6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog: Wile E. Stoneman, Super Genius: A's 3, Angels 0

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Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Wile E. Stoneman, Super Genius: A's 3, Angels 0

Anybody figuring the A's absent Mulder and Hudson were going to be pushovers neglected to consider that they might actually improve by subtracting two guys who had choked either down the stretch or in the postseason for five consecutive years. This is the warning shot, guys: the Angels don't have pitching this good, and the A's hitting isn't nearly as bad as it was last year.

Bill Stoneman, with whom I have a diffident relationship as a GM, is impressing me negatively at this exact moment. Sometimes the best thing you can do with a farm system is make trades. I'm not saying that's the course of action needed at this exact moment, but I do wonder whether the Kotchman/Helton comparisons are going to be warranted a year from now. As Bryan Smith put it earlier, he needs to start hitting or find himself rapidly displaced on the depth chart.

And the Angels need to start thinking about who they need to fire in their minor leagues developing and scouting pitching.

Update: Now that I can't get to sleep (&#*$ Diet Cokes I had with dinner, lousy choice), I commend FJT's cogent analysis of the situation, though I would mention that the Angels .300+ average with RISP has a lot to do with it too; it surely doesn't have anything to do with their lame power numbers.

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