Okay Tony, I get this one.
Dan Haren was traded to the Angels today for Saunders, RafRodriguez, Pat Corbin and Tyler Skaggs.
Haren is an obvious upgrade with a large and excellent body of work. While he's having a down year, he's also proven to have ace-abilities and be quite durable.
I get that Tony, but it still hurts.
Most baseball talking heads and fans have been blasting the D'backs on this deal. I won't say that the Angels didn't do well here - it's an obvious win on the Halos' side - but they didn't give up nothing.
RafRod is completely replaceable (though the awful D'backs 'pen could certainly use him), but it's the inclusion of the two young lefties. In a farm system that's thin-but-on-the-rise, Corbin and Skaggs were two legit prospects having great years. Skaggs is the one that particularly hurts, given the hype/projectability. The other concern is that Tony's already raided two of the top 5 picks from last year's awesome draft that was supposed to be the next wave of homegrown talent. In addition to the fact that he just shipped out Smith, another up-and-coming LHP, I hope that Tony doesn't become too fast-and-easy with the prospects on the farm.
(Oh, and don't skewer me for complaining over prospects. I know the difference between unproven prospects and established MLB players. But I also know that a healthy farm system begets a healthy major league organization. I only worry that carelessness today will hurt ten times more in the future.)
But what hurts the most is probably losing Saundo.
Okay, I understand that Haren is an upgrade. But that doesn't change the fact that Saunders was genuinely a favorite. I loved his cool demenor on the mound, I loved the class on and off the field, I loved the boyish joy he showed (after the Greinke game), I loved his personality (his garish golf clothes at spring training!), I loved his toughness (pitching through kidney stones is crazy), and I loved his underdog roots. Statheads could say all they wanted about him being average, but I loved all the little things he did - including finding a way to win.
I hope Joe knows that he has a lot of friends here. I hope that being a D'back will give him more time at home with his daughter. I hope that the NL West will give him the stats to go with everything else. And I wish him the best. I'll be watching the box scores.
Showing posts with label youngins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label youngins. Show all posts
25 July 2010
24 July 2010
welcome back callaspo...what were you thinking tony?
My internship has been working me hard and there's been little time to keep up with angels news and angels&aimee. I didn't hear about the trade until Terry mentioned it on the radio broadcast. My first thought was "Uh-oh, who did they trade?!"
I briefly saw the report by Mark Saxon about the FO's attempt to trade for Callaspo but didn't think much of it. I didn't think (I still don't think) that it would be a great pickup for the Angels and I didn't really see the upside of picking up another infielder with Izzy close to being back. Well now that its been done and the price is known, I still hate the trade.
My opinion is no disrespect to Callaspo. He's a nice everyday/super utility infielder, but I just don't get it, Tony. Sure, the Angels need offense, but the infield is full. Do the Angels really need seven (Izzy, Callaspo, Franderson, BWood, Aybar, Howie, Naps) infielders? Furthermore, I think a platoon of Izzy/Franderson would be almost as good as Callaspo at third. This isn't much of an upgrade. Callaspo is a nice piece, but he isn't going to put the Angels in the playoffs. I get that, in hindsight, it's usually the little moves that matter the most. But there are so many more things that are wrong with the Halos that adding him figures to be a small, if any, boost.
I briefly saw the report by Mark Saxon about the FO's attempt to trade for Callaspo but didn't think much of it. I didn't think (I still don't think) that it would be a great pickup for the Angels and I didn't really see the upside of picking up another infielder with Izzy close to being back. Well now that its been done and the price is known, I still hate the trade.
My opinion is no disrespect to Callaspo. He's a nice everyday/super utility infielder, but I just don't get it, Tony. Sure, the Angels need offense, but the infield is full. Do the Angels really need seven (Izzy, Callaspo, Franderson, BWood, Aybar, Howie, Naps) infielders? Furthermore, I think a platoon of Izzy/Franderson would be almost as good as Callaspo at third. This isn't much of an upgrade. Callaspo is a nice piece, but he isn't going to put the Angels in the playoffs. I get that, in hindsight, it's usually the little moves that matter the most. But there are so many more things that are wrong with the Halos that adding him figures to be a small, if any, boost.
07 March 2010
thoughts: ST games, Rojas, GA, etc.
It's about time for me to go into my finals-studying isolation, so posting here should be quite sparse for a few weeks.
Just some tidbits:
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Cactus League play started this past Friday and the Angels pulled out an exciting tie (can you sense the sarcasm?). Then followed with two less-than-exciting losses (to the Rockies and A's). I don't really care about spring training wins/losses (you figure they've gotta win sometime, right?), but the real treat was having the opportunity to see young prospects like Reckling, Chatwood, Amarista, Trumbo, Conger, etc. I'm still waiting to see Chaffee and Smith in action, so it's not so fun that yesterday's game wasn't televised and today's game got rained out.
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Victor Rojas, the newly hired Angels play-by-play announcer, explained why he decided to leave MLB Network to come to the Angels. Well, mostly it was him explaining how he got the MLBN gig in the first place and how he grew into the role. Two thoughts - first, it speaks really well of him that, although he didn't have any broadcasting experience, he dove right into the work, was amendable to adapting on the fly, and never really shied away from trying new things. Secondly, that as much as he professes to have loved his work on MLBN, Arte got him to come to Anaheim. Specifically, "...most importantly [I left] because ... Mr. Moreno (I promise I will learn to call you Arte) wanted to make a commitment to me and the family." When the announcement was made and the resultant feedback in the halosphere was positive, I kinda wondered how the Angels enticed a national broadcaster to leave a network he helped build to come to Anaheim, where the west coast bias is in full swing. All indications point to it being a great hire and for all you doubters out there, here's another instance where Arte is doing all he can to make the Angels experience a great one.
I'm looking forward to seeing Rojas in action!
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Just some tidbits:
--------------------------------
Cactus League play started this past Friday and the Angels pulled out an exciting tie (can you sense the sarcasm?). Then followed with two less-than-exciting losses (to the Rockies and A's). I don't really care about spring training wins/losses (you figure they've gotta win sometime, right?), but the real treat was having the opportunity to see young prospects like Reckling, Chatwood, Amarista, Trumbo, Conger, etc. I'm still waiting to see Chaffee and Smith in action, so it's not so fun that yesterday's game wasn't televised and today's game got rained out.
--------------------------------
Victor Rojas, the newly hired Angels play-by-play announcer, explained why he decided to leave MLB Network to come to the Angels. Well, mostly it was him explaining how he got the MLBN gig in the first place and how he grew into the role. Two thoughts - first, it speaks really well of him that, although he didn't have any broadcasting experience, he dove right into the work, was amendable to adapting on the fly, and never really shied away from trying new things. Secondly, that as much as he professes to have loved his work on MLBN, Arte got him to come to Anaheim. Specifically, "...most importantly [I left] because ... Mr. Moreno (I promise I will learn to call you Arte) wanted to make a commitment to me and the family." When the announcement was made and the resultant feedback in the halosphere was positive, I kinda wondered how the Angels enticed a national broadcaster to leave a network he helped build to come to Anaheim, where the west coast bias is in full swing. All indications point to it being a great hire and for all you doubters out there, here's another instance where Arte is doing all he can to make the Angels experience a great one.
I'm looking forward to seeing Rojas in action!
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04 December 2009
Figgy likely to the M's
Everywhere is reporting that Figgins will sign with Seattle.
:::sigh:::
It sucks that he's leaving, but I'm not as up in arms as some of the halosphere. As I stated earlier, BWood needs his shot. Most of those that are flat-out freakin out are *certain* that BWood is bad, just like Dallas McPherson, etc. Let's take a deep breath and consider some of these charges:
:::sigh:::
It sucks that he's leaving, but I'm not as up in arms as some of the halosphere. As I stated earlier, BWood needs his shot. Most of those that are flat-out freakin out are *certain* that BWood is bad, just like Dallas McPherson, etc. Let's take a deep breath and consider some of these charges:
26 November 2009
futureangels top prospects
One new aspect of my fandom this past season has been following some of the prospects on the farm. futureangels.com is one of my favorite sites to go to, and has very good coverage. He recently posted his top 10 prospects. Previous years are a good read too - its interesting to see the progression of your favorite players. It's also impressive to see how many of those prospects made it to the Show.
