Mike Napoli Day to Day

by Rev Halofan on Jul 27, 2007 10:47 PM PDT in News Comment 45 comments

UPDATE: Napster hits the 15-Day Disabled List. Minor League catcher Ryan Budde called up to take his place.

Angels Catcher Mike Napoli tweaked his hamstring stealing 2nd Base Friday night. He will not be going on the disabled list. Napster will likely not play over the weekend and this might force the Angels to send Brandon Wood to AAA and call up minor leaguer Bobby Wilson to spell Mathis in a game this weekend.

This injury, mild as it is, has stoked a few of the halo hardcore to question the wisdom of Bill Stoneman's recent trading of Jose Molina.

Let me reiterate that the trade of Molina is of no consequence in this matter. If Jose Molina had not been traded, Napoli's injury would have meant that the Angels would have had Jose Molina catching more games. By all definitions of baseball analysis, Jose Molina in your lineup out of necessity IS A NEGATIVE. Jose is fat, slow and cannot hit the Earth skydiving.

While Jeff Mathis will not bring to mind a young Johnny Bench, like Howie Kendrick playing First Base last season, any time he gets at this level will be training and simultaneous proving and it would be humanly impossible for a catcher with minor league experience to be worse than Jose Molina.

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Well said...

And I agree... good riddance to Molina

I messed with Texas!

by Los Angeles de Anaheim on Jul 27, 2007 10:41 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Funny

But molina is one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, and he can hit way above .111. However, if this can bring out the best in Mathis, it would be worth it. I'm just not sure Mathis can handle the ultimatum. Of course I hope so.

by constantine on Jul 27, 2007 10:45 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

PS

We are in a pennant race and can't afford to play game.

by constantine on Jul 27, 2007 10:51 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

games

by constantine on Jul 27, 2007 10:52 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

oh i forgot - CONSTANTINE is a troll

is it SEATTLE or OAKLAND that you love and then come here to bug us?

by Rev Halofan on Jul 27, 2007 11:42 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Let's try to figure this out

Let me see. Hmmmm. How can I explain this. OK, my second favorite team in MLB is the AL West team with the longest losing streak and the most games behind the Angels. Does that explain it?

by constantine on Jul 27, 2007 11:55 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

and people are howling

for Stoneman's head for his moves on our backup catcher. It is ABSURD ! ! ! !

by Rev Halofan on Jul 27, 2007 11:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

it's not clear

let me see if I understand this:
you don't like Molina??

:-P~~~~

w.w.r.m.d.

by ladybug on Jul 27, 2007 10:48 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Talk about..

Pulling absolutely zero punches!!

by im4kiss on Jul 27, 2007 10:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i would rather have molina than mathis

by UCIHalo on Jul 27, 2007 11:03 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

At this point in time

We should have both. No reason not too. Crazy.

by constantine on Jul 27, 2007 11:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Napolis Hammy

I am an Angel season ticket holder.I was at the game and saw Mike steal 2nd.Injuries occur
regardless of anything.I look at this as a
Positive NOT a negative. Give Mathis a chance at this level.Mathis needs experience at THIS level.
I say good riddence to JOSE Molina.I remember
Tom Glavines rookie year. He was like 7-17
with an ERA OVER 5:00.Mathis strong suit is defense. Look at most of the catchers in MLB.
Most of them cant hit.

by Angelfan777 on Jul 27, 2007 11:12 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

amen

mathis is just as good at defending as molina, and is more athletic, its a matter of time before he stops looking like a deer in headlights whenever hes at bat, maybe being the #1 catcher will ease the pressure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlTvSUCCqPo

by ANewFoundThrice on Jul 28, 2007 12:07 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

But we want to win the world series now

by constantine on Jul 27, 2007 11:16 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Agree

Molina replacing Napoli is the same as a pile of shit replacing Napoli.

The detriment here to winning the world series IS the absence of Mike Napoli.

The detriment here to winning the World Series IS NOT the absence of Jose Molina.

The absence of Jose Molina on our team is a step TOWARD winning the World Series.

The presence of Jose Molina on our team was of less ocnsequence to the team's success than the number of peanuts in a bag for sale by a stadium vendor.

by Rev Halofan on Jul 27, 2007 11:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You are wrong

Molina was a more than solid backup who came through in the clutch more than once. Keep Molina and Mathis, how dare anyone be so stupid as to trade Molina away at this point in time. Dumb, dumber and dumbest.

by constantine on Jul 27, 2007 11:32 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

People complain

that Stoneman does not make any trades and then he actually gets a pitching prospect in exchange for the most replaceable member of the team (who is a free agent at the end of the year and is paid more than double the league minimum every year) and the fans are too sentimental to let it go.

Backup Catcher. Dude, get a grip. Jose Molina was NOT clutch. He had a few clutch hits, but he grounded into double plays and struck out in a combined ONE-THIRD of his at-bats as an Angel. There is one word for that type of baseball player:

SHITTY

by Rev Halofan on Jul 27, 2007 11:41 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Water under the bridge

Now it is up to Mathis. Keep the runners from stealing 2nd base and get hits. Period.

by constantine on Jul 28, 2007 12:01 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

tru dat

JoMo was such an automatic DP that in those situations they just had him sac bunt (which he did well).

I doubt the JoMo trade will be the difference. It will hurt just a little versus LHP, but hopefully this experience is valuable to Mathis.

by elricsi on Jul 28, 2007 8:32 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not so much

upset that he traded Molina in the first place...as that he traded him for a pitching prospect who by all accounts is more than a few years away from the big league level and who doesn't really project to amount to much. If he had to trade Molina, he SHOULD HAVE gotten a mid-level OF prospect with some semblance of POWER.

Light Up That Halo!

by Clutch on Jul 28, 2007 1:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Injuries happen

Keeping three catchers would have been dumb. We just got unlucky with Napoli's injury, but Jose was inconsequential to this team's success.

by DChalofan on Jul 28, 2007 6:48 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

BECAUSE MATHIS IS HORRIBLE.

He better get better quick because we don't want his defense to act anything like his horrid offense. Remember, we're trying to win games not lose games. Jeff Mathis, you should be paying us to watch your godawful plate appearances.

by CaLiKrAzY on Jul 27, 2007 11:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Jose was fading rapidly

slower and sloppier each year. Being over 30 will do that to a fella I hear.

by Rev Halofan on Jul 27, 2007 11:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

whatever you say about Molina

he has a connection with some of our 'wilder' pitchers that Mathis and Naps don't have. It's painfully obvious KRod feels more comfortable with Molina. When evil Shields rears his ugly head, Molina is able to play hockey goalie and block most of the dirt balls.

w.w.r.m.d.

by ladybug on Jul 27, 2007 11:23 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

no pitcher on this team

had a zero ERA with Molina behind the dish. Mathis is almost as good defensively as Molina and can only get better.

by Rev Halofan on Jul 27, 2007 11:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I disagree

Much like Bengie before him, Jose is getting lazier behind the plate. He tries to backhand too many balls, and while he has a strong arm, he has more than his share of throwing errors.

Add to this the fact that he can't hit a baseball... losing Molina is not a problem at all.

The one thing people fail to mention is the fact that he's the one guy on the team who could get a bunt down in almost any situation. Figgins and Willits can't, Scioscia and Cabrera seem to think our SS is a power hitter, and GA has never bunted in his life. I think there may be one or two games in which that may hurt us, but that's no reason to hold onto a guy.

by iLoveLamp on Jul 28, 2007 12:52 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Did you see last night's game?

Mathis made some pretty great defensive plays behind the plate. He blocked a tough ball in the dirt that bounced up pretty high and he made a sweet catch of a ball that really got away from Shields and went completely behind Shef. If that ain't great D, what is?

by LosAngel on Jul 28, 2007 10:26 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Did you ever badmouth Molina before the trade Rev?

.....or is this just your way of giving Stoneman a reach around?

by bc56274 on Jul 28, 2007 12:00 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

i paid Jose no mind

but these revisionists were not there railingg that he should be a #1 ahead of Napoli, Mathis or his own brother.

by Rev Halofan on Jul 28, 2007 12:13 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

No one ever said that

by constantine on Jul 28, 2007 12:16 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

FOOL, that is my point

Those who come now to praise Jose never did while he was here.

by Rev Halofan on Jul 28, 2007 1:30 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't get angry

Molina as 2 because he is a (more than) a solid defender and can hit .250. He is a pro. He was depth in case the young guys freak out. Bad trade at this point. Wake up and smell the folgers.

by constantine on Jul 28, 2007 6:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

tell Patsy Cline

I said you were crazy

by Rev Halofan on Jul 28, 2007 8:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I told her what you said

However, she said that when she meets me, "She Falls to Pieces"!

by constantine on Jul 28, 2007 9:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

About Mathis' D

Were you people complaining about Mathis even watching the game? During one of the at-bats — and I'm pretty sure this was during Granderson's AB with Shields on the mound — Shields just totally lost it, and threw behind the batter. And goddamned if Mathis didn't track the ball but leap over about three feet and nab the ball on the other side of Granderson.

First of all, there is no way Molina makes that grab. Just none. Second, it's kinda iffy if Napoli moves that fast. That was just one impressive move right there. Now, I know he's done things to annoy everyone here: he's had a couple passed balls that were like, oh, Christ, send him back to AAA. But if there was any one thing that got me to jump up and pay attention to his defense, it was that ball that didn't become a wild pitch in that inning. And as it turned out, if that gets to the backstop, the Tigers score again, and Shields gets to face Carlos Guillen.

Hoping Ervin Santana turns it around in Salt Lake. Go, Ervin!

by scareduck on Jul 28, 2007 1:21 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

The grab was on Sheffield

and you are right - Jose back there on the wild throw = runs scored and a different game altogether.

by Rev Halofan on Jul 28, 2007 1:30 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

oh wow

i was wondering if that pith was actually behind him. shit, that makes it even more impressive. of course, you can't tell what the hell's going on from right field anyway. the strike zone from there is some sort of weird rhombohedron, or something.

East coast bias

by Carl Johnson on Jul 28, 2007 1:47 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah - i was shocked

and impressed that he actually caught that ball. If he misses I dont think that changes the outcome of game though - already up by 5 at that point but it was very impressive.

I dont have a problem with the Molina trade at all but Mathis NEEDS to get better at the plate. Defensively, I'm not all that worried but offensively - Mathis is making Molina look good. Needs to get the batting practice pitcher to throw some off speed stuff at him cause he looks like Serrano out there.

What? Figgins is playing better? Well, I still don't like him.

by gorams77 on Jul 28, 2007 8:42 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Molina

Napoli's bonehead move Friday night is why you need Jose Molina - even if by definition is otherwise a no-hit, backup catcher. He knew how to work with everyone on the staff and for the posters who said it wouldn't have mattered either way - you are right, so why the fuss over great expectations.

Molina is what he is and he had fit a role with the Angels.

From sound of it, it is as if a lot of fans thought Molina was the cock-block to either Mike Napoli being the next Piazza, Mathis being the next decent 'whatever' catcher and/or the next great catching duo.

by Halos2002 on Jul 28, 2007 2:18 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I like the fact....

that Mathis will have a shot to try and prove something. In a perfect world, he would end up finding himself at the plate because Napoli could very well be a liability defensively (at least throwing people out) for years to come.

Right now Napoli is obviously the #1 on our team, but I'm willing to bet if we get into the playoffs even with him healthy, the catcher spot will be one of our 'disadvantages' when compared to other teams.

by thewebb on Jul 28, 2007 9:46 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs