HeavenlyHalos

Among MLB 2B, Howie is 4th in AVG, 6th in OBP, 5th in SLG, 4th in HR, and 4th in SB.
 
He definitely hasn't received enough credit. I'm willing to look past the GIDP and see that he's having an all star caliber season. 

I'm surprised at the results in this poll. Hangover 2 was terrible and I don't expect anything better from this one. 

What bullshit. This makes no sense.

The bottom line is that there is no case for Jerome being pulled from the rotation.

Jerome is the best starter on the team so far. Play your best players to give your team the best chance to win

If the long term plan is to keep Bourjos, then put him in left and give him the extra encouragement, attention, patience. . whatever it takes to get to where he's comfortable there.
 
If the plan is to trade him, then put him back in center to show off his skills and hope for a good offer.
 
 
I don't think it would necessarily be a mistake to move Trout to left, but it's obvious he prefers center.  Whether a move to left affects his play or the ability to keep him long term, only he and (hopefully) Angel management knows.  But why take the chance with an elite talent?
 
That's just my take; there are valid points on both sides of the issue.

I don't know why this is even a discussion? Trout is far more valuable to this team than Bourjos is. One is looking like a perennial MVP candidate and a future HOF'er while the other looks like a solid MLB player. If the Angels want to keep Trout here long term, consider his input on where he wants to play. DiPoto and Scioscia need to meet with him and ask him if he wants to be in CF or if he's okay in LF and whatever he answers, they'll take it into consideration. Is this a bad precedent to set? Maybe? Is it worth it in regards to a talent like Trout? Yes. 
 
Hell, CF is a position of luxury for us having Trout and Bourjos. SP is a need, IMO, Bourjos should be used as trade bait for a solid SP prospect. If Trout was Vernon Wells-esque in the OF then Bourjos wouldn't be expendable. 

I don't even look at the standings or care if the Rangers or teams the Angels are chasing win or lose. 
 
To me, I'm entertained and completely satisfied watching exciting Angels Baseball. If they keep it up, all good things will come together for the good of all Angels fans.
 
We all expected these types of performances from the Angels out of the gate, but unfortunately it has taken this long for this super talented team to click.
 
Be that as it may, I don't care about April 1 - mid-May. The past is in my rearview mirror and postseason or not, I'll be satisfied from here on out as a fan if they play up to their abilities for the rest of the season. 

Yes, lets disregard his 639 PA appearances in 2012 when he had one of the greatest seasons in MLB history and lets go instead with the 39 PA as a leadoff hitter he's had in 2013.

Greinke wasn't an "aging former star" - he was a star in his prime and a needed piece for a playoff push.  Yes, it sucks seeing Segura doing so well but I was in favor of the trade when it happened so I'm not gonna armchair it now and say it was a bad idea.  

I would have liked to see Segura become a super UT guy like Chone Figgins started out as, spelling people at SS, 2B, and even 3B, giving the Angels a deeper, stronger bench. Chone did that for a year or two and got regular at-bats; if we had Segura this year in the UT role, my bet is that he would easily have got 400+ PA, maybe more. If he had out-played either Howie or Erick, one of those two could have been traded.
 
But the point is that Dipoto seems all-too willing to trade away talented youngsters and go after aging (former) stars. This formula has never worked out for anyone. It didn't work for the Angels in the 80s and early 90s, nor the Yankees in the 80s and most of the 00s. The Yankees have only remained very good because of a deep farm system due to great scouting, and the fact that they have so much money to throw around. But they reached an "over-ripeness" in he early 00s and while managing a World Series win in 2009, have mostly fallen short since 2000.
 
My worry is that the Angels will go the route of the Baltimore Orioles in the late 90s. The Orioles tried to buy a championship, fell short, and were left with an aging team and little young talent and went into a tailspin for a decade plus, and are only just now crawling out of it.
 
The only way out, in my opinion, is if the Angels sit tight and stop selling off prospects (not that they have any left) and try to focus on building a strong farm system. The team they have now is one we're pretty much stuck with for the few years, with perhaps a few tweaks here and there. We'll likely see a rotation of starters coming in through free agency, but I think this is the team of 2013-2015 or so. All we can do is hope that Pujols and Hamilton figure things out, the pitching stabilizes, and Dipoto focuses on the farm.

April was clearly the month of the six inning starter; May belongs to Kendrick 1-4.  It's like the stock market, you have to know when to buy in and when to get out that's important.

But none of that is a product of a piss poor Manager right since we have one of the best in the MLB?

Wow, people really need to temper their expectations about Jimenez. Talk of trading Kendrick or Callaspo this year to open up a spot for him when everybody is healthy is a bit ridiculous IMO.

Cal used Lyles too ya know. They paid him less though.

Easy there, Drew Carey has never been funny.

Yeah who wants to be 11-1.

Happiness...
Where's my warm gun at?

Larry has been a pretty damn good commish for the conference, but backing Rush is a huge mistake in this instance. Even if it was said in jest, because of what happened in that game, Rush deserved to be fired. That is a very touchy subject and in a professional manner, you should not joke about something like that, especially by offering rewards.

Richards also looked very sharp which is nice to see.

If I was sure that Wells was not going to be the starter this year, and he was just going to get spot starts or be insurance in case some one was injured then I would have been happy to keep him on the team.  Since that would never be a guarantee with Scioscia, then I am glad he has been traded. 

Reported at 5/$65 million, $30 guaranteed. I'm a phins fan, and while it's nice to add a big name FA, he definitely doesn't deserve that much money. Would have preferred to have kept Marshall. With that said, Miami needed to add a receiver this off-season to help Tannehill.

When they announced him up to bat I yelled "Wooooo... Just kidding!" And then he hit that.

They aren't taking away guns, they are proposing to take away the sales of certain types of guns.

I blame Canada that he's making so much money. Hopefully we get our revenge tomorrow. I predict a 6-3 victory.