Friday, January 13, 2006 |
Pickoff Moves
McCourt To Sell Boston Parking Lots
Frank McCourt will sell off one of his Boston parking lots, for more than $145 million. The sale will retire a part of the debt he took on to buy the team, but he still owes $250 million.Jury Selected For Angels Name Case
A jury has been empaneled in the Los Angeles/Anaheim name dispute with the city of Anaheim, according to the Times. The panel has one member from the city of Anaheim; opening statements are scheduled to start today.The day's lightest moment came as [Angels co-counsel Todd] Theodora asked potential jurors what impressions they might have of Moreno. The courtroom erupted in laughter — and Moreno blushed — at the response of a middle-aged woman later selected as an alternate.Okay, so maybe I'm wrong and Arte does win this one..."Everything I've ever heard about him has been positive," she said, "and he's very good-looking."
Deconstructing Dilbeck's Angels Criticism
Jon Weisman takes a Halo-related detour, taking Steve Dilbeck to task for his slamming of the Angels' offseason:Jon, whose interest isn't normally much in the Angels, here flogs a point that seems to need repeating every offseason when tired grafs like these hit print:Dilbeck allows Angels general manager Bill Stoneman to explain the Angels' decisions:
"What we determined at the end of the season was we'd go after an impact free agent, and there weren't really that many there," Stoneman said. "We did go after one guy and didn't get him.
"We decided at that point that rather than to get somebody that had a name that people knew but who wouldn't necessarily impact the club the way we wanted, that we had some very young talented players ... we wanted to give a full opportunity to win a spot and be productive here."
In other words, Stoneman argues that the Angels haven't been quiet - but that their major changes mostly involve the ongoing promotions of minor leaguers like Casey Kotchman and Jeff Mathis, with more waiting in the wings. Dilbeck doesn't buy it.
There weren't too many sportswriters around town who looked at the post-2004 Dodgers in this light. The contrast is striking - and instructive. We don't know if the Angels will improve or decline in 2006, but just as the Dodgers weren't inherently wrong in following their division championship with a loud offseason a year ago, the Angels aren't inherently wrong in following their title with a so-called quiet offseason today. It's all about the nuances, the specific players involved. You need to look at things on a micro level: Is each move you make a good move? That's how you help a team. You don't help a team by standing pat for the sake of standing pat, nor by making moves for the sake of making moves.Perhaps it's that the Angels had two big free agency splashes over the last couple of years, but the problem is now the expectations the team has built up. I'm projecting a second place finish unless the kids step up, and it's not at all clear that they will.
Update: Do be sure to head over to the story link at Jon's above; there's some good discussion about the relations between the two teams, and people who, surprisingly, are fans of both -- or hate the other. Matt Welch gets in some good points, too.
: 1/13/2006 10:15:00 AMI though DMac was starting to put his game together right before he went down last year. And then we found out he was playing hurt all year. For some Halo fans, unless the guy has a monster first year he's over-hyped garbage, and that's just not how it works in real life.
: 1/13/2006 12:17:00 PMAnon 2: yup, me too. D-Mac started having some good games before he went down. Hopefully that hip injury was related to the back problems he was having, and he can look forward to a pain-free 2006.
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/stats/individual_player_hitting_chart.jsp?c_id=mlb&playerID=425774&statType=1
curiously, for a left-handed power hitter, most of his flyball outs are to left field... and most of his homers are to dead center... only a couple of dingers to right field.
maybe the injury was preventing him from getting around on the ball... don't know if it means anything, but it's interesting.
: 1/13/2006 02:27:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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