We are just about a week into the season and the Angels are off to a disappointing start. All the stats tell us that over the course of the season, this team will be just fine. After all, its not like we are losing games 1-0 like we did last year and there is no reason to think that we will keep giving up 10 runs a game. Jered Weaver and Dan Haren will end up with great stats by the end of the season, Albert Pujols will hit home runs and bat over .300 and this team will win more than 50% of its games.

However, the team blowing leads in two consecutive games and starting the season 2-4 sends my human mind in chicken little mode... think "OMG!!1!! ThE SkYZ's FaLLInGZ!!!!! Albert Pujols is a flameout, Kendrick forgot how to hit, Weaver and Haren are flops and our bullpen is crap!!!!" After all, if they continued on this pace, the team would finish 54 and 108. Yikes!

But this is what makes baseball a great sport. Unlike other sports, this is a season that ensures each team will have slumps and will have periods of dominance. Even the Houston Astros who won just 56 games put together two 5 game winning streaks last year. Just about every team will win 60 games and lose 60 games over the season.

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I found this little nugget stashed away on MLBtraderumors:

Peter Bourjos, meanwhile, is still prominent on the Nationals’ wish list for center fielders, but the Angels want considerable value back if they deal him. With Torii Hunter in the final year of his contract, there is room for the Halos to keep both Bourjos and Mike Trout.

Torii Hunter's comment that he wants to play for 2 or 3 more years made a lot of headlines over the slow news weekend. Since we have Trout waiting to rise to superstardom, the living statue of Vernon Wells set up in Left Field and Peter, The Fastest Man on Earth, Bourjos Covering 50% of the Outfield by himself, it looks like Hunter will be moving on.
While I have immense confidence in DiPoto's skills, I doubt even he can move Vernon Wells at this point. But, what if he is looking at moving Bourjos to the Nationals or some other team? What kind of return could he net? Assuming that Hunter would stick around (seems reasonable since he was begging Arte to give him a bench role earlier in the offseason) at a discounted rate and keep giving us his .280/ 25 HR production, what kind of return would he have to pull to trade Bourjos to make a deal like this work?

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Or: Explaining the Scioscia/ Mathis Love Affair

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I was working on this for a while, put it aside when I got busy the last couple weeks but now seems like a good time to throw it out there.  A lot of people seem concerned that Brandon may end up catching on with another team, figuring out how to hit and become a major offensive threat for them.  Let's take a look at his potential and we can expect out of him.

Rather than offer what has become the standand, OMG! Brandoz WOod is the sUcKZ!!!  type of post, I will present the case for what has happened to Wood, demonstrate why he is failing, and discuss a bit of what his potential is at this point.

Let's start with a quick reminder of what Brandon looked like in 2006 with Arkansas. 

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All this reminiscing about the Angels in the 90's (and fans cheering loudly: here) reminded me of what I hated more than anything else about that cursed decade of baseball- the fans of other teams openly cheering for the visiting team and cheering against and even booing Angels players.  It drives me crazy to feel like a visitor in my Home stadium.

What makes it even worse is when we, as loyal followers of the home team, cannot muster enough support from the surrounding spectators to convince these people to shut their mouths.  It used to seem the apathy from the field had permeated into the stands and convinced the fans there was nothing worth getting excited over.  Even last season there was a group of twins fans that were so loud they silenced the entire section I was in. 

Well Angel fans, ENOUGH!

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Looking back at what has been the larger part of the 2010 season, I can't help but wonder if this couldn't have turned out much differently.  Something that has always marked the Scioscia era of Angels baseball has been an each game counts mentality.  This crucial part of our game was gone this year.  We were in a state of waiting for things to fix themselves for the first 2 months of the season- a time where were found ourselves 20-24.  Even now Scioscia allows his team to be run by roles rather than matchups.

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Watching Brandon Wood become the Angels permanent handicap (and reading the awful critiques of Wood thus far... talking to you block writer) has gotten me thinking, the last few years we've had a catcher who was a handicap our team as well.  Jeff Mathis, before figuring it out in the playoffs last year, was for 3 seasons allowed to "hit" a line of
Avg=.204/ OBP=.280/ SLG=.325/ OPS=.605 with 212K's in 691 AB for a 27% strikeout rate. 

Wood, so far this year, has hit a line of:
Avg=.167/ OBP=.179/ SLG=.228/ OPS=.408 with 34k's in 116 AB for a 29% strikeout rate

And for his career in the majors he is:
Avg=.183/ OBP=.208/ SLG=.284/ OPS=.492 with 108 in 356 AB for a 30% K rate.

So sure, Mathis's defense was what kept him in the game, he was among league leaders in many defensive categories (including errors... in the bad way), but the Front Office's dedication to letting these guys they have seen come up through the minors wallow in their filth until they finally snap out of it is amazing. 

Some of what must be going through the minds of Angel's Front Office personel is that they stuck with guys like Morales and Mathis who hadnt showed much offensively in limited looks.  They stuck with Napoli on defense and he is said to be improving greatly.  

This team is immensely loyal to their players.  How long did we keep giving Gary Matthews Jr. at bats?  Mathis got nearly 600 AB of .200 hitting.  Numbers of pitchers have been allowed to stink it up before they finally break through and become successful- Not that I'm saying Wood will ever do that, we simply don't know. 

I'm just pointing out the fact we can probably count on a full season of Wood, maybe 2 if previous player handling is an accurate reflection of what to expect.  Maybe its the NL in Scioscia and he loves to keep an easy out in the lineup.  Whatever the case is, let's hope Wood figures out how to hit soon.

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I was looking over Wood's stats for the year so far and started messing around with the hit/ out/ ball in play tool.  I noticed that wood has exclusively grounded out to the left side and has exclusively hit fly outs to right field.
Such an extreme split seemed odd to me so I started digging a little further. 

I started looking at times in the past when Wood has done well- 2008 is the best example- and it appears when he is doing well, he pulls more fly balls (home runs) and goes opposite field on the ground.  Basically, Wood's approach is all screwed up- big surprise.  This could be because pitchers are giving him different pitches to hit, or because he has changed his approach.

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Considering the main objectives for the offseason were to add some pitching and a solid hitter- apparently with Matsui being the hitter- We should still be in the market for some pitching.  Now that Texas has poached Oliver from us, It is looking more likely to me Palmer is going to stay in the bullpen and we will add a starter.  Below is a list of some of the major FA starting pitchers I found and a few comments on each. 
My personal feeling is someone like Doug Davis, Joel Pineiro or Jarrod Washburn would be a great fit.  I would also be interested in bringing back Garland, he was a solid guy to throw out there every fifth day.  So what are your thoughts, who do you want to see on the mound for the angels in 2010 besides Weaver, Kazmir, Santana and Saunders?

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Seriously people, why the panic? 

Yes, the Halos missed out on Halladay and Lee.  Yes, Lackey is off to bean-town, Figgy will be running in the cold seattle rain and we appear to have traded one aged OF with a handicap placard for another. 

But when has this kind of stuff stopped us from winning?  And what do Seattle's improvements have to do with our ability to win? 

Lackey has missed the beginnings of the last two seasons and we still managed to play solid baseball.  Figgins had a great year last year but we've lost him to injuries in the past and we kept on winning.  Vlad missed significant time and we played great while he was gone.  We don't need to panic, we dont need to make a signing just to make a signing.  We have talent and we will continue to win. 

So, stop the crying, put down the bottle and let's be optimistic.  Worst Case Scenario, Itzturis is not that much worse than Figgins, Kazmir, if Butcher gets him going right- can easily replace Lackey and we still have all our prospects and some payroll flexibility for potential midseason acquisitions. 

And hey, just 9 weeks until pitchers and catchers can report to spring training.