mustard relish sauerkraut

I thought it was a Big Apple salute to the effect "you didn't do it on our stage. Come back when you're good."

Interesting how quickly things can change. Two years ago, the top four players according to fWAR were Alex Bregman, Mike Trout, Christian Yelich, and Cody Bellinger. I'll add two more names: Anthony Rendon at 7th and Mookie Betts at 9th.
Now look at how those six are doing this year, ranked by fWAR among players with 50+ PA:
25. Betts: .253/.371/.471, 136 wRC+, 2.5 fWAR
33. Trout: .333/.466/.624, 193 wRC+, 2.3 fWAR 
102. Bregman: .275/.359/.428, 120 wRC+, 1.2 fWAR
134. Yelich: .253/.409/.404, 127 wRC+, 0.9 fWAR 
206. Bellinger: .224/.348/.382, 108 wRC+, 0.5 fWAR
223. Rendon: .230/.313/.360, 87 wRC+, 0.4 fWAR
Betts is having a solid year, and not far from his typical season (2018 clearly looking to be an outlier). His numbers are slowly creeping up, and chances are he finishes around 6 WAR, but if I'm the Dodgers I'm wondering if a 12-year contract was such a great idea. Trout has been injured, but was his usual great self. But the others...all have fallen through the roof. 
Meanwhile, a new group of "young gods" have risen up to replace the "titans." The Three Juniors--Vlad, Tatis, and Acuna--are in the top 4 (along with a resurgent/healthy Carlos Correa) and--along with Juan Soto (who has underperformed this year) and new pup Wander Franco--considered to be the future top players in the game, a future which has already arrived.
What is striking is how quickly this has changed. This is not to say that some or all of the above players won't bounce back, but it also seems that a sea change is occurring, a youth movement, if you will. Even if those guys bounce back, they will find the top to be a more crowded place, and most of them have likely been surpassed already by the top young players.
It isn't like it is only this year. Bregman, Yelich, Bellinger, and Trout all had down years (relatively speaking) in 2020, but it was easy to write that off as the result of the unusual nature of that season. But now I'm not so sure. Trout's ability is still there, and for a while it looked like he had actually improved, but then he slumped mightily and was injured, so at the very least, even if he remains the best player in the sport for another few years, it will be with the phantom of an injury-prone label. 
I don't know what is up with the other three. It could be that Bregman was greatly benefited in 2018-19 by the Astros nefarious approach, and has simply dropped down to his true talent level. But Yelich and Bellinger? The latter has been injured most of the year, but both seem like shadows of their 2019 selves.
The times they are a-changin, or just off-years coinciding, or maybe somewhere in between?

Definitely watching the HRD and ASG now. 

He looks like a dad who thinks he can still cut it with the kids, I was genuinely expecting that clip to end with a face-plant. 

Take care of Seattle this weekend and the Angels could be in third place. 
You know, just like the Dodgers. 

What a stress free, fun game to watch. Also loved the MLB Network crew and guests tonight. 
 

This thread is like a bunch of dudes looking up their old girlfriend on Facebook to see if she's still fat. 

Mets: Well he seemed like a great guy when we hired him...

Yep. This is the problem with his body type: lots of weight on his legs. We saw it destroy Albert's career. At the least, the dude needs to take up yoga.

Jered Weaver. He might be brilliant, he might be awful, but it would definitely be fun.

A really superb win today.  How 'bout that Gosselin?!

A really superb win today.  How 'bout that Gosselin?!

Damn, that's right, we don't have Pujols around to hit that 9th-inning homer to make it 15-1, which he then celebrates in the dugout for three minutes. 

The axolotl not only regenerates limbs, they can also rebuild their jaws, spines, and even brains without any scarring. 

Here is a picture of an axolotl with a wizard hat on. 

I love that Korheiser and Wilbon still call the team The California Angels.

They should have given him the ichiro farewell tour 2 years ago. 

It's not a coincidence that the day I got vaccinated that this happened. The shot works people. 

I think it was this play that was the final straw: https://www.mlb.com/video/alex-claudio-in-play-run-s-to-kevin-kiermaier?q=BatterId %3D [595281] Order By Timestamp DESC&cp=MIXED&p=0
 

They are probably lowering all the flags in Busch Stadium to half mast as we speak in Alberts honor.

Not sure how I feel about this.  After all this time, in his last year, to just cut him after the FO benches him feels like dirty pool.  It’s not like he’s singlehandedly cost us these games and certainly isn’t a damn pitcher.
this feels wrong in so many ways to treat a first ballot HOFer this way this late in his contract.
I am not saying we are not better off without him by any means, but it doesn’t feel like something the Angels would do. 
there’s got to be more to this story.  A lot more.  I really hope he requested it.  and that the decision was his.  Then at least we’d have clear conscience?  But on the surface we look like aholes
 
Update: sounds like Albert asked for it, so be it then.  Again I’ve wanted him to walk away the last couple years.  So yeah we are better off.  Just the timing is so freaking bizarre.  We tolerated his mediocre numbers for 9 years, and this year wasn’t any different, yet they make the call now to cut him?  Not in spring?  Not in the off-season when we could’ve gotten pitching.  Just weird, isn’t it.
and sad that such an amazing career is going out like this.  Fizzling out with deflating ballon noise and negativity and controversy.  What a shame.
but...moving on