Grigori

If the Rangers sweep the Angels they could move into first place in the Division. So, bend over, the Rangers are coming.

Wow... I've been posting here so long while the Rangers were losing I forgot how to be a prick. We don't even have Darvish back, and passed up the Angels.

The Rangers are BEHIND the Angels. Yet, I'm criticized because I'm posting when they are winning? Are you guys already penciling in the Napoli wins? You guys need to get a positive attitude, man. It's not that bad. Heck, your ace Weaver is on the way back. Hamilton is gone. You have David Murphy now. Ianetta could go on a hitting binge any minute. Cheer up

"Spanked the last couple of years?" Really, downingrules? You mean like in 2013 when the Rangers finished 12.5 games ahead of the Angels? Or, do you mean in 2010 and 2011 when they were in the World Series while the Angels couldn't even play .500 ball? Or 2012 when they were in the postseason and the Angels were not. All you have is one year where 80% of the Rangers starting rotation was on the DL in five years. And, you call that "spanked?" LOL. You have some weird definition of "spanked" while your team is going down the toilet losing ten of its last 13 games. If the Rangers were spanked the last five years, what you do call what has happened to your Angels?

I'm not sure I can take it any more of reading this thread, Troll Daddy. I think the funniest line was "We had a chance to build something lasting and special." Boo-hoo. Second most hilarious had to be the Brokeback Mountain quote that was soooooo emo, then we had this latest one: "We bitch because we care." LOL. Really? Is that why? I mean, c'mon, you lost your GM, not your boyfriends. Go get your nails done or something and forget about it.

For a Ranger fan, this is one of my favorite Angelswin threads... Angel fans on the brink of tears, giving up on their team, front office drama, thread drama, Brokeback Mountain quotes... gotta love it. Here, have a Kleenex. Wipe your tears. See if your team can win any games against my Rangers this week.

Let's not forget that Dipoto had no control whatsoever over the Hamilton deal. It was Moreno who wanted him gone, and Hamilton had a complete no-trade clause where he could block a trade to any team. Hamilton chose the Rangers. He said he felt it was the only place he could get the support he needed. Dipoto had no choice in the matter.

Dochalo, I think you summed it up pretty well. I was thinking about what it would be like to be in Dipoto's shoes with the overpay on Hamilton and Pujols, the dumping of Hamilton's salary and all of that, A lot of it is Moreno's ego getting in they way of running a good team. IMHO, it's not MS so much as the owner.

I the Angels were adding DeShields, Perez and Hamilton the next three weeks, you would be ecstatic. But, they aren't. Both are .500 teams at this point. Only difference is that the Rangers have a great chance to get better with all the players they are adding off the DL. Go look up what Holland did after he came off the DL last year. The Angels don't have anything like that happening. I'm not trolling, just giving the facts and a status update on the season.

Sowhat makes some good points. I don't see how the Angels can compete when you look at the future. The Astros are for real. The Rangers are adding Hamilton, DeShields and Perez over the next three weeks. Hamilton should be back this week, DeShields in about a week and Perez around the All-Star break. That's significant power, defense, speed and pitching being added to a team playing as well as the Angels to date. I can't see the Angels adding that much and keeping up. Then, Derek Holland should be back around the end of July or early August. The Rangers might be interested in trading a prospect for a lefty specialist like Cesar Ramos to add to Wandy Rodriguez in the bullpen when Perez takes a spot in the rotation. That would help the strengthen their left-handed bullpen pitching, which is their weakest spot. Basically, the Angels have one decent shot at the Rangers coming up, but they will be competing with a far better team the next time they face them. That puts them at a distant third in the Division, with little hope of a Wild Card spot. Sowhat may be right that it's best for the Angels to retrench this year and beef up their farm for the future.

I wonder how long he can pitch under water holding his breath like that.

I think it's true. You can see in the photo on the right he's holding his breath under water. BTW, it looks like they flipped the negative. It looks like he's pitching with the wrong arm in one of the pictures.

Yeah, that hill always looked dangerous to me. When you are running that hard something bad could happen like that. I'm surprised no one has been hurt on it, at least that I know of.

Gallo was the compensation pick the Rangers got for CJ Wilson.

You know, when I think about, I think Hamilton tanked on purpose, too. He's been a Ranger this whole time. I'm not sure he didn't work out a deal to split some of his Angel money with Andrus and some of the other guys before Moreno hired him. I think I heard a rumor like that in a bar in Dallas or someplace. Y'all might be on to something with that. The only reason he had that good stretch last year is the Rangers were out of it, anyway, because of all the pitching injuries. Now that he's back, well... looks like history is being made.

I don't know if I'm more impressed that Hamilton scored the game-winning RBI, or that he gave that ball exactly enough hang time to score Fielder all the way from first base without an outfielder having time to get under it for the out.

More recent reports are that the Rangers will pay below $7 million for all three years. Hamilton gets an opt-out after the second year (after the 2016 season). One article said Moreno will pay $68 million. The rest is a discount Hamilton is giving up because of the lower taxes in Texas. He gets the same "take-home" pay, IOW, keeping the MLBPA happy. It looks like a huge financial loss to Moreno and a decent low-cost pickup for the Rangers that carries some suspension risk, but not much monetary risk. It does have considerable potential upside at that low price and could improve the Rangers. I don't think the Rangers expect him to perform as before, but hope he's an above average player.

ESPN's new pages is just another example of adding a lot of glitz where it's not really needed or wanted. I like simple pages that load fast, like Drudge Report and Baseball Reference. So do most people. Google became popular with its single line first page back when AltaVista was a better search engine. Web designers are always shooting themselves in the foot trying to be too clever.

I can't remember what the movie was, but I recall seeing a move set way off into the future where they showed a baseball team playing and everyone was wearing triple-digit numbers, the subtle implication being that so many numbers were retired that was all that was left. They didn't say anything about it in the movie, but for baseball fans it was a good inside joke.

If Keuchel and McHugh are the real deal, and I have no reason to think they are not, the Angels may have the worst rotation in the AL West, even with Richards. Scott Feldman had a better ERA+ than Weaver last year, as Weaver continues to fade. (Gallardo was better than either last year.) I'm not sure Straily will help the Astros, but he was nice low-risk addition to the Astros rotation, likely able to provide more than CJ. Heaney is the dark horse. The Angels will have to win with their bats and their bullpen.

Gallardo certainly changes the dynamics. The A's and Mariners can put together great rotations. Even the Astros look like they can have a good rotation this season. I'll feel a lot better about what my Rangers did this winter if we get Gallardo.

I think the Angels will edge out the Mariners, though the Mariners appear to be very good. The Rangers pitching is not good enough to finish more than third. They were second to last in ERA in baseball last year, and just having Holland all season isn't going to move the needle enough. They do have some young bullpen arms that might shine. The bottom of their rotation won't suck, but it's not what a contender needs. The A's pitching can't be counted out, but I think if Choo and Fielder are healthy the A's finish fourth. The Astros are still not ready for prime time, but should be better. As a Rangers fan, I'm very upset that they did not do more this winter. You can't lose Perez and Harrison, do little to nothing to replace them, and expect to win anything.

I think Dipoto did a great job this season. Getting the two pitchers for Trumbo worked out great to shore up the bottom of the Angels rotation. Adding some relief pitching during the year was just what the Angels needed. No telling how far they would have gone in the postseason if Richards did not get hurt. If I was an Angels fan, I'd just sit back and watch what the GM does this winter and not worry about it. He has some bad contracts, but he had the same bad contracts last winter, too. I also recall he's rebuilding his farm system as he goes along, starting at the bottom. The Angels are in good shape, and I say that as a Rangers fan. Y'all had a great season, so why complain about anything? Get Richards healthy. Move CJ to the bullpen and find another guy for the bottom of the rotation. Maybe Dipoto will strike gold again. Watch your other arms improve with experience. The offense will take care of itself, just about. I mean, what did you guys score last year? 773 runs, most in the major leagues? That's not a problem, is it? The problem is just maintaining good pitching is what it looks like to me, which is an ongoing challenge for every team. The Rangers have injury question marks and more holes to fill than the Angels. The A's will be in rebuilding mode, and their farm is not as good as it was. The Mariners may be the team to beat. The Astros still are a ways away from being a complete team. I think "tweak" is the way to go for the Angels.

My Rangers probably aren't going to want CJ or Josh back. We already have a good ground crew.

Great games!