Slegnaac

only 1 game back of a WC spot.

Also known as Cinco de Squaro.

Tot if Giavotella breaks down Pennington will take his position, the Angels are not shifting Escobar to 2nd base.
Giavotella is not going to have trouble keeping his job, you guys need to see how he is playing now and come to grips he us a much improved defender.

hector is a good pitcher.  He's actually got really good stuff.  Not to the point that he can lose his focus though and that's his biggest problem.  Guys with lesser stuff have been more successful.  Hes actually a prime candidate for a big year.  
 
He's pretty new to be a starter.  He was a reliever in the minors up until 2011 and then got about 125ip that year.  Then he pitched almost exclusively in relief for the CWS in 2012.   Then became a starter in the majors in 2013 and has been since although he's been one of those guys who's always gotten the occasional relief appearance.  Last year, even though he had one relief appearance, was really the first season where he truly functioned as a full time starter without much consternation about ever being relegated to the pen.  
 
So essentially all of his development as a starter has come at the major league level.  You have to have pretty good stuff to make that work.  And even though he's 28, you look at the number of innings as a starter compared to that of someone like an Andrew Heaney, and it's actually pretty close.  So now, he entering his prime seasons and he's gotten to the point where he can really start to understand the nature of being a starter vs. a reliever.  Things like sequencing, seeing guys multiple times in one game, seeing teams multiple times in one season, and the regimen necessary to sustain success over the marathon that is a baseball season.  He didn't get to do any of that in the minors like most starters and it's much easier to do down on the farm.  
 
He's gotten a bad rap because of this in that he was so far from being a finished product when he came up.  In fact, he was probably less polished that even the most untested rookie.  Which is a testament to his actual stuff.  
 
He's a very solid pitcher and is going to have a very good year. 

we practiced air raid drills in elementary school. we learned that we could safely hide under out desks in case of a nuclear attack!
 
went to school in torrance, right next door to redondo beach/hawthorne where trw and hughes aircraft were located. we'd have been vaporized pretty quickly. oh, and we also had a cia facility there as well. remember the movie The Falcon and the Snowman? yep, that was within two miles of us.

The centerpiece!
 

Fall back 1/2 an hour and stay there.
Permanently

Fall back 1/2 an hour and stay there.
Permanently

Giavotella is doing fine, in fact I think this is the start of a three year productive run for him.

Fall back 1/2 an hour and stay there.
Permanently

Just got done watching The Sting for I don't know how many times.
 
Classic movie for sure

The threshold may not go up but who is to say that the penalties may not increase instead?

If you sign Freese, even at $3 mil, you've committed to the Him at 3rd and Escobar at 2nd with Pennington as the late inning defensive caddy. Doing that and blocking Cowart and Kubitza and making Gia a non-factor paints you into another 30 something unathletic box packed full of RH bats that are nothing special. If this is truly the lost season so many assume it is it makes no sense to bring Freese back and not give anyone a chance to prove himself for 2017 and beyond.

It's not about being runny and bunty it's about whether or not players can do those things.

do you know what slows down the progress of man? 
 
the nature of man.
 
 
we go over the same ground over and over again.

Andrelton treating ST like he's a kid at the arcade. Just collecting those tickets and gonna cash in on that big prize

I think it's pretty clear that the most important job for Halo brass is to make sure Mike Trout is healthy. Without a healthy Trout...this team is going nowhere.
 
There are some obvious things that can be done...Red light...no stealing. And I would go a step further, we implement a Bengie Molina rule for Trout. No trying to stretch singles in to doubles or doubles in to triples...no beating out infield grounds. If Bengie Molina can't do it...Trout shouldn't be doing it.
 
The proposal to move him to LF is a good start...CF is just to dangerous. But really, is LF any safer? Who knows if Simmons has a loud voice when going back on a pop up...those foul line walls are pretty hard. I was thinking maybe 1b...but that comes with dangers as well (see Mo Vaughn).
 
So, I think it's pretty clear that the safest defensive position for Trout would be DH. But then you have that pesky hit by pitch thing...and let's really think about it. Baserunning is dangerous, even with the aforementioned Molina rules, and then you add on top if he's DH'ing most likely he's just sitting on his ass ala David Ortiz between innings...so the running injury risk goes up by another 24.76%.
 
I think you see where we are going here folks...the only way to ensure Mike Trout doesn't get hurt and ruin the Halo chances for this year, is preemptively put him on the DL so he doesn't get hurt. 
 
Make it happen Eppler...save the season.

let me translate for the rest of you.
 
underprivileged youth in 3rd world countries = families in hesperia making less than $125,000 and in need of a house to buy.
 

While this offseason may seem like a disappointment on the surface, I think 2016 can be a surprisingly good season and I believe even the long term future is a bit more rosy than some think. Here's why:
1. Andrelton Simmons makes the pitching staff better and if he improved his hitting just a bit higher will add to the lineup too. He puts the ball in play and who knows how much Trout and Pujols will help with his hitting- there were no future HOF hitters on the Braves last year that I can see- I think it's hard to quantify how much Pujols may have helped Trout with the mental and emotional part of hitting. Also- maybe Simmons helps other players have more desire to improve defensively.
2. Pitching Depth- look at the 2002 Angels staff- Washburn, Ortiz, Appier, Lackey- none of them were really an ace- there were no 20 game winners and only Washburn, Ortiz and Appier won more than 10. I think Richards is better than all of them, Heaney improves, and if either Weaver or Wilson return to just their average seasons- then we mix and match the rest and have a healthy competition for the remaining slots on the staff. There's good reason to believe the rotation will be better than last year and you add Simmons defense to the equation and I think the pitching and defense will keep us in many more games.
3. The bullpen- I like the pickups this offseason. Assuming Street is healthy, there can be some real gems here- 2002 saw some trash heap pickups like Weber and Donnelly have career years- I think between Albuquerque, Friedrich, and both Guerras that one of them will be solid in 2016. Again, I think Simmons influence will be a big lift to the bullpen.
4. I believe in Eppler. It's hard not to be a bit jaded about the front office and Arte after the fiasco last year. But even though they didn't sign a big name- I don't see any area of the team that got worse over the offseason- the pitching staff should be healthier and deeper. The bench has been improved. The infield defense has improved overall and I believe infield hitting shouldn't be any worse than last year and has a good chance of being better. Trout and Calhoun should be just as good as last year and even though I'm not thrilled with Nava/Gentry, it will be better than last year as it can't get any worse than one of the worst LF performances ever. Catching will be improved with Perez and Soto and there's a possibility the hitting there may improve over last year. I understand not wanting to pay superstar $ for merely good players. They've made many low risk moves that may pay off in small dividends, but in areas that will solidify areas of weakness last year.
5. The farm system- ok- it's not great- but big deal- the purpose of the farm system is to make the big league club better. I believe it did that in the offseason with the Simmons trade. It would have been unlikely that either Newcomb or Ellis would contribute in 2016 with the starting pitching being such a strength. As far as the future- there are 3 players I'm keeping an eye on- Taylor Ward, Jahmai Jones and Michael Pierson. If you followed the draft last year, you probably know all about Ward and Jones, but who the heck is Michael Pierson? Well- I didn't know either until last night when I realized he led all the minors with a .395 BA. Granted it was rookie league in Orem with only 195 AB, but still- .395 is impressive. Oh, did I mention he plays 3B? I don't believe I've heard anything about him before yesterday, so it was a very nice surprise. All of these 3 are likely a couple years away, but Ward and Pierson were both college players, so maybe they'll contribute sooner than later.
I may get ripped for some of the points here, but as I've thought about the offseason, I'm excited about 2016

Star Light,
Star Bright,
First Star I see tonight,
I wish I may,
I wish I might,
Ah nuts,
It's a satellite!

Which reminds me of the SNL bit where OJ is diagramming a play. Classic SNL

Jennings???
We're settlers, Son, we settle for things.

"Here's a list of prospects we'll be inviting to spring training."
"Mr. Moreno, this guy's dead."
"Well cross him off then..."

Which reminds me of the SNL bit where OJ is diagramming a play. Classic SNL