Second Base

He was great with black people, as long as they played in their own league. Couldn't have any Satchel Paige MFers showing him up.

Again. Lol. The old school white vs white racism always gives me a chuckle.
Its like the mexican / salvadorian thing to white people.

He was great with black people, as long as they played in their own league. Couldn't have any Satchel Paige MFers showing him up.

My favorite part is you completely ignoring the part where I'm actually right that pitchers weren't throwing hard back then.
But yeah, smaller guy than Trout, none of the modern advantages, he for sure hit the ball 600 feet. That checks out.

Makes sense to me. Back then if you grab a woman's butt, it's a compliment. But out here, it makes you a pervert....or a porn star.

True, but he augmented it with his equal distrust of the Jews.

The best part about Ruth was his distrust of the Irish.

The best part about Ruth was his incredible stride as he ran the bases. 

Ok so he's fine, it's just playing roster games? Scared me there for a second.
Remember when the team was totally gung ho over a 6 man rotation? 
Well in order to have that, we neeed healthy starters. 

Walks definitely came into focus during the Dipoto regime.  He never drafted properly or had any international presence which hurt, but Dipoto at least flipped it from the Reagins era.
Eppler has a much more complex more complete organizational philosophy. Dipoto over-simplified it and believed walks = on base percentage (in my opinion).  Dipoto was a big believer in the 5+ pitch at bat. 
Whereas Eppler has encouraged swinging at first pitch strikes, taking walks, picking your pitch, and swinging hard at it.
So far the results favor Eppler.
Our hitters are more aggressive, but are doing more damage too. I think this is at least partly what is causing the uptick in walks. Our hitters are less predictable, more dangerous and pitchers are being more careful, pitching around them.
It's just a theory that what reflects what I believed is a more well-rounded approach to hitting and prospect development in general.

Walks definitely came into focus during the Dipoto regime.  He never drafted properly or had any international presence which hurt, but Dipoto at least flipped it from the Reagins era.
Eppler has a much more complex more complete organizational philosophy. Dipoto over-simplified it and believed walks = on base percentage (in my opinion).  Dipoto was a big believer in the 5+ pitch at bat. 
Whereas Eppler has encouraged swinging at first pitch strikes, taking walks, picking your pitch, and swinging hard at it.
So far the results favor Eppler.
Our hitters are more aggressive, but are doing more damage too. I think this is at least partly what is causing the uptick in walks. Our hitters are less predictable, more dangerous and pitchers are being more careful, pitching around them.
It's just a theory that what reflects what I believed is a more well-rounded approach to hitting and prospect development in general.

That and I think the Angels probably need to actively protect their starters from injury right now. It's a long season and we're already down Ramirez and Shoemaker, which in conjunction with not having Alex Meyer and Nate Smith hurts our depth. We've had a scare with Heaney too.
What starters they actually have need to stay healthy, and if that means only throwing 85 pitches or 6 innings then fine. 
I think the consensus at the beginning of the season was if our starters stay healthy, we'll win. So if health is ultimately what will determine the Angels winning and losing, Scioscia should take every conservative measure necessary.

Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell both had two glaring weaknesses and a few unquestionable strengths to their game entering this season.
We know that both are very good hitters for their age. They're both very fast and strong and they both can play top notch defense. They are great, young prospects.
We also know that both didn't see a ton of pitches they didn't like last year. They expanded their zones, weren't working walks, would run on hot and cold streaks, etc.  They were undisciplined, unrefined. The fact that their overall lines looked so good speaks more about their ability to swing a bat, but not of their ability to adjust.
Marsh and Adell should not be promoted until they show that their ability to adjust, ability to work pitchers and at bats has exceeded that of A Ball.
That hasn't happened yet.
It doesn't matter if you're hitting .400 in A Ball like Vlad and Bichette last year, teams want to see growth.
Talent is NOT an indicator that someone should be promoted. Chevy Clarke and Ryan Boldeb were oozing talent.
Production isn't either. 
Growth is measured in adjustments.
Both Marsh and Adell have shown more ability to work a walk than they did last year. But this may be just an anomaly. It's early, pitchers are having trouble throwing strikes in A Ball right now. They're also showing that last year's strengths are still strengths.
But there is only one indicator that will inevitably answer your questions as to whether or not they're ready. Time. Give them time. Time to show growthor time to struggle, time to work past the struggles, time to grow, time to develop.
Everyone is so eager to see them promoted but this is a 19 and 20 year old kid. They won't be major leaguers at 20. There are so few of those anyway, so let's stop trying to force that narrative. 
They aren't ready yet. Marsh needs time on the field, and Adell isn't even healthy right now. And it isn't as if Marsh is clearly so far above the competition in A Ball anyway. Sure, he's doing a solid job, but he isn't tearing them apart the way that Trout and Buxton did.
If the Angels promote them both next week, great. But they'd be equally as justified in keeping both Marsh and Adell in A Ball for the entire season regardless of production.
So patience. They haven't shown ANYTHING yet. They will though.

Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell both had two glaring weaknesses and a few unquestionable strengths to their game entering this season.
We know that both are very good hitters for their age. They're both very fast and strong and they both can play top notch defense. They are great, young prospects.
We also know that both didn't see a ton of pitches they didn't like last year. They expanded their zones, weren't working walks, would run on hot and cold streaks, etc.  They were undisciplined, unrefined. The fact that their overall lines looked so good speaks more about their ability to swing a bat, but not of their ability to adjust.
Marsh and Adell should not be promoted until they show that their ability to adjust, ability to work pitchers and at bats has exceeded that of A Ball.
That hasn't happened yet.
It doesn't matter if you're hitting .400 in A Ball like Vlad and Bichette last year, teams want to see growth.
Talent is NOT an indicator that someone should be promoted. Chevy Clarke and Ryan Boldeb were oozing talent.
Production isn't either. 
Growth is measured in adjustments.
Both Marsh and Adell have shown more ability to work a walk than they did last year. But this may be just an anomaly. It's early, pitchers are having trouble throwing strikes in A Ball right now. They're also showing that last year's strengths are still strengths.
But there is only one indicator that will inevitably answer your questions as to whether or not they're ready. Time. Give them time. Time to show growthor time to struggle, time to work past the struggles, time to grow, time to develop.
Everyone is so eager to see them promoted but this is a 19 and 20 year old kid. They won't be major leaguers at 20. There are so few of those anyway, so let's stop trying to force that narrative. 
They aren't ready yet. Marsh needs time on the field, and Adell isn't even healthy right now. And it isn't as if Marsh is clearly so far above the competition in A Ball anyway. Sure, he's doing a solid job, but he isn't tearing them apart the way that Trout and Buxton did.
If the Angels promote them both next week, great. But they'd be equally as justified in keeping both Marsh and Adell in A Ball for the entire season regardless of production.
So patience. They haven't shown ANYTHING yet. They will though.

That and I think the Angels probably need to actively protect their starters from injury right now. It's a long season and we're already down Ramirez and Shoemaker, which in conjunction with not having Alex Meyer and Nate Smith hurts our depth. We've had a scare with Heaney too.
What starters they actually have need to stay healthy, and if that means only throwing 85 pitches or 6 innings then fine. 
I think the consensus at the beginning of the season was if our starters stay healthy, we'll win. So if health is ultimately what will determine the Angels winning and losing, Scioscia should take every conservative measure necessary.

Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell both had two glaring weaknesses and a few unquestionable strengths to their game entering this season.
We know that both are very good hitters for their age. They're both very fast and strong and they both can play top notch defense. They are great, young prospects.
We also know that both didn't see a ton of pitches they didn't like last year. They expanded their zones, weren't working walks, would run on hot and cold streaks, etc.  They were undisciplined, unrefined. The fact that their overall lines looked so good speaks more about their ability to swing a bat, but not of their ability to adjust.
Marsh and Adell should not be promoted until they show that their ability to adjust, ability to work pitchers and at bats has exceeded that of A Ball.
That hasn't happened yet.
It doesn't matter if you're hitting .400 in A Ball like Vlad and Bichette last year, teams want to see growth.
Talent is NOT an indicator that someone should be promoted. Chevy Clarke and Ryan Boldeb were oozing talent.
Production isn't either. 
Growth is measured in adjustments.
Both Marsh and Adell have shown more ability to work a walk than they did last year. But this may be just an anomaly. It's early, pitchers are having trouble throwing strikes in A Ball right now. They're also showing that last year's strengths are still strengths.
But there is only one indicator that will inevitably answer your questions as to whether or not they're ready. Time. Give them time. Time to show growthor time to struggle, time to work past the struggles, time to grow, time to develop.
Everyone is so eager to see them promoted but this is a 19 and 20 year old kid. They won't be major leaguers at 20. There are so few of those anyway, so let's stop trying to force that narrative. 
They aren't ready yet. Marsh needs time on the field, and Adell isn't even healthy right now. And it isn't as if Marsh is clearly so far above the competition in A Ball anyway. Sure, he's doing a solid job, but he isn't tearing them apart the way that Trout and Buxton did.
If the Angels promote them both next week, great. But they'd be equally as justified in keeping both Marsh and Adell in A Ball for the entire season regardless of production.
So patience. They haven't shown ANYTHING yet. They will though.

So I checked out Tropeano’s game logs this morning.  He has four starts and each start he has pitched between 88 and 91 pitches.  Each start he has been replaced mid-inning.  I would venture to say he is on a strict pitch count, and I would also assume that is due to being fresh off of TJ surgery. 

Skaggs TJ was in September of 2014.   
Tropeano's was in September of 2016.
Do you need any further explanation of the difference between the two?

I like Eppler's bullpen philosophy. Acquire for very cheap as many options as possible and letting all unfold.
Blake Parker - Earned a spot because of his dominant performance last year. But as we've seen, we won't be trusting him unless he gives them a reason to.
Key Middleton and Cam Bedrosian are largely in the same boat. 
Jim Johnson has shown his career isn't over yet. Jose Alvarez looks better this year than he has in any years past. Minor leaguers Eduardo Paredes and Justin Anderson earned their way onto this roster. 
Noe Ramirez is spinning the ball like he belongs. Blake Wood looks like he'll return soon, if that's worth anything.
Low cost acquisitions such as Felix Pena, Vicente Campos, Dayan Diaz, Akeel Morris provide depth.
Next year, we'll have Alex Meyer and JC Ramirez coming back and likely going to the bullpen. 
 

and let's think of it this way.  Anyone worth anything in the 2010 draft would have been traded away by Dipoto anyway.  
 

I think for the most part, the 12 month thing is NOT accurate. I think it takes 12 to simply be healthy enough to return. But the get full velocity, command of pitches and a feel for off-speed pitches back, I think it's usually more like 18-24 months.

Valbuena can still hit. He isn't lost, he just isn't getting hits right now. Plus he's a hugely positive presence in the clubhouse. 
JMF will likely be up at some point this year. I'm not sure if it will be through injury, or performance based, but it feels like he's too good of a hitter not to be a major leaguer.

The Angels offseason says a lot about their intentions. This wasn't a winter where we were targeting the Daniel Nava, Craig Gentry, Johnny Giavotella types. We brought in Ohtani, Upton, Cozart, Kinsler...
The Angels intend to compete this year. Bringing in a rookie to fill a key role in the starting staff does not line up with that. 
Unless Canning makes a metric ton of growth in the next couple months (as in he grows from projectable prospect into legitimate mid or front of the rotation starter), he will NOT be with the Angels this year.
The Angels have enough pitching and payroll space to get them to the deadline and acquire a starter that fits into the front or middle of their rotation.
Canning figures to be an integral part of the 2019 rotation though.

If I were Richards, I wouldn't bean Didi as much as I'd assertively announce that the inside part of my domain by firing a couple 97 mph fastball right at his hands. It sets me up the rest of the game and is a subtle way of responding to the curtain call.

The more I watch Rengifo's videos and AB's, the more I like. There's something there folks. The Angels didn't lose Cron for nothing. Rengifo could turn into a pretty good role player someday.