disarcina

MEGAPHONE?? Perhaps -- actually, the font of the regular posts is so darned small and I already have more than my share of typos -- even with the enlarged font......... Liked the earlier reference to Booby Valentine on this thread........GEEZ. Has there ever been a worse managerial decision with such disastrous results? I used to like Bobby V. -- came up through the Dodger system was a phenom, ended up with the Angels playing CF and some here can recall when he broke his leg on a play out in CF (at the Big A) and was never the same ballplayer after that. So he bounces around baseball and winds up as Manager of the Mets, NY chews him up, he gives it right back, winds up managing in Japan, does stinits at ESPN and then Boston hires him as manager and it is a controversial hire as soon as the initial rumors start that Boston is considering hiring him. If I remember right, the first press conference to announce his hiring was a debacle of controversy and that pretty much defined his short one year tenure in Boston.........the team tanked early, Bobby V. continued to make stupid comments and he was pretty much done by June playing out the string for what must have seemed like an eternity final three months of the season to Boston fans........I think he got fired the day after the season ended.....(not soon enough) and they hired Farrell..........and now it's reported Bobby V. made some statement that he would have been able to manage the BoSox to the W/S this year with the personnel changes they made..........Jim Rome correctly pointed out the key change the front office made was getting rid of Valentine. I gotta believe he'll never manage again in MLB.........but we'll see......some other ownership might be desperate enough to give him another shot. Another incredibly bad managing situation years ago involved Seattle hiring Maury Wills........I thought he'd do OK as an MLB manager but his personal issues must have gotten the better of him........Seattle fired him about two months into the season..........he was an absolute disaster....... The end of Terry Collins time with the Halos was a total debacle but his tenure didn't start out that way......... Ok -- do I need to shout louder here?

who won it instead? I'll check.......... Angels OF did have some 'issues' this year -- but Trout played well -- perhaps not as spectacular as the prior season.

Yeah, I predict they both will be paid very well..........

GO CARDS........ but, geez, that DAVID ORTIZ is a beast........ he's lost weight this year and just is swinging the bat during this post-season unbelieveably well --

Not a Lackey fan.........one of the few Angels who I don't root for. Still a sour taste about how he left the Angels and the attitude he took upon leaving. Not too many ex-Halos I feel that way about -- even Napoli who I felt was sort of given the bum's rush out of Anaheim by Scioscia -- but Napoli played well whlle here, gave it his all and just couldn't crack into a full time position because Scioscia liked Mathis' defense better........personally, I thought both Napoli and Mathis were fairly weak behind the plate -- but Naps, IMO, was nothing more than a third string back up catcher who's real role was 1B-DH.

Of course they mention that the Cards got Wacha with the draft pick they got for compensation for the Halos signing Pujols. and then they used the money saved from Pujols contract to sign Beltran to a two year deal.......... ah, great. Always nice to be reminded of this. GO CARDS!

The Dodgers are indirectly showing Mattingly the door......I think they want him to quit instead of being fired because when he won the NLDS series against the Braves his contract vested for next year.........so if the Dogs fire him -- 1.) it looks bad -- he did take them to the playoffs and 2.) they have to pay for his contract next year. If he quits and leaves for a better deal elsewhere -- Dogs are off the hook and can get the manager that they want.......whoever that might be....for some reason I think it's Tim Wallach. As for Mattingly, as the prior post states, if he can get a better gig in Detroit or Washington NOW while Mattingly's stock is up (the Dogs had a great second half and did make the playoffs), it's an opportunity that might not be there next year........so there are incentives on both sides to end the Mattingly reign as Dodger manager. As for the Bud Black -- He lives in SD, SD likes him, he's staying there -- that's probably all true -- that's why I want him for the Halos......won't happen but we don't want a manager who no one else wants, do we?

I don't think Mattingly stays -- and he shouldn't -- I don't think Mattingly is that good of a manager -- and it's not just because he's managing the Dogs -- I'm just not impressed with his managerial in game decisions....... but this is nonsense........the front office is signaling they don't want him back and Mattingly is better off lining up a new gig in Washington or maybe Detroit now. back Dodgers might go after Scioscia which wouldn't bother Angels fans now as much as it would have about five years ago. I like Scioscia but think a change might do the club good.......in a game of managerial musical chairs, I'd sure like to see Bud Black back behind the Halos bench.

Wilson almost attacked the Giants brass (was it Sabean?) after a game when the Dodgers played the Giants in September -- complaining about not getting his World Series ring presented to him. He's not heading back to Giants.........I think he stays with the Dogs..........

TROUT .312/ 34 HR/ 125 RBI

Pujols.........285/ 31 HR/ 95 RBI. Hamilton .247/19 HR/ 70 RBI

If I were the Halos, I'd offer Vargas arbitration and make a reasonable salary offer.........if Vargas accepts arbitration, the fact that he was on the DL for a good part of the season works against him and if he seeks too much and the Halos salary offer is reasonable, Halos may prevail. If he declines arbitration, then I think the rule still is that the Halos get a draft pick......not sure how they would classify Vargas FA status? Probably 2nd tier' But I think Vargas is worth a flyer.......he pitched well until the blood clot condition put him on the DL. He needs another 'rehab' year to prove he's healthy before he can seek big FA money and a long term deal.

That's about what I thought he'd get -- a bit high by certain standards, perhaps, but he is a two time Cy Young winner. 2 years at $35 million is less than the extension deal he turned down before the start of this season........... his value plummeted but he still does OK........and I think he's pretty smart for staying in SF where the fans like him and where he's pretty comfortable. I thought Lincecum might have ended up in pinstripes.............

Deal Conger -- at the end of the day he just can't cut it behind the plate. Ianetta's OK. He will have to do for another year -- catch about 125 games...... There's got to be another catcher in the system that could step up.........not sure it's Hester. We should get some pen depth help for Conger........don't think he'd command much more than that in return.........

Well, I think it's great they send out those letters -- even if they are of the mass mailed generic type.e I think the negotiations with the City of Anaheim should be very interesting........ The Angels and Anaheim are sort of stuck with each other so they'd best get along better the next 50 years than they have the past ten. Like it or not, I'm sure Arte's LOS ANGELES ANGELS name change resulted in additional revenue to the team and to the City of Anaheim. The stadium needs some real infrastructure improvement as the past 'upgrades' by Disney and since then have been mostly cosmetic in nature -- making solid improvements no doubt -- but covering over the aging infrastructure, As for the Angels -- there's really no place for them to go -- unless it's downtown Los Angeles and I don't think that's going to fly -- the current Anaheim location is pretty good from a S. Cal demographic reach stand-point...........but for some reason there's always been difficulty lining up the investment consortium/ dollars to develop the Iron Triangle or whatever they call it.........there's been proposal after proposal......land stands empty, etc. The Angels had a golden opportunity to win over S. Cal / Los Angeles during the horrible reign of McCourt.......many of us (yes sir, me included) predicted that the new local owners of the Dodgers with Magic Johnson as the key public face of the ownership team -- would rebound quickly from the McCourt debacle -- and the Dodgers have done so -- so the Angels fleeting window of opportunity to 'take over LA/ S. Cal' has come and gone............now they simply have to try to field a perennial contender........something they have not done for a few years now........

tied up third period at home vs. Calgary........c'mon KINGS........

Well, I really liked Jack Buck -- he was great. I like Joe Buck and I don't think McCarver's the best color commentator out there (and he's sort of gotten worse in recent years) but I always liked him when he was a player catching for the Cardinals and the Phillies.....he sure caught a lot of Steve Carlton's games....... Give him his due, he's been doing this for 24 years.......and he certainly was an improvement over Howard Cosell.........probably not too many folks here remember Cosell much at all, but his best sport was boxing where he was pretty good........he MADE Monday Night Football as he was more of entertainer than an announcer...........but baseball, it wasn't his sport and his attempts at doing the World Series would force me to the radio where, fortunately, folks like Vin Scully were on the CBS Radio Network.........

anyone notice Bernier's start in Toronto?.........they're atop the league and he had a shutout this week. yeah, our new guy had one, too -- but GEEZ, I hated to lose Bernier -- even if it was a pretty good trade for us.

I like Verlander.......and he's got a point. Guys like Victorino crowd the plate. If pitchers like Verlander brush him back with a pitch that is just off the plate to the inside and hit the batter, the pitcher gets a warning and is penalized...... this has got to stop. they have to let the pitchers pitch again and if hitters crowd the plate not only will they get hit but it they fall back away, the pitch just might be a strike across the inside corner of the plate. I'm with Verlander on this -- it's been nonsense for a long time. these days, guys like Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale would get thrown out of almost every game and would certainly be constantly warned by the umps.

next Halos manager?? good hire. no nonsense guy, always seemed to be with a winner --

Seldom have I seen a St. Louis team make the kind of mental and other mistakes that they made tonight. Flyballs dropping in for base hits and then a triple because the fielders did not communicate properly. A pinch runner taking off from second on a routine flyball to center and getting doubled off...... just too many mistakes to make in a game between two equally matched teams.........Wainright pithced well.

Price is being shopped......a trade likely, apparently. Halos would have to have a deal to extend Price's contract to make it worth it. Concerned about Madden picking the Halos pockets on some deal.

if we take him back now -- it means that the Halos' future approach is similar to the one we've seen the past two years...... duct tape-like inexpensive fixes for the middle relievers in the pen because our payroll for other players is too much to spend anything here. same approach, same result......... I say NO to re-signing/ re-acquiring Scott Downs.

and, YES - we need to go at least 12-6 against Houston if not better to be in the AL West race. I've been over and over this, but Oakland was something like 15-3 vs. Houston and Texas was 16-2 or something ridiculous while we were 7-11 or something...... that's a 8/9 game deficit to key division rivals right there. as for Rojas' comment about August 23 and 'something switched/ clicked' whatever. An argument can also be made that August 23rd (if not a least a week to 10 days sooner) is when the Angels truly began to play meaningless games, all pressure off and early Spring Training for 2014 had begun..........

interesting observations from a guy 'who's there' and sees it pitch by pitch. Victor Rojas seems like a genuine good guy on the broadcasts and that was confirmed by those at his year's spring training Angels.com fanfest who got to meet him and hear his pre-season observations.......he seems open and honest.........he's the Angels broadcaster but is no 'homer' with respect to his call of the game. It's been a difficult couple of years for the Halos........Rojas breaks out some of it in his blog -- the thing that really plagued us this year and last (not going to say 'injuries' - that's just an excuse) is that 1-0/ 2-0 count when relievers come in (usually with guys on base)......that's a killer.........it means the hitter gets the advantage and gets his pitch to hit more than 50% of the time when the pitcher falls behind like that.........so the pen is a problem and the Halos need to spend some money (more money than they would like) to get some quality middle inning pen guys / pre-set up guys and a set up guy........it's the only way to make up for a mediocre rotation at spots 3 through 5. You've got to shorten the games and then have quality pen help when you do so. I like the first to third stat...........that's a positive.