What was Texiera's actual impact?
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OK, so there's been a LOT of rumblings here in the preseason about how the Angels are going to be worse than last year because we didn't replace Teixiera's production in the lineup. I am finding it increasingly irritating; while I don't expect the Angels to win 100 games again, I think its silly to talk about having to replace the offensive production of a guy who was with us 1/3rd of the season.
Lest we forget, the Angels were already on pace to win 100 games before Tex ever joined the team. Our record before he ever took a swing in an Angels uniform was 66-40, well on pace to top 100. Now, am I denying he helped us reach the coveted 100 game mark? Absolutely not, without his offense it is doubtful we make it. However, it should be noted we DID NOT NEED his help to reach the playoffs. Without him we likely win 93-95 games, face Tampa instead of Boston and still are 1 and done in the postseason. In other words, losing Teixiera's offense costs us almost nothing. When you factor in that Bobby Abreu is a better hitter than Garret Anderson, that Mike Napoli will likely get 400+ AB's this year, and that Kendry Morales is almost certainly Casey Kotchman's offensive equal or better at first, I'm not really seeing the cause for concern these guys keep talking about.
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also factoring in HK
i think we will definitely be a legit team
Watching the Halos from Princeton University. The random Halo fan in a sea of Bosux and Skankee fans.
by princeton11loveshalos on Mar 26, 2009 6:51 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Its quite possible Napoli doesn't get 400+ AB
Also the injury risk for our starting pitching and HK remain very high.
I brought sexy back, but they only gave me store credit....
by PhiSlamma on Mar 26, 2009 7:45 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
All teams have injury risk.
The nice thing about us is that we have most of a major league infield ready to step into place in the minors and at least three fairly capable spot starters.
~Till the Halo burns out...
by Zu Long on Mar 26, 2009 9:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
But...
not all teams lose there 1,2, and 3 starters before the season starts. lol but only the angels have the depth to be fine without them until mid may.
Give the young guns a chance...if they suck wellll...
by angelskid2210 on Mar 26, 2009 9:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Thing is, we haven't really lost them.
John’s forearm injury, at second look, apparently isn’t all that serious. Escobar being back in April is a bonus. Santana is the only one who might be out a month, and even that’s in doubt. As you say though, we have enough depth to be okay even so.
~Till the Halo burns out...
by Zu Long on Mar 26, 2009 10:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I don't consider Howie an injury risk
so much as a bad luck charm so far.
by Caseys Kiss of Death on Mar 31, 2009 12:27 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
The hand injuries do not concern you?
He seems to crowd the plate
Play Wood already. Willits sucks.
by hauldog on Mar 31, 2009 10:10 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Thousands of players have crowded the plate for their entire careers
without getting 2 broken hands/fingers in one year out of it…or even 2 in their entire careers.
I think he crowds the plate, but I don’t think that we should expect that to keep happening.
by Caseys Kiss of Death on Mar 31, 2009 2:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
That is a good point
That leaves the low and outside breaking ball.
Play Wood already. Willits sucks.
by hauldog on Mar 31, 2009 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
7 walks and counting this spring.
He’s learning.
~Till the Halo burns out...
by Zu Long on Mar 31, 2009 3:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
A lot of Angels seem to be
Play Wood already. Willits sucks.
by hauldog on Mar 31, 2009 3:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree with you 100%
Figgy will be better/healthier than last year.
Bobby is better than GA (does anyone else call him GA because they can’t get the right combination of R’s and T’s together?).
Vlad should be equal, if not better than last year.
Torii isn’t quite ready to regress. He’ll be the same, which means solid.
Juan is looking to return to 2006 form. I really feel he’ll be close.
Aybar/Wood/Izzy is the deepest SS position of any team in the league.
Kendry is underrated. He won’t be great, but he’ll fill Kotch’s shoes well offensively.
Naps is the man. He may not hit 40 bombs, but he’ll hit 35. I love this guy.
Howie is due to have one injury-free season. This may not be the one, but 140 games sounds pretty salty to me.
Defensively this team is equal, if not better, than last year’s mediocre-bad team. Personally I think we’ll be significantly better.
The X-Factor is starting pitching. I don’t think the injuries will have a long-lasting effect. Hence, I think we’ll be fine over the long term. In fact, I feel we’ll finish the season with the best overall, strongest rotation in baseball. Lackey, Santana, Escobar, Saunders, Weaver is ridiculous. Enjoy it while you can.
by NoDakHalo on Mar 26, 2009 11:31 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
teixeira's contiribtion...
Vladdy’s protection. Maybe Vlad goes on that tear last September with Kotchman hitting in front of him or GA, maybe he doesn’t. But it is quite concievable to believe that Tex being there in the lineup made pitchers choose between him and Vlad. We don’t have the same kind of Protection in Abreu (good but not as much of long ball threat as he once was), Hunter (I noticed a big hole in his swing last year on pitches low and away). Rivera could be protection, but it’s not the same as Tex who was a “complete” threat.
Do I miss Tex in the lineup, hell no, but that’s what I think his major contribution in the lineup was as far as his presence is concerned.
Phys: Well, Coon doesn't have a lot of power but he's a good bunter
Coon: F$%# That!
Thanks Zu
by halofan4life on Mar 26, 2009 11:40 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Maybe Tex was protection, except....
Vlad batted .298 in August with Tex. Did pitchers wait to decide who to pitch to until September? Besides, Vlad protected Tex, not the other way around.
My thinking: Vlad simply got hot, REALLY HOT, in September, just as he did in June of last year. And when he’s hot, he’s about as good as anyone in the game. With or without Tex…
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you." - Woody Hayes
by johnnyangel101 on Mar 27, 2009 5:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Good points...
I was simply trying to play the other side of the fence to create debate.
Phys: Well, Coon doesn't have a lot of power but he's a good bunter
Coon: F$%# That!
Thanks Zu
by halofan4life on Mar 27, 2009 5:38 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Tex impact
Nothing. We did not win the World Series with him. Hard to imagine we would have done worse without him.
Angel Pitching, Angel Defense - get past that.
by vladtheimpaler on Mar 27, 2009 1:45 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
i really wanted Teixeira back but
if you look down the road do you want to be paying a 36-37 year old 22.5M a year who will likely be on decline and blocking Morales from starting at 1B and eventually Conger (i think we move Morales to OF and he plays 1B because health reasons and Nap) Teixeira’s defence will definitively be missed next year but his offense probably wont i think Abreu brings his OBP and 2/3 of his power with more SB and Kendry makes up for the other 1/3. Look at it this way 20 extra stolen bases and more 1st to 3rd on singles and scoring from 1st on doubles or 10 more HR Abreu plays Angels baseball more than Teixeira
Gained Lost
Abreu <= Teixeira (like i said above 10 extra HR or better base running)
Rivera => Anderson (With regular playing time Rivera is better he showed that in 06)
Fuentes = K-Rod (i think they are pretty equal and people haven’t faced Fuentes so he has more of a advantage there to)
by Vladd#27 on Mar 27, 2009 1:57 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I wouldn't mind having Teixeira over Morales at 1B in 5 years' time
I’m over the team not re-signing him, but I think people on this blog are waaaay underselling Teixeira after he left us for NY.
replacement level analysis
by 442 on Mar 28, 2009 11:00 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Forget him
And support Morales. It’s over.
Angel Pitching, Angel Defense - get past that.
by vladtheimpaler on Mar 29, 2009 1:13 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Just a thought, but has Napoli played any first base?
I’m sure Morales will go well, but just on the off-chance that he bombs, it’d be good to find the big fella a spot to play every day.
I see red people
by The Limey on Mar 27, 2009 4:29 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Haven't seen Nappy-do at 1B.
The back-ups seem to be Quinlan and Matt Brown. Brown was 1B last Sunday when he went 6-6 with 2 HR’s.
by sothball on Mar 27, 2009 5:34 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Napoli played 1B at Rancho
when he was coming back from his shoulder injury way back when. He looked OK when I saw him. I’ve always thought he would be a Gene Tenace C/1B/DH kind of guy.
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you." - Woody Hayes
by johnnyangel101 on Mar 27, 2009 5:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
How long ago was that?
I do not believe I have seen him taking ground balls at 1B since he came up to AAAA. Just curious…
by sothball on Mar 27, 2009 7:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
When he was at Rancho playing in the Cal League
2004 – he played 36 games at 1B
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you." - Woody Hayes
by johnnyangel101 on Mar 27, 2009 10:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Teixiera's impact?
Easy — It was letting the public know who really wears the pants in his family.
by PieceOfAase on Mar 27, 2009 9:00 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
He taught me that even multi millionaires get P-whipped.
Blogging is FUN!
by Downing Rules on Mar 27, 2009 9:12 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Tex Impact
1. he supplied at least as much, if not more, offense than what we might have expected from Kotch during his tenure.
2. he demonstrated, empirically, the value of that famous “second big bat” in the Halo lineup.
3. he gave us first shot at signing him long-term. How real and honest that first shot truly was is subject to never-ending conjecture, but we had the first shot nonetheless.
Now, did he deliver a WS ring? Nope. But is his presence in the Yankee lineup guaranteeing them a WS ring for each of the next 8 years? Nope. Had he resigned with the Halos, would we have gotten any guarantees for WS rings during his tenure? Nope. Is it reasonable to argue that he gave the Halos a BETTER chance for a ring than Kotch? Yes. Tex had real power, and he had it NOW.
Was his presence a requirement to make the playoffs? Nope. Did he provide any material advantage over Kotch in ensuring that the Halos get there? Nope. But could it be argued that having Tex was a stronger insurance policy against some unfortunate roster misfortune elsewhere in the lineup. Besides, was getting Tex so that the Halos could reach the playoffs ever the point? Nope.
The Halos did pay a price to rent Tex, gain playoff potential and roster insurance, and recieve draft choices. That is undeniable. The price was Kotch. Kotch was, at the time, a proven defender and passable offensive talent, with an upside to regain the serious promise as an offensive star that he held prior to getting sick. Acuda would argue that Morales at 1B is the precise opposite: offensive star with potential to be a strong defender. However Morales pans out, his contributions have to be added to the equation. So, long term, if it is accepted that even Mo Vaughn had value because his loss yielded Kevin Appier, it must also be accepted that the final accounting of Tex’s impact is still in our future.
by Stirrups on Mar 27, 2009 11:08 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
"He demonstrated, empirically, the value of that famous 'second big bat' in the Halo Lineup."
Agreed. Namely: That it still doesn’t guarantee jack-squat come playoff time, and that therefore, the Angels have been right to avoid selling the farm for it in the past.
~Till the Halo burns out...
by Zu Long on Mar 27, 2009 11:55 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Yep.
That’s why I get tired of hearing “we need another bat to protect Vlad.” Shoot, you always need bats.
But mostly we need some smarter batters with well-trained eyes for balls and strikes.
Blogging is FUN!
by Downing Rules on Mar 27, 2009 12:21 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
We were a damn lot closer than we were in 2004 and 2007
replacement level analysis
by 442 on Mar 28, 2009 11:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Teixeira
I don’t think Teixeira is worth $180 million and signing him was more of a luxury [the Angels were not willing to pay for], but it gave me peace of mind for a part of 2008, knowing there was someone at first base [for the Angels] who can hit the ball out of the park while providing some great plate discipline and defense equal to the guy the Angels traded to get him.
by BBFan1 on Mar 27, 2009 5:16 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Poor Morales
Bad enough being compared to Kotch, Now it’s Tex.
Give ’em hell Kendry.
Angel Pitching, Angel Defense - get past that.
by vladtheimpaler on Mar 29, 2009 1:16 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I agree that our offense won't be as bad as people think.
In fact, it could end up being above average. A 3-4-5 of Abreu, Vlad, and Hunter isn’t exactly horrible. Abreu’s patience could potentially rub off on other hitters, making them better as well.
And yes, Tex > Abreu but Abreu for a whole season > Tex for 2 months.
by Chzburger Jones on Mar 29, 2009 5:47 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Hell...I'm just glad he didn't sign with the Red Sox
GA GA he's the man, if he can't do it, no one can
by Moondoggy on Mar 29, 2009 6:14 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
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