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.  

Is it safe to open my eyes yet?

Last time I checked the Angels had nearly blown all of their 6-1 lead and it was 6-5 Angels with Brian Fuentes coming in to face the White Sox in the bottom of the 9th.

So, I have to ask… Is it safe to open my eyes yet?

Cue the music…




“I don’t ask for much, I only want your trust, and you know it don’t come easy."

That about says it all.

Meanwhile, I tuned in yesterday just in time to see Erick Aybar steal second base and then turn around and get thrown out trying to steal third base. For those of you keeping score at home, Aybar has stolen six bases and has been caught five times; which goes right along with his career averages (including his minor league stats). He’s not getting any better folks. Let’s just say he’s never going to be confused with Rickey Henderson and leave it at that.

I know what you’re thinking… didn’t the Angels just win two in a row?

Why yes, they did and I’m quite happy about it. It’s just that nothing comes easy for this team and they continue to be hard to watch. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop watching, but you’ll have to understand if I watch from behind the fingers in front of my eyes, won’t you?

It’s like watching one of those bad horror movies where the people decide to go into the house where the blood curdling scream just came from. You know what’s coming and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Common sense tells you they shouldn't be going into the house/bring in Brian Fuentes... Just saying. Now I know it's in the team's best interest to have Fuentes succeed; however, he just makes me as nervous as chiuaua.

The Angels head to St. Louis this weekend to face the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend and I’m looking forward to the series. It will be odd seeing a Cardinals team void of any ex-Angels for a change. I mean we’ve seen Jim Edmonds, Adam Kennedy, Troy Glaus, Scott Speizio, Troy Percival, David Eckstein and others I may be missing dawning the Cardinals logo in recent years.
One guy I wouldn’t seeing switch from a Cardinals logo to the Angels’ one is Yadier Molina. I just love watching him do his thing behind the plate. He’s a great defensive catcher; in fact, he may be the best in the game. I don’t mind telling you that I covet him for the Angels in the worst way – even though I know that’s not likely to ever happen. A boy can dream, right?

I just hope Erick Aybar doesn’t get any bright ideas about trying to run on Molina. He’s thrown out eleven runners so far while only allowing six stolen bases. So… runners beware.

Hopefully one day the Angels will complete the set and sign Molina some how, some way. Then, Cheryl and I can break out our “Thou shalt not steal on the Molina brothers" t-shirts again. We had these made when Bengie and Jose were Angels. Cheryl was even stopped during one game by Bengie’s wife, who asked where she got the shirt? One thing leads to another and we made some for the whole family…

I remember when we gave the shirt to Jose – he looked, smiled and said, “That’s right!”

Funny story about Jose – one of the 514 Fanatics – Kim (who is infamous for the unique way she helps start Angel rallies) tried to tell us there was a fourth Molina brother. When Cheryl asked him if that was true, he said, “Well, you never know with our dad – I will have to ask him.”

Now, where was I?

Oh yeah, Angels vs. Cardinals. Let’s hope the Angels pitching staff can contain Albert Pujols over the weekend. The thought of Brian Fuentes coming in with a slim lead and Pujols batting with men on base might give me nightmares. I wonder how far Pujols could hit a softly tossed Fuentes fast ball. I shudder. Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.

Interesting pitching match ups are on tap. Tonight Joel Pineiro goes against his old team and Sunday is going to be a potential pitching duel between aces Jered Weaver and Chris Carpenter. I’m looking for Weaver to rebound big from his last start.

Oh yeah, I skipped Saturday. That one has Scott Kazmir and Kyle Lohse going at it. Both are below .500 thus far… you might want to stock up on the munchies for that game as it could be a long one. Just saying.

The good, the bad and the ugly in signing Joel Pineiro

Reports are circulating that the Angels have signed Joel Pineiro to a two year, $16 million contract. Pineiro went 15-12 with a 3.49 ERA in 2009. If you listened to “The Drive” this afternoon with Jeff Biggs, you’d think the Angels just won the lottery. I don’t necessarily share that view, but think this could be a fairly good move for the Angels.

Let’s take a look an objective look at the addition.

First of all, Pineiro had a solid 2009 campaign. He only walked 27 batters in 214 innings. His 1.1 average of walks per nine innings was the lowest in the league. Pineiro made 32 starts; had three complete games and two shut outs. His 1.145 WHIP was outstanding and he only gave up 11 homeruns. Just about everything he did in 2009 was pretty good.

You’d think I’d be jumping up and down for joy, right? Well, color me optimistically cautious. You see I’m a little skeptical of one-hit wonders. Pineiro was never this good in his previous nine seasons. Granted, he had his moments in 2002 and 2003, but it’s those other years that have me somewhat concerned. 2006 and 2008 were particularly bad years for Pineiro. He had a 6.36 ERA in 2006 and 5.03 ERA in 2008.

Perhaps he’s finally figured it all out; at least I hope so. That being said, you have to remember that I’m still recovering from the Gary Matthews, Jr. signing. Face it, Matthews cashed in after one good season and hasn’t come close to that one good season since. I’d feel better if Pineiro had been more consistent over his ten year career.

Jeff Biggs kept calling the deal a “steal” at two years and $16 million. He kept lamenting that Pineiro was seeking a Randy Wolf-like contract at three years and $30 million. Okay, he signed for less, but is that because he’s not nearly as good as he thinks he is or is Tony Reagins just shrewd? I mean if Pineiro really is as good as Wolf, why didn’t he get Wolf-like money? It’s a fair question, don’t you think?

How many times have we heard that pitching comes at a premium? Why didn’t he get better offers from more teams? I’m just asking.

Another question I have is how much of his success came because of where he pitched and who his pitching coach was in 2009? I think most experts would agree that Dave Duncan, the Cardinals pitching coach is probably the best in the business. I mean this is a guy who turned around Jeff Weaver in 2006 and Kyle Lohse in 2008. My concern is what happens to Pineiro when he doesn’t have Duncan looking over his shoulder? No offense to Mike Butcher, but I’m not certain any other coach can get the same results.

Pineiro is not a strike out pitcher and that usually means the margin for error is a lot slimmer. Hitters put the ball in play when they face Pineiro and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Granted plenty of “ground ball” pitchers like Pineiro are successful, but it’s just another thing to consider.

I do like Pineiro over Matt Palmer as a starter and moving Palmer to the bull pen is a good thing. This move gives the team some much needed depth and buys Trevor Reckling some time to develop.

Don’t get me wrong; I think this is a good signing for the Angels. It’s just not the “holy cow” moment some people are trying to make it out to be.