EE_

Wrong.
.194/.306/.419 which still sucked but the point was that he did come up big in a big game. How did Figgins do in the playoffs (bat and glove)? Nice 21 at-bat sample with Mathis. Why are you so grouchy?  Go change your depends.

Wrong.
.194/.306/.419 which still sucked but the point was that he did come up big in a big game. How did Figgins do in the playoffs (bat and glove)? Nice 21 at-bat sample with Mathis. Why are you so grouchy?  Go change your depends.

I commend those that have been able to reframe the debate to require proof that Butcher and Scioscia are specifically to blame before a coaching change is possible. Well done. Demand proof of an unproveable.
You don't need proof. You just have to believe that one of their peers can do a better job. Teams make coaching and managerial changes all the time based upon a desire to improve. They aren't constrained by some absurd notion of having to prove unequivocally that the manager or coach is to blame.
 
After four consecutive disappointing years the burden of proof should be on the coaches and manager to clearly demonstrate their value to the team.

I commend those that have been able to reframe the debate to require proof that Butcher and Scioscia are specifically to blame before a coaching change is possible. Well done. Demand proof of an unproveable.
You don't need proof. You just have to believe that one of their peers can do a better job. Teams make coaching and managerial changes all the time based upon a desire to improve. They aren't constrained by some absurd notion of having to prove unequivocally that the manager or coach is to blame.
 
After four consecutive disappointing years the burden of proof should be on the coaches and manager to clearly demonstrate their value to the team.

Sleeping like a baby.

I commend those that have been able to reframe the debate to require proof that Butcher and Scioscia are specifically to blame before a coaching change is possible. Well done. Demand proof of an unproveable.
You don't need proof. You just have to believe that one of their peers can do a better job. Teams make coaching and managerial changes all the time based upon a desire to improve. They aren't constrained by some absurd notion of having to prove unequivocally that the manager or coach is to blame.
 
After four consecutive disappointing years the burden of proof should be on the coaches and manager to clearly demonstrate their value to the team.

I commend those that have been able to reframe the debate to require proof that Butcher and Scioscia are specifically to blame before a coaching change is possible. Well done. Demand proof of an unproveable.
You don't need proof. You just have to believe that one of their peers can do a better job. Teams make coaching and managerial changes all the time based upon a desire to improve. They aren't constrained by some absurd notion of having to prove unequivocally that the manager or coach is to blame.
 
After four consecutive disappointing years the burden of proof should be on the coaches and manager to clearly demonstrate their value to the team.

Sleeping like a baby.

Even in '11 the Angels had the most blown saves in the league (toronto had a slightly worse save%).
ERA was fine but hardly a consolation when they can't close a freakin window.

WTF? Try harder.

Howie hits into double plays (15 this season) as a consequence of his high ground ball rate. He also almost never hits infield pop ups though. Just 14 total in his 8 year career. I can live with the DPs.
 
Forcing your 2nd or 3rd best hitter to make an out to earn the privilege (if "successful") for the opposing manager to avoid the best player in the game only to setup a Hamilton Vs Lefty situation (.187/.213/.345) is indefensible and imbecilic.

People are still saying shit like this? First off, if you don't like it here, no one is forcing you to stay. Instead of bitching about the quality of the board you could just leave.
 
Secondly, this board is incredibly tame when compared to other sports message boards. Ever been to the Lakers board when they lose? How about the Red Sox?
 
I don't know what some of you guys are expecting. All roses and rainbows and sunshine despite the awful state of the organization.

I disagree with the story so the writer is making stuff up

It wouldn't matter if he made all the right trades and free agent signings if the minor league system is in shambles. No GM is going to avoid all mistakes when playing on the free agent market. Friedman has been the best (by far) but even he signed Pat Burrell.
 
Is Dipoto's methodology bad? Maybe. Blanton had a career high K rate last season while still having a very low walk rate. Was it bad reasoning that adding him to a pitcher's park (in a pitcher's division) and surrounding him with an excellent defense would suppress his hits allowed? If those trends had continued, Blanton would be a valuable #5 with acceptable production. Instead, Blanton and the defense took 3 steps back. Why did Blanton and the defense take 3 steps back?
 
The Marmol attempted trade is harder to defend. That appeared to be wishful thinking at its worst, particularly with the track record of our pitching coach. I doubt even a competent coach could do anything with Marmol.
 
The health of the minor league system is far more important than any "Shouldn't have signed..." or "Should have traded..." scenarios. I've argued against almost every free agent for a long time (yes, even the ones that worked like Hunter or would have worked like Beltre). You don't try to build your team via free agency. The exception is if you can get a star player in their 20's (damned rare) or you use free agency to add a complimentary piece to an already contending team. 
 
Too many times I've read about how Dipoto failed to fix the bullpen as if that is some easy task. I've posted the list of available free agent relief pitchers the last few years and it's been full of expensive, usually injured non-performers with a few rare exceptions.
A good pen comes from an abundance of pitching talent in your minor league system and good instruction. We have neither. Failed starters work well. You won't fix this pen by signing a couple more broken down nags coming off of good years. If this team continues to emphasize pitching in the draft (as was the case in 2013) and improves instruction then the pen will no longer be a problem. An instant solution is not going to happen.

It wouldn't matter if he made all the right trades and free agent signings if the minor league system is in shambles. No GM is going to avoid all mistakes when playing on the free agent market. Friedman has been the best (by far) but even he signed Pat Burrell.
 
Is Dipoto's methodology bad? Maybe. Blanton had a career high K rate last season while still having a very low walk rate. Was it bad reasoning that adding him to a pitcher's park (in a pitcher's division) and surrounding him with an excellent defense would suppress his hits allowed? If those trends had continued, Blanton would be a valuable #5 with acceptable production. Instead, Blanton and the defense took 3 steps back. Why did Blanton and the defense take 3 steps back?
 
The Marmol attempted trade is harder to defend. That appeared to be wishful thinking at its worst, particularly with the track record of our pitching coach. I doubt even a competent coach could do anything with Marmol.
 
The health of the minor league system is far more important than any "Shouldn't have signed..." or "Should have traded..." scenarios. I've argued against almost every free agent for a long time (yes, even the ones that worked like Hunter or would have worked like Beltre). You don't try to build your team via free agency. The exception is if you can get a star player in their 20's (damned rare) or you use free agency to add a complimentary piece to an already contending team. 
 
Too many times I've read about how Dipoto failed to fix the bullpen as if that is some easy task. I've posted the list of available free agent relief pitchers the last few years and it's been full of expensive, usually injured non-performers with a few rare exceptions.
A good pen comes from an abundance of pitching talent in your minor league system and good instruction. We have neither. Failed starters work well. You won't fix this pen by signing a couple more broken down nags coming off of good years. If this team continues to emphasize pitching in the draft (as was the case in 2013) and improves instruction then the pen will no longer be a problem. An instant solution is not going to happen.

It wouldn't matter if he made all the right trades and free agent signings if the minor league system is in shambles. No GM is going to avoid all mistakes when playing on the free agent market. Friedman has been the best (by far) but even he signed Pat Burrell.
 
Is Dipoto's methodology bad? Maybe. Blanton had a career high K rate last season while still having a very low walk rate. Was it bad reasoning that adding him to a pitcher's park (in a pitcher's division) and surrounding him with an excellent defense would suppress his hits allowed? If those trends had continued, Blanton would be a valuable #5 with acceptable production. Instead, Blanton and the defense took 3 steps back. Why did Blanton and the defense take 3 steps back?
 
The Marmol attempted trade is harder to defend. That appeared to be wishful thinking at its worst, particularly with the track record of our pitching coach. I doubt even a competent coach could do anything with Marmol.
 
The health of the minor league system is far more important than any "Shouldn't have signed..." or "Should have traded..." scenarios. I've argued against almost every free agent for a long time (yes, even the ones that worked like Hunter or would have worked like Beltre). You don't try to build your team via free agency. The exception is if you can get a star player in their 20's (damned rare) or you use free agency to add a complimentary piece to an already contending team. 
 
Too many times I've read about how Dipoto failed to fix the bullpen as if that is some easy task. I've posted the list of available free agent relief pitchers the last few years and it's been full of expensive, usually injured non-performers with a few rare exceptions.
A good pen comes from an abundance of pitching talent in your minor league system and good instruction. We have neither. Failed starters work well. You won't fix this pen by signing a couple more broken down nags coming off of good years. If this team continues to emphasize pitching in the draft (as was the case in 2013) and improves instruction then the pen will no longer be a problem. An instant solution is not going to happen.

Butcher walked more batters than he struck out in half his seasons in the league.
He's just teaching what he knows.
Can we replace this clown before subjecting more young relief pitchers to his "guidance"?
Or maybe we can continue to believe that every relief pitcher called up for several years is just completely unable to locate their pitches.

Butcher walked more batters than he struck out in half his seasons in the league.
He's just teaching what he knows.
Can we replace this clown before subjecting more young relief pitchers to his "guidance"?
Or maybe we can continue to believe that every relief pitcher called up for several years is just completely unable to locate their pitches.

Wells comes off the books after next year and Hamilton comes off just before Trout would reach free agency. The Angels will have plenty of money to resign Trout as long as they don't find new giant piles of shit to step in.

Almost angelic.

Wells comes off the books after next year and Hamilton comes off just before Trout would reach free agency. The Angels will have plenty of money to resign Trout as long as they don't find new giant piles of shit to step in.

Forget about the Pujols and Hamilton mistakes. They are dead money. Any production we get from them going forward should be viewed as a bonus. Learn from those mistakes by not repeating them. Quit trying to buy a championship team. It doesn't often work.
 
So we have to operate with a $50 million disadvantage for the next 4 years, a $30 million disadvantage for 4 more years after that.
Is this team not capable of competing with an effective $110 million payroll? Tampa and Oakland are contenders with a ~$60M payroll. We still have a large advantage in payroll over those teams. We also have the advantage of having the best young player in the game.
 
Invest in talent acquisition. If you don't have the best scouts then hire them. If you don't have a top presence in the  Dominican then you do whatever it takes to build it. Everybody will remember the awful Wells trade, but the neglect of the DR development is the worst thing that that regime could have done. Did they really believe that they could allow every other team to pull serious talent from that region while ignoring it themselves and not pay for it?  
 
After you've acquired the talent you don't allow it to be squandered by inferior coaching. The development of pitching, especially at the major league level, has been miserable.
Money used on draft and development is well spent. Had they sunk even the (now small looking) $40M they wasted on the GMJ contract into draft and development in 2007 this would be a very different team. It's tougher now with the new rules but still the best path for sustained success.
 
They can turn it around but not if they continue to be stupid.

Forget about the Pujols and Hamilton mistakes. They are dead money. Any production we get from them going forward should be viewed as a bonus. Learn from those mistakes by not repeating them. Quit trying to buy a championship team. It doesn't often work.
 
So we have to operate with a $50 million disadvantage for the next 4 years, a $30 million disadvantage for 4 more years after that.
Is this team not capable of competing with an effective $110 million payroll? Tampa and Oakland are contenders with a ~$60M payroll. We still have a large advantage in payroll over those teams. We also have the advantage of having the best young player in the game.
 
Invest in talent acquisition. If you don't have the best scouts then hire them. If you don't have a top presence in the  Dominican then you do whatever it takes to build it. Everybody will remember the awful Wells trade, but the neglect of the DR development is the worst thing that that regime could have done. Did they really believe that they could allow every other team to pull serious talent from that region while ignoring it themselves and not pay for it?  
 
After you've acquired the talent you don't allow it to be squandered by inferior coaching. The development of pitching, especially at the major league level, has been miserable.
Money used on draft and development is well spent. Had they sunk even the (now small looking) $40M they wasted on the GMJ contract into draft and development in 2007 this would be a very different team. It's tougher now with the new rules but still the best path for sustained success.
 
They can turn it around but not if they continue to be stupid.

That's already my nickname for Hamilton.

Forget about the Pujols and Hamilton mistakes. They are dead money. Any production we get from them going forward should be viewed as a bonus. Learn from those mistakes by not repeating them. Quit trying to buy a championship team. It doesn't often work.
 
So we have to operate with a $50 million disadvantage for the next 4 years, a $30 million disadvantage for 4 more years after that.
Is this team not capable of competing with an effective $110 million payroll? Tampa and Oakland are contenders with a ~$60M payroll. We still have a large advantage in payroll over those teams. We also have the advantage of having the best young player in the game.
 
Invest in talent acquisition. If you don't have the best scouts then hire them. If you don't have a top presence in the  Dominican then you do whatever it takes to build it. Everybody will remember the awful Wells trade, but the neglect of the DR development is the worst thing that that regime could have done. Did they really believe that they could allow every other team to pull serious talent from that region while ignoring it themselves and not pay for it?  
 
After you've acquired the talent you don't allow it to be squandered by inferior coaching. The development of pitching, especially at the major league level, has been miserable.
Money used on draft and development is well spent. Had they sunk even the (now small looking) $40M they wasted on the GMJ contract into draft and development in 2007 this would be a very different team. It's tougher now with the new rules but still the best path for sustained success.
 
They can turn it around but not if they continue to be stupid.