Declined

Angels win, Mariners are down 18-4 & this video actually exist. What a time to be alive. 

Angels win, Mariners are down 18-4 & this video actually exist. What a time to be alive. 

Angels win, Mariners are down 18-4 & this video actually exist. What a time to be alive. 

Angels win, Mariners are down 18-4 & this video actually exist. What a time to be alive. 

I haven't watched this yet, but I thought I'd leave it here to watch later.
 

Just to clarify, i said almost feel bad. Meant it more as a figure of speech.
I hate the mariners. Im glad they suck. Ive had more than a few "debates" when Ive been to that park (which is actually really nice).
So when I say "i almost feel bad", I mean it in the same vein as when you see a terrorist blow himself up with his own vest, doesnt die immediately, and youre like "man, thats a bad way to go". Like, youre glad it happened, but your remaining humanity is like "ouch, that looked painful".
So in summary, I hope dipoto blows himself up like he did our farm. Or even just blows himself like how he blows.

If Tampa offered Tyler glasnow, I'd might be intrigued. I was impressed when he faced us last year & he's really coming into his own now. He doesn't have a lot of service time which is big. Bauer is too close to free agency so unless you're trying absolutely trying to win now, it wouldn't make too much sense.
Having said that, I wouldn't wanna trade Adell. It's awesome to see players grow through your system. This week has been fun to see renifgo & I'm super excited about watching canning this year. 

If Tampa offered Tyler glasnow, I'd might be intrigued. I was impressed when he faced us last year & he's really coming into his own now. He doesn't have a lot of service time which is big. Bauer is too close to free agency so unless you're trying absolutely trying to win now, it wouldn't make too much sense.
Having said that, I wouldn't wanna trade Adell. It's awesome to see players grow through your system. This week has been fun to see renifgo & I'm super excited about watching canning this year. 

Five games in and people think Bour is going to be released?  Man, I bet you guys are a ton of fun in a fantasy baseball league.

I'm hoping that the farther he is from his TJ & thoracic outlet syndrome injuries, the better chance he has of getting closer to his old form. I agree we sort of overpaid for him but we probably had to in order to get him to sign for a year.
& usually I'm not one to get amped over pitching coaches but Doug White legitimately seems to bring out the best in his guys. So if the Dark Knight actually returns then he'll easily be worth it. But I probably have my rose colored glasses on right now ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm hoping that the farther he is from his TJ & thoracic outlet syndrome injuries, the better chance he has of getting closer to his old form. I agree we sort of overpaid for him but we probably had to in order to get him to sign for a year.
& usually I'm not one to get amped over pitching coaches but Doug White legitimately seems to bring out the best in his guys. So if the Dark Knight actually returns then he'll easily be worth it. But I probably have my rose colored glasses on right now ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm hoping that the farther he is from his TJ & thoracic outlet syndrome injuries, the better chance he has of getting closer to his old form. I agree we sort of overpaid for him but we probably had to in order to get him to sign for a year.
& usually I'm not one to get amped over pitching coaches but Doug White legitimately seems to bring out the best in his guys. So if the Dark Knight actually returns then he'll easily be worth it. But I probably have my rose colored glasses on right now ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

How about a little bit of a forensic look at the 2018 season.  
Through June 9th, we were 37-28 and looking pretty good.  The offense started out super hot and then cooled off but he pitching did the opposite.  
Here are some stats through those first 65 games.  
SP - 349.1 ip, 3.53 era, 3.98 FIP
RP - 239.1 ip, 3.61 era, 4.03 FIP
Offense - 106 wRC+, .743 ops (league avg is .727), .281 BABIP (league avg is .296)
We had scored 294 (4.52/g) runs while giving up 256 (3.93/g).   A run differential that would equate to a winning % of .563 which is equal to about 91 wins.  37-28 is a .569 winning %.  
So nothing looked horribly out of line.  One thing to make note of is the 5.4 innings per start.   That was exactly league avg to that point in the season.  
So how about the next 97 games?
SP - 456.1 ip, 4.95 era, 4.71 FIP
RP - 392.2 ip, 4.10 era, 4.50 FIP
Offense - 97 wRC+, .715 ops, .275 BABIP
that led to a 43-54 record.   We gave up 466 (4.8/g) runs and scored 427 (4.4/g) runs.  A calculated winning % of .460 or a pace to win 75 games.  The offense wasn't hugely different.  We averaged 4.7 innings per start during that stretch and the pen almost pitched the same number of innings as the starters.  
so how the F did that happened?  
From 6/10 to 8/26, we went 26-40.  Here are our numbers from that stretch.
SP - 318.2 ip, 5.28 era, 4.80 FIP
RP - 257.0 ip, 3.82 era, 4.80 FIP
Offense - 101 wRC+, .730 ops, .284 BABIP
Again, the offense was pretty similar but those starters....ugh.  
So?
On Jul10th, Garrett Richards pitched his last game for the halos.  He threw 2 innings on 6/12, 5.1 innings on 7/4, and 2.2 ip on 7/10.  To that point, he had an era in the mid 3's.  
On 6/6, Shohei made his second to last start.  He had a low 3's era to that point.  
We had 14 different guys makes starts in our last 97 games.  That's a 7 man rotation.  
The moral of this story?  
Let's hope that the addition of Harvey and Cahill can approximate what Ohtani and Richards were giving us.  Maybe they won't be quite as effective from an era standpoint, but lets hope that they'll pitch more innings as will Skaggs and Barria.  Which would decrease the number of crap innings from ancillary pen pieces.  
That with the minor additions to the offense should move the needle a decent amount.  

My first reaction to this was hell no but Troy can still be a good player (I think??) when healthy ( which is when?? ). Signing him means Ward & Flech start the year in the minors. 
Would hate to see Fletcher sent down but he won't be there too long. & while Ward wasnt as bad as he looked (.214 babip), we can't risk having holes in the lineup like that. If Troy is still good then this will raise the floor (damn I hate using that term, screw you dipoto) 

for many games this past year i’d screenshot Luis rocking the Louie Juice Jug and send it to all my friends playfully trash talking them about how great the Angels are and Louie is and now I see this... truly heartbreaking... while he wasn’t a star he was still one of my favorite Angels in a long time... RIP Luis... and thank you for all the joy you brought us

I loved Luis. Even when he struggled I still rooted for him because of his infectious attitude. Everyone seemed to love him and he played with his heart on his sleeve. And those bat flips were dope as hell. RIP

Sort of funny & sad that for a while he was our most consistent pitcher ? but I enjoyed a lot of his starts because he was very efficient & got to the 6th, 7th inning with like 70 pitches. 

Sort of funny & sad that for a while he was our most consistent pitcher ? but I enjoyed a lot of his starts because he was very efficient & got to the 6th, 7th inning with like 70 pitches. 

Marsh is blocked so he's exactly the kind of top-100, high upside prospect you'd be okay with losing. Canning would sting immediately, Jones would probably sting in 2021 when he's developed into a plus 2B who can hit while Realmuto is either gone or here on the wrong side of 30 making $18 mil a year from an extension.
Marsh, Suarez & Rengifo would be the ideal package but I think the Marlins will get better offers.

I also take the Top 27 hitters by plate appearance, three 'line-ups worth', ranked by plate appearances.

The '18 Angels: 
.265/.345/.400/.745 (2017 it was .264/.339/.386/.724, and in 2016 it was .258/.328.374/.702)

The '18 Astros: 
.267/.342/.423/.765

"With an old core and a terrible farm system, the Mariners don't have many options for the future."
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/with-an-old-core-and-a-terrible-farm-system-the-mariners-dont-have-many-options-for-the-future/

Baseball, you might have heard, is in trouble. On life support, even.
Its target audience is aging. TV ratings are a shadow of what they used to be (although the same can be said for plenty of other programming). All of the devices meant to cater to millennials haven’t roused them from Fortnite, Snapchat, etc.
We are overreacting a bit, aren’t we?
The reports of baseball’s demise are premature, but there are signs of concern, especially from within. Baseball people might be the most self-critical creatures in professional sports when it comes to examining their game and ways to improve it. That’s the genesis of pace-of-play initiatives and rumbling about infield shifts and what in the world do we do to make Mike Trout as popular elsewhere in America as he is in Orange County?
May I offer some suggestions? I mean, I’m sure if you follow the game you’ve thought of what you would do if you were Rob Manfred for a week or even a day.
Today it’s my turn, and here’s my platform:
1. TV exposure – widen it!
The Dodgers/Time Warner-Spectrum/DirecTV fiasco seemed to have been a tipping point in the relationship between baseball and cable networks, a warning of the dangers of overreaching … but rumblings are that the Cubs are thinking of going a similar route and launching their own network in the Chicago area. That, too, could get ugly.
Here’s a fix that solves two problems and should have been implemented years ago: Remove the “out-of-market” designation from the MLB.TV streaming service and the Extra Innings cable package. You pay, you get every single MLB game, home teams included, local commercials and all – including the Facebook Watch weekday games since there is no reason why that platform should have blanket exclusivity.
Opening up those platforms would give folks in L.A. who currently don’t have Spectrum another option. Additionally, it would remove what are patently ridiculous coverage restrictions in various regions. For example, people in Hawaii – 2,500 miles or so from California – can’t stream Dodgers, Angels, Giants, A’s and Padres games. Those in Las Vegas are prevented from watching all of those plus the Diamondbacks. And those in Des Moines are shut out of the Cubs, White Sox, Royals, Twins, Brewers and Cardinals. Absurd, isn’t it?
Another fix: Mandate that every MLB team put 40-50 games on local over-the-air TV, even if they’re simulcasts with the cable network. As we’ve often said in This Space, the first lesson of business is to seek out potential customers instead of forcing them to find you, and that includes cord-cutters. What sense does it make to limit your audience for the benefit of someone else’s bottom line?
2. Bring back the high strike.
With great fanfare, baseball reduced the strike zone 50 years ago from top of shoulders/bottom of knees to armpits/top of knees. Twenty years after that, with less fanfare, the top of the strike zone was lowered to the midpoint between the letters and the belt, meaning the top of the strike zone is now a couple of inches above the belly button.
Moving that upper boundary back to at least the pre-1988 limit will force hitters to swing the bat. The result: More action and a quicker pace.
3. The universal DH.
I never thought I’d write this, and people who have known me for a long time might be wondering what medication I’ve been taking. But it’s time to either adopt one set of rules for both leagues, or go to a 28- or 29-man roster in the National League as pitching staffs continue to expand.
After all, what’s more excruciating to watch? Pitchers hitting, aside from the Madison Bumgarners of the world? Or a position player pitching?
4. The electronic strike zone.
This is another innovation I didn’t expect I’d agree with, but the extreme variance – i.e., inconsistency – in various umpires’ strike zones suggests that its time has come.
Plus, a bonus: It will eliminate the emphasis on pitch framing. You can’t steal strikes if you can’t fool the electronic eye.
5. Banning, or limiting, shifts.
I know. This is the nuclear option. But a large part of the reason why baseball has become a Three True Outcomes sport – homer/walk/strikeout or nothing – has been data-driven defensive strategy, which has become so effective as to skew the game. Mandating two players on each side of second base would at least restore some of that balance.
6. Allow exuberance to flourish.
The complaints about how individual players are marketed – such as the apples/oranges question of why Trout can’t be as popular as LeBron James – don’t take into account the old-school “play the game the right way” mentality that remains so pervasive. If you are too flamboyant, show too much personality or otherwise violate the unwritten but sacred “code,” someone in either your clubhouse or your opponent’s will complain. (Or you’ll get a fastball in the ribs.)
It’s time to lighten up. Bat flips and celebrations are not a sin. Games in the World Baseball Classic between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, where everyone celebrates and no one gets mad, are as much fun as anything you’ll see on a baseball field. What can possibly be wrong with that?
And the more players’ personalities emerge, on and off the field, the easier it is to market them. Feel free to check with people in the NBA offices about the way that works.
One final thought: It is popular to assume that younger people aren’t so interested in baseball. I would argue that if you go to a game and sit in the stands, you’ll see evidence to the contrary.
jalexander@scng.com
@Jim_Alexander on Twitter 
View the full article

August 31, 2018

Salt Lake (70-66) lost 9-14 vs.  Fresno/HOU (8-56)
Hermosillo (LF/CF): 0-4 2 RBI, 2 K Rengifo: 0-4, BB, 4 K (oof) Blash: 1-4, R, 2B, BB, 2 K, OF assist Walsh: 2-5, R, HR (8), RBI, 2 K - 29th HR on the year, 99th RBI Fernandez: 2-5, 2 R, HR (17), RBI - HR in 3 straight games, and in last 11 games: .364/.440/.750/1.190 with 2 2B, 5 HR, 6 BB, 3 K Ackley: 3-4, 3 R, 2B, RBI - in AAA (71 G/237 AB): .291/.384/.405/.789 with 18 XBH, 37 BB, only 31 K, playing LF, 1B, and 2B Hudson: 4-4, R, 2 2B, 3 RBI - hitting .336/.392/.542/.934 since joining the Angels org (31 G, 109 AB) Rhoades: 0.2 IP, K Jerez: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, BB Way: IP, H, K - the outfielder now as a 2.84 ERA in 6.1 IP this season, allowing 6 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, and 5 K Mobile (65-68) lost 3-5 vs. Montgomery/TBR (77-60)
Jones: 2-4, R, 2B, 3B, K Gibbons: 2-4, BB, K Houchins: 1-4, R, HR (11), RBI Justus: 2-3, 2B, RBI, E (15) Gatto: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, K Inland Empire (67-70) lost 3-6 at Rancho Cucamonga/LAD (84-53)
Hunter, Jr.: left game in 1st, HBP Marsh: 2-5, R, 3 K MacKinnon: 2-4, 2B, BB - his August slash officially ends at .363/.487/.626/1.114 with 12 2B, 4 HR, 24 BB, 19 K in 27 G, 119 PA Leon: 1-3, R, HR (11), 3 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K Tavarez: 2 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 2 K Burlington (50-82) lost 2-5 vs. Cedar Rapids/MIN (76-60)
Rivas: 1-4, K Martinez: 1-4, RBI Menendez: 2-4, K Brady: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 7 K - 21 year-old reliever turned starter has had a decent conversion '18: 47.2 IP, .274 BAA, 4.72 ERA, 1 HR allowed, 15 BB, 47 K  Wantz: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, HR Orem (21-49) won 3-1 at Idaho Falls/KCR (38-32) in 7 innings
Jackson: 1-4, R, HR (2), 2 RBI, 2 K - 7th HR through first 38 pro games/155 at-bats Maitan: 0-4, K Swanda: 4 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 4 K - an okay year for the '17 4th Rd. pick: 9 GS, 25 IP, 5.40 ERA, .300 BAA, 6 BB, 24 K Orem (21-50) lost 1-6 at Idaho Falls/KCR (39-32) in 7 innings
Make-up from 7.26 postponement
Knowles: 0-4, 2 K Maitan: 0-2, BB Del Valle: 3-3

He has to get called up right?? Next year he has to be in the mix for the rotation but I wonder if they'll watch his innings since he's at 112 this year & only threw 70 last year. 

Hey everyone, how's going? Feeling good? Last night on the farm...
Rengifo! 3-5, 2 doubles - now slashing .354/.415/.604/1.019 in AAA and .319/.422/.489/.911 on the year! Hermosillo: 2-5, 3 K, Thaiss: 2-5 with a double and triple, Ward 3-4 with a double and walk 1B/RF Jared Walsh pitched again, and it was good! 1 inning, 1 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts. On the year, he has 5 G, 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (1.80 ERA, .211 BAA, 1.20 WHIP, 12.6 K9) Jahmai Jones with a big night! 3-3 with a double and 2 walks Jose Rojas, second half (26 G, 90 AB): .333/.398/.688/1.086 with 8 doubles, 8 homers Jo Adell since the Futures Game (7 G, 35 PA: .200/.294/.300/.594 Jorge Tavarez took the loss, but he's had a great year at Burlington/IE as a multi-inning reliever (28 G/60.1 IP): 2.39 ERA, .231 BAA, 1.21 WHIP - 22 walks, 72 strikeouts, 0 home runs Livan Soto is backing up the hype I'm trying to build: 3-5 with 2 doubles last night, hitting .395 in his last 10 games and .289/.379/.356/.734 on the year Francisco Del Valle 1-5 with a triple and 3 RBI Tim Millard hit HR #5; he's 23 and likely just beating up on inferior competition, but slashing .308/.408/.485/.893 on the year in Orem Jordyn Adams had a nice night: 3-4 with a double and SB, now slashing a fine .286/.407/.388/.795 through his first 5 games. Get the feeling he may develop more as a speed/OBP guy in contrast to Adell's raw power.  Trent Deveaux: 0-4, 3 K - he's still 18 but tough start for Trent. Lots of strikeouts (38 in 89 AB) but he's at least drawing walks too (11) D'Shawn Knowles: 1-3, BB - slashing a nice .316/.389/.411/.799 with 11 walks, 24 strikeouts, and 6 XBH in 25 G/95 AB - better yet? He's still only 17-years old.  UDFA Parker Joe Robinson, a 22-year old 6'5" RHP from Junipero Serra HS is pitching well in AZL: 13 IP, 0.69 (nice) ERA, .200 BAA, 0.77 WHIP, 1 walk, 13 strikeouts I haven't brought him up much this year, but I'm still watching 17-year old DSL IF Julio de la Cruz, who is slashing .200/.321/.356/.676 in 38 games. His 5 HR are 4th best in the league, and while he's striking out too much (46 in 135 AB) he's also walking at a good clip (14.5%) and to exhibit that much power and discipline at his age seems like it's worth keeping an eye on.