Tagged: Angels
Hello Offseason: Anaheim Angels
The Angeles knew they had holes going into this season, losing John Lackey, Chone Figgins and Vladimir Guerrero. They knew they probably were not going to win their division. So, they must have seen all this coming.
However, the Angels want to be better next year. They want to be able to compete with the Texas Rangers in the American League West. So, how do you do that? Improve your pitching.
But… The Angels did not have bad pitching. Ervin Santana, Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, and Joel Pinerio all had ERAs under 4.00. The only starter with a terrible Earned Run Average was Scott Kazmir, who may be the worst pitcher in the American League.
OK, the Rangers have good hitting too. Maybe the Angels need to improve that.
Let’s look at their lineup. Matsui, Morales, Hunter… Good start. Then Callaspo, Kendrick, Napoli, Bourjos… Wood… Izturis… Yeah, that might need to be improved. Napoli, a free agent, is most likely to leave the Angels. Mike Scoisa likes Jeff Mathis, and they have Bobby Wilson and Hank Konger. At first base they are set, with Kendry Morales returning next season. At third, Alberto Callaspo did an OK job, so he will probably stay there. Second baseman Howie Kendrick was OK as well, but I assume they want somebody better.
But the real place Anaheim needs improvements is the outfield. Torii Hunter is solid, and Bobby Abreu still under contract, but is Peter Boujos really the answer? Could Mike Trout be ready at some point next season?
But I also want to get into the Angels bullpen. At closer, Fernando Rodney is the heart attack on a mound, so nothing unexpected there. Jordon Walden and Micheal Kohn did a good job out of the pen. Francisco Rodriguez (The other one) was a bit disappointing. Kevin Jepsen probably could have been better.
So, what do the Angels need to do to improve? Sign some free agents. Could they maybe interested with Adrian Beltre? Cliff Lee?
An Open letter to Theo Epstein, and other stuff
Dear Theo Epstein,
You are a dope. Nice run-prevention theroy, eh? Scutaro can’t field. Cameron dropped a line drive. Beltre doesn’t know the meaning of the word walk. And why in Hell didn’t you sign some bullpen guys? Rameriz and Delcarmen are triple A players. I’d rather have Joe Nelson and Fernando Cabrera at this point. Even Alan Embree! The JD Drew contract is horrendus. He can’t hit at all right now. But the biggest problem: David Ortiz. Maybe this falls on the manager though. Why isn’t Mike Lowell in there as the DH? The real Big Papi ain’t walking through that door. It’s time to move on, and eat that salary. You where gonna do it with Lowell, a better player.
Another thing. Screw the farm system. It’s Gonzalez or bust. Trade Kelly, Buchholz, Fuentes, Kalish. Win now. Gonzalez is Mark Teixeira. He would put the Red Sox over the edge. Another rumor: Mike Lowell for Jeff Mathis. I like this. Mathis can throw guys out. Put Gonzalez at first, Youk at third, Victor DH. Mathis at catcher. This would be nice.
Love, Red Sox Nation.
Other notes:
The Bruins won their playoff game last night, 5-3. Ryder showed up, Thomas Vanek got hurt, Ryan Miller didn’t shut the Bruins out.
The Celtics won too. KG is likley going to be suspended. He probally deserves it.
Ubaldo Jimmenez of the Rockies threw a no-hitter last night. Not even Jason Heyward could hit him. First in Rockies history.
The Mets and Cardinals went 20 innings last night. Only the Mets…
Aaron Bates watch: Bates went 2-4 for with a double, RBI, anf runin the Pawsox heartbreaking loss to Rochester.
The Blazers need to win next week, or have Rochester lose to clinch the playoffs.
Opening Day Predictions
I made my before-Spring Training predictions, here are my Opening Day Season predictions. Plus, check out the player to watch feature which gives you a player to watch on each team during the reaguler season.
AL East Player to watch:
Boston Red Sox (Jacoby Ellsbury)
New York Yankees (Marcus Thames)
Tampa Bay Rays (Ben Zobrist)
Baltimore Orioles (Nolan Reimold)
Toronto Blue Jays (Adam Lind)
AL Central
Minnesota Twins (Orlando Hudson)
Chicago White Sox (Jake Peavy)
Kansas City Royals (Rick Ankeil)
Detroit Tigers (Austin Jackson)
Cleveland Indians (Micheal Brantly)
AL West
Seattle Mariners (Chone Figgins)
Anaheim Angels (Kendry Morales)
Texas Rangers (Neftali Feliz)
Oakland Athletics (Brett Anderson)
NL East
Philadelphia Phillies (Jayson Werth)
Atlanta Braves (Jason Heyward)
Florida Marlins (Mike Stanton)
Washington Nationals (Nyjer Morgan)
New York Mets (Kiko Calero)
NL Central
St.Louis Cardinals (Colby Rasmus)
Chicago Cubs (Randy Wells)
Cincinatti Reds (Aroldis Chapman)
Milwakee Brewers (Alcades Escobar)
Houston Astros (Hunter Pence)
Pittsburgh Pirates (Garrett Jones)
NL West
Colorado Rockies (Jason Hammel)
Los Angeles Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw)
San Fransisco Giants (Madison Bumgarner)
Arizona D-backs (Justin Upton)
San Diego Padres (Clayton Richard)
AL MVP
1. Evan Longoria
2. Joe Mauer
3. Kendry Morales
NL MVP
1. Albert Pujols
2. Chase Utley
3. Ryan Braun
AL Cy Young
1. Jon Lester
2. Cliff Lee
3. Zack Greinke
NL Cy Young
1. Roy Halladay
2. Chris Carpenter
3. Tim Lincecum
AL ROY
1. Brain Matusz
2. Austin Jackson
3. Desmond Jennings
NL ROY
1. Jason Heyward
2. Mike Stanton
3. Madison Bumgarner
AL MOY
1. Don Wakamtsu
2. Ron Gardenhire
3. Joe Maddon
NL MOY
1. Bobby Cox
2. Tony LaRusa
3. Freddi Gonzalez
AL Comeback Player
Andruw Jones
NL Comeback Player
Manny Rameriz
Wild Cards:
Yankees
Braves
Those are my predicitions. My Internationl League predictions will be sometime next week.
Busy Weekend
This will be a busy weekend in Boston
sports. Tomorrow is the Final Four, with West Virgina playing
Duke and Butler taking on Michigan State. I take West Virgina
to win it all. The Bruins play the Toronto Maple Leafs
tomorrow night in a must-win(again). The Blazers play the
Orlando Titans in another big game. Of course on Easter
Sunday you have the Total Bases mailbag to look foward to.
Then the Celtics take on the Cavaliers, and of course, the
most wonderful day of the year, Opening Day. At 8:00, the Red
Sox take on the Evil Empire on Sunday Night baseball. I hope
to have an open thread during the game here at Total Bases.
The last Open Thread I had here was game five of the
Yankees-Angels series, in Total Bases early days (October).
My plan is to have an open thread every game except the games
I go too. Pawsox Opening Day open thread will be here
Thursday as well.
10 Thoughts: Red Sox
Thought #1: I love the offense. It is so deep at the bottom of the order. When you have JD Drew batting eighth, you are in good shape.
Thought #2: The Red Sox signed a guy named Boof. That can’t be a good thing.
Thought #3: I am exited about the personality on the team this year. Adding a guy like John Lackey is very helpfull for that. The team is too boring, with Ellsbury, Drew, Lester, etc. Now you have personalites like Pedroia, Ortiz, Papelbon, Lackey. They need that, I think.
Thought #4: The Washington Nationals will have a better record than the New York Mets. They have better pitching, other than Santana, but he’s injury prone anyways.
Thought #5: The Orioles will be out of the cellar this season. The Blue Jays will take their place.
Thought #6: Daniel Bard is changing his number from 60 to 51. I don’t get why. I can understand Ellsbury with 46 and 2, that is a drastic difference. But 51? Really? Is that any better than 60? Fun fact: The last Red Sox player to wear #51 was Enrique Gonzalez.
Thought #7: I like Tim Wakefield’s competitive attitude. He expects to start the season in the rotation, and we all know that’s not happening. But I love the competitvness.
Thought #8: I can not believe that Randy Winn is the starting LF for the Yankees.
Thought #9: It is kind of weird having Lackey, though. I always hated him when he was with the Angels. He was always an annoying loudmouth when it came to the Red Sox. And he nearly no-hit them, which is one of my worst fears. So it’s odd rooting for him, but I’m fine with it.
Thought #10: I can’t think of anything else, so go to BestBostonSports.com for Red Sox coverage all season! Spring Training game preveiws are already up!
MLB Season Predictions
Standings:
AL East:
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox
Tampa Bay Rays
Baltimore Orioles
Toronto Blue Jays
AL Central:
Minnesota Twins
Chicago White Sox
Kansas City Royals
Detroit Tigers
Cleveland Indians
AL West:
Seattle Mariners
Anaheim Angels
Texas Rangers
Oakland A’s
NL East:
Philadelphia Phillies
Florida Marlins
Atlanta Braves
Washington Nationals
New York Mets
NL Central:
St.Louis Cardinals
Chicago Cubs
Cincinatti Reds
Milwakee Brewers
Houston Astros
Pittsburgh Pirates
NL West:
LA Dodgers
Colorado Rockies
San Fransisco Giants
Arizona Diamondbacks
San Diego Padres
AL MVP Top 3:
Evan Longoria- Rays
Joe Mauer- Twins
Kendry Morales- Angels
Red Sox MVP:
Jacoby Ellsbury
AL Cy Young Top 3:
Jon Lester- Red Sox
Zack Greinke- Royals
Cliff Lee- Mariners
Red Sox Cy Young:
Lester
NL MVP Top 3:
Albert Pujols- Cardinals
Jayson Werth- Phillies
Ryan Braun- Brwers
NL CY Youn Top 3:
Josh Johnson- Marlins
Tim Lincecum- Giants
Carlos Zambrano- Cubs
AL ROY:
Desmond Jennings- Rays
NL ROY:
Jason Heyward- Braves
　
Bold Predictions:
The Baltimore Orioles will compete with the Rays for the #3 spot in the AL East
The Royals will have a record around .500
Mike Cameron will hit 25 HRs
The Reds will finish over .500
The Blue Jays will have the second worst record in baseball, ahead of only the Mets
I will be right about at least one thing here(I told you, bold predictions)
Contenders and Pretenders: MLB Free Agent Market
Welcome to the first installment of Contenders and Pretenders at Total Bases. Every week we will talk about the teams that are for real in regards to all sports. This week it’s the MLB free agent buyers and sellers.
Red Sox: Contender- I honestly have no clue what the Sox are doing. But I have to put them as a contender for their involvment with the major free agents so far. They are trying to get better, I just think they are not doing it right.
Mariners: Contender- Not for Jason Bay. He’s not going there. Maybe for John lackey, Adrian Gonzalez or Adrian Beltre.
Angels: Pretenders- They will not get Bay or Lackey, I don’t think. They may be sellers with guys like Jaun Rivera and Gary Matthews available.
Yankees: Contenders- Hard to call a team who gets Curtis Granderson a pretender. But I don’t see them doing much more.
Cardinals: Pretenders- They can’t afford Matt Holliday, I don’tsee them doing anything big.
Next week NFL teams- Where do the Patriots rank?
Where’s My Panic Button?!?
Sorry I have not been here in a while, I’ve been too busy trying to find my panic button. What in the world are the Red Sox doing? Jason Bay’s looking for other options, they are trying to trade Mike Lowell, and they want Adrian Beltre? What’s their plan?
On the Lowell front, this still might not happen. The Texas Rangers are really worried about his thumb. I so hope this deal does not get through, it is so dumb. I like Lowell as our third baseman, his defense is good enough. You can always use him as a platoon DH anyways. And, in case you forgot, this is a contract year! Don’t be surprised if his hip becomes magicly better.
Red Sox, and Theo Epstein. Just. Sign. Jason. Bay. Just give him what he wants! A fifth year! Load the contract so it pays him now, and decreases later in the contract. Use him as a DH, he can hit! Just sign him before the Angels or Cubs do. Look out for the Cubs in this. They may end up a player in all this.
Dear Theo, you idiot. You could have ended the revolving door shortstop thing last offseason. But no. You would not pay the money for Micheal Young’s contract, and all year you had to deal with Julio Lugo and Jed Lowrie, who is a bench player. If you just got Micheal Young, we would not be in this mess. Instead, we get Marco Scutaro.
Nice.
Signed, Total Bases.
Winter Meetings
As most of you probally know, the Winter Meetings in Indianappolis begin on Monday. Most of the time little to noting happens, but you never know. Here is a list of what you may see happen this week.
- Jason Bay’s destanation: I feel that Jason Bay may sign this week, possibly with Boston, Anaheim, or Seattle. I feel the Red Sox LF problem will be resolved, whether that be from Jason Bay or a possible platoon with Jeremy Hermida and Xavier Nady. I feel Bay’s chance of signing with Seattle has dimmed with their siging of Chone Figgins. Look out for the Cubs as a sleeper here as well.
- Trades? Some players that may be used as a trade chip: Manny Delcarmen, Casey Kotchman, Gary Matthews Jr, Matt Capps, Fransisco Cordero, Heath Bell, Milton Bradley, Pat Burrell, Josh Willingham. The Mets are in on Willingham, the Marlins with Bell and Delcarmen, and you all know the Rays-Bradley rumor by now.
- Spenders Revealed: This week the major free agent spenders may be revealed. I can see Seattle, Boston, Both New York teams, Baltimore, and Chicago Cubs. The Cubs are looking for a closer, and their name has been conected to Mike Gonzlaez, matt Capps, and Matt Lindstrom. Baltimore is belived to be a serious contender for John Lackey, and Jason Marquis is interested in the Mets, though it is unknown if the Mets are interested in him.
- Recent Trades and Signings: Some recent trades and sigings that mey affect other deals: The Rays aquired C Kelly Shoppach, Greg Zaun signed with the Brewers, The Braves signed Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito, The Athletics traded for Jake Fox and Aaron Miles, The Rangers aquired Joe Inglett off waivers, and the Red Sox signed Marco Scutaro.
MLB Free Agent Signings: Starting Pitchers
Here is a list of every MLB free agent signing to this point. You can also see this list at Soxtime.com. I will update this with every signing.
Name: Position Old Team Rumored teams: Signed with: $:
Erik Bedard SP Seattle Boston, Baltimore
Paul Byrd SP Boston None
Aroldis Chapman SP Cuba Boston, NYY
Jose Contreas SP Colorado Colorado
Doug Davis SP Arizona Milwakee
Justin Duchscher SP Oakland Oakland, Boston, CHC
Kelvim Escobar SP Anaheim Boston
Jon Garland SP Los Angeles Baltimore, Anaheim
Mike Hampton SP Houston Atlanta
Rich Harden SP CHC Boston, Seattle
Livan Herndandez SP Washington Washington
Randy Johnson SP San Fransisco None
John Lackey SP Anaheim Boston, Texas, Baltimore, Anaheim
Brandon Looper SP Milwakee Milwakee
Jason Marquis SP Colorado NYM
Pedro Martinez SP Philadelphia Philadelphia
Brett Myers SP Philadelphia NYY, Boston
Vincente Padilla SP Los Angeles Houston
Carl Pavano SP Minnesota Minnesota
Brad Penny SP San Fransisco San Fransisco
Andy Pettitte SP NYY NYY
Joel Pinero SP St. Louis St.Louis, Boston, Seattle
Ben Sheets SP Milwakee Boston, NYY, Texas
John Smoltz SP St.Louis St.Loius, Texas
Jarrod Washburn SP Detroit Seattle
Todd Wellemeyer SP St.Louis None
Randy Wolf SP Los Angeles LA, Texas, Atlanta
Total Bases 