Are the Angels in financial trouble?

Somebody call hazmat; there’s a heinous odor coming from Anaheim and more specifically Angels Stadium. It smells like a season just died. Speaking of heinous, might as well cue the song " Buttercup" because once again, this team has let me and every Angel fan I know down.

I tried. I really tried to stay as positive as humanly possible and even though I’m not completely throwing in the towel, I need to blow off some steam.

Good grief.

Now there’s a lot of directions I can go right now. I can talk about what I believe to be a lack of effort and focus (Hello Erick Aybar). I could rant about Jeff Mathis, Vernon Wells and an offense that’s utterly pathetic or I could talk about empty promises from an owner (Hello Arte Moreno).

There are so many things to rant about, it’s not even funny, but there’s one thing that has been haunting me all season and I need to get it off my chest.

Something doesn’t add up.

It all started in the off season when the Angels balked at the dollars and years given to free agents like Carl Crawford and Adrian Beltre.

When the trading deadline approached this year, Tony Reagins publicly stated that he wasn’t under any budget restrictions what-so-ever. And yet the Angels failed to add a player and any additional payroll.

Below the radar other things began to surface. The Angels asked their season ticket holders to pay for their 2012 season tickets by October 6, 2011; approximately three months earlier than normal. That's right - 3 months earlier! Do the Angels need the interest they'll bank from that money or what?

Wait, there's more...

In late July it was reported that the Angels and the stadium workers were at a standstill in contract negotiations. The Angels were low balling their workers proposing a wage freeze to workers who already were the lowest paid of any baseball stadium in the state. Mind boggling, isn't it?

More subtle signs…

A shortage of promotional items on give-away nights and the new policy of no longer handing out rain checks/vouchers to those who missed out; coupled with the new tag line “while supplies last” when advertising give-aways for future games. This is a dramatic change from previous practices by the Angels.

And... Have you noticed the numerous 40% off sales in the team store? It's kind of curious, isn't it?

And let me ask, why did it take them more than four months to bring in Peter Bourjos, Jordan Walden and Mark Trumbo shirts into their team store? Was someone asleep at the wheel?

I have to ask; are the Angels having financial trouble? Are the bad contracts coming back to bite the team in the rear end?

If that's the case, 2012 doesn't look very promising either.

Think about this… If the middle of this lineup in 2012 consists of Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells – the Angels 51st season is going to look a lot like the 2010 and 2011 seasons; abysmal. If the Angels are counting on this trio to turn things around – it’s really going to get ugly. That’s $48 million dollars of ugly. That’s right the three players will have a combined salary next year of nearly $50 million.

They’re still paying Gary Matthews, Jr. and Scott Kazmir millions of dollars this year.

When you consider all of these things; something doesn’t add up. There's a history here.

Something has to give and it appears those made to suffer are going to be Angel fans. Just saying.

Some Angel fans have responded to this question at AngelsWin and at Halos Heaven.

The good, the bad and the costly

I’m not sure how to handle the Angels’ recent success of late (although I could find a way should it continue). After going an impressive 8-4 on the road; they come home to sweep the Washington Nationals and go 11-4 over their last 15 games. Boo-ya, right? On one hand, a win is a win and I’m jazzed that they’re playing so well. On the other hand, of the five teams they just won series’ from only the Mets are above .500 at the moment. Hmm.

So I guess you could say that I’m delighted that they’re winning, but I’m not going to get too excited because they really haven’t beaten any teams of significance. Again, I’m excited that they’re taking care of business; I’m just not going to get overly pumped up (just yet).

I guess you could say; that’s what the 2011 season has done to me thus far.

Every time I get a little excited, I find myself disappointed a short time later. Maybe there’s something to the way Scioscia goes about his business with that “one-game-at-a-time” attitude. Then again, I’m a fan I’m allowed to let my emotions run the gamut.

So… here we are just past the half way point of the season and the Angels are 1.5 games behind Texas with the trading deadline is getting closer. What are the Angels to do? Will they acquire a “big bat?” Will they add more pitching? What? What in the world will they do, if anything?

The good news is that the Angels are in the hunt and we can actually bring up the trading deadline for all the right reasons (buyers as opposed to sellers).

Okay, so this is the point where you’re probably expecting me to tell you what I think they should do, right?

Well, I’m not going to do that. Nah, it just seems like an exercise I’m just not prepared for and do you really want to hear the rambling of a mad man?

Instead, I’m going to focus a little bit on what the Angels have done over the past several years. I must warn you; this isn’t necessarily going to be pretty. I know, I know – why bring this up now when the team is playing well, right?

Well, I’ve been meaning to do this since Scott Kazmir was released and haven’t had the time to get to it; so now is as good a time as any.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane to explore some of the downright horrendous moves this team has made. I hate to do it now, but again – I wanted to do this at some point. Perhaps you know all of this; however, I’m betting there’s a chance you haven’t seen it all laid out just the way I’m about to.

Let’s start with 2002. Yes, it was a magical year; a year that will forever represent one of if not the greatest time ever to be an Angels fan. It also happens to be the year the Angels signed Aaron Sele to a 3-year, $24 million contract. In those three seasons, Sele posted ERA’s of 4.89, 5.77 and 5.05. His signing represents one of the many bad decisions by the Angels front office since that time.

The last decade (through 2009) has been tremendous; however, as we continue down this road – you might wonder how this team ever managed to do as well as it has and also wonder what they might have done or will do if they had made better decisions. I mean we’re talking about a great many decisions that has involved spending a ton of good money on bad players.

Let’s get to it…

The 2003 team didn’t change much from the prior year personnel wise, as they seemed to have a hang-over from their wildly successful 2002 season. It was also the year that Arte Moreno took over as the owner of the Angels. As great as Moreno has been for the Angels; one can’t help but wonder how much greater the team would have been had they made better decisions under his watch.

In 2004 the Angels struck gold with the Vladimir Guerrero signing; however, it’s important to note that Bartolo Colon was also signed prior to that season and while Colon did win a CY Young – he only had two productive years out of four. In his last two years he managed to start just 29 games and had a 5.11 ERA in 2006 and a 6.34 ERA in 2007. In my opinion, the Angels didn’t get anywhere near the return on their investment of 4-years and $51 million (which was a lot of money for a pitcher at the time).

In 2005 the crap that hit the fan came in the form of Steve Finley. Finley made $6 million and for that investment, the Angels received a .222 batting average. Finley was then traded to the San Francisco Giants for Edgardo Alfonzo (prior to the 2006 season), who made $8 million in 2006 and was released on May 21 after playing in just 18 games. I should note that Finley made $7 million while playing for the Giants that same year. A total of $14 million was wasted over those two years.

In 2005 the Angels also acquired J.C. Romero from the Minnesota Twins (for the 2006 season) for Alexi Casilla, who is currently the starting shortstop for the Twins. Romero earned $2.25 million in 2006 while posting a 6.70 ERA. Casilla has basically been on the Twins major league roster for the past five years. Romero became a free agent prior to the 2007 season. Who got the better of that deal? You really don’t answer that…

2006 brought us Jeff Weaver at the cost of an $8,325,000 contract. Weaver was traded to the Cardinals on July 5 of that year after compiling a horrible 6.29 ERA in 16 starts. Weaver would go on to help the Cardinals win a World Series and the Angels went on paying his salary.

2007 was especially bad. It was the year that one Gary Matthews, Jr. signed a 5-year, and nearly $50 million contract that still haunts the Angels today. Matthews ended up being traded to the Mets after three miserable seasons with the Angels (with the Angels picking up most of his salary), where he floundered and ended up out of baseball. Matthews played his last game on June 2, 2010 while costing the Angels $22.3 million the last two years (including this one).

2007 also brought us Shea Hillenbrand. Remember that one? Did you just grimace? If you did, it’s because you probably remember that he signed for $6 million and ended up being released on July 9 after hitting .254 with 3 homeruns. More good money after bad.

Wait 2007 gets even better. That year also brought us Justin Speier and a 3-year, $12.75 million contract. Speier had one good year (his first) out of three. His final two years? Well it included a 5.03 ERA in 2008 and a 5.18 ERA in 2009 and ultimately his release on August 11, 2009.

I’m not done with 2007 yet. That year marked the season the extension of Kelvim Escobar kicked in. Escobar’s extension was for 3-years and $28.5 million. Shields also signed an extension for 3-years and $14.6 million.

Escobar had a fantastic 2007; however, he only managed to pitch in one game in the following two years while earning $19.5 million during those final two years. Shields’ extension didn’t kick in until 2008, where he had a stellar season; however, he proved to be utterly useless during the final two years of his contract with a 6.62 and 5.28 ERA in those years. Ugh.

I’m not making this stuff up folks. The numbers are fairly staggering, aren’t they?

In 2008 the Angels traded Orlando Cabrera (and his $10 million contract) to the Chicago White Sox for Jon Garland and his $12 million contract. Garland did win 14 games that year; however, he boasted a hefty 4.90 ERA that season as well. The move did pave the way for Erick Aybar to take over at shortstop; however, it is yet another example of the high cost of mediocre talent in Garland.

2009 brought us somewhat of a mixed bag in Brian Fuentes. Fuentes signed a 2-year $17.5 million deal and ended up leading the major league baseball with 48 saves, but he also blew 7 other opportunities and gave up a key homerun in the ALCS to Alex Rodriguez and the rest is as they say… “History.” Even though he led the league in saves, he was arguably the worst reliever to ever do that. In 2010 he was traded to the Minnesota Twins.

2009 also brought us the trade that sent Alex Torres, Matt Sweeney and Sean Rodriguez to the Tampa Bay Rays for Scott Kazmir (whose recent release prompted this whole post) and his mega contract that included salaries of $6 million in 2009, $8 million in 2010 and $12 million this year. His departure, while costly would have been even more costly had he stayed another year. Rather than paying him $13.5 million in 2012, the Angels will have to shell out $2.5 million in a buy-out. He will end up costing the Angels $22.5 million for the kind of production one would expect to get out of a mannequin.

The string of bad decisions continued in 2010 when the Angels signed the guy with the crooked hat. Yes, I’m talking about Fernando Rodney and his two-year, $11 million deal. Has he been worth it? I think we both know the answer to that, although I would entertain an argument either way.

Add to all of this the string of low cost, low risk signings like Andres Galarraga, Raul Mondesi, and Shane Halter (none of which panned out) and you have reason for skepticism (for what they might do next) regarding their entire decision process.

I didn’t do any calculations regarding the net loss of all the moves mentioned above, but I’m sure we can all agree that the number is substantial. I have to ask myself, what could the Angels have done with the money they spent on Kazmir and Matthews?

Think about it. Just don’t focus on it too much because your head might explode.

All of that being said, I know that the Angels have also made some very good moves via trade and free agency and that no front office is perfect. I just think that all of the decision mentioned above had to have had a negative impact on the product currently on the field and in the Angels' ability (or lack of) to continue to be major players in the free agency market. It also has hindered their ability to make any and all moves necessary to get them back to having a 2002-like season.

Did the combination of events make them gun shy on Carl Crawford? Will it hinder their ability to make a move at the deadline this year? Could the Angels have made a different move or two over the years that would have put them back in the World Series?

These are legitimate questions, don’t you think?

Look, I think Moreno is a great owner and I think Mike Scioscia is the best manager in the game. Do the math. What’s the problem? Is it Tony Reagins or even Bill Stoneman (from prior years)? I’m not going to point any fingers, but it’s a question that begs an answer in my opinion.

I know that some of the problems the Angels have had are related to injuries and are totally unpredictable, but some of them – such as the Gary Matthews, Jr. signing raised eyebrows around the country at the time.

I just think it’s foolish to ignore the history here. I have to question the analysis process that goes into some of the moves the front office has made. The Angels have the luxury of an owner with fairly deep pockets, but let’s face it – there has to be a limit to the kind of wasted money this team can lose. It might be time to pay the piper. It had to come to this eventually.

So… what’s next?

Well, for now – there are games to be played. More specifically, the Dodgers are coming to town and I’m looking forward to seeing the freeway series yet again. This never get’s old for me. The other stuff… well, it definitely does.

So let’s get after it. Anyone notice how well Vernon Wells is playing? Is he going to be a good investment after all? I sure hope so.

Go Angels!

Apparently, Gilligan made it off the island after all

I know it’s only April 22, but I like seeing the Angels on top of the American League West. Seeing the team get off to a good start sure beats the alternative and given the way the team performed last year, I don’t know how Angels' fans might have handled a poor start.

That being said, it’s unfortunate the Angels could not extend their lead to 1.5 games and now find themselves with just a half game lead over the Texas Rangers (who were idle yesterday) after losing 4-2.

Boston’s Josh Beckett looked good last night; in fact, he was scary good. It was obvious that just about everything had to go right to beat him last night; in other words, the margin for error on the Angels side was very small. Enter Erick Aybar.

I’ve said this before and I’m sure I’ll be saying it again and again time and again; Erick Aybar makes me crazy. I have come to refer to him as Gilligan as in the character from Gilligan’s island. Let’s just say that if the game is on the line and its outcome rests on Aybar’s decision making process, we’re in trouble.

Last night, as you are probably well aware by now – Aybar tried to stretch a double into a triple in the 8th inning. The score was tied and there weren’t any outs. As Aybar was running the bases it was painfully obvious to me (and probably to the other 37,003 fans in the stadium) that he had little if any chance of getting to third safely; at best it would be close and considering the circumstances (tie game in the 8th inning with no outs) it was totally unnecessary and extremely foolish for Aybar to “go for it.”

Imagine Aybar on a desert island; he'd never find a way off. In fact, he could get lost going down a one way street... but I digress.

Even though Beckett was on his game last night and the Red Sox totally out hit the Angels (8-4), the game was winnable. It’s frustrating to see the team lose "winnable" games. Granted stuff like that is going to happen, but it’s hard to stomach just the same. The division title will most likely be a dog fight all season long and every game matters. It wouldn’t surprise me if the west was won by the smallest of margins.

On the bright side, it was great to see Tyler Chatwood continue to progress nicely. It’s also encouraging to see Hank Conger settling in as a big part of the team. Any time we get a little less Jeff Mathis it’s a good thing. Just saying.

Angel fans have to feel good about the contributions of the "young guns" like Chatwood, Conger, Peter Bourjos and Mark Trumbo. The farm system which has been much maligned of late, seems to have produced some key components that are contributing to the team’s success in a big way.

On another note, how awesome was it to see Troy Percival at the stadium last night? Percival was there as part of the team’s 50th Anniversary Celebration to throw out the first pitch and then sign autographs for fans. Cheryl and I had Percy personalize an 8 x 10 for us.

Percival is one of our all-time favorites (yes, we have many) and I always loved his “old school” approach to baseball. I loved it when Percy would just challenge batters with his best stuff and basically say, "here it is, hit it if you can." Scott Kazmir could learn a thing or two from Percy.

I’ve enjoyed the 50th anniversary celebration so far and it’s been great to see so many of the alumni back at the stadium. Percy has easily been my favorite so far.

Hank Conger is "it"

Mike Scioscia won’t admit or commit to it; but he has to be thinking it. Just about every Angel fans wants it and you know the baseball analysts would probably recommend it. It’s time to make Hank Conger the #1 catcher.

It’s actually beyond time, but we’ll take what we can get these days.

Is it just me or is it blatantly obvious that Hank Conger is the best man for the job of starting catcher? I mean offensively there’s absolutely no contest. It’s not even close. Conger has two homeruns and is hitting .286 and has struck out just four times. Jeff Mathis on the other hand is hitting below his career average; which is hard to do when you consider that his career batting average is .199; he’s hitting .192 while striking out eleven times.

Mathis’ OBP (.185) is actually lower than his batting average and that’s hard to do! Leave it to Mathis to stand out for all the wrong reasons (let’s not forget the day he went 0 for 6 hitting and trying to throw out base runners in Kansas City).

Defensively, it’s not that close either. Conger has a 1.000 fielding percentage and Mathis is at .982. Mathis has an error and a passed ball charged to him and Conger doesn’t any such blemishes. Wait, it get’s better. Opponents have stolen 11 bases off Mathis and only 3 off Conger. Let’s just say that when Mathis is behind the plate, opponents have a track meet on the bases.

Oh it’s time all right; it’s beyond time for Conger to assume the role as the top catcher on this team.

By the way, it was reported today that Jeff Mathis had a closed door meeting with Scioscia before the game. I'm guessing, it was to give his blessing to Conger taking over. Then again... probably not. Torii Hunter; Jeff Mathis is not.

Next up... let’s hope its Tyler Chatwood taking over Scott Kazmir’s spot in the rotation. Seriously, Scioscia is on a roll right now and is making all the right moves. As I’ve said before, I believe he’s really managing differently this year and I like it a great deal.

Chatwood was impressive today; going seven innings while giving up just five hits and two bases on balls. His lone mistake was a pitch to Carlos Quentin that was absolutely crushed; however, to his credit – Chatwood didn’t fall apart. The kid has poise and confidence and his talent is definitely major league caliber.

I know it’s early in the season, but these two guys are giving Angel fans something to think about and to definitely cheer about as well.

And don’t look now, but the Angels are just a game back of the Texas Rangers; the same Rangers that started the season red hot; the same Rangers some were ready to declare the American League West champions.

Analysts were falling over themselves as they heaped tons of praise on the Rangers when the season started. I was growing a little tired of hearing terms like “dominating” and “impressive” when pundits discussed the Rangers. Some people thought they were going to run away with the west and it looks like that’s just not happening.

Again, I know it’s early, but things are going well right now and Angel fans couldn’t be happier and guess who’s up for the Angels when they leave Chicago? Yup… the Texas Rangers. Game on folks. Things are getting interesting; very interesting. Just saying.

PHOTOS: The photographs in this post are from April 11, 2011; the night Tyler Chatwood made his major league debut.

Shameless plug: If you enjoy True Grich, please visit my other blog: The Baseball Docent as well. Thanks.

Ten games in and a ton to go

I can’t stand it. In fact, I’m sick and tired of it. If I hear one more fan go off the deep end about Vernon Wells, I might lose my mind.

Last night while driving home from the game I tuned in to hear Terry Smith taking calls on the post-game show on AM 830 when a guy calls in to ask when the Angels would get rid of Vernon Wells. This guy claimed to be a “big fan” and a “big critic” at the same time. Instead, he sounded like a "big idiot" in my book. I’m sorry, but that’s exactly what went through my mind as I listened to this guy go off.

This “big fan” tried to compare Vernon Wells to Gary Matthews, Jr. Hello? I would not have blamed Smith had he hung up right then and there. Smith merely chuckled a bit and then addressed this guy’s mini-rant. Smith is a better man than I am and clearly has more patience for this kind of thing.

Let me remind everyone that we are ten games into the season. Ten games folks; just ten - not 80 or even 50 for that matter.

Yes, Vernon Wells is hitting .091. Big deal. If you actually believe he’s going to stay around this number for the rest of the year, you’re the one who’s actually lost their mind.

Enough of that topic.

By the way, it was great to hear Smith doing the call-in part of the post-game show again. He does a great job and handles callers as well as anyone in the business.

So… here we are ten games into 2011 and I’ve made a few observations.

I’ve taken note of how quickly Mike Scioscia has moved Fernando Rodney out of the closer role and Jordan Walden into it. I’ve also noted the way he has used all three of his catchers in Jeff Mathis, Bobby Wilson and Hank Conger. Perhaps Jeff Mathis does not have the strangle hold on the position that I thought. One can only hope.

I’ve also noted that Kevin Jepsen who spent all of 2010 with the big league club was sent down to Salt Lake City. I was surprised by that move; although, Jepsen was probably more surprised than I was. Just saying. In any case, I like it.

All of these moves make me believe the Angels and perhaps more specifically Mike Scioscia has a sense of urgency about 2011. I get the impression that 2010 probably ate at Scioscia all off season and he’s not going to play the wait-and-see game this year.

The move to put Scott Kazmir on the DL is also telling. Perhaps Kazmir is really having some back trouble, but one might speculate that Scioscia just didn’t want to trot him back out there at this point in the season.

I’m telling you, something is different about the team’s approach to personnel this year.

This brings me to Tyler Chatwood.

Let’s just say that this young man could be special. I love his make-up and the way he battled back last night after giving up four runs in the first two innings. He only gave up four hits which is somewhat impressive; it’s just too bad two of them happened to be homeruns.

He didn’t get rattled and held his own. He didn’t light the world on fire, but he served notice that he’s not intimated and he will be back. I think he has something to build on and should get better over time; be it this year or whenever he gets more of an opportunity.

I love seeing Angel pitching prospects get their shot. It’s become somewhat of a tradition for Cheryl and I to show up early and take photos of their debut from the moment they walk on to the field to warm up to the first inning and beyond.

I’ll post those photos in the near future. Between late nights at the ballpark, sleep and work - keeping the blog up to date is a bit of a challenge. I can tell you right now, I won’t be posting after every game because that task would make me lose my mind faster than the people calling into the post-game show. What I will do is try to keep the blog as up to date as I humanly can and keep things relevant.

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know I’m not a big analysis guy and my posts are definitely from a fan’s point of view and often about the fan experience itself. I think we’ll all be better off if I try to keep the blog fun and focus on things you’re not likely to find on other blogs or fan sites.

I mean, my credentials as an analyst are about as solid as a Jeff Mathis throw to second base. In other words, I will often miss the mark.

Take Howie Kendrick for example. This off season I will admit that I was ready to ship him off to parts unknown in hopes of obtaining a piece that would help the Angels. I proposed making Alberto Callaspo the second baseman and using Howie to acquire a third baseman or another piece that would make the team better.

Given Howie’s start that proposition looks pretty foolish, even though we are only ten games into the season. I even said Howie was “expendable.”

Well, what do I know?

In any case, that doesn’t mean I won’t be making suggestions in the future and I’m certainly not backing off my “Jeff-Mathis-is-horrible” stance either. I’m just noting that I’m apt to make mistakes and get things wrong from time to time… just like everyone else. Difference is I don’t have a problem admitting it.

Speaking of Mathis, don’t think I didn’t notice his epic failure in Kansas City on April 3 when he went 0 for 6 at the plate and 0 for 6 in trying to throw out runners. I’m just glad I wasn’t in Kansas City to witness the debacle. I certainly noticed it; I just decided to give Mathis an early season pass.

Okay, truth be known, I wasn’t ready to start ranting so early in the season. That may all change at any given moment though; so stay tuned just in case.

Let the good times roll

Justin Masterson and Scott Kazmir are just a little more than a year apart; Masterson turns 26 years of age March 22 and Kazmir just turned 27 in January. It’s hard to believe that Kazmir is only 27; after all, he’s started 178 games in his career. At this point in time, you’d think he’d be a veteran just getting ready for the season and yet, he’s a man still searching for the stuff that once made him among the best left-handers in the game. Masterson has only started 54 games in his career and is still trying to establish himself.

I suppose it was somewhat appropriate that the two squared off today in day two of Cheryl and my brief trip to spring training. Neither pitcher impressed today nor did either one seem close to establishing themselves as solid starters for the coming season. There was a scout in our section today and I got a glimpse of the radar gun he was holding. Kazmir was only hitting 87 to 89 miles an hour in the first inning. The scout then moved and I didn’t see any more results.

The Indians won 10-7.

Highlights of the game included Brandon Wood going two for two with a walk, and two runs scored. Wood didn’t start the game and came in for Maicer Izturis. I’m not sure why Izturis came out of the game, but one always has to wonder if he’s hurt whenever he’s not on the field. Wood is now hitting .255 and I’m hoping he came continue to make progress and contribute this year.

I have to tell you that both Cheryl and I really want to see Wood succeed. He’s easily one of the nicest players in the game. He always makes time for the fans and maintains such a great attitude. You’d never know that he’s had struggles on the field. I admire him for the way he handles himself and hope somehow, some way that he finds a way to be the player we all hoped he would be.

In other highlights – Howie Kendrick had a couple hits to go with two RBI’s. He’s hitting a solid .372 this spring.

Prior to the game, we spent some time interacting with fans and taking pictures of the players.

We also spent a little more time with Joe who had another story or two to share. He told us about an umpire (the name escapes me) who shared a joke with him.

As Joe recalled, the umpire had been married for 17 years and was trying to decide what to get his wife for her birthday. He asked his wife, “What would you like for your birthday?” She said, “I want a divorce.” The umpire said, “I wasn’t planning on spending that much money.”

You never know what you’re going to learn when you come to spring training. Every day is different and the memories are always unique. Today a little boy yelled out to Brandon Wood “hit another homerun like you did yesterday!” Wood smiled and said, “We’ll do.” Spring training is packed full of little stories like this and it just never get’s old.

It was a good day. We got to interact with Rich Thompson, Francisco Rodriguez, Hank Conger, Brandon Wood, Trevor Bell, Chris Pettit, Mark Trumbo, and Matt Palmer among others. We didn't see any of the regulars out on the practice fields, except for Kendrys Morales who is still trying to get ready.



Morales did stop to sign a few autographs, but not for long; much to the dismay of a lot of fans.

It was another fun day and we topped it off in grand style with dinner at Don & Charlie's in Scottsdale with fellow 514 Fanatics Bob and Stephen.

While we are dining Ned Colletti, the general manager of the Dodgers came in with some folks and sat at the table next to us.

Again, this is the kind of unexpected stuff that happens at spring training all the time.

Good times.

Hot Stove Potpourri and other stuff

This is pretty random stuff, so bear with me...

The Atlanta Braves made the biggest early splash this off season by acquiring Dan Uggla for Omar Infante and Mike Dunn. Shortly after the deal was announced one could hear the “I can’t believe my (fill-in-the-blank) team didn’t try to get him” comments everywhere.

Several Angel fans on message boards and even in the comment section of one my recent posts had even proposed that the Angels make Uggla a target. I’m glad they didn’t.

Most wanted to make Uggla the Angels’ third baseman despite the fact that he had 18 errors at second base. That’s a lot of errors folks. Uggla at third base would have been a nightmare, in my opinion. Besides, every time I think of him, I remember how badly he had the “yipes” in the 2008 all-star game. Remember that? He made three errors in that game. Players who perform that badly on a big stage really scare me.

No doubt his bat is impressive, but let’s also keep in mind that he’s going to be a free agent after this next season and has already turned down four-year, $48 million offer. Word is he’s looking for a five-year, $71 million deal.

What’s up with the Oakland A’s? Reports have come out that they have offer on the table for Adrian Beltre. They just acquired Edwin Encarnacion and already have Kevin Kouzmanoff on their roster. Trying to corner the market on third basemen?

Beltre is an interesting free agent, most fans either like him or hate him and there’s no real middle ground. Many will harp on the fact that his two best years came in contract years while more reasonable people (like me, ha-ha) focus on the fact that his overall numbers are pretty solid. Hey if you don’t believe me, look them up yourself. Those 25+ homeruns in all but one injury-plagued season in Seattle look pretty good to me. You will also see that he hit more homeruns away from Fenway than at Fenway. Not bad, huh?

I’ve actually been waging this argument about Beltre all off season – but many are clinging to the idea that he’s only good in contract years. All I’m saying is that he sure beats the alternatives.

Speaking of third basemen. Ever wonder what happened to Dallas McPherson? Well, he just signed with the Chicago White Sox. He’s still hitting homeruns (22 in 2010) and apparently still unable to play full seasons (84 games).

Speaking of third basemen… Wait didn’t I just say that? How about Shea Hillenbrand; where is he now? He and his wife run Marley Farms which is an animal rescue facility. Pretty cool. I wonder if Brandon Wood can work there. Hey, it’s in Gilbert, AZ and Wood is from Arizona.

I guess that was harsh.

Don’t get me wrong, I really wanted to see Wood succeed in the biggest way, but when ESPN’s Keith Law says “I saw Wood in the Arizona Fall League, where the Angels sent him as (I assume) a favor to help him find a potential home for 2011. He can still crush a fastball ... and still can't adjust to a breaking ball. He's a poor man's Mark Reynolds, but with the potential to be a much better defender. I'd take a shot at him if I was an NL GM with a spot at third for a high-risk, high-reward flier; in that circuit, Wood could hit .220 but play enough defense and hit enough home runs to be above replacement level” – it doesn’t look like Wood will be playing for the Angels next season.

Switching gears (enough about really bad 3B, right?)...

Congratulations to Bud Black for being named the 2010 National League Manager of the Year. He joins Joe Maddon (2008) as a former Angels coach who has won a Manager of the Year award. Will Ron Roenicke (new manager of the Milwaukee Brewers) be next?

Congratulations also go out to Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners for winning the 2010 AL CY Young Award. Okay, I really didn’t want to congratulate him; I really wanted to point out that his ERA against the Angels was 4.13 (5 starts) and even a little higher – 4.28 against the Rangers (6 starts). Let’s call that a “fun fact.” No matter how dominant he was (and he definitely was), he sure didn’t dominate the Angels or Rangers. Just saying.

Best Hot Stove rumor so far… According to Troy Renck of the Denver Post, the Rockies are interested in…. are you ready for this? Drum roll please…. Wait for it… Ready? Here it comes.... Scott Kazmir!!

Yes, you read that right. I almost fell out of my chair when I read this. It's funny... didn't I write a piece last off season related to Scott Kazmir and "swagger?" Yikes, that was some bad blogging. Now, if this rumor from Renck has any legs what-so-ever, Troy Renck might become my new favorite sports reporter.

Speaking of favorites… Check out Sam Miller’s piece from the OC Register regarding Hank Conger’s off season. Every time I read about Conger, I become more and more impressed with his maturity and mind set. Sam Miller on the other hand? Well, not so much. Just kidding.

By the way I hate the smell of potpourri...

Evidence that the Loch Ness Monster is real?

I never thought I’d see this day. I mean seriously; there are a lot of things I thought I’d see before I ever saw the Texas Rangers in the World Series. Things like men landing on Mars or real life video of the Loch Ness Monster seemed much more likely.

I have to tell you. As great a story at this Rangers team might be, I am having a hard time with it. If you’re one of those Angel fans who are happy for Vladimir Guerrero, well then – you’re just a better person than I am. The idea that Vlad could get a World Series ring in Texas after six years without one in Anaheim just isn’t sitting well with me. Call me selfish; call me a jerk; whatever. The idea that it’s even possible for him to win in another uniform is just downright depressing.

Suffice it to say, I’ll be cheering for the Giants.

I admit, it will be hard to root against Bengie Molina, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. Let’s face it, I have had to endure way too many Yankee and Red Sox titles lately and even though those are tough to swallow, it’s something I’m familiar with. This whole Rangers in the World Series thing is another matter. It just leaves a sour feeling in my stomach.

I will say this about the Rangers. There’s a certain amount of satisfaction in knowing that Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira had to watch the Rangers celebrate their ALCS win. I mean, I’m sure both guys never thought they’d see the day when the Rangers would do something like that. Every time I think about that, I have to smile. Come on, it has to make you smile too doesn’t it? Here are two guys who left Texas for what they thought was a sure thing (getting to the World Series multiple times) in the Yankees only to lose to them when most people thought that just couldn’t happen. It’s just beautiful and I thank the Rangers for giving me that.

Now, I’m sure if I let myself, I’d find a lot of reasons to root for the Rangers; however, I just can’t go there. You see there are a lot of other things that really bug me about the Rangers.

First of all, what’s the deal with having red uniforms? It’s bad enough that you have a lot of ex-Angels are on your team, but stealing the team colors too? Then there’s the whole disliking Ian Kinsler thing and well, let’s just stop with that. I’d rather not focus too much on the negative today. Let’s just say it’s just easier and a lot less painful to cheer for the Giants.

Speaking of the Giants; one thing I really appreciate about them is that they’re not hung up on contracts. Barry Zito has a $126 million contract and he was left off the post-season roster. Aaron Rowand is in the third year of a five year, $60 million contract and he’s spending quite a bit of time on the bench.

The Giants are clearly about putting the best players on the field and that’s not necessarily something team’s do. I applaud them for that. I’m thinking about Scott Kazmir. Catch my drift Angel fans?

I’m also enjoying the fact that Jose Guillen hasn’t been on the post season roster either. If he was, I’d have a hard time watching the World Series all-together.

Also - I’m really liking the “cast off” image of the team. Guys like Pat Burrell and Cody Ross are good stories. One minute they’re out of baseball and the next they’re on the game’s biggest stage making huge contributions.

Other observations, thoughts and ramblings…

I’m happy that Bengie Molina will get a ring and a nice bonus regardless of which team wins it all. Steve Henson of Yahoo Sports points out that his time with both the Giants and Rangers is going to pay off big time. The Giants voted Molina a full share before the play-offs rolled around.

I loved the way the ALCS ended with Alex Rodriguez looking at strike 3 for the final out of the game. I don’t know what it is about A-Rod but most of my memories of him in the post season over his career are of him leaving his bat on his shoulder for better or worse. Maybe it’s just me, but I’d much rather see a guy try to put the ball in play than just stand there looking for a walk.

On the other hand, I didn’t like the way the NLCS ended because a guy like Ryan Howard should be trying to make something happen instead of watching it happen.

I wonder how much Cliff Lee is going to be offered this off season. I’m guessing the Yankees will offer him all of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and all the Coney Island hot dogs he can eat. I’m hoping he ends up some place other than New York and/or Texas.

This post season has really provided us with some stud pitching. Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Tim Lincecum, Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabathia are as good as there are in baseball. They might be the five best pitchers in baseball not named Felix Hernandez. Remember when Josh Beckett was in their class?

I’ve been trying to look up the pre-season predictions from all the experts to see how many of them had the Giants and Rangers in the World Series.

I started looking last week.

I’m still searching.

ESPN? Nope. Fox Sports? Nada. Sports Illustrated? Negative. This could take a while.

It has to be out there; somewhere, right? Then again...

Isn't baseball great?

Last, but not least – check out Bengie Molina’s blog “Behind the Mask” as he details his emotions of winning the American League and going against his former team.

80-82

The headline says it all; the final tally for 2010.

I suppose some sort of analysis of the just completed season is in order. Then again, I’m a little tired of pointing fingers and all that. Truth be told, I’m kind of glad the season is over. The season was all kinds of frustrating and the year has been emotionally draining on many levels.

That being said, I do feel obligated to do a brief recap. Fortunately, I can sum up the season failures fairly easily.

The reason for the Angels poor showing can be directly tied to Brandon Wood’s epic failure at the plate, Erick Aybar’s inability to become a good lead off man, the continued horrible play of Jeff Mathis (and Mike Scioscia’s puzzling loyalty to him), Scott Kazmir’s miserable performance and a bull pen that was no friend to Smokey the Bear, let alone the Angel starting pitchers (they couldn't put out a match with a fire hose let alone a fire).

The list above does not represent all the reasons the Angels failed; however, they are the most significant outside of Kendry Morales’ injury in my opinion.

Let the Hot Stove Season begin.

Here’s the first shot heard around the Southern California scene, courtesy of Torii Hunter and the LA Times.

"Arte is [ticked off]," Hunter said. "And when he's [ticked off], great things happen."

Don’t tease me Torii. Please let me look back on that quote with fondness come next spring. I want to look back and say, "Arte really didn't mess around." I’ve been hearing a lot of "big" talk of late from Tony Reagins, etc. and I want to believe what I’m hearing. Time to walk the walk.

Let’s make Plan A, (whatever the heck it is) a reality. No stop gaps. No settling. Make some magic and let’s get back to winning. Make this off-season one to remember for all the right reasons.

Now, how do we fans stay tuned? Let me break it down for you.

Between now and the day pitchers and Molinas report (and beyond), I’ll be checking MLB Trade Rumors frequently (and you should too). When I say frequently, I'm talking about every ten minutes (just kidding... sort of).

Anything that might happen or actually does happen will be found there (it's not all rumors). Consider it your one-stop shop for all things Hot Stove.You wan to know who all the free agents are - check out MLB Trade Rumors. Need a list of Scott Boras clients? MLB Trade Rumors has it. Man, I should get paid for this plug!

You should also check in with the OC Register’s Angel Blog regularly. It's really the best source for Angels-specific information in real time. Sam Miller and Dan Woike along with a cast of thousands (give or take that many) keep Angel fans on top of all the action.

And add AngelsWin and Halos Heaven to your internet book marks. The two fan oriented sites are usually among the first to hear about any late breaking Angels news. Let me put it to you this way - if an Angel fan hears it, sees it or heaven forbid, smells it - they're likely to post about it at one of the two sites on their active message boards. Both also have great blogs, conduct in-depth interviews with players, front office people, other not-so-famous folks and much more.

LA Angels Insider is also another great resource for all things Angels (they even let me post a blog there once in a while). Eric Denton runs a first class site with lots of exclusive content.

If you use Twitter, you need to follow Sam Miller (@SamMillerOCR), Dan Woike (@OCR_DanWoike), Mark Saxon of ESPN (@markasaxon) and Lyle Spencer of MLB (@LyleMSpencer).

Be sure to check out all the Angel blogs (see my blog roll on the right) and please keep coming back to this site; after all, I’m not going any where and I get depressed when my site meter dips too low.

That should keep you on top of all the Angel news all off season long.

In closing today’s post, I’ll leave you with a few photos from the last home stand. Enjoy!





Photos: Top Row: Bobby Grich at the 50th Anniversary Announcement, followed by Ervin Santana. Second Row: Mark Trumbo followed by Peter Bourjos and in the last row: The Matsui faithful.

More:





Top Row: Bobby Wilson, Hideki Matsui, Torii Hunter
Bottom Row: Mike Scioscia, Howie Kendrick, Scioscia again

Jeff Mathis never looked so good making an out

One of the great things about going to the ball park is that you never know what you’re going to see. You might even see a no-hitter (odds seem better than usual for that this year). In fact you might see something you thought would be down right impossible; like Jeff Mathis winning a game in extra innings.

Come on; you knew that was coming, didn’t you?

So yesterday, I went to the Angels/Indians game by myself. Since I was going alone, I thought I’d do something different. I didn’t go up to my section on the view level at all. I thought I’d roam around the field level, take pictures and watch the game from different vantage points. (The photo below, right is of my season seat section around the third inning).

I have to tell you that a bad team looks bad no matter where you sit. That being said, it was great to see an Angels victory; even if it did take 16 innings! It’s not every day that you get to experience a 7th inning AND a 14th inning stretch.

A lot of things went through my mind over the course of the day. Okay, I know the game was only about five hours long (did I say only?), but it seemed like a whole day.

In the third inning I looked up at the scoreboard and saw that both Scott Kazmir and Josh Tomlin hadn’t give up a hit. Of course Kazmir had already walked three, but my point was that I was surprised to see a “pitching duel.” Who knew?

When Jason Donald led off the 5th with a double, I fully expected Kazmir to get shelled from that point on. Much to my surprise, Kazmir limited the damage to one run. That was real progress and yes, I am being serious.

Now if you’ve been paying attention to the Angels of late, you’d know that falling behind at any point in the game, even if it’s only 1-0 smells like disaster. Oh, but not on this day; no sir, Mike Napoli (you know the guy who can’t seem to find regular playing time even though he leads the team in homers) came to the plate with Alberto Callaspo on base and drilled a homerun to deep left field. (That's Napoli's actual homerun swing to the right)

And what do you know? The Angels go on top 2-1.

In the bottom of the 6th the Angels pad that lead with a solo homer from Peter Bourjos. Can I just tell you again how much I like this kid? He’s figuring things out and I have a lot of confidence that he’ll be a solid major league ball player. Even though he’s hitting under .200 I never get the impression that he’s overmatched.

So, the Angels are on top 3-1 and it’s now the 7th inning. I was thinking that this game was cruising along and I’d be able to join my wife Cheryl and her mom for dinner. The instant I thought that I knew I was in trouble.

I guess I should know by now that assumptions in baseball are a dangerous thing. Sure enough, my assuming that a game that was moving along at a nice pace would continue to do so was the kiss of death.

Andy Marte decided to make things interesting with a solo homerun off Jordan Walden. Marte who was hitting all of .211 with 4 homeruns (coming into the game) turned on a 99 mph fast ball and bam; it was now 3-2 Angels. Not to worry I thought.

I have to admit, that I was feeling a little optimistic yesterday and I convinced myself that the Angels bull pen would shut the Indians down and we’d all be going home with a 3-2 victory. Boy was I wrong.

Fernando Rodney (hat cocked to the side and all) gave up the tying run (his fourth blown save of the year) and just like that we were headed for extra innings. What is it with closers with the initials F.R. (like Frankie Rodriguez) and 9th inning drama?

Whatever.

Remember, I was feeling optimistic. I knew Torii Hunter was leading off the bottom of the 9th and I was thinking how nice a walk off homerun would be at that point.

Well, that didn’t happen.

In the bottom of the 10th, Juan Rivera looked like he might be a hero when he sent a fly ball to deep center field. It looked like it had a chance to go out; however, the Indians’ center fielder Michael Brantley had other plans and robbed Rivera of a homerun. Tub of goo lives on.

I looked in the dugout and I saw Torii Hunter shaking his head. I tried to imagine what he might be thinking. I mean, isn’t he’s the only one who’s supposed to take homeruns away from people?

Next thing you know it’s the bottom of the 11th inning and the bases are loaded with one out. Surely the Angels can score a guy now. I mean all they have to do is squeeze the runner home, right? I mean that's Angels baseball!

Up steps Jeff Mathis and the guy who can’t hit worth a lick apparently can’t bunt either. He pops it up and now there are two outs. I start to wonder if Hank Conger could do a better job of hitting while blind folded.

Up steps Erick Aybar and I started to believe this game would never end.

The crowd is getting pretty thin at this point and I question whether or not the rats at the stadium out number the fans. The game goes on and on and on. (That's my section again on the right when the game went into extra innings)

I start to get a little delusional (at least more than usual) and think about how cool it would be to see Reggie Willits hit a walk off homer. When he walks in the 12th inning, I start to speculate as to whether or not he could steal home all the way from first base. Realizing that’s not possible, I start to hope for a stolen base, a balk and a wild pitch to bring him home.

Yes, I was that desperate.

In the thirteenth inning Francisco Rodriguez comes in and walks two. I have to tell you that I don’t particularly care for anyone named Francisco Rodriguez – past, present or future at this point. That being said, he gets out of the inning.

Now, it’s getting cold and I didn’t have a jacket; I had thought I’d be home before it got dark. Now, I was questioning if I’d be home before dawn. I look at the Padres/Dodgers game and wondered which game would finish first (even though their game started three hours later). I’m hungry and the concession stands are out of hot dogs. My stomach started rumbling and I started thinking of where I would stop for a bite on my way home and wondering if any of my choices would still be open when I finally did head home.

The baseball game or something that resembles a baseball game continued on.

When Sin-Soo Choo stepped up to bat in the top of the 16th, I remember thinking that this has to be about his 15th AB of the game. Wasn’t he just up? Was my mind playing tricks on me? Choo walked with two outs. Matt Palmer was pitching and just as my mind starts to wander again (I start to speculate whether or not Palmer would receive credit for a complete game if he pitched nine innings), Palmer tries a pick off throw that gets past Juan Rivera (surprise) and Choo high tails it down to second base.

I thought to myself; well, that’s about right – the Angels probably average at least one error every nine inning (at least lately) and that was the second one in the game. After all, the Angels are next to last in the American League in fielding (I actually looked that up)!

Even if the error hadn’t happened, Choo probably would have stolen the base anyway (Jeff Mathis was behind the plate) since the Angels have given up the third most stolen bases in all of baseball this year (yup, looked that up too). Either way, we had to know Choo was getting to second base one way or another. Just saying.

Anyway, Palmer pitches to Jordan Brown and catches a come backer just as he completes the little bunny hop he does after he throws the ball; Rivera handles the toss (I know that’s hard to believe) and we were on to the bottom of the 16th.

Torii Hunter came to the plate and I’m thought once again that a walk-off homerun would be nice. Hunter doubles and I started to like our chances. Alberto Callaspo advanced Hunter to third on a ground out and now Hunter was a mere 90 feet away with one out. I felt good; that is until I saw who was up next. (The photo to the right is Hunter stroking his double),

No, please; not again! It was Jeff Mathis. At this point I was sure the game was going to break records for the number of innings and my choices for dinning options were getting smaller and smaller by the minute.

Surely, Mike Scioscia wouldn’t ask him to squeeze again, right?

Right!

Boo-ya! Mathis swung away and hit a fly ball to right field; Hunter tagged up and scored the winning run.

Game over and it was time for me to head to In ‘N Out. And that’s what a 16 inning walk off win is all about.

The two teams combined to throw 506 pitches and even though the Indians out hit the Angels 14-6 (and let’s not forget the Angels had two errors to boot – no pun intended), the Angels emerged victorious and I had the perfect material for this, my 200th post on this blog!

Baseball is amazing. Jeff Mathis came into the game hitting .194 and he ended up being a hero by doing what he does best, making an out (he’s now hitting .192). Tuesday night Lou Marson of the Indians entered that game hitting .189 and proceeded to hit a grand slam to help the Indians to a 6-1 win. It was only Marson’s third homerun in 241 plate appearances this year.

That’s baseball. I love this game!

A loss is a loss, but I'm not at a loss for words

The folks that were so sure the Angels would overtake Texas are kind of speechless these days. They kind of mumble to themselves and say things like “there’s not much you can say about that” when referring to the latest Angels loss.

Me on the other hand, I’m really not at a loss for words.

Last night was a typical Angel game for 2010. Fall behind early and never recover. Sure go and mount a little rally, but come up short in the end. I heard something to the effect that the Angels are around 1-54 when trailing after eight innings. I don’t know how anyone expected them to come from behind to win the west when they can’t even come from behind in a game.

It’s not like they didn’t have their chances. Torii Hunter came up three times with runners in scoring position and came up empty every time. I wonder if he’ll have a closed door meeting with himself today.

Speaking of which, do those things really work? I mean you might see an immediate impact for a game or two, but the residual effect seems to be minimal to me. I mean if you’re having a lot of these things there are bigger issues involved aren’t there?

You know times are tough when I start taking shots at Hunter. Hunter is my favorite player, but even he’s not immune to a little criticism now and then.

So… I’d really like to know what Scott Kazmir’s problem is. Is it mental, mechanical, physical or spiritual? Is it all of the above? Or is it something completely different? RaysIndex makes some bold claims about why the Rays traded Kazmir to the Angels.

Pitching is such a mystery and the Angels pitching has been a huge puzzle all season long. Seems like some of these guys; like say Ervin Santana have been taking us on roller coaster rides for years. One day he’s awesome. The next he’s mediocre, then comes the horrible outing, followed by the game when he has dominating stuff. Trying graphing his ERA for the past six years; it looks like a mountain range.

This is a team that came close to going to the World Series last year and this year they’re about as far away from being that team as Jeff Mathis is to hitting even .250. Why does Mathis still have a job? I’m never going to understand the “man crush” Mike Scioscia has on him. After six seasons Jeff Mathis has a career .200 average. I suppose we should be happy that he’s at least hitting his weight. Hmm. I wonder what would happen if he gained 50 pounds?

Look, I know that Mike Napoli isn’t going to win any gold gloves behind the plate, but playing Mathis over him is ludicrous.

Really want to know something crazy? In 2008 Mathis hit .194 and he followed that up in 2009 by hitting .211. That translated into him being able to more than double his salary through arbitration from $450,000 to $1.3 million. I’m telling you, you can’t make this stuff up.

So last night Mike Sciosica decided to put Juan Rivera at first base. Yes, Tub of Goo himself was making his first ever start as a first baseman. When you think about it, if he has to be on the field that might be the best place for him. I mean first base probably requires the least amount of athleticism. Of course, I’d rather he not be on the field at all, but I’m just crazy that way.

You see Juan Rivera can’t be any good. Why? He doesn’t play “D” and if you take the “D” out of good, you’re left with goo. Thus the nickname “Tub of Goo.” I should have thought of this earlier. Doh!

I told you I wasn’t at a loss for words. This team has given me a lot of material to work with this year.

On the bright side; and yes, there’s always a bright side. I love watching Peter Bourjos run down fly balls. It has already gotten to the point where I expect him to catch everything and I mean everything. When a foul ball is hit into the upper deck, I check the nearest tunnel to make sure Bourjos isn’t about to run out and make the catch.

Terry Smith (Angel radio play by play announcer) was commenting last night that he’d like to see a foot race between Bourjos and Carl Crawford. Poor Terry doesn’t get it. Bourjos is so fast, a better race would be between him and Top Fuel Funny Car. After all; Bourjos doesn’t have feet, he has wheels.

Speaking of wheels… wheels roll and last night the Angels rolled over big time. Catch the 9th inning? The Rays closer, Rafael Soriano only needed nine pitches to close out the game. He threw nine strikes and struck out the side. That’s about as perfect as you can get. By the way, Soriano will be a free agent at the end of the season. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

In closing, I'd like to wish Tim Salmon a happy 42nd birthday today. We miss you Timmy!

I'd also like to remember Nick Adenhart, who shares Salmon's birthday. Nick would have been 24 years old today. He too is missed dearly for entirely different reasons. Let's never forget.

Signs of life

Last night was like old times. The stadium was full and blanketed in red (sixth sell out of the season), the Angels had good pitching (Dan Haren got his first win as an Angel), they ran the bases aggressively and even managed to squeeze home a run.

It was simply a fun night to be at the ball park. The 514 Fanatics were also out in force for “Break out the Red” week. Bo & Mary, John & Linda, John & Ann, Jeff, Bob, Stephen, Dori, Wendy, Nick & Patty and others were out in force to cheer on the Halos.

Oh how I had missed these kinds of evenings.

We even were treated (yes, I said “treated”) to a Brian Fuentes save, but not before fans moaned as he trotted in from the bull pen. Yes, it was a vintage night of Angels baseball for sure.

Despite all that, as we look at the standings today – with 47 games left in the Angels’ season – we see the Texas Rangers with an 8.5 game lead. Is there enough time?

If you read the message boards and listen to sports talk radio – there are plenty of people trying to give Angel fans hope. They’ll point to the fact that Texas still has games left with the “Beasts in the East” – Yankees, Rays and Red Sox. They’ll point out that the Angels and Rangers will tangle in seven of the final fourteen games.

I’m all for having hope. I would love for nothing more than the Angels to be playing meaningful games in September. The thing is – I’m not that optimistic. I’m just not.

It would be one thing if Kendry Morales was still in the lineup or if Bobby Abreu, Juan Rivera and Hideki Matsui were having years like they had in 2009. Fact is they’re not. Virtually every player has under performed or under achieved this year. I can’t see them flipping the switch to make a run. They haven’t given me any reason to believe they’re capable of doing that.

These are desperate times.

We’ve come to the point where the Angels lineup is basically what I would call “make shift.” Let’s be honest, a lineup with Maicer Izturis as the #5 hitter isn’t the kind of lineup any of us had probably envisioned for this team.

That’s not a knock on Izturis because he’s a fine player. Thing is, he’s a fine role player and not the kind of guy who should be in the lineup every day, let alone batting in the heart of the order Besides, I keep waiting for him to break.. When he made a diving catch last night, I fully expected to learn that he’d be put on the DL today because he’s just fragile.

This lineup lacks pop and until last night – they weren’t manufacturing runs. Like it or not the offense is stagnant and requires maximum effort every night just to compete. Too many things have to go right because there doesn’t appear to be a lot of three run homeruns in the tank.

And then there’s the glaring fact that the Angels haven’t been very good against the best teams in the AL. You could look it up….

I will say this – for all the whining people do about Brian Fuentes, he’s one of the few bright spots on this team. He’s saved 17 of his last 18 games. He’s only blown four saves all year. I love to yell “B.F.F – Brian Fuentes Forever” whenever he walks in from left field. I guess I’m just contrary that way.

Now just because I’m not feeling confident about the team doesn’t mean I love them any less. I haven’t stopped going to games and I certainly haven’t stopped cheering. I still watch and hope, but I’m also trying to keep it all in perspective.

If all we get out of the rest of the season is the emergence of Peter Bourjos and a return of Scott Kazmir to his old self, I’ll be somewhat happy. In the mean time, I will look for more games like last night’s game and hope for the best.

More games like last night’s and I’ll have something good to focus on and perhaps a reason to believe.

The Angels have a video they show from time to time at the games with music from The Bravery singing the song “Believe.” The chorus is "So give me something to believe." At this point in time, that’s all I’m asking for. Last night and the past few games have been a good start. I’d just like a little more of that. Is that too much to ask?



What are we waiting for? What are we waiting for? So give me something to believe…

Saying good-bye is hard to do

This one hurts. If you’ve spent any time on this blog you know Cheryl and I are big fans of Joe Saunders. In fact, that’s probably an understatement. We’ve been downright fanatical in our appreciation of Joe. He’s simply our favorite pitcher.

When the news came down that he had been traded (our friend and fellow 514 Fanatic Jeffrey called me with the news), my first thought was how was I going to break the news to Cheryl? I knew she’d take the news hard and she did. She thought I was kidding. I really, really wish that was the case.

Today we’re feeling a little empty and more than a little sad. Watching Joe break down when asked about the trade made it all that much tougher. Joe was a rock on the mound. He never, ever got rattled or shaken no matter what the circumstances. Seeing him so vulnerable when talking to the press made us even sadder. He clearly loved being on this team.

For us, Joe wasn’t just another guy in an Angels' uniform. Joe was “our” guy. He was the pitcher we loved to follow. He was the guy we most wanted to see at spring training every year. He was the guy we’d wait hours for in hopes of getting a few minutes of interaction. We “lived” and “died” with him every time he took the mound. You could even say that every victory was just a little sweeter for us when Joe was the winning pitcher.

Joe is just a great guy. He’s accessible, appreciative, polite, charitable, and well, I could go on and on. He and his wife Shanel were becoming a huge part of the community with their work with Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). His departure creates a huge void that goes beyond baseball.

Now if you’re a baseball analyst you probably like the deal the Angels made. I’m not an analyst (although I play one from time to time on this blog) and I am somewhat skeptical of the deal. How it all works out is anyone’s guess (and there are plenty of people giving us their opinion on the matter). So I’ll just say this - Dan Haren has been a good pitcher.

I should emphasize that “has been” part. He’s been all over the place this year; striking out tons of batters (was tied for the NL lead), but has also given up tons of homeruns and had an ERA that is really no matter than Saunders’.

So, the big question is what are we getting? Are we getting a three time all-star who just needs a change in venue or are we getting another Scott Kazmir? I really don’t want another guy who had his best seasons somewhere else. I’m just saying.

It’s clear (at least to me) that as of right now, the Rangers are a better team. Winning three out of four this past weekend kind of makes that obvious, doesn’t it? The idea that Ian Kinsler might be celebrating an AL West Pennant just isn’t sitting well with me. I don’t like Kinsler and I’m not a fan of C.J. Wilson either.

I’m very disappointed that the Angels didn’t put a dent in the Rangers’ lead. Come on – we kept hearing over and over again from the Angel players how they had a lot of head to head games left with this team. Well, they didn’t seize the opportunity.

This season is reminding me of 2006, the last time the Angels didn’t win the division. Seeing Howie Kendrick at first base yesterday emphasized that memory. In 2006 the team was constantly putting make-shift lineups on the field. Hmm. We’ve been here before.

And while I do believe that Alberto Callaspo is an upgrade at third base, I’m not convinced that this team has the pieces to make a serious run at any kind of title this year. I hope I’m wrong and pleasantly surprised, but I’m just not seeing it.

To make matters worse, we’ve lost Joe Saunders. Sometimes being a fan just sucks. Then again, at least I get to boo John Lackey on Tuesday, so maybe things are looking up.

Meanwhile, I'm still behind on my posting and hope to get caught up this week. So again, thank you for checking in and please bear with me.

In closing, Cheryl and I would like to thank Joe. We'd like to thank him for being so friendly and kind to us. We'd like to thank him for the memories and for providing us with so many memorable moments. We'd rather not say "good-bye" because it sounds so final and we've had more than our fair share of those. We'll simply wish Joe the best and look forward to seeing him again.

By the way, we're wearing our Saunders shirts tonight. Seems like the right thing to do.

Is it Friday yet?

When the news first came out that Jered Weaver wasn’t selected for the All-Star game I was pretty annoyed. I usually don’t get too worked up over the selections because I've come to accept that the way players are picked is flawed in many ways.

That doesn’t mean I want to change anything, mind you; I just recognize the All-Star voting for what it is; an imperfect process.

The way I see it – no matter whose doing the voting, good players are going to be left off the team. Some say we should leave it to the managers – but then you have morons like Joe Girardi picking his own players. How about the writers you say? Well, they can’t even get the Hall of Fame voting right as far as I’m concerned. Everybody has a bias or an agenda of some sort – so I just accept the All-Star game as it is. If the fans mess it up, so be it.

That being said, it doesn’t stop me from being somewhat upset when someone like Weaver is snubbed. Now, I wasn’t annoyed to the point of losing any sleep over Weaver’s slight and although I thought about blogging about it, I didn’t. As things turned out, my procrastination paid off because the great writer - Joe Posnanski summed things up perfectly in his own blog. Trying to top what he had to say would be pointless.

Posnanski wrote this about Weaver, “I just don’t get why people don’t know more about him and appreciate his talents. A good argument could be made that Jered Weaver should be STARTING this All-Star Game in front of the home fans. Instead he’s not even on the team at the moment. That’s just lunacy.”

Now, I’ve been saying for quite some time that I could see Weaver starting the mid-summer classic so I really enjoyed Posnanski’s piece. I invite you to read his whole piece about Weaver because he really sums things up pretty well. I probably would have done a lot more ranting. And he's right - more people should know about Jered. They can start by reading this blog more often. Just saying...

Basically, Posnanski freed me up from having to rant yet again. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy ranting as much as the next guy, but this time my work was done for me. Thanks Joe!

One last thing about the All-Star voting. I can't believe a franchise that draws more than 3 million fans each year can't mobilize themselves some how to vote more Angels into the game. I just don't get it.

Which brings me to an issue that's even bigger than Weaver’s snub and that's the Angels lack of offense and generally horrible play (Besides word is Weaver might still be added to the team).

The Angels have now lost four of their last five games. That’s just not getting it done. They’re limping towards the All-Star break and trail the Texas Rangers by 4.5 games as of this morning (and trail by six games in the loss column which is not good).

I mean look at the 25 man roster and you’ll see names like Paul McAnulty, Cory Aldridge and the like. Now, I happen to appreciate a guy like McAnulty because he’s a Dirtbag; but a roster that boasts power bats like Reggie Willits, Kevin Frandsen and others is not going to generate enough offense to over take Texas.

Add in a bullpen that’s capable of blowing up on any given night and you have a recipe for disaster. I hope Tony Reagins has something up his sleeve. Even though Mike Scioscia is a miracle worker, he needs some help moving forward.

And what’s with Scott Kazmir? My wife Cheryl is not a fan. She regrets the fact that she actually owns a Kazmir T-shirt and any time she hears his name she has a few choice words to say about him (nothing profane mind you). Now, I know a player is pretty awful when it comes to that. Cheryl would never actually boo Kazmir, but she’s not going to be baking him any cookies in the near future either.

I really bought into the whole off season training thing that was reported about in the spring and believed he would get his “swagger back.” Boy was I wrong (not the first time).

I am beginning to think about two words for Kazmir and those words are “head case.” I don’t understand how a guy who’s been in the majors as long as he has, thinks he can get by on two pitches? As Scioscia said in a July 1 piece in the LA Times, “Some of the issues that have plagued Scott," Scioscia said, "have been a little redundant."

Ya think?

While I’m rambling on here – did anyone notice that Rich Thompson got called up? Anyone notice that this happened shortly after I blogged about the need to add him to the 25 man roster? Probably not…

Of course, I probably shouldn’t even mention it myself since his one outing so far wasn’t the best. Oh well… It was basically in mop duty. Who wants to pitch in those situations?

Two more games in Chicago and then on to the hated A’s. Meanwhile the Rangers face off against the two worst teams in the AL – Cleveland and Baltimore. Oh joy…

Speaking of joy – the All-Star weekend is upon us! Finally! Cheryl and I will be up to our eye balls in all things All-Star related. And yes, I’ll be blogging about the whole experience. It all starts Friday with FanFest.

We had an amazing time in 2008 when the All-Star game was at old Yankee Stadium and I’m kind of thinking this can’t possibly live up to that event. Never-the-less, it’s duty that we welcome with open arms and it should be great fun.

Man, I love baseball.