Erstad Grit

Actually I started a Poll  thread on this topic on the old site making a case for Santana having a better year than Blanton, Hanson, and Vargas. More than a few agreed with me too. Santana was not garbage last year. He had a horrendous first half. There was a stretch when he carried us. 

I would take Bautista's stat line over Hamilton in a second 

Our bullpen is way overworked  and in the midst of a long stretch  without a day off. Blame Dipoto for getting a SP who cannot ever pitch 7 innings. 

5 1/3 innings 4 runs, bombs by Morse and Morales

Looking for a DP, made sense to me. 

Trout 0/10 -no worries. Last season may be the best of his career but he will still be a perennial  allastar.

Hamilton- 5/10 . I get that he is streaky but he ended last year horribly which means he has been on a down "streak" for 2 months.

Pujols- 7/10 Hate to say it but this has all the ingredients of a franchise crippling contract. 

Blanton/Hanson = 10000000000000/10 

My relatives in Dallas told me not to worry as he always starts slow. I know he'll turn it on, but wow when he's bad, hes really bad.

Um last year he started off looking like a lock for the MVP. 

Wish Mike would have pulled him during the 10-0 romp yesterday. 

Well he is playing pretty good defense so I guess if that stops he would worse. 

Williams and Richards in. Blanton out and once Weaver returns Hanson or Vargas out. 

Not really, Cordero got a promotion despite his 6.35 era and almost 2 whip

lol oh shucks 

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/16/sports/la-sp-0417-angels-notes-20130417

Not sure if it's a  craig but this is great news. Offense is rolling, Richards is legit, Jimenez is a beast, Roth/Madson might solidify the bullpen. 

Christopher Lloyd was on our side for that inning.

Just spit out my coffee

Great win tonight BUT

I can't help but feel that Hanson's game was smoke and mirrors. 6 hits, 4 walks, and only 2 K's over 6 innings. He was very lucky to get ground balls at perfect times, otherwise we'd be talking about how crappy he is. He didn't miss many bats.

Unfortunately I agree. He was 1 hit away multiple times to give it up. 

A nice 5-1 homestand would re-energize the fan base and prove we are a contender. 

Ortiz, Saunders, Santana are better than Blanton, Vargas, Hanson 

Yeah some of us actually work so staying past 10:00 at the park on a weekday ain't going to happen especially when Halos are losing 10-4

Bottom line:

 

Team ERA, 5.18

30th place.

 

Average with RISP, .129

30th place.

And our ace is on the DL 

JD had to replace 3/5ths of the rotation for 2013 and another guy they had just signed to a long term deal was coming off minor surgery.  Not to mention there was one legit bullpen arm with only mild question marks coming into the season. 

 

He had one guy coming in to 2013 that didn't have a ? attached to his name.  1 guy of 12. 

 

Of all the moves he made, the Blanton deal is the one that I just don't get.  Even the scrap heap shuffle of relievers at the end of spring was understandable relative to timing and resources. 

 

But Joe Blanton?  It makes us call into question the remaining moves he's made which in my opinion are otherwise fairly sound and with good reason. 

FALSE

He chose to replace 3/5 of the rotation. Haren and Santana could have been kept. Santana was good the second half and should have been kept. I understand letting Haren walk but Hanson, Vargas,  and Blanton were strange choices. 

Ervin Santana

Sign Krod and Vladdy

Instead of just throwing out Angels names of past for nostalgia sake let me defend it.

Krod is better than 1to 3 of our pitchers right now. Use him as a 6th inning guy and see how effective he can be.

I have no idea what Vladdy can do. I would use him as a PH for 3b, SS, and Catcher and not let him take the field. If he had some success I'd consider him as a DH while moving Trumbo into the outfield.

Both of these moves would be extremely low risk and most likely low reward. However they would at least generate some fan excitement. I have been a hard-core fan since the 80's and I've never been more disinterested this early in a season.

Plus imagine if Vladdy caught fire!?!?!?!?!?! 

Mike Holtz was a beast. I loved that slow curve. 

How about Chili Davis?