AngelsAndRamsFan

Band-wagoners like most Seahawks fans.

I attribute the success of the franchise to the ownership group in place and their vision of what could be.  Moreno and company were the ones being mocked by people like Richard Brown and Jackie Autry for thinking the Angels were anything other than a small market team.  People seem to forget that the Angels were at one time among the teams being named as potential contraction candidates, a stark contrast from current day when the Angels are always mentioned as one of the haves, and a large market team.
 
The only people still pigeonholing the Angels into OC seem to be the people in SoCal.   They won't ever be the Dodgers, no different than the Mets will never be the Yankees, but the second class citizen mindset is something much more common in SoCal than it is outside of it.   I live in South Florida, I see plenty of Angels caps out here and I've had plenty of people ask me if I'm an Angels fan or just sporting the red.  Nobody out here calls them Anaheim, it's always LA....  or.... the Angels.   Personally, I think that's what Moreno was after when he changed the name..  I don't think he was trying to get people in LA to follow the Angels, I think he was trying to get people all over the effing country to know where the hell the team actually played.
 
As far as the Dodgers vs the Angels thing goes -- the inferiority complex died when the Angels won the WS.

I have been looking for an Auburn Hills Pistons or Arlington Rangers jersey for years. I should ask some pissed off residents of those two towns if they have any.  I can't wait for residents of Cumberland to scream We Are Not Atlanta at Braves games.

I think it'll b dropped whenever the new stadium lease is renegotiated

Have the locals really taken to calling OC, the OC?   Most insipid thing ever.

That's pretty much my feeling on it, too. The team's referred to just as the Angels, regardless. I grew up in NYC where the New York Nets, Jets and Giants all played across the river in New Jersey, so the geographic discrepancies in the name don't really bother me...
 
And as for Los Angeles being different from OC, absolutely. However, there are a LOT of different parts of LA, with a lot of different cultures and ways of life. It's very diverse, and to say that it's all a cesspool is a little misguided, IMHO. I mean, Bel Air, Playa del Rey, Brentwood, Westwood and the Hollywood Hills are all technically and legally part of the city of Los Angeles. 
 
And if you look at LA County as a whole you've got Marina del Rey, Malibu, Culver City, Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach, Torrance, El Segundo (which is known as Mayberry...), Beverly Hills, etc. etc. etc...there are a lot of places there that are absolutely wonderful.
 
If we look at the OC there are huge differences in how people live, too - not everyone in OC lives well. There's probably a huge difference in the quality of life for someone living in the parts of Anaheim with gang activity vs. Languna Beach.

So why name a team after a city no one takes seriously?

Atlanta Braves don't play in Atlanta anymore, The Buffalo Bills play in Orchard Park, the Dallas Cowboys are in Arlington, the New York Giants and Jets both play in New Jersey, the Washington Redskins play in Maryland, the Tampa Bay Rays play in St. Petersburg, the Detroit Pistons aren't in Detroit, and the Phoenix Coyotes play in Glendale. 
 
This isn't a big deal....at all. 

Reading the article I get the impression the author is just throwing team names out there without any real insider information saying one particular club or another has people talking to players still available. The Angels traded Kendrick so put the Angels in the group of teams looking for a 2nd basemen whether they are or not. The Angels look like they are low on veteran arms, throw them in with the James Shields rumors.

Folks, where would we put a Haren, Vogelsong, Billingsley, Ogando, or Baker? Where do they fit into this staff?
 
Here's how I figure. Richards, Shoemaker, and Weaver are locks. That's three.
 
Then you've got Wilson, who if you can upgrade, sure, why not? But if not, give him a chance to return to form. If not, replace him with Santiago or someone else. That's four.
 
Then you've got Heaney, who seems ready for the show. If he isn't ready, go with Tropeano. That's five.
 
There's your starting five with two solid back-ups. After that you've got a ton of possibles: Rasmus, Alvarez, Rucinski, Sanabia, and Smith. None of these stands out as a potential good starter, but all could be solid to average (#4-5).
 
So here's the thing. Where do you put a Haren, Billingsley, etc? Who do they replace? Not Richards, Shoemaker, and Weaver. Furthermore, you don't want to stall the development of Heaney - he's got #2 upside, so needs to be in the rotation. If he struggles then you give Tropeano, Santiago, or maybe Rasmus or Rucinski a shot.
 
So it only makes sense if Wilson goes. You can't put Haren in the minors. So either you think Wilson can at least be a solid #3-4 or you try to trade him and sign someone else. But who wants Wilson, really?
 
Anyhow, I say go with what we've got. Unless you an somehow bring in a Jordan Zimmerman in trade, we've got a nice, deep starting staff.

I'd be surprised if Pujols called it quits by then. Would you walk away from 90 million dollars?

We gave Skaggs the shot with no other choice. Had Mulder not been injured there's every chance Skaggs would have started the season in the minors, but he got hurt and there was no choice. We have plenty of options besides Heaney, so it's a very different situation this time around.

Lol. You sound like a chick, a new baseball fan, or an old man.

In 2020 or when he's a free agent again.

Ability to hit a baseball out of the infield:
 
Matt Kemp: .506 SLG
Hamilton: .414 SLG
 
Can't even believe I'm having to defend Matt Kemp in a comparison to Josh Hamilton. 
 
He had ankle surgery before the 2014 season, I get that. That affects his ability to run both on the basepaths and in the outfield. Kemp absolutely took off in the 2nd half of last season once healthy and hit 17 HR and had a .971 OPS.

@pedromoura: New Angels backup C Drew Butera, acquired from Dodgers: throws hard on mound and behind plate, fine framer, lots of passed balls, can't hit.

A is Mathis. B is Butera.

Butera makes Mathisn't look like Salvador Perez as a hitter.
.507 career OPS???????

Unless winning the regular season championship is the end goal there's always room for improvement.

@markasaxon: One of the prospects A's got for Jeff Samardzija is Trayce Thompson, younger brother of Klay Thompson, son of ESPNLA's own Mychal Thompson

No one else ever mentioned the angels being interested, huh. Shocker

The Angels don't plan on eating any of his contract. Good luck trading him without eating any of his contract.

The Angels don't plan on eating any of his contract. Good luck trading him without eating any of his contract.