Comments on: How bad was the Angels' offseason?

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:24:33 +0000

Baghdad. 1/21/10. AP:
In a frank and wide-ranging interview given this afternoon to Christian Amanpour, Baghdad mayor Sabir al-Issawi said that, despite the renewed waves of bombings, assassinations, sabotage and sectarian strife plaguing his city, “this job sure beats being the General Manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. This place may be the shithole of the universe but at least we know which shithole we actually live in.”

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:29:13 +0000

The Angels scored the second most runs in the AL last year. They upgraded slightly from Vlad to Matsui and they downgraded moderately from Figgins to Wood/Izturis. Even with some regression, the Angels should still score 800 – 850 runs, which is 200 more than the Mariners scored last year. The Mariners did not make 200 runs worth of upgrades to the offense, especially considering Branyan is gone (probably).
Also, the top two of the Mariners rotation is fantastic, obviously. But I would say that all five of the Angels starters are better than the Mariners’ bottom three (Rowland-Smith? Petit? Snell? Vargas?).
I’m not denying the Angels got worse and the Mariners got better. Clearly that happened. Texas and Oakland both got better as well. But to say that it’s unlikely they’ll be battling Seattle for the division seems silly at this point.

By: HaloFan

HaloFan — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:28:54 +0000

The Angels didn’t overpay for two homegrown talents who are unlikely to live up to their contracts. They didn’t overpay, in terms of prospects and major league talent, for an elite pitcher (as much as I would have liked Lee or Halladay) that may have only been around for a single season. They didn’t bite on other big-name free agents that didn’t seem to be a good fit. They made an upgrade at DH for a very reasonable amount and length, fortified their bullpen (not to mention the return of Scot Shields), filled their 5th starter spot with the best guy on the market, cleared room for their highest ceiling prospect, and saved a ton of money for next year’s free agent class. Overall, I’m very pleased with their long-term vision. The Mariners have a long way to go . . . that offense scares no one.

By: David Chase

David Chase — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:04:28 +0000

(i)And they will also have a full season from Scott Kazmir, who may not have been 100% healthy last season either.(/i)
Is there such a thing as a full season of healthy Kazmir? Just get used to lots of walks, lots of deep counts and a good amount of general frustration to go along with the occasional brilliant start. At this point he is like Rich Harden Light.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:14:21 +0000

“This doesn’t make them the Mets. But in my mind it makes them more likely to be battling the Red Sox, Rays, and Rangers for the wild card than to be battling the Mariners for the division crown.”
The Red Sox are easily better than the Mariners are. Deeper rotation, much better offense and similar defense and bullpens. It’ll be easier to win the AL West next year than the AL Wild Card.

By: J. McCann

J. McCann — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:52:01 +0000

And they gained a ton of draft picks, kept within their budget, and have enormous flexibility in the years going forward.
This all hurts them for 2010, but helps tremendously in the years as they go by.

By: ecp

ecp — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:47:39 +0000

“…it makes them more likely to be battling the Red Sox, Rays, and Rangers for the wild card than to be battling the Mariners for the division crown.”
I’m not ready to anoint the Mariners yet, nor am I hurrying to have Jack Zduriencik canonized as so many others are doing. I’d go into the reasons why, but Rob Neyer already captured them for me:
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/2066/are-the-mariners-really-that-good
Don’t get me wrong, I like what they’ve done, but let’s play the games first.

By: Moses Green

Moses Green — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:33:48 +0000

Jeez Bill, and I thought the Boston Globe writers had a negative outlook and bad attitude. Don’t forget that in swapping Pineiro’s contract for Lackey’s they saved beaucoup dollars. They also get the 4 compensation picks from Figgins and Lackey, both developed within the Halo’s system. At worst they’ll be trading chips to get someone cheap at the deadline. Godzilla is at least 20% less crippled than Vlad, and next year they’ll sign someone 20% less crippled than that. The Amazing Jack Z has been pretty amazing, but there’s nothing legal that they can do about that.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:29:19 +0000

Yes they went from Lackey to Piniero, but they also presumably will be getting a healthy Ervin Sanatana for the whole season, something they didn’t have last year. And they will also have a full season from Scott Kazmir, who may not have been 100% healthy last season either.