Calling all you Angels

We are about to see what the Angels are made of and if what they’ve done so far this season is any indicator, it’s going to be a heck of a ride.  Buckle up Angel fans, things are about to get intense.

As devastating as the news is regarding Garrett Richards’ injury (although we don’t have a final prognosis yet), I have high hopes this team will still make us proud in the end.  There’s a swagger there that we haven’t seen in a while and a quiet confidence that is evident in their approach to every game.

This team has that “come and get some” attitude.  Opponents might walk into a game against the Angles all smiles and full of confidence, but they’re going to leave with bloody noses and red faces.

If you think they’re vulnerable because they lost Richards, think again.  It’s time to circle the wagons and stand shoulder to shoulder in the face of adversity.  When things appear to be at their worst, greatness has a way of showing up.  Character is revealed and I don’t think anyone out there is going to question this team’s fortitude. 

We are about to see great things that happen, folks.  This team, with Mike Scioscia at the helm is not going to go meekly into night.  You can count on it.  This team has pride and “quit” isn’t in their vocabulary – all their come-from-behind victories are a testament to that.

We fans have a role here too.  We can show up at the stadium and bring the kind of enthusiasm that becomes infectious.  If ever our team needed us – it’s now.  We need to do our part.

I believe Angel fans are ready for this fight too.  I’m counting on our fans to show tremendous support. After all, this is a team that’s easy to love.  It’s a team that has given us much to be confident about. 

We aren’t going to hang our heads.  We’re going to stand together and let our team know that we have their backs.  We look forward to basking in the sunshine when all is said and done and then look back and know we fought a good fight.

America will come to know names like Hector Santiago, Matt Shoemaker and Kole Calhoun and wish they played for their teams. They will also come to appreciate Jered Weaver the way we appreciate him. 

The hunt for a red October is on.

It’s time.  Calling all you Angels.  I need a sign to let me know you’re here.  I won’t give up if you don’t give up.

Who’s with me?

This staff has "priors"

I’m going to ask the big question...  Will the Joe Blanton signing for two years and $15 million be among the worst in Angels Baseball history?  It’s a legitimate question at this point, isn’t it?  Face it – when the one thing people tout about you is that you’re an “innings eater” – there’s probably not a lot of upside to what you can bring to the table.

Meet Joe Blanton – “innings eater” and all around good guy.  This is a guy who gave up 29 homeruns (something else he’s known for) last season in the National League.  Not the best quality in a starting pitcher, wouldn’t you say?  These are the things we all knew going into the season.

As spring rolled around, we also heard a lot about his workout regime.  We even heard he was “in the best shape of his life.”  He lost 30 pounds.  And while that’s all well and good – what about his pitching?  All I can tell you that so far, this season – it’s bad; in fact, it’s monumentally bad and that's a phrase I haven't used since Jeff Mathis departed.

I mean what did we expect from a guy who had a 4.71 ERA last year and a 5.01 ERA the year before that?  For all the good things Jerry Dipoto has done so far – this signing is looking very Tony Reagins-esque.   Blanton has an 8.59 ERA so far… Granted it’s early – but our “innings eater” hasn’t gone beyond 5 innings yet; which is probably a good thing because there is no telling how high his ERA would be if he did.

Blanton has given up six homeruns in 14.2 innings thus far.  He’s on pace to give up about 10,000 homeruns at this point - give or take a hundred.

Meanwhile, the Angels passed on Kyle Lohse; heck, they even passed on Joe Saunders.  Saunders had a rough debut for the Mariners (giving up 4 earned runs in 4 innings), but hasn’t given up any runs in his 13.1 innings since his season debut.  Who else did the Angels pass on?  How about Carlos Villanueva (Cubs – 0.64 ERA thus far), Ryan Dempster (Red Sox – 2.65 ERA thus far), and Jeremy Guthrie (Royals – 3.55 ERA thus far) among others?  We're not talking Zack Greinke here - we're talking about others who are more than serviceable.  

For me - Joe Blanton was a bottom-of-the-barrel guy.  Not a guy you sign in December when so many other better options were available.

And to think they traded away Ervin Santana, who is spotting a nice 2.45 ERA after three starts to go along with 19 K’s in 22 innings.  Now that’s an innings eater.  Granted, Santana made us all crazy with his inconsistency - but at least he was great some of the time.

The pitching has been frustrating to watch so far.  Only Garret Richards has made it into the 7^th inning.  When I think about all those years where good to great Angels pitching was wasted with a mediocre offense, it makes me crazy.  To make matters worse it will be a good 4-6 weeks before Jered Weaver comes back.

It’s hard for an offense to get going when it finds itself down after one inning every game (or what seems like every game).  It’s exceptionally discouraging for fans to watch.   I mean even the Marlins starting rotation has a 3.52 ERA thus far. 

Maybe the staff will find its groove.  Maybe Joe Blanton will be the innings eater he’s been advertised to be.  Maybe… maybe… maybe…   I have a friend name Dan  who loves to use the term “priors” (he's a police detective, of course).  It’s a great way to judge a person based on what they've done in the past and it's a great way to make a point.  Whenever someone tries to get away with something, Dan would say - "You've got priors."

Well… Blanton has priors (for a high ERA and for giving up tons of homeruns); Tommy Hanson has priors for diminished velocity and a high ERA in 2012; Jason Vargas has priors for giving up a whopping 35 homeruns last year; and C.J. Wilson has priors for giving up too many free passes to batters.  It’s hard to feel optimistic about this rotation when all of them have a history for poor performances.

A lot has to change for this rotation to be good.  That makes me nervous.  There’s a lot of “if this – then that” in this group.  The Angels need career bests from some of these guys.  Heck, even something that’s just slightly better than their career averages would help.  I hate that because there’s not a lot of hope in that.

I hope (there's that word again) they prove me wrong.  I hope we get to October and marvel at the job Dipoto did to put this staff together.  I just don’t have much faith in that happening.

In the meantime, I’m going to break one of my rules and actually make a trade suggestion… How about Bud Norris of the Astros?  How about Luis Jimenez  for Norris?  Jimenez has made a very impressive debut at the major league level, but with Kaleb Cowart just a couple years away – Jimenez might be expendable (they both play 3B). 

You see that?  I’ve been reduced to making trade proposals after just 13 games. I'm as bad as those callers who throw out crazy ideas to Terry Smith on the radio after a game.  Good grief.