Friday, May 27, 2005 |
Deja Vu, All Over Again: Angels 9, Royals 8
Angel fans who've been reading this blog for a while know of the Grabowski Principle, and Mike actually succumbed to it by putting Esteban Yan on the mound. But perhaps just as bad was Garret Anderson's multiple bad plays in left. I'm now completely convinced Anderson's arthritis has deteriorated his legs to the point he's well below average, even in left. With his still-poor running, he gave up a single in the seventh with John Buck at bat that should have been an out; and in the eighth, he overran a certain single that turned into a de facto inside-the-park home run after the ball rolled to the wall.
This is one of the worst defensive outfields I've ever seen.
Angels fans reading my blog over time will probably recognize that Scioscia pulled at least one instance of the Grabowski Principle; leaving Byrd in was the first, possibly, but for sure bringing in Yan when the team has been struggling to hit was a huge mistake.
D-Mac's game winner was the focus of the postgame interviews, but if it takes the likes of the Royals' struggling closer to serve up the kind of meatball needed to get the ball over the fence, it's going to be a long season. The frustrations of Anderson and Finley got me recalling Jon's late words of wisdom, namely: anybody suggesting better alternatives need to have a good answer to the question, "better than what?" I bring this up because my coworker's cousin, Nick Gorneault, is currently leading the Stingers with a .319/.364/.617 line. The discrepancy between his average and OBP isn't all that encouraging, but it might be worth a trial run while Vlad is down to have him come up and take a few hacks as a fifth outfielder. Can Jeff DaVanon (.228/.308/.272) find a way to get injured? As one of the commenters on the Halos' Heaven gameday thread remarked, it's hard to tell from this game which team is worse. That the Angels won by only a single run places the Angels' organizational shortcomings in stark relief at all levels:
- The general manager continues to make bad signings. Cabrera and Yan are two players who should never have made it to this club. Come to think of it -- is there even one offseason signing Stoneman made that's working out? Here I'm not talking about promoted farm system products like Peralta or Woods, but free agents.
- The GM makes poor assumptions about what rookies can actually accomplish. I had no illusions that McPherson could actually hit respectably in his rookie year; he's got a history of increased strikeouts at each level. That's not to say he's going to fail, but to fail to account for this is a sign of a failure to plan adequately.
- Scioscia continues to misuse players. Yan is probably the most egregious example, but why is stone-cold Steve Finley batting third?
You may be right about that, but there's no way this crew is worst than last year's.
Yeah Stoneman doesn't like to make trades but Moreno needs to point out that he has the money to spend and is the one who signs the checks.
I disagree with you about the Cabrera signing. He's been terrific defensively and hitting-wise will come around eventually. Even with his crap-ass batting average he already has hit roughly as many home runs as Eckstein typically hit in an entire season, no?
Plus his presence keeps Vlad happy since the two are best friends. (I suspect this was a key motivation behind the signing.) However, I do agree with your sentiments that they overpaid him by quite a lot.
Agreed about GA's defence. There are many many plays he has refused to even try to make this year that most younger outfielders would make regularly.
- Chris
: 5/28/2005 09:32:00 AMLast year's had Jeff D. or Figgins in center and was rather good at those times. They were just bad when Anderson was in center.
: 5/28/2005 10:57:00 AMWilliam -- Rate2 has Jeffy and Figgy as appreciably below league average by Rate2 in 2004 (97 and 93 respectively). Believe it or not, this year actually represents an upgrade, if only to mediocrity, though it should be noted Figgins is actually getting better over time. As for Cabrera, all of a sudden his glove has improved immensely, and he's 12 runs above league average so far. Small sample size, but his range is appreciably better than Eckstein, whose 86 Rate2 with St. Louis is simply unacceptable.
Matt -- please to note that I am not "just now" starting to bitch at Stoneman for his overestimation of McPherson's value to the club. That started in my with my all-baseball.com Angels season preview.
Second, re your comment that the Angels have been in first place every day of the season thus far, I would counter by noting it's safe to say winning the AL West is like winning the AL Central was in years past: a nice consolation prize. It will take no more than 92 wins to take the division (what the Angels ended up with last year), and 90 wins wouldn't surprise me at all (since the division has gotten worse).
The Angels have been in first place every single day? Yes, and they're now tied with the Rangers for first. Is their defense better than last year? Last year's DER was 0.6883, 8th in the league; this year's is 0.6971... 8th in the league again. Yes, there's been a noticeable improvement, but the problem is everyone else has improved, too. I have a hard time figuring out who exactly is responsible for the improvement in defense, but yes, there is an argument that Cabrera is a big part of that.
As to the rotation: what they've done this month is nothing short of eye-popping, but I can't expect it to last. I still think they're over their heads and will come tumbling back to earth, especially in July and August. That is, this can't last, and the hitting has to step it up.
Agreed on Yan, of course. And Anderson's D is still miserable in left; a permanent DH slot isn't a bad idea, actually (Rate2 of 93 suggests those arthritic legs are still with him). Broken? No, but seeing how the Angels just barely squeaked past the Royals, that ought to serve as a warning shot.
I wish I could remember it, but there was a pretty good article on the history of the current generation of Angels players, either on BP or Hardball Times, talking about Stoneman's deference to the "magic four" or some such.
If you're going to platoon Erstad, then bring up Kotchman and let him get in some major league at bats. DaVanon had a nice couple of years, but yes, it's time he disappeared (along with his bat). But Figgins playing CF against lefties (2005 splits vs: .109/.210/.182, 55 AB) instead of Erstad (.177/.239/.242, 62 AB)? Are you mad?
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