Inside Pitch

He was a second baseman... His WAR over that span (2006-2014), ranked 7th in baseball at the position and this was despite his having taken until year four to play in as many as 100 games in a season. Brandon Phillips in 6th place had over 1200 more at bats during that time.

It's less about buying power and more about who makes the most noise. ... remember the chick that tried to get Married With Children off the air? And you're probably right .... wouldn't come as a shock if MLB were to try to prevent them from selling throwback stuff with Wahoo on it.

I shall have to edit -- I'm ashamed of myself right now! I know Ferrell rubs a lot of people the wrong way but I love that flick and there is no excusing misquoting that one.. In fact -- I'm going to pull a AngelOracle and self ban myself...

None of this matters -- ask the white chick in the burbs if she thinks it's "mean".... that's the demographic behind the "outrage".

Pretty much this -- the branding likely isn't working as well in the current environment -- if it was, they would still be plastering his face on everything. Hell, it may just be a ploy to bump up sales of current gear with Wahoo on it.. MLB is behind this, but it's all about branding. It's all business all the time.

The flip side argument is obviously... Did you also notice they aren't yet close to contributing? It's a net positive that some guys are considered among the best in the minors at age 18-19. There is a strong likelihood that we see a couple others enter the top 100, we may see a guy or two fall off as well -- it's too early to make any definitive statement about what they are or will be right now. Not that you are doing that. Personally, I'm hoping they DO add in FA because IMO they lack the top to bottom depth to call the farm system a finished product. The success of the Stoneman era farm system wasn't that the guys getting the press all hit, it's that when they failed -- the guys immediately behind them broke through to become quality MLB players. To get there they will need to add to the talent base at the MLB without draining the farm system. I'm as happy as everyone else that the farm is improving but I agree they need to add to the mix in coming years. Where and how much we will know soon enough.

Billy Eppler is the !@##$$&! CATALINA Wine Mixer! of GMs...

That interview happened years ago -- here's the video..

More like Colonel Klink and Sergeant Schultz ...

LOL -- sooo douchy,.... Hopefully Jerry is traveling with the team on that trip

Or he was just saying maybe the prices won't drop as much as people are hoping? MLB Trade rumors and FG Crowd sources both had Cain at 4 years 70 mil -- an average just north of 17 mil.. He signs for 5/80 so 16 per. While I totally agree it's just one guy, it's one guy on a team that just added Yelich and has offers out to Darvish. Might be a blip, or it might lead to STL and CHI to consider their options. Closest thing we have seen to a hot stove all winter.

I expect Bob Mahi-Mahi to be one hell of a player...

Man -- finally getting to read what people on Twitter are saying... this pretty much sums it up...

How are you reading the numbers? In Adell's case they are saying his hit tool is 20/50 paired with 50/70 power... The lower end numbers are where they are currently, so basically they are saying he's a 50 hit tool, 70 power tool if he reaches his potential. Those numbers are really pretty strong. Jam Jones with a top end 60 hit tool is pretty awesome.

I dont think Trout needs to do it -- but if he did switch numbers he could pull a Carlton Fisk and just reverse the numbers going from 27 to 72. Or the Angels could clone Mike Trout 5 times and then sometime in the future just retire the number 727... (this would be my choice)

What Im happy about is just having guys like them in the first place.. Nobody was ever going to look at a guy like Sanger and project him to be a star level player.

I LOLed -- partially because I disagree with him and partially because in one breath you're calling them out for being wildly inaccurate, in the next physically comparing Thaiss to Mike Trout and referring to him being stacked... Right off. Mike Trout is 6'3-6'4 and 235-240... Thaiss is 6' 195.... their lower halves are not anything alike.... If you needed a good physical comp for filled out Thaiss -- that person might be Kole Calhoun... I just sorta Giggled.. I get the point youre trying to make -- but, you're a bit guilty of the same thing... Dude will never have the body to comp to Trout.

Only 6 more than as an Astro!. But your point stands -- he was the Express while in Anaheim.

Whatever hat he goes in with -- I dont care. Grats Vlad!

He both quoted the per annum profit and total equity... Because you want to focus on one doesn't mean he didn't base his position on both and the equity plays big in the conversation.

He's in his age 18 season this year -- so, he's still ahead of where the average HS draftee would be next year. I don't know that we or anyone can really make a prediction on his ETA yet -- that's not a criticism, I just think his situation is kinds unique. He was pretty much touted as the best prospect to come down the pike in a long time -- the comps to Cabrera were common. Then he struggled with the culture change and a McDonalds on every corner. Talen't wise, he's someone that if his head is right he could skyrocket through the system. I personally think last year was his mulligan and we get a better idea of what he really is by September of 2018..

So we are back to where we were with three guys in the top 100, before the locust GM arrived.

Nothing about this off-season has been normal -- for as slow as it's been it's at least been interesting and everything on the Angels front has been a positive. Anyone speaking in absolutes still hasn't been paying attention -- prolly gonna be a wild ride once one of the remaining names signs. There are a few guys that really would be well served taking a one year pillow contract and re-entering the FA pool next season, Moustakas maybe more than anyone.

Well.. maybe he just thinks "all fish look alike"......

People used to always yammer away at how bad the farm system and team were when he took over.. He inherited a rotation that had three guys 30 or younger all of them having topped at least 220 innings with ERAs below 3.37. The offense had 5 guys age 28 or younger who posted OPS+ figures of 110 or better... They also had three players in BBA Top 100 in 2011, the year before Jerry got here; Trout, Chatwood (57), and Segura (76). He traded two of them away almost as soon as he got here...