Don’t worry Mike, next year you wont have to wait until May to contribute.

Mike Trout gets his own section because he’s Mike Effing Trout

LA Angels’ Mike Trout is youngest 30-30 Club member in professional baseball

So, I wonder if Jon Morosi had considered this when he brushed Trout aside in his article claiming that Miguel Cabrera was the MVP, and that was all there was to it. And, in case you hadn’t noticed, Mike Trout could be in even more exclusive company if he gets two more stolen bases putting him in the 30-50, club which only has two other members, Eric Davis, and Barry Bonds.

Money Quote:

Trout is one of only 19 players to hit 30 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season. If you want to be really exact, Trout has 48 steals.

Breaking down the door to history.

Scioscia not surprised by Trout’s power

You know who is surprised by Mike Trout’s power? Me. Very surprised. Happily surprised. I expected this a couple of years from now. So thank you Mike Trout. Thank you for making me look like a fool, because crow never tasted so good.

Sidenote: We could have been celebrating a 40-40 season had he not languished in the minors for four weeks in April.

Money Quote:

“It’s starting to develop,” Scioscia said. “I don’t think we need to make too much of it. I think you’re seeing a guy who has the potential to drive the ball like he does. He’s just been doing it with frequency that he thought he eventually would get to. But this guy, I mean, he’s a hitter with power. And I think his [opposite-field] power is a difference-maker.”

Preach it Scioscia.

Hunter to hit .300 for first time in his career

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I heart Torii Hunter. This is great for him, and as a fan, how can you not be happy for someone who has been the pinnacle of professional, and fun, his entire career. As an Angels fan, I hope this doesn’t make him too expensive to keep around after this year. Please stay Torii.

Money Quote:

Since being placed in the No. 2 spot on June 8, Hunter has posted a .340/.384/.475 slash line. Since the All-Star break, he leads the AL with a .350 batting average. And in 27 September games, he hit .346 with 26 RBIs.

That’s our Big Dog right there.

Eliminated

R.I.P. 2012 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

We might as well get these out of the way now. The Angels are not going to the playoffs, and that sucks, like, bad. And now that they are officially eliminated, expect every sports news source to attack our boys in red.

Money Quote:

What went right

Mike Trout. Mike Trout and Mike Trout. Trout put together a season for the ages, becoming the youngest player to record a 30-30 season and generally take the American League by storm. There’s also Jered Weaver, who could very well win the Cy Young.

We stay positive here people.

Angels, offseason winners, became regular-season also-rans

If there is a list, other than World Series Champions, that includes the Red Sox, I don’t want to be on it. Especially not a list of off season winners being regular season losers. Oh sweet, sweet misery.

Money Quote:

Despite spending $320 million in the biggest one-day free agent splurge in baseball history, then adding a former Cy Young Award winner in midseason, the Angels were officially eliminated from playoff contention Monday night. While they beat the Mariners 8-4 in Seattle, the Oakland A’s beat the Texas Rangers 4-3 to clinch the final AL playoff spot.

I am so not rooting for the A’s this postseason.

No help, no more hope for Angels

Just keep beating it over our heads why don’t you. By the way, Thanks a lot Rangers.

Money Quote:

“It’s a little quiet in our clubhouse,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “We’re disappointed that we didn’t reach our goal this season. There’s a lot of good things that happened. We fell short, but we’re going take the positives and move forward and hopefully finish strong.”

There goes Mike Scioscia with his pre-fabricated quotes again.

Wait, What?

C.J. Wilson injury update: Angels left-hander to undergo elbow surgery

Ok, like anyone else, when I saw “elbow surgery” I immediately thought Tommy John. At least he should be back by the time pitchers and catchers report in February. You know, 140 days from now, not like I’m keeping track or anything.

Money Quote:

The bone spurs are a legitimate reason for Wilson struggling so badly down the stretch, which raises the question of whether the Angels would have been better served using someone else for those starts. An ERA north of 6 is some serious ugliness, and even a spot starter could have possibly helped the team more than Wilson, who lasted just 2 2/3 innings on Sept. 19 against the Rangers.

Um, ya think.

We’ll let Taps take it from here.

Now that we are officially out, we can turn our attention to 2013. Hopefully our boys come next season with a huge chip on their shoulder needing something to prove.

How about we just call this version of Link Hangout as the “Jered Weaver gets to 20 wins with a little bit of Torii Hunter and Mike Trout sprinkled in for good measure” edition? Wins are incredibly overrated for pitchers, but congratulations to our top dog Weaver on achieving what still is considered a bench mark for dominance over the course of a season. Hats off to you Jered. Now make it 21.

I got this

Jered Weaver first in AL to 20 wins as Angels prevail

Here’s where we start. Weaver pulled a Gio Gonzalez and got to the 20 win plateau first. He still probably wont take the Cy Young award home at the end of the year, but he’s still been pretty awesome this year.

Money Quote:

“We’re not in a pennant race without him,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “You look at just what he’s done virtually every start. I don’t think there’s a more consistent pitcher in our league.”

Shameless plug from the fearless leader.

Jered Weaver Wins 20th Game as Trout ‘n Trumbo Awaken

Enjoy yourself a little highlight video of Jered Weaver doing his thing tonight.

Weaver picks up 20th win as Angels top Rangers

Watching Nelson Cruz fail is so much fun. It’s almost as fun as watching A.J. Pierzynski fail. Wouldn’y you agree?

Money Quote:

“Never did I think I’d win 20 games in the big leagues,” Weaver said. “So a lot of things have to go your way in a season to get to that milestone. Guys have picked me up and done great things.”

You deserved to be picked up after the last two years Weave.

Weaver Becomes AL’s 1st 20-Game Winner To Lead Angels Past Ranger

And also, how about Mike Trout setting the franchise single season runs scored mark on this, his 29th home run of the year? Does anyone else know of any other 30-30 members during their age 20 season? None? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Money Quote:

Texas’ magic number remains at three to clinch its third straight division crown. The Rangers need one more victory to lock up a postseason spot.

And I would like to see it stay there until after this series concludes on Sunday.

Angels’ Jered Weaver prevents Rangers from clinching playoff berth in 7-4 loss

You know who surprised me the most today? Mark Trumbo. He has been practically invisible for the last two months and then all of a sudden he has a three RBI game with two doubles and a single. And every beat writer on Twitter let us know that it was the first time Mark had a Three hit game since July 15th. Here’s how Mark got it done tonight.

“Keep Torii” Movement Growing Among Los Angeles Angels fans

As much as I want to keep on drooling about Jered Weaver, it is probably best that we move on. If you aren’t on Twitter (and you really should be), then you are missing out on a lot of Torii Hunter Love. Mike Scioscia was quoted recently saying that Torii is reminding him Vladimir Guerrero circa 2004. Torii wants this, bad. Hopefully Thursday night was not the last game he appeared in at Anaheim Stadium wearing an Angels uniform.

Money Quote:

The Angels are a talented team, without question. The team is dotted with both veterans and youngsters, and the Angels have shown flashes of great potential. If the Angels do reach the playoffs, this could be Hunter’s best and final chance to reach the promised land. Hunter’s play in these last few games of the season suggests he knows it.

Torii’s hungry.

Pantheon seasons but no MVP Award

For a couple weeks now, the only stories touting Miguel Cabrera for MVP have been the type that brush all sabermetrics to the side and focus on the Triple Crown Award. At the same time, most everyone else has been beating the WAR drum (see what I did there). Did any of us care to look up the past WAR leaders who didn’t win the MVP? I know I didn’t, now I’m starting to get worried.

Money Quote:

1984: Cal Ripken (9.8)
I’m not going to list the vote totals here. Ripken finished — get this — 27th! Tigers reliever Willie Hernandez won. Ripken had won the MVP the year before (when the Orioles made the playoffs) and his numbers were nearly identical: .888 OPS in ’83, .884 in ’84. Somehow the voters completely ignored him even though he finished ninth in the AL in OPS. That was enough to give the highest offensive WAR in the league once you adjust for position. Baseball-Reference’s metrics also credit him with one of the best defensive seasons ever (3.5 WAR). Ripken’s defensive skills (positioning, strong arm) weren’t really appreciated at the time.

Correction, really worried.

A Sabermetric Case for Miguel Cabrera’s MVP Candidacy

Well, this is one way to channel your inner Jon Morosi.

Money Quote:

It’s not that Cabrera is having a bad year. Please note: under any legitimate definition of value, he’s having a fantastic year, maybe even an MVP year in some other seasons. It’s just that according to WARP, Mike Trout is having a year that is just that awesome. If only we were still allowed to make Chuck Norris references.

Alright, I’ll admit it, I LOL’d like crazy at this one.

The AL MVP and the slow death of respectful disagreement

Hey, listen here you. I reserve the right to wear my pocket protector proudly and without shame whenever I am working on something that you will simply never fully understand. What a bunch of bullies. It’s OK though, they still don’t get what I’m saying and that makes what I’m saying that much funnier.

He has a point though. It’s like Democrats and Republicans when it comes to the “Traditionalists” and the “Sabermatricians.” How about we just look at it like this my fellow geeks, when you type in sabermetrics, it still get’s that red line underneath it indicating that it is still not in your computer’s spell checker. We are still the outsiders. One day we will all be able to live in harmony, and people like Keith Law and Rob Parker will be able to skip through a field picking daisies. Today, just isn’t that day.

Money Quote:

I do think it’s funny that the people who hate the sabermetic crowd go to the whole “nerd” argument so quickly and love to act like none of those guys ever have played the game or gotten a date. I mention this here because McCarthy is a well-documented sabermetics guy. He’s also a good starting pitcher in, you know, the freaking major leagues and has a hot wife. So … yeah, good argument, Rob!

Score one for the Geek Squad.

I’ll close this out by sending a congratulations out to Homer Bailey for throwing the 15th no hitter in Cincinnati Reds history. And considering they are one of the original teams, that is a lot of history to insert your name into. Congrats Homer.

Trout should win the MVP race (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE)

The AL MVP race is down to Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera is awfully close to winning the Triple Crown which would all but guarantee him the MVP. Cabrera is leading the AL in RBI (wheeee!) by a healthy margin, first in average (.327 followed by Trout and Joe Mauer at .323) and second in home runs (42 to Josh Hamilton‘s 43). Oh and he’s going to lead baseball in grounded into double plays. Quadruple Crown? The Triple Crown is neat accomplishment, popularized in the ’30s and ’40s before we knew any better about BA and RBI. What Trout is doing, though, is unbelievably historic. Time for fun with WAR (the Baseball-Reference version).

WAR is an accumulating stat so, thanks to Vernon Wells, Cabrera got a three week jump on Trout while Trout was making Triple-A pitchers feel bad about themselves. Trout caught up some by leading off but is still trailing Cabrera by 66 plate appearances. It also makes what Trout is doing look even more impressive.

Trout currently has a 10.6 rWAR. In the history of baseball, a 10.6 or higher WAR has happened 24 times by 16 different players. Babe Ruth did it six times. Rogers Hornsby, Barry Bonds, Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb and Willie Mays are the only players who have done it twice. Cabrera is sitting at a 6.6 rWAR. The 6.6 and higher WAR marks have been hit 644 times. Buster Posey has a 6.6 rWAR this season and is probably the front runner for the NL MVP. Carl Crawford had a 6.6 rWAR in 2010 and finished seventh in MVP voting, Adrian Gonzalez‘s 6.6 rWAR in 2009 was good for 12th and Hanley Ramirez took 11th in 2008 with his 6.6 rWAR.

Since they started handing out MVP hardware, six of the 10 players to hit for the Triple Crown won the MVP. The winners were Carl Yastrzemski, Frank Robinson, Mantle, Joe Medwick, Jimmy Foxx and Rogers Hornsby. Those failing to win the MVP were Ted Williams (twice), Lou Gehrig and Chuck Kline. After the Babe Ruth era, 11 players have posted a 10.5+ WAR starting in 1946 with Williams. Ten of those went on to win the MVP. Your winners were Williams, Stan Musial, Mantle (twice and back to back), Willie Mays, Yastrzemski, Joe Morgan, Cal Ripken, and Barry Bonds (twice and back to back). In 1964, Mays somehow finished a distant sixth to Ken Boyer and his 5.8 WAR. While that is gross, maybe it’s precedent for Cabrera. If you really want to reach for straws.

While Trout turned 21 in August, it still counts as his age 20-year-old season. The 20-year-olds who managed to WAR over 7.0 are Mel Ott (7.3), Al Kaline (8.0), Alex Rodriguez (9.2) and Trout. Trout has eight games left in the greatest season in baseball history by a 20-year-old. Not to be out done, Cabrera shares his 6.6 WAR season at age 29 with Solly Hemus and his career year in 1952. Okay, at 29, Shawn Green, Dwight Evans and Orlando Cepeda also posted 6.6 rWARs.

Here’s what ultimately brought this post to life. Trout’s four run lead over Cabrera in WAR is massive. We aren’t just talking about some questionable defensive metrics even though Trout is a plus center field defender and Cabrera has been, surprisingly, a slight upgrade over a traffic cone at third base. Four wins is a lot. I’m a big fan of context so let me help you out with a little WAR math. The following is a list of players you could add to Cabrera to equal Trout’s value for this season…

My favorite is Cabrera’s rWAR plus Prince Fielder‘s rWAR equals Trout’s rWAR. Part of it is because they’re the “feared 3-4 hitters” in the Tigers offense and part because they make a combined $44 million in 2012 compared to Trout and his $480,000 salary.

To sum up this edition of Fun with WAR, Mike Trout has been about Josh Hamilton more valuable than Miguel Cabrera.