GrittyVeterans

Meyer was impressive down the stretch last year throwing easy upper 90s. It'd be a shame to see Jesse Chavez/Ricky Nolasco get the 5th spot instead of a guy with potential IMO

Arte will now troll us all and go the next 5 years without signing a free agent

The problem is that leaves us with no room to address the pitching which is the teams biggest issue. We need at least 2 more solid relievers and one more solid starter to have any chance of competing next year

The team needs pitching and a 2nd baseman. The problem is they need a ton of pitching. Bullpen and SP

I'm not going to judge him until he gets a full Spring training and full season in So next year hopefully

This mess is almost completely on Arte Moreno but Scioscia does need to go. It's just time for a change, the ballclub isn't successful anymore

Isn't this his first year as a manager? what a dumbass argument

eppler is in over his head. It's funny that the one GM we had that actually had a plan to improve the ballclub was run out of town by Mike Scioscia. Say what you want about Dipoto but he wasn't losing deals like Reagins and now Eppler have made routine

Just an awful trade, especially in the market the Angels were selling in. I mean we couldn't even get one young player with some upside for a #4 starter? In this market? I don't buy it.

Arte's problem is that he's all about the money and his ego. He has no interest in taking the necessary steps to rebuilding the organization. He has proven this year after year for going on 6 years now

No one offered a failed former top prospect up to Arte's standards,,

It's really not even worth getting worked up over anymore. Scioscia is a bad manager at this point, Arte is a bad owner, Pujols is a bad player, etc. I said this before the season but I still think it's true: This is finally the season where everything is blowing up in Arte's face. The lack of minor league depth/foreign spending is glaring, Ridiculous amount of money invested in basically no production from Wilson/Hamilton/Pujols, attendence is going to plummet, etc. They've been able to piece their way to respectable results the last few years (largely due to Trout but still) and that was fine while it lasted. But we're now in a position where we'd be a 105 loss team without Trout instead of a 90 loss team without him. Bottom line, it's a pretty ugly situation. They're going to need a couple really strong drafts, some good FA signings/trades, and they're going to need to hit big time on an international player at some point to turn this thing around while Trout is still under contract. They also need to get rid of Scioscia sometime in the next 2-3 years. It's time. I'm going to enjoy watching Trout, Calhoun, (and Heaney and Richards if they come back). But the rest of the team is old, boring, and not productive

The problem with Pujols is mostly his ego. His skills have declined but if he'd stop trying to be what he used to be he still has the talent to be a contributing member of the team. But he doesn't understand that concept so he'll keep pulling pitches on the outside corner and trying to leg out doubles. If Scioscia had any balls he'd bench him a game every time he gets thrown out by a mile making a dumbass decision on the bases. You have to at least TRY to get him to change

Trout truly is outstanding. Harper's best offensive season might be better than Trout's but Harper hasn't shown anything close to the consistency Trout has. I find it remarkable that Trout's worst year in the league was an MVP year. He's basically a shoe in for 9 WAR every single year He's on track to be a top 10 MLB player of all time

I'm not very familiar with the international rules when it comes to signing players so forgive me here. My question is how much longer are we going to be screwed over by the (disastrous) Baldoquin signing? Is it just this coming signing period that we can't sign anyone or do we still have another two years to go? I know the Dodgers don't give a shit about the luxury tax and have been signing players left and right despite being like a hundred million dollars over, but with Arte I doubt he wants to go over the lux tax for unproven commodities (which is a whole other discussion that is probably for a different thread) Thanks in advance

Pack it in and build for the future. I'd rather trade Santiago for prospects than for a no glove mid-20s platoon hitter. We need to stop thinking this team can compete this year or next and try to build a contender for Trout's last 2-3 seasons under contract. They don't have enough depth to compete these next two years, as much as it sucks to say that it's true

I completely agree. I personally think people are insane if they think the guy is going to give back 100+ million dollars that both parties agreed to. I could maybe see him taking year 10 off, but certainly not 3-4 years like some are suggesting. I don't blame him at all. I can honestly say that even if I had all the money Pujols has, I'd play out the rest of the contract too and set my great great great great grandchildren up for life. A lot of the blame that Pujols is going to get for playing out his contract should be directed at no one but Arte. And this is coming from someone who hasn't had a positive thing to say about Pujols since he started playing for the Halos

Pujols will milk every penny of that contract. Blame Arte for agreeing to it

The Giants are getting some pretty unbelievable pitching from Bumgarner/Cueto/Samardijza this year. I could see a Cubs/Giants NLCS

He sucks. This is what happens when you can't produce a lot of homegrown talent in terms of position players though. You end up with Cron getting 550 at bats. They blew their international wad on Baldoquin (a crucial mistake), so any homegrown players that are going to be added must come from the draft this year. Given how bad their farm is, this is a massive draft for Eppler and his scouts Having said all this, I wouldn't mind Cowart being called up and Escobar getting some reps at DH if Pujols can play first

I loved Chick too but I think Vin's ability to call games by himself and manage to not have any moments of awkward silence or forced talking just to say something gives him an edge. He's the only announcer I've ever seen with that kind of ability. Most play-by-play guys would be a disaster without a color guy to analyze stuff and talk to during the game

Oh, I definitely agree. IMO that was the best series of Angels baseball all year. Trout killing the ball, solid pitching, timely hits by Giavotella/Pujols,etc = winning recipe for this team

Escobar has been real good for us offensively. He's a good table setter that we lacked last year. Calhoun and Trout are obviously positives. If Pujols can be last year Pujols our offense might be passable. Ideally we get Richards/Heaney back healthy (Not holding my breath) by July/August and can go with a Heaney, Richards, Santiago, Lincecum, tropeano rotation with Skaggs and Chacin moved to the pen for the last couple months That would help the depth a lot!

Yup. The guy is garbage against sliders down and away and fastballs inside. Pitching him fastballs that he can punch to right field is just stupid, considering it's the only pitch he has much success against

Scully is the best announcer in sports history Love it when he compares Kershaw to Koufax and Trout to Mantle!