Coachbulldog

So I'm definitely thinking Jerry Dipoto is a lot more the guy who pumps up pitcher's win totals and clutch hits, and less the sabermetric darling that stresses count control by both pitchers and hitters.

 

Dude is totally outschooled here.

Proof of this is he traded for Joe Saunders when he was DBacks GM. 

Follow up question: What do the Angels do if they approach Trout's agent to talk extension and are rebuffed with the message that Trout wants to be a free agent when his time up? Do they consider trading him? His value is never going to be any higher than it is right now. 

Pierzynski + Red Sox! I predict this will be one of the greatest Angelswin threads of all time. 

Johnson actually increased his K/9 rate significantly last year while sacrificing just a few more walks. 

 

2012: 15.2 K% 5.6 BB%

2013: 19.2 K% 6.2 BB%

 

His BABIP was also way out of line compared to his normal rates(.327 in 2013, .251 and .268 the years before). There's no doubt he's getting overpaid based on his saves but he's been a damn good reliever the past 3 years. 

 

It's a good deal for both sides. A's are getting one of the better relievers in baseball and don't have huge payroll issues. O's are shedding money and can plug O'Day in at closer and not lose a ton. 

The trade also fits with the A's long term philosophy; at the end of 2014 they will make a qualifying offer to Johnson, he will turn it down, and the A's will receive a draft pick when he signs elsewhere.  

Even though at times the Rockies front office makes Reagins look like Branch Rickey, I don't see anyway they trade Chacin, Arenado, or Brothers. 

Lol at Bill Ballou, Davis 1st, Cabrera 2nd, Trout 7th.

Who did he vote 3-4-5-6?

Swingman is probably his best role for the Angels. He pitched in tough luck last night. Bees fail to turn a routine double play in first inning, weak infield single, and a blop hit make Shoemaker's line look worse than he pitched.

I hope that Calhoun's performance against a lefty last night will convince Scioscia that he needs to play every day and not be part of a platoon. Angels don't really know what they have in Calhoun yet and the only way to find out is play him every day between now and the end of the season. 

From what Arte's perspective has been, it makes perfect sense he would veto a trade with the Dodgers. He views the Dodgers as competition for the LA market and the last thing he would want to do is to make a move where the Dodgers get better while the Angels get a player for the future. 

Another walk off win tonight for the Bees! Andy Marte continues to crush the ball and Tommy Hanson looked okay. Here is a video I took of the Bees scoring the winning run. It isn't perfect, but I think everyone will enjoy seeing it. The celebration was tempered because Marte was injured sliding home. No report yet on the extent of his injury.

Last night's playoff game is an example of why I think Shoemaker could help the Angels. He didn't have his best stuff and seemed to be fighting his control a lot of the game, but he continued to battle and he made big pitches when he had too. Las Vegas had a chance to put the game away in the 3rd and again in the 4th and each time Shoemaker was able to pitch out of the jam. Each inning ended with him recording a strikeout.

I don't see him in the rotation but I think he would be a great 2 inning-middle relief type that could keep the Angels in the game and be a bridge to the setup guy and closer. 

I consider myself a big sports fan that watches probably 150 Angel games a year and 60-70 Laker games a year oh and probably 25 nfl games a year. There is no way in hell I could name the best player on 90% of nfl or nba teams.

You and I are similar type of sports fans. Different teams, but I couldn't name the best player on 90% of NFL or NHL teams. 

Signing Dontrelle Willis to a minor league contract and seeing if he had anything left by pitching him at AAA was zero risk move. Turns out he doesn't have anything left, but there is no harm in having a player with a professional attitude, one that works hard, is a positive influence on teammates, and at one time was big time Major League player in the system. 

I will leave the "is Weaver an ace or not" to the rest of you, but if you look at numbers that actually reflect Weaver's pitching skill, the "decline" isn't steep enough to raise much concern:

HR/9

2011 - 0.8

2012 - 1.0

2013 - 1.0

Slight uptick in the last three seasons, but not enough of one to raise a concern. Also, these numbers are in line with his career numbers.

BB/9

2011 - 2.1

2012 - 2.1

2013 - 2.3

Another slight movement upward, but one additional walk every few games isn't enough to worry about.

K/9

2011 - 7.6

2012 - 6.8

2013 - 7.2

Difference isn't much, but Weaver is striking out hitters at a slightly higher rate than he did a year ago.

Our pitchers would still be bad with Mathis

cERA is a meaningless statistic. Jeff Mathis would make absolutely no difference in how Joe Blanton, Jerome Williams, etc... have pitched this season. 

My thoughts were you have a set number of challenges you can do a year.  Say 16.  10% of the games.  You can use your 16 at any time.  If you win your challenge, you keep it.  If you lose, you have it deducted.  Once you are out, no more challenges, for the rest of the year, and playoffs.  This will make challenges valuable, and give everyone an even amount.  And it will prevent abuse of it.

Good idea. I would go a step farther and allow teams to trade their challenges. A team out of the pennant race could trade a few challenges to a contending team in an effort to acquire a better player. 

I agree with stormngt, we tend to over value kids we've only seen for a handful of games.  Dipoto has some hard choices this winter.  With a short list of FA pitchers and a need to completely re-build the bullpen and re-sign Vargas, there has to be trades to be made.

 

Do the Angels keep Bourjos? Trumbo? Shuck? Calhoun?

As you said, hard choices are going to have to be made this winter and the first one is this; if the right moves are made can the Angels be a contender in 2014? Hamilton and Pujols aren't going anywhere. Trading players like Trumbo, Kendrick, Aybar, etc.. might net the Angels a decent return, but does the value received off set the value lost enough to push the Angels to the top of division? I'm not sure what the answer is, but DiPoto and the rest of the Angels front office are in a difficult position. 

Dusty Baker does come to mind.

+1

I'm watching the Marlins-Rockies game as I post this and a lot of catchers would have a great CERA if they could catch Jose Fernandez. Guy has great stuff.

Trout really blew that at bat with RISP. He must not be clutch.

I liked this post after I wiped off the sarcasm that was dripping down my monitor screen. 

-.477 WPA for the game. Solid

Josh Hamilton had a nightmare game last night 

"For those of you who want a statistical measure of this badness, note that Hamilton’s Win Probability Added (WPA), which measures how much a player contributed to his team’s win or loss on a given day, was -.477. That means he, all by his lonesome, reduced the Angels’ chances of winning last night’s game by 47.7%."

"Vladdy" Matumba. Well done. I get so much of this kind of crap in my inbox, nice to see somebody do something creative with it.

Here is a group that turns the tables on those who send these letters. 419 Eater

In 63 minor league games, he had an OPS of 1.016

 

This is not a fluke we're looking at here.

In 67 AAA games in 2004, Dallas McPherson had an OPS of 1.049.

Right?  The team is so much better since Mathis left.

And the Angels would be "so much better" if Mathis were still here?