Inside Pitch

I like Maddon and consider him a good manager but he came into a very good situation. Conversely -- he knew when to leave. The Rays have graduated the fewest players originally drafted by the team to MLB since 2007.

You mean the 2002 Angels that were second in the AL going 1st to 3rd, third in stolen bases, and ranked 11th in HRs... That 2002 team or some other bizzaro-land Angels team I never watched play? Here I thought they were the Angels team that started a massive inning against the Yankees with two bunts... Tell me -- what team did you watch play? BTW, you're kind of making my point for me.... A team doesn't need to be super fast to force the other team to make plays, but they do need to be able to reach base... Brad Fullmer and Troy Glaus weren't fast -- but they both stole 10 bases that year. The 2002 team actually got men on base and when they did -- they moved the runners opening up holes in the hitters lanes..

I really hope they move him up to the Midwest League at some point this year. Im guessing he's taking advantage of less experienced competition, but at the same time it IS nice to see him have a clue.

I read the poll to be who would Arte keep? Not who do I like more....

Preach it dude.... They all need to put on their big boy pants and move forward.

I understood the point you were trying to make, I also feel you're choosing to ignore the reality that there is nothing exciting about station to station baseball or waiting for a HR.... But since you mentioned it -- have you looked at the Astros? They are young, they can play defense -- they are tied with the Angels for second in the AL in extra bases taken... behind the Royals.... You say the Royals can play that style because they are young and fast .... because they hit for a high average and don't strike out??? right? Well, the Astros are younger and judging by their SB totals -- faster.... but guess what -- their team batting average is lower than ours and lookie there, they lead all of MLB in strikeouts.. THE style isn't the issue... The Angels execution or ability on the otherhand IS. BTW, historically speaking -- teams started running more when averages and power dropped.... You have it backwards. The Angels aren't fast, and they shouldn't be trying to steal bases -- but they should still be trying to force the action and take the fight to the other team, but they may want to consider getting a non idiot to coach 3B given the knuckleheads on the team.

People will just tell you they make too many outs on the bases.... while at the same time ignoring that the only team with a better extra base taken percentage in the AL are the KC Royals... Take out all the Disar induced outs and the Angels might even be below the league average for outs on the bases. Edit: FTR, I do agree that productive outs for the sake of productive outs is lame... So if someone is arguing against that -- I'd agree with them. A team should avoid making outs...

You know what I find stale and boring? Our CURRENT playstyle -- station to station baseball, waiting for someone to hit a HR. Running, small ball, defense, pitching.... those were things we used to do really well and the Royals employed on their way to the WS.

I'm really starting to hate the shitty catcher. He went 1 for 2 today, with three walks.

Wasn't that contract and the buyout guaranteed paid by the Pirates when they took him off the 40 man roster last year? Not sure people would really want to see Tabata in Anaheim.. He's an exteme ground ball hitter and he's no longer fast -- but if he can be plucked off the discard pile for next to nothing he's worth at least looking at.

Seems Featherston can handle the Sogard issue without the team making a trade we will regret.

My statement was the Rangers offense has been marginally better than the Angels offense which most everyone here agrees has been bad, and that outside of May when they had 4 guys getting regular at bats post BABIPs over .360 they haven't been very good at scoring runs. Run scored April - 75 runs, second to last in AL May - 158 runs, first in the AL June - 91 run, ninth in the AL BABIP April - .249, last in the AL May - .319, first in the AL June - .311, 5th in the AL The four guys who posted BABIPs over .360 in May scored 71 of the 158 runs. When four guys combine to post an OBP near .400 for a month, amazingly a team scores runs. Shocking, I know.

No, he was actually pitching really well. But he was definitely off his game yesterday -- it was pretty obvious from the first inning on. And yeah AJ Hinch was very critical of him.

Dude.. Get a grip. "Basically" the Rangers are smoke and mirrors and not much else. People have been talking up the Rangers offense -- but their team OPS+ is 96, the Angels is 95. Look at wRC+ and the Angels are ahead, 95 to 92 -- you can thank a hot May and unsustainable Babip that month for your runs scored being where they are. They have had three SPs outperforming their periphs all year long and have no bullpen to speak of beyond Tolleson and maybe Kela who has been getting lit up left and right every time I tune into a Ranger game the last couple of weeks.. At least the defense got fixed. Also ... what's the Rangers record .vs the AL West again? You should definitely be happy Holland and Harrison may come back -- ditto Perez, but two of those guys haven't pitched significant innings since 2012... the third has started all of 28 games in his career -- they are talented question marks. To date your "good" season has been equal to the Angels "bad" season. Ranger fans have nothing to crow about.

The trade market is only now materializing, people dismissing a guy like Wilson's value are possibly going off half cocked -- perceived value and value to a team that thinks it's got a shot are two different things. If Darwin Barney and his 66 OPS+ last year can net a team a prospect then anything is possible. I think we are a couple of weeks away from the Angels deciding which way they will go but I'd be okay being a seller at the deadline if it means getting something for nothing.

I actually watched that game, he had been missing pretty bad all game long --so much so that the Houston TV guys were wondering if something was wrong with him. But he was up a lot and all over the place. I think the ump was a little quick to act but he was definitely completely bent on the mound.

I am tentative about NL players as a whole. They are a franchise were a heavy dose of statistical analysis needs to be done when evaluating the performance end of their minor leaguers -- not unlike the Angels system, they have a massive discrepancy in how they High A and AAA parks play. Pretty wild park effect data. McMahon looks solid, but his numbers this year are inflated by a babip 100 points above the league average. The flip side is his power numbers are being suppressed by a home park with a HR index of 65.

The shitty catcher went 3-4 today. Up to .448.

More diagnostics.....

His glove... But paying for a glove is a bad idea. Thats how the Rangers ended up paying 120 mil to a SS that can't hit.

That's where he's been for the entire season since his second start.. He used to sit 89-91, he's upped that to 91-93. Dude touches 94 once every 2 or 3 innings. Now either the gun is off or he's really working at that velocity. And if the gun is off then guys like Gott aren't throwing 97-98.. because guns tend to be off for everyone. Smith caught my eye very early on because of how well he sets his legs, while I wasn't expecting any real increase in velocity I figured he would be a guy that would retain his velocity really well... But the way he drives through his legs has bumped him up a little. Credit to the Angels for really getting the most out of a guy with really sound bottom half mechanics.

Amaro Jr has basically been a puppet for Gillick.... he's been running the show behind the scenes, Now that he's stepped aside he's either going to get booted or be McPhail's puppet.

Yes, and he was an awful manager in every aspect of the game.

My thing with Salas is I've never been able to figure out why he was good when he was good because I didn't really see any difference in his stuff when he was bad. It's like he just throws and whatever happens, happens. With Jeppy, you could see what he was doing when he was right, and what he was doing when he was wrong. Ditto Bedrosian.. With Salas... No effing clue.