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By Steve Adams | at
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YankeeFan™
Would love to know what players the Yankees are claiming.
robbyb
Heard they claimed Hideki Irabu…
I Believe We Can Win
He going to throw pitches from the after life? I guess hitting a ball you can’t see is an effective pitch against batters. But also hard for umpires to call balls and strikes.
Fircoal
The Angels are not unlucky. Especially since these are their only two major injuries they’ve had this year and it took this long to get them. Also if you look at all the stats they’ve been getting lucky wins.
Brandon Mason
How have the Angels been getting “Lucky” wins..??
Fircoal
Well they’re 3 above their pytag record, as well as lately have been winning a lot of games by 1 or 2 runs above bad teams. They haven’t been as good lately as they have been lucky.
Rally Weimaraner
Winning games by 1 or 2 runs doesn’t mean a team is lucky, it means it has a good bullpen.
Fircoal
That’s what the 2012 Orioles said.
RyÅnWKrol
And they had a very good bullpen.
Jaysfan1994 2
It’s usually a combination of good pitching and defense. Something the Orioles have had for a few years now.
RyÅnWKrol
And not only that, the Angels also have a very deep offense to come from behind and win games by 1 or 2 runs. makes them even more dangerous.
Taylor Hope
So, something the Angels don’t have?
bjsguess
Yet, others would argue that they have been very UNLUCKY. Using BaseRuns (Fangraphs preferred method for calculating outcomes) the Angels should have more runs and a better record than what they have today. BaseRuns strips out sequencing to give you a better feel for how a team should be performing based off their skill.
Also, the Angels have dealt with some pretty big injuries so far. Calhoun, Skaggs (before TJ), and Wilson all missed about a month each (Wilson is still not right). Hamilton missed 2 months and has lost all of his power. Losing Richards and Skaggs is absolutely devastating.
Sure, they aren’t the Rangers but they had/have their fair share of trials. As much or more than most of the teams sitting at the top of their division.
RyÅnWKrol
That’s scary, even for a die hard Angels fan. Even with the best record in the majors now, the Angels should’ve had much better records the last 3 or 4 years. They’re finally playing to their talent level. And it’s still not to their potential. Imagine where they’d be if they had their current bullpen in the first 2 and a half months of the season. 100+ wins easily. And they have most of this team locked up next season, including Street. They can re-sign Grilli and Thatcher if they want to. Or add another quality arm. If it doesn’t happen in 2014, I would bet it definitely happens in 2015.
RyÅnWKrol
3 wins above one’s pythagorean W-L record means nothing except finding ways to win even in games that appear unwinnable. The Angels have the best record in the major leagues. The Brewers deserved credit for it. The A’s deserved credit for it. The Angels deserve credit for it. They’re winning close games because they’re a very good team with a very deep bullpen. It doesn’t matter how good or bad the teams are. Any team can beat any team on any given day. In a one run game, any team can suddenly hit a go ahead HR. The Angels have been very good since the second week of May.
Fircoal
No it doesn’t mean that. It means that they’re playing somewhat above what they should be. And when did I say that the Angel’s don’t deserve credit for that? Did I ever say they’re a terrible team and shouldn’t be in the playoffs? I didn’t and I don’t believe that. Now I don’t think they’re the best team in the league but for sure they’re one of the top 5 and should be in the playoffs. That doesn’t mean they’re not lucky.
For the record the Giants once had the best record in the league. And what happened to them? And that was a large case of good luck in the beginning and bad luck later on.
RyÅnWKrol
There is no answer for that. Other than deep well balanced offense mixed with average to above average starting pitching giving them innings, backed by a good defense, and a deep bullpen.
RyÅnWKrol
Hamilton, Calhoun, Richards, Freese, Skaggs, and Green all went down with major injuries at different times this season.
Fircoal
Richards and Skaggs just went down. They could have been gone for the whole year but now they’ll essentially be gone for 1+ month. Which is bad but not super bad.
Calhoun missed a month which again is not that much.
Hamilton, Freese and Green are not that good. Obviously you don’t want your team to get injured but if you are going to have injuries it’s better to have them on players like Hamiliton, Freese, and Green, rather than Aybar, Trout, and Kendrick.
RyÅnWKrol
A month is a long time. You’re reaching.
Lefty_Orioles_Fan
as one baseball source explained to him, the Orioles and Yankees “are claiming everyone… first, I heard of this.
Beltre cleared waivers, I would have seriously considered claiming him.
I really would have!
MadmanTX 2
Still an overpay, Mariners.
RyÅnWKrol
Youre Rangers would’ve done the same if… oh yeah they acquired Prince Fielder’s contract and signed Shin Soo Choo to another. Texas never overpays!