Thursday Halolinks: Mariners Show Angels What 2-Out Runs Look Like

Frustrated Thursday Halolinks:

• Last night's loss was a little more frustrating than other Halo losses and I couldn't figure out why until I read this: Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles Angels - June 6, 2012 - MLB.com. "But Williams couldn't convert those coveted shutdown innings, because he simply couldn't get that final out. There was the two-out, two-run double by outfielder Mike Carp in the second. The two-out, two-run double by third baseman Kyle Seager in the third. And, ultimately, the two-out, three-run rally in the sixth, which caused Williams to exit and eventually take the loss." All of the Mariners' runs were scored with 2 outs which leads to a feeling that theyarethisclose to getting out of the inning, but gave up runs that shouldn't have crossed the plate. Runs that don't "feel" like they're worth as much, and thus, don't add up to a complete loss. Does any of that make any sense? Yeah, I didn't think so. Carry on.
  
• Here's the other reason last night's game sucked, the club has gone back to wasting scoring opportunities. At least for one night: Angels end home stand on sour note - FS West. "The Angels were 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base. They grounded into two double plays, each time with runners in scoring position. On the first one, in the sixth inning, Maicer Izturis hit a bouncer to first baseman Justin Smoak. He made a difficult throw to short, but the relay from Brendan Ryan to pitcher Stephen Pryor was in time to catch Izturis, who seemed not to be running at full speed."
• This is going to be interesting: Angels plan to put Morales back in the field - The Orange County Register. "Albert Pujols said he is comfortable moving to third base for a couple starts in order to accommodate Morales."It doesn't make any difference to me, man. I was a shortstop (when he was younger). My dad always told me, 'If you can play shortstop, you can play any position.'"Keeping Morales' bat in the lineup is worth the effort. Since breaking out of a slump in Seattle 13 games ago, Morales is batting .321 (17 for 53), with four home runs, 12 RBIs and 10 runs scored."
• Looks like Jered Weaver is making quick progress in his recovery: Angels' Jered Weaver could resume throwing off a mound next week - latimes.com. "Jered Weaver extended his long-toss sessions to nearly 300 feet Wednesday and could resume throwing off a mound early next week, a strong indication the Angels ace could return from a lower-back strain soon after he is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list June 15." Which will lead to this question for the next week: Scioscia not prepared to bump Santana from rotation - Yahoo! Sports. "We're not contemplating anything like that," manager Mike Scioscia said Wednesday when asked if the Angels might bump Santana. "It's great to have that depth in your rotation. It's great to see what Garrett did. Ervin is a guy we're counting very heavily on and have a lot of confidence that he's going to pitch more to his ability than maybe we saw the last couple times. That's where we are right now." Richards has made one start this season, and although it was a very good start, let's wait a little bit before jettisoning Santana. That is, unless Santana is going to Boston...
• Diamondbacks Unlikely To Trade For Kevin Youkilis - MLBTradeRumors.com. "If the Diamondbacks do decide to pursue Youkilis, left-hander Joe Saunders seems the most likely candidate to be involved, but the source said that it's "unlikely" that the club is looking to trade Saunders." The reason I've included this link is for the sole purpose of stirring the Youkilis-Santana trade rumor pot.
  
• Minor league news: Prospects in Los Angeles Angels' pipeline making waves - angels.com. "The Angels' first-round player taken in the 2011 Draft, first baseman C.J. Cron, is the third-ranked player in the Angels' system and the third-ranked first-base prospect in the Major Leagues. In 58 games with High-A Inland Empire, Cron is batting .286 with 13 doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 42 RBIs."
• Draft news: Angels scouts rack up miles - Los Angeles Angels Blog - ESPN Los Angeles. "Of their 25 picks, all but two were from four or two-year colleges. The most surprising aspect of the Angels' draft is that they have yet to take a player from California."
• Are certain kinds of teams more susceptible to no-hitters? - The Hardball Times. "No-hitters should come against poor offenses more often than not, right? Well, do they? Do bad offenses get no-hit more often than good teams, or is that effect dwarfed by the randomness in baseball?"
• Is there anything worse than a rich person/team complaining about how much money they are not making? The Yankees continue to complain about StubHub - HardballTalk. ""We believe there are serious issues with the StubHub relationship," team president Randy Levine told The Post yesterday. "We are actively reviewing more fan-friendly alternatives for next year." The only "fan-friendly" alternative that stops someone from selling something cheaper than you do is lowering your prices. Because dudes: people are going to StubHub because people are not interested in paying what you want them to for tickets. It’s called the free market, Mr. Levine. I could order you a pamphlet on it if you’d like."
• Another edition of Rob's Mail bag, from your host with the most, Rob Neyer:
  
  
• Five suggestions for improving the state of umpiring - Hit and Run. "The men in uniform are getting increasingly fed up with the men in blue, in part because they feel as though the latter aren’t held accountable. Certain umpires appear to wind up at the center of controversy more often than others, with few if any public consequences for their actions."
• The amazing thing about this post is the fact that Joey Votto went the entire 2011 season without hitting a pop-up. You know, those things the Angels excel at: Joey Votto has only pulled one foul ball into the stands and he still remembers when he did it - Yahoo! Sports. "Not only has Votto only pulled one foul ball into the stands during his 2,821 big-league plate appearances, but he can still remember the moment he put that baseball into the seats."
• Just thought this was interesting: Orioles 2, Red Sox 1 - Baseball- NBC Sports. "Chen scattered seven hits over seven innings and the Orioles set a franchise record with their seventh straight victory in Boston, beating the Red Sox 2-1 on Wednesday night."