Here are some notes from both divisions out west…
- Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda shrugged off speculation from the Japanese media that he'll return to Japan to pitch a farewell season with Hiroshima in 2012, writes Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Kuroda put the odds of him pitching in MLB or going home next season at 50-50.
- Expect lots of teams to talk with the agent of Giants reliever Javier Lopez, writes ESPN.com's Buster Olney. The 34-year-old has postseason experience and teams such as the Yankees, Red Sox, Rangers, Brewers, and Cardinals have been after a good matchup lefty this year.
- Giants second baseman Freddy Sanchez expect to be ready for opening day but manager Bruce Bochy and GM Brian Sabean already have discussed the importance of covering themselves with other options at the position, writes Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News.
- Rich Harden would like to return to the Athletics and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle says that’s something that could happen. The injury-prone veteran would likely sign for an inexpensive one-year deal.
- With his strong work down the stretch, Jerome Williams has become the leading in-house candidate to assume one of the spots behind Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, and Ervin Santana in the Angels' 2012 rotation, writes Lyle Spencer of MLB.com.
The best thing about the 2011 season (as an Angel fan) was no doubt Jerome Williams. Congrats brotha!! P.S. GET SOME FREAKING OFFENSE ARTE MORENO, WE ARE SICK OF WAITING!!!!! Prince Fielder 27 SIGN HIM! You’re a billionaire and you draw 3 million fans a year. Raise ticket prices and sign some BIG TIME TALENT! WE LIVE IN THE OC WE CAN AFFORD IT! GIVE US A WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Get some freaking bullpen help first!!! Halos would be in first place right now with a top closer. I say build around Trout, Bourjos, Trumbo, Kendrick, Conger, Weaver, Haren, Santana, and Walden and just fill in the spaces with as much depth as possible. The Angels have a good young core, I don’t think they really need a Fielder or a Pujols. The intangibles that Trout and Bourjos bring alone are enough to ignite that offense. And we saw it in August when both Bourjos and Trout were hot.
I respectively disagree… If you really think Conger, Trout, and Walden will help this team in 2012 you really need to let me know what you’re smoking (Because I want some). This team lacks a threat in the lineup. Morales isn’t coming back, and Trumbo can’t take this team to the Promised Land. I’m sure you’ve seen that power house named The Texas Rangers, right? Well, we have to chase them… Can you honestly say we don’t need offense? We don’t have 1 threat in that lineup, NOT ONE! I think a Prince Fielder is just what the Angels need.
We’re chasing a team that couldn’t pull away until the last 2 weeks of the season. The Angels have scored more runs on the road than the Rangers have; the Rangers offense is overrated because they are inflated by their video game ballpark. I never said we didn’t need offense, I said fill in the spaces with as much depth as possible. This team was on fire in late August because of the swagger brought by the hot streaks of Bourjos and Trout. That was a glimpse into the future of this team. The Angels lineup has plenty of threats; they just lack that spark that players like Eckstein and Figgins brought for several years. Either way, the bullpen needs to be fixed first. An elite closer would have the Angels already ahead right now.
I guess the Yankees offense is overrated too. Sad thing is, you act like it’s a bad thing to pull away in the last two weeks. Texas never lost its lead to LAA even when our young pitching staff had their growing pains, so the way I see it, the Angels never posed a threat the way they choked in every series against us in the second half. The only reason LAA is even this close is because the pitching has played over their heads and carried that team.
You are still wrong.
Jerome was an up an comer until his dad passed away. He lost it after that.
Good to see him back!!
I love a good comeback story as much as the next person…
But am I the only person who’s noticed that Jerome Williams has a 1.73 WHIP and 18 walks to 15 strikeouts?
not sure what stats you are looking at.. i see a 2:1 SO/BB ratio and a 1.29 whip
Ah, my bad. That was his 2007 line.
Just wanted to mention his father is still alive and well 🙂 he did get very sick in 2005 though and required a liver and kidney transplant.
Trumbo is going into winter ball with the goal of learning 3rd base. Should he succeed and make the transition and Morales return, the Angels are solid with the exception of the catching position and bullpen. Williams and Pinero are decent for #4 and #5. Walden lost 10 saves this year. Next year, that won’t happen. He is a rookie, and plays as a rookie. With rookies in a starter position (Chatwood), closer position, rookies at CF and 1B and the veterans having diasterous year, I think the Angels deserve the “Over-achievers Of athe Year” Award. I’m not giving up on my team. I’m giving my young team a chance to mature.
Solid with the exception of catcher? But I thought they traded Napoli because Mathis was their future?
And yes I know it’s a terribly old joke, but I’m not a Ranger, Angel or Jay fan, and I am still baffled by how terrible that trade was. Mathis is really damn bad.
If Napoli “caught” in 2010 they way he is catching now, there would be no way he would have been traded. His bat was far superior and it was obvious to all. But his defensive work ethic was non-existent in 2010. Do you know how rare it is to see a dropped third STRIKE resulted with the batter standing at first base? Well, I saw it twice in the same game with Nap behind the plate. You can’t give the opposition 4 outs and free baserunners and expect to win.His trade to the Jays, and later the Rangers taught him that he had better take the defensive side of the job more seriously, and he did. I wish him well, but at the time he left I said “Good riddance”.
Mathis is not the answer, nor is Wilson and neither is Conger at this point, but it might be too early to make a final decision on him. Give me ANY of the Molina brothers, with my first choice being “Y”.
they traded napoli because of bs reasons…
that was a huge mistake…we could have used 30 homers from that position this year no doubt..
I wish the Angels would have found him and he pitched better a few years ago so we didnt have to pay Piniero $8 mil a year. Now that he will be gone, i expect Williams and one of Richards or Chatwood to round out the rotation. Unless they somehow sign CJ or CC, that looks like the rotation for next year
the thing that sucks…is pinerio actually was pretty decent last year as a 4-5 spot guy…
he just had a really really bad year this year…i personally feel for the guy…cause its gonna kill him in free agency…
maybe anahiem will bring him back for bullpen help….good to see him have those solid six innings a few nights ago tho..
The odds of anything happening is 50-50. Either it happens or it doesn’t.
False.
Old joke in probabilities. Sorry you didn’t get it. Though in the absence of data to the contrary, it’s actually true.
Ah, yes, sarcasm and joking don’t always translate well in threads, :/
“Though in the absence of data to the contrary, it’s actually true.”
I still don’t agree with this, but to each his own.
Probabilities essentially begin with a coin flip. It’s only after recording a sufficient number of data points that you might be able say with a degree of confidence that a phenomenon exhibits a behavior pattern more predictable than randomness. I wouldn’t harp on this obscure subject if baseball fans weren’t so into statistics. Anyhow, the Kuroda statement that got me going on this subject is a perfect example of what I am talking about.
Nice to see more fans coming out to Indians games, they should have a good young team in the future.