T.G.

It's funny that some people think that $3.5 million isn't a lot of money. What has the world come to? It's all relative, but at the end of the day - $3.5 million is a ton of money in my book.

Trout 1 for 4, Double

A made-for-TV-movie in the making, I tell ya.

Hamilton 2 for 4, Double

Trumbo 1 for 4, single

You're right. I apologize. I didn't need to insert any snark into my response.

Said the King of Snarky Remarks...

I don't know why I'm even going to bother with this, but what the heck Lifetime... I'll humor you. If you're expecting a direct quote from Arte Moreno saying "signing Albert Pujols was my idea" - I can't provide that. Never-the-less, it's my opinion and the opinion of a great many Angel fans that it's possible to come to that conclusion based on the article above and others like it. You can't prove that it wasn't his decision any more than we can prove that it was. Again, you think it's a reach, I don't. So let's agree to disagree and save the rest of the board from the usual back and forth crap. I really don't care if you think it was Dipoto's call or not and I don't feel compelled to try and change your mind. No hard feelings. For the record - I was very happy the Angels signed Albert Pujols regardless of who made the decision. Things just haven't worked out the way I hoped or expected thus far.

I don't think it's a huge leap to believe that the decision to sign Albert Pujols was driven by Arte Moreno... and here's your link: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/10/sports/la-sp-1211-shaikin-angels-20111211 The boss was calling. John Carpino, the Angels' president, picked up. Arte Moreno's question: What would you think about us signing Albert Pujols? This was a few days before Thanksgiving. Carpino caught his breath, then asked Moreno for a couple of hours to run the numbers. The Angels never had signed a guy for $100 million. Pujols would cost more than twice as much. "No," Moreno said. "What do you think our fans would think?" That's a no-brainer. The Angels were in it to win it. "I'm a marketing guy," Moreno said Saturday, after the Angels unwrapped Pujols before a crowd estimated at 4,200 at Angel Stadium. "I just thought, 'What does it mean to our fans to bring a player of this caliber here?' "That's when all of a sudden, all of your objectivity and budgets and everything go out the window, and you start saying, 'Can you really get this player?' "

Hamilton 1 for 4, Double

Trout 2 for 4, Double

Things wouldn't be so bad if I didn't care so much. I have to remind myself that this is just a game, but when you invest time, money and emotion into something like a baseball team, it's hard to not care.

Angel fans have every right to vent right now. I'm mad as can be, myself. People have to be held accountable for the decisions they made. Joe Blanton was a horrible decision. Sean Burnett was a questionable one. If you look at how Burnett ended last year - he had elbow problems and didn't pitch the last month of the season and then had "minor" surgery on his elbow afterwards. More than half of the current 40 man roster are players that Dipoto brought in - many of them are waiver wire claims. trades or free agent signings. The most productive players on the roster were not brought in by Dipoto with the exception of CJ Wilson - and he's mediocre at best. The Angels went into last off season with holes in the pitching rotation and bullpen - and those holes didn't get filled properly. This season is on Dipoto, first and foremost in my mind. The best thing the Angels can do right now is extend Mike Trout and lock him up for several years. That's the only ray of sunshine we can hope for in this current season. This has to get done.

Next signing will be a comeback effort by Kelvim Escobar.

So... what has Dipoto done? Drafted Michael Roth Traded Tyler Chatwood for Chris Iannetta Signed Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson as FA Traded Donn Roach and Alexi Amarista for Ernesto Frieri Traded Jean Segura and Johnny Hellweg for Zach Greinke Traded Ervin Santana for Brandon Sisk Did not pick up the option on Dan Haren letting him become a FA Signed Joe Blanton Traded Kendrys Morales for Jason Vargas Signed Sean Burnett Traded Jordan Walden for Tommy Hanson Traded Frazier Hall for Barry Enright Signed Billy Buckner Signed Ryan Madson Signed Robert Coelo Signed Daniel Stange Signed Brad Hawpe Signed J.B. Shuck Traded Steve Geltz to Tampa Bay for Dane De La Rosa Claimed Chris Nelson off waivers Traded Kyle Johnson to the Mets for Collin Cowgill Traded Alberto Callaspo to the A's for Grant Green Traded Scott Downs to the Braves for Cory Rasmus Claimed J.C. Gutierez off waivers Claimed Tommy Field off waivers Did I miss anyone? More than half of the players on the 40 man roster are players that Dipoto drafted, claimed off waivers, signed via FA or traded for.

Hamilton 2 for 4, HR

Don't know if this has already been posted, but John Sickels broke down Green recently: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2013/7/9/4505616/prospect-of-the-day-grant-green-2b-oakland-athletics

Trumbo 1 for 4, Double.

but talent alone isn't necessarily enough... check out the video in my post on True Grich.

Admit it, when you saw the title of this thread - some of you chuckled... right? Well, take ten minutes to check out the idea that grit really does matter: Latest from True Grich There's actually some science behind it. I know there's a lot of things going on with the trade deadline right now - but I invite you to take a break and ponder on the subject of grit.

Trout 2 for 4, HR

Howie 1 for 4, Double.

What really could have been... Weaver Lackey Santana Saunders Corbin Skaggs if you really want to play that game...

I'm glad Blanton isn't going to pitch, but I can't get overly excited about Richards at this point. He still has to figure "it" out.

Trumbo 1 for 4, HR