Here's the thing: Tony Reagins has been an awful GM.
I had this long essay about how he's done nothing but make the team worse through bad trades (Kazmir), bad management of talent (Oliver, O'Day), lateral moves (Callaspo, Bulger) and bad acquisitions (Matsui, Fuentes). And it's true, he's made a mess of an organization which, while slow and unexciting with Stoneman at the helm, nevertheless stockpiled talent and seemed poised to rule the weak AL West for the next couple decades.
When Reagins signed Torii Hunter to an enormous contract out of nowhere, I knew that there were going to be serious changes in the organization. What I did not forsee, however, were the myriad negative changes accompanying the small beneficial ones, ultimately leading for my to call for Reagins' firing as early as January this year. When Guerrero was let go in favor of another aging slugger, I was concerned. When Fernando Rodney, previously billed as "the worst closer in baseball" by Detroit fans signed a multiyear contract, I knew the Angels were in trouble.
Yesterday's trade of Saunders + minor leaguers to Arizona for Dan Haren might be the trade that keeps Regains his job. This is what the Kazmir trade was supposed to be: buy low on major league talent, sell high on minor league talent. As long as the PTBNL isn't Mike Trout, and it won't be, it'll be a lopsided trade in the Angels' favor for a great pitcher with a favorable contract that pays him less than he's worth. And it gets rid of Joe Saunders, who was a great man and a great Angel, but not a particularly good pitcher, and one who's performance this season illustrates his mediocrity.
For the record, I have no faith that the Angels will make the playoffs this season. A 7 game deficit with ~60 games remaining is a deep hole, especially when the Rangers are able to take 3 of 4 games. Texas and LA have 10 games remaining, but the Angels will now need to exceed the Rangers' pace through the nondivisional schedule as well.
But I'm feeling much more optimistic about next season than I was at the beginning of this one, so while I wait for Haren to start with the Angels, I'll give Reagins a reprieve. But only for a minute.
Showing posts with label diamondbacks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diamondbacks. Show all posts
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday, June 29, 2009
Gotta love the E
No, not MDMA, but rather Arizona's unwillingness to make a proper play on a ball hit at their defense. In one of the weirdest plays in professional baseball, Erick Aybar managed to cross 4 bags on a bunt single attempt. A wild throw from third sent him to third, and a wild throw from right plated the run. As it turns out, this was foreshadowing for yesterday's game.
Angels 12, Arizona 8
Check out this inning summary:
That's three errors in an inning, leading to 5(!) unearned runs. The error on Reynolds at first was particularly strange. A routine groundout and throw to first hit Reynolds in the shoulder, as he must've been watching the scoreboard or something. It dropped, and that was the beginning. I don't think I've ever seen a first baseman just flat miss a ball like that before.
Upton's error was probably the least damaging of the three, with a liner nicking off his glove. Lopez, however, had no excuse, as a ball hit directly at him hopped between his legs and into the outfield. Just embarrassing.
The Angels, of course, found no fun in a 9-2 lead, and subsequently allowed the Diamondbacks to cut the deficit to 1 run before Kevin "Not a MLB'er" Jepsen miraculously got out of the sixth. By the way, that fairy dust coating Matt Palmer? Yeah, it's gone now. Sure, he got the win, but went only 5 innings while allowing 10 hits, 6 runs, 2 walks, and no strikeouts. I'd cut him before I'd cut Sean O'Sullivan.
The Halos take on the now-second place Rangers for a three game series. Yes, that's right, the Angels are in first place. I'll be the first to admit I'm surprised, and I'll be surprised if they make the playoffs this season. I think they have the talent, but the injuries are never ending.
Play .600 ball against the West and .500 everywhere else and Angel Stadium gets another flag.
Angels 12, Arizona 8
Check out this inning summary:
- J. Mathis safe at first on M. Reynolds' fielding error
- M. Palmer singled to left, J. Mathis to third
- C. Figgins grounded out to third, J. Mathis scored, M. Palmer to second
- M. Izturis safe at first on right fielder J. Upton's fielding error, M. Palmer scored, M. Izturis to third
- B. Abreu safe at first on second baseman F. Lopez's fielding error, M. Izturis scored
- L. Rosales relieved M. Scherzer
- J. Rivera homered to deep left, B. Abreu scored
- K. Morales tripled to deep right
- G. Matthews Jr. flied out to right
- E. Aybar popped out to shallow left
That's three errors in an inning, leading to 5(!) unearned runs. The error on Reynolds at first was particularly strange. A routine groundout and throw to first hit Reynolds in the shoulder, as he must've been watching the scoreboard or something. It dropped, and that was the beginning. I don't think I've ever seen a first baseman just flat miss a ball like that before.
Upton's error was probably the least damaging of the three, with a liner nicking off his glove. Lopez, however, had no excuse, as a ball hit directly at him hopped between his legs and into the outfield. Just embarrassing.
The Angels, of course, found no fun in a 9-2 lead, and subsequently allowed the Diamondbacks to cut the deficit to 1 run before Kevin "Not a MLB'er" Jepsen miraculously got out of the sixth. By the way, that fairy dust coating Matt Palmer? Yeah, it's gone now. Sure, he got the win, but went only 5 innings while allowing 10 hits, 6 runs, 2 walks, and no strikeouts. I'd cut him before I'd cut Sean O'Sullivan.
The Halos take on the now-second place Rangers for a three game series. Yes, that's right, the Angels are in first place. I'll be the first to admit I'm surprised, and I'll be surprised if they make the playoffs this season. I think they have the talent, but the injuries are never ending.
Play .600 ball against the West and .500 everywhere else and Angel Stadium gets another flag.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
In flight
Virgin America's in-flight wifi is, by far, the best way to spend $12.99 in the modern world. So, from 35,000 feet (and over Missouri, at the moment), here's a lot of crap for you to read.
Kings
Hockey coverage in June? Yup. The first round of the NHL draft saw the Kings select center Brayden Schenn with the fifth overall pick. Schenn is universally described as "gritty," whatever the hell that means, but has potential as a #2 line center in the NHL. He has an outside shot at making the team this upcoming season, but I'd suspect he's a player we won't see until 2011.
Congratulations to Luuuuc Robitaille, a first-ballot inductee into the hockey hall of fame. Luc is, for those of you who don't know, the highest scoring left winger in NHL history, and the second greatest King of all time, behind Gretzky.
Speaking of Gretzky, I just watched a 1989 Kings/Oilers game where Gretzky broke the scoring record, and the whole game was just fascinating. The Kings goalie was Mario Gosselin, a player who spent 12 years in the NHL without ever really distinguishing himself. Both goalies i nthe game, though, played stand-up, and it's really weird to watch with a modern timeframe. With my interest in goaltending in general, it's pretty funny to watch these goalies turn routine saves from a modern goalie into acrobatic dives across the crease. The sport was fundamentally different, particularly from the goalie position...today, saves are based on positioning. Then, it was all reflex. Gretzky's gamewinning overtime goal was a wraparound, a shot which has decreased in effectiveness to the point you almost never see them anymore. But with a stand up goalie, there's a shockingly large amount of five hole during the wraparound attempt.
Oh, and the game featured Craig Mactavish, the last player in the NHL to skate around without a helmet. It's borderline insane the way he blocks shots without something covering his head.
Angels
I don't mean to toot my own horn, here, but let's have a look at pitch counts. Jered Weaver threw 119 pitches in a complete game shutout against San Diego on June 14th. His next game was the worst of his season thus far, a 6-4 loss to the Dodgers where he gave up 10 hits, 3 walks, and 6 runs. Whoops.
Beyond that, the Angels are currently in progress against Arizona and trailing 1-0. They won 12-3, courtesy of an 8-run second inning. Let's hear it for unsustainable offense!
More Angels coverage once I can actually sit down and watch a whole game.
Soccer
The United States plays Brazil for the Confederations Cup tomorrow at 2:05 Eastern (I think). A win would be the biggest win in US soccer history and an extremely tardy vindication of the sport in this country. Until players like LeBron James start choosing soccer, it will never be like it is elsewhere, but maybe that's not so bad.
Kings
Hockey coverage in June? Yup. The first round of the NHL draft saw the Kings select center Brayden Schenn with the fifth overall pick. Schenn is universally described as "gritty," whatever the hell that means, but has potential as a #2 line center in the NHL. He has an outside shot at making the team this upcoming season, but I'd suspect he's a player we won't see until 2011.
Congratulations to Luuuuc Robitaille, a first-ballot inductee into the hockey hall of fame. Luc is, for those of you who don't know, the highest scoring left winger in NHL history, and the second greatest King of all time, behind Gretzky.
Speaking of Gretzky, I just watched a 1989 Kings/Oilers game where Gretzky broke the scoring record, and the whole game was just fascinating. The Kings goalie was Mario Gosselin, a player who spent 12 years in the NHL without ever really distinguishing himself. Both goalies i nthe game, though, played stand-up, and it's really weird to watch with a modern timeframe. With my interest in goaltending in general, it's pretty funny to watch these goalies turn routine saves from a modern goalie into acrobatic dives across the crease. The sport was fundamentally different, particularly from the goalie position...today, saves are based on positioning. Then, it was all reflex. Gretzky's gamewinning overtime goal was a wraparound, a shot which has decreased in effectiveness to the point you almost never see them anymore. But with a stand up goalie, there's a shockingly large amount of five hole during the wraparound attempt.
Oh, and the game featured Craig Mactavish, the last player in the NHL to skate around without a helmet. It's borderline insane the way he blocks shots without something covering his head.
Angels
I don't mean to toot my own horn, here, but let's have a look at pitch counts. Jered Weaver threw 119 pitches in a complete game shutout against San Diego on June 14th. His next game was the worst of his season thus far, a 6-4 loss to the Dodgers where he gave up 10 hits, 3 walks, and 6 runs. Whoops.
Beyond that, the Angels are currently in progress against Arizona and trailing 1-0. They won 12-3, courtesy of an 8-run second inning. Let's hear it for unsustainable offense!
More Angels coverage once I can actually sit down and watch a whole game.
Soccer
The United States plays Brazil for the Confederations Cup tomorrow at 2:05 Eastern (I think). A win would be the biggest win in US soccer history and an extremely tardy vindication of the sport in this country. Until players like LeBron James start choosing soccer, it will never be like it is elsewhere, but maybe that's not so bad.
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