oldguy

Buyout Pujols last year.

But they also got quite a few future all-stars and a Cy Young winner.

I disagree. He has the right to do what he wants with the team (he just isn't good at it). The Angels say its a business, but it is also a labor-of-love for the owners. That being said, someday I would love to read a tell-all on the dynamics of the owner/front office/manager since Arte bought the club.

Frank Tanana....."Next year we got everyone coming back.......and THAT'S THE PROBLEM!"

It was such a big deal at the time, "Guns in the Clubhouse!!!"

and...have you ever seen a MLB hitter step in the bucket like Ohtani. Something mental is going on.

'71 through '77 was a horrible run. It's what made '79 so exciting.

Yeah, but the lack of defensive skills is alarming. When we were playing the Giants, Adell caught a medium-depth flyball with Baby Panda on third. I thought to myself, "This will be close." Instead, Adell catches the ball flat-footed, goes into this crow-hop trying to gain momentum, takes a day and a half to wind up his arm, and the throw (which was weak), was cutoff. He has a looooong way to go.

Was today clutch?

Umm.......no. You're grasping at straws here, Jeff.

except "clutch"

Oh, and Moose Stubing was not a "clutch" third-base coach.

Ha! If I was the most clutch, "feel no pressure" individual in the history of sports, I still wouldn't be a pro athlete (neither would you). But I WOULD win more of my $3 golf bets.

Then use your eyes. Here's an example (anecdotal). DeCinces was not clutch. Who was it that popped out in extra innings with less than two outs and a runner (the winning run) on third in Game 5, 1986 vs. Boston? How did you feel when Benjie came up in the clutch (even when he was with the Giants)? I always felt he was going to put solid wood on the ball (and he did). How did you feel last night when Trout came up in the bottom of the 8th? We are all experienced fans. We know clutch when we see it.

Bull. Clutch is those nerves you feel. I'm not clutch, had no feel for the ball at the free throw line when it mattered, my golf partners won't give me a 1 foot putt under pressure because they've seen what happens.

Just the "clutch" stats from Fangraphs. Can't find them anywhere else.

Yep. Its very obvious in sports like golf. If you look at the all-time Angel leaders in "Clutch", its exactly who you would expect. Benjie Molina, Spezio, Erstad, Boone, Kole Calhoun, Figgins, Fletch.

He has the worst clutch numbers in MLB year after year. I know, I know ...but when you watch him, he just isn't clutch. Perhaps I expect too much since he's Trout. But it seems like he does all his damage in the early innings. Also, in his one playoff series, he performed horribly. There's just something about that look in his eyes...it doesn't say "killer-instinct". I also think he's very aware. Under pressure, I think you want the player who is a little too dense to understand the gravity of the situation. The Lenny Dykstra types. Honestly, I no longer expect anything of him in clutch situations. I no longer expect anything of Pujols, Upton, and our bullpen in any situations.

1) Release Pujols and sign a retired Kendrys Morales (thus, admitting our previous mistake). 2) Release Upton and sign a retired Josh Hamilton or Vernon Wells or Gary Matthews Jr. or Jose Guillen for league minimum. 3) Untrade Clevinger and Corbin (and Carney Lansford, Dante Bichette, Rudy May, Ed Figueroa, Jerry Remy, Leon Wagner, Jason Thompson, Dave Collins, Mickey Rivers, ...)

I don't know that he would have hit a double, but he definitely would have protected the plate with two strikes. He may have hit the first pitch down the right-field line for a double (or probably not, he doesn't swing often at first pitches).

Those pitches he took were all borderline. If he starts swinging at those he's going to be an average player very soon. Strike-zone discipline is part of what makes him so great. You put his ability to discern hit-able pitches into every brain on our roster and we win the world series (oh, wait.....our bullpen).

The club has made moronic decisions since they fired Eddie Bane. The 2009 draft was the last/great personnel decision we made.

Arte is making the decision to waste Trout's prime years with those two. Unfortunately, its not over after this year.