SB Nation User Blog: Rally Manatee

Search the trees...and the Del Taco

Rally Manatee — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:51:20 -0000

Search the trees...and the Del Taco

All is quiet on Thanksgiving Day. Almost too quiet! I feel as if a ninja could pounce at any moment.

Jason Marquis

Rally Manatee — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:34:20 -0000

I have come to the conlusion that the Angels depth is a little too thin right now to swing a blockbuster trade for someone like Halladay, and it is my opinion that we can win it all without him anyway. So, I've been pouring over the list of FA pitchers to see if there are any diamonds in the rough that could keep the Angels competitive with the other perrenial post-season teams in the event of a Lackey departure.

Only one man really seems to stand out, and that is Jason Marquis. Some facts: He has pitched fewer than 190 innings only once in the past 6 seasons (167 in '08). He has had no significant injuries. He just turned 31 in August, making him only 2 months and 2 days older than Lackey. Since giving up a career high 35 HRs in '06, he has gotten his HRs-allowed down to 15 in the last two seasons, and last year was in the launching pad of Coor's Field. His '09 WHIP was a career low 1.380 as a full time starter. That's a better '09 WHIP than Saunders, Santana, and Kazmir. His lefty/righty splits are about even. Money wise, he earned under $10 mil last year. He should get a raise, but he'll cost far less than the $16/yr or whatever it is that Lackey wants.

All of the above, plus the fact that there are zero other good, young, healthy, free agent, starting pitchers, makes me believe that Tony Reagins needs to be at Marquis' neighborhood Del Taco at the same moment that Lackey is signing papers with the Spanks or Sux. (Joel Piniero had a good '09, but he's due for his next injury.) Marquis may not be a bonified ace, but the facts are we just can't get an ace this year without trading away the farm. However, if Lackey makes room for him, I believe that Weaver will step into the role of staff ace. And Marquis is as quality a #2 starter as Saunders, Santana, or Kazmir. This will allow us to continue to use guys like O'Sullivan, Palmer, and Bell in more strategic ways, and will let them develop in their proper timing, rather than relying on one of them to hold down the 5th spot. Plus, we can give the money we save to Figgy, Oliver, Vlad...

Please weigh in.

Meet Our Newest Halos Fan!

Rally Manatee — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:18:03 -0000

Hey Everyone. Here's a quick update. Melody Ann was born November 1st, at 2:59 pm! Check her out! She's almost 3 months premature. She's a little smaller than David Eckstein at 14 inches, 2 lb. 4 oz. She seems pretty healthy so far. Thanks to everyone who has been praying and wishing us well. Keep it up! It is slightly unfortunate that she had to be born into a world where the Yankees are in the World Series instead of our Angels. Let's hope our boys are there for her first birthday next year!

UPDATE: The complicated pregnancy that coincided with the ALCS was discussed in RallyManatee's Angel Fan Down FanPost in mid-October

Angels Fan Down!

Rally Manatee — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:46:35 -0000

So, my wife is 25 weeks pregnant, thank you, thank you. She's an Orange County native, and life-long Angels fan. Yesterday afternoon, our Dr. discovered that she was already dilated about 3 cm, and rushed her to the hospital. To make a long story no less than 75 words, she underwent surgery to stitch her cervix closed (sorry if your squeamish). This will hopefully keep our unborn baby girl Angels fan, Melody, in the womb for another few weeks. If she marinates a little longer, she can be delivered prematurely without much risk of deformity. So, I'm telling the HH community because I know many of you are believers, and will pray for Melody, Stacey, and me. We've already bought Melody a Rally Monkey onesie, so she's gotta pull through, right? Believe in the power...

We got to watch the ALCS, game 1 in the hospital room, but my wife was taken into surgery in about the 5th inning. When the doctor came to get me afterward, and I walked into the recovery room, her first words were, "How are the Angels doing?" What a wonderful woman. I wish I had better news for her, but they were already down 3 to 1. Let's hope they take game 2 tonight while we watch from the hospital bed. Go Angels! Do it for Nick, and do it for the unborn Angels fans like Melody!

Why watch the waiver wire? Weaver's the way to win The West.

Rally Manatee — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:32:36 -0000

Some names have been tossed around about who the Angels should go after to improve our pitching. It seems like a lot of fans here don't understand how waivers work. Since we are at the top of our division, we are one of the last teams to get a chance to claim a player off waivers. So, there is little to no chance we are going to get Heath Bell, or any other good player off waivers this season.

I think our only hope is that enough of our in-house pitchers turn it around down the stretch. The bullpen has certainly settled down, though. In the past 30 days, Jepsen, Bulger, Oliver, and Palmer all have ERA's under 3.00. If they keep it up, and Fuentes has no more hiccups, the pen should be okay.

What we really need is to have at least one, if not two, of our starting pitchers step it up. Lackey and Santana look good right now, but there's no way two starters can carry us to and through the post season. I really hope Weaver isn't injured and hiding it like Saunders was. Let's hope that last start was just a fluke. We need Weave to return to form immediately to make this last push to the playoffs.

Torii vs. Manny. Class vs. Ass. Check this out from the OC Register. "According to reports, the...

Rally Manatee — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:54:29 -0000

Torii vs. Manny. Class vs. Ass. Check this out from the OC Register.

"According to reports, the Dodgers' Manny Ramirez spent five days on a rehab assignment and never paid for the postgame meal for his minor league teammates. The Angels' Torii Hunter has different plans. "Every night," he said. "I've been in A-ball. I know what it's like. We're going to definitely have some good food down there."

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/angels-hunter-percival-2524781-monday-home

Sean O'Sullivan throws no-hitter for Bees

Rally Manatee — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:46:49 -0000

Sean O'Sullivan throws no-hitter for Bees

I guess he's used to facing ML hitters! It's like he's saying, "Do you really want to trade me?" Good job Sully!

George Sherrill rumor

Rally Manatee — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:11:12 -0000

I didn't see any other post on this subject yet. www.mlbtraderumors.com mentions the Angels are interested in George Sherrill as a setup man. An O's scout was at the game last night. Apparently they're asking for 2 top prospects, possibly Wood and Reckling. To me, that sounds a little steep. With the possibility of Dondo coming back into form, I'd rather gamble on our own boys shaping up. What do you think?

Izturis at 2B, not S Rod?

Rally Manatee — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:24:49 -0000

Izturis at 2B, not S Rod?

This is from the article on Kendrick being sent down, from the Angels main site. "While Kendrick tries to work out the kinks with Salt Lake, Izturis will assume his role at second, with a subsequent move by the club to be made Saturday." I really hope this is just speculation.I know Izzy had a good night and is good in his own way, but I can't stand the thought of the powerless trio of Figgins, Aybar, and Izturis all being in the lineup together night after night. With the way he is raking in SLC, how can they deny S Rod a shot? I really hope that "subsequent move" evolves into S Rod getting some starts.

Anyone know about the Sunday T.V. broadcasts?

Rally Manatee — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:42:49 -0000

Anyone know about the Sunday T.V. broadcasts?

Right now, the schedule shows FSN/FOX will cover just about every game, all year, Monday - Saturday, but none of the Sunday have a network listed yet. Anyone heard who's picking up those games? I hope it's not KCOP because we don't get those games in the Santa Barbara area. Sunday is my favorite day to watch a game on t.v. I really hope they don't botch things up again for us Santa Barbarians like last year.