Angelsjunky

Ervin Santana

LOL - of course Chuck thinks its an Angel play.

Things are looking good. I hope they can keep it up.

Am I a "failo" Brandon? I am not ashamed of either thread. I was really concerned about Weaver and his drop in velocity and Hamilton and Pujols have played terribly this year. Pujols is still stinking up the joint and Hamilton's last two weeks doesn't negate the first three months.

Are we going to get a lecture on how to be a fan, Chuck? I'm just as happy as you are that Hammy came through, but it doesn't change the fact that he's sucked for most of the year.

I'm genius.

LOL.

I didn't realize you were including his final two at-bats, and yes I was being sarcastic. Either way he's terrible.

Liar. He's 5 for 38 during that span.

That makes me think bad thoughts.

You got to keep that under wraps, tdawg87.

Even though I recognize that the All-Star Game is a joke and no more than a popularity contest, I still end up voting once every year and I vote for the best player, not necessarily for an Angel. The only Angel I voted for was Mike Trout.

The kid is 20 years old. Most 20 year olds are inherently douchy. Couple that with the fact that he's amazingly talented and, well, that's a recipe for "douchaster." He'll grow up. Eventually.

Hi Greg, nice piece. I'm not really sure what the grades mean - are they based upon expectation? Recent performance? Performance as a whole? Etc. The reason I ask is that you give much higher grades to three players in particular - Trumbo, Pujols, and Hamilton - than their performance relative to expectation actually warrants. Trumbo, for instance, might have an improved approach, but the results are not really any better than they've been the last two years. He improved slightly from 2011 to 2012, but this year's numbers are very similar to last. The main different is that he's walking a lot more but his average is down. Now I could see you grading him well because his improved approach points to better long-term performance; I would imagine that with his walk rate his overall triple-slash numbers will be slightly better this year than last, say .270/.330/.520 by season's end would be my guess. But either way that hardly warrants an "A." A "B" seems more appropriate. As for Pujols and Hamilton, even a C- and C+ seems generous - especially if you take into account expectation. Pujols has been the better overall hitter than Hamilton, but he's still pretty much league average. And while Hamilton has improved over the last two weeks, his season numbers are still quite bad. I don't see how either can be graded higher than in the D range. Maybe you can clarify what exactly you are grading? But again, nice piece!

Remember the day Albert signed? We all thought the stars had aligned. But then he took to the plate And it sealed our fate We're stuck with this buffoon for all time.

LOL at people calling this thread a joke after one at bat by Josh Hamilton. Let's look at the total picture - both players have been total fiascos this year. There are signs of Hamilton coming out of it - he's got a 10-game hitting streak in which he's hitting .382 (13-34), so I think he should obviously stay in the lineup, but Albert's worse than ever and have some have said, actually hurting this team. His GIDP with Trout on 1st and Shuck on 3rd is an example. Why wasn't Trout stealing? Is it really because Princess Albert doesn't like people running around when he's at the plate? Albert's worse than ever - he's got 6 hits in his last twelve games (.122 BA).

Josh Hamilton used to be good Now he ain't hittin' like he should If he doesn't adjust quick With his limp little stick He'll be worse than Brandon Wood

Mulwin, I think Wilson is more like a #3 and Weaver a #2, or a second tier ace. Vargas is more like a #4 and Williams, Hanson, Blanton and Richards all #5s (although Blanton has been pitching more like a #4 of late). Either way that's not good enough to win, or at least not good enough to go far in the playoffs, and to win with that rotation they'd need collapses from a couple wildcard teams. Anyhow, I really hope they don't trade Bourjos or Calhoun. I actually like both better than Trumbo long-term - yes, even Calhoun. But Bourjos, when healthy, is a legit star. Gold Glove centerfielders with above average hitting don't grow on trees.

Anyone seen a good scouting report on Jose Rondon, hopefully a non-biased one? No offense to Scotty, Chuck, Dave etc, but I'd like to hear what someone other than an Angels fan has to say!

Works for me fine in Firefox.

I don't want the Angels to empty their already barren farm, but they have a few extraneous pieces. I wouldn't trade any pitching prospect that has value, but here are some position players that have actual value: 1B - Cron 2B - Lindsey, Yarbrough 3B - Cowart, Jimenez SS - Stamets, Rondon OF - Calhoun, Grichuk There are a few others - like Borenstein, Long, etc, but they don't have the value (yet) that the above do. The Angels don't need Cron and I don't think he'll be any better than Trumbo, so he's available (or the Angels could wait a year and trade Trumbo and keep Cron). Either Lindsey or Yarbrough will replace Howie Kendrick in 2016; so you only really need one. Rondon seems to have a lot of upside so I'd like to see him kept, but Stamets is tradeable. The Angels seem to have no confidence in Jimenez, so he's tradeable (although doesn't have much value). And then you have Calhoun and Grichuk, both of whom are extraneous. I'd really like to keep Calhoun and see him as the 4th outfielder. So in my view you can trade Cron, either Lindsey or Yarbrough, Stamets, Jimenez and Grichuk and not really damage the future. I suppose your biggest concern would be trading the wrong one of Lindsey or Yarbrough, but none of the rest seem like they have star potential.

I disagree with your "no way," Angels N Skins. I mean, chances are they won't but there is certainly "a way." They're only 6.5 games out of a wildcard spot and there are a lot of not-so-great teams ahead of them: the Royals and Indians probably won't be a problem, and I don't think the Yankees have it this year. The big concerns will be Texas/Oakland, the Rays, and Orioles.

OK, fair enough. Trumbo is needed. The only tradeable parts are, unfortunately, in the minors. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing Cron and Grichuk go - I don't see a place for either on this team in the future. I'd rather keep Calhoun, but he is also a nice trade piece, although may be undervalued.

0.32 ERA vs. Angels in 4 starts, 4.22 ERA vs. rest of the league. Wow.