Duren, Duren

Until Pujols and Upton are both off the books I don't see how they can contend. Especially in a 162 game season. The bang for the buck that they provide is infinitesimal, and severely restricts the front office from boldly moving forward. No financial flexibility plus two roster spots where career minor leaguers could put up similar numbers. Build the minor league system, hold onto the best prospects, try and make some modest trades for younger players with upside. Wait a few years and reset with more resources.

It's one thing for a team with little talent to have this type of year. But even some of the expansion team 'lovable losers' were enthusiastic and perversely entertaining. Effort was not a problem. 1961 Angels, 1962 Mets, 1969 Expos and Seattle Pilots for instance. Probably the worst teams to watch are underachievers with lots of proven talent and huge salaries. Fat cats, pampered, no accountability, sense of entitlement. Lack of leadership, hustle and urgency from the core players. MIx in meddling ownership, questionable management and robotic coaching and we see the results. Obviously it's not just most of the rich veterans, because management has put together a weak talent pool around them. What frustrates me most is the indifferent passiveness we see game in and game out from the veterans. Hardly any sense of commitment to the collective team goals. Fans too factor in, watching personal stats more than how the chemistry works. Trout's MVPs, Pujols career chases, Ohtani's two way max potential, whether Rendon's numbers justify his salary ,Upton's power numbers. Maybe it's the fantasy game angle. The culture is rotten to the core.

Trout probably won't get a single vote for MVP. If he doesn't revert back to his 'normal' in the second half of this season it will open up questions no one dreamt of even asking.

Remember, Eppler is best buddies with Trout. Neighbors, commute together. You wouldn't want to hurt Trout's feelings by firing him.

What sort of message would it send to fans and players alike if you trade your consensus best prospect after twenty or so games? Adell has been hyped for years, and letting Calhoun go was just a necessary roster move to keep right field warm for him. We're those years of scouting reports and close observation so incredibly wrong? All his tangible were measured and evaluated inside and outside the organization. No red flags about intangibles. His learning curve was progressing normally. His coaches must have recognized strengths and weaknesses. Yet the minute he put on a major league uniform panic set in because he didn't immediately play as anticipated. So much has been invested in his future, yet a few weeks of play are being used to rush to final judgment. This is absolutely the worst time to even think of trading him. If other teams see the Angels as that desperate then there is no leverage at all. You just have to give him time and live with the growing pains. Many stars have had rough rookie seasons. Based on all data he eventually be at a solid player. Maybe then trade him if he doesn't become a dominant player. But by then the team will have some leverage. Fans lierally spend years analyzing each bit of minutia pertaining to the team's prospects. And then after a week or two in the big leagues become disenchanted with any signs of a slow learning curve.

The Jay's are incredibly hyped up about making the playoffs. A chance to show the successful rebuild is already paying dividends. Their entire marketing campaign has been about promoting this new wave of youth. Thus they will be aggressive buyers, doing what they could to win now. But they have promoted their new young core so much that I doubt they trade any of them. Beyond that they have minor league talent that they may sacrifice to acquire a proven veteran to get them over the hump. Also some youngish veterans who aren't critical to the lineup. In other words, they may possibly over pay for a rental. The Angels should have some leverage. Especially if they can extend negation to the last minutes before the deadline . Simmons is the most obvious short term difference maker. And LaStella is also a rental. Not sure how much they'd give up, but try to squeeze them. And maybe make it a bigger deal with Goodwin and almost any pitcher. Even Rengifo because their defensive infield is still inexperienced. By then you might be able to nibble at their best prospects and an established pitcher. I'd like to snare Telieze if possible as a long term power first baseman, but he's part of their regular mix.

Making excuses for Trout is pathetic. He's the highest paid, most honored player in the game. Heathy and in his prime. He has to be held accountable and scrutinized every game. And carry the team on his shoulders with production and leadership. He doesn't get a pass because he has the highest burden to carry. If he morphed into a sensitive snowflake then there are deeper problems to deal with. This arguably is or will be the most disappointing season in franchise history. A team with a half dozen proven stars who collectively crumple under adversity. What a horrid mess the salary cap is in. Rewarding the past but soft and gutless going into the future. A severe change of philosophy is need with no damn owner interference.

This is so counter intuitive. Thinking of flipping players like baseball cards right after just acquiring them. Too cute by half. You know, in real life a team needs stability and a chance to build chemistry. You just don't always project the future without even giving the present a chance to come together. Bundy has been one of the few positives this year. But that isn't good enough.So give away an asset for yet another player to enter the unending revolving door? And hope that it eventually makes a difference in a hypothetical future? What sort of chemistry and team solidarity even has a chance to develop when team mates who are a recent success story are flipped after a few months? Arm chair GMs so often lack the basic understanding of interpersonal dynamics that create winning conditions. It's all just mental masturbation and fantasy projection.

Could have been some real momentum and confidence builder. But again, it just slipped away. Looking for some clutch leadership.

The kind of game you just have find a way to win.

Screw you, Balmer. Go have a nice screaming session. Donald Sterling says hello.

When the team you cheer for fades from contention it becomes frustrating watching them on a day by day basis. There is a certain intellectual satisfaction watching the minutiae of the game, but it loses some of the spark knowing the team is just playing out the schedule. At that point I just select an isolated game here or there and try to enjoy it without thinking of the standings or team problems. Just treat the game as a one off and not fixate on individuals. There are also so many other sports that provide a different rush and have their own dynamics. A contrast to baseball can be refreshing. The in game live experience is different. Nothing beats the ambiance of the old ball park. Score cards, food, camaraderie, radio headphones, ability to focus on different positions. Good team or bad. I went to hundreds of Expos games and the experience was always fun. Even with the hapless expansion teams of Gene Mauch. (73 wins in 73 was the rallying cry that year.) When they got good it was even more fun. Mind you, I was a kid in the early years and had a strong emotional attachment. In the decades since I moved away I haven't been to a lot of games. So there is nostalgia factor too. But personally, my passion is hockey! Played on frozen ponds when I was five, and various pickup and college leagues in my twenties and thirties. As a fan and regular spectator at the old Montreal Forum I saw some of the greatest teams and players in history. Time has dampened the fire I felt, but I have a humongous autograph collection with signatures of every single Hab that played at least one game for them from the fifties through nineties. My therapeutic window into tradition and continuity of greatness. Also a Forty Niner fan. So many great teams and players. I even went to their training camp in Rocklin in the mid nineties. But I've become more cynical about football and just watch an isolated game now and then. And if anyone is looking for very different sport, watch Aussie Rules Football. The players are insane, with no equipment and colliding at top speed. But high energy and exciting when you learn the rules. A unique feature is that after every game the winning team forms a circle in their dressing room and sing the team song. Check stuff out on YouTube if you don't have access to broadcasts. Looks like Port Adelaide is the team to beat.

The unintended consequences of trading Fletcher mess up the entire infield, and almost force a La Stella signing and possible Simmons too. Or trade away other assets and/ or gamble with expensive free agents. But Rengifo becomes possibly the biggest question. Do they believe his hitting upside Is good enough to compensate for Fletcher or just accept that he will just be a weak hitting second baseman? I don't expect much offense from him, but many teams live with a strong defensive middle infielder who will always hit 8th/9th in the lineup. Anyone can be traded for the right price. But Fletcher has value in multiple ways. The Angels would need proven major league quality pitching, and a solid pitching prospect in return. Or maybe a proven infielder instead of the prospect. I don't see a trade upcoming, and maybe that"s for the best.

He came in with amazing pride and self confidence. Somewhere along the way he seems to have lost that. Injuries may have had a cumulative negative mental and physical affect. Losing his pitching ability may have created doubt about the type of player he wanted to be. He has regressed so much in his hitting that he looks nothing like the batter he was for two years. And don't discount cultural isolation and language in the dressing room and dugout. There are certain forms of team bonding and chemistry that are subliminal and important. These aren't isolated robots or emotionless mercenaries. He may be a good guy and does his best, but after some years the connection with the rest of the team and coaches could get strained. Especially when facing adversity. His ambitions were so high that he can't seem to handle failure.

Ohtani may go down as one of the strangest one year wonders ever. Seemingly with unlimited two way potential, injuries have ruined his pitching career. And his hitting has regressed to below major league level. Has cultural/linguistic isolation from his team mates factored in? He seemed have unlimited confidence and ambition. But that was when he was going good. Was that that quickly dissipated because he can't handle the humiliation of failure? Is he even a valuable trade asset anymore or a flawed novelty act? Whatever, he will have his place on the list of one year wonders if he doesn't turn things around.

Here's a novel idea. Keep the team mostly intact and let this fake season play itself out. No panic. 60 games puts extra pressure on veterans to reach optimum production levels very quickly. A 20 or 30 game slump normally can be overcome with a hot rest of the year. This year it basically ruins a season for individuals. Fletcher, Trout, Rendon and Ohtani were supposed to be the heart of the offense. Fletcher is the only one of them who has played close enough to his best so far. Over 162 games they should revert to norm. I do worry about the regression in Ohtani, but he deserves a full season to see if he self corrects as a hitter. But if his pitching career is over or marginalized then he has to prove he deserves an everyday roster spot. I also would trade him if the return brought back some major league pitching. Adell needs a bigger window to show what he can do. His major league career has been rushed and expectations have been for immediate success. Wait till next year and let him work through a conventional rookie growing curve. He shouldn't be prematurely judged. All we really have seen from him are about a dozen or so games. We are stuck with Upton and Pujols next year. The odds are that they improve somewhat because they can't be much worse. Over this 60 game season the old guys just never got going. Untradable, so next year they should be used only in minor platooning, pinch hitting and DH roles. Obscenely expensive deadwood. But no other options. Maybe give Pujols to the Cards if they eat even a fraction of his salary. Goodwin has proven he has value. Possibly the best trade asset. But corner outfield positions have become a weakness. Catchers are a patchwork mix, but acceptable till a better option comes along. Is Rengifo more important as a trade asset or starter? Depends on what happens with Simmons and the infield. With the salary cap always a factor I can't see them resigning Simmons. So get Rengifo more starts the rest of this year and see how he does. La Stella is a modest positive, especially if he becomes adequate at first. But the salary cap again limits options. Ideally he too should get more starts there or wherever they feel is his best position. Pitching is so volatile that I can't even think long term. But during this shortened season each game is magnified. Over 162 games you get a much better evaluation. Bundy looks like a positive addition. Teheran still an unknown longer term. Heaney, Canning. Sandoval are decent mid to late rotation starters. All could be trade pieces for the right deal, but maybe at least one or two still progress enough during a 162 game season. A consistent bullpen ace is strongly needed. What we've seen this year is almost total chaos. Some great sequences but more often arson inducing. And again, this short season only allows a very limited amount of games to judge. The Angels can't be panic traders. I wouldn't jump into a big trade at this deadline. Bite the bullet the rest of this year and reassess in the off season. They have the best player in the game, another top ten all star and a better than average hitting core. Focus on quality pitchers. You have to give up assets to acquire others, so no one is untradable. But pitching assets are a much higher priority than hitters. Any of Fletcher, Goodwin Rengifo, Adell, might bring back that pitching. But the return has to make the team better than they were before.

To get on winning streak you need consistent, dependable pitching and clutch hitting. Especially with men in scoring position. Not to mention being sound on defense and the bases. You simply can't beat yourself with mistakes. Once a small winning streak starts it can raise team morale and confidence and lead to a longer spell of winning baseball. Even thinking positively, it's hard to project this team becoming consistently extra good for the rest of the year. We knew the pitching was going to be a problem, but thought the hitters would compensate by outscoring the runs allowed. The team scores, but often not in clutch, game changing situations. And no one factored in defense and base running that would directly lead to losses. A lot was expected from Maddon. A change of culture. Innovative strategy. A boost in team morale. Underwhelming in a game by game basis. As if he's in an experimental mindset and his intuition and instincts still a work in progress. Empirically, for the club to finish above .500 each game has to be treated as a war. Intense focus in clutch situations. Pitchers able to work out of jams and keep the scores respectable. Hitters coming through in close games and driving in runs. Maybe some unexpected in game strategy moves, like more bunting, hit and run, stolen bases. Even more pinch running and earlier defensive changes. They need a real shakeup to get out of this defeatist lethargy. Players have to be selfless, forget about personal stats, slumps and what happened the game before. Go out and isolate on each inning and build from there. Momentum starts modestly, but can grow from there.

How humiliating for the Angels. And baseball. There are unwritten rules factoring respect and reputation. This game situation had no strategic or competitive purpose. If it was really unintentionally wild then the catcher should have said something to Trout. And the lazy ump was just waiting for the monotonous game to end and couldn't be bothered with a warning. Such a passive team with little fire or aggression. Another lukewarm response litmus test to the Angels character. No one even outraged or taking a step to the top of the dugout.

Baseball is a prisoner of it's tradition and it's stats. Minor tweaks are fine, but the length of a game is a structural fundamental that defines the entire record book No hitters, perfect games, hitting streaks and extraordinary batting performances would be comparatively different than if achieved under shorter inning times. For instance, there are many rain shortened no hitters that don't even get acknowledged as significant in the record books. What would it do to the stats of great workhorse, strikeout pitchers if they had two less innings to play? No way they ever challenge history. Hitters going for the cycle in a late at bat? Or needing another at bat for a landmark achievement? Stamina would not be a big deal for pitchers. Starters now become long relievers. Complete games would be incomplete historically speaking. Closers could come in the 6th inning. The Indy 500 requires racing the same distance every year. Take away 22% and it's the Indy 390. Changes everything about strategy and cheapens the result compared to past winners. Game time and clock time are different. Speed up the game by reducing some of the stalling and time wasting. The extra inning change this season is an insult to how runs are manufactured. Circumstances are so unusual that the change is understandable temporarily, but it would mess with the integrity of the rules. If an early run is prioritized in extra innings, then why be half assed and not start with the runner on third? Probably end the game quicker if that's the objective.

Need to play .605 ball to get to .500 at the end. Win 23/38. At this moment, an incredible challenge to reach mediocrity. A group of individuals with little identity as a team unit. With mostly defeatist body language. Team chemistry is more than a set of statistics on paper. Sure don't see or hear much leadership from the core veterans either.

Now is the time to dig deep and gut out a hot streak. Get to .500 and build from there. Momentum is finally positive. Stability starting to sink in. Averages slowly climbing, power exploding, pitching mostly respectable. Defense a work in progress. They are now almost totally dependant on the long ball for scoring, so some more 'small ball' could be important when facing tough pitching. Nice to see them turn the corner. Pick up where they left off last year against the Dodgers. Try and recapture some of that emotion.

Early Mantle (1950s) has to be on the list of all time sustained great peak years. Injuries literally crippled his full potential, starting in the W.S. Of 1951, his rookie year. Switch hitter with power from both sides, elite on base and average hitter as well. Tremendous speed even after his knee injuries, great range as a center fielder. And enormous pressure under the New York spotlight as DiMaggio's successor. The closest physical version of Trout you can find. The legendary New York centerfield trio of the fifties was deserving of their status. Mantle, Mays, Snider. All HOF, and World Series winners in their early prime. Mantle and Mays get all the recognition but Snider was nearly equal in his prime. Probably unprecedented and unlikely ever to be matched. Especially with three teams in one city. And the same metropolitan city, not separated by many miles.

One of the problems about focusing on supposed elite prospects is that often inflates expectations. Often fans literally spend years projecting what they see in amateur, low and higher minor leagues into an idealized final major league product. But scouting is an inexact science. The gulf between a prospect in baseball and the other major sports is much bigger. With a risky learning curve. Patience is needed before jumping to conclusions with a small sample size. Even a year or two in the majors may not be definitive.

Time for a trade. The team is slipping into a dysfunctional group of individuals who can't play in sync as a unit. And no sign of progress from most of the key position players. The chemistry is just not working on offense or in the field. But little leverage with a bunch of big names and contracts and little production. Another week and it will be near the one third mark of the season. Roughly equal to about the 50 game point in a normal year. A shakeup is needed.