EternalHaloOptimist

Torii was such a joy to watch all-around on the field. Obviously, he was one of the best defensive CF'ers that the Angels (and MLB) has ever had. He was always solid at the plate, but we got him for arguably the best offensive stretch of his career too. From afar, he seemed like just a really good teammate. There aren't a whole lot of better ambassadors for the game of baseball than Torii Hunter. 

Yup, the Mariners are doing exactly what we Angels fans hoped our squad would be doing. Also, things are breaking right in terms of the AL West / Wild Card teams all trending the wrong direction -- the Rangers are currently in freefall losing 8 in a row. 
How Can You Not Be Romantic About Baseball?

I know it's an unpopular thing to say here, but Jerry Dipoto is much better at his job than any of the guys that followed him here. Scoreboard.

Yeah the angels pitching staff was ravaged by injuries all year. Perhaps building an older core makes injuries more of a threat.   Lots of young teams doing well, lots of high dollar older teams doing poorly. 

AL West:
Angels 49-48
Mariners 47-48
Since then:
Angels 13-19
Mariners 24-8
The Mariners are in a wildcard berth and 0.5 GB the Rangers for the division lead, while the Angels are 11 GB 1st and 9.5 GB the wildcard.
That's a bit more than five weeks. If you go back a month further to June 16, the Angels are 40-32, 4 games ahead of the Mariners at 34-34.
Anyhow, the Mariners passed the Angels on July 22 and it has been a tale of two second halves since.
Not really have anything more to say, but I suppose it points out the volatility of baseball. The Mariners were playing .500 ball most of the season, then got hot in late July and have been among the best teams since, with a real chance at winning the West.
The Mariners are a balanced team, their best player being Julio Rodriguez who, at 4.8 WAR, is 9th in the majors among position players. Their next best players is Cal Raleigh (3.4, 30th) and then JP Crawford (2.7, 48th). Their best pitcher is George Kirby (3.9, 6th), then Luis Castillo (2.9, 14th) and Logan Gilbert (2.7, 19th).
Overall, their team pitching WAR of 18.2 is best in the AL and 2nd best in MLB; their position player WAR of 19.8 is 6th in the majors; and their Def Runs of 7.2 is 9th in the majors. In other words, they are a very balanced team, with no significant weaknesses. They're deep, with a range of stars to solid secondary players. 
Anyhow, I hate to say it, but kudos to Jerry Dipoto and his team. They've done well.

Go on Twitter and insult your boss. I’m sure that  will make you money 

Thank you for being an adult. 

As I said, it is “my policy.”

Re: Rendon not talking
My policy is anyone has a right to not talk to me. I will note in the story that the person wouldn’t talk, and that’s it. 
 
The manner in which he didn’t talk (whether he’s nice about or a jerk about it) is not relevant to the readers so I don’t make it public. 

You should have Sam Blum on the podcast.

Almost no MLB contracts are insured because it’s very expensive and only covers career ending type stuff. 

I agree - we might as well give Cabbage lots of at bats since we have control over him for a while. He has absolutely been tearing up the PCL and leads the league in HR's with 27 hitting: .307/.372/.595 (.967 OPS). 
He even has 31 (!) stolen bases. As we saw from his first call-up, there are some holes in his swing and I'd like him to be more selective, but the Angels could really use another stud youngster in the lineup to go with O'Hoppe, Neto, Schanuel, Moniak etc. 

Poor people look forward to cabbage over having nothing else. Just sayin.

I would give Cabbage a good look at this point….season is done, why play Renfroe and Grichuk every day? Neither is likely back, although I guess Grichuk could be a 4th OF’er type….At least platoon Cabbage in LF or RF…

Agree.  Read Jordan Rodrigue's coverage of the Rams, then compare to Blum's Halo coverage.  I realize Jordan doesn't have a jockstrap, but if she did, Blum couldn't carry it!

0% chance he would've lasted as a reporter in the steroid era.
 
side note: it's kinda hard to take him seriously at times when his Twitter profile pic is him wearing a kid's party hat.

Jon Heyman said in the NY Post yesterday that it is not insured.