Yankee and Red Sox fans here on Guam have been beating me up over the fact that our record is a product of a poor division. Yes, the Angels kicked our ass, but that is a fluke. Look at the strength of the divisions.

Every so often I check the strength of the division standings by compiling the W-L records/win percentages. Yeah, throughout this season the AL West has been behind the East.

Until Now.

AL West .530, AL East .529.

'nough said.

Now, this is a big reason why I love this particular Angels team. Camaraderie. Vlad, a future HOF, an Angel Icon, was given the business after his first HR in a long time. I quote from my Panther reply:

"Vlad was soooo pumped when he hit the hr he almost took off the third base coaches hand heading toward home. When he got to the dugout he was pumped and everyone just ignored him and stared straight ahead, solemnly. Vlad was like “WTF?” Then everyone erupted into joyous congrats. Abreu was busting out laughing as were the rest of the crew." Precious. Priceless.

To me, this was the best part of the win. Being from Guam, usually I come on late and everything is already said. Seems like everyone missed this. Anyone else saw this? Anyone else impressed? Anyone with video?

I'm sitting here on Guam, checking halos heaven for comments and trying to blog, and as usual there is not much going on (7PM here equals sleep time for HHrs). Can't get into any conversations, trying to stir up trouble, and nobody biting. Usually that's okay, but tonight I was especially excited about the beginning of the season and thought there would be someone up I could harrass. Alas, nothing.

So, since I am both bored and excited, I decided to do a fanpost. Havn't done one in quite awhile. My first few ideas were kind of lame:

1. Announce how I was going to stomp goodvibe in the pregame guesses championship this year. That wasn't very interesting because I'm sure everyone already knows I will win this year.

2. Talk about how I am the all knowing King of Angels Wisdom. Beyond stats. All Knowing (may have said that already). But again, I'm sure everyone already knows that.

So, I finally came upon a (great?) idea. On May first I will call you all out. Here it is:

*Who will have the lowest ERA in April - Mose, Ad, or Lu. I'm callin' ya out, Mose dissers. On May 1st, I will report. Who will win. No poll. Step up.

I guess they all did it. Maybe not? I keep seeing a number of 104 out 671, 402, 1000. Does it matter? You can't hide forever. They tried to hide 2003. Can you hide something? Can you hide it because the players association wants to? Maybe. Maybe you hide it because the owners association wants to hide it too.

Did A-Rod do Steroids prior to his MVP/HR 2003 season? Maybe.  Maybe is bad enough. Maybe Clemens did it. Maybe Sosa did it. Maybe Bonds did it. Maybe Ma quire did it. Maybe?

And now, the number is MAYBE more that 104 out of whatever. They retested bonds sample with a new improved method, and he turned out positive. How many more will turn out positive with this new improved method.

I think we all get it. Steroids were legal (or not illegal), and many, many, people did it.

Or maybe, they all did it. Did the 2002 Angels do it? Maybe.

What now? When did it start? When does/did it stop? When does it end?

This FanPost was inspired by Kristie_Joe and Marshgr.

Alright, I am going to try and tackle our payroll situation and future considerations. I'm a bit in-over-my-head here, but I can give it a go. I'm rounding here, give me a break.

Our Current Payroll:

1) 2008 starting 25 payroll = 118mil (minus Kotch)

2) Minuses (mil) = Frankie (10), GA (14?), White Sox Pitcher guy (12) = 36mil

3) Plusses (contract increments) (mil) = Tori (1.5), Vlad (.5), Escy (.5), GMJ (1), Lackey (2) Shields (0.75), Speier (.5), Morales (0.1), plus Oliver increase (1mil) = 9mil

4) Plusses (arbitration eligible) guess (mil) = Nap, Santana, Fig, Iz, Q = 10  mil

5) Other 25 man (typical 50K or so raise) (mil) = Mathis, Aybar, Kendrick et al = 1 mil

So what I have here is a payroll so far for 2009  = about 100mil (right now)

Our Max payroll is 120 mil (I would guess this is as high or higher compared to Yankee and Red Sox payroll compared to what they take in. Don't expect it to be higher). Tex would probably have broken this barrier.  Obviously Moreno and Team were ready to go for it despite the cost (and future cost).

Future Cost, 2010: The economy isn't going to get much better. Let's say are budget is still 100mil and we don't sign anyone else this year. The add on for next year would be:

Re-sign Lackey (raise 10 mil/yr min) and Vlad (raise 3mil/yr min) = 13 mil

Add on 10 mil arbitration eligible and a couple mil increments = 12 mil

That puts us at 125mil for 2010

Tex was a luxury that was worth (maybe) the gamble because of  his exceptional ability. He would have cost us in the future. Who else out there is worth this gamble?

Fuentes? add 10 mil. Lowe? add 10 mil. Peavy trade? add 10 mil.

With Peavy we go over budget, but like Tex, he is  (maybe) worth it.

Let's say I'm 5/10 mil high or so.  Let's not split hairs.

Like I've said before, it ain't easy having a contending team year after year. Cudos to Moreno and Co. Keep it real.

I loved VladIS's latest fanpost (us vlads stick together), so I have decided to take it one step further. Hey, what the hell, its Sunday. This is for all you die hard 170/8yr Teix fans.

Dear Theo,

C'mon. You have this very good big sweaty albino gorilla at 1st, and a really good third baseman already. Teix isn't  worth nearly as much to you as us. And besides, what you really need is a guy with offensive stats comparable or better than Teix's but at a different postion. There is one guy on the market that fits that description:  Manny Ramirez.

Yeah, I know you guys have had your problems, but it is time to man up. He is the man you need. He fits perfectly into  your team. If you really care about your team, you will put your ego aside. Call Manny and set up a meeting. The script should be as follows.

Theo: I'm stupid, you're smart. I was wrong, you were right. You're the best, I'm the worst. You're good looking, I'm not attractive.

Manny: All right, as long as you're willing to admit that.

Then everything will be back to normal in NE Patriot Land.

(Bonus points: What movie is the script from)