Inside Pitch

Stoneman was out after 2008 -- the guy that replaced him canned Bane.... and then Jerry Dipoto dismissed the bulk of Stoneman's scouts when he came on board in 2012 -- so no, Stoneman had little say or impact on what went on those four years.

That same owner was around when Bill Stoneman wasn't trading away prospects. It's been 6 years since they signed AP -- 5 since they signed Josh Hamilton... At what point do people stop pretending like the team is still spending like drunken sailors. Two years ago MLB had one of it's deepest FA markets in a long time -- the Angels passed on all of them. Maybe, just maybe, there is a better plan in place now, the Angels are in a different position than they were back then.. Or I guess people can continue to ignore all the recent developments and pretend it's still 2012 and that the team thinks it's a player or two away from being WS contenders.

Whats the goal????? The fact that you know, the old saying goes, "play good enough, until last out until also something good happens for you" Dummies!

BTW -- Roman Ocumarez, the scout who scouted and signed Barria and Victor Alcantara was among those let go by the Dipoto purge.. The Houston Astros picked him up almost instantly...

He wasn't hired by Moreno but Stoneman was a nobody.... He did however offer him a huge sum to stay on, Stoney refused. I don't know that proven GM's are as big of a deal as they used to be.. Outside of Dan Duquette in Baltimore and Sandy Alderson in NY, I can't really recall a recent hiring of an established MLB GM. Theo and Dombrowski were both established guys who got bumped up to VP jobs.. Friedman too in LA. But Hazen was a rookie GM in Boston, and Theo's hire was anything but proven, Jed Hoyer had been the GM in SD but not fared all that well, he was basically Theo's buddy.. The Dodgers guy was head of player development in Oakland but he was a rookie GM. Hahn in Chicago was a rookie GM, player development guy I think.. Chernoff in Cleveland was a rookie GM. Al Avila was Dombrowski's assistant going all the way back to his Marlins days -- but he too was a rookie. Thad Levine is a rookie in Minnesota, formerly an assistant to Jon Daniels in Texas. Luhnoff was a rookie GM in Houston. Dayton Moore was a rookie GM when he took over in KC. David Forst was a rookie GM in Oakland. Daniels in Texas was a rookie hire -- I think he was the youngest GM ever when he was hired. JD mucked things up in Anaheim then got hired in Seattle.. Matthew Silverman in TB was their VP, he assumed the GM job but again -- rookie. Ross Atkins in Toronto was a rookie hire having previously been a player development guy in Cleveland. John Coppolella moved from assistant GM to GM in Atlanta but also a rookie. The guy in Cinci was a rookie GM that got moved up. Mozeliak in StL was their player development guy but a rookie GM.. Jeff Bridich was a player development guy so another rookie. Milwaukee's guy Stearns or whatever was a rookie GM. The Phillies went with our former assistant GM, Klentak -- so, another rookie. The Pirates guy was a rookie GM, Huntington had been a special assistant to Shapiro. AJ Preller was a rookie GM in San Diego. The guy in SF was the assistant to the former GM, but also a rookie GM. Mike Rizzo in Washington another rookie hire, former assistant GM... So basically -- the only guys I can remember had any previous GM experience were Duquette, Alderson, JD, and Hoyer. There arent many Branch Rickey's anymore...

Amen on Happ.

I havent read the article but that headline is LOL.

Not sure if your interview covered it -- but his little brother, also a Colonist alum, fought cancer his freshman year and managed to come back and play baseball again. So There is definitely a good human interest story attacked to Rojas.

Yes, you got me -- I have a hard time masking my disdain for stupidity... Help me out -- is a OPS+ of 102 at age 24 (same age as Baez right now), better or worse than an OPS+ of 94? Also, the 57 walks Espinosa put up that year are 10 more than Baez has managed in his entire career. But please, go on with this fascinating comparison of batting averages.

Whoever wrote that article was clearly rattled...

I believe I did that when I said he was a good player.. great ɡrāt/ adjective 1. of an extent, amount, or intensity considerably above the normal or average. To be clear -- I believe he's a great defensive player... beyond that, he's not been great .... yet. You talked up his abilities as a baserunner -- can you elaborate? Fangraphs has his BsR at 1.3 this year -- Espinosa was at 5.1 last year, and 1.3 would put him 52nd in MLB this season -- so it's not like I'm looking at his pedestrian SB totals and dismissing his base-running as a result, he's just not done anything "great" in the area to date -- at least it hasn't shown up in games yet. I do agree he runs well. Bat wise he's been an 86 OPS+ hitter to date, he's yet to finish a single full season with a league average OPS+, certainly good but not close to great IMO. His best season to date is 95, he's currently at 94 so -- he's certainly got the chops to be better than he has been. But, just to compare him to someone people here know beyond their reputation.... Howie Kendrick's OPS+ was 98 through his age 24 season -- and his career worst in any year was 87. Baez has pop for a middle IFer, but he's not an offensive monster by any stretch and definitely not for 2B. The NL average OPS at 2B is .759, for MLB it's .750 -- Baez is at .748 and again, he plays in Wrigley and in the NL Central where the competition leaves a lot to be desired and you have three very offensive leaning parks. Baez is still someone to dream on, he's young -- but he's not been great at anything other than defense, IMO. Again, using someone people can relate to... Howie Kendrick managed 5.8 bWAR through his age 24 season (in 50 fewer games), Baez 4.0. I don't recall anyone believing Howie Kendrick was already a great 2B after his age 24 season... but basing it strictly on the information available he had produced greater results. I like Baez, it's not my intent to discredit the kid or talk him down I believe his better days are coming and I don't believe he needs to be great in order to be valuable... I've made the same argument when talking about Grichuk -- power and defense will always play up. But, at the end of the day you and I both agree Baez is not someone you empty out a farm system for.. THAT was my point.

Rattled? Dear Lord, some of you vastly overestimate your impact on others. If you believe Baez's mediocre offensive game will carry over from Wrigley and the NL to Angel Stadum and the AL, that's on you. At the end of the day ... you're advocating trading the farm away for a guy that is essentially a better version of Danny Espinosa. Or if you want a different example.. Randal Grichuk? He's basically the OF version of Baez only he's actually managed a career OPS+ above 100.... even after he has stunk it up this season. Baez is a good player, I wouldn't mind having him. But he's not a guy you empty a farm for IMO.

LOL. I'm not overvaluing our farm system -- it's just a case of beware aware of what Baez is and isn't. What I'm saying is that if we are going to trade away everything in the system away for a player... that player shouldn't be Danny Espinosa with upside.

Then you'd be bitching left and right when he posts a .220/.270/.410 batting line in Anaheim. Baez has a .650ish neutral park OPS... His primary offensive asset is his power. He doesn't walk much, he K's a great deal, his greatest attribute is his defense. I understand he's a young guy so there is always the possibility that he will take a step forward but he's not really shown a lot of improvement in the areas of his game that were viewed as problematic -- he's still striking out 25% of the time and walking 5% of the time. I'm not normally one to harp about K's but he's played 299 MLB games and has K'd 295 times.. It's not like it's a case of a young guy still figuring it out either -- in 397 minor league games he's K'ed 430 times. He's not going to out-athlete anyone in MLB like he did the minors, and the AL isn't the NL. Basically Baez is possibly the one guy I'd not trade everyone not named Adell for and given the off field issues that are mounting for their SS -- he's likely someone they would prefer to retain and slide over should they be able to move Russell.

The bulk of that power surge was at Reading where the HR index is 145. So, he's definitely upped his profile but his numbers are definitely being impacted by favorable park conditions.

I hope he makes it to MLB -- dude was born in Anaheim and went to Anaheim High School. Might be the most Anaheim-est player in the history of Anaheim-dom.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/stoneman-angels/ Choking back tears at times at a news conference, Stoneman said he was leaving the GM post — which he called a 24-hour, seven-day-week job — so he will have time for other things. Stoneman had special gratitude for his wife. "She didn’t know when she married me that I would have a mistress," he said, alluding to the demands of his baseball job. "Right now, I’m leaving my mistress."

I wonder how many people remember how studly Eric Davis was when he wasn't injured -- the dude was such an amazing talent. It was s total testament to his athletic ability that he was able to hang around as long as he did despite all the injuries... Davis ended his career with an OPS+ of 125 and nearly 300 bombs and over 300 SBs...

So... Flashback time... 7 years ago -- midseason rankings... http://www.baseballamerica.com//today/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2010/2610314.html Always interesting to see how these panned out...

This sums up JD in a nutshell.. I moved on from calling him Teflon to The Smartest Guy in the Room for that very reason...

Comedy at it's finest -- Well played, @eligrba

MLB.com has it as Blake Parker too.. So..

Honestly, if we had 5 guys in the top 100 I'd feel the same way -- it's all malarky.. These rankings lists are basically all about projection... They will at times ignore stats and press on with a ranking based on what the player MIGHT become .vs what he's actually shown in games. I posted it because I know a lot of people here are eager to see the Angels mentioned in the top 100, but I put very little weight into it personally. That being said, it wouldn't surprise me to see the Angels have multiple guys crack the top 100 by season's end. Marsh was turning a lot of heads, Jones struggled out of the gate but he's done little to dim his prospect status IMO. They were linked to him because of the relationship already in place between the family and the Angels, he had taken BP, they were very familiar with him..... But... then those guys all got fired and the smartest guy in the room personally scouted Baldoquin and declared him MLB ready -- just needed some at bats. Best of all, Vlad Jr was signed for half what it took to sign Baldoquin. I'm pretty good at letting go of crap but this one is right there with Terry Collins' destruction of Jason Dickson's arm on my personal shit lists.

Yes, sorry.... There is Rotowire saying Blake Parker I thought I read Parker Bridwell at Sportsline..

One... He went 1 for 2.