celebrating or clubs using statistical analysis to improve their organizations.

Getting rid of the remaining $38 million of CarGo's contract would be of paramount importance to the Rockies. That said, I think Colorado could do better than Cron and Skaggs in a CarGo deal.

Hope Aybar does a great job in Atlanta. Enjoyed watching him play since his time in Salt Lake.

If the Angels front office is going to try and assemble a World Series team in 2016, they should place little importance on whether a free agent has a draft pick attached to him. I know the Angels farm system has fallen off but it is nearly impossible to have it both ways and it will be difficult for the Angels front rebuild a farm system at the same they are trying to sign free agents to put the current MLB club in the playoffs.

I haven't posted much this season but the oldtimers here can verify a couple of things about me; I never get carried away with the emotional rollercoaster of baseball and I rarely start a thread. But today's win leads me to do both, get emotional and start a thread because today's win was much bigger than surviving to play another game that matters. For me, the emotions of this game compares to the Royals-A's wild card game last season. Two-thirds of the way through the game the Royals were dead. Then they mount a comeback, win an exciting, emotional game, and go on a run that lasted to the seventh game of the World Series. I will always believe they way Kansas City won the wild card game was part of the reason they had such a great postseason. Today, in similar fashion to the Royals, the Angels had their backs to the wall. Down four in the 9th inning and a loss would have all but eliminated them from the postseason. But they found a way to win in an emotionally charged rally. Hopefully for the Angels, they seize the emotion of today's win like the Royals did in the 2014 Wild Card game and ride it to a successful postseason!

According to a piece from Business Insider in 2011: MLB players must play 43 days in the majors to earn a minimum $34,000 annual pension plan. Just one day in the majors gets them lifetime healthcare coverage. After 10 years in the big leagues, benefits grow to $100,000 annually. According to Baseball Reference, Jeff Mathis has earned over $10 million in his career.

I am not sure what the rest of the numbers for his career are, but here is the breakdown for the 2015 Marlins: Marlins overall record: 52 - 79, .397 Games Jeff Mathis has started 5 - 18, .217 Games started by other catchers: 47 - 61, .435 I fully understand these numbers cannot be looked at in a vacuum. Things like who the starting pitcher is for the Marlins and the opponent have to be considered. But, for whatever reason, the 2015 Marlins win far less games when Mathis is the starting catcher.

One of the things I constantly remind my US history students is not to let what is going on in the present distort the truth of what actually happened in the past. Games 1 and 2 of the Angels-Royals series were two of the most tension filled games of the post season.

Very interesting perspective Glen. Agree Stoneman isn't an idiot, but many of the Angels issues this year are the consequences of Stoneman (and later Reagins) not understanding what the Angels had, and did not have, in the farm system a few years ago. I understand that no one could have predicted that Kotchman, McPherson, Wood, Mathis, and the rest of the "future superstars" that made up the Angels farm system would not pan out. But a decent GM should have had some idea what the real ceiling of these players were and found a way to maximize their perceived value. Stoneman stubbornly held on to these player and in the end the Angels received next to nothing for any of them. Because of his track record, I have no confidence that Stoneman is able to accurately evaluate the true level of talent in the farm system and maybe it was a mistake holding on to prospects and not trading them.