Oakland Swept

Earlier in this still fairly early season, when the World seemed upside down, Chokeland and Texas were battling for the first place spot in the American League West.  The Angels were floundering in the cellar with the Over Rated Seattle Mariners.  I said then, that the season is just too young and that things will work their way out.  I also said that the A's couldn't maintain their record and the Rangers have been fortunate to face some weaker opponents, feasting on teams like the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, and the Cleveland Indians.  

But you can see the Angels are fairly strong in their own division.  And they certainly looked fantastic against the same state rivals, the As.  Saunders and Piñeiro with shutouts and even Santana only giving up 2 runs, with a ton of run support makes me think that the Angels are heading to higher ground.  Saunders was dueling with the 19th Perfect Game thrower, Dallas Braden, and outlasted das wunderkid.  Morales and Kendrick have been hot all year.  Howie even got promoted to batting 2nd.  Which I think has helped sparked a lot of this offense.  The bullpen has been getting some rest, because the starting rotation has been going long.  This is the team we were all hoping for and with patience being a virtue that the Halo Faithful could could no longer tolerate has opened its eyes to the winning ways.  With better pitching and much better hitting, the Angels swept the hated A's. 

So Today, the Rangers come to town.  And we'll just see who the superior team is.  Lets all see how REAL the Rangers are or how rather lets see if their weaker schedule has benefited their win loss record.  Go Halos.

Even my optimism is waning.

Optimism is really the only thing I'm hanging on to at the current moment.  The great Roger Lodge, just ask him he'll tell you how great he is, said something utterly profound the other day that it nearly knocked my socks off.  I don't have the exact quote, so I'll paraphrase it.  Every team is going to win 60 games.  Every team is going to lose 60 games.  Its what you do with the other 42 games is what counts.  Outside of some flukes like the 2001 Seattle Mariners winning 116 games, that's fairly accurate.  Even the worse teams are going to win at least sixty games.  And most of the Best teams are going to lose 60 times.  But its all about those 42 games.  Hopefully for the Angels, we haven't played those 42 games just yet.

Lets focus on the positives:

Jered Weaver, even in defeat he strikes out 11.  Make no doubt about it, that game was lost last night due to bad fielding, not bad pitching.  His 4-1 record isn't really reflecting how good he's been this year.  Kendry Morales, also a bright spot.  He is fielding his position well and being a terror with a bat.  Lot of people expected his numbers to drop off for the simple fact that the league would become more familiar with him.  Lastly Howie Kendrick.  Last year he was such a mess he was sent down to AAA, because he was making as many mental errors as fielding errors.  But what a difference a year makes.  The Other Howard has kept the ball rolling and could materialize into the awesome 2nd baseman that should win a batting title we all had hoped for.  You could also make the case for Jepsen and Rodney, but as long as Fuentes is blowing saves, its kind of hard to get fired up about that bullpen.  

Ultimately these Halos will click.  Its just a matter of when, not if.  But and that's a huge but, if the Angels cannot start clicking soon, it'll be much to late.  The Rangers and unbelievably Athletics are playing good ball.  Not superior, but good.  The Angels need to rise up to the occasion.  Oakland visits the Big A this weekend.  Go Halos!

5 Game winning streak ends with a blown save in the 9th!

On a night to commemorate the ever improving Erick Aybar with a Bobble Head, the Angels lose and it was a bit of a heart breaker.  Jered Weaver carried a one run lead into the eight inning.  Smart base running with Aybar and a timely hit Abreu gave the Halos a 1 run lead which was followed up with Morales Home Run driving in Matsui.  The night was looking great.  Even Jason Bulger looked good in the eight, holding the advancing Tigers.  But with the Ninth inning came chaos!

It was well documented that Mike Scioscia was going to put Fuentes out there.  It was no surprise to anyone, well at least not to me.  I even added Fuentes to my fantasy baseball team, because I expected him to be plopped right back into his closer role.  Scioscia is well known for his loyalty to his guys.  Fuentes who was the league saves leader was expected to close out this one run game.  However, Fuentes also blew a lot of saves last year.  And he did it again.  I feel for the guy.  He is coming back from an injury and just didn't look like he was right.  Maybe a few more bullpen session in Rancho could have helped.  It doesn't the fans frustration with Fuentes, when Rodney has just had 5 scoreless 9th Innings in a row.  I kept thinking that although Fuentes blew the save, maybe he'd set himself up for a relief win, by getting out the inning.  And a case of a bad swing at a bad pitch just so happened to work out in the favor of the Tigers.  Fuentes job at closer is secure for now, but I think the Angel faithful believe Rodney would have closed it out. 

The STREAK begins 1/162

On April 6th there would only be 13 Teams with a perfect record, Baltimore and Tampa Bay have yet to play.  I was only pretty sure the Angels would be one of them.  The Angels sit atop the Western Division mountain in an all too familiar fashion.  However the Angels are not a lone, The Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners are still right there with them.  I hope the Oakland As get comfortable in their spot in the cellar, now to get the Rangers and Mariners used to looking up at the Angels in 1st.

The Halo offense came pretty much from the Hansen Brothers... you now MMM-POP, Mathis, Morales, and Matsui all hit homeruns.  Morales scored a couple of RBI and I was really impressed with Aybar leading off.  If Mathis keeps up his offense numbers like that, we might be saying good-bye to Mr. Napoli.  Not to mention Weaver was dealing.  It was far from a perfect pitching, but it was good enough for the win.  And not to mention all the Ks. And Brian Fuentes got save number 1.  Will he surpass last years numbers? 

I wasn't happy with the performance of one Brandon Wood.  Surely he has a 161 games to prove that he's the real deal, but last night he looked a little loss.

You have got to be excited about what the Angels are doing and if you aren't... you aren't an Angel fan.

Today is the day!

And...there it is, the first pitch of Spring Training for the STL Cardinals. 8 months of baseball obsession ahead.

I saw this tweet and just had to echo this sentiment, with the exception of STL Cardinals for the LAA Angels. I think most Angel fans have been counting down the days until our team returns to the field. And today is the day. In a little over an hour and a half, the Angels will take the field for the first time this year against a rival. The game will be played against the White Sox at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Joel Pineiro takes the mound. Does Morales start today? Will Wood prove why he'll get that starting 3B start? Will Aybar fit in that lead off spot. Will we miss Figgins, Lackey, Vlad, or Oliver? This will be step one, in many to return to the ALCS.

Good luck Halos.

My Off Season Grade for the Angels, B.

Take a look at what the Angels did right this off season. They didn't over pay for any free agents including their own. They offered arbitration to the two guys who got picked up quickly, which netted them four draft picks. Replaced Vlad with a cheaper, more patient hitter, in Matsui. Replaced lefty Darren Oliver (7th Inning Reliever), who is/was still valuable for a former closer who saved 37 of 38 games last year. That move bolstered the bullpen, which was a huge problem for the Angels last year and with the return of Scott Shields the 7th, 8th, and 9th will look better than it did last year. The Angels also re-signed Abreu who had over 100 RBI. Then you have guys like Torii Hunter who is a Silver Slugger and Golden Glover winner, Morales who hit 34 Homeruns and 103 RBI., a platoon at 2B who hit over 18 home runs, a catching platoon who hit over 25 home runs, and I haven't even got into AVG. OBP. or OPS. And the Halos Rotation consist of three players who have been All-Stars, and another guy who had an All-Star year last year.

Just because the Halos front office didn't over spend on declining free agents or trade away their entire farm system for a one year rental doesn't make them worse.  Spending money in the right places, like adding Fernando Rodney who can save the Angels money in the long run by not allowing Fuentes contract to vest.  Spending money on bringing in a World Series MVP, Hideki Matsui, who is a proven commodity in a World Series race and who's patience at the bat could rub off on younger players like Brandon Wood or Howie Kendrick.  The re-signing of Bobby Abreu was a necessity after he was able to influence batters like Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis.  Hopefully the veteran leadership of Abreu, Hunter, and Matsui can rub off on the much younger infield. 

The real interesting move the Angels committed to is Matt Palmer.  Last year's off season was picked up relatively cheap when he couldn't keep a job in San Francisco.  Palmer to collect 11 wins, with a handful of those wins coming in relief.  There is something about Palmer that kept the Angels in a lot of situations that they probably should have lost.  Tony Reagins has even said that the "5th starters spot is Palmer's to lose."  Personally, I would have rather had the Angels pursue a project like project like Chien-Ming Wang or even a Ben Sheets.  But you cannot deny the successful decisions of the Front Office, and you have to accept that they know a lot more than most of us bloggers.  But what do you think?  Are the Angels making smart decisions with their money?  Did they blow it, by not pursuing Sheets or Wang?  Can Palmer pan out as a regular 5th man starter?  Leave me a comment and tell me what you think.

Player of the Month

Through the Hot Stove Report the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were seemingly desperate to re-sign Mark Teixera. And although Teixera was bound and determined to become a New York Yankee, we offered him millions to stay at the Big A.

A penny saved is a penny earned. Unbeknown to most Halos Fans was an awesome player in the Angels farm-system who made just a handful of appearance in the past two years. That player was none other than Kendry Morales. Maybe the highlight of Angel offense this year. In Kendry's first full season at first, he's already hitting 313 avg., 30 Homeruns, and OPS of 951.

Morales has been voted Player of the Month for August. He joins Bobby Abreu as the Player of the Month for July. In July, there was lots of talk about Abreu being seriously considered as an MVP candidate. And although those talks have cooled off, the talks about Morales haven't. The Angels are expected to make the Playoffs this year and Morales plays an integral part. Maybe Morales doesn't get the nod for MVP, but he certainly should be in the conversation.

Congrats Kendry!!!

Number 27

Oh, did you think I was talking about Vlad Guerrero? Oops, I thought you were hip to what I'm putting down here over at the Diamond Aces. Kendry Morales just hit number 27 last night. So aside from dropping 27 bombs before August. 21st who is this Kendry Morales. Well here's a brief story of how Morales got to the Angels and captured the hearts of millions and millions of Angel fans.

Kendry Morales played for the Cuban National Team in 2002, on 2003 his team won the World Cub of Baseball. Not to be confused with the World Baseball Classic. Morales contacted an Agent in 2003, which resulted in him being sent back home to Cuba. Which kept him out of the Summer Olympics. Morales ended up defecting from Cuba to the Dominican Republic and signed a six year, 3 Million Dollar contract. After a stint with the Estrellas Orientales durning Winter League. By 2005, Morales played for the Rancho CucamongaQuakes and later that year played in the Arizona Fall League playing for the Sunrise Scorpions. Morales would make a few appearances at the Major League level in 2006 for the Angels when then 1st Baseman Casey Kotchman was injured. Morales would also get some playing time in 2008 durning the ALDS game versus the Boston Red Sox. He played with no fear and hit a double coming to pinch hit in Game 3, the only game the Angels would win. After Mark Teixera was traded away, Morales would earn the First Base position and hasn't looked back all year.

Missed it by that much

The man who created the inspiration for the name of this blog... John Lackey, the Ace of the Angels, went out with the B-Team last night and lets just say that it was rough night. The Cleveland Indians, whose team has but all been ripped apart to "compete" next year managed to get hot last night, with the final score was 11-3. Gone are Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez, but a former Boston Red Soxian, Justin Masterson had a great outing against the Angels. Even the looming possibility of Lackey's 100th Career Win, couldn't motivate the offense last night. No additional milestone yet, but we will see where Lackey's next start will be. The only real mistake was a home run by Diamond Aces favorite "The Cuban Missile Launcher" Kendry Morales. The last time the Angels got their butts handed to them, they came back to win the next 5 in a row. I believe that's a fair trade for Scioscia's Boys.

Like I predicted last week, this game will be a page turner. And no matter how bad they looked last night, today is another day. And in Toronto the Angels will rebound.