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Mailbag Mayhem: Hockey tough vs baseball tough, looking at Lincecum, Trout trading & MORE!

By Josh Mayhood
Dylan Buell/Getty Images

There is no baseball today, as the Angels head back to Anaheim after an ugly, ugly road trip that saw them get trounced by not only the Rangers, but the freakin' Brewers, too. Everything is upside down. The starting pitching is struggling, while the bullpen has been a resurgent bright spot. The bats come alive all the time, except for all those times when they don't. Mike Trout is still a god, though, so we still have that going for us.

Remember when we missed baseball, and were all excited for the season to start, but now the team is pissing us off on the regular, driving us to our laptops and phones to yell on Halos Heaven about how awful Scioscia's boys are doing? Yep, it's pretty awesome...and I mean that sincerely. As much as it can be taxing on our psyches, it's still a passion we all share and we're not going anywhere, fandom-wise.

Even when the Angels are at their worst, it's still baseball, and there's still Mike Trout. But people still have some Halos questions itching their brains and I'm hear to do a regular check in on the fanbase...see what you guys are thinkin' on...and answer all your questions with 100% accurate and definitive answers. Shall we get right to it?

Hockey players are freaks...we can't hold up anybody else, even other athletes, to their standard. Those guys are TOUGH, to the point where it's almost inhuman and scary. As for fatigue, and G-Rich, let's just hope it's something like that and not anything more serious. But yeah...kinda soon in the season to be missing a start for such an odd, nebulous reason. Also, if we're going to poke fun of players for being soft, I prefer to stick to the NBA.

No, I do not. Which is good.

Sure, there's a chance...but almost every other team in the league has that same chance. That's the rub...if he looks good in his workout tomorrow, then he'll be coveted by plenty teams, including the Giants. Let's see how he looks, first, but I wouldn't count him out. Hope the best for that guy, loved watching him dominate.

They'll be a bit hamstrung in that department for another year, can't spend more than $300,000, but that doesn't mean they can't try to grab some talent. The mistake Dipoto made was trading away their slot values for peanuts in return, instead of taking a flyer on some of these lesser known international nuggets. Let's hope Billy Eppler doesn't go that route.

You've got Matt Joyce on your mind, i'm guessing, but really there are plenty other guys you could be referring to, as it's kind of become a frustrating meme. Player is good, comes to Anaheim, isn't good any more, goes somewhere else, is good. People have tried to figure this out, and it used to be prevalent among departing pitchers, so you could at least pin it on maybe Mike Butcher. But when it's a position player, it makes little to no sense. Of course, baseball often makes little to no sense, so everything checks out. That's a roundabout way of saying "i have no clue dude, but it pisses me off, too".

Eusebio Medina asks: If the angels continue to struggle come all star break do you see bud black, ron reneckie, or dino eble taking over the helm?

Naw, dude. Whenever people find out I write about the Angels, they always ask if Scioscia is getting fired. He isn't. There is nothing at this point, short of some Donald Sterling-like controversy, that will remove him from his duties. He's ours til his contract runs out, and then we'll see. FYI...Bud Black seems to be the front runner for the Braves job next year if/when Fredi Gonzalez leaves.

Christopher Acosta asks: With the angels continuing to struggle do you think they get to a point this year where they consider trading trout and just re stocking the farm system? While I love trout it's getting painful to watch the team around him.

Another one of these, but it's all good. Again, I say a resounding "nah".

Robert Urteaga asks: If you had to choose between C.J. Wilson and Andrew Heaney to be a starter, who would it be?

Andrew Heaney, hands down.

Francis Sapien asks: If we only make one major move before the season ends what would be the best for the team?

My "never gonna happen" answer is Arte Moreno sells the team. I like your question a lot, though, and there are a few realistic answers that come to mind. Off the top of my head: C.J. Wilson looks good coming off DL, he is then traded for a couple prospects...Sherman Johnson gets a shot at 2B...C.J. Wilson comes off the DL, looks good, and accepts a bullpen position...Mike Scioscia moves Trout to a better lineup spot, and moves Pujols out of cleanup...the Angels decide to nix "Buttercup" during the 7th inning stretch. Any of those moves coming to fruition would please me.

Great round of questions, my Halos Heaven peeps. I think this season is going to be a rollercoaster, and maybe we end up loving it, maybe it just makes us sick. Whatever happens, you'll always have Halos Heaven as an outlet for your frustration, or for your excellent WIN gifs. That's what community is all about. Any more questions? Leave 'em in the comments. If not, we'll see ya tomorrow for the Angels/Rays game.

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