Comments on: Angels never made strong push for Zack Greinke, dropped out of bidding in early November

By: biasedhomer

biasedhomer — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 19:32:51 +0000

Now you are proven wrong, Angels sign the best free agent on the market for the second year in a row.

By: lanflfan

lanflfan — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:01:15 +0000

The choice was not to sign either Greinke or Weaver as if both were free agents at the same time. If that were the case, the Angels clearly would have made the right decision. Instead, the Angels got cheap and signed retreads. Smells similar to the McAsshat-era Dodgers.

By: cosanostra71

cosanostra71 — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 02:13:31 +0000

I don’t know if losing Torii will be that big of a hit. Trout is likely to continue to improve, there’s hope that Trumbo will play like he did in the first half of 2012 for all of 2013, and I think that Bourjos will be able to potentially match some of what Torii was able to do.

The rotation obviously isn’t as strong, but there’s potential if Hanson can regain form. Obviously CJ Wilson is overpaid, but he still produces as a decent enough complimentary pitcher.

I don’t see us getting a whole lot better, but I also don’t see us getting drastically worse. I see us being on the outside of the playoffs again, but I think we will be sort of in striking distance again.

By: soundsofsuccess7

soundsofsuccess7 — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:38:10 +0000

hey, maybe they didn’t think a merely above average pitcher isn’t worth that much… what a concept.. ..

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:13:50 +0000

Heh, you may no longer be the Lastros. Have hope!

By: jwbiii

jwbiii — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:55:58 +0000

The Angels are at about $124M as of now. The last two years, their opening day payrolls were $151M and $142M. I don’t think they’re done shopping.

By: gibbyfan

gibbyfan — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:53:41 +0000

You might not be far off on that Carl but look at the bright side.The Angels may have learned something from last year –you can’t aways just buy a championship.Look at the dodgers who took on close to a 200 million dollar payroll last year and wound up home for playoffs —Their answer was to throw in another 40 million or so on moves that maybe were not too smart.
Dont forget you have Trout from the start next year and ALbert is not going to start like he did so maybe it won’t be such a long season.

By: Carl Hancock

Carl Hancock — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:42:08 +0000

Sounds like the Pujols and CJ Wilson deals are already biting them in the ass. That was quick.

By: pauleee

pauleee — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:30:04 +0000

You underestimate the Angels’ ability to disappoint. You’ll get to see it first hand.

By: pauleee

pauleee — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:27:29 +0000

First off, we don’t have to “re-sign” Trout or worry about that for a little while yet. He’s not even arbitration-eligible for a few years yet. Weaver isn’t crazy, he wants to pitch at home and be happy. We’ve discussed this before.

Another reason why the season will be long for Angels’ fans is because of all the insufferable bandwagon Dodger fans (not real, true blue stick by them no matter what fans, I have no problem with you guys) who will come out of the woodwork now that money is being spent and the “we’re gonna take over the world!!!!” attitude pops up everywhere.

I can only hope for more Mattingly Magic ®.

By: stex52

stex52 — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:26:48 +0000

Maybe that wasn’t as high on his list as it is on yours.

By: stex52

stex52 — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:25:26 +0000

I’ll be happy, for one. But unless the Astros make some pretty good moves, I wouldn’t worry for another couple of years.

By: losanginsight

losanginsight — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:14:43 +0000

The lil step brothers in Orange County are saving up now to re-sign Trout but that still won’t be enough money. He will be in Dodger blue or in pin stripes. I really think Weaver had the mental disorder for leaving 60 mil on the table. He could have been a Dodger too and really played in LA.

By: pauleee

pauleee — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:14:35 +0000

Exactly. Had forgotten about Hunter. It’s going to be a long season.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:27:07 +0000

I’d be happy with Weaver as well…but the rotation is worse than it was last year and the lineup projects to be worse than it was last year (mostly due to the loss of Hunter). I wouldn’t be particularly optimistic about the 2013 prospects.

By: pauleee

pauleee — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:51:57 +0000

So we lost 3 of last year’s rotation and picked up Hanson and Blanton, neither of which stand up favorably to a healthy Haren. Couple this with all the noise up north in Dodgertown and the idea of LAA as LA’s team is becoming laughable.

What happens if we don’t actually “feast” on the Astros this year?

By: echech88

echech88 — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:36:40 +0000

So is this to suggest their GM is somehow brain-dead or rather that maybe, just maybe, the media likes to spin a story based on their own speculation?

For instance, when they got rid of Santana and Haren the media and fans all assumed it was for Greinke but I don’t recall ever reading anything quoted from the Angels or even an “Angels source” saying as much.

One thing that the media was not mentioning was that Pujols and Wilson signed deals that had really low salaries in year 1 to fit them into the 2012 budget knowing that in 2013 lots of money would be coming off the books.

So while the story this year was that they freed up all this money, it is possible it was more to finally pay up for last year’s big splash…not make room for another.

Either way, I do not see this team doing anything big like that until Vernon Wells’ contract is off the books.

By: biasedhomer

biasedhomer — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:31:32 +0000

Angels fans are glad they did not sign Greinke for $150M, they are happy with Weaver, who is signed for $60M less and is on a higher tier than Greinke.