Arte Moreno is mad, and he's going to do something about it - latimes.com
"If you want to continue to perform at the highest level, you have to keep building the business," Moreno said. "And that's what I intend to do." So that's competitive integrity sounds like. So that's how the steward of a public trust behaves. "We know where our weaknesses are, we know where we are thin, we know where we have to go to market," Moreno said. "It's going to cost money, but our fans need to know what we're committed to winning."
Bill Plaschke found Arte. And he has something to say in this very interesting article in the LA Times. It wasn't my imagination that the Angels owner was M.I.A., as he says in the article, "Am I going to go down to talk to the press and say I'm mad?" he said. "I was always taught that you wash your dirty laundry at home. Yes, we want to communicate to the fans, but in this case, the fans can see what's going on." Also within this Plaschke piece, Arte alludes to one of the reason the team let go of Eddie Bane, "We're trying to improve how we operate, from the baseball side," he said. "We were thin this year. We didn't have the depth we needed. Everything starts with how we draft and how we develop, and we will do a better job of that."
(George Kaplan has a Fanshot of this article)
Mike Napoli And The Arbitration Process - MLBTradeRumors.com
Could Napoli be non-tendered by the Angels this winter? One baseball source agreed with my estimate of a 10% chance, while another put it below 5%. We all agreed Napoli is more likely to be traded than cut loose, though one of them remarked, "I think if they are stuck with him they will wish they would have non-tendered him."
I don't know if I have some sort of "fan-bias" going on, but does it strike anyone else that the thought of non-tendering Napoli is ridiculous?
MORE LINKS AFTER THE BREAK...
Reverse Standings - MLBTradeRumors.com
The Angels have the 17th pick, and yes, it's protected.
Angels minor-league pitcher suspended 50 games - CBSSports.com Baseball
Los Angeles Angels pitcher Jordany Gomez has been suspended for 50 games under baseball's minor league drug program after testing positive for the performance-enhancing substances Phentermine and Mephentermine.
At this point, anyone who gets caught using a banned substance has got to be either one of the dumbest people on earth, or unintentionally used some sort of supplement that contained a banned substance...in which case they've got to be one of the dumbest people on earth to have used a substance without checking it out first.
Rays' Price wins Spahn award as best lefty - CBSSports.com Baseball
Tampa Bay Rays ace David Price has won the Warren Spahn Award, recognizing the top left-handed pitcher in the major leagues.
Seriously? They have awards for things like the best left-handed pitcher? I wonder who's going to win the award for the best brown-haired hitter?
Yanks See Selves as Underdogs - NYTimes.com
The David and Goliath analogy is one of the more tired clichés in sports. But when Alex Rodriguez used it Tuesday night, he managed to add a surprising twist. "I mean, for us to be David in this situation, I think, is great," Rodriguez said. Yes, Rodriguez was acknowledging that the Yankees are the underdogs in this series.
Funny, most fans see them as douchebags.
BOB: The attendance numbers are in - The Hardball Times
For the third straight year, we had a new team in last place in attendance. The Cleveland Indians were 30th with 1,391,644 tickets sold. This is particularly disheartening because not too long ago, the Indians held the record for consecutive sell outs (a record since broken by the Boston Red Sox). Coming in at 29 was the Oakland Athletics, who finished dead last the year before. The lowest attendance by a playoff team was the Tampa Bay Rays who came in at 22nd with 1,864,999 tickets sold.
Angels came in at 5th.
October 6 - BR Bullpen
Events, births and deaths that occurred on October 6.
1926 - Babe Ruth hits three home runs to lead the Yankees to a 10 - 5 victory over St. Louis in Game Four of the World Series. His 1st-inning curtain-raiser is a majestic 395-footer, exiting Sportsman's Park over its right field bleacher roof. Home run No. 2 clears the roof in right center, carrying 515 feet, breaking a window on the other side of Grand Avenue. Ruth's final foray, however, is the main attraction, carrying deep into the never-before reached centerfield bleachers, far beyond the 430-foot mark. Estimated at 530 feet, it's still deemed, as of April 2010, the longest home run in World Series history. If all this weren't enough, this also is the game during which the Babe makes good on his alleged pre-game promise to hit a home run for the bedridden young Johnny Sylvester.
1979 - The Angels get eliminated in their first play-off series as they get shutout by the Orioles' Scott McGregor, 8-0.
Happy b-day:
1972 - Benji Gil, infielder
0 recs | 86 comments
Non-tendering Napoli would be the epitome of stupidity
mustard_man - October 6, 2010
Finally, somebody dug Arte up, dusted him off, and he spoke.
And Arte spoke some strong words. But after a great record as an owner, the Angels organization was a hollow shell of itself on the field and on the air, because of it’s many bad decisions the organization made in the off-season of 2009. Scioscia ‘s crew did not look anything like a Scioscia team. Maybe Scioscia needs a new personality, because either the talent isn’t there (poor team observation), or they just aren’t responding to the Sosh.
Credibility wise, for me, this is a major defining point for the Arte Moreno Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Dono Romantico - October 6, 2010
Most of the the bad decisions looked bad only in retrospect...
…and some of those bad decisions may have been made worse by signing our 2009 free agents (specifically, Lackey, Figgins and Vlad) to long term contracts.
The problems of this year were in part;
1) Poor free agent signings from winter, 2009 (Rodney and to a lesser extent, Matsui).
2) Inadequate player development over several years (Angels organization hasn’t developed a decent OF since GA, Erstad, Salmon, Edmonds, nor a decent power- hitting 3B man since Glaus…unless you want to include McPherson). Wood is the new poster child of failed prospects, and likely a major source of embarrassment to Arte.
3) Bad player contracts carried over from prior years (Speier, GMJ) that have somewhat tied managements hands financially.
4) Poor trades…looking at you Mr. Kazmir.
5) Unanticipated underperformance by every offensive player, with the exception of the 2 months Morales was healthy.
Overall, the biggest issue is player development. I really hate to use Boston as an example, but I’m sure their plight hasn’t escaped Arte’s attention. They had a lot of key player injuries this year, yet they were able to fill the holes with a steady stream of players from the Pawtucket. That didn’t get them into the playoffs, but it did succeed in keeping them in the race through the final week of the season, in the toughest division on baseball.
sothball - October 6, 2010
This
The only truly bad decisions from last winter were the Rodney signing and not signing Vlad. Matsui ended up lessening most of the impact of the Vlad decision. Rodney is only here one more year and could even be moved next summer, you never know.
Pineiro was a great decision IMO, especially if you look at him as a response to Lackey going to Boston.
Commander_Nate - October 6, 2010
if vlad isn't a ranger this year
that team isn’t in the playoffs
Quinlan's Goofy Swing - October 6, 2010
never let a future hall of famer walk away
unless you can replace him with someone who will make the fans forget about him, and Matsui definitely didn’t do that. NICE MOVE ANGELS!
Dono Romantico - October 6, 2010
Matsui was better than Vlad last year
And healthier than him the last two years.
Commander_Nate - October 6, 2010
agreed
NOBODY could have expected Vlad to hit even half as many HR as he did, or to play in even 120 games this year. That he did is really a miracle.
jjackflash - October 6, 2010
Let's be Honest
Matsui was never an upgrade over Vlad. He was a replacement. A replacement that did virtually nothing to help his team win games.
Vlad is in the playoffs
Dono Romantico - October 6, 2010
Matsui was clearly an upgrade over 2009 Vlad in about every way
There’s really not much else to say about that. If Kendry were still here, we might be in the playoffs too. If Josh Hamilton broke his ankle, the Rangers wouldn’t be.
Commander_Nate - October 6, 2010
so tell me how many games Matsui won for the team this year.
Dono Romantico - October 6, 2010
2.0
RexTookMyStash - October 6, 2010
Matsui's WAR was 2.7 in 2009
Vlad’s was 0.3 in 2009
What a horrible horrible signing. Feel free to research. The internet is full of information, as opposed to you.
RexTookMyStash - October 6, 2010
Easy Rob Halford
Dono Romantico - October 6, 2010
Tuck in your shirt, your bullshit is showing.
RexTookMyStash - October 6, 2010
as you say with a lisp
hahaha
Dono Romantico - October 6, 2010
I can think of a few walk-offs and at least one grand slam
Tell me how you just knew last December that Vlad was going to come back in 2010 and have a year like he hadn’t had since 2006 or so.
Commander_Nate - October 6, 2010
Plus
take Vlad out of his favorite ballpark to hit in and his motivation to show he isn’t washed up, and his numbers probably aren’t any better than Matsui’s. Yes, he helped Texas reach the postseason, but probably not much more than any of the other DH’s available last offseason. They really aren’t any better than they were last year, the Angels were just a lot worse.
dmhead - October 6, 2010
we are only comparing Vlad and Crapsui
And if everything ended exactly the same this year and we just switch Vlad for Crapsui, the Angels would have saved 500K in salary.
Dono Romantico - October 6, 2010
What are you talking about?
Do you know anything about park factors? If Vlad stayed here, his numbers would have been like Matsui’s or worse. Matsui is not the reason we lost this year and Vlad wouldn’t have made one bit of difference. And Vlad makes more than Matsui this year so your last comment is simply false.
And I don’t find it humorous calling a guy “crap”. He played hard for us, played well for us, and showed a ton of class all season. But go ahead and keep your head up your ass if it makes you feel better.
dmhead - October 6, 2010
Dono competes for biggest moron on this site
There is no reasoning with him. Just ignore him.
Brody - October 6, 2010
vlad had a 1.053 ops in anaheim this year
.882 in arlington
clearly he misses anaheim and wanted to stay here and win 3 more rings
Quinlan's Goofy Swing - October 6, 2010
What???!!!!!
This just shows that YOU know absolutely NOTHING about baseball!! Vlad was HURT most of last year! He was healthy this year and I KNEW he was gonna have a MONSTER year! I’ve coached the game for years and I have studied it’s nuances, rules and tendancies since I was a little boy! I’ve read every book on coaching the game I could get my hands on. Matsui was one of the WORST pickups the Angels could have made his knees are SHOT that’s why the Yanks let him go. His bat speed is all but gone and he’s a bust in the field! Make Mike Napoli the DH, use him as a backup at 1st & catcher, give the catching job to Conger & pray that Kendry Morales comes back 100%
chefbunyan - October 9, 2010
I would never say that.
But if you are going to let a guy like Vlad go, you better have a plan. Matsui did nothing to make the majority of Halo fans forget about Vlad. And it certainly does not make the Angels Organization look good seeing Vlad in the post-season while being touted as one of the main reasons the Rangers are in the post-season.
Dono Romantico - October 6, 2010
Statistically, he did everything to replace Vlad
I’d have liked to see Vlad retire here too, but you can’t make contract decisions based on emotion. The Angels look worse for breaking their best player and not having a viable 3rd baseman at any level than they do for anything Matsui or Vlad did this year.
Commander_Nate - October 6, 2010
Try Some Facts
The Rangers are in the playoffs because the Angels won 17 fewer games than last year (a dropoff that had literally nothing whatsoever to do with the absence of Guerrero). They did have a plan: they signed a left-handed power hitter who had a MUCH better 2009 than Vlad, and whose 2010 was also a lot better than Vlad’s 2009.
jjackflash - October 6, 2010
The "...guy like Vlad..." that was let go
was broken down, slowed down, and just gave the Halos the 4 worst years of his career.
They did not let go of Vlad version 2004.
Your rear view mirror needs a little Windex.
Stirrups - October 6, 2010
They had a plan
Matsui was healthier and looked amazing in the World Series.
hauldog - October 6, 2010
+1
Godzilla was/is a proven clutch hitter; Vald, very rarely so.
Still love the guy . . .
Raaddad - October 6, 2010
Vlad’s WAR this year: 2.1
Matsui’s WAR this year: 2.0
Man, the Angels really got hosed in THAT deal. Texas got .1 wins more! The worst part is that the Angels lost the division by .1 wins! Wait…
Gorbachav5 - October 6, 2010
Vlad's worth 10 games in the standings? That seems doubtful
mattwelch - October 6, 2010
he doesn't sell enough billboards
so not even 15 games would have mattered
Quinlan's Goofy Swing - October 6, 2010
also
all of our latin players sucked this year, they miss the cooking.
Quinlan's Goofy Swing - October 6, 2010
True that...
So I know how Vlad’s mom really wanted to stay in SoCal, but does anyone know if indeed she stayed there or followed Vladdy to Texas?
maze88 - October 6, 2010
This is also an opportunity
I am sure that Arte sees an opening or an opportunity.
At a time when the “other LA team” is stumbling over themselves and is generally a public embarrassment. Arte has a chance to show how the Angels are, in fact, a better organization. This his chance to distinguish himself from the McCourts, who are far more interested in tearing the Dodgers apart and using whatever is left over to fund their lifestyle. Yes, our performance may occasionally fall below peak, but you can also bet that it won’t be for lack of trying. So if we do underperform, there will be changes, and those might even involve increasing payroll. To quote the immortal Mel Allen, “How about that!”
righteous halo - October 6, 2010
Very good point
he can own this offseason in LA
hauldog - October 6, 2010
thats my Arte!
Angels_48 - October 6, 2010
A 10% chance of non-tendering a guy who just mashed 26 HR & has a career .485 SLG?
I’d say that there’s a 100% chance that Tim Dierkes is a moron
Quad Fin Rider - October 6, 2010
Tim Dierkes is Theo Epstein's nom de plume.... err, secret code name.
gitchogritchoffmypetis - October 6, 2010
He is a headline regurgitator.
hauldog - October 6, 2010
If Napoli is non-tendered...
I’m running to the hills (Anaheim or Laguna) and starting a resistance movement. Who’s with me?
Commander_Nate - October 6, 2010
In.
Balls and Strikes - October 6, 2010
WOLVERINES!!!!!!
red floyd - October 6, 2010
A resistance movement from Anaheim Hills would be the most cushy revolution ever. I’m in.
Gorbachav5 - October 6, 2010
Do they get their resistance vehicles from Caliber Motors (in Anaheim Hills)
red floyd - October 6, 2010
Would they have "luminous resistance power"?
red floyd - October 15, 2010
scioscia was terrible this year and appeared to not give a shit
just looking at who he put on the field daily, i don’t see how he could have managed worse. his in game decisions are about as mind boggling as his lineup cards, but hey he won in 2002 i still believe. Of course he doesn’t manage the same way he did in 2002, nor does he have two future manager of the year candidates next to him in the dugout.
Quinlan's Goofy Swing - October 6, 2010
Scioscia's stoic facial expressions and quasi-stoic demeanor always gives the impression
he doesn’t give a shit.
Dono Romantico - October 6, 2010
i know but in the clubhouse with out cameras
he kills em
Angels_48 - October 6, 2010
is that right Torii
Dono Romantico - October 6, 2010
i dont care what he says to them or how he disciplines
so long as that process doesn’t lead to playing terrible players over better options. let’s also not forget that scioscia is playing a big role in what Reagins does.
Quinlan's Goofy Swing - October 6, 2010
Besides Mathis/Napoli
Do you care to give any examples of him playing an inferior player over someone better this season? Outside these last two months, anyways?
dmhead - October 6, 2010
Macanulty says hi
2pintsofbooze - October 6, 2010
so does Q
Raaddad - October 6, 2010
on the field?
Oh right, because he had so many better options. He should have played Derek Jeter at short; Adrian Beltre at third; Albert Pujols at 1B; Joe Mauer at catcher. Oh, wait…
jjackflash - October 6, 2010
Mauer was injured.
hahahahahaha
Dono Romantico - October 6, 2010
I don't get it
What is funny about Mauer being injured?
And just to be clear, we’re talking about the Joe Mauer who plays for the Twins, played in 137 games and had almost 600 plate appearances, right?
jjackflash - October 6, 2010
look everyone
jeff mathis posts here!
Quinlan's Goofy Swing - October 6, 2010
So your entire argument against Scioscia is Jeff Mathis? Pretty thin.
Gorbachav5 - October 6, 2010
my argument is scioscia doesn't put his best on the field
he doesn’t do this with the bullpen, his catcher, his middle infield platoons, his last games of every series … mathis wouldn’t sniff more than 10 games a year with any other team. which is 10 more games than frandsen would sniff or quinlan or mcanulty.
Quinlan's Goofy Swing - October 6, 2010
"We know where our weaknesses are..."
The jury remains out there.
Stirrups - October 6, 2010
well, outside of starting pitching......let's see
We need an outfielder who can cover ground and knows how to hit bombs and shorten his swing when neccessary. In the infield, besides of our injury recovering1st baseman, let’s see……hmmmmmm…..we need a 3rd baseman who can hit bombs and also knows when to shorten his swing. We need a DH (unless we want to stick it out with Bobby). And we need a closer. A shake up of Scioscia’s coaches might be a motivating factor too.
Other than that, we are just fine.
Dono Romantico - October 6, 2010
The comment concerns whether the HALOS FRONT OFFICE REALLY KNOWS.
Not what the rest of us have figured out.
Stirrups - October 6, 2010
I don’t know what shortening swings has to do with anything. We need outfielders who can field and know how to hit, plus a third baseman who can do the same. I don’t think shortening a swing should be a prerequisite.
Gorbachav5 - October 6, 2010
Who voted for the Yankees?
Wally's World - October 6, 2010
I voted for the Rangers.
RexTookMyStash - October 6, 2010
Best Brown-haired Batter goes to........
Brandon Wood!!!!
with Jeffrey Mathis a close 2nd.
stuck in Romania - October 6, 2010
Best part of the Arte article:
RexTookMyStash - October 6, 2010
The Yankees are going with a three man rotation.
I hear they got that idea from Madonna.
44FAN - October 6, 2010
instant rim shot
RexTookMyStash - October 6, 2010
Here ya go.
http://www.instantrimshot.com
red floyd - October 6, 2010
or
SalmonStream - October 6, 2010
That one
made my night
Raaddad - October 6, 2010
Rays all the way
GutterDem0n - October 6, 2010 via mobile
Let's go Rays!
RexTookMyStash - October 6, 2010
what happened to your earlier post: "I voted for the Rangers"
Dono Romantico - October 6, 2010
The Moreno interview bucked me up.
I’m frustrated after this season, as I listen to the Rangies in the playoffs. But God I feel lucky that my team’s owned by Arte. Bitch about losing Vlad before his last spasm of greatness all you want, moan about Sosh and prospects that bomb all you want, but I think we need to accept the fact that even the billion dollar Yanks fail to make the post season sometimes, and i love that we have an owner whose ass burns whenever we have a down year.
I said it a while back, and righteous halo said above, Arte’s rich because he’s a good business man. He sees his chance to take over a larger chunk of the SoCal baseball market and he’ll spend the bucks to do it. He recognizes that he’ll need to spend for a couple years of talent to bridge us from now to Trout. And on top of it, you can tell that he loves his team and the fans. the promotions, the worrying about toilet paper, the buying of outfielders and third basemen…. it’s all because he has passion, and is a shrewd business man, and what’s good for us fans is good for business, and he knows it.
It’s like he’s got Stienbrener’s drive, he’s pissed, he sees the holes, he’s gonna pay what ever it takes to fill em…. but he’s not a douche bag, and he’s not charging us $100 to sit in the view level. He may be just as pissed as Old George would get, but he kept it quiet. In the end, I doubt this man is going to spend 130-40 million on a team and not have a blunt discussion with Soth about Mathis. It’s the best of both worlds, a gracious Stienbrener.
We’re lucky. perk up Halos fans! there are 20 other MLB fan bases that would gladly trade their situation to have Moreno, Reagins, Sosh at the reigns of their organization. Arte’s thrown the gauntlet down, he’s goin for the Doyer’s throat, and we should all be excited to see how it shakes out.
gitchogritchoffmypetis - October 6, 2010
I'm sothball, and I approve this message. Rec too.
sothball - October 6, 2010
Made me feel better too
Well said.
Brody - October 6, 2010
Steinbrenner would have started kicking ass back in July.
I love me my Arte, but George was playing a whole different game.
Stirrups - October 6, 2010
Still, a very pertinent analogy
Though George took over a team dead in the water for years and Arte was handed a World Series team. On the other hand, George never gave a shit about toilet paper (pun intended)
Raaddad - October 6, 2010
A hope Arte REALLy makes some positive changes this winter/spring
This not being in the playoffs thing suck. Yeah, I know only 8 teams can go a year, but NOT being able to back one of those teams in the playoffs fully is a bit of a drag. I can only hope that Arte is aggressive and does what ever it takes (and costs) to get things back on track next year.
At least we get Morales back next year though! That is worth looking forward to and will not cost a dime. a few other pieces like a good 3B player and left fielder would go along way towards turning the team around.
Angelsfan015 - October 6, 2010
Unfortunately it will cost a lot more dimes
I think Morales is arbitration eligible this winter, which means he’s getting a raise either way. The question is how much. My guess is that it will be in the $7 million range. The only thing that may help is the injury.
If we assume the Angels wouldn’t have made the playoffs anyway (which is a fair assumption, given that they finished 11 games out), the Morales injury might be a good thing, since it may depress his arb value this offseason just a bit.
Gorbachav5 - October 6, 2010
Being out most of this year will hurt Morales' case.
Right now, he has one year of strong performance, and a third of a year of slight regression under his belt. Also, while Morales has a good bat, so do a lot of other starting first basemen. Morales isn’t even top 5 in the AL at 1B. I don’t see him getting close to $7 million in his first year of arbitration.
The_Question - October 6, 2010
this is why i love arte moreno. this losing season is the best thing that could have happened to the angels, it will light a fire under them in 2011, arte is going to get crawford, and we will reign supreme again. i cant wait until march 31. gonna be a fun offseason, regular season, and postseason ahead of us guys!!
AngelsBaseball - October 6, 2010
hell ya!
Just like when the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs in 08 and came back in 09 to win it all. That’s What I think we can do. Just come back with a vengeance and take the world series… also I think that Morales coming back off the injury is going to be so motivated and hungry next year that he’s going to be a beast. next year.
(!ts_a_C.A._thing) - October 6, 2010 via mobile
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