DCAngelsFan

32 minutes ago, eligrba said:

I think Langston mentioned that the Pirates pitching coaches emphasizes fastballs.  The Pirate coaches have Stratton throwing more fastballs while the Angels had him throwing more breaking balls.

I am rapidly losing faith in the Angels pitching staff......

He definitely threw fewer fastballs with us - but he threw more with SF, and wasn't very good there, either.  His biggest problem with us was his command is terrible.  

Also, we used him as a "starter", PIT uses him as a reliever.  

His command is definitely better of late - whether that's "on us" or "on him", I can't say.  But someone struggling with their command should probably be throwing more fastballs, or so it seems to me.

Sort of related:

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Since Shohei Ohtani’s fly ball rate is well below his mark last year, I wonder if his recovery from TJ surgery had hampered his ability to lift the ball. If so, does the last 30 day rebound mean he’s now back to 100%? Either way, I don’t understand how a player could be this good at baseball.

https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/hitter-last-30-day-fly-ball-rate-surgers/

 hmm, one thing to look for in Paris is things like the late hours at the Louvre - Wednesday and Friday is open late, ('til 9:45) -  less crowded that way.  And it's really nice to walk in the plaza after dark.  

If you're into art, I prefer the d'Orsay to the Louvre - less crowded.  

Don't know the status of Notre Dame but St Chapelle is nice and fairly uncrowded (it's the stained glass cathedral - will paste a photo.)   in The City, not far from Notre Dame.  

I'd suggest going to Versailles on a night fountains or musical fountains day - I mean, yeah, it's touristy - but it's really pretty.  Try to get there at opening and miss the worst of the Chinese tour groups (who may or may not trample you.)

Sacre Couer is also nice - a pretty view of the city, and don't forget to go into the little area behind the cathedral where artists work and there are shops and cafes and such, get a crepe, whatevers.   

Be sure to walk around a lot - the bridges, the Tuilleries, the 6th and 7th.  If you're into food, visit le grande' epicerie at bon marche' - it's amazing.   Oh, and maybe make a reservation at Angelina Rivoli - https://angelina-paris.fr/en/226-rue-de-rivoli for lunch/tea/pastries and absolutely some hot chocolate after visiting the d'orsay.  Oh, and maybe http://www.berthillon.fr/salon-de-the/ for tea and ice cream after visiting St. Chapelle 

In London, the British Museum is a must, the Imperial War museum, if you're into that kind of the thing, Covent Garden has a lot of little restaurants , and hmm, maybe if something's happening at the Globe. 

Just a couple of pics - versailles and St Chapelle

Probably everyone knows this - but there's no longer anything special about "#10" - every signing team's highest pick is protected now.

In our case, if we sign Cole, we'd (most likely) lose our 2nd pick and $500k in international bonus pool money.

8 hours ago, TroutField said:

F*ck I knew it was bad but I didn’t realize it was that bad... my god that is pathetic. 

I think it's partly due to losing comp picks - after the middle of the first round, "hit rates" decline quickly.  In '12 and '13, didn't have 1st round picks.  

And of course, it takes time - can't really expect much yet from a high schooler drafted in, say, 2017.

But 2010 was a disastrous draft - we had 6 picks in the top 100 - and our best result?  We got Cam and Kaleb.  It was a pretty weak draft overall - but still - we could've drafted Yelich, Snydergaard, Aaron Sanchez, Andrelton Simmons, and Nick Castellanos.  Think that might've changed our fortunes?  

What we should have been doing - rather than handing out money to GMJ, Wells, and Hamilton - that money should've been plowed into making our scouting and development programs (both domestic and international) the best in baseball.  

Hard to tell from the outside what the investment truly is - but from this distance, feels like those were shoestring operations, at least in those days.  

21 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Pitching is the name of the game.    Halos have had very little success with starting pitching going back 5 years.   It's no coincidence that they have the cumulative record that they have.    Look at the post-season MLB teams each season, how many have had very mediocre starting pitching generally?   

Since 2010, the only pitchers we've drafted with a career bWAR of > 1.00:

A.J Schugel - 1.2 (PIT)
Mike Clevinger - 10.3 (CLE) (traded for Vinnie Pestano)
Kenyan Middleton - 1.4 
Sean Newcomb - 3.4 - traded for Simmons

End of list.

What makes that worse -- in that same period of time, our position player picks over bWAR of 1.0 have been:

CJ Cron (5.9)
Kole Calhoun (15.5)
 David Fletcher (4.3)
End of list.  

Our drafting was terrible - we lacked trade currency to trade for high-end pitchers, and we couldn't draft them, either.  And we dropped out of the international market.  

If we're to ever compete in Mike Trout's career span, we need to add quality starting pitching and fast.  Cole plus one of Wheeler, Hamels, Ryu - would do the trick.  Add in a foreign player, like Senga from the NPB, and we're there.  

But against that backdrop, we really, really, really need to be better at drafting.  So far, Eppler looks "better" - but better than "crap" doesn't mean much.

At first I thought this about our season being wished into a cornfield ...

Look for other possible ways to upgrade our pitching, took a look at the NPB - don't see much, but maybe Eppler's NPB relationship can get the Hawks to relent: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/01/30/baseball/japanese-baseball/pitcher-kodai-senga-says-hawks-refuse-budge-posting/#.XUxgS-hKhPY

No Cole, by any stretch - but wants to play here, and has the stuff - up to 96 mph fastball, and a nasty forkball - to be a mid-to-back-end starter or more likely, a closer?  

The other NPB pitching prospect doesn't sound like he's coming:  https://calltothepen.com/2019/07/06/takahiro-norimoto-may-not-come-majors/

Great stuff, but undersized, and predictably, injured and coming off elbow surgery, I'm sure teams would be pretty skeptical ...

We have such an overwhelming need for pitching - having to put all of our eggs on signing a Boras client definitely stings ...

1 hour ago, floplag said:

That we have our work cut out for us more than some think. 

It's not clear to me whether these rankings include promoted players like Thaiss and Canning - if a healthier organization, they'd still be in the minors.

Whatever, I think we all knew what a wasteland our minor league system was post-DiPoto - it was barren.  

To remind you what Eppler walked into:  https://www.minorleagueball.com/2016/4/2/11333890/minor-league-baseball-farm-system-rankings-for-2016

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UGHHHH: The Angels get a special category of badness all their own.

30) Los Angeles Angels: The best Angels prospect, catcher Taylor Ward, wouldn’t be a top ten guy in most systems. Trades gutted an already very weak system and this is now a complete from-the-ground-up rebuild project. There’s no way to spin it: this may be the worst system in recent memory. Overview, click at your own risk. 2015 Rank: 28^th

And probably the only way to get to, say, top 5 is to become really, really bad to gain top draft position, and to trade off every tradeable asset we have - including the unthinkable - trading Trout for a whole basket of top-end prospects. 

Then, after a couple of years, we'd have a AAA-class major league team, but with a top-tier farm system with a solid future - and also, no fans.  

Anyway, to the point, I doubt any but the most Pollyanna-ish fans don't see the talent deficit we face, especially in starting pitching, and the difficulty we face in filling it.  Some part of me thinks we should get a comp pick for Skaggs.  

25 minutes ago, Stradling said:

There’s a group of 5 or so truly negative people on here.  Maybe that number is closer to 10, but yea, they are awfully negative and seem to love our failures.  

There's a certain type of person who'll moan about how Trout is overpaid and in decline and is a boat anchor on the team - and someday, they'll be "right" and can gloat about how they "called it."

That's really committing to a narrative but just wait ...

I'm just glad running a baseball team isn't a democracy - can you imagine the team we'd have if the decisions were left to *us*??  

Sort of the baseball equivalent of this:

49 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

The Hamilton signing was one of the biggest blunders in MLB this decade.    Dude was declining already (so-so 2nd half), and GAVE UP on a ball that went behind him IN A WINNER TAKES A POST-SEASON SPOT game in 2012.   That is as bad as it gets.   And Arte/Dumbpoto STILL gave him $125 million????????? 

On the list of biggest blunders, the Angels are on that list far too often:

• Trading Napoli and Rivera for Vernon Wells - everyone but our front office knew Wells' numbers were a mirage, a product of home field - in the months before he was traded, someone wrote a column about how the Jays wanted desperately to get rid of him, but called him untradeable - the contract far too toxic for anyone else to take on.  The author didn't count on the stupidity of the Angels, however.  I forget the number, but I think I calc'd the Jays needed to send us like $42m to make that a fair trade.
• 5/$50m for GMJ - always thought that signing was made based on one ESPN highlight play - absurd.
• CJ Wilson 
• Pujols (I know, I know - whatever you say about marketing value, there's no chance he was ever worth it on the field)
• Hamilton, of course - thought for sure we were talking to him only to drive the price up for Texas or Seattle, surely we weren't that stupid?   Yes, we were.   
• Baldoquin, and all the mistakes that surrounded that - being in the penalty and unable to sign Vlad Jr only part of the problem.
• Poor drafting - We had more 2010 drafts (where we had 5 high picks, with only Bedrosian to show for it, leaving Yelich, Snydergaard, Andrelton Simmons,  Aaron Sanchez, and Realmuto for others to draft) than the singular 2009 draft.    Starting pitching is a function of drafting - top tier pitchers rarely hit free agency.  But losing 1st round comp picks, picking poorly, and never really being bad enough to draft in the top 5 like Houston hasn't helped us fill out a good rotation for a long, long time.  
• The complete withdrawal from the international market for a number of years, and all-but ignoring the Cubans FA's and NPB postings (other than Morales.)   
• Hints and rumors that the minor league / scouting / development operations were on a shoestring for years, even before DiPoto - who seemed to similarly neglect it - maybe b/c Arte needed to keep making a profit, so investors could get paid.  

The team has been hamstrung, repeatedly, by bad FA signings - no sooner would one expire than we'd run out and sign another.

And a lot of bad luck (Adenhardt, Morales, now Skaggs)

The problem isn't Arte.  And yet, it is - like many teams that did poorly because their owners can't resist meddling ... 

There are 30 teams in baseball all competing for the same thing - you can't afford that many mistakes or misses - you can't afford to be outspent, outthought, out-hustled - mediocrity is easy - being the best is really hard.  

I notice that Trout's homerun was 454 foot,  with a 111 mph exit velocity.  Same as the 7/12 game.

Someone else probably already said that - but if not, th ought it was a small but cool coincidence to note.  

The first 5 guys that come out the door:

10 hours ago, m0nkey said:

There are like 7 different Marisnick threads but this article will go over well on an Angels message board 

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/astros-jake-marisnick-doesnt-play-villain-role-well-because-he-isnt-the-bad-guy-045553020.html

Author should probably look up the actual meaning of "undeniably", as in "undeniably an accident."

Dead horses and all - never thought he was a bad guy, he immediately regretted it, and he's been a gentlemen at every turn - but that last-second deviation in his path, the fact he launched himself *at* the catcher, not the plate, that he didn't "slide" as he claimed - he violated every part of the rule designed to prevent this incidents - so "accident" is very much "deniable."  Calling it an accident absolves him of all of the above - all the things he did wrong that led up to the collision.  

Much like an angry drunk getting behind the wheel and killing several youngsters when he ran a red light and t-boned their car - that wasn't an "accident" either.

Get one of these:  https://www.craigslist.org/about/best/ric/6881185958.html

It turned out to be a hoax, but was pretty funny.

The maine coon is a beautiful breed, as is the Siberian.  Kind of want a Savannah myself, to terrorize the dogs in the neighborhood who poop on the grass ...

33 minutes ago, Calzone 2 said:

Marisnick got suspended by the league and served his suspension. It should’ve ended there. Don’t be surprised or lose your sh*t if someone like Ohtani gets one on the ear flap tonight. It’s bush league and it shouldn’t be happening. 

Taking a fastball in the earflap is a potentially career-ending - or life-ending escalation.

Don't lose your sh*t if someone literally breaks Coles arm if he does this. 

 Was never for retaliating - but if Cole deliberately hits a player in the head with a 95+ mph fastball, his career should be over.  

8 hours ago, disarcina said:

hopefully MORE

old school ways for a young pitcher -- good stuff,.

but I wonder if today's players have the appreciation for that style of play like the players from 'back in the day" did.

ALSO - got to mention - was kinda impressed with Houston's Marinsiak (spelled wrong) tonight, He helped defuse the situation/ calm down his team mates.

I liked the way he sort of stepped up by his response in effect saying, 'hey boys, this is how it's done ....I take responsibility for what I did and here's the expected response from the Angels - OK - let's move on and play ball....."

Impressed with Marinsiak from the incident + 1 second.  I faulted him hard for the collision - and still do - but he's been class ever since.   

If nothing else occurs, I think it's time the fans cut him a break - he took his payback like a man - (and it was definitely scary-high - which is why I dislike those paybacks) - hat tip to him for his behavior since.  

If we're honest with ourselves, we know what's bringing all of these "refugees" north - they know they can make more money in the US, often to send home to their families.  And they know if they claim asylum, they'll eventually be released into the country, legally - with no need to duck ICE all the time, at least until they miss their hearings.  (THey know this because Americans are down in Central America telling them this - there are people deliberately encouraging this migration.)  They're also told that if they bring a kid - *any* kid - with them, it's even easier.  

So, the simple way to turn off that "refugee" spigot is to make the policy you must apply at a consulate in the first country you cross into.  If you fail to do so, if you enter the country illegally, you are ineligible for an asylum claim for 5 years.  If you present yourself at a Port of Entry, you can make a claim, but must wait outside the country until your hearing.  And we should hold such hearings in embassies or consulates in those countries - not here.  And we need to staff up so those hearings can be held and determinations made in days or weeks, not months or years.  

Stemming the "economic refugee" flow won't solve the problem - they'll just revert to more illegal border crossings.  There needs to be a security fence, and immediate deportations after capturing biometrics - so repeat offenders can be detected and charged.   The detention facilities need to be all-but-closed.  By expeditiously deporting those who enter the country illegally.  

And there needs to be enhanced punishments for those that exploit undocumenteds - charge employers that pay illegal workers $5 an hour with human trafficking violations - let those employers face actual prison time and fines that'll put them out of business.  Enforce it, hard.  Heck, offer work permits and cash to undocumenteds who provide information that result in the arrest and conviction of employers that knowingly exploit workers.  The hypocrisy of those that talk about "compassion" for undocumented are often so eager to benefit from their cheap labor is nauseating.    

The list of fixes goes on and on - the magnitude of the problem is overwhelming - the elementary school across the street from me is filled to the brim - 75% are ESL, many of them here as UAC's (many undocumented make pretty good livings, paid to look after UAC's.)  We spend over $100m a year in my county just building new school buildings, much of that attributable to the influx of undocumenteds and their children.  Then, of course, you have to *staff* all of those schools - we spend over $1B a year on schools in my county, now - that's staggering.  

It's an astonishing dereliction of the Congress that they're happy with the status quo.  For all the hand-wringing and pearl-clutching, they really don't seem to want to do *anything*.  

We can't import every economic refugee on the planet - a billion will come.  If we need more workers, raise the quotas, vet them, let them come here legally, with legal rights and protections against exploitation.  

Which for many, defeats the purpose.  They *like* their cheap, exploitable labor.  It's disgusting. 

4 hours ago, John Taylor said:

If only his parents knew how the spell Kevin.....

His last name isn't actually "Smith", his parents couldn't spell his real last name ....

"Jones"

The basis of the question seems unlikely - there probably aren't really any trades we can make that would do both of:

a)  Make us significantly less competitive this year, (meaning we trade a significant piece from the current roster), and 

b)  make us significantly *more* competitive next year and beyond.

But if there were such a trade available to us - I'd be reluctant to trade someone like Calhoun today, b/c we're still too close to losing Skaggs - I feel like it'd make the club look pretty heartless to trade someone right now.  I don't know what it's worth - but I'd rather potential FA's look at the Angels and think "That's a tight-knit organization that cares about their players" rather than "That's a cold-hearted bunch".  But a couple of weeks from now?  

Today, and every day, I'd expect Eppler to be working to find ways to improve the team - and I'd rather it be with a goal of long-term improvement rather than gearing up for a very unlikely stretch run that leaves us weaker next year.  

Cant' read the article - but I think the place this approach and tools may make the most impact is to start it in Rookie ball, and to consistently apply it through the player's development.  

I'd think a high school kid is far more teachable than some 30-year-old pitcher who made the majors doing what he's doing - old dogs and all that.  More time to train them, and more time to enjoy any improvement - they have thousands of pitches left in their arm - some of our pitchers look like they have "dozens."  

And hat's the point of spending money to fix Matt Harvey if the results won't happen until next year?  

(you know he'll  win the Cy Young pitching for Oakland next year on a league-minimum contract.)

Seems obvious - but if on the first pitch, it goes to the backstop, and the runner tries for first but is thrown out.  They're "out", right?  I mean, they don't get to go back to a 1-0 count?  

The author asks a reasonable question - who asked for this?  

4 minutes ago, Jay said:

We can hope his arm is sound enough to pitch but IMO we can't count on that.

They should build the rotation assuming Ohtani won't be in it. Then if we have him it will be a bonus.

 

Curious why you think his arm isn't (or won't be) sound enough to pitch next year?  

At any given time, 1/4 to 1/3 of pitchers in the league have had TJ.  

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gQujXQQGOVNaiuwSN680Hq-FDVsCwvN-3AazykOBON0/edit#gid=1109879914

24 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

Except you don’t put your hands and arms out in front of you if you’re intentionally trying to spear or hurt somebody. 

And what kind of "slide" is it when you launch yourself headfirst through the air, and lower/drive your shoulder into the player?  

Here's the commentary on the rule:

 

 

 

2

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Rule 6.01(i)(1) Comment: The failure by the runner to make an effort to touch the plate, the runner's lowering of the shoulder, or the runner's pushing through with his hands, elbows or arms, would support a determination that the runner deviated from the pathway in order to initiate contact with the catcher in violation of Rule 6.01(i), or otherwise initiated a collision that could have been avoided. A slide shall be deemed appropriate, in the case of a feet first slide, if the runner's buttocks and legs should hit the ground before contact with the catcher. In the case of a head first slide, a runner shall be deemed to have slid appropriately if his body should hit the ground before contact with the catcher. If a catcher blocks the pathway of the runner, the umpire shall not find that the runner initiated an avoidable collision in violation of this Rule 6.01(i)(1).

 

Marisnick violated every part of the rule, both letter and spirit of it. 

Whether he "meant" to hurt Lucroy is between him and his maker - I doubt he did - it was a split-second decision. 

But I don't think anyone really thinks he was deliberately with malice-aforethought trying to injure Lucroy - but. at best, he did form an intent to knock Lucroy down, to prevent Lucroy from catching the ball and tagging him out, not to "hurt" him.  To knock the ball loose, he changed his path, away from the straight line to the plate he was on, and directly towards Lucroy.  He *meant* to hit Lucroy when he didn't have to, and he did so in a reckless way that injured Lucroy,  one explicitly outlawed in baseball because it's dangerous.    

In legal terms, if he'd killed Lucroy, it would be "Voluntary Manslaughter" rather than "Premeditated Murder."    

The only issue now isn't "guilt" - he obviously broke the rule and flagrantly - the only question now is his punishment.  

1 hour ago, red321 said:

check floor and decor...and look at lvp (luxury vinyl plank).

We did my office in it...looks like wood flooring but waterproof, can get beat to hell, and was straightforward to install (and cheap compared to wood flooring options). Buddy of mine who installs tile says everyone is installing this stuff now.

 

 

Ah, thought "carpet" was the choice - agreed, LVP has come a long way, it's straightforward, looks pretty good, and as you say, easy install, waterproof and kinda indestructible.  Much better than engineered floors, imo (which have high installation costs and not much of a wear layer.)