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From a friend of mine who is a Cardinals fan...

Glen

By Glen
in LA Angels | MLB Daily

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Angelsjunky Hall of Fame

Angelsjunky

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Posted

I can't hate the Cards. I'm envious of them. Very, very well run team and for the most part their players are easy to root for. They've also had a ton of ex-Angels on their teams over the years

 

If I were becoming a baseball fan today and could choose which team to follow, it might be the Cardinals. They aren't the Evil Empire like the Yankees, don't have the annoying Red Sox Nation thing going on, but have a legacy almost as good as those two, and are as well run as any organization with both a great current team and a bright future.

 

The Angels, on the other hand, have a bland history and legacy and are poorly run, at least since Stoneman departed and before he arrived, but the simple fact is that I'm an Angels fan for life, at least unless they trade Trout away for a box of A-Rod's used condoms.

 

To quote Adam's favorite movie, Brokeback Mountain, Angels "I can't quit you."

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Bill Melton Just Drafted

Bill Melton

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A friend of mine who is a Cardinals fan and writes a Cardinals blog, retrosimba.com, gave me this scouting report on Freese and Salas:

-

 

Freese seems a good person, great with the fans. His niceness with people seemed genuine. He did have a drinking/driving problem _ two DUIs _ but he vowed to overcome that and it appeared he did so. No incidents in last 2 years.

 

If he can be convinced to hit to the opposite field more often, he is quite effective as a run producer and on-base guy. He has HR power and gap power. He falls into a funk when he gets pull-happy and can get into streaks of grounder after grounder to the left side of the infield. He is a solid, steady fielder with a plus-arm.  I think he has a solid 2 to 4 years ahead of him, meaning . 275 to .280 BA, 20 HR, and 75 to 85 RBI per year. He has had ankle and foot injuries. But he isn't fragile.

 

In 2011, Salas was REALLY good. Always threw strikes and he had a great sinker that year. Unflappable. Could close or set up. But something happened to him in last 2 years. I don't know if it is mechanics, a weakened arm, or loss of confidence. But he grew increasingly ineffective. Batters knocked him around a lot last year. He was one of those guys I obstinately stuck with because he looked so darn good in 2011. But, finally, I had to agree: he looked worn down and erratic. So I just don't know whether that was an aberration or not. It's 50-50 whether he can bounce back. Clue will be whether he gets back to throwing strikes down in the zone. If he walks batters, he's done.

 

I love Bourjos as the Cards' leadoff batter, and love his defense, so hope he can stay healthy. If Cards have Bourjos and equally speedy 2B Kolten Wong batting 1-2, the table will be well set for Holliday, Craig, Adams, Molina, Carpenter.

 

Cards still seeking a shortstop. Might be Stephen Drew.

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bloodbrother Hall of Fame

bloodbrother

Posted
Posted

If I were becoming a baseball fan today and could choose which team to follow, it might be the Cardinals. They aren't the Evil Empire like the Yankees, don't have the annoying Red Sox Nation thing going on, but have a legacy almost as good as those two, and are as well run as any organization with both a great current team and a bright future.

 

The Angels, on the other hand, have a bland history and legacy and are poorly run, at least since Stoneman departed and before he arrived, but the simple fact is that I'm an Angels fan for life, at least unless they trade Trout away for a box of A-Rod's used condoms.

 

To quote Adam's favorite movie, Brokeback Mountain, Angels "I can't quit you."

 

To be fair, Halos were run very well when Arte first came aboard. Hard to sustain that kind of success for a long period of time. Major league team was talented and playoff contenders and their farm was rich and deep with talent. Sucks they weren't able to capture another WS during that time frame

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Docwaukee Hall of Fame

Docwaukee

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Posted

A friend of mine who is a Cardinals fan and writes a Cardinals blog, retrosimba.com, gave me this scouting report on Freese and Salas:

-

 

Freese seems a good person, great with the fans. His niceness with people seemed genuine. He did have a drinking/driving problem _ two DUIs _ but he vowed to overcome that and it appeared he did so. No incidents in last 2 years.

 

If he can be convinced to hit to the opposite field more often, he is quite effective as a run producer and on-base guy. He has HR power and gap power. He falls into a funk when he gets pull-happy and can get into streaks of grounder after grounder to the left side of the infield. He is a solid, steady fielder with a plus-arm.  I think he has a solid 2 to 4 years ahead of him, meaning . 275 to .280 BA, 20 HR, and 75 to 85 RBI per year. He has had ankle and foot injuries. But he isn't fragile.

 

In 2011, Salas was REALLY good. Always threw strikes and he had a great sinker that year. Unflappable. Could close or set up. But something happened to him in last 2 years. I don't know if it is mechanics, a weakened arm, or loss of confidence. But he grew increasingly ineffective. Batters knocked him around a lot last year. He was one of those guys I obstinately stuck with because he looked so darn good in 2011. But, finally, I had to agree: he looked worn down and erratic. So I just don't know whether that was an aberration or not. It's 50-50 whether he can bounce back. Clue will be whether he gets back to throwing strikes down in the zone. If he walks batters, he's done.

 

I love Bourjos as the Cards' leadoff batter, and love his defense, so hope he can stay healthy. If Cards have Bourjos and equally speedy 2B Kolten Wong batting 1-2, the table will be well set for Holliday, Craig, Adams, Molina, Carpenter.

 

Cards still seeking a shortstop. Might be Stephen Drew.

Interesting take.  Cards fans have pretty high expectations for Pete it seems.  They are going to love his defense but if they see him as a leadoff hitter, they are going to be let down I think. 

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RallyMo Hall of Fame

RallyMo

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"Yeah, Freese needed to go. Who would have known that St Louis had a land fill in so cal to unload all our garbage."

 

 

OK, done venting about the trade for now.  

 

Only the baseball garbage ends up in SoCal.

 

There's plenty of non-baseball trash in St. Louis that hasn't moved an inch.

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CardsFanVegas Just Drafted

CardsFanVegas

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"Yeah, Freese needed to go. Who would have known that St Louis had a land fill in so cal to unload all our garbage."

 

 

OK, done venting about the trade for now.  

 

Freese is not garbage by a long shot.   But he had a really bad year and St Louis fans have been frustrated with his constant GIDP and his fielding was poor last year.

 

We also love him for what he's done in previously.

 

Salas on the other hand, yea pretty much garbage unless he can find his 2011 self.

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Marsaka Just Drafted

Marsaka

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Posted

Freese is not garbage by a long shot.   But he had a really bad year and St Louis fans have been frustrated with his constant GIDP and his fielding was poor last year.

 

We also love him for what he's done in previously.

 

Salas on the other hand, yea pretty much garbage unless he can find his 2011 self.

 

Oh goodie, we needed another hitter who grounds into a lot of dp's.  He will fit right in with kendrick, pujols, and hamilton. 

 

Angels might break the major league record in gidp's next year so that's something to look forward to.

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405z06 Just Drafted

405z06

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Posted (edited)

I remember watching Freese in the post-season and thinking his bat speed was really bad. If he got a fastball, he would foul it off down the 1B line. And questionable pitch recognition. Totally guessing, and mostly guessing wrong. And when he would actually guess right on a fastball, didn't have the bat speed to do anything with it. He obviously has a track record of some success, and even as poor his 2013 was, he still had an OBP of .340 and an above average OPS+.

 

Has anyone seen an explanation from him in regards to his 2013 struggles? I've seen fan speculation about a back injury, etc, but haven't seen anything from the horse's mouth.

Edited by 405z06
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