Michifan

I don't care who it is against, 47 hits and 33 runs with next to no contribution from your best player; that's pretty impressive. It may not mean much more than that, but for this last weekend, they looked great.

Angels have 47 hits and score 33 runs while Trout is 2 for 11  with 1 RBI for the three games. I actually think that is a really good sign of the team's potential. 

If anyone thinks this was about MS's unwillingness to use advanced metrics then the big picture has been missed.  
 
I actually think MS will use certain metrics and it's clear he's implemented some of this into his style.  
 
This was about the fact that Dipoto wanted to run the show and he was handcuffed in several directions.  He even said that he wasn't able to help the club the way he wanted to.  
 
his budget was pulled out from under him by the pujols and hamilton signings
he was forced to use a pre-existing manager and coaching staff
his farm director wasn't of his choosing
he tried to provide data to the team to help them win and it wasn't implemented to his liking
 
so every little thing he did was a battle.  he was constantly forced to compromise the way he wanted to do things.  
 
Not only did that wear on him (clearly), but it undermined his authority and bred a lack of respect and trust for what he was trying to do.  It was an accumulation of headaches that shouldn't have been.  He was constantly asking permission to do things he shouldn't have needed to.  
 
When your owner effectively brings in big named players
and your manager gets to pick and choose the which of your ideas he wants to implement 
and you have to ask supposed subordinates if its ok to do certain things
 
then who are the guys on the field accountable to?  
 
this organization set him up to not receive the respect he was entitled to based on his position.  
 
and when he held a meeting with his coaches and manager indicating 'this is how I want things done' he got inappropriate resistance from someone who should have been keeping their mouth shut for fear of losing their job but that persons job wasn't accountable to Jerry. 
and when he held another meeting with the players indicating 'this is how I want things done' he got inappropriate backlash from someone because that someone is more accountable to the owner and manager than the gm.  
 
and like that.....he's gone.  

Fixed
  

He's probably on prune juice. Its difficult staying regular as you enter your golden years

C'mon Chuck. You know a good chunk of this board doesn't actually want Pujols to play well, let alone to acknowledge that he is, 

C'mon Chuck. You know a good chunk of this board doesn't actually want Pujols to play well, let alone to acknowledge that he is, 

I think what was also a bitter pill is the year after he left, he hit 320 with 30 HRs and an ops of 1.045 for the Rangers in only 113 games. Wells certainly wasn't that. 

I'm old fashioned in that I tend to judge players by what I can observe with my eyes rather than what I cannot always perceive that factors into advanced metrics. That's my eye test, I guess, and here is what I saw.
Mathis couldn't hit a tree with his bat.
Napoli was a good hitter with ++ power.
Mathis had a poor throwing arm and did not always seem to know the difference between 1st and 2nd base.
Pitchers seemed to like pitching to Mathis but still pitched well with Napoli. 
Scioscia had it bad for Mathis and had it in for Napoli.

I'm old fashioned in that I tend to judge players by what I can observe with my eyes rather than what I cannot always perceive that factors into advanced metrics. That's my eye test, I guess, and here is what I saw.
Mathis couldn't hit a tree with his bat.
Napoli was a good hitter with ++ power.
Mathis had a poor throwing arm and did not always seem to know the difference between 1st and 2nd base.
Pitchers seemed to like pitching to Mathis but still pitched well with Napoli. 
Scioscia had it bad for Mathis and had it in for Napoli.

I'm old fashioned in that I tend to judge players by what I can observe with my eyes rather than what I cannot always perceive that factors into advanced metrics. That's my eye test, I guess, and here is what I saw.
Mathis couldn't hit a tree with his bat.
Napoli was a good hitter with ++ power.
Mathis had a poor throwing arm and did not always seem to know the difference between 1st and 2nd base.
Pitchers seemed to like pitching to Mathis but still pitched well with Napoli. 
Scioscia had it bad for Mathis and had it in for Napoli.

I'm old fashioned in that I tend to judge players by what I can observe with my eyes rather than what I cannot always perceive that factors into advanced metrics. That's my eye test, I guess, and here is what I saw.
Mathis couldn't hit a tree with his bat.
Napoli was a good hitter with ++ power.
Mathis had a poor throwing arm and did not always seem to know the difference between 1st and 2nd base.
Pitchers seemed to like pitching to Mathis but still pitched well with Napoli. 
Scioscia had it bad for Mathis and had it in for Napoli.

geez, we're still debating stuff from about four seasons -plus back now??
 
that's a sad commentary in and of itself.
 
that being said, Michifan's post above pretty much covers the bases on this topic.
 
Not sure what the issue was (and, apparently still is from afar) with Sosh and Naps -- but that got Napoli shipped out more than anything.
 
I said back then and again now -- I thought a player with Naps' skills was a very valuable guy to have on an AL roster...he can play 1B, DH and be a third string catcher if needed.  Has Naps caught much the past three seasons?  I don't think so. He was a terrible defensive catcher but can hit and play 1B and a good guy to have on the roster for those (limited) times when you need a third catcher.
 
As for Mathis -- after the whole controversy flared up in a constant (and, apparently never ending -- even though the players have since moved on - several times) way, I started to observe and watch Mathis behind the plate more closely -- and my conclusion was the same as Michifan above -- there were some aspects of the catching game where Mathis was consistently weak.  I could not understand why anyone would think he was a great defensive catcher -- I mean he certainly wasn't Yadier Molina.

I'm old fashioned in that I tend to judge players by what I can observe with my eyes rather than what I cannot always perceive that factors into advanced metrics. That's my eye test, I guess, and here is what I saw.
Mathis couldn't hit a tree with his bat.
Napoli was a good hitter with ++ power.
Mathis had a poor throwing arm and did not always seem to know the difference between 1st and 2nd base.
Pitchers seemed to like pitching to Mathis but still pitched well with Napoli. 
Scioscia had it bad for Mathis and had it in for Napoli.

I'm old fashioned in that I tend to judge players by what I can observe with my eyes rather than what I cannot always perceive that factors into advanced metrics. That's my eye test, I guess, and here is what I saw.
Mathis couldn't hit a tree with his bat.
Napoli was a good hitter with ++ power.
Mathis had a poor throwing arm and did not always seem to know the difference between 1st and 2nd base.
Pitchers seemed to like pitching to Mathis but still pitched well with Napoli. 
Scioscia had it bad for Mathis and had it in for Napoli.

I'm old fashioned in that I tend to judge players by what I can observe with my eyes rather than what I cannot always perceive that factors into advanced metrics. That's my eye test, I guess, and here is what I saw.
Mathis couldn't hit a tree with his bat.
Napoli was a good hitter with ++ power.
Mathis had a poor throwing arm and did not always seem to know the difference between 1st and 2nd base.
Pitchers seemed to like pitching to Mathis but still pitched well with Napoli. 
Scioscia had it bad for Mathis and had it in for Napoli.

I'm old fashioned in that I tend to judge players by what I can observe with my eyes rather than what I cannot always perceive that factors into advanced metrics. That's my eye test, I guess, and here is what I saw.
Mathis couldn't hit a tree with his bat.
Napoli was a good hitter with ++ power.
Mathis had a poor throwing arm and did not always seem to know the difference between 1st and 2nd base.
Pitchers seemed to like pitching to Mathis but still pitched well with Napoli. 
Scioscia had it bad for Mathis and had it in for Napoli.

I'm old fashioned in that I tend to judge players by what I can observe with my eyes rather than what I cannot always perceive that factors into advanced metrics. That's my eye test, I guess, and here is what I saw.
Mathis couldn't hit a tree with his bat.
Napoli was a good hitter with ++ power.
Mathis had a poor throwing arm and did not always seem to know the difference between 1st and 2nd base.
Pitchers seemed to like pitching to Mathis but still pitched well with Napoli. 
Scioscia had it bad for Mathis and had it in for Napoli.

If Pujols retired today then our starting 1b would be Cron.
Let that sink in.

Until there is a suitable replacement available to hit third, I don't think this is worth the time to debate. 

God pity them both! and pity us all,
Who vainly the dreams of youth recall.
  
For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: "It might have been!

God pity them both! and pity us all,
Who vainly the dreams of youth recall.
  
For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: "It might have been!

Welcome to AW.

If it was Iannetta, it would have either sailed over his head or hit 3 feet in front of him.  

You know it's bad when the pitcher hits better than the catcher