Ex-Angel Points Tweetblame at Scioscia

"Feel really bad for the old squad, I'll tell ya what, it's not the guys on the field. Better check the big (catorce)"

Stop the presses. Look Ma, no paywall...

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In a late night tweet (do I even need to say that the tweet was on twitter?), ex-Angels pitcher Trevor Bell tweeted a not-so cryptic accusation that the Angels current problems could be blamed on manager Mike Scioscia.

Feel really bad for the old squad, I'll tell ya what, it's not the guys on the field. Better check the big (catorce)

— Trevor Bell (@TrevBe22) April 11, 2013

Okay, let's decipher what this says.

The first three-quarters of the tweet are simple enough. He feels bad for his former teammates and feels the need to alert people that the terrible performance is not an indicator of the quality of the Angels players themselves.

Fair enough, preseason analysis did not pick those players to win the American League West based on random coinflips.

The next five words, though, are as publicly insubordinate towards Mike Scioscia as anything ever uttered since Jose Guillen threw his helmet against the dugout wall in September of 2004.

Better check the big (catorce)

Catorce is Spanish for fourteen. Mike Sciosica wears jersey number fourteen. He is also big. Sure he is the big leader, the big manager, but every year he is the biggest guy in an Angels uniform (save perhaps for the Bartolo Colon tenure in Anaheim).

This is a public volley, borne in the frustration of seeing players he loves crushed in spirit and esteem. The tweeting did not elaborate as to the structural deficiencies of Scioscia's managing or personality. It just laid the blame at his parenthetical feet.

Screenshot in case the thing is deleted:

Trevor Bell does not currently appear to be playing professional baseball. But don't call his tweeting a no-hitter.

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