Maybe I'm just skeptical, but I'm not feeling all that confident with the Mark Teixeira negotiations. I would think that with an exclusive negotiation window, Angels GM Tony Reagans would at least attempt to take advantage of it. Also ESPN has an article up on it's website that pits the Red Sox against the Yankees as the finalists in the Teixeira sweepstakes (although this could be because ESPN fails to recognize the other 28 teams in baseball). Here's the thing, with Garland, Rodriguez, and Anderson off the books (an estimated $30 milllion this season) I say throw the bank at Mark Teixeira. You saw what he did hitting in front of Vlad (and actually I think he should hit behind him) and you saw how the fans reacted. If Tex wants to win, and play in an area where the New York Post or Boston Herald won't scrutenize his every move, he should stay in Anaheim. If he cares about the money, then by all means go play for a last place Baltimore or Washingon. Maybe you'll help them crack 75 wins.
With that being said, here are five moves I would make for the 2008 season if I had Arte Moreno's money (which I dont.)
1. Re-Sign Mark Teixeira:
1a. If Tex leaves, C.C. Sabathis becomes move number 1.
2. TRADE: Howie Kendrick, Jered Weaver, and two lower end prospects for Jake Peavy and Khalil Greene
2a. If this doesn't work, resign John Garland at a lower rate and bring back Orlando Cabrera.
3. TRADE: Jeff Mathis, one mid prospect or two lower prospects for Garret Atkins
4. Resign Juan Rivera
5. SELL Gary Matthews for 20 cents on the dollar
If this is the case (best case senario) the line up would look like this:
LF: Figgins
SS: Greene
RF/DH: Guerrero
1b: Teixeira
CF: Hunter
3b: Atkins
DH/RF: Rivera
C: Napoli
2b: Aybar
With Reggie Willits, Brandon Wood, Bobby Wilson or Hank Cronger, Robb Quinnlin, and Sean Rodriguez on the bench.
ROTATION:
Lackey
Peavy
Santana
Saunders
Nick Green/Nick Aidenhart/Dustin Mosely
Sigh... I can dream right?
Showing posts with label Mark Teixeira. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Teixeira. Show all posts
Nov 11, 2008
Oct 11, 2008
38 Bitches
I'm not a professional baseball player. I've just been watching baseball since I was, well, old enough to watch television. As a child baseball was my life. I had baseball curtains, baseball sheets, baseball everything. My room was covered in Angels memorablia. Hell, to this day it still is.
After game four of the American League Divisional Series between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Boston Red Sox, after the Angels were eliminated, an ESPN reporter asked John Lackey about how he felt about being eliminated yet again by the Bo Sox. He said "It's way different than last year, we are way better than they are. We lost to a team not as good as us." Curt Schilling responded to Lackey on his blog by saying "I disagree with (Lackey's) comments. The better team ALWAYS wins in October. Like it or not the better team wins, always. I don’t care what your regular season record is, it means zero other than to determine where we are playing." I have to disagree with Mr. Schilling.
In 2007 the Angels were clearly undermatched by the Red Sox. Boston was just better all the way around. Josh Beckett, Manny and Papi, Papelbon, it was just a nightmare series for the Angels who, even if they were healthy, were still far behind Boston. They were the best team in baseball that year, and there was no doubt about it. I bring this up to clear any thoughts of being biased.
This year, however, the Angels were the better team. They added Torii Hunter, Mark Teixeira, and John Garland. Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders came into their own. They won 100 games for the first time in franchise history. It was their year for the taking.
And I'm not saying that Boston was a bad team. On the contrary. I believed these were the two best teams in baseball facing off in the first round of the divisional series. Both Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkolis are MVP canidates. J.D Drew had a monster 2008 after a disappointing 2007, and Jacoby Ellisbury gave Boston what they've been missing since Johnny Damon left. Jon Lester became a viable ace, Diasuke Matsuzaka (albiet overrated) had a great Cy Young caliber season, and Papelbon was dominant as ever. I just thought this year belonged to to the Angels.
But it didn't happen. Howie Kendrick and Erick Aybar crumbled under the pressure, and the Angels bats went cold when they needed a big hit. 43 men left on base? Worse, Mike Scioscia made bad decision after bad decision (beginning with giving Gary Matthews Jr. the start in game one, and culminating with the suicide squeeze in the ninth inning in game four) while Terry Francona looked brilliant. Lester, as I stated to anyone who would listen to me, pitched brilliant, a-la Josh Beckett in 2007, and that was that. But it wasn't like 2007 where the Red Sox dominated. Each game could have gone either way. Vlad Guerrero doesn't get thrown out trying to go first to third, the Angels could win game one. Frankie Rodriguez doesn't serve Drew with an 88 mile an hour change up, the Angels could have carried the momentum into the bottom half of the ninth. Hell, if Boston comes through with the bases loaded in the ninth in game 3, we're not even talking about game four. But the bottom line is I don't feel the better team one. I feel the Angels beat themselves, and the Red Sox took advantage of the plethora of Angel mistakes.
The comments John Lackey made were made right after the Angels had been eliminated. I'm sure he was angry, as he was visibly angry in both his starts, even dropping the f-bomb on national television in game one. I heard afterwards that the commentators were stating that Lackey was showing up his infielders during game four. I don't blame the guy. He pitched his heart out, and he pitched extremely effective (saying he was outpitched by Lester, as Schilling put it, is like saying that you finished second to Michael Phelps in the 400 meter event at the Olympics.) He made two bad pitches the entire series, one to Jason Bay that ended up in the bleachers, and another to Dustin Pedroia that came after Kendrick botched a potential double play ball. (SIDENOTE: if Kendrick does field the ball cleanly, than we aren't talking about the second run scoring because he at least takes care of the lead runner.) It was not Lackey's fault the Angel's lost this series. But he was asked right after the game. What do you expect him to say? "Oh, it's okay?" "We were beat by a better team?" No. The guy had just pitched seven strong innings for the second time in the series only to see his team give him a combined one run of support while he was on the mound. And it wasn't that Lester was THAT dominant (although he was close) it was that the Angels could not capitalize when they needed to. And part of that was Lester's dominance, and part of that was (I believe) the we can't beat the Red Sox mentality the Angels were carrying.
For what it's worth, Schilling had nothing but nice things to say about Lackey, even refering to him as a "nice guy" and a "damn good pitcher." For what it's also worth, Curt is an abraisive, pompous, know-it-all crybaby who has made comments similar to what Lackey said plenty of times. He even acknowledges it in his blog. I don't think he's wrong for what he wrote, that the Angels weren't the better team, I just think he's misinformed and a bit biased. Of course he's going to say the Red Sox, the team that employs him, are the better team. And if the Angels took the season series, wouldn't that, by Schilling's logic, make them the better team? Curt is just fueling the fire that Lackey's comments created.
Final thoughts: Maybe John shouldn't have said what he said, but Schilling needs to keep his mouth shut and focus on rehabbing, not creating media stories. Also, the best team doesn't always come out on top (as was the case in 2003, for example, when the Yankees lost to an upstart Marlins team, or in 2006 when the barely .500 Cardinals beat the Tigers.)
After game four of the American League Divisional Series between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Boston Red Sox, after the Angels were eliminated, an ESPN reporter asked John Lackey about how he felt about being eliminated yet again by the Bo Sox. He said "It's way different than last year, we are way better than they are. We lost to a team not as good as us." Curt Schilling responded to Lackey on his blog by saying "I disagree with (Lackey's) comments. The better team ALWAYS wins in October. Like it or not the better team wins, always. I don’t care what your regular season record is, it means zero other than to determine where we are playing." I have to disagree with Mr. Schilling.
In 2007 the Angels were clearly undermatched by the Red Sox. Boston was just better all the way around. Josh Beckett, Manny and Papi, Papelbon, it was just a nightmare series for the Angels who, even if they were healthy, were still far behind Boston. They were the best team in baseball that year, and there was no doubt about it. I bring this up to clear any thoughts of being biased.
This year, however, the Angels were the better team. They added Torii Hunter, Mark Teixeira, and John Garland. Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders came into their own. They won 100 games for the first time in franchise history. It was their year for the taking.
And I'm not saying that Boston was a bad team. On the contrary. I believed these were the two best teams in baseball facing off in the first round of the divisional series. Both Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkolis are MVP canidates. J.D Drew had a monster 2008 after a disappointing 2007, and Jacoby Ellisbury gave Boston what they've been missing since Johnny Damon left. Jon Lester became a viable ace, Diasuke Matsuzaka (albiet overrated) had a great Cy Young caliber season, and Papelbon was dominant as ever. I just thought this year belonged to to the Angels.
But it didn't happen. Howie Kendrick and Erick Aybar crumbled under the pressure, and the Angels bats went cold when they needed a big hit. 43 men left on base? Worse, Mike Scioscia made bad decision after bad decision (beginning with giving Gary Matthews Jr. the start in game one, and culminating with the suicide squeeze in the ninth inning in game four) while Terry Francona looked brilliant. Lester, as I stated to anyone who would listen to me, pitched brilliant, a-la Josh Beckett in 2007, and that was that. But it wasn't like 2007 where the Red Sox dominated. Each game could have gone either way. Vlad Guerrero doesn't get thrown out trying to go first to third, the Angels could win game one. Frankie Rodriguez doesn't serve Drew with an 88 mile an hour change up, the Angels could have carried the momentum into the bottom half of the ninth. Hell, if Boston comes through with the bases loaded in the ninth in game 3, we're not even talking about game four. But the bottom line is I don't feel the better team one. I feel the Angels beat themselves, and the Red Sox took advantage of the plethora of Angel mistakes.
The comments John Lackey made were made right after the Angels had been eliminated. I'm sure he was angry, as he was visibly angry in both his starts, even dropping the f-bomb on national television in game one. I heard afterwards that the commentators were stating that Lackey was showing up his infielders during game four. I don't blame the guy. He pitched his heart out, and he pitched extremely effective (saying he was outpitched by Lester, as Schilling put it, is like saying that you finished second to Michael Phelps in the 400 meter event at the Olympics.) He made two bad pitches the entire series, one to Jason Bay that ended up in the bleachers, and another to Dustin Pedroia that came after Kendrick botched a potential double play ball. (SIDENOTE: if Kendrick does field the ball cleanly, than we aren't talking about the second run scoring because he at least takes care of the lead runner.) It was not Lackey's fault the Angel's lost this series. But he was asked right after the game. What do you expect him to say? "Oh, it's okay?" "We were beat by a better team?" No. The guy had just pitched seven strong innings for the second time in the series only to see his team give him a combined one run of support while he was on the mound. And it wasn't that Lester was THAT dominant (although he was close) it was that the Angels could not capitalize when they needed to. And part of that was Lester's dominance, and part of that was (I believe) the we can't beat the Red Sox mentality the Angels were carrying.
For what it's worth, Schilling had nothing but nice things to say about Lackey, even refering to him as a "nice guy" and a "damn good pitcher." For what it's also worth, Curt is an abraisive, pompous, know-it-all crybaby who has made comments similar to what Lackey said plenty of times. He even acknowledges it in his blog. I don't think he's wrong for what he wrote, that the Angels weren't the better team, I just think he's misinformed and a bit biased. Of course he's going to say the Red Sox, the team that employs him, are the better team. And if the Angels took the season series, wouldn't that, by Schilling's logic, make them the better team? Curt is just fueling the fire that Lackey's comments created.
Final thoughts: Maybe John shouldn't have said what he said, but Schilling needs to keep his mouth shut and focus on rehabbing, not creating media stories. Also, the best team doesn't always come out on top (as was the case in 2003, for example, when the Yankees lost to an upstart Marlins team, or in 2006 when the barely .500 Cardinals beat the Tigers.)
Would you like another BIG ASS FRY
So no posts lately; its time to play catch-up.
So I think I'm finally over the Angels early playoff exit. It still doesn't sit well with me, but what's done is what's done. They had a great regular season, the best in franchise history, but beat themselves against Boston. I would just like to re-iterate that statement: The Angels beat themselves. And that's what disappointing about the exit. Well that and the fact that 1.) it was at the hands of the Boston Redsox and 2.) The Dodgers are currently playing in the NLCS. However that doesn't look like it's going to last long. Oh well, next year when Manny Ramirez is playing LF/DH for the New York Yankees we'll see how many people give a shit about the boys in blue.
Here, without further ado, are my five moves the Angels need to make in the offseason:
1.) Re-sign Mark Teixeira : Just show him the money, plain and simple. I shouldn't even need to explain this.
2.) Let K-Rod walk: He want's $15 milliion to CLOSE a baseball game, something that he did a record 62 times this past season. That stat is so misleading for the fact that out of the 62 times he did save a game, only like 18 were done 1-2-3. He's not worth $15 mil and you have Shields, Arredondo and Escobar who can close. Let him walk and take that money to re-sign Tex.
3.) Re-sign Juan Rivera : Juan is wasted on the bench, as he should be an every day starter. If you let him leave, he's going to put up the numbers he did in '06 when you allowed him to play full time. Gary Matthews is NOT an every day starting outfielder in the majors. Sign Garrett Anderson if you must, but don't underestimate Juan Rivera. By the way, that Jose Guillen for Maicer Izturis and Juan Rivera has shaped up to be a steal for the Angels.
4.) Lock up Vlad Guerrero and John Lackey: Vlad puts fans in the seats, and still had a good (if unbalanced) season. Lackey is a bonefied ace. He has the swaggar and the fire a-la Roy Halladay. Don't let him walk.
5.) Figure out what you're doing with farmhands : Kendry Morales, Brandon Wood, Nick Aidenhart, Nick Green, Sean Rodriguez, Bobby Wilson the list continues. If you're not going to use them then move them. Wood, Green, and Aidenhart are valuable chips. If you need to re-load than use them.
I think, though, the reason it doesn't sting as much is because of Catherine. She's probably also the reason why posts have been few and far-between. She's amazing. Every day with her ges better and better. Thursday night she cooked me dinner (which was delicious) and we just relaxed and watched Idiocracy (which I reccomend.) Yesterday was the first day since last Tuesdsay (not this last Tuesday, but the Tuesday before) that I didn't see her. Look, I'm a pretty independant person. I don't like people in general. I like my time to myself. With her though, I want to see her every day. It sucks when I don't. She makes me feel safe, and gives me a purpose. She has me acting like one of the boys in the couples that makes me sick. Seriously, we're the cheesiest couple on the planet; the kind that usually makes me vomit. And I love it. If that ain't love then I don't know what love is.
anyway I have things to do before work. Peace
So I think I'm finally over the Angels early playoff exit. It still doesn't sit well with me, but what's done is what's done. They had a great regular season, the best in franchise history, but beat themselves against Boston. I would just like to re-iterate that statement: The Angels beat themselves. And that's what disappointing about the exit. Well that and the fact that 1.) it was at the hands of the Boston Redsox and 2.) The Dodgers are currently playing in the NLCS. However that doesn't look like it's going to last long. Oh well, next year when Manny Ramirez is playing LF/DH for the New York Yankees we'll see how many people give a shit about the boys in blue.
Here, without further ado, are my five moves the Angels need to make in the offseason:
1.) Re-sign Mark Teixeira : Just show him the money, plain and simple. I shouldn't even need to explain this.
2.) Let K-Rod walk: He want's $15 milliion to CLOSE a baseball game, something that he did a record 62 times this past season. That stat is so misleading for the fact that out of the 62 times he did save a game, only like 18 were done 1-2-3. He's not worth $15 mil and you have Shields, Arredondo and Escobar who can close. Let him walk and take that money to re-sign Tex.
3.) Re-sign Juan Rivera : Juan is wasted on the bench, as he should be an every day starter. If you let him leave, he's going to put up the numbers he did in '06 when you allowed him to play full time. Gary Matthews is NOT an every day starting outfielder in the majors. Sign Garrett Anderson if you must, but don't underestimate Juan Rivera. By the way, that Jose Guillen for Maicer Izturis and Juan Rivera has shaped up to be a steal for the Angels.
4.) Lock up Vlad Guerrero and John Lackey: Vlad puts fans in the seats, and still had a good (if unbalanced) season. Lackey is a bonefied ace. He has the swaggar and the fire a-la Roy Halladay. Don't let him walk.
5.) Figure out what you're doing with farmhands : Kendry Morales, Brandon Wood, Nick Aidenhart, Nick Green, Sean Rodriguez, Bobby Wilson the list continues. If you're not going to use them then move them. Wood, Green, and Aidenhart are valuable chips. If you need to re-load than use them.
I think, though, the reason it doesn't sting as much is because of Catherine. She's probably also the reason why posts have been few and far-between. She's amazing. Every day with her ges better and better. Thursday night she cooked me dinner (which was delicious) and we just relaxed and watched Idiocracy (which I reccomend.) Yesterday was the first day since last Tuesdsay (not this last Tuesday, but the Tuesday before) that I didn't see her. Look, I'm a pretty independant person. I don't like people in general. I like my time to myself. With her though, I want to see her every day. It sucks when I don't. She makes me feel safe, and gives me a purpose. She has me acting like one of the boys in the couples that makes me sick. Seriously, we're the cheesiest couple on the planet; the kind that usually makes me vomit. And I love it. If that ain't love then I don't know what love is.
anyway I have things to do before work. Peace
Oct 7, 2008
Great Expectations
It was susposed to be a different story, only it ended the same way.
I was sure the momentum was in the hands of the Angels. After pinch hitter Kendry Morales doubled off the big monster in left and Howie Kendrick sacrificed him over in the ninth. After Scot Shields came in and mowed down the heart of the Red Sox lineup in the bottom of the eighth. After Torii Hunter plated Vladimir Guerrero and Mark Teixeira who both worked walks in the top half of the inning.
But it wasn't meant to be. Erick Aybar missed the suicide squeeze and pinch runner Erick Aybar was tagged out. Five batters later the game was over. Jason Bay touched home plate and Jed Lowrie became a Beantown hero. Shields stared in disbelief.
It was a microcasum of what went wrong in the series. The Angels had their chances, they just couldn't come through.
They had their ace John Lackey on the mound, who pitched brilliant in game one, but left Anaheim with a loss. Again he was victimized by a two run inning, but this time thanks to a botched double play attempt and a double that, in his words, would have been a fly ball out anywhere else in America. Again he gave the Angels 7 innings of 2 run baseball, keeping them close.
Unfortunately, again, the offense didn't come through.
I had a lot more to write, but right now I just can't find the heart to do so.
I was sure the momentum was in the hands of the Angels. After pinch hitter Kendry Morales doubled off the big monster in left and Howie Kendrick sacrificed him over in the ninth. After Scot Shields came in and mowed down the heart of the Red Sox lineup in the bottom of the eighth. After Torii Hunter plated Vladimir Guerrero and Mark Teixeira who both worked walks in the top half of the inning.
But it wasn't meant to be. Erick Aybar missed the suicide squeeze and pinch runner Erick Aybar was tagged out. Five batters later the game was over. Jason Bay touched home plate and Jed Lowrie became a Beantown hero. Shields stared in disbelief.
It was a microcasum of what went wrong in the series. The Angels had their chances, they just couldn't come through.
They had their ace John Lackey on the mound, who pitched brilliant in game one, but left Anaheim with a loss. Again he was victimized by a two run inning, but this time thanks to a botched double play attempt and a double that, in his words, would have been a fly ball out anywhere else in America. Again he gave the Angels 7 innings of 2 run baseball, keeping them close.
Unfortunately, again, the offense didn't come through.
I had a lot more to write, but right now I just can't find the heart to do so.
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