Hideki Matsui lifted a two run homer in the top of the seventh inning, just over the glove of his homeboy Ichiro, as he helped the Halos win their series against the M's with a 4-2 triumph. Trevor Bell looked good for the second straight time, albeit against the Mariners (and the O's before that), Fernando Rodney got another save as our new Brian Fuentes, and the Halos won by just leaving two on base.
The pluses:
+Trevor "Ding Dong" Bell went 6 innings of 2 run ball with 6 Ks, and had the bullpen and offense to back it up!
+Fireball Walden, Big Country Jeps, and Sweat-nando added 3 innings of 1 hit shutout ball with 6 big Ks in all. Um, why don't you guys always pitch like that? Oh yeah, I keep forgetting it was Seattle.
+Not only did Godzilla go yard, but even Alberto Callaspo turned on an elevated pitch that went first row in right field, right by the foul pole. Would you believe AC/DV has 10 jacks overall this year?
+Jeff Mathis was FINALLY benched.
The minuses:
-Bourjos, Wood, and Rivera went a combined 0 for 10.
-Torii Hunter got punched in the face THREE times.
-Not a single Halo had a multi-hit effort.
-There were ZERO September call ups in the lineup. Seriously Mike, I don't care about SLC's postseason, get Trumbo up here.
-Two errors, one on Naps and one on good ol' JR.
-We let Figgy go 2 for 3 with a steal, a sacrifice, and a run scored. But we were keeping him down so well!
Now at 65-69, the Halos are still 10.5 back of Texas, but trail Oakland by just a game (and it'll only be half a game soon, because CC and the Yanks are beating Oakland right now). Speaking of those hated A's, after today's day off, the Halos open a weekend series with our mortal enemies. Here is how the pitching probables shake down:
Friday- Kaz (8-12, 6.34) v Gio (12-8, 3.23)
Saturday- Weaver (11-11, 3.12) v Cahill (14-6, 2.82)
Sunday- Erv (14-9, 4.05) v Vinny Maz (6-7, 4.05)
I want to sweep the A's as much as the next guy, but these are some tough pitching matchups, if we're being perfectly honest. Gio and Trevor are solid for the A's, and the same can't be said for Kaz-berries. Weaver and Erv have to be considered our two best, though, so you've got to believe in two out of three. Let me rephrase that so I'm speaking for myself: I believe in two out of three. Let's go get second place back, bitches.
Since the Angels have, so far, failed to bring up any of the youth we talked about yesterday (now that the roster expansion day has come and gone), I'm feeling jipped. I want Quinny back in his familiar seat on the bench. I want Franny back so that Wood doesn't have to play any more. And, I especially want Trumbo up so Napoli can stay at catcher, and Mathis can sit out the rest of the way. But, they haven't given me that joy...yet. Because we don't get to talk about that, I'm going to focus the meat of today's post (today I'm going to go with flank steak) on the Angels projected 2011 opening day roster. Now, I'm not going to speculate on any possible trades or signings (like some fans already inserting Carl Crawford into the starting fold), but rather come up with the best possible 25 man roster from in house, in my opinion. Maybe some players will be missing (like I can pretend we'll release Kazmir), but I'm going to do my best to put together a winner for 2011 with what we've got. Plus, maybe we can bring down that franchise record $121+ million payroll a little.
We'll start with our contract obligations for 2011 as it looks right now-
Players we'll pay not to play:
Gary Matthews Jr.- GMJ is slated to get $11 million from the Angels in 2011. Bummer.
Pitchers:
Dan Haren (SP; $12.75 million)
Scott Kazmir (SP; $12 million)
Joel Piñero (SP; $8 million)
Ervin Santana (SP; $8 million)
Jered Weaver(SP; $5 million projected)
Fernando Rodney CL; $5.5 million)
Brian Stokes (RP; $0.5 million projected)
Matt Palmer (RP; $0.5 million projected)
Jason Bulger (RP; $0.5 million projected)
Kevin Jepsen (RP; $0.5 million projected)
Trevor Bell (SP; $0.5 million projected)
And...Bobby Cassevah, Mike Kohn, Bobby Mosebach, Anthony Ortega, Francisco Rodriguez, Jordan Waldn, and Rich Thompson (all RP; all $0.5 million projected)
Infielders:
Mike Napoli (C; $5 million projected)
Jeff Mathis (C; $1.5 million projected)
Ryan Budde (C; $0.5 million projected)
Bobby Wilson (C; $0.5 million projected)
Maicer Izturis (IF; $3.1 million)
Erick Aybar (SS; $2.5 million projected)
Howie Kendrick (2B; $2 million projected)
Kendry Morales (1B; $5 million projected)
Kevin Frandsen (3B; $0.5 million projected)
Alberto Callaspo (3B; $0.5 million projected)
Brandon Wood (3B/SS; $0.5 million projected)
Mark Trumbo (1B; $0.5 million projected)
Freddy Sandoval (IF; $0.5 million projected)
Oufielders:
Torii Hunter (RF; $18 million)
Bobby Abreu (LF; $9 million)
Juan Rivera (LF; $5.25 million)
Reggie Willits (OF; $0.75 million projected)
Peter Bourjos (CF; $0.5 million projected)
Chris Pettie (OF; $0.5 million projected)
Cory Aldridge (OF; $0.5 million projected)
Noticeable subtractions:
Hideki Matsui (DH; $6 million)
Scot Shields (RP; $5.3 million)
Robb Quinlan (UT; $1.1 million)
Wow, that's a lot of names and figures, but we're doing some very important work here, so, it's worth it. My addition by subtraction would get the Halo payroll down to around $108+ million. The last time we had a payroll that small was 2007 (we won the West at 94-68 that year...only to get swept out promptly by the Red Sox). Now, you can bet there will be other additions and subtractions over the offseason, but like I said, I'm doing this based on what we have in house only. So, now we'll get to the 25 man roster based on the above financial obligations, along with their roles, and we'll see what kind of team we can have.
Starters-
1. Jered Weaver
2. Dan Haren
3. Ervin Santana
4. Joel Piñero
5. Trevor Bell/Matt Palmer
(Total payroll: $34.25 million)
Relievers-
Long RP- Trevor Bell/Matt Palmer
Long RP- Scott Kazmir
Short RP- Brian Stokes
Short RP- Jason Bulger
Set Up- Jordan Walden
Set Up- Francisco Rodriguez
Closer- Fernando Rodney
(Total payroll: $20.5 million)
Starters-
C- Mike Napoli
1B- Kendry Morales
2B- Howie Kendrick
3B- Alberto Callaspo
SS- Maicer Izturis
LF- Juan Rivera
CF- Peter Bourjos
RF- Torii Hunter
DH- Bobby Abreu
(Total payroll: $48.35 million)
Bench-
C- Bobby Wilson
2B/SS- Erick Aybar
OF- Reggie Willits
1B/RF- Mark Trumbo
(Total payroll: $4.25 million)
25 man roster total payroll: $107+ million.
Now, again, there are tons of changes that could take place before April 2011. Thoughts that come to mind are the chance that one of our catchers gets moved, Abreu possibly being dealt, or even another reliever being brought into the fold. But, in house, this is my 25 man roster for next year. You probably have noticed some big things, like:
1. Mathis didn't make it (we've shown over the past few weeks why I'm doing this).
2. Aybar isn't starting (Callaspo and Izzy are both easily better).
3. Trumbo is up, but on the bench (I know that probably won't happen, because Scioscia doesn't like to have MiLB studs riding pine, but he's my choice. Otherwise, I'd stick Frandsen there).
4. Brandon Wood didn't make it (you got your shot fair and square and failed. Back to the Bees with you).
5. Kazmir is in the bullpen (it's about damned time).
6. Rich Thompson didn't make it (this was hard for me, but he just didn't fit thanks to the emergence of Waldo and Hat-cisco).
7. Rodney makes closer (we'll be sweating all year).
That's it. I hope you enjoyed my journey as much as I did. Now let's go get us some A's this weekend.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
1 comments:
No Jepsen in the 'pen?
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