mp170.6

This is better than Wells being traded

As I understand it, WAR for starting pitchers is influenced heavily by the number of innings pitched per start. The deeper they pitch into games -- assuming all other variables are held constant -- will shift some of the WAR that might otherwise be credited to a relief pitcher. So if you have a paranoid coaching staff concerned with pitching counts, the starter's WAR will be lower because they pitch fewer innings. I believe this is why Verlander is at the top with a 5.8 WAR because Jim Leyland regularly lets him go 115-130 pitches per start. Weaver, on the other hand, has a 3.5 WAR.

We're looking at a 40-122 season without Wells. Thanks a lot Dipoto.

Why aren't incentive deals included in trade deals? Example: Wells hits .220 with 5 HR's in 2013 for NYY. The Angels owe NYY $17-19 million of his salary. -or- Wells hits .315 with 40 HR's. Then the Yankees are responsible for, say, 75% of his salary for that year. This seems like a low-risk, high reward, arrangement for both teams.

Would he play everyday for the entire season, or only until somebody returns from injury?

Yeah, for maybe a year until NYY releases him.

Frankly, I don't see why Wells accepts this trade. There is nothing to gain going to NYY, especially this year.

Wells for the unemployed Hillary Clinton.

The trade involves Wells to NYY.

I've always found the career paths of the little guys fascinating. Guys in the Chone Figgins mold. No power, but fast and they steal bases well. Once they reach about age 35 the majority simply vanish from MLB. No drastic decline, no significant injury struggles, they just go from being decent to being, well, unemployed. When was the last time you heard of a little guy getting a multi-year contract in their late-30's?

I think Lohse is damaged goods at this point. The way St. Louis severed ties with him last year was sure abrupt despite the year he had. There's gotta be more to this story than the media knows.

I've always had a pessimistic view of speedy hitters. Not all, but most of them. The ability to run fast is often their primary skill. Their batting averages are padded by the ability to get from homeplate to first base faster than other hitters. Ichiro is the textbook example of this. A good counterexample is Bengie Molina. He hit .281 or better in five different seasons. That's pretty remarkable when you think about it. Put some average legs under Bengie and he would have been a .300-.310 hitter. My point is that Figgins was probably a .260-.275 hitter in the years when his official AVG was around .300. The legs were good for another 30 points.

Disgusting? Wait till you see it full size.

Team ERA has plummeted to 7.39 and we are still dead last in ERA. The 29th place team has an ERA of 5.93. I haven't jumped on the fire Butcher bandwagon yet but we're running out of time to fix this mess.

Yeah, and I have a nose hair fracture. Nice phantom injury there, Mike Scioscia. Just tell us the truth, you want Conger gone.

There's not a single catcher in MLB good enough for Scioscia.

I fear guys like Weaver blowing their arms out trying to cover for everybody else's ineptitude. And it won't be pretty when it happens.

I know it's Spring Training so it's easier to overlook the win-loss record but the team ERA still sucks. We rank 30th -- dead last -- with an ERA of 6.89. There's a huge difference between the Angels and the 29th place Astros with their 5.72 ERA. Even if you remove Chad Cordero's disastrous 11 ER's this spring, we're still in last place by ERA by a long shot.

Can't be easy playing catcher when your boss, Mike Scioscia, scrutinizes and dictates your every move.

Thanks. Here is the full size version, 50% chimp:

The musical chairs at the catcher position cannot be helpful to the pitching staff -- who are already struggling badly.

I'm sorry, but this is Mike Scioscia flexing his micromanaging muscle yet again...

Oh, weird. Mark Langston used to live in a gated community in Anaheim Hills. I know the neighbors on the west side. Their daughter, who's like 27 went to UCSD or SDSU and last I heard moved to Australia.