From the I-Cubs-Bees game I attended today. Just thought some people might appreciate knowing that...

holy &#^$

are you freaking kidding me?!

i think Wood finally figured out who he was, and decided to become our new 3B.

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

by howiestheman on Aug 6, 2008 10:06 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

When do rosters expand for call-ups?

Somebody say August 7th, please!

No? Then GMJ needs to go onto the 60-day DL. My idea is for Sosh to pinch-run GMJ for whomever it is that gets to 3rd, and then call a suicide squeeze. Keep doing that until GMJ’s injury finally gets the better of him and we open a roster spot.

Francisco Rodriguez: 191 career saves. 2 career Panthers, tied with Hector Carrasco.

by Stirrups on Aug 6, 2008 10:21 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Heh

Witty .sig goes here.

by scareduck on Aug 7, 2008 7:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

WOW

thats an absolute bomb, cant you just wait for the day he starts doin that at the big league level consistently

i pledge alliegance... to mike Scioscia
and the angels way of baseball
and to each pennant and ring we are sure to win.
one fanatic, under the halo, unwavered
with in n out and world series rings for all

by halofan4life on Aug 6, 2008 10:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

i'm calling it right now

he’s pulling an Evan Longoria next year.
probably without the Home Run Dery, but you my point.

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

by howiestheman on Aug 6, 2008 10:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

HOPE WOOD AND MORALES DO WHAT THEY ARE DOING IN AAA NEXT YEAR FOR THE BIG CLUB!!!!!

Put Kendry Morales at 1B, and move Sean Rodriguez to 3B......NOW LETS GO WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by acuda27 on Aug 7, 2008 12:58 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Morales looked good too, by the way.

Line drives going everywhere, 2 hits.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Aug 7, 2008 10:40 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

he should start at 3B next year

the question is will their be a spot at #B open for him? That would require either Figgy to be traded or moved to the OF. I don’t think either will happen.

It’s too bad we have 2 great young SS already. Because having Wood at SS would be perfect. It is his natural spot and getting that production from the SS position would be killer.

I think a more realistic scenario is he works his way onto the club during the 2009 season as a bench guy and filling in when their are injuries. Then becomes the FT 3B in 2010.

Go Angels!

by Four Ts on Aug 7, 2008 8:52 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

that's a waste

you don’t sit your top prospect on the bench for a year for a guy that’s barely hitting .275 as your leadoff man.

let Aybar and Izturis try their hands at leadoff, and let Wood take over 3B.

Or, you can always package up Aybar or Izturis for a pitcher and let Wood take over SS.

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

by howiestheman on Aug 7, 2008 9:04 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i say package aybar and figgy

i trust izzy more with the bat because aybar really tries to embody that “mini vlad” montra he has. that to me does not bode well for a leadoff hitter. izzy is better at working counts and getting on base IMO.

but at the same time figgy did put up .330/.393/.432 last year, and granted this year he is at .280/.381/.323, but his OBP is markedly better than his avg, where last year it was 60 points better and this year its is 100 points better. last year mighta been a fluke year, but its tough to look at that and say lets get rid of him, when he obviously has the potential to be that kind of threat

i pledge alliegance... to mike Scioscia
and the angels way of baseball
and to each pennant and ring we are sure to win.
one fanatic, under the halo, unwavered
with in n out and world series rings for all

by halofan4life on Aug 7, 2008 10:04 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

izzy's a bit older with more experience, which is what most teams are looking for

if Aybar is that hot of a commodity, then sure, package him up.
I would try to move Izzy first, though. Aybar has a fantastic upside, given his defensive range and cannon of an arm. He’s a pretty good hitter, too. Given full (every day) playing time, his offense can only get better.

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

by howiestheman on Aug 7, 2008 11:04 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The reasons you listed are why teams will want Aybar.

Further, Aybar is 24 and under team control for the next 5 seasons. If they trade for a non-Wood SS, they trade for Aybar, not Izzy, who is in his second to last arbitration year, IIRC, and already in his prime. Aybar would be a valuable piece though, and we should be able to get a substantial return probably better than what we got for Cabrera.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Aug 7, 2008 11:42 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

good call

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

by howiestheman on Aug 7, 2008 12:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wood

Brandon is young and I definitely haven’t given up on him. However, I would want him to establish himself as a major league hitter (v. PCL hitter) before I went and traded Figgy, Izzy, or Aybar to make room. Call him up in September, give him a try and then next year give him time at DH, 3B, SS and see what he does. I agree that somebody might have to moved but Wood was not ready for the big leagues in April or May and let’s make sure he is the future before we move players. PCL pitching is not major league pitching, in fact it is generally poor. Most PCL (like SLC) clubs have 1-2 front line prospects and then a bunch of guys in their late 20s and early 30s who will never pitch in the big leagues. So proceed with caution and make Wood prove he can hit big league pitching.

Angels in 08!

by tanana40 on Aug 7, 2008 11:40 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

The thing is though that he may not be able to do that without regular ABs.

Just as we’ve seen with Juan and Reggie this year, irregular time at multiple positions can be corrosive to a player’s hitting stats.

September, Winter Ball, and ST will be key indicators that determine how we move forward. At the very least though, he and S-Rod are running out of things to prove at SLC.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Aug 7, 2008 11:45 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

in regards to s-rod

where could we possibly put him in this lineup next year or the following year, he plays 2nd, kendrick is there, at short, aybar, izzy or wood, at third, figgy or wood. we just simply lack the room

i pledge alliegance... to mike Scioscia
and the angels way of baseball
and to each pennant and ring we are sure to win.
one fanatic, under the halo, unwavered
with in n out and world series rings for all

by halofan4life on Aug 7, 2008 12:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If we move Figgy and Aybar, as was suggested above, we have room.

The other option is just to move Aybar and put either Figgy, Wood, or S-Rod in Left to replace a likely departing Anderson.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Aug 7, 2008 12:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

move Aybar, let Wood take over SS (with Izzy as a back-up for 3B/SS),

then move Howie to left, and let SRod take over second.

or just train SRod in left right now… then he could REALLY be a new Soriano!

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

by howiestheman on Aug 7, 2008 1:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

do u think howie would acclimate well to left field?

his D isnt too bad at short, but i think s-rod is better defensively. but wouldnt that be a whole other beast moving to the outfield?

i pledge alliegance... to mike Scioscia
and the angels way of baseball
and to each pennant and ring we are sure to win.
one fanatic, under the halo, unwavered
with in n out and world series rings for all

by halofan4life on Aug 7, 2008 7:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i remember that

sorry i brain farted, but then what do we do with likes of rivera, do we let him walk? i know that GA is declining and if they dont resign him to a cheaper contract next year then they will let him walk, and sosh will probably be convinced in GMJ’s ability by next spring training if they dont force him into surgery. but it still seems like the team would still be ridiculously cluttered with enormous talent, which is definately a good problem to have.

i pledge alliegance... to mike Scioscia
and the angels way of baseball
and to each pennant and ring we are sure to win.
one fanatic, under the halo, unwavered
with in n out and world series rings for all

by halofan4life on Aug 7, 2008 7:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If we re-sign Rivera, we could keep him at DH/RF

With him and Vlad switching off (assuming, as I do, that GMJ is getting his surgery at this time) as needed, much like right now. I think we probably resign either Tex or Rivera and let Morales do the job of whichever one we don’t sign. I’d kind of prefer Juan, because he’ll be a lot cheaper in both the short and the long haul, but I recognize that we may decide we need another “legit” star.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Aug 7, 2008 7:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

the regular at-bats is a good point that I agree with

I think you are right that September, Winter ball and ST will determine Wood’s immediate future.
With S-Rod and Kendry also needing to break through, I can see the Angels being very active this off-season.

Angels in 08!

by tanana40 on Aug 7, 2008 1:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

if we can trade for a solid starter or reliever

then let our young guys start taking over, we should be doing very well next year.

i still think we should re-sign Tex, though.

if that’s the case, I’d rather move Kendry to LF/RF during the Spring, so he can get some ABs next year. if we’re not going to do that, then he needs to be traded.

i could also see SRod starting the year in AAA, then moving up to the big club after a few months…. who knows? I’m freaking excited though! we’ve got some GREAT talent.

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

by howiestheman on Aug 7, 2008 2:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

yes, always better having too many good players than the opposite.

When I see the pitching staffs of sub-.500 teams, I remember what it was like to be an Angels’ fan in the 1970s, some of the 1980s and much of the 90s and I don’t want to go back.

Angels in 08!

by tanana40 on Aug 7, 2008 2:41 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

too young for most of that

but i do remember the 90s… bleh.

i think we’re built in a such a way that we never will go back to that.
we might not always be as… awesome…. but we certainly won’t drop back to Pittsburgh/Texas level.

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

by howiestheman on Aug 7, 2008 3:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i think most of the 90's was plagued by bad offense

hell in ‘91 we played .500 ball with 3 guys having more than 18 wins, and closer with more than 40 saves. granted some of the pitching was god awful, but i think it was the lineups that werent keeping the boat up

i pledge alliegance... to mike Scioscia
and the angels way of baseball
and to each pennant and ring we are sure to win.
one fanatic, under the halo, unwavered
with in n out and world series rings for all

by halofan4life on Aug 7, 2008 7:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The problem in the early 90s was the crap-tastic offense.

Especially 92. In the later 90’s we had Salmon, Edmonds, Anderson, and Davis for offense but Finley was our only reliable starter.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Aug 7, 2008 7:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Remember Von Hayes?

Nah, probably not. He was the guy who got Wally Pipp’d for Tim Salmon…

Witty .sig goes here.

by scareduck on Aug 7, 2008 8:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah...

We played .500 ball in ‘91…. and finished in the Cellar.

A feat matched only by the ‘05 Nationals, as far as I know.

And we did it in a 7 team divison.

Angels fan since '67

by red floyd on Aug 7, 2008 8:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

No doubt but that Wood's turned it on

Almost like a light switch starting on his doubleheader game on July 19. I’m still pretty scared he’ll take a couple years to become a productive player at the major league level, because that’s about what it took for him to figure out AAA.

Witty .sig goes here.

by scareduck on Aug 7, 2008 8:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

As noted earlier,

the only problem is that there’s really only one way to answer that question.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Aug 7, 2008 8:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why not...

Put Izturis on DL since he’s obviously still hurt, and since Napoli is coming off DL you can send Budde back down and call up Wood to spell Aybar at SS and figgins at 3B for games. Give him a few more chances to get acclimated before the September roster expansion. Seems to make sense to me.

by MidwayCityLivestock on Aug 7, 2008 5:01 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs