DropOfAnaheim

If Toronto's bat boy does something to help the Blue Jays get into the playoffs, he is MVP.Seriously though,  we are talking about 23 years missing the playoffs. Donaldson's numbers are Trout like, unlike anyone on the Royals last year. 

Donaldson wins it unless Trout goes beast mode and we win the Wild Card game.

Even then, the east coast voters will go Donaldson.

The Angels would have been the pre 2015 Toronto Blue Jays had they been in any other division the last 15 years. The 4 team division with only 2 good teams for most of this time (Angels and A's) bears out the easier route to the playoffs the Halos had for years. A great farm system was not a bad thing as well.

Pitch him high and tight, give that beard a trim.

Angels pitchers backing hitters off the plate? What a novel concept.

My prediction......PAIN

We owned a mobile home in OC, and Zillow appraised it at $400,000. Ummmmmmm....no.

Loving Calhoun leading off. 

http://www.covers.com/articles/articles.aspx?theArt=414201

Very interesting to read in hindsight.

I hope the team chokes in the first round. 

So many times, blurbs like this from a GM are followed quickly by a trade....so I wouldn't give a whole lot of credence to it.

Sounds like there is a combo of

1: Chase isn't being promised the playing time he would like to have

2: The Phils aren't getting offers of players over the AAAA level to part with him yet.

 

He is hitting well since coming off the DL, so his bat would be a welcome addition to this anemic offense.

I very seriously doubt that discussions are closed.

You are correct, and the Phillies are attempting to fleece a team of an impact player. NO THANKS.

Amaro: Chase Utley Likely To Remain With Phillies

By Jeff Todd [August 18, 2015 at 9:28am CDT]

Veteran second baseman Chase Utley is “likely” to remain with the club for the remainder of the season, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said this morning in an appearance on Philadelphia’s Sports Radio 94 WIP (via Howard Eskin, on Twitter).

Utley, 36, has drawn fairly wide interest from teams looking to fill out their rosters through the August trade market. He has cleared waivers, making him eligible to be dealt to any club, but retains full no-trade protection. Utley reportedly is interested in assurances of playing time and has a geographic preference for Southern California.

While Amaro’s comments certainly validate the possibility that Utley will remain in Philadelphia the rest of the way, as some recent reports have also suggested, there’s still plenty of time for something to come together. On the other hand, as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki explains, while there is surprise in some quarters that a deal has yet to go down, Utley could well end up preferring to finish out what is likely his last season with the Phils.

You already know which Ervin we'll see...

8ip, 8ks, 4hits, 0er's

NOSTRADAMUS

Aybar is not in the line up today.

DropsofAnaheim, how would you feel About Featherston being our starting shortstop. Because as bad as you think Aybar is, he's literally twice the player Featherston is. Oh and as bad on the bases as Aybar is, Featherston has looked worse

Did I say I didn't want Aybar to be our starting shortstop? So the manager is supposed have kid gloves with his players, so matter what stupid decisions they make? Maybe it wasn't Erick's decision. That would not surprise me in the least.

Mike Scioscia has shown time and time again he is more than happy to play for the tie rather than the win. Langston said it on the broadcast. "Aybar" is due. Well, that did not go as planned. I suppose a ground ball to the right side was too much to ask from our lead off hitter, and a good drive would score two. 

Who cares that Mike does not hold his players accountable. With the ego of some of these players, calling them out to the media may be the only way they may wake up. It worked with Phil Jackson. Mike basically defended Fubar for the insanity of that bunt attempt. It was just another example of idiotic decisions on the part of certain players, fully knowing there are no ramifications. Then again, the players are just playing Scioscia ball. 

Anyone remember Joycelyn Pierce? She was the original host, and had the personality of Fernando Salas.

 A bad day at the park ain't so bad when you come home to Allie every night.

2009 ALDS. Finally handing it to the Chowds was so rewarding. Seeing Papelbon's face in the dugout, and Vlad coming through. The Angels home crowd was deafening that series. It was over 20 years of frustrations being taken out on that franchise in one series.

They could hire Joe Smith's wife Allie LaForce.

No, but we see examples of (for instance) closers coming in to games in non-closing situations and proceeding to crap the bed (happened to the Royals last night) because something something adrenaline something.

Mike used to have Donkey, Shields, Krod.   He hasn't had a donkey since. His obsession with strict roles seems to cloud his view of actual events happening on the field. I agree that players like having these roles. I do remember Smith being AMAZING when he closed last year. It was automatic. 

So his arm isn't completely shot in the games we are winning?  Relievers can only pitch in so many games.  If the Angels win 80 games and have a tight lead in 65 of those, they lose another 10 that they are leading by a close margin late and he pitches in all of those games, that is 75 appearances right there.  Not to mention tie games and bullpen games.

This specialized game is comical at times.A reliever's arm is going to fall off pitching while we are down a run or 2 every once in a while? I am way to hard on Mike Scioscia for sure. However, I think he does not manage to win the game in front of his face many times. It is nice to think ahead to September, but you have to have a chance to win some of these close games. Salas was a white flag, and you could see it happening before it happened.

Pretty sure there isn't anything in her job description about asking tough questions.

Going on 16 years like this. Microphones in Mike's face and canned questions as predictable as his canned answers. I did like his " not enough spackle" comment the other day though. Funny stuff.