I'm going negative....

[Stradling]

He gets away with this shit because he's the owner and writes the checks.  He also gets away with it because some people have a love affair with the game of baseball no matter who the owner or players.  

[ABC]

checkbook is closed. pay attention.

[Mark68]

Just now, #CF8 said:

Last 7 AB is the big picture?

No wonder Arte gets away with this shit.

No...but it is the big picture in the game. Without his double, we would never have seen the 13th inning, and I get that maybe that would have been better. 

How many of us thought he was going to be the same player that he was for the Cardinals? I didn't. Yes, I thought he'd be good for a couple of years, but would stink by the end of the contract. I believe we unanimously thought that by 2021, this contract would look absolutely horrible. But it's not his fault he was offered the contract, and it's certainly not his fault that he accepted it.

Unless your name is Francisco Lindor or Kris Bryant and you're young and very talented (and can potentially earn so much more), you don't turn down that kind of money. 

Yes, Pujols struck out with the game on the line. But it would have never gotten to that point without him. 

He's still a good enough hitter that by the end of the season, he'll have around 30 HRs and a .260 average. Just because he struck out in one at bat with the bases loaded with the game on the line does not change that.

People on here act as if Trout has never done that. 

[Stradling]

6 minutes ago, #CF8 said:

checkbook is closed. pay attention.

How many other teams spent $30+ million this off season?

[Jobu]

Well, look, there's only one Cameron Maybin to go around.

[ettin]

I would like to point out the following projected standings from FanGraphs based on Runs Scored and Runs Against: http://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=Standings

If the Angels play to their current R/S and R/A they will still be withing striking distance of a Wild Card spot. They just have to execute.

[Docwaukee]

17 minutes ago, ettin said:

I would like to point out the following projected standings from FanGraphs based on Runs Scored and Runs Against: http://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=Standings

If the Angels play to their current R/S and R/A they will still be withing striking distance of a Wild Card spot. They just have to execute.

I think you're looking at that wrong Robert.  our current rs/g is 3.56 and we have allowed 4.50.  The rest of it is projected.  At our current pace we'll end up with a differential of about -150 which would translate to almost 100 losses.  

[Slegnaac]

5 hours ago, Homebrewer said:

Too early after a long rainy, snowy, cold, dreary, off-season to get really negative...yet. That's easy for me to say I guess, since I closely follow 2 teams, and the other one is pretty good. That, and I also like to watch other teams, especially when the pitching matchups are compelling. It's pretty awesome to be able to watch every game, every day...there was a time not long ago that fans got nothing but home team broadcasts, and then only a few times a week, and maybe a game of the week on the weekends, and that was it.

It's a great time for baseball and for the fans..

TWIB - Great Saturday morning show.

[Angelsjunky]

2 hours ago, ukyah said:

thinking that the past results of the franchise have any bearing on the present results or expectations on the franchise/team is exactly what got the cubs 108 years of losing. the cubs won because they got a president and gm who knew that 108 meant shit.

no fan cares about the angels in any era other than this one. 

My point is that we have unrealistic expectations based upon a very good run from 2002-09, which neither fits the history of the franchise nor proved to be sustainable. For a bit there it seemed the Angels were moving into the category of "premier franchise," but it wasn't to be. They're a second tier franchise, and perhaps not even that.

During the Reagins years it was "one good tweak and we're back to 04-09." During Dipoto it was "one (more) big splash and we're back to 04-09." Now it is "a few savvy moves by Eppler, and maybe we can capture lightning in a bottle like 02, but otherwise it is back to 04-09 before the Trout Window closes."

What seems to become more and more clear with each passing year is that this organization is thoroughly fucked, from top to bottom. It is just a crappy organization. Now there are tiny glimmers of hope, but we've been saying that for years.

That negativity is partly fueled by the Richards news, I must admit. Overall I think Eppler seems to be taking the right approach, with a focus on long-term improvement. The best news is that they're no longer selling the future to patch a sinking ship, like they did from 2010-15. The bad news is that you don't go from being a crappy organization to a great one in a just a year or two. It will take time.

[NrM]

32 minutes ago, ettin said:

I would like to point out the following projected standings from FanGraphs based on Runs Scored and Runs Against: http://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=Standings

If the Angels play to their current R/S and R/A they will still be withing striking distance of a Wild Card spot. They just have to execute.

Scioscia has to get the best out of his players, which he has shown to be inept at.

Players simply underperform under sciosca

[ettin]

8 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

I think you're looking at that wrong Robert.  our current rs/g is 3.56 and we have allowed 4.50.  The rest of it is projected.  At our current pace we'll end up with a differential of about -150 which would translate to almost 100 losses.  

.No I was looking at the projections based on our future state (far right section). Unless I sent the wrong link?

[ettin]

Link is good, it is showing us as tied for 2nd in AL West at 80-82. With a little luck (5 extra wins) we'd be in the "projected" Wild Card race.

All that I am trying to say is that the season is far from over and with a lot of games left there is more than enough variability to put us back in a playoff discussion but we need to start executing, particularly our offense needs to get more consistent (might be tall order but hey!).

[Docwaukee]

42 minutes ago, Mark68 said:

OK, let me rephrase that...

 

Do you know that he had 3 hits in 7 at bats yesterday? That equates to a .429 average. Just because he struck out with the bases loaded in the 13th, you go on this rampage without looking at the big picture.

 

FWIW, CJ Cron was 0-6 yesterday. Maybe he deserves your scorn more than Pujols. It isn't Pujols' fault he gets paid as much as he does.

yes.  I am fully aware of what he did yesterday.  I was using the quality of his at bats as an example of his unwillingness to adapt to his current ability.  

How often does a ball he hits to the left side of the infield end up producing something?  

He's hitting .203 even after going 3/7.  

Yes, Arte gave him the contract so shame on him.  But Albert hasn't exactly kept himself in a position to succeed.  He sacrificed a ton as a hitter to maintain his HR prowess.  Did his ability to manage the strike zone just disappear?  Or his ability to hit the ball the other way?  Did his contract stipulate he gain 30+ lbs around his waist so he could put more pressure on his 90 year old legs which then led to injuries which then further hampered his off season conditioning?  

Albert is absolutely complicit in his decline as a hitter.  A lot of what has happened to him is his own fault/choice and well beyond the typical aging process of someone with his ability.  

 

[Docwaukee]

1 hour ago, ettin said:

Link is good, it is showing us as tied for 2nd in AL West at 80-82. With a little luck (5 extra wins) we'd be in the "projected" Wild Card race.

All that I am trying to say is that the season is far from over and with a lot of games left there is more than enough variability to put us back in a playoff discussion but we need to start executing, particularly our offense needs to get more consistent (might be tall order but hey!).

Sorry if I can't get overly bullish about our playoff chances now that Richards is on the 60 day DL and we are projected to finish 80-82 with his production still factored in.  We've already lucked our way into 2 of our 7 wins.  BTW, the fewest number of wins to get the WC since the advent of the playoff is 86.  The avg is 90 wins.  

[ettin]

1 minute ago, Dochalo said:

Sorry if I can't get overly bullish about our playoff chances now that Richards is on the 60 day DL and we are projected to finish 80-82 with his production still factored in.  We've already lucked our way into 2 of our 7 wins.  BTW, the fewest number of wins to get the WC since the advent of the playoff is 86.  The avg is 90 wins.  

I'm not asking you to get overly bullish, I'm simply pointing out that our chances are still statistically relevant. I have no illusion that things will need to break in our favor more Doc but there is a lot of baseball to play and a lot of things can go right and wrong for both the Angels and other teams in the League.

[Mark68]

18 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

yes.  I am fully aware of what he did yesterday.  I was using the quality of his at bats as an example of his unwillingness to adapt to his current ability.  

How often does a ball he hits to the left side of the infield end up producing something?  

He's hitting .203 even after going 3/7.  

Yes, Arte gave him the contract so shame on him.  But Albert hasn't exactly kept himself in a position to succeed.  He sacrificed a ton as a hitter to maintain his HR prowess.  Did his ability to manage the strike zone just disappear?  Or his ability to hit the ball the other way?  Did his contract stipulate he gain 30+ lbs around his waist so he could put more pressure on his 90 year old legs which then led to injuries which then further hampered his off season conditioning?  

Albert is absolutely complicit in his decline as a hitter.  A lot of what has happened to him is his own fault/choice and well beyond the typical aging process of someone with his ability.  

 

Look deeper. He still manages the strike zone well. In his Career, he has struck out in 10% of his ABs, and while that has increased since joining the Angels, it has stayed pretty consistent. In his 5 years as an Angel, he has struck out 11.3, 12.4, 10.2, 10.9, 11.5%. Thus far this year (it's early), he's at 16.47%. He does not walk as much, but this, along with his pulling everything could very well be attributed to his advancing age. He's got to pull the trigger earlier, and he's doing so, but that means that he's early on offspeed stuff. 

Now we can have a conversation about whether he's gained weight because he can't run like he used to, or he can't run like he used to because his feet are constantly bothering him (something, I might add, that was a problem his last year in St Louis).

Yes, he's on a steep decline, but how realistic was it to expect he could keep his pace up well into his 30s? This is why I thought the length of his contract was horrible. 

But you're still pointiung the finger at Pujols for last night, and there was plenty of blame to go around, and many players who are more deserving of it...Cron, Meyer, Escobar, Simmons, etc. Pujols looked bad on that last AB, sure. But even Trout has looked bad on some ABs.

[Docwaukee]

21 minutes ago, Mark68 said:

Look deeper. He still manages the strike zone well. In his Career, he has struck out in 10% of his ABs, and while that has increased since joining the Angels, it has stayed pretty consistent. In his 5 years as an Angel, he has struck out 11.3, 12.4, 10.2, 10.9, 11.5%. Thus far this year (it's early), he's at 16.47%. He does not walk as much, but this, along with his pulling everything could very well be attributed to his advancing age. He's got to pull the trigger earlier, and he's doing so, but that means that he's early on offspeed stuff. 

you've strengthened my argument.  Typically, plate discipline is the last thing to go.  Albert gave his up to hit hrs.  He's pretty much a dead pull hitter now but didn't need to be.  He only needs to start early so he can pull his hrs.  He could be a 20hr, 40 dbl, .290 hitter with a .360 obp.  I couldn't care less about his k rate.  All that means is that there are more weak balls in play for outs.  Out by k vs. out by weak grounder does nothing.  

21 minutes ago, Mark68 said:

Now we can have a conversation about whether he's gained weight because he can't run like he used to, or he can't run like he used to because his feet are constantly bothering him (something, I might add, that was a problem his last year in St Louis).

Less weight means less pressure on his lower joints.  Hips, knees, ankles, feet.  Keeping the weight off would have meant he'd have to work harder and maintain a different diet.  Less weight could have meant more bat speed.  More foot speed to stretch out the occasional IF hit or single to double.  He's fat and there are ways for him not to be.  He makes 25mil as season.  I think he can afford the best training methods available.  

21 minutes ago, Mark68 said:

Yes, he's on a steep decline, but how realistic was it to expect he could keep his pace up well into his 30s? This is why I thought the length of his contract was horrible. 

It wasn't.  But his decline from an inner circle HOFer is unprecedented among his peers.  He's a completely different player and in my opinion could have done some things to keep that from happening to the degree it did.  Frankly, it wasn't decline as much as it was a choice.  A choice to sacrifice all other parts of his game to hit hrs.  

21 minutes ago, Mark68 said:

But you're still pointiung the finger at Pujols for last night, and there was plenty of blame to go around, and many players who are more deserving of it...Cron, Meyer, Escobar, Simmons, etc. Pujols looked bad on that last AB, sure. But even Trout has looked bad on some ABs.

True.  Last night wasn't all his fault.  But it's frustrating when your #4 hitter is hitting .203 and generally sucks in April because he's a physical wreck due to his weight and lack of off season conditioning.  So he gets no pass from me when a sac fly means the game.  I expect him to perform better than anyone else in the lineup sans Trout and maybe Calhoun.  But it's not fair to put a loss on any one at bat by any player.  

[Troll Daddy]

The negative bullshit is working ... keep it up guys!

[AngelsLakersFan]

9 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

The negative bullshit is working ... keep it up guys!

IF IT'S WORKING THAN YOUR POST IS A JINX FOOL!!

[Jobu]

1 hour ago, Dochalo said:

 

 Frankly, it wasn't decline as much as it was a choice.  A choice to sacrifice all other parts of his game to hit hrs. 

I wonder why...

[Angelsjunky]

Albert is still hitting a robust .308/.391/.571 for his career. But here's the crazy thing: before coming to the Angels, his career line was .328/.420/.617. As an Angel he's hit .265/.323/.470 - so basically he went from being Jimmie Foxx to CJ Cron. As Doc said, a historically unparalleled decline for such a great player.

[Homebrewer]

3 hours ago, Dochalo said:

Albert is absolutely complicit in his decline as a hitter.  A lot of what has happened to him is his own fault/choice and well beyond the typical aging process of someone with his ability.  

Absolutely. Look at Jason Heyward who worked without a break all winter, to remake his entire approach from the ground up, after he had a disappointing 1st year with a new team and a huge contract.

Albert did nothing like that back then, and now it's too late.

Arte has been a failure at estimating character and commitment in his big money signings..

Pujols, Hamilton and CJ..

 

[Tank]

22 hours ago, Dochalo said:

until they prove me wrong.  

2 miraculous wins and we are still 7-11.  

Our #4 hitter whiffs on 3 pitches in a critical situation and is hitting .203.  Pretty much his standard for April with the halos.  

We still suck at LF and 2b.  

Our #5 hitter is hitting .213 after going 0-6 and leaving 6 guys left on base.  

We have one player with an ops above .740.  One player that has started the season well.  

Oh and the pitching is still all over the place.  

I've tried to support what they are doing and frankly, they should be better relative to what I see on the field.  

When are they actually going to perform?  

Maybe they won't, but I'm tired of trying to find the silver lining 

This is the extremely genteel version of LTH's "eff these effing effers!"

[ABC]

4 hours ago, Mark68 said:

Look deeper. He still manages the strike zone well. In his Career, he has struck out in 10% of his ABs, and while that has increased since joining the Angels, it has stayed pretty consistent. In his 5 years as an Angel, he has struck out 11.3, 12.4, 10.2, 10.9, 11.5%. Thus far this year (it's early), he's at 16.47%. He does not walk as much, but this, along with his pulling everything could very well be attributed to his advancing age. He's got to pull the trigger earlier, and he's doing so, but that means that he's early on offspeed stuff. 

Now we can have a conversation about whether he's gained weight because he can't run like he used to, or he can't run like he used to because his feet are constantly bothering him (something, I might add, that was a problem his last year in St Louis).

Yes, he's on a steep decline, but how realistic was it to expect he could keep his pace up well into his 30s? This is why I thought the length of his contract was horrible. 

But you're still pointiung the finger at Pujols for last night, and there was plenty of blame to go around, and many players who are more deserving of it...Cron, Meyer, Escobar, Simmons, etc. Pujols looked bad on that last AB, sure. But even Trout has looked bad on some ABs.

2

no wonder everyone is so fat.

even if you can't run like you used to, you can still maintain a lean body without losing strength. ap still suits up as a pro athlete. he can easily stay in great shape. instead he is battling sosh on the race to 350lbs.

[bloodbrother]

I'll look back fondly on the Pujols era as the time where the Angels squandered having Mike Trout, the best player this franchise has ever had