Hubs

Trumbo fills a need for the Rays. He won't be terribly expensive in years 4-5 and could be a huge asset for them to trade in year 6. Say they get Kendrick in the deal as well. They scored only 700 runs (less than the Angels) and allowed 646 runs but still managed to win 91 games. Their lineup for Monday nights game was: Jennings CF Myers RF Zobrist 2B Longoria 3B D. Young DH S. Rodriguez LF James Loney 1B Y. Escobar SS J. Molina C Trumbo and Kendrick would both start for that team. Maybe Trumbo doesn't start at 1st, but he'd be the DH or LF. And Kendrick probably just moves Zobrist to the OF. Next seasons Rays have a lot of work to do. They have David Price as a 2nd year Arbitration case at $14M likely per year. Longoria makes $7.5. Zobrist has a $7M option with a 2.5 M buyout. Escobar has a $5M Option, which could be exercised, or they could let him leave. Ryan Roberts has been hurt all year, which could help their depth. Yet he is arbitration eligible. Could male as much as 4.5M Matt Joyce also could be a 4.5M player. Why? Jeremy Helickson will get a huge raise. Delmon Young is a FA. Loney is a FA. So is Molina, Rodney, and the player formally known as Fausto Carmona (now Roberto Hernandez). They need to bring in some experience. In their farm system, they have Odorrozi who could be involved in their rotation next year, they have Hak Ju Lee who could be back and is certainly ready for the majors and former #1 pick Tim Beckham. I don't think Trumbo brings back a cost controlled pitcher like Jeremy Hellickson, but they could move David Price, and with two years left, he'd bring at least what they got back in the Shields trade. Which means it's not gonna be just Trumbo and Kendrick, but also likely Girchuck, and Taylor Lindsey as well. Now is this worth it? I'm not sure. The Salary is a wash with Trumbo and Kendrick, but Price could be a target.

No one is going to know the numbers like the Angels do and I doubt they'll look at just his second half splits. There have been 12 players to hit 90 HR or more in the last 3 seasons combined. 20 Have hit 80. Miguel Cabrera 118 Adrian Beltre 98 Jose Bautista 98 Jay Bruce 96 Edwin Encarnacion 95 Mark Trumbo 95 Giancarlo Stanton 95 Price Fielder 93 Alfonso Soriano 92 Chris Davis 91 Curtis Granderson 91 Adam Jones 90 Josh Hamilton 89 Robinson Cano 88 Adam Dunn 86 Albert Pujols 84 Ryan Braun 83 David Ortiz 82 Mark Reynolds 81 Nelson Cruz 80 Of the above, Granderson and Pujols has missed half a season with Injury. Cruz and Braun both had suspensions for steroids that caused them to miss time. Other than that this is the group of elite power hitters in MLB. Other players that missed time so they didn't get to 80? Longoria, Kemp, Texieira. Trout and Goldschmidt played most of their 2011 seasons in the minors, but got 5 and 8 HR in the majors respectively. I suppose Alvarez fits in with those last two, but still... That's 25 (or 26) players. The top power hitters in MLB. And of those 25 players, Players who will be in their first year of arbitration or last year of club control in 2014? Jay Bruce, Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt (signed an extension).

They're both going to get one more year, in Sciosica's case he had $6M in Salary for 2016, 2017, and 2018. He has five more years of guaranteed salary. He's going to stay, or perhaps transition into a front office role after next year, if DiPoto gets canned after 2014. DiPoto is under contract through 2014. He gets one more shot. While the team has won 89 and then only 78 games in his two seasons as GM, his decisions have been mixed. Firing Mickey Hatcher was the right call and that's now been over a year and a half ago. IF Moreno wanted Pujols and Hamilton, he gets a pass on that. Wells wasn't DiPoto's fault or decision. Getting The Yankees to pick up some of the contract was a good call. DiPoto made good moves in 2011-12 offseason by getting CJ Wilson & Chris Iannetta. Morales for Vargas was good value. The Greinke trade was short sighted, as the team needed a starter, but perhaps didn't have to give up the last two legit pitching prospects in the majors along with a good candidate for infield in Segura for two months. If the rules had not changed and the Angels were able to get a first round pick in compensation for Greinke leaving, that would've been great. Blanton was a horrible decision. Santana should've been kept and approached about a 3 year deal. He'd have likely taken it. They are similar pitchers except Santana has better stuff. Neither had a good year in 2012. Hanson was a risk, but you have to make those sometimes. Green for Callaspo was a good trade. Frieri for Amezaga was a good trade. Now he needs to make another good trade in the offseason. The Starting Pitching depth may need to be improved, but honestly, the offense needs help too. Grant Green hit .280. Calhoun hit .282. Shuck hit .293. Kendrick hit .297. And of course Trout hit .323. The next highest regulars are Aybar at .271 Pujols at .258, Callaspo at .252, Hamilton at .250, and Trumbo at .234, followed by Iannetta at .224. No one was hitting. The Angels need Pujols & Hamilton to perform at some semblance of their All-Star years prior to joining the Angels. They need to get good value from Trumbo and Kendrick if they are moved. They need to get some offense out of third and Catcher. Aybar needs to hit like he did in 2012. With a healthy productive lineup, this team as is could score 800 runs. And even with the pitching they have now, they would be a playoff team had they done that.

2011 Was Skewed by the lack of a true elite closer, but the pen was pretty legit. The team gave up 633 runs that year. That's solid. Jordan Walden blew ten saves. Also had a 2.98 ERA in 60 innings. Fernando Rodney was bad at 4.50 ERA. Rich Thompson managed a 3.00 ERA. Scott Downs was elite at 1.34. Takahashi was good at 3.44. Bobbt Cassevah had a 2.72 ERA in 30 innings. Those six pitchers allowed 111 runs over 307.2 innings. That's not awful. It's a 3.24 ERA. The rest of the pen sucked that year, but as a whole the team's relievers had a 3.52 ERA over 422 innings.

They've really struggled since Ron Roenicke left. In 2010, the Morales injury was devastating, and the team couldn't overcome the loss of Chone Figgins to FA, Wood stuggling mightily at third after Figgins departure. After 2010, Roenicke got the Brewers job. Roenicke and Maddon before him really helped out Scioscia. I wonder if the current bench coach has the same voice with Scioscia the former ones did.

I think they do need a closer. Frieri, Burnett, Kohn, Jepsen, De La Rosa, Coello…is a solid pen. But adding a closer with attitude like Brian Wilson, is not a bad choice. I think Williams is going to go to a team who will guarantee him a starting spot. I doubt the Angels tender him a contract. I also think he may be a free agent. Williams started 24 games for the Angels this year. He wants a starting spot. He doesn't want to be the long man. As he began his career at age 21, then really struggled between ages 24-28, and was out of baseball for a time, I have trouble understanding the fact that he is still under club control 10 years after starting his career. I think he's going to be a free agent, and if not, he'll be non-tendered.

Trade Value List for Angels Players: Untradeables. Pujols. Not Tradeable. Hamilton. Likely Not Tradeable. Trout. Would command such a large return it's not even funny, however, the Angels aren't moving him. Weaver. Would command a huge return, however, not in the Angels best interest, in the short or long term. Wilson. Same as above. Not likely to get as large of a return as Weaver, but again not in the Angels best interest. Blanton. No one would offer anything for Joe Blanton. Unlikely to be traded. Frieri. As a closer, his value is high, as a late inning reliever, not as high. Richards. As a young value starter with some success, only would be moved in a package, and even then, wouldn't command a huge return. Iannetta. Unless the Angels are confident in Conger, I doubt he's moved. Conger. He's not likely to be traded as his cost is minimal. Aybar. The Angels would trade him, as his offense has struggled in 2013, but it's doubtful, as they wouldn't be able to get back a sufficient return. And they have little depth in the upper minors. Hanson. Not likely to be moved, may be non-tendered. He's put up an awful year in the AL, and only started 13 games. Green. I doubt he's traded. He may not have minor league options, but he can hit. And they will find a spot for him. May be traded. Calhoun. Calhoun is a young player with potential from the left side. He can play 1st or the OF. He's a rookie. However, he also is older, at 25. And has minor league options, so they can also park him at SLC. Bourjos. Bourjos had a season marred by freak injury. They still like him, but what would the return look like in a trade? I don't think another team would give them a decent return. Trumbo. Trumbo has had an unlucky season, but he's knocking them over the fence. His defense is adequate at 1st or the OF. He's hitting at the lowest batting average of his career, but also has a significantly lower BABIP than last season where it was slightly above league average. His walks were way up in the first half, but he's slumping in the second half. If the return was substantial they'd move him, but to move him for a RP who is not an established closer or a low-grade starter? Not going to happen. Shuck. Return would be minimal, but they don't really have a place to play him, and they have other minor league veteran options. He's played well for the Angels, and if they could get a decent reliever or middle infielder, they'd have to consider it. Likely to be traded. Kendrick has value. If the right deal comes along, they'll move him. But not for a middling prospect or a reliever. They want a young starter and a young third-baseman or closer. Everyone Else. No one else on the team has any substantial value. They don't have any prospects lighting up the minors. Taylor Lindsey and CJ Cron have value. Kaleb Cowart has potential. Most of the other minor leaguers have little trade value.

Field Level. Third Base Side. I'm taking offers.

I think they'd like to hold onto Trumbo and Bourjos, but that's going to be problematic. As Hamilton, Pujols, and of course Trout will take three of the five OF/DH/1B spots…. They seem to like Shuck, but with everyone healthy I don't think he plays. I like Calhoun, but does that mean one of the above has to be traded to get him in there? One of the answers is to move one of them to third, but that's defensively a problem. Trumbo was awful there. Pujols can't really play 3rd anymore, though I suppose it could be possible he plays a few games at the hot corner. Not likely though. Green has pretty much played 2nd because Kendrick had been out. Lots of re-organizing to do

The reason the 2008 team was so good despite weak peripherals is the pen was amazing that year. 2009's rotation was garbage after Nick Adenhart's death, but the team dominated offensively. 2010 was awful offensively after Kendry's was injured and not having a third baseman or leadoff hitter. Plus everyone slumped. 2011 was the best pitching but also the worst hitting number, 2012 was better offensively and decent pitching. In 2013 they got two garbage starters to replace guys who were good in 2011, but slumped in 2012, and then added a decent replacement middle-of-the-road guy in Vargas. Still even with that and pen issues, they still managed to give up middle of the road pitching numbers. But they didn't hit well. Going forward they need to figure out the pen issues, add two solid starters (one of them can be Vargas). And need to hit. This team as constructed payroll wise needs to score 800 plus runs to make the playoffs. And hopefully next year they can shave a few runs off here and there and get the team to pitch to 700 runs or less. The bigger that differential the better. They truly aren't that bad pitching wise, but offensively, 730+ runs is not going to get you in the playoffs. So how do they add 75 runs and lose 50? Well, Blanton and Hanson combined for 33 starts, and 183.2 innings as starters. They gave up 124 runs in those starts. That equates to an ERA over 6. If they had say, kept Ervin Santana, who admittedly disappointed last year with his 102 runs in 30 starts, 175+ innings, but has been great for KC…there's your 50 run difference. He's pitched 205 innings, and given up 81 runs. How do they add 75 runs? Well the team needs to hit better in scoring position, and Pujols and Hamilton need to hit better. Add that to a better year from Trumbo or Calhoun playing more. Bourjos playing healthier, and voila…75 runs more.

Mike Scioscia's seasons by runs Allowed 2011- 633 2005 - 644 2004 - 643 2008 - 697 2012- 699 2010 - 702 2013 - 702 (155 games) 2001 - 730 2007 - 731 2006 - 732 2004 - 734 2003 - 743 2009 - 761 2000 - 869 And by Runs Scored 2009 - 883 2000 - 864 2002 - 851 2004 - 836 2007 - 822 2012 - 767 2006 - 766 2008 - 765 2003 - 736 2013 - 708 2001 - 691 2010 - 681 2011 - 667

As far as pitching goes, the team has given up only 702 runs with 7 games to go. Even if in those 7 games they gave up the straight average of the previous 155 games (4.52) or 32 more runs they wouldn't be that far from last season (699)…They'll probably give up less as the pitching has been remarkably better since Joe Blanton left the rotation. It will be more than 100 off the pace from 2011 when we had a great rotation (Weaver, Haren, Santana, Wilson, Grienke/Richards/Williams) and gave up 633 runs. Anything around 600-700 should be fine…except for if the offense doesn't produce. And in the last four seasons, the pitching has been oft-identified as the culprit, and the pen might have been, but the years where the Angels made the playoffs, the offense was substantially better than it's looked in these pst four years. The five best years the Angels have had under MS are 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009. The common thread there is offense. Those five teams are four of the ten best hitting Angels teams. 2008 was the only one that doesn't fit (15th all time in offense). In 2002 they scored 851 runs whist giving up 644. In 2005 they scored 761 whilst giving up 643. In 2007, they scored 822 whilst giving up 731, 2008 they scored 765 whilst giving up 697, and in 2009 they scored 883 whilst giving up 761. Not that pitching isn't important as well. In the post-strike days, offense has been up across the league, but the three best pitching seasons are 2002, 2005, and in first place 2011.

The Angels are sitting at 76-79, with just 7 games remaining in the season. 5-2 will put them at .500 for the year, something that seemed all but impossible just a few weeks ago. It would be a small triumph. One that could keep our current Front Office and Manager intact. Which despite all the rumors, it likely the best thing for this club as currently constructed. The Angels will have some decisions to make in the offseason. A number of hitters underperformed. Two of the three starters acquired last offseason are not in the current rotation. Both of the relievers last year barely had an impact, if any. They still don't have a solid answer at 3rd base, and have too many OF/DH types. Going into 2014, there are a number of questions, of course, as an underachieving team with a high payroll, there are bound to be. Starting with pitching, the unquestioned aces of the staff are Jered Weaver and CJ Wilson. Weaver missed a good portion of the year with a freak injury, but a 3.36 ERA is still great. CJ Wilson notched 200 innings again. Both are under contract for next year. Garrett Richards has earned a spot in the rotation with his 2nd half play. Jason Vargas has been pretty good as well, at times looking like the best starter on the staff. One spot to fill, but no one on the current team looks ready, able, or good enough to fill it. I'd think the Angels will shop here, cutting ties with Joe Blanton, Tommy Hanson, and even Jerome Williams, unless he comes cheap and is willing to be the long man in the pen. They have a thin rotation at SLC, but none of these guys look to be solid answers for the future. The best starters on the FA Market look to be Matt Garza, Ervin Santana, Hiroki Kuroda, and guys with serious question marks like Josh Johnson, Tim Lincecum, Ubaldo Jimenez (who's looked like the Jimenez of old in the 2nd half) and Phil Hughes. One wonders where the Angels would be had they simply kept Santana instead of signing Blanton. They could've afforded it had they not signed Alberto Callaspo, or traded for Tommy Hunter. Would a rotation of Weaver, Wilson, Richards, Vargas, and Santana got them to the playoffs? One wonders. I think they could've kept Santana for even less than he made this year on his option, maybe 3-27 or 3-30, if he had agreed to a longer term deal. Would they bring him back? Who knows. Now they need to allocate money here, and some say they need to trade for depth. I think they need a starter and depth in the minors through trade. Perhaps they look to Japan with Masahiro Tanaka. Just 24, he's going to cost a posting fee, but should be able to step in to the #3 or #4 spot, and could solidify a shaky rotation. The other way they could get pitching depth of course is to make a trade from their hitting surplus. The Angels haven't exactly lit the world on fire, but they have scored more than 700 runs, something I didn't think they'd do after their lousy first half. Pujols should be back, and isn't going anywhere. We can only hope he returns to form. Hamilton as well, who has had a good September after a decent August. Trumbo has had a dismal 2nd half, Bourjos has been injured, Kendrick and Green play the same position, Aybar hasn't hit well, Shuck is Reggie Willits 2.0 and can't field. Calhoun has shown he belongs, and Trout of course is the best player in baseball. The Angels need a 3rd baseman. They have a few options. They can move Green there, but his defense leaves something to be desired. They can try Trumbo there again, in limited duty. With Calhoun on the roster, they won't need him to man first if Pujols is the DH. Kendrick may be able to play the position. The Angels likely will make a trade from their surplus of OF bats, having four young starting caliber OF plus Josh Hamilton and JB Shuck means that is very likely. Can they acquire a young 3rd base prospect like the Tigers Nick Castellanos? Or do they go with the Youngsters in Green or Lucho Jimenez, while bringing in a Veteran like Eric Chavez or Michael Young to be the mentor? Finally they have the pen. Do they go after a closer? Do they keep Frieri in the role? Too many decisions here to list. Yet Burnett should give them something, and they have a lot of live arms. It comes down to budget here, I suppose. A lot of close games were lost by the pen this past year, but perhaps that is a function of being in a lot of close games since the offense wasn't producing. As for the lineup, I like Trout hitting third. Yet they may need him to leadoff, too. Putting a player with a solid OBP at the #1 and #2 spots is definitely necessary, except the Angels with the best OBP (other than Trout) are Calhoun and Iannetta. If Calhoun plays regularly, that means less playing time for Trumbo, Bourjos, and Shuck….as Trout, Hamilton, and Pujols are all playing pretty much every day if healthy. Is Trumbo then destined for a trade (or 3rd?)… We'll know by December… Hot Stove is only a few weeks away.

He's been hitting 2nd or 3rd instead of first. That's the reason.

No Bad Blood between Discar and the Angels. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/11/sports/la-sp-sn-gary-disarcina-angels-20121211 He wanted to manage again. DiPoto let him do that. The reason people bring up old Angels players for possible spots on the Angels Coaching Staff is because these guys are familiar to us some of whom are getting in to managing. In my humble opinion, I don't think they'll fire Scioscia. Yet Rob Piccolo is probably gone, along with Butcher, Soliz, Gregorio, and Eppard. They need to get a young hitting coach, a respected one, and a young pitching coach. They'll probably look to bring in a guy that they can sit on the bench or at third base to groom as Scioscia's replacement if things don't go well next year. DiSarcina is an option at bench coach, as he is the AAA Pawtucket Manager. Bench coaches are often looked at for manager jobs, and if he wants a MLB manager job he probably has to have MLB coaching experience. Erstad is an option at bench coach too. Or they could put one at bench and one in another coaching role. Dino Ebel is another candidate for bench coach. Scioscia needs somebody who can give him input the way that Maddon did, and then Roenicke did. The team has sucked since Roenicke left. I don't think Piccolo gives Scioscia what he needs to manage effectively the way that the previous two did. I know 2010 was bad with Roenicke as the bench coach, but that was entirely a lost season after Morales got hurt and after they trimmed the payroll down, losing many of their 2009 ALCS guys in Guerrero, Lackey, Figgins, and bringing the wrong one back in Abreu. Anyway... Butcher could the boot because his bad luck with a bad pitching staff. It's not fair to him, because the Angels have been pretty good overall in his tenure in the pitching department. In 2007-2012 his staff has usually been below 702 runs, and only twice was it more 2007 & 2009. Still, this season the Angels are on pace to allow nearly 800 runs. If he survives it's because they fire the bullpen staff. The Pitching issues this year are purely due to bad drafts under the Reagins year and a bad offseason by Dipoto. I could see them bringing in a new bullpen coach. Not Percy, but someone new. They have live arms there in De La Rosa, Jepsen, Kohn, Hopefully Burnett back, and Frieri. Still think a legit closer gives them so many more options. If they hired a new pitching coach I think they'd try to wrangle away Mike Maddux. I don't know if that's possible. Hitting wise they need to bring in two coaches, a veteran with experience, like maybe Kevin Long (no contract after this year) and a younger guy with some gravitas in his playing days that the veterans will respect. A former dodger that makes sense is Mike Piazza, don't know if he wants a coaching job, but he's a former teammate of Scioscia, and obviously a premier hitter and a great catcher. Obviously Angel faves like Tim Salmon and Jim Edmonds would also get mentioned. I really believe, that the Angels will not fire Scioscia or Dipoto, but will replace a good number of the aging coaches on the Angels staff with guys who could lead the team going forward once Scioscia decides to hang it up. Steve Soliz is 42, Piccolo is the oldest coach at 60.

No. I'd understand if they were to get a good return from the Yankees, but Nova is overrated. Hughes, Romine, etc… ok, but Hughes is a pending FA, why give up anything for him. I could see trading an asset for a guy like the Rays Jake Odorozzi, that makes sense, but not Nova. (The Rays don't need Trumbo anyway). Aybar to the Cardinals for Michael Wacha and/or Zach Cox makes sense.

Alex Torres (traded in Scott Kazmir deal): 0.29 ERA, valuable piece of Rays pen. Patrick Corbin (traded in Dan Haren deal): 12-2, 2.24 ERA for D'Backs. Tyler Skaggs (traded in Dan Haren deal): 5.35 ERA, but still just 21. Tyler Chatwood (traded in Chris Iannetta deal): 2.48 ERA for Colorado. Will Smith (traded in Alberto Callaspo deal): 3.86 ERA in majors (2.88 in minors) Donn Roach (traded in Ernesto Frieri deal): 3.76 ERA in minors. Johnny Hellweg (traded in Zach Greinke deal): Struggled in Majors, 2.47 ERA in minors. Ariel Pena (traded in Zach Grienke deal): 4.06 ERA in AA. Joe Saunders (traded in Dan Haren deal): 4.48 ERA in Seattle. Ervin Santana (traded for minor leaguer Brandon Sisk): 3.06 ERA for KC. Darren o'Day (let leave): 2.20 ERA for Orioles in pen. Matt Harvey (2007 third round pick, failed to sign). Angels offered $1M for a third round pick, but Scott Boras was the reason he didn't sign, as they wanted Porcello money ($7 M plus) and he slipped out of the first round. He started the NL All-Star game as a Met. Now, if not for the animosity between Eddie Bane and Tony Reagins, it's possible they sign the kid. Not for $7M but what if they offered 4.5? It was a mistake by Reagins. They lucked out and got a first round talent in the third round, after not having a first round pick that year, and didn't make it happen. I know they don't have a Crystal Ball, but consistently trading away young talent, losing first round picks as compensation for FA signings, as well as promoting young players, has taken the first overall minor league system to the last overall minor league system. They have had success here, but teams like the Rays seem to do so much better and they've consistently been winners too…just don't get it.

Gotta trade quality pieces for quality pieces. I'd be against trading Aybar, as the SS market is thin. Kendrick, Trumbo, etc, would depend on the return. They need pitching, badly, which they have squandered for years in trades. Had we not traded for Dan Haren and just kept Saunders, they'd have had young arms this season or last who could actually man the 5th starter spot. In 2005, when the team went to the ALCS, the starters were Colon (FA), Byrd (FA), Washburn (developed), Lackey (developed) and Santana (developed). Escobar was hurt but started 7 games. 2006, saw Washburn & Byrd go, replaced by Escobar (healthy again), Jered Weaver debuted, and we had Jeff for a few months as well. That team finished 2nd, and missed out on the playoffs. In 2007, Joe Saunders rookie year. Finished first. Lackey, Weaver, Santana, Escobar rounded out the rotation. So each year, the Halos debuted a new young starter. Then Reagins became the GM. In 2008, He added Garland to the rotation via trade. Team did well, allowed just 697 runs. Lackey, Weaver, Santana, Garland, Saunders. No young rotation guys debuted, but it was still pretty young and cost effective. Lackey was the oldest starter at I think 29. In 2009, They said goodbye to Garland and didn't really replace him. They relied on Sean O'Sullivan and Matt Palmer, after Adenhart's tragic death. The Angels clearly were stunned by this, because they had expected him to step in as the fifth starter behind Weaver, Santana, Saunders, and Lackey. Traded for Scott Kazmir late in the year, who had been a top AL starter. In 2010, they said goodbye to Lackey, and brought in Joel Pinero via FA. Obviously a flawed rotation, having Weaver in his first year as the ace, plus Santana and Saunders and Kazmir Struggling. Kazmir had dominated in his first six starts the previous year for the Angels, so that wasn't a bad rotation going in, except, well, we know how that turned out. Lefty Alex Torres was part of the 2009 trade for Kazmir, and then midseason, DiPoto, then with the D'Backs, fleeced the Angels in the Dan Haren deal. It looked like the Angels fleeced the D'backs….obviously not. Those three pitchers weren't the highest rated pitching prospects the Angels had, but in Torres, Corbin, and Skaggs, the Angels lost three good pitchers and got one good one back. They were all good pitchers. Skaggs got demoted, but he showed good stuff early on, and has a bright future in the desert. Corbin has been lights out for the D'Backs.. with the 4th best ERA in the national league. Skaggs was the higher rated prospect, and dealing one of them in the Haren trade along with Joe Saunders would've made sense, but three of the Angels top guys in a span of six months? What else did they have in the pipeline? Alex Torres has a 0.29 ERA this year in relief for Tampa. Sense a pattern here? Highly paid starters for young prospects? Saunders was struggling when they moved him, but he was under control for three more years, which would've been useful. Haren did well in 2010, 2011, and then struggled in 2012. No one was against the trade then, but looking back is not a pretty sight. 2011 rotation featured Weaver, Haren, Santana, Pinero, Chatwood and a bunch of spot starters. Chatwood could've continued the young starter trend from 2005-2008, but didn't work out. Richards is still a work in progress. But the top three were really good. Then Santana and Haren fell off the map. 2012 was good, but they traded more prospects for impending FA pitcher Zach Greinke, which would've been ok in the old rules, the Angels would've got a top prospect back via the draft pick if he didn't sign, but now, they didn't. So they lost Ariel Pena, Johnny Hellweg, etc. They did add CJ Wilson to the staff via FA, which was a nice move. But now going into 2013, they have no young good controllable proven arms, as those guys were all moved. Do you think the team would've signed Joe Blanton had they had a Corbin in the wings or a Skaggs? Richards is not that guy. Vargas was good via trade, but yeah, not great. Rant over, but basically by not developing young arms for the rotation, the Angels screwed themselves over. They need young projectable starters, but by trading all the pieces away, then not having draft picks because of new rules and massive FA signings, plus inexplicably cutting international scouting…just not a good stretch.

Callaspo should be next to be traded. Not expecting much of a return, but he'd help a team in need of infield depth. Like the Yankees. Kendrick may get more in return, but what is reasonable to expect back? Aybar may get a ton, but who plays in his absence? Angels have Romine but thats it. I'd also look to trade Shuck for whatever he can give you which isn't much, but hey, they have a lot of OF and right now Calhoun needs to play. Then Iannetta has to be looked at as an option. He's not going to get you much. Trumbo would only be moved if they got good pieces back, same for Bourjos. I know Bourjos is on the DL, but he can be activated any time, if they wanted to move him. How about Frieri? He's got to have a lot of value.

On the Santana Blanton thing, Santana + Segura salary wise is about $13.5 M. We're paying $1M of that anyway, so it's actually $12.5 M net cost. Blanton costs 6.5 M this year and Callaspo costs 4.1. That's 10.6. So for $2 M more they could've kept Santana and Segura. Yet I also pointed out that Segura being traded and Greinke being an uncertain returnee made them panic and sign "innings eater" Joe Blanton. They also could've likely declined Santana's option and signed him for two years for less than the $13. If they had seen Segura in Winterball tearing it up, or just doing well in AAA in the second half of the season…they may have tried him at third. My point is the Greinke trade led to a much worse situation than if they had simply stood pat at the deadline.

With the Season almost at the halfway point, I'd like to say, I'm glad the Angels are doing better, because for a while there it looked really bad. Yet not all of DiPoto's offseason decisions are looking that great. A year after a successful coup in getting Pujols, CJ Wilson…the team looked poised to do great things. Last year when they traded for Ernesto Frieri, we thought we had a master GM... after years of futile moves under Tony Reagins… we all thought…finally. But we thought the same thing about Reagins after he signed Torrii Hunter at a Del Taco. Have things started the other way though? Last season, there was a domino that started a chain of events that doesn't look so good for the Angels. That unfortunately was the ridiculously bad decision in trading for former Royal & Brewer and Current Dodger Zach Greinke. I've stated in other posts in the past that I believed not resigning Texieira after 2008 led to Abreu, and then the Wells trade, which led to two bad seasons and ultimately Reagins firing. It's not that Greinke didn't perform, as he did, but giving up Jean Segura didn't seem that bad at the time because the Angels were set in the infield with Kendrick and Aybar and Segura certainly isn't a Mike Trout. Yet he was a solid prospect who this season is an All-Star in Milwuakee. The other prospects, Johnny Hellweg and Ariel Pena given up in the deal for the two month rental, haven't become an All-Star like Segura has, Hellweg certainly struggled in his first taste of the majors, but yeah, this deal doesn't look too good for the Angels at all….Especially... ...As they failed to sign Greinke to an extension. They took the money earmarked for Greinke and gave it to Josh Hamilton. Who before his recent surge, looked awful... ...After adding Hamilton, that domino falling led to an extra OF / DH, which meant traded Kendrys Morales for Jason Vargas and while Vargas has arguably been the teams best pitcher at points this season, and while Morales isn't killing it in Seattle, he's doing okay. It's a pretty good swap for both teams.... Still, the rotation would've been better if they had decided to keep or had the money to keep... Ervin Santana… who is excelling with the Royals. The Angels had an option on his contract which would've cost the team $13 M. The right hander has a 2.90 ERA for the Royals. His replacement in the rotation is not a low cost minor leaguer like Garrett Richards, no…it's Joe freaking Blanton. And somehow Joe has had some good starts, but Dipoto traded Santana because he gave up too many longballs, and then replaced him with a guy that gives up more home runs! Santana has excellent stuff and had been inconsistent…I get that they didn't want to commit $13 M for one season. Yet, coming off a bad year, he probably would've taken 2 years and 20 M in lieu of that option…. and the player they got back in the trade had TJ surgery. Royals are clearly winners here... …But with Hamilton is finally showing flashes of the guy he was in Texas, which is great and it is certainly possible at some time in the next 4 and a half years we'll get a season like the 2010 AL MVP had. They badly needed lefty balance in the lineup…. ….And I like the Vargas move, but really this team would've been much better off keeping Segura and acquiring a guy like Jeremy Guthrie for rotation help last year. But Joe Blanton v. Ervin Santana? That was only made because they didn't have faith in Santana. Adding three new starters is never a good decision, especially from a team that gave up under 700 runs last year. It was definitely motivated by money too, as they wanted to save money for Greinke / Hamilton…. With Segura in the lineup this year, likely at third, or at short when Aybar went down… the Angels would've scored more runs in the first half. Which with their shotty rotation, was sorely needed. ...The other starter the team acquired has been inconsistent at best in Tommy Hanson. Hanson probably won't be brought back next year, likely being non-tendered. Williams and Jason Vargas are free agents. The Angels will be left with Weaver, Wilson as sure rotation members again…. And because they had no Segura, Alberto Callaspo was retained for two years to be the bridge to future Angel Kaleb Cowart, but he hasn't returned to the player they thought he was. He's hitting slightly better for average than last season, but nothing he did in 2012 made him worthy of the contract he got in 2013, and nothing he is doing in 2013 is validating it either. If Segura was here, perhaps they'd have kept Callaspo under an arbitration one year deal, or perhaps they'd have non-tendered the guy saving enough money to bring back Santana... Callaspo's contract and Blanton's contract would have easily equaled the dollar value in bringing back Santana at his option (and if he took less, all the better) and having Segura or Aybar at third…. Blanton's WAR is -0.7 and Callaspo's is 0.1. Santana's is 2.3 so far this year, Segura is at 3.2. So -0.6 vs. 5.5. It's likely then that over the course of the season, this one decision ended up costing the team what 9-10 WAR? I know WAR doesn't mean Wins…But worse yet, these guys are both under two year deals! If the Angels had not traded for Greinke, they'd have not been over a barrel in FA and may have been able to make the Vargas move first, adding a solid starter. They may have signed Hamilton earlier, and been in a position then to keep Santana and let Callaspo go. Luis Jimenez may not have had a lot of success after a few weeks of a scorching hot bat, but the guy is still hitting in AAA… and he wouldn't have been a bad backup plan. Segura Trout Pujols Hamilton Trumbo Kendrick Iannetta/Conger Aybar Bourjos With a rotation of Weaver Wilson Santana Vargas Williams is a much better team than they have currently. And it all started with the domino of trading for Zach Greinke. I hope that the Greinke / Segura call doesn't lead to further futility, but it doesn't look too good now.

if Kole Calhoun was producing and CJ Cron, Randal Girchuck, were raking in AAA, ready for a shot at the majors, I'd consider it based on the return you could get, but with Pujols's foot issues, and none of these guys really ready for a full-time gig save maybe Calhoun, I don't think it's a good idea. This guy also wants to trade CJ Wilson and Peter Bourjos, which are both horrible ideas. They don't have enough starters now, so why would they trade a guy they have locked up for three more years, and why trade Bourjos who if he had been healthy would be in All-Star consideration? Um No. He's looking it all from a surplus angle not from what they actually need to do.

Seattle had offered 4 years, 100 M.

Is Calhoun healthy?

These are great seats guys and gals. Quite possibly the best sightline in the park other than portions of diamond club. And I'm sitting next to you! How much fun is that?