Inside Pitch

Aren't they going to eventually share the stadium being built for the Lambs? Like Doc, I'd sooner follow the Chargers than the other LA team -- but my favorite team is already in the NFC.

Payroll includes the enter 40 man, contributions to the players retirement funds and various other BS... So, it's always about 25-30 mil greater than the payroll on the field.

Another year of recuperating from previous mistakes. If the Angels are going to get better they are going to have to suffer through this for a little longer. Retooling isn't a waste, but continuing to throw money at mistakes .. well, that would be a waste.

Ten years ago -- yes... This guy hasn't come close to the career people envisioned for him.

Of the names being mentioned, Drew might have the best upside at the lowest costs, he's a FA so it would only be money. Say what you will about Drew but he's coming off a 125 OPS+ and 124 wRC+ season. He can still play defense including at SS. He's had injury issues and can't hit lefties anymore so it's not like he's someone to get excited over but he seems to be one of those guys who is a known name and it's working against him. He's Drew, a family of well known a-holes, and he's been plagued by injuries in recent years, seemingly also a family trait. I'm not saying sign him because I really don't think there is a player out there that is guaranteed to make a big enough impact at 2B to be a difference maker but if they could sign him for the 3 Mil the Nats paid him last year, he'd be a decent get.

Preach it ... I would much rather they go into the season with a black hole at 2B than spend money on a guy who had one good month mask a season of full blown decline. Likewise, I'd rather see them add bullpen pieces.

Yup.. He was gifted a fringe star, a legit leadoff caliber bat and he still managed to mess it up.

Ignoring a slide in performance over the course of several seasons is how teams end up signing guys to 10 year 240 mil contracts. It is only one year -- but the underlying predictive stats are showing a decline. As I said in my previous post -- he's had a season like this before, so it's not unreasonable to believe it may have just been a blip and he will rebound -- but the Angels lack the organizational capital to take on those sorts of risks IMO.

Cutch has seen a three year drop across the board in defensive metrics and has told anyone willing to listen that he is unwilling to move off of CF. His K rate has gone up for three straight years. His hard hit ball profile has dropped in three straight seasons. His average on FBs has dropped in three straight seasons. His walk rate dropped significantly from the year before and his SB numbers have dropped to where he's really not considered a threat on the bases. Yes, it's only one bad year -- and he's actually had a similar season 4 years ago that he rebounded from but all those other predictive stats have been moving in the wrong direction for three years. This is what decline looks like. Trading for Cutch isn't a need. Adding pitching is. Your proposal takes away from the pitching, gives away 4 years of control for both Cron and Skaggs, and potentially 6 years of control for each of Thaiss, Ward and Jones. I know Harrison is a known name and to his credit he can pick it but he's also been a low OBP, high K, 91 OPS+ hitter the last two years and is owed 17 M. Johnny Giavotella put up an OPS+ of 90 the last two seasons while making the minimum. Harrison has two option years for 10M each season so, at least there is the potential for club control beyond 2018, but barring a reversal in performance it's unlikely he'd be worth picking up those option years. I'd rather enter 2017 with a black hole at 2B than make a trade like this.

Dunno about Turner -- but Fletch just tweeted this... Jeff Fletcher ‏@JeffFletcherOCR Nov 29 The #Angels had some preliminary talks with FA 2B Stephen Drew. That being said, he's one of many candidates. Nothing seems close. Carry on. 11 replies23 retweets45 likes Reply 11 Retweet 23 Like 45 More

Indeed. Sanctimonious tripe is really easy to ignore but sometimes you gotta give them your opinion and then roll your eyes when someone else tries to tell you how message boards work. Hope I'm doing it right.

Likewise I wish people who claimed to be realistic didn't really just mean they think they know whats really up... Realistically, based on projections the Angels are an 85 win team -- that's not homer driven optimism that's an unbiased data based guess. Realistically for that to happen they need to avoid injuries.... it's not smart to count on perfect health so they need to add some depth still. I'm a realist, I don't expect them to play up to those numbers but I know better than to think they couldn't, they need to be both smart, and lucky. I've said I don't believe they will add any marquee names, I don't believe they are in a position where they can control their own destinies as in other years but I've watched baseball long enough to expect the unexpected. Feel free to preach caution -- just spare us the talk about who is being realistic or what that even means...

Didn't Ortega elect to go FA instead of accept being outrighted?

Well -- that's because there are block committees in Cuba -- their whole purpose in life is to rat out anyone that says anything or acts like they aren't happy. Rat someone in and you get special favors from the glorious Revolution... Imagine living in a place where your neighbor can turn you in to the Gov for not acting like you love the Revolution. Thats Cuba.... But yeah -- people visit and see food all over and smiling faces everywhere so everything is just great...

Castro stood up to nobody.. He just found the other biggest kid on the block and had him stand behind him while he ran his mouth. Without the Soviet Union, Fidel Castro is a pissant Hugo Chavez type wannabe. BTW -- I think Bernie is a kind man who genuinely cares about people.

Honestly, I haven't said much about it before because of the whole internet and people being so full of crap, I didn't want that label attached -- you have long known my Dad was my biggest hero and with good reason. But yeah my family was pretty deep into a lot of different aspects of the pre-Castro Cuba. My Godfather's family was involved with one of the casinos out there which is kinda funny given he is my actual Godfather. But my Dad's story was pretty interesting -- he had been accepted into MIT at 16, which came in pretty handy after he set fire to the library -- the family sent him to the States for his safety, but that lasted all of a year before he worked his way back to Cuba. He was one of Cubas best Judokas and a two time national Champ but his political views forced him off the national teams. When they sent him to the work camps the intent was to work him to death -- they tried to stage an accident where basically a crate was supposed to fall on him but he was tipped off (by a military official no less) and surived that. When the family was leaving Cuba they were pulled aside by military officials -- there was this huge panic for everyone because they didn't really believe they would be allowed to leave the country. They were told that the government had sent word to hold the flight and my family in particular aside as someone from G-2 (the Cuban version of the CIA), wanted to speak to my Dad. The soldiers that manned the gates assumed the worst, did everything they could to berate and embarrass my family -- called them the typical names -- "Gusanos" (worms), traitors etc etc... made lewd comments about my mom. Anyway -- after a few minutes later two jeeps and a car pull up.. Out steps Sergio Alcevo, second in command of the G2, a life long friend of my Dad's (along with Ismael Suarez de la Paz, known as Commander Echemandia to history). tears in his eyes and he throws his arms around my Dad and said out loud for everyone to hear -- treat this man with the greatest of respect, Cuba loses a true patriot and revolutionary. So once this happened my dad knocked the guy that had made comments about my mom out... According to my sister, everyone sat in total silence until Alcevo shugged his shoulders, laughed and simply asked that the guy be taken away. The way she tells the story he was in tears the entire time and my Dad was the one consoling him. Different ideologies couldnt destroy a friendship borne as children. My Dad never really told us much, my sister was old enough to remember a lot of it and she was the only person in the family that ever talked about it.. Most everything I heard about my Dad I heard from other people, his friends, people that would come visit us and would be introduced to us as so so who had been this or that -- it was funny because it was always very clearly emotional for them but you could see so much of their connections had to do with that period of time between 1952 and 1961. My Dad had been anti-Batista, but also Anti-Castro, he had been leery of the left-leaning tendencies of both Raul Castro and Che Gevera and because of his friendship with guys like Alcevo and Echemandia he was all too aware of the communist leanings of many within Fidel's inner circle. It was always a trip to see pictures of my Dad in his youth hanging out with guys who would go on to be a General under Castro and part of his Secret police. All I know is that everywhere we went people knew who he was and offered to buy him drinks.. I've always wished he had told us more, but that brings me to the other part of his story... Like I was saying, there was a real disbelief that they would ever actually make it to the states... Even as the plane took off -- they were freaking out that some accident would occur and the plane would crash, be lost etc etc... it wasnt until they set foot in the States that any of them allowed themselves to believe it was real. Upon landing my Dad was again singled out -- he was taken aside into a room where a bunch of guys in suits were -- they were all very kind to my family and every effort was made to make us comfortable but everyone save for my Dad was allowed to pass through the processing -- my Dad was interrogated and mined for information for three weeks -- my Grandfather had opinions on by who, but my Dad has always refused to say what went down other than he told them he was done with everything to do with Cuba and it's politics and that he was perfectly fine with being sent back so long as the family got to stay put. To this day we aren't sure if his involvement with crap ended or not, but there were times when guys in cars with US Gov plates came by and talked to my Dad for hours. All I know -- my Dad loved this country -- loved everything it stood for, loved the Flag, and considered this the greatest nation that ever has existed. He was always quick to tell us that every nation has it's faults but no nation had done more to take in those in need or help the rest of the world as had the US.. Above all he was grateful for what this country gave us... Colin Kapenwhatever is a ****.

Signing those guys had less to do with how the Angels finished than did the failure to add to the pen and fix the areas that WERE broken. Spending money in baseball isn't a bad thing, spending it foolishly is. The Angels spent foolishly, that was the problem. All that being said -- I don't expect the Angels to be players in FA this year, and truthfully, I'd rather they wait another year. Id like to see them attack the draft the way they did and spend every possible dollar in that venue.

**** ryhmes with bunt...

So... In case you guys didn't know, I was born to Cuban parents .. This whole thing has hit very close to home. My Father grew up in a very political family... his Uncle, Carlos Hevia, was at one time an provisional president of Cuba, he had actually been installed as President after Batista (supported by US Ambassador Caffey) had forced the resignation of Grau, three days later he was replaced by one of Batista and Caffey's puppets. He had been acting as the minster of agriculture at the time and his father in law either had been or was Chief Justice of Cuba. Carlos Hevia was possibly most famous for having once purchased a bunch of weapons from the US Gov under the condition that they not be used against the Cuban gov... No sooner had they unloaded the guns off the boats they started shooting in the direction of Batista's goons. On my Mothers side, my Grandfather was one of Cuba's most famous journalists -- he was the headliner at Cuba's main newspaper, and the Cuban correspondent for both the UPI and AP. His brother was likewise the editor of Cuba's other major paper and it's top selling magazine. They were in essence the voices of what would be the NY Times and LA Times here.. Growing up I had no shortage of insight into the Cuban situation, I got to meet a lot of people and hear their stories. You didn't grow up a Cuban exile without being privy to what happened, it was something the community was very passionate about -- the comparisons to Jews and the Holocaust may be a bit too much but it's the closest comparison and the Jews in Cuba that escaped both are the first to make it. I saw first hand the scars on my Dad's back and the pictures of him at a robust 180 and then 110 after months in a Cuban work camp for non-communists. My Grandfather and his brother were at gunpoint forced onto the Granma staff to write glorious stories about how the Revolution was making the country a better place and to paint dissenters as traitors working with the Yanquis to bring down the Revolution. My older sister was put into a room in kindergarten with the rest of her class and ask to pray to God for candy -- then had sit around while nothing happened then prodded to ask the Revolution to give her some candy and immediately given some. My Dad wasn't put in front of a firing squad in part because of his fame as a Cuban Judo national champion and for having succeeded in setting fire to the national library (as a 16 year old), in protest of the government's censorship of the press and attempts to rewrite Cuban history (and because his family were famously anti-Batista). Still, because he wouldn't join the party he was forced into those work camps while Granma (the state run press named after the boat Castro started his revolution with). wrote a nice little story of how he was doing his part for the glorious Revolution by leading the "agriculture corps". So yeah -- my Grandfather had to write a story about my Dad the hero knowing full well how he was being sent off to work camp to possibly die. Ask any Cuban exile above the age of 40 and they all tell a similar story. They either knew someone who was killed, or had a family member impacted by the Castro regime. They will all tell you how the Cuban school system that gets lauded as a Castro achievement was in place long before he took power as was the Cuban "clinica" medical system. In fact, Miami and South FL as a whole have several group health programs for seniors based on the systems that were in place as early as the 1940s. Truth is most of the things that Castro gets credit for were actually put into place by the Cuban Constitution of 1940 only to be suspended by Batista in 1952. Castro was a ****. Che Gevara was an even bigger ****, and anyone championing either of them as anything other than sadistic ****s is also a ****.

Beltre has been getting a TUE for testosterone since getting smashed in the nads -- you can't use him as an example of anything other than the impact of PEDs. We missed the boat sure, but he's not someone people should point to as why the team should take a risk on an older player... not unless the player in question will also be able to take testosterone.

Welcome to the board.

Meh, JD is trying to make the most out of the M's current window with Cano, Cruz et al.. if he gets them into the postseason after all these years that's all anyone will care about. Long term... if Haniger proves to be more than a 4th OFer I think Seattle makes out ok. There is some upside there but they seem to have sold low and bought high as a whole. Mostly it will be interesting to see how he follows this up. I doubt he is willing to go into next season having to rely on James Paxton to stay healthy. Say what you will about JD, he always has a plan of some kind so its a pretty safe bet more is coming. As a side note. Marte, Miller, Taylor -- all gone within 12 months. There was a lot of talk in prospect circles about the M's depth at SS (they had Nick Franklin too), but outside of Miller we haven't seen much out of them. A good reminder of how volatile the prospect game can be.

You just described John Lackey 2003-2004. He still does all the other crap but he stopped completely unraveling in 2005.

I was thinking damn near the similar thing .. only I was thinking how I need to have a beer with him... This guy has stories!

There are so many obstacles with an international draft -- places like the DR are going to be a land mine. The guys who have made their careers out of getting guys drafted and then taking a huge cut are going to do everything in their power to hide players eligible for the draft and then try to sell them after the fact... It will make the stuff that was written about in "Away Games" seem like child's play. I personally believe an international draft is a fantasy at this point.