TUESDAY ANGELS ROUNDUP: Angels Get Rocked, Pitchers Get Rolled

by WiHaloFan on Jun 23, 2009 8:08 AM PDT in Angels News

Rockies expose Angels - Los Angeles Times
From seven straight wins to three straight losses, the Angels have gone from a team that seemed to be hitting its stride to one that has hit the skids.

Angels take a beating from Rockies - OCRegister.com
Remember when the Angels were making the NL West look like a punch line? That joke wore out a few days ago.

Team Reports - CBSSports.com
Angels pitchers threw six wild pitches Monday -- two each by starter Matt Palmer and reliever Rich Thompson, one each by Rafael Rodriguez and Jason Bulger. That ties the franchise record set on April 13, 1991 in Minnesota.

The Angels' new search - Los Angeles Times
Mark it down on your calendar. June 22. The date the Angels officially began the search for another starting pitcher.

Playoff odds, 6/23 - Angels blog - OCRegister.com
To win the West: 45 percent
To win the Wild Card: 2 percent
To make the playoffs: 47 percent
Today’s 7 percent drop is the Angels’ fourth biggest of season.

Los Angeles Angels Team Report - USATODAY.com
BY THE NUMBERS: 10 — Rookie pitchers used by the Angels this season.

MLB Daily Dish - An unofficial Major League Baseball blog
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that the Pirates cut outfielder Craig Monroe for failing to hustle during a play against the Minnesota Twins.

The Pirates doing something right

Position players: Earning their keep - The Halo Is Lit
Here is the view of Angels position players (with 100 PA or more) from the sabersphere

Anaheim Angels all the way
A few weeks ago I asked people to rate, on a scale of 1-5, the defensive play from some outfielders who played from 1900 to 1950.

The Doors - The End. (Not meant to imply anything about the Angels or the season)

Poll

What happens this week?

Angels make a blockbuster trade

23 votes

Angels make a minor deal

18 votes

Angels do nothing

145 votes

Other (comment below)

0 votes

186 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 11 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

If the Angels do look for a new starter

I would want them to deal for a veteran (but not an extremely old one).

Maybe Oswalt? :P

by 27up27down on Jun 23, 2009 8:43 AM PDT reply actions

What is the significance of this week?

Play Wood already. Willits sucks.

by hauldog on Jun 23, 2009 9:31 AM PDT reply actions

There is none

Just needed a certain length of time for opinions. There seems to be a bit more “rumblings” about team needs and opportunities, so I made a poll to see if others felt the same.

"I see great things in baseball. It's our game, the American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing to us."

by WiHaloFan on Jun 23, 2009 10:04 AM PDT up reply actions

Got it.

I doubt anything happens this week. Too many teams are still undecided as to whether or not they are “sellers.”

Play Wood already. Willits sucks.

by hauldog on Jun 23, 2009 11:08 AM PDT up reply actions

Trade

for a sinker-ball relief guy. Cheap, but doesn’t give up the homers…

RIP Nick Adenhart 4/9/09

by vlad IS my man on Jun 23, 2009 9:39 AM PDT reply actions

Humph

Here are some good (decent) sinker-ballers and why we’ll never get them this season:

Jake Westbrook – He’s injured.
Brandon Webb – Right shoulder bursitis.
Roy Halladay – Injured, and give me one good reason why the Jays would want to trade their best starter later on this season.

I think the closest shot we have is Nick Blackburn, but honestly, I don’t think the Twins would let him go anyway. For a reliever, Ziegler could be one, but somehow I don’t see him coming to Anaheim anytime soon.

Then there’s Kevin Millwood. Hmmm…..

by 27up27down on Jun 23, 2009 11:10 AM PDT up reply actions

Not Happening

The Halos are not going to make a major trade because it will require the gutting of the farm system to make happen. There’s probably only 6 or 7 highly prized prospects in the system today. If we’ve learned anything over the last 4 or 5 years its that this franchise places significant value on its farm system. Whether or not I agree with their approach is ultimately immaterial. I do respect that they’ve got a plan and stick with it almost to a fault.

by mustard_man on Jun 23, 2009 10:28 AM PDT reply actions

Almost?

Their overall philosophy has been to draft the best available athlete, rather than drafting to need. Now, the logic behind that is to get the best value for each pick. That’s valid logic, but only if the motivation for getting best value is to enable trades of excess talent later on to fill need with a higher-quality player than they would have gotten if they had drafted directly for need.

The Angels don’t follow this logic all the way through, as a rule. Sure, there are exceptions, but they are not representative. For the most part, the Angels never let go of a prospect until he ceases to be a prospect in the organization’s view. If they give up on a prospect for reasons other than talent (e.g. Jenks), they usually let them go for nothing.

So I think they stick to their plan so obsessively that it is a fault.

by rspencer on Jun 23, 2009 3:11 PM PDT up reply actions

Not that I mean to be argumentative

Forgive me if I sounded belligerent; I didn’t mean it. I’m just a bit miffed at the team right now. I do agree with your main point—the Angels aren’t going to trade their future away for immediate need at the ML level, nor should they.

All I’m saying is that I think there needs to be more trading of spares at the minor-league level to fill need.

by rspencer on Jun 23, 2009 3:14 PM PDT up reply actions