How Long will the Angels Continue with Scot Shields?

It is the last survivor of 2002

LONG LIVE SCOT SHIELDS
(Scot with one “t” forever)

We have lost a few games and some guys have played pretty crappy but it is NOT time to scrap the team and start over. Calm down and stop trying to “fix” the team. This is baseball, just relax and let the season roll. Things will get better. Averages work themselves out and we’ll be alright.

at this time there is nobody to replace him. So lets root for him and hope he pulls it together.

It changes the entire dynamic of the pen. Having Jepson and Rodney in the 7th and 8th is a luxury. If you add Shields to that mix, all of a sudden, we have a pretty solid pen. Bulger is returning to form too, add him to the equation then all of a sudden we have a GREAT bullpen. If the Angels get smart and promote Michael Kohn, and Shields and Bulger figure it out, then we probably have the best bullpen in baseball.

In short, yes, the Angels should stick with Shields, because I’d say there a 50% chance he returns to form.

Isn’t he in the last year of his contract?

Traditionally, from ‘08 and before, he was the go-to guy before Frankie. There was a year or more of Donnelly, some with Cousin Oliver, but there was 3 years of Scot being used extensively. Gubi mentioned it last night or tonight that he used to get a ton of innings. He had the rubber arm, and he needed the action to keep him consistent. After his injury, he’s been used too infrequently, and unfortunately, his mechanics fall out of whack. You can’t the deny the stuff—despite the age, his 91-92 has wicked movement. There was a night last week where he couldnt locate the FB, and instead, dropped four straight gorgeous curveballs for strikes. His last outing was pretty decent and he attacked the hitters with FB’s that landed for strikes.

I think he’s starting to come back into it. If we can keep him active and avoid the July/August burnout (there was no one else), we could potentially have an amazingly deep bullpen. So, no, it’s not time to give up. Age has nothing to do with it in this case. He’s still younger than when we continually resigned Oliver for a few years…

The results will come.

   One thing that I like about the Skankees, is how they have stuck by some of their key stars, and they still have several guys from their world series teams of the 90’s. Now that is cool. I wish the Angel’s FO would learn from that.

What I don’t understand is why this Fan Post appears a week after Shields last gave up a run. He has had three straight scoreless appearances. It’s not as if he just gave up another walkoff HR. So whoever posted this has been sitting around for a week contemplating this, and has reached this conclusion just at a time when, perhaps (we’ll see), Shields is finally straightening things out.

There is so much right now that we don’t know when it comes to Shields. Is the guy fully recovered from his injuries? Last year he sucked, but then we learned later that he was hurt and that he was playing through an injury.

Sometimes it will take a player some time to come back from an injury. I am sure that there was a discussion with Scioscia, Shields and possibly the trainers, about whether he would benefit more from a rehab assignment or staying with the big club. They decided to let him work out there.

If Shields, in fact feels great and still pitching lousy, than that might be more of a problem. But, if you look at Shields’ upside its huge. This guy is a proven performer who has contributed big time to our success and if he’s right, can probably contribute again. For that reason, it would be stupid to just give up on him.

That said, will the team show indefinite patience with him? Doubtful. What’s more likely is that if he’s still struggling in a month, they will put him on the DL and then stick him on a rehab assignment in the hopes of getting him right. If he’s still sucking, then maybe he could get released. But, I think that this is something that wouldn’t happen for a few months at the earliest. What’s more likely is that Shields gets put on the DL for an extended period, in the hopes that he could come back by the end of the season.

I think we need to review how trades work.