SlappyUtilityMIF

Watching the Bees here in Reno with my Angel fanatic 12 yr old daughter. Coworker hooked me up with 3rd row ducats right next to Bees dugout. Kendall got some autographs before game, Lucho, Field, Keith Johnson, Drew Heid. Lucho was way cool, Johnson too. Tommy Field was kinda irritated, but signed anyways. Hanson looks shaky, living at 87-88 and hanging curveballs. Andy Marte hit one about 600' to LF, 1st pitch fastball cockshot, hit it over RR trax, a hike. My kid is beaming, way effing better than sitting home watching the 'big' club!

I think of him as more like Clint Eastwood in Grand Torino. "Get off my lawn!"

Aybar is not too expensive to move. His contract is quite club-friendly. It was a good signing by Dipoto

Mama says that alligators are ornery because they got all them teeth and no toothbrush.

Hot Stove talk in August means your team blows. This is so disappointing.

The remainder of this season should be treated like spring training. They can get a jump on their player evaluations early so they can address the needs in the off season. As for the Gutierrez and the org harnessing something he has, sure seems like it's been a while that the Angels have done this with any pitcher.

The last place to come for a mechanical change is the Angels. Butcher has no clue how to adjust mechanics.

Agreed...same as Green and Calhoun....no reason not to play them as much as possible down the stretch...if they flunk the test, so be it, we'll move on, but I would much rather see those guys than Nelson, Field, Cowgill or the latest Rockie/DBack reject....they all have some potential, based on what we have heard, so let's see what they can do.....

The holdup in signing Darvish when he was coming out of high school was that it was considered a dishonor to skip Japanese Baseball altogether and go to the U.S.  The Angels wined and dined Darvish, made home visits and offered him an out of this world signing bonus that would've brought him to the U.S.  He even wanted to come to the U.S.  But I think his parents, culture and JPPL swayed his opinion in a different direction.  It also didn't hurt that he was given word that he'd enter the top level of Japanese Baseball straight out of high school, whereas if he came back stateside, he'd have started off in Rookie Ball like any other prospect.  Plus his support system was probably different at the time.  Coming out to the states at age 18 when all you've known is Japanese culture your whole life would've been a completely different battle.  By the time Darvish actually did come over, he'd been all around the world, was a celebrity, knew how to handle all the pressure and expectations and was in general, just more mature than he would've been straight out of high school.  
 
Personally, I think Yu made the right decision.  He established himself back at home and succeeded at that level, met his career goals and then came out here.  By the time he came to the U.S. he didn't need money, he didn't need fame or status or to prove anything to anyone.  He simply came to play ball and when you can simplify the game to that measure, you're more likely to meet success. 

The Angels have actually produced some incredible home-grown talent in recent years. Obviously, Trout and Weaver top the list. But you've also got Santana, Kendrick, Trumbo, Bourjos, and Calhoun (I think he's going to be solid). 
 
Unfortunately, a handful of guys who would have been huge assets for the organization were traded away (Segura and Corbin have a 3.5 and 3.4 WAR). The jury is still out on Skaggs and Chatwood.
 
The Bolden and Clarke first round picks were inexcusable, though. That is just an unmitigated disaster.
 
The biggest problem I see with the organization is the win-now mentality; it comes at the expense of building a young nucleus of cost-controlled players, which would make competing yearly a viable goal. True, big market teams can get away with this, but only for so long before it comes back to bite you in the ass. The White Sox have been doing this for years, and it's led to the crisis they're currently in. In sharp contrast on the Northside of Chicago, Theo and Hoyer are going about it the right way. They should yield results in a year or so. The Pujols and Hamilton acquisitions were very short-sighted. So were the trades for Greinke and Haren.
 
I would imagine it's got to be frustrating for Angels fans who can envision what their team should be like right now. In an alternate reality, the outlook would be very bright moving forward.
 
If the Angels have a shift in philosophy, they can right the ship. Dipoto needs to change his tactics, and the Sciosica mystique has run its course. In the meantime, I would hope that Hamilton and Pujols bounce back next year so you can unload them on the Yankees or another big market team willing to eat some of the money. Easier said than done, but that should be the plan at this point. Accept the sunk cost and move on.

Wasn't talking about you Toby, was talking about Eric Notti a ways back.  I'd quote you if I was talking about you.  I agree with a lot of your post.  

It's personnel people, personnel.

Remember he's considered to be the Miguel Cabrera of the Cuban league and a much better hitter than Cespedes and Puig.
It would be a big mistake in not trying to go after this guy especially when the team is so weak in the minor league.

Yep. Trade Trumbo and Kendrick for pitching, Green to 3B, Lindsey to 2B and sign this dude. 
 
He's the real deal. 

Scott is absolutely right, this guy is INCREDIBLE.  Watching him during the WBC, I was drooling, but they kept going on about how he didn't want to defect and was being well compensated.  His power is off the charts and could contend for a HR crown immediately.  More power than Cesepdes, more athletic that pretty much every 1B in the game (maybe not Goldschmidt). 

If you're doing that, let's deal Bourjos.
 
LF - Hamilton
CF - Trout
RF - Calhoun
DH - Pujols/Abreu
1B - Abreu/Pujols
 
Trumbo is the 4th guy, providing flexibility at DH/1B and LF/RF.
 
Let's face it, Trumbo has 0 value right now.

Hmmmm makes sense.
 
DH - Pujols
1B - Abreu
RF - Hamilton

We do. Trade Trumbo.

No way! This guy is incredible.  Wish the Angels had a spot for him.

"It's a typical pitching pattern that gets him out — left-handed breaking balls down and away, right-handed changeups down and away," one major league scout said. "There's just not a whole lot of adjustments going on."
 
 
And that's why there won't be any improvement. No adjustments, just the same hack approach at the plate.

Three fans are walking to Fenway Park for the Red Sox-Yankees playoff series, when they see a foot sticking out of some bushes. An inspection revealed a dead-drunk naked woman. One man placed his Orioles baseball cap on her right breast. The Red Sox fan placed his cap on her left breast, and the Yankee fan put his over her crotch. They then called the police.
The cop lifted up the Orioles cap, and made a few notes. He then lifted the Red Sox cap and made more notes. Then he lifted the Yankees cap, put it down, lifted it again and put it down. When he lifted it the third time the Yankee fan said, ''What are you doing? Are you some kind of pervert, or what?'' The cop said, I was just confused, usually when I see a Yankee cap, there's an asshole under it.''

Knock knock.
Who's there?
F*ck this team.

Two-week time out for the forum?

Welp, this entire board has peaked.
 
Shut it down, Chuck.

it takes balls to make a first post like that.