Inside Pitch

I think given his contract status, a show of loyalty couldn't hurt. They are supposedly close and we may see the team let his best friend and roommate for most of his MLB career leave via FA. Time will tell. FWIW, If he repeats his 2017 season this year and they fail to act on it after this season I think it's more than fair to question their desire to win. There is class, there is loyalty and then there is stupid. If AP flounders like this all year then says NEXT year will be different... my reaction will likely make Claude look like a AP apologist.

MS will always be cast as the villain. It is what it is.

I don't think its the money. I think it was out of respect for his career.. His worst year in Anaheim before last season was a 113 OPS+, a far cry from great but better than all but one of Cron's seasons. Regardless of Cron, or Valbuena.... they weren't going to get rid of him last year no matter what. This year -- we may see them cut bait. I have no doubt they wanted to give him a chance to prove he could be closer to his previous seasons if fully healthy. Right now, he's proving he is just done.

The reason he is gone is they had a minor miracle occur and they got Ohtani. AP's contract is a landmine, but minus Ohtani all three are all still in Anaheim.

Eppler could walk onto the field - shoot a player in the face and there would still be people who would claim MS mind controlled him into doing it.

He should be sitting even when facing a pitcher with no arms...

LOL!

Given they make guys do strengths tests after games and the sort -- I doubt he was pitching injured. The Angels under Eppler have seemingly always been uber-cautious with their pitchers.

They threw 88, didn't, barely ever threw sliders and most were done by age 32.. Check the CY Young votes for the 70s -- youll be amazed how many of them broke down early... More guys break down now sure, there are also more guys throwing, more guys pushing their bodies to the limits and lots more media coverage than in the 70s.

Did all the other guys stay in the top 100?

I agree with everything you've said but... to be fair, Upton is feasting on what Trout is setting up for him. May M Trout .313/.500/.583 J Upton .306/.353/.677 Slumping Trout has an OPS 50 points higher than streaking Upton.

If you're gonna dream -- chase the best LH power hitter in MLB.

You know who is getting Cron'ed a bit. Marte. He's showing more patience than ever, his K rate is down, and he's done well in very limited action -- but he's behind Valbuena and AP.... More and more it's looking like the injury issues are what hurt him last year and yet because he doesn't have the track record, he's sitting a lot.

That guy had like 7 different "white media" responses. Trout always brings out the "white media" conspiracies.

This most closely resembles my thoughts. I dont think AP did himself or the team any favors by being anything less than 100%. At the same time.. We all know damn well that the criticism here would have been -- "he doesnt care, he's getting paid" and that's sort of why I brought this up.

Truthfully -- if I'm him and I see the way AP was dragged through the mud while trying to play through issues I don't know that I wouldn't feel exactly the same way MCab does.. I totally get why he would feel the way he does and I totally understand how Joe Fan could see it and get bent -- it's one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't type of scenarios IMO.. I'm not taking a side, but it's one of those things that is pretty certain to create some sort of drama.

Are you talking about now or back when he was a one legged guy hobbling around the field... AP isn't hurt anymore, he's just as close to done as it gets. As far as hypocrisy goes -- I think I alluded to just that. You are preaching to the choir.

I laughed at that... I still remember that guy.. Sublime playing.. No Fear hoodie on, black flys and the backwards cap... Oh so tough... oh so many lols...

It was certainly a brutal read and it makes me appreciate AP's unwillingness to sit back and just get paid. Dude may have been misguided but there is no question he wanted to get back in there and try to help the team. M-Cab seems content to let the team fail just because he doesn't feel "appreciated".

See -- thats the thing... There is no question the dude is full of fight. But people can paint that as a case of his ego getting the best of him and his refusal to accept his diminished capabilities while hurt. A further case could be made that his rushing back created more issues and further accelerated his decline. I don't know that there is any one "right" answer. I also don't know that MCab isn't smart to avoid that sort of scrutiny. As a fan, a player choosing to stay out when he could play is annoying, particularly given their other injuries. But, I don't know that he isn't justified in saying/doing what he is. Makes you wonder how something like this goes over in a clubhouse and you have to wonder what effect if any it could have on younger players in that clubhouse. It will be curious to see how the Tiger fanbase reacts.

So... what does Joe Fan at AW.com think about this... Do you approve or disapprove? Would AP have been more or less reviled had he taken a similar approach and voiced similar thoughts? Cabrera is making 30 mil this year and is off to a good start, the Tigers are 19-23 only a few games behind the Indians and they have recently lost two of their better players (according to WAR) to the DL... http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23519697/detroit-tigers-miguel-cabrera-says-done-playing-hurt "I went through that last year, so I don't want to do the same thing," Cabrera told reporters Tuesday, according to mlive.com. "Nobody appreciates you when you play hurt, so I'm going to take my time and play when I'm good. I played hurt a lot of years here in Detroit. They don't appreciate that." "When you are doing bad, they crush you. They crush you," he said. "They say you're bad, you should go home, you don't deserve anything, you're old. I say, 'OK, I'm done playing hurt.' Now I take my time."

I agree?

I think WAR tries to do too much and that's where it loses people. And I totally get what you're saying, at no point did I think you were talking down Trout.

It would you....

The comments are always the best part..