Angels

Casey Kotchman is heading to the Indians, according to Jon Heyman, after putting together a pretty good season in Tampa. The last time Kotchman sported an Angels jersey was on July 28, 2008 before getting dealt to Atlanta for Mark Teixeira. Then the first baseman moved on to Boston, Seattle, the aforementioned Tampa and now Cleveland for 2012. Once upon a time, Kotchman was the Angels top prospect. The Halos selected him with the 13th pick in the 2001 draft. Long time Angels scout Tom Kotchman probably had some decent inside information on his son. According to Baseball America, Kotchman [...]

Daniel Reynolds has only pitched 34.1 innings at Rookie-ball Orem for the Angels since being drafted in 2009. He also has two failed drug tests. Certainly not a good sign. The recent failure will cost Reynolds 50 games this season… ANAHEIM — Angels Minor League pitcher Daniel Reynolds received a 50-game suspension after a second violation for a “drug of abuse” under the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, Major League Baseball announced Tuesday. Reynolds, a 20-year-old right-hander who has spent the last two years pitching for the Rookie-level Orem Owlz, will begin serving his suspension at the start [...]

As far as projections go, Marcel is almost a bare bones system but that doesn’t make it wrong. It uses some basic weights and regressions and you can read all about it here. If you’re a nerd like me, projections are still fun to look at even if they are crazy early. Allow me to share the work Replacement Level Yankees Weblog did for me. It’s basically the least I can do. Marcel has the Angels and Rangers tied at 87-75 which would force a one-game playoff game to decide the division champ and which team makes the playoffs. Even [...]

Brad Lidge had a busy day on Thursday. After signing a one-year, $1 million deal with the Nationals, Lidge was inducted into the New Orleans Professional Baseball Hall of Fame during the ‘Evening With The Zephyrs’ cocktail party. The 35-year-old righty reliever was charming as he reminisced about his time with the Triple-A Zephyrs and humble-bragged about his clubhouse ping-pong skills. I even managed to turn my attention away from the duck quesadillas long enough to enjoy his speech. Lidge only appeared in 19.1 innings for the Phillies last season due to a rotator cuff injury. While there were several [...]

That’s pretty much it. But if you made it through the post title and are still reading, I might as well put on a little song and dance for you. The free agent pool of relievers is drying up but the Angels are still casting lines. Ryan Madson signed with the Reds, Francisco Cordero signed with the Blue Jays and Brad Lidge signed with the Nationals. Jerry Dipoto, still looking for bullpen help, has tendered an offer to Luis Ayala per Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com… The Angels are one of “a handful of teams” that have tendered a formal offer [...]

Darius Hunter is a 5’11, 163 pound wide receiver at a high school in Prosper, Texas but he already has highlight reels on YouTube that rival those of his dad. Torii Hunter made a name for himself by making spectacular, homerun-robbing catches. His son, Darius, is making a name for himself by making spectacular catches and then running away from 11 other players on his way to the endzone. Darius is in the class of 2013 but that doesn’t mean you can’t start the college football recruiting on YouTube. Right now! Those are some pretty sick moves. I don’t want [...]

In this current economic wonderland we’re all enjoying, it’s hard to decide where to throw all of that cumbersome extra cash. Don’t worry Angels fans, I’ve done the eBay research for you. I filtered out all of the ticket packages because I assume you guys already have luxury boxes. I watched The O.C., I have my finger on the pulse of Southern California. Load up those PayPal accounts and let’s go shopping… Los Angeles Angels MLB Men’s Legend Series” Watch” Price: $1,499.95 It has Ronda Swiss 5040D Quartz Analog chronograph movement, which is a real thing according to Google. This [...]

Prince Fielder got his monster contract after all. While I have my suspicions, I can’t prove that Fielder “Tonya Harding-ed” Victor Martinez but it did work out in Fielder’s benefit. After Martinez tore his ACL, the Tigers emerged from near mystery team status to sign Fielder to a 9-year, $214 million deal. For the near future, Angels fans can rejoice in not having to face the big slugger as a Ranger. Fielder and Albert Pujols entered the offseason as Keith Law’s number one and two free agents (Insider), respectively. There are concerns for both considering the enormous amount of cash [...]

  No I’m not talking about Tony Reagins here although that Tony also lied when he said ” we will always explore ways to get better” . He is getting a pass today. The liars in question are former R& B super group Tony! Toni! Tone! A band comprised of not a single dude who was actually named Tony ( however you choose to spell it). One of their best and most famous songs is a sensual serenade to  the beautiful weather that we usually get here in So Cal.  ”It Never Rains In Southern California” . Yea right fellas… it [...]

Trade bait might not be the best description of Bobby Abreu because that implies interest from other teams. Any teams. A team. The $9 million in salary and inability to do anything but play catch while wearing a glove limits any would be suitors for Abreu. His .253/.353/.365 line in 2011 helped Abreu rank ninth out of 11 qualified DHs in fWAR (Fangraphs wins above replacement). Of course, most of that on base was aided by a .390 OBP over 242 plate appearance during the first two months of the season. Abreu is still thought of as an on base [...]