Wednesday, March 30, 2011 |
Angels' Opening Day 25 Man Roster
Labels: angels
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 |
Dodgers, Billingsley Sign 3-Year Extension
Update: dodgers.com reports the fourth year option is a team option.
Labels: contracts, dodgers, transactions
A Vitriolic Angels Preview
The timing would indicate that there was no thought about it until someone had to go to save Reagins' CEO ego. If Reagins was upset with Bane’s 2010 draft, there was nothing prior to it to indicate that the Bane cowboy strategy of drafting high-risk, high-reward toolsy high schoolers early and often was going to change; Reagins could have made his move at any time prior. He waits, gets exactly what Bane has been cooking up for years and then fires him for that? Sure, probably, but we will never know because of the corporate culture of silence. You don’t have to look too far beyond the 2009 dismissal of LAA’s Latin American scouting director Clay Daniel for allegations that his scouts “down there” were skimming to find a reason to dismiss Bane. But again, if you don’t like his drafts and the skimming scandal happens on his watch, you replace Bane after 2009. To leave Bane in his position after such a scandal, as Reagins did, only to sacrifice the scouting director as some sort of scapegoat a year and 80 wins later, is only going to make the end of the Sigma Reagins front office frat-house culture of Anaheim all the more joyous for fans who deserve better.
Monday, March 28, 2011 |
America's Worst Airline Joins Forces With The Dodgers
Labels: dodgers, stupid ideas
Chris Jaffe On 10 Things About The 1961 Expansion AL Teams
1. Both teams' franchise record has been over .500 for exactly one day.Here's a neat fact for you: none of the 14 expansion teams has a winning record for its franchise history. It makes sense that they'd have trouble, given that all clubs struggle in the early goings, but most of these teams are far beyond their original goings. Yet they all still are on the wrong side of .500. You'd expect most of them to be under .500, but all 14? Wow. Some, like the Royals and D-backs, used to be over .500, but none are right now.
Labels: angels
Saturday, March 26, 2011 |
Random Photo From Yesterday
Peter Bourjos steals second base in the third inning of yesterday's game at Phoenix Muni. Our spring training jaunt is over, but the regular season fun begins shortly.
Friday, March 25, 2011 |
Last Dance: Angels 11, A's 3
The Angels ran out people surnamed Calhoun, Armstrong, Witherspoon, Segura, Heid, Navarro, Melillo, and Bass. Mark Trumbo went 1-for-4, a two-out double in the second that went unrewarded.
It's the regular season, soon enough.
Labels: angels, athletics, recaps
Kazmir Still Thinks He's Just Unlucky
"I feel like I was throwing the ball well," Kazmir said. "The [three] walks, I didn't particularly like, but I thought I was attacking the strike zone. A couple of things didn't go my way, and it kind of snowballed on me."The article speculates that the Angels might convert Hisanori Takahashi to starting, a potentially catastrophic decision, as Takahashi was 4-4 with a 5.01 ERA in that capacity last year with the Mets....
"My slider felt great, and my fastball had a downward tilt to it," Kazmir said. "But they put some good swings on it. That's baseball. No matter how you feel, you've got to have some luck on your side."
Labels: angels, stupid ideas
Thursday, March 24, 2011 |
Kaztastrophe: Brewers 11, Angels 8
This really is too bad, because the Angels offense put up some nice numbers after getting befuddled by Randy Wolf early. Brandon Wood even drove in four, two of them on a long home run to left. Wood's .268/.317/.589 (presumably, prior to today's game) this spring is a bit ominous on the OBP side, but today's performance was much needed by a player who is frankly on the hairy edge of ejection from the majors.
So much the good news; the rest of the offense was fairly tepid, with only Maicer Izturis picking up hits in crooked numbers. The Angels also managed three walks off Milwaukee pitching — Alberto Callaspo, unexpectedly, Peter Bourjos, and Jeff Mathis each greeted first base in this way, and Bourjos further reached on a hit-by-pitch in the sixth. Bourjos may or may not be a major leaguer; it's something only time can tell, but this spring, he's doing an awful good impression of one.
Labels: angels, brewers, recaps
Forget Me Not: Cubs 3, A's 1
Silva himself had something to prove, as he has been largely a cipher for the Cubs this spring training. Even after yesterday's favorable results, Silva ended the day with a 10.90 ERA in five appearances and 17.1 IP. The Cubs faithful had been looking to eject Silva and let him land where he may, $12M (minus $5.5M paid for by his former team, Seattle) remaining on his deal or no. Left to my own devices, I would leave him in the rotation for now and see how long he lasts before throwing him out; it's not as though the Cubs have a lot of rotational depth this year.
The A's got a single run in the first on a leadoff single by Coco Crisp and a followup double by Willingham, but Oakland failed to get a runner into scoring position thereafter, and only even had a single baserunner past that, Cliff Pennington's one-out single in the eighth. Pinch runner Andy LaRoche erased himself on a badly timed steal attempt that ended the frame; if that was an indication of the sort of baserunning the A's have going for them, they're not going to get any better offensively.
One surprise was seeing Brad Ziegler struggle as much as he did in his half of the eighth. He gave up an infield single to lead off the inning, and that seemed to unhinge him a bit. Even though the next two batters mde outs, he gave up an intentional pass to Scott Moore, and an unintentional one to Welington Castillo; he then plunked Alfonso Soriano to drive in an insurance run for the Cubs. Probably just early season jitters for the A's submariner, but it's worth keeping an eye on.
Labels: athletics, cubs, spring training
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 |
Forbes: McCourts Using Dodger Profits Exclusively For Debt Service
Court documents revealed that from 2004 to 2009 the McCourts—using the Dodgers and related assets as collateral—had racked up a staggering $459 million in debt, much of which was used personally. FORBES estimates that almost all of the team’s profits were being used to pay down just the interest.WOW.
Labels: dodgers, mccourts, stupid ideas
What You Want, What You Don't: Dodgers 2, Cubs 1 (10 Innings)
The overflow lot on Camelback and 107th wasn't even close to being used. As mentioned yesterday, the Dodgers' spring training attendance is down 43% from last year, and I would say that figure looked even a bit short in the fields today, even despite the opponent Chicago — the Cubs drawing well everywhere in Spring Training owing to the paucity of tickets at Hohokam.
One consequence of this is that I have no complaints this time about the parking lot situation, it being I elected to park elsewhere. Too, the modest crowds allowed for better shooting and a general ease within the seats that felt missing last year.
Both starters pitched creditably, and though Chad Billingsley lasted six, he labored in that inning, walking the bases loaded with two out until finally he got ex-Rockie Scott Baker to line out to center. Offensively, the Dodgers nibbled and bit at Ryan Dempster until finally breaking through in the fifth, when Rafael Furcal converted Eugenio Velez's leadoff single into a run. Sadly, Velez later ended up getting carted off the field with some sort of injury running out an infield single. Never a strong candidate to make the 25-man roster out of spring training, Dylan Hernandez says he's liable to start the season in AAA, and MLB.com reports it's a "severe ankle strain".
Baker crushed an offering from Ramon Troncoso to tie the game at 1-1, but the Dodgers eventually rallied in the tenth against Jeff Samardzija to win on a little bloop single from, of all people, Orlando Mercado, the third catcher to enter the game and the least likely to get a job on the major league roster this season. Spring is full of surprises.
Labels: cubs, dodgers, injuries, spring training
Monday, March 21, 2011 |
Late But Still Important: Camelback Attendance Down 43%
Labels: angels, dodgers, mccourts, spring training
Random Photo From Yesterday
Erick Aybar tags out Ryan Spilborghs to end the third. Today's game was rained out in uncharacteristic Arizona weather.
Labels: angels, rockies, spring training
Kendry Morales To Start 2011 On The DL
Kissing Your Sister, Who Won't Be On The 25-Man Roster: Angels 6, Rockies 6 (10 Innings)
The Rockies' moment is something like "now", though they're in a bit of a fix for the rotation slots behind Jimenez; last year, the only starter with a winning record was the fairly undistinguished (10-9, 4.81 ERA) Jason Hammel. That's one reason we likely saw Esmil Rogers on the mound for the Rocks yesterday, who did a creditable job through the order once, and then proceeded to get lit up in his last three innings, failing to make an out in the sixth.
But as bad as that all was for the Rockies, their bullpen limited the late-innings AAA lineup remaining for the Angels to only a double. Angels pitching looked far worse in the early going, as starter Matt Palmer did nothing to buy himself closer to the rotation with a horrific first inning that saw him give up seven straight hits, one of them a three-run jack. He settled down in the second, retiring the side in order for the only time in the game, but returned to the suck which was his pre-Angels career in the third with a leadoff home run to franchise icon Troy Tulowitzki, Tulo's second of the game.
Once Palmer left the game, things settled down. No Rockies baserunner even got as far as third base, a pleasant change from the earlier merry-go-round. Of those on the mound after, only Hisanori Takahashi, Fernando Rodney, and Jordan Walden were locks to make the team. Walden was something of a surprise to me, because the Angels were so mired in disaster last year that I more or less stopped paying attention to them. One consequence was that I missed Walden's 15-inning late-season callup, which was very successful (2.35 ERA, 0-1, 1 SV). While I expect young Walden to eventually regress, he may yet prove me wrong: he has yet to allow an earned run in six spring training appearances this year. More outings like yesterday's are cause for hope after last year's wretched bullpen.
Labels: angels, recaps, rockies, spring training
Saturday, March 19, 2011 |
Day 1: Spring Starts Late Around Here: Padres 14, Cubs 4
The Cubs played reasonably well this time — for maybe one inning in nine, but the rest of the time largely stank it up, Jeff Samardjia notwithstanding. The big offseason acquisition from the Rays, Matt Garza, turned out to be something of a catastrophe who only lasted three innings and gave up as many runs. But that was nothing next to Braden Looper's two-inning career burial that resulted in an earth-shattering eight runs in two innings, including a grand slam to nowhere-near-that-bitchin' Pads third baseman Chase Headley. My bet is that Looper, apparently off Tommy John repair, may yet have some miles in him, but they are not close to the majors, and Headley, who may yet start for the Pad People, is not the slugger he evinced today.
So spring. Al Yellon has more for the Northside faithful.
Scot Shields Calls It A Career
Labels: ex-angels, retirements
Friday, March 11, 2011 |
Chuck Greenberg Leaves Texas As Nolan Ryan Assumes CEO Role
Sources said Greenberg's departure was the result of a variety of factors that built up during the offseason.Greenberg is leaving the organization.One included Greenberg selling a suite at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington that general manager Jon Daniels used for meetings and to entertain family members and various opposing front office people. Ryan and Daniels didn't want the suite sold.
Labels: firings, front office, rangers
Wednesday, March 09, 2011 |
Create Your Own Monster: Opening Day Weekend Tickets On Goldstar
Update 3/11: Oops, not Opening Day, but that weekend. Still.
Apple.TV To Get MLB.TV
Labels: tv
Brendan Donnelly Retires
Donnelly picked up two World Series rings, one with then-Anaheim and a second with Boston in 2007, a World Series win in 2002 Game 6 (the best World Series game played this century, IMO). A great reliever.
Labels: ex-angels, history, retirements
Mark Trumbo "Opening Eyes"
Meanwhile, Angels first base prospect Mark Trumbo keeps opening eyes in the Cactus League, prompting one scout to say, "He's got big-time power. He's not the typical Angels 'small ball' player, but they've got to find room for him."Lyle Spencer wrote a piece about him yesterday featuring lots of hyperbolic chatter about thousand-foot home runs. His record in the minors reminds me a lot of some other high-profile flameouts who hit for power in the minors but were never able to translate it to the majors. Trumbo hit .301/.368/.577 last year with AAA Salt Lake, and I would be really surprised to see him advance to the bigs this year — that is, unless Kendry Morales really does turn out to be a no-show on opening day, at which point, anything is possible.
Trumbo supposedly has been seen taking balls in the outfield, for which I understand he is woefully unprepared. This option was tried in 23 games with Salt Lake, which should tell you something about his issues there; I expect "takes bad routes to ball" is just the beginning of it, as he's notoriously slow according to the Baseball America scouting report.
Labels: angels, spring training
Tuesday, March 08, 2011 |
Kim Ng Departs For Greener Pastures In MLB Commissioner's Office
Labels: dodgers, front office
Monday, March 07, 2011 |
Baseball-Reference Mobile Now Live
Labels: blogs
Mike Scioscia, Hall Of Fame Manager?
Labels: angels, ex-angels, managers
Thursday, March 03, 2011 |
McCourts To Restart Settlement Talks
Wednesday, March 02, 2011 |
Daily Awesome: How To Pick A Rooting Interest
Tuesday, March 01, 2011 |
Mike Trout Gets Pranked
Jamie Argues Frank's Secret Deal Would Have Harmed Future TV Revenues
Labels: mccourts
Garret Anderson Retires
Labels: ex-angels, retirements
Implausible Reports From History: The Red Sox' Fifth Starter
Labels: red sox
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