Look, I've tried to walk the line. I'm a gigantic MiLB fan, and as such, I'm always promoting bringing in the next big thing to help the Halos. However, I recognize how often I have been burned by the McPhersons, Mathises, Woodses, and Kotchmans of the world, and I have tried to hold back on my calls to bring on the youth. But when I look at Sunday's 9-3 win over Baltimore, I can't help but get excited about our young studs, and it's making me ask some serious questions as the trade deadline nears.
Mike Trout was the hero yesterday, opening up a slim one run lead for the Halos into a big win, launching a 3-run bomb into the seats at Camden. It was Trout's first big league jack, and while he's still only hitting .179 since his callup, the long ball and 3-RBI day at the yard turned some heads. Hopefully it's a sign of what's to come. Thanks to Trout's jack, Mark Trumbo's day got overlooked. The big first baseman went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI. He brought Alberto Callaspo home with a sac fly early on, and then he singled AC home later on. He's having a solid rookie season, hitting .256 with 18 big flies and 46 RBI, and is clearly rocking a campaign to be our first rookie of the year since Timmy. And all of that offense helped to overshadow the impressive start by Tyler Chatwood. Chatty Kathy went 7 innings of 2 run ball, punching out 5, and ran his record to 6-6 with a 3.64 ERA. Not too bad for a so-so youngster that's been filling a hole on the team.
So, taking all of this into consideration, it's hard not to drool over the way that the Halos' youth have performed this season. And when you're drooling over the youth around the trade deadline, you start to come up with some wild thoughts. We've already explored the trading of Torii Hunter on this blog, and I still think it's a great idea. Just think of what we'd get in return. Now, I'm hearing about the potential dealing of Bobby Abreu (who is about to vest his 2012 option based on plate appearances, h/t to Halo Heaven), and I'm wondering if I like that.
I don't. You know that I'm a mix of a stat head/chemistry guy, and I think that El Comedulce brings a ton of chemistry. While I think that he would bring some value based on his ability to reach base (.381 OBP), I wouldn't want to lose what he brings. I know that the whole "captain" thing is kind of stupid, but if anyone is the captain on this squad, it's Bobby. With the money we'd save, Torii is still the better trade option, in my humble opinion.
The other area we can drop a trade in, besides the outfield, is the middle infield. We've got Howie, Maicer, Erick, Alberto, Romine, Sandoval, and Amarista. To me, HK (leading the team in AVG) are Callaspo (.296 with 33 RBI is serviceable at 3B) are untouchable. The question that comes up every trade deadline is the decision between Aybar and Izturis. We've kept them together for some time, but most Angel fans can accept the fact that at some point, one of them will be traded away. We've gone over this a couple of times at various points in the past, so we'll keep it short.
Aybar is hitting .289 with 7 jacks and 41 RBI along with a .324 OBP. Ma$e is hitting .270 with 4 jacks and 24 RBI along with a .333 OBP. It's a toss up, and at this point it would require much more investigation than I have time for. If I had to pick, I'm keeping Izturis.
All of this has to be at the forefront of our minds with the deadline approaching. When you look at the rumor wire, though, maybe not much will happen (shocking, I know). The first rumor that comes up reads, "Angels Don't Appear To Be Looking For Any Major Deals." That would be the status quo, but if you dig a little deeper, you see that the Angels may have some interest in Heath Bell, José Reyes, Aramis Ramirez, and Garrett Jones. I'm not interested in exploring each of these options just yet, but it's something to think about.
Even more important, however, is today's clash with the 51-48 Cleveland Indians out in Ohio. Dan Haren (10-6, 3.10) looks to keep impressing us against Fausto Carmona (5-10, 5.63). Man, what happened to poor, poor Fausto? In 10 of the last 11 series, the Halos have come away with series wins, and you've got to believe that this trend is going to continue. Trailing Texas by just 3 games in the division, it kind of has to. The Chessmaster will have to be on his game early, as the Tribe are 20-7 when scoring first.
Let's start the week off with a nice win.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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