Angelsjunky

Mark my words. 3-7 his last two days, all three extra base hits and two of them HR. This is it, folks. (Crosses fingers).

Evidently you don't remember Cecil Fielder.

Maybe he wants to be fired so he can enjoy his paycheck for the next seven years while hanging out on the beach.

"If I did that I might be able to get rid of my vagina gut."

Not sure if this has been posted yet, but Scotty Allen wrote an interesting piece here. While I enjoyed the article, Scotty, and agree with some of what you say, I think you over-state some things in order to (apparently) apologize for Jerry Dipoto. For example, you wrote: The best way I can explain the Dipoto regime and his moves is that this man has his eye on the future. He's more of a long term architect than GM who is looking for answers in the short term. The signing of C.J. Wilson, Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton strikes me as the sort of moves designed to stabilize a team in the short term while Dipoto essentially builds an organization from the ground up. I believe that Dipoto's design was simply meant to add to current Angels roster immediately before disappearing from the free agent scene for a few years while the organization retools itself. To me this only makes sense if Wilson, Pujols ,and Hamilton were stop-gap type of signings. But not only did they cost a huge amount of money (all tolled almost half a billion dollars!!!) but to ice the cake they cost the Angels high draft picks. Given the money spent on these three players, it seems highly unlikely that "Dipoto's design was simply meant to add to current Angels roster immediately"...this implies that he was just bulking up the team a bit and then leaving things alone. Dipoto and Moreno want(ed) to win now. I would think that Dipoto at least knows that Pujols won't be very good in a few years. Hamilton was brought on board to increase the chances of a World Series run or three in the next half decade. If Dipoto really had "his eye on the future", at least in terms of primary focus, then he wouldn't have signed Pujols or Hamilton. I agree that Dipoto "inherited a burning house," but rather than focus on dousing the flames and rebuilding, he added wood to the fire. So I think you're just playing outright apologist here: So what did Dipoto do? He bought a few support beams to make this house structurally sound and began to work on rebuilding the interior. Those support beams are now Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, C.J. Wilson The problem here is that those "support beams" actually make it more difficult for the Angels to "rebuild the interior" because not only did the cost valuable draft picks, but they put too many eggs in too few baskets - that is, too much money into three players, and three players who have all been massive disappointments so far. I don't think it is too late for this ship to be turned around, in the long or short term. It will be very difficult, but it is possible. But I'm very, very concerned - not just this year but for the next ten years. You go on to offer further apologetics for Dipoto's and Wilson's handling of the farm system. I agree it is too soon to tell, but I am underwhelmed with what Rick Wilson has done so far. Of those prospects you listed, very few are thriving. In summary, I'd like to agree with your relatively rosy take on Dipoto's plan, but so far it has been an unmitigated disaster. A few of his moves turned out well (e.g. Frieri), but the majority of them - especially if you look at dollar amount - have been not only bad, but catastrophic. I'm not giving up hope, not yet, but I don't have the same faith in the "Dipoto plan" as you do. I'd like to see some actual results first because so far he seems to talk a good game, but the proof is in the pudding and so far the pudding tastes like crap.

Is Josh Hamilton proof that there is no God? Or simply that God ignores prayers?

How about Mike Piazza? He took Scioscia's job once, might as well do it again.

No he isn't

AKA, "The Junky, Fatty, and Old Guy."

Deja vu.

This is from his chat today: Comment From Nick: What should the Angels do in the immediate future to help their situation? What they’re doing now (overpaying declining superstars) obviously isn’t working out. Is there any benefit to just starting over and resetting the team (trading guys with reasonable/short contracts like Aybar, Kendrick, Vargas, Hanson, Bourjos)? Dave Cameron: How would trading the guys who provide value help anything? The problem with failing the way the Angels are failing is that there is nothing you can really do except wait. Hamilton and Pujols will start hitting better, but the commitments there are not ones you can be free of, so the Angels simply have no choice here. --------- I completely agree with him here. You don't trade away the players that are doing well. The fire-sale doesn't need to happen (yet). Not to mention even though the Hamilton and Pujols contracts look awful now, they will play better. And even if they don't ever regain superstar status and "earn" their contracts, the Angels still have a larger payroll than, say, the Athletics AFTER their salaries (which is ridiculous). Hopefully Dipoto can channel some Billy Beane and work with what he'll have, because the next few years will be tight in terms of payroll flexibility.

Here's what I'd do. give it until the end of May - if the Angels haven't turned things around then DL him. But May will determine whether this season is salvageable or not, so I think you want Albert in there until it becomes clear that they're done. On the other hand, even if the Angels catch fire it might be good to DL to get him rested for the stretch drive.

tomahawksu wins for employing vaginitis in this thread. As for Hamilton, I don't think he's going to make progress. I think he's going to suck and then he's going to kill the ball. There's not going to be much in-between. I suppose he might make progress by going 2-4 with a 2B one night, and then 1-3 with an HR. But that--if and when it does happen--will soon be followed by a torrent. Imagine the first few drops before a thunderstorm - we'll see something like that. But I agree...it sure would be nice to see at least a drop or two. Give us something, Hambone!

Trumbo hits balls harder than Marcus Bachmann hits the gay porn (and balls).

Anyone ever quit smoking? I have. You know how many times it took me? Tons - dozens, probably. I have an adage of that: That it takes 27 times (or whatever number you prefer) to quit smoking and the key is not to give up on the 26th try and just resign yourself to a life of addiction. You never know when something is going to click, when it will be that 27th time. And so it is with the Angels. They need something to click, a spark, a big win. And then another. A come from behind win last night would have been huge for their morale, but it didn't happen. Maybe tonight? So while it seems that this series is a must-win for the Angels, it could be that we're on try #26. To give up now, well...the point is, never give up. If you're Scioscia, you've got to be saying that to the players. If your the coaches you've got to be saying that to Josh Hamilton. Keep at it, relax, don't think about the record too much. Somebody needs to get a Zen master in that clubhouse. Anyone know what Phil Jackson is doing these days?

Way to keep the big picture in mind, arch stanton. I often forget that many fans on this board started following the Angels in 2002 or later and have a different standard than us long-timers. The 90s were a total heartbreak era. The 80s were up and down and filled with heartbreak. The 70s....well, I was just a little kid, but they were pretty bad, the same with the 60s. From 1979-86 the Angels made the playoffs three times but other than that their history was a desolate wasteland, until 2002.

Here's the barometer: the Angels have their next 29 games vs. non-elite teams. I'd like to see them back above .500 by the end of that stretch so that going to Boston on July 7th they're at least 30-30. They'd need to go 19-9 to get to .500, which is a tall order but do-able.

Some look at Josh Hamilton's performance so far as a sign that he's basically kaput, while others say that he's struggled mightily before and will turn it around. But what is the truth? We don't know yet, but one thing we can do - with a bit of detective work - is look at his career splits and see if any months compare to April. So I decided to go through his career, year by year, and pull out his worst months. I'm taking OPS as the determining factor but will include some other data. Here are his four worst months chronologically: Apr/Mar, 2009: 18 games, .242/.282/.379 (.660), 2 HR, 15 Ks July, 2009: 20 games, .205/.244/.269 (.513), 1 HR, 4 W, 22 Ks July, 2012: 22 games, .177/.253/.354 (.607), 4 HR, 8 W, 21 Ks April, 2013: 26 games, .204/252/.296 (.548), 2 HR, 6 W, 32 Ks So the first thing to note is that Josh Hamilton is not quite as streaky as I thought. He's only had four months in 6+ years in which he had an OPS below .700 for the entire month, two of which were in his injury-plagued 2009, by far his worst season (.268/.315/.426 in 89 games). His worst month by OPS is July of 2009, followed by April of 2013. Last July (2012) was quite bad but was followed by a strong August (.943 OPS) and good Sept/Oct (.873). The new few weeks are huge. If he can't pull himself out of this funk he could be headed for his worst season since 2009, perhaps ever. He's just been terrible. But chances are he's going to start hitting, and hitting soon. He's never had two terrible months in a row; Even in 2009 he had a solid May (.841) and then missed a month and a half before that terrible July. So I think the next few weeks will tell us a lot. If he's still Josh Hamilton, he'll start hitting. I think chances are he will, but its hard to imagine the player of the last 30 games being the player with a career .900 OPS hitter that his stat page shows.

As a quick add-on, for those thinking/hoping the team loses 100 games and the Angels get a high draft pick, this is VERY unlikely to happen. I think the worst-case scenario is that the team continues to struggle and limps to 75-80 wins. More likely they improve all around and win ~85. Less likely, but still possible, is that everything comes together and they get hot and win 90+ and sneak into the playoffs. But I really don't see the 60-70 win scenario being a serious possibility. There's just too much talent on this team.

Re-read what I just wrote, which you quoted, which was: "Actually, this thread reminds me that pessimism isn't inherently any more rational or truthful than optimism." I stand by that: Pessimism isn't inherently more rational or truthful than optimism; both can be "knee-jerk" or reactionary. But I also said that I agree that the odds are stacked against the Angels, that--as you say--"all facts and truths point to the team sucking huge big donkey balls." But change is inevitable and it could be for the better. There's no reason to be believe that Hamilton couldn't start making contact, Pujols hit better, Trout go on a legitimate tear, the pitching remain stable, etc. It is possible that the team actually gels and plays well all at the same time, especially given the weak schedule coming up. That isn't "blind faith" to recognize the possibility of that happening. I'm not saying it is going to happen, just that it could - and it isn't even all that unlikely. Actually, I'd say its rather unlikely that the team keeps "sucking huge donkey balls."

Ha ha, true. Actually, this thread reminds me that pessimism isn't inherently any more rational or truthful than optimism. That said, it is obviously true that the odds are against the Angels. But the purpose of the original post is to point out how the door is not shut yet, that there is a road towards the playoffs that actually has a chance of happening. Whether that's a 10 or 50% chance, I don't know - and there really is no way to put it into a percentage. But is certainly more than a "Dumb and Dumber" chance.

.281/.337/.502, 27 HR

1. Mike Trout is heating up. Over the last week or so we've seen signs of the 2012 version and we all know how he can carry a team. 2. Josh Hamilton can't get worse. In fact, he can get better - much better. He'll get there. Obviously something's quite wrong, but I think he'll figure it out. 3. The starting pitching has been solid. Great? No, but we knew that going into the season. Good? Not quite, but improving. Good enough? That depends upon the offense. Oh yeah, and Jered Weaver is coming back...at some point. 4. Mark Trumbo hath arrived. 5. Oh yeah, its early. Well, not really but there are still 131 games left. I for one am not throwing in the towel. If they're still flailing by the end of the month after the easy upcoming schedule, we can nail the coffin shut, but not yet... And that's exactly why I think we're going to see a surge: The schedule is very easy coming forward and the Angels are going to rack up a ton of wins. I don't think they'll quite get to .500 by June, by they'll be close. And if they can carry that momentum through June and July they'll be back in it for the stretch drive. So don't give up! Let's give it a few weeks, see how this team fares against the underbelly of the AL. If they aren't kicking butt a few weeks from now I'll light the funeral pyre myself.

Yeah, he'll dip back down. I predict what I predicted before the season - that he'll hit something like .250/.300/.450 with 25 HR.

Nice big word. I was thinking more ennui.