SB Nation - Juan Rivera

Abreu Signing Signals Chone Figgins Adios

Rev Halofan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:25:42 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

Figgy Stardust (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

The Angels wasted no time in re-signing Bobby Abreu. The terms appear to be $19 Million Guaranteed money ($9 M each year and a $1 Million buyout for 2012 if they do not pick up the option for then - and it kicks in if Abreu posts 550 PA in 2011 or a combined 1200 PA in 10-11). With team leader Torii Hunter in CF signed thru 2012 and a bargain priced Juan Rivera signed thru 2011, the Angels have a foundation in the outfield to wait for Mike Trout to develop into the Tim Salmon of the future. Some fourth outfielders await in the minor leagues along with Reggie Willits in case there is an injury, but minus Vlad Guerrero in 2010, the Angels look like they can have a healthy rotation of this AARP brigade thru the DH slot.

The near term future seems like the end of the Halo road for Angels 3B Chone Figgins. He could play outfield... but with over $30 million committed there on three guys already in their 30s, and with a league-minimum Brandon Wood bat ready to power the lineup from the hot corner for LA of Anaheim in 2010... this looks like the door is slammed shut on the return of Chone Figgins to play for the Angels. Figgy will be getting $9 million a season easily and his D at 3B makes him irresistible to many teams.

Seriously. It seems the Abreu signing was a goodbye...

Poll

Would You Be Bummed at a Figgy Departure

Totally, dude

447 votes

Kind of a bummer but we'll manage

445 votes

Nah, unless Wood tanks

261 votes

1153 votes | Poll has closed

Who Actually Had the Biggest Comeback in 2009?

Jeff Zimmerman (TucsonRoyal) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:18:43 -0000

It's award season, and the NL and AL Comeback Awards winners were announced earlier today. Congrats to Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals and Aaron Hill of the Blue Jays for winning the award. It is supposed to go to the players that "re-emerged on the baseball field during a given season."

I decided to take the balloting results and compare the player's WAR from this year, a recent low year and a recent high. Then. I took the total swing in WAR from the high to the low to this season's WAR value . For example Aaron Hill had 3.5 WAR in 2007, 0.5 in 2008 and then 4.2 this year for a total swing of 6.7 WAR ((3.5 WAR -0.5WAR)+(4.2 WAR - 0.5 WAR).

NL Comeback Award Comparison

Here is a comparison of the vote getters in the NL:

Voting Rank	Name and Team	High Year	Previous High (WAR)	Low Year	Lowest Between High and 2009 (WAR)	2009 WAR	Total Swing in WAR
1	Chris Carpenter, STL	2006	5.2	2007	0.2	5.6	10.4
2	Yovani Gallardo, MIL	2007	2.6	2008	0.4	2.8	4.6
3	Josh Johnson, FLA	2006	2.5	2007	0.2	5.3	7.4
4	Todd Helton, COL	2007	4.9	2008	1.5	3.5	5.4
5	Aaron Boone, HOU	2007	0.3	2008	-0.2	-0.3	0.4
6	Pedro Martinez, PHI	2007	1.2	2008	0.1	0.6	1.6
7	Luis Castillo, NYM	2007	2.4	2008	0.6	1.4	2.6
8	Jeff Weaver, LAD	2007	0.9	2008	0	0.6	1.5
9	Jonny Gomes, CIN	2007	0	2008	-1.2	0.8	3.2
10	Peter Moylan, ATL	2007	0.6	2008	0	1.5	2.1
11	Mike MacDougal, WSH	2007	0.2	2008	0.1	-0.2	-0.2

NL Observations and the AL Comparisons after the jump

NL observations:

The voters got the winner correct.
The voters also got the next four correct with the exception of Gallardo being a little high
The wasn't a whole lot to choose from after the first 4.
In two cases the players WAR value did not increase in 2009 from the previous years. In one case, Aaron Boone had open heart surgery this off season and even getting on the field should warrant some votes. I have no clue how Mike MacDougal end up with votes.

AL Comeback Award Comparison

Now here is a comparison of the vote getters in the AL:

Voting Rank	Name and Team	High Year	Previous High (WAR)	Low Year	Lowest Between High and 2009 (WAR)	2009 WAR	Total Swing in WAR
1	Aaron Hill, TOR	2007	3.5	2008	0.5	4.2	6.7
2	Victor Martinez, BOS	2007	5.1	2008	0.9	4.8	8.1
3	Michael Cuddyer, MIN	2007	2.1	2008	-0.2	2.1	4.6
4	Jorge Posada, NYY	2007	7.1	2008	0.8	4	9.5
5	Russell Branyan, SEA	2006	1.1	2007	0.5	2.8	2.9
6	Scott Podsednik, CWS	2005	1.4	2006	-0.5	1.5	3.9
7	Juan Rivera, LAA	2006	2.7	2008	-0.7	3.5	7.6
8	Rajai Davis, OAK	2007	1	2008	0.6	3.5	3.3
9	Andruw Jones, TEX	2007	3.6	2008	-0.9	0.7	6.1
10	Travis Hafner, CLE	2007	2.2	2008	-0.8	1.1	4.9
11	Fernando Rodney, DET	2007	0.7	2008	0.4	0.3	0.2

Observations on the voting for the AL Comeback Award:

The winner here did not have the largest swing in WAR, Hill was actually 4 in total swing behind Posada, Martinez, and Rivera.
The swing values in the AL were much more than in the NL on average. There was only one swing value of less than 2.9 in the AL, but 6 in the NL.
I need to look back over 5 years to see the comeback of Scott Podsednik. He has the following WAR values from 2005 to 2009: 1.4, -0.5,-0.1, -0.4, 1.5
Fernando Rodney, like Aaron Boone and Mike MacDougal got votes for actually being worse this year than last year.
There seems to be a lot of love for Russell Branyan despite being having the 9th highest swing in WAR.

Jered Weaver Wins 16th, Angels Win 95th

Rev Halofan — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:46:22 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

2 months ago: Los Angeles Angels' Kendry Morales (19) steals home past Oakland Athletocs' catcher Kurt Suzuki during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, Oct. 2, 2009, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

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Final Score in Oakland: Angels 5, Athletics 2

Jered Weaver won his 16th Game, Brian Fuentes got his 47th save, Juan Rivera hit his 25th HR and Kendry Morales stole home (a career first) on a botched pickoff play as the Angels tuned up for the playoffs against the Swingin (and missin' as they struck out 8 times) A's in Oakland. 5 Angels scored a run apiece and four had single ribbys.

What looked like it might be a combined 2-hit shutout fell apart in the 9th inning when closer in waiting Kevin Jepsen gave up some hits and soon had to be rescued by Fuentes, who was good for a little inherited runners scoring drama on the mound himself before striking out Mark Ellis and inducing a popup from Nomar Garciaparra to finish the game.

Weaver, the Angels' likely Game 2 ALDS starter, looked dominant in striking out 5 A's. Rookie Sean "Telletuby" O'Sullivan added 2 innings of scoreless relief. Bullpen questions, though, abound, as a routine inning by Jepsen forced manager Mike Scioscia to use Fuentes as a laugher suddenly became a save situation. While Fuentes calmed it all down, it was not exactly a reassuring appearance by the Save-Maestro.

Poll

Panther of the Game

Jered Weaver

210 votes

Brian Fuentes

15 votes

225 votes | Poll has closed

Joe Saunders Dominates Yankees as Angels Win 90th

Rev Halofan — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:42:52 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

Angels bench coach Ron Roenicke (lower left) looks like he just noticed what made Kendry's HR trot so spry (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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Final Score in Anaheim: Yankees: 2, Angels 5 ... The Angels Magic Number is Now 6. The earliest that they can clinch the American League West is Friday.

"See you fools in two or so weeks..." could have been the message sent by the shrug of Angels pitcher Joe Saunders as he walked off the mound two outs away from a complete game victory. Saunders told Jose Mota after the game that his team getting runs in the first inning made him much more relaxed.

The Angels lefty said he is loose and strong, especially compared to June and July. The college graduate then went on to excoriate free market economics in lamenting the large number of Yankees fans in attendance. Without regulation of who is able to acquire a ticket to a game, Joe's dream of an Angel Stadium game against the Yankees populated exclusively by Angels fans will remain a fantasy of team partisans and far-left socialists.

The 5 runs scored by the Angels tonight each came from different Angels: back-to-back doubles in the 1st inning by Valdimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter, a base hit with a man on 2nd by Erick Aybar in the 5th, a pinch-hit Solo HR by Kendry Morales in the 7th and a deep double in the bottom of the 8th with a man on by Juan Rivera. Heading into October, it is great to see more than just singles scoring baserunners. These guys are not just waiting for the other team's defensive floodgates to open.

The Yankees scored on two solo homers: one by Alex Rodriguez in front of his father in law, Snake Plisken, and the other a pinch hit HR by Hideki Matsui - coincidentally The Morales and Matsui homers were each the first ever pinch hit homeruns by both players.

Poll

Panther of the Game

Joe Saunders

327 votes

Kurt Russell

50 votes

377 votes | Poll has closed

Angels Five Starters Superb Despite Disappearing Bats

Rev Halofan — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:00:17 -0000

More photos » by ED ZURGA - AP

3 months ago: Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher John Lackey throws in the first inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

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Here is how awesome the pitching has been for the Angels...

Monday night’s game was the only time thru the order in the past 15 games that inherited runners left by an Angels starting pitcher scored. What follows is all of the scoring that has occurred with an Angels starting pitcher on the mound in each of their past three starts (15 games, 3 starts each).

John Lackey

D. Barton scored on J. Lackey's throwing error
B. Butler singled to second, W. Bloomquist scored

Joe Saunders

B. Pena singled to shallow center, D. DeJesus scored
M. Olivo homered to deep left
J. Nix homered to deep left

Ervin Santana

M. Sweeney singled to shallow left, F. Gutierrez scored
M. Jacobs singled to shallow right, D. DeJesus scored
A. Callaspo singled to shallow right, M. Maier scored
B. Butler homered to deep left, M. Maier scored
B. Butler singled to shallow right, J. Anderson scored
G. Beckham homered to deep left center
S. Podsednik hit an inside the park homerun to deep right
M. Kotsay safe at first on right fielder B. Abreu's fielding error, G. Beckham scored

Scott Kazmir

B. Hall doubled to deep center, M. Sweeney scored
B. Hall scored on M. Napoli's throwing error
F. Gutierrez homered to deep center
C. Quentin singled to shallow left, G. Beckham and P. Konerko scored

Jered Weaver

A Callaspo tripled to deep right center, M. Jacobs scored
K. Johjima homered to deep left center
J. Lopez homered to deep left
N. Swisher homered to deep right
M. Teixeira tripled to deep center, N. Swisher and J. Damon scored

THE TOTALS FOR THE STARTING STAFF SINCE AUGUST 30:

Runs Allowed on…
ERRORS: 2
SINGLES: 7
DOUBLES: 1
TRIPLES: 2
HOMERS: 9
SOLO HOMERS: 8

Of 19 hits that have batted in a run, only 3 have brought more than 1 run across the plate, a Billy Butler 2-Run HR in KC (by Santana), a Carlos Quentin 2-Run single in Anaheim on Saturday (by Kazmir) and the Mark Teixeira 2-Run triple last night (by Weaver).

The Angels are 10-5 in this stretch and most of that is entirely due to a singles-hitting offense that peaked in mid-August with many betters on quick regressions, especially Mike Napoli, Juan Rivera, Chone Figgins, Bobby Abreu and our hero Kendry Morales.

On the plus side, the last time the bullpen allowed an inherited runner to score before last night was August 25, when Jason Bulger allowed a sac fly to score a runner on 3rd in the 7th inning of a home game against Detroit.

Building a team the Astros way, and building a team the smart way

HighLeveragePerformer — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:00:29 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

An entire outfield of 2009 free agents could be assembled, make less money than Carlos combined and out produce him dramatically.

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The Astros are going to have to indulge in the free agent market of 2010 in order to field a competitive team next season. I don't think that anyone here would try to argue that point. How and who are the two questions that go along with free agent signings, as in how much to spend, and who to sign?

Well, it's still too early to really get down to the nitty gritty of things, but what we can do is look back and identify bargains and trends in the marketplace. Sky Andrecheck of Baseball Analysts did just that in a recent post which looked at the free agent class of 2009 and built a team from those players. He describes his experiment much better than I ever could, but suffice it to say, bargains do exist.

Who did he select to be a part of the club?

Catchers: Gregg Zaun, David Ross

Infielders: Wes Helms, Felipe Lopez, Casey Blake, Juan Uribe Craig Counsell

Total $ spent: $15.3 million, Total WAR: 13.1

Outfielders/DH: Bobby Abreu, Juan Rivera, Scott Podsednik, Raul Ibanez

Total $ spent: $35 million, Total WAR: 23.6

Starting Pitchers: Mike Hampton, Brad Penny, Carl Pavano, Randy Wolf, CC Sabathia

Total $ spent: $78.8 million, Total WAR: 35.3

That club is good for a 71-49 record through 120 games, solid enough for a playoff spot. Bargains are easier to find offensively than in pitching, so the Sabathia signing was by leaps and bounds the most outlandish contract he chose to take on.

Painfully, let's determine the Astros' team WAR, or at least a rough approximation of it.

Offensively: The entire Astros' offense (not counting the negative values that most of our pitchers/bench has contributed) is good for a WAR of 15.1. Unlike the all free agent team, the Astros offense has gotten 43% of its output from two players: Lance Berkman and Michael Bourn.

Sort of a "fun" sidenote: Pudge's WAR in total is .8, while his Astro-WAR is .6. He's added .2 WAR since joining the Rangers....less than 2 weeks ago.

Pitching: Just counting our starting pitchers' contributions, including the negative WARs for Brandon Backe and Felipe Paulino, the staff WAR is 7.5. Add it all up, and the Astros have a 22.6 team WAR, 12.7 wins less than Andrecheck's fictitious club. Drayton McLane has also spent roughly $20 million more on the players who I used in this article, not counting fairly large contracts for relievers like LaTroy Hawkins, Doug Brocail and Tim Byrdak, and bench players like Jason Michaels and Darin Erstad.

I come to the same conclusion as Andrecheck does: it's possible to build a playoff contender just in free agency, but it's too difficult without being able to look back on things. There are plenty of ways to be successful in MLB, but it's becoming obvious that the Astros aren't doing any of them.

The Angels Will Win the World Series

Jesse — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 21:53:58 -0000

Sometimes you're the Louisville Slugger
Sometimes you're the ball
Sometimes it all comes together
Sometimes you're gonna lose it all
Mary Chapin Carpenter, "The Bug"

I'm just glad it's over. It's like Mike Tyson (the 1990 version, not the The Hangover version) beating the absolute snot out of a six-year old. That's what this weekend has felt like. The Angels absolutely destroyed the Twins, demolished their pitching with what appeared to be little to no effort, and walk away from the series having out-scored Minnesota 35 - 15. Under normal circumstances, scoring 15 runs in three games means you don't get swept.

You never want to hand down an ultimate judgment based on one game or one series, because baseball is full of such ups and downs that making that kind of judgment is always inaccurate. But you can still say this, because the proof has been there all season: the Twins lack pitching. Starters and relievers alike have struggled to find any sort of consistency on the mound, and even with the offensive surge we're seeing from many players this summer it doesn't matter. Fantastic performances from Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel, and even supporting characters like Denard Span, Michael Cuddyer and Joe Crede, are all being wasted.

These last three games were nothing short of an embarassment. The sweep kicks the Twins back under .500, just after a sweep of the White Sox (and a four-game winning streak) had put a positve spin on the future. It's a hard season to be a Twins fan.

As for the Angels, it's hard to say enough good things about them. They're not missing their two biggest hitters, Vladimir Guerrero or Torii Hunter, thanks to performances from guys up and down the lineup and off the bench. Kendry Morales has turned into an absolute stud, which is what the Angels had been waiting for after watching him hit .337/.393/.546 line in the minor leagues. Chone Figgins continues to be a dramatic and effective top of the order hitter. Erick Aybar is having a career year, making good on some decent minor league numbers. Juan Rivera is finally having another great season, his first since '06. And of course there's Bobby Abreu, who's simply a great hitter.

With an offense like that it's easy to overcome any deficiencies with the pitching staff, but in spite of down seasons by some of their hurlers there's still a lot of talent there. Jered Weaver can clearly be one of their better starters, and Ervin Santana can be effective when he's healthy. Joe Saunders is more than capable of pitching better than he has, and no matter how much of an idiot John Lackey looks like, he's actually a pretty good pitcher, too.

Right now, if I had to pick a team that would be going to the World Series from the American League, it'd have to be the Angels. Sure, the Red Sox and Yankees could pull it off, but I still find it hard to cheer for teams like that. And after the absolute shelacking we were on the end of at the hands of the Angels, I think it's a fair assessment.

Stars of the Game
#3: Joe Mauer (2-for-4, 2B, RBI, .028 WPA, nearly hit a home run)
#2: Orlando Cabrera (1-for-3, HR, RBI, R, BB, .053 WPA)
#1: Denard Span (0-for-3, BB, SB, .046 WPA, superb home run robbing catch)

I'm Glad This Series Is Over Because of...
#1: Glen Perkins (4+ IP, 12 H, 2 HR, 8 R, 2 K, BB, -.433 WPA)
#2: Jose Mijares (1 IP, 2 H, HR, 2 R, K, BB, -.011 WPA, allowed three runs off that homer)
#3: Carlos Gomez (0-for-3, 3 K, -.043 WPA)

Poll

How do you feel about the Twins right now?

Disappointed.

135 votes

Disgusted.

129 votes

I knew we should have had more pitching!

79 votes

When do the Vikings start playing pre-season ball?

69 votes

412 votes | Poll has closed

Angels Smear Twins Pitching All Over 35W & 94E Interchange

Jesse — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 10:22:24 -0000

More photos » by Paul Battaglia - AP

4 months ago: Los Angeles Angels' Sean Rodriguez is safe as he dives back to first on a pick-off attempt by Minnesota Twins relief pitcher R.A. Dickey during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009, in Minneapolis. The Angels won 11-6. (AP Photo/Paul Battaglia)

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As far as interchanges go, it doesn't get much worse.

After allowing 11 runs in extra-innings on Friday night, the Twins decided to break everyone's heart in regulation on Saturday and allow 11 runs in the allotted nine innings. It allowed everyone to get an earlier start on their Saturday night.

Orlando Cabrera's Debut

It wasn't a bad night for O-Cab. He looks good in a Twins uniform, although this might have something to do with the fact that I now compare everyone to Tony Batista and how he looked. It's a low bar.

At the plate he collected a pair of hits, scoring on a Justin Morneau single in the third and then plating Nick Punto in the eighth. His double in the third was a shot going the other way, slicing down the right field line and into the corner. Denard Span went from first to third, with Cabrera flashing some decent speed behind him. In the field he was largely as advertised, making four put-outs in four attempts. According to his THT stats, he made one play out of the two in his zone (not great), but he also converted a pair of outs outside of his zone (which balances it out a bit). He looked good moving to his left, and on his first play in the top of the first made a play on a tough hop as he ranged toward second base before making the throw to first.

Anthony Swarzak's Night

Everything he threw just wasn't good enough. It's harsh, but I can't lie; nine hits in three-plus innings on just 64 pitches looks more like batting practice than it does anything else. He struck out one (lucky guy, Bobby Abreu, although at least two of those pitches looked like balls to me), and to his credit didn't walk anybody. Although, well...he didn't have to. Nobody wanted to take a walk with all those pitches coming through the zone. Swarzak gave up a double and a triple in addition to his seven singles. But he didn't give up any of the three home runs. So we're ending on a positive.

Joe Saunders' Night

He was pretty much what I expected, which was a good thing. It was just unfortunate that the Angels hit Swarzak harder than the Twins hit Saunders.

Les Bullpenne

That's French for "the bullpen". R.A. Dickey (2.1 IP, 3 R, 1K, 3 BB, 1 HR) and Bobby Keppel (2.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 HR) couldn't keep it close. For the first half of the game the offense was keeping the Twins in it, and after five it was just 6-4. Dickey had just thrown a scoreless fourth (not counting the one Swarzak let in after two batters), although he did make it interesting; Dickey had also thrown a scoreless fifth. Then came that damn sixth inning.

Something named Sean Rodriguez singled, Chone Figgins walked, and then Maicer Izturis (yes, MAICER IZTURIS) decided that four home runs on the season wasn't enough, because five is his favorite number. With nobody out it was suddenly 9-4, and a game well within reach was suddenly a massive uphill battle.

Keppel's first two jobs were to get Juan Rivera and Kendry Morales. It went like this: strike-ball-ball-home run; ball-strike-strike-home run.

Joe Mauer

Joe was the only Twin who didn't get a hit on Saturday night. He also didn't walk. I guess even Joe can regress to the mean. Tears.

The Rest

Jesse Crain pitched a scoreless ninth, making him the only Twins pitcher to not allow a run. Morneau collected a trio of hits, including his 27th home run which made it 11-5. Carlos Gomez picked up another triple, and Mike Redmond joined Cabrera in the doubles club. Span, Cabrera, Morneau, Redmond and Punto all collected multi-hit nights.

Stars of the Game
Honorable Mention: Carlos Gomez (1-for-4, 3B, RBI, SB, .074 WPA)
#3: Justin Morneau (3-for-5, HR, R, 2 RBI, .057 WPA)
#2: Orlando Cabrera (2-for-5, 2B, R, RBI, .071 WPA)
#1: Mike Redmond (2-for-3, R, RBI, BB, .160 WPA)

The Dark Side
#1: Anthony Swarzak (3+ IP, 9 H, 6 R, K, -.511 WPA)
#2: R.A. Dickey (2.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 BB, -.062 WPA)
#3: Joe Crede (1-for-5, -.083 WPA)

Reviewing Dayton Moore at the Deadline: 2008

royalsreview — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:30:08 -0000

As we build up to the 2009 Trade Deadline, we continue our review of the past three deadlines of the Dayton Moore era. Click here for 2006 & 2007.

On July 31, 2008 the Royals woke up in a position they'd long become familiar with. At 50-59 (thanks to a four game winning streak), the Royals were way out of it in the AL Central, despite thrilling fans with their pursuit of a 75-win season. For the second straight season, fans expected at least some action. Rumors were out there involving Grudz, Mahay, DeJesus, Teahen, and Greinke. Dutton penned a story about Mahay and Grudz's emotions. Other players, such as Miguel Olivo, at least seemed possible.

Instead, Moore's deadline activity can be summed up pretty quickly: he made no trades.

At least not at or around the deadline, that is. Moore made two minor in-season deals, and reserved his real shockers for the off-season, when he made the Crisp-Ramirez and Jacobs-Nunez deals. As for the actual in-season trades:

June 6, 2008: Angel Berroa traded to Dodgers for Juan Rivera. One of the happiest days in Royals history, Berroa was the last no-hit, no-field, overpaid shortstop the Royals would ever field. Juan Rivera, a middleinfielder with a career .248/.298/.311 line and currently playingin Burlington, is, I believe, the first sub-.300 OBP guy Dayton ever acquired. He must have been desperate!

August 9, 2008: Horacio Ramirez traded to White Sox for Paulo Orlando. Of course, as we know now, we wouldn't be seperated from Ho-Ram for too long. Orlando, a unique baseballer from Brazil, is a 23 year old OF with a career minor league line of .259/.303/.393. He is currently a Blue Rock.

Not trading Greinke was a good thing. Not trading DeJesus was probably a good thing. Not trading Grudzielanek was a calculated risk, and the Royals lost the gamble. Grudz was hitting .300/.346/.401 at the deadline, and rewarded the Royals for their loyalty by getting injured by Ross Gload on August 1st, then failing to sign with anybody before it was too late. It's about results, and the Royals generated a losing result with Grudz. Not trading Mahay, who had more value last season than he does now, was another mistake.

2008 was Moore's worst deadline as the GM of the Royals, and given the two trades he made over the winter, in addition to his minor free agent spending spree, the idea was clearly in his head that the Royals needed to make a play for 2009-10. It is extremely likely that this will go down as a huge mistake, and one that may further set back a franchise that does not need any additional barriers.

During the second half of this decade, nearly every National League team has been a buyer at the deadline, and the constant shopping of the New Boston Red Yankees, as well as aggressive deadlines by both LA teams, has created strong seller's markets. No, the Royals have not had a huge number of tradeable assets (in part because of Dayton's free agent mistakes), but when you look at Dayton Moore's three deadlines in total, you have to conclude that he has failed to take advantage of his one suppposed strength, his scouting abilities.

Yes, Dayton has made multiple non-deadline trades, including the very good Bannister-Burgos swap. However, one can only wonder what he might have been able to get in 2007 or 2008 if he'd been a more active player in a competitive market. Look at what the Indians have done the last two deadlines: Cleveland has a better Major League and Minor League talent stream than the Royals, yet Shapiro (who is far from perfect) has done much to position the Indians for another run beginning in 2011. The Royals, in 2011, Gil Meche's farewell tour, will most likely be rebuilding again.

Indians Beat Angels while Talking Kendrick for Cliff Lee Trade

Rev Halofan — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:19:36 -0000

Final Score in Los Angeles of Anaheim: Angels 6, Indians 8

All Star closer Brian Fuentes blew a save for the first time in a long time as the Cleveland Indians shrugged off a 2HR night by Kendry Morales and a back-to-back-to-back HR outburst by Juan Rivera, Mike Napoli and Morales and came back with a 3 run Victor Martinez blast followed by a Jhonny Peralta solo shot in the 9th inning to win 8-6.

The Angels held Howie Kendrick out of the lineup on Monday and if he is in it tomorrow night at Angel Stadium, it may be in an Indians jersey. With a deal for Roy Halladay to the Angels dead on the Angels refusal to part with owner Arte Moreno's favorite employee shortstop Erick Aybar, the Angels are matching up well with the Tribe's need: a young 2Bman who is inexpensive and loves the fastball for a reliable #2 starter who could theoretically pitch deep into the playoffs.

But they won't be getting to the playoffs with the effort exuded tonight - starter Joe Saunders was lucky to get out of the game only giving up 4 Earned Runs and Closer Brian Fuentes was on the spot to allow the offensive flood that had been banging on the damn Angels dam all night. Carl Pavano could not accept the gift of early run support and allowed the trifecta HRs in the 2nd inning. Saunders put everythign in the heart of the plate and the Indians had a deja vu when Fuentes landed slow fastball after slow fastball for hearty hit to hungrey hitters looking to get traded to a winner.

Then Angels lead in the American League West shrank to 2.5 Games over the Texas Rangers.

Poll

Blame of the Game

Fuentes (4 ER)

460 votes

Saunders (4 ER)

103 votes

563 votes | Poll has closed