For the last several years, the Angels have been a good hitting team, putting up a collective team batting average that is among the best in the league.  This year is no exception, as they lead the league in both avg. and in scoring.  The knock against the team has been that the Angels, without much HR power, need too many hits to score in the postseason, which is less likely to happen when facing superior pitchers.  So, I decided to take a look at what I'll call "hit efficiency."

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Within the linked article, we learn that Nick Adenhart was sent back down to SLC following last night's win and Jose Arredondo was recalled.  Arredondo has been putting up good numbers for the Bees this year.  This will be his second stint with the big club this spring, although he has yet to take the mound in a regular season game.  The article doesn't say how long he can expect to remain in Anaheim, but another roster move will be necessary before tomorrow's contest because...John "Big Thunder" Lackey will be making his long-awaited 2008 debut tomorrow night!

Derrick Turnbow, former Angel farmhand, who comes complete with 15.63 ERA and 3.95 WHIP in 6 1/3 IP this year (6.13 in the last three years), has been designated for assignment by the not exactly pitching rich Milwaukee Seligs...er, Brewers.  Remember when fans were furious that the Angels let him go?  Umm...yeah.  In 10 days, he could be had for the major league minimum!  Any takers?  Perhaps he should go back to using steroids.  He could be the next Eric Gagne.  Oh, wait...

Forbes magazine has just issued its list of MLB team valuations.  Arte's team came in 6th, at a cool $500 million.  Not bad; I believe he paid under $200 million when he purchased the team in 2003.  The top-5 were the usual suspects: Bronx Skankees, Queens Mets, Chowds, Wrigleys and the Brooklyns.  Note that all of the teams ahead of the Angels own their stadiums (actually not sure about the Mets), and so there's a good bit of land value in each of those.

Scot Shields is apparently ready to come off the DL when eligible today.  Frankly, I'd be wary about bringing the guy up after only one inning in the minors.

Rich Thompson's implosion last night makes him the most likely to be demoted to the SLC Bees (or whatever they're called these days).  Thompson has done nothing in his admittedly limited major league experience to justify his presence.  He has pitched 7 2/3 innings; 3 2/3 have come against Texas, and he's allowed 9 ER in that time (including last night).

OK, so I'm still giggling about the possible headline after last night's Rangers-Mariners game (Hamilton Scores Game Winning Jack Off Putz), and I noticed that the M's supposed King of Closers is now on the DL with a ribcage injury.  I think that's already one more major injury than the M's suffered all last year.

The Halos have finalized their opening day roster.  Biggest surprise, IMHO, is Jason Bulger.  The guy had a fairly middling spring, but I guess they decided to go with him rather than add another guy to the 40-man, which probably would have been Nick Adenhart.  Plus, this way, Adenhart gets to pitch every 5th day, which is important for his continued development.

We also see that Darren O'Day and Rich Thompson made the team; no real surprise there, as they both had solid springs.  During the broadcast tonight, it was intimated that Shields may be back off the DL as early as the home opener, so one of those three may be headed back to SLC within the week.  Also, Bootcheck is supposedly ready to start throwing again, and could be back before the end of April as well.

I'm disappointed that Kendry Morales didn't make the team; I really don't think Robb Quinlan is better, except that Quinlan provides more defensive versatility, and I guess that's important.  As expected with the departure of Nathan Haynes, Reggie Willits made the team.

Well, the Angels are now about 1/4 of the way through Spring Training and though Opening Day is still more than three weeks away, things are starting to come into focus in the battle for what figures to be three available spots on the Halos' 25-man roster.

Barring any injuries, the team figures to open the season with the following.

Pitchers (11): Lackey, Weaver, Garland, Saunders, Santana, Rodriguez, Shields, Speier, Oliver, Moseley and ???.

Catchers (2): Mathis & Napoli.

Infielders (6): Kotchman, Kendrick, Aybar, Izturis, Figgins and ???.

Outfielders (6): Anderson, Hunter, GMJr., Guerrero, Rivera and ???

That means there's a spot for one relief pitcher, one infielder and one outfielder; however, the battle for the last spot in the bullpen is the most intriguing.

Despite a slow start and a mediocre 2007, Robb Quinlan figures to claim one of the final two spots for position players.  Quinlan offers flexibility in his ability to handle all four infield and outfield corners; he's a "vehtrun," and he's out of options.  If he doesn't make the roster, he's probably gone.  I can't see the Angels discarding him this early in the season.

Nathan Haynes figures to claim the other position spot.  In addition to his ability to play all three OF spots, Haynes provides speed off the bench, and quietly established himself as the Angels' alternative hitting coach last year.  Plus, Haynes is also out of options.

Thus, Quinlan and Haynes probably beat out the other contenders, chiefly Kendry Morales (who's probably better off playing every day in SLC than sitting on the bench in Anaheim) and last year's rookie sensation Reggie Willits.  Willits, with his versatility and OBP, would be a better choice, but other factors will conspire to relegate him to a role at AAA to start the season.

This brings us to the mound, where Chris Bootcheck's strained oblique opens up a spot, and the competition appears to be wide open.  The leading contenders are Jason Bulger, Jose Arredondo, Rich Thompson, Darren O'Day, Matt Wilhite, and Alex Serrano.

The first three are already on the 40-man roster, but there's room for one more as the Angels have only 39 players listed.

So, who will it be?  Conventional wisdom says it's Bulger, who already has some big league experience and posted a phenomenal K-rate at SLC last year (13.58 k/9).  But check out O'Day and Wilhite, both of whom have been getting regular work this spring and have pitched quite well.  O'Day has a much more impressive minor league track record; moreover, he's a sidewinder.  Guys like that tend to find their niche in the game as long as they can throw strikes.  See, e.g., Chad Bradford.

Prediction: Darren O'Day

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-matthews18feb18,1,7179072.story?ctrack=2&cset=true

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Everyone who entered the lottery...

Check your e-mail!

They're allowing one to purchase up to four tickets, but one can purchase tickets to only ONE (1) game.  So, you cannot purchase a pair of tickets to two different games.  I bought four for the second home game (i.e., Game 2 or Game 4 of the ALCS).

Looks like the Big Mango is returning to the mound, and Santana heading to the bullpen.

http://tinyurl.com/3xykdp

Frankly, this worries me.  Colon isn't effective unless he's healthy, and I'm skeptical that he is.  He was not terribly effective in his rehab stint, and this has been prophetic for him in the past.  Santana may be unreliable, but he isn't damaged goods.

It looks like Charles Nagy is going to get the job.  He was apparently Bud Black's choice to succeed him.  ESPN is reporting that another strong candidate, Dave Wallace, has signed on to be the pitching coach for the Houston Astros.

The promotion of Nagy opens up a spot that could be filled by Troy Percival.  Though there is sentimental support for hiring Percy as the Angels' pitching coach, it seems kinda risky to hand that job over to someone with no previous coaching experience.  Maybe in a few years, though.

ESPN.com is reporting that the Twinkies exercised their $12 million option (wow!) on their Gold Glove centerfielder, meaning he won't become a free agent this year and won't be patrolling CF for our beloved Angels.

I'm kinda glad this happened (and so quickly, to boot); I suspect the Angels might have overpaid for a declining player for the next three years.  I'd much rather see them pursue Vernon Wells, even though that would require trading some frontline talent.

There are two new episodes of this surprisingly well-done series that should interest Angels fans: profiles of Vladimir Guerrero and Bartolo Colon.

I watched the Vlad episode last night.  They visited his hometown, and interviewed both friends and family members.  In the show, we learn why Vlad swings at just about anything, and why he is able to hit just about any pitch.

The Colon episode is ready on my TiVo.

Previous episodes have offered entertaining and informative looks at Chone Figgins, Adam Kennedy and John Lackey.

The Dodgers just DFA'd journeyman reliever Giovanni Carrara (most of his journeys have been with the boys in blue, I think).  Anyway, he's a guy who might be able to help out the beleaguered bullpen a bit, as he would cost basically nothing.

Dig a little deeper into his 5.04 ERA and you'll see that the # is skewed by one truly awful outing in a 15-4 loss to the Marlins, in which Carrara yielded 5 ER in only 1 IP.  Subtract that one outing and he sports a 1.87 ERA.  He has struck out 22 in his 25 IP, with only 7 BB.  His WHIP (including the bad outing) is 1.28, and drops to 1.125 exclusive of the Florida game.

With Shields looking tired, Donnelly inconsistent, and the fact that Kevin Gregg is still Kevin Gregg, it might be worth taking a flyer on the guy.

The Cincinnati Reds just obtained former Halo whipping boy Scott Schoeneweis from the Blue Jays, for the well-traveled "player to be named later or cash."

Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!

As bad as the Angels' pen has been outside of Shields & K-Rod, things could always be worse: imagine if Schoeneweis were an improvement!

I can remember that last year, there were people clamoring for the Angels to acquire free-agent-to-be Preston Wilson for a bit of an offensive spark.

Well, he's available again.  The Houston Astros  outright released him the other day.

He's got a line of .269/.309/.405, with only 9 HR this year (55 RBI) in 390 AB.  Oh, and he's struck out 94 times against only 24 BBs.

Is he better than Willits, Murphy or Pride?

Would he be a good fit (would cost only the prorated ML-minimum) for the rest of the year?

Discuss.

Came across this article from Yahoo! Sports by Jeff Passan, about the trials and tribulations of some of the Angels' rookies.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-angels080806&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

One can sometimes forget that three of the most important players in the Angels' championship run in 2002 were rookies...pitchers, at that.

Jose Arredondo made his debut for the Class-AA Arkansas Travelers tonight.  He picked up the win, 1-0, tossing a complete game, five-hit shutout.  He allowed only two walks and had a no-hitter through 4 2/3 innings.  He struck out 8, and posted an impressive 13/6 GB/FB ratio.

I wound up making it out to Rancho for his penultimate start for the Quakes and was impressed with his repertoire (I posted a diary about it about 2 weeks ago).  This guy was not very high on any list of top prospects coming into the season, but his performance this year must be opening some eyes.  He only started pitching two years ago after failing to hit as a position player (shortstop), but if he continues at this rate he might make it to the big club sometime in 2007.

Final Score: Lake Elsinore (Padres) 6, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Angels) 3.  WP: Carter.  LP: Arredondo.  I made the trek out to Rancho to catch the action this evening, and sat directly behind home plate, 4th row up, amongst a bevvy of scouts.

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It's like déja vu all over again...

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