Angelsjunky

Time to give Garret Richards a shot. Jerome Williams and Tommy Hanson are both batting practice pitchers.

gotbeer, I'm not ready to write Cowart off after half a season in AA. Let's see how he looks in the second half. Jumping from A+ to AA, especially in the Angels system, is very hard for players. Give him a chance. Angel Oracle, I've had the same thought about Lindsey and Yarbrough, but as I just said I'm not ready to write Cowart off. That said, Lindsey might be ready before Cowart so it would be nice to see him develop some flexibility in the field. Erstad Grit, that assumes that Ervin Santana would have been this good with the Angels. We can't under-state the psychological element of the game. KC is such a low pressure environment to play in, plus Ervin had a chance to start again.

Scotty, who is Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez? Never heard of him. You don't mean Baltimore's Miguel (Angel) Gonzalez, do you?

Re: Calhoun, I agree. I feel like his trade value isn't quite as high as his upside, that he's a bit underrated and very capable of being an above average starter when most see him as either an average starter or strong 4th outfielder. I think he's capable of hitting .280/.800 in the majors. Couple that with good defense and some speed and you've got yourself a fine player. I might be getting ahead of myself but I'd even say that if Dipoto gets significantly better offers for Trumbo than he does for Calhoun/Cron, he should go for trading Trumbo.

Except that Gallardo is signed through 2014 with a team option for 2015. Gallardo is one of those names that is exciting to hear about at first (like Tommy Hanson), but upon looking at his numbers I become a bit leery. Actually, he reminds me a bit of Scott Kazmir. Neither really evolved past a certain point and started struggling in their mid-20s. Gallardo was basically the same pitcher from 2009-2012 (age 23-26) and has taken a step back this year. Not sure why, although his K rate is way down (7.2 vs 9.0 career). But I agree with you - you teased the same names I mentioned in terms of possible trades (although I didn't mention Kendrick). Any sense who has the highest upside between Lindsey and Yarbrough?

Amazingly good analysis by some genius. I agree with almost everything that brilliant writer wrote. Now why isn't there any discussion about this?

OK, but why? How do TZ and UZR differ?

Someone here has explained it to me before, but it evidently hasn't sunk in. What exactly is the difference between Baseball Reference's (rWAR) and Fangraphs' (fWAR) versions of WAR? I know Fangraphs is based upon Ultimate Zone Rating and B-R on something else, but what does all that mean? What are they measuring? The reason I ask is that I'm having a hard time with what rWAR does with Trout's defense. As far as I can tell the hitting component is either the same or very similar. Baseball Reference: 4.3 rWAR; 5.5 oWAR, -1.2 dWAR Fangraphs: 5.4 fWAR; 0.3 Fielding Runs Baseball Reference's version says that Trout has been a worse offensive player this year than Miguel Cabrera (-0.9 dWAR) and the same as Chris Davis, and overall tied for 6th worst in the major leagues. Now I've probably watched 12-15 games this year. I live on the east coast so don't get the chance to watch the Angels as much as I'd like to. But what I've seen is not a bad defensive fielder as rWAR says he is, not even an average fielder as fWAR says, but a very good one. What gives? I mean even if we account for year-to-year fluctuation, I can accept Fangraphs but not B-R. Or am I being a homer? Is Trout a bad fielder and I'm completely deluded? By the way, its the other way for Peter Bourjos. Fangraphs has him at -3.1 Fld and B-R has him at 0.0 dWAR. Both really liked him in previous years so for whatever reason he's not coming out very well this year, albeit in only 40 games.

Its probably unlikely that ANY of them do it, let alone all four. That said, I think they'll all surpass 25 HR, 80 RBI.

Good post. My biggest concern about this franchise is the recent tendency to ignore value per dollar, as exhibited by the Wells trade and the Pujols and Hamilton signings. I mean let's just look at in terms of WAR. Why spend $20 million a year on a 4 WAR player when you can spend $10M on a 3 WAR player or bring up a rookie who can produce 2 WAR for half a million and spend that money elsewhere? I realize that the Pujols signing was based upon the idea that 2011 was an aberration, that he would at least return to a 6+ WAR level for a few years and earn his paycheck. The same goes for Hamilton. But neither has happened and neither is likely to happen. At this point I think we'll be lucky to ever see another 5 WAR season from either one (Hamilton only has one 5 WAR season - 8.4 in his MVP year). That said, Hamilton's performance of late is encouraging because it means that not only is he playing better now, but he hasn't completely lost his ability and could be very good for the next few years. He'll never have another 2010 but for the first time in months I think 2011-12 is quite possible.

It could also be that, like A-Rod, Trout requires a new standard for long-term contracts. But let's hope they figure it out soon rather than when he hits free agency at age 26 because if he's as good or better then as he is now, the bidding will be through the roof. He'd likely be the first $300 million player.

Even the Angels, I believe, had Trout #2 after Strasburg on their list. Speaking of Strasburg, I worry he's going to be Mark Prior #2. Like Prior, he's a true #1 talent - someone who could be an all-time great, even. But I'm worried. Back to Trout, still think the 10 year, $200 million option is best for both. It gives Trout great security and the chance to earn a second big payday starting at age 32, but it also gives the Angels his best years for a pretty good price and they get to avoid free agency.

It seems we haven't had much Trout Porn this year, so here's something to feast your eyes with. Check out this list. That's a list of all 282 players with at least 500 PA through age 21 in major league history through age 21 by WAR (It doesn't matter what you set the minimum PA at, the top of the list would be the same). Here's the top 10: 19.3 Mel Ott 16.1 Mike Trout 16.0 Ty Cobb 15.0 Al Kaline 14.4 Ken Griffey Jr 14.3 Rogers Hornsby 14.2 Jimmie Foxx 13.8 Ted Williams 13.3 Alex Rodriguez 13.1 Sherry Magee With the exception of Magee - and Griffey and A-Rod so far - those are all Hall of Famers, many of them inner circle Hall of Famers. Griffey will certainly get in and A-Rod's numbers are among the best in the game and will only possibly be barred due to steroids. Even Magee had a career WAR of 64.2, more than many Hall of Famers. And the next ten? It includes: Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson, Eddie Matthews, Andruw Jones, Cesar Cedeno, Joe Jackson, John McGraw, Arky Vaughn, Vada Pinson, and Johnny Bench. In other words, the top 20 are almost all legit Hall of Famers, with a few "Hall of Very Good" players like Cedeno, Pinson, and Magee. Let us also note that Trout still has 72 games to accumulate 3.3 WAR to pass Mel Ott, which is very do-able (although not a done deal). We all know Trout's great, but its easy to forget just how great: So far in his career - about halfway through his age 21 season - he's been the best player in major league history. Think about that. And the exciting thing is that, despite a possible down-tick in his defense (which may even out over time), he's showing some signs of getting better. Compare his triple-slash numbers from 2012 to 2013: 2012: .326/.399/.564 2013: .320/.399/.560 Almost exactly the same. But there are a couple of reasons to think that he's actually improved at the plate this year. Compare his BABIP: 2012: .383 2013: .357 This is primarily due to his reduced HR this year. He hit 30 last year in 139 games vs. 15 in 89 games. But note that his ISO (isolated slugging, or SLG - BA) is almost exactly the same: .240 in 2012 to .238 in 2013, mainly due to his much increased doubles (he already has two more than last year). Now look at his BB% and K%: 2012: 10.5 BB%, 21.8 K% 2013: 11.1 BB%, 16.7 K% If you remember, his K% went way down around the same time he stopped hitting a ton of HR. Compare the last few months: May: 127 PA, 8 HR, 14 walks, 25 Strikeouts June: 127 PA, 3 HR, 15 walks, 14 Strikeouts July: 34 PA, 2 HR, 4 walks, 5 Strikeouts While July is a very small sample size, it seems that his HR rate is going back up but his walks and strikeouts are staying the same. One more thing. Much has been made about the fact that Trout gets better each time he faces a pitcher within a game. Check this out: vs. SP, 1st time: .265/.315/.446 vs. SP, 2nd time: .360/.416/.720 vs. SP, 3rd time: .380/.419/.620 vs. SP, 4th time: .429/.467/.714 The point being, we have a rare talent on our hands, folks. Trout continues to make micro-adjustments to maintain a very high level of play and, perhaps, improve his game over time. We shall see. But the best news is that he seems to be able to maintain the performance level from last year; whether he'll get better remains to be seen.

Good stuff and, because I didn't say it before, nice article - very well thought out. But I agree with everything you say here. It will be interesting to see who develops between Lindsey and Yarbrough, both of whom seem to have Todd Walker-like talent: above average bats, mediocre to average gloves. Hey, that sounds like Howie Kendrick - although Howie's defense is much better than it was when he first came up, and I suspect Lindsey (and perhaps Yarbrough) will develop in a similar fashion. The thing I hope to see is that Lindsey and Yarbrough develop some degree of plate discipline. Howie's lack is why he was a minor league superstar and only an above average major leaguer. But history shows that the player that develops plate discipline later on (in their 20s) is rather rare. But I also agree that Howie's more likely trade window is next year, either at the deadline (if the Angels are out of it) or in the offseason, once the Angels are more sure of what they have in Lindsey and Yarbrough. By then Lindsey will be in AAA and Yarbrough in AA.

That's a lot of legwork, Robert, for what I could have told you: trading Kendrick is very, very unlikely. As for Lindsey and Yarbrough, it seems unlikely that either will be ready at Spring Training next year. But looking at their numbers - especially the fact that Yarbrough is killing it in A+ (.326/.353/.499) I Yarbrough is killing it in A+, I wouldn't be surprised if both are promoted a level soon. Lindsey might even do better in the light air of Salt Lake. Still, I just can't see either doing all that well in the majors next year.

That's definitely What Is Best In Life.

It really makes no sense, unless the Angels think there's something seriously wrong with Calhoun and that he can't even be a marginal player. I can see Shuck playing over Kole simply because he's hitting for a good average and Scioscia likes scrappy players like him. But Cowgill and Hawpe?

I don't know why this team can't take advantage of crappy ballclubs.

Or sweeping their arch-nemesis, the mighty Houston Assblows. But fansince79, if you want to be comprehensive don't forget about Ervin Santana and Alex Torres.

This video doesn't really touch upon Snowden and is poorly named, but is worth watching. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKRaMxHuTx0

If is silly, Mudville, then over 70% of respondents agree with the silliness because they voted for either of the second two options. I voted for the second option, by the way. I don't think a couple weeks of rest would do much and agree with arch stanton: it isn't just the fasciitis, its his swing and bat speed. Albert just isn't as good as he used to be, plantar fasciitis or not.

No doubt that she looks like "after meth" in that picture, facial sores and all. But you also realize that the other pictures of her are completely fake, airbrushed, and made-up.

Bonds

What does the wisdom of Angelswin say?

Josh Hamilton now has a 12-game hit streak in which he's hitting .372/.462/.605. Slump over? God, I hope so. The good news is that it could be that it was truly just that - slump, not a massive decline. Of course even if he hits around or slightly better than his career norms for the rest of the year - say, .300/.370/.540 - his year-end numbers will still be rather poor for him, maybe .260/.320/.470 with 25 HR. But I'll take it.