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Oh, sure. It’s only Spring. Who cares? Pitchers are slow to get into gear, and in these first few games teams run out a lot of prospects to the mound rather than front-line starters anyway. But the same is true for ALL teams. And among ALL teams, the Halos lead MLB Spring Training with 82 runs across 10 total games. Yeah, that’s 8.2 runs per game. That’s fun shit, right there. The rest of the AL West wishes it was having this much fun.
Here. Enjoy these Badassed-Scoring-At-Will-HaloLinks:
A Little Bit Of Angels News
Billy Eppler’s farm hands - especially that Matt Thaiss kid - showing us some hope for the coming years.............
Trout & Pujols re-introducing all of us to baseball..............Pujols does care about his stats. At least when they are really good............
Andrew Heaney re-introducing all of us to the LAA starting rotation.............
Matt Harvey introducing us to the possibility that this won’t be the same old LAA starting rotation.............
Peter Bourjos showing Mike Trout how to lead the Spring in power...........
Justin Bour showing Stirrups that things could get interesting with the 1B/DH logjam..........
Zack Cozart showing his aging bones...........
Cam Bedrosian showing that an old dog can learn a new split-fingered trick............
Here comes Griffin Canning. And reading an article about Canning that includes the word ‘durable’ is eye-opening...........
Because fantasy players don’t give a shit about defense, Andrelton Simmons is only your 22nd-ranked MLB shortstop............
The 2019 pre-season preview coming from the UK is a refreshingly straightforward look at the Halos. This is what happens when you don’t have to worry about losing access because you hurt somebody’s feelings............
Please note that The Angels are committed to making your life infinitely more convenient, by requiring you to use your energy-consuming, cellular-connected, fire-hazard pocket device that must be removed from your person in order to navigate the entrance metal-detection screening. This, instead of using a little piece of recyclable paper in get inside the stadium and to your seat. And also, this way you will be safe from terrorism. Their words, not mine............
Everywhere In Baseball
If Parker Bridwell is not going to bounce back, I feel much better knowing that he won’t be bouncing back while wearing gold and green.....It’s more fun being on the other side of his downside............
Here is a brutal pairing of unrelated stories. First, Danny Farquhar made his first mound appearance since suffering a brain hemorrhage......And on the very same weekend, Luke Farrell took a line-drive come-backer shot tot he face and had his jaw broken............
Bryce Harper sales are going well. His jersey sales just broke global records.................And the Phillies just sold 100,000 extra tickets............
Yeah, if only the Angels could have signed Pujols back when he was 26. But they didn’t. Because they couldn’t.............
Some people back in Baltimore are kinda bitter about that whole Manny Machado “Orioles didn’t show me some love” comment from Manny last week..........But for his part, Machado is trying to start things off right all the way across the country for San Diego..........
Some people up in San Francisco are kinda embarrassing, and embarrassed..............
The MLBPA is holding dear to their pursuit of the universal DH................
Wichita, Kansas wants to act like the bog boys, giving away land to millionaires. Oh, sure, technically they are selling the public resource, but at only $1 per acre...........
ESPN going all-in on gambling coverage. While they might not care to do a daily MLB show, they certainly will be doing a daily gambling broadcast. I guess that their conversations about betting lines on baseball games will count as some sort of regular coverage?..........
Hot Stove
The Stove is nearing that time of year when we put it back into storage We have just a few odds and ends to cleanup first. Such as what to do with Dallas Keuchel? The Astros and the Padres are keeping his number in their contacts list............
We also have to find a home for Craig Kimbrel, who is getting looks from the Braves and Nationals..........
And, of course, we have to put the entire LAA fan base on edge concerning the future of Mike Trout.....The Phillies signed Bryce Harper, but they kept plenty of powder in reserve to make their run at Mike in a couple of years.......Here is what their payroll commitments look like going forward.............For his part, in his Philly intro, Harper slipped into the realm of tampering. (He also slipped in his locale.) Technically, it is known as Tortious Interference, but Arte’s lawyers should be registering a complaint with Rob Manfred’s stooges today.....Harper did call on Trout before he signed, asking about life in the region and the city of Philadelphia, so Harper has been colluding?? It kinda matters here. In this review of how Phillies execs sealed the deal with a show of family, there is this passage, explaining why Harder chose to forego the traditional opt-out: “While opt-outs were discussed during the negotiations, Harper, in the end, said he didn’t want one. If he was going to convince others to join him chasing championships in Philadelphia, players needed to know he wasn’t going anywhere.”............
And what is happening on our side? Well, there is a rumor going around that within the offices of Anaheim there have been talks about a 10-year, $350 million extension. Before I threw myself off any cliff because I believe this to be suicidally short, I woke up and realized that it was a rumor, and mind-blowingly broad. I have no doubt they have thought something like that. They probably had a thought or two about something else, as well. Maybe a passing thought about something smaller, and probably massive amounts of thinking about something much, much larger. This is news not because it’s factually certain. It’s news because Manny Machado and Bryce Harper have signed and Mike Trout, being up to bat, is trending...........
The Duffle Bag
You know what a Little League home run is. What do we call these? Canseco home runs?.............Thank you, Jerry............The Sandlot is coming to TV, as a streaming series.............Thor trolling Harp.............That Nats offer with deferred money? So deferred it ran payments out until Harper was 60-years old. Well, that would have, indeed, been the longest contract possible............Jerry’s field becoming T-Mobile Home Park.............New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is not long for his office..............