disarcina

Some team is going to get an ace level rotation guy here for the MLB minimum. I don't think Bauer stays in S. California or even in California. My take (based on ZERO inside information and really not anything more than 'just a hunch' only part as an outside observer and review of media reports) is that he signs either with the NY Mets (if they will extend his contract, which even the Mets may be reluctant to do since Bauer has not pitched in MLB competition for almost two years) or back to the Cincinnati Reds where he has prior ties especially to the pitching coach and the coaching staff -- that would be a one year deal for the MLB minimum with the Dodgers paying for most of his contract. I doubt the Angels or any California team is in the running to sign him even for the one year left on his Dodgers contract.

and now I remember , I think he signed with Oakland after his Angels stint and actually pitched fairly effectively for them at times -- including several appearances against the Angels which would always have me clenching my teeth -- guy who rehabbed on Halos dime now pitching well against them.....

OK - you win - Mo had some decent stats with the ANGELS. I just remember that things deteriorated with Terry Collins as manager and Mo Vaughn leading the rebellion in the clubhouse. It was ugly and a very low point for Halos baseball -- harkening back to the year of the Chico Ruiz pulling a gun on Alex Johnson in the dugout/ clubhouse area. My next nominee for the biggest Halos trade/ Free agent signing bust would be the 'closer' we signed - Madsen -- he pitched very well as a set up guy for Philadelphia for quite a few years and then stepped up to closer for them (or was it for the Cincinnati Reds? One year there) Halos sign him to pretty lucrative two year contract. I think he may have made one or two pitches warming up at Tempe in Spring Training and that was the extent of his Halos 'pitching career' - he spent two years on the Disabled List rehabbing at Angels expense -- then signed with a new team - never was quite the pitcher he was during his Phillies years but I do remember grumbling a bit when he pitched for his new teams in a pen role which helped his new team(s). Two year deal on the Halos payroll (entire amount probably paid by insurance) and generated no stats for the ANGELS other than DL time.

Mo Vaughn number one on my list -- geez - he slipped and fell on the dug out steps his first or second game. Then when he did come back he was absolute poison in the clubhouse. Mo Vaughn had great stats in Boston and came here with heightened expectations , got hurt day one, and went down hill from there. Pitching - Kent Bottenfield - we gave up Jimmy Edmonds - who remains on all the highlight reels with his catches in CF (along with the great Torii Hunter).

As a Cards (and Angels) fan - I am very happy for Pujols. Pujols' 'relationship with the Angels and Angels fans is complicated. I know that I was very excited when the Halos won the 'bidding war' to get Albert some 10/11 years ago. He got off to a terrible start with the Halos that echoed throughout his Angels career which got dubbed from the first three months as 'a failed, expensive free agent signing'. -- it was expensive but not failed. Pujols put up some pretty good stats with the Angels for about seven of his nine-plus seasons. He. did get hurt and was hurt. His production never reached the stratospheric levels of his ten years with St. Louis -- but - let's be honest - when the Halos signed him no one expected that to continue and everyone understood the back side of that multi-year/ ten year deal was going to be tough the last year or two. He did help mentor a young Mike Trout. He put up good, although not great stats for the Halos, he did kill a lot of rallies with GIDPs -- and - from his Halos time, it's hard to realize that Albert was once a three time gold glover at 1B with the Cardinals. His defense in Anaheim was average at best. The Cards won big time all around on Albert's deal . The got his most productive seasons from rookie year to peak of his career; at the point in time when they would be required to pay for 'past performance and his great 10 year stats' - the. Cards got outbid in free agency by the Angels.' for the next ten years Albert's stats /production were about half of what his first ten year in St. Louis and he got off to that terrible start which from a perception ('perception is reality) perspective framed his entire career here as one big Arte mistake. It became a self-fulfilling prophecy although Albert's Anaheim numbers are pretty good but. not HOF superstar spectacular. Now the Cards get a hometown hero fan favorite back at a bargain rate for a farewell season that has exceeded all expectations and for the second half of the farewell season, Albert has suddenly regained some of his prior St. Louis years prowess - so it appears. Good for the Cards - total win for them - the Angels were the ones tagged with paying for his past performance. Most of my Halos fan friends don't like Albert and are upset because there is some perception he didn't like it here and let his attitude about that impact his numbers. Hard to say. Fair criticism, I guess. I always liked Albert and thought what Arte and the Angels did to unceremoniously release him was an unforgivable slight to a HOF ballplayer of Pujols' stature. I indicated that at the time in posts here. Today -- I just wish the Angels front office/ PR department would do something to acknowledge Albert's great achievement in joining the 700 club of legends, congratulate him and wish him well -- that would be the classy thing to do. Other teams have done so -- but so far, unless I missed it - and I may have - because the ANGELS are just so hard to watch these days and the club ownership is in limbo -- I have seen nothing coming out of Anaheim and the Angels to congratulate Albert. He deserves that - at a minimum.

unfortunately the column appears to be spot on. years of futility continue for the Halos. this season might be one of the list of the most disappointing - in that it started with such promise, a great April into May, Angels starting pitching doing well, hitting on all cylinders and then WHAM - not sure what happened but the Halos hit a wall about mid-May and have tumbled into free fall ever since. Firing Maddon and replacing him with Phil Nevin hasn't done anything. the one long time Diamond Club fan quoted sums it all up pretty well - the constant futility is just too much to keep watching. The one thing I do disagree with (in the article's criticism of Arte) is the Los Angeles/ Anaheim Angels issue. I think Arte made the right marketing move for the team and franchise with reclaiming the 'second' Los Angeles franchise designation (go back and watch the old tape of the announcement from the Winter meetings in St. Louis in 1960 awarding the franchise to Gene Autry) as it has value -- look northward to Oakland to see what Billy Beane and the Oakland franchise has had to deal with (opposition from the SF Giants) in not being able to move within the region. The Giants blocked Oakland's potential moves to San Jose and to the San Mateo peninsula - and MLB let them. The Oakland A's are truly a small market team with a real stadium issue. We're at least a somewhat major market team - suddenly with a stadium issue - that often acts like a small market team. Futility reigns.

Sadly, I agree it's time for Arte to sell the team. A sole proprietor competing against the corporate conglomerates just isn't working. We have the two best players in all of MLB (arguably several others in the conversation, Soto, Judge, Acuna) in Trout and the amazing Ohtani and yet Halos are 15 games under .500 going nowhere. The Stadium deal is a total mess tied up in local politics and now potential criminal type investigation. Halos future in Anaheim once again up in the air. Arte could sell the team for 15 times or more than what he paid for the Halos. Excellent time for him to hit the exit. Ideally - a corporate group (like the folks that own the team just up the freeway) could make a pitch to buy the club and perhaps convince the powers to be to build a new waterfront ball park in Long Beach where the Queen Mary is slowly disintegrating into the sea. Something needs to happen because after a year that started out with great promise on all fronts (players signed long term, stadium deal secure, good starting pitching and winning record in April to mid-May) - the wheels have come off quickly and the team is headed nowhere fast. Not all Arte's fault and he's done some great things -- but it's clear his ownership isn't going to be ones capable of turning around the Titanic here.

Scioscia isn't coming back to this mess. He's old school and his managerial style was passe' four years. ago when he left. It's more so now. DARIN ERSTAD ! -- although his all out effort, hustle style might be too taxing for today's players.

Somebody not named Phil Nevin. I'm still puzzled why Maddon got fired - just to replace him with Nevin. Look - I have been a huge fan/supporter of Arte Moreno since he bought the club years ago - but it's come to the point Halos need more than a new manager/ GM -- Arte needs to sell the team. A sole proprietor competing against corporate conglomerates just doesn't work. The whole stadium lease situation - which was a mess only to be 'finalized' is once again UN-Finalized and a total mess tied up in local politics and now potential criminal investigation - a total debacle. Halos have the two best players in MLB and are 15 games below .500. Their future in Anaheim with the Stadium lease is once again up in the air --- ARTE can sell the club for 15 times what he paid for it - good time to hit the exit.

NO - but expect him to be back in MLB in 2023 with some team.

True Grich - thanks ! as the old country. song goes, "misery loves company"

I thought coming into the 2022 season that the Halos had a pretty good roster, Maddon was a proven winning manager, the Stadium issue seemed settled. Things appeared to be set for a good run with players like Trout. and Ohtani signed for what is considered 'long term' (two years plus) these days in MLB. And now, here we are at mid-Season, July 4th near the All Star break --and while we still have two of MLB's best players on the roster, Trout and Ohtani --it's all come unraveled and the Angels are mired some 14 and 1/2 games behind Houston in the AL West with no signs of improving much over the second half of the season -- so once again meaningless games ahead in the hot August/ September Angels Stadium sun leading to empty seats, perhaps less than half filled stadium EVEN with the expanded MLB playoff format. The once promising Angels 2022 season / roster in the future has rather quickly (didn't we have such hope with a great April into May start?) become a major reclamation / rebuilding project -- including the ballpark and all the shenanigans going on in Anaheim City Hall. I've been a big fan of Arte's ownership over the years and he's done some good things for the franchise -- but it's clear now he's having difficulty being a sole proprietorship type owner competing against the conglomerates who own the big market teams. Perhaps it's time he sells the club -- but he, also, is stuck in the unraveling Catch. 22 situation -- he needed the Stadium leave/ land/ capital improvements issue settled, he needed long term contracts for key players etc, he need the MLBPA contract issue to be resolved before selling -- and those things got done and then the Stadium deal became 'undone' and suddenly the long term contract end dates for Trout and Ohtani are suddenly looming again. This is a long winded way of. saying - After such hope for the 2022 season, I am just bewildered how everything collapsed so quickly to get the Halos where they are today heading into July 4th -- and I have no suggestions, ideas or recommendations of how to move forward, It truly is a total morass. Sorry for the gloomy outlook but it's another disappointment/ depressing time for long suffering Halos fans - apparently Lucy has pulled the football away again......... Perhaps we should just start playing games at Blair Field until the new water front park can be built in Long Beach. At least we'd play before a packed house of fans.

this game is certainly entertaining. fought back only to lose. I remain NOT a fan of the ghost runner at second base in extras.

tied it up with a great shut out win in LA Sunday. Edmonton tough -- Kings seem to be two different teams -- games 1 and 4 is the team we need going forward.

it's been a while and he's about 73 these days - but Gary Thorne used to be great on the ESPN NHL broadcasts back when.

KINGS WIN GAME ONE at EDMONTON !! Geez, the Edmonton guys are huge, monsters on ice - and we beat them Game One !! Great first period - almost perfect until we allowed them that late goal with about 90 seconds left. Quick was great in goal tonight. Edmonton is big and physical -- wish Drew Doughy was available.

Nice win tonight. To those who say "It's April" -- well -- some us here remember some terrible Aprils for the Halos - in fact , several years in a row -- where the Halos dug themselves into such a deep hole, then spent the rest of the season trying to climb out of it and never quite got there. So, yeah, it's April -- no one wins the pennant or even a playoff spot in April -- but then again, you sure can lose a pennant / playoff spot in April. So - I'll gladly take the Halos 2022 April. I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. It's been a number of Aprils since Halos fans could say that, !!

LIGHT UP THE HALO!!! Lot of good things happened for the Halos in tonight's game. Syndergaard;s start. Trout HR. Relief pitching . Great win for the Halos --!! Seems like something more than JUST ANOTHER HALO's VICTORY !

664 runs

the best ST record is probably just above .500 teams that win in March, often wind up out of the playoffs.

VIVA LAS VEGAS !!

You'd think with the 28 man roster to open the season through what ? May 15th or June 1 --I agree with the comment above. Keep Upton on the roster - we're paying him - so make him a fourth OF'er - DH and PH -- see how he does -- and keeps him off division rivals' teams --and if by time the MLB roster limit is cut back to 25/26 (is it 26 as a result of the MLB collective bargaining agreement?) then determine Upton's fate and DFA him then.

85 wins may make it with one of the new expanded wild card playoff spots.

unless we DFA Upton - he's not marketable - especially after the walk out and new collective bargaining agreement,. Angels might be able to move him in a deadline deal but sort of doubt it -- most teams would probably just wait to see if the Halos would just cut him loose and possibly pick him up and pay just the MLB minimum of his salary for the rest of the year. maybe some NL team who needs a DH.

rosters set at 28 until May 1 now. I assume we will keep a few more arms -- perhaps a speedster for late inning Pinch Running duties. but two pen depth guys (maybe a long relief guy who can spot start). are the 9 inning double headers they are putting into place during the early part of the season or spread through out the year.