Capital_Dave

"Big News" on January 1, as promised!

Look around the A.L. West and the best hitters for Seattle, Texas, and Oakland. So many southpaws. 3 or 4 lefties is exactly what we need in the rotation!

Yup. (Except Paul Maholm. I like that guy and he might be relatively inexpensive.)

Here's the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking itself: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-13-162A1.pdf

User Actions Follow Bloomberg TV Verified account‏@BloombergTV BREAKING: U.S. FCC proposes ending TV sports blackout rule Um, yes please.

I think you could look at this offseason through the prism of making Trout happy. Trade Bourjos, to free up CF for Trout full-time? Check. Re-acquire Skaggs, to reunite Trout with a familiar face he was drafted and came up through the farm system with? Check.

With all of these discussions, we always seem to talk about having one player slotted in one position. You need 5 SPs for a rotation, you have Kendrick for 2B and Aybar for SS, etc. But you know what? Guys get injured all the time. Of course we need a 6th SP. Of course we need Howie and Aybar for those two spots. If Grant Green is playing 2B and he gets injured... then what?! To me, this is why the 6th SP needs to come from free agency. Our starting lineup is good, but we don't have the depth and versatility that Bourjos and Trumbo provided. We have ~20M to spend. Seems like we're in good shape to make a run at a Garza-level talent that can solidify our rotation and give us the depth we need for the inevitable injuries and slumps that are part of every baseball season.

Jeff Fletcher ‏@JeffFletcherOCR1m Howie Kendrick is not involved in this 3-way trade. #angels #whitesox #dbacks

Nonononononono. Not Howie too. Dammit. That would suck.

I agree that Cahill+Skaggs won't happen unless we sweeten the deal. Is Cahill+Skaggs for Trumbo+Cron too much?

Actually I look at this quote the opposite way: as a (rather transparent) attempt to inflate Trumbo's trade value by making him "untouchable."

This will put us over the top, just like Ryan Madson did last season! (Seriously, though, I really like Huddy... I just agree with jshep, let's not count on him. But a minor league deal? Sure.)

Chuck, I think HaloFromVegas, Party of 4, will be able to make this next year! Cool, we hated to miss this year's event. Any details on which game will have the Tim Mead pregame talk? Is that in the works? That was a highlight last time. Will the evening event be Saturday night? We're buying tickets tonight. Looking forward to it.

Sign me up for some Erasmo in Anaheim. That'd be a solid #4.

12 games vs. the Mariners, Astros, and Mets to start the season. Our new manager is gonna look like a genius when we start off the season well. http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=ana#y=2014&m=4&calendar=DEFAULT

With our track record Simers is likely to be cut by the L.A. Times and then win a Pulitzer next year with the New York Times.

Go big or go home. Weaver: 9.0 IP, 0 ER

Conger 1-3 HR

Trouty 1-4 2B

Trumbo 2-4 HR

Arte Moreno bought the Angels for $180 million. Forbes recently estimated the value of the franchise at $718 million. (And it's probably far higher, are the Angels really worth a third of the Dodgers?) And as the article notes, the Angels have no debts. If Arte's strategy has "blown up in his face" I don't see the evidence for it. The man is crazy like a fox. Regardless of the team's performance, the Pujols signing has solidified Hispanic affinity for the team in an increasingly-Hispanic community (and was a true feather in the cap for one of the most successful Hispanic businessmen in the nation); the Hamilton signing maintained the buzz about the team; the team remains highly profitable. The Angels are relevant in Southern California -- and nationally -- in a way that they never were under the Autrys. Arte didn't get where he is without a fiercely competitive spirit. He wants to win the World Series, and he'll continue to make decisions to try to achieve that goal. Some of those decisions will be good ones, some will suck. But his investment in the franchise has already reaped huge financial rewards and there's no reason to believe the value of the franchise won't continue to skyrocket, especially once the new TV deal is fully factored in. Moreno ain't going anywhere, and we should all be glad for that.

Trouty 1-4 SB

CJ: 7IP, 1ER

Trumbomb 2-4 HR

CJ 6IP, 4ER