6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Of course Pujols would hit his first Angels home run at home, during a day game, one day after being benched. Evidence that the first baseman was trying too hard came in late last month in the form of Mark Saxon's spray chart, indicating he's trying way too hard to hit home runs. Well, he finally got there, so hopefully the monkey's a bit off his back in that regard.

As it happened in this game, Pujols two-run jack was the game winner, one which the Jays did plenty to erode late, getting single runs in the sixth and seventh innings in scratch-it-out fashion. Too pooped from not sleeping last night to write more.

Update: I forgot to mention that yesterday's game ended with injuries to Scott Downs (knee) and LaTroy Hawkins (broken right pinky). There was a corresponding move made today, with Hawkins sent to the (15-day?) DL and reliever David Pauley getting the callup from AAA Salt Lake. Alden Gonzalez has more.

Update 2: It looks like there will be no DL time for Downs according to Mike DiGiovanna. He is day-to-day.

Update 3: Mike Scioscia will go with a "closer by committee" between Ernesto Frieri and Jordan Walden.

ESPN box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, blue jays, recaps

Dan Haren looked again off last night, having a hard time finding the strike zone and getting pounded when he did arrive there. The offense, as you can tell by the zero above, did almost nothing: Mike Trout's two hits at the leadoff spot, and Mark Trumbo's lone ninth-inning hit, was the sum total of the offense for the evening. Both times Trout singled were followed up by a GIDP (one by Albert Pujols in the first, the second by Vernon Wells in the fourth). The net result was that Brandon Morrow — who pitched a complete game shutout — faced the minimum in every inning but the ninth. Back on the horse later today.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, blue jays, recaps

Things are moving along quite smartly this offseason, as the Angels unloaded Jeff Mathis for LHP Brad Mills to Toronto, which means the Halos have managed to trade both their 2010 receivers to the same team. Mills was actually fairly interesting in the lower minors, but he spent three years at AAA posting uninspiring numbers (4.32 ERA with a 21-23 record, 7.8 K/9, 2.63 K/BB). If he sticks with the Angels — and apparently, he has an option left — he'll be fighting for a role in the rotation, though Rotoworld seems to think he's better suited to relief.

Obviously, the upside of this deal is getting rid of Jeff Mathis, whose Angels career has been mainly a case of mistaken identity, i.e. Mike Scioscia took him for a starting catcher. The Napoli schism has tended to be overdone (even by me):

Angels Catchers Games Started At Catcher

Year	Jeff Mathis	Mike Napoli
2006	14	77
2007	52	68
2008	90	71
2009	78	84
2010	62	59

Only two of those years — 2008 and 2010 — did Scioscia start Mathis in more games than Napoli. Yet, as Bill Plaschke pointed out earlier, Napoli only got 57 starts at catcher for the Rangers this year, a surprise for people who defend him as a good defensive receiver. (For the record, my position isn't that he is or is not good, just that Mathis can't be shown to be superior by any metric I am aware of.)

Mathis' major league career may already be over; his days as a starting catcher are probably over, anyway, and if it turns out that the Jays jettison him, too, I won't be terribly surprised. All in all, a necessary trade to keep Scioscia from playing Mathis.

Update: Any time you can link to a Grant Brisbee piece about a trade involving a team you follow, you totally should, because he is teh awesome.

Update 2: Sam Miller is predictably great:

Brad Mills has an 8.57 ERA in 48 career Major League innings. That’s actually only the 29th worst ERA in history, minimum 25 innings. Stu Flythe had a 13.04 ERA in 1936. “Hey, Alex, what’ll you give me for Jeff Mathis,” Jerry Dipoto asked. “Hmmm,” Alex Anthopoulos said. “I’ll give you Stu Flythe.” “But he’s dead. He’s been dead for, like, forever. He’s not on your team. Your team didn’t even exist when Stu Flythe died.” “Sorry, Jerry. That’s the best I can do.”

Labels: angels, blue jays, hot stove, trades, transactions

Can we fire Tony Reagins again? It would really feel good.

Labels: angels, blue jays, rangers, stupid ideas, trades

The Dodgers acquired Juan Rivera and cash from the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later, and gave Marcus Thames the heave-ho. MSTI has the full skinny, and he sets out a good case that this represents a positive incremental change. Also, the cash has to be useful for a guy running out of dough, what with the stadium looking ever so empty these days.

Labels: blue jays, dodgers, trades, transactions

A Fourth Of July Worth Remembering: Angels 5, Tigers 1

The Angels bid adieu happily if perhaps a bit wistfully to interleague play. They took four of six from crosstown rivals the Dodgers, though despite my misgivings and the apparent at-large misgivings of Dodger fans overall, Chavez Ravine matches still outdrew those at Angels Stadium, 127,852 to 126,021. The difference is quite small, but still says something about the durability of that contract with the fans.

So, back to the American League for the balance of the season, and to the out-of-division opponent of the moment, the Detroit Tigers. The headline on this game was principally about bookended Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells solo homers (in the first and eighth innings respectively), which leads me to recalling a piece I can't now put a finger to in which Wells vowed that his post-injury numbers would be far better than his early struggles. And just so: he's hitting .264/.280/.549 since his return; while you like the slugging average, the on-base-percentage is disturbingly low, even for someone who can knock the ball over the fence. By contrast, Garret Anderson, whom I and others have slagged for his inability to take a walk, never posted an OBP under .308 as an Angel, averaging .324 for his Halo career. Still, it represents a sizable improvement for Wells to be contributing, and for now, he has postponed the day when Tony Reagins will have to walk the plank, and Arte will cut him loose as an expensive failed experiment.

(Incidentally, an alert reader noticed that the Blue Jays pulled the plug on one of the returns for Wells, designating Juan Rivera for assignment on Saturday. The move worked out pretty well for Toronto, as callup Travis Snider shattered John Lackey and the Red Sox, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs. My Sawx-loving Facebook friends are now well past disgust and into talk of DFAing Lackey, who has a grand total of four quality starts all year, out of 13 attempts. The talking heads on MLB Network's Quick Pitch program last night were saying his 7.47 ERA is in historic company in terms of pitchers being given the most rope and still coming up short. As upset as I was at the time that he was allowed to leave, the injury risk had to also be there, and I must say I'm glad someone else has to deal with that. Now, about Vernon Wells ... Rivera still has a higher OPS+. Embarrassing.)

Have I mentioned the Angels are tied for first place in the division? No?

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Frank Goes After Bud: Discoveryrama!

Not too surprising, given Frank's decreasing lack of options. And who knows but that other teams are run this badly (I have always imagined it at least a possibility) but that Frank's case, being more heavily leveraged, merely came a-cropper first. I plan on pouring a nice glass of pinot grigio and enjoying the show from a distance.

Roster Moves

• Casey Blake went down (neck strain) and Rafael Furcal was called up on Saturday from his latest rehab stint.
• This briefly kept Dee Gordon on the 25-man roster, but then he, too, was shipped to AAA Albuquerque to make room for Eugenio Velez.

Labels: angels, blue jays, dodgers, ex-angels, injuries, recaps, tigers, transactions

I suppose it's a bit cynical to run that headline up there, considering the Weav just hit a career high in strikeouts, but when the team seemed to make little effort to extend him — aw, who am I kidding, he's a Scott Boras client, and they always go in for free agency — it's hard not to get a little depressed. I'm enjoying these performances for as long as they last, but with the knowledge he won't be around too terribly much longer.

Bobby Wilson hit into the only GIDP for the day for the Angels, so there was that; but another 0-fer day from Vernon Wells was thoroughly depressing. Luckily the day ended well, mostly the consequence of a Peter Bourjos RBI triple. The kid really seems to be for real, a bright light of sunshine in a partly cloudy offense.

ESPN Box • MLB.com Recap

Labels: angels, blue jays

Yesterday's game was most interesting for the long stretch in which Ervin Santana appeared to have a perfect game going early, retiring the first 13 batters in order. Of course, you don't make the mistake of mentioning it — which I did at the end of the fourth.

The rest of the game wasn't actually terrible, save for the part where the Angels' offense basically didn't get it done. When they did get a hit, as with Mark Trumbo's fourth-inning double, they ended up either stranded or twin killing victims. A big part of that was Vernon Wells' 0-for-4 night, one for which he is understandably apologetic.

As to the park — the game was well-attended. The whole affair seemed to have a best-laid-plans sighing to it; the original C-17 scheduled for the flyover couldn't make it, so we got a World War II-era overflight instead. The game was reported to be a sellout at 43,853, but it seemed emptier than that (though not much). I keep hoping this isn't a portent for the rest of the season.

ESPN Box • MLB recap

Labels: angels, blue jays, recaps

John Lackey lasted five innings in today's season opener at Fenway Park while giving up six runs, all earned. That fact prompted Jon Weisman to take a look in the rear view at the 2009/2010 offseason in which some Dodger fans were thinking the team should have made a run at him.

In retrospect, that would have been a terrible move. Lackey's 2010 splits show some amazing numbers; he blew up against Cleveland (10.13 ERA), Colorado (6.75 ERA), Detroit (6.43 ERA), and Toronto (8.61 ERA), among his other bad outings. The point being, his overall 4.40 ERA was not due exclusively to facing the Yankees three times.

Labels: blue jays, ex-angels, indians, red sox, rockies, tigers, yankees

Aaron Gleeman reports that Scott Podsednik, who turned down a $2M/1-year deal with the Dodgers, has signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays. Oops.

Labels: blue jays, dodgers, hot stove, stupid ideas

As if you didn't know: the Jays are looking to move Juan Rivera.

Labels: blue jays, hot stove, rumors, trades

• Tragically, Christina Kahrl's impertinent analysis of the Vernon Wells/Mike Napoli/Juan Rivera trade is now instantly obsolete on the Toronto side of the ledger, but I wanted to draw your attention to the following, in a devil's advocate sort of way:

  Well, at least he has been fairly durable, right? No, as a matter of fact, he hasn't been durable. He had repeated injury issues in both 2008 and 2009: In 2008 he lost time to hamstring and wrist issues, and had continuing problems with both in 2009 (the hammy in spring training, the hand and wrist during the year). And in 2007, there was that shoulder issue he had to have operated on after the year, and reportedly hampered his hitting all season. So that adds up to quite the tally of handicapped performance while playing, as well as a couple of DL stints and injuries that, if they hadn't been repaired at season's end, would have involved DL time.

  Speaking as one of the few observers who hasn't damned the trade outright, this is a key problem I missed. Wells appears to be one of those guys who plays straight through injury, performance be damned. Now, maybe you could make the argument that on the Angels he would be shipped off to the trainer's room and the 15- or 60-day DL, but that would subtract from his alleged durability. This is enough to make me sour on the deal overall, and once again bring into question Tony Reagins' abilities as a GM.
• Can someone please explain to me how Jay Jaffe managed to write a post about the majors' worst regulars that did not include Jeff Mathis? Mathis had a -1.1 WARP in 2010, lower than two of his cited examples — Rob Johnson (0.9 WARP) and Josh Bard (0.3 WARP), while getting more plate appearances (205) than Bard (126) and almost as many as Johnson (209). Is there no injustice?

Labels: analysis, angels, blue jays, hot stove, trades, transactions

Okay, this offseason just became a paper cut. For reliever Frank Francisco.

Labels: blue jays, ex-angels, hot stove, rangers, trades, transactions

So says Fox Sports. Wells is due $86M over the remaining four years of his deal; viewed as a challenge trade, this might work, since Napoli has been a 2-3 WAR player over most of his career, where Wells has been a lot streakier and variable (3.4 WAR last year). I don't generally like the Angels' trades in the Tony Reagins era (and neither Bill Stoneman's before him), and one reason to really dislike this one is it gets the team older in a hurry. It does make the team a bit older (Wells will be playing out his age 32 season this year, where Napoli enters his age 29 season), though I think I like Wells' ability to stay on the field in the main.

Napoli will age a lot faster, being a catcher. Too, I'm not really happy with his sudden decline in walk rate; despite taking the largest number of plate appearances in his career, he managed only two more walks (42) despite having almost 20% more plate appearances in 2010. Taken with the additional salary, I would actually call this a fairly even trade, because Toronto will have all year to negotiate an extension with the receiver, in his last year of arbitration eligibility.

Update: An ESPN report by Mark Saxon claims "The Angels' desire to move him accelerated when Napoli asked for $6.1 million in an arbitration filing last week." Also, the Halos have been trying to move Juan Rivera and the $5.25M remaining on his contract.

Update 2: The Times reports that the trade will also send Juan Rivera and the remaining $5.25M on his deal to Toronto.

Update 3: Sam Miller of the Register reminds us that the Angels refused even to take up a waiver claim at the trade deadline last year, but now they give up something of value in exchange? Very odd. It will be interesting to see Reagins defend this deal.

Labels: angels, blue jays, hot stove, trades, transactions

As we rapidly deplete May, the Angels finally won their fourth series of the month, there being nine total in the month, the Detroit series notwithstanding. One of those was a sweep of the short series against the White Sox in U.S. Cellular. If this team's going to come around, they need to start taking care of business. As bad as I perceived April to be, May has been even more brutal to the Angels, as their current 11-14 record on the month attests. As in April, they could finish the month a .500 team, but they will have to win out against the Mariners to do it, facing, in order, Cliff Lee, Ian Snell, and Felix Hernandez.

Which is to say I think they're about where they ought to be in the standings. The 26-20 Rangers are four games up, the A's 24-23, and the 23-26 Angels are still within sight of the division if they can shake up their bullpen.

But back to the specifics of the game. The Jays got an early 3-0 lead when Joel Piniero suddenly lost his command, and started walking guys, fairly uncharacteristically for him:

"It's weird, because I wasn't getting hit around. It was just the walks," Pineiro said. "(Catcher) Jeff Mathis was telling me: `What are you doing? The ball is moving so much.' I couldn't control it. Maybe I was just guiding it so much. But after that inning I kind of settled down and all of my pitches came around. Then I was back to being myself again."

But he didn't do it again, fortunately for the Angels. His offense got him off the hook for his misdeeds in the fourth and fifth innings, with Howie Kendrick, Bobby Abreu, and Michael Ryan doing the heavy lifting.

The Halos got what should have been the winning runs on Hideki Matsui's two-run jack in the sixth — his first in almost two weeks, and only his second on the month. But then came Brian Fuentes and Bobby Abreu's misplay of Alex Gonzalez' fly in the outfield that ended with Gonzalez on second, and ultimately, tying the game when John Buck singled him home. It amounted to Fuentes' third blown save of the year, and given he only has six, that's an awfully rickety closer you have there, Mr. Scioscia. Luckily for the Angels, Fuentes' ultimately led to an Angels win, as Abreu drove in the winning run on a bases loaded single in the bottom of the frame. But what a way to get a win.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, blue jays, recaps

Probably Ervin's best game all year in some respects, especially considering what a home-run happy club this is; the Jays finished the night still leading the league in home runs, even though they lost the game. All three Toronto runs came on solo blasts, which, yay for no base runners.

The offense managed to beat the snot out of Ricky Romero, who had a 2.71 ERA going into the game and hadn't surrendered so many runs since a 10-5 blowout at the hands of the Yanks last September 3, long after it was obvious the Jays wouldn't be a force in the division. Unlike that time, all of his runs were earned, setting a personal mark for suck in the majors; top and bottom the Angels battered him, the only Angel not getting a hit being Juan Rivera, and even he scored a run. Rivera reached on one of third baseman Edwin Encarncion's three errors in this game, and even then he scored on a wild pitch. It was a day full of gifts, and while you could smirk at those, at least the Angels capitalized.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, blue jays, recaps

The ESPN box score doesn't reflect which godawful reliever blew up this time (it turns out it was Jason Bulger), but does it really matter? I suppose they can take some solace in that at least Brian Stokes will start a rehab assignment with Salt Lake.

ESPN Box

Labels: angels, blue jays, recaps, suck

Angels Sweep In Toronto! Angels 3, Blue Jays 1

A brilliant pitching performance by Ervin Santana accompanied by timely hitting from Hideki Matsui (though the game was really won in the ninth, when the Angels knocked out a couple needed insurance runs against Scott Downs), this was exactly the kind of game the Halos needed. It kept the bullpen out of it, and nailed down a road sweep of the lately vincible Blue Jays. Bonus points for also getting the Halos to within one game of .500. And maybe of longer-term importance, Brandon Wood picked up an infield single to push his batting average past .100.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Manny Saves Kershaw From A Loss: Dodgers 2, Giants 1

The old, good 2009 Dodgers team that seemed lost a while back roared back in this game, featuring a long seven-inning outing for starter Clayton Kershaw, and a vintage two-run jack from Manny Ramirez that won the game in the bottom of the eighth. And just my luck, I was running in to Lowe's just as Bruce Bochy yanked Barry Zito, who was on his way to a possible complete game.

ESPN Box • Dodgers recap

Dodgers DFA Russ Ortiz

For those of us who wondered why on earth they picked him up in the first place, well, the Dodgers designated Russ Ortiz for assignment, calling up Jon Link. It's unclear whether he will accept a minor league assignment.

The Dodgers expect to call up Hong-Chih Kuo and Ronald Belisario this week as well.

Eric Gagne Retires

According to a Francophone publication Rue Frontenac passed along by Rotoworld.

Labels: angels, blue jays, dodgers, ex-dodgers, giants, recaps, retirements

Really, I had something useful to say about yesterday's 7-5 win over Toronto, mostly snark aimed at the bullpen; Kevin Jepsen recovered from a Jason Bulger implosion that made it into a game again. Bulger ended the day with an 11.69 ERA, which fairly estimates the level work he's done this year. A good offensive game starring Kendry Morales' solo homer, and another fantastic outing by Jered Weaver, the team's best pitcher at the moment.

When I started listening to today's early east coast starter, I somehow managed to arrive just in time to hear Brandon Wood muff three straight plays in the third; and he's hitting less than a supermodel's weight. Fortunately, Joe Saunders didn't take it personally and managed to get out of the inning anyway; I was shocked to see Wood still in the game the next frame. About as horrible as anything I've seen, though I should mention that we haven't even seen a month of him as a starter. (Sean Rodriguez hasn't crossed the Mendoza line, either, but he would have made pretty good Brandon Wood insurance in case the latter flames out ... oh, well.)

Top 8th: Juan Rivera ripped a hard-hit single down the right-field line to make it 5-2 Angels. It was the first scoring either team has done in five innings. Not coincidentally, Saunders hadn't left the game, and he stays in entering the bottom of the frame.

Bottom 8th: With Toronto shortstop Alex Gonzalez on second with two outs, Adam Lind singled to center. Reggie Willits, getting the start in right, returned the ball slightly off-line to Mike Napoli. Gonzalez screwed up, too, failing to touch the plate — and Napoli tagged him for the last out. (Gonzalez actually caught Napoli's shin guard instead of the plate, though it was fairly close.)

Top 9th: The Angels got another insurance run off a Reggie Willits leadoff hustle double, and an RBI single from Howie Kendrick, making it 6-2 Angels. It looks like Mike Scioscia's bringing in Kevin Jepsen to finish the game.

Bottom 9th: That didn't last long. Jepsen surrendered consecutive doubles to Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay to make it 6-3 Angels; but Fernando Rodney, summoned to finish things for reals this time, held the Jays scoreless, retiring all three men he faced. The Halos pick up their first series win despite Wood's miscues (and another 0-fer day), and do it on the road, too.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, blue jays, live blogging, recaps

Via David Pinto, the four-team megadeal between the Mariners, Phillies, Blue Jays, and Athletics is complete. Here's the final score:

• Seattle gets LHP Cliff Lee (from Philadelphia)
• Philadelphia gets RHP Philippe Aumont, OF Tyson Gillies, and RHP Juan Ramirez from Seattle; RHP Roy Halladay and $6M cash from Toronto.
• Toronto gets C Travis D'Arnaud, RHP Kyle Drabek, and OF Michael Taylor; but then shipped Taylor to Oakland for 3B Brett Wallace.
• Oakland gets OF Michael Taylor.

In general, I can't think of anything to disagree with David's take on this deal; it's good for the Mariners, who are looking at a hole in the Angels' ability to compete with the loss of Lackey and deciding to go for it. The Phils (after a three-year extension) get an ace-quality starter, albeit a right-handed one; I gotta wonder why they went that way, but maybe Lee didn't want to be in Philly past 2010. The Jays retool in a hurry, and the A's ... why are they jettisoning a third baseman? That's quite a puzzle.

Labels: athletics, blue jays, hot stove, mariners, phillies, trades, transactions