Angels links
The Angels have claimed Jose Quijada and designated Parker Markel to make room on the 40 man roster. Here is an article about the deal that fell through. I know the sting has probably not yet subsided. Billy Eppler has officially pronounced the deal dead.
Around baseball
The Twins are reportedly unhappy with how the Graterol deal was handled by the Red Sox. They’re not the only ones. Mike Bolsinger has filed a lawsuit against the Astros In Los Angeles Superior Court. We’ll see how that goes. The team lawyers may try to remove this case to Federal Court in a venue more to their liking. Masahiro Tanaka joins the crowd of people who feel the cheating Astros cheated him out of something. Charlie Morton resorts to the famous phrase “Mistakes were made.”
Miscellaneous
Here is a handy compilation of all the important baseball dates this year. Former Major League outfielder Angel Echevarria died young. Former Oriole Gil Coan passes away at 97. Here is a podcast about the impact of black baseball players in celebration of Black History Month. You can own a piece of history from the infamous George Brett pine tar game.
more on this tomorrow but tonight CBS Sports has a couple of stories about the courageous players on the Astros who tried to stop the sign-stealing but were “rebuffed” and how Alex Cora gallantly warned the Nationals about the Astros sign-stealing ways.
BSOHL ALERT!!!
oh f, here we go again
Yep, the ol’ “best shape of his career” gaslight………..again. SMH
Tyson couldn’t hit offspeed stuff either.
@OMAHALOFAN Robin Givens kicked his ass.
My point exactly.
In fairness, I think Robin Givens could have been a contender, if not for getting the starring role in Head of the Class.
Now it all makes sense!
We didn’t need Joc and when we tried for just Stripling, the asking Price was to much.
Does sound suspicious
Please tell me this story starts with Upton saying, “I tried on some new glasses and then looked at myself in the mirror and decided my eyes were slipping, I needed to hit the gym!”
Today is P&C day???????
I guess, since the first workouts are tomorrow
Tomorrow. All players report the 16th. And we have tickets for the 23rd.
@Jim Atkins We do? Thanks for getting me one.
Single, couple, we
Who’s picking me up? I’ll drop for gas.
🙂
@DowningDude *P&C REPORT Day
yeah…so….I know we don’t delve into politics, or shouldn’t, and you should know (if you don’t already) that I’m pretty leftwing so maybe that’ll put this into some perspective.
Anyway, Morton’s non-apology (“From a personal standpoint, good people make mistakes”) made me immediately think of President Obama’s “We tortured some folks” which should have led into a strong condemnation of such but instead brought on a lecture to those who oppose torture.
“It’s important for us not to feel too sanctimonious in retrospect about the tough job that those folks had. A lot of those folks were working hard under enormous pressure and are real patriots. But, having said all that, we did some things that were wrong. And that’s what that report reflects.”
so this is a kind of template for looking like you’re saying something while hoping that you can crawl away without anyone noticing, that people are supposed to say “well, ok then, if you kind of, sort of feel bad about it”.
“Mistakes were made” is how to seem apologetic while at the same time trying to slough off the blame onto some unknown other person.
First of all, well said Eric. Hey the MLB owners knew guys were juicing but did nothing about it for the same reason the insiders in Houston did nothing- “they were winning with it.” On the juiced era side, ratings soared because home runs were through the roof and MLB loved it. But, NO WAY did they not know. Everyone knew. As AJ Hinch said, “Leadership is not only about what you say you stand for, it’s also based on what you accept.” I’m not here saying I wouldn’t have been a willing or even unwilling participant if I was around it in either instance, because sometimes it’s just easier to sit on your hands and fit in. The players participated – and should have been punished. But as the saying goes, “the fish rots from the head.”
They do nothing about it, because no one is complaining, and they are making BIG BIG MONEY. Ratings are through the roof
And the statistical advantage Morton received for pitching for a team which cheated on offense and provided him good run support was parlayed into a $45M/3 year deal with TBR at Age 34.
So I don’t think his contrition runs too deeply.
So If I understand you correctly , you are proposing that the Astros players should be waterboarded prior to the 2020 season opener? I’m down with that.
Boston to name Roenicke as manager: https://www.mlb.com/news/ron-roenicke-red-sox-interim-manager
“Interim manager”…damn, that is cold. The guy has a wealth of experience to lead teams, and they won’t give him the job outright, with just a handful of days before pitchers and catchers report.
More I see of the Red Sox front office, the less impressed I am.
I hate to seem to be defending anything BoSux, but it only seems prudent not to commit fully to him, or to anyone, until the sign-stealing investigation is completed.
In Red Sox speak that sounds like, if he gets implicated and then suspended, we don’t want to be on the hook to pay him any more money than we have to.
Take 2 …
https://mobile.twitter.com/FabianArdaya/status/1227299901240791040
Makes me wonder where he’d be right now if he has the TJ surgery immediately in 2018 instead of playing out the season as a DH. At the time the team said that delaying the surgery to the end of the season wouldn’t affect his return timeframe, but here we are with him not in the rotation until May. Those extra ABs in that lost 2018 season were fun and cool and all but I’d rather have him coming into ST ready to pitch this year.
All the stories I’ve read have pointed to the unexpected surgery to repair the kneecap issue he’s had since he was born as the reason for the delay but I guess you can a case that finishing out 2018 didn’t leave time to recover from potential set backs.
Seems like a bit of a stretch though.
Got it, thanks for the clarification.
They say sometime in May – which in Angelspeak, means what…July?
July of which year?
yes
He wouldn’t be 2018 RoY.
When you heading over to AZ Rex? We all look forward to your photos.
He LIVES there.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/sprint_speed
So this link shows average sprint speed. Mike Trout is still number 41 while Gramps checks in at 567, with only Brian McCann behind him as a sprinter.
And McCann just retired!
Amazing how one blunder has completely killed the buzz I had for Spring Training to begin.
Totally agree . I was more excited about Stripling but was happy to have Joc as well, considering what the cost was . I think that’s why Arte got so impatient . It was a great deal for us and he couldn’t exhibit a virtue every great leader should possess ,PATIENCE ! . He must suck a poker . I just thought Stripling was buried in the Dodgers mega team and he could have been big for us . I will be there no matter what to support whoever wears our colors so im still excited
Knowing that Stripling is already 30 makes it easier for me. The Dodger Latrine lowers his ERA and whip. Granted, his road ERA is still under 4 (3.89 compared to home 3.12) and that’s good compared to what we’ve had. But it’s not like he’s a 25 year old who’s going to get better over the next few years.
Yes, and someone for whom we would feel a sense of accomplishment if he was able to provide 120 IP. I know on the 2019 Angels 120 IP would have qualified for Iron Man status, but then Stripling provided only 90 IP last season.
This is how I feel too. I would love to know the full details of the trade and who we were giving up along with Rengifo. But man if all we were giving up is one or two lesser prospects outside of our top 5 then we really botched it. That trade would have taken us from a fringe contender to a serious one. As I said before Arte hurt his own team all because his feelings got hurt.
Still mad. Joc I’m OK with us missing out on because Adell is at least around but Stripling’s acquisition cost was lower because of Joc’s contract. If we end up finding another SP it will probably cost more prospects now absent that salary dump. Dumb dumb dumb.
but now we see Stripling would have been a malcontent in Anaheim.
im not so much for whiny bitches on this team
I have been wondering when the first lawsuit against the Astros would pop up. My guess is that there are other attorneys watching this closely to learn from it and any mistakes they may make, looking for that one hole to breach this thing wide open.
I generally hate class actions (they only benefit the lawyers) but I would love to see a class action on behalf of anyone who bought a ticket to an Astros game under the theory that the Astros breached an implied warranty that the game would be played with substantial compliance to the rules.
I’d rather see any class action come after the actual players professionally impacted by this scandal get their shot.
That might establish liability, but what are the damages? That would be the key to such an action. Establishing that the Astros did something wrong is only half the battle.
Let’s hope for the best with this pitching staff. Maybe Billy can still pull off a spring training trade for somebody decent. Quijada is perhaps a marginal upgrade over Markel, who apparently gets shelled at the Major League level.
Judging by last seasons results, a lot of our pitchers get shelled at the major league level.
In just under 30 innings, Quijada struck out 13.3/9 and walked 7.9/9. This is the most Eppler pick up ever.
His 2018 AAA/AA stats were pretty stellar ( the walks were a little high though) but it looks like he’s had somewhat slight reverse splits thoughout his career . This makes this move a little puzzling since he’ll be the only LH relief pitcher on the 40 man roster
Pitchers And Catchers Report!
Today it begins, let us rejoice my Brothers and Sisters!! It is the first day of the rest of your Halo Fandom, amen and amen.
Dammit, bring it on. W6G.