(I never get sick of "man, old Gene needs a new last name" jokes).
Anyway, he shifted to baseball mode. Which means I'm shifting into shit all over his face mode.
Playoff success all that matters to Angels
Now that's just fucking brilliant.
Josh Byrnes: "I don't care what the hell else happens. I just want the Diamondbacks to win the division and make a quick first round exit."
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- So here are the Los Angeles Angels, who pretty much clinched the American League West on Opening Day, who are so good opposing coaches tell closer Francisco Rodriguez, "We don't really like to play you guys," who might have the best owner in baseball and whose clubhouse might be the dullest thing this side of "Asparagus: The Documentary."
Wow. That is the worst-composed sentence in the history of the English language. 4 derivations of the word "who". Is that supposed to be clever or something? Let's check this one out piece by piece.
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- So here are the Los Angeles Angels, who pretty much clinched the American League West on Opening Day,
And had a worse run differential than the A's when the A's sold off their team...
who are so good opposing coaches tell closer Francisco Rodriguez, "We don't really like to play you guys,"
Attention everyone! If there's anyone out there that knows something about superlatives, please give ol' Gene here a lesson. Please? This was painful to read.
who might have the best owner in baseball
Probably.
and whose clubhouse might be the dullest thing this side of "Asparagus: The Documentary."
Larry, your Gene Wojciechowski = Michael Scott comparison is reallllly holding water.
They're in the HOV lane for 90-plus victories and a fourth division title in the past five years. And if you can find a weakness in their everyday lineup, the Rally Monkey will wax and buff your car.
OK, I'll give it my best shot.....I'm going to have to squint reallllly hard though.
How about this one? Every team in fucking Major League Baseball except the Braves has a left fielder who hits better than Garret Anderson. This is not a joke. If you rank every team's left fielder by EqA. Garret Anderson is almost dead last. He's worse than fucking Willie Harris. Does this count as a weakness? I think it does!
Good thing too. My car needs both of those things very badly.
Here's the problem: The Angels have a habit of acing the compulsories but falling off the balance beam during the postseason program.
I can think of 1532 easier ways to write that sentence. And only one worse. This is it.
"Here's the problematic nature of the situation: The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (formerly just the Anaheim Angels, and formerly the California Angels) have a compulsive tendency to obliterate the opposition in the primary seasonal region of the baseball calendar but stumble off of a 30-story building in Parsippany, New Jersey during the schedule of baseball events that occur in the future with respect to the said primary seasonal region."
Angels outfielder Torii Hunter sits in front of his locker Thursday afternoon, a freshly poured cup of coffee at his feet, and listens patiently as I detail the playoff exits.
Why is this conversation between these two men even occurring?
Hunter is the guy who left the only franchise he had ever known (nearly 15 years in the Minnesota Twins' organization) for the one franchise he hoped would offer him a free-agent deal this past offseason -- the Angels. So yeah, it's sort of tough to convince Hunter, who literally scouted the Angels before signing a five-year, $90 million contract over the winter, that he might have made a career mistake.
This might be a liiiiiiiiitle off-topic there, Gene.
Most of all, Moreno wants what Hunter wants: a championship. He'll come into the clubhouse, pull up a chair next to Hunter and say, "I need a ring. I want a ring."
Hank Steinbrenner and Jerry Reinsdorf want.....?
Wanting and getting are two different things. The Angels are loaded, although the recent injuries to second baseman Howie Kendrick (placed on the DL Thursday with a strained left hamstring) and shortstop Erick Aybar (hamstring) could alter the postseason equation.
Aybar will be back in like a week. How does that matter?
Then we're talking about a lineup that goes Chone Figgins, Aybar,
Yeah, go ahead and bat that .316 OBP 2nd and pretend that isn't a weakness.
Teixeira, Guerrero, Hunter,
Very good, very good, overrated, still good.
Garret Anderson,
2nd worst starting LF in baseball.
Juan Rivera,
Yeah....no need to mention that he's having an absolutely terrible offensive season or anything.
Or that offense is 100% of the reason a DH plays baseball....
Kendrick
Yeah, so in Gene's world, Kendrick, a very good hitter, bats 8th, while Erick Aybar, a poor hitter, bats 2nd. Great. I totally believe you've seen an Angels game this year, Gene.
and catcher Jeff Mathis.
He's fucking terrible. Every team in Major League Baseball has a catcher who hits better than Jeff Mathis. Even the Angels have very underrated Mike Napoli, who should probably be in this spot in your batting order, but whoops! You just scooted over to MLB.com and noticed that they have Mathis listed first on the depth chart, didn't you? Rookie mistake from an old man, Gene.
Oh, by the way, on the whole, that lineup that you just fed me is not good. At all. Mayyyybe average-ish. Maybe.
All five starters in the pitching rotation have 10 or more wins (Joe Saunders leads with 14).
Those five men are pretty much the team right there.
And Rodriguez has as many saves as the Cleveland Indians and the Seattle Mariners
combined.
Put any of the top 30% of closers in baseball on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in place of K-Rod and they do the same fucking thing. If he wins the Cy Young over Cliff Lee (who is probably the most valuable player in the AL), that's fucking bogus, 58+ saves or not.
Teixeira homered Thursday night, his 28th of the year and eighth since the trade. That sort of power helps fill a pothole in the Angels' lineup.
No, it filled a Kotchhole. Kotchholes are like potholes except their presence doesn't slow down your car, and have a glove inside them that actually prevents future damage to your car.
Scioscia won't discuss the upcoming postseason because, well, I guess he's worried about the Angels blowing a 16-game lead in the division with 29 games left. This is standard-issue Scioscia doctrine.
"Let's talk about it a month from now," says Scioscia, the manager Hunter calls a "brainiac."
But...I thought the Angels only cared about winning in the playoffs?
A month from now will be the day after the end of the regular season. Then the playoffs will start. Hunter can already see it: a champagne fest, ring ceremonies, a Rose Garden presentation at the White House.
"I got that picture in my head," Hunter says. "But we got a long way to go, a long journey. When you get in the playoffs, everything is going to be different. … We could win 100-plus games, and it does not matter. When you get to the postseason, you got to change. You got to be totally different. Any mistake you make, you're going home."
The Angels can tell him all about it.
Great.
So Gene, thanks for writing this article in which you revealed to me the following things.
1) You have no clue that Howie Kendrick is a way better hitter than Erick Aybar
2) You think that listing off players constitutes proof that the Angels have a "loaded lineup"
3) You pretend that Jeff Mathis, Garret Anderson, and Juan Rivera aren't fucking terrible.
4) You don't have a clue that Mike Napoli exists.
5) You quite possibly are the worst composer of sentences the world has ever seen.
Oooh, I have one! The Angels are the Alex Rodriguez of Major League Baseball! Get it? Haaaaa! Choke artists!!! Not worth the money! Trade them now, they're a cancer!
ReplyDelete...
Thanks Gene, I guess I didn't hate you enough already.
As for the lineup without a weakness, its AL rank in batting average is 8th. Its rank in runs scored is 9th. OBP? 11th. SLG? 10th. OPS? 10th. This is following a two-month stretch where they were hitting very well and scoring something like 6+ runs per game.
Texeira is a good player and has been hitting lights-out since the trade. But he's probably going to be gone after this season, and he replaced one of the few Angels who was producing offensively. The Angels would've won the Western Division with Casey Kotchman at first, and still had another year before he would be eligible for free agency.
I bet they move Garret Anderson to first base next year.
Wow, sending him to first base would actually sink his value. I wasn't aware that was possible right now.
ReplyDeleteI also don't want to seem like I'm hating on the Angels, tonus. It's just there's so much dumb shit written about them. They really have an awesome pitching staff, and it's a shame because for some reason, idiot writers keep blabbing about their lineup instead, which is decidedly sub-par.
By writing this, you've cleared part of my schedule for today. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteYou know Tonus, I think the Angels are going to do everything in their power to resign Texeira after this season and Casey Kotchman has been beyond awful with the Braves since he joined them. Granted, it has been a short time but I really think the Angels are going to try and sign Tex to a big contract.
ReplyDeleteI guess "try" is the key word, because someone is going to get Tex for a hell of a lot of money and then be looking to trade him in three years. I will repeat it again, he is good, but he is not that good.
Also, the Angels lineup clearly has weaknesses and Gene Wojokokkiski is a moron. Even with the Tex trade, I would not exactly fear that lineup in a seven games series. Decent pitching could shut it down pretty easily.
Anderson's contract should be coming off the books next year. The team has the option for 2009 and I can't imagine them picking it up. Unfortunatly, they still have another 3 years of Matthews, which is one of the worst signings ever.
ReplyDeleteI think they will be better off at the plate and in the field next year if Rivera takes over for Anderson full time. I doubt he can be any worse.
My worry with Anderson is that he's a pretty huge fan favorite and the organization has put him on a pedestal. They might actually get criticized pretty heavily if they don't pick up the option on a slow, aging, .750 OPSing corner outfielder. It's time to thank him for his service and either send him on his way or offer him a contract that is more reflective of his current value. But can you even do that when you're overpaying Matthews and Hunter?
ReplyDeleteIt drives me nuts to see the team being built around Scioscia's small ball approach. Small guys who hit .300, rarely walk, and have little power are the guys they seem to be cultivating. At some point the pitching staff won't be able to make up for the lack of offense. I will spend the post-season praying for a repeat of 2002, when their bats got hot at just the right time and they pounded their way to a title.
Moreno is a good owner, but he's made some bad moves, contract-wise. And the organizational philosophy will hurt this team as time goes on. Is Earl Weaver still available?
"The Angels have a habit of acing the compulsories but falling off the balance beam during the postseason program."
ReplyDeleteYou mean like they did in 2002 when they won the fucking world championship? what a bunch of unclutch chokers they were that year! I mean, Gene, baseball teams win championships every few years right? It's an expected thing! It's not like there's a team that hasn't won a ring in like 100 years or something. The LA A of A *6* year drought is awful! It's a wonder they have any fans left!
For the record I don't really like the Angels and hope they lose in the playoffs this year but this article is just retarded on so many levels.
Stats aside, as a Yankee die-hard, Garret Anderson is fucking painful to face; he murders NY pitching. Then again, so does the rest of the team.
ReplyDeleteCliff Lee most valuable player in the AL?
ReplyDeleteHe's not the most valuable player in the city of Cleveland (Grady).
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ReplyDeleteNickp - I was a little afraid of putting that quip about Cliff Lee in there, and quite frankly, I'm surprised you're the only one who called me on it. Yet, I'm not taking it back for a second. Cliff Lee is the most valuable player in the American League. If you were giving me a choice which to draft and have on my team for the next 5 years or whatever, I'd obviously take Sizemore over Lee.
ReplyDeleteBut let's say you're drafting a baseball team to play the 2008 season, you can only draft AL players, and each player is guaranteed to play exactly like they have this season (including injuries). Your number one overall pick would have to be Cliff Lee. His WARP1 total this season is 9.1, compared to 7.7 for Sizemore. Grady is the best hitter in the American League by VORP (second is Aubrey Huff. Ick.), and it really isn't all that close, so this pretty much eliminates hitters from consideration.
The second-best pitcher in the American League this year has been Roy Halladay. His WARP1 is at 8.3. Better than all hitters, but still not as good as Lee's. Granted, Lee has about zero chance of winning the MVP award, which is a completely different discussion, but the fact of the matter is, of all the players in the American League, Cliff Lee has provided his team with the most wins, and has had the best season.