SB Nation User Blog: ihearhowie2.0

Angels interested in Freddy Sanchez

ihearhowie2.0 — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:24:26 -0000

Angels interested in Freddy Sanchez

Makes sense. Trade Howie in a deal for Cliff Lee, trade other guys for Freddy Sanchez, maybe groom sean rodriguez to be the 2nd baseman of the future.

Freddy and Howie's similarities go beyond cutsie names. They both hit for average and dont walk, both play 2nd base...but Freddy is 31(!). He has 28 doubles this year.

Thoughts?

A Letter to the Fans from Arte Moreno

ihearhowie2.0 — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 06:37:39 -0000

READ:

ARTE MORENO'S LETTER TO ALL ANGEL FANS

I think there's no question we have the best owner in sports and the best organization. Win or lose, agree or disagree... we all should be proud to be spoiled by such a classy and well-run organization that handles itself with dignity.

We may not be the best in the Win columns, but I wouldn't trade the Angels for any team in the world :)

Gallo officially charged with 3 counts of murder

ihearhowie2.0 — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:08:42 -0000

Gallo officially charged with 3 counts of murder

Yahoo breaking the story. Also being charged with another DUI...

If convicted of all 3 counts, its 55 to life in prison.

Lets hope for life

TONITE at 7pm: FSW to pay tribute to Nick, replay last night's start

ihearhowie2.0 — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:56:37 -0000

TONITE at 7pm: FSW to pay tribute to Nick, replay last night's start

Nothing more to say. Angels Live will be on to pay tribute to Nick, air his innings last night and offer a final tribute to Angels starting pitcher Nick Adenhart.

Angels shopping Matthews

ihearhowie2.0 — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:40:12 -0000

Angels shopping Matthews

"Angels manager Mike Scioscia says Matthews "isn't comfortable" with his role as a fourth outfielder, but despite rumors that the Angels may try to work something out with the Yankees, the contract will be difficult to move."

Peter Gammons ^^^

Maybe Figgins and Matthews for Aceves or Hughes? Maybe Swisher?

Manager Mike Scioscia said the Angels are not considering Wood at shortstop ahead of Erick Aybar or Maicer Izturis.

ihearhowie2.0 — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:49:40 -0000

Manager Mike Scioscia said the Angels are not considering Wood at shortstop ahead of Erick Aybar or Maicer Izturis.

Quotes in LA Times from Scoscia really make it sound like Wood is heading back to AAA or the bench.

Here's another:

Wood is hitting .378 this spring, and he leads the team with eight extra-base hits. He has struck out three times in 37 at-bats. He hit .127 last spring, with 22 strikeouts in 55 at-bats.

The Angels could accommodate Wood by rotating Chone Figgins among third base, second base and the outfield, leaving at-bats for Wood at third base, shortstop and designated hitter, but Scioscia said he has no plans to rotate players among defensive positions.

"We could tap into that if needed, but I don't think we're going to approach the season wanting to move guys," Scioscia said. "You need that defensive continuity."

Matthews whining about playing time - open to a trade?

ihearhowie2.0 — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:48:28 -0000

Matthews whining about playing time - open to a trade?

LA Times has some pretty annoying quotes from Matthews about how he was upset about how he was benched last year because he sacrificed his position and played hurt with a "serious injury"

Ya, way to sacrifice Gary. Playing hurt when you're totally ineffective is really putting the team ahead of yourself.

He says he wants to and plans on playing everyday this year and that he *hopes* its with the Angels.

Here to *hoping* its somewhere else.

LA Times reiterates team is re-emphasizing plate discipline

ihearhowie2.0 — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 04:38:40 -0000

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-angels-fyi4-2009mar04,0,6769707.story

A nice article to read for those of us who may be getting (too) antsy about the lack of plate discipline throughout the organization. Contrary to popular belief, Scoscia notes that about 3 years ago he began to emphasize plate discipline in the minor league teams to help our club distinguish good pitches from bad.

We haven't been in the top half of the league in walks since the Soth's first year although really, who cares with the winning we've had over that same period.

My question would be to mr. rghan as to whether there has been a noticeable increase in younger guys taking walks that we're not aware of?

ESPN all over the Halos today

ihearhowie2.0 — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:41:02 -0000

A lot of content today on worldwide leader of Red Sox coverage, not much of it too nice. Perhaps most interesting is an article contributed by Baseball Prospectus on how we've basically mismanaged our assets of Kendrick, Wood, Aybar and Morales by holding on to them too long and having it blow up in our faces to this point. They note that Howie's once huge ceiling has been reduced to basically Freddie Sanchez because hes completely reluctant to take a walk.

They also point out that Wood's current trajectory based on his numbers to date would make him the first player to strike out 150+ times and walk 12 times in an entire season. He's gonna be 25 years old and already approaching his peak age and we have nothing to show for it. Basically, to BP, we've wasted the value of our prospects by holding on to them and overvaluing them.

You need the Insider access to read it, but heres the link anyway:

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/news/story?id=3946072

****Theres also another article:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2009/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=3945381

That talks about our offensive woes. Basically it talks about how our offense is built for the regular season but our approach fails in the postseason against elite pitching when its harder to string together single after single to score runs.

The gem quote of the article courtesy of Mr. Hatcher:

"We don't have a lot of power in the lineup, so they'll throw us more strikes," hitting coach Mickey Hatcher said. "If you're dangerous all the way through the lineup like the Yankees, you're going to get more walks."

Mmhmmm.

LA Times update

ihearhowie2.0 — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:50:23 -0000

LA Times update

Things of note:

-Anthony Ortega isn't throwing off a mound yet because his arm got worn out in winter ball.
-Brandon Wood will have to "hit his way on to the team" to get him into a reserve role. Sounded as if Scoscia is content to have Wood back in AAA if he doesnt light it up this spring.

Today's lineup:

Reggie Willits, cf
Bobby Abreu, lf
Brandon Wood, 3b
Kendry Morales, 1b
Jeff Mathis, dh
Luis Figueroa, ss
Chris Pettit, rf
Ryan Budde, c
Kevin Ramos, 2b
Shane Loux, p