Dallas McPherson leads the minors with 39 home runs

by Halo84653 on Aug 1, 2008 11:48 AM PDT Comment 53 comments

I though this would be of interest to Angel fans. With an 1.108 OPS, it looks like he is finally getting healthy. I always liked him and was sorry he had the back problems when he was with the Angels. It would be nice if he came up and did something special in the majors--for a National League team of course. He has made 16 errors though. Maybe he needs to be a DH for an american league team.

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If we don't extend Teixeira...

I hope we can nab McPherson for a million (or three) as a potential first baseman – have him duke it out with Morales, Sandoval, and Brown for at-bats. Maybe we could squeeze one or two Ryan-Howard-light type campaigns out of him.
Not sure how he’d feel about coming back after we squeezed him out last offseason. The Marlin’s may extend him before the year is out, and the Giants, Royals, Twins, Indians, A’s, Rangers all could get interested, if they’re not already.
Oh, and as a correction. D-Mac leads professional baseball in home runs, not just the minor leagues.

by rghan on Aug 1, 2008 12:05 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Did you check the Japanese League standings? Any pro mashers there?

by Rev Halofan on Aug 1, 2008 12:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Interesting thought...

I admit, it didn’t occur to me. D-Mac is in fact leading: two guys in Japan have it 30. The best link I could find is http://www.japanesebaseball.com/leaders.jsp

by rghan on Aug 1, 2008 12:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i saw this a few days ago

and it looked like florida converted him into an outfielder, is that true?

Mike Scioscia For President

by Sorbo182 on Aug 1, 2008 12:37 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

His home field...

is Isotopes Park in Albuquerque—altitude 5280 feet. The ballpark’s dimensions are quite spacious, however. Just wondering if his number might be inflated by the mile-high location.

The '56 LA Angels (PCL) cap logo...a classic.

by MurrietaMick on Aug 1, 2008 1:19 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

What???

The Isotopes moved from Springfield? Call Hungry Hungry Homer!!!!

Angels fan since '67

by red floyd on Aug 1, 2008 1:37 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, they actually named the team AFTER that Simpsons episode

by Riverrun on Aug 1, 2008 6:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah -

they had a citywide team naming contest and the city voted to name the team after the Simpson’s team. In the show, the team moves from Springfield and the cranky owner up and moves them – Model style – to Albequerque, right?

I love the Simpsons. Funny show.

Jim Scully

Jim Scully Home
Haloville - Land of the Halos

by jimmuscomp on Aug 1, 2008 6:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

how many does that translate to in the majors?

oh yeah, zero.

Forgive me for being cynical, but i dont see Dmac hitting 30 in a major league season ever in his career. Wish him well, hope he proves me wrong…but its unfortunate that hes wasting all his rare good health in the minors.

by ihearhowie2.0 on Aug 1, 2008 1:41 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

It was a chronic injury...

My understanding is that the hip and back injuries were related, and that now that everything is fused together and he’s on the field, that chapter is done. He no doubt remains more risky than the average ball player, but his upside remains Ryan Howard-esq with better D. They had frighteningly parallel careers until injuries knocked D-Mac off in ‘06.
I think whoever signs him next has a good chance of enjoying Carlos Pena type returns.

by rghan on Aug 1, 2008 2:21 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Health

His issue was his health, not his power.

Bye Bye Ohio, hello Valencia!

by anaheimisnotla on Aug 1, 2008 3:46 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Meaning...

Nothing in this argument. I think rghan’s point is that DMac is now healthy, ergo his power has returned.

Light Up That Halo!

by Clutch on Aug 1, 2008 4:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Come On

So explain to me why the Marlins in a pennant race have not yanked him up to the big league team? They need some sort of help and had explored options through trades. Hell, if he is this guy you think he is he would be in silver/teal by now. He has inflated numbers playing in Albacrackie. The PCL is a hitter friendly league and his home stadium is a launching pad. Just look at his home and road stats. Look at Billy Ashley and his MLB stats to his Albq stats, and then look when he went to the INT.

Dallas McPherson
Home: .332/.421/.804 OPS 1.225 HR26 DBL12
Road: .263/.403/.533 OPS .956 HR13 DBL 3

PASS ON THIS

Willie Mays Aikens is FREeeeeeeee

by Angel Aviator on Aug 1, 2008 2:49 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Isn't Unconscious-Uggla blocking him?

by Downing Rules on Aug 1, 2008 2:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Duh, Jorge Cantu... (where the hell'd I get Uggla?)

by Downing Rules on Aug 1, 2008 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah...

.956 OPS players are a dime a dozen…

I still think the Halos should have kept him and let him battle for the job at 3rd base. I just didn’t understand why the team cut bait after he had surgery and rehabbed to a point where he could play again. That was an investment that the Halos don’t get back – why not see if your money was well spent?

Now we know it was – he could be helping this team. Couldn’t he be taking Quinlan’s roster spot? Backup 3B and 1B with major pop?

Just saying…

Jim Scully

Jim Scully Home
Haloville - Land of the Halos

by jimmuscomp on Aug 1, 2008 3:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Damn fine post Jim

Says it all

Don't call me Desmond

by highlandhalo on Aug 1, 2008 3:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Too late now

No point crying over spilled milk.

by HungryHunter on Aug 2, 2008 1:10 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

ummm

if he were a 956 OPS player, he’d be on the Marlins or some team would have traded for him by now. Fact is, he’s a 956 road OPS for AAA!

Wood and SRod are killing in SLC—doesn’t mean it translates exactly to the majors. Apples and Oranges.

Go Angels!

by Four Ts on Aug 2, 2008 7:27 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah - but it isn't

like the Halos are brimming with high SLG minor league players. Having another isn’t a BAD thing. What was the cost of keeping him and seeing what he could do with the bat in AAA? A spot on the 40-man roster? That’s about it.

It was worth it – in my opinion – to see what he could do if he was truly healthy. There was no reason to cut bait AFTER the surgery and rehab bills, but BEFORE you knew if it was all a success.

Just seems like an unnecessary move at that time. In March or April if you don’t think he can cut it – let him go, or trade him after he proves himself healthy. Just seemed like they jumped the gun a bit.

The only caveat is if they needed the spot on the 40-man roster in preparation for the Rule 5 draft. If that is the case – then that is a different story. I don’t have the time or inclination to look up the roster shuffling that happened in December to see if that might be what was going on…

Anyway, I’m done with the D-Mac business. Here’s to hoping he and Kotch crush in the bigs for years to come. I hope D-Mac gets a shot…

Jim Scully

Jim Scully Home
Haloville - Land of the Halos

by jimmuscomp on Aug 2, 2008 7:47 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just so you know, D-Mac struggled badly in ST

With more injuries, though these were more of the minor variety. But we only have so many 40 man roster spots. Our current backup infielder roster spots are: Matt Brown, Sean Rodriguez, Brandon Wood, Kendry Morales. Our outfield roster spot is Terry Evans. Our backup catching roster spots are Bobby Wilson and Ryan Budde (Wilson is on the 7-day DL, so it’s a good thing we had two).

Which of those guys would you have recommended we sacrifice to give D-Mac his shot?

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Aug 2, 2008 10:46 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Quinlan. At least DMac has a potential upside. Q has zero potential.

by snowhor on Aug 2, 2008 9:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Quinlan was signed already.

And does his job just fine. He’s a backup player and plays like it.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Aug 3, 2008 12:21 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

if you were getting 1 million dollars to sit on a bench and (expectedly) suck every time you took the field

you’d like it too.

Mike Scioscia: He provides to unlike method of your team member.

by howiestheman on Aug 3, 2008 2:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i'd prefer he was still in the organization

but what’s done is done. he’s gone and i have moved on. He’s been healthy the past few months—good for him. but that was not a sure thing. nor is him staying healthy for the next 1-36 months.

It is a little telling though that he’s still in AAA and not on the marlins. even as a bench guy, you would think he could help them.

Good luck to DMac.

Go Angels!

by Four Ts on Aug 2, 2008 12:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Triple A

Your going to base your decision on his numbers from TripAAA. Don’t be a stat geek with this my friend. He has holes in his swing that are the size of the grand canyon. He showed this at the big league level. He never was even above the .300 when you talk about OBP. Stats are great, but they are not the tell all with a player. As I was told long ago by a great man Joe Stephenson (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Joe_Stephenson_1921)
evaluate the 5 tools, and don’t be a performance scout….....even though that will help.

I will agree that he has raw power, but I just don’t think he will ever hit enough (contact) at the big league level. With that said he would have a hard time reaching the big HR numbers. I have been wrong before but right more then I have been wrong. Just feel he is not the answer for the club. Neither do the Marlins at this time.

Willie Mays Aikens is FREeeeeeeee

by Angel Aviator on Aug 1, 2008 3:38 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I do think he can and will be an interesting spare part, though.

A Branyan type, maybe even a late-breaking Rob Deer. Too bad there’s no Earl Weavers around these days to turn guys like this into heavily leveraged 300-AB monsters.

by mattwelch on Aug 1, 2008 3:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly...

That would be a great use of D-Mac.

Jim Scully

Jim Scully Home
Haloville - Land of the Halos

by jimmuscomp on Aug 1, 2008 5:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

macpherson struts through the minors..

this is alot of prognostication for a guy in the minors, in another team’s organization.

by godzilla29 on Aug 1, 2008 9:14 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

We care about our former babies that grew up in our system...

especially when so much excitement surrounded them…....

by Downing Rules on Aug 1, 2008 9:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

McPherson

I believe he has all the hitting talent in the world and super year in the minors aside, feel you wouldn’t be able to depend on him because of health issues.

by BBFan1 on Aug 1, 2008 11:51 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

We've got better

We stuck with him through his injuries, then he refused our offer so we pulled it. And besides, we have better. Example?

HR: Mac 39/351ab. Sean 19/223ab
Avg: 302 to 300
OBP: 413 to 398

Is Mac Better? He’s 27, Sean is 23. The end.

Angel Pitching, Angel Defense - get past that.

by vladtheimpaler on Aug 2, 2008 2:33 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

You can't have too many good players...

There was still no reason to not to try to keep him and see if he had recovered and become the good player he once was. S-Rod is a fine player. I think he has lapped B-Wood as likely major league starter – but D-Mac was ready this year to play in the majors…

No reason NOT to give him a shot.

Jim Scully

Jim Scully Home
Haloville - Land of the Halos

by jimmuscomp on Aug 2, 2008 6:17 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

There was a reason.

The reason was: not enough space.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Aug 2, 2008 10:47 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I remember being a bit upset by his release.

I don’t recall reading a definative reason for it; I never heard “not enough space” before.

From what I did read, I always thought it smelled of Boras.

by wumbug on Aug 3, 2008 12:58 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I still believe...

in the power of D-Mac.

I think he’ll not only hit 40 homers in the bigs one day, I think he’ll hit 40. The guy has an amazing work ethic and the craziest power I’ve ever seen with my own eyes.

I will never forget when he got called up in late 2004 and hit a homerun the opposite way to left-center field (by the flagpoles) and it cleared the fence by like 20 feet. I cannot recall another lefty who has ever done this at Angel Stadium.

Peanuts...Get your Overpriced Peanuts!

by Angel Hawker on Aug 2, 2008 8:31 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Uhhh..

I think he’ll not only hit 40 homers in the bigs one day, I think he’ll hit 40.

Did you mean 50? That probably isn’t going to happen – he has to get an opportunity first, but he could probably hit 30 in the bigs in 600 AB’s. Will he ever get those AB’s? Who knows, that is the question.

Jim Scully

Jim Scully Home
Haloville - Land of the Halos

by jimmuscomp on Aug 2, 2008 9:05 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oops, I meant 30

I doubt he’ll hit 50 as well, but 40 I think he’ll do

Peanuts...Get your Overpriced Peanuts!

by Angel Hawker on Aug 2, 2008 10:33 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If he'd stayed healthy

He’d be a poor man’s Jason Giambi. McPherson was a pretty good hitter with impressive power potential before all the injuries wrecked his Angels’ career.

by BBFan1 on Aug 2, 2008 3:43 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Is that roided Giambi or normal Giambi?

Because D-Mac would easily have been a match for normal Giambi IMO.

Plus D-Mac was a great defender at third.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Aug 2, 2008 5:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Below Avg

His fielding avg at 3rd was a tick below avg. far from great. Not so sure why everyone thinks this guy was a guy the Angel’s missed on.

Like I said in a earlier post he isn’t even in the show with the Marlins. You would think they could use a guy that has been mentioned in this post. You going to tell me Jorge Cantu is this Hall of Famer? I mean the things that have been posted here with the thought he would hit 30-40 homers and how he is this great defender. I am wondering if we are still talking about McMuffin or has the post shifted to Mike Schmidt ?

Willie Mays Aikens is FREeeeeeeee

by Angel Aviator on Aug 2, 2008 10:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Angel Aviator is correct in saying that DMac was a tick below average defensively.

I followed this subject religously at the time.

Although David Eckstein was a good SS, he never had the range of a great SS. That, plus (I’m conjecturing) the fact that he had beaten the Angels in arbitration the year before led to his not being resigned for the 2005 season.

I recall reading some media reporter writing that “No one believed that Stoneman was going to allow both Eckstein and McPherson man the left side of the infield at the same time.”

They certainly were going to give McPherson the 3B job after allowing Troy Glaus to leave as a free agent. That unused money in the budget allowed Stoneman to sign Orlando Cabrera to a four-year deal, intended to strengthen the left side of the infield, being DMac and OCab.

Though DMac’s defense was not great, it certainly deemed “acceptable” considering his power potential. A herniated disc, followed by and associated with bone spurs in the hip joint cost him valuable playing time leading up to and after surgery.

I recall reading that “An offer from the Angels was on the table, but it was withdrawn” before this 2008 season. I don’t remember any further explanation of his release other than some comments saying that Boras had demanded a guaranteed starting job on the major league roster, and that somehow, DMac had achieved free agent status.

Many of us grieved over the loss of DMac. I’m certain that all of these same people are ecstatic over his recent success, wish him well, and in the back of our minds always dream of “What if….”

Although I personally believe that players should have the right to earn as much as they can possibly get for their services, somehow my own words and feelings are in conflict, as I see Scott Boras as a cancer.

by wumbug on Aug 3, 2008 1:40 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

David Eckstein was an okay defender.

The reason we let him go was that Orlando Cabrera was considered a great defender, and he was available.

The people in the press have only a small conception of what goes into making a good defender. For many years they considered Derek Jeter a great defender despite him not being on.

All I know are the stats and my own observations, which tell me D-Mac was a good defender at third.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Aug 3, 2008 12:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

well said

my feeling exactly. I hope DMac gets the starting job he has shown he can do, so I can discreetly cheer him on from the sidelines of my fantasy teams.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlTvSUCCqPo

by ANewFoundThrice on Aug 3, 2008 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

D-Mac had a career .833 ZR in the majors.

That is freaking awesome at third. That is Scott Rolen-esque. And since when is Giambi a Hall of Fame 1B? Especially non-roided Giambi?

This was a simple post about what D-Mac could have done had he remained healthy for the Angels. I don’t know what the Marlins are thinking about him vs Cantu. Frankly, it’s not our problem.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Aug 3, 2008 12:32 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Juiced Up Giambi Pre NY days

In 1998-1999, where Giambi was figuring things out and just taking advantage of his ability to hit the ball to all fields for power and average.

by BBFan1 on Aug 2, 2008 5:39 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Giambi never hit for power w/o the help of performance enhancers

Want a good laugh. Look at his Pan Am games pictures.

PS Giambi is a greasy loser.

Seattle I would like to thank you for sucking. It allows me to get back to my roots: Hating Fremont.

Kobe tell me how my ass tastes

by hauldog on Aug 5, 2008 10:39 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i was

at the game in portland where he hit the 39th dinger! in the top of the 9th, it was a go a head 3 run shot that won the game. and after he did the post game interviews, he signed 2 cards for me! bring him back to the angels!!!!!

by bigthin13 on Aug 3, 2008 5:03 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

.935

That is the D he is flashing right now in AAA. He isn’t anything close to the defensive player Rolen is or was. Having the back and hip issues sure didn’t help his fielding. His fielding was not the reason he was thought to be the replacement at 3rd.

Willie Mays Aikens is FREeeeeeeee

by Angel Aviator on Aug 3, 2008 5:21 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Correct, it was not. Glaus was a decent defensive 3B himself, when healthy.

But what D-Mac’s fielding is like NOW, post injuries, has little to do with what I was talking about, which was a response to a hypothetical situation where D-Mac didn’t get injured.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Aug 4, 2008 10:21 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs