Yankees to Jeter: "Test the Market"

Jeter to Yankees: "Yeah? Well **** You!"

Not really, but man, wouldn't that be awesome? Let me preface this post by saying I love Jeter, and like the Yankees, but the Angels take precedence, and my dream world is completely nonsensical. Oh, and the Yankees did, in fact, tell Jeter to test the market, because they think he is asking for too much money, and while that might be true, the Yankees need Jeter more than Jeter needs the Yankees.

Its like telling Babe Ruth or Joe DiMaggio to take a hike, just because they are getting older. Granted, Jeter's 2010 was not a typical "I'm going to be a Free Agent, I need to play better" season. But his worth to the Yankees over the last 15 years is not to be ignored. 1/3rd of the seasons Jeter has been in a Yankee uniform, the Yankees have won the World Series. A Third! Any given season Jeter has been in Yankee Pinstripes, the Yankees have had a one in three shot of winning it all! Not to mention, they have made the world series 7 of those 15 seasons.

Regardless, if the Yankees dont want him, and for whatever awful reason we can't sign Carl Crawford, the Angels should go after him. Well, him and Jayson Werth, because we will still need someone who can actually still hit a baseball. Jeter would be a fantastic fit on the Angels, and a great reason to finally get rid of Erick Aybar, my nemesis.

Jeter is a great clubhouse guy, a team leader on and off the field, and is clutch in September and October. Not to mention it solidifies the Shortstop Position defensively. Even if he doesn't have the range or the arm of Aybar, he is far less prone to stupid throwing errors, or simply giving up on plays. Even if his bat isn't as potent, it can't be any worse than some of the sub-.250 hitters we had last season (Aybar included).

Also, consider this: In 69 Career Games in Angel Stadium, Jeter is hitting .344 with 10 Home Runs and 42 RBI's... Need more convincing? I didn't think so.

I 100% believe that Jeter will still be in a Yankee uniform next season, but if he isn't, for whatever reason, I hope to god its an Angel Jersey.

----------

More congratulations are in order for the 2010 AL/NL MVP's, Josh Hamilton of the Rangers and Joey Votto of the Reds. I won't pretend to understand why Votto was the NL MVP. He had a really good year on a really mediocre Reds team that happened to have the most wins in a terrible division. Josh Hamilton makes more sense, although he owes a lot to Vladimir Guerrero. Once people found out Vlad could hit again, Josh started seeing a good amount of hittable pitches. Regardless, congrats on the new hardware.

----------

In some non-Yankees related Hot Stove news, Catcher/First Basemen Victor Martinez (formerly of the Indians and Red Sox) has agreed to terms on a deal with the Detroit Tigers.

Also, the door has almost completely been shut on Hideki Matsui's Angel career. The Angels have not offered the 2009 World Series MVP Arbitration, and it would appear he will be testing the Free Agent market himself.

Angels End 2010 Campaign with a W.

In what was likely his final game as an Angel, Hideki Matsui hit a homerun, part of 6 runs that helped propel the Angels past the Rangers for their 80th win of the season. It was his 21st of the season, and his 83rd and 84th RBI's on the season. Sure, those are slightly down from his season last year which culminated in a World Series MVP award, but much better than I would have thought back in May, when he was struggling at the plate and losing AB's to Juan Rivera.

Mark Trumbo finally got his first big league hit yesterday on an RBI-Single. Its highly unlikely he will start the season anywhere but Salt Lake, but the the kind of promise he showed (even going hit-less until yesterday), I doubt he will stay there long.

Dan Haren got his 12th win of the season yesterday, and his 5th as an Angel. In his 14 games as an Angel, Haren posted a 2.87 ERA, going 5-4 with 75 K's to just 25 Walks. His strikeout pace fell a bit, but he continued to get guys out and put the Angels in a position to win.

It was a competitive weekend series with the Rangers, and the Angels were able to hold their own with the West Champs (who begin their Postseason run in Tampa on Wednesday, which we will cover more tomorrow.) As a fan, I'm looking forward to 2011. With Kendry Morales back in the lineup, and a sturdier Bullpen, the Angels could make a deep October run.

Why The Angels Should Claim Manny Today.

Thats right, today. Rumors are running rampant that Manny Ramirez of the Dodgers is going to be put through waivers today. His relationship with the Dodgers has crumbled, and with the Dodgers out of the race, they are looking to move the All-Star Outfielder for some pieces they can use to build on in the future. I'm going to a few of reasons that the Angels should pursue him and land him on their team for the last month of the season.

1. Increase Ticket Sales, TV Ratings and National Attention: The Dodgers received a HUGE boost in all three areas when Manny came to LA at the Trading Deadline in 2008. Not to mention a significant boost in Season Ticket sales in 2009. Its no secret that the Angels attendance isn't going to be what the team has been used to this year. They aren't selling out as many games, and there have been many more games with tickets on sale. Manny would bring people out to games in a mostly meaningless final month of the season, bringing me to my next point.

2. Keep Angel Fans Interested for Final Month of the Season: I'm not going to sugarcoat anything here. With the last two Angels losses (combined with big wins for the Rangers), the Angels are done. They are not making the playoffs, and at this point are playing for second place. With Manny on the team, you can bet your ass I'll be tuning in to just about every Angel game in September, even though Football has begun.

3. He Will Help The Angels Finish Strong: While I said two sentences ago that the Angels are out of it, that doesn't mean they should stop playing. September call-ups are a week away, and with all the new talent on the roster, guys should start playing for playing time next season. Throw a big bat like Manny in the lineup, someone who could actually get hits with Runners in Scoring Position, and the Angels could finish strong, with maybe an 85 win season. Its better to have some momentum going into next season.

4. It Will Give The Angels the Inside Track to Signing Him in the Off-season: I like Hideki Matusi. He seems like a good guy, but he didn't quite pan out as the Angels had hoped this year. With his one year contract, he is unlikely to receive another offer from the Angels, and will take his bum knees to another AL town (More than likely to Seattle, to play with guys like Ichiro, and for the huge Japanese community in the Seattle area). The Angels will need a DH, and Manny is the perfect DH. He has never liked to play in the field, but loves to hit home runs. While its not an ideal scenario for me, I admit that I've always liked Manny, and would love to see him in an Angels uniform, at least for a couple years.

5. He Can't Possibly Be Any Worse Than Our Current Hitters with RISP: After going 0-for-7 on Sunday, the Angels managed to go 1-for-11 with RISP on Monday night. Angels hitters are struggling to even move guys over. I've seen more pop-outs, shallow fly-outs and strikeouts than ever before. While I'm not going to claim Manny Ramirez is some sort of savior, there is no possible way he can be worse. Its mathematically impossible.

Rangers Magic Number: 29
Carl Crawford Countdown: 110

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

Are You Ready For Some Football?!!

Or Basketball? Or Hockey? Or anything but Baseball?

Angels lost again, resulting in their first time getting swept at home in 2 years. Things aren't going to get much better with Texas visiting this weekend.

In a worst case scenario, the Angels would find themselves 13 games back on August 2nd, and Texas' magic number to clinch the division (or at least eliminate the Angels) would be down to 44.

It looks like now is a better time than ever to trade away Abreu, Matsui, and Pineiro (if he is ok) for some prospects or good young major league talent to a contender. Build towards next year, where we will have a whole season of Dan Haren, Kendry Morales and Carl Crawford.

Anyway, Go Jets!

Same Shit, Different Day.

What is there to say that I didn't go over yesterday? Starter pitched good enough to win, just didn't get the run support. Offense looked Anemic, at best. Blunders in the field and on the base-paths seem the norm.

I know I've been saying the Angels need to trade for a "Big Bat". Throw that plan out. We need to trade for an entire new lineup.

If the Angels cant win tomorrow, it might be time to pack it in, and build for next year. Let guys like Abreu and Matsui go play for a contender while we build to take back our Division Crown in 2011.

Oh, by the way, the Magic Number for the Rangers is now 53.

I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues...

Except for Bobby Abreu's solo shot in the first inning, and a few jams that Dan Haren pitched himself out of, nothing went the Angels way last night against Boston.

Between fielding mistakes, poor managing and a bullet off the bat of Kevin Youkilis, the Angels had no chance last night. The first Red Sox run would not have scored if not for Hunter flubbing on a play he normally makes, and Hunters 0-4 night at the plate didn't help, either. The Angels loaded the bases with none out in the 2nd, only to have weak at bats by Rivera, Mathis and Aybar end the threat. Then when Haren got pegged on the forearm by a line drive off the bat of Youkilis, it ended pretty much all hope the Angels had last night.

The Angels bullpen pitched the Halos out of the game for good, not once, but twice.

I understand Mike's decision to put Rodney in for the 8th... he is his 8th inning guy, and when he struggles, he struggles. It happens. But when Matsui made up for Fernando's mistake in the Bottom of the 8th with a home run of his own, I will never know what possessed Mike to put in Michael Kohn, to make his first major league appearance.

Not only was it Kohn's first appearance, but in a game where he NEEDED to keep the one-run lead, against the Boston Red Sox... poor coaching decision.

Its hard to find one guy to blame for last nights loss, But Aybar going 0-for-5 at the top of the lineup is simply unacceptable. It would be one thing if he had a walk, or a sacrifice bunt, or even a productive out, but no. For a guy who is so hot to look so cold, it has me worried.

If there were any indication that we still need a power bat in the lineup, it was on display in the 2nd inning. The Angels loaded them up with none out, only to pop out twice and have Aybar (shocker!) ground out to end the inning. Pathetic.

There were a few things I did like about the game last night. Haren looked marvelous, outside of the solo-shot to Ortiz. Also, Michael Kohn has a great name, which is ripe for parody. I mean... its only good for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan jokes, but man... oh the jokes I'll make.

---

Jared Weaver gets the ball tonight against the Sox, facing off against Child-Molester Jones... er... John Lackey. This will be Lackey's first start in Anaheim against his old club. With the comments he has made about the Angels management and their fans when signing with the club (and in consequent months), if he gets anything but an enormous boo from the Angels faithful, I will be disappointed. I'd also like for him to pitch really well for the first few innings, but then fall apart in the 5th, for old-times sake. Maybe a 6-run inning? At this point, I want Lackey to fail less so the Angels win, and more so he looks like a fool (with his pants on the ground).

The Most Important Week of the Season (Seriously).

I wish the above sentence was not hyperbole, but it is. With the Rangers 14-Inning win last night, they took a 5 game lead in the division. They have two more games in Detroit before the important weekend series in Texas against the Angels. The Angels are in New York for the next two days before the flight to Texas. While these are both big series' against two rivals, thats really only half the story.

If the Angels find themselves even further out by the end of the week, god forbid by 8 or 9 games, all signs point to the Angels finding themselves as sellers at the trade deadline. Say goodbye to any of your favorite players, because there is no one on the team that would be safe from a fire sale at this point.

However, if the Angels can manage to creep closer to the Rangers, they would certainly become buyers, and you can say goodbye to any of your favorite prospects, because its likely they will be traded for someone like Lance Berkman, Adam Dunn or (god willing) Carl Crawford.

I think a worst case scenario is that the Angels and Rangers both play .500 baseball for the next six games, and the Angels don't lose or gain any ground. Because then Tony Reagins will likely pull a Bill Stoneman and not do anything at the deadline, to play it "safe". Then we still have a team not good enough to catch Texas, but wont have any extra pieces for the future.

This season reeks of 2006, where a incredibly awful month and a half has the Angels playing catchup all season long, but they will ultimately fall short. The Angels really didn't do anything at the deadline that year either, and were unable to catch the A's.

Also, a note to Reagins, unless you are going to go out and get a quality bat AND a quality arm, don't bother. Trade some of the aging fielders (Abreu, Rivera, Matsui) for a few prospects, and lets focus on getting Crawford and some bullpen help in the off-season. Unless we are going to make an actual effort to catch and pass Texas, whats the point?

Tonight in New York, Sean O'Sullivan makes his first start of the year, as a replacement for the injured Scott Kazmir, against Phil Hughes, the Yankees young All-Star. Its going to be a tough game to win, but like I said, its a must win game in the most important week of the season.

Thats more like it!

Saunders pitched the Angels first complete game shutout of the year. Morales and Matsui had key hits in four run inning, and there were almost zero mistakes made on the field, by either team.

I really cant say much about this game other than that. It was the best Saunders has looked all season, by far. It was the best Matsui and Morales have looked this month.

Scioscia finally tinkered with the lineup the right way. Having Kendrick hit in the two hole is bloody brilliant. Matsui and Morales have a little stress lifted from them, and our best RBI guy with runners in scoring position (other than the injured Izturis) is hitting clean-up.

What I'm most happy about, is that we finally looked like a playoff team again.

A few thoughts:
- Hope you didnt go to the kitchen to get a drink in the middle innings, because by the time you came back, the game would have been over.
- Really hope they give Frandsen another shot at third, even though Wood didnt look completely miserable last night at the plate, he still wasnt good. Made some nice plays in the field though.
- Napoli called a good game, but I'm more ready now than ever for Mathis to come back. Having two rally killers back-to-back in the lineup is going to kill us down the stretch.


Around the League:
- Roy Oswalt told the Houston Astros that if it would help them rebuild for the future, he would waive his no-trade clause. I can't be the only fan in America who hopes that he could come to their team, I just dont think we have the flashy prospects to get a deal done anymore. I'm thinking the Dodgers, Rangers and Red Sox probably have the players (and the need for another solid starting pitcher) to get a deal done.

Also, a special thanks goes out to my friend, Alex, for the new site header. Looks good, man.

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.

All-Star Game: Who Deserves your votes?

So, its an Angels travel day, and there is really nothing better to talk about at this point than the All-Star Game coming to Angel Stadium in mid-July. There is no game on ESPN or MLB Network today, and there is no way in hell I'm going to watch the Dodgers play the Pirates.

So today's blog will be pretty simple. Who deserves your All-Star Votes, and why.

American League:
Catcher - Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins - This is pretty easy. Mauer is the best hitting catcher in either league, and will probably go down as the greatest hitting catcher of all time.

First Base - Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins/Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox/Kendry Morales, Angels - This is probably the toughest one on the ballot. Morneau is raking the ball, Konerko is a come-back player of the year canidate, and Morales is a perfect homer pick. Flip a three sided coin on this one.

Second Base - Robinson Cano, New York Yankees - Again, pretty easy here. He his hitting almost .400 with 6 homers. No one else even comes close.

Third Base - Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays - Lets please end A-Rod's streak of starting in the All Star Game now, folks. Longoria is more likable, less of a cheater, and is putting up better numbers the first month of the season.

Shortstop - Derek Jeter, New York Yankees - Who cares what his stats are? He is Derek Jeter.

Outfield - Vladimir Guerrero, Texas Rangers/Nelson Cruz, Texas Rangers/Vernon Wells, Toronto Blue Jays/Shin-soo Choo, Cleveland Indians - There are four worthy candidates here. Guerrero is the only one that would be on my ballot every time. Pick 3 out of four and move along.

Designated Hitter - Hideki Matsui, Angels - Homer Pick. Everybody gets one.

National League:

Catcher - Ivan Rodriguez, Washington Nationals - There are no good candidates here. Brian McCann will probably win, but I'm voting for Pudge, for old times-sake.

First Base - Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals - Duh.

Second Base - Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies - Double Duh.

Third Base - Casey McGehee, Milwaukee Brewers - Most deserving, wont get voted in by the fans in a million years. Hopefully the manager will do the right thing. Doubt it though.

Shortstop - Orlando Cabrera, Cincinatti Reds - Another lack of candidates here. Hanley Ramirez will run away with this one, but OC is putting up great numbers in Ohio.

Outfield - Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers/Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers/Colby Rasmus, St. Louis Cardinals/Marlon Byrd, Chicago Cubs - Again, four solid candidates. Braun is a must. Pick two of the other three.

I'm also very sad that there is no DH spot for the NL for me to vote on, but if I could, Ryan Howard would likely get my vote.

I'm very hopeful that I will be able to attend the Midsummer Classic and surrounding festivities, but even if I'm not, I'm sure it will be a GREAT game, that the American League will run away with.