Blogs By FansC70 At The Bat
Sponsor


Cardinals_WideSkyscraper.jpg

Baseball Schedule is your best source for the latest St Louis Cardinals Schedule information as well as keeping up with division rivals including Cubs Schedule, Reds Schedule, Brewers Schedule and Astros Schedule.

Bet on the Cardinals with Sports Interaction's MLB betting lines


Slots Galore Casino Tournaments

Get your tickets from Bubba! Cheap St. Louis Cardinals Tickets and more, including tickets for the next MLB All-Star Game. Bubba's got Boston Red Sox Tickets and New York Yankees Tickets

Authentic, large selection of Cardinals memorabilia, guaranteed and certified.

Subscribe
RSS Feed

Archives

Players

Categories


Alliance tickets has an extensive inventory of St. Louis Cardinals Tickets , Colorado Rockies Tickets, San Francisco Giants Tickets and Seattle MarinersTickets.

With all of the St Louis tickets out there, Cardinals tickets and Rams tickets make for great presents. GoTickets.com can fill all of your sports tickets needs, just check out our testimonials!

Playing Pepper 2011: Los Angeles Angels

Posted on March 8, 2011 at 3:34 PM
Filed Under: Los Angeles Angels | Playing Pepper
Two years ago, I started a series I called Playing Pepper, where I asked questions of bloggers of each major league team about the season to come.  Not only was that informative and entertaining, it led to the spawning of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.  With spring training coming up, it's time to get back into shape by again playing a little pepper.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (80-82, 10 GB and third in the AL West)

For the last few years, it's been just automatic that the Angels are going to either win or be in contention for the AL West title.  Last year, though, the wheels fell off as just about everything went wrong.  Even a late trade for Dan Haren couldn't right the ship enough to make a run at the Rangers.

A lot of the same names are back this year, hoping last year was an aberration.  I talked to Garrett Wilson of the Angels blog Monkey With A Halo.  As most of my interview subjects have been, you can find and follow him on Facebook and Twitter if you want to know about the West Coast team.

Coming up, we talk about a former Cardinal farmhand.  OK, so I used that line this morning.  Doesn't mean it's not still true.


Scroll Down to Continue Reading


C70: What was your opinion of the Los Angeles offseason?

MWH: My opinion? That depends on whether or not you allow swearing on your blog. 

OK, let's try the family-friendly version. The off-season was very disappointing. I never bought the hype that the Angels had the cash to sign Crawford, Beltre and Soriano, but I definitely thought they'd go all out for Crawford. Heck, I'd even started addressing him on my blog back in July as Future Angel Carl Crawford. The whole debacle was just embarrassing because the Angels not only lost out on their targets, but came out looking like clueless buffoons in the process. The Vernon Wells trade made the team better in the short-term, but the financial cost of the move only made their baffling decision making this winter look even worse.

C70: Can Dan Haren get back to being Dan Haren?

MWH: Can Haren get back? Newsflash, he is back. Check out his numbers as an Angel (2.87 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 2.0 WAR in just 14 starts), he was LIGHTS OUT. Yeah, he had a rough start to 2010 in Arizona, but he was rejuvenated returning to his SoCal, where he was born and raised and being freed from the purgatory that the D'Backs organization had turned into.

C70: Will Kendry Morales be ready for Opening Day?

MWH: A qualified yes. All reports are that Kendry can hit with no limitations, but the team is being extremely careful with him in the field. In fact, he still hasn't even been cleared to run. Worst case scenario is that Morales starts the year at DH, but the team continues to state that they believe he will be 100% by Opening Day. I choose to believe them, though history has shown that may not be the smartest decision.

C70: Is there a prospect that will make a significant impact this season?

MWH: If you count Jordan Walden as a prospect still, then yes. He had a short debut with the Angels in 2010 and opened eyes with his triple-digit velocity. Already he is getting calls to be named the closer. The team thinks it is premature to saddle him with that pressure, but that doesn't mean Walden won't be an impact-making setup man/middle reliever type. After Walden, no, probably no prospects will make a big impact with the team. That includes Hank Conger who seems like he is bound to return to Triple-A since Mike Scioscia still hasn't gotten over his inexplicable man-crush with Jeff "Mendoza Line" Mathis.

C70: What is your prediction for Los Angeles's record and divisional finish?

MWH: I hate to say it, but 85 wins and third place. The Angels pitching is great, but the offense still has a lot of problems (especially at leadoff) and that lack of offense is going to prevent them from reclaiming their stake on the AL West, not with the Rangers coming into their own and the A's looking like they might be ready to make the leap as well (in fact, I have a hunch Oakland is going to win the division).


1 Comments

1 Comment | Leave a comment

user-pic
WilliaminMaine | March 8, 2011 9:38 PM | Reply

The A's have too many eggs in the young pitcher basket. That worked for a while with Zito, Muldaur (sp?), etc. But it breaks down. The Angels will come in second place.

Leave a comment




Cardinals_MediumRectangle.jpg

UCB_11_trans_dark_sm.png

Search



BallHyped Best Sports Blogs Book
This blog was featured in the Best Sports Blogs of 2010 Book!
• Pick up the limited print edition
• Free Best Sports Blogs ebook 


United Cardinal Bloggers

FRIENDS OF THE UCB


Download the iPhone or Android UCB app by clicking on the nice orange picture.
Open in Mobile App 

And check out the UCB Network over at LockerDome!
lockerdome-share_63x63.png
  



Other Cardinal Blogs

Recommended Cardinal Forum

Other Cardinal Sites

General Baseball Blogs/Sites



Heroes
Matt Holliday (5)
Matt Carpenter (4)
Rafael Furcal (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
Jon Jay (3)
Kyle Lohse (3)
Lance Lynn (3)
Yadier Molina (3)
David Freese (2)
Jaime Garcia (2)
Adam Wainwright (2)
Lance Berkman (1)
Allen Craig (1)
Shane Robinson (1)
Fernando Salas (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Hero: Lance Berkman (24)
2010 Top Heroes: Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols (24)
2009 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (28)
2008 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (25)

Goats
Matt Holliday (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
David Freese (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Marc Rzepczynski (3)
Adam Wainwright (3)
Rafael Furcal (2)
Tyler Greene (2)
Jason Motte (2)
J.C. Romero (2)
Fernando Salas (2)
Mitchell Boggs (1)
Matt Carpenter (1)
Tony Cruz (1)
Daniel Descalso (1)
Jon Jay (1)
Erik Komatsu (1)
Kyle Lohse (1)
Victor Marte (1)
Eduardo Sanchez (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Goat: Ryan Theriot (12)
2010 Top Goat: Brendan Ryan (14)
2009 Top Goats: Rick Ankiel and Todd Wellemeyer (13)
2008 Top Goat: Troy Glaus (13)

2012 Happy Flights
Happy Flights: 7
Happy Flight Opportunities: 12
Happy Flight %: 58%

Through 5/20

    Cardinal Nation Approval Ratings (March 2012)
    Adam Wainwright 91.9% (down 2.8%)
    Chris Carpenter 90.1% (up 3.2%)
    Lance Berkman 88.6%
    Tony La Russa 88.2% (up 17.4%)
    Yadier Molina 87.4% (up 3.7%)
    Matt Holliday 87.3% (down 3.8%)
    David Freese 85.5%
    John Mozeliak 85.4% (up 13.3%)
    Mike Shannon 85.3% (up 0.4%)
    Jose Oquendo 84.7%
    Derrick Goold 82.8% (down 5.0%)
    Mark McGwire 82.6% (up 20.1%)
    John Rooney 81.5% (down 2.8%)
    Mike Matheny 81.1%
    Bill DeWitt 79.8% (up 8.8%)
    United Cardinal Bloggers 78.9%
    Skip Schumaker 73.3% (up 9.2%)
    Jim Hayes 71.9% (down 4.2%)
    Jon Jay 71.1%
    B.J. Rains 69.5% (down 0.9%)
    Kyle Lohse 68.9% (up 13.8%)
    Dan McLaughlin 68.0%
    Joe Strauss 67.7% (up 10.2%)
    Ricky Horton 67.5% (down 1.6%)
    Al Hrabosky 66.4% (up 3.2%)
    Albert Pujols 54.9% (down 45.5%)
    Colby Rasmus 46.5% (down 35.3%)

    2011
    Dave Duncan 87.9% (up 0.9%)
    Matthew Leach 85.5%
    Pop Warner 76.7%
    Ryan Franklin 72.8% (up 3.1%)
    John Vuch 68.9%
    Jeff Luhnow 66.4%
    Dan Lozano 58.7%

    2009
    Rick Ankiel 83.9%
    Chris Duncan 69.1%


    Looking for St. Louis Cardinals Tickets?  TicketCity is your source for New York Yankees Tickets and World Series Tickets.

    Looking for Cardinals tickets? Stop by OnlineSeats. We’ve got Blues seats and even Rams games. Go to the coasts as well and catch a Celtics game or get Dodgers tickets.

    Referrals