disarcina

saw this -- always liked Conger -- was glad that he got his chance with Houston last year and seemingly played well but then he winds up at Tampa Bay this year. I thought Carlos Perez was an upgrade over Conger both offensively and defensively and now Carlos Perez gets sent out by the Halos as well (about a week ago). Conger a Huntington Beach High product was a fairly high draft pick for the Halos -- I can still remember watching his first 'Halos' interview from the broadcast booth at the Big A right after he got drafted and was about to report to Rookie League. Conger, with the Halos, wasn't that great defensively but seemed to have some promise offensively -- sadly he was never able to really master MLB pitching and as pointed out in an earlier post was below the Mendoza line when sent out.......he will likely be back up with the Rays August 1 as MLB teams can always use extra catchers in August/ September. Hope he does well at AAA and then is able to show some production in August/ September enough to impress the Rays or some other MLB team for next year. Always liked the guy.

I agree that the radio side should give the game score early in each inning and often......gotta do that -- Scully always did that......"Four nothing Dodgers to start the top of the fifth here as the Giants All Star catcher, Buster Posey steps to the plate to lead off the fifth............" As for the 'here's the Rolaids go to the pen for relief, Salas on for the Angels -- might need some pepto bismo here........" and Angels scoreboard brought to you by Budweiser......etc. that's been going on for quite a while now -- welcome to the world of naming opportunities for every conceivable thing as a revenue stream for the franchise......that's not going to change any time soon........even if a team gets a broadcasting deal like the one the Dodgers have now -- the one that paid the Dodgers franchise a ton of money but keeps all their games off TV for a majority of the LA basin viewing area.........

While Enberg gets all the attention as the Halos 'all time' announcer, if you will, Bob Starr was actually a Halos announcer for more years -- 14 seasons in all in two different stints: 1980 to 1989 and 1993 to 1997 - he died during the off-season after the 1997 season. Starr was also the long time announcer for the Los Angeles Rams football. Don Wells -- who passed away about a year ago or so -- was the Halos first announcer and did that role for 12 years -- 1961-1972 teaming up with a young Dave Niehaus for about three of those years (1970-72) . Niehaus joined the Angels in 1970 and left in 1976 to take the Seattle job. Remember Ken Wilson? 1991-1996 -- I thought he was ok -- lot of folks did not really care for him, Wilson was primarily a NHL hockey pbp guy (St. Louis Blues). PHYZ spent 13 years in the Halos booth (1997-2009) -- I thought he was OK but have to agree that Victor Rojas is a significant upgrade. Folks tend to forget this but Ken Brett spent ten years (1987-96) as a color commentator for the Angels. two announcers that are probably considered low points in booth talent were Al Wisk - three seasons and Al Conin (1983-1992) who was in the Halos booth for ten seasons -- I did not realize he was there that long --- probably because I found him difficult to listen to, so I chose not to. and then , of course, the late Rory Markas -- the USC basketball radio/ TV guy who came over to the Angels - his untimely death robbed him and us of his opportunity to be the primary TV pbp guy after Phyz's contract was not renewed.......Markas' signature phrase "Just another Halos' victory" won't be that applicable this year.........

because the Halos are SELLERs and they don't have a lot else of trade value (Hector Santiago) for other teams. Escobar can produce at the plate, has shown he can handle the lead off or number two spot and can be a DH. back up 3B for a contending team -- and would be a good PH off the bench in AL/NL match ups at NL parks. I wouldn't have him using his glove much, though - perhaps early innings.

Steve Klauke --heard him on the radio broadcast in the past -- he's pretty good. He's the SLC pbp guy, right? Perhaps they can promote Klauke to the Halos and he can be a combo pbp TV/ radio guy on radio for three innings to give Rojas and Smith a break......could even take over the color commentator position when not doing pbp duties......move Guby to the pre or post game show...........

who did the radio broadcast while Terry Smith was on TV replacing Victor Rojas ?? As for Terry Smith -- not sure why some folks here say they don't like him -- I think he's pretty good. I prefer Victor Rojas on TV but Terry is a pretty good back up and I think he handles the radio broadcasts very well. now having posted those sentences above -- I think everyone can agree, the Angels games right now are difficult to watch or listen to right now regardless of who is behind the mike. I liked the photos of Enberg, Drysdale, Starr and GEEZ - Buddy Blattner !!! I noticed two other fairly long serving announcers not listed there -- Phyz and Hud - now both with KC. And Mario Impemba who teamed with Starr and suddenly found himself as the lead pbp guy when Starr passed away. He went to Detroit (back home for him) to work with legendary Ernie Harwell during the late Harwell's final years in the booth -- I think by that point Harwell was doing a reduced schedule of limited home games. Both Impemba and Daron Sutton -- who were a pretty good team -- departed for other opportunities (this was before Arte bought the Club ) and the next year was 2002 when the Halos won it all.

ETTIN -- not sure about those trades -- sounds as good as any -- but the point about aiming for 2018 sure makes a lot of sense. I don't see this team 'turning around' by 2017. as for Weaver -- I think he might be tough to deal -- he's been fairly inconsistent this year and last -- has had some very good starts, though. But he did give the Halos a 'Hometown" discount when he signed the extension - can still fill a spot in the rotation -- albeit now number four or five. I think he's worth more to the Halos here than anything the Angels could get in return. The kind of trades we need to make are the of the nature ETTIN points out above although that SF Giants trade proposal looks fairly aggressive from the Halos end. The Giants could use a 3B with Duffy out -- don't think they need a back up catcher but a rental third catcher for September stretch not a bad idea if they want to rest Posey a bit. SF really needs a starter at the back end of their rotation........Santiago could be in the mix for that. Be hard to pry several top prospects from SF.........but now is the time -- deadline time stretch run deals usually provide sellers with the best return.......much may depend on what the Dodgers do - if they make some deadline moves, SF Giants may feel they have to counter with a deal or two of their own.......SP and 3B. Giants pen is pretty good.

great play there by Simmons -- he's really a solid defender.......I like him up the middle. in that play just now he saved a couple of runs........ be nice if he produced more offensively but with that play -- it shows save two runs on defense or knock in two on offense -- still two runs.

although, I like Chuck's idea of obtaining Derek Fisher in a deal for Santiago -- when the game is down to point oh four of a second -- I hear he's clutch...........LOL!!

The Halos should be open to trade proposals for Santiago -- his value has ebbed and flowed this season and right now his trade value is up. With club control through next season he becomes even more of a marketable commodity -- I would not trade him within the division (to prevent him pitching against us about 4 or 5 times next season) but would entertain offers to sell high with the hopes of clearing out some team's top pitching prospect plus, perhaps, a serviceable AA/ AAA guy who could compete for the fifth rotation spot in 2017 -- essentially taking over the role envisioned for Santiago coming into this season.......... chances of a second half fade for Santiago this season hover around 50% of higher - so sell high now.

some of the comments here remind me of years ago the approach Vin Scully took when the Dodgers were going through a subpar - less than .500 ball season, about 15 games out of first.......Vin Scully, who everyone loves, as do I, as a great broadcaster -- but that year the team was terrible and rather than say that - Scully marveled on about 'how many one run games the Dodgers have been involved in (and LOST)" "Geez, they lost 17 one run games (whatever the number was)." So here, "hey, we've lost a lot of game where we were ahead by 2 runs entering the 7th inning........." sounds a lot like that......bottom line.......Halos lose tonight and I think their 'winning' (or is it 'losing') percentage will drop to about .400....... Angels need to get closer to .500 before the All Star break to make the second half worth watching -- even if they never quite compete for a playoff spot......if they're hovering at .400 or below at the All Star Break - well, it's going to be a long August/ September staggering to the end of the season.

the current Halos won-loss record is not reflective of this club............ THEY'RE ACTUALLY WORSE.......

in order to sell you have to have product folks are willing to buy -- we don't have much - Trout and the Angels are klnd of like the very practical nice table at a garage sale -- no one wants the stuff for sale on the table but everyone inquires about the table - which is NOT for sale. Angels best deadline trade value players have lost value because of DL stints (some that continue) -- Street, Smith -- even Simmons (although, I'd be real reluctant to trade Simmons, even if he hits .220 or whatever, he puts the ball in play and is a gold glover up the middle at SS)......Calhoun may be our best position player bait and some team could certainly use him. Richards could be useful, but he's under club control at a reasonable price so I don't think it makes sense to deal him. Next on the list is Santiago and since teams really need starting pitching -- maybe we could move him -- he's had a mix of good starts and lousy ones, the recent trend not very encouraging....... Escobar could have some value -- his bat has been pretty good for the Halos, he has manned the third base position better than most recent starting 3Bs the Halos have had in recent years (that's in GAMES played/started -- Escobar remains a defensive question mark down there -- he could be dealt to a team that needs a back up 3B who can DH). Folks --don't like being a downer on such a beautiful summer day weather wise -- but I see the Halos losing at least 88 games this season and lots of empty seats at the Big A -- perhaps starting next home stand.......trade deadline may be August 1 but fans likely 'selling' off their seats July 1.

STORMNGT - valid point -- but I don't think we were seriously in the Greinke sweepstakes to begin with -- and probably a good thing we didn't win that auction. Still, as you point well, the Hamilton signing was a disaster regardless of the surrounding circumstances. By the way, Torii went on to sign with Detroit and played there for two seasons before doing a one year farewell tour back home in Minnesota. Interestingly enough -- and a lot of Halos fans may be unaware of this -- but Torii's first season with Detroit after he left the Halos was one of his best seasons -- almost a career year for him. He hit .304 and had his career high in hits (184) that year. So some of his best years were those two back to back years -- last season with the Halos and first one with Detroit. I really think the Halos front office missed the intangibles that Torii Hunter brought to the clubhouse in addition to the production at the plate he was delivering at the time. I see that off-season - letting Torii walk and signing Hamilton as the start of the slide to where we are today. BTW - nice grinding come from behind win today -- but we're still going to lose 88 games this season......oh well.

Torri Hunter -- not sure who TOM HUNTER is -- is that typo stuff or spell check --oh well.

well, I think Arte is about the only one who could have green lighted that trade. not sure who else in our organization would have wanted him. and while the Halos may have gotten HOODWINKED into signing Hamilton -- who HOODWINKED HIM? I think we could have re-signed Tom Hunter who was coming off a great final season with the Halos and would have probably signed a one plus one year deal for a lot less than what we ended up spending on Hamilton over five years, a contract we're still paying on. I understood the Halos reasons for not re-signing Hunter back then (even though I didn't like it) but that all fell apart when Arte signed Hamilton --I thought we didn't have the resources (money) and that's why Torri was let go -- apparently a lot more money was found........oh well, the not re-signing Torri Hunter stuff is several years ago -- OLD NEWS -- except with Hamilton 'still on our payroll' we're still suffering the consequences.......if we would have signed Hunter to that 1 plus 1 contract back then -- it would be over now -- which is a win without even looking at production of the two players...... Well, we drafted and signed Torri's son -- maybe that's the apology to Torri for telling him 'we don't have the resources' to re-sign him and then running out and finding 'the resources' to sign Hamilton -oh well..

Eppler in today's LA TIMES after Halos fall into LAST PLACE in the AL WEST and now appear on the verge of getting swept by Oakland -- didn't we also get swept by Houston last week -- oh well, I digress.......but in light of the Halos' fall into last place and playing something like 2-9 ball over the past week plus --- Eppler announces that the Halos and the Halos front office, essentially, has NO PLAN forward other than to say we're constantly re-evaluating and seeking to improve. Eppler seemed to say Halos won't be sellers or buyers (hopefully not unless you consider getting some decent prospects in return for Calhoun or Street or Smith, being 'buyers). I see the Halos floundering for a few years here - may be a good time (2017 season) to make a change in the manager's chair -- maybe promote Ron Roenecke from bench coach to Manager - which would be for this 'floundering' period of about three years -- so Roenecke would essentially be our version of Byron Scott -- called upon to coach a team that everyone knows isn't going anywhere, isn't really improving in the short term but rather floundering through a few seasons while waiting for top draft picks and other minor leagues players to develop further.......... I previously predicted 88 losses for the Halos this year - I can now see it reaching about 93.

I'm an Arte fan and like him as an owner -- but his insistence on signing Hamilton to that ridiculous contract doomed the Halos organization....... that among other moves have led us to where the team is now........mired in mediocrity for the forseeable future........and, sadly, I don't see much change in the Halos' fortunes for about three seasons........

gonna be a rough couple of years.......yeah, we've got a lot of salary tied up in either players we no longer have any say over (Hamilton) or those who just are not viable trade subjects (Weaver, CJ Wilson, Pujols) because of their anchor like contracts.......I do think Street has value, so does Smith, Calhoun has some value -- I wouldn't trade Simmons because he's slid defensively up the middle and we have him under club control -- as others have pointed out guys like Richards and Pennington are worth more to us than what we could get for them and they are bargains at their current contracts -- and may be the only thing (with Trout) allowing the Halos to at least field a competitive team the rest of this year and into 2017 and 2018...and when I say competitive -- I don't mean a contender -- I mean a team that compete at the MLB level.....that's about where we're at. I see bleak years ahead -- good time to make a change in the manager's chair -- not because Scioscia needs to be fired but it's a rebuilding process of three years plus and Mike S. is probably not the guy to start anew OR just manager a team treading water for three years.......just time for a change -- but then the Angels may be hiring a guy like the Lakers hiring Byron Scott -- to preside over a mediocre team on the decline and then get blamed when the team performs exactly in that fashion........... Should be a fairly high number of empty seats at the Big A starting about July 1.

At this point and almost at every point prior to the trade deadline -- we're SELLERS not BUYERS. goals: 1.) REDUCE PAYROLL 2.) Obtain some prospects but don't go overboard to the point that you don't achieve number one, above -- REDUCE PAYROLL.. 3.) Reducing payroll and concentrating on this year's, the 2017 and 2018 amateur draft should help the Halos -- if they can't obtain some players to help us in the interim FINE but number one goal is to REDUCE PAYROLL. Wait - and then see what's there when you have some money to spend wisely. No more Hamiltons,, GMJ's, Vernon Wells, Appiers, and the list could be much longer.

checked Ichiro's MLB stats -- he's at 2,977 hits and has a real chance to get to 3,000 this year if Miami give him playing time. He's pretty much in a platoon situation there. He has 504 stolen bases lifetime -- a lot more than I thought -- so he's definitely in Biggio numbers territory. He has only 113 HRs. He also has 117 OF assists which must place him fairly high on the all-time lists for assists by an OF'er. (tossing out base runners).

Ichiro should get credit for the all time International Major League Record (not MLB) and be credited with that. Rose would still be the MLB all time hit leader (you can bet on that !!). I think Ichiro is a first ballot HOF'er in MLB and likely Japanese Baseball's HOF as well. I also think Pete Rose should be in the HOF. Ichiro's 200 hit seasons something like 10 or 12 in a row is impressive -- Not too many MLB players have done that all time -- and certainly none during the era that Ichiro played. He also has something like 20 years straight of having something like 100 hits or more. At one point Ichiro was pretty good as base-stealing and he may be on that list of players with 3,000 hits (soon) and 250 to 300 Stolen bases. I think he may have 200 HRs as well. Not quite Biggio numbers but close.........Biggio had 3,000 hits, about 300 SBs and I think 299 HRs (I don't think he reached 300).

the line drive right at you can be real tough as well for an inexperienced OF'er.........

how did that work out? oh well. at least we didn't lose the game by that one run.........

"when you're 12 games out in a 'weak division............" good point -- reminds me of a few years back when we got swept in a four game series (at HOME) by the Houston Astros, which, at the time, were dubbed 'The LASTros' and had the worst record in baseball. This was one of those back to back years when got off to terrible starts in April/ May and were trying to dig out of that early season hole all season -- the other AL West teams (well, Texas and Oakland, if I recall right, went something like 15-3 and 14-4 vs. Houston - we went 4-14 -- it literally was the difference in our not making the playoffs).......anyway, we lost 4 straight at HOME to Houston in late July or August -- the comment from that was: We lost four straight to the worst team in baseball -- the rejoinder comeback was: "when you lose four straight games to the worst team in baseball, YOU are the WORST team in baseball.........." So, yeah, we're 12 games back in a very weak division.......... one thing that could fill some seats in Anaheim will be Tim Lincecum's first start as a Halo -- should be coming up here pretty soon. If Halos are smart, they'll have that first start at home -- at least fill some seats while you still can.........