Monday, March 31, 2008 |
SOSG Surrenders, Switches Over To The Red Side
Labels: angels, blogs, dodgers
Dodgers DFA Eric Hull
Labels: dodgers, injuries, transactions
Spiezio Gets Third Chance From Braves
Labels: braves, ex-angels, transactions
Tech: Gameday, Gameday Audio Both Break On Linux
Ah, spring.
Update: No surprises here:
Automatic flash installer detection does not work properly on Firefox / Mac versions 2.0.0.7 through 2.0.0.12. Updating the browser to 2.0.0.13 fixes the issue. Click here to update. We are investigating fixes on our end.In my experience, if Mac is busted, Linux will be too. And hardly anybody ever tests with Mac before launching products. You'd think these guys would, given their user base.
Update 2: Updating to Flash 9.0.115 doesn't make Gameday work any better (and certainly doesn't make it any smaller). Home page site loads for both Angels and Dodgers (Dodgers particularly so for some reason) are extremely bad.
Update 3: Apparently I had to wait 2-3 minutes for Gameday to finish loading. Good grief.
Update 4: It looks like they're pushing Silverlight now, which is likely causing a lot of the problems. Miguel de Icaza, a self-described hopeless romantic, somehow thinks Microsoft will love him back. He's a fool; Microsoft hates Linux. This year may be the beginning of the end for Gameday Audio (and everything else) working properly under Linux. I wonder how much money changed hands to make Silverlight the next-gen guts of MLBAM.
Update 5: Looks like Gameday 2006 (the last good, small version) no longer works with the new XML structure. (I mentioned this in today's DT gameday thread, but didn't say anything about it here.)
I tried Foxpaw's suggestion of disabling Adblock Plus, but this just allowed ads to be displayed while doing nothing about Gameday Audio.
Update 6: I'm not the only one having problems.
Update 7: There also appears to be some provisions for allowing users to choose the old Mediaplayer (see for instance this "unsupported" banner that never displays under Linux), but they don't work so far on Linux+Firefox.
Update 5/1: This is now working, and I suspect the reason is because MLBAM pulled the plug on certain maldesigns.
Labels: stupid ideas, tech
Opening Day
The Register's Preseason Predictions
The Orange County Register projected the Angels to finish second (behind the Mariners) in the AL West, citing the loss of their top two starters as the reason. (Sorry, no link, as this appears to be a print-only feature.) A useful tonic appears here; despite Erik Bedard, the M's still have questionable offense, and even with an improved rotation (the reason Randy Youngman cited for that team winning the West), the M's need a bounceback season from Richie Sexson, a guy who fell off the cliff in 2007.As for the Dodgers, why, the Reg picks them to finish first. Okay.
Angels Tap Darren O'Day, Two Other Rookies For Bullpen Jobs
The Angels' 2008 opening day roster was announced early Sunday; the surprise/non-surprises were all in the bullpen, as Darren O'Day, Jason Bulger, and Rich Thompson made the cut. The Angels also decided, perhaps based on necessity, to carry a ridiculous six outfielders, including Reggie Willits, who must be grateful the Angels didn't burn an option on him.Dodgers' Opening Day Roster
Blake DeWitt made the Dodgers' opening day roster, which currently is set to 24 men on dodgers.com and does not include DeWitt for some reason. Ramon Troncoso is the only other surprise on that list. Clayton Kershaw was optioned to AA Jacksonville, but with an 0.64 ERA in 14 innings, he'll be back soon enough.Today's Games
Giants @ Dodgers, 1:10 PM PDT; Barry Zito vs. Brad Penny. No need to discuss how bad either of the Giants or Barry Zito have been in spring training; they're irrelevant to the division this year. This series should be a nice easy warmup for the Dodgers to the regular season.Angels @ Twins, 4:10 PDT, Jered Weaver vs. Livan Hernandez. Weaver took half the rest he did in last year's offseason and spent time at Scott Boras' offseason workout-drome; Weaver's spring training results tell the tale of a great deal of improvement, going 5-0 (the most wins of any pitcher in 2008 spring training) with a 1.37 ERA over 26.1 innings.
Labels: angels, dodgers, transactions
Sunday, March 30, 2008 |
Steve Yeager To Manage GBL's Long Beach Armada
As an aside: it looks like the GBL has expanded into Canada, placing teams in Calgary and Edmonton, the latter being the old PCL home of the Angels before they switched affiliations to Salt Lake.
Labels: ex-dodgers, history, indy leagues, minors
Dodgers Disable Garciaparra, LaRoche, Two Others
In addition, the following players were reassigned to minor league camp: catchers Danny Ardoin and Rene Rivera, right-handers Chan Ho Park, Brian Falkenborg, Mike Koplove and Greg Jones, left-hander Clayton Kershaw and infielder Ramon Martinez.
Labels: dodgers, transactions
Sanity — And Andre Ethier — Prevail In Left
Labels: dodgers
Final Tuneup: Angels 11, Padres 3
The other side was the understanding that this is what good teams do to bad pitchers, and without a doubt, neither of Randy Wolf nor Shawn Estes are major-league ready anymore. That didn't stop the Pads from adding Wolf to the 25-man roster, though, and I can't imagine that's any way to start the season.
Fifth pitcher discussions, though, tend to be pretty meaningless, because they can often be skipped. That's not the case with the Pads, and for two reasons:
- Wolf won't be a fifth starter, but a fourth one; the actual fifth turns out to be Justin Germano, who hasn't even been league average one year of his major league career (as measured by ERA+).
- Second, the Padres open in Houston and don't get a day off until Thursday, April 10; assuming they hold to their slated rotation of Peavy-Young-Maddux-Wolf-Germano, San Diego will send Germano, Peavy, and Young at the Dodgers this coming weekend. That's one almost guaranteed win and a pretty even shot considering Chris Young's lifetime 4.05, 1-1 record at Dodger Stadium. (Yes, small sample size alert: 26.2 IP at the Ravine.)
That is, it's not clear how much of this signing represents a desperation bid by the Pads to get one last crack at a division they could have won had they cracked the 90-win barrier last year. This doesn't much look like a team that can do that (their outfield, in particular, remains a problem, as does offense generally). Nevertheless, there are some bright spots, as we saw with INF Callix Crabbe, who led the team in spring training hits. Stolen from the Brewers as a Rule 5 draftee, he may make a useful major league player this year.
Shawn Estes was equally incompetent as Randy Wolf, and the Angels knocked him around, too. Really, the only San Diego pitcher unscored on was Adam Bass, a former Diamondbacks product who appears to have jumped teams this year.
Quinlan smacked Estes around, showing his situational lefty-handling isn't gone, and while Casey Kotchman didn't do too much at the plate (he grounded out in the middle of Terry Smith talking about how he needed opportunities to hit left-handed pitching), he did manage to drive in a run. Reggie Willits got on base three times in five falls, scoring a pair of runs and generally being his pesky self. Brandon Wood managed to score a run after reaching on Randy Wolf's error, and scored when Wolf uncorked a wild pitch later that frame in Juan Rivera's at-bat. In all, a good outing for the Angels, who weren't up against much competition, and did what they needed to under those circumstances.
Time for the regular season.
Labels: angels, padres, recaps, spring training
Friday, March 28, 2008 |
The Weight Of Unmet Expectations: Padres 4, Angels 1
An Angels team with two-fifths of its starting roster clipped for opening day, and of those two, its best two.
A weak AL West as opposition, and the sneaking feeling that the Angels' moment to go all the way is drifting away, as Dallas McPherson did, and Brandon Wood's stock has. The Angels pulled two high-dollar centerfielders off the free-agency card deck in two years, and while Torii Hunter is maybe a better bet to be productive, it still leaves the same weak excuses and thought processes in place that decided Gary Matthews, Jr. was a good buy for a five-year deal that valued him as a starter and not the journeyman he really was.
The erosion in the bullpen.
The continued inability to hit for power.
F it.
Play ball.
Labels: angels, padres, recaps
Esteban The Dodgers' Fifth Lousy Starter
Angels Tap Jered Weaver For Opening Day, Set Rotation
Labels: angels
KFWB: Dodgers Rays Acquire Nathan Haynes Off Waivers From Angels
Update: found it, and it's actually Tampa Bay that picked him up, not the Dodgers. Whew.
Angels Set Spring Training Attendance Record
Labels: angels, spring training
KLAA Moving To Sports Format, And A Look Back At Vinny's Job In The Coliseum
Since it will be the new home for the Angels' English-language broadcasts after a five-year run with KSPN (710AM), the Anaheim-based station has been glacially moving away from a conservative political talk format (with syndicated shows hosted by Glenn Beck, Michael Reagan and Michael Savage). The Angels' recent spring training games were eventually carried live in the middle of March, replacing infomercials that the station had normally aired in the afternoons.Also in that same piece, a bit of nostalgia for the Dodgers in the Coliseum, including an interesting play that Vin Scully himself helped to resolve:The one potential issue with the station as it competes with KSPN and KLAC for sports-talk listeners could be with its signal coming out of Orange County, which powers down from 50,000 watts during the day to 20,000 at night. An Angels spokesman said the team continues to look for affiliates, throughout the region and beyond.
To accomodate the new sports-talk shows, as well as the pre- and post-game shows hosted by Steve Physioc, the Angels recently finished building a state-of-the-art broadcasting facility inside Angels Stadium for all of their original programming.
The station operates without a traditional general manager or program director. Angels team president Dennis Kuhl has been in charge of hiring and forming sports-talk related programming. John Carpino, the Angels' senior VP of sales and marketing, is also the general sales manager at 830-AM.
It means that when Vin Scully calls the game for KCAL (Channel 9), he will be high above right field in the football press box (with Charley Steiner and Rick Monday doing the game on radio for KABC (790 AM) instead of that cozy perch hanging underneath Section 12.Then there was a fun episode with an umpire having a birthday:"It was a wooden structure, fastened to the roof of the tunnel, with an iron staircase going up to it, and it was very close to home plate," Scully recalled. "The strange thing was that even though the Coliseum was so big and formidable, those press seats made everything feel so intimate and close."
So close, that it reminded Scully of a game when a controversial play allowed him, of all people, to help resolve it.
"The Dodgers were playing the Milwaukee Braves, and there was a play where the batter topped the ball, dropped his bat, broke for first, and the ball ended up hitting his bat," Scully recalled. "Birdie Tebbetts, the Braves' manager, got into a heated argument with the umpires over it, and finally announced that he was protesting the game.
"As he was walking back to the dugout, he went by our booth and hollered up, `Vinny, do you have a rule book?' I said, `Sure,' and I dropped it down to him. He flipped through the pages, finally shook his head and said something along the lines of `Darn it.' I asked him what was the story. He checked the rule and said he was going to have to withdraw his protest.
"So over the radio, I announced that Tebbetts had withdrew his protest before he even informed the umpires that's what he was going to do. That's a one-in-a-million situation."
Scully remembers one night during a slow game looking through the Green Book - the National League publication of rosters, statistics, etc. - and saw that one of the umpires, Frank Secory, was celebrating a birthday."So that night, I spoke directly to the fans. I said, `Let's have some fun. Let's establish a baseball record. On the count of three, let's all holler, `Happy birthday Frank.' And the whole stadium did it. The game stopped for a second, and Secory was in the state of shock. One of the other umpires came over and explained to him that the fans had heard me tell them to do it on the radio.
Labels: angels, dodgers, radio
Now That Spring Training's Over, Some Of The Angels' Favored Watering Holes
"I love [Mastro's] City Hall," says infielder Robb Quinlan, 30. "They have great food and a great atmosphere."Having been to their Beverly Hills location, I can attest to that. Be prepared for top-notch food with sky-high prices."The food is excellent there," agrees relief pitcher Jason Bulger, 29, a former Diamondbacks player and Scottsdale resident. "It can't be beat."
Labels: angels, spring training
Thursday, March 27, 2008 |
Brandon Wood Strains His ... Credulity
"It may be hard to believe based on my numbers this spring, but I feel good at the plate," said Wood, who's hit .130 with no walks and 20 K's in 17 Cactus League games. "My pitch recognition has been good. When I'm swinging and missing, it's not because I'm not recognizing that it's a slider that's coming. My timing is off. I'm missing fastballs because I'm doing things like planting my foot too early."At this point Wood has to be one of the most overrated prospects in baseball.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 |
Joe Posnanski's Wearing Shades
2. Fernando ValenzuelaPosnanski goes on to observe that "surprisingly few of them even came close" to winning 300 games, perhaps because of the temptation to overuse their young stars.
Wins by 26: 113
Total wins: 173Had a couple of OK seasons after hitting 27 years old — won 13 twice — but nothing approaching great. Looking back, it’s understandable — look at those innings. He threw 285, 257, 261, 272, 269, 251 in the six years leading up to his 27th year. It’s no wonder he broke down. I’m never been a big fan of pitch counts, but for guys like Tommy Lasorda (and proteges like Dusty Baker) they might not be a bad thing*.
...
3. Frank Tanana Wins by 26: 102.
Total Wins: 240
Had to totally reinvent himself from a Sam McDowell type to a Jamie Moyer precursor to get to 240 wins. I will write a full Tanana post at some point this summer because he’s the favorite pitcher of a friend of mine, but it’s worth saying that in 1977 Tanana threw 14 consecutive complete games (five of them were shutouts) and considering that he was a strikeout guy, an effort pitcher at that time, that had to mean a LOT of pitches on a 23-year-old arm. I mean, seriously, 14 consecutive complete games. Those managers back then were like the slave masters in “The Ten Commandments.” I wonder if they had whips.
4. Bert Blyleven
Wins by 26: 122
Total Wins: 287Blyleven, like Tanana, had two very distinct periods in his career. He missed almost the entire 1982 season (31st year). Unlike Tanana, though, he did it more or less the same way — with lotsa lotsa curveballs. Blyleven actually came closer to winning a Cy Young Award in the years after his injury — he twice finished third. And even with his incredible longevity, of course, Bly still did not win 300, and because of this and other absurdities he’s still not in the Hall of Fame.
Labels: history
Roster Notes
- Kelvim Escobar has a slightly torn shoulder and is concerned for his career.
"I'm concerned -- I don't know what's going to happen," Escobar told reporters. "I don't even know if I'll be able to pitch again."
Also in the Times....
"They would look at it and fix whatever I have," he said. "But that would take 10 months to recover from. They're not sure I'd be able to come back after surgery. This could be the end of my career."
- 84-year-old Angels special assistant Preston Gomez was struck by a motorist. According to bhsportsguy in today's DT thread, he was with the Dodgers twice as a coach, from 1965-1968 and 1977-1979.
- The Dodgers released Rudy Seanez.
- Scott Spiezio's arraignment date has been postponed according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. (H/t downingrules.)
Labels: angels, dodgers, ex-angels, injuries, transactions
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 |
OT: Measuring Up In The Men's Room
Real Men Know How To Get On Base
Thanks to Ron Stilanovich's blogwhoring for this bit. Video of the week!
Update: Thanks to Blue Heaven for these two featuring Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier (or a pair of fill-ins who look amazingly like them):
Labels: funny
Padres Extend Bud Black
Labels: contracts, managers, padres
Kelvim Escobar Shut Down, Return Date Unknown
"Everything was going well, and I was just throwing easy when I felt the pain come back," Escobar said. "It's very frustrating, very disappointing. I'll have to wait and see how it goes now. I have to be patient. I can't try to rush it and do too much before I'm ready."Including John Lackey (triceps strain), Scot Shields (forearm stiffness), and Chris Bootcheck (oblique strain), the Angels will start the season with four pitchers on the 25-man-roster on the DL.
Scott Spiezio To Be Arraigned Tomorrow
Labels: ex-angels, stupid ideas
Adrian Beltre Needs Surgery
Monday, March 24, 2008 |
Really? Harvard Has A Baseball Team?
And did I mention the Dirtbags swept UCLA in their weekend series? Surprising freshman catcher John Hill was a homer shy of the cycle in the first half of the doubleheader (hitting .522/.556/.652 in a small-sample-sized 23 AB), while OF Jonathan Jones was named Big West Player of the Week for going 7-for-12 in his last two series.
Things I'm Looking Forward To In 2008, Angels Edition
What We Will See With The Angels
- A full season of Howie Kendrick and Casey Kotchman. The Angels have previously babied or ignored both, to the team's general detriment. Kendrick stands to improve if all he does is stay healthy. Kotchman stands a decent chance of being something better than the team's answer to Mark Grace. It will take at-bats.
- Jered Weaver starting the season completely healthy. With both John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar likely out until May (and Escobar requiring the six-innings-and-done treatment most starts anyway), it's critical that the Angels have somebody ready to go to head the rotation. Weaver wasn't the most reliable starter for the Angels in 2007; he took two months' rest in the 2006 offseason and started his weightlifting too late for spring training. The ensuing tendinitis delayed his joining the rotation, may have contributed to a significant decline from his outstanding 2006 numbers, and caused some grumbling from the front office.
Baseball Prospectus pointedly carped that Weaver wasn't the ace the Angels thought they were getting when they gave him a $4M bonus in the 2004 draft. Maybe he hasn't had the right circumstances to prove it yet.
- Torii Hunter. I'm not a big fan of the contract, and frankly think it will be an albatross by 2010, but Torii Hunter is, from all accounts, a genuinely stand-up guy. The Angels haven't had a face-of-the-franchise player comfortable with that role since Tim Salmon, and I really think Hunter could ably fill in there. Unlike GMJ, he's got the bat to provide at least a little protection for Vlad. (It doesn't hurt that he's also from my wife's native Arkansas, too.)
- Vlad spending significant time at DH. This should have been done last year. His defense is decreasingly useful (and is often counterproductive), his balky knees are shredded from the years on that godawful Montreal turf, and so it's just time. Vlad's already having knee problems before the season starts up, so his objections to playing DH won't amount to much if Mike Scioscia is smart.
Things I'd Like To See
- Darren O'Day. Scot Shields' replacement? Flash in the pan? Phenom-of-the-week? Maybe, but he's just slaughtered the competition, today's wind-blown home run notwithstanding. The unknown and undrafted sidearmer (and would-be medical student) has just torn through minor league competition as he did in his junior and senior years at U. Florida. Good news: he made his biggest professional K/9 mark (9.72) with Rancho in the (often) high-elevation and (always) hitter-friendly Cal League. Trouble is, he was 24 when he accumulated that record, so he needs to show he can hack it at the majors in a hurry. The good thing is, he seems to be doing just that so far.
- Nick Adenhart. He's got more maturing to do, and frankly hasn't been that impressive in the minors hitherto, but his spring record seems to indicate a brighter future. A midseason callup may be the right thing, but with both Lackey and Escobar out, events may force the Angels' hand.
Wishful Thinking, Or, Things I'd Do If I Were Arte/Mike
- Find a trade partner for Gary Matthews, Jr. He's expensive, and the Angels are going to have to eat some if not all of his contract, but he has no place being on this team with Juan Rivera playing second fiddle. An early-season injury may postpone this, but the Angels have nothing but time: his contract goes on for another four years.
- Conversely, get a quality arm or two for Juan Rivera and/or Reggie Willits. Juan Rivera is probably the most valuable player on the Angels who doesn't have a starting position. Willits is just intrinsically valuable for his un-Angelic habit of working the count. Trouble is, injuries appear to have demolished the value of both players. (In Rivera's case, it's his broken leg; with Willits, a malfunctioning gallbladder was removed in January that was bothering him through the second half last year.) With Willits having options left, the Angels' path is clear, but Rivera, not so much.
- Long-term Frankie. Frankie blew four saves last year from June 24 through September 7, but he also had 12 converted saves, and two blown saves that became wins for the Angels. He's still
goton pace to earn more saves than anybody in franchise history, and looks like he could be doing that for at least another five years, always-predicted elbow problems notwithstanding. Pay the man. - Stop their overreliance on
Scot Shieldsand Francisco Rodriguez. With Shields starting the season on the DL, it looks like this is just about a given for him. As for Frankie, the best way out of that is with improved offense, something Torii Hunter should help with. - Lose the man-crush on Erick Aybar. I know there have been some extremely positive reports on Aybar this spring, but his past is loaded with negatives: stupidity on the basepaths, an inability to steal bases despite extreme quickness, a swing full of holes, and zero pop. The team's reliance on him at short is tempered only by Maicer Izturis' .333/.444/.400 line in spring training, while Aybar's hitting .280/.338/.540. Perhaps more tellingly in terms of the Angels' plans for him, Aybar has 50 AB while Izturis has only 40.
- Turn Kendry Morales into something useful. I don't know if that means converting him to an outfielder (with his speed, about all we could hope for is a God-don't-hit-it-to-leftfielder), or trading him for something. He's got value, but the Angels have just about decided he's not going to play for them thanks to blocking him at every possible position. A trade seems the most likely thing.
Labels: angels
The Price Of Frankie: Joe Nathan Wins $47M/4-Year Deal
Nathan was slated to make $6 million in 2008, far less than several ace relievers around the majors. Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees got a $45 million, three-year contract in November, and Francisco Cordero signed a $46 million, four-year deal with the Cincinnati Reds after becoming a free agent. With Francisco Rodriguez of the Los Angeles Angels eligible for free agency after this season, the price for closers could soar even higher.
Labels: angels, contracts, twins
Matthews, Jr. Day-To-Day, Figgins Exits Early With Hand Cramp
Pickoff Moves, Lunchtime Edition
Preseason Projection Roundup
Via BTF, once more comes the the Replacement Level Yankees Weblog projection system roundup (here's the second part), using a number of different underlying player projection systems. The Angels win the AL West with anywhere from 87 wins (CAIRO, Diamond Mind) to 92 wins (CHONE); only in one scenario did the Angels place second, and that was in the ZIPS projection, which had them coming in second place to an 89-win A's squad with 85 wins.Update: I'd forgotten to check back at the Baseball Crank's EWSL projections, which I belatedly include in the AL West list; he hasn't gotten around to the NL West yet.
It's significant in my mind that the Angels' near competition continues to project very badly. One underappreciated fact about the 2002 squad was that they emerged into the postseason after a bruising regular season in which three of the four western division teams won 90+ games. The AL West is hardly what it used to be, though, and that doesn't bode well for the Angels' postseason hopes this year. Most of these systems are projecting a fairly close finish for the division, except for CHONE, which sees the Angels easily clearing the West by 9.5 games.System W-L In 2nd (W-L) ========================================= CHONE 92-70 SEA (82-79) Diamond Mind 87-75 OAK (84-78) Hardball Times 84-78 OAK (79-83) PECOTA 89-73 OAK (78-84) ZIPS 84-78 behind OAK (89-73) CAIRO 86-76 SEA (80-82) EWSL 89-73 SEA (81-81)
As to the Dodgers, none of these projection systems are very sanguine about the Blue, though they're not depressive; most of them peg Los Angeles of Los Angeles as a second-place team back of the Diamondbacks or, surprisingly, Padres, with only one projector, Diamond Mind, picking Colorado to take the division.
*2nd place finish, tied with ArizonaSystem W-L Behind (W-L) =================================== CHONE 85-77 ARI (87-75) Diamond Mind 85-77 COL (90-72) Hardball Times 84-78 SDP (89-73) PECOTA 89-73 - ZIPS 84-78 SDP (87-75)* CAIRO 86-76 ARI (86-76)**
**86.1 wins vs. Arizona's 86.7 — pretty close to a statistical dead heat.
As I said above, it's something of a shock to see the Padres slip in ahead of the other teams in this division in two of the scenarios. I really don't like their team that much this year; they've got no hitting, and while their pitching is mostly sound, it seems to me to be one or two injuries away from exposing their significant lack of depth.
Roster Notes
- Scot Shields won't be ready for opening day and may start the season on the DL. Darren O'Day, get your hat and glove ready.
- Joe Saunders has a blister on his foot but not his hand.
- Chris Bootcheck is expected to throw from a mound today.
- Gary Matthews, Jr. left today's game with a leg injury.
- Hong-Chih Kuo and Delwyn Young will both likely make the team according to Joe Torre; part of the motivation there is that both players are out of options.
- Jeff Kent and Yhency Brazoban have been left behind at Phoenix and Florida respectively, the former to recover from a strained hamstring, the latter to lose weight and gain arm strength.
- Former Dodger Willy Aybar will likely be Ray's starting third baseman as ex-Dirtbag (and all-around better player) Evan Longoria starts the season in triple-A.
OT: Congratulations, Jon
On the news of the birth of your third child. All the best from 6-4-2 World Headquarters.Labels: angels, dodgers, ex-dodgers, injuries, predictions, spring training
Tech: Justice Dep't Approves XM/Sirius Merger
XM radio carries all MLB games, including the Dodgers and Angels.
Sunday, March 23, 2008 |
A Game To Forget: Rockies 8, Dodgers 2
It's the kind of thing that makes you wonder whether Frank McCourt decided to whack the Freeway Series to one game because the team would get swept.
Labels: dodgers, recaps, rockies, spring training
The End Of Angels Kremlinology? Number 8 (And Last?) In A Series
The Rev says all the site banners have ditched players. Gah. The Rev also had a bit of a look at the same kind of kremlinology vis-a-vis season ticket images.
BTW, the new site design sure has a big, wide, long home page. Update: Too long. Too wide: it appears they want you to fullscreen your browser when visiting MLB.com, and no thanks to that. Pretty sure I don't like this. The good news is that they seem to have fixed a longstanding bug in the presentation of dropdowns that may cover Flash video; before, the dropdowns would end up being hidden under the video, making them effectively useless. Of course, the bad news is there's a lot more video up there.
Thanks to Rob Spencer for letting me know.
Labels: angels, kremlinology
Friday, March 21, 2008 |
Juan Thing You Should Know, Pierre, Is When To Shut Up
Pierre earlier expressed disappointment at not being told that the free-agent acquisition of Andruw Jones not only meant he would be moving to left field after playing center field most of his Major League career, but also that he was in a competition with Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier for the final two outfield starting spots.Pierre signed a five-year free-agent contract before the 2006 Winter Meetings to play center field and has the longest current consecutive games played streak in the Major Leagues at 434.
"I don't expect him to be happy about it," said Torre. "He just wants to know my thinking. I told him when I know, I would let him know before somebody else does."
Entering Friday's game with the Diamondbacks, Pierre was batting .200, Kemp .304 with three homers and Ethier .352 with five homers. Kemp started in right field and Ethier was on the bench.
Labels: dodgers, funny, spring training, stfu
Nick Adenhart In The Rotation? Angels 8, Giants 1
- March 15, against a typical spring lineup from Arizona, a team that, even at full strength in 2007, scored the third fewest runs in the National League.
- Adenhart collected a win in relief, pitching four innings on March 10 against a B-team squad of Athletics.
- A 2.2-inning start on March 5 against a typical spring lineup of the Mariners.
- A February 29 game against the Rangers with much of the regular squad intact (but very early in spring training).
Labels: angels, giants, recaps, spring training
Thursday, March 20, 2008 |
Nomar's Break Worse Than First Thought
Dodgers Demote Stults, Miller
Labels: dodgers, spring training, transactions
Ray Does Actual Harm!
Tampa Bay's Dirtbag-O-Meter
Update: Long Beach plays UCLA in an away-home-away series this weekend, and Friday starter Andrew Liebel rates a BA interview.
Labels: ex-dirtbags, rays
Nomar's Micro-Broken Wrist Won't Keep Him Out For Long
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 |
An Aside About The Awfulness Of The Giants
It'll be a long year in San Francisco. Bruce Bochy might want some Excedrin.
Labels: cubs, giants, spring training
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 |
Angels Announce 2008 TV Schedule
New for the 2008 season, the Angels and FSN WEST will use a majority of the half-hour pre-game timeslots as a platform for original programming series such as "Before the Bigs", "Insider" and "In My Own Words." FSN WEST currently has several unique, original programs devoted to coverage of the Angels in development.
Hank Conger To Miss Time With Labrum Tear
Labels: angels, injuries, minors
Dodgers Reassign Jason Johnson
Administrivia: Sidebar Changes
- Ross Porter wrote in (imagine!) to let me know he's running a blog called Real Sports Heroes. I can't promise I'll check in every day, Ross, but I will give you a sidebar link.
- As further evidence of just how scanty my attention has been outside of the Angels/Dodgers baseball axis, one of the primary blogs for the Cubs, 6-4-2's official third team, has moved digs, and so The Cub Reporter has left MVN; MVN replaced it with The View From The Bleachers, which ages ago used to be hosted at Blogspot.
Labels: administrivia
Monday, March 17, 2008 |
Angels Reassign 8 To Minor League Camp
RHP Henry Bonilla
RHP Nick Green
RHP Jeff Kennard
RHP Kasey Olenberger
RHP Matt Wilhite
INF Matt Brown
INF Sean Rodriguez
INF Freddy Sandoval
Labels: angels, transactions
Sunday, March 16, 2008 |
Dirtbags Complete Season's Second Third Sweep: Dirtbags 16, Trojans 9
USC evened the game up 9-9 in the seventh, but the Dirtbags answered with seven runs in the bottom of the frame, including a career first grand slam by first baseman Shane Peterson. Peterson drove in six by himself, and freshman catcher John Hill drove in three in a game that quickly turned into a laugher.
One thing I would have loved to have been at Blair Field to see was seeing Jordan Hershiser pitch. Yes, he's the son of the Dodger great and Cy Young winner, Orel.
It's only the second time in school history (and the second time in three seasons) that Long Beach has swept the Trojans in a three-game series. It's also the team's second sweep of the season, having won three from Wichita State earlier.
Heh.
Update 3/18: And yes, this was actually the team's third sweep of the season. I didn't forget about Hawaii particularly, but it wasn't one of the series I attended, either.
Labels: dirtbags
Now Who Didn't See This Coming: Big Trouble In Big China
Pitcher Eric Hull, catcher Lucas May and outfielder Xavier Paul were optioned. Pitcher Matt Riley, infielders Terry Tiffee and John Lindsey, and outfielders George Lombard and John-Ford Griffin were reassigned. In Florida, pitcher Cory Wade was optioned. The nine moves leave the Dodgers with 46 players two weeks before Opening Day.*eight in China, nine total
Labels: dodgers, spring training, transactions
Saturday, March 15, 2008 |
Lackey Out 3-4 Weeks
The Chairman's Stances: My Only Post About The Dodgers' China Trip
Labels: dodgers, stupid ideas
OT: The Circus Comes To Mayberry
One of the principle reasons we moved last year was because some dumb kid threw an M-80 over the fence from the elementary school east of us around the 4th of July. It's not that the neighborhood was bad by any stretch, but we had our Helen had reservations about staying there. We moved a few miles west to Rossmoor, which is about as Mayberry as it gets without leaving California.
The hazards now, of course, are endless construction crews — even in the worst housing downturn in two decades, remodeling continues to churn along. There are even a couple teardowns being rebuilt on spec. Astonishingly, I saw one of them actually with a "SOLD" sign on it a couple weeks ago. With the exceptions of a couple houses scattered here and there (those close to storm drains tend to have poorly-kept yards, while elsewhere "mansionization" creeps through like some sort of slow-moving cancer), the whole place looks like a "Father Knows Best" neighborhood.
Which was why it was so incongruous to see this monstrosity show up at the park near our house. The stage on the right (you can barely see it here, click here for a better view) is for a reality TV/game show I don't recall the title of, though I seem to remember it's airing on CBS; the conceit (of at least this episode) is they're giving this guy who has a garage band a kick-ass stage on which to perform his act while giving away prizes and suchlike. They've taken over his street and most of the parking lot at the nearby community center. The whole shebang is supposed to be ready for a shoot tomorrow, but there's a slight chance of rain tomorrow, so who knows.
It's not the first time I've seen camera crews around here, either: a few months ago, MTV was shooting in our neighborhood, though much less intrusively. Hey, at least they're not throwing explosives at our dogs.
Labels: offtopic
Thursday, March 13, 2008 |
Sapphire Bullets Of Pure Love
- It could be back to the minors for Reggie Willits, which seems an awful shame.
- The Angels are frontrunners to get the 2010 All-Star Game.
- Tony Abreu will be examined by sports hernia specialist William Meyers, <sarcasm>which can only mean he's faking another injury</sarcasm>.
- Dallas McPherson sat out yesterday's spring training game with a strained groin. A strained side and back stiffness kept him off the field earlier; he's been bypassed in the Marlins' third base plans by Jose Castillo and Jorge Cantu.
- Chavez Ravine isn't in Chavez Ravine. If you know what I mean.
- Curt Schilling is on the 60 day DL, and expected to miss the first half, at least.
- Huston Street would like a long-term deal with the A's, and is his manager kidding?
Labels: angels, athletics, dodgers, ex-angels, red sox, spring training
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 |
Mariners Release Horacio Ramirez
Seattle is only responsible for 30 days of Ramirez' $2.75M 2008 salary.
I love Bill Bavasi, so long as he's working for another team, preferably one in the same division as a team I root for.
Labels: mariners, overdue, transactions
Things You Didn't Know About Clayton "MInotaur" Kershaw
He was being given to much love, too soon. To many times I’d gotten my hopes up over the likes of Edwin Jackson, Greg Miller, and Kiki Jones only to have them dashed. So one day, hanging out as I often will on the comment board over at Dodger Thoughts, I made the offhand comment that until Clayton Kershaw pitched for the Dodgers he didn’t exist for me. Others, similarly burned in the past, thought it was a good idea. Fellow DT resident Nate Purcell decided Kershaw, from that moment forth, would be called “The Minotaur.” A mythical beast unseen in the real world. It took hold, and for the last nine months, Clayton Kershaw has gone by that moniker.It might be time to put it to rest.
Labels: dodgers
Angels Kremlinology #7
Dated 11/19/2007, the day the Orlando Cabrera trade was announced; it replaces the banner dated 5/16/2007. Cabrera was obviously the player removed from the banner, replaced by Jered Weaver. K-Rod moves from fourth to second, and Lackey remains in the center.
Since we got our Angels season tickets today, I thought it would be interesting to see who management put on the cover of that document this year:
Vlad, John Lackey, Chone Figgins, and Mike Napoli? Good. Gary Matthews, Jr.? Meh. Robb Quinlan and Erick Aybar? Uh... no.
Labels: angels, kremlinology
The ULTIMATE In Pasta Giveaways
Catching Up
- The Angels sent Jose Arredondo and twelve other players down to minor league camp so far this week. One of them was Sean O'Sullivan, who had something to prove after he suddenly lost his velocity just before the 2005 draft.
- Jered Weaver is looking increasingly likely as an opening day starter candidate, especially after having a fine outing against the Padres yesterday.
- Tony Reagins wants you to know he isn't anybody's puppet.
- Via Jon, ex-San Bernardino Sun sports columnist Paul Oberjuerge writes about his firing. The slow death of newspapers has been a topic of some interest in these parts, and I wanted to focus on this graf:
... MediaNews is in severe crisis. The corporate credit rating of Singleton’s company, which brings new meaning to the words “highly leveraged,” has been reduced three times in a matter of weeks, and there were stories out about how he couldn’t meet his obligations to the bankers. And only the previous week I’d been told The Sun lost money in January. LOST money. Didn’t just “not make plan,” which is why Gannett dumped San Bernardino eight years ago, after a year in which The Sun turned a profit of “only” 8 percent. No, The Sun lost money. That never happens in newspapers. Well, it never used to.
This is interesting because with the Orange County Register now handing its Dodgers coverage over to the MediaNews Daily News, the speculation had been that the Register itself was a buyout candidate, and from that same MediaNews group as well. But that doesn't make a lot of sense if MediaNews is itself taking on water; lashing two sinking ships together usually doesn't result in both of them staying afloat. - The Angels are not looking to trade Juan Rivera, which is good because the age of that outfield is not a good thing.
- Oddly, Nomar Garciaparra won't be going to China, leading me to wonder whether Ned thinks he still has value.
- Tommy Lasorda: still an ass after all these years.
- The Rangers have had injuries to three projected starters: Vicente Padilla (strained left gluteus maximus), Kevin Millwood (a hamstring tweak that has prevented him from facing any batters so far), and Brandon McCarthy (elbow inflammation that — so far — will not require surgery).
The Rangers' two “healthy” guys: Kason Gabbard, who suffered arm fatigue last September and has a history of arm problems, and Jason Jennings, who is coming back from elbow surgery.
Labels: angels, dodgers, rangers, spring training
Sunday, March 09, 2008 |
Kershaw
Labels: dodgers, spring training
Mickey Hatcher: Walks "A False Stat"
The Angels have four potential batting champions in their lineup, less of a curiosity than a necessity for an offense dependent on batting average. Although fans and analysts sometimes bemoan how few walks the Angels draw, batting coach Mickey Hatcher said the club does not evaluate its hitters on walks.I mean, I understand that there's a line between patience and passivity, one that Hee Seop Choi eventually crossed, but this sounds like Hatcher is just begging to be made fun of."That's a false stat," Hatcher said.
In the context of their high-contact, low-power offense, Hatcher explained, the relative lack of walks indicates less that the Angels are free swingers and more that opposing pitchers challenge them more often, because a fat pitch is not as likely to end up as a home run.
"If they're throwing strikes, we'll hit them. If they're not, we'll walk," Hatcher said. "But we don't have a lot of home-run threats.
"When you look at Detroit's lineup, they'll have a lot more walks, because they're a lot more dangerous."
Labels: angels, sabermetrics, stupid ideas
Friday, March 07, 2008 |
Nomar, LaRoche Both Suffer Hand Impacts
Update: Both are headed for X-rays, but the team does not think either one is seriously injured.
Update 2: Tony Jackson says LaRoche has an injury to the "ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb". Huh? The "ulnar collateral ligament" is in the elbow, right? Hah, apparently you also have one at the base of the hand; damage to it is sometimes called "gamekeeper's thumb" or "skier's thumb" depending on the injury.
The skier's thumb injury was described as an acute injury to the ulnar collateral ligament. When a skier falls with his or her hand caught in a ski pole, the thumb can be pulled away from the hand. Because of the shape of the ski pole, the thumb tends to get caught and significant stresses are placed on the ulnar collateral ligament. If the ulnar collateral ligament is pulled far enough, it will tear. While there are many ways to injure the ulnar collateral ligament, a skier's thumb is the proper eponym for an acute injury to the ligament.So, they mean to tell me LaRoche could have gotten this injury by choking his chicken? Either way, LaRoche is expected to miss eight or more weeks.The other injury is called a gamekeeper's thumb; this refers to a more chronic pattern of injury that leads to loosening of the ulnar ligament over time. The name comes from the European gamekeepers who would kill their game by grasping the head of the animal between their thumb and index finger to break its neck. Over time, the ulnar collateral ligament is stretched and would eventually cause problems. Again, gamekeeper's thumb is the proper eponym to describe chronic injuries to the ulnar collateral ligament.
Nomar is day-to-day, but sustained no serious injury.
Update 3: LaRoche will have surgery on the thumb, putting his return at 10 weeks out.
Update 4: LAT coverage.
Bullety Stuff
- Jeff Kent will miss a week with a strained hamstring. Trust us, it's not serious, say the Dodgers.
- Hideo Nomo pitched three scoreless innings for the Royals. He's only hitting 86 MPH on the radar gun, and he's elevating the ball too much by his own admission, but "[i]t happens sometimes" that you get out of jams like that.
- Larry Bowa, pyromaniac:
What if Bowa had been here last fall during the conflict between the veterans and kids?
"First, if you are a kid and that sensitive about a veteran's comments, shame on you," Bowa says. "But second, if you are a veteran and have a problem with a kid, you need to lead by example, work hard every play, run out every ground ball."
With Bowa waiting for them in the clubhouse, here's guessing all Dodgers, young and old, will now be running out grounders.
"If this team wants to play .500 ball, fine, just keep the status quo," Bowa says. "But I want to be playing in October, and that means we have to work extra, take it to the next level, put in the time, put in the heart."
- Words on the Dodgers' pioneering use of rubber bands as a teaching tool for pitchers.
Labels: dodgers, ex-dodgers, injuries, royals
Thursday, March 06, 2008 |
Cisco Field: Still Subjecting Relief Pitchers To Foul Balls, Fans
Labels: athletics, stupid ideas
Wednesday, March 05, 2008 |
Dodgers' Glendale Stadium Scope Of Work To Be Finished March 18
"Representatives from the City of Glendale, the teams, the architect and the construction manager have been meeting for the past two days and have made significant progress toward resolving a number of open issues," Callan said in a statement to writers covering the Dodgers. "The City has promised to provide final clarity on the Scope of Work and a firm date for substantial completion of the project by March 19, 2008, and we look forward to receiving that information. We greatly appreciate the City of Glendale's efforts to give us the information we need to make future plans."
Labels: dodgers, spring training, white sox
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 |
Joe Torre's Honeymoon? What About Ned?
But I've been thinking a lot lately about how long Joe Torre's honeymoon will last in Los Angeles. I tend to think fans and the media will expect winning from the get-go. That might be an unreasonable expectation, even for a good team, in a division as tough as the 2008 National League West, but nevertheless, I think that a Torre backlash is waiting to happen. Once people who are preoccupied with his star quality see that he has blind spots like every other manager, the focus figures to turn from his strengths to his weaknesses. The backlash might not come right away, but it usually comes. The 2008 race might be too challenging for it not to.This becomes reminiscent of the Dodgers' 2005 campaign in which Jim Tracy made the same roster mistakes with other players, mainly Hee Seop Choi, though there were other hilarious gaffes, too, like his insistence on playing the likes of Jason Phillips at first, or Mike Edwards at all. (You might recall that Edwards — believe it or not — actually got the majority of playing time at third that year.) But ultimately, these kinds of decisions come down to the roster the general manager assembles, and in that case, the blame fell on Paul DePodesta. In 2005, you could defend some of that by noting that injuries were a huge part of the problem that year, since DePo's plan A at third was Jose Valentin.I think the fastest way for Torre to become unpopular in this city - not just for readers of this site, but on a widespread basis - will be to play Pierre regularly in a losing cause.
From that point, at least, you could criticize DePo for failing to assemble a team with adequate depth, and it's a fair charge; the dropoff from Valentin to Edwards is pretty staggering. Moreover, the expected production from Valentin had to be questionable to begin with, considering Valentin had just come off a .216/.287/.473 season playing in a slight hitter's ballpark. In 2008, plan A is Juan Pierre in the outfield, somewhere, and the vibe I'm getting from all the papers is that Pierre will end up in left. If that's the case, and Torre sticks to it, the person who needs to be blamed is Ned Colletti. While Torre will deserve some of the blame for that — after all, he does write the lineup card — he's hardly to blame for the players Colletti saddles him with. The overall consideration to me is that, as the roster churns and Colletti is responsible for more and more of it, the decisions being made are decreasingly optimal. The fact that Bill Plaschke hasn't killed him in print is really the only reason Colletti is still working in this town.
Labels: dodgers
TCPalm Interactive Dodgertown Web Gizmo
What a great sendoff for the team that has meant so much to them for so long.
Labels: dodgers, history, spring training
Monday, March 03, 2008 |
Quick, Bring The Gurnee: How The Angels And Dodgers Both Made The Same Mistake
Labels: angels, dodgers, stupid ideas
Sunday, March 02, 2008 |
Roster Notes
- Brandon Wood has to cut down on his K's, but Mike Scioscia isn't too worried about it:
"There are some things in Brandon's game on the offensive end that are coming with experience," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of Wood's development. "He's definitely shown that he has a power bat that's legitimate to play in the major leagues. I think experience will start to narrow that gap and maybe the strikeouts will be a little fewer and far between."
- Gary Matthews, Jr. is still feeling the effects of a knee injury from last year, and "he might have to learn to live with a certain level of discomfort in the joint." He claims his shoulder, which kept him from hitting on the right side, is fully healed now.
- Takashi Saito and Yhency Brazoban were scheduled to make their spring debuts today, but only Brazoban will likely do so thanks to a cramp in Saito's right calf.
- Jason Schmidt had his side session cancelled because of arm fatigue.
The "Final Severing Of The Umbilical Cord With Brooklyn"
The Dodgers leaving Vero Beach is the final severing of the umbilical cord with Brooklyn" according to Vin Scully."I understand it was an economic decision, especially in regard to TV revenue and everything," says Peter O'Malley, who grew up in Dodgertown, frolicking in the fields with many of those ghosts before succeeding his father as Dodgers owner from 1979 to 1998. "But it's not a move we could ever have made," says O'Malley, no irony intended. "We'd have figured out another way to make up for those revenue losses."...
"Living in those barracks was quite an experience," says Scully. "I'll never forget my first spring, in 1950, when I arrived there a scared kid broadcaster. There was a guy they called 'Cowboy' who was the Western Union operator and they put me in a little bedroom off his office that had two cots in it. Whenever there was an out-of-town sportswriter who'd had too much to drink, the Dodgers would put him in the cot next to me. I didn't do too much sleeping that first year with all the snoring going on next to me.
"But over the years, I roomed with (famed Dodgers scout Al) Campanis and Durocher. One night when Leo and I were in our room, Alston was awakened by (Larry) Sherry and Sandy (Koufax) laughing and giggling, going up the stairs. Annoyed that they'd broken curfew, Alston started pounding on their door and he hit the door so hard he broke his '55 championship ring! Leo and I just lay there in the dark listening to Alston raging at the two players."
Labels: angels, dodgers, spring training
Saturday, March 01, 2008 |
Games, Games, Games
A's 23, Giants 5
You get the impression it's gonna be a long year for Bruce Bochy, who must have been eating his hat over this "embarrassing" loss. Expensive batting practice pitcher Barry Zito gave up eight runs on seven hits and two walks, only one of those hits going for extra bases.Angels 6, Cubs 2
Torii Hunter homered off Kerry Wood, and the Angels sent Jason Marquis back to the showers after only two innings while scratching out a pair of runs. Jered Weaver pitched a pair of scoreless innings, giving up one hit, no walks, and no strikeouts. Too bad I was at the Dirtbags game while this one was going on. Or maybe not -- it's still kinda early yet.Mets 1, Dodgers 0
Great game by Penny and too bad. The Dodgers lost with some guy named Asadoorian on the mound. Meh.Labels: angels, athletics, cubs, dodgers, giants, mets, recaps, spring training
The Crank Reviews 2007 Expected Win Share Levels Vs. Actual Win Shares
The Dodgers actually slightly outperformed their EWSL from last year, too, which maybe says something about Ned's roster construction; it's odd that most teams exceeded their EWSL, save for the Astros and Marlins. The Dodgers outpaced their expected 212 WSL by posting a 231.76 WS, a "surplus" of 14.24, but that put them in the bottom third thanks to nearly everyone coming in very short. You could argue that the EWSL system therefore suffers from the Lake Woebegone effect in that it seemingly (at least this year) underestimates future performance. The A's did worse than any other team in this system; I forget where it was, but I saw them picked to finish not only last in the division but as the worst team in the American League. Ouch.
Labels: angels, athletics, dodgers, predictions
Angels Shuffle Broadcasters
For the second consecutive year, the Angels will shuffle their radio and TV lineups for regular-season broadcasts. Terry Smith, Rex Hudler and Steve Physioc are scheduled to be constants for all 162 games. Smith will anchor the radio coverage. Hudler and Physioc will appear on every broadcast, either on radio or TV.The Angels' radio broadcasters are substantially better than their TV crews, but I don't outright hate any of the TV guys. Jose Mota didn't bring enough to his TV role to warrant a return, and that's fine by me. It will be interesting to hear Gubicza on the radio; it's not clear to me he'll work out there.Rory Markas also will alternate between radio and TV. He will team with Mark Gubicza on the majority of the telecasts, moving to radio with Smith when Hudler and Physioc are the TV team. Hudler and Physioc will join Smith on 830 AM for the radio coverage when Markas and Gubicza are handling the TV coverage.
Jose Mota will continue his role on the Spanish-language radio broadcasts but also appear as a third reporter on some TV games, host Fox Sports Network specials and appear on FSN postgame coverage. Last year, Mota also handled play-by-play on approximately 50 televised games.
All spring games from Arizona will be broadcast on a tape-delayed basis on 830 AM except the weekend games and the Angels' lone night game March 21. The live feed is available via the internet.
Details Of Spiezio's Crimes
Spiezio and his wife, Jennifer Spiezio, went to dinner Dec. 30 at Ruth's Chris Steak House in Irvine. There, the player allegedly had six Grey Goose vodkas with cranberry juice while his wife drank champagne. After dinner, they went to Ten, a restaurant in Newport Beach, where together they ordered more vodka, food and an energy drink.Spiezio couldn't be reached for comment, and his phone has a message on it saying, "Things are a little crazy right now." There's an understatement.Spiezio left Ten alone in the couple's silver 2004 BMW 745 LI. A short time later, witnesses told police they saw the car speeding, cutting across lanes and crossing into oncoming traffic before driving over a curb and crashing into a fence at Campus Drive and Carlson Avenue.
One witness told police he saw a man climb out of the driver's side door, crawl over the fence and cross the street. The witness said he yelled to the man and asked if anyone was injured and that the man replied, "No, no one injured, no one injured," and then ran off.
Labels: ex-angels, stupid ideas
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