Arte Prepares to Open His Wallet

Thats right, 7 Years, $126 Million... for Jayson Werth. I love Jayson Werth... especially his beard, but damn... thats a ton of money, Washington. If they are going over-pay people this badly, the president better put together a bail-out package together for Nats. I think it speaks volumes to Nationals fans that this team wants to win now. They lost the strikeout machine (and on-base machine) Adam Dunn to free agency, but they still have youth in guys like Strasburg and Harper, and Vets like Ryan Zimmerman. Not to mention they are interested in Tampa's Carlos Pena.

But what does this mean for the Angels and Carl Crawford? 8 Years, $180 Million is what is being thrown around rumor sites and the like. Something the Angels could afford, but would they have anything left over for a guy like Adrian Beltre or Rafael Soriano? That is really up to Arte Moreno and how much he wants to dig into that wallet of his. Then it comes down to if Moreno and GM Tony Reagins really want to go out and buy half a team, or if they are just going to target one key guy, and put him into the situation the team is currently in.

If Moreno goes nuts, signs Crawford, Beltre, Soriano, and a couple other role players, does that make the Angels a new evil empire? Would we be as hated around the country as Boston and New York? It would be an interesting thing to consider for the Angels front office.

Something else to consider: Guys like Napoli, Mathis, Aybar and others still have arbitration to go through... which means even less money in Arte's pocket.

---------

Lets go over some other non-Angels Hot Stove goodies:

-Adrian Gonzalez will be swapping coasts and Leagues. The Padres and Red Sox agreed to trade the All-Star First Basemen, and the Red Sox will also give Gonzo a fat new, 7-year Contract, to keep him in Bean Town for the foreseeable future.

-The Diamondbacks have traded slugging Third Basemen Mark Reynolds to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for two minor-league relievers. Expect both his home run and strikeout numbers to increase in the AL East and Camden Yards.

-White Sox resigned Catcher AJ Pierzynski to a two year, $8 Million deal... even though he still sucks.

-Both the Red Sox and Yankees have expressed interest in Twins Reliever Brian Fuentes. I don't normally speak in "Internet Speak" around here, but there is only one word to convey my thoughts on this rumor: LOL!
---------

Dallas Cowboys Legend Don Meredeth passed away today at the age of 72. I am too young to have been able to see him play, but I saw a few years of his Monday Night Football announcing career, and Hank Hill was always quite fond of him. Anyone Hank Hill thinks so fondly of is ok in my book.

---------

Also passing over the weekend was Chicago Cubs legend Ron Santo. He was 70, and always seemed like one year away from making the Hall of Fame. Hopefully the voters rectify this for 2011.

Angels Nation 2010 Postseason Preview

Just so we are all clear, Angels Nation is officially on the San Francisco Giants' and Texas Rangers' Bandwagons. If you are uncomfortable with this, please note that the rest of the league is evil, and should be treated as such. The Yankees, Rays, Braves and Phillies all come from the super evil East Coast, not to mention the Rays play in Florida (Voted most evil state by committee of voters), the Twins and Reds, well, they arent evil, but they are the two worst teams in the playoffs (fact), and no one wants to bandwagon a loser.

Lets start with the matchups in the National League:

Giants vs. Braves - Bobby Cox's last season as a manager, nothing would be a more fitting send off than a World.... boo hoo hoozle. Go cry about the loss of your manager some more Braves Fans. Oh wait, the Braves fans don't even like the Braves. The are probably all bandwagoning the Rays right now, considering they have a better shot at postseason glory. The Giants, on the other hand, have one of the best starting 4's in Baseball, Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez and Zito. They also have Buster Posey, who is maybe the greatest rookie catcher of all time.
Prediction: Giants in 4

Phillies vs. Reds - Lets get things straight, I dont like the Phillies, but I'll be damned if they dont have the best team in the playoffs. The hitting is amazing, the pitching is out of this world, and they have a coach who has taken this team to the World Series the past two years. I like the story of the Reds, but they dont have the pitching to keep up with the Phils.
Prediction: Phillies in 3


American League:

Rangers vs. Rays - I don't totally hate the Rays, but their unfortunate affiliation with the state of Florida, not to mention their lack of fans with enough income to actually attend their home games, makes me like them very little. Rangers have taken the last month and a half off. They should be the most rested team in baseball right now (the Reds might be just as rested, but they have a crappy team, so...), not to mention they have Cliff Lee, who was really the only bump in the Yankees road to glory last season. Sure, they have to get through a tough Rays team who won the best division in baseball, but they dont have enough starting pitching to keep up with the Rangers.
Prediction: Rangers in 5

Yankees vs. Twins - No Morneau, Mauer isn't at 100%, their best pitcher is probably Carl Pavano, oh, and they have Brian Fuentes. How on earth did the Twins get this far?
Prediction: Yankees in 3

---

Angels Nation will continue to be your source for biting 2010 MLB Postseason coverage well into November (because that's when Game's 5-7 of the World Series will be, for some dumbass reason), then, we wont have anything to talk about for a while, except the hyjinks of Kim, Khloe and Kourtney (and all their Kardashian pals!)

Ok, Fuentes, Now Its Personal....

Hey, look at that picture up there. Its a pretty rare one. Its Brian Fuentes throwing a pitch for his new team, the Minnesota Twins. Why is it rare, you ask? Well, he has only faced one batter since being traded for Andre the Giant a few weeks ago. Why is that? Well, because the no-good schmuck seems to have hurt his arm, something the Twins didn't know going into the trade (We're not that sorry).

Why am I being so outspokenly aggressive towards a player who cant suck for us anymore? Well, on a radio interview yesterday with Mason and Ireland on the local ESPNRadio affiliate, he trashed us, the Angels Fans (Note: I am currently unable to find any kind of article pertaining to the interview, but I will provide a link once one surfaces). He complained about us "booing him" last year, even though he lead the league in saves.

First off, buddy, the 2008-2009 Angels played in such a way that my sister could have lead the league in saves. Next, we didn't boo you because we didn't have anything better to do, we booed you because you sucked, and we all knew it. You were also third in the league in BLOWN saves.

Then, he gets on us about booing John Lackey (on his return trip with Boston) even though he was a major factor in the team winning the 2002 World Series. Well, I cant really argue that he helped us win the series, but he got booed because he badmouthed the fans after he left. A classless act.

His reasoning for the booing of himself and Lackey by the Angels faithful? "Thats the kind of fans they are".

You know, at first, I was just happy you are gone. Never around to walk 3 batters in the ninth inning, or grow creepy porn-'staches again. Now, I wish you the worst of luck. I wish your new team the worst of luck (acquiring your sorry ass was a good start). I hope Minnesota not only falls out of the playoffs, but I hope when (if) you come back this season, you have the most miserable final two weeks of the season, and you are pretty much forced out of the league.

Go White Sox!

Three Games, One Run, No Wins.

Its a really good thing the Angels Front Office (finally) waived the white flag on the 2010 season on Friday, by trading Brian Fuentes to the Twins for a player to be named later, because the Angels players waived an even bigger white flag by laying an absolute egg this weekend against the last place Baltimore Orioles.

After scoring on a Balk in the first inning of Friday's game, they failed to produce another run all weekend. Its a good thing the rest of the 40-Man Roster is here on Wednesday, because the current 25 stink.

There is no possible way the 15 players (mostly prospects) coming up from Salt Lake can do any worse than Hunter, Abreu and Co. have done the last week and a half.

Other than a 12 run explosion on Wendesday afternoon, the Angels have scored 7 total runs in the last week. They have been shutout three times, once by Minnesota, and TWICE by the LAST PLACE Orioles.

The Angels have a favorable schedule in September, so at this point, my goal for the 2010 Angels is to finish with 82 wins for a winning season.

Rangers Magic Number (To Eliminate Angels): 26 (22)
Carl Crawford Countdown: 104

Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory.

Pathetic.

That is really the only word that can be used to describe the Angels Bullpen right now.

After Brian Fuentes blew yet another save in the 9th inning last night (why Scioscia keeps running that blown save waiting to happen out there, I'll never know), Scot Shields was in rare form last night. He looked incredible, against every other batter... but the ones in between scraped across the winning run.

I could get on the Offense for not playing better against one of the worst pitchers in the league, but keep in mind that Joe Saunders, when playing in Anaheim, has been one of the worst pitchers in the league. He went out and threw his best game of the season. True, he was helped by some great defense behind him, but when isnt a pitcher who throws a great game helped by his defense?

The blame for last nights loss is squarely on the shoulders of three men. First and foremost, Mike Scioscia. Why on earth, when your pitcher has a complete game shutout going, do you bring in the most inconsistent closing pitcher of the last 3 years? Then, when you need to bring in a pitcher to shut them down for an inning in the tenth, do you bring in a past-his-prime pitcher who is only still on the team because of what he has done for us in the past?

The other two who are to blame are obviously Fuentes and Shields, but Shields least of all. I think he is still as shocked as we are that he still has a job with the Angels, let alone is being called into the most important inning of the game.

Fuentes shouldn't be closing anymore, and thats not Fuentes' fault. True, he sucks, but bringing him in wasnt his call, it was Mike's.

Mike Scioscia... for the love of god, when your pitcher is throwing a shutout, regardless of the inning, pitch-count, or runners on base... leave him in the damn game. Don't go to the shakiest bullpen in the American League. We could have drawn a game closer to Texas last night, who lost to Chicago, due to Bullpen problems of their own, but instead, we still sit 3.5 games back, wondering what could have been.

Light That Baby Up!

Feels Good, Man.

The offense exploded, the defense was solid, and Ervin Santata, while not great, was better than he has been. I didn't get to see most of the game, but I heard it on AM830, and watched the game-cast on mlb.com. So I couldn't watch every players little nuances like I'd like to, but everyone was hitting, so there really wasn't much to see.

I'm sure Brandon Wood and Mike Napoli struck out swinging at least once in this game, but who cares? An 11-3 victory against a division rival is always sweet. Add in the fact that the Rangers cant solve the Blue Jays (who we swept a month ago, by the way) right now, and we could be as close at 2 1/2 games back in the division by days end.

Will it happen? It would have to be a perfect storm, but it would be nice, considering the Angels short, 2-game, road trip to Texas immediately following today's game. As of this second, the Jays are beating the Rangers 5-2 in the bottom of the 7th, so it looks like the first half of what needs to happen will happen. Good luck Angels!

A Few Thoughts:
- Kendry Morales needs to start spreading out this offensive production throughout the week. I mean, 2 homers and 5 RBI's in a game is nice, but when he had 1 whole RBI the rest of the week so far, thats room for improvement.
- If we are going to start winning, winning by a lot will be an important factor, so as to keep Brian Fuentes from meddling in our winning business.
- I know beating up on the A's doesnt seem like much, but they are still the second best team in the division, and beating division rivals is whats important at this point.

Around the League:
- The Rays optioned DH Pat Burrell for assignment. He was maybe the least productive DH in the AL East. I can't feel too bad for them, considering they have the best record in baseball, but bad free agent signings always sting. I remember after the 2008 season, when Teixeira split, many "experts" called for the Angels to sign him. I dont say this often, but good job, Tony Regans.

Feels Good, Man.

It was not pretty. But Juan Rivera's sacrifice fly to win the game in the 11th inning might be the sweetest victory the Angels have had all year. Walk-off wins are always nice, but against the best team in baseball, and with the opportunity to gain a half-game on the two teams ahead of them in the division, this one felt good.

But, it should have never gotten to that point. Aybar even made getting lucky look difficult in the first inning, eventually scoring the first run of the game. Torii added a home run in the 3rd, and Napoli hit a no-doubter for two in the 4th. Pineiro was dominant all game, and left the game leading 4-0.

Rodney gave up a run, but otherwise looked solid. One run in a four run game isnt going to ruin anything. Then Brian Fuentes, with his newly added porno 'stache, looked to close the door on the game. After giving up a solo shot to the good Aybar (Willy), letting a couple guys get on, he gave up a two-out double to Evan Longoria, who drove in the tying run.

There were some fine defensive plays in the extra frames. Bulger came in and had a great showing. Trevor Bell struck out Longoria, and that ended up earning him the W.

Morales got a great opposite field single, Willits did his job and bunted him over, and with Rivera at the plate, a wild pitch (although it should have been a passed ball, I digress) got Morales to third, and a deep fly ball drove home Morales.

Great win for the Angels, and a great game to watch, even though it went almost 4 1/2 hours. Tonight, I'm hoping for an even better, and hopefully shorter, game. Its a match-up of Kazmir, who may or may not be facing the Rays for the first time since being traded last year, I'm not 100% sure, but I'm gonna say he is, because its a better story, and Jeff Niemann, someone who I've never seen pitch before, but is 2-0 with a nice ERA. Plus, its bucket cap night... aw yeah.

A few thoughts:
- Personally, I LOVE Fuentes' new Porno Stache. Its currently his only redeeming quality.
- Good to see Napoli FINALLY turning his season around. Thankfully its not too late.
- I'm still wondering why Brandon Wood is still starting. Frandsen has been nothing but solid.
- I'm also happy to see Trevor Bell back in the bigs. He had a rough go of it last year, but he is going to be a fantastic young pitcher.
- I'm not promising anything, but I would not be surprised if we are back over .500 by the end of this homestand.

Angels Record: 15-19
Outlook: Incredibly positive

All Hail Our New Savior: Brandon Wood.

Not really. He was decent today, and by decent, I mean he accounted for 100% of our offensive output. He fielded 2 grounders than should have been outs, but turned into hits. He also struck out with the bases loaded, and then again for good measure in the 8th.

Now, I was ready to jump on here and yell for 500 words about how the "Wood Experiment" should be over after he struck out with the bases loaded in the second, then proceeded to give up the first run of the game on what should have been an error. But I have recovered, and since he hit that solo shot, he made up for the run he "gave up".

Todays game was not entirely Wood's fault. In fact, he played out of his mind today, compared to what he has done for the rest of the season. I'm more disappointed with the rest of the lineup. However, I cant really blame them either, because the home plate umpire was giving Lackey that outside pitch all game, even when it wasn't even close. Obvious Boston homer. I'm pretty sure all umpires are.

That being said, I thought today was probably the Angels best 9 innings (technically 8 1/2 innings) of baseball they have played on this road trip. Pineiro had one of his better games of the season. Bulger had a good inning of relief, and Fuentes was up to his usual shenanigans.

It seems like whenever the offense is going, the pitching is serving up batting practice, and whenever the pitching is solid, we look like we are swinging toothpicks out there. This is still a good baseball team, and once we get everything going, the Angels will be a force to be reckoned with.

A few thoughts:
- Jeremy Hermida (Sox Outfielder) has a pretty sweet Chin Beard. Good work, sir.
- Rojas and Gubicza almost seem to have some chemistry going. Only a month in, not bad.
- Matsui played some damn fine Left Field today, damn fine.
- Jason Bulger's performance today actually surprised me. There is hope for our bullpen yet.
- Fuentes, however, was his usual terrible self. Beltre? Really Fuentes, you gave up a home run to Beltre?!
- I HATE the OneWest Bank commercials. That song is getting really old.

Also, I've decided today that I will be signing up for the 2010 All-Star Game Fun-Run (no 5k for me, thank you), and I'd like to encourage all of you to do the same. Everybody hates cancer, lets raise some money against it.

Angels Record: 12-17
Outlook: Strangely Positive.