ScruffytheJanitor

I think out main problem has been prospects. We always seem to have a number of "excellent" minor league relievers, but precious few have panned out. Bedrosian and Minor have a chance to turn this tide, and I have high hopes for Alcantra, but by and large we seem to be hoping for a farm system that doesn't produce, have Mike Butcher screw players up, or just get plain unlucky with injury. I sincerely hope we take a shot at Greg Holland this offseason, even with his recovery. Hell, I'd take a shot at Melancon. The ONE thing Scioscia has done well consistently well has been manage his bullpens. It's high time we gave him better options.

I don't know if I'd call FIP "Obsolete". It's still fairly useful for predicting future performance, and tracks remarkably well with ERA. It's AWFUL at telling you much about a player in-season, but my main problem with it is that you need a good base of innings to really be useful; it doesn't tell us very much about first or second year starters, for instance. It's more of a career-level stat. Additionally, ground ball pitchers are always going to look better than flyball pitchers. It's not the end-all stat, but it's a fairly easy way of seeing if a player just sucks or is just unlucky.

Actually, BABIP is a better indicator of pitchers luck than it is hitters; Individuals can have consistently high or low BABIP, but hitters as a group are around .300. Matt Kemp has a career BABIP around .340, for instance. I think of him as a useful backup. 70% of his plate appearances end in an out. While I will give him credit for improving his plate discipline this year, it still isn't good. His 2015 was super fluky (his BABIP was pretty far above his career norms). Having said all of that, he really could have a 4-5 season run as a solid outfielder with punch, or hell: he could be Mark Trumbo 2.0 (now with defense!). I just don't know that I'd want him as a starting OF in a normal situation (would be a godsend for this team), especially since power is going to get him WAY overpaid come arbitration time. And thanks for the compliments. I have actually been around here for a while; I just took a break and couldn't remember my log in passwords-- and the email account I used hasn't been touched in four years. I used to be known 'round here as Long Reliever (I actually made the post reporting the Pujols signing), and then I wrote a few things for Angelswin.com as well (Greg Bearringer).

I'm no Mathologist, but I am pretty sure that is not right. For one, WAR is meant to compare your stats to an average AAA starter. Kyle Kendrick is probably exactly the kind of pitcher this is meant to reflect. The main problem, though, is that no player is completely responsible for a "win" in the statistic. So even if Richards would go 7 strong innings while Kyle Kendirck might go 5 and give up a 4 runs, that's doesn't mean Richards is credited with one "WAR".

I remember Merkle's Boner like it was yesterday! Also: Didn't the Cubs win their last world series on a base running mistake?

Maybe? I can't get over how average Beltre looked in Seattle (Compared with his hall-of-fame career in LA/TEX). SPEND SOME DOLLLARS, ARTE.

I never, ever, ever got the hype about Grichuk. His performance is highly dependent on BABIP; when it's good, he looks great; when it's bad, he looks bad. Bottom line: he does not get on base enough, and his power (which can be impressive) isn't among the super elite because he doesn't get his bat on enough balls. Don't get me wrong: he's be great on this team (or any team) as a bench piece, but I just do not see someone you'd want to give 600 PA a year.

This is just.... dumb. Look, I don't know that Cowart isn't Matt Dominguez (though hopefully he won't just suddenly suck there like Dominguez), but Cowart is a really good defender, and I just don't think Marte is some kind of revelation at the plate.

I know when I want to judge a trade, I watch a single at-bat from a few years ago.

I think we pretty much have to pencil Meyer into the rotation next year. We need at least one other veteran starter, and probably another AAA-level player as depth. If we are really serious about avoiding the Pitching market (even though Nova seems like a reasonable target), that pretty much leaves a trade in this off-season. Angels should be entertaining (and a bit frustrating) to follow this off-season.

That was the buzz during the Spring, if I remember correctly. It's a shame he got injured, because if he could develop into even a bench player, that would be great.

I dunno, I thought this was pretty revealing: That is...weird. Unless Richards comes back, Skaggs-Shoemaker-Nolasco-Meyer-Nate Smith just doesn't really do much for me. I am not sure how they go about filling out this pitching staff without going into free agency and probably trading for a Tropeano-type 6th starter to boot. Adding a middling pitcher on a "show-me" deal feels like the bare-minimum (news flash: we are going to need innings next year), so the quote above surprised me. I wonder: Maybe the Angels are contemplating moving Guerra? I am not even sure who else would be an option.

Funny thing his, Scioscia has been REALLY good at making optimal choices from his bullpen (See: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015-mlb-playoffs-bullpen-managers-mike-matheny-joe-girardi/). The problem is: he just hasn't had very good options.