Angels Melt Down As Kaz-Nobyl Goes Critical
Final Score in Oakland: A's 15, Angels 1
By the time it was over, only a smoldering hole was left on the mound where Scott Kazmir had been. The (very) former Rays' ace allowed 8 runs in a third-inning detonation, along with 13 earned runs in a total of 5 innings pitched. He was not aided by a number of circus acts in the outfield and a bad call at the plate, but the Kazmir of old made defense and officiating irrelevant with his gaudy strikeout rates. Quoth the grand slam to Rajai Davis (you read that right, Rajai frickin' Davis): "Never more." Kazmir appears to be washed up at only 26 years old, and unless he goes on the DL with an "injury," both he and the $18 million remaining on his contract may soon be forfeit.
The Angels offense was nearly as inept as the defense, mustering only six base runners against the worst pitching Oakland has to offer. Brandon Wood scored the lone Angel run on a triple by Cory Aldrige--his first major-league hit. The event gave the 31 year-old replacement player a highlight before his inevitable minor-league re-assignment. The entire AAA wrecking crew made an appearance tonight--Aldridge, Paul McAnulty, Brandon Wood, Jeff Mathis, Reggie Willits, and even Bobby Wilson--giving hope that the 43-47 Salt Lake Bees may yet turn their season around once the big-league club tires of them.
Our Game Thread Roll Call is after the poll...
Roll Call: angelsfan7, Slyintine, UK Halo, stuck in Romania, HalosFanInNorCal, ~MMP~, Gokyle45, halofolife, bballfan57, Epic Dean, ryanfea, sothball, Suboptimal, opiejeanne, Moondoggy, Figgi4life, TheAngelsColts, Big Easy Halofan, eyespy, Halowood, mastermind565, stolenbases, Angelsrthebest101, agent_99, Downing Rules, gyoung08, Turks Teeth, linkbruin, yeswecan, vladtheimpaler, deejayelleseven, ZiK, cardinalwraith, steelgolf, MagicMike23, graydog28, Halo84653, Clutch, 44FAN, OC Awhole1, K3YEROUT, salmonforever, oceangate316, sheisalovelyladyandmyapologiestoher, aldo H, Ed@northridge, tanana40, hk47, turs12, bc56274, IE Angel, maze88, Quad Fin Rider, cath619, teopeht, Jimatkins, lightupthehalo, raskul, halofan4life, RedHatHalo, hbhalofan, devildogamp, mustard_man, rspencer, Funke5ive, MH252525, moosemastrTotal Users: 67 • Total Posts: 837
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Aldridge getting his first MLB hit and RBI was pretty cool.
Everything else, not so much
Well I'm glad I was at FanFest
instead of listening to the majority of the damage and meltdown by Angel pitching
Alternate red Angel jerseys FTW!!
Payback for the HH event?
Alternate red Angel jerseys FTW!!
by blast21dave on Jul 11, 2010 12:21 AM PDT up reply actions
Ah, give Kaz a break
Did you see him suffering in the dugout?
I don’t know. Does seem he is beyond repair, but who knows?
We ain’t got no money. We ain’t got no replacement. Go Kaz!
Angel Pitching, Angel Defense - get past that.
by vladtheimpaler on Jul 10, 2010 11:54 PM PDT reply actions
replacement ?

If ain't nothing wrong, something just ain't right.
by Funke5ive on Jul 11, 2010 12:17 AM PDT up reply actions 5 recs
But can she pitch
wait a minute, I guess that’s the point.
Angel Pitching, Angel Defense - get past that.
by vladtheimpaler on Jul 11, 2010 12:39 AM PDT up reply actions
That high leg kick
is a blessing and a curse. May as well not hold the runners with the mechanics she has and the catchers the Angels currently have!
Alternate red Angel jerseys FTW!!
by blast21dave on Jul 11, 2010 12:53 AM PDT up reply actions
Reagins blew this one, massively
Seriously, when do the calls for his hide start? I haven’t done a significant analysis of the Angels transactions since he became GM, but Kazmir is rapidly looking like a catastrophe trade. And I haven’t been impressed with his utilization of player assets, either.
Witty .sig goes here.
It obviously wasn't a good trade...
but jury is still out on whether he actually gave anything up to get Kazmir. Sean Rodriguez isn’t exactly tearing it up over in TB right now.
If any of those guys we gave up do anything significant in the majors is becomes a bad trade, until then it’s getting nothing for nothing. The equivalent of grabbing a has been off waivers.
The fact that he gave up anything is pathetic.
You should be able to trade for a guy like this and his contract for practically nothing or an equal salary dump.
by snowhor on Jul 11, 2010 8:54 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
$25M in salary is not NOTHING.
C’mon, Nash. $25M is not a waiver wire claim. You’re brighter than that.
by Turks Teeth on Jul 11, 2010 9:31 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Sean Rod
Is hitting 271 with a 435 slugging percentage. The 62-6 K-W ratio is really bad. He’s played good defense mostly at 2nd, also can cover short and all 3 outfield spots.
If we had him he would probably be the starting 3rd baseman right now. Not a star, but a useful player. And they get him for 5 more cheap years.
If we had not done the trade we couldn’t possibly be any worse off in the #5 starting spot. One candidate might be Alex Torres (8-3, 2.90 in AA).
Epic fail of a trade.
"That boy is our last hope" - Obi Wan Scioscia, as Francisco Rodriguez left for the Mets. "No, there is another" - Yoda Reagins.
by RallyMonkey5 on Jul 11, 2010 10:18 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
I doubt Torres would be a candidate for the 5th starter spot this year.
It would most likely be one of the Palmer/Bell/SOS trifecta, though I think they would still be better than Kazmir, or at least suck for league minimum.
In 2009
Kazmir was effective. Given his age, it wasn’t unreasonable to think that he would at least be a mid-rotation guy for the next couple of seasons. You’re better than this, ‘duck. Reagins hasn’t been brilliant, but has made some good moves. It’s hard to find a GM who does everything right.
For a hitter that might be true.
But how many young, great pitchers who get arm injuries and struggle ever return to their former glory.
There’s. No sugar-coating this one for el ninja.
by snowhor on Jul 11, 2010 8:59 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
"Better than that?"
Many of us agree with Rob. I certainly do.
Reagins is an executive with no track record. He’s made a number of terrible bets, has overpaid on Kazmir, Fuentes and Rodney, and badly misjudged our depth.
Kazmir was NOT effective in 2009. He had a 7.11 ERA before the ASB, had lost his crisp slider, and lost 3-5. MPH on his slider. He effectively sunk us for good in the ALCS.
As long as folks keep rewriting history, these facts need to be restated.
by Turks Teeth on Jul 11, 2010 9:41 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I put some blame on Butcher
as his former coach you know Reagins consulted Butch before doing the trade, and I’m sure Butcher said he could fix what was ailing Kaz. I beieive that butch told Reagins to go get Kaz if he could, and nobody can convince of me otherwise.
by 2pintsofbooz on Jul 11, 2010 10:21 AM PDT up reply actions
Speaking of re-writing history
Remember that Kaz had a regular season ERA of less than 2.00 for the Angels. Maybe a fluke, maybe not—but it does/did give hope for this year. THis is reminding me more and more of SPeier—great in the first regular season for us, BLOWS it in the postseason, never good after that.
Light up that halo! RIP, Nick.
track record
Rodney: bad signing
Abreu: good signing
Hunter: good signing
Teixeira trade: good deal
Fuentes: average signing. Fuentes was very good in 2009. Sure, the Save stat is deeply flawed, but the fact of the matter is that by and large he did the job he was paid to do. Who would have been last year’s closer, if not for Fuentes?
Kazmir: not looking good, but IMHO the jury is still out. If it turns out he’s injured, but comes back as an effective pitcher next year (sub-4.00 ERA), it’s not such a bad deal. S-Rod is the only guy involved in the deal who’s in the majors at this point. It remains to be seen what, if anything, Torres or Sweeney will do.
You guys are saying Scioscia has nothing whatsoever to do with these decisions?
I don’t concur.
I am fan various years ago.
by Fred Fredrix on Jul 11, 2010 12:52 PM PDT up reply actions
Seriously, what's wrong with Kazmir?
How can someone with this much talent be so awful?
Injured?
Or is it possible, maybe he was a product of steroids?
I've got nothing.
I'm been thinking that for a while but didn't want to say it
Angel Pitching, Angel Defense - get past that.
by vladtheimpaler on Jul 11, 2010 12:46 AM PDT up reply actions
Of course
old people are patient.
Angel Pitching, Angel Defense - get past that.
by vladtheimpaler on Jul 11, 2010 12:53 AM PDT up reply actions
Figured bc would eventually cave
Angel Pitching, Angel Defense - get past that.
by vladtheimpaler on Jul 11, 2010 12:56 AM PDT up reply actions
It doesn't seem like he's ever really bounced back from the arm injures he had in TB
Not sure how much of it is due to the injuries themselves or him being paranoid about re-injuring himself.
What talent?
He has a 90-92 MPH fastball. His slider has no bite whatsoever. And he struggles to throw anything in the strike zone. He had talent a few years ago when he could throw 95 on the FB and got a lot of break on the slider. He hurt his elbow in spring 2008, and the slider (a pitch that is tough on the elbow) has never been the same since.
"That boy is our last hope" - Obi Wan Scioscia, as Francisco Rodriguez left for the Mets. "No, there is another" - Yoda Reagins.
by RallyMonkey5 on Jul 11, 2010 10:21 AM PDT up reply actions
Ive been trashed since noon
So, didn’t see the game, except for a brief 8-0 update on FSW.
I want to yell at things. People, things, need to be DFA’d. Immediately. I don’t give a fuggin if aldridge got his first RBI. Go make that milestone with the Orioles.
Was McAnunlty in the lineup today? It’d be cool if sosh would just stop giving WORTHLESS JOURNEYMEN MiLB players a crack at the starting lineup.
What do you need a fancy suit for, Charlie, you ain't got no job to wear it to.
as an Angels fan I'm personally embarrassed every time I see Macanulty in the lineup
what the f happened to our team???
by 2pintsofbooz on Jul 11, 2010 10:25 AM PDT up reply actions
I jus drunk myself into oblivion tonight
Chico style, and for those of us who know know and live the chico way of life, you get where I’m comin from.. Reidiculous, Fu Kaazmir, Trevor Bell is gonna take your spot so fast it;s not gonna be funny. Go haloa! haloheaven is the shit!!!!
We betrayed Vlad, the greatest Angel. Epic fail.
I think this is the breaking point for whatever
they’re going to do next. Whether it is buy or sell. Losing 15-1 to the A’s is the low point of this seasons so far. Maybe, just maybe, it’ll be like last season when they got embarassed and sosh ripped em and they turned it around!
Broken Wood...
We've had worse
“Losing 15-1 to the A’s is the low point of this seasons so far.”
Worse is being swept in 4 games by the Sux. Pick your color, white or red. As horrible as Kazmir was, Weaver can still get us 2 out of 3 in this series today.
Is there anyone out there, who if God came down and offered you a guarantee of 2 out of 3 from the A’s this weekend, would turn it down and gamble on getting a sweep?
"That boy is our last hope" - Obi Wan Scioscia, as Francisco Rodriguez left for the Mets. "No, there is another" - Yoda Reagins.
Even better
We lost no ground to the only team that really counts right now. Thank you Orioles for taking care of Texas!
"That boy is our last hope" - Obi Wan Scioscia, as Francisco Rodriguez left for the Mets. "No, there is another" - Yoda Reagins.
I'd just like to say.....
The headline and first several sentences of the OP are some very good writing. Seriously. Creative and witty without being too much of a smart aleck. Very nice work.
"When they signed Fukudome, I knew they were trying to get me fired". - Ron Santo, January, 2008
Whether Kaz's arm is healthy or not, I've never seen more timid body language and facial expression
Maybe the past couple of starts can be washed away with a solid outing next time out, but after having whatever was left of his confidence shattered in the 5th inning is the kind of stuff that ruins careers.
You could see he didn’t want to be run back out there after giving up 8 runs the inning before. After , I can’t believe Soth is even considering running him back out again after the break.
But maybe still Butcher “knows” something that we don’t. Uggh…
by Big Easy Halofan on Jul 11, 2010 11:09 AM PDT reply actions
What happened to our depth?
It appears there is a gap between the Conger’s, Trumbo’s and the like and the bigs. What we have is McFatty, no names & triple A lifers. I guess we just wait it out until the kiks are ready. BTW, if the ump makes the right call on the play at the plate, maybe we stay in that game pull it out and end up 3.5 back
WS in 10

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