Angelsjunky

August 16, 2013
 
ANAHEIM, California  - Even as the Los Angeles Angels are no longer in the hunt for a playoff spot, 14 games out of a wildcard berth and 15.5 games out of first place, superstar outfielder, Mike Trout, has more on his mind: his WAR.
 
WAR is a term used by sabermetric analysts (aka stat-nerds) as a catchall number to express a player's total value in the form of "Wins Above Replacement" - that is, how good a player is relative to a hypothetical "replacement player" - the type of player that any team could easily find in AAA as a replacement for a major league caliber starter - players such as Paul McAnulty, Andrew Romine, Robb Quinlan and Josh Hamilton. It has gained in popularity over the last few years and is now the most commonly used sabermetric statistic used among stat-heads and on baseball forums.
 
WAR is no laughing matter to Mike Trout, however, who wakes up every morning and, even before eating breakfast, gets online and checks his WAR - both at Fangraphs.com and Baseball-Reference.com. I met Trout in his hotel room in Anaheim at 8:00am. "Damn," he says frowning, his voice slurred by a mouthful of breakfast cereal as he scans his iPhone. "My dWAR is down again - I should've let Kole get that ball because it messed with my Total Zone Rating!"
 
When asked which source he prefers, Trout hesitated and then said "Both are useful, but Fangraphs seems more accurate," he paused, "at least this year. They have my WAR at 8.2 while BR has it at 6.8. Can you imagine?" He looks up from his bowl, milk dripping from the corners of his mouth. Then he grabs the Pop Tarts out of the toaster and eats one in three bites.
 
"We should be paid based on WAR," Trout said, as he pulled a plate mounded with a half dozen scrambled eggs and ten strips of bacon from the breakfast cart. "My salary should be over forty million bucks this year - can you imagine all the cool stuff I could get for my basement with that kind of dough?" Trout referred to the finished basement of his parents home in South New Jersey.
 
WAR has become an obsession for the newly 22-year old outfielder. He first discovered it when, early in the summer after reaching third base playing the Detroit Tigers, Miguel Cabrera said to him with a smirking smile, "How's your WAR, amigo?" At the time, unbeknownst to Trout, Cabrera led the majors in WAR. Trout left the game scratching his head, unsure what Miggy was talking about. When he asked various members of the Angels coaching staff, none seemed to know.
 
"Then I made the mistake of asking Sosh," Trout said, pausing as his fork entered a stack of eight pancakes smothered in butter and maple syrup. "He just looked at me for like ten seconds with that Sosh look on his face, then walked away." Trout visibly shuddered, took a huge bite of pancakes, then continued, still chewing as he spoke. "Then Petey [bourjos] pulled me aside and whispered in my hear, 'Never mention WAR or any other advanced metric to Scioscia. Never."
 
What followed for Trout was what he described as an "initiation" into the world of "advanced metrics." He soon discovered that there was a small group on the team - including Bourjos, Mark Trumbo, and Chris Iannetta - who secretly checked their WAR and analyzed deep statistics. "Kole and Grant are into it too," Trout said, smiling. "Evidently everyone is in Oakland."
 
Trout attributes this new awareness of WAR and advanced statistics to his improved hitting over the last month or two, leading to an increased walk rate, a decreased strikeout rate, and overall better offensive value. "Every little thing matters," he said. When asked if he meant with regards to winning a game, he shook his head. "Nah, I mean I suppose that too, but I'm talking about WAR. Every little thing. That's why I'm taking more walks. Its a sure thing for an increase in WAR. I might walk 150, 200 times next year."
 
"The key," he continued, "Is to keep my Ultimate Zone Rating up, as well as steal bases at a rate that keeps my Ultimate Baserunning and Weighted Total Base Runs healthy....wait, did you see that?!" The athletic boy-man excitedly sat up in his chair, pointing at the flatscreen in the background as a lion was in the process of pulling a zebra to the ground. "Cool!" he said excitedly as he poured himself a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios.
 
"It gives me something to care about," Trout said. "After I awakened to the world of sabermetrics, even when we still had a chance I didn't care all that much about making the playoffs. I just want to keep my WAR up - I'm closing in on Mel Ott for most by a player in their age 21 season or younger!"
 
As I quietly closed his hotel room door behind me, I couldn't help but shake my head and smile. This isn't Earl Weaver's game anymore.

AJ this ****ing SUCKS

August 16, 2013
 
ANAHEIM, California  - Even as the Los Angeles Angels are no longer in the hunt for a playoff spot, 14 games out of a wildcard berth and 15.5 games out of first place, superstar outfielder, Mike Trout, has more on his mind: his WAR.
 
WAR is a term used by sabermetric analysts (aka stat-nerds) as a catchall number to express a player's total value in the form of "Wins Above Replacement" - that is, how good a player is relative to a hypothetical "replacement player" - the type of player that any team could easily find in AAA as a replacement for a major league caliber starter - players such as Paul McAnulty, Andrew Romine, Robb Quinlan and Josh Hamilton. It has gained in popularity over the last few years and is now the most commonly used sabermetric statistic used among stat-heads and on baseball forums.
 
WAR is no laughing matter to Mike Trout, however, who wakes up every morning and, even before eating breakfast, gets online and checks his WAR - both at Fangraphs.com and Baseball-Reference.com. I met Trout in his hotel room in Anaheim at 8:00am. "Damn," he says frowning, his voice slurred by a mouthful of breakfast cereal as he scans his iPhone. "My dWAR is down again - I should've let Kole get that ball because it messed with my Total Zone Rating!"
 
When asked which source he prefers, Trout hesitated and then said "Both are useful, but Fangraphs seems more accurate," he paused, "at least this year. They have my WAR at 8.2 while BR has it at 6.8. Can you imagine?" He looks up from his bowl, milk dripping from the corners of his mouth. Then he grabs the Pop Tarts out of the toaster and eats one in three bites.
 
"We should be paid based on WAR," Trout said, as he pulled a plate mounded with a half dozen scrambled eggs and ten strips of bacon from the breakfast cart. "My salary should be over forty million bucks this year - can you imagine all the cool stuff I could get for my basement with that kind of dough?" Trout referred to the finished basement of his parents home in South New Jersey.
 
WAR has become an obsession for the newly 22-year old outfielder. He first discovered it when, early in the summer after reaching third base playing the Detroit Tigers, Miguel Cabrera said to him with a smirking smile, "How's your WAR, amigo?" At the time, unbeknownst to Trout, Cabrera led the majors in WAR. Trout left the game scratching his head, unsure what Miggy was talking about. When he asked various members of the Angels coaching staff, none seemed to know.
 
"Then I made the mistake of asking Sosh," Trout said, pausing as his fork entered a stack of eight pancakes smothered in butter and maple syrup. "He just looked at me for like ten seconds with that Sosh look on his face, then walked away." Trout visibly shuddered, took a huge bite of pancakes, then continued, still chewing as he spoke. "Then Petey [bourjos] pulled me aside and whispered in my hear, 'Never mention WAR or any other advanced metric to Scioscia. Never."
 
What followed for Trout was what he described as an "initiation" into the world of "advanced metrics." He soon discovered that there was a small group on the team - including Bourjos, Mark Trumbo, and Chris Iannetta - who secretly checked their WAR and analyzed deep statistics. "Kole and Grant are into it too," Trout said, smiling. "Evidently everyone is in Oakland."
 
Trout attributes this new awareness of WAR and advanced statistics to his improved hitting over the last month or two, leading to an increased walk rate, a decreased strikeout rate, and overall better offensive value. "Every little thing matters," he said. When asked if he meant with regards to winning a game, he shook his head. "Nah, I mean I suppose that too, but I'm talking about WAR. Every little thing. That's why I'm taking more walks. Its a sure thing for an increase in WAR. I might walk 150, 200 times next year."
 
"The key," he continued, "Is to keep my Ultimate Zone Rating up, as well as steal bases at a rate that keeps my Ultimate Baserunning and Weighted Total Base Runs healthy....wait, did you see that?!" The athletic boy-man excitedly sat up in his chair, pointing at the flatscreen in the background as a lion was in the process of pulling a zebra to the ground. "Cool!" he said excitedly as he poured himself a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios.
 
"It gives me something to care about," Trout said. "After I awakened to the world of sabermetrics, even when we still had a chance I didn't care all that much about making the playoffs. I just want to keep my WAR up - I'm closing in on Mel Ott for most by a player in their age 21 season or younger!"
 
As I quietly closed his hotel room door behind me, I couldn't help but shake my head and smile. This isn't Earl Weaver's game anymore.

Is this a joke thread? Puig is exciting but he's not Trout.

Sorry austin724, but that's such a tired argument and ends up sound like apology for bad management decisions. It isn't just one or two decisions that look bad in hindsight, its almost all of them. The vast majority of Jerry Dipoto's trades and signings have turned out poorly.
 
As for Albert Pujols, its sad what a mockery of a great player he has become. I guess all we can hope for is that the foot injury really was the primary cause of his suckage and that he'll bounce back to at least 2011-12 levels, which isn't the player we all hoped for but is at least not a total loss.

Sorry austin724, but that's such a tired argument and ends up sound like apology for bad management decisions. It isn't just one or two decisions that look bad in hindsight, its almost all of them. The vast majority of Jerry Dipoto's trades and signings have turned out poorly.
 
As for Albert Pujols, its sad what a mockery of a great player he has become. I guess all we can hope for is that the foot injury really was the primary cause of his suckage and that he'll bounce back to at least 2011-12 levels, which isn't the player we all hoped for but is at least not a total loss.

Sorry austin724, but that's such a tired argument and ends up sound like apology for bad management decisions. It isn't just one or two decisions that look bad in hindsight, its almost all of them. The vast majority of Jerry Dipoto's trades and signings have turned out poorly.
 
As for Albert Pujols, its sad what a mockery of a great player he has become. I guess all we can hope for is that the foot injury really was the primary cause of his suckage and that he'll bounce back to at least 2011-12 levels, which isn't the player we all hoped for but is at least not a total loss.

Sorry austin724, but that's such a tired argument and ends up sound like apology for bad management decisions. It isn't just one or two decisions that look bad in hindsight, its almost all of them. The vast majority of Jerry Dipoto's trades and signings have turned out poorly.
 
As for Albert Pujols, its sad what a mockery of a great player he has become. I guess all we can hope for is that the foot injury really was the primary cause of his suckage and that he'll bounce back to at least 2011-12 levels, which isn't the player we all hoped for but is at least not a total loss.

Yes because reflection and reassessment are always terrible ways to run your life.

But you just further my point. Texas realized that Darvish was different because they had the scouts to do so, while you and I are only stuck with the statistical record of "other Japanese signed players." So you're basically saying that Dipoto and the Angels are more like you and I, armchair GMs, rather than an actual major league caliber scouting group like the Rangers have. We should expect more from the chief executive of a major league baseball team, which is why all the "hindsight is 20-20" arguments don't fly.

Let's look at Trumbo for what he is and isn't. He's a pretty good ball player who has one plus tool (power) and a bunch of mediocre ones. Sure, he's a nice player to have but he's not irreplaceable and he's not a star. On overall value I'd much rather keep Calhoun and Bourjos.
 
A lot of Trumbo's value is tied up in the notion that at some point he's going to figure things out and take his game up a notch and hit .280+ with 40 HR and a .900 OPS. While it could happen, it hasn't yet through three full years, which have been almost carbon copies of each other. It might be time to accept him for what he is and isn't, then we don't need to blame him for the team's woes because he's not a "leading cast member" like Trout, Pujols, and Hamilton, but a nice complementary player like Kendrick and Aybar.

I think he'd be wise to keep his mouth shut.

Let's look at Trumbo for what he is and isn't. He's a pretty good ball player who has one plus tool (power) and a bunch of mediocre ones. Sure, he's a nice player to have but he's not irreplaceable and he's not a star. On overall value I'd much rather keep Calhoun and Bourjos.
 
A lot of Trumbo's value is tied up in the notion that at some point he's going to figure things out and take his game up a notch and hit .280+ with 40 HR and a .900 OPS. While it could happen, it hasn't yet through three full years, which have been almost carbon copies of each other. It might be time to accept him for what he is and isn't, then we don't need to blame him for the team's woes because he's not a "leading cast member" like Trout, Pujols, and Hamilton, but a nice complementary player like Kendrick and Aybar.

What Shane said - Hamilton and its not even close. Hamilton is a former MVP, a guy that has a lifetime OPS close to .900 and is a legit .290+ BA, 30+ HR hitter. Trumbo, on the other hand, hasn't established a level higher than an OPS in the .750-.800 range, despite 30 HR. Hamilton should be a star, while Trumbo is more of an above average regular. If we accept that about Trumbo, then not only are his slumps more acceptable, but he loses the ridiculous "untouchable" value that some fans and seemingly the Angels front office view him as erroneously having.

Hamilton, not even close.

OK, fair enough. I'll amend my view and agree that it isn't a trump card, but still feel that it doesn't change things one iota - it neither validates or invalidates his statement. For me, at least.

Maybe disingenous is the wrong word. Trump card, maybe?
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm no more or less a fan of Albert than I was before "Clarkgate." I fully expect it to come out eventually that half or more of baseball players during the Roid Era were using. I think it was (and perhaps still is) more endemic than most want to admit. I'm just not convinced by anything Albert is saying. In other words, he'd be using the "God and family" rhetoric whether or not he was using, so it doesn't mean anything. It just sounds a bit like a trump card, and one that has no value, at least to me. Religious belief and morality are two separate things. Just as there are amoral and moral atheists, so too are there moral and amoral religious people. A for his family, he was married in 2000 so presumably they didn't start having kids until 2001, Albert's rookie year. So him not doing steroids because of family would only start coming into effect then; he very well could have been using before, which is when Clark claimed the trainer was shooting him up.
 
But again, I don't really care either way - except for the fact that steroids sully the record books. I honestly don't believe or disbelieve what Albert is saying, but my point is that adding God and family does nothing for his argument and sounds a bit like a trump card.

I haven't followed all of the drama around Borenstein, but why can't we take a middle ground? He's having a great year--1.051 OPS is no small potatoes. But we have to leaven it a bit with the fact that he's 22 this year (now 23), playing in A+ - not exactly a youngster at that level. I'd like to see how he does next year in AA before getting too excited.
 
That said, I AM excited. Anytime a prospect hits like Borenstein has and you've got to take notice. He could be a hidden jewel of the 2011 draft - and taken in the 23rd round, no less! Best-case scenario and we have another Kole Calhoun on our hands, someone who has a good chance of surprising and being an .800+ OPS hitter in the big leagues (although we still don't know how good Kole might become). But I think we've seen enough that even if Borenstein doesn't become that, he has a good chance at a major league career as a platoon/4th outfielder.
 
Right now I'd place him behind players like Cowart, Lindsey and Rondon on the prospect list, but with players like Cron, Grichuk, and Yarbrough - a solid C+/B- prospect.

Two things:
1) Beltre was coming off his second best year, his only season with the Red Sox, in which he hit .321/.365/.553 with 28 HR and 6.6 fWAR.
2) His years in Seattle were better than they looked - his numbers were partially down due to Safeco. But during his five years as a Mariner, he accrued 16.3 WAR, an average of 3.3 WAR - which is solidly above average.
 
All that said, I was one of the fools people who didn't want him signed, for the reasons I didn't want Crawford signed and I was leery about Pujols and concerned about Hamilton: huge free agent contracts rarely work out.
 
 
Yes, the "hindsight is 20-20" argument. But why is it, tomsred, that we keep on saying this with almost every move in the Reagins-Dipoto era? Nearly every move turns out looking bad in hindsight. Certainly not literally "every," but the vast majority.
 
As I said elsewhere, one of the lone deals that Dipoto was lauded for was Amarista/Roach for Frieri. Even that one is starting to look not so great.

One or two, or even a good number of "this didn't work out as hoped" moves is fine and forgiveable, but the vast majority of Dipoto's moves are like that. At some point he has to be held accountable for the team he has assembled.

Isn't that kind of like saying a draft grade should be decided on the day of the draft and not after a couple of years?
 
Dipoto's job is to make the team better.  Do you honestly see that happening?  It's nice to go the hyperbole route and talk about wolrd championships, but I think a majority of fans would have like to see just a small improvement over the last two seasons, not the team getting worse.

Am I allowed now? Let's take a look. Obviously all transactions aren't equal in importance, but let's just take a look at Dipoto's and see how they look in total.
 
Key:
A: Great - the deal worked out wonderfully (so far) with the Angels getting tremendous value for money/trade
B: Good - a solid deal, worked out well for the Angels
C: OK - could take it or leave it, not bad but not good either
D: Bad - worked out poorly (so far) for the Angels
F: Terrible - an outright disaster
 
 
TRADES
 
Chatwood for Iannetta: D+
Iannetta's been OK, although poor defensively, and Chatwood has, surprise surprise, finally found himself, with a 3.15 ERA in 15 starts for the Rockies. This trade is looking worse and worse. Iannetta has produced a 2.2 fWAR in his two years as an Angel, while Chatwood has produced 1.8 fWAR in 15 starts this year. Ouch.
 
Mathis for Mills: C+
Inconsequential, really. It may even be that some folks miss Mathis, given the poor defense of Iannetta, but at least it got Mathis out of the lineup.
 
Amarista and Roach for Frieri: C
Looked good last year (B+), but Frieri has collapsed and Amarista and Roach - while not future stars - are looking like serviceable major leaguers.
 
Segura, Pena, Hellweg for Greinke: D
Can't give it an F because Greinke pitched well and it was a solid attempt by Dipoto to make the postseason, but in the end it didn't work out so well and even though Segura has come back down to earth, he's still a very good young player.
 
Santana for Sisk: D
I know, I know - Santana probably wouldn't have pitched this well for the Angels, but the simple fact is that he is pitching this well.
 
Walden for Hanson: D
Yet another Dipoto risk that didn't work out.
 
Morales for Vargas: C+
This is the best kind of trade - one that works out for both parties. It should be a B, but Vargas has been injured and Morales is returning to his pre-injury form. Plus we don't know if Vargas will be back next year.
 
Wells for Sneed & Cayones: B
Its amazing Dipoto got as much money from the Yankees as they did. I'm giving this a B, but it doesn't come close to making up for the original blunder by Reagins.
 
Geltz for De La Rosa: C+
A decent trade, although who knows how it looks in the long-run.
 
Downs for Rasmus: C
I think the Angels could have gotten more if they waited longer, but Rasmus could be better than advertised. We'll have to wait and see.
 
Callaspo for Green: B
A hesitant grade. I think this will look very good in the long-run. We have to remember that Green was a 1st round draft pick, and chosen before Trout in the 2009 draft. He's been reading for a year or two now and, in my opinion, should be the everyday third baseman next year. Jury's out, but this looks good.
 
FREE AGENT SIGNINGS
Albert Pujols: D
I hope Albert turns it around, but so far this hasn't been good, plus we've got eight more years. I think he'll bounce back in 2014 and have his best season as an Angel so far, but that's speculative.
 
CJ Wilson: C+
All things tolled, CJ has been a solid pick-up for the Angels: what I would call a "#2.5" starter, not quite good enough to be a legit #2, but better than most #3s. I suppose his performance has been slightly disappointing in that he's not quite as good as he was in Texas, when he should have been better considering the ballparks.
 
Josh Hamilton: F
What to say? A complete disaster.
 
Joe Blanton: F
Ditto. If he turns out to be good in the pen and/or the Angels can trade him and most of his contract, then the F might turn into a B, but this was a terrible signing.
 
Sean Burnett: C
If he was healthy this would have been a B.
 
Ryan Madson: F
Not much of a loss but this obviously didn't work out at all.
 
EXTENSIONS
Dipoto has done well here, particularly with regards to Jered Weaver, Howie Kendrick, and Erick Aybar. Callaspo was OK, and has turned out well with the Green trade, but the Iannetta extension isn't looking so great.
 
 
OVERALL: D
Jerry Dipoto has not been a good General Manager - actually, he's been poor. Maybe not Reagins bad, but he's a far cry from Bill Stoneman and couldn't shine Billy Beane's shoes. He talks a good talk, but in the end the proof is in the pudding and the pudding sucks.
 
If we added a category for moves not made - players not re-signed or pursued as free agents - then we have to include Hunter, who has been a much better player than Hamilton and for much less money.
 
I personally think Dipoto deserves one more chance - particularly because his biggest mistakes are actually Arte's mistakes. But that shouldn't obfuscate Dipoto's bad moves, and there are plenty of them. I'd like to see what he does this offseason and how the team looks during the first couple months next year. If the Angels are 10 games behind again next year come mid-season, then Jerry has to go.

Am I allowed now? Let's take a look. Obviously all transactions aren't equal in importance, but let's just take a look at Dipoto's and see how they look in total.
 
Key:
A: Great - the deal worked out wonderfully (so far) with the Angels getting tremendous value for money/trade
B: Good - a solid deal, worked out well for the Angels
C: OK - could take it or leave it, not bad but not good either
D: Bad - worked out poorly (so far) for the Angels
F: Terrible - an outright disaster
 
 
TRADES
 
Chatwood for Iannetta: D+
Iannetta's been OK, although poor defensively, and Chatwood has, surprise surprise, finally found himself, with a 3.15 ERA in 15 starts for the Rockies. This trade is looking worse and worse. Iannetta has produced a 2.2 fWAR in his two years as an Angel, while Chatwood has produced 1.8 fWAR in 15 starts this year. Ouch.
 
Mathis for Mills: C+
Inconsequential, really. It may even be that some folks miss Mathis, given the poor defense of Iannetta, but at least it got Mathis out of the lineup.
 
Amarista and Roach for Frieri: C
Looked good last year (B+), but Frieri has collapsed and Amarista and Roach - while not future stars - are looking like serviceable major leaguers.
 
Segura, Pena, Hellweg for Greinke: D
Can't give it an F because Greinke pitched well and it was a solid attempt by Dipoto to make the postseason, but in the end it didn't work out so well and even though Segura has come back down to earth, he's still a very good young player.
 
Santana for Sisk: D
I know, I know - Santana probably wouldn't have pitched this well for the Angels, but the simple fact is that he is pitching this well.
 
Walden for Hanson: D
Yet another Dipoto risk that didn't work out.
 
Morales for Vargas: C+
This is the best kind of trade - one that works out for both parties. It should be a B, but Vargas has been injured and Morales is returning to his pre-injury form. Plus we don't know if Vargas will be back next year.
 
Wells for Sneed & Cayones: B
Its amazing Dipoto got as much money from the Yankees as they did. I'm giving this a B, but it doesn't come close to making up for the original blunder by Reagins.
 
Geltz for De La Rosa: C+
A decent trade, although who knows how it looks in the long-run.
 
Downs for Rasmus: C
I think the Angels could have gotten more if they waited longer, but Rasmus could be better than advertised. We'll have to wait and see.
 
Callaspo for Green: B
A hesitant grade. I think this will look very good in the long-run. We have to remember that Green was a 1st round draft pick, and chosen before Trout in the 2009 draft. He's been reading for a year or two now and, in my opinion, should be the everyday third baseman next year. Jury's out, but this looks good.
 
FREE AGENT SIGNINGS
Albert Pujols: D
I hope Albert turns it around, but so far this hasn't been good, plus we've got eight more years. I think he'll bounce back in 2014 and have his best season as an Angel so far, but that's speculative.
 
CJ Wilson: C+
All things tolled, CJ has been a solid pick-up for the Angels: what I would call a "#2.5" starter, not quite good enough to be a legit #2, but better than most #3s. I suppose his performance has been slightly disappointing in that he's not quite as good as he was in Texas, when he should have been better considering the ballparks.
 
Josh Hamilton: F
What to say? A complete disaster.
 
Joe Blanton: F
Ditto. If he turns out to be good in the pen and/or the Angels can trade him and most of his contract, then the F might turn into a B, but this was a terrible signing.
 
Sean Burnett: C
If he was healthy this would have been a B.
 
Ryan Madson: F
Not much of a loss but this obviously didn't work out at all.
 
EXTENSIONS
Dipoto has done well here, particularly with regards to Jered Weaver, Howie Kendrick, and Erick Aybar. Callaspo was OK, and has turned out well with the Green trade, but the Iannetta extension isn't looking so great.
 
 
OVERALL: D
Jerry Dipoto has not been a good General Manager - actually, he's been poor. Maybe not Reagins bad, but he's a far cry from Bill Stoneman and couldn't shine Billy Beane's shoes. He talks a good talk, but in the end the proof is in the pudding and the pudding sucks.
 
If we added a category for moves not made - players not re-signed or pursued as free agents - then we have to include Hunter, who has been a much better player than Hamilton and for much less money.
 
I personally think Dipoto deserves one more chance - particularly because his biggest mistakes are actually Arte's mistakes. But that shouldn't obfuscate Dipoto's bad moves, and there are plenty of them. I'd like to see what he does this offseason and how the team looks during the first couple months next year. If the Angels are 10 games behind again next year come mid-season, then Jerry has to go.

From an article about Mike Trout from last year in Sports Illustrated:
 
So it was that I broached the subject of Trout with Beane, who is the general manager of one of the 21 clubs who passed on him, as his A's used the 13th pick in '09 on a highly regarded USC shortstop named Grant Green. Beane's demeanor is almost always courtly, and our conversation in his spring training office in Phoenix had been breezy, until I mentioned Trout. Then I saw the first licks of the fire that burns beneath his calm exterior, which has been documented on both page and screen.
 
"He was one of our guys, actually," Beane said. "He was one of the three guys we were talking about drafting -- Trout, Green and Mike Leake." Leake, a pitcher from Arizona State, went eighth to the Reds, and is now 23-19 through 69 big league starts. "That's why I flew out to New Jersey to watch him. I'm not going to make a trip to a high school in New Jersey unless I thought he was the real deal."....
 
Beane declined to share the reports. I inquired how it was, then, that they ended up with Green -- who is hitting .289 in Triple-A, and who has still not made his major league debut -- and not Trout. Beane's speech accelerated even more. "Grant was a shortstop at a major university, a high profile kid. He was predicted to go ahead of us. We'd seen him a lot more, California kid, seen him since high school. It was a position of need in the organization. We're happy with Grant. I would expect both of them to be the real deal. Just like Leake turned out to be the real deal."
-----------------------
(I added the bold-face).
 
So now the Angels have both players, and presumably Billy - one year after the above interview - is no longer happy with Grant.

He can start with himself - he's the one that brought Hamilton and Pujols in.