15 November 2010

in retrospect: 2010

The 2010 season was something of a rollercoaster.

During the offseason, I commented that the 2010 season would be something of a bridge year, where Tony and the FO were trying to see what the young core could do. I especially remember that I included a comment from Halosheaven.com:
"You know what this offseason is? A challenge/gamble to our young core: OK, which one of you is going to be a star? ... This young core is getting more expensive every year, limiting our ability to go after free agents, but they’re also all around 26, 27 years old. A couple of breakout seasons and we’ll forget all about what a lousy offseason this was supposed to be."
Well, we all saw how that ended up.

For the most point, the whole "young core" flopped. (Of course, Weave isn't included in that.)

Perhaps the most perplexing of all, the veterans were no help either. Torii was the only consistant performer while others like Abreu and Rivera had career-worst years.

I remember chatting with my supervisor during my summer internship (he's a Phillies fan). He asked me point-blank what was up with the Angels and I really didn't know what to say. This was after the Haren trade and after Bourjos had been called up - and the team continued to tank. But I realized, everytime there was a glimmer of hope, the Halos couldn't latch on and ride a bit of momentum. Case in point: Haren arrived from the Dbacks, the Halos got swept by the BoSox => Haren got to spend 5 days on a "contending team." :::sigh::

There was no consistancy.

The good news is that a lot of the roster performed way under any reasonable expectations. I'm not advocating bringing back the team as is, but I'm allowing myself some optimism, cause let's face it - the team is a whole lot better than what it showed in 2010.

It was pretty much a long list of disappointments. Luckily, there were a few (glimmering) bright spots in a dismal season.

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