2011 Angels In Review

I take it by release Conger and Trout you mean let them start?

We also gave up $86M worth of serviceable Major League ballplayer(s) to bless the stress-free sack of crap. This has to trump all of the trades listed above precisely because of snowhor’s point that Verna was a known quantity. It should absolutely cost Reagins his job.

Frank Robinson was traded for for Jack Baldschun, Milt Pappas and Dick Simpson.

Haren? Callaspo? Teixeira?

Look, the Wells trade WAS brutal. But to think Tony is 100% responsible is just silly. Same with Mathis. Scioscia wanted to keep him – the arbitration/negotiation process almost has “built in” raise. If Scioscia wanted to keep Mathis on the roster, the Halos were going to have to give him an increase in salary. That’s not Reagins; that’s the system.

I blame Reagins for not negotiating more cash back from Toronto. That was terrible. But the players involved? That’s all Mike.

I was part of the “wait and see” crowd with Vernon. Well, I waited. And I saw.

If memory serves me correctly, I even argued with you about Wells home/road splits back in April. Boy was I wrong. (bowing head in shame)

Let’s face it – if we had just STOOD PAT last winter, maybe adding the two relievers only, we would have won 95-100 games. Rivera > Wells. Napoli > Mathis. A full year of Callaspo and Bourjos (vs. 2010). Rebounds from Aybar and Kendrick. Mix in Trumbo, and we actually have an offense.

Beltre would have been gravy.

is 3 more seasons of this.

What I think happens is Scioscia tells Reagins we need some help in the bullpen, left field, etc. Reagins goes out and looks to see who is available and comes back and tells Scioscia we can get Wells from the Jays for player X and Y, Scioscia then gives the go or no go for the trade, same for the trade for Kazmir. As far as free agents I think it is the same thing Reagins tells Scioscia we have X dollars to spend who do you want and Scioscia tells him to go after Takahashi, Rodney & Fuentes.

When Reagins was promoted I think Artie asked Scioscia if he could help Reagins learn the ropes and guide him on personnel decisions. What happened over time is that Reagins has basically given the traditional role for personnel over to Scioscia. Of course I can only go with my “gut” on this since I have no inside knowledge.

Anyway that is the way I see it, not having been to 4,000 meetings between Artie, Reagins and Scioscia I can’t say for sure. But I do know that in a future meeting Artie, Reagins or Scioscia has to say, “Mathis has to go.”

Jeff

I believe Tony lets Mike make the final call and just about every player.

I’m pretty sure the Angels, as an organization, went over every single potential free agent each winter. Every one. When Takahashi, Rodney, or Fuentes’ name came up, they (scouts, field personnel, front office) gave their opinion and decided who to target. When Tony was closing in on one of them, I am pretty sure he went to Mike to let him know. Tony was in charge of negotiating, but Mike gave his thumbs up on the player.

Kazmir is so obvious that nobody here really argues this one. Kazmir was available, and Butcher thought he could fix him. He was wrong. Again, Tony most likely went to his brain trust (scouts, minor league coordinators, field staff) to determine and allow Torres and Rodriguez to be packaged in the deal. Kazmir is Butcher’s fault, the players exchanged were Tony’s decision.

Wells was probably brought up by Reagins to Scioscia. “Hey, he’s available.” With a power hitting OF, Scioscia probably pushed for it. (Remember, Sosh wasn’t completely sold on Bourjos’ hitting ability) In discussions, Tony and Arte reviewed the budget and determined that some 2011 payroll had to be cut to accommodate Wells’ contract. At that point, Scioscia had to be consulted. Who must we trade? Kazmir seems obvious in hindsight. No other contracts were big enough to matter.

My opinion – Sosh easily recommended trading Rivera, but had difficulty letting Napoli go. In the end, Scioscia probably TRULY BELIEVED that Wells’ power would offset Napoli’s, and that Mathis would hit .240. Everything would be fine. We know this, because Mike forced it down our throats all year. Huge, huge blunder. Tony compounded it, though, by not demanding more future cash from Toronto to offset the bloated contract. Another huge, huge mistake.

So, yes, I think Scioscia has an enormous “say” on player personnel decisions.

I’ve said this elsewhere, but unless your name is Bill Belichick, no coach/manager has ever been able to sustain success as a personnel guy.

I mean, it doesn’t have to be AJ Smith vs. Marty Schottenheimer, but the GM’s need to make the decisions on these matters.

I could do his job with unlimited resources, too.