Frayed Knot

He barely played last year, but I feel like he's always been over-aggressive and after the lead runners and waht not. But over-aggressive is what he certainly has NOT been so far this season. More like a guy who's so afraid of making a mistake that he's content just to get one out and doesn't even try for two.

Even when Tejada is making plays at SS he's often not making them cleanly. He's rapidly becoming the king of turning 'maybe' GiDPs into 'no-shot' GiDPs either by backing up on the ball, making a slow transfer, or making a sloppy flip.

Really living on the edge tonight with all those base runners for Trout & Albert

Thankyouverymuch. I'll be here all week. Dem other guys. Calhoun, RF Trout, CF Pujols, 1B Ibanez, DH Freese, 3B Kendrick, 2B Shuck, LF Iannetta, C Aybar, SS

Almost time to show Skaggs who's boz.

And since we're reviewing draft picks in days of yore: the Angels drafted Mike Trout with the pick they received from the Yanx for the signing of Mark Teixeira - although they actually had the previous pick in the same year for the Mets signing of Frankie Rodriguez and probably would have selected Trout with that pick if they didn't have the two consecutive picks (24th & 25th overall). The Angels swear (after the fact of course) that Trout was higher on their board than anyone aside from that year's #1/1 Steven Strasburg and probably took Trout with the second of the two picks in order to try to save on bonus money. Mets didn't pick until 72nd that year and chose Steven Matz which, despite the injury and slow recovery, does offer some in the end.

Yeah, the way I remember it is that, after Weaver had a great final year in college, there were comparisons made to another college stud RHP from a draft three years earlier, Mark Prior. But scouts tended to think that, despite his college record being similar to Prior's, Weaver's talent wasn't going to be quite on the same level. So back at that time when even the "suggested" slotting wasn't yet in fashion much less the harder standards of today, the upshot was that Weaver, spurred on by Boras, was going to cost you the superstar price of Prior without actually being Prior, something which caused a bunch of teams, Mets included, to think that they could get better use for their draft money elsewhere and making Weaver still available to the Angels at #12 To date, only Verlander (2nd overall and supposedly the guy the Mets wanted most of all) has racked up more WAR from that 1st round than Weaver, with Stephen Drew (15th overall to Arizona) and Gio Gonzalez (38th - ChiSox) next. The 2nd round that year saw Yovanni Gallardo (46th - Brewers), Hunter Pence (64th - Astros), & Dustin Pedroia (65th - Red Sox) Horrid draft year for the Mets overall that year, not a good thing when picking 3rd in each round.

First west coast swing of the year (meaning our first late-night games) takes us out to Anaheim as the Mets continue their �Triple A� road trip: At Atlanta, At Anaheim, At Arizona As far as I know, owner Artie Moreno hasn�t given out any absurd contracts yet this week, but there�s still a day and a half left to go. Angels are coming off a 78-84 2013 season despite the largess doled out to the likes of Pujols, Hamilton, and CJ Wilson. They were seemingly a post-season regular for a while (and, not coincidently, a pain in the Yanx collective asses) but to find their last division win/post-season appearance you now need to go back to 2009 This season they�re 4-5 against a schedule that�s had them playing only Seattle (1-4) & Houston (3-1) Friday - 10:05 EDT Gee vs Tyler Skaggs (LHP) Skaggs was a former 1st (Supp) round pick (40th overall) of the Angels in 2009. They sent him a year later to Arizona in the Dan Haren deal. Then, after three years of watching him rocket up the prospect charts, the Snakes did the only logical thing, they traded him back to Disneyland via a three-team deal. Career = 4-6; 4.86 ERA; 1.33 WHiP in 14 starts/76 innings Saturday - 9:05 Niese vs Jered Weaver Now in his 9th season, all with the Angels, Weaver was Top-5 in CY voting three years running in 2010-12 (5th, 2nd, 3rd) but missed some starts early last season and is off to a 0-2 start this year. Sunday - 3:35 Colon vs CJ Wilson (LHP) Wilson is starting his 3rd year in Anaheim after signing a big FA deal to jump from Texas. Is 31-18 / 3.64 / 1.34 in 69 starts over 2+ years as a Halo 1B - Albert Pujols - The Angels had to figure they�d be getting a diminished Pujols by the end of his contract, I just don�t suspect they thought he�d be plummeting this early. OPS last three years: 906 (last w/Cards), 859, 767 $25 million/year just doesn�t buy what it used to. 2B - Howie Kendrick - 30 y/o, now in his 9th season with Anaheim. Career .292/.329/.428 hitter SS - Erick Aybar - 30 y/o SS is also in his 9th season with the team. .276/.313/.385 A quick glance tells me that only Rollins & Utley have been together longer among current middle infield pairs � and I bet none of you would have gotten that in a trivia quiz. Me either. 3B - David Freese - Former Cardinals WS hero has pretty much been dining out on that rep for like two years now. LF - Josh Hamilton - off to a hot start after a couple of off years. BUT WAIT!!!, thumb surgery as the result of � say it with me folks � Sliding head-first into 1st!!!! (he may have also sprained a few tattoos) and is out for six weeks or more so obviously we won�t see him. What this does mean is that we might have a Colin Cowgill sighting in his stead. CF - Mike Trout Trout�s OPS in his Age-21 season? � That would be 988 Others that age with a higher one? � That list would consist of Jimmie Foxx and Ted Williams Those with a higher OPS+ (adjusted for home park and era) at that age? � That list would consist of NO ONE. And, unlike Foxx & Williams (or Miggy Cabrera for that matter who is currently in possession of AT LEAST one of Trout's MVP awards), this guy can run and throw and field � and probably cook an omelet. RF - Kole Calhoun - I never heard of this guy and wouldn�t know him if stuck on an elevator with him while looking at his �Missing� picture on a milk carton. He got about 200 ABs last season with no particular distinction. C - Chris Ianetta - I thought Ianetta was on the Rox until like an hour and a half ago, but it turns out that this will be his 4th full season with the Angels. DH - Raul Ibanez - Now 42 Freaking Years Old he�s coming off a ridiculous 29 HR/51 XBH season, while in pitcher-friendly Seattle no less. And it�s not like that was an aberration, he gets 50 or more XBHs just about every year. I was afraid of him being too old when there was talk about the Mets getting him and that was like a decade ago, but he�s one of those guys whose back half of the career was better than the first half. He now has 416 career 2Bs and 301 HRs - when he turned 30 those totals were just 33 & 27 Ernesto Fieri is the closer. Started his career with SD (which I absolutely do NOT remember) but was shipped to the Angels in 2012 where they almost immediately installed him as their closer, and despite never having done so before has been decent at it ever since (amazing how that works, huh?). K�s a lot of guys although will walk his share too. Other pen guys you might recognize without a background check: Fernando Salas, he was with the Cardinals for a time which means we probably didn't hit him. Joe Smith, the submarining one-time NYM who signed a 3-year/$16mil FA contract with LAA this past off-season. Really. They're no Angels -- aka: Guys you may be looking for but won't see: - Toriiii Hunter was one of their past big budget contracts but has been with Detroit since last season - power hitter Mark Trumbo (95 HRs in 3 years) was dealt to Arizona in the off season so we won't see him until next series - Rod Carew, Tim Salmon - I'm pretty sure they're both retired, but naming old ballplayers for a team is one of those in things to do if you're an ESPN anchor and you find yourself suddenly forced to talk about a team that isn't the Yanx, Sawx, or Dodgers. It's their way of admitting -- hell, bragging about -- the fact that they haven't followed baseball in several decades and so don't actually know anyone on the current team.. Anchor #1: "And now for some Twins highlights" Anchor #2: "Ummm, is Kent Hrbek still there? Kirby Puckett? How 'bout Tony Oliva?" FK at home: "Fuck you, assholes"

Amazing how many shiny, sticky patches of "dirt" (the official explanation) get on pitchers these days. Also how at one point said dirt migrated from the heel of his right hand to the back of his wrist on his left side. BoSox weren't about to say anything though, not with Clay Buccholz on the mound too last night after he got snagged with this stuff last year. I didn't see any of the Yanx broadcast last night, but something makes me think that the eyesight of Kay et al wasn't too sharp. Sterling's either for that matter but we already know that poor eyesight is a pre-existing condition with him.

Mejia - 1.0 EYoung - 3.6 Murphy - 2.5 Torres - 1.0 Fransworth - 0.8 Valverde - 0.8 Wright - 0.5

Best cure for starting the season 0-3 is to win a couple of series.

I dunno, I'm kind of enjoying this. Zvon wrote: Hey, lets get something straight. I'm the idiot around here and I work very hard at it. If you're such an idiot how come I never see you at the meetings?

Was just looking up exactly when Freddie Freeman was drafted -- turns out it was 2007, 2nd round, 78th overall out of an Orange County (CA) HS The very pick [u:286e8wqw]prior to that one[/u:286e8wqw], #77, was property of the Mets who used it to take Scott Moviel, a 6' 9" RHP out of a HS in Ohio who never wound up advancing beyond A-ball The 76th pick was another HS pick, this one an OF out of a Florida HS to the Marlins. Name of Giancarlo Stanton That's a serious UGH! right there.

Zvon wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: I don't want to say that this game is moving slowly or anything, but they're a full inning behind a Yanx/Sawx game which started at the same tine. A Yank/Sawx game is pretty decent measuring stick. For a cricket match, sure.

I don't want to say that this game is moving slowly or anything, but they're a full inning behind a Yanx/Sawx game which started at the same tine.

Granderson now has both the worst AB and worst defensive play of the game. That K w/1st + 3rd no one out was lame.

Didn't they used to have a centerfielder that hit 40 HR's? What happened to that guy? He drank too much and eventually died of liver failure. Ohh, you mean since Mantle? Yeah, many Yanx fans weren't too happy w/Granderson by the end of his run there for much the same reason as already discussed: they were willing to give up the 108 HRs he hit over 3 seasons there in favor of more running and bunting, and often didn't realize that the low-ish batting averages were supplemented by close to 100 points of OBA every season.

Ceetar wrote: Only the Rangers, Padres, and Royals have hit less than the Yankees 5 HR (tied with MIN, MIA) the Royals have only hit 1. With Kelly Johnson as the team leader (he has 2). As I mentioned a few posts earlier, there are/were a number of YLDBs who claimed to want this kind of team, who craved more bunting and running while cursing the "over-dependance" on HRs over the last decade or so because it clashed with their fantasy about the Yanx being a team of scrappy underdogs. I suspect that they won't sit at the bottom for long; McCann will wake up and start hitting that RF porch eventually, Teixeira's injuries aren't likely to be season long like they were last year, plus Beltran, Ellsbury, etc. But they're definitely going to find out if they like a reduced power team as much as they claim to because Cano & ARod aren't walking back into the clubhouse ... at least not THIS year (heh, heh).

Familia - 1.1 Germen - 0.5 Lagares - 1.6 d'Arnaud - 1.6 Wright - 1.2 Wheeler - 0.4 EYoung - 0.3 Granderson - 0.3

Ceetar wrote: Why not Flores for Tejada? mainly because he's in Vegas. OK, somehow I missed this. I guess he was swapped out to get Niese back in. This is the second time I've called for Wilmer to PH - the first was when Ike hit the GS So, given the REAL options at that point, Terry's choices are essentially Ruben then Brown for the pitcher (what he actually did), or PH Brown for Ruben then Q for the pitcher Pretty much a coin flip though I think he made the right choice there: stick with the less K-like Ruben for the tie then hope Brown could run into one and maybe put up a crooked number with one swing. I'll just go back to being stupid now.

Why not Flores for Tejada?

Zvon wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: Is there anyone else walking past the stadium in Atlanta that they'd like to sign so he can come in and toss a shutout? The peanut vendor maybe? That stuff will drive ya crazy. Saw the first few innings. Didn't think Ervin could keep it up. Has Santana been pitching that good or are we doing some extra sucking at the plate? Well it's not like Santana is a bad pitcher or anything, but the Braves were forced into having 3 of their first 8 games started by guys who weren't even employed by a major league team three weeks ago and all they've done so far is give up 1 run over 21 innings

Lannan's been really good at finding the bats of LHBs so far this year

Well they finally got Heyward out. But I think that's only because he was secretly replaced between innings by Justin Heyward and, seeing as how the former front of the Moody Blues has got to be nearly 70 y/o by now, getting him out isn't all that impressive. Plus he's English and probably never even played baseball.

Is there anyone else walking past the stadium in Atlanta that they'd like to sign so he can come in and toss a shutout? The peanut vendor maybe? I know it's only the 2nd week but, after losing Hudson to FA, they lose two more starters in ST plus have a couple more still on the mend from last year, and yet their starting staff is currently leading the majors in lowest ERA, OBA, and WHiP