MondoLinks: Reason For Hope

Before I get into it, take a moment to realize that this LA Angels roster managed to play the Tampa Bay Rays pretty much straight up. Over a 4-game series, the tow teams split the W’s and almost managed the exact same number of runs scored. The Rays out-hit the Angels only 38-32. The Rays committed 4 errors to the Angels only 1. Our Halos stood toe to toe across a 4-game set with the team that has the 3rd-highest number of wins in all of baseball, and came within a hair’s width of outright besting them, and pushing their opponent to exhaustion.

And there is still a lot of duct tape holding this roster together. Be optimistic.

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One of the most brutal things about being a sports fan is the day that a player that is dragging down your team loses their livelihood. For the fan, that is a day of great rejoicing. The fan remains in their seats, contributing nothing to the endeavor but noise, and moves on to the next game still engaged with the team and the pursuit of the season outcome. But the player, somebody who actually DID contribute but in ways where the weight of failures overwhelmed the helium of success, that person is out of a job. They are left behind. Remembered only as an encumbrance. Ignominy, if not infamy. The dude on the couch grabs another beer and feels vindicated. The player DFA’d sees a point in the near future where his paychecks will come to a harsh end and his thoughts start to fill up with questions about security for their family, and concerns about the future quality of life.

Cody Allen being DFA’d is the very definition of guilty pleasure. Sorry, Cody. I have no idea whether you are a good person or a jackass. I feel guilty that I celebrate your getting canned. But it’s a pleasure to not have to know you anymore. Unless you create an HH account, at which point you are welcome right along with the rest of us.

Let’s roll with some Hopeful-HaloLinks:

A Little Bit Of Angels News

As the Angels move on to Toronto, Justin Upton gets activated today. That’s good, but Upton is not a top of the rotation starter. A major upgrade at left field is not the missing link. And with Brian Goodwin at 0.5 fWAR and Cesar Puello at 0.9 fWAR, Upton’s 3.1 fWAR across a full season (not just a half) of all of 2018 does not forecast an offensive uplift that will save the day............But maybe when we get Andrelton Simmons back, too...............

And that Brian Goodwin guy? Nailed it.............Not bad at nabbing the critical catch, either............

Shohei Ohtani is merely warming up. That’s 0.5 fWAR in only 34 games. 0.4 of that in the last week............Why anybody would think that they had forgotten about Ohtani is beyond me.............But not everybody has forgotten about the Shohei Ohtani miracle.............

Some more facts surrounding Ohtani’s Cycle last week. You will note in that table at the bottom that pretty much all the other guys who hit for a cycle and also pitched, pitched more as novelty than as a career starter...............

I don’t know whether this is Griffin Canning Porn, or Shohei Ohtani Porn. Whatever it it, I am drooling...............

Happy Father’s Day to the Bedrosian household...........Happy Father’s Day to the Trout household, and the Upton household..............

Weekly Mike Trout Career WAR Perp Walk. Mike may not understand WAR, but he sure knows that it’s out there, and we fans care. When BBR updates their Career table over night, I expect that Trout has now surpassed Ivan Rodriguez and Eddie Murray, and be on par with Al Simmons. He is within 1 bWAR of the All-Time Career Top 100.............

Everywhere In Baseball

The Yankees are doing Yankee things, again. This time it’s trading with Seattle to acquire Edwin Encarnacion. Encarnacion’s 21 home runs merely leads the American League at the moment. And this addition brutally forces the Yankees to send Clint Frazier, who is having a fine year, to the Minors. Simply too many outfielders..............

Actually, what with all the strangeness of how so many players are hitting so many home runs all over the place, why limit the Home Run Derby to rookies? Why not let ‘em ALL compete???..............

The Denver Broncos took on the San Diego Chargers in an 4-game exhibition series over the weekend, but for fun they wore baseball uniforms. All told they ended up scoring 92 points............

Sean Newcomb dodged a bullet. Kinda. It was a 102mph bullet of a baseball coming off he bat of J.T. Realmuto. He took it off his head and came right out of the game. But, supposedly, he is fine. Maybe we need to put up netting around the pitcher’s mound?............

Plate umpiring really is getting pretty bad this season..........And they are getting pretty testy about it............

It’s going to be pretty hard for me to rationalize the dichotomy of baseball continuing to blackball members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox for gambling on baseball, while the 2019 Chicago Cubs are about to install a gambling sports book inside of Wrigley Field. It’s not totally sanctioned by MLB yet, but MLB will have to bend to the law of Illinois..........

Here’s a tip: if you are in possession of a game-used Mike Trout jersey, take it to your dry cleaners right now, get it sealed up in one of those wedding dress preservation bags, then put that into an air-tight carbon fiber suitcase, and then fly down to Chile and bury it in a marked grave in the Atacama desert. Your great-great-grand kids will thank the hell out of you..............

The College World Series has begun, and Vanderbilt is still rolling..............

The Duffle Bag

Mike Trout loved by Moo Moo the good doggy............And Mike Trout is loved by kids, everywhere.............Christian Yelich: “cue ball in the side pocket”...........Happy Father’s Day to the Maldonado household, where Martin is clearly the most creative..............Let the kids play............Add one-time Angels draftee Sean Rodriguez to the Position Player as Pitcher list.............It is only possible for me to continue on if I convince myself that this man is really eating pineapple sherbet ice cream that he merely smuggled in within a huge jar that used to hold mayonnaise...............It’s pretty hard to out-Mets the Mets, but the Cardinals beat the Mets at their own game even as the Mets a trying their damnedest to be the Mets.............