disarcina

Great -- but are they just offering these now? I would gotten one of these plans instead of a premium package. this package should be fairly popular and I AGREE COMPLETELY with Arte's move here. this is the type of fan experience fans want -- quality seats without the need to buy 81 season ticket package.

yeah -- Dodgers are really moving the tickets............meanwhile, for our Halos, looks like we might not reach 3 million mark in attendance this year for the first time in four or five years.

Bedard -- another Seattle F/A signing of years back that went bust......... as for picking him up --- there's a reason the Rays let him go --

why -- I thought the A's had other options there........ we moved Calaspo because he didn't have the power numbers for a corner spot............

Well, if he makes the team.....he should play -- so this probably means he spells Kendrick a bit at 2B in late innings and Aybar when Aybar gets injured. I could see McDonald going to 2B in late innings and moving Kendrick over to 1B to replace Ibanez when he plays first or even Pujols in the late innings...... Angels must have seen something in McDonald to choose him over Romine and Ian Stewart........I'm thinking Grant Green still makes the 25 man roster. We'll see.

hey, isn't Hamilton having a pretty good Spring so far???

Trout, Kershaw, Buster Posey and then would take some time to figure out the next two.

he could go to Japan and perhaps have a decent career there -- although it's no guarantee --- I imagine the Japanese league has become quite competitive and long gone are the days when US players could go over there and tear up the league --- the Japanese leagues used to have (and probably still do have) a limitation on the number of US players each team could have. I hope the best for Brandon Wood -- it's a hard fall for these guys -- early round draft pick, big signing bonus, 'can't miss' tag, and then the struggles -- big league camp as a prospect and attention to non-roster invitee with a 99 type number on the uni.......and then not even that.........meanwhile guys you played with in the minors -- even if MIF bench guys -- are signing million dollar contracts........ for those who remember Get Smart -- he was 'that close" -- time to get out the telephone shoe and start making calls........ Japan vs. trying to catch on with a AA or triple A team for depth purposes.........at this point, he's not even a 4-A player.......OUCH. tough fall........how much MLB time does he have ? enough to qualify for a pension? even $300 a month?? hard to say,

yes. and he drinks O'Doul's and listens to Frizzell.

Rangers can play Ian Stewart or Chad Tracy there, I guess.

Astros won the season series from us last year........while Oakland and Texas crushed them, going at least 14-4 or better vs. Houston. WIth the A's facing rotation injury issues and now Texas having Profar and possibly Darvish out -- perhaps we can beat Houston for a change this year, do relatively well against Texas and Oakland and have Houston take advantage of the situation and play .500 ball vs. Oakland and Texas - heck, if Houston played .333 ball winning one game of a three game series against those guys -- THAT would be an improvement. so the Halos have some opportunities here to FINALLY get off to a decent start......heck, if the Halos could manage .500 ball from April 1 to May 15 -- THAT would be a HUGE improvement. If we had played ,500 ball April 1 to May 15 the past three years we may have made the playoffs each year........that's how BAD our record has been to start the season the past few years.

this was a good move by DiPoto.......you know we blast these guys a lot on moves that don't seem to work and maybe this deal won't work out well for the Halos as well, but going in, it's a great move. Romine, a player I really liked, wasn't going anywhere with the Halos, he had been a September call up for three or four years now -- plays stellar D at MIF, especially SS, but always lingered around the .220 mark BA -- he could bunt and run which really helped.....I liked him as a ballplayer and hoped he would make the Halos and provide MOF depth -- but he never did and now he's got a chance to play in Detroit because of injury issues there -- good for him -- I hope he does well., Meanwhile, Alvarez is a proven lefty -- has had some issues but his upside is pretty big and we really didn't give up anything -- Green had already beat out Romine for the roster spot and the Halos plan on keeping McDonald as a MIF late inning defensive guy who can double as an additional unofficial infield/ bench coach in the dug out. Romine was either out of options or soon to be. Alvarez could be in the Halos rotation by mid-season or sooner....... Good move by DiPoto -- even if Alvarez winds up only providing lefty pen help.

Arte moving the press box out of the prime real estate area of the stadium down the right field line was such pure genius it's stupid (paraphrasing Imus who, unlike TJ Simers, does satire the right way and is very funny). I think Arte's moving of the press box will be emulated by other teams as they renovate their parks.......it's also a winner for the fans -- why do the arrogant sports writers get the prime view? It also makes financial sense. For folks who take shots are Arte Moreno, perhaps they should take a little refresher course on Arte's bio -- he started with little and built an advertising business into a a very successful million dollar plus business venture which then allowed him to buy a major league ball club when few professional sports teams are owned by individuals. oh yeah, he happens to be of Hispanic descent and could play the ethnic card up like others tend to do, he refuses to do and lets his pure accomplishments and his family values lifestyle speak for him........ nothing Simers or any other sports writer or some just ticked off poster (because of some front office move or maybe a name change issue) can write or post can possibly tarnish Arte character as a class act who leads by example.......... We all get frustrated at Halos' losses, and perhaps some front office moves -- but regadless of whether the Halos win or lose or finish at the end of the day (season), I will always contend that our Halos have the best owner in professional sports.........

and Mattingly seems like a patient guy -- for Mattingly to do this -- it had to be pretty bad........

distraction city........Puig's bat better stay hot because if his production falls off, he's a guy where the organization(s) will be looking for a way to ship him elsewhere......... teams can put up with some of this kind of stuff when the player is productive.............teams can also put up with a somewhat prolonged non-production from a player who is a positive influence in the clubhouse........

I think Alvarez could be in the rotation by mid-season --- and that's not a knock on any Halo pitcher in the rotation now -- it's really more of an indication of what a good pick up Alvarez is -- he's a pen guy now but could easily fit into the rotation........

I called Simers "Simons" perfect. Simers can write good stuff when he wants to, but instead he chooses to spew venom most of the time..... used to play ok in the LA Times -- with whom he apparently had a nasty parting of the ways (what? Simers in a nasty dispute, I'm shocked!) -- but he's been with the OC Register for a while now and I would think that his usual schtick of sarcasm and nastiness wouldn't play as well in the OC........you'd think.......perhaps times have changed.

TJ Simers has moved his venom down the coast a bit......... not sure why Simons always has to be so snarky and nasty....... Arte Moreno is truly one of this world's good guys -- even if some of us disagree with some of the ownership/management decisions from time to time -- and I find his decisions to be usually right and almost always well thought out...... Simers -- consider the source.

did not realize Matt Long was 27 -- thought he was younger -- he must have been drafted out of a college program..... I still think Shuck sticks -- he's done ok this spring and is somewhat of a proven commodity at the MLB level. amazing how quickly a partial season of MLB starts turns you into MLB proven.........

Trade for Alvarez not a good thing for Blanton's chances........ really only question left is, WHEN Blanton gets DFA'd and then RELEASED -- is there any MLB team that will pay the major league minimum to add him to their roster?

Shuck -- Long has more options left -- could use another season in AAA and delaying his MLB time probably maintains his 'club control' time rather than starting that clock.

not sure why any of these guys 1. were invited to camp and 2. chose to accept an invite to the Angels camp. There must have been other teams with better situations (for these non roster guys) for them to make the team. Carlos Pena started out pretty well in ST, then faded.....but even if he had just a monster ST - batted .450 with 10 HRs or something -- he still faced long odds to make this team because we have enough one dimensional type players on the team -- Pujols, Hamilton (because he's hurt), and then Raul Ibanez.........we really couldn't carry a fourth DH/ sometimes position player guy on the team. Torrealba, his chances of sticking as the third catcher were less than nil? Chad Tracy -- he couldn't even win the battle of the non-roster infield guys.......

I'm not sure why the guy was even in camp -- pretty clear from the outset that we were set with Iannetta and Conger and that we were NOT going to carry THREE catchers. We also had Hester in camp and he's been around a while so he's running out of options and time as well. So Torrealba? What's he doing in camp? Trying out for a coaching job?

I think the trade for Alvarez means Blanton's days are numbered -- the question is -- will he be traded or just straight out DFA'd??

Ran into a local former high school baseball coach this morning who watches the game closely and now that he is retired, lives half the year (the good weather months) in Michigan and follows the Tigers. He thought the Angels got the better of the deal and that Alvarez could easily be a major league starter for several teams and could fill a rotation spot for the Angels if the need arose. Kudos to DiPoto for closing this deal quickly while Detroit MIF situation is unsettled due to injuries...... This is a trade that may work out well for both clubs and both players -- Angels need pitching and Alvarez could be in the rotation within two months time........Detroit's SS went down so they get Romine who can clearly handle things with glove -- and he will get MORE playing time to show the Tigers (and the Angels) that he can hit big league pitching at an acceptable level........ Some folks suggest Romine hasn't received adequate playing time to show what he can do ------now he may well get that time.........we'll see if the hitting results inch upwards...........