Off day reflections: Where are you Chone Figgins?

Jered Weaver’s press conference became a hot topic around baseball circles everywhere; from radio shows, to internet message boards – everyone was talking about what a “breath of fresh air” Weaver was and how their respect for the 28 year old Cy Young Award candidate had grown by leaps and bounds.

Weaver chose to follow his heart instead of his bank account and fans and baseball folks in general took note. It’s a wonder more baseball players don’t follow suit.

Which brings me to a question; I wonder what Chone Figgins is thinking these days?

Figgins signed a four year, $36 million contract with the Seattle Mariners following the 2009 season. He went from being a gold-glove caliber third baseman and a catalyst for one of the best teams in baseball to being a forgotten man on a last place team in a hurry.

In 2010 Figgins went for the money and in the process found himself in a new environment, playing a new position (going from 3B to 2B) and hitting in a new spot in the lineup (from lead off to hitting second). He was moved back to 3B this year, but he still hasn’t been the same. Today he finds himself on the injured list – but even if he was healthy; he would probably not be playing much. You see he’s hitting just .188 with an OBP of .243 in 288 at-bats.

I hope he likes overcast days and plenty of rain.

Figgins hasn’t had much to smile about and if you have ever seen Figgy smile, you would know it’s the kind of thing that lights up a room. From the moment he put on a Mariner uniform he never looked the same to me. I didn’t see that familiar sparkle in his eyes. He looked out of place and everything that has happened to him since makes me wonder if he has any regrets.

Speaking of regrets, it appears that plenty of Mariner fans have some whenever they discuss Figgins. There’s a perception that he quit on the team. Most hoped he would somehow be traded at the deadline; which came and went without such a move.

The happy-go-lucky, do-anything-for-the team guy we knew in Anaheim has appeared a bit cranky and hard to deal with in Seattle. He’s had a few public displays of frustration and it’s become somewhat apparent that his time in Seattle hasn’t gone the way he had hoped or planned.

Things have been so bad – that his batting average even had an impact on beer prices at a local bar in Seattle. In May it was reported that Norm’s Eatery and Ale House in Seattle was selling Widmer beer for whatever Figgins was hitting. If he was hitting. 202, the beer was priced at $2.02.

I don’t drink beer – but if someone did that with Jeff Mathis’ batting average, they might go out of business. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

In June of this year, a blog called “Outside is overrated” did a piece justifying the author’s dislike of Figgins.

Another columnist; Jim Moore of the Seattle Post Intelligencer wrote on May 31, 2011, “He’s done nothing to justify his $36 million contract and came off like a jerk during the Don Wakamatsu dust-up last year, making it doubly hard to be sympathetic. If he played in New York or Philadelphia, this guy would have been chewed up and spat out already. In Seattle, the media have been relatively soft on him.”

More from “The Flagrant Fan:” Chone Figgins bounced back some in the second half last season and he will probably come back a bit in this second half. But this is not the player the Mariners thought they were getting and as we have seen, if the season ended tomorrow, Figgins would have the seventh worst OPS since 1979 for players with more than 250 at bats. It's been mind-boggling to say the least.

There is literally page after page of stuff like this all over the internet.

It’s difficult to find anything positive about Figgins, although “Safeco Faithful” gave it shot with a piece titled “You are the problem, not Chone Figgins.”

I feel badly for Figgy. He was a big part of the Angels success during their run at American League West pennants. It pains me to see him struggle so much and for that infectious smile of his to be MIA.

Would things have turned out differently had Figgy stayed in Anaheim? One can only speculate, but I would bet Figgins would like to go back in time to find out.

In light of what Weaver just did and coupled with what happened to Figgins, I have to wonder if more players aren’t considering their futures a little differently these days. Just wondering.

The 50 Greatest Angels (21-30)

We are now at the point in the Orange County Register’s (OCR) 50 greatest Angels where there shouldn’t be any real surprises. Then again, when you ask any group of people to come up with a list, there are always bound to be a few.

Today’s list reveals the following: Adam Kennedy (30), David Eckstein (29), Mark Langston (28), Chone Figgins (27), Jim Edmonds (26), Arte Moreno (25), Doug Decinces (24), Reggie Jackson (23), Chili Davis (22), and Dean Chance (21).

How appropriate is it for Kennedy and Eckstein to be next to one another? I mean, they were the 6-4 combo during the Angels greatest season ever and when you think of one, you should think of the other. They ended up higher on the list than I thought, but they’re deserving never-the-less.

Before we talk about the other players on the list, I have to ask – what was the OCR’s Mark Whicker thinking? Six of the ten players on today’s list didn’t make his at all. He did not vote for Chili Davis, Doug Decinces, Arte Moreno (neither did I), Jim Edmonds, Mark Langston, or Adam Kennedy. Other than Moreno – how in the world could he be so wrong? This is the kind of stuff I’d expect from Jeff Miller. Just saying.

So… Arte Moreno sure got a lot of love today. Four panelists had him in their top ten. Wow. Seeing how the rest of the panel thought of him definitely gave me reason to pause and wonder if I should have voted for him. I definitely considered it, but at the end of the day, I chose to only vote for one owner and he has yet to appear on this list.

As I look over the list, I have to say I have one major beef. I can’t believe Chili Davis is ranked this low. I voted for him as the 11th greatest Angel of all time. Davis ranks 6th among all Angels in homeruns (156), 5th in RBI (618), 9th in hits (973), and 8th in total bases (1,620). Quite frankly, Davis was a stud.

Another interesting player to look at on this list is Jim Edmonds. Now, I’ve heard some baseball people make a case that he’s actually a viable Hall of Fame candidate. OCR’s Sam Miller thought enough of him to rank him 12th on his list. He’s right about where I thought he should be at 26 (I had him at 25).

Kudos to Keith Sharon, Chuck Richter (AngelsWin), Mat Gleason (Halos Heaven), and Sam Miller for agreeing with me that Doug Decinces belongs in the top 20. The rest of the panelists should be put on some sort of double secret probation for not agreeing with us.

So far seven of the OCR’s top 50 weren’t on my list at all. I’m feeling pretty good about my top 20. I’ll be surprised if they’re not all on the list (two of them have already made the list – Davis and Decinces).

And… If I’m doing my math correctly, I still have 18 of my top 20 Angels who have yet to make the list and that means there are two more on my list that could make the top 20. I’m guessing one of them will be Frankie (I ranked him 35th) and the other… well; let’s just say that I ranked him “appropriately” at #26.

Two guys in my top 50 who looks like they’ll be left out include Ervin Santana (ranked him 48th) and Devon White (ranked him 43rd).

It doesn't look like Ervin Santana (ranked him 48th) or Devon White (ranked him 43rd) will make the list.

Until tomorrow…

Happy Deja-vu Year!

The Angels went into this off season with huge needs on offense. I’m talking about holes big enough to drive a truck through. They had to find an impact bat and a leadoff hitter. They also needed to upgrade the defense (to put it mildly) in the outfield; hopefully with players that would address those offensive needs at the same time.

Arte Moreno knew it. Mike Scioscia said it. Tony Reagins just hasn’t done it.

As we enter 2011 it sure feels like 2010 all over again. I really had hoped to start the New Year with something other than a rant, but when I read that the Texas Rangers are on the verge of signing Adrian Beltre to a contract, I don’t feel like doing much else; unless you count screaming.

That being said, the Angels are in a no-win situation. If they don’t sign Beltre, they’re going to be hammered by the media and their fans... If they sign him to the ridiculous contract the Rangers are rumored to be proposing (6 years and $96 million), they’ll get hammered.

Let’s not forget how many experts, analysts and pundits predicted the Angels would be the favorites for Crawford, Beltre and even Rafael Soriano. Let’s not forget how often those experts are wrong in their predictions and how often I like to remind readers of that.

Reagins is in a tough spot, but that’s the kind of thing that comes with the job of a GM. After the 2009 season ended, the Angels lost a middle of the lineup hitter in Vladimir Guerrero (even though he struggled in 2009) and a lead-off hitter in Chone Figgins. How did they respond? They found a stop gap in Hideki Matsui and misjudged Erick Aybar’s abilities.

2010 has come and gone and the Angels find them back in the same position. This is unacceptable. Okay, Crawford wanted to go to Boston and Beltre apparently wants to simply go to the highest bidder. I get t hat. I understand that.

That doesn’t excuse the fact that Reagins has yet to do anything to improve the offense. At this point in time – it’s looking like the Angels will have to find some stop gaps for yet another season. It’s looking like Scott Podsedik and fill-in-the-blank might be the best option. There’s even talk of the Angels bringing Vlad Guerrero back.

While the idea of Vlad back in Anaheim might have some PR appeal, it makes absolutely no practical sense. The Angels have three DH’s in Bobby Abreu, Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera who are cleverly disguised as position players when in reality they’re little more than DH’s. Even staying at a Holiday Inn Express isn’t going to improve their defense any time soon.

What happens after this season? Well, let’s just say that unless you think the Angels can sign either Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder, things don’t look great. The free agent class of 2012 is not impressive.

Mean while, the window is closing for the Angels. Torii Hunter is not getting any younger and Jered Weaver and Kendry Morales are not too far removed from free agency. The time to improve the offense is now. Why now? Because a solid offense matched with the current pitching staff could be a dynamic combo.

If we have to sit through another season where the offense is dependent on “frenzy” hitting and not the long ball or at least doubles into the gap, it’s going to be a long one. A lack of offense puts pressure on the pitchers. That didn’t work out so well last season.

Again, the Angels are in a tough spot; more specifically, Tony Reagins is in a tough spot. He has a farm system that needs to provide depth and right now that system only has a hand full of top level prospects. Trading any of them would be detrimental to the long-term health of the organization. The free agent pool is dwindling and time is running out.

It’s time for some big boy moves. It’s time for some real strategic thinking and creativity. Is Reagins up to the challenge? I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

Note to TR and Arte: Things look bad. Fix it. And while you’re at it, please don’t show us any fancy dance moves… where you dance around the issues with some cockamamie speech about how getting Kendry Morales back and a full season of Dan Haren is all the team needs. You can’t really sell that with a straight face, so don’t’ even try.

And just so I can feel a little better about my post today – I have a few things to say about Adrian Beltre.

Adrian – you’d be a great fit in Anaheim, but if you really want to come back to So. Cal then the ball’s in your court. If you don’t want to come and play in Anaheim for five years and $70 million – which is a very fair offer, you’re a fool. Yeah, I said it; a fool. You can sweat your brains out playing next to Ian Kinsler in that Texas heat for all I care. If you don’t want to be here, we don’t want you. Have fun playing in front a half empty stadium in the sweltering heat.

Well, how did we get here?

There’s a song by the musical rock group Talking Heads that starts out like this…

You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
You may find yourself in another part of the world
You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
You may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
You may ask yourself: well... how did I get here?

Well, I imagine there’s been many a morning this season when the Angels woke up wondering to themselves; well - how did we get here?

Fear not, I have the answers.

When the 2009 season ended, the Angels were two games away from going to the World Series. A couple of breaks here or there and the Angels might have found their way to their second world championship. Today they find themselves on the verge of being mathematically eliminated (the elimination number is 4) from the Western Division title discussion.

It seemed logical that this team would be back to make another run at a title even with the pending free agency of five key players.

We knew that Vladimir Guerrero, John Lackey, Chone Figgins, Bobby Abreu and Darren Oliver would be free agents and we knew the likelihood of the Angels retaining all five would be highly unlikely. Most assumed they would keep some of them and everyone from radio talk show hosts to the fans themselves talked about how important last year’s off season would be.

Funny that a year later, the upcoming Hot Stove season is viewed (once again) as possibly THE most important off season for the Angels in recent history. Again, how did we get here?

As four of the players( who were all corner stones of the team) found their way out the door, it became apparent that the Angels would have to adjust and regroup. As we look back at that time – I think we can say the Angels made a reasonable attempt to do the right thing in some cases and totally missed the boat on others.

One of the first mistakes the organization made in my opinion was handing Bobby Abreu and two year contract at $9 million per with an option for a third year. Abreu signed that deal on November 5, 2009 which was quite early in the Hot Stove Season.

Abreu had a fabulous 2009 season, but let’s keep in mind that he had something to prove last year. Players often play above and beyond expectations when they’re auditioning for a new contract. Besides, he’s older than Yoda and regression is a way of life even for a Jedi Warrior.

That contract might not have been so bad had Abreu been penciled in as the every day DH to take over the role that belonged to Vlad Guerrero. However, that didn’t’ end up being the case – instead, he would continue in his role as the every day right fielder. That should have been the first clue that this team was in trouble.

Abreu is a player of diminishing defensive skills (to put it kindly). Sometimes it’s hard for me to believe he ever had any defensive skills what-so-ever. Sometimes it’s as if he’s running on ice and to make matters worse, he extends his glove like he’s hailing a cab. Not the best technique when trying to snare line drives and fly balls. He runs bad routes and looks like a guy who couldn’t pass a sobriety test.

To make matters worse, this year he became a player of diminishing offensive skills as well. Anyone who believed Abreu would continue to hit the way he did in 2009 for another year, let alone two or three had to be somewhat delusional. Abreu is currently hitting 38 points below his 2009 average of .293 and 32 points lower than his 2009 OPS of .825.

To be fair Abreu’s decline was somewhat predictable; however, no one anticipated him falling as much as he did. FanGraphs projected him at .289 with a .816 OPS.

With one of the five signed, Angel fans waited to see what would happen next.

The first domino from the 2009 roster to fall was Chone Figgins who signed a 4 year $36 million deal with Seattle Marines on December 8, 2009. Figgy cashed in on a pretty good 2009 campaign. It appears the Marines are fond of third basemen coming off career years and then signing them to large contracts (see Adrian Beltre).

The Angels unwillingness to match Figgy’s salary demands seem to pave the way for Brandon Wood to take over at third base. Besides, Angel fans had grown weary over Figgy’s post season numbers (which were horrible) and most were willing to see him walk away; especially for the price the Mariners paid.

In stepped Brandon Wood. Now, mention Brandon Wood to most Angel fans and you’re likely to get an ear full. You’ll get the full range of emotions on that topic. Everything from anger to frustration to hysterical laughter is the norm when talking about Wood.

All that being said, the idea of putting Wood in as the every day third baseman made all the sense in the world. He had nothing left to prove at the minor league level. He was also joining a lineup where he would hit last and the expectations weren’t exactly sky high. FanGraphs seemed to project reasonable numbers. CHONE and ZIPS both predicted 20 homeruns and a batting average around .245.

Well, we all know what happened there. Wood’s failure was monumental. Matthew Pouliot of HardballTalk talked about how Wood’s 2010 performance could end up ranking as the lowest of any player in the expansion era.

I don’t think anyone saw that coming. Sure, some Angel fans will tell you they did, but the reality of it all is no one saw Wood failing to catastrophic levels. No one.

On December 14, 2009 the Angels signed Hideki Matsui for $6.5 million. It was a very significant day in the history of Angels baseball in that it spelled the end of Vlad Guerrero’s six years in Anaheim.

Guerrero signed a one year deal with the Texas Rangers for $9 million plus a one year mutual option on January 11, 2010.

Message boards and sports talk shows have had their hands full with this one. Matsui was coming off an MVP performance in the 2009 World Series. Vlad was coming off his worst season since becoming a full time player in 1998. There was talk that his bat speed was slowing down and that his knees and body was giving out.

It made perfect sense to let him walk. Only those with an emotional attachment to Vlad questioned the move. The logic to say so long was overwhelming.

Well, logic doesn’t always factor into the real world (a topic for another day).

The late Rory Markas once tabbed Vlady a “Proud Warrior.” And apparently, Markas’ insight into Vlad’s character was dead on. Vlad is having what will likely earn him “Come back player of the year” honors this season.

He’s slowed a bit in the second half; however, even though his OPS dipped to .622 in July after being as high as 1.049 in June) he is finding his groove once again down the stretch with a .897 OPS in September (through 16 games).

Did the Angels let Vlad walk too soon? That does appear to be the case; never-the-less, the move made sense at the time and I can’t fault the Angels for going down this road. Despite his strong year, I don’t think Guerrero would have made enough of a difference for the Angels this year. Heck, Albert Pujols may not have even made a difference.

Matsui has been an acceptable DH for the most part, but his addition to a lineup that included players as un-athletic as Abreu and Juan Rivera was problematic. I made my concerns known back in December (twice) about both the possibility of adding Matsui and again when it became a reality.

I didn’t like the idea of adding any old, slow moving players. That being said, if you look at the Vlad/Matsui situation objectively I don’t think it’s a stretch to believe the Angels did “ok” here even though Vlad gets an edge offensively.

In fact, when Matsui is set loose this off season – it will be hard to replace his offensive production. The 20 homeruns and 79 RBI he has so far will be missed and the Angels will need to make up that offensive production some how.

Moving on…

December 16, 2009 will forever be remembered as the day John Lackey became dead to me. It’s the day Lackey signed a 5 year, $82.5 million contract with the Boston Red Sox.

John Lackey was on his way to becoming one of my all-time favorites, but all that went out the window the day he signed with the one team that has been the most responsible for Angel fans’ post-season misery.

As bad as this loss seemed at that time, I have to say it is another situation where I don’t blame the Angels one bit for letting Lackey walk. $82.5 million? Really? I think it’s important to note that Lackey has a 4.63 ERA with the Red Sox; that’s his highest ERA since 2004. He doesn’t have any complete games this year, and his strikes outs per nine innings is the lowest it has been since 2002. On top of all that, Lackey has given up 219 hits this season; tied for the second most in baseball.

The list of career lows (I only scratched the surface above) for Lackey is significant. Lackey will be 32 in October and it appears that he’s on the downside of his career. He is not going be worth any where near $82.5 million over the lifetime of his contract.

So… if you’re one of those Angel fans who love to criticize the Angels for letting Lackey walk – I have three words for you: get over it. Be glad Lackey has moved on. End of story.

If you want to be upset about an Angel pitcher getting away – be upset about Darren Oliver. Oliver signed with the Texas Rangers on December 22, 2009 for $3.5 million plus a one year option. He signed for less money than he made in 2009 ($3.66 million). The fact that the Angels didn’t offer him arbitration and let him get away is inexcusable to me.

Think about the woes the Angels bull pen has had this year. Take two aspirin (okay maybe 3) and then think about the impact Oliver could have had if he remained an Angel. It’s a head scratcher. I believe the Angels didn’t offer Oliver arbitration because they knew he’d get a substantial raise and they were overconfident in their abilities to resign him for less.

I’m amazed more fans aren’t upset about this move (I was livid). Perhaps the reason Angel fans didn’t complain about the loss of Oliver is because two days after the Rangers signed Oliver, the Angels signed Fernando Rodney to a 2 year, $11 million contract.

Many saw this as move that would strengthen the bull pen. On the surface of things it looked like it might be a good deal. Here was a guy with a power arm (something Scioscia covets) and he was coming off a season where he had saved 37 of 38 games. He looked like an insurance policy for Brian Fuentes and at the very least a solid set up man.

However, a deeper look reveals some interesting statistics about the man who likes to wear his hat a little cockeyed. Rodney’s strike our rate per nine innings was 7.26 in 2009 after being as high as 13.5 in 2007 and 10.93 in 2008. His K rate this year? An even lower 6.97. It appears he’s fooling fewer and fewer batter these days.

I actually voiced my concerns prior to his signing back in December.

Rodney hasn’t done much to alleviate those concerns the thought of Rodney as the closer next season is enough to make Angel fans fall on their knees and beg for the return of Brian Fuentes. Given my opinions about closers, I’m not quite as concerned – but will admit those thoughts are changing every time he steps on the mound.

When the new year finally rolled around (and fans like myself were counting the days until spring training), the Angels had yet to replace Lackey, replaced Oliver with Rodney and Vlad with Matsui.

There were still holes to fill and questions to be answered. Some of that became clearer on January 5, 2010…

The idea that Wood would be taking over at third base became more apparent when the Red Sox signed Adrian Beltre that day. January 5th also saw the Mets sign Jason Bay to a 4 year, $66 million contract. And then on January 10, 2010 Matt Holliday signed a whopper of a deal with St. Louis (7 years, $120 million). Just like that, all the “big bats” were off the board. And let's not forget Vlad signed with Texas on January 11.

Whatever plans the Angels might have had to add more offense (a need that seems to come up year after year) all but evaporated. You might have asked yourself… Should the Angels have gone after Beltre, Bay or Holliday?

Holliday has had a pretty solid season, but not one that’s necessarily worth the $17 million he’s earning this year. Then again, the same might be said of Torii Hunter’s season and his $18 million contract. No doubt Holliday’s bat would have been a nice addition, but the cost would have been too high and the commitment too long.

I’d say the Angels did the right thing in not topping the Cardinals offer to Holliday and Jason Bay hasn’t exactly panned out for the Mets. Even before his concussion, he wasn’t hitting anywhere near what he had done over the course of his career.

As for Beltre, he has had a solid season; but the question with Beltre is always about his consistency. It appears that he shines brightest in contract years and guess what? That’s right – Beltre is auditioning for a big pay day. That being said, Beltre may be an interesting discussion yet again in 2011.

Here’s what we know… Beltre is a plus defender (something Scioscia also covets) and he did manage to hit at least 25 homeruns a season for three of his last four years in Seattle. At 31 years of age, he has the ability to be among the top five third basemen in the game, but he also has the potential to be a huge disappointment and grossly over paid. Also - his agent is Scott Boras, who probably isn’t on Arte Moreno’s Christmas card list.

The popular thought on Beltre seems to be to take a pass, but when I look at the landscape of who’s available to play third base I might be inclined to roll the dice on Beltre. Add the ongoing dilemma with Brandon Wood and the prospect of a mediocre Alberto Callaspo at third and Beltre doesn’t look so bad.

I don’t necessarily expect Beltre to repeat what he’s doing this season for Boston, but he is worthy of a discussion at the very least. In any case – I can’t fault the Angels for passing on Beltre last year. However, this next year, I may feel differently if they do that again.

On January 22, 2010, Christmas came late for the Angels. First, they managed to trade Gary Matthews, Jr. to the New York Mets. It didn’t matter much as to whom or what they got in return as most people viewed moving GMJ as addition by subtraction.

Turns out the Angels actually able to get something when they acquired Brian Stokes. Stokes had a solid 2009 season and was yet another power arm for the Angels pen. The move looked brilliant. Yes, I said “brilliant” – remember we’re talking GMJ.

Stokes didn’t pan out and ultimately was released, but even still not having Matthews on the roster was a plus all the way around.

January 22 was also the day the Angels inked Joel Pineiro to a two year, $16 million contract. It was a move that some applauded as being one of the best of the Hot Stove season. I was a little skeptical, when it happened but gradually came around to thinking it would be a solid move.

Pineiro has actually been one of the bright spots of the season even despite his time on the disabled list. While Pineiro’s ERA climbed a tad in 2010 (something we all expected), his strike outs per nine innings actually went up from 4.42 in 2009 to 5.70 this season. A nice trend.

Last, but not least on January 25 the Angels signed Maicer Izturis to a three year, $10 million deal. It was a deal they didn’t have to do, but wanted to because of how much Izturis has meant to the local doctors and how much money they can make off him. I’m kidding of course. Fact is Izturis is a nice piece, but whenever he’s counted on to make a regular contribution, he breaks down like a Ford (which is an acronym for Found On Road Dead or Fix Or Repair Daily).

I mean isn’t Izturis the kind of guy you sell to someone else? Or does baseball have some sort of lemon law? Whatever. The moves basically ended with his signing an extension.

And there you have it; the off season in a nut shell. The bottom line is that when I look at the moves that were made and those that weren’t, I am not certain there was anything the Angels front office could have done differently; at least not from a free agency stand point.

Now, that doesn’t mean they get a free pass either. They could have been more creative about the off season and explored possible trade partners, but that didn’t happen. They could have reacted quicker when Kendry Morales went down and when Brandon Wood didn’t pan out.

It’s easy to second guess at this point and I’m not really here to do that (you believe me don’t you?). I thought that putting the whole picture in perspective was warranted at this time. Many of the things I’ve written about here have been discussed; however, only in pieces. When you look at the big picture; it seems this season was somewhat predictable.

Now I know there are some fans out there who simply say the Angels lost too much and let too many good players walk away (an annoying and somewhat ignorant analysis). A closer look (like what we just did here) really shines a different light on the whole situation.

Now – this coming off season is definitely critical. I’m hoping the Angels get back to their winning ways and then we’ll sing that Talking Heads song with more emphasis on the lines “same as it ever was… same as it ever was.”

Hopefully, we won’t be singing…

You may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
You may ask yourself
Where does that highway lead to?
You may ask yourself
Am I right? Am I wrong?
You may say to yourself
My God!... what have I done?

I know this is a bit strange.. but I can imagine Tony Reagins peforming this song:

Weaver makes a birthday wish come true

When I woke up yesterday morning I was hoping that I would find that the Angels seven game losing streak was just a dream; a nightmare if you will. That obviously wasn’t the case.

It also happened to be Cheryl’s birthday and she started her day by saying “All I want for my birthday is an Angels’ win.” In the back of my mind, I thought the odds were pretty good for that to happen because I couldn’t see the Angels losing eight in a row. Plus Jered Weaver was going up against “King Felix” (Felix Hernandez) and even though Hernandez is one of the best pitchers in the game, we had two things going for us.

First of all I knew that when Weaver faced Hernandez head to head the previous six times, the Angels went 4-2. I also knew that Weaver was having a solid season himself and that he’d be looking to atone for his last outing.

Well, Cheryl got her wish. Not only that, she almost received a bonus gift as well. Weaver took a no-hitter into the 7th inning. I was disappointed Weaver didn’t give her a no-hitter for her birthday, but she’s pretty happy with an 8-0 shut out.

Weaver has been the lone bright spot in the rotation and has clearly embraced the role of team ace. Last night he did what ace’s do; he stopped the team’s losing streak. Weaver currently leads the AL in strike-outs and although it’s early I think there’s a chance he ends up being the AL starter for the all-star game coming to Anaheim in July.

Weaver should have made the team last year and it would be only fitting to see him start this year’s mid-summer classic. We still haven’t forgiven Joe Maddon for that slight. And we haven’t forgotten that neither Chone Figgins nor Brian Fuentes even got in the game.

Speaking of Maddon, his Tampa Bay Rays have the best record in baseball right now and they’ll be in town next week. I’m hoping we have huge crowds all dressed in red for the games taking place this coming Monday through Wednesday.

But before we even get to those there are two more games with Seattle. Beating the teams within the division is critical. Today Joe Saunders has a chance to get on the right track. I honestly believe we’ll see an improved performance. I know he’s not as bad as he’s shown thus far.

Booing is for the birds and I don't have wings

If you boo the players on your favorite team are you passionate or just a jerk? I think that’s a fair question, don’t you?

I mean it’s one thing to boo a guy for not giving his best effort or for being a putz (let’s not forget Jose Guillen), but is it okay to boo a guy who’s simply struggling? Does booing him make him play better? Or is it just a way for fans to vent?

Brandon Wood is struggling and that’s probably an under-statement. He looks lost and doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of breaking out of his slump. Then again, you have to ask; is it a slump or is he really this bad? I don’t know the answer to that; although I’m inclined to believe he’s just off to a bad start.

Rob Neyer and Aaron Gleeman don’t see Wood projecting very well. They make a valid argument (I can’t believe I’m saying that) and it appears there is reason for concern.

Regardless of all that – my question is should Angel fans boo him? I know they boo their own in places like the Bronx or Boston, but I don’t necessarily believe they’re the gold standard for fandom. At the same time, I also don’t pretend to be the arbiter of that standard either. It just bugs me.

I don’t think any fan who boo’s Wood wouldn’t do it to his face. It’s one thing to be sitting in the stands, but when it comes to a face to face encounter; could the same fan look Wood in the eye and tell him he sucks? I’m not asking if they’d be intimidated to do so, I just wonder (and hope) if they’d find some compassion for what he’s going through.

The year Steve Finley was an Angel (sorry to bring up such a horrible memory) he was so bad; I hated to see him in the lineup. Mike Scioscia kept trotting him out there and Finley kept saying all the right things about how he appreciated Scioscia’s faith in him, etc., etc. I wanted to boo Finley. I can’t recall if I did or not, but I’m certain I voiced some displeasure never-the-less.

That same season, I saw Finley at an autograph session and on photo day. In both instances, I told him “We’re pulling for you.” He seemed to genuinely appreciate the sentiment. I’m sure Cheryl (my wife) looked at me and laughed because I had been so hard on him sitting in the stands.

Fact was I hated his statistics, but I could not hate the person. I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t have to say anything at all, but when the opportunity presented itself, I wanted to give encouragement instead of silence or worse.

By all accounts, Wood is a good guy. Personally, I think he could probably use a little support. I want him to succeed in the worst way. I have empathy for a guy who’s been waiting so long for his opportunity. He never complained once. He never showed any sense of entitlement. He just went about his business and waited for his chance.

Through his early struggles, he’s never even shown any frustration and still goes out and plays pretty good defense. He’s also had a few bad breaks on well hit balls.

Now I’m not trying to tell fans how they should act (although you might think otherwise based on what I’m writing). I just choose not to boo the players on my favorite team. Have I ever done it? I probably have, but I couldn’t tell you who or when. I would assume it was only out of pure frustration and not any actual hatred.

Baseball is such a tough game. It’s designed to make players fail far more often that they succeed.

And I keep coming back to something Torii Hunter has said many times and that’s to treat people the way you want to be treated. I know he didn’t invent that saying, but I’ve heard him say it so many times, I’ve come to associate the phrase with him.

I fail at a lot of things. Thankfully, no one is there to boo me when I do (and yes, I understand no one is paying to watch me work). Writing this has made me reflect a lot on this topic. I’ll boo the opponent at the drop of a hat (after all, the Yankees are in town), but I will make a conscious effort not to do that when the players on my favorite team struggles. I will reserve the right to boo if someone goes Jose Guillen on us though.

If I have a complaint, I’ll voice it in other ways. I hear blogging is popular.

Now before I end this post, I want to address the one thing that the anti-Wood crowd continues to bring up ad nauseum and that’s Troy Glaus.

It seems as if no one can complain about Wood without bringing up the year the Angels let Troy Glaus walk. I have three words for those people… Get Over It.

Troy Glaus played 91 games in 2003 and only 58 games in 2004. When his contract came up at the end of the 2004 season, there were serious questions about his health and whether or not he’d be able to play third base again. They were legitimate questions. At the same time – Dallas McPherson was coming off some great years in the minor leagues and appeared to be ready.

The Angels made the decision to let Glaus walk and give McPherson a shot. It didn’t work out; mostly because McPherson ended up being the bigger injury risk of the two; but never-the-less, some fans can’t let it go.

It was the right decision at the time. Hind sight tells us otherwise, but that’s baseball. Sometimes things don’t work out, but you have to try to do the best you can with the amount of information you have.

Letting Glaus walk was the right decision at the time; given the circumstances. I can’t blame the Angels for being apprehensive about giving Glaus a multi-year contract at that time.

Again, I know it didn’t work out, but to lament on that part of Angels’ history is pointless and irrelevant when talking about Brandon Wood. The Angels are right to give Wood a shot now. If it doesn’t work out; it’s still the right move. We need to see what he can do.

And let’s not forget that all of this eventually paved the way for Chone Figgins to have a few good years in Anaheim. Most fans totally leave out that tid bit during the discussion.

Moving on. Bring on the Yankees.

Let’s hope the stench from Joe Saunders’ performance last night has dissipated by game time. Yeah, I just said that. Joe stunk last night and he’s not helping my case against the sabermetric types that keep projecting a lack luster season for him.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a huge Saunders fan and I look for him to rebound next Tuesday against the Cleveland Indians.

Now about those Yankees...

No fun allowed

File this one under the heading of “unbelievable.” Last night at the Angels/Padres exhibition game, two little 514 Fanatics named Josh and Jake were being exuberant like any good baseball fan should be. They were chanting “Let’s go Angels,” followed by the customary clap that goes along with it.

Nothing wrong with that, right?

Well, the boys were a little relentless in their cheering. They only stopped between innings. Again, nothing wrong with that, right?

One wouldn’t think so, but apparently one fan sitting in the front row of our section got a little tired of it and actually complained to Jake and Josh’s dad. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or scream when this “fan” took it upon himself to try and squash the enthusiasm of two nine year old boys.

Not to fear, the good fans in our section came to Josh and Jake’s rescue as everyone decided to show “Mr. Front Row” a thing or two by joining in the “Let’s go Angels” chant. It was perfect.

The guy doing the complaining was wearing a Chone Figgins shirt which might explain his foul mood. Maybe he didn’t know that Figgins was now a Seattle Mariner. Maybe he was confused by the new third baseman wearing #3 on the field and had to take it out on someone. I’m just saying.

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end here.

A little while later, the usher who “patrols” our section came up into the stand to also try and quiet the boys. Seriously, he also tried to stop the boys form cheering. I wish I was making this stuff up; however, it’s true sadly enough.

The usher (who shall remain nameless) was greeted with boos and once again, other fans decided to give the boys some support and joined in the chanting of "Let's go Angels!" Soon the whole section and other surrounding areas were playing along.

You have to wonder about the mind set of "Mr. Front Row" and the usher don’t you? If you can’t cheer at a baseball game, what’s the point in coming? It’s no wonder Angel fans get tagged with the reputation of not being passionate when they’re efforts to show a little team spirit are squashed.

It’s insane. Then again, it’s more than that; it’s simply stupid.

Isn’t that grass around the diamond part of a baseball field? Or do they now play golf in stadiums? Now, I know they play tennis on grass, but the last time I checked tennis players don't wear uniforms and the guys on the field were swinging bats and not tennis rackets.

I mean what are these people thinking? What about those times when the message boards around the stadium flash the words “Get Loud” or “Make Noise.” What about the little song that ends with fans yelling “Charge!”?

This is okay, but two nine year old boys cheering is not? The world has apparently gone mad. What’s next? No more rally monkey or thunder sticks? I’m envisioning a stadium full of people sipping tea with their pinkies extended. Hot dogs will be replaced with finger sandwiches and crumpets (whatever those are). Again, the world has gone mad.

I guess John Lackey was partially right about Angel stadium lacking passion. Only it’s not the fans that are lacking, it’s some of the people who work there.

Our usher got the big FAIL last night and we told him as much on our way out. I guess it’s still spring training for some people. Can there be any other explanation? In any case, some of the joy was sucked out of being at the game last night. My only hope is that this doesn’t end up being a trend.

Fraternizing with the enemy

I’m baaaack….

Call me crazy, but today I went looking for Milton Bradley. Yeah, that’s right; this baseball fan went looking for a fight. I traveled all the way to Peoria, Arizona looking to find Mr. Bradley so that I could ask him to turn in his uniform. I’ve had enough of his antics and decided it was time for someone to take a stand.

And if you believe all that, well… we need to complete a real-estate transaction involving some water front property.

Seriously – I was in Peoria today to check out the Mariners and a couple of “old” friends in ex-Angels Chone Figgins and Orlando Cabrera. It was strange seeing them in different uniforms; although, we’ve seen Cabrera dawning White Sox, Athletics, and Twins uniforms since leaving the Angels.

Oh and in case you’re wondering, Milton Bradley didn’t play today. Neither did ex-Angel Casey Kotchman.

As I watched the Mariners, I had to wonder where their power was going to come from. Ken Griffey, Jr. hit clean up today and although he did hit a walk-off grand slam to lead the M’s to a 6-5 victory, I’m not feeling it for the Northwesterners.

I’m also thinking that rotation is not that deep and all this talk about them being the possible favorites in the AL West just isn’t making much sense. Texas on the other hand, I get. They’re going to be tough, but I’m not too worried about Seattle.

Here are some photos from today’s action. First up are old friends Figgy and OC.



Followed by Ichiro and Kip Wells (warming up in the bull pen before surrendering the walk-off grand slam).



Now, you might be wondering what was an Angel fan doing in Peoria? Let’s just say I like to make my way around to some of the other Cactus League parks when I get a chance.

Just so you're aware, I did stop by Tempe prior to heading over to Peoria. You know I had to do that. I caught some of the Angels batting practice prior to their heading over to Scottsdale to play the Giants.

Torii Hunter and Juan Rivera were putting on quite the display of firepower today sending several baseballs out of sight beyond the trees in left field. They were hitting absolute bombs. I should probably note that the wind was blowing pretty good at times and that could have enhanced today’s performance.

Cheryl and I will be at Tempe Diablo Stadium tomorrow and I hope to post another report some time tomorrow evening.

It’s good to be back in Tempe. Man, I love spring training.

Here's some photos from batting practice.

First up Hunter going yard and Brandon Wood making it look easy.



We'll end with the 2010 potential MVP Kendry Morales (you like the sound of that MVP thing?) and a new face in the bull pen - Fernando Rodney (I'm diggin the red glove).



I also shot some video today and hope to have those up soon. More "hard hitting" questions were posed today. So check back soon.

Tis the season.... baseball season

Yesterday was “officially” the first day of spring. Personally, I think of the first day of spring as being the day pitchers and catchers report, but that’s just me.

The way I see it; there’s only one season and that’s baseball season. The rest of the time is merely the days between the end of the baseball schedule and the beginning of a new one.

Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating just a little.

I can’t wait for the season to begin and for the 162 game schedule to be under way. The anticipation of a new season is always exciting. I know there will be many unexpected things taking place just about every day. Hopefully, the “surprises” will be things we enjoy and want to happen.

You know it’s funny; we wait all winter for the season to begin and before it even gets under way, we start thinking about the fall and another play-off run. Sometimes we look so far ahead we forget to experience the season at hand.

I try not to do that. I love the way a season unfolds and I try to savor every game. By the end of the season so much of it will be a blur, but some key moments will also stand out I’m sure. I’m thinking of Jered Weaver’s first no-hitter (probably against the A’s) or Brandon Wood’s forty homerun season. Hey, it’s spring and this is the time to dream big.

Baseball is so very unpredictable (a good thing) and yet we fans can be very predictable (a funny thing) at times.

One of the things we know will happen is that the Angels will be aggressive on the base paths. There isn’t a team in baseball that’s better at going first to third on singles to the outfield. The Angels will run and they will run often.

Also predictable is how Angel fans will react to that aggressive style. It’s kind of a love/hate thing. We’ll love seeing them take the extra base but we’ll also moan when they get thrown out trying to be aggressive. When they’re successful, we’ll say “that’s Angel’s baseball.” When they’re not, we’ll exclaim “what was he thinking?”

We become walking, talking contradictions.

We also love to see the Angels put the ball in play and force the action, but we’ve also come to appreciate seeing them take a few pitches too. Last year the team took a giant step forward with their patience at the plate. We celebrated their higher on base percentage. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Not Bobby Abreu that’s for sure.

That being said, if they’re taking pitches, they better not strike out. If they strike out looking, we’ll scream “take the bat off your shoulder.”

We basically expect perfection from a sport that’s designed to make people fail time after time.

We can count on a great deal of the “what in the heck is he… oh my – nice play!” scenarios to play out over and over again. We’ll turn second guessing Mike Scioscia into an art form. We will bemoan the bad plays way more than we’ll celebrate the good ones.

I have no idea why that is; it’s just what fans do, I guess.

It’s all going to be a part of yet another amazing season. And when you think about it, this year is set up to be exactly that – amazing.

How can it not be? We have the all-star game! We have the two-time Manager of the Year and a new cast of characters to cheer for in Brandon Wood, Hideki Matsui, Joel Pineiro, Fernando Rodney, Brian Stokes, and a full season of Scott Kazmir. We have the return of Scotty Waddy Do-Da (forgive me, that’s Cheryl and my nickname for Scot Shields).

It’s all going to be good.

There are some big games on the schedule this year. Some much bigger than most. The one everyone is waiting for is John Lackey’s return to Anaheim. I know that will be an electric night. It will be charged with emotion. It will be hyped and it will be hyped some more. Heck, I’ll be hyping it right here.

I can’t think of a game Angel fans want to win more than that one at this point in time. Of course, there’s a chance Lackey won’t end up pitching against the Angels in Anaheim, but let’s hope he does. You know he wants that game as much as we do.

We’ll also see Chone Figgins, Darren Oliver and Vladimir Guerrero in “strange” uniforms multiple times. They too will be emotional games, but they won’t have the same kind of tension and/or energy that playing Boston does. Figgy, Oliver and Vlady will undoubtedly receive huge ovations and deservedly so.

Inter-league play will see the Angels travelling to play two historic baseball organizations in the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.

There’s so much to look forward to, but the thing I am looking forward to the most is the pennant race itself. I think it’s absolutely awesome that the Rangers and Mariners have upgraded their teams. I’m excited that the competition is rising to the challenge.

As for the A’s… well, let’s just say they’ll find ways to annoy me one way or another, I’m sure.

Everyone in the AL West has something to prove, but the Angels have something even more special in my opinion and that’s a division title to defend. I’d much rather have a team that has something to defend rather than something to prove. If you’re out to prove something, it usually means you’ve fallen short in the past. If you’re out to defend something, it’s because you’ve accomplished a thing or two or should I say three years running and five out of six years?

Ah yes, the season is getting close and I feel my swagger coming back.

More than anything I want the Angels to make their news on the field and not off of it (hello Dodgers). I want to the focus to be between the lines and for this season to be about accomplishments, realized potential and FUN.

That’s right; fun. Baseball is fun. We should all take the time to enjoy each and every game and embrace every pitch.

Fourteen days until opening day.

This too shall pass

It hit me today. Big Daddy Vlady is a Texas Ranger. The thought was kind of rattling around in the back of my brain, but I hadn’t really focused on it until today.

Michael Schlact, a pitcher in the Rangers organization tweeted “Coolest part of my day so far....seeing Vlad Guerrero show up to camp. What a beast!!!”

Seeing that hurt just a bit. I might have even grimaced just a tad. It just didn’t sound right.

Now, I’ve never been a huge Vlady fan; at least not of the die hard variety, but I remember how thrilled I was when the Angels signed him prior to the 2004 season. It was one of reasons Cheryl and I took the season ticket plunge. I used to tell myself all the time that I was pretty dang lucky to see a future Hall of Famer playing on my favorite team all the time.

I understand the reasons the Angels let him go. I even agree with them, but it doesn’t take away the fact that his being in Texas just seems weird. It’s like the planets are out of whack or something.

There’s also that little voice inside my head that keeps saying, “what if…” What if Vlad has a couple of monster years left in him? Heck, what if he just has one and it’s this year? How am I going to feel? To tell you the truth, I’d rather not think about it, but that voice keeps chirping.

All I know is that I’d cope with this a little better if he wasn’t in Texas. I want him to be successful, but I sure wish he was with a team outside the AL West.

This is the hardest part about being a fan in today’s sports world. Players change teams all the time. Loyalties are broken and new alliances are drawn up every day. Take Johnny Damon (you knew this was coming). As soon as he signed with the Tigers, I predicted he would say that Detroit was always his first choice. Johnny is good like that. He’s as predictable as poop in a baby’s diaper. Guess what? That’s exactly what he said.

I should be used to it by now, but I guess I’m not. (Not the Johnny Damon thing, the thing about players changing teams all the time).

The business part of baseball has changed over the years, but the funny thing is most fans haven’t changed a bit.

Think about it. Have you been following the mess up the 5 Freeway? I feel bad for Dodger fans; I really do. No fan base deserves an owner like Frank McCourt (well, except for maybe the A’s) and yet the overwhelming majority of Dodger fans won’t abandon that sinking ship.

A fan’s allegiance (not just Dodger fans) to his or her team is almost supernatural. Most people aren’t even as committed to their personal relationships as much as they are tied to their baseball team. If something goes wrong in a relationship; they bail; however, they will let their baseball team play with their emotions, rob them of their hard earned money, lie to them and do all kinds of things to make them miserable and they will simply keep coming back for more. They just won’t leave because that’s not an option.

Kind of funny, don’t you think?

The divorce rate is probably much higher than the rate at which fans switch teams. Better to leave a spouse than to be labeled a bandwagon fan, I guess.

I know my fair share of disgruntled Dodger fans, and I sometimes kiddingly invite them over to the Angels side. They give me that death stare. You know the one.

It’s like this everywhere.

Cub fans wear their fandom for the “loveable losers” like a badge of honor, but suggest they find a new team to cheer for and some will probably tell you they’d rather die.

All these thoughts came to my mind today because Schlact was excited about seeing Vald in his camp. It brought back memories and conjured up a small twinge of regret and maybe a little bit of jealousy. It’ll pass (already has), but it got me to thinking.

It’s easy to get excited about the new kid in town. That part of the game never changes; especially when they come with a reputation. Texas has the “beast” and we have “Godzilla.”

I should be more excited than I am about Hideki Matsui. Maybe I will be the first time I see him in person. I’m guessing all this probably resonates with Angel fans who wanted to see the team make a big splash in the off season.

Everyone wants to have that new car smell experience. I’m thinking we can have that with Brandon Wood, but a lot of fans think differently.

To them, Vlad Guerrero in Texas is like their neighbor getting a classic muscle car. They’re not sure they want one, but since their neighbor got one, they want something too. They look in their driveway and see a used car on its last legs (Matsui). Never mind the fact that their neighbor’s car may be a mile or two from dropping its engine (Vlad). It’s all about keeping up with the Joneses.

It would probably be easier to just switch neighborhoods, but that’s not going to happen.

This is going to be an interesting year. I’m not looking forward to seeing Chone Figgins in Seattle or Darren Oliver in Texas. I’m sure I’ll eventually get used to it. Seeing how the Angels play their division rivals 19 times in the course of a season, I’ll have plenty of time to let it soak in.

It’s just weird. This is the biggest transition year in the Angels recent history. Change can be good, but people are usually resistant to change.

Imagine Tim Salmon changing teams during his career. Or John Lackey… oh wait.

Forty one days until opening day.

See Erick run; run Erick run

Maybe it’s my imagination, but I keep seeing an elephant in the room that no one is talking about. Then again, it’s kind of hard to just "imagine" an elephant in the room, isn’t it?

There’s no way to sugar coat this; Erick Aybar is not a base stealer. There, I said it and it feels good to get that off my chest.

Here is a guy who many see as the heir apparent to Chone Figgins; a guy with tremendous speed and THE guy most are penciling in as the lead off hitter for the 2010 Angels.

Hello? Are the stat heads asleep at the wheel? For every two bases Aybar steals, he get’s thrown out the third time. A 66% success rate just ins't cutting it. Last year he stole 14 bases and was caught stealing 7 times. In four seasons, he has 26 stolen bases and has been caught 13 times. In his minor league career he has 186 stolen bases and has been thrown out 98 times. Are you seeing what I’m seeing? There’s a trend here and that Aybar may be fast and he may steal bases, but the effort comes with obvious risks.

In 2004 while playing for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes he was caught 36 times. He was caught stealing more times than he walked! People love to talk about his speed, but for some reason they neglect to mention how ineffective he is despite that speed. I just don’t get it.

I think it’s safe to say that Erick Aybar is not a prototypical base stealer. He’s kind of a train wreck, if you ask me. You want your train to pull into the depot without incident; well if Aybar is your train, you’d better tighten your seat belt.

I suppose there is hope though. Last year he overcame his reputation for being a player prone to stupid mistakes. Some claimed he lacked any real baseball IQ and was know to make a bone head play for every spectacular one he’d make. There was a time when routine wasn’t always so routine with him.

Face it, Aybar is the player most likely to run to third base instead of first. I'm just saying. At the same time, he's also the guy most likley to bunt for a double or intercept a screaming ground ball, do a cart wheel and then flip the ball in the air and kick it to first base to throw out Carl Crawford.

Aybar is the one guy on the team who's most likely to make me say, "did you just see that?" And the genesis for my reaction could be either positive or negative.

That being said, I have to admit that as the 2009 season went on, he made fewer and fewer bad plays and still managed to do the spectacular now and then.

He also made strides to improve his OBP going from .314 in 2008 to .353 in 2009. His overall offensive production took a big step forward.

Basically, he made Scioscia look like a genius when most Angel fans were ready to dub Maicer Izturis as their every day short stop. Scioscia is good like that. Makes me crazy (in a good way) sometimes, but I wouldn’t want to see anyone else guiding this team.

So, what can we expect from Aybar in 2010? Bill James projects 18 stolen bases to go with 9 times being caught. The consensus at FanGraphs has Aybar stealing 26 bags while failing 13 times. Is this an area of concern? If he Angels are going to play the brand of baseball they’ve been accustom to under Scioscia, I have to believe it’s at the very least a question mark.

We know he has talent. He flashed that talent often last year. The question I have no answer for is how good does Aybar want to be? I’ve heard he’s a hard worker, but I haven’t heard anything about his ability to learn. I’m not saying it’s bad; I just haven’t heard. Can he become a better base runner and stealer? I really don’t know, but I guess we’re about to find out.

It’s easy to pencil Aybar in as the lead off hitter in 2010, but it’s not easy (at least not for me) to feel comfortable seeing him in that role.

Aybar is 26 years old. He’s young enough to still have some upside, but he’s also been around long enough to demonstrate that he’s already getting better at every aspect of his game. He improved his hitting and became a more consistent fielder in 2009. I guess if he takes one thing at a time (a reasonable goal), we could see him improve on his effectiveness on the base paths this year.

Fortunately, base stealing is only one aspect of being a good lead off hitter. I'm probably worrying about nothing. At least I hope that's the case.

The fun part of all this is that we will get to see it all unfold on the field. I'm hoping for the best. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Pitchers and catchers report tomorrow and it’s about time.

Lyle Spencer makes a case for Weaver

Imagine my surprise today when I logged onto the Angels web site to find a piece by mlb.com's Lyle Spencer titled, "Who is Halos' ace? Leave it to Weaver." I was surprised for a variety of reasons.

First of all, I was happy to see a veteran baseball writer like Spencer also making an argument for Weaver. Makes me feel like those voices in my head aren't so bad after all. It was also funny to see the title of Spencer's piece as being similar to my own (Leave it Weaver/Lead it to Weaver). In case you're wondering, I'm not making any crazy assumptions and actually find the coincidence kind of cool.

Spencer makes a convincing case for Weaver becoming the Angels' new ace by comparing Weaver's numbers to those of Lackey's at similar stages in their careers. I'm not going to rehash those statistics here; you can simply read all about it on the Angels' web site. The important point of his article is that Weaver actually has better numbers at this point in his career than Lackey did at the same point in his.

In other news, it's being reported by Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News that Vladimir Guerrero is about to sign a one-year $5 million contract (plus incentives) with the Texas Rangers. I'm sure Ranger fans are excited about seeing Vlad in Arlington since he's always hit so well there; however, I would temper their expectations because Vlad's success there probably had more to do with his facing the Rangers' pitching staff more than it did the stadium itself.

I have to ask, what's with this trend of ex-Angels signing contracts within the Western Division? Last year it was Orlando Cabrera and Adam Kennedy signing with the A's and this year we've seen Chone Figgins head off to the Pacific Northwest and now Vladimir Guerrero in Texas; not to mention the trade that sent former Angel Casey Kotchman to the Mariners. I don't know about you, but I am not into having reunions at every home stand in 2010.

If you're wondering what the latest is on Aroldis Chapman, you're not alone. It's hard to get a handle on the truth. Where's Jack Nicholson when you need him? That bit about him "signing any day now" looks like any day means any day this year. The Red Sox have supposedly "pulled back" on their pursuit.

Pitchers and catchers report for sping training on February 18 in Tempe, AZ. Perhaps Chapman will sign by then. No doubt it will be "breaking news."

Angels become older, slower and are now without an "Ace"

John Lackey just punched me in the stomach. Worse yet, he punched every little kid who wears his jersey or t-shirt in the stomach as well.

Okay maybe that’s a tad bit over the top and maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, but word is Lackey is in Boston for a physical, which points to the likelihood that he will be a member of the Red Sox in 2010. Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated takes it a step further and says Lackey has agreed to a five-year, $85 million deal.

The Boston Red Sox? Really, John? I thought you were "old school." I guess I was wrong. Old School doesn’t sign on with a hated rival. No way, no how.

I didn't see this coming. You had me fooled, John. I guess I was a real sucker.

If I sound bitter it’s because I am! Hello? We’re talking about the best Angels pitcher since Chuck Finley not just leaving, but leaving to go to the team that has been more than just a thorn in the side of the Angels; they’ve been a spear for goodness sake.

I don’t fault Lackey for going for the biggest pay day; after all, most people would do the same… but Boston? Come on, that’s like making a deal with the devil and I doubt too many people would do that. In my mind, Lackey no longer has a soul; he just sold it. Can you picture Lackey and David Ortiz in the 2010 post season pouring champagne on one another and hugging like long lost brothers?

I didn’t want to believe the reports when they first came out. When the rumor first appeared as being "twitter-worthy" I had to chuckle. I was even ready to blast Ed Price of AOL for being irresponsible. Turns out he got it right.

Now my wrath is just going to be aimed at John Lackey. Again, I don’t blame him for taking the money, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I said as much in a previous post titled: An Open Letter to John Lackey.

I guess part of me is still 12 years old. Part of me wants to believe there are still players in the game that aren’t all about the money. Randy Wolf was willing to re-sign with the Dodgers for less than Milwaukee offered him. Tim Salmon took less money to stay with the Angels his whole career. I thought Lackey might do the same. Boy was I wrong.

Just goes to show you how little we know about what a player thinks and finds important. Just goes to show you how shallow loyalties run these days. That’s not a judgment; just an observation. And yes, I know loyalty goes both ways and I have no idea what the Angels offered or didn’t offer. I’m just reacting here.

I mean we’re talking about leaving the Angels. We have an awesome fan base and Southern California is a great place to live with an ideal climate. On top of that, the Angels have a world class owner and manager. I know Boston is a great sports town, but I never would have pictured Lackey in a Sox uniform. Then again, what do I know?

I feel like Lackey just gave the Angels the finger and I don’t like it much.

In other not-so-good news, the Angels appear to have a one year, $6.5 million deal in place with 35 year old Hideki Matsui. Great. Whoopee.

Don’t worry Matsui makes up for his lack of youth (he will be 36 next June) with bad knees. That’s right… both of them are bad. He’s really going to be a force on the base paths or is that a road block? I really thought the Angels were past the point of signing players past their primes to contracts. I mean I know the whole retro thing is cool these days, but this is crazy. I assume Bobby Abreu made them believe they can continue to find lightning in a bottle.

While the Angels definitely needed to add a left handed power bat, I was hoping for better than this.

I guess this also means Abreu isn’t going to DH and will continue to be somewhat of an adventure in right field. I like Abreu, but I like him as a force in the batting order and for what he can teach about hitting to the rest of the team. As for his fielding…well, not so much.

But wait, there’s more…

The news keeps getting better. Word is that Roy Halladay is heading to Philadelphia and Cliff Lee to Seattle as part of a three team block buster. Up to the minute details can be found on mlb.traderumors.com.

Wow.

Lackey to the Red Sox. Halladay to the Phillies. Lee to the Mariners. I don’t know about you, but this off season just became a downer for me. Not only did the Angels lose an all-star third baseman and their ace, but Seattle just added one of each.

Let’s recap. The Angels just got older, slower and no longer have an ace. Beautiful. What’s even funnier is that it’s time to renew my season tickets too.

I'm a very optimistic guy. I can even be accused of wearing rose colored glasses when it comes to the Angels. That being said, I'm not happy today. The good news is that it's only December and Tony Reagins and Arte Moreno still have time to do something, but that doesn't take away from the fact that I don't like what I've seen so far.

Moving on without Figgy

I’m not going to kid you. I’m going to miss Chone Figgins. I’m going to miss that infectious smile of his. I’m going to miss thinking every time he gets on base, he is going to score. I’m going to miss seeing him play third base like a gold glove infielder. Yes, I’m going to miss just about everything about Figgy.

It’s going to be very strange seeing him in a Mariners uniform when they come to town. It’s going to be weird cheering against him. But this is what happens in baseball.

So be it. I will move on. We will all move on. But how? Well, the best way I believe to do that in this case is by focusing on Brandon Wood.

Brandon Wood is the kind of player who inspires a great deal of hope. We’ve seen glimpses of his potential. His 2005 season in Rancho Cucamonga is still pretty fresh in our memories. That year he put the baseball world on notice with 43 homeruns, 115 RBI, and a.321 batting average.

Ever since that year, visions of Roy Hobbs have been dancing in our heads (or at least mine). Baseball fans and experts have been talking about Brandon Wood for five years now. Any time some fan from another team posts a trade idea on a baseball message board, Wood is the guy they want back. I’m betting every time another team’s GM calls the Angels, Wood is the guy they want too. Every fan base wants a special player to come through their organization that they can call their own. Brandon Wood represents that guy for Angel fans every where.

He’s our Matt Wieters; our Ryan Braun. He’s the next big thing; the chosen one, if you will. He’s had enough acolades to give him a big head and yet, he’s got the right attitude.

Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times interviewed Wood recently and Wood told him, “I'm going in to spring training to win a job. That keeps you on your toes. If you think that job is yours, you might get lazy. I've got to be ready to work, rather than sitting back and saying I paid my dues, I waited for my time."

It looks like he will get his chance. From Kevin Baxter of the LA Times: As for Wood, Scioscia said "he has to have the mind-set to come in there and win a position, and realistically that's what has to happen. He has to come out and win a spot, and we do have some depth that we'll use if it's going to make us a better team. But we definitely want to give Brandon every opportunity to show his talent, because he's a very, very talented young player."

I say it's time to let that talnet shine. Brandon, it’s time for you to get to work. Angel fans have been waiting for you. Kendry Morales showed you how it’s done. The two of you can make history and become a force together. I have visions. Visions of Morales and Wood becoming the best one-two punch in baseball. I know, I’m getting way ahead of myself here, but that’s part of being a baseball fan. In fact, it’s a fun part of being a fan.

I say let the Brandon Wood/Kendry Morales era begin. Some may mock the idea. Others may even laugh, but some of us are ready to believe. I can’t wait to see what Wood can do with regular at bats. In many ways this is what baseball is all about. It’s about youth being served and hard work finally paying off.

It’s about Garvey, Russell, Lopes and Cey. Say what? Yes, I know they were Dodgers, but they were staples in the Dodgers infield for years. Dodger fans knew every time they went to the ball park or tuned in to a Dodger broadcast, they were going to see those four guys in the lineup every day.

Next year, the Angels could have an infield that is completely home grown. Morales, Howie Kendrick, Erick Aybar and Wood. It would be an entire infield drafted and developed by the Angels. They could be together for year to come. That’s way cool, don’t you think?.

So, even though I will miss Chone Figgins (as will my wife), there is a bright side and that my friends will be in the form of a guy wearing #3.

Hot Stove Update: According to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun the Angels have offered Joe Saunders, Erick Aybar and Peter Bourjos to Toronto for Roy Halladay. I said it before and I'll say it again. I'm not buying it. Just sign Lackey. Why give up players and create more holes in your lineup on top of having to sign Halladay for more money than it would take to sign Lackey? The cost is simply too high.

One off season update: Jose Arredondo isn't looking so good. He's having elbow trouble again and appears to be in the dog house, per Bill Plunkett of the OC Register.

Figgins couldn't be further from home

One of the first things I do each morning is log on to mlbtraderumors.com. It’s kind of a one-stop shopping place for all things related to the Hot Stove. This morning, I was delighted to see that the Angels have not given up on signing John Lackey. More on that in a bit…

But first, the big news of the day was Chone Figgins. Following mlbtraderumors.com we learned that one minute he was on the verge of signing with the Seattle Mariners. A little while later, they were reporting the Angels were still "hanging in there." He was signing, then he was "maybe" signing. It was kind of a roller coaster.

Then as the evening unfolded it was becoming more and more clear that Figgins was indeed heading to Seattle. Per Greg Bell of the Associated Press, Figgins and Mariners have a preliminary agreement on a four year, $36 million dollar deal, with an option that could push the contract to $45 million.

Earlier Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown tweeted that "Angels officials had conceded that Figgins was as good as gone to the M’s."

The deal is expected to be announced Monday at the Winter Meetings.

Good for Figgy. Sucks for us.

It’s going to be strange seeing him in a Mariners uniform and I’m not going to like it one single bit. The Angels usually play the M’s 19 times in a season. Nineteen games I will be a lot less likely to enjoy. Nineteen games where I will have to cheer against Figgy.

Like I said; it sucks for us.

There was some talk that signing Figgins to a contract of four or more years would be a bad idea... Some surmised that his skills would start to decline and that players who rely on speed (like Figgins) are bad investments as they get older. I don't necessarily agree. Bobby Abreu is 35 and he managed to steal 30 bases this year. Rickey Henderson was 39 when he stole 66 bases in 1998. Figgins will only be 32 years old next season.

Reports had the Angels offering Figgins three years for $24 million. I am disappointed that the Angels didn’t offer more years. I know all about the reports about the Angels budget for 2010, but we’re talking about a very good player in Figgins.

Figgins reinvented himself this past year. He became the ultimate lead off hitter with a .395 OBP; leading the league in walks with 101.

Some soured on Figgins after his lack luster post-season. He is a career .172 hitter in the play-offs with an anemic .223 OBP. Some assumed he would never become the kind of post season performer the Angels need. I didn’t necessarily feel the same way.

The sad thing is that now that he’s in Seattle, Figgins might not get a chance to disprove his critics. I can’t see Seattle in the post season next year or any time soon. Granted, it’s only December – but the M’s have lots of work to do before they can be considered legitimate contenders in the west. That being said, signing Figgins is a nice start.

The bright side and there is a bright side is that Brandon Wood should finally get his shot; at least I hope so. Some have begun to speculate that the Angels could sign Adrian Beltre, who was last seen under-performing in Seattle.

I may not know as much about baseball as the so-called pundits, but I’d be willing to bet that Brandon Wood could do better than a .265 batting average with just 8 homeruns and a .779 OPS, which are the numbers Beltre put up this past season.

I don’t want Miguel Tejada either. I mean talk about a player in decline. In fact, none of the remaining free agent third basemen appeal to me over Wood. Not Melvin Mora, Joe Crede or even Troy Glaus.

It’s time for Brandon Wood and seeing him get his chance is the best way to get over the loss of Figgins.

The funny thing about this is that I had believed Figgins might want to play close to home. I couldn't have been more wrong. You can't get much further away from Florida than Seattle, Washington. I think it's safe to say that my ability (or lack of) to predict where free agents might end up basically stinks. I've been wrong on most of my predictions thus far.

I also have to wonder; will Figgins be happy in Seattle? Adrian Beltre was the last So. Cal third basemen to sign a big contract with the M's. He had five uneventful years there. Yes, he was paid well, but if he could have done it over would he have gone to Seattle? We'll see if money buys Figgins happiness.

Now, let’s get back to John Lackey.

According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, "Club officials had all but decided to part with Lackey during the team's organizational meetings at the end of the regular season, according to multiple major-league sources."

Rosenthal adds - "But Moreno, after watching Lackey pitch well in his three postseason starts against the Red Sox and Yankees, decided that the Angels should renew their efforts to sign him, the sources said."

Rosenthal notes that the main reason for this "change" (per Rosenthal, Reagins says Lackey has been a priority all along) is due to the steep price (in players) to acquire Roy Halladay, the rocky performance of Scott Kazmir in the post season and the Mariners big push to sign Lackey. Lackey’s post season performance didn’t hurt either.

As I noted in my Open Letter to John Lackey, the thought of him pitching within the division is more than I can take. If Lackey ends up in Seattle, I’m not going to be happy. I won’t be able to let it go. It’s bad enough that Figgins will be there, but if they add Lackey as well, I will have a new team to hate.

The Angels need to get a deal done. The two sides need to find some common ground. I don’t know what Lackey’s demands are (he reportedly turned down a four-year $72 million extension), but he needs to meet the Angels part way. $72 million is a lot of money. Granted, it’s not A.J. Burnett money, but just because the Yankees overpaid for Burnett, it shouldn't equate into someone else also over paying for a player.

I don’t want Roy Halladay. I’m afraid of what it might cost the Angels in the way of players to get him. Besides, there's something that doesn't sit well with me when a guy says he's only willing to go to Red Sox, Yankees, Angels or Phillies. It just feels wrong. Hallady is also imposing deadlines now (says he won't agree to a trade once Spring Training starts). Again, this kind of stuff just doesn't make me comfortable.

Besides, the Angels can't afford to trade for Halladay. Brandon Wood is no longer an option to be moved in my mind. We know the Angels aren’t going to part with Erick Aybar and parting with one of Joe Saunders, Ervin Santana or Jered Weaver would still leave the Angels with a hole in their rotation.

Just sign Lackey.

So here we are. Figgins is gone, but the Angels are still in the hunt for Lackey. I’m not a happy camper right now, but I'll be extra cranky if Lackey goes. My wife Cheryl is not liking the Figgy deal either. Figgins is one of her favorites. She's going to miss him. We're all going to miss him.

What can you do, right? Time to turn the page...

Get ready Brandon Wood. Cheryl and I (not to mention countless other Angel fans) are counting on you. We know you can do it.