The Halos Heaven community is, of course, excited about the turnaround we've seen in the Angels during the last month. Naturally, that has caused a lot of debate about why. One very basic reason is that the Angels are hitting better. Here are some numbers from FanGraphs that help quantify the turnaround.

Continue reading this post »

Alexi Ramirez: young, inexpensive, plays a bunch of positions, (seems) clutch, and (seems to stay) healthy. He's had a good spring and played pretty good last year too.

I think the Angels should keep him in the big leagues this year and trade either Izturis or Callaspo. Ideally the trade would also include unloading Abreu, but that's probably just wishful thinking.

Is he ready? And which of the other utilityman would you want to keep?

What do we need in return: Bullpen arms? Prospects? Salary Dump?

Ed: moronic identification error. glad to amuse; pleez forgive

I got to thinking about this after skimming Starks article at the 4-letter network.  I guess I'm not that big an advocate for realignment since I pretty much like how things are set up for the Angels.  I do get annoyed by inter-league play since I hate watching the pitchers bat (yeah yeah I know there is always Mathis...)  But if I was in charge I think this is how I'd set it up.  It's basically geographical; some teams could easily be swapped.

Pacific

Los Angeles Angels 

Oakland Athletics 

Seattle Mariners 

Los Angeles Dodgers 

San Francisco Giants

San Diego Padres

Western

Texas Rangers 

Houston Astros

Arizona Diamondbacks 

Colorado Rockies

Minnesota Twins

Kansas City Royals

North

Chicago White Sox

Detroit Tigers 

Chicago Cubs

Milwaukee Brewers

Cleveland Indians

St. Louis Cardinals

East

Boston Red Sox 

New York Yankees 

Pittsburgh Pirates

New York Mets

Philadelphia Phillies

Toronto Blue Jays

South

Tampa Bay Rays 

Cincinnati Reds 

Atlanta Braves

Florida Marlins

Washington Nationals

Baltimore Orioles

Playoffs 

5 Divisions winners 

3 Wildcards based on best record

note: this post has been edited to reflect some good suggestions in the comment section

http://www.hoopism.com/assistsByPlayer/

check out the passing chart (last year's I'm afraid) and post your observations.

Things I noticed:

1. Melo doesn't pass as much I would have hoped, though I guess he is supposed to score more than pass.

2. Nene passes quite a bit.  But Melo never seems to have passed to him.

3. I don't think Birdman gets the ball often enough to actually pass

4. Carter passed about as much as Lawson.  Glad that's gonna change this year.