DMVol

Most Angels rumors end up being false--any big move that this team has made under Arte has been under the radar.  
 
There is only one tax threshold we should be blowing past and that is the international tax for Moncada.  

If you want to restock the farm system and put your team in a position to succeed in the future, this is the way the Angels will need to do it. I don't anticipate them finishing in the bottom half of the standings any time soon and thus don't expect any high draft picks. Picking up Newcomb when they did was a tremendous blessing.
Picture him, Moncada and Baldoquin all in the farm system and all within two years of being on the big league team. Folks would suddenly go from talking about how empty the cupboard is to how full it looks.

We need pitching. Where are we going to get that

Enough guys....I explained the reason...there was no intent to steal anybody's material, the source was identified...move on....

Some do. Some of us just don't like bad trades, such as this one.

No way in hell would I do that trade. A-Rod has missed a year, is expensive, and probably won't be any better than Freese. Not to mention he is a pariah. Hamilton gets one more start to a season to see what he can do. If he starts slow then platoon him, just like Scioscia has been prone to do in the past. Besides, I'm guessing the Yanks simply release A-Rod.

I think the problem here is that Hamilton is already at this stage with the fans.  We have 3 more years of this garbage to look forward to most likely.  He has shown nothing to indicate otherwise.  The thing with Hamilton is that he looks like the worst player in the league sometimes.  Who knows whats really going on with him, its pretty remarkable how bad a turn he's taken in terms of performance.  I think in the last 10 years the only real comparisons are GMJ and of course Vernon Wells.  Probably more Vernon Wells since he was suppose to fill the same roll.  I know people complained about some of the other names mentioned here (Anderson, Guillen, etc,) but those guys really dont come close.  I actually really dont understand the Anderson haters.  He dogged plays but he was an awesome player and he definitely showed up when it counted in 2002.

I look at it like this....if your only critera for a successful season is a world championship, then 29 teams are a failure in any given year....maybe that's ok....but I would say we had a very successful season that didn't end well...the playoff flop tempers a 98 win regular season but it doesn't discount or minimize the achievment....and if wins in April or July mean nothing to you, then you're following the wrong sport....part of the beauty of baseball is its pace, literally the relative laid back pace of a game (at least as opposed to football or basketball) but also the long season, enjoying the ups and surviving the downs.....

I look at it like this....if your only critera for a successful season is a world championship, then 29 teams are a failure in any given year....maybe that's ok....but I would say we had a very successful season that didn't end well...the playoff flop tempers a 98 win regular season but it doesn't discount or minimize the achievment....and if wins in April or July mean nothing to you, then you're following the wrong sport....part of the beauty of baseball is its pace, literally the relative laid back pace of a game (at least as opposed to football or basketball) but also the long season, enjoying the ups and surviving the downs.....

Yes. Now what does that have to do with moving forward next season? Baseball never remains stationary in terms of competition. Your teams off season moves are matched by the competitions and you won't know until the end if all those changes made a difference. Last season the Angels won 78 games, nearly the entire bullpen changed over along with two new starters. The only real addition to the starting fielders was Freese. The adjustments netted about twenty more wins. This offcseason requires fewer adjustments so what kind of fool stands pat when you could repeat the sucess of this season by making those few changes.
And to those who say not winning in the playoffs means not being sucessful, go screw yourselves.

The headache quote, at least here, comes from hitting the wall in the 5th......doesn't look that bad in this article...
 
Josh Hamilton struggles in return to Angels’ lineup … Josh Hamilton, who played in only one of the Angels’ last 23 regular-season games due to ailments in his right shoulder and right side, went 0-for-4 in the Angels’ 3-2, 11-inning loss in Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Thursday night.
He lined out to the left side of the infield in the third, grounded out to second base in his next two plate appearance and struck out swinging in the ninth, failing to come through with one out and a runner on second in his last two at-bats. Angels manager Mike Scioscia batted Hamilton seventh, because he figured he’d be rusty after so much time off.
He was.
“The game was obviously moving a little fast,” Hamilton said. “I went back and looked at a couple of at-bats and I was actually starting to load too early. So, tomorrow, try to slow it down even more.”
Hamilton banged up against the left-field fence while catching Salvador Perez‘s fifth-inning fly ball, but all he came away with was “a headache.” He expects his legs to be sore when he wakes up on Friday, but he’s also expected to be back in the lineup against Yordano Ventura and his triple-digit fastball.
“Physically I feel good,” Hamilton said. “I’ll be a little sore tomorrow. It’s been a while since I played nine innings. But I’ll come in, get treatment, things like that, and be ready for tomorrow.”
Alden

I'd be happy with Cowgill playing over Josh at this point.  As much as I want to, you just can't trust him to put together a quality AB. He looks completely lost out there. We don't have time to be f'n around.

This game is on the hitters tonight. I disagree with the Calhoun bunt decision. I also understood the decision to pinch run for Freese in a tie game when he got on base to lead off the inning. Oh and once it was decided to put Hamilton in the line up he was there to stay, no other manager in baseball would have hit for him. The issue is the entire team took a collective shit at the plate. I would have zero problem playing Cowgill over Josh tomorrow, but I'm guessing that won't happen.

That rookie reliever didn't do much either.....

He's made some bad decisions but, bottom line, he cares....and he puts his money where his mouth is (sometimes foolishly but he's always been willing)...I remember Jackie Autry and Disney....I love Arte....

This.
We can knock him all day long for some bad meddling in what he should leave to his gm. Thats fair. But ive never understood some of the hate hes gotten from some angel fans.
'He lowered beer prices, big deal'. Hes also kept the team VERY affordable while keeping the payroll very competitive. Hes for years mongled with fans at games. He showed up to meet with a bunch of internet nerds from angelswin.com when he has taken a beating from the website forums. Hes spent a ton to upgrade the stadium, profitted, and redistributed it to the fans.
How? Pujols and hamilton. Dumb signings, yeah. But he still spent a ton. When people assumed he was broke again, he locks up trout and shuts people up.
And the stadium experience is still very affordable. I know some people have a tight budget, kids to take care of etc. But compare it to the other stadiums (if youve been) and its generally cheaper than what ive seen.
I think hes been great personally.

Going WAY back, reminds me of 1995. Around July they just started blowing out teams every night for weeks. (Cheating at Baseball Almanac I see a 15 game stretch where they scored 126 runs.)
 
Just before the roof caved in.
 
What was number-funny about this run is how it kept climbing, hit a peak, then barely tapered off. Run totals went 5, 7, 8, 14, then back the other way 12, 9, 8, 7. Then they ruined it by going back up to 11. 

It's never easy to win a playoff series, let alone 3.

Cron is better than Hamilton though.

I always thought it was possible that we'd have a year where everything went ridiculously right and we'd be one of the best teams. So in my head that was Pujols and Hamilton bouncing back to their glory days, Weaver and Wilson turning into their former ace-like selves and Frieri and Burnett leading a dominant bullpen. The crazy thing is that none of that has really happened. Pujols and Hamilton have been better, but not really by much. Weaver has been decent, Wilson terrible and Frieri and Burnett provided significant negative value and no value respectively.
 
Going into every season, there's about 20 teams who could be really good if everything goes right for them. What's crazy about this team is we've had more than our fair share go wrong and have still done so much better than realistic expectations. It's been real fun to watch.

Not sure....Pujols and Hamilton both will need more and more DH time...like it or not...neither is going anywhere....

How about the last 2 seasons? I guess you have to cut him a little slack with a broken hand this year but he's actually been pretty consistent since April 2013.....

I think Beckham was picked up with an eye to 2015...Freese is going to be non-tendered....

That's why we traded a lot for him....

He's 22 and his pitched 12 innings in the majors....might want to give him a little more time....