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Tuesday, April 12, 2005 |
Pickoff Moves
The Unbearable Lightness Of Hitting: Angels 7, Rangers 6
| LA Angels | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Erstad, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .312 |
| Figgins, 2B | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .115 |
| Guerrero, RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .276 |
| Anderson, LF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .355 |
| Rivera, DH | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .286 |
| Cabrera, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .217 |
| Finley, CF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .148 |
| Molina, B, C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .333 |
| 1-Izturis, PR-3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 |
| Merloni, 3B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| a-DaVanon, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .176 |
| Molina, J, C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .333 |
| Totals | 41 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 16 |
Another crummy outing for Wash, leading me to think it's time for the eject button at the end of the season. The good news: the bullpen held 'em down for once.
I wouldn't go so far as to call it baseball's next great rivalry, as the Rangers and Angels both have spent too much time in the cellar in their franchises' respective divisions and lifetimes to believe they're going to become great rivals. Besides, geographically, the Rangers really belong in the AL Central, but a paucity of AL teams made that difficult.
In Texas, of course, they're rethinking their love affair with closer Francisco Cordero:
Cordero has opened the season with the two blown saves in four chances. A season ago, he had 49 saves in 54 chances. Was that a fluke? Or were the Rangers unrealistic in basing their planning on having Cordero go 49-for-54 again? Go with the latter. Cordero could be a good closer again and not convert on more than 90 percent of his chances. The job is too difficult to take exceptional success for granted.Considering the guy's 2004 9.92 K/9 and 2.47 K/BB are pretty much in line with his career statistics, as is his .258 2004 BABIP. Cordero's going to be just fine over the season, unless he's hiding an injury. Incidentally, Cordero gave up just one home run all last year -- the game winner in an late-season 8-7 Angels victory, to Troy Glaus, after -- yes -- another Jarrod Washburn five-run-special.
Kenny Rogers, Rangers In Alleged Tiff
ESPN Insider reports Kenny Rogers and Rangers ownership were allegedly fighting over a two-year contract extension, with Rogers threatening immediate retirement if he didn't get the extension. The two sides have buried the hatchet, or the fungo bat, whatever the case may be.One odd coda to the story comes from this New Jersey Star-Ledger story:
"I don't know if I go so far as to say Kenny wasn't cut out to pitch here," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "But there are certain guys who decide they don't want to go through all the extra stuff that goes along with it. I think Kenny kind of wanted to be left alone to just pitch, and that's not something you can really do in New York."I wonder what Randy Johnson thought when he got traded to the Yanks...
The Best Free Agent Signings Of All Time
Mike Carminati and Studes have a long list o' numbers up about the best free agent signings of all time. Not surprisingly, Barry Bonds tops the list, followed by Greg Maddux (by the Braves), Craig Biggio (by Houston), and Randy Johnson (by Arizona). Note this is not a cost/WSAB analysis, just an analysis of the best by WSAB. I expect Vlad will appear on this list for the Angels eventually.
Comments:
What about best free agent signings according to their impact on helping a team win a championship (since that is what the goal is)? In that case, Randy Johnson would still be listed, but also, so would someone like Aaron Sele for the Angels, who had a major impact during the season and was their major free agent signing that winter (I would also argue that the Mo Vaughn trade was one of the best, since it gave them Kevin Appier). Ivan Rodriguez would be the best single season free agent for what he did with the Marlins in 03 (especially with his impact in the playoffs).
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