On 9/24/2016 at 6:12 PM, ELEVEN said:

Rats bailing a sinking ship?

Maybe, but not in the way you're thinking. Eppler is probably bringing in his own people just like DiPoto is. These people probably would rather be among the new comers rather than have to wait and see if they are going to get reassigned. I would venture to guess that we'll hear of a bunch of hires over the next few weeks. 

On 9/20/2016 at 7:52 PM, JAHV76 said:

If any of you ever visit this stadium you should check out the florabama a dive bar an hour south in orange beach Alabama. It's a dive bar but interesting that it's located in two states.

 

http://www.florabama.com/

 

well, sure, but that's like the two worst states possible. Might as well put the bar on the border between hell and hades. 

17 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

This thread almost inspired me to start a thread titled: Who am I? Living in a van, down by the river

Answer: Brandon Wood.

But that would've been mean, so I didn't.

I still don't understand how someone named Richard Brandon Wood didn't try the adult film industry.. 

Wait, guys, here it is. We didn't lose it; it just slid underneath the seat of my Pontiac Grand-Am. MY BAD. 

Anything less that 25 Ks and Eppler will be a failure. 

Thanks for the responses everyone!

I like this whole, "I ask questions into the ether and get a response" thing. 

Here's a new question for those prospect nuts: Which minor leaguers are  most likely to contribute to the team next year? 

Anyone have more info on O'Grady? Other than "Is a lefty," I don't know much about his pitching style. Seems to be doing everything he can to put himself on the map. 

On 7/21/2016 at 6:28 PM, Oz27 said:

I'm really hoping this thread doesn't become about whether we should trade Matt Shoemaker or whether he will maintain what he is doing, because those are long debates we have had for awhile and likely will continue to have for awhile and there are plenty of other places to do that. I'm starting this thread to celebrate Matt Shoemaker, who is having one of the most fun seasons I can remember - just a couple of months after most or all of us thought he was done. So here are some fun facts which I hope will sum up just how cool Matt Shoemaker has been this year...

Only 27 times in Angels history has a pitcher walked nobody and struck out 10 or more in that appearance. Nolan Ryan never did it with the Angels. Our most recent Cy Young winner, Bartolo Colon, didn't do it in Anaheim either. Chuck Finley didn't do it and Frank Tanana only did it once. Jered Weaver only did it twice. Matt Shoemaker has done that three times in less than two months alone. The only other Angels who have ever done that more than once in the same season are John Lackey (2006) and Frank Tanana (1976).

Earlier this year, Matt Shoemaker went 30.1 IP without walking anybody. That is the longest stretch without a walk by an Angels starter ever, a whole 5.1 IP better than the second best (Frank Tanana in 1980). No other Angels starter this year has gone more than 10 innings without walking somebody. Shoemaker's 30.1 IP stretch is the best in the majors this year by a full 6.1 IP.

Matt Shoemaker is currently striking out five batters for every one he walks this season. Only two Angels starters have ever done better than that across a season ... one of whom was actually 2014 Matt Shoemaker. The other was 2011 Dan Haren. Nobody else has even been particularly close. 2008 Ervin Santana is next best with a 4.55 SO/BB rate, followed by 2010 Jered Weaver at 4.31.

Only three starters in Angels history ever recorded a better single season strikeout rate than 2016 Matt Shoemaker's 9.34 K/9. Nolan Ryan topped that six times and Frank Tanana and Jered Weaver each did it once.

Shoemaker is throwing strikes 66 per cent of the time this year. So to is Jered Weaver. Only two Angels starters have ever topped that mark - Bartolo Colon (twice) and Paul Byrd (once).

There are heaps more of these so I just picked out a few. Plenty of these stats are meaningless and others only tell part of a story but they're examples of one thing - Matt Shoemaker is having a pretty remarkable year. He is super fun to watch. Whatever we do with him and whatever happens from here, he has provided joy in a miserable year. He is awesome.

Matt Shoemaker is a good #4 starter that can (and will) pitch like an Ace when his splitter is especially good. Additionally, he's a good dude. I have no idea why anyone would want to trade him.

If we can get an according-to-hoyle, honest-to-goodness #3 or better pitcher, then I think you trade him. Since I am not sure that happens, I am guessing that we hold on to him. 

6 hours ago, CALZONE said:

Albert was a huge investment and he was supposed to help make us better. He didn't and that's my argument. That money could've been rerouted to help improve the Angels minor league system or signed a real frontline franchise type Ace pitcher. We chose to sign an already declining legend. 

So your "Argument" is that Albert has been a disappointment and has a no-good contract? Who the hell are you arguing with? 

15 minutes ago, CALZONE said:

Do the math. The 34 less wins makes a huge difference. If you divide those 34 games by 5 seasons and add them to the win column for each season Albert's been here we would've won division titles in 2012 and 2015. 

 

I guess the easiest way to refute this is to say: Even if you argue that the money spent on Pujols could have been spent on other players, there is literally NO WAY of knowing whether those players would themselves be better than Pujols. 

If we actually could get him for a reasonable deal, heck yeah let's do it. He'll probably sign for 3-4 years, 15 Mill per year, and I am not sure that's reasonable

1 hour ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

The rules must of changed a lot since 2009. Instead of getting a supplemental pick for the loss of a free agent we actually got the Teams first round pick and if I'm reading this right also a supplemental pick at the end of the first round

Yes, you are right. The rules changed in 2011:

Quote

In addition to the spending controls, there will be fairly significant changes to how teams are compensated in the Draft for losing free agents. The Elias-based system with Type A and Type B free agents is a thing of the past.

In order to get a compensation pick going forward, a team has to offer a free agent a guaranteed one-year contract equal to the average of the top 125 paid players in Major League Baseball, an amount believed to be about $12 million. Compensation can only be given for a player who was with a team the entire year. The days of trading for a Type A free agent for two months merely for the compensation picks are over.

I wish they would do away with draft pick compensation altogether.

4 hours ago, totdprods said:

What do you think about Justin Bour being a sort of Thaiss comp? Or Mitch Moreland?

Latter-career Mattingly with less defense?

Duh, guys. It will shoot up the rankings next June, right after the draft and the big "Mike Trout-to-the-Yankees Trade."

/goes into witness protection

3 hours ago, Adam said:

But if the goal is to usher in a single payer system it wasn't supposed to work and I'm guessing most pro-progress folks are okay with the means and methods to expedite that process.

I think you give them too much credit: most people were just like "Affordable Care Act? Care will be more affordable? Who could argue with that?" Maybe I read the situation wrong, but people actually believed this nonsense would work.

Jett Bandy might just be the player Mike Scioscia thought Jeff Mathis was.

20 hours ago, gotbeer said:

Libertarian Gary Johnson: 'We should embrace immigration'

Hmm, CNN covering him.  Maybe he has a shot? 

The main problem with Gary Johnson as the libertarian candidate is that he really isn't a libertarian. He's basically a mediocre Republican that's in favor of pot legalization.

He's one of those players for whom the term "a real professional" isn't a backhanded complement. Seems like a legit major league catcher. 

9 hours ago, John Smith said:

Baseball America Prospects Chat:

Scott (Los Angeles): Can you say something nice about Matt Thaiss or Jahmai Jones?
J.J. Cooper: Matt Thaiss is a very polished hitter. His chance of making a big league impact depends on how much power he ends up producing–since he’s a first baseman, that’s a concern. Jahmai Jones is a very toolsy player performing in short-season ball. It’s a great year for him, but we also need to see how he handles full-season ball. So those are nice things and some caveats.
 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/baseball-america-prospect-chat-15/?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=57be5f3204d301313acc2efa&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter#Q7ibdbAcyimQd5qP.97

I'd put defense as having a greater impact on his ability to be a major league regular. 1st basemen don't need to hit 30 homers a year to have value. As long as he can be an above average defender, his bat will play. 

14 hours ago, mtangelsfan said:

Wait, I thought Obamacare fixed all of this stuff?

 

No?

Shocking.

I have a friend who entered med school in 2011, and we had very interesting conversations while Obama Care was being put into affect. He told me that most doctors didn't have time to really think about the impact of the law, and that most were just unsure of what was going to happen. There was (and still is) a LOT of anxiety about what is going to happen to healthcare. 

He leans slightly to the left (Libertarian for the most part, actually, but is one of those people who believe in the unicorn of an efficiently run government program), but after a few times going over the pros and cons, we both decided one thing: for something called the Affordable Care Act, it did almost nothing to make care more affordable for the people who are going to be paying for it. It should have been called "The Great Insurance Mandate Gamble." 

And THAT is what killed me the most. the ACA could have been great. It could have addressed the outrageous costs of medications in hospitals, it could have made it easier to make competitive drugs, they could have done something to address the rising cost of attending medical school... and a whole lot more. Instead, we get this. 

1 hour ago, Blarg said:

There has to be a competitor that can undercut these assholes by a huge amount. 

This, to me, is the most serious problem

57 minutes ago, Adam said:

No competitors allowed. 

 

https://mises.org/blog/lack-epipen-competitors-fdas-fault

This is the really disgusting thing. I am not surprised that one person or one company would act like a douche. I am-- well, not surprised, but disgusted that the government (and an un-elected arm of the government, no less) allows shitty people/companies to have a defacto monopoly over something like this. 

I'll admit it: I had hopes for the Hamilton signing. I will say, though, that given his lack of interest on the market and his history, I thought they should have offered three years + options, not a full five-years. I thought he'd be great the first year. 

Good Lord.