Why the Sweep May Haunt Us

by Salmonella on Jul 30, 2007 2:30 PM PDT

I'm as happy as anybody that we swept the Tigers this past weekend. It's better than any of our other sweeps this season, including the ones versus LA and pantsing the Yankees in the Bronx. Detroit is the defending AL champ and their pitching is top of the line.

That said, the fact that we scored 34 runs in 3 games against this great staff worries me that Stoneman might feel that our offense is capable of keeping up this kind of production the rest of the year. Not to be a doom and gloomer, but the reports on Rivera don't appear to be good. As many other posters have said, we cannot and should not bank on a productive Juan Rivera, for this year anyway. Furthermore, we cannot bank on GA's hot streak to continue through September.

There's no doubt that this team is fully capable of reaching the playoffs, but I feel we could use some kind of power bat either in LF or at 3b. Ty Wiggington would have been a good fit, but he's in Houston now.

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Comments

Everyone knows that GMs use 3 game metrics

to make strategic decisions. Bill is like a candle in the wind. Never knowing who to clings when the rain set in.

by melvintoast on Jul 30, 2007 2:34 PM PDT reply actions

That hi-fucking-larious!

Hoping Ervin Santana turns it around in Salt Lake. Go, Ervin!

by scareduck on Jul 30, 2007 2:51 PM PDT up reply actions

Stoneman is not an idiot.

There is no way that anybody in the Angels' organization believes that ANY team in baseball can maintain 10+ runs per game production. And Stoneman knows just as well as the rest of us that we caught Detroit short on pitching at the moment, so our recent offensive numbers are biased.

If anything, Stoneman may be thinking that when those guys hitting well cool off, those other guys NOT hitting well may warm up. Vlad, for instance, is way overdue on power productio, and HK will be back soon. Therefore, he may be willing to bet that Halo run production does not completely tank for the balance of the season.

He may also be thinking that the Angels are due to get hot again for a period of time, and the Mariners are due for a fall. So, the Angels should be well able to sustain the offense necessary to make the playoffs with the current roster.

What he may be thinking as to how the team will perform WITHIN the playoffs, well, I have no clue.

by Stirrups on Jul 30, 2007 2:38 PM PDT reply actions

Good points

He may also be thinking...
I wonder if Brittany Spears digs bald dudes...

by Rev Halofan on Jul 30, 2007 2:44 PM PDT up reply actions

Supposedly

She' pregnant again. Maybe Stoney already knows!

by Stirrups on Jul 30, 2007 3:15 PM PDT up reply actions

Madonna is the father...

'86 never happened!

by Downing Rules on Jul 30, 2007 5:22 PM PDT up reply actions

she's hot.

in a white trash sorta way.

by CaLiKrAzY on Jul 30, 2007 6:58 PM PDT up reply actions

There's just not

a lot that's available. Seriously, how many options are out there who represent clear upgrades over what the Angels have in-house, for which they wouldn't have to overpay? If they trade for an OF bat without also getting rid of an OF, there will be a logjam. Anderson (who appears to be healthy right this minute), GMJr., Vlad, Willits, and possibly Rivera (but probably not for another month, I'd guess).

3B - they'd need to get some serious power here to offset what they'd be losing, because a trade for a 3B means benching a guy who's currently hitting over .330 and stealing a lot of bases.

One guy who actually makes some sense is Mike Piazza, who could be used at DH and maybe, just maybe, be the backup to Mathis while Napoli is on the DL. It might not be realistic to expect him to get behind the plate, though, since he hasn't been there all year. Still, the idea intrigues me.

by jjackflash on Jul 30, 2007 2:51 PM PDT reply actions

LF???

The last thing we need is another outfielder. Right now we've got Willits, GA, Quinlin and Haynes who play LF and are on the 25man roster. Rivera will return soon so that would mean 5 left fielders on the active roster. Yea we need more (sarcasm).

The angels should probably stand pat because teams are asking for way to much for third basemen and we have 2 of our top prospects at 3B. Also A-rod is probably going to opt out of his contract at the end of the season and looks like a good fit with the angels considering 25million dollars of salary will be freed up at the end of the year.

STAND PAT!

by BoulderBrian on Jul 30, 2007 3:14 PM PDT reply actions

Wasn't Rivera

Originally a RF?

I'm foreseeing that as Rivera comes back and Vlad needs more time off the field, Johnny Rivers replaces The Impaler in the right while Vladdy starts DHing more regularly. That would solve at least part of the LF problem nicely, though you'd still have to figure out what to do about the GA/Reggie conundrum (although that's assuming GA stays healthy). Might not happen until sometime next year, though.

Light Up That Halo!

by Clutch on Jul 30, 2007 3:34 PM PDT up reply actions

I don't think

Sweeping the reigning AL Champs can possibly come back to haunt the team. If anything, it boosts their confidence and I'm quite certain that Stonedman and Scioscia know exactly what they have whether they acquire a bat or not. Plus, outside of Teixeira who would we really want to give up players for?

The Angels are pretty much playing their style of ball. Outside of the horrible first week and first road trip, they tore it up in May/June. Then they stunk it up playing on or around .500 ball beginning late June and through the first few series after the All-Star break. Now, it seems as though they are catching fire again and let's see if it can be sustained and for how long. This is how they play pretty much year after year--except for the horrible defense the first half of last year that put the team in a hole and which really affected the standings at the end.

I wouldn't mind a an 18-6 run right about now. Besides, NO TEAM can "bank" any amount of past performances as guarantee for any amount of future performance. It's silly--especially if you think this past weekend's performance will be sustained through the end of the year, that's why the games are played and people have career averages as benchmarks. Plus, there's so many variables that don't include injuries that "banking" on certain performances over a specific 3 game series is a fools errand.

by SactoFan on Jul 30, 2007 4:09 PM PDT reply actions

im not worried

about through september. its october that im worried about! bottom line is we need a bat to get us through october and bring home another WS championship! stone(d)man's contract wont be resigned if he doesnt do anything and we dont win it all, if im not mistaken his contract is up the last day of the world series.

if arte is as committed to winning as he says he is stoneman cannot be our gm anymore! he is too relaxed we need someone willing to make the necessary moves to win!

by wallispdub1 on Jul 30, 2007 4:13 PM PDT reply actions

Many good points within this thread .....

Some that myself and others have already made elsewhere, but nonetheless valid and true.

Among those points is that there is a big difference between winning in the regular season and winning in the playoffs. The quality of pitching we will face EVERY night in the playoffs just can't be compared to the majority of days/nights in the regular season.

While I don't agree with you Salmonella that the sweep of the Tigers will "haunt" us, I do believe it can be a bit misleading to many fans. As someone else rightly stated above, we faced a crippled Detroit squad. Playing the Tigers without Rodney and Zumaya is something like other teams facing us without Shields or Frankie. The Tigers team we beat-up is NOT the team we most likely would face in the playoffs.

That being said, the offensive production was encouraging. This team is close, very close to having all the elements we need.

I agree with wallispdub and others that the playoffs requires the ability to strike quickly with the HR. It is just too difficult to get multiple runners on base against top notch pitching.

I'm not saying the Angels can't win with the current roster, but I'd like our chances alot more with another big power bat.

by Jack Frost on Jul 30, 2007 9:17 PM PDT up reply actions

I appreciate the response

and agree that "haunt" was not the right word. As you said, "misleading" seems more appropriate. I wonder if tonight's shutout loss might help Stoneman realize that we need that bat. There's no excuse to get shut out by Miguel Batista, not after scoring double digits against Detroit in three straight games and 7 the day before against Oakland.

by Salmonella on Jul 30, 2007 11:48 PM PDT up reply actions

6 of the 9 in the Angel lineup had 300+ avg

when the game started. Did Seattle get 8 hits to our 4 because they had bigger bats? People complain about how a 3 game streak shouldn't prove that we don't need a bat but a 1 game streak DOES?

Maybe the player's sucked tonight. Maybe Figgins struck out on a bullshit call. Maybe Seattle got lucky and picked Vlad's rope off the grass.

If you ask me, watching the game, I couldn't figure out what to swing at either because have the junk he was throwing were supposedly strikes.

by melvintoast on Jul 30, 2007 11:57 PM PDT up reply actions

Tru dat.

While everyone around here knows that the Angels scored 34 runs over the weekend, It should be noted that Seattle was busy scoring 25 runs themselves in the same period. That's a combined 59 runs. Then, the next day, those same two teams combined for only 2.

That bizarre, over-sized, wandering, strike zone had a lot to do with it. I was totally confused and felt bad for hitters on both sides.

by Stirrups on Jul 31, 2007 9:33 AM PDT up reply actions