Lifetime

his issue is pitch recognition not lack of patience. You can't teach pitch recognition. If it were so simple as having minor league coaches work with them to "work the kinks out" you'd see boat lads of great hitters coming out of the minor leagues. Pitch recognition can improve and usually does to some extent as a hitter matures, but there's no magic to teach it. Trumbo has worked very hard on improving his approach but the reality is, this is about what you can expect from him going forward. It's not a coaching issue, it's a skillset issue.

his issue is pitch recognition not lack of patience. You can't teach pitch recognition. If it were so simple as having minor league coaches work with them to "work the kinks out" you'd see boat lads of great hitters coming out of the minor leagues. Pitch recognition can improve and usually does to some extent as a hitter matures, but there's no magic to teach it. Trumbo has worked very hard on improving his approach but the reality is, this is about what you can expect from him going forward. It's not a coaching issue, it's a skillset issue.

his issue is pitch recognition not lack of patience. You can't teach pitch recognition. If it were so simple as having minor league coaches work with them to "work the kinks out" you'd see boat lads of great hitters coming out of the minor leagues. Pitch recognition can improve and usually does to some extent as a hitter matures, but there's no magic to teach it. Trumbo has worked very hard on improving his approach but the reality is, this is about what you can expect from him going forward. It's not a coaching issue, it's a skillset issue.

we had the #1 offense in baseball in 2012 even without Hamilton.  You lose Torii and even if you Trade Morales for Vargas, you essentially have the same offense you have right now.  Any player could have provided the production we have gotten from Hamilton this season.  Even with pujols limited and hamilton providing very little, no morales, no Torii and they still have an offense that ranks in the top third
 
You could have had Vargas, Anibal Sanchez, and Kyle Lohse and another pen guy or two for about what hamilton is making.  Coulda, shoulda, woulda. 
 
My point is that it's a good lesson for 2014.  The offense will be average at worst if you throw Mike Trout and eight scrubs out there. 
 
Pitching, Pitching, Pitching and Mike Trout.  Fortify the crap out of the pen.  Win 3-1 and 4-2 a lot. 

Looks like Grigori is using speculations as Facts.
 
But that seems to be the norm recently around here.

**** Robblin. Just admit it. You hate the Angels.

the stuff among the players is just boys being boys. 
 
I don't think we can make any assumptions about leadership based on what is written here.  Snapshots are just that.  Everyone in the picture is smiling for the camera but in reality mom and dad are annoyed because one kid bit Mickey and the other just crapped their pants. 
 
I have no idea what kind of leader Albert is or was.  Maybe he was the go to guy in St. Louis and upon coming to the Angels suddenly became second fiddle to Torii.  Maybe that didn't sit well with him.  Maybe Torii is a bit of a psycho and hot head wanting to go to blows about every minor thing.  This team didn't win shit with Torii here.  Maybe Albert being annoyed about his performance even with a team win means he's a highly competitive professional athlete with a perfectionist mentality. 
 
The timing of this story, regardless of truth, is such to accomplish one goal - to whach the bee hive and it worked. 
 
If the team is winning, the players have passion and are coming together
If the team is losing, the same behavior is looked up as clubhouse dissent and a lack of leadership. 

GB is right, there is a good core there. Trout, Bourjos, Kendrick, Pujols, Aybar, Hamilton, Conger, Calhoun is a pretty solid core even if the big guys don't live up to their reputations. The difficulty is going to be fixing the pitching without removing some of that good core. We have a couple good SP but the rest of the staff is mediocre, particularly in the pen. That's not an easy fix especially when the farm isso thin with promotable or tradeable talent. 

He did?

Wow what a pile of dung that is kevin. 

I swear many of these writers read the various message boards and then set about writing their articles to play off the emotional arguments of the foot stompers . I sense the BS is strong in this one. Not surprised to see many here run with it though. 

I swear many of these writers read the various message boards and then set about writing their articles to play off the emotional arguments of the foot stompers . I sense the BS is strong in this one. Not surprised to see many here run with it though. 

This is a non issue. Haven't you ever had disagreements at work, where for a moment things got out of hand? Now factor in that all of your mistakes are shown in the public eye over and over again. These are two opinionated guys that let the frustration of a season get the best of them. I'm willing to bet this happens in every club house over the course of a losing season (sorry no link). If it doesn't I'd almost have to question their competitive nature.

GB is right, there is a good core there. Trout, Bourjos, Kendrick, Pujols, Aybar, Hamilton, Conger, Calhoun is a pretty solid core even if the big guys don't live up to their reputations. The difficulty is going to be fixing the pitching without removing some of that good core. We have a couple good SP but the rest of the staff is mediocre, particularly in the pen. That's not an easy fix especially when the farm isso thin with promotable or tradeable talent. 

I don't really get what you want these guys to say when they are asked a question.
 
Would you prefer "I'm getting older and the team is going to regret my contract.  I'm going to be below average for the next several years"?

I'm sorry, but I have no problem seeing Pujols put up similar numbers to his 2012 season for the next few years.  The dude played in major pain all season long this year.  That is the only reason his numbers were down this year.

Meh, geez, I'm not happy with the way Albert was hitting.  Shouldn't that be enough?
 
If you guys want to get your panties in a bunch over a fairly innocuous comment to the media, knock yourselves out.

I disagree with the notion that the team is in trouble for the next decade. I see no reason this group of players can't turn it around offensively. We don't need Hamilton and Pujols to be what they were, we need them to be somewhere between what they have been in the past and what they showed this year. After that we need to fix the pitching. This can be done relatively quickly.

LOL @ lectured. 
 
This is a direct question regarding another poster's assertion. It doesn't call for or require further explanation unless and until the question is answered. Regardless, I don't need your condescending input. 

Baseball nearly died because of the strike in 1994. Not because of the play on the field.

no testing system is immune to errors due to the efforts that are being made to continuously fond new ways to fool the results. As soon as a new method is implemented or work around is already in the works. There is no easy or fool proof way to get these tests failsafe. They should continue to do everything they can but it is a never ending battle.

Your post is a bit disingenuous. It has been years since MLB was ignoring the problem and they have been making efforts for several years to continue to ramp up the discovery and discipline measures. Arod and the other players knew that and chose to try to circumvent the rules. 
 
Why shouldn't MLB make a big deal out of this? It is a big deal. Arod is one of the most iconic players in contemporary baseball, he cheated, he recruited others to cheat, and he tried to cover up his infractions. He should be paraded out there and given a stiff punishment. 

ROFLMAO your and idoit 

I think the shear athleticism and difficulty of Trout's catch was absolutely incredible and it got my vote. 

it's not like he has a stable of alternatives to choose from eligrba.