Justin Speier released to make room for Trevor Bell

Not a good pitcher anymore, but I loved the fact that he was a Marine.

The first year of his deal he was a pretty good 7th inning guy. Don’t know what happened but I hope he finds his game again. (In the NL)

And yeah. I didn’t know which one to post on…this one already had a comment so I picked it.

I remember our ’06 offseason report card that Rev did in which this was our big signing, and Darren Oliver was the dud “D+” or thereabouts if I remember correctly.

My, how things changed. Darren’s been one of the best reliever on the team in 07-09, overall. Of course, that’s partially by default, since he’s one of the only guys to play on each of those three teams.

It’s sad to see him go. I’m sure he’ll get picked up by some other team in the meantime, but if he doesn’t, it would be cool to see him re-signed to a minor league deal and sent down to figure his stuff out. It’s still there, as we saw flashes of his old brilliance in the first few weeks of this season—remember when he had the BEST ERA ON THE STAFF at the end of April?

This is kind of like the Carrasco release. An “in-speirered” signing followed by a disappointing release after a fantastic start to his Angels career (I remember how “nails” Speier was considered before going down with that stomach bug in ’07 and then for most of the rest of that season) was followed by mediocre numbers.

Mind you, this is a guy with a career ERA+ of 115, who posted one of his best years in his first year as an Angel, in 2007, with an ERA+ of a staggering 158, with a regular ERA of 2.88, with 47K’s in 50.0 innings pitched. Let’s not bag on him too hard, considering his awesome contributions that year.
Farewell, Justin. May you do well in your venture next!

will do the team introductions in a funny impersonation when the team plays on Fox Saturday Baseball now?

to see a guy to whom Arte and the Halos committed so much money fail.

Best of luck in the future, Justin.

Heck, look at what happened to Jeff Weaver and JC Romero. Both have rings now. Wacky.

how can they release my favorite player???

oh well i will still wear my Speier jersey

And he could sign anywhere for cheap, because the Angels are still on the hook for the salary. I predict a bold San Francisco Giants pick him up on the cheap to bolster their bullpen.

Speier Regresses Right Out Of Anaheim

Give it a read.

Here are some quotes from the article:

“HR/FB rate, as you may know, is not particularly predictive, especially among relief pitchers (due to sample size issues). Just like Speier’s low-ish HR/FB rate in 2006 didn’t mean he had a special skill that allowed him to rack up 380 foot outs, neither does his 2009 performance mean that he’s missing the ingredient that allows major league pitchers to keep the ball in the park. It’s likely just noise, and certainly shouldn’t be the kind of thing that would make the Angels take such a dramatic turn in their evaluation of his value. "

“But Speier is basically the same guy he was in 2006, only a bit less lucky.”

It was apparent to me that Speier was a good guy and a good teammate, but just couldn’t help the team. There were times when it looked like his pitching was coming around, and then he’d lay an egg.

I don’t know if many would share my opinion, but in light of what this team has been through with the Adenhart tragedy and the injuries, I think trading and releasing players might be a more dicey proposition this year because of what this group has been through together. To me, Speier’s clubhouse presence can’t be overestimated, and I have felt that way since that Boston game when the umpiring crew mishandled the Beckett throwing incident so badly.

he seemed like a great guy to hang around.

As far as the pitching, this move was long overdue & I wish him the best of luck just because he does seem like a nice, sincere guy

Bummer. Good luck, pally. I hope you get your mojo back.