Inside Pitch

People can talk about Trout all they want.... We know who the real MVP is....

Salas started it.

This is a fair and well articulated post. When it's all said and done I'll look back on the Dipoto era as having been the right plan and the wrong implementation. Not because I feel JD did anything wrong, but rather because his owner failed to let him pick his own manager. That's not to say MS is bad, he just wasn't JD's guy and there was always a level of mutual mistrust at the very top as a result.

Doc, I agree he shouldn't be catching crap for just bailing -- but let's not pretend his family was at risk. He wasn't being asked to act as Mayor of Fallujah, he was the GM of a MLB team, extremely well liked by the fans and completely devoid of fault in the eyes of most people as it related to the team's most recent and glaring missteps. You say the team is rudderless -- seems to me the team is simply in a very difficult situation. They can't take any one course and run with it knowing there could be massive change once the season ends. I said it when the shit hit the fan and I'll say it again. This team/franchise needs to worry less about the final outcome of this season and more about what the long term plan and who will be running it. EVERYTHING changed when the guy at the very top took his ball and went home. Its foolish to get caught up in the who and why, the only thing the franchise needs to worry about is what this team wants to be and who gets to lead them there moving forward. I'd feel better about the situation regardless of how the team finished if Klentak were officially given the reigns. At least there would be ONE person to blame or praise again, instead of all the cloak and dagger BS about Stoneman, Scioscia, and Moreno.

And the flip-side to your stance is..... Pretending he didn't quit and defending him without knowing the facts of what happened is stupidity on your part. Wouldn't a team quitting on him be a sign of bad leadership? I mean, when in the history of the game has a GM ever had his team quit on him? Maybe the better question is has a GM ever put himself in a position where that was actually possible? I'm not being rhetorical, I'm trying to remember an instance in MLB where the GM quit and cited the reason as the team having quit on him. And again -- the flip-side to you argument is.... wouldn't it be "stupid" to fault the team for quitting on him without "fully knowing their side". Are you capable of applying your logic evenly or do the rules only apply when it's a defense of Teflon Jerry. His self serving dribble as he exited rings hollow in face of the actual situation. What good did he feel he would be doing by creating chaos and leaving the team in a lurch with an unfinished plan just before the deadline? It's hard to argue that the team was in a better position by handing the reins over to someone else, anyone else, when JD was the architect of the long term plan and he had been the one building the relationships... This was about him and only him. Which is fine. Obviously you liked Dipoto, you bought into his talk and despite your call for critical thinking and waiting out all the information you are squarely in his camp.. I'm not condemning you for picking a side, just please try to refrain from calling others stupid when you fail to play by your own rules. Praise him for what he did right, fault him for his missteps, I bet if you asked him he'd tell you that would be fair.

They used to be very tight lipped -- that hasn't been the case of late. Lots of loose lips all of a sudden and I honestly wonder who and why it's been happening. Dipoto wasn't a bad GM but his best skills are as a politician. There is no denying the guy can talk a fair game and that he is extremely personable/likeable, that's won him a lot of fans, much more than say Bill Stoneman who rarely spoke and accomplished a world more in less time. With Chuck coming out and admitting that JD wasn't completely devoid of responsibility when it comes to Pujols and Hamilton, people need to reconsider his tenure. I'm not saying he was a bad GM, because I don't believe that is the case, but he's not the blameless figure some have tried to portray him as..

Thats it exactly -- had they called him up he would have been pitching on short rest.

This probably means its a bullpen day..... not sure thats a good thing.

He will play them using a very intricate system. He's going to go alphabetically according to height.

Taylor Blake Ward ‏@TaylorBlakeWard 3m3 minutes ago C.J. Wilson will have surgery to scrape bone spurs, which should be season ending injury; not career ending per medical source #Angels

I may have said something before I should have -- but here is your confirmation. http://m.angels.mlb.com/news/article/140227778/angels-promote-sean-necomb-to-double-a

Its a weak stat no doubt -- but the ERA is what it is...the sample size is the full season and the innings pitched component of the QS has some merit. The Angels rotation is second to the CWS in that department.. But I wouldn't mind if someone called me out on bring up QS, it's a crap stat.. Well, it's a poorly named stat currently. At the same time, most teams would be okay with a number 5 pitcher giving them a guaranteed 6 IP even if he was allowing three runs per game -- the Royals rotation for instance is averaging 5.5 innings per start and a 4.36 ERA. I forget where it is, but someplace is now tracking something called a super quality start or something along those lines that is 7 innings and 2 ER, and I remember Dayn Perry trying to get people on the "dominant start" bandwagon, which as far as I know wasn't being tracked anywhere but in his head and was intended to measure any starts of at least 8 innings and 1 or fewer runs allowed.

Gil Meche did it -- 2011 maybe? He was going to miss the entire season with an injury and instead chose to retire. I know everyone likes to bag on Wilson but he's always been a little different, it wouldn't shock me to see him walk away and leave money on the table if he didn't feel he would be earning it.

I understand the tax number is different than the base payroll and Ill admit Im a bit surprised it got as close as it did -- I figured they were closer to 160 mil than 170, but the luxury tax talk didn't start until after the 2013 season when the team tanked. Until then it was always the same BS about if the right player comes along blah blah blah. Jerry wasn't prohibited from signing people he wanted to -- that's revisionist history, he was pretty vocal about why he wanted the guys he did. Signing two guys who couldn't even throw at the time of their signing was inexcusable. Also the tax numbers aren't just average salary -- it includes players on the 40 man and any and all contributions to the MLB pension plan. Also, sorry if the tone of my initial post seemed more dismissive than it was intended...

Thats partially because the WAR formula for pitchers ignores actual production choosing instead to go with theoretical performance, FIP. So a pitcher that posts a 2.50 ERA has his real peformance/production ignored in favor of what he would have theoretically. In otherwords, Hector Santiago wasn't good this season, he was merely lucky and as such his real performance doesn't count.

It's really pretty interesting the extent people go to in their efforts to recreate history. The Angels payroll in 2013 was under 130 mil -- pretty well below the cap figure. The "stay below the cap" talk started last year and was again an issue this season. He signed those guys because he actually believed they were good moves. He completely threw caution to the wind and signed two RPs who couldn't even throw at the time they signed -- then people acted like it was this massive stroke of bad luck that they missed the entire season. No, it was a giant stroke of stupid. The Hanson situation was another example of disregarding arm trouble and playing a hunch.. That too blew up in his face. JD deserves credit for the things he did right -- he also deserves credit for the things he completely butchered.

CJ Wilson is a trippy dude, he seems pretty happy in his life away from MLB.. He's got outside interests -- it would not be shocking in the least that if injured he just wanted to hang them up.... He could race his cars, sell his Mazdas and do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted.

Seems the name "Teflon Jerry" was way more fitting than people wanted to believe..

I LOLed....

I'd imagine that would mean that Arte isn't the despot some here like to make him out to be.. or that he valued the things Dipoto was doing right and the vision he had for the team enough to give him a mulligan or two. It also means that Teflon Jerry got over quite a bit with the fan base by virtue of being so personable. I had always been told Jerry was more hands on that was being made by people outside of the Angels organization, I wrote it off as conjecture but Chuck's willingness to talk about it now makes the things I had been told much more plausible.

Makes sense they were looking for control -- they understood they don't have the quantity to make up for rental type trades.

Yeah, I don't make that deal either..

If Fulmer was in the system he'd be right there with Newcomb, most would rate him behind Newcomb by virtue of handedness, but he's a legit talent and well ahead of Tropeano. He's easy 95 MPH gas and a wipeout slider -- good control. The guy posted an ERA under 2.00 despite pitching in Birmingham. His predictive stats are even better than the standard stats.

That wouldn't take any nads at all -- the real question is if he's willing to do what everyone knows needs to be done and sends Weaver to the pen. If Shoemaker gets taken out of the rotation there is no way MS or BS or Matt Klentak -- anyone with the Angels, could be taken seriously.

Nothing like a losing streak to bring out the doom and gloom squad. Also -- lol at meh rotation. Angels starters have combined for a 3.60 ERA, third best in the AL, 8th best in MLB, tied for the AL lead in QSs, 5th in MLB. Second best defensive efficiency in MLB -- behind TB and ahead of KC. Yeah the offense is crappy, but the overreaction to the three game sweep is really pretty ridiculous. Pitching and defense still counts, doesn't it? Some of you whine about the team having no heart -- stop projecting.