22 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

If everyone assumes Cano is a good enough hitter to control the bat to hit it where the defense isn't, isn't he just going to do that no matter where the defense is playing?

You know why it's hard to defend Cano? Because he's a very good hitter. That's why he got 240 million bucks. 

All teams shift on Cano because, over studying his last 2,000 ABs or whatever, that's what the data says to do to improve your chances of getting him out. (In the AB between the hits he hit the ball up the middle, exactly where Simmons was standing.)

You are only improving your chances to get him out. Still not going to get him out every time because... he's good. 

There was also a big gap between 5.5 and 2nd base to make it easier to shoot for with Escobar covering 5.5 and Simmons shading towards the right side of 2b.  That combined with a pitcher not implementing his pitches with the shift in mind and it gets exposed very easily by a good hitter.  Maybe Simmons should shade more towards the left of second base if they keep shifting on Cano.

Getting tired of watching Espinosa strike out all the time.  His strikeout average is .393.  37 strikeouts and 15 hits in 94 atbats to go along with his crappy .160 batting avg

3 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

I think we all understand the shift .., unfortunately, Cano has good bat control and has shown he can beat the shift. Tonight should be interesting. 

Yeah because of that and because he isn't a one dimensional power only kind of hitter who pulls everything, they should reconsider shifting on him all the time.

I really want to like Escobar and for the most part I do.  He is a pretty consistent contact hitter which the Angels need to have.  Just seems to be a little slump right now.  He has made some impressive defensive plays this year but then he makes some boneheaded plays and lets the ball play him at 3rd sometimes.  nonononono

The game last night between the O's and Red Sox had a lot of things going on.  Jones getting a standing ovation from Red Sox fans, Machado getting thrown at again,  and a really weird triple play.

I just don't get why they play Cano on a shift when he burns them for it and continue to shift on him.  Should have been game over in the 9th.  Good win though.

Guerra has been pretty awful though. I'd like to see less of him.

Very insightful article with Eddie Bane's thought process.   We potentially could have had Nolan Arenado that year too.

Inside The Draft Room: The 2009 Angels

By Chuck Wasserstrom | April 26, 2017 at 1:51pm CDT

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/04/inside-the-draft-room-the-2009-angels.html

Bailey and Bedrosian cant come back quick enough.  This is ugly

45 minutes ago, Chimi said:

He went with the usual "I didn't know what I was taking response."

Is that excuse still valid?

"Didn't know" as he was injecting Nandrolone.  I don't get how a professional athlete can be that dumb to not know or even to feign ignorance.  I'm sure the MLBPA and even his own team's clubhouse guys inform the players.  Totally ruined the Pirates season.

http://i.imgur.com/WTTMCuu.gifv

http://i.imgur.com/99dgkTs.gifv

I don't think he signs with us.  Pujols is blocking the DH.  If Otani can play a decent LF when not pitching then maybe.

Lets make contact today!

New guys 0 for 12 yesterday

We could change it to another buttercup song

The stairwell fightscene in Daredevil season 2 was awesome.  Season 1 is admittedly better outside of that fight scene.

The time machine worked and Angel greats of the past were plucked into the phone booth with a few extra Mike Trouts.

Finished Iron Fist, it kind of leaves a lot to be desired towards the end.  Started season 2 of Fargo, I love the quirkiness.

Yeah I never gave the idea much thought but a California national anthem would be interesting.

I know of a guy

Interesting hypothetical read

"The concept of California seceding from the United States is not new. A lot of people have predicted it, but they meant via a cataclysm, namely the state sliding into the Pacific Ocean after an earthquake of biblical proportions.

This time around, the secession movement is political. As is the case with most of the ideas posited by politicos and policy wonks, one has to ask: have you really thought this through?

When Californians go to the polls in November 2018, they will be asked to authorize a referendum for the following spring as to whether their state should secede from the U.S. The secession movement is popularly known as Calexit. Given the numerous issues that an independence movement entails, California voters will have a lot of things to consider. Will baseball be one of them?"

http://www.hardballtimes.com/california-republic-dreaming/

I read something after I posted this about how the A's are supposed to announce a new stadium site soon.   It is actually supposed to happen this time.  Probably at the port like Rico mentioned or at the coliseum site.  

...or whatever it is called now.  With the Raiders officially moving to Vegas by 2020 and the A's having a hard time getting a new stadium, maybe they can restore theirs to its original glory