Comments on: Springtime Storylines: Did the Angels buy themselves the A.L. West?

By: jikkle49

jikkle49 — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:24:29 +0000

To be fair it wasn’t Dipoto that stockpiled all the corner guy he pretty much inherited them all and I’m sure he would love to move some of them for the right offer.

By: cintiphil

cintiphil — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 03:12:59 +0000

Feliz, not Darvish.. Sorry

By: cintiphil

cintiphil — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 02:17:08 +0000

Feliz, not Darvish.. Sorry

By: cintiphil

cintiphil — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 02:16:08 +0000

Sorry, I meant Feliz, not Darvish.

By: cintiphil

cintiphil — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 02:05:28 +0000

Isringhausen will help NO ONE. He probably will not make it to the big team and stay in AAA, tuning up as they say. The Reds passed on him and Walt didn’t feel he was worth a second try at the bigs. Sorry, he was a great one at one time. Things change, and guys get older and get injuries.

By: cintiphil

cintiphil — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 02:01:26 +0000

It has already started. Darvish is ailing and who knows where Hamilton will be? Wilson seems to be pitching very well so far in the Cactus, so it may be that LAA did buy a winner.

By: randygnyc

randygnyc — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 22:51:43 +0000

I agree with the article, but itnfailed to mention the potential liabilities for the rangers with Hamilton, Cruz and Darvish. All 3 could have setbacks, for different reasons, this year.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 20:28:19 +0000

FC. In a word…YES. But I am not sure what your point is.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 20:27:35 +0000

Still with the luck thing Jonny? They SWEPT Atlanta…the won 2 of 3 against the Pirates and TRHEE OUT OF FOUR against your Phillies. They then went on to finish 23 – 9 to close the regular season. Think about that. They won 23 of their last 32 regular season games.
Again…23 – 9. 23 – 9 to close the regular season.
Then…they beat every pitcher you guys had in Philadelphia during the 1st round (last one in Philly with the annointed one on the hill). Then beat the Brewers in 6. Then kept plugging away…plugging away and took the W.S. from Texas. Yeah…they took it.
You are upset because you felt you should have been given the World Series w/ that Pitching staff of yours. But you gotta’ earn it.
Your luck comment is an insult.

By: buffalomafia

buffalomafia — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 20:21:23 +0000

Remember guys, what looks good on paper never happens in reality!

Look @ last year when most people predicted Boston vs Philly in WS?

Atlanta had best pitching staff in baseball & choked?

By: Jonny 5

Jonny 5 — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:44:50 +0000

The Cardinals got lucky, And hot at the right time. They also fixed their bullpen by trades last season and if that didn’t happen they wouldn’t have even made the playoffs.

By: lyon810

lyon810 — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:40:15 +0000

The Wire, you say?

By: scatterbrian

scatterbrian — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:14:24 +0000

The Cardinals had 26.

By: Glen

Glen — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:04:46 +0000

I’m guessing many of those blown saves came in one-run games, which the Angels played in too many of last year. An improved offense – Iannetta over Mathis, adding Pujols, Morales returning and possibly putting up solid numbers – should take a lot of that pressure off, and they shored the bullpen with (admittedly iffy) veterans to mentor Walden, something he didn’t have much of last year. I’m predicting 93 wins for the Angels this year, and I don’t know if that will be enough to pass Texas.

By: westcoastredbird

westcoastredbird — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:03:52 +0000

I’m not an Angels fan but buying Dinero Gigante for 10 years will more than compensate for their closer woes. The Cardinals had 25 lewinskis the same number of blown saves as the halos and you know how that story ended. An under the radar signing of Jason Isringhausen will definitely help in the closer department. In the second half of last year he was his old self. I was hoping the Cards would resign him but they now have closers. I have to hand it to Jerry DiPoto he has a great eye for talent and the financial resources to make it happen. A great closer is easier to find than a generational iconic slugger! It should be a great American League West race.

By: sportsdrenched.com

sportsdrenched.com — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:49:45 +0000

Of all the battles outside anything involving the Royals I’m looking forward to the Texas V Anahiem battle the most. Little twists like CJ Wilson giving out Mike Napoli’s cell number will make this rivalry more entertaining.

By: mrmulligan

mrmulligan — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:35:26 +0000

Hace to give the Angels the advantage currently. Rangers have some serious question marks in their rotation. I’d definitely take Weaver-Haren-C.J. over any Texas starters and Santana’s no slouch (if totally healthy).

By: Jonny 5

Jonny 5 — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:24:24 +0000

25 Blown saves killed them.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:22:35 +0000

Vernon Wells doesn’t not qualify as “great.”

By: Jonny 5

Jonny 5 — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:22:19 +0000

I thought, And still think the back of the bullpen was the knife in the heart of of the Angels last season. I think it was seriously foolish not to pick up a decent closer such as Madson to change the fact that THEY BLEW 25 SAVES LAST SEASON. Basically, the team they had last season won the division if they could have won half of the saves they blew. IMO they could have saved money and won the division this season by not buying Pujols and buying a good closer instead.

By: elgorditodehumboldt

elgorditodehumboldt — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:14:18 +0000

The Angels improved immensely this off-season addressing issues with their offense, bullpen and solidified one of the best starting rotations in baseball. While the Rangers lost their best pitcher (who signed with the Angels) and didn’t really do anything else this off season, other than signing an unproven Yu Darvish.

The Angels may have finished the season 10 games behind Texas last year, but the race was very close up until the last 2 weeks of the season when the Angels offense sputtered to a halt. With the improvements LAA has made, I foresee many hard fought battles for AL West dominance in the years to come.

By: IdahoMariner

IdahoMariner — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:11:48 +0000

Someday, sportswriters will be arguing about whether mike trout should be in the hall of fame, because he will have started in the majors so late, waiting for this logjam to clear, and will end up with fewer years, and possibly as a DH sooner than he would have. At least the Angels, unlike the Mariners with Edgar, have someone GREAT blocking him, not someone crappy.

By: Francisco (FC)

Francisco (FC) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:07:03 +0000

You know, first it was the Phillies: “NL Yankees”, now the Angels, “Yankees West”. At this rate, all big spending teams will dubbed “Yankees X, or “X Yankees” within 5 years or so.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:05:10 +0000

Look for Howie (or whomever is batting in front of AP) to have a monster year. They are gonna’ force feed him fastballs. I fully expect Howie to routinely buy AP’s Dinner when they go on the road as a token of his appreciation. LOL! Watch…Howie will break out!

By: rebeljpl

rebeljpl — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:33:19 +0000

I’m going to give the Angels some credit on their moves this year, and I’m a Rangers fan… But I agree with the article, I still think the Rangers are better in paper. They have more pitching depth and more bats. In a long season the depth and hitters should be able to keep them ahead in the west.