Thoughts From The Last Two Weeks

My absence from posting the last few weeks hasn't gone unnoticed, and I'd like to preface by saying: I HAVE been watching the games (or most of them at least), and they have still been winning, so that's a relief.

So, what do I think of the last two weeks, including today?  Well, brace yourselves, I have the answer to that question no one wants to know the answer to.

Regarding the Angels:
- Watching Ernesto Frieri right now is what I remember watching Francisco Rodriguez in 2002 was like.  He came into the game, and you knew two things: no one was getting a hit, and more importantly, you were going to see one or more strikeouts (usually more).  He is dominant in a way that I would have never expected.  I'm really glad the club has the rights to him for the next few years.

- Garrett Richards is the real deal, and is ready to make a permanent impact on this team NOW.  If we spend the next few months (probably the rest of the season) yanking him back and fourth between Anaheim and Salt Lake, trying to decide if we really trust Ervin Santana to look like June 16th Ervin or The Rest of 2012 Ervin, its only going to blow his confidence and then we have another Brandon Wood/Dallas McPherson/Kevin Jepsen on our hands.  No one wants that.  Either trade Santana or send him to the bullpen.

- Mike Trout deserves all the love he gets, from me and from anyone else giving it to him.  His numbers make him an All-Star (should be a starter, but missing April will probably kill that chance), and god forbid he goes on another stretch like he did in May.  He could be an MVP candidate at the end of the season.  Oh yeah, and he will win a Silver Slugger and Rookie of the Year too, just because he can.  When the Angels slim their salary this offseason (by either trading away/releasing Vernon Wells and Ervin Santana, plus re-signing Hunter at a huge discount), they need to focus on two things: giving Frieri support in the Bullpen (assuming Downs leaves as well), and saving up to give Trout the huge Evan Longorian contract extension he already deserves.

- On a more somber note, I want to see Peter Bourjos play everyday in a Major League lineup.  If that has to be in Washington, or Houston, or wherever it has to be, he deserves to play.  Sitting on the bench 85% of the time isn't going to warm up his bat.  We can get some of that bullpen help now, or even a more capable defensive 3rd baseman than Alberto Callaspo.  I know Callaspo doesn't commit errors, but I think that is more because of his lack of range and athleticism than his skilled defensive prowess.

Regarding the Rest of Baseball:
- The Washington Nationals are the real deal, people. They are going to make some deal at the deadline and run away with this division.  The Phillies are dead in the water and neither the Mets nor Marlins are talented enough to make a serious run, in my opinion.  The Braves could give them a scare, but they will likely choke it away.

Regarding the Rest of the Sports World:
- I'm happy for the Los Angeles Kings, and their devoted (read: not bandwagon) fans, but I'm still a bitter Ducks fan who won't be happy until their "dynasty" has dissolved and they are back in the draft lottery with us.  That being said, its only two months until Training Camps!  The Ducks have made a number of positive moves this offseason, I hope that can equate to the 3-4 extra wins they would have needed to be the 8 seed in the West (the seed the Kings were, and rode to the Stanley Cup).

- It looks like the NBA Finals isn't going to be as good as we all hoped.  Lebron and the Heat seem to be running away with things (now up 2-1 after winning Game 3 in Miami about 15 minutes ago).  Oh, and the next two games are in Miami too.  With the way Kevin Durant and the Thunder have been choking away opportunities, I'm guessing its going to be a 5 game series and Lebron will finally get his ring.

Just Another Disappointing Day in Anaheim

I didn't get to see most of the game, but I heard most of it.. and what a dismal performance. You'd think in a game where we scored 4 runs, I couldn't get on the offenses case, but here we are. They left a ton of runners stranded in Scoring Position, and had numerous instances where they had a runner on second or third with fewer than two outs, and still failed to produce the run.

Equally as depressing as the anemic offense was the play in the field, which pushed across a run on a strikeout. Then the haphazard bullpen, whose star is Kevin Jepsen, put KC over the top for good in the 8th. If Mike Scioscia goes back to Jepsen in a similar set-up situation ever again, his sanity should be questioned. I almost hope that we get all these bullpen kinks worked out now... even if it means we have to start out 1-5, just so we establish the right guys in the right roles before the games start to mean more in August and September.

The only positives today were Alberto Callaspo and Erick Aybar, who went a combined 4-7 (with a walk) and drove in half of the Angels 4 runs. Torii Hunter hit his 2nd home run of the season, and Ervin Santana looked good, but had obvious room for improvement.

Angels Refuse to Limp Across Finish Line

Ervin Santana threw a complete-game shutout last night for his career best 17th win of the season.

You know, if not for the injury to Kendry Morales and the Miserable performance from our Bullpen, the Angels would have had a pretty good year.

They still can. With last nights win, the Angels are 75-76 on the season, and still just a game and a half out of second place (and 8.5 out of first?!?!).

While I don't think for one second the Angels will actually complete any kind of monumental comeback (Oakland still has a shot, though, considering they start a four game series against Texas in Oakland tomorrow), I think this little run they are putting on to end the season is a great sign for 2011.

Dan Haren tries to complete the sweep against Texas tonight, he will go up against CJ Wilson, who at one point was the teams best pitcher, but has recently come back down to earth.

Wait... We Won? This Cant Be Right II

After going 0-9 against the Red Sox going into tonight's game, the Angels some how found a way to take the lead and actually keep it through the end of nine innings.

Ervin Santana kept the BoSox hitters in check, while the Angels roughed up Beckett and Delcarmen for 7 runs. The Angels Pen actually held on to the lead and got the Angels their 61st victory of the season.

In Baltimore, the Rangers were shuout, 4-0. Thats right, the Angels actually gained a game in the division race. For the first time in almost a week, the Rangers Magic Number didnt get any smaller, and Matsui finally looked like the RBI machine we signed him to be.

Things are looking up, but if the Angels cant keep it up, in another week, they will be too far out for any kind of run at the postseason.

Rangers Magic Number: 35
Carl Crawford Countdown: 114

Sloppy Win and Deadline Silence.

So, after looking like the season was over in the second inning last night, down 5-0 to the division leading Rangers, who would have taken a 10 game lead with a win last night, The Angels stormed back with power hitting and aggressive baserunning.

While Ervin Santana had a shaky start (3 unearned runs in the first, 4 more runs scattered through the next 3 innings), he had a dominant 5th and 6th innings, then the Bullpen came in and actually shut the door on one of the best offenses in baseball.

It wasn't a pretty win, in fact, it was downright sloppy, but a win is a win. The Division lead is down to 8, with another "must-win" game tonight.

---

Since trading for Dan Haren a week ago, the Angels have been all but silent on the Trade front. With the non-waiver deadline having come and gone, it looks like the Angels are just going to be making do with what they have, unless they can get a waiver deal done.

For those unfamiliar with Waiver trades, they can be much trickier, because any other team can snatch a player from waivers. However, many big names have been able to clear waivers in the past in order to get traded after July 31st. Last year, for example, the Angels were able to trade for Scott Kazmir on August 28th.

What's more likely for this year's Angels, however, is if the club once again finds themselves 9 or more games out of first place, its likely that they will trade away some aging players or expiring contracts.

---

Dan Haren gets his second start as an Angel tonight against his former Oakland teammate, Rich Harden. Harden is making his first start since June, coming off the DL with a less than spectacular 5.68 ERA. I'll be lucky enough to be there, and honestly, I cannot wait. Haren's chance to be a division winner comes to fruition tonight.

Moving on....

In what is far to depressing to even speak about, the Angels were swept by the White Sox in a four game series in Chicago. They looked awful, and there is no excuse for their play. Santana and Weaver both had good game, and the Offense decided to not show up. While Kazmir and Saunders looked as awful as ever.

Instead of getting really mad about the last 7 games... lets move on and look towards the trade deadline.

It seems like the only thing I ever hear on the radio is how we need a bat. I wish it were that simple. Where we could just go get a bat and win the division.

No, in addition to a third basemen, and maybe another hitting outfielder, there isnt much we can do to clean up the offense. No one is playing anywhere near their potential right, except for maybe Howie Kendrick.

I'd love to go out and get a guy like Mark Reynolds or someone to just have this big pop in our lineup, but realistically, if we want a chance to win the division, we need pitching. Right now, we have maybe 2 pitchers I trust to go out and get a win. Jared Weaver and Ervin Santana (sometimes). We could use one of the many Starters that seem to be coming available (Dan Haren, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, etc). There is also only a couple of guys that can come out of the bullpen and I feel assured that they wont blow the game, and even then... they already have, and it will happen again.

I'm not saying we could go out and get a shut-down closer, but a couple of steady, veteran arms in the bullpen would go a long way to stabilize the entire pitching staff.

If the Angels want to win the division this year, they will have to make some major sacrifices to pick up a bat and a few solid pitchers. Is it worth it, or should we just let Texas have their one season in the sun, and focus on making a significant impact on the free agent market in the winter?

I'd honestly be ok with either option, but if they plan on giving away half the farm system to build a contender this season, they had better have a long-term plan along with it, or we will find ourselves in a similar situation in 2011 and 2012.

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.